Chapter 365: What was injected?
Chapter 365: What was injected?
"You'll learn it later." Ved withdrew the assignment, raising an eyebrow. "You should complete your own work independently."
He watched as Carrel scratched his head and rubbed his cheeks against the assignment, smiling with a hint of schadenfreude. Then, as the boy tugged at his hair, his sleeve slipped down, revealing a long, dark mark on his arm.
Ved's gaze sank slightly.
He knew that it was a scar left by a whip.
Sometimes, Ved couldn't understand either. After being 'educated' by Dumbledore, had Carrel truly abandoned his dark past and chosen to be an ordinary student?
Or was he still loyal to 'The Organization,' and everything he said and did was just a convenient way to carry out their orders?
It was evident that he wasn't treated well over there, but during their interactions, Ved couldn't see the shadows that once lingered over him.
It had been over ten days since they entered Hogwarts, and the students' curiosity about the transfer student had mostly faded. Carrel was thriving in Gryffindor, getting along well with students from other houses.
But in all this time, he had never once mentioned his parents.
Ved had asked Lord Relph, and he knew that Carrel hadn't secretly used the school owls to send letters to the Johnson couple, nor had he asked the headmaster to pass on a message. It was as if those two once-close family members were just passing strangers in his life.
Ved couldn't understand it, but for now, he could only treat Carrel as an ordinary classmate and observe him gradually.
Carrel suddenly lifted his head and asked, "What's wrong? You've been staring at me..."
"You've got ink on your face," Ved said.
"What? Where?"
Ved pointed, and Carrel quickly wiped his face with the back of his hand.
...
After dinner, Ved transfigured an old oil lamp canister and a water cup into a lunch box. He and Harry took a generous amount of food and headed towards the infirmary.
Lupin had already regained his human form and was in a separate room there.
The injuries inflicted by Hagrid had healed, but his physical functions had been damaged to some extent. During this time, he also experienced a full moon transformation, leaving him extremely weak. He could only consume liquid food and spent most of his time in a dazed state.
In the past few days, Madam Pomfrey had restricted their visiting hours, allowing them to see Lupin only for a brief moment each day, with almost no opportunity for conversation.
However, in the last few days, Lupin's condition had improved rapidly. Yesterday, Madam Pomfrey even told them that they could start giving him regular food.
As they reached the door of the sickroom, Harry knocked, and they heard Lupin's voice saying, "Come in."
The door was pushed open.
Lupin sat on the bed, holding a steaming cup with a grim expression. The cup emitted a pungent and nauseating odor that not only suffocated Ved but also made him feel like his eyes were being attacked by the smell.
Without hesitation, Ved cast a Bubblehead Charm on himself, which made him feel better.
Harry immediately grabbed his arm, pleading, "Please, Ved, help me..."
Ved cast the same charm on Harry.
Both of them now had transparent fishbowls on their heads, filled with fresh air. They took deep breaths, feeling as if they had come back to life.
"Lupin, what is this?" Harry asked with difficulty. "Is it chemical plant waste?"
"What's a chemical plant... Oh, this is a cup of healing potion."
Lupin closed his eyes and took a sip, then shuddered and grimaced in pain.
Harry looked at Lupin with a mix of admiration and fear. Just the smell of that potion was enough to make him never want to drink it in his entire life.
Vold sympathetically said, "Lupin, I brought some dessert. Would you like some?"
Harry quickly placed his lunch box on the table as well, "Yes, and there's pumpkin juice too!"
"No, this potion mixed with sugar will only become harder to drink later. I've tried it before," Lupin said, looking as if he was recalling a painful memory. He held his breath, determined, and finally drank the potion in one go.
Then he began to shiver as if he was cold.
Vold took the cup from his hand and looked at the potion clinging to the cup's wall, resembling tar, feeling a sense of dread.
He tapped his wand on the clean cup next to it, and clear water immediately rose up, filling it in an instant.
Lupin drank the entire cup of water, and only then did he feel a bit better.
Seeing that both children were looking at him with concern, Lupin made a grimace and said, "It's so terrible."
Harry couldn't help but laugh.
Vold opened the window and cast a small whirlwind charm, sweeping the horrible smell out of the room before he removed the bubblehead charm.
Lupin didn't feel like eating dinner at the moment. He sat on the bed, cherishing this time to talk with the two of them.
"Madam Pomfrey is even stricter than when I was in school," Lupin said. "I've been stuck here all day, almost suffocating. Luckily, you came to see me."
Harry quickly said, "I'll come tomorrow too. After lunch tomorrow, we'll have time, right, Vold?"
"Yeah," Vold said simply, and with a wave of his hand, he cast a cleansing charm on the cup.
"It's a pity I don't have any black tea to offer you. Harry, I heard your Divination class wasn't very pleasant?" Lupin asked.
"Even you heard about it?" Harry spread his hands, nonchalantly saying, "I don't think Sirius is ominous. We all know that Professor Trelawney likes to talk nonsense."
In fact, he was initially scared, but after a few days, the intimidation faded, and Harry only felt that seeing a black dog in the tea leaves was a coincidence. He even found Professor Trelawney, who was always making a fuss, a bit amusing.
Lupin laughed, "I underestimated you... I was worried you'd be afraid."
"There's nothing to be afraid of," Harry shrugged, showing that he didn't care at all. "Before I chose my classes, I already knew Professor Trelawney was a fraud."
"Lupin, what did they inject you with?" Vold asked. "Why did it cause you to transform before the full moon?"
Upon hearing this, Harry also looked over with concern, "Yeah, what kind of potion was that?"
"It's not a potion," Lupin frowned. "Snape confirmed that it wasn't any kind of potion, but it was stronger than most potions..."
"Snape?" Harry said in surprise.
"Yeah, he helped with the investigation and did a lot of work. He even kindly prepared a treatment potion for me," Lupin said. "He's undoubtedly an expert in this field."
Harry immediately turned to look at the cup on the table, finding it already clean, and muttered, "I think I know what that taste was about..."
Vold, undisturbed by their conversation, continued, "So? Did no one figure out what it was?"
"Yes, they did," Lupin said. "Snape visited a scholar at a Muggle university, and they confirmed that it was a substance called 'hormones,' and it was a previously undiscovered type."
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
