Carrying the high-end fruit basket he had carefully selected, Malfoy slowly walked towards the final destination of this mission—St. Mungo's Department Store. This was an old-fashioned red brick department store. Muggles could only see a sign on the door that read "Closed for Renovation" and were unable to enter. But only wizards knew that hidden beneath the department store was the magical world's main, and possibly only, large comprehensive magical hospital.
The crowds on the street bustled back and forth, but under the effects of magic, St. Mungo's Hospital was well hidden. Malfoy walked to an inconspicuous glass window, in which was placed a doll that had long been outdated. If it were given to a child as a gift, they would turn up their noses. The years had left some traces on it, making it no longer as shiny as new.
Malfoy said a few words to it. The doll, which should not have had life, seemed to suddenly come alive and moved. The doll nodded slightly, waving and twisting its conjoined fingers, indicating that Malfoy had been granted permission.
It was very similar to the wall at Platform 9 3/4, except that this glass door was the barrier to the hospital.
Without hesitation, he crashed through the glass door, but Malfoy did not encounter any resistance. He only felt as if he had crossed a curtain of water. After fully entering, he looked up and saw a circular plaque hanging in the center outside the hospital entrance. The deep blue exterior was complemented by a red transitional background color, and in the very center was a bone and a wand crossed, which should symbolize the identity of a wizard and the function of healing. After passing through a somewhat rusty iron gate, he finally arrived at the first floor of the hospital. This area was like a combination of an emergency waiting room, a hospital information desk, and a visitor reception area. The spacious corridor was filled with crowds of people, and healers in dark green robes walked back and forth, extremely busy. Some patients with acute illnesses or severe external injuries sat on chairs on both sides, groaning in pain, waiting for help.
Unlike Muggle hospitals, which are filled with the smell of disinfectant, the air here was filled with all sorts of strange herbal scents.
Some people who had accidentally ingested potions made all sorts of abnormal movements, constantly grinning and laughing, and then bursting into tears from time to time. Some sang loudly, even singing the Hogwarts school song, making Malfoy think he had returned to the opening ceremony of the school year. Some people even thought they were bears, sniffing around everywhere, trying to find sweet honey. Even more, some people walked upside down on their hands between the halls, presumably their senses of hands and feet had been switched. In short, the problems caused by magical influences were simply bizarre and all-encompassing. The healers were used to these seemingly mentally deranged patients and did not care as long as they did not cause a major disturbance.
Some people who had suffered severe external injuries were generally the first to be treated. They would be sent to the second or fifth floor, which were the departments of biological injuries and curse injuries. The patients in these departments were often more severely injured.
There were also some people sitting quietly next to the chairs, reading the newspapers or magazines they had brought, such as the Daily Prophet. These should be patients who came for regular consultations, calmly observing everything around them.
"Young man, you're not here to see a doctor, are you?" Malfoy felt his left shoulder being gently patted, and then looked back to see a green-robed wizard with thick eyebrows and big eyes come into view. The green-robed wizard put on a kind smile and said, "My name is Augustus Pye. Could you lend a hand? This patient is too heavy."
Malfoy saw a very obese man lying on the stretcher behind him. His arms were almost as thick as his head, and his face was full of fat, almost covering his features, making it impossible to tell whether his eyes were open or closed, whether he was awake or asleep, because people could hardly see his eyes anymore.
As for the stretcher under him, it was already rickety. Malfoy felt that he could hear the poles starting to groan in pain, and they would soon be unable to support it.
Malfoy hesitated, and then asked: "What's wrong with him?"
Augustus said helplessly: "He was originally just a little chubby, but he doesn't know where he bought a slimming potion made by a wild wizard, and he turned into this after drinking it."
"Sure enough, there are fake medicines everywhere." He thought to himself, and then gladly lent a hand.
His previous hesitation was because there seemed to be a lack of awareness of sterile operations here. If it was an external injury, he could only say sorry to this kind-faced healer.
"Young man, you're quite strong." Augustus glanced at the young man in surprise. He and his colleagues felt that their pressure was suddenly reduced. "So it's the Levitation Charm." He immediately realized.
As healers, their magic power could not be used casually. They had to be ready to face sudden situations, and their trace of magic power might represent a person's life. Only outsiders like Malfoy could "waste" it.
As a patient who had ingested fake medicine, they had to send this man to the fourth floor—the Department of Potions and Plant Poisoning.
"Thank you so much." It was not until they had sent the fat man to the ward that Augustus let out a long sigh of relief, wiped the sweat that had already covered his face, shook his hand, and then leaned against the bed to rest for a while before he opened his mouth and asked: "Who are you going to visit?" Augustus asked.
Malfoy reported a few names, and then Augustus readily left him a few room numbers.
"If someone stops you, just say my name, they won't make things difficult for you." This healer still had a good impression of Malfoy, after all, he had just helped him with a small favor.
"Thank you." Malfoy nodded.
"I still have some patients to take care of, so you can go upstairs yourself." The names Malfoy had just reported were all on the fifth floor, so Augustus said this. "Alas, there are not enough people." He complained, and then continued: "I am actually an employee in charge of the second floor's Department of Biological Injuries, but I was still pulled over to be a strongman." He only dared to complain about these words in front of outsiders, because he was actually just an intern, helping the attending physician.
"There shouldn't be any doctor-patient relationship issues here, right?" Looking at this familiar healer, his thoughts began to diverge again. "Not to mention the wizard's methods, bones grow back in a few nights, and most people here can recover relatively easily." He continued to think: "If there really is trouble coming to the door, I really don't know if the doctor is being harassed or the patient is causing trouble."
Moreover, there are too few people in the wizarding world, just these few people in total, and this hospital should be regarded as the only authoritative hospital, just like the Mayo Clinic in Muggle society, with I don't know how many big shots standing behind it to support it, and anyone with a slightly normal head would not go to make trouble.
Even Lucius donated a sum of money to this hospital two years later in order to improve his reputation, so that he received an invitation from Fudge, and the family had the opportunity to watch the Quidditch World Cup from the top floor.
"Pye! What are you doing daydreaming! The patient is still waiting downstairs!" A muffled roar came from downstairs, the tone full of dissatisfaction. Obviously, the person downstairs did not care about the hospital's rule that noise was not allowed. Instead, Augustus, the little assistant, was startled by the roar, and hurriedly led the few people behind him to rush downstairs.
"Goodbye, young man!" Augustus still did not forget to turn around and say goodbye to Malfoy as he went downstairs.
"Thank you." Malfoy also waved goodbye to him.
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