The Hospital Wing

As the blue curtain of light faded, Xiwen, Professor Kettleburn, the Unicorn, and Little Cat fell from the sky.

Xiwen had no strength left. He weakly let go of Xilisi's neck and fell flat onto the ground. At the same time, he felt Little Cat's soft body land on his chest.

After coughing softly twice, he reached out and held Little Cat in his arms. Looking up at the deep night sky, he watched countless stars gradually blur and split into overlapping images.

In the final moment before losing consciousness, Xiwen vaguely caught sight of Dumbledore descending from above out of the corner of his eye.

He closed his eyes in relief.

When Xiwen opened his eyes again, he saw an arched dome supported by marble pillars and towering Gothic windows. Spotless white curtains and pristine white bedsheets surrounded him, while the pungent scent of potions filled the air.

He realized that he was in the Hospital Wing.

"You're awake?" A clear female voice sounded beside Xiwen's ear.

Xiwen turned his head and saw a tall witch in white robes changing the bandages wrapped around Professor Kettleburn's thigh in the neighboring bed.

And the professor's only remaining intact left leg was now completely gone below the bandages!

Xiwen's heart skipped a beat, and his eyes suddenly welled with tears.

"Professor, your leg?!" He pushed himself upright, only for the white-robed witch to press him back onto the bed by the shoulder.

"Lie still!" she said sternly. "You inhaled too much Venomous Leopard poison gas and exhausted your magic, and this isn't even the first or second time you've overdrawn it recently! Do first-year students dare to act this recklessly nowadays?"

Professor Kettleburn, pale-faced, immediately tried to comfort Xiwen. "It's fine, little Xiwen. This isn't the first time one of those big fellows has bitten off my leg. You get used to it after enough bites!"

Xiwen lay on the bed and closed his eyes, but a tear still slipped from the corner of his eye.

Since coming to this world, this was the first time he had felt so powerless.

Xiwen had always believed that, with Kamar-Taj's magical system at his command, he could easily retreat unscathed no matter whom he faced in this new world. Yet last night, he had been helpless in the face of the severe injuries suffered by the professor right beside him. In the end, he had even needed the Unicorn and Little Cat's help to flee the dark wizard's pursuit in such a sorry state.

For the first time, he deeply understood that this world held many other dangers besides dangerous spells. Deadly magical creatures like Venomous Leopards, for instance, could easily take his life!

"A wizard will always encounter setbacks on the path of magical exploration. Temporary failure means nothing. Only by overcoming setbacks again and again can one become truly strong."

Dumbledore interrupted Xiwen's despondent thoughts in a tone like he was reciting poetry.

Xiwen opened his somewhat bleary eyes and looked at him.

"I came to see the little wizard who skipped class." Dumbledore winked at Xiwen with a smile. "To avoid competing with your enthusiastic classmates for space, I deliberately took a shortcut here."

"What? It's already noon on Monday?" Xiwen's mouth fell open in shock.

Hearing this, the white-robed witch, Huma Daler, matron of the Hospital Wing, said irritably from the side, "Did you think recovering from magical exhaustion and Venomous Leopard poison would be that easy?"

She then took a bottle from the bedside cabinet and stuffed it into Xiwen's hand. "Drink this first, then have lunch."

Dumbledore smiled. "You can't go wrong listening to Mrs. Dallaire!"

He then walked over to Professor Kettleburn's bed and asked with concern about the Care of Magical Creatures professor's condition, while Professor Kettleburn responded in his usual carefree manner.

Mrs. Dallaire helped Xiwen sit up slightly, then placed a large, soft pillow behind his back for him to lean against.

Looking at the dark brown potion in his hand, Xiwen vaguely remembered the days in Kamar-Taj when he had poured all kinds of medicine down his throat every day to treat his physical symptoms.

He pulled out the stopper and, out of habit, drained the potion in one gulp.

"Cough, cough..." Xiwen coughed violently. He had never expected the potion to taste so terrible. It was even worse than the bitter herbal medicines he had drunk before.

Mrs. Dallaire patted Xiwen's back and helped him catch his breath. Then she said in surprise, "I thought you'd spit it out. I'd even prepared a Silencing Charm for you."

Xiwen looked speechlessly at the utterly unsporting Mrs. Dallaire, pursed his lips, and popped two Fizzing Whizbees into his mouth to ease the taste.

"Don't eat too many sweet things," Mrs. Dallaire instructed before turning back to care for Professor Kettleburn.

It had to be said that Mrs. Dallaire's potion really worked. Whether it was psychological or not, his headache and weakness improved noticeably almost at once.

Just as Xiwen was about to lie down and sleep a little longer, the Slytherin students who had rushed over from the Transfiguration classroom arrived.

"Xiwen, what happened to you?"

"Xiwen, what happened? Why didn't you go to class?"

"Xiwen..."

Watching the young wizards bombard him with questions, Xiwen felt his scalp tingle. He had no idea how to answer them.

"Quiet!" Mrs. Dallaire suddenly turned around and shouted.

She strode over with an unpleasant expression and sternly addressed the noisy young wizards. "The patient needs rest. Leave the Hospital Wing immediately!"

"Mrs. Dallaire, we're his good friends. We came to visit him." Elshiona shot a fierce glare at the disorderly young wizards behind her, then looked at Mrs. Dallaire with some indignation.

"No!" Mrs. Dallaire's expression did not soften in the slightest as she bluntly refused. "The Hospital Wing is not a marketplace."

At that moment, Xiwen spoke from his bed. "Mrs. Dallaire, how about letting only my roommates and El in for a while? I have something I want to tell them too."

Mrs. Dallaire gave him a stern look, but eventually relented. She said to Elshiona, Abraxas, and the others, "You have five minutes."

She then decisively turned and left.

Only after seeing her leave did Elshiona and the others breathe a sigh of relief and gather around Xiwen's bed.

"Brother, school's only been open a few days, and you've already missed three classes. That's incredible!" Abraxas excitedly slapped Xiwen on the shoulder, nearly knocking it off the pillow and back under the covers.

"What are you doing? Xiwen's a patient!" Elshiona glared fiercely at him, then asked Xiwen, "Xiwen, what happened last night? I heard some Gryffindors and Ravenclaws saying they saw a red spark shoot into the sky deep within the Forbidden Forest."

Xiwen forced a relaxed smile and lied to them. "It wasn't anything serious. It's already been dealt with."

"But I saw Professor Kettleburn's leg..." the quiet Gomez suddenly said in a low voice.

Elshiona, Abraxas, and Mobley turned toward the neighboring bed, then revealed looks of horror and disbelief.

Xiwen also fell silent, his expression growing extremely grim.

"Xiwen, what danger did you run into?" Elshiona covered her mouth and asked, her voice already tinged with tears.

Xiwen remained silent, and even the air seemed to grow quiet.