Passionate Professors || Sebastian Sallow

Part 1 | Ch. 38 - Hospital Wing

The chaos that followed Issac Reyes' sudden collapse during dueling club was unending. Sebastian and I frantically pushed by the curious but scared students that flanked the stage, both of us quickly kneeling at his side. Issac's body was shaking viciously in fetal position. He heaved in and out shallow breaths, losing and regaining consciousness over and over. I watched as his dark eyes rolled backwards, his lids fluttering over them. 

"We have to get him to the Hospital Wing immediately!" I shouted at no one in particular. Rounding up the four largest boys in the crowd, I motioned for each of them to take a trembling limb, hoisting him up off the ground. "Everyone else, back to your dorms, now!" It was an order and the students took it seriously, all hurrying in different directions with their respective houses.

Issac's breathing was labored as his body continued to shake in the hands of the four boys. Clammy sweat formed on his forehead and his slick black hair had become undone, strands falling around his face. I gently brushed them out of his now-closed eyes. The effects of the Erudus potion had worn off but there was no doubt in my mind that he had been poisoned.

Hogwarts had continuously been cautious about potion consumption since the beginning of the investigation over the Summer. School officials ensured that no one could taint the supply by locking it up and only allowing their very own Potions Master to brew and access them, with the addition of the Hospital Wing's use for Wiggenweld. If Sebastian had in fact brewed the batch Issac drank...there were only two ways the potion could have become deadly. He would have either had to have made it with contaminated ingredients-his homegrown contaminated ingredients or he poisoned it from the start without anyone noticing. I shoved the terrifying thought down, swallowing it like a pill.

The four boys, one Slytherin, two Gryffindor, and a Hufflepuff, carried Issac, swiftly hauling him up  and down multiple winding sets of staircases before we arrived at the Hospital Wing at last. We frantically entered the quiet infirmary, Madam Francis taking in the situation before scurrying over from behind her desk. The frail old woman had her gray hair pulled back in a cream bonnet. It matched the cream frilly robe she adorned over her heavy, navy blue, long sleeve dress. The wrinkled skin on her face gave way to a permanently concerned expression.

"Oh dear, what happened?" The perturbed woman pointed to an empty cot for the boys to rest Issac on. They did their best to set him down easily but carrying his full body weight had taken a toll on their strength. Finally, they lowered him down with a light thud.

"Thank you all, please join your classmates in the dormitories and stay there for the rest of the evening." Sebastian demanded, practically pushing them out of the door.

I stopped the sole Slytherin boy who I remembered from my classes to be sixth year Dylan Moore. I put my hand on his shoulder and quieted my voice. "Mr. Moore...is Issac a pure-blood?"

The ash-haired boy looked at me with wide green eyes, filled with fear. I could tell that he was much too gentle to be in Slytherin, he'd certainly be reliving this event in his nightmares tonight. "Yes, he is, why?"

"Thank you, please hurry back to your dormitory." I nodded without answering his question, letting him catch up to the three others ahead of him, who were already halfway down the stairs. Now was not the time to start a panic that half-bloods were in more danger of the poison than pure-bloods, since the Ministry hadn't released that information to the public yet.

The Headmaster rushed in, Herita Longbottom and Mudiwa Onai in tow. Issac was still shaking but he was much more pale. "We came as quickly as we could." Garreth was out of breath from running up the spiral stairs. I wondered how they had already heard the news.

Madam Francis was bustling around Issac's bed, wetting a cloth for his face and placing an empty bucket on the floor nearby. "What in Merlin's name happened? How did he get poisoned?" She must've known the signs already.