"Come on, drink this quickly."
Poppy Pomfrey held out a small cup of green potion to the student lying in the hospital bed.
"I'm not taking medicine!"
The little boy pulled the blanket over his head, refusing to cooperate.
Pomona thought Harry was better than other children his age in this regard. Even knowing the medicine was bitter, he would still drink it because he knew it was meant to cure him.
"You were bitten by a Doxy, Mr. Ackerley. If you don't drink the antidote..."
"I won't drink it!" Stewart Ackerley yelled angrily from beneath the blanket.
Pomona dearly wanted to summon Flitwick and see whether this little brat would still behave so badly in front of his own Head of House.
Just as Poppy Pomfrey was at her wit's end, Pomona came to the bedside.
"Here, try this," Pomona said to Poppy Pomfrey.
"What is it?" Poppy Pomfrey took the box.
"Candy," Pomona said. The moment the words left her mouth, she caught Ackerley, who had buried his head beneath the blanket, peeking out from the corner of her eye. But as if afraid of being noticed, he quickly ducked back under.
"I think he needs medicine more right now, Professor," Poppy Pomfrey said.
"It is medicine." Pomona lowered her voice. "It's a medicinal electuary containing antidote ingredients."
Pomfrey looked doubtfully at the green candy in her hand.
"Severus made it," Pomona said. "He considers it a common remedy."
And there were plenty of little trolls who refused to take medicine.
She glanced at Ackerley on the bed, thinking darkly.
Doxies were especially active in winter and easily drawn to fire, so students warming themselves by the fireplace were often harassed by them. Older students knew how to deal with them, but younger ones were often bitten.
Poppy