The way the classroom looked, the light pouring onto the corridor floor, made Holly excited to get into the class - the light and the sunshine were always welcome. However, that thought didn’t last very long as within two seconds of stepping inside the classroom, she felt the heat pressing on her, heating her skin and she was sure that she would be …. s w e a t i n g …. by the end of the class. GASP. How horrible. She would need a shower as soon as she could get one, she just knew it.

Noting the instructions on the board, Holly took her seat and wrote her name on the paper that had been there and then folded it into a tent like they had been told to. Silently, she wondered if she could use it as a fan instead - it was HOT in here.



….. Too cold.

She was being sarcastic right??? The second year looked around at her fellow students, mouth slightly ajar as she looked at the Professor as if she had three heads. It definitely wasn’t cold in here … in fact, it felt hotter than it had when she had walked through the door. Merlin, help.

…. Also…. Should the Professor not have noticed that there were FIVE (Merlin, help) Max Carden’s in her class?? This was NOT what she had signed up for…. Especially not after that stupid love potion at the opening feast. Merlin, she was suddenly GLAD for the heat in this classroom as her cheeks were already heated and slightly pink. Thankfully, the addition of each new Max Carden couldn’t be seen by those in the class - but seriously… Why wasn’t Professor Dopple more worried or curious about it?

…. Oh well. Irritating things? After thinking for a minute or so, she put her hand in the air and then waited for her turn to speak. ”Professor, it’s always really annoying when you almost sleep through your alarms and then have to rush around to try and get everything done in time for class starting.” She was normally okay with this… but there had definitely been some close calls over the past year and skipping breakfast had never been a good start to Holly’s day.


…… What is a Carden?!?! ……. Was she for real??? Holly shot her brother and friends another incredulous look as she shook her head. She was pretty sure this was a conversation between a Professor and a Headmaster that she would never hear again. Which was just as well because she couldn’t believe she was even hearing it in the first place.

The hiccups. Right. They WERE annoying and she never could place a reason on why she ended up with them. They were never the outcome of the same thing two times in a row - which always bugged her more than anything. It wasn’t even like she could avoid doing something to in turn stop getting the hiccups, because she didn’t know why she got them each time. Professor Dopple was right about this, they were annoying!

“Um, Professor?” Holly spoke up when it was her turn. “As well as attempting to scare yourself, a friend should try it - especially if you don’t realise that they are going to try and scare you to get rid of the hiccups.” The flight or fight reaction often worked in her favour… Or, at least it had in the past when someone else had actually been around to scare her.


Holly couldn’t agree with the Headmaster more - she was sweltering in the heat, and she was pretty sure she had lost like four pounds just from the heat and the amount of layers she had on. It was hotter than a full session in the gymnastics auditorium over Summer.

So… Hiccups. How did that have anything to do with charms??

With her chin in her hand, she waited in the heat for … well, whatever was coming next. Something had to be coming next. It had to be. See? Drink the liquid.

Drink. The. Liquid.

Frowning, Holly picked up the container and looked around the classroom to see what was happening. She didn’t trust liquids at this school anymore - not after all of the funny horror stories that had been spread about ice cream and juice and potions being used to affect the students without them being told about it beforehand… Cameron had told her about it before she had started last year and yet here she sat, with a frown on her face, watching as her classmates drank something else and ended up with the hiccups.

Sighing and hating the idea of failing - and at least she was forewarned on what would happen - she tipped the cup back and drank down the liquid, and before she could count to three in her head -

*HIC*

Ouch. They hurt. She always forgot how much they hurt.

*HIC*

And so she began. By holding her breath - but after seven seconds it was interrupted by a sore *HIC* …. And after a further nine seconds it was interrupted by another *HIC* .

So holding her breath didn’t work. She put a large X beside it on her own list as she *HIC*‘d again and then moved onto the next item on the agenda.

Doing cartwheels. EASY!!

Standing up, she moved to the side of the room - looking for a good bit of empty floor. *HIC* Here looked okay. ”Incoming cart*HIC*wheels!” She said to give warning before she tumbled and tumbled and tumbled and tumbled down the little alley at the edge between the wall and the tables.

When she finished off her run, she held her breath again waiting to see if they would come back. She got to sixteen seconds before -*HIC*.