Story Number 7: Harry's Cancer
This story was written for the fourth annual charity event by the 'Fandom for Lymphoma and Leukemia Society' (Fandom4LLS).
Lord Voldemort looked down his crooked nose at the toddler lying in the wooden crib in the nursery of the Potter Cottage at Godric's Hollow. The child in the crib was actually looking back at him with highly intelligent emerald green eyes and a somber look. Lord Voldemort was surprised for a few moments, he expected the child to be asleep, he expected him to be raising a storm crying his eyes out, but instead, the toddler looked back at him, almost as if he was expecting the lethal curse to fly out of the dark lord's wand.
Who was he to deny the inevitable, with a shrug of his shoulders and one last sneer at the immobile Lily Potter, Lord Voldemort raised his wand. He cast the curse which took many lives before that, the latest being James and Lily Potter. The dreaded curse and his favourite one was going to finish the last Potter and at the same time remove the threat to his immortality, Harry Potter, the one who was prophesied to defeat the dark lord Voldemort.
The dark lord came to that small cottage on the Halloween night of 1981 with two tasks at hand, both of which would ensure his continued living in the land of the mortals. One was to eliminate the threat to his life posed by the 'prophesied one', Harry James Potter and the other was to safeguard another piece of his soul. He already had other soul anchors, or horcruxes as they were crudely named, but this night Lord Voldemort was going to create his seventh and last one. The power of the number seven was well known and what was better than the act of eliminating the last threat to his life, to create the magical number seven?
Without any compassion, Tom Riddle Jr., also known as the dark lord Voldemort, cast the killing curse at the now wide eyed Harry Potter. He put every ounce of his magical power into the curse; failure was not an option, besides he could always regenerate his magical core before targeting the Longbottoms.
His triumphant smile turned to screams of fury as he saw the unforgivable being blocked and then turned to wide eyed terror as the killing curse headed straight for him. Lord Voldemort carried out many rituals on his own body to not only strengthen it and his magical core, but also to ensure that he was able to continue living even if his body was destroyed. The power of the rituals was seriously tested that day and many things happened near simultaneously.
The reflected killing curse did its job and killed the dark lord but the many horcruxes he had tied his soul to the mortal plane did their job very well and so the piece of his soul left tied to his mortal body did not pass over. The remaining soul and the consciousness that was Lord Voldemort turned into an incorporeal being, which was neither a ghost nor a solid being. It was almost like a vapour held together by the soul of Tom Riddle and his consciousness; the most feared dark lord was reduced to a mere wraith. At the same time, the ritual he performed to split his soul and make another horcrux was also triggered. This meant that the seventh piece of soul was also separated from the soul that was now a part of the wraith. Unfortunately, the container which was meant to be used to capture the soul piece was destroyed in the magical backlash of the events, which incidentally also reduced the body of Tom Riddle to dust.
The free floating soul piece had to find a safe place for it to hide if it was to survive destruction and no other inanimate object would work now. The object had to be a part of the ritual and had to be injected with some magic for it to bind the soul piece, and in the destroyed cottage, the only source of magic now left was the unconscious Harry Potter.
With an intent to destroy his enemy, the soul piece quickly lodged into the fresh wound on the toddler's forehead which would give it access to enter his body and finally take over the life force for its own use. If successful, it would mean that Harry Potter would be no more, instead Tom Riddle aka Lord Voldemort would get a new body. The wraith that was still lingering over the baby was ecstatic, if the horcrux managed to take over the body of Harry Potter, then the main soul of Lord Voldemort could also integrate into him. This was a golden opportunity to not only get a brand new body which could be moulded right from the start but also the considerable fortune that belonged to the Potters' would be his.
The free floating soul piece of the dark lord burrowed itself into the wound on the boy's forehead. What it was not prepared for was the excruciating pain it felt as soon as it came into contact with the boy's magic.
What Lord Voldemort thought to be a wound on Harry's forehead was actually a rune inscribed using a very shallow cut, just enough to draw blood. The dark lord was well versed in many of the magical arts, however, he was also very arrogant and never thought that the ancient runic language of the Sumerians was powerful enough for his use. They were after all, the very first users of the runic language and admittedly not very diverse. Lily Potter made good use of her fascination for ancient runes and found the one rune that gave her son the protection he needed.
The rune, which looked like a lightning bolt skewed to one side, did its job and aided by the mother's sacrifice, thwarted the killing curse and sent it back. As soon as the dark lord's soul piece came into contact with the still pulsing rune, it was trapped. The forward surge of the soul piece was halted, but the magic of the soul piece could not be contained. The foreign magic entered Harry's blood stream and began to target everything in its path, intent on destroying Harry Potter. If he could not use the body as a new host, Lord Voldemort was not going to allow it to survive and be a threat later on.
Harry's own magic, which was severely depleted in combating the killing curse, began trying valiantly to counter Lord Voldemort's magic. The toddler's body began taking some major damage, most of which was concentrated on the circulating cells in the blood stream. Thankfully, lord Voldemort's magic was also depleted due to the vast amount of magical power he put into casting the killing curse at Harry.
After an intense struggle that lasted mere moments, Harry's magic finally got the upper hand. The damage, however, was already done. His magic was severely depleted, and Harry lost a lot of life sustaining blood cells, but most worryingly a piece of the dark lord's soul was trapped in the toddler's forehead. Contained for the time being, Lord Voldemort's soul was still capable of inflicting severe damage to Harry, if it came in contact with a powerful enough source of magic. For now, it lay in wait to reunite with its consciousness or to do its job of destroying its host, it just needed some raw magical power, more than what was in the toddler for now.
More than thirteen years later
The evening was perfect for a casual stroll through the streets of upscale Crawley. Two teens particularly stood out as they were meandering the lanes of the park, their fingers intertwined. There was no awkwardness or shyness usually associated with fifteen year olds on a date. The couple in question were best friends before they started to date and they were no ordinary teenagers too.
The young man was a little short for his age but that was hardly visible due to his wiry build and with his wind-blown black hair and emerald green eyes that look into your soul, Harry Potter was a dream come true to any young woman. Added to that, his status as the 'Boy-Who-Lived' in the wizarding world and the enormous wealth he would command upon his majority, Harry was a certain 'catch'.
The young woman who caught him was his best friend. Hermione Granger started out as plain Jane, but the confidence in her abilities and the knowledge that the young man she was in love with, reciprocated her feelings gave her a sparkle, making her a very desirable young woman. Even from her childhood, she was known as a very intelligent girl and the wizarding world looked up to her as the 'brightest witch of the age'.
With her hand secured in his, Harry looked at the young woman beside him. Even now he could not really believe that Hermione was his girlfriend.
It all started with the blasted Triwizard tournament which somehow turned out to be a blessing in disguise for him. It gave him Hermione Granger. The year that went by was a turmoil of emotions for Harry, the entire school was against him, calling him a cheat when he was revealed as the fourth participant in a tournament for three. Then the tide turned and he was hailed as a champion; but through all the fluctuating popularity, only one person was with him and that was Hermione. So when the Yule ball was announced, he naturally asked her to be his date and they never looked back.
"You seemed to be a long way away there…" Hermione asked him, drawing his attention to the present.
Harry simply pulled her into his side, "Just thinking about the last year…" he replied.
Hermione heaved a contented sigh and snuggled into his shoulder. It might have been a topsy turvy year for both of them but in the end, she got what she wanted and it looked like Harry was satisfied with how the year ended too. There was still the threat of a resurrected Lord Voldemort before them but she hoped that with both of them working together, they could get over that threat too.
The two teens spent the beautiful afternoon just enjoying the weather and each other's company. To Hermione it was literally a dream come true; all she wanted through her growing up years was to have someone call her a friend and wandering through the streets where she had no company previously, she now had a boyfriend to show to the world.
To Harry, it was a hope that he found someone who was not infatuated with his fame; someone who he could very well spend his life with. Making everything sweet was the fact that this was his best friend, someone who he knew for about four years now, someone who could claim to have saved his life on more than one occasion. He was happy, for the first time in a long time, and though there was an ominous cloud on the horizon, for now he could forget about it.
Harry checked his watch and sighed in resignation, they had to cut their walk short now, "I guess we should go back now…"
Hermione agreed to that and the two teens turned back to Hermione's house. Harry was staying with his aunt and uncle at Surrey, but this weekend he got to stay with Hermione.
The two teens had the satisfaction of staying under the same roof for a few days and added to that they could say that they were contributing to the society in a meaningful way. Harry learnt that the elder Grangers were organizing a blood donation camp and that Hermione was going to help them out in organizing it. Harry went a step further and volunteered to donate his blood too, and naturally Hermione followed in his footsteps.
Now a day later, one of the doctors wanted to meet Harry. The two teens just hoped that there was nothing serious, but Harry knew about his rotten luck and was dreading the visit.
Dr Bearson, who was a friend to the Grangers and also their neighbour, was already sitting on the couch in the living room sipping her tea and apparently waiting a little impatiently for them.
As soon as the tens entered, she perked up, "Ah! Hermione, Harry, come… come… I was waiting for you."
"Sorry to keep you waiting Dr Bearson," Hermione apologized for both of them.
The lady in question just waved her hand as if she was swatting away a fly, "How many times did I tell you call me Rhonda…" she asked rhetorically but Hermione still answered her, a little sheepishly, "… too many times to really count…"
The three adults and the two teens had a hearty laugh at that and the nervousness in Harry reduced a little bit but the undercurrent of tension was still there. The next few minutes went well with light hearted banter and snacking on some biscuits and tea.
Harry and Hermione were starting to get nervous again and were hoping that the visit was a casual one, the elder Grangers were intrigued too and were thinking more in the lines of their friend knowing about the wizarding world rather than something being wrong with Harry. Rhonda could feel the elephant in the room and decided to take the bull by the horns so to speak.
"You two were great yesterday, thank you so much," She started and the two teens relaxed marginally. "Hermione we will be able to use your blood…" then she sighed while turning to Harry, "I am sorry Harry but we found a grave problem with you."
Somehow Harry did not feel any shock at that declaration; he knew that Rhonda's visit was to do with him and he was expecting some news. Unfortunately for him, any surprises associated with him were never good news.
Harry turned to Hermione and gave her a watery smile, "I expected something like this…" he sighed and turned to a surprised Rhonda.
Forcing a smile on her face, Hermione tightened her grip on Harry's arm, "Harry has a sixth sense when it comes to spotting any danger for himself."
The adults were taken aback by that statement, not only were the two teens not freaking out but Harry was much calmer. He was in fact expecting some bad news, and that was shocking really. They could see that both Harry and Hermione were putting up a brave front while they were crying inside.
Emma Granger immediately left her seat and joined the two teens on the couch; sitting on the other side of Harry, she put her hands over Harry's shoulder trying to reassure him of their support. Both Dan and Emma could see the impact the young man had on their daughter and were willing to accept him into their family if the relationship strengthened further.
Dan threw in his verbal support, "Don't you worry Harry. We will do everything in our power to get over this. I am sure Rhonda will also help us."
Everyone turned expectantly towards the doctor. Rhonda blinked her eyes owlishly and blushed faintly, "I am sorry, there is no immediate danger as far as I can see. I should have been clearer…" Only now she could see how tense the two teens were and the impact her words had on Harry and Hermione; she felt as if her words have lifted a considerable pressure from all of them.
What she did not know was that Harry, and to a smaller extent Hermione, were unconsciously expelling their magic into the air. Due to the state of their minds, the magic actually created an oppressive environment in the room and after that clarification from the doctor, the magic retracted into the young witch and wizard.
"There is nothing wrong, per se, with you Harry…" Rhonda trailed off, trying to articulate her explanation in a way that was easily understood by someone who did not have any medical knowledge.
Emma gave the flustered young woman an exasperated smile, "Why don't you start from the beginning dear…"
Rhonda took a deep breath and gave an embarrassed yet thankful smile to the older woman. "Right before we started to bleed you, I checked a sample of your blood under the microscope at the site. It looked as if you did not have any of the normal blood cells in your blood stream…"
She was interrupted by a gasp from the two dentists. Harry and Hermione both looked alarmed at their reaction but before they could question them, Dan raised his hand stopping the two, "Let her finish, kids…"
"Oh! It was not like you did not have any cells, but the numbers of the red cells, the white cells, and even the platelets were very low. It was almost like looking at a childhood leukaemia sample," Rhonda's explanation elicited a cry of alarm from Hermione this time.
Harry was also troubled, he of course knew the word leukaemia but apart from that did not know anything else and then there was the childhood part. He was confused and that showed clearly on his face.
Dan was the only Granger who was able to keep his emotions in check and began a lengthy lecture about blood cancers in general and childhood leukaemia in particular.
{A/N: This explanation was taken from American Cancer Society's website, with some changes in language only}
Mutations or unfavourable changes in the genetic material can cause the incidence of leukaemia and these often develop after conception rather than having been inherited. Some of these acquired mutations may occur early, even before birth. In rare cases, acquired mutations may result from exposure to radiation or cancer-causing chemicals, but most often they occur for no apparent reason.
A few studies have suggested that some childhood leukaemias may be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. For example, certain genes normally control how our bodies break down and get rid of harmful chemicals. Some people have different versions of these genes that make them less effective. Children who inherit these genes may not be as able to break down harmful chemicals if they are exposed to them.
The combination of genetics and exposure might increase their risk for leukaemia. As leukaemia cells build up in the bone marrow, they can crowd out the normal blood cell making cells. As a result, a child may not have enough normal red blood cells, white blood cells, and blood platelets. These shortages show up on blood tests.
It was a thoughtful group of people who listened to the explanation; well all the adults knew about it as they were medical professionals after all, but it was all new to Harry and Hermione. 'Was this what Harry had?' was the question in all of their minds though.
Their musings were cut short by Rhonda who wanted to see if she could answer that question, "I can see that you are a little paler than normal…"
She was interrupted by Hermione coming to Harry's defense, "Well, we live in a Scottish school where it is indoors most of the time."
The doctor was startled at that but nodded her head in acceptance, "Do you have frequent fever or fatigue that cannot be explained?"
"No I rarely fall sick, in fact I have a very high healing…" Harry answered.
Rhonda grumbled a bit, "There goes my next question about injury and healing rate…"
"What's all this for?" Hermione asked coming to her boyfriend's rescue.
"The most common symptoms of children with leukaemia are what I talked about, fatigue or tiredness, and pale skin are due to anaemia or very low numbers of red blood cells, recurring infections, fever, delay in curing diseases are due to loss of white blood cells. The other common symptoms are easy bleeding, bruising, or delayed clotting of blood at places of the cuts and these are mainly due to lack of platelets," Rhonda explained.
Her audience listened to her explanation and it only took them a few moments to understand that childhood leukaemia is manifested as a loss of all the different types of blood cells. Harry and Hermione were happy after that; they were sure that whatever was causing Harry's problems, it was not leukaemia.
A happy Emma Granger put it in a nutshell for them all, "It's definitely not childhood leukaemia then."
It still has to be confirmed but Rhonda also agreed to that assessment and added her other observations. After seeing the very less numbers of cells in Harry's bloodstream, she took a second sample and analysed that immediately and what she saw was nothing short of astounding, "Right in front of my eyes, the blood cells started to burst open and die off and it carried on until almost all of the cells died. But when the effect ended, the cells that survived looked not only healthy but they in fact were more active than normal."
Harry really did not understand what they were talking about but it answered one question that was really bugging him and that was, if he did not have the adequate number of cells, then how did he not see any of the effects that Rhonda pointed out? "It seems that the remaining cells were compensating for the lack of enough numbers," he whispered. He did not know if it was his magic that was helping him out but he was thankful that nothing was really wrong with him, except for the cells dying that is.
"You are correct Harry," Rhonda agreed. "I am unsure what is causing this effect but I think that you may have some sort of toxin in your bloodstream. What I do not understand is how did the toxin survive for so long? Can I use the blood I collected from you to run some tests and do additional research? Will you be willing to help me out if needed, with tissue or bone marrow samples?"
Harry and Hermione suspected what was causing the problem, it most likely was foreign magic that was being injected into him. They did not have any answer as to what the source of the foreign magic was however, and they could not even talk about it in front of the good doctor. It probably had nothing to do with the non-magical world and were not so sure that any specific reason could be found by the doctor. Still, Harry was intrigued as to what Rhonda could find and so he gave his consent.
With the most important discussion out of the way, Rhonda did not linger long. Only after she left, however was the main discussion started between Harry and Hermione with Dan and Emma Granger offering their inputs.
"Do you think that the toxin could be Basilisk venom?" Hermione wanted to know.
Harry had also relaxed a lot and so did not hesitate to reply, "No not the venom. Madam Pomfrey gave me a thorough inspection at the start of the third year and she did not find any trace of the venom in me."
Hermione was thoughtful while she worked it out, "The magic of the Phoenix tears may have nullified the magic of the Basilisk venom and then your body might have naturally removed the venom from your system…" she theorized.
Phoenix tears are supposed to have the most potent healing magic but at the same time Madam Pomfrey always maintained that the tears did not cure Harry, they only neutralized the magic in the venom. Moreover, the tears were apparently still in Harry' circulation for about a year or so. If it was not the venom of a Basilisk, what could be the potential foreign magic that was a toxin, in Harry's blood stream…?
The only source of foreign magic that was not temporary was, "My scar!" Harry blurted out in shock.
Everyone was wide eyed at that declaration; only the two teens knew that the scar did indeed have magic manifesting in it. Whether it was the lingering effect of the magic of the killing curse or something else, they were not so sure. Even professor Dumbledore was not sure about the magic in the curse, just that it was very dark magic and difficult to remove, what he did say was that it was a relic of the killing curse that Lord Voldemort cast those thirteen years ago.
One thing they did not know was if Dumbledore was totally truthful about what he knew of the scar. Did he really not know what the scar was or was he hiding something in his attempt to shield Harry? There was nothing that the two teens could do though and so decided to go to the goblins regarding the magic of Harry's scar. The goblins were well versed in magic that was not known to the wizardkind and so may be the only ones who can help Harry.
This was the first time that the goblins had a close look at the famous scar and they were also quite intrigued. The foreign magic was evident very easily but the rudimentary intelligence associated with the magic was hard to find but ultimately, find they did. With a huge amount of prodding, they finally understood the root cause.
"You have a piece of Lord Voldemort's soul in you Mr Potter," the goblin healer gave the bad news to the Grangers and Harry. Naturally they were scared out of their wits.
The piece of soul outside its natural host is usually inert and that is very much true to any piece of soul that was hidden in an inanimate object. However, in Harry's case, the soul piece was not in an inanimate carrier, whether magical or not, and whenever there was excess magic, the soul piece would get enough charge. If it was any other object, the charged soul piece would have tried to influence those in contact with the object. However, since the soul piece was in Harry, it did its utmost to try and kill its host. The only way it could do was for the foreign magic to overwhelm the host, or the other way was to take over the host's body and make it Lord Voldemort's.
Unfortunately, the ready source of magic was Harry himself. On the other hand, as soon as Lord Voldemort's magic tried to cause damage to his body, Harry's magic was able to counter it and contain it. Then there would be a period of rest and repair after which the cycle would repeat again. Harry's life became one continuous struggle for survival.
Thankfully, Harry was powerful enough to maintain his upper hand. So powerful in fact that when the magical leech that was the soul piece was removed by the goblins the teenager was actually more powerful than even Albus Dumbledore in his prime. Harry Potter became the most powerful wizard alive.
Another thirteen years later…
Once Lord Voldemort was finally defeated at the hands of Harry Potter with the immense help of his girlfriend, Hermione Granger, the two teens returned to the muggle world.
Harry knew that what he had in his teenage years was not cancer but an immensely large source of foreign magic that threatened his life. However, the two teens were very much intrigued by the disease which was a threat to a good number of children. Childhood leukaemia or any other blood cancer for that matter was not so easy to cure; even though medical treatments were making great strides, the threat of leukaemia and lymphoma was still credible.
With the help of Rhonda, Harry and Hermione enrolled themselves in medical school and began to study the disease.
Now thirteen years after the day the two teens learnt about the disease, Harry and Hermione Potter were the proud directors of the most advanced treatment center dedicated to combat cancer. Though they started out with lymphomas and leukaemia in mind, they could not limit themselves to the two areas only.
The site of the hospital was one of the many Potter properties, this happened to be in Wales and incidentally was situated right on a magical node. It was Harry's magic that triumphed against the foreign magic in him and though magic had nothing to with causing or even curing childhood leukaemia or any of the other cancers, "There is no harm in trying, right?" Harry reasoned.