Hogwarts and the New Headmaster

5. HEADMASTER MURMANN

"Vir, can you hear me?"

Viridis woke to find himself being shaken by the shoulders. He opened his eyes, only to be blinded by a bright blue light hovering inches in front of his face. He slammed his eyes shut.

"Vir, wake up!"

Recognizing Dawn's voice, he cautiously cracked one eye open. The light had been replaced with Dawn's face, her eyebrows knitted together in concern.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think so." He peered past Dawn and saw the roof of the carriage, illuminated by the light from her wand. He turned his head to the side and discovered he lay on the floor of the carriage, his overnight bag lying open next to him, its contents scattered across the floorboards.

"What happened?" he asked. His head throbbed and the carriage seemed to be spinning.

"That's what I want to know. Everyone else arrived fifteen minutes ago, so I came out here looking for you." She sighed. "I thought you'd chickened out on me."

He ran his fingers along his forehead and found a small bump above his left eye. "The last thing I remember was the carriage pulling up to the castle—" He gasped and turned to the carriage window. Hogwarts loomed over him in the moonlight. Terror stabbed him through the heart and he squeezed his eyes shut again.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Dawn asked, fear rising in her voice.

"Nothing." He struggled to quell the panic rising inside him. "My head hurt for a few seconds. That's all."

"That doesn't sound like nothing to me. Maybe I should get Madame Sanare."

Viridis forced his eyes open, making sure to face away from the window. "No, don't bother. I feel better now." The last thing he needed was the school nurse asking him questions. He shuddered at the memories of St. Mungo's.

"Are you sure? You don't look any better. In fact, you look terrible."

Viridis glanced down at himself and discovered he was curled up into a ball, his legs pulled tightly against his chest. "It's no big deal," he said, forcing his body to uncoil. "I must have dozed off and fallen out of my seat."

Dawn stared at him incredulously. "You fell asleep during the ride up from Hogsmeade station?"

Viridis climbed back into his seat. "I haven't slept much the past few nights. You know how I get before tests." His stomach emitted a low growl.

Her eyes narrowed. "What did you eat for breakfast this morning?"

"I was too nervous to eat breakfast."

"What about lunch?"

"I bought a sandwich on the train."

Dawn pointed to the sandwich lying on the floor, still in its wrapping. "You mean that one?"

"Er, yeah."

"So what have you eaten today?"

Viridis lowered his head and blushed. "Half a box of Beast Belchers."

She rolled her eyes. "Men. You have no idea how to take care of yourselves. You probably passed out from hunger."

Viridis said nothing, content to let her believe that had been the problem. She began stuffing his belongings back into the overnight bag.

"Come on. Let's get you inside before you pass out again."

"Inside?" His voice sounded as if he were being strangled. The thought of leaving the carriage twisted his stomach into a knot.