God was his witness, Harry thought, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was absolutely the most interesting place he had ever seen in his life!
He and Ron, along with the others, followed Percy the prefect to the Hospital Wing on the fourth floor of the castle. His biggest regret during the journey was that he couldn't grow two extra eyes to take it all in!
Not to mention the staircases that moved around on their own just to mess with people—along the way, he saw that none of the portraits hanging on the castle walls were lifeless. Just like the Dumbledore on his Chocolate Frog card, they could move around, and even visit their neighbors in other frames!
While passing through a corridor, the suits of armor standing guard on either side could also move freely. Some were polishing their own rust, some leaned against the stone walls yawning in boredom, and some were simply lying on the floor sound asleep, snoring with a clanging metallic rattle.
When they climbed to the third floor, several humanoid figures glowing with a milky-white pearlescent light suddenly popped out of the walls, chatting amongst themselves. They nearly scared Harry off the side of the staircase. Like him, Hermione Granger, who knew nothing about the wizarding world, also almost tumbled down the stairs.
"Don't make a fuss," Percy wrinkled his nose at them in dissatisfaction. "They're just ghosts."
"Ghosts?!"
Harry sucked in a breath of cold air, his questioning voice sounding like someone was strangling him!
"Pretty much," Harry's new friend Ron panted. "Charlie... my second oldest brother told me when he was still at school here that lots of ghosts live within the Hogwarts grounds... But they're all harmless. Most are friendly, only a very few are threatening... Oh, that one probably is!"
"Ha! Ickle Firsties!"
Something that looked to Harry like a ridiculous circus clown suddenly popped out from behind a tapestry embroidered with a majestic lion. It was holding a basin of water, looking like it had been lying in ambush there for a long time.
"Let's have some fun with you!"
The clown-like spirit grinned from ear to ear and laughed uproariously.
"Peeves!"
Percy immediately glared at him furiously.
"Tonight! In this situation, if you dare cause chaos, I bet my prefect badge that even Professor Dumbledore won't let you off the hook!"
Percy's threat seemed to have an effect on Peeves. He harrumphed, wiggled his big red nose like a spring, dropped the water basin at Percy's feet, and flew away.
"That was Peeves," Percy said, turning to Harry and the others after wringing out the hem of his robes, his tone sounding a bit weary.
"He... sigh, I'll tell you later. Anyway, just remember not to provoke him, because sometimes even a prefect's words don't work very well on him."
Harry nodded, resolving to remember Percy's advice.
After a difficult "trek," they finally reached the Hospital Wing.
Harry felt he didn't need any examination at all. Just the fact that he, Ron, and Neville had hauled this suitcase—which felt as heavy as a solid stone block—up to the fourth floor was proof enough of how healthy they were!
" Phew—I—I promise you on my Chudley Cannons poster, Harry, Neville, one day I'm going to kill Percy... Can you believe it? He wants to suck up to the new professor, but he makes us do the work... huff..."
Neville was too weak to speak. He just nodded vigorously, gasping for air with his mouth open, looking exactly like his pet toad.
Sweating profusely, Ron dropped the suitcase, wiped his sweat, and stared weakly at the dragon-hide suitcase.
"But then again... what on earth did he pack in there? Solid gold?"
"Hmph—"
Harry didn't offer a guess, but he heard Hermione Granger snort contemptuously, glancing sideways at Ron.
"Impossible!" she said decisively. "It must be materials for our lessons."
"Tch, now you're energetic?" Ron glared back, not backing down. "Who was the one calling our savior a fake medicine scammer earlier?"
Harry grinned—he thought Ron had undoubtedly won this round, because Hermione Granger instantly flushed red and sputtered, unable to speak.
"Ares Delfino!"
A shout suddenly came from inside the hospital, attracting the attention of the group hesitating at the door. The public ward was unbelievably crowded; beds were jammed against beds with no room to step. Many Healers had to squat on the beds to examine and treat the injured.
Harry saw a middle-aged witch wearing a white pointed hat and a uniform similar to a Nightingale training school outfit walk out of a private ward. Her hands were gloved in white leather, stained with unsettling blood.
Harry watched as the witch immediately spotted the "savior" on the stretcher waiting for arrangement. She walked quickly to his side, patted his shoulder, and spoke in a tone both happy and weary.
"Welcome, welcome back to the school staff, Ares—but I have to say, Ares, the two busiest nights of my entire career have had everything to do with you!"
"I assure you, Madam Pomfrey—"
Harry heard the professor on the stretcher... now he knew he was Professor Delfino.
"—neither of these incidents was caused by me intentionally. And in both cases, I was the one who suffered the most."
Ares pursed his lips, a faint smile at the corner of his mouth.
"Of course... of course. Minerva told me many times in private later, but Dumbledore at the time... Sigh, this isn't the time to talk about that. Let's find you a ward first. Minerva asked me to keep a single room for you, but there is a double room available—"
Everyone in the ward pricked up their ears to listen to Madam Pomfrey, including Harry. But he still noticed the peculiar expression on Prefect Percy's face—a mix of suspicion and dawning realization!
"You lot..."
Harry was guessing the reason for Percy's expression when suddenly, Madam Pomfrey pointed a finger at them.
"This year's first-years, right... There's one empty bed in Professor Delfino's ward. Which of you wants it?"
Madam Pomfrey asked.
"You, you, or you?"
Madam Pomfrey pointed at them one by one, but he, Ron, and Neville all shrank their heads back... None of them wanted to spend the night alone in a ward with a professor... The pressure was too great; they'd rather stay with people their own age.
"Me~"
To Harry's surprise, Hermione Granger raised her hand, looking hesitant and timid.
Ares turned his gaze as well. When he saw it was the little girl with bushy brown hair, his eyebrows shot up immediately, and his relatively relaxed expression instantly became much graver.
"That'll be you then!" Madam Pomfrey said. "I have to go mend the ribs of a boy named Zacharias Smith with bandages first... Poor little fellow!"
So, Ares and Hermione entered the ward one after the other.
Ares's Healer had been "requisitioned," so it was just the two of them in the room.
When the door closed, the noise from outside was instantly cut off.
The midsummer night breeze fluttered the curtains. The gentle moonlight was sliced into many squares by the carved wooden lattice, casting dappled shadows on the marble floor.
Ares didn't stay lying down. Instead, he leaned against the headboard, turning his face to stare intently at the little brown-haired girl sitting on the side of her own bed. His expression grew increasingly grave.
The air was thick and suffocating, like the deep sea.
The little girl kept her head down, her face hidden by her cascading hair, so Ares couldn't see her expression.
However, he still caught the details—her thin shoulders were trembling constantly, and occasionally, he could hear a few sobs.
Ares's face turned "green," and his lips pressed together tightly!
He knew—he predicted—it was almost certainly going to happen—he waited, and then—
"I'm sorry, Professor Delfino! I shouldn't have called you a fake medicine scammer! I mistook you for someone else!"
The little girl suddenly looked up and cried out. almost simultaneously, Ares jumped up.
"You're not here to collect a debt, are you?!"