I opened my eyes, finding myself on one of the eight stretchers in the Nurse's Office. There was a humming coming from behind a wall of billowing paper, only showing the silhouette of a man bending over something.
"Ah, you're awake," the Nurse said, lifting the screen up. That revealed him with some red viscous liquid running down a white apron, and behind him, on a stretcher, was a corpse. Bright green hair, a melted face, limbs missing...
'Dumbass,' I told myself, remembering how easily I drank the tea. Now he was going to harvest my organs and use them in some black magic ritual. I sighed, rubbing my forehead.
"What did you do to me?" I asked, keeping my eyes on him. He kept that strange smile on his face, one that might be carved on his ghastly face.
"I examined you, quite thoroughly I might add," he said, pulling a stool over from behind the paper screen. As the Nurse sat down, he smoothed out his apron, wiping more blood on it. "And not a thing wrong with your body."
My eyes narrowed on the silhouette of the corpse. "What is that?" I asked. He turned around, and sharply lowered the screen.
With a calm voice and a calm smile, he answered, "That's just a passion project. I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone. Oh, and it was never alive, so don't worry about that." For some reason, I trusted his words. He didn't seem the type to lie for bad reasons. "Can I ask what happened to you?"
I froze, narrowing my eyes and attempted to tense my body. Everything still felt a little lethargic, like whatever he drugged me with was still in my blood. How'd he know? Nothing should've changed about my physical body, from my simple experiments. Did he check my-
"It's your eyes," the Nurse said, pointing to his own eye. "You don't understand. Of course you don't. What you need to know is your eyes told me you'd seen something very, very bad. How long ago?" He pulled out a notepad and a pen, staying still and quiet, never taking his eyes off of me.
"None of your business," I said, grinding my teeth. "How long have I been sleeping?"
Tilting his head, he seemed to contemplate my answer. "Very well. Just long enough for classes to finish. I gave you a single Eversleep Leaf. It's quite a wonderful relaxant. Here, take some." There was no chance to answer as he pushed a bundle of cloth into my hands, light but clearly full of some kind of leaf. "Make sure to only use one leaf every twenty hours, only if you need help sleeping. And I do mean that."
I broke eye contact first, looking down at the bag that now felt heavier than moments prior. Then I looked back at him. "Wait, did you say classes finished?"
He nodded, and I threw myself off the bed, landing on my feet like a very tired person. "Have a nice day!" he said, waving me off as I went out the door, pocketing the bag in my inner pocket.
I started off towards the Faculty Offices, going through the list of names Harry had given me. I walked past crowds of children, talking and gossiping like babies do, about things I didn't care about. Down right near the bottom of the list was the Nurse's name - Victor Frankenstein. What a weird name. Whatever. The piece of paper disappeared back into my pocket.
I reached the Faculty Offices soon enough, and saw that each Professor had their own office to themselves. What was Professor Pretty Boy's actual name, again?
Just as I was about to pull the paper out again, a door slammed open, voices exploding out.
"-wasting my time, Shue!" said a loud voice, the owner stepping out of the doorway just a second later. A tall woman who held a smoking pipe in one hand and wearing a large-brimmed pointy hat appeared. Now that was a woman.
"Apologies, Headmaster, but I'm sure he's just about to arrive," said a voice reminding me of a face that ticked me off just thinking about it. Shue, his name was, and that pissed me off even more. Why does he need a pretty name, too?
Shue looked down both sides of the corridor, before his eyes stopped on me. "There he is, Headmaster," he said, pointing straight at me.
Wait - was this who he wanted to invite? The Headmaster? Are you joking.
She stared at me, her eyes hidden beneath the brim of her hat, but I could feel her stare boring holes through me. "I see," she said dryly. "What are you waiting for?" She walked back into the office, and Shue waved me over. I took a breath before walking into the room, the doors magically shutting behind me. I've survived an Inquisitor's interrogation before; I'll be fine...
I'll be fine, right?