Thursday, December 31, 1994 – Morning
Lord Greengrass knocked on Harry’s bedroom door at 5am. “Harry! Coming in!”
The lord went to Harry’s bed, firmly grasped his shoulder, and shook Harry till he awoke.
“Wah! Wah isit.”
“Wake up Harry. You have an urgent medical appointment this morning. Get dressed in your workout clothes. There is no need to dress up.” Lord Greengrass and a house-elf hustled Harry out of bed and got him dressed.
“What’s going on, I was going to train early but it is still really dark outside.” Harry gradually brightened up.
“I have received an urgent message from the Unspeakables working on your scar problem. They are ready to deal with it. You have told us about having dreams connected with Tom Riddle, well the Unspeakables now have a way to cut that connection. We have to put their plan into action as soon as possible. If any hint of what is going on gets back to Riddle, the consequences could be unfortunate.”
“Where am I going?” Harry asked.
“The Department of Mysteries; we will floo to their own infirmary. It is normally restricted and only a few Unspeakables have access to it. They have given us access for today. You can’t have anything to eat or drink until after the treatment.” Lord Greengrass hurried Harry to the floo.
The infirmary was very white, white floors, white walls, white ceiling, and no windows. There was one bed in the suite which Harry was given. Harry had undressed on put on the hospital gown that he had been given. It tied at the back and Harry took some time to make sure that his rear view was not showing.
Eric Davis and Miriam Dawes came into the room. Eric greeted Harry. “Harry, sorry about the rush, but we have to get moving with this as soon as we worked out what your scar is and the solution to your problem.”
Neither Unspeakable was smiling. Miriam Dawes spoke.
“This is a very unusual procedure, Harry. I will try to talk you through what is going to happen because as soon as it starts you won’t be in any condition to listen to explanations.”
The Unspeakable took out a parchment and read from a list on it.
“First, you have to be undressed, even a hospital gown could interfere with the procedure.
Second, the procedure has to take place in a sterile environment, that is like a mundane medicine operating room.
Third, the procedure has to take place in a magically inert environment. It looks a bit intimidating, but we have that sterile and inert room here.
Fourth, you have to be restrained so that you can’t struggle and try to get away once we start. That sounds bad and it is.
Fifth, the procedure itself is necromancy. The shard of Tom Riddle’s soul that is in your scar is technically dead but is still clinging to life. That is why necromancy will work for us. The ritual is used to clean the remains of a dead soul from the living world. It has to be isolated from the living tissue that it is leaching magic from, which is you. The necromancy ritual is surprisingly simple. The soul shard will try to hang on as it is isolated and that will be painful. The soul shard will be trapped in the tissue of your scar.
Sixth, once the isolation is complete then we have to remove the tissue from you in which the soul shard is trapped. This will be achieved by a mundane surgical procedure. Your scar is something which magical healing has no answer for. In mundane medicine it is known as precancerous skin lesions, and these can be removed by surgery. Magic prevents cancers from ever forming, which is why healers never have to deal with it.”
Harry thought for a second. “Can’t I have something for the pain?”
“Sorry Harry, the pain is from an entirely magical source. Any magic to reduce the pain will tend to block the necromancy from working. Once the mundane surgery starts then you can have a local anaesthetic.” Miriam Dawes was stern. “We have the services of a witch healer who is also a mundane doctor and surgeon.”
The group was ushered into a room at the end of a long hall. It was lit by powerful lights over a black slab which rose to waist height. “We will leave you here Harry, let me take your gown. Remove your lord’s ring, I will keep them for you. Step up and sit on the slab. An attendant will position you. See you on the other side.” Eric Davis took Harry’s gown and rings and left with Miriam Dawes.
Another door opened and four shrouded Unspeakables entered. “Lie down and put your arms and legs together.”
As soon as Harry had followed the instructions he was moved magically to the centre of the slab. The slab was warm and seemed to radiate power. Broad restraining bands grew up from the slab and covered Harry from his neck to his feet. His head was clamped in place.
The shrouded figures began to recite a simple incantation in Latin. Harry didn’t know enough Latin to follow what they were saying. One Unspeakable began another incantation while rest continued repeating the first.
His scar began to itch and itch. The itch got a lot worse. Harry was desperate to scratch it, but he couldn’t move. Then the itch started to hurt. The pain rapidly built up. Harry was gasping and moaning. Then he started screaming. The pain was pulsing as though his face and scalp was being pulled off. Harry never blacked out. Afterwards he couldn’t tell how long the pain went on for.
“Harry! Don’t try to move. The necromancy is finished. We are going to move you to the side of the plinth.” A shrouded figure was leaning over him. He felt a gentle movement to one side. Then another figure a green surgical gown was beside him.
“Just a small sting, Harry.” Harry had heard that before when he had got his shots from a mundane doctor.
The numbness mercifully spread; Harry started to breath more easily. The memory of the pain started to recede.
Harry felt something push and pull at his scar. Then something warm trickled across his face. A hand wiped it off. There was more pushing and pulling, and the sound of things being put on a metal tray.
“All done, Harry. The wound has been healed. You will have a light white scar instead of the black one. You can have a shower and get dressed. There might still be a bit of blood on you. Head wounds always bleed like crazy.”
On returning to Greengrass Manor, Harry realized that he was lightheaded and woozy. “I think that I have to lie down for a while. What time is it?”
“It’s two in the afternoon. You haven’t had anything to eat or drink today. Can you try a sandwich and a cup of tea before you lie down?” Daphne had been appointed Harry’s carer for the day.
“OK. I feel really weird. I’m not unwell, just not the same as I was before.” Harry nearly walked into a wall instead of the doorway.
After a sandwich and tea, Harry slept for three hours. Eric and Mary Davis and Tracey arrived as Harry was roused to join the evening meal.
“You are looking very well, Harry. You were saying that you were feeling different, how different?” Eric asked. Greengrass dinner conversation could be about anything at all. Everyone wanted to hear about the new improved Harry.
“I’m lighter. I feel lighter until I try to pick something up, then I feel weaker. I’m better than I was earlier. The doctor told me that I will feel a bit shocked because the ritual and then the little surgery. She said that I will be more myself tomorrow.” Harry said.
“How are your thoughts in general?” Cyrus asked.
“Good! I feel better about myself. I know that something has gone that was clinging to me. I can’t explain what it is or why. It just feels better.” Harry smiled shyly.
Eric Davis nodded. “Tomorrow we can do a few simple things like measure your magical core strength.”
Mary Davis spoke, “Harry, after dinner, if you feel like it, Olivia and I can show you photos and letters from your mother that we haven’t given you yet. We can also talk about our memories of our time at school and afterwards.”
Harry smiled, “That would be great! Thankyou!”
The family and guests waited for New Year. The Greengrass Manor and the neighbouring properties celebrated New Year with fireworks in the new traditional manner. There was even an after-dinner visit from Michael Plantier who had managed to get permission from the Beaubatons headmistress to be at Greengrass Manor for the New Year fireworks.
--ooOOoo—
Another training swim had finished. Harry was getting better at using his compass to find his way. Martin had taken him to the middle of the lake and spun him around until he was disoriented. Harry then had to find his way back to the ice hole. Half an hour passed with Harry going in the wrong direction. Martin pointed to Harry’s compass which he had once again neglected to consult. Ten minutes later he was back at the ice hole.
“We are finishing up here tomorrow and you are going back to Hogwarts.” Paul began. “You are progressing quite well, but I still have concerns. I am going to ask Lord Greengrass if he can get us invited to be at the second task. I have underwater cameras which we can use to track you and the other competitors. We will tell the organizers that we can make a movie of the underwater action, otherwise no one will see what is going on. We can only try.”
Cyrus approached Harry, “Back to Hogwarts on Sunday, how are you feeling?”
“I’m more confident than I have been before. That soul shard thing was draining me. I am happier now and I feel better without being hyped up.” Harry replied calmly.
“Eric Davis is here so we can measure your magical core. That will be interesting.” Cyrus smiled. Harry wasn’t sure.
--ooOOoo—
“I have the results here. You now have twenty percent more power available to use than you did on the day before the ritual.” Eric showed a page of results.
“Your core is still growing. It will grow in spurts for the next three years and then settle down to your young adult level. However, twenty percent in a few days is remarkable. I will ask Miriam Dawes to track your progress. It is evident that the soul shard was holding you back. You will have to be careful with all your magic and wand work. The power you used before will now be over-powering.”
Harry considered what to say. “What about the connection to Tom Riddle? Is there any way to see if it is still there?”
“I don’t have an answer to that Harry. You will have to tell us if you can still sense anything. The general improvement in your sense of well-being is very encouraging. Let Professor Dawes or I know if there is any hint of a connection.” Eric Davis continued. “Your improvement in magical strength is the best sign. You now have much more natural magical power than you had before, and that power was at the top of your class to begin with.”
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