Hall of Fame
Monday, 31st July 1978
Marlene insists on going with Mary to St Mungo's for her first day of work. It's a close walk from Liam's flat, Purge and Dowse, and Marlene pretends it's on her way to work like she's not going to just apparate to Diagon Alley afterwards. Mary lets Marlene lead the way anyway because Marlene is determined and it's no use talking the other girl out of something once she's set her mind to it.
In all of her seven years of having known and been a part of the wizarding community, Mary's been to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries all of once. Back during her seventh year, her parents and little sister were one of the families who fell victim to a mass attack by death eaters on Halloween night. She barely remembers how she got there that night. Mary knows vaguely that she went by floo from McGonagall's office and she thinks it's probably an entrance to St Mungo's that's reserved for a select few. She'd let McGonagall lead the way, her nerves and anger getting in the way of her thinking straight.
She still remembers how chaotic everything was like it was yesterday. Once they arrived at the hospital, healers and other medical personnel were running back and forth trying to keep everything under control. Her parents and Georgie were discharged early on after having been obliviated and Mary tried to make a scene, refusing to leave and demanding to speak to whoever was in charge after the royal screw up. However, she gave up quickly because it was beginning to become obvious that they were understaffed for an emergency situation like this despite calling in all of their personnel and Mary decided it was better to bring her parents and her little sister home first, and consider whether there was anything she could do for them later. Making a scene then and there wasn't going to help her family.
She tries not to blame them, she really does. She knows how hectic the situation was, but still, she's not sure whether or not she's justified in holding her anger out for the obliviators, who didn't follow protocol and check whether the victims were connected to the magical community. She wonders if these mishaps happen often, considering if no one's ever notified, no one ever finds out. It makes her livid that this happened to her family and she just thinks they can do better.
During her fifth year, McGonagall had suggested during her careers advice meeting that she would make a good healer. McGonagall commented on how her wandwork's precise and her magic's intuitive, and how she excels at Potions and Herbology. She subtly hinted that her grades are good enough to study the five required subjects to become a healer at N.E.W.T.s level, that maybe even if she decides she doesn't want to be a healer when she graduates, those subjects contain pretty useful knowledge that would get her into plenty of other jobs in the wizarding community.
She'd spent the summer reading up on books about being a healer, after having loaned a few from Sirius who seemed to have an inordinate amount of books for someone who doesn't seem to care much about actually studying. She thinks it's a pretty interesting career choice, the wizarding equivalent of a doctor. She's not sure whether that's the reason it appeals to her so much, that it's something she has a grasp of rather than something abstract that doesn't exist outside of the wizarding world. She thinks it would be pretty neat to able to help people with magic the way that doctors can't. So Mary goes along with it, and she chooses Astronomy as well aside from the required subjects because she just wanted to choose something for herself.
There was a programme at St Mungo's for seventh years back when they were at Hogwarts, but Mary didn't exactly have the connections to get in back then. She's still not sure how she got this apprenticeship but she thinks Madam Pomfrey must have pulled some strings. The matron let her spend part of her sixth year shadowing her once she's realised that Mary's developed an interest in being a healer. Or maybe there just aren't enough healers that they're willing to give a muggle-born like her an apprenticeship. Regardless of the reasons, Madam Pomfrey tells her one evening the good news and she's in tears when she thanks the witch, who insists she didn't do anything, that she's just the messenger.
Marlene brings her to Purge and Dowse and they stand there in front of this rusty, old-fashioned, red brick department store. The place looks like it hasn't been touched in years, and Mary thinks it's a perfect front for what lies beyond. Muggles won't even bat at eye at this place, thinking it's just beyond repair. She's stopped trying to understand how magic works, considering St Mungo's far larger than the ground the abandoned shop seems to be occupying. It's the same way Platform 9 and 3/4 feels, something impossible yet she's seeing it with her own eyes. It amazes her every time even though she's learned by now that the laws of physics don't apply in the wizarding world.
"We're here for Mary Macdonald's first day of work as a healer." Marlene speaks to the mannequin. "An apprentice." She quickly clarifies.
Mary raises an eyebrow, wondering if the mannequin would consider that a reasonable explanation for wishing entry. It miraculously does, and it nods its assent as the two girls step through the glass window.
She stands there taking it all in. The reception area's huge, and it's filled with wizards running about. There's wizards and witches all around with weird injuries waiting for medical attention, in what she supposes is a waiting area. A stretcher nearly crashes into her, followed by a healer with a levitation charm and Marlene pulls her away just in time for her to see that the witch lying on it has terrible blisters all over her face. The healer passes them, barely recognising that they're there even though his face was mere inches away from Mary's seconds ago.
"How may I help you today?" The welcome witch says in a deadpan voice and continues to ruffle through the papers on her desk, not bothering to look up as she speaks.
Mary blinks as she realises she's still staring at the direction the stretcher was headed in. They've disappeared around a corner and Mary turns to look at the welcome witch, a plump, blonde woman who looks like she wouldn't be any taller if she were standing at her desk rather than sitting.
"Sorry. Um, hello. Could you possibly point me to the admissions department?" Mary says politely, hoping to make a good first impression.
The welcome witches finally lifts her head to study Mary. "You're one of the new apprentices, eh?"
Mary nods.
"The admissions department's at the end of that corridor on your left. The door'll be on your right but you're not allowed to go in without verification, so just wait outside until Graham shows up."
The welcome witch indicates with her hand that it's time for whoever's behind them and Mary moves swiftly away, thanking her. She sees the clock and it's fifteen minutes until nine, which is when she's supposed to arrive at the Admissions Office.
Marlene pulls Mary in for a hug. "You're gonna do great, Mar. I want to hear all about it when you get home."
Mary smiles and buries her head in Marlene's shoulder as she whispers a thank you. She tries to steady her nerves as she watches as Marlene leaves through the door before turning down the corridor the welcome witch indicated. Usually, Mary's good with nerves, or at least she's good with hiding them. It starts to feel less so as she walks down that daunting corridor.
There's two other people standing outside that door. She gives them a polite smile and keeps to herself a few feet away. She watches the portraits on the wall and she recognises a few. Mungo Bonham stares down at her with a curious expression on her face and she tries not to let it get to her, the way he seems to be judging her. She tries not to jump when Gunhilda de Gorsemoor looks at her with a smile which would have been perfectly kind if it weren't for her single eye.
She doesn't recognise most of them, but she can tell by the portraits that these corridors are filled with history, of famous healers who have contributed to the wizarding medical community. She wonders how many of the healers working here now will make it on that hall of fame one day. She's always been in awe of wizard portraits, the way it memorialises those long gone, and it's more than a picture. She supposes it's rather sweet, that wizards can communicate with the fallen, with a version of them that keeps their memories intact.
Mary not to think about the mortality of it all as she waits.
***
Ten minutes later, a tall healer in lime-green robes show up which she assumes to be Graham. By that time, there's a total of twelve wizards and witches standing outside nervously as he arrives. She notices a girl in the back that she thinks she recognises from Hogwarts, a Hufflepuff maybe, but aside from her, the rest of them look unfamiliar and most look older than her.
Graham calls out their names one by one and takes them into the Admissions Department, which is blocked by an empty receptionist desk even after they enter the door. They're instructed to sit at the chairs by the door, as Graham calls on them one by one. She tries to take in the view, desperate for a distraction from her bearing heart. But then again, she supposes that this is a waiting area of sorts and there's not much to look at anyway. She stares at the emblem on the desk and the clock ticks.
"Macdonald, Mary."
Eventually, Graham's voice booms from the small room just next to where they're waiting. Mary stands up and walks in, seating on the chair that's obviously meant for her. Weird enough, he's on a sofa and she watches as he casts as a Muffliato and door swings shut with a flick of his wand.
"Mary Macdonald. Just graduated Hogwarts last month. Let's see, Exceeds Expectations in Charms and Transfiguration. Outstanding in Potions, Herbology and Defence Against the Dark Arts... and Astrology. Interesting choice...not bad. Parents work as...oh, okay, muggle-born..."
Mary tries not to let it show the way he says it. After all, she's heard far worse and she's still willing to give them the benefit of the doubt when they're not actively throwing slurs at her.
"What is it exactly that they do for a living?" She sees the way he glances at the paper where she wrote "factory worker". Mary tries to explain what he does but she's not sure that she knows enough to explain. She realises that she's never really asked her dad what he does at the factory, only that it has something to do with assembling things and whatever he's required to do. Mary also purposefully leaves out the fact that he's on the verge of losing his job because of the shutdowns.
Graham nods at her explanation, and his expression doesn't really give much away.
"Why do you want to be a healer?"
"Um, I just want to help people." Mary says and the look on Graham's face shows her that it's not enough. But he's kind as he looks at her, waiting for her to continue. So she takes a deep breath when she does.
"Um, my grandmother died when I was fifteen. She was a muggle. But I also kind of lost her before that because she had dementia. It's a muggle disease where you lose your memory slowly until you don't remember the people around you. So, um, like, with doctors, like muggle doctors, there's only so much you can do because it feels like the options are limited, um, to muggle medicine and machines. There's no cure for that, so there's nothing they could have done, really. But it's different, um, being a wizard. It's like you're using your own power to heal someone rather than relying on equipment. You're using your own magic and you're holding someone's life in your hands, quite literally, and I know that we rely on potions and herbs as cures as well but a part of it's just you and your magic. It's powerful and kind of scary but yeah, I guess I just want to be able to help people with my magic because I feel like that's why I was given this gift."
She sees the way Graham tries to hide his smile and Mary wasn't sure what she was going to say before she says it. But it's obvious enough that it's the right answer and that she's made a good enough impression on Graham.
He asks a few more questions about the areas of medicine she prefers and eventually, he tells her to go back to the waiting area.
She's out with the rest of the apprentices when Graham finally exits the room with "Williams, Amelia" and indicates for all of them to stand up.
They're told by Graham (which she eventually learns that is a last name instead of a first when a healer greets him as she enters the Admissions Department), that unless there's extenuating circumstances, they'll likely serve their apprenticeship at that ward for two years before they're rotated off to another ward of their choice upon satisfactory performance. He also points out that they'll also be able to work in another ward from time to time if one's particularly short-staffed that day. But for the most part, where they're assigned to is where they'll be.
Graham begins to list out names and the respective departments they're assigned to. There's twelve of them in total and three of them are assigned to each ward. She watches as the first two are ordered to head to the first floor "Dangerous' Dai Llewellyn Ward for Serious Bites". There's the "Magical Bugs" ward on the second floor and the "Poisoning Department" on the third and they head off in pairs to their assignments where they're told someone will greet them outside their respective wards.
"Mary Macdonald, Frederick Davies and Amelia Williams. Fourth floor, Janus Thickey Ward."
Mary nods politely as she follows Davies and Williams out. Graham gives them a small smile as they leave the admissions office.
They're greeted by a healer who introduces herself as Healer Bailey as soon as they enter Janus Thickey Ward. The ward's much larger than she's been expecting. The beds are lined up neatly against the two sides of the wall and they're sectored off by different types of injuries. She tries to remember as Healer Bailey starts introducing the other healers in the ward, telling them that, as apprentices, they answer to everyone and as long as they pay attention, they'll get along fine with the rest.
Mary doesn't really know whether to be scared or in awe of Healer Bailey but it's enough of a distraction as she throws herself into the work alongside Davies and Williams.
Tuesday, 8th August 1978
The first thing Mary learns at St Mungo's is that she needs to know how to compartmentalise.
Mary's not stupid. She knows that not everyone that passes through the doors of St Mungo's makes it out and she hasn't been deluded enough to think that she wouldn't be witnessing death as a first-year apprentice. After all, Mary's been on the other end of things. She'd watched her grandmother die after a long ordeal in a hospital and she knows that there are plenty of things that doctors and nurses aren't able to fix. But that was a muggle hospital and perhaps in a way, Mary always thought being a healer was supposed to be different than being a muggle doctor or a nurse.
Growing up without magic, finding out about an entirely different universe at eleven meant that she'd always been in awe of how powerful magic was. She watched as Madam Pomfrey fixed cuts and bruises and broken bones with a wave of her wand and she thinks that magic is much more powerful than muggle medicine. She realises cuts that would take a dozen stitches to heal and weeks to fully close only takes minutes under Madam Pomfrey's skilled hands. That and perhaps a night's rest. She watches as bruises fade almost instantaneously with little spells and imagines how the world would be if their technique were shared with those who weren't privy to magic. It's a fleeting thought as she remembers the consequences of it, but she can't help that she thinks it would be a solution.
Mary knows Madam Pomfrey's more than qualified to heal, but she imagines that there's a limit to what she's required to do with school students. They send the really bad ones off to St Mungo's and she knows that there must be much powerful spells that she's never even had a glimpse of, let alone heard of. So in a way, she's always thought that being a healer is a matter of learning to diagnose, figuring out the right spells and brewing the right potions.
The first time she realises that magic isn't without its limits is when she watches as the healer she's shadowing is told to prepare a really strong pain potion for a patient. It's advanced stuff for a first-year apprentice so Mary learns from the best. The potion itself is restricted, and she supposes it makes sense. But they're short-staffed as it is and it's easier to trust the junior healers to brew stuff than for them to perform the complicated procedures that could potentially go devastatingly wrong. So by the first week, she's learning how to brew stuff like that and she watches the healer put ingredients into the cauldron.
At night, Mary unlocks the shelf and grabs another vial of it. She's instructed to give him the potion every four hours. She's at his bedside when she picks up his chart and realises that there's nothing else on if, aside from a note that it's okay to give him dreamless sleep if he has trouble at night. It doesn't make sense. He's frail and weak and easing his pain doesn't help change that look in his eyes that are hollow. She realises only after what that look meant, that he was telling her that he was ready to die. It's only after he dies that she wishes she would have asked him a bit more, who the young man that visited him like clockwork every day was, where he got the scar on the right side his face leading to his chin from and what was so priceless about the ragged watch he kept on his bedside - the only possession he seemed to have.
She didn't get to ask any of it because they stuffed it into a box with his name and left it at the reception for the young man to collect - he died in the morning and the young man visited him in the evenings, so he wasn't there when he died.
She finds out later that he was terminal long before his last stint in St Mungo. She learns that he came here to die because he didn't want to be alone at home when he died and she learns that the young man was his stepson - his only daughter died a while back and he still visits and takes care of him but he has two children of his own that requires his full attention and he can only spare that much time for his father-in-law.
She locks herself in the bathroom to cry that night and wipes her eyes and joins Marlene for dinner because the other girl decided that that was the night she was going to try and cook something so that Mary doesn't have to constantly eat takeaway after a long day at work. It's good but she probably would have enjoyed it a lot more if she doesn't feel that hollow inside. Marlene asks Mary what's wrong and she pretends that she's okay with a smile that wouldn't have fooled anyone but Marlene lets her off the hook anyway.