A Web Of Magic

It was on the next Friday that Magnus got called to Prof. Flitwick's office. "Enter," Magnus heard and complied.

"Mr. Webb, I had a good discussion with Headmaster Dumbledore about your request and he agreed. While he did agree, he left the final decision to Madam Pomfrey. Now it is up to you to convince her to teach you," Prof. Flitwick informed Magnus.

"Thank you very much professor. I'll do my best," Magnus said sincerely. What more could he ask for? As he left Flitwick's office he went into thought,' Now what would Madam Pomfrey like? From what I gather, she's a no-nonsense person, so gifts may not work on her. Better be truthful and straightforward with her.'

He was soon standing outside the door of the medical wing on the first floor. He psyched himself up, opened the doors and entered. Madam Pomfrey was busy moving quickly about the hospital beds and healing the groaning students one after another. It seemed some accident had occurred based on the number of patients and the nature of their wounds. Magnus watched as she methodically healed their wounds and gave them what looked like Calming Drought and Blood-Replenishing potions.

Once the most immediate of the wounds were taken care of, she looked towards Magnus and asked sternly," What is it now?"

"Nice to meet you Madam Pomfrey, I'm Magnus Webb. Prof. Flitwick asked me to talk to you about my request," he calmly replied.

"Ah yes, Dumbledore told me about you," she gestured him to come towards her small office at one end of the room. When they sat down, she asked him again," Tell me Mr. Webb, why do you want to learn healing from me? I am sure there are other avenues of learning available."

"It is my understanding that books do not contain everything Madam Pomfrey. No matter how many books I read and spells I learn, if I do not have the practical experience it all amounts to nothing. My condition requires me to know how to heal myself. If I can do that then I earn some experience while also helping in healing other people. Besides, I'd prefer to learn from a professional who knows and does her job very well," he added in the end as a compliment.

"A good enough reason I suppose. But you have to understand Mr. Webb that healing is a complex subject and at higher level requires advanced knowledge about Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology and Defense Against the Dark Arts. We are talking about N.E.W.T level proficiency. Here's what we'll do. I'll put you on probation until Halloween. In the meantime," she scribbled a note and handed it to him," read this book thoroughly from the library. I'll test your knowledge after Halloween. If I find it satisfactory, I'll teach you more. Healing requires patience and responsibility Mr. Webb; I hope you'll take it seriously. There were a few before you over the years, but they didn't last long for one reason or the other. Now, the headmaster tells me that you learned some basics, why don't you tell me about it?" Madam Pomfrey spoke with a stern face. It is obvious she took her craft very seriously and if Magnus butchers it up, he'll be in for a reckoning.

Magnus swallowed nervously but he didn't let it show it on his face, "I'll do my best Madam Pomfrey. I learned about healing flesh wounds, can set and mend bones albeit slowly and dispel low level curses but that would require additional potions that I don't have at present," he answered truthfully. His family books supposedly held much more advanced stuff as per his aunt but his careless ancestors sold them away.

"It's good enough for a beginner. How about you show me?" Madam Pomfrey gestured him towards the patients outside on the beds. Both of them walked towards one of the patients. When Magnus looked closer, he realized it was someone he knew, Charlie Weasley. The sixth-year student looked sturdy with muscular arms which made one wonder, what could have hurt him? Magnus looked at the wound closely. It was a nasty gash on his right arm almost to his bone. The wound looked frozen as no blood flowed, Madam Pomfrey's work no doubt.

A number [65] appeared on top of Charlie's head as Magnus concentrated. This was one of the divination spells he learned when he levelled it up to Lv2. Vague knowledge was inserted into his head somehow as the schools increased in level. As he grasped and comprehended their concepts, he was able to use these unheard-of spells. The number above Charlie's head was a result of the spell he called [Identify]. It showed him things that would otherwise be hidden. If he used it on objects, it showed him what they do. When used on wizards or living beings, it showed numbers over their heads which Magnus understood, after trial and error, as their magic stat. As of now he can only see the stat for students, for the professors it just showed question marks. He assumed he was too weak or the spell level too low to look at their magic levels.

"What do you think Mr. Webb?" Madam Pomfrey asked him as a test.

"It looks like an animal attack based on the uneven pattern at the edges," he took out his wand and looked at her for permission when she nodded, he placed the wand hovering over the arm and cast a diagnostic charm. "There's muscle damage and blood loss, but nothing too serious, should be easy enough to heal."

"A decent prognosis, but not extensive. Can't blame you, your diagnostic charm is very basic. I'll teach you a better one later. You should also notice that there is a minor bone fracture under the flesh wound. The wound was from a Graphorn that went lose during Prof. Kettleburn's class. He should be glad that it wasn't a dark creature. God knows where the man found one," Madam Pomfrey went on a tirade. Magnus heard her mumbling something about the man not understanding caution despite losing his limbs. The commotion woke up Charlie who looked around blearily.

"Hey Charlie," Magnus greeted with a smile.

"Magnus? What are you doing here with your wand out? Did the twins put you up to this? For the last time you do not gain dragon powers if you put its blood in you. You'll most probably blow up," Charlie muttered warily. 'Only those guys think of such stuff. Hmm, maybe if it'd diluted? Well a thought for another time,' Magnus put his thoughts away.

"No Charlie, this has nothing to do with the twins," he alleviated Charlie's worries. Madam Pomfrey finished her tirade and said,��� Mr. Webb is here to help Mr. Weasley. And dragon blood doesn't work that way. A wizard did try doing it once, believe me it's not a good way to go. It's only shortly after that Prof. Dumbledore published the twelve uses of Dragon blood. Now stay still while Mr. Webb performs the treatment. Don't worry, I'm right here if something happens. Mr. Webb, tell me how would you go about treating this?"

Magnus thought for a moment and said," The wound needs to be cleaned first with a spell or a Wound-cleaning potion. Then the bone should be set and healed followed by the flesh and skin. If we are careful, there wouldn't be a scar as there isn't any dark magic involved."

"One thing to remember, the wound is frozen right now. Freezing a wound is a good way to prevent it from worsening, but it'll only last for a few minutes to an hour at most and it won't work on all wounds. It certainly won't work when dark magic is involved. While the wound is frozen, it cannot be healed. You have to unfreeze it to heal it," Madam Pomfrey gave an impromptu lesson as she handed Magnus a Wound-cleaning potion and unfroze the wound.

Magnus set to work immediately as the blood began to flow. He never saw much blood, not like this anyway. He pushed down his nausea and began pouring the cleaning potion over the wound. Once it's done, he used "Tergeo" to siphon away the blood, liquid and dirt. A quick "Osto Episkey" fixed the bone. "Sarca Episkey" healed the flesh slowly and in the end, there wasn't any indication that there was a wound before. Charlie looked at Magnus in wonder while Madam Pomfrey cast her own diagnostic charm to check the arm once again.

"Well you did a good job Mr. Webb. The spells you used were different from the usual ones, Greek I suppose?" Madam Pomfrey suggested.

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey. Family spells," Magnus clarified.

"Very well, but the next time you plan on using any family spells, ask me first. Family spells are usually not as well tested as the regular spells and might not work as intended on others," she cautioned.

'Hmm, I never thought of that before. I should pay more attention next time. I am already learning new things and we haven't gotten started yet. It was a good decision coming here,' Magnus affirmed in his head. Madam Pomfrey put away her wand and took back the note she gave him before. She added another book to the note and signed the note before giving back to him. "This is your permission slip Mr. Webb, use it wisely."

"Permission slip? Is this for the Restricted Section of the library?" Magnus asked while pushing down his excitement. He did hear that entering the restricted section required the permission of one of the professors.

"No Mr. Webb, this is for the regular section of the library. Some of the more advanced books are charmed to be only found if you have a professor's permission slip. We wouldn't want any of the younger students getting way over their heads now would we. And you are far too young to be thinking of the restricted section Mr. Webb. Don't be reckless and don't make me regret accepting you," Madam Pomfrey sternly warned him. Apparently, he didn't push down his excitement deep enough.

"Now off you go. It's time for your dinner," Madam Pomfrey shooed him away as she went about taking care of the remaining patients. As Magnus was about to go, Charlie pulled him back and said in a pleading tone," Thank you, Magnus. Do me a favor and don't say anything to mum yeah? She doesn't like my future plans and I don't need to give her any excuse for objection."

[Impact Points+10]

"It's alright Charlie, I won't say anything. Doctor-patient confidentiality and all," Magnus solemnly promised. Charlie nodded his head in return and asked, "What's a doctor?"

"Uh…"