"Achoo—! A—choo—!!!"
At breakfast the next day, similar sneezes and coughs rose and fell throughout the Great Hall.
Under normal circumstances, such behavior would definitely have been quietly criticized as impolite, but now that so many people had caught severe colds from the morning's snowball fight, no one said anything.
"I feel like I'm about to die..."
Bellows's head hurt as though it were about to explode, yet he was also groggy at the same time. The pain felt as though it came from some distant place, separated from him by a hazy veil that made it hard to feel clearly.
"Me too..."
Jasper spoke with difficulty. It felt as though he had swallowed a handful of shattered glass, with fragments lodged in every corner of his throat. It also felt as though a red-hot coal were stuck there; no matter how much water he drank, his throat remained dry and burning.
There had clearly been nothing wrong even on the night of yesterday's snowball fight. The young Wizards' bodies, protected by magic, were still quite robust. Yet after one night, illness had broken through magic's protection.
The young Wizards who had failed to take follow-up precautions such as warding off the cold all felt the brutal backlash from their past selves.
"I told you to take a proper hot bath, but you wouldn't listen."
Quirinus had caught a bit of a cold too, but his symptoms were much milder. He only had a runny nose and a heavier nasal voice.
"Sigh, I heard the Hospital Wing's cold potions have all been snatched up. Madam Pomfrey has already gone to St. Mungo's for an emergency restock... By the way, Manus, can you brew cold potion?"
"I can brew cold potion, but it would take time. By the time it's ready