Throw a towel over its head and wrestle it down.

Your muscles, sluggish from Miss Wormwood's venom and slack with sexual release, tighten with a wave of fear. But this is no time to freeze. I will not fear, you brace yourself.

You see no way past the giant snake. Quickly casting about, you take a towel and toss it over the snake's head. It whips its head and tail around at this unexpected move, but still bars your way. You seize another towel from the stone platform and wrap it over the first, holding it tight around the snake's head. It thrashes and writhes, bumping you painfully into the hard floor and walls of the bath chamber, but with it unable to bite or co-ordinate its coils, you keep it at bay.

Meanwhile, you scream out loud, gobbling cries through your magically lengthened tongue. "Heh-hepppff! HEEEHHHPPFFF! EEEHFFF!"

• Gain +1 XP and a CONSEQUENCE from your battle with the giant snake.

Miss Wormwood returns to find you clutched tight to the towels, covering the snake's head as it still wriggles feebly. You're bruised and scraped all over from the thrashing snake.

She fetches her wand out. "Diminutio!" she incants.

The snake shrinks in your grasp from the size of a python to the size of a viper. Miss Wormwood takes it up and twines it around her forearm where it clings tightly.

Miss Wormwood looks at you quizzically, taking in your injuries. The snakes upon her head waver this way and that, seeking different angles. "Morgan, I'm surprised at you. Why didn't you dismiss the beast, or call for help, rather than going at it like a gladiator?"

You waggle your great long tongue at Miss Wormwood, the very tongue she enchanted onto you to enhance your practice of the Kiss of Shame into a mutual, deeply penetrating and greatly satisfying bum-tonguing.

"OH," Miss Wormwood says, a rare expression of contrition on her face. "You had blissed out. Golondrina needed help. Fay needed tending. Well, then." Taking her wand, she incants "LINGUA RETRACTA."

Your tongue shrinks back to its normal size. You take a deep breath and let it out in a sigh.

"Oh, ah, thank you, Miss Wormwood!" you say. A hint of the Kiss of Shame still lingers on your tongue, bitter with a hint of sulphur and garlic. The rank taste sends a warm flush of recollection through your body of all the pleasure you gave and received. "It was all good. Except for the snake."

Miss Wormwood absently pats the snakes on her head, coaxing them back into a semblance of good order. They hiss and flicker their tongues. One of her head-snakes strikes idly at the diminished serpent wrapped round Miss Wormwood's forearm. "They get in now and then. Something about the drains, I think," she says. She looks you over again. "Let's get you sponged up."

You're not sure if that's really what Miss Wormwood believes about the snake and the drains.

She untwines the diminished snake, pops it into a basket and fastens the lid down on it before she cares for you. She gives your bruised and scraped skin careful attention with a moist cloth, then a soft towel. You flinch as she cleanses tender spots. As she leans close, her snakes strike at you again, adding stinging little pricks the the places she's working on -- your neck, breasts, and buttocks. Dry bites, though. Mostly. You feel your heart thump as a trace of her rousing venom seeps into your bloodstream. She concludes by tying your long dark hair back and twisting it up into a knot.

"Well, there, Morgan," Miss Wormwood says. "Do you still feel up to helping Golondrina prepare the doses, or do you need a little time to recover?"

What's your next move?

• You want time to recover. GET OUT OF THE INFIRMARY, Roll +Bravery (-2) (-1 Bravery, -1 Consequence).
• Help Golondrina prepare the doses. Roll +Diligence (-2) (0 Diligence, -1 Easy Goal, -1 Consequence).
• ENCOUNTER Miss Wormwood and ask for treatment to help you. Roll +Cunning (+1) (+2 Cunning, -1 Consequence). On a 10+, she'll treat you to remove your CONSEQUENCE, or on a 7-9, she'll bargain.
• Something else?

You have 2 XP and a CONSEQUENCE (-1 on all rolls).
Your roommate Fay is your FRIEND and would willingly grant you a FAVOR (after she recovers from the imp sting).
Your ENEMY is Pipistrelle Clawson, a Prefect in House Minerval.