*****
January thirtieth, afternoon, Hospital Wing, "Chamber of Secrets."
Driven by my swing, the bones of the chest snapped into place, at the same time pinching the nerve endings. The signals from them went straight to the brain, causing indescribable sensations. however, the patient did not react to this action. This is the second day since Gilderoy stopped responding to any actions on my part. Burnt out.
Having checked the result of the spell once again, I only sighed with displeasure.
- I overdid it with the mana in the control block again, which led to its destruction, and after that the whole spell scheme went to pieces, - yes, I have been trying to determine the maximum energy capacity of the blocks by the saturation of the scheme itself for several days now. After all, various "properties" depend on this, which are not provided by the creator.
Occasionally I manage to determine the correct amount of "energy". However, most of the time I get a banal "pffff" at the output. The selection method in all its glory. Manipulating spell patterns is much harder than manipulating the form of mana, as I do in the school of cryokinesis with ice, for example. Mostly there I only need will and mana for manipulation. Here...
"I wouldn't be so strict about your successes," Poppy came up and was somehow cheerful and pleased. — It usually takes from a week to a month to start working with the structure of spells. You already started practice on the third day, and that's if you count the first, theoretical lesson.
- However, this science does not want to submit to me at all, - he said slightly discontentedly. Again, playing to the crowd. In my mind, I understood that not everything comes at once, and practice is one of the most important details. I would say the most important.
- How hard you are on yourself, - she smiled slightly, however, not refuting my words. And then, turning to the "body", she continued: - Let me show you one interesting nuance connected with death. Anyway, this example has "outlived" itself.
Having activated my magical vision, I began to watch with all my eyes what the hands of the sorceress were doing. Beautiful and informative.
Having "woven" the magic web of the spell with her hands, Poppy compressed it into a small point with a wave of her hand, and then directed it towards the man's heart. Having landed on the chest, the spell was absorbed into the magician's aura, becoming an integral part of it.
A blow and the heart froze forever. Light waves ran through the aura, it swayed. A minute later, from the point in the aura where the heart was, the "canvas" began to darken. Gradually, second by second, it became darker and darker. A moment and the aura of the "living" crumbles, and in its place comes the aura of the "dead", as from an ordinary body.
After casting a couple of diagnostic spells into Gilderoy's body, I confirmed that mana and prana had stopped "flowing" in him. And besides, the body itself had cooled down. An accelerated version of final death?
- Well, how do you like the sight of imminent death? - Poppy asked me, continuing to observe the "patient".
"It was quite educational," I had to admit. "It was an accelerated 'process' of the death of a rational being, wasn't it?"
- True, - she nodded, turning to face me. - What you saw was an accelerated process of human death. The scheme is quite simple: the cause of death (in our case, the heart), as well as its consequences, - turning towards the altar, Pomfrey removed the body with a wave of her hand, and then created an illusion of what I could see. - Here we see that after the heart fails, the aura in the place where it is located begins to die, and then a detrimental effect on the entire body appears, - the already visible picture was quickly transferred to me. - Healers have a slightly different concept of the living and the dead. If the aura is less than a quarter dead, then the person is considered alive. Master Healers can treat such a patient on their own. If the aura has died more than a quarter, Grand Masters and Archmages come into play.
- And how do ordinary magicians, without magical vision, determine whether certain patients are still subject to treatment? - Indeed, not many see auras, I would say only a few.
- Well, there are two ways. The first is an artifact, most often glasses, that allow you to see auras and magical flows. The second is the time of death, another wave and a clock appears next to the illusion of the aura. — A person's aura dies quite quickly. Twenty to thirty percent die in the first ten minutes. Then the process slows down and after about a day the aura of the living, let's say, changes to the aura of the dead.
- In other words, if the patient's heart or brain died within ten minutes, then the healer can try to save the reasonable one?
- True. True, many magicians take a different time bar for themselves. Seven minutes. That is how long a person is considered alive, and then dead.
- Why? After all, there are still three minutes, in some cases more, - I did not quite understand her words. How can you determine a conditionally living person as dead? And no, this is not my conscience or anything else speaking in me. After all, you can at least try.
"It's all about the complexity of the operation," Poppy explained to me, dispelling the illusion. "With every "percentage" of a dead magical body, the complexity of the operation increases several times. That is why, in fact, they secretly accepted such a restriction.
- All this is not professional, - if you take on some business, please bring it to the end. At least try.
— This restriction was not taken from Barakhty Bay. He was accepted during one of the wars, when the number of patients is incredibly large, and healers are trying to save everyone. Agree, operations often last a very long time, and even more so when they are complex.
-What about the stasis charm? You can "bury" the seriously wounded, and then take care of them," while the conversation lasted, we smoothly moved to the recreation area.
- Do you think no one thought of them before you? — Taking the cup of tea that had just appeared in her hand, she smiled sarcastically at me. - It's all about the specifics of these spells. They are superimposed on one or more objects, but are completely removed immediately. That is, for example, he placed two magicians in stasis, and as soon as he began treatment, the spell would have to be removed from two," Poppy continued after drinking a little hot liquid. - I think it's clear here. Of course, you can cast spells on everyone individually, but they are so demanding in terms of mana... let's just say that a Master, in terms of reserve and control, provided that he is not a practitioner of the School of Time, will only be able to use four stasis spells. His reserve simply won't be able to handle more.
It's interesting. When I was still studying information on space, I came across a mention of this fact. In general, such a wild waste of energy is characteristic of every "higher" school, be it time and space, or light and darkness. Their requirements are incredibly "high".
Hmm, Poppy said something...
- Teacher, you said that ordinary, non-sighted healers use artifacts to see auras and magical energy, - hearing my question, she nodded silently. - Why shouldn't I get such glasses? It will be a kind of cover from the most curious.
- Do you think no one has done this before you? - Well, yes, it would be stupid to dream about it. - Of course you can, but such glasses can only "show" the tip of the iceberg. You can catch them on inaccuracies. You are already under suspicion, so they will look at you much more "severely".
- But will I gain time with such a maneuver? Moreover, there is no need to use them in public. I will "exploit" them during training. That's all I need.
- Hm. You know, it might work. Of course, this is not an absolute "protection" from problems, but with them you will buy yourself time. You will appreciate my "gift" as much as the apple of your eye," she grinned slightly.
A piece of parchment appeared out of thin air in front of her. She touched it lightly and burned the text of the letter onto it. The parchment curled into a tube and disappeared with a pop.
— I sent a letter to one of my friends. He will create for you "ordinary"-looking, but better in terms of magical filling, artifact glasses. Let them think that by doing this I am trying to compensate for your "blindness."
- Thank you teacher.
The rest of the conversation was mostly pointless. They chewed over the topic for another fifteen minutes, after which I said goodbye to the teacher and headed for the exit.
Today I still have one little task to do - appropriating the genes of a thousand-year-old basilisk. In general, the blood of such an ancient creature can retain one hundred percent of its properties for a week, of course, with proper storage. As the age of the donor increases, the shelf life also increases. I store it in the same ice flask, which quite fits the definition of "appropriate storage conditions." However, I won't risk it and will use it today. Although I can wait another day or two. You never know...
In general, my actions may look rash from the outside, well, who would use the blood of an incredibly strong and ancient creature if there are already problems with prana. But otherwise, I may miss the only opportunity. Somehow I doubt that Harriet will give me the blood of the serpent at my first request. And to come to an agreement with him myself... Well, I still want to live.
And even according to the most pessimistic forecasts (the effect of blood on me), I will cope with my idea just in time for the summer, which is quite within the (shortened) deadline.
Moreover, it is not a fact that the snake is alive. It could well have happened that DDD staged a performance for us, saying that he did not kill an innocent animal. But in fact, I already sold it in parts a long time ago.
In general, tonight, and the night after it, promises to be quite interesting.
*****
How much can change in a magic school in half a week, given that before that it was under martial law? Yes, a lot.
First and most importantly, the ban on movement in the school was lifted (of course, certain areas are still prohibited). Now you can meet students all over the castle and communicate in the most unusual places. Oh, and don't forget about the couples in love. It seems like spring has not arrived, but their population has grown by leaps and bounds. Even the single crows climbed out of their holes. Progress.
There was no news from the Ministry, so owl mail, trips to Hogsmeade, and vacation trips were all off-limits. Although the children had gotten used to it, paying almost no attention to the restrictions. In contrast, DDD looked happier and happier every day, as did the entire teaching staff (except Snape). And hearing from Astoria that Lucius was no longer a representative of the board of governors… it became clear why DDD was in such a good mood.
Of course, Harriet became the "Hero of the offended and separated" again. What can I say, duplicity is in the blood. Potter herself smiled and shook hands in public, but in her emotions there was something.... However, this "typhoon" did not go away too much when I saw her. I stopped trying to "sort out" these thoughts for the second time. Well, fuck it, it's calmer this way. (I did not stop tracking aggression)
As if on the other side of the fence, Pattil is still the only one whose emotions towards Harriet are pure, as are Potter's towards her. Balance.
Ginny. It's good that the school is closed, because these walls definitely wouldn't withstand a visit to the Weasley Matriarchy. The little one remains unconscious to this day. However, the magical body has stabilized, and the mental one too. She is already three times stronger than her former self. At her age, she doesn't reach me or Harriet, but she was able to overtake Daphne (one of the strongest in the class), albeit not by much. The distortion of the magical component is felt so strongly that just standing next to her, with my magical instinct I feel traces of "dark magic". Incredible potential in the dark branch of magic. What a pity that the family will ruin these abilities. Although it would be nice to conduct an experiment.
Surprisingly, DDD did not call me, limiting himself to Harriet. According to Poppy, there were attempts in my direction, but she, as my "teacher," discouraged any mood. Well, great. Of course, I had already flashed before the eyes of DDD, but the teacher cooled his ardor. If there was one.
I have a conversation with Crystal in the near future, I noticed these glances directed at me. However, I don't want this "sparring" for now. Right now I have another goal.
Well, the time has come to the right "segment". It's time to move out.
*****