Eeman

End of summer holidays

The next few weeks went by with more therapy with Healer Terrill for Harry and Hermione. Healer Terrill contacted Taraneh to set up a time to meet about being a consultant at St. Mungo's, and when she had a morning free, Tara floo'd herself over to meet with Hannah in her office. Hannah was quite pleased to find that Taraneh indeed had some magic! Taraneh would be studying magic in addition to her medical knowledge, and she was quite delighted with his new path her life was taking. They also discussed Harry and what Hannah had further found, concerning his hip, and that his gait before the garden incident had most likely been slightly irregular. Harry had not really been aware, either, she assured Taraneh. He had gotten used to his new normal at some point because he'd had to do so. Hannah and Dr. Stone started contacting colleagues whom they thought might have a solution. Thus far one had not been found. Minerva had said that she would speak to Professor Snape, the potions teacher at Hogwarts, to see if he would be interested in trying to develop something as well.

Taraneh took Harry in for some additional muggle tests, to investigate if there was something more that she could do as an orthopaedic surgeon. Alas, there was nothing, really. Meanwhile, Healer Terrill was helping him try to walk on his prosthetic with just one crutch to help his balance, to see if it was possible. Harry liked to be in the kitchen to cook, and even for that, if he could regularly move about there with one crutch, it would free him up a bit. It was still a struggle though. He could easily stand in for a while, but if he tried to take a few small steps, he would trip over his leg again. Sometimes he felt incredibly frustrated, but he did not share this with anyone besides Hermione. He recognized that everyone was doing their best, and he tried not to feel angry about it.

One day in the middle of August, during a heat wave that had settled over London, although nice and cool in St. Mungo's, Harry and Hermione arrived via floo for their physiotherapy session. Healer Terrill was the only one present as it was near the end of the day. She put them both through their exercises, and then invited them to join her for a snack. As they settled at the table, Healer Terrill magically cut up some fruit for them and Accio'd plates from a nearby room.

Harry ate his apple slices quietly and slowly as Hermione started asking the Healer about the houses at Hogwarts. Hannah Terrill herself had been in Gryffindor, but the Hat had considered her for Hufflepuff. She told Harry and Hermione of this when asked if one house was better than another.

"Just keep in mind that the House rivalries are just to be in good fun. You are free to make friends from any of the houses. Don't limit yourselves. Sometimes the rivalries get intense but try to not let that happen to you. Try not to get involved to the point that you are essentially blind to the other houses. Just be friendly and be yourselves. I've gotten to know both of you a bit now and being yourselves will be the best thing. At your age, I know that most students want to just fit in with the other students, no matter how much they need to change to do it. I'm telling you from personal experience that this is not necessary. Just be yourselves."

"Alright," Harry said, thinking about his Healer's advice and taking it to heart before he spoke again. "Even if I will still need crutches for a bit longer, I will try to be myself. I really wanted to show up at Hogwarts, and no one would guess I have a prosthetic leg, but it will be better to be myself, who I am now." He put another slice to his lips, and took a bite, appreciating the taste.

"Harry's right. I shouldn't hide that I like to read and conduct research, just because kids at my primary made fun of me," Hermione said to Healer Terrill. "I was thinking about it, too, because I think I would prefer Gryffindor out of the others, but I worry that I will be sorted into Ravenclaw. I was planning to pretend I didn't like those things quite so much."

The Healer chuckled. "The Sorting Hat will be willing to discuss your worries with you and make a good decision. You do have some say in which house you are assigned. I think it's a pity the first years are not usually told about this."