the thing about the gof scene where draco hits hermione and her teeth grow at a rapid rate and snape just says “i see no difference” is that it fills me with uncomparable, unfathomable rage to this day, despite not even being the worst thing snape does to a student. (note: i’m not saying it’s not really bad—it absolutely is—i just think that on the whole his treatment of neville and harry is a lot worse.)
and part of it maybe just comes down to hermione being my favorite character, but i think that in itself is telling, because i think a lot of young girls saw themselves in her when first reading and found themselves horrified when putting themselves in her shoes.
like. she later reveals to have been wanting to get her teeth changed for ages, implying she they’re something she’s insecure about. she tries to defend harry from malfoy’s antics, malfoy is fantasy-racist to her, harry initiates a duel in response. draco’s spell hits hermione and her teeth start growing. she’s immediately described as panic-stricken and trying to conceal them. as a non-canon sidebar, it’s hard for me to imagine that this isn’t extremely uncomfortable if not downright painful. in my experience, virtually anything out of the norm happening to your teeth is going to be on the uncomfortable-to-painful scale, though maybe i’m underestimating the magical buffer that might prevent such things. snape tells goyle, who also got hit, to go to the hospital wing.
and then, after being called over and staring at hermione for a minute, chooses to make fun of her, and she (quite naturally) runs away crying.
what the fuck. what the fuck.
it should go without saying that a teacher making disparaging (or any, really) comments about a student’s physical appearance or body in any way, at any time, in any context is inappropriate and unacceptable. but the fact that snape does so at this moment — when hermione is obviously distressed, panicked, quite possibly in pain — is so fucking unnecessarily cruel. he didn’t even have to say anything particularly kind, literally all he had to do was tell her to go to madam pomfrey, same as he did for goyle.
instead, he took the opportunity to make fun of her.
i think something that also stands out to me a lot too is that there is literally no reason for this. don’t get me wrong, i’m not saying he’s justified in his treatment of neville or harry tbh (quite the opposite, tbh) but i think he thinks he is and there are actual reasons connected to why he treats them that way. he sees neville as weak, incompetent, and liability in the classroom and treats him badly because of it (instead of offering like, any sort of help or support or ways to mitigate those situations. neville’s not there choosing to make his life hard; potions is a required class prior to 6th year. but even if he was an outright troublemaker, snape’s behavior would still cross lines.) harry’s a more complicated case, obviously, as he’s transferred a lot of his loathing for james onto harry and therefore twists anything harry does into another reason to resent him. but i do think he nonetheless sees himself as having good reasons for treating harry poorly. (again: i am not saying i agree. i just think this is what snape thinks.)
but this makes snape’s behavior here especially bizarre and outlandishly cruel because… hermione literally did nothing but get cursed in the crosshairs of a duel. and snape’s response is just cruel for the sake of being cruel. he’s often cruel, but i see him as someone with an internal life of constantly justifying his cruelty. and yet i can’t see what possible justification even he could cook up here.
also, shoutout to harry and ron, who forget to be mad at each other long enough to curse out snape for treating hermione like that together. trio of my heart <333
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Herb Guide for Warrior Cats: Epilepsy
Requested by an Anon!
A guide to providing treatment to a Warrior Cat OC with epilepsy. Still requires a bit of a leap in logic as nothing can replace our friend phenobarbital, BUT, if you would like herbs and strategies for managing a Warrior’s epilepsy, this guide is for you.
I researched herbs historically used for epilepsy, chose plants growing wild in a ‘common’ clan biome (temperate Europe and North America), and removed things that a cat could not use. Because of the nature of epilepsy, I also delved into some other treatments and strategies your medics can use!
So, keep in mind, this guide is written for a Clan doctor treating an epileptic cat. NOT from the perspective of a patient who has it.
I would recommend doing extra research into first-hand accounts of what it’s like to live with epilepsy when creating your patient character.
Disclaimer Time! I tried to filter out as much ‘quackery’ as possible, but remember that I am not a vet nor do I have formal training in pharmacognacy. You are also not a vet. This is for fake battle cats. LOOK AT ME. YOU WILL NOT USE THIS ON YOURSELF OR A REAL ANIMAL.
Below the cut is:
What is epilepsy?
Diagnostics
Non-herbal treatments
Managing the different types of seizures
Preventative herbs
What is epilepsy?
‘Epilepsy‘ is the broad term for dozens of different disorders, resulting in recurring epileptic seizures. A warrior could be born with it, develop it over time, or get it after recovering from brain injury (stroke, infection, head trauma, etc).
Epilepsy also varies wildly, and can be so mild it’s hard to detect, or so severe it could put the cat in too much danger to do warrior duties at all. For most cases, however, the warrior would still be able to do normal tasks* as long as they don’t hunt or patrol alone.
* = Head injury and stress from fighting can worsen epilepsy. Going on battle patrols is a risk the warrior must be made aware of.
Diagnostics
So before anything else, your medic will want to identify what triggers the seizures, if anything. There isn’t always an identifiable trigger such as a flashing light/quickly moving object, but seizures can be made worse by stress, lack of sleep, or hunger. Taking note of the warrior’s state preceding a seizure would be extremely helpful for treatment.
Does Wheatwhisker seem to have more seizures when she’s doing certain activities? When she has one, did she sleep well the night before? What has she been eating lately? She may be able to feel it coming-- including sudden intense emotion, an oncoming headache, hot or cold sensations, so on.
Like dogs, cats can detect oncoming seizures. A good medicine cat would take note of all the behavior before its onset to reduce their frequency.
NON-herbal treatments
Once correlation and causes have been identified, the medicine cat should have some lifestyle changes to suggest.
For example, Wheatwhisker has more seizures when she is tired, so the medic prevents her from going on dawn patrol. They’re sometimes triggered by the fluttering of bird wings, so she’s been told to hunt small mammals instead.
A change in diet can also reduce the frequency of seizures. Fatty foods specifically, such as red meat, eggs, and large fish. Trout and carp would be the two easiest* things for a warrior to hunt on a regular basis-- though if the given Clan can’t catch those, it may be worth it to consider trade with another group.
* = If your warriors can cook with fire, fat drippings can be cooked back into the epileptic warrior’s meals. This would make the special diet much easier to prepare than always catching specific prey.
Managing the Different Types of Seizures
Generally there are three types of seizures- ones localized to a specific body part, ones that may seem like “daydreaming”, and ones that cause the well-known convulsions. Less severe seizures are more common.
Seizures do not usually cause pain on their own, except for fatigue in the muscle or headaches. Injury is sometimes caused by external forces, such as slamming against something during a convulsion, falls, tongue biting, or hitting sharp objects.
After any seizure, nausea or a headache may develop-- feverfew will soothe headaches, mallow or fennel will soothe stomachaches. Even if the Epileptic warrior does not take regular medication, the cannabis and valerian root mentioned in the ‘preventative herbs‘ section can be taken on occasion to help the warrior relax post-seizure.
-Localized
One part of the body (leg, head) seizes or convulses. Can usually be self-managed by the warrior, loss of conscious is uncommon. Rest in a quiet area would be the best treatment afterwards. If the muscle fatigue is bad, kneading the limb will help.
-Daydream
The warrior will seem suddenly ‘absent,‘ like they’ve left their body, for typically less than 15 seconds. They may simply wobble and stare ahead (even pausing mid-sentence), or seem to ‘faint‘ and fall over, but in any case they will not remember the seizure. Prevent them from falling on something dangerous, if this seems likely.
In many cases the warrior will just be able to keep going about their day in a few minutes, or even immediately. If not, just like before, let them rest in a quiet area.
-Convulsions
A panicked cat may make convulsions worse by fearfully running around as a seizure starts-- if a warrior MUST be prevented from doing this, it’s VERY important that they are not completely pinned or restrained. JUST kept laying down. Do NOT attempt to stop the convulsions themselves.
Such a circumstance will be extremely rare in a Warrior Cat setting, where the cats are capable of reasoning like a human. There may be a situation where an epileptic cat needs to be brought out of harm’s way-- that’s fine.
Clear the area of anything sharp or hard that the convulsing warrior could hurt themselves on, like stones, or brambles. Roll them onto their side, if they aren’t already. Lastly, cushion their head with something soft, like moss, if possible.
After the seizure is over, the warrior will probably be disoriented and confused. Don’t overwhelm them or offer food or water until they’re fully alert again. Once they do, they might have partial paralysis, nausea, muscle soreness, a bitten tongue, or any variety of symptoms. Just like before, bring them to a quiet area to rest.
If your warriors wear restrictive accessories, such as belts or collars, the medicine cat will remove or loosen them during a seizure if possible.
-what NOT to do
There’s some harmful ideas out there you may have encountered, so here’s some things to keep in mind your medics would NOT do to treat a cat having convulsions:
They would NOT pin them down (this even happened in the books once yikes)
Why: This could cause injury to both the restrained, and the restrainer.
They would NOT put anything in their mouth
Why: Could damage their teeth or jaw, it does not prevent them from biting their tongue. (also; while tongue biting is common, it is a total myth that an epileptic will choke on/swallow it)
They would NOT start firing out questions as soon as the seizure is over
Why: The warrior will likely be disoriented, and not in a state to answer properly. Give them a minute.
Preventative Herbs
Once a seizure is happening, it will have to play out. Warrior cats do not have the medical capability to stop one once started. The anticonvulsant herbs here will help to reduce the frequency and severity of seizures... but they can’t eliminate them entirely.
Anticonvulsants will need to be taken on a regular basis. Stopping these suddenly will cause dangerous side effects; if the warrior’s epilepsy isn’t severe, or herbs are a scarcity for your Clan, it may not be the best choice to medicate them.
Chamomile
Common, and naturalized all over the world. In high doses, this herb will poison a cat. Careful preparation is required to make it safe for the epileptic warrior-- it needs to be steeped in water, like tea*. The leaves should not be eaten.
* = If your cats don’t have fire to brew tea, that’s fine, it can be soaked cold.
This herb also has a side effect of drowsiness. It may make the warrior lethargic and less responsive.
Cannabis
Cannabis is a golden herb for a thousand reasons, it can be made into rope, paper, cloth, oil... but, the thing of note here is CBD oil. Cannabis grows wild all over the world, but ESPECIALLY in North America-based Clans (where it’s called Ditchweed)
Ditchweed has high CBD content, and low THC content. This makes it safe for your warriors (and also prevents them from getting high). Your cats will NOT smoke it, which will damage their sensitive respiratory systems, they will eat it like a standard herb.
Because cannabis is a depressant, this treatment is best for warriors not involved in active tasks. Epileptic warriors that prefer calm, camp-related activities will use this herb. Den-building, tunnel digging, helping the medics, crafting if your Clan makes accessories, so on.
Valerian Root
Known as a sleep aid in humans, Valerian has VERY interesting effects on cats; this is the only Epilepsy treatment that can avoid lethargy entirely. However, in contrast to cannabis, valerian will mostly be found in Europe-based Clans.
(with both, however, it is possible to find each in the other continent.)
Valerian Root has catnip-like effects, perking a warrior up and often filling them with energy. There are some cats for whom this herb will act like cannabis, calming them down, but if there’s a choice, the Epileptic warriors who enjoy active tasks will prefer this herb. Hunting, fighting, patrolling, so on.
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