Chapter 146: The Little Hand That Sneaked In
The night at the Hospital Wing was undoubtedly tedious.
Zacharias Smith and his friends tried repeatedly to break into the ward, but were stopped each time by Madam Pomfrey.
“If I catch you here again!” she shouted angrily at them. “I’ll tell Professor Sprout…”
“I just wanted to tell Jon his score for the first task…” Zacharias protested indignantly.
“Tomorrow… The patient needs rest now!” Madam Pomfrey slammed the Hospital Wing doors shut.
...
Locked alone in the Hospital Wing, Jon stared at the golden egg beside his pillow, pondering the Second Task.
Dive beneath the waters of Black Lake to rescue someone?
Theoretically, just some gillyweed should suffice… safe, non-toxic, and eco-friendly.
But why did he have this nagging feeling something would go terribly wrong?
Jon pondered this as sleep gradually overtook him.
In his dream, he found himself participating in the Second Task at the bottom of Black Lake, having consumed the gillyweed.
The result? A giant squid wrapped itself around him, and a horde of fish-headed, human-bodied Merpeople emerged, dragging him away and demanding he meet their Heavenly Father.
Jon drew his wand, repelling the monsters one by one… only to discover his wand was transforming into an octopus tentacle.
The tentacle gently caressed Jon’s forehead. Then Jon felt his own head begin to slowly transform. The gills formed by the gillyweed grew clearer and clearer, and he became more and more like those Merpeople…
“Ah…” Jon jolted awake.
He suddenly noticed a small hand appearing before his eyes.
It definitely wasn’t his own hand.
...
“Who’s there!” Jon shouted alertly, then drew the wand from beneath his pillow.
“Oh dear…” A familiar voice came from the darkness. “It’s me… Jon…”
The other person held a candle, and through its flickering light—
“Natalie…” Jon exclaimed in surprise. “Why are you here?”
“I saw you sweating a lot on your forehead and wanted to wipe it for you…” Natalie held out the handkerchief in her hand, smiling awkwardly. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up.”
“That’s not it… I meant, why are you here?” Jon asked helplessly.
He glanced at his watch. It was midnight.
Merlin’s beard—do all Gryffindors inherit this fine tradition of sneaking out at night to roam the castle...? Jon silently grumbled to himself.
“I…” Natalie scratched her head sheepishly. “Ginny told me you were hurt. I was planning to visit you this afternoon… but then I saw Madam Pomfrey shooing away all the students who came to see you, so…”
“So you snuck out in the middle of the night?” Jon asked, his voice tinged with irritation.
“I learned about the secret passage to the Hospital Wing from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley!” Natalie whispered. “Don’t worry, you won’t run into Mr. Filch there!”
“It has nothing to do with Filch!” Jon snapped angrily.
Yes, getting caught by Filch wouldn’t matter much—at worst, a few points deducted, and not even from Hufflepuff’s tally.
But consider this: for the past few months, a Death Eater had been “patrolling” the grounds at night. If Natalie encountered him while doing something she shouldn’t… Jon couldn’t fathom the consequences.
“I’m sorry…” Natalie lowered her head and whispered. “I only made you a get-well card…”
As she spoke, she timidly handed over a card.
Seeing her expression, Jon found it hard to scold her any further. He said earnestly, “Promise me you won’t wander around the school at night anymore… It’s dangerous!”
The little girl nodded earnestly. Then, in a voice only she could hear, she murmured, “I wasn’t wandering...”
A brief silence fell over the hospital bedside. Jon felt at a loss for words.
“Actually, Diagon Alley wasn’t the first time we met, was it?” Natalie seemed to gather her courage, asking softly.
“Huh?” Jon froze.
“Back in Diagon Alley, when Professor Snape introduced you to me… I felt like you looked so familiar, like I’d seen you before!” She murmured softly. “And you seemed so kind, like you’d done me a huge favor…”
“A huge favor?’ Jon raised an eyebrow.
In a way, she was right… If he hadn’t been so generous back then, giving Natalie’s father that money, who knew what might have happened later. After all, Newham was a chaotic place.
“Maybe I’m just imagining things!” the girl said with a giggle. “Tonight in the Gryffindor common room, everyone was praising how amazing Harry Potter is… But to me, he’s just a brawny guy who can ride a broomstick…”
“…So I got into a fight with them, and I’ve never argued with them before… I couldn’t sleep all night, so I snuck out!”
Natalie gave Jon a slight bow, then placed the recovery card on the bedside table.
“Sorry for disturbing you… Jon!”
With that, she jogged out the Hospital Wing doors and vanished into the darkness.
Jon watched her retreating figure, then glanced at the get-well card on his bedside table. A vague sense of guilt welled up inside him.
...
Early the next morning, Jon was discharged.
Madam Pomfrey didn’t forget to make a big fuss about checking him over.
“On the surface, you seem fine!” she mused thoughtfully. “But I suggest staying here for observation a few more days. After all, you just fought a two-hundred-foot Dragon.”
“No, Madam, I can’t afford to miss classes…” Jon declined her offer with a wry smile.
Finally back in the Hufflepuff common room, he was greeted with the warmest welcome from his Hufflepuff classmates.
“You were absolutely awesome yesterday, Jon!” Zacharias’s voice boomed, audible through two walls.
He rushed over breathlessly, joining several other boys who surrounded Jon, lifting him up and tossing him into the air several times before finally letting him down.
“Enough… Jon’s injuries might not be fully healed yet!” Cedric finally intervened.
“We were planning a celebration yesterday, but you weren’t there…” Zacharias said, pulling a parchment from his pocket.
“Oh, and your score for the first event…”
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