Who's that girl?, <Richard>

[NPC]

She wakes up in a strange place. Nothing looks familiar. There are others in the room as well, each in their own bed. Panic starts to form at the back of her throat as a scream tries to force its way past her lips.

She clamps down on the rising fear and slips out of the bed. A thin gown is all that keeps her from wandering the halls naked, not that it would have made a difference to her at all. Every experience is a new thing.

The floor is cold beneath her feet and she takes a moment to analyze the feeling. Cold, flashes through her brain and she files it away for later examination. Her bare feet makes no sound as she reaches the door and she peers through the glass into the corridor outside. A person walking past makes her duck out of sight, then when she can’t hear anybody outside, she slips quietly from the room.

The passage is long and bright, stretching from end to end of the building. Light spills through the windows, weak and grey. Early morning, supplies her mind and she turns away from the windows and walks toward the double doors blocking the other end. Just before reaching the doors she stops, every sense tingling as she tries to hear into the area beyond. Its quiet, so she slips through, the doors barely moving.

Another corridor.

As she looks around, the spots the stairs leading up and down. Down, her mind insists and she carefully go down the treads, peering around the corners before exiting the stairwell one floor down. Another corridor like the one above.

A sound startles her and she runs down the corridor, through the double doors and along the passage beyond. A scream from one of the rooms makes her bolt to the left into an office. The place looks like a mad scientist’s laboratory with vials and bottles and bubbling things everywhere, so she crawls under the desk, shivering uncontrollably and whimpering softly. Everything was just too much and retreating into her mind was the safest place to go.

[Richard Goodfellow]

Healer Goodfellow just came on shift, and needed to check with Healer Benson on how the basic potions restocking was going.

As he came on the floor, Healer O’Brian’s Augurey screamed. Richard was almost used to it, but not enough to enjoy it. He wished he could throw the bird out the window, but since the Irish phoenix had “adopted” O’Brian, there was nothing to do but put up with it. It was of little comfort to know that it was foretelling rain. After all, it’d been raining all week.

The time was just before 5 a.m. The portraits in the corridor were still asleep, and Richard was aching from a terrible racquetball match in the gym and a bad batch of scramble eggs for breakfast. (It had shells in it.)

The Healer went down to Healer Benson’s office, and looked in at the potions in process. He was a bit surprised that the door was open, and that he could just walk in. Doesn't the guy ever ward this place? he wondered.

“Benson,” he called out. “Hey, Benson!”

He looked over to the painting of the Hudson Valley that Benson had hanging opposite his desk. Professor Snape was in it, leaning against a tree.

“Have you seen Benson?” he asked.

“No, but I did see the woman go under the desk,” the professor replied.

Woman? What did he say?

Just then, Benson came into his office, carrying a basket from the storeroom.

“Healer Benson, I did come here at your request,” the professor said. “Pray tell me why there’s a woman under your desk, and how she relates to the Strengthening Solution.”

“What woman?” Benson asked.

Puzzled, Richard went behind the desk and looked under it. “Uh, Benson, hand me a lab robe. I think that the Thickey ward is missing someone.”

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[NPC]

It wasn’t long before she heard voices. Male voices, which terrified her for an unknown reason. She tries crawling deeper under the desk, but she can’t – there wasn’t any deeper to go.

A kindly face peers down at her from around the edge of the desk, but she doesn’t understand what he says. A garment appears in her field of vision. It looks warmer than the thin material around her body at the moment.

She looks at it, whips out her hand to grab it, pulling it close to her chest. The problem was getting into it without leaving the safety of the desk. Weighing the options she decides that it’s easier to just get out from under the desk and put on the robe. She remembers how to do that, but only because the nurses have been patient since she got there and was teaching her small things to look after herself.

Slowly she crawls out from under the desk, accompanied by encouraging sounds from the kind faced man. Her face pulls in an unfamiliar way. A smile, supplies some part of her.

Despite her dishevelled state, she is still pretty enough to draw some attention. Rich, auburn hair and sapphire blue eyes peer at them as she shrugs into the robes. She looks around, still a bit scared at the environment.

She tries to talk, she remembers doing it, but the words come out unintelligible, jumbled and generally not worthy of understanding. One word can be made out though: "Where."

She lets them lead her back to the room she woke up in. She hated the room, but there was nothing she could do about it right now.

[Richard Goodfellow]

The Professor left to announce through the portraits that a woman had been found, silencing the alarm that had just started.

Richard and Benson escorted her back and turned her over to the chargrined staff members. "We assigned her to Nubby, to alert us if she woke up."

The two Healers looked at each other - the inept house-elf was just a few steps shy of becoming a patient herself.

Richard saw his mum over with Alice Longbottom, helping her to a chair. Almost three decades ago, the woman know as Lilith was the patient. And she still didn't know her own name.

He wondered if the young woman would remember her own name, or have one assigned off the list. He wondered where the names were at alphabetically. He remember that he was one step from being named "Quentin", and gave a small shudder. Quentin and Quinelius Quirrell. There's a story to create nightmares, he thought.

Granny, trailed by two trainees, entered the room. The ancient Legilimens gave the Healers and the staff members nods, and sat next to the young woman, and smiled kindly at her. The rest of the staff resumed their duties, and the Healers returned to their work.

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[NPC]

Granny usually wore smoked glasses, but chose not to for this visit. She did not want to alarm the young patient, so she made sure to avoid eye-contact with the rest of the people in the room.

Being a natural Legilimens did have its advantages - she would be able to silently approach the nervous young woman and slip into her vision, and see what she could in the depths of her eyes.

The older woman made herself comfortable in her chair and motioned for the young woman to seat herself on the chair that one of her assistants brought over.

Once the young woman was seated, Granny kindly smiled and silently gazed into her eyes, knowing that was she would see would be the memories that the patient herself might not be aware of having.

She carefully reached out a hand and touched her fingers to the back of the young woman's hand. Sometimes a touch could slow the process and keep what memories there may be from becoming over-whelming.

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[NPC]

She wants to resist when they lead her back to the room with the other people. The older lady was being helped into a chair, a man still in the bed next to her. They looked like someone’s parents, they could even be hers. The rest of the room’s occupants don’t interest her in the least. She was so close to getting out of the place and then that horrible screaming made her bolt.

She looks around as the day starts in the ward, as it has for the two days she has been here. An old woman with piecing eyes comes to sit by her bed, and by gentle coaxing and some pantomime got her to sit in the chair opposite.

She looks down as the old woman touches her hand, frowning a little. It was a bit of an invasion of her personal space and she wasn’t quite comfortable with it. She tries out the word she could say before. “Where?” Maybe some more will come, but that is the one she uses for the moment.

Random images flicker very fast through her mind as she looks at the old woman. A cityscape, mine heaps, a large building with a green pyramid on top. A slightly hilly suburb with streets in a grid. A space between two buildings leading to a wizarding place much like Diagon Alley.

She frowns with concentration because she knows these things should be familiar, but it all feels so very alien. Although she’s not aware of it, a memory plays behind her eyes.

“Hey, cuz! Slow down!” Two children, a boy and a girl, run through a garden after their cousin a few years older than them. They were playing an elaborate game of tag. The two younger children are clearly twins, both with coppery hair and blue eyes. Their cousin has dark hair. The younger ones stop and look at each other with a smile. Sensing trouble, the older boy stops. “Guys? What are you up…” the rest of the sentence is drowned by a barrage of water balloons and the twins laughing.

Another memory percolates through… It’s late at night during the holidays and she is staying up late, talking to her mother and brother while her father is in bed. A knock at the door and she runs to wake her father, not opening the door without him present. They peer past her father as she sees her cousin standing outside with a bag in his hand. The news of her aunt, uncle and two cousins’ deaths had reached them a few days before.

[NPC]

Granny sees the visions and allows them to flood into herself. She directs them to a "side area" and has them pour like water through the connection; sounds, sensations, emotions; she collects them all.

Breakfast carts entered the room and broke the connection. She smiled at the young woman, and looked away while slowly lifting her fingers from the back of the woman's hand. All but one of the breakfast carts went to the other patients.

This breakfast cart was as Granny had directed. There was a selection of fresh fruits and canned fruits, breakfast meats and pastries. It was to allow the woman to select the food that she was most used to, what she wanted to eat.

After she ate, one of Granny's assistants took her to a closet that was on the floor, that had been fitted with a few items of Muggle and wizarding casual clothing in her approximate sizes with a few identical items in different colors, and allowed to select what she wished. (The assistant made casual eye contact during the process.)

After picked out some clothes, she was directed to the bathroom, where she received some small assistance in getting ready for the new day ahead.

While all this was going on, Granny quickly sketched the scenes she had seen, lightly drawing out buildings, faces, and jotting down the conversations and emotions, filling page after page of an art pad.

After the young woman returned to the chair, fed, dressed and refreshed, Granny smiled up at her, pleased at the morning's progress.

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[NPC]

The noise of breakfast being brought in jerks her attention to the doors. The little she was trying to recall fluttering away like dandelion fluff on the wind. She looks at the cart with all kinds of food on it. She can’t even remember how they tasted, so she tries something of everything. The melon was quickly put to one side (it tasted like green), so was the banana (too mushy), but the rest was each sampled and for some returned to a few times (the peaches were like summer and the apples like autumn). The pastries were definitely a hit (they tasted like school holidays) and the meats left alone completely.

She is a mess when she’s done eating. Sticky hands and face, but she’s grinning at the old woman, the first expression other than panic that registers on her face. A damp cloth is given to her to get her hands and face less sticky and then they lead her to a closet full of clothes. So many garments, she doesn’t know where to begin. Her eye falls on an jacket that matches her eyes (she doesn’t know this), a buttercup yellow top (it reminds her of something, but what it is eludes her) and a skirt of the blackest black, it almost absorbs any light near it, that falls to the floor. The person with her finds some socks to go with the soft-soled boots they found in her size.

The bathroom is a revelation. A shower with so many heads, she can’t count them. Water from all directions. She giggles like a small child and the girl that escorted her has to turn off the water after fifteen minutes. Fluffy towels distract her and soon her hair is a cloud around her head, looking like it will never be tamed again. The assistant starts to brush it out, but she almost snatches the brush out of the startled girl’s hand and starts brushing it herself. The motion feels familiar and soothing, without realizing it she does a simple charm using the brush as focus and her hair falls in long tresses halfway down her back.

When they reach the ward, she smiles at the old woman who has pages with stuff drawn on it on the bed. Curiously she peers down at the top page, frowning as she sees a cityscape she feels she should recognize. She taps the page and repeats the only word she’s been able to say. “Where?”

[Richard Goodfellow]

"So does this happen very often?" Benson asked, hoping to delay or have Healer Goodfellow forget to get on his case for leaving his office unwarded.

"What, having an almost naked girl in your office? You tell me," he snorted in reply. "Think for a moment about what the consequences would have been if she had disturbed your work on the table? What might have happened to her, please tell me."

To make sure that nothing had been disturbed, Healer Benson had to clear out, clean up and restart the potion's brewing again, loosing a day's work. And to make matters worse, Professor Snape supervised.

[NPC]

Granny needs time to metabolize the memories. Having tapped them, she is confident that the girl will remember more, and be able to put them into context. But for now, Granny has other needs to attend to.

Granny’s assistant Belle helped the young woman go through the eating and the rest of the morning preparations, silently taking note of what the girl ate (perhaps she was a vegetarian?), what colors she paused over, the selection of an outfit that would not be out of place in either world. The silent hair charm was even noted, and most of all, the fact that she had not said a distinguishable word the entire time. It could mean that she couldn’t remember how to speak, or was speaking in a different language.

Granny’s other assistant, Ron, discussed with Granny the meaning of the pictures. “It’s not enough to really work on,” Granny explained. “For example, are these illustrations she’s seen, or the surroundings she’s known? Of what significance do they hold? However, if these faces re-occur over and over, then they can be sent to other hospitals, schools and ministries to see if there are any people who match these descriptions – although we don’t know when these people were. To send out a picture of someone whom she remembers as a child, well, people change. And so far as I know, there has been no response from Hogwarts or the Ministry about our guest.”

“I think it best that she gets some exercise now; after all, she’s been cooped up here for too long. Take her around to the common areas so that she can see where she is. Take her to the conservatory and the gym; let her run around them, and take her to the nursery. Let her look at the books there. Oh, and take her back to where she was found earlier today; I understand O’Brian’s oversized turkey was screaming this morning: It’s enough to scare anybody under a table if they didn’t know what they were hearing."

"As for the landscapes, please run them through Reference and see where they might be - this one in particular." She picked up the one with the green topped building and put it at the top of the selection.

Ron studied it for a moment. "It looks like something I've seen before."

The girl returned, looking very nicely dressed and happier. She looked at the pictures that Ron had spread out over the bed. She pointed to the building and said, “Where?”

Where? Were, as in werewolf? Wyer? Wear?

Granny did not catch her eye, and was not ready to anyway. She put her smoked glasses back on, and then looked at the girl, smiled and said, “Please say ‘blue’ if you can understand what I am saying.”



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[NPC]

She almost growls with frustration. She should know the words to ask what she wants to know, she should also understand what the old lady was saying, but she didn’t. She keeps poking the picture. Suddenly words start pouring out. “Waar de hel is die plek? Ek moet dit ken, ek WEET ek herken die plek.” Where the hell is this place? I should know it, I KNOW that I recognize the place. She looks startled at her sudden outburst, her voice a bit ragged from disuse. She recovers after a moment, pokes the page again and asks. “Waar is die plek?” Her accent is quite harsh at first, but it modulates a bit to sound more rounded, softer.

Later when they show her around the place, she keeps pointing at things and saying their name in the language she’s found she can speak. Mostly just to hear her own voice. The whole place is just so very interesting, it was like a new world.

The conservatory is fascinating, the nursery adorable and she pours over the books a while. Nothing really strikes her fancy, but the words on the pages almost appear familiar, just not quite.

The potions area of the hospital holds no interest for her, except she was looking around to see if the cute one that found her under the desk was visible. She could hear his voice somewhere but didn’t know his name, so she couldn’t call him.

Halfway through the morning, just before lunchtime all the information, sensations and sounds threaten to over whelm her and she bolts for the stairs, running for the conservatory. It felt safe there.

[NPC]

Female subject is able to feed herself (level 3) and dress self (level 5). Responded to illustrations with what sounded like structured sentences. Some words sound similiar to English. She repeated same sentence four times: "War is di plec". Attempt to translate: "Where is this place." and repeated back to her. Apparently not close enough to what she is saying.

On hospital tour, subject pointed to various items and named them.

Very interested in plants in conservatory, "named" plants. Randomly selected books in nursery library: but no specific genres or artists. Turned pages in regular manner, "read" left to right. No interest/recognition in potions production area.

Did not seem to notice portraits.

On way to gym, subject bolted at 11:18. Portraits and house-elves reported her going to conservatory.

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A building with green pyramid on top has been located in (Muggle) San Francisco, CA, USA. However, the green is due to being lit at night during special occasions. Picture of building as such being sought; search continues for other buildings.

Suggestion made to procur Babel Translator - rejected due to budget constraints. Will petition for Ministry language expert when subject seems more at ease.

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[Richard Goodfellow]

Richard was at the conservatory's aviary with O'Brian's Augurey perched on his arm. (O'Brian was out on an emergency call to Brighton.)

The large bird was eyeing its breakfast - a bucket full of meal worms, fresh flies and mosquitos. He was glad that he didn't have to feed fairies to it - he suspected that the hideous thing got plenty of those when it went out at night.

He had just released the door wards and was going to put the bird inside when the conservatory doors flew open, and startled the beast. It flew up into the air, away from the aviary, screaming.

Richard quickly rewarded the door, so as not to let the insects out before he looked for the bird. He found it, circling over head, lazily enjoying its freedom. He would have sworn it was laughing at him.

The girl from the Thickey ward was standing by the doors, looking very upset. Her keepers were nowhere to be seen.

Probably ran off again, he thought. At least she's warmly dressed this time.

He wondered if Nubby the Inept was still the house-elf responsible for her, and then wondered if what would happen if he gave the Augurey to Nubby.

Keep her calm, don't upset her, he told himself as the girl moved as she if was about to run off again.

He smiled at her. "Hello," he said, giving her a small wave. Hope her keepers show up soon.

The bird flew back down and landed on a nearby bench and screamed again.

Oh, Nubby, here's a pet for you!

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[NPC]

The language barrier is keenly felt on both sides, and the more she tries to ask where that place was, the more they repeat some other words back at her and she’s not sure if it’s the same question in another language. One she knows she should understand. She throws her hands up in disgust and paces in front of the bed for a while, trying to think of a way to communicate better.

--

She bangs through the doors of the conservatory and stands frozen in the doorway as the cute Healer is there. The doors swing shut and she almost turns to rattle them to get out again.

She steps carefully closer, edging around the path leading to the centre of the building. The air smells green and alive, unlike the dead hospital smells of her room. The man seems friendly and speaks almost the language she understands.

“Uhm… hallo.” She smiles shyly and starts taking a step closer to the Healer. Just then that horrible bird screams again and she jumps with surprise, looking around for a place to hide again. Not finding something appropriate, she settles for scanning the place for the bird. She spots it as it lands on a bench and makes a face of distaste. The thing was ugly.

[Richard Goodfellow]

The minders came into the conservatory, and stopped to hold the doors open for Frank and Alice Longbottom. Richard’s mum was wheeling Alice, while a nurse wheeled Frank.

The conservatory had been enlarged recently by The Hufflepuff Alumni Society, in honor of the retirement of Pomona Sprout, and was now a place for therapy. It was time for Frank and Alice’s morning walks around the building. The two were assisted to standing positions, and, carefully, helped to shuffle down a couple of smooth walk-ways.

The rain continued to pour on the glass and gardens outside, but the inside the lights were brilliant and the space felt cozy.

The Augurey hopped about on the bench while Richard tried to entice it back onto his arm. The bird gave a flying leap and landed on the man’s head.

Okay, so much for dignity, he thought and gave the young woman a wry grin as he carefully headed back to the Aviary. He got its door open, and the bird flapped inside and started on its breakfast.

A Diricawl flopped outside while the door was open, but since it was a flightless bird, it was permitted to wander about the place. The Jobberknolls flapped their annoyance at the Augurey as it pushed them aside to get to a beetle that was crawling on the cage wall. Richard carefully Summoned one of the little blue speckled birds, and brushed off a few feathers from its chest for use in a memory potion. He smiled at the young woman, knowing that it would be for her, and held the bird out to her. It was quite tame.

The minders were sitting at a table, keeping an eye on the girl while quietly visiting and playing with a simple game. The conservatory had a number of small game tables, including chess (the pieces were napping), Sticks, jigsaw puzzles, but no gobstones. A few other hospital patients were at some of the tables, visiting and poking at playing pieces.

The Healer picked up a basket and started harvesting plants for the day’s potions needs. He pointed her to a small colorful statue of a Fwooper. Under it was a small sign reading, “Donated by Friends of Hagrid”. (Hagrid had wanted a live one donated, but once it was pointed out that the African bird's crys are harmful to its listeners and that Silencing Charms might not last at the hospital, he reluctantly agreed to a silent representation.)

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