The pathway to the Hospital Wing oddly wasn't crowded; the students had obviously taken Lafay seriously when she told them to go STRAIGHT to their common rooms. Fear of being lit on fire was enough.

Holding the door to the ward open for the Headmaster and the levitated Vindictus, Fina peeked in .... Now where was Cece? She had gone ahead to get things ready....

Max's form was gently deposited on the open hospital bed, and only then was Tate able to breathe a sigh of relief. No mishaps, no new head wounds, and now Max was under Cece's care. He stepped back to join Fina near the door.

"Sort of takes the joy out of the Slytherin victory, doesn't it? Although I don't suppose you mind that part so much."

Hearing the door open Cece came from around the curtain in time to see Max get dumped place on the bed. "Thank you for bringing him up here." That had given her just enough time to get herself there and get the room prepared for him.

Not waiting for a response from either of them she went to work checking the professor over. Strange. Everything seemed to be normal, except for the fact that he was unconscious. "I knew something like this was going to happen. The old fool just wouldn't listen to me." Taking her faithful bottle of smelling salts out of her pocket she waved it under his nose trying to wake him up. If he was anything like the students she had used this on he would be up in no time.

"Are you suggesting he'd had symptoms that led up to this little incident?" Merlin's witless nephew... if Max Vindictus knew he was ill and had continued blithely along to the Quidditch match, then he deserved to fall off his broom from the top of the stadium. In fact, Tate would take him back out there and drop him for his trouble.

"What's the prognosis?"

So, Max had failed to inform the headman of his heath issues had he. Well he was going to find out now. "Well, he came to see me a couple of weeks ago about some headaches he's been having." Or more like not headaches, but odd sensations. "He also said he tends to forget things." Like what a simple pair of tongs are used for.

Not seeing any response from Max as she waved the smelling salts under his nose, Cece put the stopper back in the vial. "It's not looking so good here Headmaster. He didn't even flinch at me waving this under his nose," she said as she pocketed the vial.

That was just... great. Professors who were ill, hiding their symptoms? Was Max ill from some sort of addlepating dragon pox, or was it a result of some of the other strangeness going on this year? Crazy animals last term... crazy animal Max this term?

"And did you have any diagnosis at the time? I don't mean to put you on the spot, Cece, but I'd like to know whether he's contagious."

"Well, he said he noticed the symptoms when he was stressed, like after classes. He said it wasn't really a pain, more of an odd sensation, then he would forget things. I told him he needed to stop teaching for a while but he just laughed at me. Said there would be no Quidditch without him." In fact, he laughed so hard she thought he was going to fall out of his seat. "I wouldn't say he was contagious. I'd say it was more of him not eating properly and being over worked. He's not a young man anymore. He needs to slow down a bit." Of course he would never listen to her about that.

The old fool. Look at him now. Can't get much slower than this now can he.

"I believe you just called the chap 'old', and if he wasn't out cold right now, he'd smack you around with the pointy end of a broom," Tate smiled, albeit grimly. Not really that amusing, to be fair.

"So long as you think it's just age and diet, I'll leave him to your care. I can't help but remember he was first to pick up that blasted orb, you know? But if you say it isn't that, then I must bow to your expertise."

Well yes, it did sound as if she was calling him old, which maybe he really wasn't that old. But still, the symptoms he was displaying lead her to believe his age was playing a role here. "Well, if he ever comes to I'll gladly hand him a broom and let him try." Right after she poked him with it herself for not following her orders.

Headman say what?

"Are you suggesting the orb is the cause of his problems... not his age?" And why was it she didn't already know he had been the first one to handle that thing? "What ever happened to that thing?" Someone needed to be checking that thing out. Or more importantly, maybe they should be checking out all those that have touched the orb... especially if they were acting like old Max here.

"I'm not suggesting anything. You're the Healer here. I'm merely reminded that he picked up the blamed thing last term. I've heard tell that others handled it too, although I don't think I could tell you who or in what order. I've locked it up in my office, and we had the Department of Mysteries Head in to look at it, but the most we were able to determine was that it wasn't a prophecy orb and that, although there are charms on it, they won't make anyone go mad." Which... that was something, although it seemed sort of like an insignificant accomplishment now.

"I'll get someone else in to look at it again to see if we can determine the charm. Is it possible this is related to the orb?"

"Well Max is the first one who's come to me complaining of headaches and memory loss." Which was why she had automatically assumed his issues were stemming from his age. Although there was that Krummy kid Kurumi last term. It seems she hadn't been able to control the color of her hair. Maybe that had been a symptom of her touching the orb. Even though she had never said so, Cece was pretty sure she had handled it. That kid seemed to be everywhere and in everyone's business.

The orb was still in the school? "You mean to tell me an official came here and didn't bother taking the orb back to the ministry with them?" What kind of official was that? WHY would he leave that thing in a school... full of curious children? "I'm starting to think a lot of things around this place are happening because of that orb." Especially now that she knows it's still in the castle. "You sure that things still locked up? Some mischievous elf or even a sneaky student hasn't gotten their hands on it again... have they?"

"It's locked up. The Ministry official offered to take it, but he was going to submit it to someone or other and have it processed and all that... but it would end up disappearing from sight before we had our questions answered. That doesn't help us any, so I asked to keep it. It's safer with me." And it was too, so long as he didn't foolishly leave it out for baby house elves to find.

"If only we knew who touched it next, we could watch for others to have the same reaction. In the meantime, though... we need to diagnose him and start treatment."

Okay, so Cece had to admit Tate had a good reason for wanting to keep the orb here at the school. What surprised her the most though was that the ministry person just left it. What kind of official was he just letting a school official tell him what to do. "Okay, so is someone coming back to check the thing out again? Or have you thought about having Professor Bedllaire check it out? You did say there are charms on it. Maybe she could help figure it out." Who better than the charms professor to help figure out what charm is used.

"We don't even need to know who touched it next really. I think at this point we just need to know who touched it." Other than the little house elf that found it fun to play catch with it. "As for diagnosing and treating him," she said glancing back at Max who looked like he was catching up on some much needed sleep, "other than keeping him comfortable, there's not a whole lot we can do until we know just exactly what it is we're dealing with." She could just make things worse if she tried anything without knowing what it was she was dealing with.

Maybe she should call in a specialist of her own to help out here.

"I'll talk to the lovely professor and see if she has any insight into the orb, but in the meantime..." He gestured at Max's prone form. It was disappointing and a bit scary to have the Flying professor down for the count, especially if it was an indicator that others would be in similar straits soon.

"I suppose we need to find out as much about the orb as possible in the meantime. Even if it has nothing to do with it, I'd like to know what we have."

Yes, Fina had heard the Headmaster when he said something about taking the joy out of the Snake's win. Which he was right, she didn't mind that so much. But as the Healer came around - from her office? - Fina found herself unfocused on them and focused her attention on the unmoving Max. Not really seeing.

She heard them talking - the healer and the headmaster - bits and pieces, yes. Orb. Old age. Headaches. Drifts and drabs.

"How do you reckon we should scout out who else touched the orb? Post a shiny flyer in the entrance hall and ask anyone who touched it to visit the healer?" Fina asked suddenly, perking back up.

Cece looked at Tate with a raised eyebrow. The lovely professor? Did he refer to all his staff in this manner? "You should probably talk to her sooner than later then." As in what are you waiting for? Go. Find her. Now.

Turning her attention to Professor Hadley, Cece also gave her a raised eyebrow look. She couldn't be serious here, could she? Posting such a sign was sure to bring out every crazy start a panic. "Well, since I'm needed here I'll leave that up to you. I'd suggest starting with someone we know touched it though... like that little lion... Anya. You know, the one at the feast that was playing catch with the orb," with that crazy house elf. "And while you're at it, maybe we should check on that elf too." Would they react the same way a human would?

It was a good thing Cece didn't need much sleep to function. She had a feeling she wasn't going to be getting much in the near future.

"By the way, you haven't touched that orb have you Headmaster?" She asked before the man had a chance to leave. If he had, then she most likely wouldn't be letting him leave now. He would need to be checked over too.

She could always send a patronus to Professor Bellaire.

"Of course I didn't touch it," Tate scoffed. He'd recognized it as a foreign object from the first, but perhaps his sense of caution came from his time on the ITF. Wherever it came from, he wasn't going to go picking up magical objects without thinking it through. He might be a Gryffindor, but he wasn't a fool.

"Perhaps there's a way to phrase it so that we don't cause panic? I just don't want this..." He indicated Max's prone form. "I don't want this to start happening over the school. But if Max's illness has nothing to do with that orb, then we don't want to worry anyone for no reason."

Catching the look from the Healer, Fina gave her a look of her own. Really? Did she actually think she was SERIOUS about the shiny flyer? No. Yes, they needed to draw attention to symptoms students may or may not be experiencing, but they needed subtlety too.

Who touched the orb? "There were other Professors with Max the night the orb was found in the forest too..." She rubbed at her temple trying to recall who talked about in the Great Hall, when they discovered Max lost it. "William was there.... wasn't he?" Someone else too. Gemma? No. "And probably Oliver or Waylon too." Cause they were like a triage or something.

"But yes, we should check on the elf. If the cause is the orb, then the who knows if it affects humans the same way as creatures."

Avoiding panic. Yes, a good thing. "So why not phrase it, addressing the symptoms that Max talked about to Cece?" You know; if they HAVE similar symptoms, when they then go and visit to the Healer, Cece can ask them if they touched the orb. "You mentioned that he ... complained of headaches ... and memory loss, right?" she asked, turning to the Healer. Of course the memory loss could be from age, but who knew really?

"I hate to put up a sign and create some sort of panic. Can you imagine the number of students who get a headache from staying up too late, forgot their textbook the next morning, and suddenly believe that they're suffering from a mystery disease?" Tate sighed heavily over the panic and hypochondria that would ensue.

"But I can't see how else to go about it. We need to keep it stark and simple. No drama or glory in it."

The Headman had a point. Too many students probably suffered from headaches, from her class alone. Coupled with the other 8 ... 9 .... 10.... classes they took, she could imagine the forgetfulness. So where did that leave them?

Back to square one? That wasn't very progressive.

"Cece can weed out the hypochondriacs? Or perhaps even... she can have someone helping her to weed them out if it turns out there's a massive rush." You know, someone to maybe question them about their study habits, what classes they were taking, how frequent the headaches were ... before they saw Cece.

"Question them first. If it turns out to be nothing in their symptoms, we tell them so and send them on their way."

Cece was not liking the sound of this sign going up around the castle one little bit. Already she was picturing a waiting room full of pufferkids students thinking they were dying. Things were bad enough as it was. Something like this was sure to only lead to one thing... panic and utter chaos.

Was Hadley serious here? As if Cece didn't already have enough things to do, now this glorified math professor thought she should weed out the hypochondriacs. "I have a better idea. How about you weed them out for me. This sign was your idea after all." Not to mention most of the hypochondriacs were going to be from her house anyway.

"Whatever it is we do we should do it soon." Meaning they should do it since she was going to be busy trying to figure out what was going on with Max.

"Fine." Tate couldn't stand around and be idle, debating the merits of whether a sign would help or not. "Hadley puts up the sign. I'm going to go owl the Ministry. Let me know if we have any takers, and I'll be back to check on Max shortly."

He gave one long look to the bed where Max lay, completely still and lifeless, before heading out the door.

"Only for you." Oliver said as he walked up the stairs to the third floor with his best mate being levitated in front of him. "Would I take orders from Cece Tillstorm." He really was in no mood to put up with her accusing tones and smart aleck comments. But he couldn't very well leave his friend on his own.

As he entered the hospital wing, he quickly scanned the room numbers and finding the room he needed, he walked inside and placed William onto the bed. He noticed that Max was on the next bed and he raised his eyebrows. Seems to be a trend.

Oliver took the seat next to the bed and heaved a deep sigh, he supposed it wouldn't be Hogwarts if something weird didn't happen during the term. He hoped that Cece, knew how to fix his friend. He looked over at William and felt a sense of guilt in the pit of his stomach. He had been keeping something important from his friend but had been afraid to tell him for fear of his reaction.

Maybe he could tell him now. Maybe it wouldn't appear so bad especially after what had just happened to him. Or maybe William would be so furious about him keeping this secret that he might wake up and want to strangle him. Oliver was willing to take that risk, so he leaned forward and in a low voice, he told his mate his secret. "I've been seeing your sister."

So a sign was going to get posted no matter what Cece thought about the matter. Whatever. Tate was the boss so she would go along with this little plan but Hadley would be the one screening the little... darlings before Cece would even talk to them.

Cece glanced over at Hadley as Tate left the room. "I do hope you know what you're getting yourself into here with this little sign of yours." Oh wait, of course she knew, she was the puffer head of house so she had to know how annoying those kids were.

Stepping back over to Max she checked him over again only to find no changes what so ever in him. Still breathing normal, looking like he's just taking a mid afternoon nap.

----------------------------------------------------------
ooc: Different timeline

Cece quickly and not so carefully made her way from the dungeon to the third floor levitating Krummy the Prefect in front of her. Hopefully the others were following behind with the other students. She really didn't want to have to go back and track them down.

As she entered the Observation Room she quickly looked for William. Ah, there her was, and Oliver was there....


"What are you doing now Oliver?" she asked as she lowered the girl on the bed next to the two professors. The man looked like he was about ready to lean in and kiss the motionless CoMC professor. "I doubt kissing him will wake him up."

Yeah, this apologizing to Oliver thing was going to be harder than she thought.