Madam Pomfrey Fainted

"Madam Pomfrey isn't here?" Fred asked anxiously.

"She should be, but I can't be sure." Sean shook his head. He remembered catching sight of Madam Pomfrey during the banquet, but she had hurried out halfway through.

That was nothing unusual. Hogwarts students always found all sorts of ways to get hurt, and Madam Pomfrey spent most of her time in the Hospital Wing.

Charlotte looked grave. "Stay where you are. I'll go in and take a look."

"Let's move together. It'll be harder to look after each other if we split up," Sean suggested. His lifesaving measures only worked if everyone stayed together.

Charlotte considered it, then nodded in the end.

She then took the lead and headed inside.

"Wait." Under the others' puzzled gazes, Sean stopped them. "You're just going in like that?"

"What else are we supposed to do..." The others exchanged glances.

Sean shook his head helplessly. The inadequate study of improved Dark Arts was one thing, but the students' carelessness and recklessness were another. No wonder Hogwarts couldn't beat Newmontgard in the Triwizard Cup.

In a situation like this, they were still planning to charge right in, relying entirely on individual vigilance?

This really was Hogwarts' unique brand of loose, scattered heroism...

"Fred, stand in the middle. Use the Levitation Charm to control the stretcher, and keep an eye on the ceiling while you're at it.

"George and I will take the sides. Keep the Lighting Charm up, and don't let any shadows around us become too dark to see through.

"Cedric, you'll be at the front. Tell everyone immediately if anything happens, and use spells according to your own judgment. But if you encounter an enlarged Ashwinder, call for me first thing.

"Charlotte, you're the strongest. Cover the rear. If anything unexpected happens, prioritize protecting us with the Shield Charm."

Sean quickly assigned everyone their roles. In such a rush, this was the best arrangement he could manage.

"Oh, okay." Charlotte agreed, an impressed expression appearing on her face.

Did they teach this sort of thing in the Muggle world too?

After forming a simple formation, they slowly entered the Hospital Wing.

The first floor had only a small amount of space, with the main body of the Hospital Wing located on the second floor. Fortunately, aside from the occasional Ashwinder, they saw nothing else amiss.

As they climbed the stairs and reached the second-floor corner, Sean could already see the arched stone doorway leading into the ward.

"There doesn't seem to be any danger here, but isn't Madam Pomfrey around?" George asked in confusion, holding a wand that resembled a tiny sun.

"Don't let your guard down," Charlotte reminded them from the rear of the group.

Cedric, at the front of the group, suddenly stopped. He peered ahead with a puzzled look, then took a shocked step back.

"Over there—it's full of Ashwinders!"

Following the direction of Cedric's wand, Sean saw gray-white Ashwinders constantly slithering past at the far end of the second floor. They emerged from another entrance to the ward, then slithered into the tower—the passage that originally led from the castle to the Hospital Wing.

Fred and George both looked shaken. If they hadn't followed Sean's suggestion and summoned Flying Broomsticks, and if the two of them had come here with Percy alone, the Weasleys would have lost three sons tonight, before tomorrow ever came.

"Be careful," Sean warned in a low voice.

Keeping close to the wall, they entered the ward. On a bed near the entrance, they spotted a familiar figure lying there with her eyes tightly shut.

"Madam Pomfrey?!" George cried out, about to step forward and check on her.

"Careful!" Sean, sharp-eyed, immediately grabbed him and pointed his wand toward the wall.

George looked over in confusion, then broke out in a cold sweat.

Several enlarged Ashwinders lay coiled with their eyes closed against the gray-white wall. If one didn't look closely, they could easily be mistaken for decorative reliefs.

The resting Ashwinders abruptly opened their eyes at the sound, then lunged at the group together.

"Get back!" Charlotte shouted.

Sean glanced at Madam Pomfrey on the bed, then stepped forward with a grave expression.

"Sean! Get back here!"

Sean ignored the others' cries and fixed his gaze on the Ashwinders.

Cedric watched in shock as the Ashwinders froze in place whenever they met Sean's eyes, no longer so viciously intent on hurting people.

Sean drove the Ashwinders away, making them leave the area. Once they had enlarged, it was easier for him to see their pupils. With that influence removed, they no longer wanted to explode themselves.

They would still explode an hour later, of course, but that was no longer Sean's concern.

The only pity was that these Magical Creatures, which possessed only instinct, could not be used by him.

After confirming that the surroundings were safe, Sean walked to the bed. Madam Pomfrey's eyes were tightly closed, and her face was twisted in pain.

He reached out and checked her breathing. She was still alive.

"It looks like she was hit by a Stunning Spell," Charlotte said with a frown.

She and Sean exchanged a look, each seeing the same thought in the other's eyes.

Someone had infiltrated the castle.

Sean's thoughts went further. The Ashwinders still hadn't been dealt with, and he hadn't seen Dumbledore at all during the banquet. That meant the headmaster was most likely not at the school.

Someone who knew that and had stirred up this chaos was, in all likelihood, an insider.

Professor Kettleburn immediately shot to the top of Sean's list of suspects.

This all looked far too much like his handiwork.

Ashwinders, the Engorgement Charm...

"What do we do now?" Fred anxiously glanced at Percy on the stretcher. Madam Pomfrey was unconscious, and his brother's condition was already far from optimistic.

The Stunning Spell was one of the rare spells with no counter-curse. They could only wait for the victim to wake up on their own.

"All we can do is wait," Sean said gravely. "Wait for Madam Pomfrey to wake up. If any professors return to the Great Hall, they'll come looking for us too."

Seeing the pained expression still on Percy's unconscious face, Sean prepared to take out Unicorn's Favor and use it.

Out with the old, in with the new.

Just as he was about to use it, an anxious voice rang out.

"Why are you here? It's dangerous!"

Everyone else looked delighted, but Sean alone went tense at once.

That was Kettleburn's voice!

The Care of Magical Creatures professor appeared at another entrance to the hospital wing, his wand raised.

Standing on his prosthetic limb, he paced anxiously in place, talking without pause. "Merlin's Beard, I have no idea where those Ashwinders came from. Hurry and go back."

Kettleburn really was suspicious... Watching the other man's agitated behavior, Sean frowned.

It was as though he was guarding something.

Sean quietly stopped the others, who were about to approach, and whispered, "Professor Kettleburn isn't right."

"What is it?"

"Look beside him."

Charlotte focused her gaze and finally noticed a flickering blue glow in the area obscured beside Kettleburn.