Chapter 201: Reaction to the Potion and Innes Speaks of Egypt
After that brief interlude, it was finally time for Cyril to take his dose. Before administering the potion, however, Drummond retrieved a small tin bucket bearing the St. Mungo's crest from a cupboard. "After you take this, you may experience some side effects, such as coughing up blood. Don't be alarmed, though; it's perfectly normal," the Healer explained, placing the new bucket beside Cyril's bed.
This particular reaction was somewhat rare, and when the potion first entered clinical trials, it had scared the wits out of both the Healers and the patients taking it. However, despite the alarming nature of the process, the results were undeniable. The vast majority of patients who took the potion showed significant improvement. Consequently, Healers now made it a point to warn patients about the reaction beforehand to prevent any panic.
"Yes, I'm aware," Cyril said, merely nodding. Ethan had already explained all of this to him in detail.
Drummond remembered this as well, so he skipped the rest of the standard, less critical warnings and simply handed the vial to Cyril. Cyril pulled out the stopper and downed the red potion in one go.
The room fell silent. All three of them were watching Cyril, though each had different thoughts.
Everyone present knew the potion was extremely bitter. Innes had been utterly blindsided by the bitterness during his first dose, unable to control his expression and needing plenty of water afterward to rinse the taste from his mouth. He wondered if he was the only one so thoroughly defeated by the taste, or if others would react the same way.
Ethan also knew how bitter the potion was and had come prepared with water in his bag, ready to offer it to Cyril at the first sign of discomfort.
Drummond was prepared to conjure water with the Aguamenti charm if needed, but he was also timing the potion's effects to add the data to the hospital's growing database.
But Cyril's reaction defied all expectations. The potion went down, and his face remained perfectly composed, as if he had tasted nothing unpleasant at all.
"Isn't it bitter? Do you want some water?" Ethan pulled a bottle from his bag anyway, uncapped it, and handed it to Cyril.
Cyril took the bottle, swished some water around his mouth, and spat it into the tin bucket. "It's not so bad. It tastes better than I imagined."
Drummond scribbled something rapidly onto a clipboard he had produced seemingly from nowhere. Innes, meanwhile, looked at Cyril's calm demeanor, then thought back to his own experience, and couldn't help but wonder if they had even drunk the same potion.
Two minutes later, however, Cyril's face turned pale. The potion was clearly beginning to take effect. He leaned forward slightly and spat a mouthful of black blood into the bucket.
"Onset at two minutes after ingestion, faster than average. Could that be due to the lack of water intake, or is it simply a matter of individual constitution?" Drummond murmured, glancing at the expelled blood before jotting down his observations.
Even though Ethan had expected this, he still felt a pang of worry.
"I'm fine," Cyril said, dabbing the corner of his mouth with a towel. Seeing the concern in Ethan's eyes, he added, "I actually feel quite good."
"It's normal," Innes chimed in. "That's nothing. Some patients fill half the bucket in one go. My first time was the same, and because I'd drunk so much water, it was a mixture of water and blood. The bucket filled up fast. But it gets better each time. The second dose was much less than the first. I'm due for my final dose tomorrow, and after that, I should be completely cured." As he spoke, Innes looked at Ethan again, his expression deeply grateful.
"Mm." Ethan nodded, accepting their reassurances.
The first bout gave way to a second, and within an hour, Cyril reached for the bucket several more times. But each time he set it back down, his complexion seemed a little rosier. After Drummond confirmed that the potion's effects had run their course, Cyril stretched and moved his limbs experimentally. "I feel lighter already."
"That's good to hear." Ethan was delighted and found himself hoping that after all three doses, Cyril would make a full recovery and enjoy a longer life.
"I'll be heading back to my examination room. Come find me if you need anything." Drummond picked up the bucket and left.
Cyril's reaction to the treatment had lasted considerably longer than the Healer had anticipated. Most previous patients had stopped reacting within half an hour. Innes's half-hour reaction had been considered on the longer side, but Cyril's had lasted a full hour. If Drummond hadn't periodically confirmed that Cyril wasn't heading into dangerous territory, he might have felt compelled to intervene.
"Based on the current progress," Cyril said, patting Ethan's hand, "it seems unlikely that I'll need a fourth dose or more to heal these old wounds. That means we can move up our schedule for the trip to Africa."
Cyril had made extensive preparations for their journey to Egypt. If Ethan hadn't strongly urged him to visit St. Mungo's first, Cyril suspected they would already be on a plane. However, mindful of Innes's presence, Cyril was careful not to be too specific. He mentioned only "Africa" without naming the precise location.
Ethan was just as eager for the trip, but he was more concerned about Cyril's health. "There's no rush. Let's wait a few days and see how the potion continues to work."
"Yes, of course," Cyril agreed with a smile, but his mind was already racing ahead, reviewing his plans to see if there was anything he might have overlooked that could be addressed in the next few days.
Overhearing their conversation, Innes joined in. "You're planning a trip to Africa? Egypt or Uganda?"
"We'll start in Uganda. If we have time, we might visit Egypt, but we'll skip it if we're pressed. The main purpose this time is to take Ethan to Uagadou to broaden his horizons. The wizarding traditions in Africa are quite different from ours in Europe. They have a unique practice of casting spells through hand gestures and finger movements. I'd like him to learn a bit of that, in case he ever finds himself without a wand and needs to defend himself."
Cautious, Cyril gave them a deliberately misleading destination, though his reasoning wasn't entirely baseless. Cyril intended for Ethan to pick up some wandless casting techniques, though the actual destination would be Egypt, not Uganda. Ethan was also quite interested in the Animagus training taught at Uagadou. Many graduates could transform into large animals like elephants or lions, and some could even take multiple animal forms. Ethan was curious how they managed it and wondered if he might learn the technique himself, perhaps developing another animal form to conceal his ability to transform into a red dragon. That, however, would be a personal project. Dumbledore had said he didn't know about the method, though whether that was the truth or simply a polite refusal to share remained unclear. Still, if the Egyptian leg of their journey went well, a side trip to Uganda wasn't entirely out of the question.
"Ah, Uganda. I'm not as familiar with that region," Innes said, regret in his voice at not being able to offer his local expertise. "But if you find yourselves with extra time, I'd highly recommend a visit to Egypt."
Cyril and Ethan exchanged a look. "You know Egypt well?" Cyril asked.
"Of all the countries in Africa, Egypt is the one I know best. After graduating from Hogwarts, I spent several years there before returning to Britain. Even now, I make a point of going back every few years.
"To be honest with you, the injury that's plagued me for thirty years happened in Egypt."
"What exactly were you doing in Egypt to end up with such a stubborn affliction?" Cyril saw an opportunity to glean some information from Innes, perhaps something he hadn't encountered in his own research, and steered the conversation in that direction.
"Well, you probably know that during the last century, Britain's Muggle world was a formidable military power and engaged in widespread colonization. Egypt was one of the targets of the Muggle government. In those desperate times, some Egyptian wizards tried to break the International Statute of Secrecy by directly targeting Muggle military officers and politicians. The British Prime Minister at the time appealed to the Minister for Magic, requesting that British wizards be deployed to protect the officers and counter the Egyptian wizards. My great-grandfather was among those who answered the call and went to Egypt. Surely someone in your family must have been involved, or at least heard about it?"
"That affair? I've read the family records about it. Our family was small, so we didn't get involved." It was the truth. The Shafiq family chronicles did mention the conflict, but partly due to a distaste for war and partly because their extensive travels had fostered friendly relations with certain Egyptian wizards, they had chosen to stay out of it.
"Not many wizards actually went, you know. It's not unusual for your family to have stayed out of it. A bit of a shame, though. Egypt, a land of such ancient magical tradition, holds countless ruins and treasures beyond our imagination. When my great-grandfather was there, he brought back a great many local texts and magical artifacts. My own injury, as it happens, is directly tied to those very items.
"I went to Egypt after graduation because some of those inscriptions and texts my family brought back contained hidden clues about lost pyramids and pharaohs' tombs. I went there seeking those lost treasures. Unfortunately," Innes said with a rueful smile, "I found no treasure. I came home with nothing but injuries."
Before either Cyril or Ethan could offer any words of comfort, Innes had already composed himself and continued. "It wasn't a complete loss, mind you. Following the clues in my family's texts, I did manage to locate a few scattered magical implements and some antiquities. As for the actual injury, I'd rather not go into detail. It's a bit embarrassing. Suffice it to say I was struck by a curse, and without any known counter-curse, the damage only worsened over time, eventually becoming the thirty-year affliction it is today."
Since Innes preferred not to discuss the specifics of how he was injured, Cyril and Ethan did not press him.
"The magical traditions there are vastly different from those in Europe. In Egypt, besides those who attend Uagadou, there are many wizards who still adhere to the old master-apprentice system of teaching. They preserve all sorts of obscure and remarkable spells. If you have the chance to interact with them, you're bound to learn something valuable."
"That's very true. Much of African magic is passed down through master-apprentice lineages, which is why the continent is home to such a wide array of peculiar and unique spells." Cyril spoke from considerable personal experience.
Seeing that Cyril seemed to have some firsthand knowledge of Africa, Innes grew even more enthusiastic and began sharing his own insights and stories about Egypt. To keep the conversation going, Cyril also recounted a few amusing anecdotes from his own past trips to Egypt, though he mostly listened as Innes talked. Much of what Innes shared was already familiar to Cyril; after all, he had been preparing for this Egyptian expedition for a very long time, and combined with his ancestors' accumulated records, Cyril was practically an expert on Egypt himself. However, Innes did reveal some information that was new to Cyril, particularly concerning certain lost pyramids. Such knowledge was typically closely guarded and rarely shared with outsiders. Innes, caught up in the conversation and perhaps concluding after years of fruitless searching that his information was flawed, was now telling the stories more as legends.
And among the many pyramids Innes described was the very one Cyril was planning to take him to find. When Innes began talking about that specific pyramid, Cyril's hand involuntarily clenched into a fist. Fortunately, Innes did not notice, but to someone sitting beside him, the sudden tension would have been unmistakable.
He said nothing, however, and simply continued listening to the conversation.
The morning slipped into afternoon before they knew it. Innes's wife arrived with a home-cooked lunch. After brief introductions, the middle-aged witch, Kayla, warmly invited the two of them to join the meal. Both Cyril and Ethan politely declined. They left the ward and headed up to the sixth floor, where the tea room and gift shop were located.
"Grandfather," Ethan said once they were on an empty stairwell and he had cast Muffliato to keep the nosy Healer portraits from eavesdropping, "I saw your hand turn white from gripping so tightly. Was one of the pyramids Innes mentioned the very one we're looking for?"
"Yes," Cyril admitted. "I hadn't expected to hear that someone else was hunting for a pyramid that's been lost for thousands of years. It caught me off guard." He knew others had always been searching for such lost treasures, but hearing that someone else was actively pursuing the same pyramid had instilled a new sense of urgency in him.
"It can't be that easy," Ethan said, trying to reassure him. "The Innes family has had that information for nearly a hundred years and still hasn't found the pyramid. What are the odds that it just happens to be discovered right when we go looking for it? It's too much of a coincidence."
"Mmm. Still, as soon as I'm discharged, we leave for Egypt immediately." The urgency Cyril felt did not abate with Ethan's words. He made a firm decision to leave the hospital early.
Ethan was unaware of Cyril's new resolve. After buying some food on the sixth floor and eating with Cyril, he left St. Mungo's. There was no real need for him to stay at the hospital. Besides, with only a few days left before the trip to Egypt, he wanted to spend some more time at home with his parents. He planned to return the next day to keep Cyril company for a while.
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