Hearing Rhys's words, Ron's face turned a color similar to his wound. He shakily raised his hand, nearly pushing the wound under Rhys's nose.
"Rhys, take a closer look. It's just a bite, how can you say there's no hope?" Ron's voice trembled.
"If it's a rabid dog bite, there's indeed no hope. Seems like this wound has been left untreated for a while?" Rhys calmly pushed Ron's hand away. Anyone with eyes could see Ron's condition was dire; the bitten hand had swollen to twice its normal size, and the flesh around the wound had turned green.
"It was yesterday, but it's only been a day!" Ron's face contorted with distress, on the verge of tears.
"Rabies, or what they call 'mad dog disease,' have you heard of it? If bitten by a rabid dog and not treated promptly, it's certainly fatal," Rhys said flatly.
In the non-magical world, rabies is incurable once symptoms appear. In the magical world, it's also a highly troublesome disease. Rhys believed that Hogwarts' medical facilities alone might not be enough to handle it.
However, Ron wasn't infected with rabies. His wound was a dragon bite, which had nothing to do with rabies.
Daphne chimed in, agreeing that it was a very difficult condition to treat.
Ron's face turned the color of liver.
After a minute of hesitation, he lowered his voice and said, "Can you keep the cause of my injury a secret?" Trusting Rhys and Daphne, given their shared disdain for Malfoy, Ron decided to confide in them.
If it weren't for his prior interactions with Rhys and Daphne, during which he found them to be among the more reasonable Slytherins, Ron wouldn't have sought help from them.
But he was out of options.
Among the people Ron knew, only these two exhibited exceptional talent in Potions. He and Daphne were the only duo who had never been criticized by Snape in Potions class. If they couldn't help, he'd have no choice but to go to the school nurse.
But once he was in the hospital wing, how would he explain the origin of the wound? If he couldn't provide a satisfactory explanation, Madam Pomfrey would escalate the matter to Professor McGonagall, and that would be disastrous.
So, Ron decided to confide in Rhys, trusting they would keep his secret.
"Of course, we won't tell anyone."
With Rhys's assurance, Ron admitted, "Alright, it's actually a dragon bite, from a Norwegian Ridgeback. Is there anything you can do to help?"
To Ron's surprise, Rhys and Daphne didn't seem shocked by this explosive revelation. Instead, they remained remarkably calm, as if he had merely been bitten by a stray dog.
Rhys nodded, indicating that Ron's wound indeed showed the standard signs of a dragon bite. Treating it, he assured, wouldn't be too difficult.
Growing impatient, Ron couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you curious at all about why I—"
"Why you were bitten by a dragon at Hogwarts Castle? It must be Hagrid's dragon, right? I suspected as much and didn't bother to ask. Hagrid's knowledge and resources are insufficient for him to be a competent dragon handler. If he insists on keeping a dragon in his hut, I can guarantee that more serious incidents are bound to happen," Rhys replied in one breath.
He was somewhat displeased with Hagrid's actions. Could Hogwarts accommodate a dragon? Certainly, but the handler needed to be well-prepared. If Hagrid's preparation consisted solely of those books, Rhys was firmly against his dragon-keeping endeavor.
Raising a dragon is a highly advanced skill. Masters of this craft can tame dragons to be as docile as sheepdogs, but Hagrid clearly wasn't one of those masters.
Ron's eyes widened in shock.
"How do you, um, know about that?" Ron stammered, too stunned to form a coherent sentence.
"He's too conspicuous!" Daphne recounted the day they encountered Hagrid and pointed out that with a bit of observation, anyone could figure out what Hagrid was up to.
Ron broke into a cold sweat. Thankfully, it was one of their own who noticed Hagrid's activities. If Malfoy or another Slytherin had discovered it...
Illegally keeping a dragon could result in a sentence in Azkaban!
"Alright, we'll talk about Hagrid later. Let's first take care of Mr. Weasley's wound." Now that Ron was finally telling the truth, Rhys was willing to help treat his injury.
They led Ron to an empty classroom and began preparing the necessary potions for his treatment.
"It's not a big problem; you don't need to worry." Rhys said, as he deftly added ingredients to the boiling cauldron with his wand.
"You just said—"
"So you were bitten by a rabid dog?"
Ron closed his mouth.
Daphne snorted, "You can't hide that wound. Anyone can tell it's a dragon bite at a glance."
As Rhys spoke, his potion was ready.
Knowing that Ron wanted to see how he would treat the wound, Rhys diluted the potion slightly and had Ron drink it.
Shortly after drinking the potion, Ron realized he couldn't feel his limbs.
After Ron had ingested the pain-relieving potion, Rhys pointed his wand at Ron's wound and used a precise cutting spell to remove the necrotic tissue. Once the dead tissue was removed, he applied a layer of salve to the wound.
The white salve quickly turned green upon contact with the wound.
When the salve turned green, Rhys removed it with a wave of his wand and applied a fresh layer. He repeated this process until the salve turned blood-red. Finally, he poured a few drops of Dittany on Ron's wound and bandaged it.
Ron's wound was treated.
"Good, the toxins in the wound have been completely removed—here, eat this." Rhys molded some of the salve into a ball and indicated that Ron should eat it.
Ron was puzzled.
"This will help draw out the toxins from your body. You didn't think the toxins stayed just near the wound, did you?"
Seeing Rhys's seriousness, Ron obediently ate the ball of salve.
"Thanks, Rhys, you've really helped me out a lot," Ron expressed his heartfelt gratitude to Rhys.
"You're welcome. Lead the way."
"Huh?"
"I want to meet Hagrid."
"What do you want to see him for?" Ron asked, feeling a bit guilty.
"I want to see if he's interested in some nutritional supplements for dragons."
Ron was once again bewildered; Rhys had thoroughly confused him.
Do dragons even need nutritional supplements?
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🐞Powerstones?🐞
12 Advance Chapters- Patreon.com/HornyFBI