Post by Cormac McLaggen on Apr 19, 2017 11:02:32 GMT -5
The Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests - or NEWTS - were so accurately named that it was at first laughable, then not funny in the slightest. Cormac was behind on every subject with the exception of Potions (he knew better than to aggravate Professor Snape, plus it was his best subject anyway) but he didn't feel the slightest pinch of guilt when he decided to visit Hogsmeade that weekend. Yeah - he had all week to bore himself with studying, and Hogsmeade visits came once every few months. He could afford to enjoy himself for a bit, right?
Even though all he had been doing was enjoying himself.
Yesterday he had entertained spectators in the Gryffindor common room how many Peppermint Toads he could swallow at a time. The sensation of those things hopping about in the stomach was unsettling if you consumed one at the time, but stuffing a record of thirteen inside on one turn... let's just say it didn't end pretty. Fortunately there was a waste paper basket that he could throw his head to when they came back up again. But the jeers, the cheers and the roars was something Cormac lived for. If he wasn't in the spotlight at least once a week, he became quite agitated.
The day after and Cormac was no longer feeling sick. He'd gone to the all-Wizarding village with a couple of the other boys, but had split from them when he mentioned a tiring task he needed to fulfil. It was his sister's birthday coming up soon, so he needed to buy her a present. First he thought of buying her something that jumped out and screamed at her, but he happened across Gladrags Wizardwear and thought, perhaps, he should be a little more serious this year.
He arranged his hair and walked into the shop. There were airy robes, curve-hugging corsets and thigh-revealing skirts that he stayed well away from. Where he would love to see some of the girls at Hogwarts in such things, he felt slightly sick again when thinking of his sister owning them. So, striding past with confident purpose, he walked towards a rack of ladies gloves instead. This would be a lot easier if he had someone to help who wasn't just trying to have him give up the entire contents of his Gringotts vault. And someone who he didn't really have to ask either, because he never ever asked for help with anything.
This was going to be a long day...