survivor | HARRY POTTER

-Chapter 6-

"I told you, Jess, I'm fine. Seriously, don't worry. I guess I just had a nervous breakdown or something." Alyssa sighed for the millionth time that day. It had been the same all week, and even as October came crawling by, spreading a damp chill over the grounds and into the castle, the questions had continued. Millie had accepted that Alyssa didn't want to talk about it a while back, but Jess, being the concerned friend she was, refused to drop the subject until she knew exactly what was wrong with the girl she considered a twin sister.

Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, was kept extremely busy by a sudden spate of colds among the staff and students. Her Pepperup Potion worked instantly, despite the fact that it left the drinker smoking at the ears; something Alyssa and Jess found out when Millie had walked into the Great Hall with smoke billowing from her ears like a train. Raindrops the size of bullets thundered on the castle window for days upon end, the lake rising to the point where magical re-enforcements were put up to prevent the grounds from flooding. The flowerbeds were turned into muddy streams, and the extremely large pumpkins Hagrid had been growing in his patch had swelled to the size of garden sheds. Millie said it became her new life ambition to live inside one of them when she was older.

Oliver Wood's enthusiasm for regular training sessions, however, was not dampened, and Alyssa and Millie had a routine perfected for when Jess would return from practice drenched and shivering. This was why Harry, Jess, Alyssa, and Millie could be found late one stormy Saturday afternoon a few days before Halloween returning to the Gryffindor Tower, drenched to the bone and splattered with mud. Even aside from the rain and wind it hadn't been a happy session, as both Millie and Alyssa had observed from the partial shelter of the stands. Fred and George, who had been spying on the Slytherin team with Jess, had seen for themselves the speed of the new Nimbus 2001's. They reported that the Slytherin team were no more than seven emerald blues shooting through the air like jump-jets.

As the four of them squelched along the deserted corridor, they came across someone who look just as preoccupied as they were. Nearly Headless Nick, the Ghost Of Gryffindor Tower, was staring morosely out of a large window, muttering profanities under his breath. "Sup Nick." Alyssa grinned as she wrung her hair out over her shoulder, splattering the floor with water. "Hello, hello." Nick said, staring and turning around before beaming half heartedly at the four students before him.

He wore a dashing, plumed hat on his long, silvery hair and a tunic with a ruff, which concealed the fact that this neck was almost completely severed. He was as pale as vapour, and Jess could literally see right through him to the dark sky and torrential rain hammering down outside. "You look troubled, young students." Nick observed with a frown as he folded a transparent letter, tucking it inside his doublet rather aggressively. "You're one to talk." Jess said, but her voice held no sarcasm, only concern for the ghost. "Ah, a matter of no importance. It's not as though I really wanted to join... thought I'd apply, but apparently, I 'don't fulfil the requirements.'" In spite of his airy tone, there was a look of great bitterness on his face.

"But you would think, wouldn't you, that getting hit forty five times in the neck with a blunt axe would qualify you to join the Headless Hunt?" Jess's eyebrows rose at Nick's sudden eruption, Harry quickly nodding his head in agreement. "Um, sure..."
"If it makes you feel better, then sure." Alyssa nodded.
"I mean, no one wishes more than I do that it had all been quick and clean, and my head had come off properly. I mean, it would have saved me a great deal of pain and ridicule. However -" Nick paused and dramatically whipped the letter from his pocket, unfolding it and clearing his throat loudly.

"We can only accept huntsmen Who's heads have parted company with their bodies. We appreciate that it would be impossible otherwise for members to participate in hunt activities such as Horseback Head-Juggling and Head Polo. It is with the greatest regret, therefore, that I must inform you that you do not fulfil the requirements. With very best wishes, Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore."