The Past is the Future

CHAPTER 3. - HOSPITAL WING

1st of September 1975, Hogwarts Hospital Wing

Finally, panting and breathless, they all reached the Hospital Wing. The girl was still breathing, but her breath was ragged and her chest was still rising and falling unevenly. Lucky for them, Madam Pomfrey was still awake. As she beckoned them over, she gasped when she saw the girl and the state she was in. She quickly motioned for Sirius to put her down onto the bed, which he did and with extreme tenderness.

"Quick boys! Get Professor McGonagall and Headmaster Dumbledore here immediately!" cried Madam Pomfrey. James and Remus sprinted out of the door immediately. Sirius and Peter remained at either side of the bed, watching closely as Madam Pomfrey examined the girls' injuries. As she inspected the wounds, she kept muttering to herself and shaking her head. Sirius and Peter glanced at eachother worriedly.

At that exact moment, Professor McGonagall entered the Hospital Wing, with Headmaster Dumbledore close behind her. McGonagall was wearing a green tartan night robe over her sleeping clothes, slippers on her feet and her hair for once undone from her tight bun and flowing in waves. Her hair, in her youth probably a shade of brown, was now interwoven with strands of silver. And Dumbledore was also wearing a night robe but in a shade of violet, nightcap with a pom-pom on his head and slippers adorned with the same atrocious pom-poms. His glasses lay on his nose, crooked. James and Remus followed the unusual duo, rather out of breath.

"Well, well... What do we have here Poppy?" asked Professor Dumbledore.

Professor McGonagall looked concerned, but once she saw the Marauders in the Hospital Wing, her expression turned from worried to stern.

"What are you all doing here?" she demanded angrily. "And at such a late hour in the night? You should be ashamed of yourselves!"

Before anyone responded, McGonagall caught sight of the girl laying on the hospital bed and gasped. Her eyes widened as she realised what she just said and covered her mouth in embarassment.

"I... I... I... I'm sorry... I apologise..." she managed to get out of herself. " But wait... I don't understand... Who? What? Why? When? Where? How?" For the first time , Professor McGonagall seemed to be at loss for words.

"Well..." said Sirius, fidgeting. "Well you see Professor..."

"You see Professor, we were at the library studying for the History of Magic test for tomorrow and I guess we fell asleep. We woke up not too long ago and decided to head back to the Gryffindor common room when we found this girl unconscious on the floor. So we took her here to the Hospital Wing and then went to look for you."

James', Sirius' and Remus' mouths were hanging open, for it was Peter who had just spoken. Peter, who had just come up with a lie. The usually shy and timid Peter Pettigrew, lying so simply and effortlessly to their teacher and headmaster. They couldn't believe it... Even if it had been just a little and innocent lie...

Professor McGonagall studied all four of the Marauders with narrowed eyes for a while, as if deciding whether to believe or not to believe them. She looked a lot like a cat, which was doing justice to her animagus form, who had just cornered a mouse and was debating in her head whether to eat the prey or not.

"Well then boys, I must say that was a very brave but foolish thing for you to do." she said at last. "I'm afraid I must take five points each from Gryffindor for your reckless behaviour-"

All four boys bowed their heads in shame.

"-but then again I must reward you for your heroic act. I therefore award 10 points to Gryffindor for each of you." she added, a small smile playing on her lips. At that exact moment, she was rather proud of her students.

At hearing that, the boys each perked up happily, grinning at eachother.

"However!" she continued. "I still don't quite understand, how you could have possibly found this girl, alone in an empty corridor at night. She couldn't have just appeared out of thin air!"

"Well, you see Professor..." started Sirius again. "At first, we all heard this strange and loud noise so naturally, we wanted to find out where it was coming from. Then we turned a corner and on the ceiling was this kind of black hole..." he let his voice trail.

"Then we noticed that something was inside the hole-" continued Remus, but was cut of by James.

"-And then suddenly, she fell out and landed on the ground. And then-"

"And then we took her here!" Peter finished for them.

Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall looked at eachother in utter shock and horror, eyes wide.

"Was it by any chance... a portal?" asked Dumbledore quietly, nearly whispering the last word.

The boys looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Now that you mention it, it probably could have been." said Sirius.

"Yeah, I guess it could..." nodded James. Remus and Peter just shrugged.

McGonagall and Dumbledore exchanged glances once again, while the boys just stared at them dumbfounded.

"Oh yes, I remember now..." said Dumbledore at long last. "She is an exchange student from Ilvermony in North America and shall be attending Hogwarts from now on. And I believe she shall be starting her fifth year here. But as you can see, there has been an issue with the international portkey, hence her injuries."

Professor McGonagall looked skeptical for a moment but then nodded in agreement.

"That's right boys! She is our new exchange student, so I hope you will make her feel most welcome and at home here."

The Marauders looked both happy and surprised with the news.

"But Professor!" said Sirius. "There hasn't been any exchange students for years and-"

"Silence Mr. Black!" snapped McGonagall.

"And umm Professor, what's her name?" asked Remus cautiously.

"Well umm... You see... Her name is... Umm..." stammered McGonagall.

At that precise moment, the mysterious girl on the bed stirred and groaned softly.

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Maggie

TO BE CONTINUED...