CHAPTER 73: THE AWAKENING

Facts:

St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries was a wizarding hospital located in London, England. It was founded by famous Healer Mungo Bonham in the 1600s. The emblem of St Mungo's was a wand crossed with a bone.

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February 14th, 1994. It was raining outside. A boy was sleeping on a bed in a hospital room. Besides him is a flower vase filled with water, so it will stay fresh for longer. There was no one else in that room. It has minimal decoration, making the room blander than ever.

Then suddenly, the boy's eyes fluttered open; it was Ed, as his silver eyes were shining brightly. He groggily sat up, looking around the room. He wiped his eyes as it was still getting used to the lights. He then saw the flower vase beside him.

"Where the hell am I?" He groggily whispered to himself. "A hospital? What time is this?"

Ed then looked around a little more and saw a wall clock, and he saw that it was 12 o'clock, and when he saw that outside was bright, he concluded that it was 12 in the afternoon.

"Ugh… It feels like I have been hit by a fucking elephant…" he complained as he had a headache attack. He then tried to stand up, but as soon as his foot touched the ground, ready to support his body, it gave up, like he had no energy whatsoever.

He groaned in pain as he fell to the cold floor. "What the fuck was that…" he grumbled as he tried to stand up again.

He failed again, however, as his hips gave out too. But then, a healer came inside the room, bringing a tray full of processed food. When she saw Ed on the ground, she was surprised. She placed the food away and helped him stand up.

"Are you okay Mr. Aldrich?" she said as he helped him.

"Um… yeah, I'm fine." Ed said as he sat on the bed. "What date is today?" he asked.

"It's the 14th of February." She simply said.

"I slept for two months?!" Ed freaked out. "Oh no…"

"Calm down Mr. Aldrich." She said, "Um… I suppose you don't want processed food now… I will change it while I will tell the other healers about your awakening."

Ed nodded weakly, then the healer got out of the room. He then lay down on the bed again.

"How is it that long… I thought it was a short conversation…" He whispered. He then looked at the flowers beside him, and thought that the smell was really strong, as he could smell it on his bed; it's smell was quite familiar as well.

Ed then tried to grab one of the flowers; he picked it, and smelled it. He instantly knew why it is familiar.

"Hermione's perfume?" Ed questioned, "But how? It's a flower… did she spray it on the flower? That's quite cruel…"

But then he also noticed something. "This is not a normal flower… I have never seen any flower like this…"

Ed then examined it more. "Is it Daphne? Has Hermione asked Daph to make her flowers for me? That's cute." Ed chuckled as he smelled the flower again. Ed, on the edge of his eye, also saw a newspaper laying on a coffee table. But it was pretty far. So he tried to use his space magic to grab it. But then he looked at his fingers, and he saw that the ring was missing.

"Shit." Ed cursed, "Where is it?"

Ed then looked around, trying to find the ring. But then his search was interrupted when a group of healers suddenly came into the room, startling Ed in the process.

"Right, Mr. Aldrich, we need to do some examinations for you? Is that okay?" One of the healers said.

"Um. Sure…" Ed simply answered.

The healers then pulled out their wands, and started waving it to Ed, scanning him. After about half an hour, the healers stopped, nodding to Ed.

"You're quite healthy, Mr. Aldrich, you just need to stay in the hospital for a couple more days for control and be good to go."

"That's good, then…" he said. "Say, do you know where my stuff is? I don't really care about the clothes, but where are the bracelet and the ring? Oh, and my wand too."

"We will bring your things after this." Said one of the healers. "It will come at the same time as the food."

"Okay, then, can you give me the newspaper there? I need to catch up." He said.

The healer then gave Ed the newspaper, "If you don't need anything else, then we'll leave."

The healers then left the room, leaving Ed alone. He then read the newspaper. The headline is already eye-catching for Ed.

"WHAT HAPPENED IN THE FORBIDDEN FOREST?"

Ed thought, 'Interesting… they didn't know what happened… Dumbledore hid it maybe?'

Ed then continued to read the article.

"

Students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry have reported that on Christmas Eve, they have heard two explosions in the depths of the forbidden forest, the forest that surrounded the school. Theodore Nott, a student at Hogwarts, has confirmed this. "I heard two huge explosions in the forbidden forest; the shockwave made a couple of windows break in our school."

No word from the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore on the incident. The ministry is currently investigating this, but we've heard rumors that there was a boy involved in the incident, but the headmaster tried to hide it from the authorities. "I saw a boy being brought out of the forbidden forest." A student that doesn't want his name to be written said. "It was Aldrich. I just knew it; he hadn't come to class for a month now."

The boy that was mentioned was Edgart Aldrich; the boy had previously been investigated under suspicion of the murder of Lucius Malfoy, but was quickly dropped as he was young. The boy is quite mysterious, as he was from the Aldrich family, a relatively unknown pureblood line. What is this boy truly up to? Is he experimenting with dark magic in the forest? No one knows, we had been investigating the truth of this, but the boy has yet to wake up.

"

"Shit…." Ed cursed, "Wait a minute. I thought Nott came home for Christmas? Is he lying that he heard it?"

He then continued to read the newspaper; he skimmed through most of it as it was pretty boring.

"Aside from the forbidden forest ordeal, nothing huh… thank Merlin Pettigrew didn't escape or something." Ed whispered to himself. Then, the room's door opened again. A healer entered the room, bringing food and a small bag, possibly containing his stuff.

"Here you go, Mr. Aldrich, food, and your things." She said.

"Thank you." Ed nodded.

"By the way, your headmaster is here to meet you. Should I let him enter? The other healers said you're good enough to talk, but we can decline him if you want to rest a little longer."

Ed sighed, "How did he know? I just woke up." he said as he wore the ring and the bracelet.

"He requested it especially." She says. "He requested that he should be the first one to be notified if you ever woke up."

"And how did he get that privilege?"

"I shouldn't be telling you this, but he's a benefactor to the hospital." The healer informed. "Quite generous he is; he's a white wizard after all."

Ed hummed, "Fine, let him in."

The healer nodded and walked out of the room. Ed then quickly picked up the food and ate it. He was really hungry, two months of sleeping will do you just that.

After a while, an old man entered the room slowly. It was Dumbledore in his purple robe and long beard.

"It's good to see you awake Ed." he said softly.

"It's good to see that you aren't dead yet, old man." Ed answered sarcastically, but the old man ignored it. He then saw that Ed was holding a newspaper in his hand.

"I see you've read the news, Ed." he said softly.

"What news?" Ed questioned, "The part where the forest explodes or the part where one of the student saw me?"

Dumbledore sighed, "Both."

"Who saw me by the way? It's the middle of the fucking night." Ed questioned once more.

"I do not know Ed." the old man simply says. "I'm not omniscient as you might think."

"And yet you tried to be." Ed retorted. "That's why you're here right? Trying to know everything?"

Dumbledore eyed Ed for a second, scanning his expression. "I know you thought of me as an obstacle Ed."

"I do." Ed simply said, "You intrude other people's business, forcing your point of view to them, that's why my dad left the order right? At this point I don't know why my parents trusts you for their secrets."

"I have an oath to fulfil Ed." Dumbledore said.

"You're doing horribly at it." Ed snorted, "Where were you that night? I thought Hermione told you. And the explosion is quite loud as well."

"Miss Granger did." He said, "But I got into old habits—"

"Ah, I see." Ed cut off, "You tried to survey the situation first, typical…"

Dumbledore frowned but didn't say anything.

"Right, you're here to make me talk right?" Ed said flatly. "What do you want to know, make it quick. Be sure to make the ministry stay away from me."

Dumbledore stared at Ed again, "What are you doing in the forest?"

"A friend of mine needed help." Ed simply said, "That's all I'm going to say. Next question."

Dumbledore frowned, "You need to be more detailed than that Ed, I'm afraid I can't make the ministry stay away from you if all you told me is that."

"Then lie." Ed said, "You're good at that right? Lying?"

"I do not like lying—"

"Yet you did it a lot." Ed snorted. "You know what, I'll talk to them myself, I'll tell them I was experimenting on a new magic item, as long as you hid the centaurs and unicorns, that'll keep them quiet…"

"They won't buy that, you know that." Dumbledore said.

"Once I'll release the bloody thing then they will." Ed said, "They will practically beg me to sell it to them, so if I see them snooping around my friends and family, they'll probably regret it. As for the proof…." Ed then smiled mysteriously, "I will give them later, probably as a test product."

Dumbledore then sighed tiredly, "Very well Ed…"

Ed just hummed, "Can you call my friends here? Richard, Daphne, and…" Ed then looked at the flower besides him, "—Hermione. they can bring anyone they want as well. Tell Richard to bring the necklace."

"They are in class right now Ed, but… I will see what I can do."

Ed nodded, and Dumbledore exited the room, coming back to Hogwarts. Meanwhile, Ed swiped his bracelet, contacting the suitcase.

"Gilligan, you there?" Ed spoke to the bracelet.

"You're finally awake." Gilligan said.

"Yep, I'm sure you know what I've been through while I was asleep, your father filled you in?"

"He did." Gilligan said rather grimly, "I'm not sure I like it."

"Well…" Ed sighed, "More experience I guess… he told you about the exception also?"

Gilligan hummed. "I can't say I'm surprised really."

"Well, have you told Hermione yet?"

"No. I thought you wanted to tell her yourself."

Ed hummed, "I'd rather wait to be honest…"

"If you want to wait, then that's fair."

"But the power…"

"It's not urgent as you think Ed. At least not until the bearer of the elder blood come back here again."

Ed sighed, "Yeah, maybe I'll wait. In the meantime, I'll teach her self-defence."

"That's a good idea."

"Alright, I'll see you later Gilligan."

Ed then swiped the bracelet again, turning it off. After that, someone entered the room again, but it wasn't his friends, instead, it was a group of aurors.

"Hello Mr. Aldrich, we meet again." said a dark brown bald man.

"Mr. Shacklebolt, hello, yes, we meet again." Ed said, a smile in his face can be seen. "What can I do for you?"

"We would like you to answer some questions." He said, his soothing voice made Ed calm.

Ed sighed in surrender, "Ask away."

"Could you tell us what happened in the forbidden forest?"

"Before I answer? Could you tell me what you saw in the place after I passed out?" Ed asked innocently, "I'm rather curious."

Shacklebolt frowned, but said it anyway, "We found traces of fire, strong wind, and broken trees."

"That sounds about right." Ed nodded, "I was experimenting with a creation of mine."

"Creation?" Shacklebolt questioned.

"I made a magic item." Ed said, "I was trying some spells against it. I went too far I guessed…"

"You were experimenting in the middle of the night? While heavy snow is falling?" Shacklebolt doubted him.

"I mean, heavy snow, middle of the night, perfect time for sneaking about don't you think?"

The man stared at Ed for a second, looking for signs of lie. "And may we see this magic item?"

"Well I don't have it now do I?" Ed spread his hand, pointing at the hospital bed and gown.

Shacklebolt coughed lightly, forgetting the place that he's in now, "Right, I apologize."

"A friend of mine is bringing it to me now though, you just need to wait."

Shacklebolt hummed, "But I'm curious Mr. Aldrich, what powerful spells do you use that made the forest like that?"

"Well… I used Bombarda Maxima at the end, too much output, and voila, a destroyed forest and a passed-out boy." Ed joked.

Once again Shacklebolt doubted, "Bombarda Maxima caused all of that destruction?"

"What? you want me to try it here?"

"We'd rather not Mr. Aldrich… and you're aware that you broke the law of underage magic?"

"What? but I thought the forbidden forest was still Hogwarts?"

Shacklebolt was once again silent. But then he asked, "Can we see your wand Mr. Aldrich, for confirming your statement."

"I declined." Ed said firmly, "I don't have to show my wand."

"It's just for confirming Mr. Aldrich." Shacklebolt persisted.

"I have the right to not give my wand, as I have the right to not take a Veritaserum." Ed denied.

"But it will be much easier for us to investigate this Mr. Aldrich." Shacklebolt still persisted.

Ed grumbled, "Fine." Ed gave the man his wand. It was still in the bag, so he gave the man the bag instead.

The man then took the wand, and cast a reverse spell at it, and it shows an ice spell.

"Ice Magic?" Shacklebolt questioned, "Before you said that you used Bombarda Maxima."

"Well, I used Ice Magic to make a wall to protect me from the blast." Ed lied.

"But we didn't see traces of Ice at the scene."

"It's Ice, what do you expect?" Ed said, "It either melted or gone because of magic."

Shacklebolt sill eyed Ed suspiciously, but before he said anything anymore, another batch of people entered the room, and this time, it was his friends and Dumbledore. And a particular brown-haired girl rushed through the auror-crowd and slammed herself to the boy who was sitting on the bed.

"Ed!" She shrieked, giving him a bear hug.

"Wow, okay…" Ed patted her back, "Mind the food, and people are watching…" he said.

The girl, who was of course Hermione, suddenly realized the situation and separated herself from Ed, blushing as she was watched by everyone. She then picked a chair and sat beside Ed, holding his hand tightly, not letting go.

"Dumbledore, you're here." Shacklebolt suddenly said, nodding at the old man.

"Kingsley." Dumbledore nodded back, "I'm just here to deliver Ed's request to bring his friends here. Continue your work, don't mind me."

Shacklebolt nodded weakly, "Right, let's continue." He said, coming back to Ed. "Did one of your friends brought the necklace?"

"Oh yeah." Ed said, he then looked at Richard, who was standing awkwardly beside Daphne, who has a cold face. "You bring it Richard?"

Richard sighed, "I do." He said, giving the necklace to Ed. And Ed gave it to Shacklebolt.

"This is your magic item that you experimented on?"

"Yes." Ed simply said, "You can try it if you want."

"What does it do exactly."

"It'll protect you from spells, physical and magical." Ed said, surprising the aurors in the room, "That's why I used more lethal spells against it, I want to know how strong it is."

"Is this true?" Shacklebolt came back from the surprise.

"Like I said, you can try it yourself." Ed repeated.

Shacklebolt then wore the necklace, and said to one of the other aurors, "Stun me Dawlish."

"What?" Dawlish questioned.

"I said try to stun me." He repeated.

"You don't believe this kid's invention do you? There's just no way he can make a thing like this, I mean he's what? 13?"

"Dumbledore trusts him, right Dumbledore?" Shacklebolt asked the old man.

"He's the brightest student I've ever taught Kingsley." Dumbledore smiled.

Shacklebolt nodded, "Just do it Dawlish."

"Don't protest if you got into one of these rooms after this." Dawlish grumbled. He then pointed his wand at Shacklebolt, and casted a stunning spell at him.

"Stupefy!" he chanted.

A burst of red light then shot towards Shacklebolt, but when it was close to him, the red light suddenly hit something invisible, dispersing instantly, surprising all of the aurors inside the room.

"See? I'm not lying." Ed smile innocently.

"How about you work for the ministry for this invention Mr. Aldrich?" Shacklebolt snapped out of his thought and said.

"No way." Ed shook his head. "I'm planning to sell it publicly. If you want to buy it, you have to wait."

"And until when will we need to wait?"

"Probably in summer vacation." Richard interrupted, "We're, or rather I'm still looking for employees." Ed stared at Richard.

"You are?" Ed questioned, surprised at Richard.

"Yeah, when you're lying-in bed I'm preparing you know, I owl every new certified alchemists, giving a peek of the technique."

"That's smart, bait them like that." Ed nodded, "Like he said Mr. Shacklebolt, summer vacation."

"Well, for the marketing perspective, why don't you ask my family?" Daphne interrupted, "I'm sure my father would be delighted."

"And inject pureblood bias to the company? Yeah, no way." Ed said, the aurors frowned at this, but didn't say anything.

Daphne snorted, "Well, I can help too."

"I'm sure you can, but we'll talk later." Ed chuckled, he then looked back at Shacklebolt, "Is there anything else Mr. Shacklebolt? Is that enough proof for you? You can bring it if you want."

Shacklebolt cough lightly and answered, "Yes, I believe that's it…" he then sighed tiredly, "To think that we even thought that a huge battle happened in the forest, while the truth is that only a student was experimenting on a magic item…"

Ed gulped but didn't say anything. "Well, that's it Mr. Aldrich, but if we have any more questions on the case, we'll be coming to you again." Shacklebolt then eyed the necklace, "And about the necklace, we will wait for the good news."

"We'll also have a lot more products coming, so wait for it." Ed smiled innocently.

Shacklebolt nodded, "Then good afternoon Mr. Aldrich, Dumbledore, Miss Greengrass, everyone." He said goodbye to everyone, and the group left, leaving only Ed's friends and Dumbledore.

"Well, I believe that went well." Dumbledore said.

"Hey, we got some marketing as well." Richard commented.

"It's only you Ed… it was supposed to be an interrogation, but instead it turned to a sales pitch…" Daphne added.

"A part of my charm is it not?" Ed chuckled.

After the aurors 'interrogated' Ed, Dumbledore said goodbye to the teenagers to leave them alone. He told everyone that he will come to pick them up in the evening, and he also said not to worry about the lessons as they will have a dispensation for it.

Right not, Daphne, Richard, and Hermione was sitting besides Ed's bed, seemingly talking to him. Although Ed still noticed the tension between Richard and Daphne.

"So, what's this about you owling newly graduated alchemists?" Ed asked the Ravenclaw.

"Oh that, I just owl a bunch of Uagadau's graduate if they want to work with us. "he explained, "And I put parts of your notes in the letter, so they'll be more interested in it."

Ed hummed, "Nothing important right?"

"Yes, just parts of the theories."

"Good then… what about you Daphne, what will you contribute to this fine cause?" Ed said.

Daphne rolled her eyes, not amused by the self-promotion, "I can manage the marketing, I'm not experienced yet, but I can ask some tips to my mother."

"You sure you want to join?"

"As long as you give my family some of the share."

Ed frowned at this, "I'm giving the share to you, not your family, I don't want your father snooping around the company."

Daphne pondered a while before nodding, "Fair enough."

"Good then." Ed said, he then turned to Hermione, who was extremely quiet, she looked tense, she held Ed's right hand tightly, then Ed made circles on the back of her hand, trying to calm her down.

"What about you Hermione?" Ed asked softly, "Do you want to join in?"

"Hm?" she snapped out of her thoughts, "Oh, um… what can I do really?"

"Well what do you want to do?"

"I can help you create new things after the launch…" she said timidly, "But I need to study the papers first."

Ed smiled, "Of course." Ed then turned to the other two, "Okay, enough about the company, what happened when I was sleeping?"

Richard thought for a while, "Not much." He finally said, "There's Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw if you're interested, Harry got a new firebolt from Sirius too, so the Gryffindors got two firebolts now, and they demolished my team, Cho and I got on a fight because of that, she says that I should've given the firebolt to the Ravenclaws."

Daphne's ear instantly perked up, "Did you break up with her?"

"Thankfully, no…" Richard answered, making Daphne turned cold again, "We worked it out, saying that it wasn't my firebolt to give away."

"That's… stupid." Ed commented, "It was mine, why did she says that you should've given her the firebolt?"

Richard shrugged, "Normal thing really, she's just upset that she loses the game."

"You should break up with her, even if she's mad she should be a bit sane, she knows that the firebolt it's not yours, but demanded it anyway, that is just a red flag to me." Ed said as he winked at Daphne, making her blushed.

"It's not that bad." Richard defended, "Like I said, she's just upset that she lost the match, give her some time…"

Ed just hummed, "What else did I miss?"

"Other than that… the students kept talking about you, guessing what you did in the forest. They keep pestering me, Daphne, and especially Hermione about it."

Ed frowned, he then looked at the still quiet Hermione, "You okay?"

"Hm? I'm okay." she says weakly. "The questions are quite a bother, but other than that it's fine."

Ed frowned even more, "Hermione, what's going on with you? You're really quiet."

"I-It's fine." She whispered.

Ed then held her hand with his other hand, "Talk to me."

Richard and Daphne realised the situation they were in. They stood up, looking at the other two. "We'll just go, we'll leave you two to talk." Richard said, and both of them got out of the room, not bothering to wait for an answer.

As soon as the two were alone, Ed continued. "What's wrong Hermione? You don't look like you're happy that I'm awake."

"NO!" she panickily shrieked, she realised what she just did and calmed down, "N-No, I-It's not that…"

"Then what is it?"

"I-It's just- if only I wasn't so useless that day…"

Ed sighed tiredly, he knew this would happen, Hermione's insecurities kicking in, it's part of her personality, wanting to be perfect.

"Hermione, it's not your fault, it was supposed to happen." he reassured.

"What do you mean it was supposed to happen? If only I came to Dumbledore's office more quickly, then you would've fight with Dumbledore, not alone…"

Ed chuckled at this. "Well, Dumbledore had enough time to help me Hermione, he just wants to observe the situation."

Hermione frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Dumbledore had the chance to help me, but didn't, he's only watching. It's my fault, I should've ask you to go to Snape or McGonagall… and besides, like I said, it was supposed to happen."

Ed then explained to her about his meeting with Ciri and Phoros in a dark dimension, he told her about the situation. about how he needs to hide her when the time has come, about the dangers they will face in the future, and about the mark.

"I-I have to take the mark now?" she stuttered, blushing really hard.

"It's fine if you don't want to Hermione." Ed said, "It's like marrying to be honest, which I don't want to do now, we've only been dating for a couple of months…"

"Y-Yeah…"

"But, if you want, you can take it, it's your choice, I've had other ideas about marrying if that's the case."

"So I'll take the mark just for the elements? I won't take your last name yet?" she asked, confirming her thoughts.

Ed nodded, "You can think of it like that."

Hermione pondered a while before nodding, "O-Okay… I'll take the mark."

Ed hummed, "We'll settle this once I got out of this hospital."

"When are you going to be discharged by the way?" Hermione asked.

"Just a couple more days, the healers need to observe me a little."

Hermione nodded, "What do you think I will get? The elements I mean." she curiously/excitedly asked.

"I've had some ideas from my visions." Ed said vaguely, "But no spoilers." He winked at Hermione, making her groaned in annoyance.

"Come on, just tell me." She whined.

"Nope, you have to see it for yourself."

She huffs at the answer, and the room went into a comfortable silence. Hermione continued to hold his hand gently, enjoying the physical contact.

"By the way…" Hermione said weakly. "Fleur sent me a bunch of letters."

"She did?" Ed was quite surprised, "What happened?"

"Nothing, she's just worried about you." Hermione grumbled, "Too worried if you ask me."

Ed noticed the jealous look of Hermione, "What did she say in the letter Hermione?"

"She says that if you didn't wake up for another month she will come here personally and kissed you, like prince Philip and sleeping beauty, but reversed." She grumbled once again.

Ed laughed at this hardly, "She said that?"

"It's not funny." Hermione muttered, "She sent it to me. your girlfriend. it's like she's taunting me or something…"

"Have you tried kissing me though?" Ed asked curiously, which earned a blush from the brown-haired girl.

"S-So what if I did?" Hermione said weakly, "Unlike Fleur, I'm allowed to do it to you."

Ed laughed harder at her reaction, "Yes you are Hermione."

Hermione blushed more at this. "C-Can I do it now too?"

Ed laughed even more at her shy demeanour, which made Hermione a bit annoyed. "Of course you can." Ed simply said as he leaned in to kissed her, which she happily accepted. Hermione instantly licked Ed's lip with her tongue, demanding for an immediate entrance. Ed accepted, and the two snogged rather passionately, it was normal in Hermione's opinion, she hadn't kiss him, or even talk to him for a full two months.

After for what Ed felt like ten minutes, a sudden barge from the door suddenly jolted them to separate, when Hermione saw who opened the door, she scowled, annoyed by the interruption.

"Well, well, well… what do we have here?" Richard smirked.

"Shut up." Ed grumbled. "Anything wrong?"

"Dumbledore's outside." He said, "McGonagall was furious when she knew that we were given the privilege on visiting you, so Dumbledore needs damage control, by making us come back early."

Hermione sighed in disappointment. "Alright, I'll go back." She then looked back at Ed. "I'll see you soon?"

Ed smiled and nodded. She then leaned for a quick peck, and went out with Richard and Daphne, leaving the two alone again.

Ed sighed, "Bloody hospital…"