"Is…is he dead?" a girl whispered in horror.
The Ravenclaws who had witnessed the scene were instantly terrified of Flying Lesson, especially Michael, who had been talking non-stop earlier.
He looked at the figure lying in the grass, his face pale, his voice trembling: "Is…is it my fault?"
Wade patted his shoulder, comforting him, "It shouldn't be too serious—he didn't land on his head."
Michael swallowed, unable to speak.
Fortunately, Madam Hooch immediately ran over to check and quickly helped Neville up from the grass—thankfully, the boy's wrist just looked a bit odd. Madam Hooch helped him walk towards the Hospital Wing, loudly warning the other students not to move.
"Wei-Wade…" Michael pleaded, "Let's go see Neville."
Wade glanced at the other students standing stunned on the grass and nodded. The two quickly ran through the corridor towards the Hospital Wing.
"—Flying Lesson, is it?" Through the door, they heard Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, say in a matter-of-fact tone, "Every year around this time, there's always some first-year new student who gets into an accident. I can't even remember a year that went smoothly—"
Wade gently pushed open the door, and Michael squeezed his head in first.
They saw Neville sobbing on a bed in the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey was holding his arm, gently waving her Wand to examine it, and feathery light emanated from the tip of the Wand.
"Then I'll leave this student to you," Madam Hooch said urgently. "There are still over twenty students and unsupervised brooms on the lawn! Ugh, if only I had more time, I really should have asked Mr. Filch to watch them!"
Madam Pomfrey said, "Alright, I will—"
Madam Hooch was clearly impatient. As soon as she heard "Alright," she turned to leave in a hurry. The suddenly opened door caused Michael to stumble in.
Seeing the two students, Madam Hooch's eagle-like eyes immediately sharpened, as if she was about to start scolding them. But then she noticed their blue and bronze ties, and her anger subsided.
Since they weren't students who had snuck out of her own class, Madam Hooch didn't have time to deal with them and left quickly.
"—take good care of this child." Madam Pomfrey's remaining half-sentence sounded like she was talking to herself. She gently comforted the sniffling Neville, "Don't worry, it's just a minor issue, we'll fix it right away. I promise you won't miss dinner tonight."
Madam Pomfrey waved her Wand, and a potion bottle flew down from a shelf. She made Neville drink it, then pointed her Wand at his arm and quietly chanted a spell.
It was as if in the blink of an eye, the boy's broken wrist was reset. From his expression, Neville didn't even seem to feel much pain.
Wade watched in awe.
"And you two, children?" Madam Pomfrey turned to look at the two at the door and asked, "Injured? Sick? Or a stomachache?"
Michael's lips moved, but he didn't speak.
Wade had no choice but to say, "Madam Pomfrey, we came to see Neville."
"Oh, to visit a friend!" Madam Pomfrey seemed pleased at this and said, "Mr. Longbottom just needs to rest a little longer until his bones are fully healed, then he can go back with you."
"Thank you, Madam," Wade said, and Neville also thanked her.
After Madam Pomfrey left, Wade asked, "How are you, Neville? Does your wrist still hurt?"
"Not much anymore," Neville shook his head, pulling up his robes to show that the scrapes on his leg were also healing quickly. "Look, this is almost better too. Madam Pomfrey's healing magic is really amazing. St. Mungo's is probably just like this."
"St. Mungo's?"
"The biggest wizarding hospital in Britain. All the best healers are there," Neville said.
Michael shuffled over, whispering, "Neville."
The boy looked up at him.
Michael lowered his head in shame. "I'm sorry, I lied. I've never actually ridden a Flying Broomstick before—the tips I told you, I heard them on the radio. I…I don't actually have any experience myself—"
Neville blinked.
"I know!" he said.
"Huh?" Michael's eyes widened in surprise.
Neville explained, "Hermione said that if you'd ridden a broom often before, you wouldn't be so excited about Flying Lesson."
Michael's face flushed. So, everyone saw through my frivolous bragging?
"But Hermione also said—" Neville continued, "—that everything you said was correct—it's written that way in books too. But flying isn't a skill you can master just by knowing the theory, right?"
For some reason, Michael suddenly felt like crying.
Wade watched the scene with a smile.
He had always felt a bit like he was "babysitting" these classmates. But at this moment, Wade felt… perhaps they really could become good friends.
...
Although Madam Pomfrey easily healed Neville's wrist, it still took some time for the bone to fully mend. Out of guilt, Michael didn't want to leave Neville alone in the Hospital Wing and insisted on waiting until he was fully recovered before they went to eat together. On the way, they encountered stairs that changed direction, causing them to walk twice the usual distance to get back to the Great Hall.
All in all, by the time they returned, the last dessert on the long table had also disappeared.
"Ah, darn it," Michael said with a bitter face. "I should still have some candy in my dorm—"
"Hey, Michael, Neville, Wade." Theo and Ryan walked over. The two had been friends since childhood and were practically inseparable since coming to school.
"We heard Neville had an accident in Flying Lesson," Theo said, looking at Neville with concern. "Are you alright?"
"Broke my wrist—" Neville held up his arm to show him, "—but Madam Pomfrey fixed it right away."
"That's great," Theo said happily, grabbing his arm and looking at it.
"Did you eat dinner?" Ryan asked. "We didn't see you earlier."
"No!" Michael looked at the two of them pitifully, asking expectantly, "Did you two save us some bread or something?"
"No—but something even better!" Theo pulled Michael out of the Great Hall. "Come with us!"
"Where are we going?" Neville asked, confused.
"You'll see soon enough! This is a secret only Hufflepuff students know! An upperclassman told us the day before yesterday," Theo said excitedly.
"I bet there's nothing that can be kept from the Weasley twins," Michael told Wade, who nodded in agreement.
They passed through a door and went down a stone staircase, arriving at a wide stone corridor. Torches on the walls illuminated the corridor brightly. The walls, like other parts of the castle, had many decorative paintings, but few of them depicted people; they were all various kinds of food.
Theo stopped in front of a large painting of fruit, reached out, and gently tickled a pear in the painting.
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