When Myths Meet Magic || 6

10 || Will

"What the bloody hell did you do to her?" Will demanded as Percy and Nico lugged Thalia's unconscious body onto a bed in the Hospital wing.

"To her?" repeated Nico. "Look at what she did to us!"

Both Percy and Nico were charred a brilliant shade of ash. Soot lined the creases of their face and even though their hair was already black, it was burnt to an even darker crisp and stood up like a mad scientist's. Thalia, on the other hand, although blacked out, appeared perfectly fine, if not a little pale.

"We got Miriam, though," said Percy enthusiastically. "She looks way worse than us. She's been shipped off to Saint Mungo's and then—" he made a vrrm sound while imitating his hand as a plane. "-- it's off to Azkaban!"

"Yes, yes, I'm sure she's a mess." Will cracked his fingers and sighed in exasperation. Then after a moment, he looked at Percy and Nico from the side of his eyes.

"What?" said Nico.

"Nothing," said Will. "Just... don't judge me."

"Judge you for what?" asked Percy blankly.

"Oh yeah, he sings," said Nico. "to heal."

"And sometimes to help you fall asleep," said Will.

"Oh," said Percy, shrugging. "Yeah, we all know that."

"It's still weird," said Will. "When people watch me sing over an unconscious body I feel like I'm a cult leader."

Nico snorted. "You kids and your need to protect your crippling self esteem. Back in my day, we just cried."

"OK boomer," grunted Thalia.

They all jumped. Thalia was still half-paralyzed on the bed, but the tiniest spark of blue peeped through half-open eyelids. Will quickly began singing.

"I can't be a boomer," Nico muttered. "I'm gay."

He and Percy stood to the side and delivered a quick report to Dumbledore via Iris message (he appeared to be trudging deep through snowdrifts. They weren't sure he could hear them through the howling of the blizzard, but he shot them an enthusiastic thumbs up with his withered hand and beamed).

Will set half a square of ambrosia on the table next to Thalia and stretched. Every time he healed at Hogwarts, he had the strangest feeling like he'd been asleep for a long time and was just waking up. His arms felt slightly fuzzy.

Suddenly the hospital wing doors burst open and the Iris message was quickly cut.

"Oh, quick," groaned a Hufflepuff girl who Will recognized as the fifth year Ashley Landon, dragging a limp body behind her. "Madame Pomferey!"

"She's out gathering materials," said Will. "What can I do for you?"

Ashley eyed him but decided she didn't have time to argue. "We were making a potion, you see, but then it exploded..."

She continued to babble as Will lifted Wanda Templeton's unconscious body onto the bed.

"And Professor Snape had the antidote but the cauldron flew up and hit her on the head," she finally said.

"What potion were you making?" Will asked, inspecting the sizeable pumpkin-shaped lump on Wanda's face.

Ashley turned a violent shade of pink. "None of your business!" she said.

"Well, she's just unconscious," said Will, thinking privately it was precisely the demographic of this panicking, overreacting generation that was singlehandedly driving up healthcare costs in America in the present day.