Wouldn't it be nice if we lived in a world where chocolate is offered as the best cure all?! And we referred to our medical professionals as "healers" rather than "doctors" — the latter taking on a more negative tone, or implying a temporary "fix" rather than a more permanent resolution to health problems. As we explore further the world that J.K. Rowling created in her series of Harry Potter books, we realize that she may have given more attention to health and health care than some of our elected officials.

The Hospital Wing at Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

From Book 1, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, we learn that the incidence of classroom injuries at Hogwarts is high enough to warrant an entire hospital wing on the school grounds. The first example of a playground injury we see comes — not surprisingly — from flying lessons as Neville Longbottom is thrown from his wayward broom. Class is dismissed. Neville is carried off to see Madame Pomfrey, the school nurse.

Several students end up in the hospital wing in Book 2 (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) having been attacked by a resident basilisk. No fear, alternative medicine comes to the rescue as the mandrake root is prescribed. Interestingly, this root is also used as a cure for illness in another fantasy flick, Pan's Labyrinth. In each case, the mandrake root takes on the form of a human infant.

Hogwarts' hospital wing remains a key setting throughout the series as Harry himself is injured several times while playing Quidditch, the sport of choice for magical folk. One such convalescence, I might add, came about at the hands of a teacher who accidentally removed Harry's arm bone while trying to heal it. "I can mend bones in a second," cries Madam Pomfrey, "but growing them back … will be painful." The statement is interesting in itself, as apparently there's no magic spell to alleviate pain.