Chapter 728
Saint Mungo
Chapter 728 Saint Mungo
A double-decker bus slowly drove down the street, and several students who had just gotten off the bus squeezed into the ice cream shop on the corner, laughing and joking. The copper bell rang crisply as the glass door opened and closed.
Under the parasol outside the coffee shop, a man in a linen suit was busy writing something in his notebook; in a nearby phone booth, a woman in a red dress was holding a receiver and arguing heatedly.
Harry stared in surprise at the scene before him, suddenly feeling a little awkward in his long school robes.
“This is… London?” Wade noticed the signs on the shops along the street, blinked, and asked, “Professor, does your old friend live here?”
"Oh, it's not far from here, come with me."
Dumbledore led the two men along the wide street.
Wade looked up at the tall Dumbledore, whose long beard and hair were very "wizard-like," and whose deep purple robe with silver patterns was also very eye-catching, not to mention the golden pointed hat on his head, making the visual effect absolutely stunning.
But no one on the street paid them much attention, as if the principal had cast a spell on everyone.
However, when pedestrians approached, they would deliberately avoid colliding with the three, indicating that they did not completely fail to see their faces.
"This ignore spell is simply perfect," Vader thought to himself.
Harry stared wide-eyed as an elderly woman walking her dog casually led it past the three of them, brushing past Dumbledore as if oblivious to their attire. Curious, he asked:
"Professor, can they even see us?"
“Of course they can see, Harry,” Dumbledore said. “But they are too distracted to see properly.”
Just then, Wade noticed a baby in a stroller staring intently at the three of them, babbling and waving its little hands, seemingly trying to get their attention.
Harry noticed the child too. He suddenly raised his hand, pinched his face, and made a funny face, which made the child giggle.
The child's mother looked at her child, who had suddenly started laughing, with a puzzled expression, and then joined in the laughter, equally bewildered.
Wade couldn't help but say, "You're starting to look more and more like Sirius, Harry."
“How could that be?” Harry retorted. “If it were Sirius, he would have scared the kid to tears with a face just now.”
They both laughed at the same time.
Dumbledore laughed and said, "See, I told you they could see... Ah, we've arrived."
Before them stood an old-fashioned red-brick department store, its windows covered in a thick layer of dust, displaying several crooked mannequins. The store's doors were tightly shut, and a sign read "Closed for Renovation."
Dumbledore gestured for the two to come closer, then leaned close to one of the female mannequins and said, "Hello, we've come to visit Horace Slughorn."
The dummy nodded slightly and beckoned twice with its fingers. Dumbledore grabbed Wade and Harry's arms with both hands and pulled them straight through the glass.
"My God!"
Harry couldn't help but whisper his admiration, and Wade held his breath.
He had heard of this place from various people before, but this was the first time he had actually set foot in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Arts. Before him was a crowded waiting room, packed with all sorts of patients:
A gloomy-faced wizard sat on a bench, his mouth and nose transformed into a rooster's beak, and every few seconds he would involuntarily crow.
There was also a middle-aged wizard, grinning foolishly, with translucent bubbles constantly rising from his head, each bubble containing fragments of memory. His wife, carrying a large yellow cloth bag, was frantically collecting the bubbles into the bag;
The other two wizards seemed to be glued together by a permanent adhesive spell, with half of their arms and bodies pressed tightly together. When the healer called their names, the two hurriedly stood up and tried to walk forward, but because their steps were out of sync, they fell down with a thud.
Passing through the noisy waiting room, you are greeted by an exquisite portrait of a witch, her long, silvery-white hair curled and cascading over her shoulders, giving her a very gentle appearance.
“Good afternoon, Albus, and children,” the witch said with a smile, winking at Wade and Harry. “I hope I don’t see you brought in as patients.”
Wade: "..." Can this be considered a blessing?
"Good afternoon, dear Delis." Dumbledore asked, "How is Horace today?"
“The same as always,” said Delis. “He’s good in every way, except he’s a little timid. Back in our day, the mere thought of going out would have scared him to death.”
“Anyone who has gone through what he has been through becomes vulnerable,” Dumbledore said. “Is he still in his old ward?”
“Yes,” said Delis. “Go see him…maybe you can cheer him up.”
She glanced at Wade and the other man again, a knowing smile appearing on her lips.
Then Dumbledore led the two through a narrow corridor, with healers in green robes constantly going in and out of the rooms on both sides, and some strange patients groaning.
The elevator was next to the information desk. When they entered the elevator, a pale-faced witch was already standing inside. She was holding her bloodied right hand, which had a clear mark of being bitten by some kind of insect. The witch's hand was swollen like a ball, and the skin was stretched almost transparent.
Dumbledore pressed the button for the fifth floor, and Vader saw the words "Department of Spell Damage" on the label next to it.
Just as the elevator doors were about to close, a cry suddenly came from outside—
"Wait... Waaah... Please wait a minute..."
A wizard with tears streaming down his face staggered over and blocked the elevator door with his shoulder. He sobbed as he pressed the button for the fourth floor. As the elevator ascended, the wizard's tears flowed from his eyes like a fountain.
Harry stared at him in shock, seeing someone cry like that in a cartoon for the first time.
Wade shifted his shoulder to avoid getting the man's tears on him, and patiently watched the numbers on the elevator screen change.
As soon as the elevator reached the second floor, the witch couldn't wait to jump out.
When they reached the fourth floor, the male witch also left in tears, and then a patient who kept hiccuping and spitting bubbles entered the elevator and pressed the button for the sixth floor.
Wade glanced at the label: Sixth Floor [Tea Room and Shops].
Looking again at the wizard's hand, one could see that he was also holding a printed tea bag.
—Even when you're this sick, you still remember to have afternoon tea?
"Ding--"
Finally, they arrived at the fifth floor. The three of them stepped out of the elevator, and Harry and Wade both breathed a sigh of relief.
(End of this chapter)