Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is not meant to infringe upon copyrights.
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Chris and Diana only stayed home for one day, returning to the Ministry of Magic early the next morning; they had a lot to do.
Chris, in particular, had been away on business for six months, leaving the Ministry with mountains of paperwork.
Alone at home, Kyle decided to visit Hagrid.
St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries was located in London, in front of an old-fashioned department store.
Like the Leaky Cauldron, it was also protected by a Muggle expulsion charm; they could only see the "Closed for Renovation" sign on the door and couldn't enter.
Kyle found an ugly doll in the shop window and said, "I want to visit a patient."
The doll nodded slightly and waved its joined fingers, gesturing for Kyle to enter.
Similar to the wall you had to pass through to enter Platform 9, entering St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries required passing through a glass window.
This was Kyle's first time at St. Mungo's; as the most famous hospital in the wizarding world, it always had all sorts of bizarre patients.
Not long after entering, Kyle saw an old wizard with a leg on his head hopping to the information desk in the waiting room and joining the queue.
His appearance was truly exaggerated; those ahead of him stared in disbelief and offered to let him go first.
"No need, no need, you go first," the old wizard said politely. "I just feel a bit heavy-headed; could someone kindly help me hold my head?"
But no one dared to help him, not because they were afraid of being scammed, but mainly because the leg on his head was restless, kicking left and right, making it impossible for anyone to get close.
Finally, a plump, blonde witch came out of the information desk and led him elsewhere.
As he left, his leg swung from side to side, seemingly wanting to kick the witch.
Kyle was heading to the second-floor Biological Injury Department, where he met a curly-haired healer and learned Hagrid's location from him.
"You mean that big guy? He's in Janus Thickey ward, right across from the sample room… Never mind, I'll take you there."
The healer led Kyle to a brownish-red door.
"This is it." He then pushed open the door and said, "Rubeus Hagrid, someone's here to see you."
"Mmm…" came a muffled murmur from inside.
Kyle went in.
It was a fairly spacious room with six beds, but only three people were there.
Besides Hagrid, there were two other wizards, one of whom was sleeping, and Kyle actually recognized the other.
"Professor Kettleburn… what are you doing here?"
"Hmm?" A bald wizard with a white beard looked at Kyle and asked in confusion, "Are you… a student at Hogwarts?"
"Yes, Professor," Kyle replied, "I'm a second-year student now."
"No wonder…" Professor Kettleburn said in realization.
Second-year students couldn't take the Care of Magical Creatures class, so he naturally hadn't seen Kyle before.
"Um… what are you doing here?" Kyle glanced at his remaining arm and half a leg.
Thankfully, they were still there; otherwise, this professor would probably have had to retire early.
"It's nothing, I just got bumped by a unicorn." The old professor casually fiddled with the thick bandages on his body, waving his hand dismissively. "Just a scrape, nothing serious. Weren't you going to see Hagrid? Go on."
Kyle clicked his tongue. A unicorn's horn wasn't just for show; it could even pierce through a dragon's scales.
Getting bumped by that thing… only Professor Kettleburn would be so calm.
But for him, it really wasn't a big deal.
Hagrid was sitting to Professor Kettleburn's right, occupying three beds all by himself.
Seeing Kyle, Hagrid looked slightly confused.
"You are... Kyle, what are you doing here? Don't you have classes?"
"It's summer vacation now, Hagrid." Kyle placed a box of wrapped candy on the table beside him and asked, "How are you feeling?"
Of course, he didn't forget to give Professor Kettleburn some.
"It's summer vacation already?"
Hagrid rubbed his head. "I feel terrible. I feel like I've forgotten a lot of things."
"Mr. Scamander came a couple of days ago. He said I'll need at least a month of treatment to recover these memories."
"I don't want to stay here. I still want to pick Harry up for school."
Hagrid tugged at his hastily pieced-together, but still too-small, hospital gown, a whole size too small.
He had been preparing for a whole year to pick up Harry Potter this year. What if Dumbledore wouldn't let him go because of this?
Hagrid couldn't accept that.
"It's alright," Kyle reassured him. "It's only the beginning of summer vacation. The owls won't be sending the acceptance letters for another month and a half. There's plenty of time."
"I hope so," Hagrid tugged at his clothes again.
"Be confident, Hagrid. The headmaster will definitely let you pick up Potter." Kyle handed him a chocolate frog. "Have some chocolate; it should cheer you up."
"Thank you, Kyle." Hagrid sobbed softly. "I didn't expect anyone other than Dumbledore to come see me."
"Wait… your name is Kyle?"
At this moment, Professor Kettleburn suddenly looked over. "That unicorn cub, you weren't the one who found it, were you?"
"Sort of." Kyle said calmly. "But Oren only returned the cub after the Ministry of Magic arrived; it just happened to fall into my hands."
"The Ministry of Magic… ha, I didn't expect those useless people to be reliable sometimes."
Professor Kettleburn made no attempt to hide his opinion of the Ministry of Magic. He looked at Kyle with interest and said, "You're a second-year student this year, right? Would you be interested in taking the Care of Magical Creatures class next year?"
"That's the course I'm most looking forward to, Professor."
The people in the next ward were arguing loudly, their shouts reaching here, but the person sleeping was snoring too loudly for Kyle to hear what they were saying.
After saying goodbye to Hagrid and Professor Kettleburn, Kyle went down the corridor.
The arguing was clearer there, accompanied by the sounds of things being smashed; it seemed the patient inside was struggling and refusing to cooperate.
Kyle didn't pay much attention, closed the door, and headed for the stairs.
"Bang!"
But just as he turned his head, an arm suddenly smashed through the door of the next ward, blocking Kyle's path.
The arm was covered in gray hair, with long, black, hooked nails.
Before Kyle could react, a tall figure crashed through the door and ran out of the next room. The figure landed on its hind legs, its long mouth opening and closing.
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This appearance...a werewolf?
Kyle couldn't believe his eyes; it was daytime! Why was there a werewolf?!
[End of the chapter]