Imposter Syndrome PV Zach Z.

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Another day, another excitement. It was Zach's healer internship time in the Hospital Wing, something he was really excited about after the hiatus of the program. Not to mention, the one who brought this up was one of his favourite professors, Professor McLoughlin. Or for now, he called her Nurse McLoughlin.

That day was also the second day of the Duelling Championship, which means the time when Hospital Wing got many student patients, a perfect time for the interns to get much hands-on experience to hone their skills in healing magic. Zach sat near the nurse station when the door opened.

It was a girl appearing behind the door, someone who tickled Zach's brain. "Ah, that girl," Zach muttered. He grabbed his notes and approached the girl. "You didn't seem okay," he paused to make another quick assessment of the girl, "But still have the energy to come here on your own. Follow me."

The intern led the girl to the nearby empty bed. "Make yourself comfortable," he said to please the girl to have a place on the white mattress. He stood near the girl. His hands were holding a notebook and a pen, something more convenient to use than the parchment, quill, and ink, which he brought from his Muggle house. "I guess you are a duellist, looking at your condition right now," he showed a wry amusement at the girl. "I'm Zach Zaphiere, one of the interns here. May I know your name, house, school year, and..." he stopped to give another quick judgment on the girl's condition, "Your reason to come here?"

His gaze was always judging, and his words were always blunt; one might take it as an offensive gesture unless they were saints.

@Verity Engels

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The pen moved quickly. The intern scribbled all the necessary information coming from the girl. "Verity," he nodded. And as he guessed, the girl was indeed a duellist. He was pretty proud of his deductive thinking skills, feeling like he was a detective at the moment of the reveal. "Being a duellist is fun, except for the part where we get injuries. I often duelled when I was in my first and second year, by the way, which was..." he stopped. Calculation was never his best trait, even for the simplest one. He needed time to make sure his answer was right. "Two years ago." Didn't put his stationery, Zach continued, "How was the result?" His brows lifted, expecting a worth-mentioned outcome, which he was sure it was the case. She wouldn't have the energy to come here by herself if the result were otherwise.

"Apologies if I'm incorrect, but have we met before? I believe I've seen you around."

He grinned. "I often wander around. Sometimes in the library to..." he paused, weighing whether he should tell her of if it would be too much information, "look for some sources. But I have seen you once in the Duelling Club. You had duelling sparring with Raizel, which I'm also curious about how you knew her. I remembered she didn't do duelling anymore." His relationship with Raizel has been a bit weird lately. He seldom got her attention, whether to have a fun thing together or stress over academic burden. He wondered where the lioness was now.

Zach came back to the assessment again. "So you're coming here after the duel. Can you tell me how you feel now? Pain? Maybe there were some wounds like abrasions, burn wounds, or anything else somewhere? Since it's from a duel, maybe also jinx or... curse?" He didn't hope she got the last one because it would be difficult for him to handle. "I'm asking so I can get the appropriate things to treat you."

He tilted his head, waiting for her response. Though he was better compared to the previous years, he still should improve his communication skills. His way to be a good healer was still long.

@Verity Engels

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Zach shook his head. "Injuries didn't stop me from duelling. In fact, I was often unconscious even before the duel ended. Maybe I was an easy target back then," he chuckled. "But my team always won," he shrugged. "For me, that was the most important part in the competition, to help my house win and have fun."

He tapped his pen on the notebook before he continued, "I left duelling because I was busy. Prefect and broom racing co-captain for Ravenclaw. Not to mention that I signed up for a healer internship here." He sighed, "Chaotic. I'm happy I'm freer now. Only healer internship left in my pocket."

"My team won, but only by pure luck,"

"You think so?" he asked her. He stopped, forming the words he had in his head. "Luck is also a determining factor in competition. One must be grateful when they have luck on their side," Zach said. "I don't really believe in the saying 'The result will never betray the effort". Sometimes the result betrays the effort when you aren't lucky enough. Still, making a good effort is important," he grinned. "Do you still think luck isn't important now?" he raised one of his brows. The corner of his lips lifted, expecting her answer.

"Raizel is my friend. One of the closes friend I have," he smiled, though his eyes couldn't hide something wrong with their friendship at the moment. People change, they said, but Zach really wanted to know the reason. "She's in the same year as me. We sometimes did duel sparring before she changed sports to broom racing. She's a very good duellist. The best, in my opinion."

He shook his head. "You said you are a duelling captain. Isn't it hard to manage your team? Especially when you just entered the school, and most of the people are older than you?" He still had a question in mind, but he refrained from asking it since it would be rude. The boy was really judgmental at first place but he tried to keep professional and kind to his patients. After all, rapport building was important, as explained by his grandfather.

"So burn wounds," he scribbled it quickly on his notes. "Can you tell me the location of the wounds? For wounds like bruises, we can check them in the visible area. For the ones in the non-visible areas, I will give you something to treat them later by yourself."

"I wish I could answer it with Reparo, but that wasn't always the case. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, depending on the severity," he said. He tried to recall his memory, "When I was still duelling, I asked my mom to send a new uniform whenever it burnt, but I got her nagging afterwards during the school holidays. She always told me to leave duelling," the boy chuckled. This also made him recall another thing, a shirt with cute blue and yellow stars embroidery, gifted from one of his closest friends. He wondered where she was now and what she was doing.

"I'll start treating you, but I need to do some preparation first. It won't take long, don't worry." he smiled. Before he left the girl, he was held by her question. "I've told you before," he chuckled. "I'm Zach Zaphiere, but feel free to call me Zach." He left the duellist to grab his things.

@Verity Engels
RIP Alyssea Brown

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"Time pressure..." Zach paused and sighed, "Yes, one of the reasons is the high stress from it. I thought I could do it all and be okay. But no, I couldn't. I was too greedy, I guess. I don't even really know my peers in the same year," He looked away after emitting the sour line. One that made him regret his decision. Zach wasn't the brightest Ravenclaw. He didn't get the perfect score, and he made bad decisions. But he learnt from what life taught him, the wisdom and enlightenment that brought him to his better self. "But now I slowly know my peers. I have another friend from Hufflepuff, who is very kind to me," he stopped. He once again gave too much information.

"Solidarity. It's such a typical Hufflepuff thing to say," Zach chuckled. "People come and go, and we can't really prevent that. Which is sad," he said. He saw and observed many people around him and got to experience it. He saw Life as an unpredictable thing at first, but slowly, he started to understand and get used to it. "But listening to you, I think you are doing great as a captain."

The intern took quick notes on the wound's location. "Noted." He also nodded at her statement about the parents. "Especially when they are a Muggle. Many times I make sure to tell my mom that I will be okay here," he giggled. "And yes, buy more pairs since you are a duellist. There is more than one fire conjuring spell variation," he nodded.

He left the duellist to take everything he needed. Burn healing paste, sterile water, underpad, kidney dish and gauze. He also took something from his bag. He put them all in a dressing trolley. He came back pushing the thing. "This stings a little bit, but we must clean the wound." He put on a pair of clean rubber gloves. "Bear with me for a moment," he poured water to clean the debris on the wound. With a gauze, he tapped the area on the wounds and their surrounding gently. After he assessed it once again, he dried the wounds and their area. "It doesn't need a wet dressing since the paste is moist enough," he mumbled. Then he applied the paste to the wound.

As a finishing step, he took his wand and cast, "Ferula." He cast it precisely to cover the burn wound areas he had cleaned. "It would take a few minutes to a few hours before the wound healed completely. After that, you can throw off the bandage." He cleaned up all the mess he made. Then he gave the girl a small cup of a paste. "It's Bruise Removal Paste, I made it. Just in case you found some later. I have many of them since I always practice and restock my healing potions," he smiled. "And if you're worried about scars, I would recommend you go to Nurse McLoughlin. I think she might have a scar healing potion. Something Ubbly, I forgot," he nodded. "Oh! You can also go to Professor Lesmana. I also remember he said he has a speciality in healing potions or something in class, though he might be in Slytherin right now," he grinned. "I think he's a pretty cool Professor. I might be biased since he mentioned healing potions as his speciality. I wish he could go back to teaching Potions again.

"Anyway, you are free to take some rest in here, but my suggestion is to come back to the dorms since it will be more comfortable there," he said. "I will go back to the nurse station. Don't hesitate to call me if you need anything. Get well soon." With that, Zach left the girl with his trolley at the nurse's station. He cleaned the trolley and wrote his report.

What a nice day to know more people and to treat them.

@Verity Engels