By the time Harry, Ron, and Neville rushed to the Medical Wing, they found Hermione without even asking.
Because her crying was simply too… loud.
The moment the three of them actually saw Hermione, they all stared with wide, bewildered eyes.
"I take back what I said earlier about Professor Trelawney being a fraud…" Ron murmured.
"Me too."
"She's a true genius!"
The three of them praised Professor Trelawney from the bottom of their hearts.
"...Do you have to say this in front of me? Couldn't you at least whisper it behind my back?" Hermione wiped away the few tears from the corners of her eyes, her normally bright eyes automatically turning into a dead-fish stare as she complained.
"Oh, I'm sorry, but actually… it is a bit funny." Ron said as he walked over, flicking the two small horns that had grown on Hermione's forehead with his fingernail.
They had pierced the skin, but fortunately, Madam Pomfrey quickly gave Hermione pain relief Potion and applied a special ointment.
"Not just funny, it's cool, really. You should get some paint and color these two horns red, it's just that Halloween has passed… Maybe next Halloween you can continue to drink the Bone-Growing Potion and slightly…" Harry also leaned in, joking.
"Is there a way to remove this horn? It won't leave a scar, will it?"
Hermione's mood improved slightly: "You three, only Neville spoke like a human. As for the other two of you… Heh heh."
She looked at Harry and Ron with disdain as she spoke.
"It shouldn't leave a scar. The damage from bone proliferation should be purely physical damage, and ordinary Potions should be able to heal it," Harry comforted.
"Oh… I hope so, but now I just don't know how Madam Pomfrey is going to remove these two horns. Perhaps it's some magical Potion?" Hermione sighed and replied.
Harry, Ron, and Neville subtly exchanged glances, having a 3/3 in-team voice chat in the blink of an eye.
[A whole prank?]
[Yes!]
[No problem!]
The next moment, Ron spoke directly: "I don't know, but when we came in, we saw Madam Pomfrey carrying two huge steel saws, I don't know what she's going to do with them."
Hermione's face instantly turned deathly pale.
"Steel saws?"
"Yeah, besides the saws, there were also steel files, like a carpenter," Harry added.
Hermione momentarily forgot to wipe her tears. She looked vaguely at the ceiling, and at the same time, a bizarre image appeared in her mind.
A terrifying large iron frame fixed her head, and then Madam Pomfrey, holding a steel saw in one hand and her horn in the other, sawed fiercely. After sawing, fearing it wouldn't be smooth, she filed it with a rasp, and finally polished it with sandpaper. From then on, she would only have two ghastly white circles on her forehead.
Almost everyone who saw her for the first time would say: "What happened to your forehead…?" or "Hello, did you get them ground down?"
"It's over, my life is over, my future is gone, my…"
When Madam Pomfrey walked in, she saw Hermione, who looked like an empty shell. She looked at her three Little Wizardss with some confusion: "What's wrong with her?"
After the three Little Wizardss explained the situation, Madam Pomfrey reluctantly pulled out a bottle of Potion: "This is what happens when Little Wizardss only learn applied magic and not theoretical magic."
"Drink this and you'll be perfectly fine."
Hermione took the Potion and looked at Madam Pomfrey, whose hands were empty…
"My horns don't need saws and files, do they?"
"Do you know why some people who are attacked by Dark Arts and have their flesh damaged cannot regenerate, or why Muggles experience phantom pain after losing a limb?" Madam Pomfrey did not answer immediately but asked.
The four Little Wizardss all shook their heads. Hermione seemed to forget about her two horns and regained the feeling of being in a classroom.
"Because of the soul. Dark Arts damage the body and simultaneously damage that part of the soul, so conventional methods that repair the body based on the soul cannot restore the body. Only specific counter-curses can be used."
"As for Muggle limb loss, the body is damaged, but the soul remains intact, so the so-called phantom limb pain is some kind of abnormality of the soul," Madam Pomfrey explained.
Hermione reacted: "So these two horns of mine don't have a soul? Then is this one bottle of Potion enough?"
Madam Pomfrey nodded: "However, this will hurt a little, because its principle is to destroy your body while allowing your body to regrow based on your soul… I don't know if you've studied Muggle biology, insect metamorphosis."
"The effect is similar, so I need to create a cocoon for you."
After hearing Madam Pomfrey's explanation, Hermione felt completely unwell. As a double scholar of Muggle and magic, she, of course, knew what metamorphosis was.
In short, it's when an insect melts into a liquid inside a cocoon and then reorganizes itself…
"Can't we use other methods? Like… using a saw or something?"
Madam Pomfrey shook her head: "Pain-relieving Potion can only be used for muscle and skin pain, but your two horns are fully equipped with nerves and blood vessels. You won't be able to bear that kind of intense pain."
"Then this Potion…" Hermione looked at the Potion in her hand, still with a look of rejection.
"Just for one night, Miss Granger, and this is Hogwarts. We have magic, so of course, it's not really turning you into a liquid and reorganizing. Destruction and reorganization happen simultaneously. Relax," Madam Pomfrey comforted.
"Then… the cocoon you mentioned?"
"That's for hygiene, poor child." Madam Pomfrey waved her wand casually, and a bubble expanded from inside Hermione's body outwards.
"Drink it."
"Oh… I have no other choice." Hermione swallowed, then abruptly drained the Potion in her hand.
"...It's cool and sweet," she commented.
"Next, you'll need to get some sleep. After all, this kind of pain, like Pi, is quite difficult to endure. It's better to sleep through it." Madam Pomfrey said, raising her wand again. After Hermione nodded, she gently tapped: "Stupefy."
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