Chapter Seven: A Bit of a Surprise
Thanks for reading and please review. If anyone has any questions or messages please message me. In regards to some of the questions I have been asked, I have changed Harry's name to Hadrian as Harrison was not quite as imaginative as it could have been. I have also added a reason for Harry knowing about stocks as I understand it seems far fetched for an eight year to know about that for no reason.
Once I had put all of my new clothes away as well I collapsed onto the bed, relishing the comfort of an actual bed. I was home.
It had been just over a week and a half since Marcelo had installed my apartment, and life had taken an obvious turn for the better. I bought all of the stuff I needed that hadn't come already in the apartment online by using Dudley's old computer. Since I now had cooking utensils I took to cooking and eating all of food in my 'room', and had installed a pretty sweet TV and games console to help pass the time that I didn't spend reading or practicing magic. I also bought more clothes online so that I had more casual clothing to wear outside, like jeans and hoodies so I had in effect, a complete wardrobe.
My magic was coming along well, but I still had some trouble with actually performing the spells, because even though the books I had purchased were great for the theory I didn't have much of an idea on how to do the practical part. That was what I needed a teacher for, and I was looking forward to meeting with the guy Canton had set up for on the coming Saturday. Apparently he was an elderly wizard, but one of the best tutors for the subjects I needed to learn in the UK at the time, and was also supposedly an ex-competitive sword fighter, so that solved the problem of getting a teacher for that as well. But, since he was so old I wasn't too sure on how good he would be at teaching me if he had trouble getting up the stairs as many elderly people did. However, time would only tell.
A nice bonus to the tutor thing was the fact that I no longer had to go to Muggle School. I managed to coerce my relatives into signing a letter that I sent to my old school claiming that I had been admitted into a school for gifted children in Scotland, the same lie told to muggle families about Hogwarts according to Canton. It did mean that I had to avoid being seen by any neighbors during term time, but thanks to the floo and online delivery services I didn't really need to leave the house from the front door anyway.
That day however was the day for me to visit a Healer. Canton had set it up for me, so all I had to do was show up at the correct time. I flooed into Diagon Alley and set off to my private appointment at St. Mungos. After reading 'The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts', one of the books I had bought, and I was concerned about being recognized. The scar was supposedly pretty iconic and I was planning to stay incognito for the next few years. But, I solved this problem by wearing the same beanie I had worn on my last visit to Diagon Alley, which made me realize that I had that hat to thank for not being outed from the go. With the hat pulled firmly over my scar I looked just like any old eight year old boy so no one paid me any attention.
I showed the receptionist the appointment paper Canton had given to me and after giving me a suspicious once over she sent me up to private room on the sixth floor. I waited outside for five minutes, admiring a nice pot plant when the door opened and I was ushered on. It didn't look much dissimilar inside than the nurse's office at my school had looked, with a row of cabinets and a sink on one side with a large blue leather recliner on the other. The Healer examining me was a nice old lady called Matilda, who bid me lay down on the recliner. Once I had settled down she picked up a clipboard and read through it, clicking her tongue a few times.
"Well," she said, "this isn't the first time I've had a 'private' session, but it is the first time I've had one so young." She looked me up and down and I felt embarrassed. "Well, since your paperwork is in order I shall just go along with it. Do you know how this all works?"
I nodded. Canton had explained the whole thing to me. "Good, then we won't have to go over it in full detail. Suffice to say, the clauses are fairly basic. The hospital shall not disclose any of your medical history or details without your express permission, and I won't tell anyone anything that I know about you, including name and physical appearance ect... Is that sufficient?" I nodded again and she grunted. "Good. Now we shall begin. I shall start by simply performing a quick diagnostic charm and then we shall tackle any problems it detects. Okay?" I nodded again and she pulled out her wand. Matilda muttered a quiet spell and my vision was suddenly clouded by a thin purple mist. The mist only lasted for a few moments, but the quill she had previously been holder was scribbling quickly on her clipboard. Matilda's face grew grave as she read what the quill wrote. Eventually it stopped writing, not too long after the mist had cleared and Matilda cleared her throat.
"Well, Oliver, it seems that we shall be busy after all. The charm has detected quite a few issues that could cause long term problems if we don't sort it out now. You appear to be suffering from malnutrition, which left untreated will cause your growth problems for the rest of your life. But, I can put you on a course of potions for the next six weeks that shall heal any damage, and some nutritional potions that shall ensure that you get all of the vitamins and nutrients you need to prevent it from happening again. I shall also write you a list of the types of food you shall need to start eating to prevent it from happening again." Matilda turned to the cabinet behind her and took out a long thin box that contained dozens of small green phials in one half and green I n the other. She counted out what looked like a little under thirty of each and then placed them all into a two compartment box that looked specifically made to hold such phials. It must have been enchanted too, because although the box itself wasn't that deep she just kept putting them in. "I have put 21 of each type of potion in there. They will last you for the next seven days as you shall be taking three a day, one with each meal. At the end of the seven days you shall receive the next weeks' worth via owl, and so on until you have finished your regiment. Understand?" I nodded quickly, feeling slightly spooked by the fierce expression in her eyes.
"Good. Your eyesight is also very poor, and shall only get worse as you get older but thanks to a fairly recent development in this field I can set you on another course of potions that should fix that. These ones only need to be taken once a day, preferably in the morning, and only for one week. They're very fast acting, and you're lucky to have access to them." I nodded again. "Now, you have some fractures on various bones around your body. They probably won't cause you any damage long term, but with the extra growing you shall be doing shortly it is best I heal them up right now. Since none of them need to be regrown completely I shall forge skelegrow and instead just fix them right now. It will hurt a lot, so brace yourself". I shut my eyes and waited. Suffice to say the pain that came soon after was extreme, because it felt like all my bones were being broken again simultaneously. Luckily it only lasted a few seconds, and once it had passed my limbs felt a lot freer than they had before.
"Good boy. Now, that is all of the problems that could cause you damage in the future, bar one sort of irregularity that the charm detected in you skull if you would remove the hat?" Internally I groaned. I had hoped that I would be able to keep the hat on for the whole thing but apparently not. I took my hat off and looked to Matilda. As her eyes took in the scar her expression morphed into one of confusion. Her eyes flickered from the scar and then back to the rest of me a few times, and after a moment it appeared the realization had hit her as her mouth fell slightly open in shock. "You?" I sighed.
"Yes, me."
"But? I though?" I felt sorry for her because she looked so damn confused. However, her expression quickly turned back into one of professionalism. "Well, that was a surprise. Now, as I was saying, the charm detected some sort of residual magic around your scar and if you don't mind I would like to examine it to determine what exactly we are dealing with."
"Okay. Go ahead." Matilda once again took out her wand and started muttering again, but this time the words appeared to be in Latin. Suddenly, I started feeling a sort of pressure building up in my head around the scar. I groaned as the pain increased but Matilda just continued chanting. The pressure got so great that black spots started dancing in my vision, and it quite literally felt as though my head was going to explode. But, just before I felt I was going to pass out the pressure seemed to explode outwards. Through my murky vision I saw something black jet outwards from my forehead, and it sounded like I could hear screaming. Matilda swore and staggered backwards, staring in shock and the black shape. It still felt like it was connected to me, but with a lurch the shape flew forwards and the stream of blackness connecting it me snapped, leaving the creature free. It floated, suspended for a moment when the walls started glowing and runes that I hadn't previously seen before showed up glowing gold. Tendrils of light seemed to arc outwards, all joining together in the center of the black 'thing'. The 'thing' as I decided to call it, started glowing as well, getting brighter and brighter until when I could barely look at it it exploded.
The light cut off as suddenly as it had started, and my eyesight adjusted to show Matilda lying on the floor in obvious shock. She stood up shakily, clinging onto the counter for support. She shook her head a few times, muttering things under her breath. She took a deep sigh and shut her eyes, and when she opened them again her professional manner was back. "Well Mr Potter, that was certainly exciting. If you don't mind, I shall perform the spell again just to check that the magic in your scar has gone." She did so, and nodded once it was completed. "Well, it has gone so we shall assume that whatever was causing those readings was what just appeared a moment ago. Since that conducts our business I would say that you are free to go. Please remember to take the potion with you, and try to follow the dietary list I have left you. It was a pleasure meeting you Mr Potter." I got off the recliner and shook Matilda's hand slowly. She appeared to still be in shock.
I picked up the potions, and after one quick look back left the room, still trying to figure out what on earth had just happened. I was so absorbed in my thought that I didn't notice the blood dripping into my eyes until I got an odd look from one of the nurses who bustled over and performed a quick charm, closing my scar as it had understandably opened during the...incident. I stopped off at the men's before leaving, and after splashing some cold water on my face managed to set my thoughts in order. Suffice to say, I put finding out whatever the heck just happened top of my list of priorities, deciding to send a letter to Canton as soon as I got back as he was the only source of sentient information that I had. With that in mind I headed home, still slightly in shock. Suffice to say, of all the things I had expected to happen during my appointment that was certainly not one of them.