Pain.
Darkness.
Shaking.
A chaotic mess of sounds…
In his hazy state, Lucas caught fragments of voices.
“Firenze!
Xiya!
What are you doing carrying humans?
Don’t you feel ashamed?
Are you a mule?!”
“Back off, Bane!
They saved my daughter!”
…
Branches snapping.
Fierce barking…
“Good to see you, Hagrid.
These two kids are hurt bad, especially Lucas…”
“Great galloping Gorgons, quick!
Straight to the hospital wing…”
…
Shaking.
Jolting.
Noise.
Everything hurt and felt awful.
He was dizzy and couldn’t wake up no matter what.
In the endless dark, someone seemed to be tugging at him clumsily.
Then warm currents flowed into his body.
Lucas felt a little lighter.
At least the dreams started.
He saw his grandpa glaring and puffing his mustache, kind Professor Sprout, the savage black dragon, the stink of that troll, and then Xiya drawing her bow and shooting an arrow straight into him.
This time she actually hit pretty good… he thought through the pain.
Then Xiya turned into Ellie.
She was stirring a giant pot with a troll club, sloshing around all kinds of disgusting stuff.
The smell wafting out was exactly like a slop bucket—nauseating, unbearable.
“This is the magical cuisine you’ve been waiting for, Lucas!” Ellie laughed, shoving a colorful spoonful at him.
“Eat up, Lucas!”
“No!” Lucas clenched his teeth.
“What kind of food is that?
Get it away from me!”
“Just try it, Lucas!” Ellie kept nagging right in his ear.
“Lucas, open your mouth.
Say ‘ah’… Open up, Lucas!”
“Lucas!
Open your mouth!”
Lucas’s eyes flew open.
The blurry voices snapped into focus.
A woman was speaking.
“He just clenched his teeth again.
I can’t get the potion down… This is strange.”
Ellie’s soft whisper followed.
“Lucas, open your mouth!
You have to drink the medicine!”
Lucas blinked hard until the room came into focus.
He was lying in a bed with crisp white linen sheets in a room with an incredibly high ceiling.
An older woman with silver-white curly hair, dressed in old-fashioned Victorian nurse robes, stood frowning over him.
She held a steaming bottle.
Ellie sat right beside the bed.
The worry on her face melted into pure joy the second he opened his eyes.
“Oh, you’re awake!” the old woman said, her tone sharp like a scolding.
“Then open your mouth already!
I’ve never seen a child this badly hurt still throwing a tantrum over a potion!”
Lucas still wasn’t fully tracking what was happening.
His throat was bone-dry; he could only manage a weak nod.
Pain radiated from every inch of his body and made him tremble.
“Now you feel it?” The silver-haired woman scanned him with sharp eyes.
“Seven broken ribs, shattered left arm, ruptured spleen, massive bruising everywhere, plus a concussion!
Jumping off a black dragon?
Fighting a troll in the Forbidden Forest?
In all my years I’ve never seen a student who hasn’t even started school cause this much trouble!”
“Last year those Weasley twins were already beyond belief, but I never expected someone even more spectacular this year.
I guarantee you’re headed straight for Gryffindor and are going to become Hogwarts’ biggest headache!”
Her voice rose with frustrated anger.
Lucas blinked weakly, a little stunned by the lecture.
“We know we messed up.
Please, Madam Pomfrey…” Ellie tugged at the woman’s robe, anxious.
“Lucas just woke up—can you please give him the medicine?”
Madam Pomfrey huffed and pushed the bottle closer to his lips.
A strong, rotten-food stench hit him like a punch.
It was exactly the slop-bucket smell from his dream.
Lucas’s stomach rolled.
“This is Skele-Gro!” Madam Pomfrey shoved the bottle forward.
“Drink it!
Now!”
Lucas held his breath, accepted his fate, and gulped down the bubbling liquid.
It burned down his throat like swallowing fire.
“Blegh—!” The horrible taste exploded across his tongue and straight into his gut.
He felt like the top of his skull was about to blow off; even his hair seemed to shake.
“You’d better swallow every drop, Mr.
McGregor,” Madam Pomfrey said sternly.
“Spit it out and you get another bottle!”
Lucas nodded fast.
Madam Pomfrey finally put the bottle away, satisfied.
His voice came out hoarse and rough.
“Madam Pomfrey… with injuries this bad, how long do I have to stay here?
Two months?”
Madam Pomfrey gave him a strange look.
“What nonsense?
The rest of your injuries are already healed.
Drink Skele-Gro, rest one night, and you can walk out tomorrow morning.”
“Tomorrow morning?!” Lucas’s eyes widened in shock, which immediately made him wince.
But mostly he was stunned.
Injuries that serious, and he’d be fine after one more night?
This was the world of magic?
“Of course,” Madam Pomfrey said, calm and confident.
“As long as you don’t move around tonight and let the potion work.
It’s going to hurt quite a bit this evening—you’ll have to tough it out.
Perfectly normal when dozens of bones are regrowing.”
Her voice turned stern again.
“But I’m warning you: if you pull any more dangerous stunts during the summer, I’ll keep you in that bed until term starts.”
As she spoke she turned to leave.
“Right, I need to notify Minerva and Albus.
Especially Minerva.
Merlin, I’ve never seen her this worried.
She asked Pomona to handle your home visit, and then this happened…”
“Oh, poor Minerva.
She must be blaming herself for everything.
I’d better mix her a strong Calming Draught right away…”
Madam Pomfrey’s figure disappeared through the door, then her head suddenly poked back in.
She fixed Ellie with a stern glare.
“Miss MacFusty!
The patient needs rest.
You’d better keep quiet or I’ll throw you out!”
The door clicked shut.
Ellie bounced out of her chair like a spring and tiptoed straight to the bedside, violet eyes sparkling.
“Thank goodness, Lucas!
You’re finally awake!
You were out cold for a whole day!
Madam Pomfrey said you almost…”
“Wait, Ellie.” Lucas’s voice was still hoarse but clearer.
He glanced out the tall arched windows at the deep-blue night sky, the huge sweep of stars, the rows of rooftops, and the distant tower spires.
He even caught a tabby cat leaping lightly across a roof and vanishing.
“Where are we?
Some kind of magic hospital?”
“Magic hospital?
No!” Ellie’s voice shot up with excitement before she clapped a hand over her mouth, afraid Madam Pomfrey would storm back in.
When nothing happened, she leaned in close and whispered, eyes bright.
“Lucas, you’ll never guess!
We’re at Hogwarts!”
What?
Lucas froze in shock while Ellie kept going, barely able to contain herself.
“The forest we jumped into was the Forbidden Forest!
And that huge castle we saw on the cliff?
That was Hogwarts!
We’re in the Hogwarts hospital wing right now!”