stardust ⋮ george weasley

seventy :

S E V E N T Y

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In the next few days, Arthur Weasley fortunately was well enough for the entire Weasley clan – along with Adeline, Harry, Hermione, Mad Eye, and Tonks – to come visit him at St. Mungos. When they reached the room, Tonks said, "We'll wait outside, Molly. Arthur won't want too many visitors at once, it ought to be just family first."

Anyone who didn't have the last name Weasley stepped back, including Harry. Mrs. Weasley reached out her hand and told him, "Don't be silly, Harry, Arthur wants to thank you..." Harry hesitated, but then nodded and followed the rest of the Weasley family out into the hospital room.

It was a strange group of four individuals waiting out in the hallway. Adeline sat on the floor next to Hermione with their backs against the wall. While Hermione's knees were curled up into her chest, Adeline's legs sat cross-legged in front of her.

Adeline felt a poke in her leg, and she looked up, shocked, to see Mad-Eye Moody staring down at her. "You know," He began in a gruff voice, pointing at his magical eye as he stared intensely at Adeline. "If you ever want to watch out for enemies, I can get you one of these."

She winced when the electric blue eyeball rolled into the back of his head and then came back out again. "No thanks," She said a little too quickly. "I'd prefer not to, if that's alright."

Mad-Eye Moody rolled his non-magical eye and huffed, clearly thinking that Adeline was just so ridiculous for leaving herself with such an obvious weak spot. A group of Healers went running past the group, thankfully distracting Mad-Eye Moody for a brief second from the conversation.

Clearly, the sight of the Healers seemed to interest Hermione as well, as she leaned over and asked Adeline, "Have you ever been to a magic hospital?"

Shaking her head, Adeline responded, "Definitely not. Madam Pomfrey briefly mentioned one time that she considered taking me to St. Mungo's when I lost my eye, but she ended up deciding that she could treat me perfectly fine at Hogwarts."

"Do you think wizard Healers go through the same vigorous courses that muggle doctors have to?" Hermione questioned, staring at yet another Healer as he jogged past the pair.

"I'm not sure what the training is like, but I know you need top N.E.W.T. scores in pretty much everything," Adeline answered. "Professor Flitwick briefly suggested that I could become a Healer, but I made it pretty clear that I don't intend on ever doing something like that."

Early into her third year, Adeline had briefly considered being a Healer. She certainly had the grades for it, and she loved to take care of others. However, Adeline wasn't sure that she could handle such a demanding job or if she even wanted it. Then, the idea of being Charms professor came to her sometime between her third and fourth year, and she hadn't looked back since.

"It sounds funny," Hermione began. "Especially considering how much I've been complaining about them for the past few months. But, strangely enough, I'd like to work for the Ministry. If these last few years have taught me, it's that the wizarding world needs change."

"Is there any particular department you'd want to work in? Or are you just set on becoming the youngest Minister of Magic of all time?"

Hermione knew her answer almost immediately. "Department of Magical Creatures. There's probably so many more people like Dobby and Professor Lupin out there who happen to be afflicted by this sort of thing." She quietly thought for a moment before grinning and adding, "Although, being the youngest Minister of Magic ever would be quite nice."