======Wizarding Medical Facilities======
=====Location Information=====
  * **Type:** [[Healthcare]] Institution, [[Hospital]], [[Infirmary]]
  * **Location:** Various, including [[London]], [[England]] and [[Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry]], [[Scotland]]
  * **Owner/Residents:** Varies; major facilities are often overseen by the [[Ministry of Magic]] or other institutions. Staff includes [[Healer|Healers]] and [[Medi-witch|Medi-witches]]. Notable patients have included [[Harry Potter]], [[Arthur Weasley]], and [[Minerva McGonagall]].
  * **Key Features:** Secrecy from [[Muggle|Muggles]], specialized wards for magical ailments, use of [[Potion|Potions]] and healing [[Spell|Spells]], staff with specialized magical knowledge.
=====Description and History=====
Wizarding medical facilities are dedicated institutions for the treatment of illnesses and injuries caused by [[Magic|magical]] means, such as [[Curse|curses]], creature attacks, or [[Potion|potion]]-related accidents. These ailments are often beyond the understanding and capabilities of [[Muggle]] medicine. The primary practitioners in these facilities are known as [[Healer|Healers]], who undergo extensive training in various branches of healing [[Magic]].
The wizarding world supports a range of medical establishments, from the primary national [[Hospital]], [[St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries]], to smaller, more localized infirmaries like the [[Hospital Wing]] at [[Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry]]. These facilities maintain strict secrecy, often hidden behind mundane facades or protected by powerful [[Concealment Charm|concealment charms]] to prevent discovery by non-magical people.
Treatment methods rely heavily on [[Potion|Potions]], such as [[Skele-Gro]] for regrowing bones and [[Murtlap Essence]] for soothing magical cuts, as well as a variety of healing [[Spell|Spells]]. Diagnosis can be complex, as seen with the long-term spell damage inflicted on patients like [[Frank Longbottom]] and [[Alice Longbottom]].
=====Role in the Story=====
Medical facilities are crucial throughout the series, serving as places of recovery and refuge for characters injured in their fight against [[Lord Voldemort]] and his followers. The [[Hogwarts Hospital Wing]], managed by [[Madam Pomfrey]], is a frequent setting where [[Harry Potter]] and his friends recover from their numerous dangerous encounters.
Key events that take place in or involve medical facilities include:
  * [[Harry Potter]]'s frequent stays in the [[Hospital Wing]] for injuries ranging from a fall from his [[broomstick]] to having all the bones in his arm vanished by [[Gilderoy Lockhart]].
  * The petrified students, including [[Hermione Granger]], being treated in the [[Hospital Wing]] during the [[Chamber of Secrets]] crisis.
  * [[Arthur Weasley]]'s critical care at [[St Mungo's]] after being attacked by [[Voldemort]]'s snake, [[Nagini]], where his life was saved by a combination of stitches and magical healing.
  * [[Harry]], [[Ron Weasley]], and [[Hermione Granger]]'s visit to [[St Mungo's]], where they encounter a memory-charmed [[Gilderoy Lockhart]] and witness [[Neville Longbottom]] visiting his parents, who were tortured into insanity by [[Bellatrix Lestrange]].
  * [[Minerva McGonagall]] being transferred to [[St Mungo's]] after taking four Stunning Spells to the chest from [[Dolores Umbridge]]'s cronies.
  * [[Katie Bell]]'s treatment at [[St Mungo's]] after being cursed by a [[necklace]] intended for [[Albus Dumbledore]].
  * During the [[Battle of Hogwarts]], the [[Great Hall]] is converted into a temporary casualty station and morgue, demonstrating the essential need for medical care during wartime.
=====Known Medical Facilities=====
=====[[St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries]]=====
The primary [[Hospital]] for the wizarding community in Great Britain, located in [[London]] and cleverly disguised as a closed-down department store called //Purge & Dowse, Ltd//. It was founded by the famous [[Healer]] [[Mungo Bonham]] in the 1600s. The hospital is organized into wards based on the nature of the ailment:
  * **Ground Floor (Artefact Accidents):** Treats injuries from malfunctioning or cursed objects.
  * **First Floor (Creature-Induced Injuries):** Handles bites, stings, burns, and other injuries from magical creatures.
  * **Second Floor (Magical Bugs):** Deals with contagious magical illnesses.
  * **Third Floor (Potion and Plant Poisoning):** Manages accidental ingestion and exposure to dangerous magical flora and concoctions.
  * **Fourth Floor (Spell Damage):** Cares for patients with irreversible or long-term damage from [[Curse|curses]] and charms. This is where [[Gilderoy Lockhart]] and the [[Longbottoms]] reside.
  * **Fifth Floor (Visitor's Tearoom and Hospital Shop):** A non-medical floor for visitors.
=====[[Hogwarts Hospital Wing]]=====
The school [[Infirmary]] at [[Hogwarts]], run by the highly competent [[Medi-witch]] [[Madam Poppy Pomfrey]]. It is a long, airy room lined with beds where students and staff are treated for a wide array of magical and mundane injuries sustained on school grounds. [[Madam Pomfrey]] is known for her strict but effective care, using [[Potion|Potions]] like [[Skele-Gro]] and various healing charms to mend her patients. The [[Hospital Wing]] is capable of handling serious magical conditions, such as the petrification caused by the [[Basilisk]].
=====Behind the Scenes=====
  * The name for [[St Mungo's]] is likely derived from Saint Mungo, the founder and patron saint of the city of Glasgow, who was also known as a performer of miracles, including healing. (Pottermore)
  * In the film adaptation of //[[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix]]//, the interior of [[St Mungo's]] is depicted with a more clinical, magical aesthetic, differing from the slightly dilapidated and chaotic appearance of a repurposed department store described in the novel. (film)