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"Healing magic is used to restore any biological beings to their optimal health, as it cures damaged or withered organisms, wounds, broken bones, low vitality, and diseases or poisoning. Though a healer may potentially heal any form of body damage, the patient must be alive, even if hanging by a thin thread, to be healed."
Poppy Pomfrey picked up her cup of tea after giving a concise description of the magic she had spent most of her professional life practicing.
She was crisply dressed in her medi-healer's uniform; she was clad very similarly to the uniforms worn by Victorian and Edwardian nurses. She wore the typical nurse's uniform, which consisted of a maroon dress, white pinafore apron, and a white nurse's cap. On her apron was a brooch that showed her status as a trained medi-healer.
Currently, the matron was sitting in her office with Quinn. Both healer and student were enjoying a cup of afternoon tea. Of course, Quinn was the one who had approached the Hogwarts matron. He had invited her to have a conversation over a cup of tea.
Poppy had realized a long time ago that when Quinn entered the hospital wing, it would be because he wanted to talk to her and not because of some injury or disease as every other student did.
She knew that if she tried to ignore Quinn, the Ravenclaw would just hang in the hospital wing and keep on talking to her. It didn't matter if she was tending to another patient, brewing potions, cleaning, or preparing an inventory, as Quinn would keep up a one-sided conversation, and somehow every time, he would be successful in making her talk. Every single time, she would be roped into a conversation, and before Poppy knew it, she would have talked to Quinn for nearly an hour.
After months of that, Poppy had realized that if Quinn entered the hospital wing when she wasn't terribly busy and could afford to talk as she worked, then she would've to talk to Quinn. So at times like now, when there were no patients in the hospital wing, she would've tea with Quinn.
She had come to console herself that at least Quinn didn't visit her injured; things could always be worse.
"We have been doing this for a while, and I have yet to see you drink tea. Why is that?" asked Poppy after sipping her tea, looking at the beverage in front of Quinn.
"I don't like tea," replied Quinn as he picked up his non-alcoholic Ginger beer glass mug. "I don't like the taste, even with milk added to it."
Poppy looked at Quinn with mock apprehension and commented, "And you call yourself an English man?! How can you not like tea?"
Quinn rolled his eyes at the quip before asking, "When you heal an injury such as a lesion or broken bone, is the healing process the same as the natural healing process?"
In his second year at Hogwarts, Friar had introduced the cursed vaults to Quinn, and Quinn had spent a majority of that school year solving the first Icy vault. But after he was done, Quinn realized that he had spent most of his time with the vault. The exploration had disrupted his magic learning and researching plan that Quinn had set up before knowing about the existence of the vaults.
So Quinn had made a resolution that he would give ample enough time to learn magic that he had planned to learn before he knew the existence of the vaults.
Last year, Quinn had started strong and started upon illusion magic while researching the second vaults. But after that, Quinn had been inflicted by the sin curse. Because of the influence of the sin curse, Quinn had not given the second vault a second glance and had spent a lot of time in the library.
That had pushed Quinn to gain a lot of knowledge, which was great for Quinn as he had learned more than he had estimated at the start of the year.
But this year, Quinn was working on the third vault, which resulted in the vault taking a chunk of his time.
So in order to fulfill his resolution, Quinn started strong and looked for a branch of magic that wasn't directly related to the vault and that would be advantageous to learn.
The branch he chose to research in earnest was Healing magic, and no better place to start than his favorite faculty, Matron Poppy Pomfrey.
"I presume you are talking about the traditional wound healing without magic?" inquired Poppy and got a nod from Quinn.
"The healing process of a wound consists in replacing destroyed or damaged tissue with newly produced tissue. When someone is injured, a regulated sequence of biochemical events is set into motion to repair the damage."
"This process is divided into predictable phases: blood clotting, inflammation, tissue growth, and tissue remodeling. The wound healing process is not only complex but also fragile, and it is susceptible to interruption or failure leading to the formation of non-healing chronic wounds," a serious expression crossed the matron's face as she warned. "Therefore, under inexperienced hands, Healing magic can do more harm than good. That is why healers have harsher N.E.W.T grade requirements than any other mainstream field."
"Healing magic replaces the four steps and semi-replaces them to the point that you can see the regenerative process progressing with the naked eye."
Poppy cut a forkful of cake and ate it before explaining how healing of wounds worked.
"For example, if a patient comes with a cut in their arm, I would first replace the natural blood-clotting stage by magically slowing down the flow of blood and making sure that it doesn't ooze outside the body to avoid death by blood loss. Next, magic would similarly replace the inflammation process, ensuring no infection in the wound and damage and it clears out dead and damaged cells to make space for the new cells. The final step of that process is to trigger cell division and then accelerate the healing process till the wound is completely healed."
She smiled and asked Quinn a question about the thing that she explained. "What is the thing you will never see in magical healing that is always seen during natural healing?"
"Hmm... Is it the presence of scabbing?" replied Quinn in a questioning tone before explaining, "Scab is formed to separate the wound from the outside environment. Because it takes time for wounds to heal, scabbing is necessary to prevent infections from outside."
Poppy nodded with a smile, "Correct. The presence of a scab is not needed with Healing magic. So healing spells make sure that scabs aren't formed by the body."
"But what about wounds that are more critical than small cuts? The wounds that can't be healed in one go, do they also don't need scabbing?" asked Quinn as he thought about wounds that could potentially kill a person within a minute.
"No, they don't need scabbing. A wound, no matter how severe, and as long as it isn't cursed, can be healed within a day or two. Even if a person's entire body was heavily injured -"
Poppy stared intently at Quinn as she continued.
"- like someone who doused themselves into a high-grade freezing potion and caused damage to their internal organs, could be stabilized until we heal their injuries to the point that they aren't life-threatening."
Quinn cleared his throat and picked up his mug of ginger beer to drink from it.
The injury from entering the Icy vault without blood magic had caused too much damage to Quinn. At that time, Poppy had to work hard and move quickly to stabilize Quinn's situation from deteriorating.
She was lucky that Quinn's magic had taken care of the critical part, and she just needed to make sure that he didn't relapse. If Quinn's magic hadn't helped out, Poppy would've transferred Quinn to St. Mungo to be handled by healers who had experience with that level of critical injuries.
"Then it means that magical healing is an accelerated version of natural healing," concluded Quinn from the information given to him by Poppy.
Poppy hummed in response before speaking, "We in the healing community like to call it Regenerative medicine."
When Quinn tilted his head in confusion, Poppy explained,
"Regenerative medicine deals with the 'process of replacing, engineering or regenerating cells, tissues, or organs, to restore or establish their normal function.' Normally, our bodies aren't naturally able to heal organs that are badly injured or are under the risk of failing. But with Healing magic, we can make those previously impossible things possible. You know that as long as your limbs aren't cursed off by dark magic, we can even regrow them. Such is the power of magic."
Quinn nodded deeply in agreement that Healing magic transcended normal healing and wasn't just accelerated natural healing.
"Plus, that is just healing wounds. Healing magic also cures diseases of both magical and muggle kinds. The possibilities are endless. As long as it isn't too late, Healing magic has the power to heal any illness, diseases, and mutations. Dragon Pox, Black Death, Spattergroit, Scrofungulus, and other diseases were once incurable. But with advancement in Healing magic, they now don't pose a threat to wizardkind if taken care of properly."
"How did you start on your training with Healing magic?" asked Quinn, wondering how to get some practice. "I'm sure that you didn't directly start on humans, right? That would be just inviting trouble."
Poppy nodded in agreement with a smile and recalled the time she was doing her apprenticeship at St. Mungos. There were less experienced trainee healers who messed up healing humans, even after they were trained off humans.
"You start with small animals like rats, mice, and fish. After you have a good handle on them, we move you onto bigger animals like pigs, goats, and cows. I personally also trained on birds and rabbits, as recommended by my mentor. After some time training on animals, the trainee, then, is moved onto humans."
Of course, people who weren't training to be healers and just wanted to learn some Healing spells didn't go through this gradual stage of progress. They simply learned spells and hoped they would work when coming across some minor injuries.
An example that came to mind was Gilderoy Lockhart using a healing spell that mended bones, but instead, Lockhart ended up vanishing all bones in the arm.
That is why trainee healers had to go through a gradual off-human process before they were allowed to operate on humans. So when they finally operated on humans, they would have confidence and experience backing them.
Poppy looked at Quinn and asked, "Why do you ask? Wait, let me guess, are you thinking about learning Healing magic?"
"Actually, yes, I am thinking about learning Healing magic," admitted Quinn before asking, "Will you teach me? I think having a guide will help me out."
Quinn had books on Healing magic: spells, charms, herbology, and potions. He had it all. And Quinn didn't necessarily need guidance. But Quinn felt that having a guide or someone who would specify a learning plan would help him immensely.
Poppy was Quinn's favorite faculty member, and that's the reason why Quinn decided to ask Poppy if she would teach him. If there hadn't been any relation between the two, Quinn would've learned Healing magic on his own, even if that meant it would take him more time.
The Hogwarts healer studied Quinn for a while and contemplated what he had said. Healing magic was an extensive subject and required a considerable amount of skill and knowledge.
Poppy knew Quinn was knowledgeable and smart from their conversations. She also knew that Quinn scored high grades from the passing talks she had with the professors. Finally, she knew Quinn's skill in potion brewing from the potions he regularly dropped off.
She was just worried if it was too soon to teach Quinn Healing magic because if she was to teach him like she was taught, then it would take a lot of time, and it might affect his performance in classes.
"If I were to teach you. Do you promise you won't let your grades fall?" asked Poppy in seriousness.
"Grades? Yeah, why would they fall?" asked Quinn in confusion. "My grades never fall."
"If I'm going to teach you, I want you to be serious about it, meaning that you will have to devote time to Healing magic. If that affects your class performance, then we'll stop immediately," warned Poppy as she looked into Quinn's eyes. "One dip, and we stop. If you want to learn Healing magic after that, wait until after Hogwarts to study."
"I'm fine with that. If my grades dip, we stop," acknowledged Quinn. It was a no-brainer for him because his grades wouldn't dip even if he slept through every class all year long.
"Okay, then. We'll start next week. Two lessons every week, when you have free periods."
Quinn thought about his class schedule and his other commitments before coming up with a reply, "Thursday and Saturday mornings."
"Then it's decided. You'll come here on Thursdays and Saturdays," said Poppy with a smile, before demanding, "You aren't to tell anyone about these lessons. I don't want other students coming to me and asking for lessons. This is just between you and me, understood?"
Quinn gave a thumbs up with a beaming smile, happy to have gotten a Healing mentor.
The two fell into a comfortable silence before Quinn decided to change the topic of the conversation.
"So, do you think we'll cure Lycanthropy in the future?" asked Quinn, nonchalantly, not giving any indication that he knew something.
Poppy twitched at the naming of Lycanthropy. The mere mention of the illness made her remember that there was a Lycanthrope in the castle right now.
Remus Lupin, the new Defense Against Dark Arts professor, was an unwilling victim of the illness that had been with him through most of his life.
A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope, was a human being, who, upon the complete rising of the full moon, became an uncontrollable, fearsome and deadly humanoid wolf. This condition was caused by infection with Lycanthropy, also known as werewolfry. Werewolves appeared in the form of wolves, but there were distinctions between them and regular wolves.
A mixture of powdered silver and dittany applied to a fresh bite would seal the wound and allow the victim to live on as a werewolf. Although tragic tales were told of knowing victims begging for death rather than becoming werewolves.
"Why do you ask about Lycanthropy?" asked Poppy. She wanted to probe Quinn in case he knew about Remus Lupin's condition.
Two students in Hogwarts knew about Lupin's Lycanthropy condition; Harry Potter and Ivy Potter were aware of Lupin's condition before Lupin took the job, so they knew not to spread the news about Lupin being a Werewolf/Lycanthrope.
If Quinn knew, then she would instruct him not to spread the news. Things spread fast in Hogwarts through the infamous rumor mill, and if Lupin's condition was to become known, it would incite panic in the student body.
"Oh, I happen to know someone connected to Lycanthropy and werewolves," smiled Quinn as he looked at Poppy. "And they are in the school at this moment."
The matron's heart skipped a beat when she heard Quinn's words.
'Oh, no! He knows!' thought Poppy worriedly.
There was only one person who was connected to Lycanthropy, and that was Remus Lupin.
"My friend, Marcus Belby," grinned Quinn, leaving Poppy stunned and confused.
"... What?"
"Yeah, it turns out that his uncle, Damocles Belby, is the inventor of the Wolfsbane Potion," revealed Quinn, a fact that was closely related to Lycanthropy.
The Wolfsbane Potion was an innovative and complex potion that relieved but did not cure the symptoms of Lycanthropy. But even though it wasn't a cure, it was the only medicine that provided some relief to Lycanthropes.
The way one had to imbibe it was unique among potions, in that a goblet full of wolfsbane potion must have to be taken each day for a week preceding the full moon.
Quinn had the recipe for the wolfsbane potion, and, after reading about it in-depth, he had to admit that Damocles Belby must have put in immense effort on his part to create the potion.
'Haha, her expression is so much fun!' thought Quinn as he looked at Poppy's slightly open mouth as she stared at Quinn.
Poppy was right in suspecting that Quinn knew about Remus Lupin's conditions. He knew about the Dark Against Defense Arts professor's furry little problem, but in no way was he going to tell anyone that he knew. It would bring the faculty's eyes upon him, and that was something he didn't want, even if it might not be that much of a problem.
But that didn't mean that Quinn couldn't have some fun without anyone knowing. When Poppy brought out the topic of illness and disease, Quinn recognized the opportunity to spook Poppy a little and see her startled/confused expression.
Even if Quinn didn't have the knowledge from the books, he still would've figured out the truth because of the person who substituted for Lupin when he retreated into isolation during the full moon.
Severus Snape, as the substitute professor of Defense Against Dark Arts, had tried to teach students about werewolves.
The spiteful man, who wanted the position but had been denied it time after time, and over that had to brew the Wolfsbane Potion for the man who was in the position Snape wanted.
From what Quinn had gathered through his debt network of students, Snape had brought up werewolves in his substitute classes as a revision topic every year from fourth to seventh so that they could get anyone to recognize that Lupin was a Lycanthrope.
Quinn still recalled the Defense Against Dark Arts lesson he had had with Snape and how in that lesson Snape had been repeatedly looking at Quinn.
'Man, that day was so awkward. I had to keep an oblivious face for the entire lesson,' recalled Quinn, remembering the day he had to spend an hour ignoring Snape's looks.
"A-Ah is that so. That is an interesting fact. I didn't know that," stuttered Poppy and kept the conversation going.
She felt relieved that Quinn didn't know about Lupin and the secret was still with the least amount of people and with the same amount of people at the start of the year.
Poppy looked at Quinn, who was applying jam and cream on his scone with gleaming eyes, silently took out her wand.
When Quinn was done bringing it near his mouth, the scone floated out of his hands and drifted towards Poppy. The matron picked the scone out of the air and ate it in front of Quinn.
"Wha-!?" exclaimed Quinn at the sight of food being snatched from his hands just before he was about to eat it. "Why?" he asked in astonishment.
"Sometimes you can be too much of a hassle," came Poppy's reply as she enjoyed the scone that Quinn had prepared for himself.
"What did I do?!" asked Quinn, confused.
"Be a lamb and make another scone and put more jam this time," ordered Poppy, not answering Quinn's question.
"... Okay?" responded Quinn in confusion before shrugging and complying with the order. "One scone with cream and extra jam coming up."
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Quinn West - MC - Gotta get that White Mage class.
Poppy Pomfrey - Healer - Got herself a semi-apprentice.
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