Chapter 115: The Werewolf
Chapter 115: The Werewolf
Chris and Diana only stayed at home for a day before returning to the Ministry of Magic early the next morning, as they had much work to do.
Especially Chris, who had been away on business for half a year, and the piles of documents in the department were almost reaching mountainous proportions.
Alone at home, Kyle decided to visit Hagrid.
St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries was located in London, in front of an old-fashioned department store.
Like the Leaky Cauldron, there was also a Muggle-Repelling Charm here, and Muggles could only see a sign saying "Closed for Renovations" on the door, preventing them from entering.
Kyle found a hideous doll in front of a display window and said, "I'm here to visit a patient."
The doll nodded slightly and waved its intertwined fingers, gesturing for Kyle to enter.
Similar to the wall one had to pass through to reach Platform 9, entering St. Mungo's required going through a glass window.
This was Kyle's first time at St. Mungo's, and as the most famous hospital in the magical world, there were always various strange patients here.
Soon after entering, Kyle saw an old wizard with a leg on his head, hopping into the waiting room and starting to queue at the reception desk.
However, his appearance was quite exaggerated, and those in front of him were all stunned, indicating that he could go first.
"No, no, you go first."
The old wizard was quite polite, "I just feel a bit heavy-headed. I just need a kind person to help me hold my head up."
But no one dared to help him, not because they were afraid of being cheated, but mainly because the leg on top of his head was not well-behaved. It kept kicking left and right, making it impossible for anyone to get close.
Finally, a plump, blonde female witch came out from the reception desk and took him away.
As he left, his leg was still swaying left and right, as if wanting to kick the witch.
This time, Kyle was going to the Magical Creatures Injury Ward on the second floor, where he met a curly-haired healer and asked about Hagrid's location.
"You mean the big guy? He's in Janus Thickey's ward, right across from the specimen room... Forget it, I'll take you there."
The healer led Kyle to a reddish-brown door.
"This is it," he said, opening the door. "Rubeus Hagrid, you have a visitor."
"Hmm..." A muffled murmur came from inside the room.
Kyle entered a relatively spacious room with six beds, but only three people were inside.
Besides Hagrid, there were two other male witches in the room, one sleeping and the other whom Kyle surprisingly recognized.
"Professor Kettleburn... What are you doing here?"
"Hmm?" A white-bearded, balding man turned to Kyle and said with confusion, "You're... a young wizard from Hogwarts?"
"Yes, Professor," Kyle replied. "I'm in my second year now."
"No wonder..." Professor Kettleburn realized.
As second-year students couldn't take Care of Magical Creatures yet, he hadn't met Kyle before.
"Um... How did you end up here?" Kyle looked at the professor's remaining arm and half a leg.
Fortunately, he still had them. If he had lost anything else, the professor might have had to retire early.
"It's nothing. I was just knocked down by a unicorn's horn," the old professor said nonchalantly, fiddling with the thick bandages on his body. "It's just a minor scrape, nothing serious. You wanted to see Hagrid, right? Go ahead."
Kyle clicked his tongue. The horn on a unicorn's forehead was not just for show; even a dragon's scales could pierce through.
Being knocked by that... probably only Professor Kettleburn would remain so calm.
However, for him, this wasn't a big deal either.
Hagrid was sitting to Professor Kettleburn's right, occupying three beds by himself.
When he saw Kyle, Hagrid's eyes were a little hazy.
"You're... Kyle, what are you doing here? Don't you have classes?"
"It's already summer vacation, Hagrid," Kyle placed a box of packaged candies on the table next to him and asked, "How are you feeling?"
Of course, he didn't forget to bring a box for Professor Kettleburn as well.
"Is it already summer vacation?"
Hagrid rubbed his head and said, "I feel terrible. I feel like I've forgotten a lot of things."
"Mr. Scamander came by a couple of days ago. He said that I'll need at least a month of treatment to recover those memories."
"I don't want to stay here. I still want to go and pick up Harry for his enrollment."
Hagrid was a bit agitated and tugged at his hospital robes, which were a mishmash of different fabrics and still a size too small.
He had been preparing for a whole year to go and pick up Harry Potter this year. What if Dumbledore didn't let him go because of this incident?
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Hagrid couldn't accept it.
"It's okay," Kyle comforted him, "It's only the start of summer vacation. The owls will deliver the acceptance letters in a month and a half, so there's plenty of time."
"I hope so," Hagrid tugged at his clothes again.
"Be confident, Hagrid. The Headmaster will definitely let you go and pick up Potter," Kyle handed him a Chocolate Frog, "Have some chocolate, it might cheer you up."
"Thank you, Kyle," Hagrid sniffled softly, "I didn't expect that besides Dumbledore, someone else would come to see me."
"Wait... your name is Kyle?"
At that moment, Professor Kettleburn, who was sitting next to them, suddenly turned to look at them, "That Unicorn foal, was it you who brought it back?"
"You could say that," Kyle said calmly, "But Oren only returned the foal after seeing the Ministry officials arrive. It just happened to land in my hands."
"The Ministry... Ha, I didn't expect those good-for-nothings to be reliable."
Professor Kettleburn didn't hide his opinion of the Ministry at all. He looked at Kyle with great interest and said, "You're in your second year, right? Are you interested in taking Care of Magical Creatures next year?"
"That's the class I've been most looking forward to, Professor."
In the next room, someone was arguing loudly, and the sound was so loud that their shouting could be heard here. However, the person sleeping was snoring so loudly that Kyle couldn't make out what they were arguing about.
After bidding farewell to Hagrid and Professor Kettleburn, Kyle headed to the corridor.
Here, the arguing voices were clearer, and they were accompanied by the sound of things being smashed. It seemed like the patient in the room was refusing to cooperate and was struggling fiercely.
Kyle didn't pay much attention and closed the door, preparing to head towards the stairwell.
"Bang!"
But just as he turned his head, an arm suddenly broke through the door of the next room, stopping right in front of Kyle.
The arm was covered in gray hair, and the nails at the end were curved and black.
Before Kyle could figure out what was going on, a tall figure crashed through the door and ran out of the adjacent room.
The figure landed on its hind legs, its long mouth opening and closing.
...
This figure... a Werewolf? Kyle couldn't believe his eyes. It was daytime, why would there be a werewolf!
(End of Chapter)
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