Following Nicolas Flamel's instructions, William remained in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries for two weeks.
Though he didn't need to stay quite so long for recovery, the hospital insisted on conducting a thorough examination, with a total of thirty-seven main tests and nine hundred smaller ones.
Fortunately, Flamel covered the costs. Otherwise, William might have felt like an international student in America waking up after an accident only to realize someone had already called an ambulance—utterly baffled and financially doomed.
During his stay, the twins and Cedric came to visit. After making sure he was fine, they relaxed, chatted a bit about prices for products to sell in the upcoming school year, and then left.
With little else to do, William settled into a leisurely routine, akin to a retired wizard's life. He read the newspaper, drank potions, tutored Hermione, or struck up conversations with the other wizards and witches in the hospital.
St. Mungo's housed a fascinating array of patients.
On the second floor, a line of wizards and witches, who seemed quite normal, were often found sitting in wooden rocking chairs reading outdated Witch Weekly magazines—but mentally, they were a bit off.
There were also quite a few dedicated readers of The Quibbler. William had long been curious why the magazine had such high circulation; apparently, the readers were mostly in hospitals like this one. Cedric would certainly have had plenty to chat about with them.
Beyond these colourful characters, there were also many distinguished elderly wizards—retired Aurors, former Chasers for the National Quidditch team, and well-known alchemists… every profession under the sun was represented here.
Once, William lost twenty straight games of Wizard's Chess to a bald, elderly wizard, only to later find out the man had been a three-time Wizard's Chess Champion. Thus, William started secretly picking up pointers.
He also found a portrait of Dilys Derwent hanging in one of the hallways. Derwent had been a healer at St. Mungo's as well as a headmistress of Hogwarts.
William had spoken to her portrait in the headmaster's office several times, discussing various topics related to potion-making. But Dilys always seemed quite busy, popping in and out of various portraits, occasionally passing messages for Dumbledore.
In the hospital, William and Hermione also met a boy named Neville.
Like Hermione, he was a soon-to-be Hogwarts student. William first encountered Neville when he knocked on William's door while William was tutoring Hermione in Transfiguration.
Neville had come looking for his toad, Trevor. According to Neville, poor Trevor might have been nabbed by one of the hospital's "crazies" to be eaten. After a long search, they found Trevor nestled right in Neville's trousers.
Neville's parents were staying on the fifth floor, where they treated magical injuries, and Neville had become somewhat of a regular, spending nearly the entire month of August at the hospital to be close to his parents.
As the three of them got to know each other better, William and Hermione decided to visit Neville's parents with him, bringing a few small gifts.
Neville's father lay on the bed, looking mournfully at the ceiling as though counting the patterns there, while his mother sat with disheveled hair, face hidden, staring intently at every visitor.
"Neville, keep your head high. You should be proud of parents like these!" admonished a stern-looking old woman who had been in the room.
Neville's grandmother, Augusta Longbottom, looked both intimidating and majestic, clad in a green dress with a moth-eaten fox fur draped over her shoulders.
She wore a pointed hat topped with what looked like a well-fed vulture. Her presence was regal, almost like an aging lioness.
Neville kept his eyes on his shoes, mumbling, "I know."
"Then you should tell your friends, Neville!" she commanded, her gaze shifting to William and Hermione.
"Neville's parents were tortured into madness by Death Eaters using the Cruciatus Curse," she said with a proud, though deeply sorrowful tone.
Hermione gasped, covering her mouth as tears welled up in her eyes. Until now, they hadn't known the reason for Neville's hospital visits.
"Neville," Mrs. Longbottom suddenly asked, "do you remember who hurt your parents?"
"Bell…"
"Louder!!"
"Bella—BELLATRIX LESTRANGE… AND RODOLPHUS… AND RABASTAN," Neville stammered, his face turning red as he yelled the names.
"If they ever escape Azkaban, what will you do?"
"I'll kill them with my wand!" Neville's voice was fierce.
"Good," said Mrs. Longbottom, nodding approvingly.
Meanwhile, William's mind was racing. The name Rodolphus sounded familiar.
He remembered it from when Dumbledore had shown him memories of Death Eater ceremonies. It had been Rodolphus's initiation that led Tywin into the Death Eaters' ranks.
It seemed almost absurd that such brutal criminals were held in Azkaban and not sentenced to death.
Mrs. Longbottom studied William for a moment, then extended her wrinkled, claw-like hand.
"Thank you, young man," she said, "for capturing one Death Eater and for stopping another at Gringotts."
William raised an eyebrow, shaking her hand. "You know about that?"
After William's compensation for the Gringotts incident, officials had carefully erased his involvement from the public record.
"Of course I know," she replied proudly. "We're an Auror family. I have many friends, relatives, and students in the Ministry. I hear about things sooner than you'd think."
Neville shot a surprised glance at William, astonished that this boy he'd just met at the hospital was so accomplished.
"Minerva has spoken of you," Mrs. Longbottom continued. "She holds you in high regard, says you're a good boy. I see you're helping Hermione with her studies?"
"Yes, ma'am," William nodded.
Mrs. Longbottom cast her severe gaze back on Neville.
"I want Neville to become an Auror, too, to carry on the family's legacy. But I fear he doesn't have his father's aptitude. Could you help Neville with his studies as well, as you do with Hermione?"
William nodded right away. "Of course. I'm free most of the time now, and even at school, Neville can come to me anytime he needs help."
Just then, Mrs. Longbottom turned toward the bed, her expression softening.
"Ah, Alice, dear, what is it?" she said gently.
Neville's mother, dressed in a hospital gown, had approached them slowly.
Her face was thin and gaunt, her once-vibrant eyes now glassy. Her white hair was brittle, hanging loosely. She didn't speak—or couldn't—but reached out to Neville, holding something.
"Again?" Mrs. Longbottom sighed wearily. "Well done, Alice, dear. Neville, take it, whatever it is."
Neville extended his hand, and his mother dropped a piece of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum wrapper into his palm.
"Thank you, Mum," he whispered, forcing a smile.
His mother tottered back to her bed, muttering softly to herself.
"Neville, you might as well toss it in the bin," Mrs. Longbottom sighed. "You've probably got enough of those wrappers to cover your entire bedroom wall."
"Go on, then, you three. Run along now. I'll sit with them a while longer."
As they made their way down the stairs, out of his grandmother's sight, Neville didn't throw the wrapper away. Instead, he carefully smoothed it out and tucked it into his pocket.
William reached into his own pocket, producing a small box he had magically expanded with an Undetectable Extension Charm, and handed it to Neville.
"This should be perfect for storing things from your mum. It's got a lot of space," he said.
"Thank you, William!" Neville said, holding the box close.
Hermione clung to William's arm, still teary-eyed.
But William's thoughts were elsewhere.
If Lily Potter had been able to use some ancient, mysterious power to repel the Killing Curse and protect Harry, could that same power break the effects of the Cruciatus Curse and help save Neville's parents?
For the first time, William's desire to learn magic was driven not by curiosity or ambition, but by the hope of helping someone else.
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