Chapter 4

When the sunlight had risen and the room came alight, Allen woke up and was served a light breakfast before being asked a few standard questions—how did he feel, did he remember anything more, could he recall his experiences before waking up in the hospital wing? Allen wasn't forthcoming, so instead of pushing it, the nurse checked his bandages, gave him more Muscle Mend Mix, and left him alone.

Later that morning, Madame Pomfrey returned to his bedside, followed by an older woman who gave him such a stern look that immediately Allen felt like he'd done something wrong.

"Hello. My name is Professor Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress. Madame Pomfrey informs me that you are recovering, so I came by to check up on your progress."

"Alright," Allen replied.

"First of all, what is your name?" Allen didn't immediately answer and McGonagall sighed. "I want to assure you that you are perfectly safe inside Hogwarts' walls, young man. If there is a reason you feel otherwise, I hope you would tell me."

A slew of sarcastic, self-deprecating responses flooded Allen's head. "My name is Allen Walker," he replied instead, carefully polite.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Walker," she said crisply, and Allen just nodded. "Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" He hesitated and then nodded, his expression carefully blank.

"Yesterday afternoon, you were walking in Hogsmeade village when you came across Katie Bell and the others, correct?"

"Is Katie Bell the girl who was hurt?" he said, his voice still waspy from his own screaming.

"That's correct. Can you tell me what you saw?"

"I was walking down the street when I saw her suddenly float into the air and then she started screaming. I went over to see what was happening."

"Do you remember what happened next?"

He nodded. "Before she started screaming, I saw she and her friend were fighting over something-it looked like a package-and so when I came over there I reached over to see what was in the package and…" he paused, as the remembrance of horrid pain filled his head. Shaking it off he finished, "Next thing I know, I'm here."

"Can you recall anything, anything at all, before waking up?"

He didn't reply at first, flashes of a chaos flicking in his mind's eye. "No," he said at last, and he hoped he sounded convincing. "Nothing."

McGonagall peered at him over her glasses, and Allen fought not to fidget under her critical gaze. After a moment, she cleared her throat and changed the subject. "Poppy mentioned that you said you were alone. Where are your parents?"

No point lying here. "I don't have any."

McGonagall nodded in understanding and then went on, "Are you traveling with a guardian? Someone we could get in touch with?"

"No." Link's face flashed through Allen's mind and his chest constricted in guilt. Swallowing, he shook his head. "Like I said, I'm alone."

"Why were you in Hogsmeade, if you don't live there?"

"I'm just passing through," he replied, a note of annoyance coloring his voice.

"Where are you going, if I may ask…?"

"Why are you asking me so many questions?" he answered, his voice coming out clipped. He mentally kicked himself for the slip.

McGonagall straightened up at that and replied crisply, "With the recent circumstances, I need to make sure you are safe."

Allen frowned, not entirely certain what she meant. "Circumstances?" McGonagall exchanged a look with Madame Pomfrey. "Is there something I should know?"

Looking a bit confused herself, the professor's frown deepened and she replied, "With the return of He Who Must Not Be Named, you'll understand our precaution."

Allen's confusion only deepened. "Who?"

She and Madame Pomfrey exchanged another look, surprise etched on both their faces. McGonagall then shook her head, pushing away whatever thought she was having, turning her full attention back to Allen. "I think that is enough for today. Thank you for talking with me, Mr. Walker. I hope you are back on your feet soon."

"Thank you," Allen replied back dryly, glad to see her out of there. She rose and Madame Pomfrey followed her out. They were talking quickly to one another, but the words were so soft and garbled he couldn't make them out, so gave up. Whatever it was they were worried about, Allen decided that all it meant was that he needed to get better and get the hell out of here—the sooner, the better.

He heard the doors closing and then Madame Pomfrey returned to tell him that lunch would arrive shortly and sat with him, talking about when to take his potions (there were three, all equally foul-tasting) and how much. She stressed several times not to strain his legs—or any part of his body, if he could help it.

"I believe that should be everything. Is there anything more you'd like to know, Mr. Walker?"

"Um, do you have anything for sleep?"

She nodded. "Do you need a sleep aide or something for bad dreams?"

"Bad dreams."

She nodded and said, "I'll give you some Dreamless Draught before bed."

"Thank you." And this time, Allen meant it.

The rest of the afternoon and another day passed where Allen was restricted to bed. He'd tried to walk about, but his legs still crumpled underneath him, just as painful and debilitating as last night. He took his potions, hoping it was worth the horrific taste. Madame Pomfrey checked on him every few hours, asking how he felt, and if he could remember anything, to which he continued to lie. Mostly, Allen just slept, drifting into dreamless naps every few hours. It was as if his body was catching up with lost opportunities—and to be fair, it was. Allen hadn't had a proper night's sleep in…well, too long.

He would have to ask the nurse where she got her sleep medicine. He definitely wanted more of that.

When he was awake, he listened in on conversations of teenagers who came in, reporting the strangest ailments—from fish gills growing on their throats to one memorable student who came in vomiting hair balls. Listening to that subside had made Allen almost sick himself.

Madame Pomfrey kept the partition up around his bed, for privacy she claimed. She didn't look at him with quite as much mistrust, but even so, when there were students inside, he could hear shocked whispers asking what happened to the wing, why were the windows broken, what kind of monster made those marks in the stone…and as he listened to Madame Pomfrey's vague responses and hurried changes in topic, Allen couldn't help but wonder if the real reason that Madame Pomfrey kept the partition around his bed was to protect her charges from the monster that had destroyed the room.

xox

The story of Katie Bell being cursed had spread across the school within hours, but by the next morning, the story of the boy who'd been cursed with her waking up while she'd been sent to St. Mungo's for further care spread even faster. Descriptions of the damaged hospital wing spread with them, and it didn't take a genius to put two-and-two together and assume that the boy caused the destruction.

Speculations of what the boy was or how he could have recovered so quickly were soon on the tongues of everyone, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione were no exceptions. Harry was still upset with his friends for not siding with him on Malfoy being the curser, but he was now just as curious of how someone could have recovered from it so quickly.

"Maybe he knows what happened," Harry speculated aloud at lunch, though Hermione shook her head.

"I doubt it. I think he was just passing by and got caught up in it."

"But who is he? He's our age, but I've never seen him around the school before."

Ron shrugged. "Who knows? I say we be glad the bloke's woken up and be done with it."

Harry wasn't entirely satisfied with that, but then Ginny came by with a notice for his next lesson with Dumbledore, and soon the matter of the boy who was cursed with Katie Bell was pushed aside for another day.

A/N: Long wait for a measly thousand words. Next chapter is a bit more interesting if I say so myself. :) ALSO WHO'S EXCITED ABOUT VOLUME 24! ...Ahem.