Madam Pomfrey didn't bother talking sense to the boy until early the next morning... of the day after all the students had left Hogwarts for the summer. She'd checked with the Headmistress that no, there were no scheduled departures for Simon Tam and to schedule one to Osiris was impossible.
"Wake up!" she called imperiously waving a thermos of hot cocoa under Simon's nose where he crouched, asleep, on the stoop next to a great pile of his belongings.
Simon grunted and looked up at his mentor balefully, but accepted a mug.
"Where's my train? I've met all my residency requirements. I want to go home now." He said it like it was her fault he was still here in this strange world.
His parents must be frantic by now... or worse they might have given up hope after not hearing from him for nearly a year. He had to get home!
"Well, Mr. Tam, I've been giving your plight some thought." She handed him a plate of eggs and toast.
"The Headmistress assures me that you're here to stay for the present, and certainly welcome to stay over summer. So I thought: wouldn't it be productive to study toward OWLS over the summer and see how many you could get before term started? Hm?"
"Why, Mr. Tam? I thought that should be obvious! You know Muggle Medicine backwards and forwards, but you don't know much about Healing. And you won't learn it till you pass NEWTS and take up an Apprenticeship at one of our hospitals."
Simon looked at the mediwitch, thunderstruck.
"That's not to say you don't make a fine assistant. No not at all, but you won't become a Healer here. You need extensive training and practice. The best way to prepare for the required NEWTS is to take all the OWLS you can and go from there. We can arrange OWL testing at the end of the summer. They do make exceptions for students who were sick or fared exceedingly poorly at the end of the school year. It's a make up of sorts. So? Are you interested?"
Simon ate his plate of eggs and toast quickly then answered, "Yes. Where do I start?"
Madam Pomfrey laughed cheerfully as she helped him shrink his belongings and head back to the castle. Soon they were immersed in a discussion of Simon's best strategy for gaining a Healer Apprenticeship one year hence.
"Wake up!" she called imperiously waving a thermos of hot cocoa under Simon's nose where he crouched, asleep, on the stoop next to a great pile of his belongings.
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"Where's my train? I've met all my residency requirements. I want to go home now." He said it like it was her fault he was still here in this strange world.
His parents must be frantic by now... or worse they might have given up hope after not hearing from him for nearly a year. He had to get home!
Reply
"The Headmistress assures me that you're here to stay for the present, and certainly welcome to stay over summer. So I thought: wouldn't it be productive to study toward OWLS over the summer and see how many you could get before term started? Hm?"
Reply
Then he looked at her as though she were insane. "I should take OWLS? But why?"
Reply
Simon looked at the mediwitch, thunderstruck.
"That's not to say you don't make a fine assistant. No not at all, but you won't become a Healer here. You need extensive training and practice. The best way to prepare for the required NEWTS is to take all the OWLS you can and go from there. We can arrange OWL testing at the end of the summer. They do make exceptions for students who were sick or fared exceedingly poorly at the end of the school year. It's a make up of sorts. So? Are you interested?"
Reply
Madam Pomfrey laughed cheerfully as she helped him shrink his belongings and head back to the castle. Soon they were immersed in a discussion of Simon's best strategy for gaining a Healer Apprenticeship one year hence.
Reply
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