Chapter 111: Cure, Dreams, and Another Deal (1/2)
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The link is also in the synopsis.
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[The chapter is edited by my Editor: Alan_Loo/AlanL]
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Astoria watched as Quinn's hand left her, the glowing veins disappear and the glow recede.
She lifted her hands and clenched her fists, and surprisingly, she was able to clamp them hard instead of the weak fist that she usually made while suffering from the blood curse. Her body also no longer felt weak and fatigued, like she was feeling a few minutes ago.
'... I feel strong, but how?' she thought and looked up at the reason this was happening, who was pulling down his sleeves and buttoning them back into place.
”... Astoria?”
She turned her face to her sister Daphne, still spinning from the shock and surprise.
”A-Are you alright? You're crying. Is something wrong; do you feel well,” asked Daphne in surprise and worry.
Astoria touched her face, and indeed she felt her fingers stained wet with tears. ”N-No, I-I am fine. Everything is fine,” said Astoria, with her voice cracking with emotion.
And with that, the dam broke, and Astoria started to cry, startling both Quinn and Daphne.
Quinn, who was putting back his outer robe, became startled when he heard Astoria break down and looked at Daphne for assistance.
Daphne leaped into action to her sister's side on the bed and hugged her close to provide comfort. Astoria grabbed onto her sister and hugged her tight.
Quinn felt like he was intruding on a family moment, just as he did at the start of the year, so he once again stood very still to become invisible while his magic silently fixed his clothes.
Astoria calmed down and gently pulled herself out of Daphne's embrace. She turned to face Quinn and swiftly got off the bed to trap Quinn in a very tight hug, surprising the boy with the strength coming from the small figure.
”Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you...” repeated Astoria while trying to meld herself into Quinn.
Quinn gently hugged the girl, who he felt was trying to perform a fusion with him and patted her on the back. ”Don't mention it. Also, don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened.”
Astoria nodded into his shirt and gradually stopped crying before separating from Quinn. She looked up towards Quinn and smiled as he had told her to.
”See, that looks much better,” smiled Quinn and booped Astoria on her nose. ”Also, we need to talk, so get back on the bed.”
Astoria nodded before climbing back onto the bed, and from the way she was sitting, anyone could tell that she was feeling much better.
Quinn sat back down on his stool and spoke, ”Now, I fulfilled what I promised, but-” He stared at both the Greengrass sisters and continued after a pause. ”- you can't tell anyone outside your family about what I did.”
Daphne and Astoria immediately had confused expressions on their faces. They couldn't understand why Quinn would want to hide the fact that he could erase the blood curse.
”I'm not supposed to know what I did. What I used to repress the curse isn't looked positively at by the world,” spoke Quinn and rolled his eyes at the end of the sentence.
”What do you mean?”
Quinn knew that if he wanted to continue to treat Astoria, he would need to tell them what he was doing. She needed to know what he was using to help her. ”The curse is called 'blood malediction', so I used the same branch of magic to repress the effects of the curse... I used blood magic.”
Daphne and Astoria's eyes widened because they knew what Quinn was implying. Blood magic was considered dark magic and something not to dwell in; thag branch of magic was associated with evil sacrifices, to defiance nature in twisted ways, cruelty, and was seen as forbidden theurgy.
The blood malediction, as the name suggested, was a type of blood magic. It was the classic type of magic which was seen as dark magic.
”You might not know this, but I have been studying Healing Magic with Madam Pomfrey, so she especially can't know that I used blood magic to help you. If she knew what I did, she would definitely stop teaching me, and I don't want that,” stated Quinn, and he was serious about the relationship that he had with Poppy and didn't want this to jeopardize what he had built over the years.
”Of course, we all know that blood magic is considered dark magic. But I couldn't give two hoots about that. Magic isn't dark or light; the labels are our creation. Your ancestor was cursed with blood magic, and now I used the same magic to cure you. This just shows you that magic can transform into whatever the user desires.”
”Unfortunately, others and even you two might not see things as I do, and that is fine because I don't care. But I don't want others to know that I can use it because it will bring me a lot of trouble, which I would like to avoid,” sighed Quinn when he thought about society's views. ”So if you don't want to continue with this, I completely understand, but then I'd have to pretend that this never happened.”
”When Madam Pomfrey returns, you can simply tell her that you are feeling better. She won't know why you suddenly feel better if she doesn't know what to look for, so if you don't tell her, this entire treatment will go unnoticed. She will scratch her head for a while but, after a while, she'll attibute this to the curse's unpredictability, and you will be free.”
Quinn folded his hands over his lap and asked, ”So what is your decision?”
”Any side-effects and/or backlashes that may come up because of this treatment?” Daphne inquired because of the nature of the magic.
”As long as I'm not kicked in the face while I treating Astoria, she will not suffer from complications of any kind.”
The magic that Quinn had used on Astoria was a combination of his knowledge on three separate sources. He knew about blood magic from having studied for two years and he had never stopped learning it since then; healing magic was in his current active rotation; and the last was the most recent enlightenment in water magic.
One of the components that made up blood was plasma and constituted more than fifty percent of blood. And ninety percent of plasma was water.
Having mastery over water magic didn't allow blood manipulation because it was closely tied to magic and a being's life force. But because Quinn knew both blood and water magic, he could apply the knowledge about water's connection to life and transfer it to blood, which was also connected to the life force.
Quinn had a firm grasp on what he had done to Astoria; as long as he wasn't uprooted during the treatment, there were zero percent chances that he would fail.
Astoria, who was a first-year and didn't consider herself knowledgeable about magic, left the decision to Daphne.
Daphne thought for a while before answering, ”We will have to ask our parents before we make any decision.”
”Of course, I have no complaints if you consult your parents. Talk it out, and if you feel comfortable, I will continue to help Astoria out,” nodded Quinn. ”From my estimates, Astoria will be fine for another month and a week before the curse surfaces again. So get in contact with me before that.”
The Greengrass sisters nodded in response.
Quinn got up from his stool, picked up the rabbit cage from the floor, and placed it on the bed. ”Good, I think it's time for me to leave. When Madam Pomfrey returns, please pass her this cage and tell her that I dropped by.”
But then he suddenly turned his head back and whispered, ”Forget it, she is here.” He turned back to the sisters and reminded, ”Hush on what happened.”
A mischievous glint sparkled Quinn's eyes as a grin made its way to Quinn's face. He picked up the rabbit cage in his hands and jumped out from behind the curtains that covered the view of the bed.
”Madam Pomfrey, I'm here~!”
Poppy, who had just entered the hospital wing after a trip to the dungeons and was thinking about the potion she needed to brew for the poor Astoria Greengrass, suddenly and unexpectedly came face to face with her student, Quinn West.
”Kyaaaah!”
A surprised cry filled the hall as the small crate of ingredients she had brought dropped.
Quinn, who wasn't expecting her to be holding things, moved very quickly and levitated the crate and all items inside it before any of them hit the floor and made them fly towards him. Now, he had the rabbit cage in one hand and the ingredient crate in the other.
Poppy calmed down and was now glaring death beams at Quinn with a palm above her heart.
Quinn blinked and half-chuckled in nervousness, ”... Oops.”
”Quinn... stand still and let me pelt you with stinging hexes. I promise it will hurt a lot, so just stand here,” huffed Poppy and took out her wand with hands shaking in anger.
”Madam Pomfrey, you can hurt me later, but I believe you will want to check up on your patient. She tells me that her condition has suddenly changed,” informed Quinn in an attempt to not get hit by stinging hexes.
Poppy's anger vanished in an instant, and she hurried towards Astoria's bed to check up on her.
”What happened? How are you feeling? Did it get worse,” asked Poppy as soon as she laid her eyes upon Astoria and moved closer to observe her.
”No, no, it didn't get worse. I'm feeling much better,” beamed Astoria, and her eyes subconsciously moved towards Quinn at the back.
Poppy frowned at the response, but as she checked the signs, she did see that Astoria's complexion had improved, and she looked much more lively. Poppy cast some spells to check on her condition, and similar results came up; Astoria had indeed recovered, and the previous signs she had diagnosed were no longer evident.
And just like Quinn had said, Poppy fussed for a while, but when she wasn't able to see any negative signs, Poppy concluded that Astoria was indeed healthy.
”Stay here today for observation. If there are no complications, you can leave,” concluded Poppy.