"Haah! Haah!"
Jerry shot upright in a bed in the Hospital Wing, gasping for air. It was as though he had broken free of invisible restraints, and the crushing sensation that had nearly suffocated him vanished in an instant.
The moment his mind cleared, Jerry instinctively reached beneath his pillow. Wands scraped faintly against one another as he gripped all three: the yew wand, the ebony wand, and the Elder Wand. Only when he felt their familiar magic did his taut nerves ease a little.
"The Hospital Wing...? I'm back?" Jerry scratched his head as he looked around the empty room.
He frowned at the wands he had just pulled from beneath his pillow. Who had rescued him and brought him to the Hospital Wing? How had they known he always slept with his wands under his pillow? Was it a coincidence?
Am I really just being paranoid? Before Jerry could think any further, a long, faintly lazy birdcall interrupted him.
Jerry looked around again and finally noticed that he wasn't alone. Tom lay in the fruit bowl on the bedside table, his eyes half-closed as he lounged on the fresh fruit. Every so often, he pecked at a piece beneath him, savoring its sweetness. He hadn't even noticed Jerry wake up.
"That damned bird!" The sight of Tom made Jerry's temper flare. He smacked him on the head and snapped, "Stop eating! Look at the state you're in. Can you even fly anymore? Keep this up and I'll stew you like a black chicken!"
"Squawk?!" Tom's eyes flew open under Jerry's slap.
When he saw Jerry sitting up in bed, he called out a few times, flapped his wings, and flew unsteadily around him, swaying as though he were drunk.
Jerry shook his head and sighed. From now on,