Reinforcements for Diagon Alley

That night, the Spell Damage Ward on the fifth floor of St Mungo's was packed to capacity, with even the corridors crammed full of witches and wizards who had been brought in.

Because he had arrived early, Percy had luckily been assigned a bed in the second ward on the left side of the corridor.

When Kyle and Cedric rushed over, Mrs. Weasley was standing there anxiously, staring again and again at the tightly shut door, as though she could see through that solid wooden door if she looked at it enough times.

Mr. Weasley was beside her, trying to comfort her.

"Don't worry, Molly. He'll be fine." One arm was around Mrs. Weasley's shoulders, while his other hand was clenched tightly.

But from the way he kept glancing at the door, it was clear that he was just as unsettled inside.

Bill and Charlie were there as well. Of the Weasley family, only the younger Ginny and Ron were absent. Mrs. Weasley presumably had not wanted them to leave the safe house, so she had not brought them along.

As for Fred and George, who had come over earlier... they were not far away, hopping about on the spot with their hands over their ears like baboons standing on hot irons, performing some sort of dance no one could understand... or perhaps they were not dancing at all.

"Mrs. Weasley, how is Percy?" Kyle asked as he walked over.

"I don't know," Mrs. Weasley said through a choked sob. Tear tracks still marked her face; she looked as though she had only just been crying.

"The Healer has been inside for a long time, but she still hasn't come out..."

As she spoke, the door suddenly clicked open from within, and a weary-looking middle-aged witch came out.

"His condition