Dean approached a dusty display window in the vacant store, Purge and Dowse Ltd. He looked over his shoulders nervously, watching the Muggles that passed by quickly, before addressing the plastic dummy in the window.
“We’re here to visit the Janus Thickey ward,” said Dean.
“Who are you talking to?” asked Dudley.
Dean didn’t need to answer, however, because a moment later the dummy in the display beckoned them forward.
“C’mon,” said Dean, and he walked through the glass display case and disappeared.
“What have I gotten myself into?” Dudley muttered to himself. He glanced over his shoulder; the streets were filled with Muggles—or at least he assumed they were Muggles—who surely should have noticed Dean walking through a glass wall. However, no one seemed to take any notice of him, Dean, or the dummy, which was now staring at him, indicating more urgently for him to walk forward.
Dudley stepped through, finding Dean waiting on the other side. They were in a reception area, filled with witches and wizards, most of whom were sporting odd disfigurements or strange rashes. One young wizard had an enormous elephant trunk where his nose should have been, and occasionally made a trumpeting sound. An older witch was sitting in a waiting room chair with her hands folded across her lap; the odd thing was that her skin had disappeared, and her hands were nothing more than bones and muscles. Dudley shivered slightly at the sight and tried to ignore the rest of the patients after that.
At several points along the wall, there were death eaters observing everyone in the reception area. They wore long, black cloaks with hoods pulled so far forward that it was impossible to see their faces.
“Blimey, St. Mungo’s has changed,” Dean muttered.
“How so?” asked Dudley.
“All of the death eaters,” he said, still very quietly. “There were never even guards here, not that I knew of anyway, but especially not death eaters.”
Dean and Dudley were almost at the lifts when Dedalus noticed them. He had been standing in the corner, presumably waiting for Mrs. Longbottom and Hestia to come back. He seemed surprised to see Dudley, and started waving his arms at them to stop, motioning them to get out. Dean shook his head at Dedalus, his way of saying, “we’re not leaving”.
Unfortunately, one of the death eaters had noticed their exchange. He approached Dean and Dudley, while another approached Dedalus.
“Do you know the man over there?” he grunted. Dudley could barely see his pale face behind the hood, but he could see the smirk.
“No, never seen him before,” said Dean casually, and he started forward again.
“He seems to think he knows you,” the death eater said, stepping into Dean’s way.
“He seems like a bloody idiot, if you ask me,” said Dean, this time more aggressively. “Now, if you don’t mind, we’ll be on our way.”
“I do mind,” said the death eater. “I’ll need to know your names.”
“I’m Theodore Nott,” said Dean quickly. “This is Vincent Crabbe. I’m sure you know our fathers.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” said the death eater, “I—I didn’t realize—”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” interrupted Dean. “In fact, I believe I’ll need to know your name.”
“Oh, Mr. Nott, it was a mistake, honestly,” the death eater spluttered.
“You’re lucky we’re in a hurry,” snapped Dean, before turning to leave. Dudley followed quickly behind him into the lifts.
“Who are Theodore Nott and Vincent Crabbe?” asked Dudley after the doors had closed.
“Two death eaters’ kids that go to Hogwarts,” said Dean, smirking. “That was really close!”
“What about Dedalus?” asked Dudley.
“He should be fine,” said Dean. “He’s in the Order. Plus, he was already planning on being a distraction, so he has to know a way to get away from them.”
The doors opened on the fourth floor and Dean and Dudley were instantly surrounded by chaos. Spells and jinxes soared across the hallway before them, while medical devices crashed to the ground and parts of walls exploded. Mrs. Longbottom and Hestia were outnumbered, fighting five death eaters, but they had already stopped one, who was on the ground. As Dean leapt into the action, Dudley immediately fell to the floor in the corner of the lift.
“What the bloody hell are you doing here?” Mrs. Longbottom shouted at Dean.
“It looks like you could use some help!” Dean shouted back.
“We are doing perfectly fine,” Mrs. Longbottom said stubbornly as she blocked a red light aimed at her chest.
“Yeah, I can see that,” Dean said, smirking. Dudley thought he looked like he was enjoying himself too much for someone who was being attacked.
Suddenly, the lift doors started to close. Dudley jumped up from where he’d been sitting on the floor, but was too late to get through.
“Bloody hell!” he shouted. He searched frantically for the open door button, but there was none. In fact, there were no buttons at all. Then he recalled getting into the lift in Paris, when Dedalus had no idea how to use them. He tried to remember how Dean made the lift work, but he hadn’t been paying attention. “Come on, open!” he shouted desperately.
And they did. Dudley was astonished that it had worked. He quickly got out, worried the doors would close again and he would be stuck. The sign said Third Floor: Potion and Plant Poisoning. He saw the staircase directly across the hall, and chose to use those instead.
The small spiral staircase wound up to the fourth floor. Portraits of old witches and wizards covered the walls, and they shouted at him as he ran up the stairs.
“Boy, what are you doing in the hospital?” asked a portrait of a white-haired witch.
“You don’t look sick!” said another. “Don’t you know there are bigger problems than a little cold!”
“The Wizarding World has become a dangerous place!”
“Are you listening?” said a balding wizard portrait. “St. Mungo’s is no longer what it used to be! Leave before you lose your chance!”
“I’m trying to get people out of here!” Dudley shouted at the portraits.
“Good for you, son,” said the balding wizard. “Be careful. There are even more death eaters in this hospital than you probably think.”
“Thank you,” Dudley said to the portrait. He decided to contemplate the fact that he had just thanked an inanimate object later; for now, he had to find the others.
When he got back up to the fourth floor, Dean, Mrs. Longbottom, and Hestia seemed to be winning. There were several death eaters on the ground, Mrs. Longbottom and Dean were each fighting one death eater, and Hestia was fighting two.
“Dudley!” shouted Hestia when she saw him. “What—what are you doing?” She seemed more surprised than angry, but Dudley knew from experience that that probably wouldn’t last long.
“It’s a long story,” said Dudley. “Can I help?”
“You can help by getting your arse out of the way!” Hestia shouted. “Get in there!” She pointed to the Janus Thickey Long Term Resident’s Ward.
Dudley obeyed, running inside and shutting the door. He leaned against the door, breathing heavily from running up the stairs. However, when someone tapped him on the shoulder, he jumped so high he nearly hit the ceiling. He turned around to see a blond, blue eyed man smiling broadly at him.
“Hello, how are you?” asked the man enthusiastically.
“Just dandy,” answered Dudley sarcastically.
“Would you like an autograph?”
“Why would I want an autograph?”
“Well, because I’m Gilderoy Lockhart, of course,” said the man, unphased by Dudley’s rudeness. “I am famous!”
Dudley suddenly remembered where he was and realized that Gilderoy Lockhart probably had some sort of problem if he lived in the long-term ward of the hospital.
“Right, yeah, I’d love one,” said Dudley, a little half-heartedly.
“Well, of course you do!” he said, turning to his desk to find a photograph and quill. “Apparently, I used to teach, too! I wonder if I taught you!”
Dudley vaguely wondered what subject this man could have taught, but didn’t care very much. He looked around, seeing that there weren’t many beds in this ward. Across from Lockhart, there were curtains drawn around a bed for privacy. Dudley walked to the end, to the only two other occupied beds. A frail woman and a sad-looking man were in these two beds, which were next to each other.
“Mrs. Longbottom?” asked Dudley. “Mr. Longbottom?”
The man looked up at him weakly, but didn’t seem to take much notice. Dudley wondered whether these were the Longbottoms, or if they were in a different ward. He looked at their wall, which was covered in photographs. He recognized several of them from Mrs. Longbottom’s house, some of Frank and Alice when they were young, and a few of Neville as a kid.
Dudley realized that he might actually be able to help in some way, by getting Frank and Alice ready to leave. With this new idea, he tried harder to get responses from them.
“Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom, how are you?” Dudley coaxed. He hoped he was doing this correctly; admittedly, he didn’t have the best bedside manner, but this was important for everyone’s safety. “Come on, don’t you want to take a little trip? We’re taking a vacation!”
They responded a little more this time, Frank and Alice actually sitting up.
“Yeah, let’s go! Were going away, but we have to move quickly!” He thought he saw Alice smile, and, slowly, they both started to move forward.
“Where are we going?” asked Gilderoy Lockhart cheerily. He was holding his autograph out for Dudley.
“Er… to the park,” said Dudley.
Lockhart was about to say something, but he was interrupted when the door burst open. Dudley looked over his shoulder, hoping it would be Mrs. Longbottom. His heart sank when he saw the black cloak and hood walking toward them.
“It’s your lucky day, sir!” exclaimed Lockhart. “I’ll write an autograph for you!”
“For the last time, I do not want an autograph,” snarled the death eater. Then he turned on Dudley and said, “who the bloody hell are you?”
“I’m…Vincent Crabbe,” said Dudley, though he was not as confident as Dean had been.
“Is that right?” asked the death eater skeptically. “Who are you visiting?”
“Him,” said Dudley, pointing at Lockhart, and trying to remember his name.
“No one ever visits Lockhart, boy, don’t lie,” said the death eater menacingly.
“I used to teach him!” announced Lockhart.
“Did he?” asked the death eater, turning on Dudley.
“Yes,” said Dudley. “Professor Lockhart was my favorite teacher. I brought him sweets, see?” Dudley held up the Skiving Snackbox as evidence.
“Where did you go to school?” he asked, still not convinced.
“Well, Hogwarts,” said Dudley.
“Alright,” said the death eater. “I’m sure you’ve heard all the trouble outside. Some dumb Muggle-lovers out there, so you just stay in this room. I need to call for back-up.”
Oh no, thought Dudley. Dean, Mrs. Longbottom, and Hestia had their hands full without the back-up. He tried to think of an idea to stop this guy. His first instinct was to throw him in a head-lock, but Dudley only held the advantage in the Muggle World. Then, he remembered the Skiving Snackbox in his hand.
“Would you like a sweet?” he offered, opening the shiny, red and gold striped box.
“Let me guess,” offered the death eater, “Lockhart won’t eat them because he’s ‘worried about his figure’?”
Dudley nodded and the death eater scoffed. “Well, I don’t want to put them to waste,” he said, and took one of the two-toned sweets. He popped the whole thing in his mouth, and just a few seconds later, fell to the floor unconscious.
“Blimey!” Dudley exclaimed. He glanced at the chart on the inside of the box that explained what each sweet did, and assumed that this was a Fainting Fancy. He wasn’t sure how long the spell would last, because he had eaten both sides of the sweet in one bite, and tried to hurry the Longbottoms out of the wing.
They were nearly at the door when Mrs. Longbottom ran inside. She looked curiously at Dudley for a moment, then at the death eater who had just started stirring on the floor and Frank and Alice who were walking toward her. She gave Dudley an approving nod, something which Dudley guessed she didn’t give often, and rushed Frank and Alice outside.
The hallway was a mess, littered with death eaters who were either unconscious, disfigured, or seemed to have a binding jinx on them. Hestia and Dean were each still fighting a death eater. Dean dodged a flash of green light, then stunned his rival square in the chest and turned to help Hestia. He blocked a spell that nearly hit her, which gave her a chance to send a web of ropes at the death eater.
She turned to Dudley and said, “That was almost as satisfying as when I used that spell on your father!”
Dudley laughed in spite of himself, and they piled into the lift. They were all injured from the battle, though not badly. Mrs. Longbottom had lost her hat and had a tear in her cloak that was stained with blood. Hestia had a cut on her forehead that was bleeding badly, but she pointed her wand at it, whispered something indistinguishable, and the blood flow stopped. Dean was limping badly, but Dudley couldn’t see why beneath the cloak. If they weren’t in a hospital, their injuries would have been very conspicuous.
Everyone was nervous when the doors opened onto the ground floor. However, the reception area looked normal, so they walked casually out toward the exit.
“Where’s Dedalus?” whispered Hestia.
“I don’t know. He should have been right here,” said Mrs. Longbottom. She was ahead of everyone, leading Frank and Alice to the door.
“We saw him earlier,” said Dean. “Some death eaters asked him questions because he was trying to get our attention.”
“Alright, you all get out of here. I’ll find him,” said Hestia.
“No, I’ll—” Dean started.
He stopped when Dedalus ran past them, firing shots at several death eaters who were chasing him.
“You all, leave now!” Hestia said as she jumped in to help Dedalus.
Mrs. Longbottom was the only one to listen, leading Frank and Alice outside. Dean jumped into the fight with Hestia and Dedalus, as did at least ten more death eaters who were standing guard in the reception area. Dudley stood awkwardly between the exit and the battle, unsure of what to do.
“Hestia! Dean! What are you doing?” asked Dedalus.
“We’re helping you!” shouted Hestia. “Someone had to get you out of this mess!”
“It wasn’t a mess, though! I’m the distraction, remember?” said Dedalus.
“Oh yeah, and what was your plan for getting out of the distraction?” asked Hestia.
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” he said. “Just get closer to the exit! They can’t follow us out; there are too many Muggles.”
“Dudley, get outside and we’ll meet you there!” shouted Dean.
Dudley started to leave, when he heard a loud thud from where Dean had been standing. He turned and saw Dean on the ground, unconscious. He quickly ran to Dean, narrowly missing being stunned himself, and threw Dean’s thin body over his shoulder. He ran back to the exit to the street in front of Purges and Dowse Ltd.
He was surprised to find everything so average outside, after the chaos he’d just escaped inside. However, unlike before, when none of the Muggles had noticed him and Dean, they caught everyone’s attention.
No one had seen Dudley walk through the store window, but they questioned why he was carrying a bloody, unconscious boy on his shoulder. Strangers were shouting at him from all directions, some offering medical advice, and a few wondering whether he had beaten Dean up. Dudley appreciated the irony in the fact that most people were telling him to get to a hospital, when they’d just come from one and had been in more danger there.
Dudley was saved when Hestia and Dedalus burst from the store window beside him.
“Back to the house, Dedalus! I’ll take them!” shouted Hestia. “Dudley, hold onto him.” She grabbed Dudley’s wrist in one hand and Dean’s limp arm in the other, and, in front of the whole crowd of confused Muggles, Apparated out of the street.
Dursleys, Meet The Wizarding World by Ghoul In Pajamas
Chapter Notes:I'm still not JK Rowling, and these are still her characters. :)
Chapter Endnotes: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I finished it a lot quicker than average because of all of your wonderful reviews, especially one from Jess (ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor) that really put me in the mood to write! Thanks guys, and let me know what you think about this chapter! P.S. if you think they're out of danger for now, you're wrong!