The earlier sympathy being shown towards him had slowly evaporated, and he was acutely aware now that the level of snickering at his appearance was increasing.

He sat down to one end of the Gryffindor table to eat, trying to avoid making eye contact with anyone at all, although he couldn't fail to notice the family sat at the top table.

Yvette looked at Magnus, and smirked slightly at the bruise on his face. It sure was big. She raised an eyebrow at Madison.

"Wonder what happened to him." She whispered, trying not to giggle.

"I have no idea," Madison whispered back. "But ouch...that has got to hurt..."

She glanced around at some of the other snickering students, and sent him a sympathetic smile before turning back to Yvette.

"Have you met him already? Something happen?" she asked, remembering the guilty expression on her face when Magnus was mentioned earlier.

"He's a braggart, that's all. He was being rude to Jon...and I kind of told him he deserved to be a Slytherin because of how conceited he is." Yvette grinned. "You should have seen his face."

**********

Niki's mind wandered as she ate mechanically. It was...well, it was food, and her stomach received it eagerly. The food at Hogwarts was a far cry from that at home.

...home...

...Papa...

A wave of nausea hit. She leapt to her feet, the chair catching on something on the floor and falling over backwards, but she was half-running, half-stumbling to get away from everyone before the inevitable happened.

Sarah just coming into the Great Hall noted Niki's distress as she jumped up from the Slytherin table and asked.

"Niki, are you OK? Do you want to get anyone for you?"

Niki's face was decidedly tinged with green, and she shook her head, mouth clamped firmly shut, and disappeared into the bathroom. When she emerged a few minutes later she looked very tired, but managed a tiny half-smile at Sarah.

"Niki, gosh I hope that wasn't a reaction to dinner or worse Arcadia's revenge! You look a little less green - are you feeling better now? Maybe you should get some air."

"I'm fine," Niki lied. She wasn't, but there wasn't anything Sarah could do to help. "I think I'll go back to the dormitory. It must've been something I ate."

"OK, as long as you are sure." said Sarah still obviously quite concerned. "It's Potions first thing in the morning. A few of us said we might gather in the room downstairs that we had as a Third Year common room in autumn term to do some revision after dinner if you're feeling better later on."

Oh, no...exams...she still had exams...and she had to go and talk to Professor Grimalkin--she had missed both his exams. She nodded. "All right. I'll remember." Maybe she would come and study. Maybe.

"Cool, hope to see you later on." said Sarah. "Nimmy has gone off to sit her Alchemy exam. I am hoping she might gather some intelligence while there though I can't imagine ole Snape giving anyone the time of day let alone a clue as to tomorrow's ordeal!

Niki smiled politely. Sarah wanted to make conversation. She already thought something was wrong...Niki didn't want to talk about it. Suddenly, she didn't want to talk to anyone. She swallowed hard...what were the words to that Breath-Freshening Charm?

Sarah's stomach gave a hungry rumble. "Eeps! I'd better get a move on." said Sarah, "I need some food before I start thinking about studying and the tables will be cleared soon. I'll tell you all about the new boy I met earlier when you're feeling better."

She gave a sweet smile, "Niki, if you still feel unwell after you've lain down for a while maybe you should see Madame Pomfrey. She has some great potions for poorly tums."

"All right. Thank you." Niki started to sidle away, slightly nervously.

Nothing to fear! Sarah wasn't about drag Niki off to Madame Pomfrey's against her will. With a final encouraging smile at Niki, she headed into the Great Hall and dinner.