29 June 2015
Now that Harry was back at Avengers Compound to finish out the last week of the school year, including final exams that had been deferred until after the third task, Tony looked forward to a week of solid creative immersion in his New York tower.
Well … maybe not all of the week would be spent creatively puttering. There were, sadly, a few administrative tasks that he was still responsible for with Stark Industries, and he'd put several of those off during the Tournament.
Not that he had any real reason for it, but stress from Harry's improper entry into the Tournament was a decent excuse. Even Pepper bought it, and she almost never let him get away with anything.
So this bright summer morning - it was still morning if he hadn't had breakfast, right? - Tony brought a cup of coffee down to his workshop and started turning on the various systems he used.
Oh, JARVIS certainly could, would, and had, turned the systems on for him, but there was something soothing, even old-fashioned, in doing it himself, so he'd asked JARVIS only to turn the systems on if he asked directly. JARVIS had agreed, even though he sounded somewhat baffled by the request. Tony regretted that he hadn't had the words to explain it to him.
"Before you begin, Sir," JARVIS said, "a message came in earlier this morning from Dr. Stephen Strange. He asks that you call him as soon as possible."
"Let's not keep the man waiting, J." Tony perched on a wheeled stool and swiveled to face one of the larger monitors.
It flickered to life seconds later, the image of Stephen Strange's face filling it. "Stark."
"Strange. What's up, Buttercup?"
Strange grimaced - presumably at the nickname, but Tony couldn't care - but spoke evenly. "After I performed the initial evaluation on the patients - and, really, Stark? John and Jane Doe?"
Tony shrugged. "Not my place to give their full names, and their next-of-kin requested anonymity."
Strange's eyes widened. "That … that harridan is their next-of-kin?"
"Yeah, don't call her that in her hearing," Tony answered, fighting back a grin at the thought of Augusta's reaction to such a name. "But yeah, she is. What did you think she was?"
"Honestly? A private nurse." Strange waved that away. "I thought the test results looked familiar, so I reached out to a colleague. She's been away dealing with family business for several weeks, and she finally got back to me. She wants an interview with the next-of-kin."
"Done," Tony said, confident that Augusta would consent to at least an interview. "In person?"
"Preferably," Strange said, "if only so that access to the patients is easier once the interview's over."
Tony nodded, then took a breath and asked, "Your colleague - she's confident she can help them?"
Strange grimaced. "I've known Michaela a long time, but even I couldn't read her clearly when we spoke. If you truly want an answer…I'd say she's cautiously optimistic that she can."
HP - IM - HP - IM - HP
2 July 2015
Augusta had, as Tony had predicted, been quite pleased to grant an interview with Dr. Strange's colleague, and had suggested that, to keep Neville's hopes from being raised and then dashed, they simply tell him she was coming for a week to celebrate the end of the Tournament and the school year. The interview would take place while Neville, Harry, and Hermione were sitting exams this morning, and Tony could only hope that they'd have a positive result to report.
Tony looked up from where he and Augusta sat in the conference room when the elevator opened to reveal Strange and a brown-haired woman a good six inches shorter than he was. The woman's petite stature wasn't her defining characteristic, though - that would be her eyes, one of which was green and the other brown.
Tony rose to greet her - manners instilled in him by his mother and Aunt Peggy wouldn't let him do otherwise.
"Dr. Michaela Quinn, you probably recognize Tony Stark," Strange said by way of introduction. "Though the lady with him is the patients' next-of-kin, she hasn't been introduced."
"It's all right," Quinn answered with a smile that must do more to comfort her patients than any of her treatments. "I believe I recognize her."
Tony stiffened. Beside him, Augusta sniffed. "And why would an American recognize me?"
Quinn's smile faded, just a little. "Perhaps you'll understand when I tell you I attended a special school - in Salem."
Augusta understood immediately, judging by her reaction. Tony took a moment before he remembered that one of the magical schools in the States was in Salem. Witchcraft Academy or something.
"I - see," Augusta said. Then her gaze flicked to Strange. "Is he aware of which school you attended?"
"He is sitting right here, and can answer for himself," Strange snapped, and Augusta flushed before addressing him directly.
"Are you aware of the school she means?"
"We've collaborated on similar cases before," Strange said. "So, yes."
"Doesn't that violate the Statute?" Tony asked.
Quinn made a so-so gesture. "Normally when those not in the know find out through accident or similar, they're Memory Charmed to forget. However, Dr. Strange has some exceptional aptitudes that have proven quite helpful when healing fails."
"Does it? Fail often, I mean," Tony added. "From what I've seen, magic can heal almost anything."
"Almost is the key word," Strange said. "But, as I'm sure you've already ascertained, anything below the grossly obvious level requires more finesse than most healing."
"And Cruciatus exposure is … strange, if you'll pardon the term," Quinn said, sitting forward in her chair. "Most people don't know that all three of the Unforgivable Curses are attacks on the soul, or the spirit, of the victim, as well as the body. The Killing Curse separates the soul from the body and destroys it. The Imperius Curse subjugates the spirit and makes the body obey. And the Cruciatus Curse causes such pain that the spirit partially separates from the body in an attempt to protect itself."
Tony sat back, letting that revelation wash over him. It seemed blindingly obvious that, "That's why they're unforgivable."
"Exactly," Quinn replied.
"What does this mean for my son and daughter-in-law?" Augusta asked.
"More to the point," Tony said, "how do you know this and why isn't it widely known?"
"The '60s and '70s were an … interesting time, culturally speaking," Strange said.
"Counterculture movement, right," Tony agreed.
"There was a lot of experimentation with psychedelic drugs and other spiritual or quasi-spiritual experiences," Strange continued. "Including faith healing."
Augusta frowned. "What is faith healing?"
"Commonly understood?" Quinn put in. "It's the treating diseases by prayer and, sometimes, the laying on of hands."
"Quackery," Tony declared.
Quinn offered him a crooked smile. "Except when it's performed by one of us."
"Oh." The word was out before Tony realized it. Her revelation made sense, of course - though there was the Statute of Secrecy to consider. Then again - one or two odd healings that medical science couldn't explain would be part and parcel of the scientific process as doctors and researchers strove to understand the human body and its diseases and illnesses.
"In 1971, a patient miraculously recovered-" Strange's voice was laced with sarcasm again "-from a degenerative neurological condition that, based on the medical tests reported, was exposure to the Cruciatus Curse. When interviewed by his treating physician, the patient - who is, of course, properly anonymized in the reports - said only that his pastor had healed him."
"The pastor was a healer?" Augusta asked.
"Yes," Quinn confirmed. "Unfortunately, that's almost all we know, because he was killed in a car accident before he could be interviewed for the details of his procedure."
"So you came here to tell me there was hope, once, but not anymore?" Augusta's voice shook, but Tony couldn't tell whether it was from sorrow or anger.
"Of course not," Strange snapped. "Just because he couldn't be interviewed doesn't mean there's no more knowledge."
"I've been researching the event," Quinn continued, "including visiting the original patient in 1997."
Tony wouldn't have thought Michaela Quinn was old enough to have interviewed someone in 1997, but then he remembered something Spangles had said about magical people living longer than non-magical ones.
"What did he say?" Tony asked.
"Unfortunately, he was suffering from Alzheimer's Disease, so a formal interview wasn't possible," Quinn said. She took a breath, let it out. "I'm ashamed to say that I used Legilimency on him - clearly without his consent, because he was incapable of giving it."
"Legilimency?" Tony repeated, the word unfamiliar on his tongue.
"A process of reading someone's thoughts via magic," Strange said, disgust clearly evident in his tone.
"To sum up a very long day of trying to prompt his memories of the healing," Quinn said, "I learned exactly what the pastor did, as well as the conventional treatment the patient had undergone."
"And?" Augusta asked, holding herself very still, as though she were afraid that any movement on her part might somehow change what Quinn said.
"Just as the Cruciatus attacks both body and spirit, so too the treatment must address both body and spirit," Quinn said.
"The surgical procedure is quite delicate," Strange said. "It's not arrogant to say that not one in a thousand surgeons is capable of performing it without inadvertently causing more harm than good - and that I'm one who can."
"Stephen and I have collaborated several times," Quinn continued. "Attempting to cure Cruciatus damage - with some success."
"Some?" Tony pounced on the qualifier. "How much is some in this context?"
"I can fix the physical damage to the nerves," Strange said, "with a combination of surgery and pharmaceuticals - potions, if you prefer," he added with a nod to Augusta. "Which I will do for your family, should you ask."
"It's the spiritual damage we have difficulty with," Quinn said, both expression and tone sad. "It seems the pastor had one thing I don't, and can't, have - a deep connection to the spiritual plane."
"Which means what, exactly?" Tony asked.
"What made the pastor unique and able to heal the spiritual damage the Cruciatus causes was his connection to the spiritual plane," Strange said, looking annoyed at having to repeat himself.
Tony shook his head. "Not what I meant. How do you know who has this connection and who doesn't? Is it something that can be trained, or is it innate?"
"Innate," Quinn responded promptly. "As to how to know-" she gave a shrug. "The only clue we have is his wand - it was a very rare combination of wood and core, and it won't work for anyone else. I've tried to use it, as has every healer I've spoken with about what the pastor did. None of us get so much as a flicker from it."
"What's the wand?" Augusta asked. "Surely a wandmaker can tell you if they've sold others with that combination."
"Baobab wood and the whisker of a grim," Quinn answered. "Nobody uses baobab, and very few are brave enough to obtain a whisker from a grim."
Tony knew exactly where to find someone who could wield a baobab wand with a grim whisker core, but one question kept him from immediately volunteering that information.
"The healing spell he cast," Tony began. "How complicated is it?"
"No more difficult than most healing spells," Quinn said. "As I said, it's the spiritual connection that's critical."
"Symbolized by the wand?"
"Yes - or at least, as far as we can tell," Quinn corrected herself.
"J, when will Harry be done with exams for today?"
"His last exam today begins at one o'clock," JARVIS replied. "It is scheduled to last two hours."
"When he's finished, ask him to portkey here."
"Of course, Sir."
The others at the table were looking at him oddly. He smiled briefly. "Harry has a baobab wand with a whisker from a grim as a core."