If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above.
You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
The fourth floor is the quietest floor in all of Hogwarts. Those who have been here long enough and know the layout know this as an obvious fact because the primary features of this floor are the Library and Study Hall. To soften your steps as you make your way around, a carpet drapes the entire floor of the corridor. Remember to keep your voice at a whisper because there's important studying going on in this part of the castle!
You will find large green vases placed in the corners of the corridor as well as a number of portraits. There really isn't anything exciting about the vases, though Peeves is known to pick them up and throw them at unsuspecting passersby -- it is strongly advised that you always stay alert. As for the portraits, you will likely notice right away that most of them are of peaceful landscapes. Nevertheless, you will eventually come across Brutus Scrimgeour (author of The Beaters' Bible), Hengist of Woodcraft (founder of Hogsmeade), and Edward Rabnott (a wizard with three different personalities).
Berns wasn't sure if she looked more green or bone-white but she was kinda hoping maybe they'd pass a mirror on their way to the Hospital Wing so she could find out. Also hoping Recard had mouthwash. Also hoping Nem would give the water now and not later and also also hoping to figure out how in the heck the Slytherin was being such a good friend. Had they learned those skills overnight? She'd never seen 'em.
Well, maybe not never, that wasn't fair.
But knowing Nem....
Bernie didn't say much, but she did hug the trash bin to her chest. "I'll take the water now." Yeah, because she was def dumping this bin somewhere. It was too gross to carry. And she didn't need proof she'd gotten sick, right? That's what the patronus was for. Anyway, she followed Nemesis as they made their exit.
That water bottle was going to need some serious sanitising later. Unless Nem just let Grantham keep the thing; it wasn't like they couldn't find or quite literally conjure up another. Maybe that would be too much overt kindness in one go. She could have it for now, at least, as they'd already offered so graciously.
"I didn't have you down as someone likely to get ferret-sickness," they observed, meandering alongside Grantham. For the lightness in their tone, they might have been remarking on the weather. "That's more Ez's thing. Or maybe that one Flamsteed clone." With proclivity for expelling bodily fluids. She knew the one.
__________________
Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You? You are Chocolate!
Professor Pink | Mrs. Bruce Wayne | I'm on a Goat | Glitterpuff | Dumbledore's Defense Squad | BHB
Bernadette had been planning on keeping the water bottle regardless, just because she wasn't sure what kind of terms she was on with Recard these days, so who knew if that woman would even give her one, and what's more, the quality of the water in this bottle wasn't half-bad, and and and to boot, she'd be keeping it because in the time they'd been walking, it somehow never seemed to run out of water...?
So, once again, she saved Nem from having to make a tough decision. Sigh. What a great friend she was.
"It wasn't...." she started to say, still hugging the stupid trash bin, realizing it, and then dropping it with a clatter. She tried her best to walk around it whilst looking casual and not puke-green. "It was more than that."
That was all. Still, she side-eyed Nem wearily, picking up what he was putting down. "One time thing, Upstead. Don't think I'm going to get you out of every class now when you get all....allllll...." she shook her wrist limply.... "in an uproar."
That was completely the wrong word, but, yeah, she'd noticed. This was Charms all over again, wasn't it? Bernie said nothing specific, though. Nothing at all.
__________________
yeah, there's one thing about me that you should know________________________________ __________________________________________that I can't help from speaking my mind
More than ferret-sickness. Right. "Whatever it was, I suppose it came in handy." She was good for that at least. Nem side-stepped the dropped bucket too, but in the other direction, still twirling their wand in their fingers just for something to do.
They side-eyed Grantham right back. "First of all, I don't need to rely on you for that." Or on anyone. For anything. So jot that down. "Second of all, that was the furthest thing from an uproar, as you well know." A Gryffindor should know better. Disappointing. Maybe she really was still part ferret.
And what do you know, Nem wasn't mentioning anything specific either. What an amazing coincidence.
__________________
Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You? You are Chocolate!
Professor Pink | Mrs. Bruce Wayne | I'm on a Goat | Glitterpuff | Dumbledore's Defense Squad | BHB
Handy, sure, whatever it was. Bernie tried not to look at Nem's hand, twirling the wand as it were. But she couldn't help it; the motion was a bit mesmerizing, so spinny! And yet it made her stomach contort again, like she was a stress ball and someone was giving her a tight squeeze.
"You're right, it was more of a....a what you're doing now..." she replied weakly, taking her eyes off Nem and Nem's hand to close them for a sec. Just a sec. She also may have leaned against the wall for a sec, as she thought of a better word than uproar. Upstart, maybe? Wasn't Nem's whole family a bunch of upstarts????
"Dizzy." Yes, a tizzy, that's what she'd said, wasn't it. Nem could get worked into a rather negative tizzy rather easily, in Bernie's opinion. Not that she said so, either, as she continued to lean against the wall for a sec. Just a sec.
__________________
yeah, there's one thing about me that you should know________________________________ __________________________________________that I can't help from speaking my mind
"A 'what I'm doing now'," Nem repeated, not quite following. They stopped and turned properly to look at Grantham, dropping their wand to their side and just watching her be all... Like That.
Did Grantham not realise how weak she was acting right now, or was this a conscious, deliberate choice? Either way, it was sort of disgusting, but Nem just went on staring at her. It was a decent enough opportunity for a test, really, but one that yielded no results. Whatever.
"Accio," they said, pointing their wand back down the corridor at the abandoned bin. Nem caught it, charmed it clean once more just because, and duplicated the stupid thing. They set one upside down on the floor next to Grantham, and kept the other right side up and available for fairly obvious reasons. "Sit down here, carefully. And sip on the water." They even helped nudge her towards the makeshift seat.
Merlin alive, just make Nemesis Upstead a healer and be done with it.
__________________
Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You? You are Chocolate!
*snickers* 100% bunz wrote that upstart line, she did
Professor Pink | Mrs. Bruce Wayne | I'm on a Goat | Glitterpuff | Dumbledore's Defense Squad | BHB
For the record, Bernie wasn't entirely aware of what she was saying (or doing) either. This had probably been covered before, but she also was a notoriously terrible actress, terrible at thinking in terms of self-preservation. Sometimes a decent strategist, but not (at this age) aware enough to really manipulate others. Lookin' at you and your specialty, Nem.
And so she opened her eyes, feeling a bit flushed and embarrassed that Nem, of all people, was helping her, and sat down, as ordered, on the sudden trash-bin trash-chair. Just so she could close her eyes again and wobble a bit.
"He did it to me on purpose, because I'm Muggle," she muttered to herself, sipping at the water, eyes wide closed. She probably looked like a blind dog or something. Although, in hindsight, it may not have been the best idea to sip on water when one was already feeling queasy. Water can still come up, after all. Bernie remembered this belatedly when she suddenly thought of her mum (a Nurse, not a Healer, once again, a word wizards always got wrong) and how she'd be so nice when someone was sick and not always nice all the other times.
What a good nurse Nem made! Awwwww.
__________________
yeah, there's one thing about me that you should know________________________________ __________________________________________that I can't help from speaking my mind
"You're not muggle, Bernadette." Mutter to yourself all you like; this corridor was otherwise deserted, and Nem wasn't about to miss anything with only Grantham there to entertain them. "You're muggle-born. There's a difference." Objectively and subjectively, as a matter of fact. Was Grantham, or was she not, capable of magic. "But he probably did, I'll give you that."
They stood back against the opposite wall and folded their arms, considering her. Seemed unlikely that she'd be able to get to the Hospital Wing very soon, unless they went a few steps at a time. Milk Carton had sent his patronus ahead though, and sooner or later Recard would either get suspicious or concerned, and come looking. That, or Rent-a-Snitch would drop by. Whatever. Time would tell.
And, for the record.
Nem was always nice.
__________________
Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You? You are Chocolate!
Professor Pink | Mrs. Bruce Wayne | I'm on a Goat | Glitterpuff | Dumbledore's Defense Squad | BHB
"Why's it always gotta be me?" Bernadette wallow-muttered next, feeling her stomach contort again with vice-grip-like intensity. She kept her eyes shut, wincing a few times as she tried to keep down the water. It was, at least, cool. She pressed the bottle to her forehead to better feel its cooling effect.
Nem wasn't Bernadette's mother either, er, far from it. For the record. "Nice" as nice may be.
__________________
yeah, there's one thing about me that you should know________________________________ __________________________________________that I can't help from speaking my mind
Nem was not even going to dignify that with a response. If Grantham had half a brain - and, really, the jury was still out - she could have seen full well that she Gryffindored her way into almost every single one of these situations.
Maybe not this one, the ferret thing, or the wider Neo-Alliance situation either, that was true enough. Regardless, the data showed that Grantham did not exactly put her all into avoiding scenarios that were - gasp - avoidable.
But Nem was being nice today - so nice - and left that unsaid.
"I still don't get why it made you so sick. You think he might have put an extra spell on you? To mess you up?"
So nice.
__________________
Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You? You are Chocolate!
someday, I'll look back on Jan-Feb 21 & wonder what WORLD i was on w/the math puns
Professor Pink | Mrs. Bruce Wayne | I'm on a Goat | Glitterpuff | Dumbledore's Defense Squad | BHB
And the data and conclusions therein would have been correct. But, alas, what was the fun in living a life where the graph is, ultimately, just a flat line?
And AND, despite all that, she still WONDERED how Nem could be so thick. Or, rather, she was suspicious of their intents in making her explicitly state this.
Yes, the latter.
"I get motion sickness and I hate heights and I have never been transfigured before, Nemesis," she rattled off tersley, half-swaying on the bin-stool-seat thing. She wouldn't even entertain the possibility that Carton had put an extra spell on her. Honestly, the jury was out on Nem sometimes; book smarts could only take a soul so far, after all. "I only take flying for the pr--professor." And because it was, indubitably, an easy A. Not an easy O if you hated heights and were Muggleborn and thus suspicious of brooms, but it COULD HAVE BEEN an O still, unlikely if not for the Neo-Dunderheads.
Also, they didn't get REAL HOMEWORK in Flying class, Nem. Duh. It was like a study hall, honestly. A study hall outside.
__________________
yeah, there's one thing about me that you should know________________________________ __________________________________________that I can't help from speaking my mind
"Right, right," Nem replied, nodding in faux-realisation, though the gesture was hardly going to be appreciated. They oh-so-casually slid down the wall so that they instead sat on the floor, knees bent in front of them like a shield, Grantham just beyond. Better. "Forgot I was in full possession of the facts."
They kept their tone light, like they generally did, while fully aware that if she was feeling so off kilter their tone was unlikely to soften any sarcasm.
It was funny, the way Nem could be so unsurprised at the stuff Grantham (or anyone, actually), came out with, and yet be so baffled by it. That went for... most of what she'd just said. Hatred (fear?) of heights. Motion sickness. Putting herself on the back foot just to be around a professor. "Wild." There were a lot of avenues Nem could go down here, but none of it was anything they were willing to do with Bernadette Grantham, so they skirted the lot. "Never cared much for flying, myself." Nor for a pointless class, either.
__________________
Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You? You are Chocolate!
Professor Pink | Mrs. Bruce Wayne | I'm on a Goat | Glitterpuff | Dumbledore's Defense Squad | BHB
Bernie didn't even rise to the rhetorical situation, alas. She wasn't feeling well enough to mentally spar with Nemesis Upstead.
She decided to just keep her eyes closed for a second, bottle pressed to the forehead still, as she got an idea right there in that spot between her eyes, where her brain was still developing that lovely prefrontal cortex, yeah?.
"Flying is a bad class with a great professor," she drawled, still thinking, though it didn't exactly make her feel any better to think. "But Transfiguration...." And the thing with Carton, targeting her, had her feeling ALL SORTS OF WAYS about it.
She popped open one eye to look at? for? Nem? Oh, there he was, on the ground there. "I should get back at Carton, shouldn't I." It wasn't a question, but it should have been. She had been a bit humiliated there in Transfiguration, being called out for being an obnoxiously proud Muggleborn, and then being ferreted for it. Wouldn't a little retribution, nothing too major, be fair?
Bernie tried not to sway again on her seat, but thinking about this... bit of revenge... had her feeling a small bit better. "His office," she said suddenly. She'd been past there many times in the hopes of finding a mild-mannered way to prank him without attracting too much attention. But she wasn't good at flying under the radar nor being mild-mannered. Know who was (or COULD BE) both? Nemesis.
__________________
yeah, there's one thing about me that you should know________________________________ __________________________________________that I can't help from speaking my mind
Nem opted not to finish Grantham's sentence. One of those moments where a shared, lingering silence said just as much - more - than trying to fill it. A lot of moments like that in life.
In case anyone wanted to jot that down.
They kept silent, too, at the question that wasn't actually a question, and only smiled. Grantham could, and would, get there on her own, was already halfway there. Nem would play the role of supportive friend, something they'd been very adept at today, if they did say so themselves.
And they did.
"How would you get in?" Nem prompted, already theorising several ways to go about some kind of sabotage - ranging from finding a weak spot by which to enter the office, to plain knocking on the door - but withholding suggestions for now. Aside from keeping any and all ideas close to their chest, they were curious as to whether Grantham had taken their words from last term on board, words about critical thinking, and providing men with fish. Certain badly-executed schemes definitely had not led them to believe it just yet.
Mostly, however, Nem wanted to know if she had any truly devious ideas; their tolerance for kid level stuff had been waning especially rapidly since the Big Man had come out into the open, yes, but actually since even earlier, when he had started their special lessons. So make it good, Grantham. Make a kid feel alive.
__________________
Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You? You are Chocolate!
Professor Pink | Mrs. Bruce Wayne | I'm on a Goat | Glitterpuff | Dumbledore's Defense Squad | BHB
Having this task to focus on, whenever it might occur, was making Bernadette sway less, to be sure. But she still wasn't ENTIRELY capable she could live up to Nem's expectations in this very moment.
Fortunately, she could tell that Nem hadn't done the investigation she had, and so.... all she said for now was, "Don't have to actually go in, in order to...." to do just what, perhaps, would remain to be seen. For now, she trailed off with another thoughtful frown, tapping the lid/top of the water bottle to her chin as she thought. Then a soft sigh escaped her before she could stop herself, even as she eyed up Nem, a bit like this . Maybe she was thinking of MUCH OF THE ADVICE Nemesis had given her and maybe she was not
Either way, she felt better enough (revitalized by an idea! the quickest way to heal yourself!) that she realized they should really get going to the hospital wing. "Let's go see Recard first." Yes, they could whisper and scheme under their breath as they walked; that was a much better idea.
__________________
yeah, there's one thing about me that you should know________________________________ __________________________________________that I can't help from speaking my mind
Nem waited, to see if any elaboration was coming. Alas.
It was looking more and more likely Grantham was going to keep that water bottle, though. Nem met her eye and held it, as ever, and eventually nodded. "Alright." They pushed to their feet - almost spider-like in their movements - and crossed the width of the corridor to her again. "Let's try and make it all the way to the Hospital Wing this time."
Nem held out a handm to help Grantham up. You know. That whole good friend thing.
__________________
Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You? You are Chocolate!
Professor Pink | Mrs. Bruce Wayne | I'm on a Goat | Glitterpuff | Dumbledore's Defense Squad | BHB
And Bernie accepted that hand, because she needed a good friend. AND because she was busy thinking, a bit of a rare activity for her, since usually the minute she had a thought it came rushing out her mouth. Hmm.
She nodded a little to Nem, still blinking and thinking, but not too much of either because throwing up really took a lot out of someone, y'know? Anyway. They started down the hallway to the Hospital Wing.
__________________
yeah, there's one thing about me that you should know________________________________ __________________________________________that I can't help from speaking my mind
.jpg)
Fourth-Floor Corridor 
x12 
x12
. Maybe she was thinking of MUCH OF THE ADVICE Nemesis had given her and maybe she was not
