SMILE » n. longbottom

xxvii

"THE GARDENS"

Since her arrival of this institute, she had been memorized by the beauty and greenery of the garden that presented itself outside of her window.

All of the arches of leaves that created overpasses for the pedestrians to walk among the gardens peacefully. There were many plants and herbs that she had recognized from her Herbology lessons from earlier years at Hogwarts. From what she could see now, there were workers tending to each plant and herb.

It had been 6:55 o'clock in the morning and she would only have to wait five more minutes until she would be able to walk freely among St. Mungos hallways, corridors and gardens.

What Alana Wallace had decided to do for her day she had not known how to atleast transport there. She had intended on sending a letter to her best friend, Neville; then Alana had chosen to spend the rest of her hours in the gardens of St. Mungos until the late hours of 20 o'clock.

Maybe her stay at St. Mungos won't be as bad as she had first anticipated.

The clock that hung from the wall ticked and ticked. After what had seemed like a while to Alana had passed, the time that the clock shown appeared to then be 7:00 o'clock. Just as the long hand touched 12, doors up and down the halls could be heard opening.

Alana Wallace had decided to send a letter to Neville, but she had not thought about what to write. She grabbed a sheet of parchment and began to write with her ink and quill:

"Dear Neville,

I know that I did not speak to you about why I left Hogwarts earlier than other students. I left early because my parents wished me to. I've convinced them to have another procedure that will supposedly erase my conditions completely. I'll have a heal probably the entire summer, maybe more — I may enter the fifth year later than other students.

I know I am being selfish talking about myself. Anyways, let's talk about you. How are you? How are you spending your summer?

Your friend, Alana."

'Maybe this letter will explain everything that has happened ... maybe this will allow him to forgive me for leaving on such a short notice ...' Alana thought as she folded the letter and stared at the edges of the parchment. 'Maybe he won't be as unforgiving as I imagine. Maybe I am too hard on myself,' she frowned.

She picked up the letter than she had just written, and she also picked up the map that laid on top of the bookshelf. Alana searched for the front desks on the map for her to send the letter.

It had taken a while for Alana to actually find the front desks, but in the end there was no trouble, surprisingly. The Hufflepuff girl planned to then explore the depths of St. Mungos' gardens.

The gardens as she saw it were not like any other gardens that she had seen in her entire life. Plants and herb grew from the soil and amazed her completely.

The gardens of St. Mungos appeared to have no entrance, nor exit. Alana found this impossible, and these plants would not survive without a person to help them. Therefore, this garden would have a door.

Alana Wallace had missed the comfort and welcoming feel that she remembered Hogwarts School to be; the food, the castle hallways, and the very few people she had remembered to stray around her — Erise Wenbrell, her roommate, and Neville Longbottom, her friend that she had acquired by herself.

The gardens entrance as she found out would be difficult to locate.

Shrivelfigs grew from the ground, as the color of purple had shown through the soil — revealing the magical plant that was known to have leaves with medicinal properties.

In the middle of the spacious garden, there was a glass greenhouse where retched screams and screeches could be heard. Leaves and herbs were climbing up the walls of the glass that seemed to have a sort of barrier that prevented bystanders to try and look through.

Alana Wallace carefully crept towards the glass, trying not to disturb the possible being with her mere presence. There had been a opening within the twining vines and leaves, she eerily looked through.

She saw through the foggy glass, and the girl could make out that the creature that whoever made the small noises were infact Mandrakes — a plant that Alana Wallace had become familiar with in her second-year Herbology class.

The Hufflepuff girl remembered that Professor Pomona Sprout had told the class once that these plants' matured substances can be used to cure the petrified of these plants. And that the commonly known health institute had nurtured an entire greenhouse of Mandrakes to cure Mandrake petrification illnesses.

Other that those other plants, there were many
shrubbery and greenery; roses and tulips occasionally appeared here and there. The garden smelled like pollen and fresh air. But there seemed to be another smell that alured her deeper into St. Mungos garden.

Alana Wallace often never appreciated wildlife and its nature. But she had to now, the plants and herbs in this garden were spectacular.

There were gravity-resistant trees that grew way above her, some were small and delicate while others were massive. Alana remembered that Neville had babbled on about this topic one night to her in the library. She decided to ignore the trees' presence since Alana had previously heard of information and origins regarding the gravity-resistant trees.

As Alana leaned closer to observe nearby flowers she heard a small screech. She looked around and saw that there was a short lady who had now been walking towards her. "Do not touch those flowers; they are extremely sensitive and dangerous!" she said, rather exclamatory than Alana Wallace had expected of her.

"Ma'am," Alana looked to the woman who had now been giving the younger girl stares that quite frightened her. She continued to speak, rather wary of what the lady might reply, "They're only flowers ... "

"FLOWERS!" the short woman exclaimed, thrrowing her hands into the air. "Flowers? These are not regular flowers, girl. They house fairies that could bite your face off!"

"That must be an understatement, ma'am," Alana told the lady, and walked away to another part of the gardens. Once she tried locating the woman who had warned her about the flowers, she could not. The woman had supposedly left the gardens, as she was no where in sight. Alana shrugged that off and decided to check out St. Mungos' hospital cafeteria.

Alana had returned to her room to grab the map that she could use to locate the hospital's cafeteria, which had not been so far away as Alana had suspected it to have been.

The cafeteria was nice, Alana supposed once she had became accustomed with the feel. The rest of her day was long and gradually become more and more tiring. Alana Wallace decided that day that she would eventually become tiresome of the hospital completely.