The Boy
Chapter 10: The Boy And The Curse Breaker
"Is this the child?" the witch from the Makah Reservation asked, he voice blunt and to the point.
Sarah bit back a retort while Charlie bristled beside at her tone, though he had no reason for that. She only asked a question, unnecessarily yes, but still a question nonetheless.
"Yes, Pollara, this is Harry," the elder from the council that is a wizard confirmed.
The witch stood looking at the little boy for a few moments as if contemplating on something, which was probably deciding if she should proceed with the daunting task of helping a sick child get rid of the thing that prevented him from getting well enough to have a chance to survive. Well, that is what Sarah presumed. She could also be contemplating on how to help the child.
"I am going to have to do my own accessing of what ails him before I can even start helping him," the witch said at last, determination to see this through showing in the set of her shoulders and the sharp tone of her voice.
"That is a given," Healer Alberty spoke up from where he sat on the couch in Sarah and Billy's living room with Harry, who was holding onto the googly eyed Tom. The healer had opted to keep the boy company while the other adults talked to the witch.
"Alright, you all may stay, but please stay out of my way," the witch said, her voice now businesslike as she moved closer to the couch, her wand moving with precision as she did a diagnostic spell. Charlie, who hasn't seen magic being performed yet, looked on in awe.
The casting was silent and Harry's eyes followed the magical patterns almost hypnotically, like a cat would follow a moving torchlight.
"Hmm, what an unfortunate child you are," the witch muttered as she read the results that appeared on a parchment while she did the spell. "Brittle Core is no laughing matter. Infantile Core Deplete isn't either. You should not have survived this, my dear child."
The boy didn't listen as she spoke, his eyes on the magic that now only formed patterns as a means of entertainment while the witch read the results.
"I can help him. We'll unbind his core first and foremost. I won't lie; it'll hurt him. But we'll put him to sleep first to minimalize the feeling of the pain."
"But his core is brittle!" Healer Alberty protested.
"I know," the witch stated matter-of-factly, " That is why we'll pour some of our magic into him to stabilize the core and strengthen it. Carefully, though, because too much too fast might shatter his core and he will die. The potions you fed him, Healer, has done him good, but his core hasn't improved…much."
She offered him the parchment to see for himself what she meant by that, though his name wasn't shown with the potions and she can't possibly know that he had prescribed the potions. Well, except for the simple reason of him being the healer working on the little boy's case and the fact that Sarah had showed the witch the results from the parchment his own diagnostic spell had filled.
"This right here saddens me. That even potions cannot help him as much as I would've liked…" He sighed, shaking his head.
The witch clicked her tongue. "You have no faith, Alberty. The boy can be helped if we begin immediately without delay." She turned to Sarah. "We'll need a clean surface where he can lay on whilst we work, preferably stone."
"We have a stone garden table, will that work?"
The witch contemplated for a moment, inclining her head from side to side while her mind flailed with indecision for a moment. Then she finally nodded. "Just make sure that it is clean and move it where the neighbors can't see while we work. I'll have to also draw runes on the floor around the table, so find somewhere that is clean enough that runes can be drawn on."
"Will the shed work?" Sarah asked.
"As long as it is clean."
"I'll make some space," Sarah said before going off to do just that while the rest of them waited.
The witch started readying the needed tools for the runes she would be drawing. As it won't be permanent runes, she didn't have to get out the carving kit and when Sarah came back, she was ready to begin drawing the runes that would take her a while before she can help the child.
It was after lunch that afternoon that the runes were ready and Charlie carried the boy to the shed that looked far different than usual because it was cleared from all the clutter by Sarah. In the middle of the shed a stone table stood in the middle of chalk drawn runes.
"Set him on the table," the witch directed Charlie, "Just be careful not to step on the runes. We don't want any unwanted affects when a rune is damaged."
Charlie did as she said, stepping slowly, as if the rune was a tripwire or something. Then he lowered Harry onto the table. The child protested because the table was cold to his skin and he was only wearing his little briefs with pictures of dogs printed on it. Sarah had undressed him after lunch, telling him that they were going on an adventure. Not that this was an adventure, though.
The witch placed a soothing hand on the child's head, guiding him to lie down while silently casting a gentle warming charm on the cold surface of the table, causing the child to sigh in relief. Another spell and he was knocked out, quietly snoring away and visiting dreamland.
The witch straightened him out a bit and then started placing smooth black stones on him, one on his forehead, one on his chest, his belly button and one on each of his wrists and ankles.
"The stones are to anchor his soul while we extract the soul-shard," the witch explained. "We don't want to accidentally pull his soul out of him rather than the soul-shard. But first, we should unbind his core. Come, you will pour magic into his core while I do the unbinding." She beckoned Healer Alberty, the elder that is a wizard and Sarah into the rune circle. "And remember, carefully."
The three didn't say anything as they stepped over the rune much the same way as Charlie had, their wands snapping into their hands from hidden holsters. The witch began chanting in her native tongue and they started feeding magic into the boy in a slow and précised manner.
Charlie watched and listened from outside the rune circle, his eyes worriedly darting from the child to the four wixen as the air grew thick and charged with something unseen. He felt goose bumps rise on his skin and his spine tingled as if some invisible fingers ran down it.
Then, without warning, the child began convulsing and worry became fear and Charlie found himself rushing over the runes to the child. He was stopped by Sarah from picking up his child and leaving with him.
She had to magically restrain him when a scream tore from the child's lips and he tried again to take the child. His feet were glued to the floor and his hands felt like lead so that he couldn't even lift them.
"Release me!" he snarled, but Sarah ignored him in favor of helping the boy, tears running down her face at the sound of the agonized screams that fell from his lips. It broke her heart that they had to hurt the boy in order to help him.
The chanting stopped after what seemed like forever, but was only more than half an hour and without warning; a strong wind blew through the shed as the child's core came unbound. It blew everyone, except for the restrained Charlie right off their feet. When it stopped blowing, the child lay still on the table, his chest heaving gently as he breathed.
The healer and the Curse Breaker healer both did a scan and each breathing a sigh of relief when the child's core was shown to be fine, albeit still brittle.
"We'll rest for a few minutes then we'll begin with the removal of the soul-shard," the witch said as she began checking the runes because they should've contained the magic that had caused the wind.
Unfortunately, it hadn't worked as intended and she decided to check over the runes because the next task will be much more dangerous than the unbinding of the core. The soul-shard might try to escape and she really didn't want that foul thing wreaking havoc in La Push.
The runes were alright, but she brought out the chalk to strengthen the lines. Sarah released Charlie and he scooped up his child, holding him close to him, afraid that he would disappear from him. He ignored the smooth stones that clattered on the table as they fell from the boy's body.
The wixen left him to it, resting up and waiting for the next step in helping the child. Sarah helped the witch to strengthen the rune lines. She would do anything for the child and this is her doing just that.
"Once we are finished her, you will have to lay the child on the table again, Charlie," the Curse Breaker healer said sternly.
Charlie didn't say anything, his arms gently tightening around the small body in his arms. He wasn't going to let him get hurt again, even if it made the wixen angry.
Finally, after minutes of strengthening the runes, the witch was ready to continue helping the child. She forced Charlie to relinquish the child and then reapplied the stones to the boy's body.
"You will all stay outside of the rune circle now," she said, pulling out a crystal from a box that the others, apart from Charlie, recognized as a soul crystal. Such crystals were rarely used, but they were studied about at magical schools worldwide and recognized easily when came across. She also brought out bundles of sage and other plants, placing them around the child's body.
The others protested against staying outside, but the witch ignored them as she activated the runes, causing a thick see-through dome to form around her and the table. Then she began the daunting task of removing the soul-shard by starting with making a small incision in the child's lightning bolt scar and then starting another chant while lighting the plants on fire and then blowing on them to cause them to smoke while she used the crystal, turning it in slow circles above the boy's head. The air filled with the aroma of the plants, some pleasant, others not so much.
The three wixen and Charlie watched on with concern from outside the dome as the witch worked. They feared that it wouldn't work, that that the soul-shard would hold onto the child, but it was for nothing because something dark and inky began pouring from the small incision, screaming in a horrible voice as it was sucked into the crystal. The child began screaming also as the soul-shard tried to burrow back into his head, causing a lot more pain than the unbinding of his core had caused.
Charlie had to be restrained again and Sarah felt like she was going to faint at any moment at the blood curling screams coming from the boy tore through the air. Healer Alberty was thankful for the silencing wards that were on the shed because he was sure that the whole of Washington State would've heard those screams.
The soul-shard kept on pouring into the crystal, still screaming also and the witch still chanted for what seemed like hours and the child still screamed bloody murder as the minutes rushed by, and still there was nothing the others could do to help the boy, which made them feel utterly frustrated and helpless.
Finally there was a strange popping sound as the last of the soul-shard were pulled into the crystal and the witch stopped chanting, breathing hard and fast, and sweat trailing down her face. She didn't stop to rest, however, checking that no soul residue remained in the child's scar before she closed the incision that would later be nothing but a memory as the scar faded away with time.
She let the dome fall once she made sure that the boy was fine, or as fine as he can be with a still brittle core. Charlie wasted no time in rushing back into the rune circle and scooping up his child, holding him close once more. The others followed him into the rune circle, but stayed back to give him room.
Healer Alberty did another diagnostic spell, breathing in and out with relief as he found that the boy's core was fine even if it was still brittle. That could be remedied in the months and years to come now that the thing that was stopping the healing process was gone.
Of course it won't be too easy, but he was certain that by the time little Harry got his letters from either Hogwarts or Ilvermorny, or any other school for that matter, his core would be completely healed. He didn't voice it, however because he couldn't guarantee that, that would be the case and he didn't want to give the boy's guardian false hope.
In the meantime, Sarah disappeared from the shed and came back with the child's clothes a moment later. Charlie took them from her with a quick "Thank you" and dressed the boy with ease having done that so many times since gaining custody of the child.
The Curse Breaker healer watched him in silence while she rested for the time being. Soon she would start cleaning up the runes and pack away her things, but now she was content to just stand around and just observe the man and the sleeping child.
Her eyes fell on the crystal and she thought of where she was going to stash that because one day it might be needed to find and destroy others of its kind. Well, not crystals, that is, but other containers. She wasn't stupid. She was sure that somewhere, out there, more containers, be they living beings like the child or inanimate objects, are waiting to be found and destroyed. She hoped that she would be there to help with that task because such foul things are not meant to exist, yet they do and there was nothing anyone can do about it.
We can only destroy them, she thought bitterly as she began cleaning up the runes. She gave no more thought to it after that and soon Sarah fell in beside her to help her clean up the runes the mundane way because just vanishing them still leaves residue that can cause trouble. And we do not want trouble, was her last thought as she wiped away at a rune.
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Sorry it took me a while.