Natty's work as a handiman had brought him to the Ministry that day, tending to one of the department's substantial (and rather chaotic) libraries. An ancient sticking charm had finally faded, leaving an entire wall of bookshelves precariously teetering, with no obvious way to reach the back of the shelves and replace the charm. Natty solved the problem fast enough. He shifted the shelves at the far end of the row, allowing him easy access to the rest. A fresh sticking charm, repositioning the shelves, and a bit of tidying up and he was done — nothing had fallen on anyone, nobody had been hurt.

Until a huge doxy leapt out of a pile of parchments and bit Natty's hand so deep it left a chunk of flesh almost completely detached. An exclamation of pain and alarm brought the library assistant rushing through, and the doxy was dealt with in a flash — leaving Natty bleeding and rather light-headed.

The assistant had fussed over him in an unhelpful panic. Natty insisted he could just apparate himself to the hospital, but his wand hand was his injured one, and, to be fair, the doxy venom was bound to disrupt his attempt at apparation. So he was forced to sit down, hand wrapped in a cloth used for dusting, feeling guilty and awkward as a mediwitch was summoned.

"I am sorry about this", he sighed as the young woman was ushered in by the anxious assistant, "I told them not to fuss."

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   Mabel Brighton