Dumbledore and Harry's Adventures

A Proper Christmas

Harry smiled in relief. "So..."

"So... the odd thing to Marcus, was that his leg stung almost as much as his head."

Harry's eyes gleamed. "Did the healers find anything?"

Albus shook his head. "No, the HEALERS did not find anything."

"But..."

"But Lakshmi did find something. Right in his thigh, there is a pocket of Adder venom. The healers couldn't find it because their spells are designed to find foreign sources of magic, whereas Adder venom is decidedly non-magical. Non-magical venoms have never been known to cause any problems in magical people, and so healers simply don't know the proper spells for detecting such things. Indeed, until Newt discovered the phenomenon, venoms of that sort weren't believed to be a problem in even magical creatures. Additionally, he was the one who invented the spells to detect venoms of a non-magical nature in the first place. He is a brilliant man but tends to be very focused on magical creatures and so it never occurred to him to think the humans might also suffer from the same weaknesses."

Harry cheered. "So, it took Mrs. Patil this long to get to see Marcus? That's why I hadn't heard anything?"

Albus, frowned. "Alas, no. Lakshmi took your request quite seriously, and arrived to see Marcus within 24 hours. It took her another day to track down the antivenom. There is a complication, I'm afraid."

Harry's cheer dimmed. "They can cure him, right?"

"In a sense, but their cure would be rather drastic. The venom has become so saturated with Marcus's magic that the antivenom does nothing. The reason why non-magical venom normally would not affect Marcus, is the same reason that non-magical antivenom has no effect. In advanced cases like this, when it comes to animals, Newt's recommendation is to remove the affected limb."

Harry gasped. "Can't they just remove the pocket of venom and then... regrow that section of leg, or something?"

"According to Newt, that doesn't seem to work. If even a drop of the venom is lying within some nearby tissue, it would cause it to regenerate even stronger as Marcus's magic would fight to restore its 'natural' state. The only way to be sure is to remove the entire limb. Had it just been a bite to the calf, then it might be an amputation above the knee. With it being on Marcus's thigh... well the traditional options are limited."

Harry's eyes narrowed in thought. "Traditional options... but... you! You've been skipping my normal training sessions. So, you've got something... which, it being you, would mean... would mean... ALCHEMY! You've got an answer using alchemy! Please, tell me you've got an answer!"

Albus smiled. "I indeed have an answer. It's part of why I have waited this long before talking with you. I have found a way to imbue the antivenom with my magic, which looks to be able to overcome Marcus's magic enough to neutralize the venom slightly. At the rate we are seeing, it will take anywhere from another five to twenty daily doses before we can fully neutralize the venom. However, I will need to visit him daily to calibrate how much of my magic to imbue in each dose, as too much of my magic may have a deleterious effect. Once neutralized, he can finally go home. Until then, he still needs to keep calm and free of bouts of accidental magic. As such, he absolutely cannot be aware of the treatment as the possibility of a cure might overly excite him. So, you must refrain from even hinting at something like this in your daily letters. Even a slight clue might undo the good we can do and then the healers will take the extreme measure of amputation if it comes down to it. Am I clear on the importance of keeping him uninformed?"

Harry nodded. "I understand, I really do!"

Harry beamed. His heart felt full to bursting.

"Is this why Len seemed to be going overly crazy with today's training?"