An Emergency Like No Other

Gillian, holding the sheet Dr. Taylor had filled out on the strange girl, slowly stepped into his office.

"We have a time problem with Ginny Miller," she told him. Taylor angrily snatched the paper from her.

"It says ‘1:26 AM, Wednesday, 26 June, 1996,'" he answered indignantly. "What's wrong with that?"

"You put down her birth date as '31 June, 1984.'"

"Yeah, so?"

"There is no thirty-first of June," Gillian told him. "June has only thirty days."

"WHAT!!!" he hollered loudly. "That little twerp lied to me!"

"The girl does seem very strange," Gillian said. "I've worked here for five years and I've never met anyone at all like her."

"Well, she looked normal to me," Dr. Taylor answered curtly.

"It's not really the way she looks," Gillian answered, "It's the way she acts and what she knows. She seems kind of...I dunno...anachronistic."

"Look, you go talk to the stupid girl about this," Taylor raged, "I have more important things to do."

"Mercy Hospital," Mr. Weasley told the conductor, "It's an emergency."

"You're goin' to a Muggle hospital?" Stan Shunpike asked incredulously, "I guess you really have flipped."

"Just do it," Mr. Weasley said through gritted teeth.

"So, what's happened?" Harry asked, as the Knight Bus took off.

"It basically started out as a bit of business for the Order," Mr. Weasley said calmly. "It would take a long time to explain, but basically Ginny ended up somewhere where there were basically no wizards around. She got hit by a car and the Muggles took her to one of their hospitals. Basically, if we don't get her soon, they'll perform Muggle surgery on her."

"That's basically all you can say," George said, grinning.

"Yeah, and I thought you were all interested in Muggle surgery and everything?" Fred asked jokingly.

"Shut up!" Mr. Weasley said angrily. "This is serious." Harry's heart clenched suddenly. Sirius.

"Anyway," Mr. Weasley explained, "We picked up you because you know more than we do about where she is."

"Not really," Harry answered. "In the letter I told you everything I know."

"Oh, well," Fred said, "Guess we'll have to take you back to the Muggles now." Harry looked at him.

"I was only joking!" Fred said in exasperation.

"Vernon Durlsey speaking," a masculine voice said politely, "how can I help you?"

"Could I speak to Harry Potter?" asked a small female voice. Dr. Taylor recognized it as the Ginny girl.

"Harry Potter?" the man asked, now sounding nervous. "What could a little girl like you possibly want with Harry Potter?"

"Look, I was there at the end of last year. You remember what my father and the rest of the Order told you, don't you."

"I see," the man answered, "It's for you." There was a pause.

"Hello?" asked another male voice, this one clearly a teenagers. Dr. Taylor gritted his teeth--he really hated teenagers.

"Harry!" the Ginny girl said frantically. Taylor clenched his jaw firmer. Even more than teenagers, he hated girls--especially teenage girl.

"Ginny?"

"Harry, I'm--I'm in a Muggle hospital right now and they're--they're going to operate on me tomorrow. You've got to contact Mum and Dad--s-send them an owl and--and tell them I'm in --" (there was another pause) "-- Mercy Hospital. I've told them my last name is Miller."

"Okay."

"I think, that's everything. I guess I can only wait now--oh, Harry, I'm scared!"

"It's going to be okay. I'll--I'll go now" The teenage boy hung up.

Dr. Taylor turned off the phone recording. So, this was how it was. Taylor didn't fully understand what this whole thing was about, but it was plainly more complex than some stupid girl lying about her age--something very important was going on and if he figured out what it was, he would be famous. Maybe he would get his picture in the newspaper or be on television.

Taylor had a plan. He reached into a secret compartment in his desk and pulled out a gun. He laughed to himself--that stupid girl would be so sorry for lying to him.

Ginny was still lying in her bed when Gillian walked back in. Ginny was pleased to see her; she had been listening to some news person talk about how 19 Americans had been killed by a "truck bomb" or something like that. It was amazing how fast television got boring.

"I have to ask you about your interview with Dr. Taylor," Gillian said kindly. Oh, they were going back to that now.

"What about it?" Ginny asked angrily.

"You said you were born on 31 June, but June has only thirty days," Gillian explained. "Did you mean to say 30 June or something."

"No!" Ginny said angrily.

"Why did you say you were born on a day that doesn't exist?" Gillian asked, still sounding kind. Her peaceful demeanor calmed Ginny down a little, but not much.

"When I told him the real day I was born he thought I was lying," Ginny explained. "I said I looked too young to be as old as I said I was." Gillian had a look on her face that made Ginny feel guilty for lying, even though she hadn't been lying.

"Is that true?" Gillian asked. Ginny nodded.

Gillian sighed and stood up.

"I always knew that Taylor was trouble, but this--this--this is just unacceptable."

Suddenly, the door burst open and Ginny looked up. It was Dr. Taylor, holding a Muggle devise she recognized as a gun.

"FREEZE!!!" he shouted.

Ginny was too shocked to move, but Gillian put her hands up, shaking and staring disbelieving at Taylor, who had an insane, bloodthirsty look in his eyes--like those of a sadist.