Emmeline and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day || Self-Para
March 24, 1982
Emmeline finally went home to her own bed. She still wasn’t convinced she fully understood what was going on, but she couldn’t handle the way Benjy watched her, constant worry in his eyes. She’d remembered or figured out enough to know that she did trust him, perhaps more than anyone else in the Order. She wasn’t supposed to talk about the Order. That was a secret.
Instead of worrying about it anymore for the night, though, Emmeline drifted off to weird murky sleep full of floating dreams--or were they memories?--just out of reach.
As far as she knew, there was nothing to get up for in the morning, but at 6:20, there was a sudden banging on her door. Emmeline first cowered, then realized it wouldn’t do any good. Gripping her wand tightly, Emmeline snuck to the door. She didn’t recognize the witch on the other side of the peephole, but that wasn’t exactly a shock. Slowly she opened the door.
“Um, hi,” she said, hoping there would be enough detail filled in for her to avoid making a fool of herself.
The woman stared. “Why are you still in your pajamas?”
“I- Well...” Emmeline didn’t have a good answer.
With a sigh, the woman stepped in. “Look, everyone oversleeps sometimes, just no one expected you would. Mina was ready to send a search party, but I said I’d check on you.”
Mina. Emmeline knew that name. Mirandora Mina! Her boss. Why was Emmeline’s boss looking for her?
The answer came quite suddenly, and all the color drained from Emmeline’s face. “Was I supposed to work today?” she asked in a tiny voice.
The witch frowned. “Yes. You... Are you feeling okay?”
Without waiting for Emmeline’s answer, she touched her wand tip to Emmeline’s forehead. Under the touch, Emmeline froze. If she figured out something was wrong, Emmeline didn’t have a good story for how she’d ended up with so few memories. She and Benjy had tried to come up with something, but nothing had seemed plausible.
Thankfully the witch shrugged as she lowered her wand. “You seem fine. This is stress related, isn’t it? I always tell you that you need more time off! What have you been doing with the last few days, though, if you’re this stressed now?”
“Oh, you know,” Emmeline said vaguely. “Not terribly much.”
The witch sighed. “You know what? We can talk about it at break down. Right now why don’t you get dressed? I’ll wait out here.”
Emmeline hurried back into her bedroom. She had to try a few drawers before finding robes that matched the witch’s, and she slipped them on in a hurry. She cast some quick hygiene spells, grimacing a bit at the feeling of it in her mouth. She would have liked to brush her teeth, but if she was already late for work, Emmeline didn’t dare take more time than she had to.
Work wasn’t much better once she got there.
“Basic diagnostics, Vance!” her boss snapped at her at one point. “Have you forgotten how to do patient intake?”
Yes, but Emmeline couldn’t admit that. Instead she mumbled an apology and watched closely when she assisted someone else do one.
“Emmeline, what is with you today?” Betsy, the witch who’d come to get her that morning, asked as she took over a patient. “That is the most clear case of a miscast bubble charm I’ve ever seen. How did you not figure it out?”
“I- Just tired,” she mumbled, knowing it was a bad excuse.
At lunch time, she hid away from everyone else. Instead of going to the break room to eat, she headed to the resource center and poured over as many books and articles as she could in the short time. With Benjy’s help, Emmeline had figured out over the past few days that things being mentioned to her helped the memories return, but it wasn’t all at once. It was the hint of recognition followed by the slow filtering in of information. It wasn’t fast. She’d re-met Benjy days ago now and still couldn’t say when she’d first met him or why she trusted him so much.
Afterward she was ready and armed as best she could for an afternoon like the morning, but Mina pulled her aside as soon as she got back. “Look, you’re clearly not quite yourself today. Why don’t you be one-on-one with the Lowe lad? He keeps moving, which breaks the stasis charm on his lungs. We’re reapplying it as much as we can, but if he keeps this up, he’ll never breathe right away. Go talk to him, keep him company, and fix the damn charm when he breaks it.”
Emmeline’s heart sank. She may not remember much, but she knew this kind of simple one-on-one work was usually reserved for apprentices. She was being treated like she’d just gotten here and didn’t know what she was doing. They weren’t far off.
She made it to the end of her shift, and as Emmeline prepared to leave, Mina leaned in close. “Whatever has you like this? Get some sleep and get it fixed. I expected my usual Vance back tomorrow, got it?”
Emmeline nodded, unable to quite keep the panic off her face.
When she got home, sleep was the last thing on her mind. She gathered the old textbooks on her shelf. Had she ever been the time to cram all-nighters? She was now.
Emmeline still carries the wand she picked up with her mother in Diagon Alley at eleven years old. She really hadn’t tried very many wands before settling on a 10 inch supple alder wand with a unicorn core. It’s served her well over the years, and even without her memories, she reached for it on instinct. It has been a loyal friend, and Emmeline does her best to take proper care of it through polishing and proper holsters. It isn’t particularly flashy to look at, but then again, neither is Emmeline.
Everyone in the British wizarding world knows St. Mungo’s is the place to go for any malady or injury. Over the centuries, it has grown and flourished with the initial space expanding to fit the needs of modern patients and hospital staff. On any given day, you can find a wizard have the flowers that replaced his ears trimmed and a witch reeling from noxious poison fume inhalation. Whatever a patient’s needs, St. Mungo’s takes great care in being able to provide.
Hospital Staff
Full staff: When most people think about St. Mungo’s, they think of only a few roles: healers, mediwix, and the bright shining face of the welcome witch. Their staff is far more expansive, however. Taking care of the building itself are the maintenance and custodial staff members. On the ground floor to run the Admissions Department are archivists who update and organize hospital records. Upstairs on the fifth floor are a whole team of potioneers, apothecarists, and herboligists running the pharmacy and apothecary, as well as the tea and gift shop staff. Together this team work to create the safe and comfortable network the average wix thinks of when St. Mungo’s is mentioned.
Trainee program: Healers and mediwix both have a six month general education, followed by a training rotation to each of the floors. Healers take two years with a rotation every four months for on-the-job experience in each department. Mediwix take one year with a rotation every two months. After spending a full internship on each floor for observation, practicum, and mentoring, a trainee chooses the floor where they feel they will have the best fit to return for another full term where they explore the particularly wards for the best fit and gradually receive more independence. It should be noted that trainees are not necessarily locked into these department roles if they determine that another place may better suit their interests and talents. It is also not uncommon for a trainee to begin their final four month rotation in one department and transfer floors a month in. The important part of the process is to understand how each healer or mediwix can flourish within the St. Mungo’s system. For the more particular wards with specialized expertise, up to six months more can be required in a program. Total, trainees spend two and a half to three years at some point in their training before they are considered a full healer or mediwitch.
Hospital Layout
Although the average wix may not be as familiar with it, there is a specific system in place that was used to facilitate and organize expansion as the hospital has grown. Some floors are significantly larger than others based on the number of wards or volume of patients, sometimes both. For that reason, the undetectable extension charms used across the hospital are not the same size for each floor. The units themselves also have been shifted and expanded where needed over time.
Explanation of floor coding: Each floor serves a unique purpose. Because magical injuries are often so specific, patients are divided up according to injury type. The first number of each ward’s code reflects the floor on which it is housed. The second number refers to the specific purpose of the ward numbered 1-9. Not every floor necessarily has a ward for each number. 1 is always an emergency and diagnosis ward. 2-5 are saved for specialized areas on the floors. 6 is for general care like physicals and precautionary checkups. 7 is intensive care for people who cannot be immediately treated but have severe, often life-threatening symptoms. 8 is recovery for short term stays and observation after treatment. 9 is permanent and long term care.
Purge and Dowse, Ltd: This is the facade name used for St. Mungo’s outward appearance, as the building is located in Muggle London. Wix can enter by traveling from the outside, or by floo or apparition directly into the reception area.
Ground Floor: Reception and Artifact Accidents Department
Reception Area and Welcome Desk: (Sometimes informally referred to as Ward -01 by hospital staff) Where visitors enter and where non-immediate emergency patients wait for redirection. This includes any singing, sprouting, sputtering, or otherwise non-fatal conditions.
Admissions Department: Where records are created and kept for all incoming patients. A patient’s name and birthday being written on a particular scroll automatically calls forward all of that patient’s previous medical history for review or a newly added entry.
Ward 01: Artifact Emergency Unit: For walk-ins and immediate care or diagnosis before redirection to other artifact wards.
Ward 02: Ignatia Wildsmith Explosive Care Unit: Where victims of (accidental or purposeful) exploded objects go. This includes exploding cauldrons and backfiring wands if there is no potion or spell specific damage inflicted.
Ward 03: Cursed Artifacts Ward: Where victims exposed to dark artifacts come for treatment.
Ward 04: Mishandled Artifacts Ward: For patients whose injuries were caused by the mishandling of specialized magical artifacts. This includes broom-related injuries.
Ward 06: Tertius Ward for Precautionary Artifact Care: General physicals for patients who believe they may be suffering long term ill effects from exposure to a magical artifact. Also general physicals for an artifact-related event where the patient has seemingly no ill effects.
Ward 08: Artifact Aftermath Ward: Where already treated patients stay overnight or for a few days when their injuries seem fully treated, but a stay for observation has been recommended.
Ward 09: Artifact Alteration Ward: For patients who have been permanently altered by some form of artifact injury and can no longer function on their own.
First Floor: Creature-Induced Injuries Department
Ward 11: Creature Emergency Unit: For walk-ins and immediate care or diagnosis before redirection to other creature wards.
Ward 12: Flavius Belby Ward for Creature Maimings: Where those slashed, gouged, generally bitten or otherwise disfigured by a run in with a magical creature go for care and repair. Sometimes seen as a vanity ward because many creature experts have little problem with scars or missing limbs.
Ward 13: “Dangerous” Dai Llweellyn Ward for Serious Bites: For creature bites of a more severe caliber, especially when venom and other magical side effects are in play. Despite the name, they also handle severe stings and poisonous scratches.
Ward 14: Magical Insect Infestation Ward: For anyone suffering from concerns like embedded spiders or magical worms. Though magic is specified in the name, they also handle wix suffering the effects of ringworm, parasites and insects considered mundane in nature.
Ward 17: Creature Care of Complexity Unit: Houses patients for a few reasons: severe reactions to an unknown creature encounter, creature venom complicated by a potions reaction, reactions to attacks from multiple kinds of creatures at once, or any other unusual situation which doesn’t fall under one of the main three wards.
Second Floor: Magical Bugs and Ailments Department
Ward 21: Disease Diagnosis Ward: For walk-ins and immediate care or diagnosis before redirection to other magical ailment wards.
Ward 22: Xavier Rastrick Contagion Unit: Where highly contagious diseases like Vanishing Sickness and Scrofungulus are treated.
Ward 23: Gungilda of Gorsemoor Ward: This ward’s specific focus has changed over St. Mungo’s history, as it is renamed to reflect the most dangerous and prevalent contagious disease is during a particular time. Since Dragon Pox is so specific and continues to have outbreaks, this unit has remained named after the cure creator since the 1400s. Even though that cure is not always effective, it remains the single most important step forward in Dragon Pox research.
Ward 24: Miserable Maladies Ward: For unpleasant but not inherently contagious magical maladies.
Ward 25: Mundane Maladies Ward: For treatment of muggle diseases such as the flu or pneumonia. Most wix of at least halfblood pedigree choose to check themselves or family members into St. Mungo’s if simple potion treatments aren’t working rather than trust muggle doctors.
Ward 26: Dilys Derwent Children’s Ward: Unlike most floors’ ward plan, The Magical Bugs Department handles general care as part of Ward 21 with diagnosis. As a result, this ward received special designation for children, even for general physicals. Unless there is a specific cause like a cursed object or especially nasty backfired spell, this is where children are often treated at St. Mungo’s.
Ward 28: Recovery and Relapse Ward: For patients who seem cured of contagious malady to regain their strength and be under observation until they are deemed safe to rejoin the general public.
Ward 29: Incurable Illness Ward: For patients who will never be free of their illness or who have been so affected that they can no longer function on their own.
Third Floor: Plant Poisoning Department and Potions Department--Run interconnected in their goals and expertise, Share some healers and most units across the floor.
Ward 31: Potions, Plants, and Poisonings Emergency Unit: For walk-ins and immediate care or diagnosis before redirection to other potions or poisoning wards.
Ward 32: Phyllida Spore Ward for Plant-Based Problems: Where rashes, boils, breathing problems, regurgitations, hallucinations, poisonings, and any other issues caused by plant contact, ingestion, or strangulation are treated.
Ward 33: J. Pippin Ward for Potion-Based Problems: Where rashes, boils, breathing problems, regurgitations, hallucinations, poisonings, and any other issues caused by potion ingestion, incorrect brewing, and general potion spills are treated.
Ward 36: Poisoning Prevention and Precaution Unit: For patients who will be handling dangerous plants and potions to receive preventative elixirs or protections, as well as general physicals patients who may have been exposed but show no immediate symptoms.
Ward 37: Cliodna Care Unit: For when patients are clearly suffering the affects of a poisoning but for one reason or another, the cause is unknown. They also receive surprisingly frequent examples of food poisoning, and some patients end up here for lack of a better location.
Ward 38: Post-Poison Ward: Where already treated patients stay overnight or for a few days when their injuries seem fully treated, but a stay for observation has been recommended.
Ward 39: Permanently Poisoned Ward: For patients who have been permanently altered by some form of potion or plant encounter and can no longer function on their own.
Fourth Floor: Spell Damage Department
Ward 41: Spell-Based Emergency Unit: For walk-ins and immediate care or diagnosis before redirection to other spell-based wards.
Ward 42: Dark Magic and Curse Care Unit: Where patients suffering the effects of curses, strong hexes, and other forms of dark spellwork come for recovery.
Ward 43: Transfiguration Removal Ward: For patients who received side effects or results from transfiguration gone awry or transfiguration which does not have a clear counterspell.
Ward 44: Balfour Blane Ward for Miscast Charms: For patients who suffer the effects of incorrectly cast charms or charms which do not have a clear counterspell.
Ward 45: Urquhart Rackharrow Ward for Unusual Cases: For patients whose symptoms are caused by spell-adjacent magic without clear causes due to unclear miscasting, experimental changes, and other unusual effects. This includes patients suffering effects of accidental magic by children whose magic doesn’t necessarily operate cleanly in life with commonly used spells.
Ward 46: Misspelled Precautionary Ward: General physicals for patients who may have come into contact with incorrect spellwork or be suffering long term spell-related effects.
Ward 48: Spell Surveillance Ward: Where already treated patients stay overnight or for a few days when their injuries seem fully treated, but a stay for observation has been recommended.
Ward 49: Janice Thickey Ward: For patients who have been so affected by spell damage or results that they can no longer function on their own.
Fifth Floor: Non-medical Areas
Tea Room and Gift Shop: Where hospital visitors can get a quick meal and buy approved goods to gift to patients.
Apothecary and Magical Pharmacy: Where ready-made potions and other treatments can be picked up, as well as commonly used ingredients for healing potions for the wix who prefers to brew their own. Some items require a healer prescription while many are available for anyone to purchase.
Staff Break Rooms: Regardless of floor level or expertise, all healers, mediwix, and other staff use the same break areas on this floor. It allows for co-mingling and has been said to be helpful in clearing the mind from the moment a healer climbs the stairs away from their floor.
OOC: Some of this isn’t on the dash yet, so I’ll put it under a readmore for anyone who doesn’t want to know what’s coming. Bolded names are the people the thread is with while italicized names are people mentioned.
Emmeline arrived at the Potter Estate where she was joined by Lily. The two finished setting up and eventually had a brief conversation about Remus because Emmeline is hoping to help him in the future.
While Emmeline and Lily are watching the Order map, they see James’ name leave it, which Emmeline knows can only mean one thing. This aftermath is not going to be pretty.
But there will be little time to think about it before Gideon arrives with an unconscious Marlene who seemed to faint for no reason after they’d taken down the wards. Emmeline briefs Gideon on the situation and sends him back out with explicit instructions to find James’ friends.
While turning her attention to Marlene, and when Gideon finds his way to Sirius first, Emmeline sends a patronus to Remus and Peter, hoping she can tell them in a controlled way that won’t have them finding out in the middle of a fight. She sends them, "I am sorry you have to learn it this way, but something happened. There's no other way for me to say this, but James Potter is dead. I'm sorry. Things are descending into chaos, and people will need to leave as soon as possible."
She barely has time to run a series of basic tests on Marlene before Mary arrives with James’ dead body. Emmeline wants to believe she can help, but he’s dead. She can’t bring people back to life. She convinces Mary that his body can stay but should be out of sight if they can help it, and together they maneuver his body to the only bed with a curtain. if Lily comes back in, her fiancé’s dead body is the last thing she needs to see.
Before Emmeline can return her attention to Marlene, Edgar arrives badly splinched. Emmeline has to make a quick, impossible decision because she doesn’t want to call Lily over with the state she’s in, especially with James now there. Since her tests have all shown that Marlene doesn’t seem to be in any immediate danger, Emmeline turns her attention to saving Edgar first. She couldn’t do anything about the first death tonight, but she’ll be damned if she’s responsible for a second.
Once Edgar is stable, Emmeline finally focuses on finding the problem causing Marlene’s problem. She identifies the spell and managed to wake Marlene up, but she doesn’t want to deal with Marlene feeling grateful. Emmeline made a choice that could have had serious affects on Marlene if she’d assumed wrong.
Overall, she just wants a nap, but Emmeline knows they have things to clear up first. Right now she can’t think about how tired she is or the fact that she has a double shift at St. Mungo’s on the 16th. The Order needs her a little bit longer.
☼ How does your character usually dress in daily life?
Under her robes, Emmeline tends to dress what she would consider fairly simple. She dresses primarily in neutral and earth colors. She wears lots of sweaters and over-sized items. She’s not afraid of formfitting things, though, and will wear things like jumpsuits or tight-waisted pants.
✍ How does your character usually dress when going to work/school?
At St. Mungo’s, Emmeline always wears her uniform robes. When she’s working for the Order in a medical capacity, she doesn’t wear those, but she does try to dress in a similar fashion from her own wardrobe. It helps her get in the mindset and also worry less about which robes need extra cleaning.
Emmeline strongly feels that the truth is the best choice in almost every situation. Lying to save someone’s emotions or to keep information private rarely makes sense for her. She can acknowledge that it is occasionally true, but those occasions are few and far between.
➶ : Opinion on killing
In an idea world for Emmeline, no one would ever kill anyone. No one would ever take action that purposefully set up someone else for injury or risk. She knows in a war, some actions must be taken. She’d just rather be the person fighting to save lives, not the one taking them.
☀ : Favorite season(s)
Emmeline appreciates late summer, early fall. The weather is still nice enough to fly, but it’s starting to cool down. She doesn’t mind the greyness that often comes with it as long as she can feel cozy with it.
✂ How does your character usually style their hair? ♔ What (if any) jewelry does your character usually wear? ✗ What (if any) scars does your character have?
✂ How does your character usually style their hair?
Emmeline doesn’t put a lot of thought into her hair. Depending on how much time she’s willing to take in the morning, it’s either French braided back or pulled up in a bun. She rarely wears it down because it gets in the way.
♔ What (if any) jewelry does your character usually wear?
Emmeline very rarely wears jewelry beyond her watch, but she has put a lot of care and attention into that watch. It has been charmed with as many different guards against physical and magical damage as Emmeline has been able to think of. It also tracks how long it’s been since she last slept because depending on her work and Order schedule, Emmeline isn’t always great at keeping track of that for herself.
✗ What (if any) scars does your character have?
Emmeline may have grown up around muggles, but her mother is still a witch. She doesn’t have any major scars. The few scrapes and scratches that did leave marks were all easy enough to remove with strong healing potions when she was older.
