Harry Potter: 19 Years Later

Chapter 39: Speculations And Uncertainty

Albus's eyes fluttered open to discover he was in the hospital wing lying on a cot. He was confused as to why he was there until it suddenly hit him like he'd run into a wall. The memories quickly came back to him. He'd been in his and Scorpius's room with Rose, when strange things began happening. Things that seemed almost impossible to believe.

He remembered everything in the room was flying everywhere and levitating towards the ceiling, even the bed that he and Rose were sitting on. An overwhelming amount of fear and confusion had overcome him, and somehow he knew that he had been the one that was causing it. Albus could still feel the slightest tingly sensation in his fingertips, which was nothing compared to the almost buzzing-like feeling he had felt before when he was controlling the furniture. Then the image of Rose's horrified face when she discovered that Albus was the causer of the madness popped into his mind. She actually seemed afraid of him.

Albus groaned as his head began pounding from reminiscing the event. He felt like he'd been whacked by a rogue Bludger during a Quidditch match (which has actually happened to him before when he used to play Quidditch with his brother James in their backyard). The fact that he was still somewhat sick made him feel even worse. Albus wanted to slip back into unconsciousness and sleep away the pain and grogginess, but he was not even close to being tired anymore. There was no telling how long he'd been asleep.

Suddenly Albus's ears perked up when he heard voices nearby. He turned his head slightly to see Rose standing outside of the nurses's office, her and Madame Carmine conversing in shushed voices. Albus strained his hearing to catch what they were saying. When the two stepped into the main medical area, he quickly shut his eyes and acted like he was asleep.

"Are you sure you're alright, darling?" Madame Carmine asked Rose, concern evident in her kind voice.

Rose chuckled. "Yes, I'm fine, Madame Carmine. There's not even a scratch on me."

Madame Carmine sighed. "That is true. But I'm just making sure nothing strange is wrong. I guess I can't say the same thing for Albus here."

Albus ever so slightly twitched when he heard his name. What was that supposed to mean?

"What do you mean by that?" Rose asked, speaking what Albus was thinking.

"Well, this obviously isn't normal for Albus," Madame Carmine replied. "He's never shown abnormality in his magical powers up until now. I find that a bit strange, don't you think?"

Albus didn't realize he was holding his breath.

Rose hesitated before whispering, barely audible, "Do you think this has anything to do with the coma he was in?"

The coma. What if Rose was onto something? Albus hadn't even considered that possibility. He was eager to hear what Madame Carmine had to say.

Finally, the kind nurse replied in an almost irritable tone, "Rose, I can honestly say that you have a plausible point. But we have no way of proving that."

Albus heard Rose sigh, and could tell that every ounce of hope of finding out what was going on was drained from her. She mumbled, "Yes, I understand. Well, I should be going now."

"Alright, darling. Come back if you have any more problems," Madame Carmine said.

Albus heard both sets of footsteps moving in the opposite direction. He could distinguish Rose's shoes tapping against the floor until she reached the door, and left the hospital wing. Madame Carmine's footsteps clicked off in the other direction, until Albus heard the door shut to her office. Now Albus was alone again. His mind was reeling with thoughts about the conversation he had just heard.