The next awakening brought almost no changes — the same bed and the same wooden ceiling of the room allocated to me. Only Hermione wasn’t there, although the chair remained in place.

This time I could move without causing pain throughout my body. Technically, I could dull those sensations to the point of ignoring them, but subconsciously they still felt like pain and caused discomfort, so I was glad that I could finally get out of bed. Which, in fact, I did immediately, albeit slowly.

I threw off the cover and slowly sat up on the bed. The bandages were tightly wrapped around my torso, my shoulder on my left arm, and my right arm was only affected by the wrist and forearm. My legs were fine, and they didn’t get rid of my underwear. Well, I guess. At least it was there. On the bedside table were only my pants and my wand holster. The reduced cane lay on the floor next to my bag and shoes. It appeared to be all that survived, and the rest was rags.

As I wiggled my feet on the soft wool carpet of some animal, I slowly got up from the bed, and just as slowly and carefully, so as not to cause sharp pain, began to attach the holster with the wand on my left hand. When I was done, I took the wand out and twirled it in my right hand – the bandages were a little cramped and restricted movement, but that didn’t really matter if I wasn’t about to learn something new right now.

With a light wave of my hand, marking the beginning and end of witchcraft, I transfigured a dark blue robe out of thin air. Holding my creation in my hands, I thought about the inconsistency of actions and, putting the robe on the bed, first put on my pants. I threw the cane into the bag and put it back on the floor next to the bedside table. Only after that did I put on my robe wide open, and with timid steps, ignoring the slight dizziness that appeared and trying to avoid sudden movements, I headed out of the room in search of food — hunger woke up with me.

Slowly reaching the corridor to the house’s main hall, I found Hermione and Delphine sitting in chairs and reading something. As soon as I appeared, they immediately turned their eyes from the books to me, and their dissatisfied and at the same time worried looks would make many people feel uncomfortable. Many, but I’m too thick-skinned for that.

For a few seconds, we just stared at each other, after which I smiled.

“Will you feed me? Or do I need to pass out from hunger first?”

Delphine put the book down on the coffee table next to her chair.

“I’ll go make arrangements,” she stood up and headed to the right wing of the house.

Under Hermione’s watchful gaze, I waddled to the sofa that stood as if in the center and carefully sat down – I had never had to be so careful of sudden movements in this life.

“Judging?” I glanced at Hermione.

“I don’t even know what to judge for,” the girl shrugged. “Lady Greengrass wrote that you received a fair amount of curses and asked to assist in your treatment. How are you?”

Concern flashed in Hermione’s eyes.

“Tolerable,” I nodded. “Thanks for your help.”

” How else,” Hermione smiled weakly, but almost immediately, her face became worried. “Knowing your capabilities, I can’t figure out where you managed to find yourself so many injuries and curses.”

“How long have I been lying here, by the way?”

“Two days of treatment and a day of sleep.”

” Hmm…” thinking, I jerked my hand too sharply, immediately paying with a sharp pain in my muscles. “Ouch… is the local tabloid journalism silent?”

“Nothing special, except for the sudden appearance of various representatives and heirs of different families from those who are outside the law, but the representatives themselves are clean. It started right after the massacre at the Ministry. Perhaps luring Potter out wasn’t the only goal at all. On top of that, there is a quiet reshuffle going on in the Ministry itself. It’s not being advertised, but the guys at Hogwarts are talking about it.”

“I see… And the injuries and curses were received by me in a fight with Voldemort.”

Hermione couldn’t hide her surprise, staring at me with wide eyes.

“What? With Voldemort?”

It took the girl a little while to come to her senses. She was clearly holding back the urge to speak out. She fixed a few loose strands of her curly hair in a hair clip with a jerky movement.

“I won’t ask about your motivation in going up against one of the strongest wizards in the world. I suppose you should be glad you got away with such minor, though numerous, injuries.”

“Actually, I won.”

“Surviving can be considered a victory,” Hermione nodded importantly.

“No, Miona. Destroyed him….”