Chapter 239: Dorothea Bohame
Chapter 239: Dorothea Bohame
The first Rune Club meeting had come to an end, and the young wizards filed out, their faces a mix of excitement and silent awe. After walking a short distance, the buzz of conversation erupted like a tidal wave.
"That was amazing!"
"Did you see the fire? In Professor Hup's hands, it was like a toy!"
"Casting instinct..."
"I wonder what the next meeting will be about?"
Harry and Ron stood in the corridor, waiting for Hermione, who had stayed behind to ask a few questions. Five minutes later, she finally appeared.
"I asked Professor Hup a small question about Professor Lupin", Hermione said, looking relieved, as if a long-standing doubt had been resolved. "Professor Hup indeed knew."
"What are you talking about?" Ron asked, puzzled.
"Oh, I promised the professor not to say anything", Hermione paused, "to avoid unnecessary controversy."
Harry and Ron looked even more curious, but Hermione quickly moved on to another topic. "Professor Hup recommended a series of books that would be very useful for our dueling study group."
"A series?" Ron whistled.
"Chadwick's Magic", Hermione explained. "It's a set of instructional books written by Chadwick Boot, one of the founders of the American Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We can use them alongside our Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook, Dark Forces. Additionally, Practical Defensive Magic and Its Counter to Dark Magic is excellent, and Vindictus Vindictian's Curses and Counter-Curses is also highly recommended."
Hermione added regretfully, "I shouldn't have wasted time reading those other books."
Harry recalled, "The one about the lawless, the immoral..."
"It's called The Lawless Wolf", Hermione said, reciting the lengthy title. "The book claims that werewolves are all immoral, lawless creatures who should be eliminated."
"That sounds a bit biased. Maybe there are some decent werewolves", Ron shrugged. "But Hermione, Professor Lupin has canceled the essay on werewolves."
"I know, I just—"
A cold draft swept through the corridor, making them all shiver. "Let's get back to the common room quickly. I'm freezing", Ron said, and they left, continuing their discussion.
In the classroom, the logs in the fireplace had burned down to embers, flickering weakly before finally extinguishing.
Felix extended his right hand, and the Slytherins in mid-air plummeted, shrinking until they coalesced into an ouroboros ring on his little finger. He examined it calmly, then wiggled his finger, causing the Slytherins to wriggle and coil together, transforming back into a coin.
"So this was your intention, Severus", Felix murmured. Snape had taken over a few Defense Against the Dark Arts classes while Lupin was "ill", disregarding the students' progress and jumping ahead to the chapter on werewolves. Felix had initially thought it was just to irritate Lupin.
But now it seemed Snape had hoped some young wizards would discover Lupin's werewolf identity and drive him out of the school.
"Unfortunately, Professor, only Hermione Granger completed the assignment diligently."
...
Back in his office, Felix read the evening edition of The Prophet. On the op-ed page, he found an article written by a retired St. Mungo's healer, who had mentioned Felix's fishing essay.
‘In theory, I can’t find any significant issues. Mr. Felix Hep’s understanding of Memory Magic is breathtaking, and I look forward to more theoretical research and experimental data. In my view, the real challenges are more than just two. Here are my thoughts—
……
……
In conclusion, I hope to meet Mr. Heap in person. If his theories become a reality, they will benefit countless Wizards suffering from memory damage. However, I must point out that this process will be extremely challenging. I hope to live to see this day come to fruition…’
“Finally, a healer of some weight has arrived,” Felix said with delight. Many of the article’s viewpoints aligned with his own, and he had not shared these insights with anyone else.
As early as half a month ago, some critical voices began to emerge, attempting to point out flaws in Felix’s theories. However, they seemed to lack a basic understanding of Memory Magic, and their arguments were quite naive, easily refuted by Felix.
But this time was different. With Rita Skeeter’s advance warning, Felix easily identified the old healer—Dorothea Bohame.
She was the former Head of House at St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, with remarkable achievements in multiple treatment areas. Moreover, she shared the same surname as Mungo Bohame, the founder of St. Mungo’s.
She had been nominated twice for the position of Head of House. The first time, she insisted on not giving up her frontline treatment work and declined the position.
Twenty years later, her reputation was so high that more than half of the healers were trained under her. She eventually took the title of Head of House at St. Mungo’s but continued her patient care work until retirement.
“This is a highly respected healer. I must be cautious with my response.”
Felix reread her article, smiled, and took out his quill.
Over the next week, Felix and this self-proclaimed “retired old healer” engaged in a series of exchanges. He gradually revealed more of his insights, and their discussions soon attracted many top-tier treatment experts.
Felix Hep’s name gained significant attention among the healer community.
On the weekend, at St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
Felix met Dorothea Bohame, who was surrounded by a group of healers. The lady was quite old, her face lined with wrinkles, but her eyes were bright.
Back at the hospital, she changed into her healer’s robes.
“Mr. Heap, it’s not easy to meet you,” Dorothea said with a smile, her teeth nearly all gone.
“Ms. Bohame, correspondence is also a good way to communicate, isn’t it?”
Dorothea said kindly, “I know you are a professor at Hogwarts and are quite busy. Using letters is indeed a practical method… Now, tell me how you solved those problems. My head has been aching over them lately.”
Felix understood that his secret treatment of the Longbottoms had been discovered, which he had anticipated and even orchestrated.
From the looks on the surrounding healers’ faces, there was no intention to cause him trouble.
Even if there was, they would have to keep it to themselves. In recent times, he had added the title of “Memory Magic expert” to his credentials. If the Longbottoms fully recover, he would be the undisputed “Master of Memory Magic,” the most outstanding healer of memory injuries in the modern era, without a doubt.
Felix smiled and said, "Mrs. Bohame, the story is a long one. Let's check on the Longbottoms first."
"Agreed, agreed. No amount of talking can match actually curing the patients. I've seen the Longbottoms' condition, and they are much better now!"
The door to the fifth-floor Janus Thickey Ward was always locked, with most of the patients inside suffering from long-term spell damage. Healer Melanie muttered "Alohomora" and opened the door to the ward.
Felix and a group of healers approached the Longbottoms' bed. "Frank, Alice", he greeted them.
The Longbottoms were playing a string game. Upon hearing his voice, they looked up at him.
Frank mumbled something, but no one could make out what he said. However, this was enough to lift everyone's spirits.
With a snap of his fingers, Felix pulled both of them into the Mind Chamber. In this realm of thoughts, he faced two structures that resembled foundations or ruined libraries.
Rows of bookshelves stood on the ground, with books scattered sparsely on them, some of which were damaged.
'Another day of hard work,' Felix thought. Piecing together memories sounded easy, but it was a tedious task.
The group of healers outside watched him in a daze. Felix snapped his fingers, and the Longbottoms' eyes became vacant. The three of them remained motionless.
"Mr. Heap?" a young healer tried to tap Felix on the shoulder. Mrs. Longbottom sternly said, "Don't touch him!" The next moment, the healer was knocked back by a beam of light, tumbling several meters and crashing into the wall.
"August! Oh, no! Are you okay?" Melanie walked over and patted the young healer's head. Turning to the others, she said, "He fainted."
"Melanie, please, take him away."
Mrs. Longbottom, still angry, said, "This is why I didn't want to inform you in advance!" She examined Felix and her son and daughter-in-law, who showed no signs of disturbance. She felt a bit relieved.
Dorothea Bohame apologized, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Longbottom." She turned to the current Head of House at St. Mungo's, "I didn't know the healers could make such a basic mistake?"
The current Head of House, looking embarrassed, said, "It was an accident. August is... lively and full of new ideas, but this time he was indeed too reckless. It won't happen again... I will severely reprimand him."
Dorothea Bohame nodded authoritatively. The current Head of House was her student, whom she had taught forty years ago. She looked around and said, "Do not disturb Mr. Heap in any way, understood?"
The healers at St. Mungo's nodded obediently.
The treatment proceeded without any further incidents.
In fact, Felix was fully aware of what was happening outside. He could have ignored it, but he felt he needed to do something. A few concealed magical probes had already tried to investigate him, and this was not something to be taken lightly.
So, he deliberately activated a protective magical item...
After this brief interruption, Felix refocused his attention on the Mind Chamber. Today's treatment went exceptionally well. As he pieced together the memories and formed them into books, points of light spontaneously gathered and merged with the bookshelves.
'Maybe with one or two more sessions, they will be able to trigger their self-repair abilities,' Felix thought.
By midday, when he opened his eyes, he saw a sea of awestruck faces.
(End of Chapter)
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