𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐞 | 𝐇.𝐏

act i : scene xx

harry potter's pov

when dumbledore pushed open the hospital wing's door, i saw mrs.weasley, bill, ron, and hermione grouped around a harassed-looking madam pomfrey. they appeared to be demanding to know where i was and what had happened to me. all of them whipped around as me, dumbledore, and the black dog entered, and mrs.weasley let out a kind of muffled scream. "harry! oh, harry!" she started to hurry toward me, but dumbledore moved between them.

"molly." he said, holding up a hand, "please listen to me for a moment. harry has been through a terrible ordeal tonight. he has just had to relive it for me. what he needs now is sleep and peace, and quiet. if he would like you all to stay with him," he added, looking around at ron, hermione, and bill too, "you may do so. but i do not want you questioning him until he is ready to answer, and certainly not this evening." mrs.weasley nodded. she was very white. she rounded on ron, hermione, and bill as though they were being noisy, and hissed,

"did you hear? he needs quiet!"

"headmaster" said madam pomfrey, staring at the great black dog that was sirius, "may I ask what — ?"

"this dog will be remaining with harry for a while,” said dumbledore simply. "i assure you, he is extremely well trained. harry — I will wait while you get into bed." i felt an inexpressible sense of gratitude to dumbledore for asking the others not to question me. it wasn't as though i didn’t want them there; but the thought of explaining it all over again, the idea of reliving it one more time, was more than i could stand. "i will be back to see you as soon as i have met with fudge, harry," said dumbledore. "i would like you to remain here tomorrow until i have spoken to the school." he left.

as madam pomfrey led me to a nearby bed, i caught sight of the real Moody lying motionless in a bed at the far end of the room. his wooden leg and magical eye were lying on the bedside table. "is he okay?" i ask.

"he'll be fine" said madam pomfrey, giving me some pyjamas and pulling screens around me. i took off my robes, pulled on the pyjamas, and got into bed. ron, hermione, bill, mrs.weasley, and the black dog came around the screen and settled themselves in chairs on either side of me. ron and hermione were looking at me almost cautiously, as though scared of me.

"i'm all right" i told them. "just tired" mrs. weasley’s eyes filled with tears as she smoothed my bed-covers unnecessarily. madam pomfrey, who had bustled off to her office, returned holding a small bottle of some purple potion and a goblet.

"you’ll need to drink all of this, harry," she said. "it's a potion for dreamless sleep." i took the goblet and drank a few mouthfuls. i felt myself becoming drowsy at once. everything around me became hazy; the lamps around the hospital wing seemed to be winking at me in a friendly way through the screen around my bed; my body felt as though it was sinking deeper into the warmth of the feather mattress. before i could finish the potion, before i could say another word, my exhaustion had carried me off to sleep.

-

i woke up, so warm, so very sleepy, that i didn’t open my eyes, wanting to drop off again. the room was still dimly lit; i was sure it was still nighttime and had a feeling that i couldn’t have been asleep very long. then i heard whispering around me. "they’ll wake him if they don’t shut up!"

"what are they shouting about? nothing else can have happened, can it?" i opened my eyes blearily, someone had removed my glasses. i could see the fuzzy outlines of mrs.weasley and bill close by. mrs.weasley was on her feet.

"that's fudge's voice" she whispered. "and that's minerva mcgonagall's, isn't it? but what are they arguing about?" now harry could hear them too: people shouting and running toward the hospital wing.