22

On December 23, 1972, the streets of London were filled with a festive atmosphere on Christmas Eve. There are tall Christmas trees in the depart-store Windows, decorated with snow and ribbons, gifts of all sizes piled under them, and chubby pictures of Santa Claus adorn the foggy city merrily on every street corner. No one knew that in one corner, hidden in a dilapidated window, was the historic Magical hospital, which was taking in Muggle patients who had the misfortune to suffer innocently on Christmas Eve.

Professor McGonagall grabbed Eli's arm and Disapparated him outside the school gate to the front of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries and Illnesses. Old red brick department stores have closed for renovation signs, and ugly mannequins in the Windows stare stonily at visitors, waiting for them to tell them where they are.

Before entering the hospital, Meg checked the status of her students. She patted Eli on the shoulder and asked him with serious concern, "All right, Smith?"

Disapparation doesn't feel good. It makes you feel like your insides have shifted a bit. But Eli's expression clearly exceeded this uncomfortable category. His face was devoid of color, and worse than his excessive pallor was the look in his eyes, so suppressed that it was hard to breathe.

Eli shook his head and was silent. He seemed to have lost the power of speech and had not spoken since he emerged from the Gryffindor common room. Professor McGonagall, accustomed to disciplining unruly Gryffindors, had rarely been bothered by his excessively reticent type, and for a moment she felt a little uneasy.

But she also understood. With a quiet sigh, Professor McGonagall led him through the glass doors into St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladie and Wounded.

"Your father is on the fifth floor." "Curse Damage, Crucius Curse damage, joint displacement and brain damage caused when the Imperius Curse is cast, or concussion in the Muggle world. The brain is delicate and mysterious, and wizards can't say how well it's been studied... The hospital treated your father's wounds, but he is still awake."

Eli remained silent and said nothing. They reached the third floor, depressed, and the sign on the door of the fifth ward down the stairs was marked "Hobbert Smith, Cruciatus and Imperius Curse Injuries." They opened the door and both of the people standing in the room turned to look.

Mrs. Smith and Arthur... The fact that these two men were standing here made it suddenly and horribly real. Eli, without greeting anyone, walked quickly to the bed, and when he saw the man lying on it, he stumbled and sank feebly on the edge.

It was really his father, Hobbert. Mr. Smith. Cheerful, healthy and friendly, the history professor, who rarely caught a cold, lay in bed with his eyes closed and his chest heaving as proof of life. His brow was furrowed even in his stupor, and you can imagine what pain he was going through.

Eli stared at him for a moment, slowly raising his hand and trying to smooth his father's furrowed brow. This action seemed to awaken his senses at last, and he turned to his mother.

"Who made it? 'he asked softly.

Mrs. Smith, who was also very pale, looked into her son's eyes, and for a brief moment they were both quiet.

'Lestrange? Eli asked quietly, and Mrs. Smith's eyelashes quivered a little.

"I don't think there's any point in thinking about me as a child now, and trying to insulate me from trouble, Mother." Eli looked at his father in the hospital bed and strained the corner of his lip. "I thought the least I could do was know who did this to me when things like this happen."

"... Don't say that." Mrs. Smith turned away her face miserably.

"I don't think it depends on your will or mine, Mother." Eli said coolly. All the grown-ups in the room looked at him, and Arthur and Meg were mildly surprised at his young age at his coolness, almost cold, in the face of such a terrible accident.

Well, harsh words, but perhaps the future of reality. Mrs. Smith took a deep breath, her face contorted slightly. "Rodolphus and Rabastan. Lestrange, and their evil friend Travers. Came to our house unannounced today and said he wanted --"

She looked her son in the eye again for a few seconds, staring into his eyes, and slowly finished her sentence.

"-- to see you. Hogwarts is indeed a safe place for them to take advantage of, so they've been getting a bit anxious and, after several unsuccessful attempts at contacting me, have turned up uninvited, presumably to keep you at home at Christmas."

Three people. Eli's eyes quivered and he looked his mother up and down carefully. "Are you hurt, Mom?"

"Nothing serious." Mrs. Smith managed to pull the corners of her mouth. "Your old name and mine helped these uninvited guests remember to be polite. But they don't feel the same about Muggles, who, as we all know, don't really regard as human beings. Your father was coming home from work..."

She moved her lips and could not say the rest of the words, turning her face to one side with force, her shoulders visibly shaking.

Eli turned his head and looked carefully at his father.

The wizarding community is usually very effective in treating pure trauma, but the marks left by dark magic are more difficult to erase, and so are those caused by dark magic. Eli reached out his hand and brushed over each of his father's wounds at a distance, asking about each of them carefully, not missing any of them.

Bruising on the head caused by a floating charm, from Rabastan. Lestrange, Mr. Smith came in from work and was surprised to see three strangers in his living room. His wife looked unhappy. He warily asked them who they were and told them to leave his house at once, prompting all three of them to laugh unscrupulously, before Rabastan drew his wand and levitated Mr. Smith.

"Cousin Linda, your vision is alarming." He grinned as he commented, brandishing his wand recklessly, steering Mr. Smith toward the ceiling with one mighty heave, and enjoying Mr. Smith's cries of pain.

"Your husband's like a balloon now, isn't he?" "He said lazily, directing Mr. Smith's body cannonball sideways and solidly into all corners of the house." Weak, powerless Muggle -- worthy only of a punching bag, and you treat him like a husband."

"Still fragile." His companion, Rodolfs, remarked with interest that he had performed an out-of-body experience on his cousin, and that the battered and bleeding Mr. Smith's eyes had suddenly lost focus, and in a few seconds had changed to indifference. In the air, he bent himself back into a ball in a strange position. The man's body is not so soft, and when he bent back, he could clearly hear the sound of bone dislocation, but his face showed no reaction at all, and he folded his body like a large doll without blinking.

The wound on his chest, from crucio, left a hideous scar on his heart, and left Mr. Smith's limbs still twitching at irregular intervals. The spell came from Travers, who struck Mr. Smith twice with such precision that even in the midst of an out-of-body experience Mr. Smith curled up in pain. This was contrary to the orders he had been given under the Imperius Curse, and his body was writhing at such an absolutely grotesque Angle that he would almost certainly never leave his bed again for the rest of his life unless St Mungo's was brought to him. The Muggle world has a term for such severe tissue damage called high paraplegia.

Mrs. Smith had been putting up a fierce fight -- but she was facing three adult wizards and Death Eaters who were using dark magic without restraint. She was not as safe as she said she was, she had also suffered a Cruciatus Curse from Travers, and there might well have been one more in that St Mungo's bed had Arthur not made a surprise visit.

"Thank you very much, Arthur." 'said Mrs Smith sincerely, and her voice had a heavy twang.' I was a little bit annoyed about your association with Hobbert. I thought you were taking up too much of your time. I'm sorry..."

"Don't say that, Linda." Arthur shook his head at once, equally guilt-ridden. "I'm sorry I'm so late. If only I'd been there a little earlier... I could have..."

"No one can blame you, Arthur." 'said Meg placidly.' It's only been ten days since Molly had Charlie, and you should have been there all the time. Linda and Hobbert must have thought so too. '

Of course. Mrs. Smith nodded at once. Arthur opened his mouth, paused, and saw Eli's voice whisper.

"Yes, thank you, Arthur. You are the benefactor of our family." "He said quietly, still watching his father's face, which furrowed unconsciously." No one can blame you. If there must be one culprit, it can only be me."

"Eli! The grown-ups all looked pale and called to him, but Eli only shook his head.

"I'm not giving up on myself." 'he said, subdued and tired.' Just a reasonably reasoned conclusion, that's all. Comfort alone, I know.

Minerva McGonagall opened her mouth and found that she could not speak for a moment. She looked at the two other adults in the room, and they all looked at her helpfully. They all looked at each other, unable for a moment to think of anything better to say.

"You're doing the right thing, Eli." 'said Professor McGonagall at last.

"I know." Eli responded without a rise or fall in his voice, turning to look at her, his dark eyes dark.

"I'm taking the price of justice now, aren't I?" 'he said quietly, and the other three were silent.

At noon on Christmas Eve, the Hogwarts Express arrived at Platform Nine and three-quarters. Petunia was pacing up and down the platform, almost agitated. The Evanses looked at her strangely, wondering why she had picked up the phone yesterday and had been so wrong since then.

Lily finally appeared in the crowd -- and before her parents knew what she was doing, Penny pushed her way through the crowd and pounced on her, pulling Lily straight away from her friends. Mary started; Snape's lip curled, but he turned away without a word.

'Lily! "Petunia asked eagerly as they stood aside, seizing her sister's hand." What's going on? Eli's side --"

"I don't know exactly. He didn't come back after that... Professor McGonagall turned up this morning, but she didn't say anything. ' 'It sounds like Eli's father is ill, and they're taking him to St Mungo's - I asked in the common room yesterday, it's a wizarding hospital, you only need to go there for very serious injuries.'

"Very serious..." Petunia went white. "Isn't his dad a Muggle? How much damage can you get? Why... Is Eli particularly worried? How was he when he left?"

"He looked so pale the first time I saw him." "Lily sighed." It looks like it's crumbling..."

Is it so serious? Sent to St Mungo's? With a shudder of fear, Petunia grabbed her sister's hand.

"Shouldn't we do something? As a friend." 'she said vigorously.' We can go to the hospital and send well wishes at the bedside to make him feel better, can't we? That's what normal friends do."

"Visiting?" Lily was taken aback and said uncertainly, "I can, but... We don't even know where the hospital is?"

"We'll go by Knight bus." "Said Petunia firmly, and she answered so quickly and without hesitation that Lily looked stunned at her." Eli talked about this kind of transport. He said it would take you anywhere in England you wanted to go if the wizard held his wand out in front of him -- can you help me, Lily?"

"I..." Lily hesitated, looking at Petunia and then at her parents in the distance.

"We can talk to Mom and dad and go to the bus when we get out of the station." Petunia said quickly, without hesitation, that she had found the follow-through immediately and spontaneously forming a viable course of action in her mind.

Lily did not hesitate for long, but nodded solemnly.

"Let's just talk to Mom and Dad and go -- Petunia, I say, you're brave."

"Me? Penny pointed to herself and shook her head. "Not that great. I'm just worried about friends."

"You've always been so brave, Petunia." "I've always wanted to say, Petunia, that I never meant to laugh at you for writing to Headmaster Dumbledore, in fact I've known since then -- what a brave man you are, and I want to be like you."

It was a sincere and thoughtful comment, but Petunia had no time to be happy. She and Lily hurried out of the station and, as Eli had promised, got on -- and the ride was quite bumpy indeed.

They got off the train in some strange, run-down place, not even knowing where they were. The two sisters snuggled up to each other to cheer themselves up. They searched the neighborhood for a long time, but still couldn't find anything that looked like a hospital.

"Are we in the wrong place?" 'said Lily, a little flustered, clutching her sister's arm and looking around nervously.' There's nowhere around here that says St Mungo's... Has it hidden itself like Platform nine and three-quarters?"

"I think so." Petunia's voice was tight. She was scared, too. The two sisters clung to each other, hesitating where to go.

After a headless search in which the words wizard, magic, and Hogwarts kept popping up, they finally caught the attention of the reception staff at St Mungo's. The ugly dummy in the window asked why they had come, and in a moment a figure appeared out of thin air, and the Evans sisters were relieved to see him.

It's a good thing they didn't look in the wrong place.

'Why are you here? Eli asked them, looking a little surprised, too. He looked left and right. "How did you get here -- who brought you here?"

"We came here on the Knight bus." 'said Petunia, a little uneasy. Eli's surprise had made her feel uneasy in the back of her mind, but she ignored it a little now. She looked straight at him and could hardly believe her eyes.

She had never seen him like this before... Looking tired and depressed. He had obviously spent the night in the hospital, and she noticed keenly that his eyes were bloodshot, that there was a slight bluish tinge under his LIDS, and that there was a slight crease in his clothes, which would never have appeared normally. He had always looked like a standard gentleman.

Is his father in serious condition? Petunia thought anxiously, stepping forward.

"You... All right, Eli?" 'she asked nervously.' We came on a bit of an impulse, but we... We want to..."

"There are no life-threatening injuries at this time." Eli said simply, nodding to both of them. "Thank you for coming. I appreciate it... Come in, my father is on the fifth floor."

He stepped aside and motioned for the sisters to enter. Lily nodded and bravely stepped first through the door, while Petunia stood her ground, hesitating a little, and looked at Eli.

'May I come in? "She whispered, looking down slightly embarrassed." I know this place is full of witches and wizards... Just like Platform Nine and three-quarters, it's your wizarding world, Muggles..."

When she failed to finish her sentence, Eli leaned forward and took her hand.

Without hesitation or thought, he just took her by the hand and pulled her into St. Mungo's Hospital for Sick and Wounded. Petunia had hardly had time to look around and see what the wizarding hospital looked like when she was in his arms.

It was their first embrace, and Penny froze, Eli wrapping his arms around her back, his head on her shoulder.

"Thank you for being here, Penny." 'he murmured wearily.' Good to see you. '