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CHAPTER FOUR. a wake up call. ( paper crane no. 775. )
AN ICY DRAFT OF MORNING AIR pushed its way through the dewy, unmown grass of the Hogwarts grounds and shook the flaking leaves on the trees which shivered but did yet to falter, their colours turning into autumn hues. The breeze floated through the school corridors where the sun had just started to rise with its warmth and brilliant golden colours, casting shadows upon the walls. Mr Filch, the caretaker, had started his morning rounds of cleaning up and making sure the castle was as tidy as it could be while being accompanied by his cat, Mrs Norris. Though he knew the mess would be back by the end of the school day. He didn't know why he bothered...
The magical paintings had woken up to start their complaining about how the nights were now drawing in and the days were getting colder — like they did every single year. It was a seasonal thing. October had only just arrived and already they'd begun to talk about the dreary weather that was on its way, the summer season completely forgotten about. Students and teachers were starting to arise too, heading to the Great Hall for early breakfast, their stomachs rumbling and their eyes heavy.
The castle was waking up.
The morning chill didn't spare any opening as it wafted through one of the ajar windows of the Hospital Wing, triggering goosebumps and prickling the skin of the stirring blonde, an evident dull ache lingering throughout her body. Her fingertips, her toes, her head — they all tingled with numbness. Hell, even her mouth felt strange as she slowly ran her tongue over the insides of her cheek. She wondered if her body looked at bad as it felt. Painful and beaten.
She drowsily racked her mind for any memories to track down why her body felt so battered and sore — or why the fact the mattress underneath her felt a tad harder than her own dormitory bed. Where was she? How long had she slept for? What day even was it? She had no answers for anything.
Slowly and reluctantly, Mint opened her eyes, scrunching her face up as the blinding light immediately poured in. She let out a small groan, her eyelashes faintly batting against her lids as she continuously blinked, adjusting to the light. Why was it so bright? Surely the dormitory wasn't always this intense... It didn't take long for her eyes to adapt — with a couple of harsh blinks in between. Soon enough, her surroundings became more clear.
She was in the Hospital Wing.
Why? She had no idea. How? She couldn't answer that either. Everything seemed like a weird blur and she couldn't remember even passing out. Had she had an attack? The more tried to at least trigger one thing that would help her remember, the more the back of her head throbbed with pain. With a small wince, she moved her aching arm to touch it — before finding out it was protected by a layer of bandage, bursting out more questions.
She wasn't even surprised to have woken up somewhere that wasn't her bed. This was something that happened way too often for it to even count as rare. She was just confused as to what had happened for her to end up there. It was likely she'd had an attack, but usually, she remembered them the morning afterwards...
