Chapter 592: Treatment
Chapter 592: Treatment (Please Subscribe, Favorite, and Vote)
After a day of intense battles, Liam had planned to get a good night's sleep. However, his plans were cut short when he was awakened by a sharp voice less than an hour after lying down. Opening his eyes, he saw the house-elf Buck, who had escorted the Malfoy mother and son to their rooms, standing beside him.
"What's going on, Buck?" Liam propped himself up on his elbows and glanced at the clock on his bedside table. "It's only one in the morning. Has something happened?"
"Professor Mcgonagall has ordered me to bring you to her", Buck said in his high-pitched voice. "She wants you to bring everything you need for your spells, as you are needed to save someone."
"Save someone!" Liam immediately tensed up. He quickly fastened the belt with the dimension bag around his waist, threw on his school robe over his pajamas, and said to Buck, "Take me there quickly. Every second counts."
"Of course, sir." Buck grabbed Liam's arm and Apparated. The sensation of being squeezed through a narrow pipe lasted only a moment before Liam found himself in the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey, Professor Mcgonagall, Professor Flitwick, Professor Sprout, and Professor Slughorn were gathered around a bed in front of him. Hearing the commotion, Professor Mcgonagall turned to look at Liam.
"Liam, you're here. Please come and see how Professor Dumbledore is doing", Professor Mcgonagall said, a note of urgency in her voice.
"What! It's Professor Dumbledore who's injured?" Liam hurried to the bed and looked down. Indeed, it was Professor Dumbledore lying there, mumbling incoherently and with a pale, ashen complexion. His condition looked dire.
"How did Professor Dumbledore end up like this?" Liam asked, looking at the professors.
"It's that damned Snape", Professor Flitwick said with a look of anger. "He pretended to be a messenger from the school and gained Dumbledore's trust. Then, during Dumbledore's battle with the Dark Lord, he betrayed Dumbledore and attacked him. This distraction allowed the Dark Lord to curse Dumbledore at a critical moment. Fortunately, Headmaster Dumbledore managed to suppress the curse and drive back the Dark Lord. But when he returned, he collapsed. Just before he did, he specifically mentioned you, believing you could save him. That's why we called you here."
"We've already tried every method we thought might work, but Dumbledore hasn't regained consciousness", Madam Pomfrey interjected. "So we can only follow the Headmaster's instructions and see if you can do something."
It seemed that Professor Mcgonagall had called him because the professors had run out of options and were following Dumbledore's last command. In reality, when they sent the pixie to fetch him, they hadn't held much hope, treating it as a last-ditch effort to save a life.
However, Liam didn't think the professors were wrong. The problem they faced was far beyond what a student, especially one who hadn't yet come of age, could solve.
He walked to the head of the bed and used his wand to examine Professor Dumbledore. After reviewing the magical feedback, he thought for a moment, then took a conical flask from his spatial bag and placed it on the bedside table. Next, he pulled out two palm-sized glass vials and poured equal weights of sulfur powder and mercury into the flask. Finally, he took out the pink Rose Madonna and used it to draw an alchemical array in the air around the flask while incanting a spell.
Under the influence of the Rose Madonna, the mercury and sulfur powder slowly mixed, eventually turning into a bright red elixir that resembled blood.
"This is the Elixir of Life!" As a Potion Master, Slughorn immediately recognized the elixir in Liam's hand. He then stared in shock at the small pink gem in Liam's other hand.
"What you have there is—" Slughorn couldn't contain his curiosity and asked.
"Pretty much what you're thinking. But Professor, you'd better step aside. I need to save someone." Liam rudely pushed past Slughorn and approached Dumbledore's head. Slughorn didn't react when Liam shoved him aside; he just stood there in shock, muttering to himself.
Liam first propped up Dumbledore's head and held the Rose Madonna in his left hand, reciting a spell over Dumbledore's face. He then asked Madam Pomfrey to help open Professor Dumbledore's mouth. With his right hand, he lifted the conical flask and poured the freshly prepared, blood-red Elixir of Life into Dumbledore's mouth. After a moment, Dumbledore's eyelids fluttered, and he opened his eyes.
"You're finally awake, Albus. This is wonderful", Professor Mcgonagall said. "How are you feeling now?"
"Not great", Dumbledore smiled. "But I should be out of danger now. Tom was stronger than I expected. That life-draining spell nearly took me. By the way, what about the school? Voldemort's ambush didn't succeed, did it?"
"No", Professor Mcgonagall shook her head. "Mr. Liang and Miss Granger worked together to kill all the intruders. And just now, he used a strange elixir to save you."
"Ah, Liam, I must thank you today", Dumbledore slowly turned his head and earnestly said to Liam. Then he addressed the gathered crowd. "Well, it's late, and I'm sure you're all exhausted after a long day. Everyone, go get some rest."
As everyone prepared to leave, Dumbledore added, "Liam, stay behind. I want to discuss the next steps in your treatment."
After the professors left, Liam stood alone by Dumbledore's bedside. After a few moments of silence, Dumbledore unbuttoned his robes and examined his chest. Liam clearly saw a black mark on Dumbledore's chest, resembling the shadow of a spider, almost as if it were alive. Although he had sensed Voldemort's spell on Dumbledore when he used the Rose Madonna earlier, seeing the curse with his own eyes still surprised Liam.
"Thank you for everything you've done, Liam. How much time do you think I have left?" Dumbledore's tone was light and casual, as if he were asking about the weather.
"If you don't suffer another injury like this, I think you have another ten or so years. However, you need to cooperate with my treatment and make some sacrifices", Liam said firmly after carefully examining Dumbledore with the Rose Madonna.
Dumbledore smiled. "That's much better than I expected. I'm truly fortunate to have a student like you. Now, can you tell me what the sacrifice will be?"
"Your left ring finger", Liam said. "I need to cast a spell for seven consecutive days to compress the curse into your ring finger, which is the closest to your heart from a mystical perspective, and then remove your ring finger. I'm sorry, but this is the least costly method I can think of."
"That's fine. It's much better than I thought. I had assumed the spell would leave me with less than a year to live. It seems you possess knowledge that fills many gaps in our current magical understanding." Dumbledore winked at Liam playfully. "Losing a ring finger isn't unacceptable for me. At my age, I don't need to worry about love."
"Alright, the treatment will take seven days. I hope you can fully cooperate with me for the next week", Liam said earnestly. "But could you tell me why you told Professor Mcgonagall to bring me here before you fell unconscious?"
(End of Chapter)
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