Novel Full Chapter 166: The ward
Chapter 166: The ward
When Evan woke up, he found himself back in the school hospital.
He was lying on the bed like yesterday, and his body was aching all over. It was as if his bones were split open. And his magical power was even more exhausted than the time after he fought Greyback.
His last memory was of what happened in the depths of the Forbidden Forest. He was taken away by Mr. Weasley’s car, and Peter Pettigrew was dragged into the spider herd by that Acromantula.
After that, what happened?
He tried to Remember. The old car was carrying him out of the Acromantulas horde. They were rampaging in the forest. After ten noisy, bumpy minutes, the trees thinned in the distance, and they returned to the Hogwarts field.
Then, like last year, he was thrown out by the car.
Before fainting, he seemed to see a man coming over to him. The figure seemed to be that of Professor Snape…
Evan shook his head, raised it and looked around. The ward was very dark.
On the bed next to him, Ron was laying there, his body covered with thick bedding; only his red hair was exposed.
In the corner of the ward, Harry and Hermione were arguing with Mrs. Pomfrey in a low voice, and Evan seemed to hear words such as his name, injury, and so on.
They immediately found out that Evan woke up and hurried over. Harry and Hermione came up in turn and embraced him. Their faces were full of joy, especially Hermione. Her eyes were red and her voice was twitching, showing clearly the depth of her worries about him.
“Evan, you’ve just been sent in by Professor Snape, and I thought…”
“I’m all right, Hermione!” Evan comforted her patting her shoulder, but the girl was blushing and she hugged him tightly, as if she was afraid of losing him.
“Well, children, Evan has woken up, so now you should believe me when I say he’s fine!” Madam Pomfrey put her hands on her waist and said harshly, “You two should go back to sleep immediately. You are in a bad state and you need to stay in bed.”
“How about Ron?” Evan asked with difficulty.
“He’ll live!” said Madam Pomfrey grimly. “It’s unbelievable, the effect of the Imperious curse. The impact of that evil magic on his soul should take a very long time to be undone. I will advise the Headmaster to send him to St Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.”
“He’ll be fine, right?” Evan, Harry and Hermione asked at the same time.
“This poor child needs to rest in bed for a while, but he will recover.” Madam Pomfrey wrinkled her nose and said nervously, “I really don’t understand when Hogwarts became a hub for Dark Wizards! Last year was He-Who-Should-Not-Be-Named. Today is Sirius Black. Who knows who it will be next year?”
Evan wanted to tell her that next year’s may be Barty Crouch Junior.
He didn’t know how accurate her hunch could be. Hopefully, it won’t be as accurate as Prof. Trelawney’s. She told him to be careful about the spiders during his 1st divination class, and then he actually encountered them, at the most critical moment.
“Right, Sirius!” Harry seemed to have remembered something. He asked quickly. “Where is he, why didn’t I see him?”
“It’s all right. They’ve got Black. He’s locked away upstairs” said Madam Pomfrey, uneasily. “I just saw his injury, it’s bad but it should heal slowly. However, I think he should not need treatment, those Dementors…”
“Sirius is innocent, we have proved this, everything was…”
Harry had not finished his word, when he heard Mrs. Pomfrey continue to say, “Ah yeah! If, more than a decade ago, someone told me that Black would become what he is today, I wouldn’t believe him at all. He was always together with that Potter, roaming around the campus. He was the most popular boy, had a very good character, and was very smart and likable. Who could believe that he would go with He-Who-Should-Not-Be-Named…”
“That was not Sirius’s doing! He did not sell my parents out; it was all done by that Pettigrew.” Harry hurriedly turned to look at Evan and asked urgently. “Pettigrew is…?”
“Dead!” Evan replied whispering.
Harry slammed quietly, and he and Hermione looked at Evan with disbelief.
“You, what are you talking about, how could he die?!” Harry closed his eyes and shivered. “If he’s dead, what should Sirius do?”
Looking at Harry, pale, Evan slowly shook his head.
“Well, that’s for the Headmaster and the Ministry of Magic to consider!” Madam Pomfrey looked at Harry uncomfortably. “You two must go back to bed immediately, especially you, Harry! I heard Professor Snape who sent you in say the Dementors were even about to kiss…” She said forcing Harry and Hermione back to their beds. Then she gave everyone a piece of chocolate and turned back to her office.
No one spoke in the dark ward. Harry and Hermione were still absorbed by the shocking news of Pettigrew’s death. They didn’t know what happened in the Forbidden Forest. It should be so grave since Pettigrew had died.
After a few moments of silence, Evan told them about what happened in the Forbidden Forest. Harry and Hermione listened quietly to his narrative. Hearing how Evan had to face the siege of the small elephant-sized Aragog and his thousands of Acromantulas, they were extremely nervous.
“Remember?” Hermione whispered. “We heard Hagrid talk about Aragog last year. Fifty years ago, people mistakenly thought that he was the one coming out of the Chamber of Secrets and killing Myrtle. Hagrid was expelled at the time because of that. With that entire time passing, I actually thought that the spider had died!”
“Not only did it remain alive. It’s been reproducing in the Forbidden Forest. Now, no one knows how many Acromantulas reside in there. A large portion of the forest is their territory.” Evan continued, “I bet that Hagrid must have thought that Aragog would never hurt his friends.”
“That’s Hagrid’s problem. He always thinks that monsters are not as bad a people imagine!” Harry clenched his fist, “Those Acromantulas have killed Pettigrew, that’s what he deserved. But now Sirius…”
He couldn’t know why, but because of Pettigrew’s death, Harry couldn’t keep himself from feeling a little happy.
He was so worried about Black, and then he thought of his parents.
Tonight, seeing their traitor’s death, will they be happy?
Evan and Hermione were still talking. Harry blinked, reaching out to wipe the tears from his eyes. He heard Hermione talking about the time when they encountered the Dementors.
Hermione had already fainted at the time, but he clearly saw the two silver Patronesses.
The two that saved them from the Dementors looked like…
Who would conjure those two Patronesses; would it be… his father and mother?
Then he thought of Sirius Black, and Madam Pomfrey saying that he was locked upstairs. He had to save him. If he doesn’t move in time, it would be too late!
Just as Harry made up his mind, the door to the ward was opened, and through it entered a calm Professor Dumbledore who had just returned from the Ministry of Magic.