Two days later.
“So you’re saying that, in your eyes, only Professor Flitwick and people like Hagrid don’t appear as various kinds of bugs?” In the Hogwarts Hospital Wing, Thorne sat on a bed holding his swollen cheek, looking at the fly lady in the white coat standing in front of him.
As she spoke, she opened the door of a nearby medicine cabinet.
Thorne nodded slightly.
“Yeah… that’s about right.” He added through his swollen mouth, “I was just too happy, Madam Pomfrey, so I got careless… and got attacked by one of his ridiculously hard cookies.
Ow—” It was the truth.
In this hopeless “bug world,” running into two people who actually looked human was something worth celebrating for Thorne.
Even if one of them had to jump just to reach his knee and the other only came up to Thorne’s elbow when standing straight.
Strictly speaking, neither of them really fit the definition of a “normal human.” But it was still comforting.
Though this was already his third trip to the hospital in the three days since he’d arrived in this world… He and this place really did have some kind of connection.
“Hmm…” Madam Pomfrey made a thoughtful hum.
“Interesting.” “Combining what you described earlier with the diagnosis from the Muggle doctors…” “I don’t believe your symptoms are purely a mental illness.” As she spoke, she skillfully pulled a bottle labeled “Tooth-Strengthening Potion” from a row inside the cabinet and handed it to Thorne.
“Here.
Hold it in your mouth.
Don’t swallow.” Thorne obeyed at once.
The moment the liquid entered his mouth, it felt like holding a slightly cool piece of jelly—strange texture, almost bouncy.
He had to resist the urge to bite down.
Madam Pomfrey continued her analysis, her wings twitching unconsciously behind her and filling the air with an annoying buzz.
“I’m more inclined to believe this is a manifestation of your magic running wild.” “One piece of evidence is that your perception of ‘bug forms’ clearly has some kind of selectivity.” She closed the cabinet and looked at him.
“For example, you see Dumbledore as a bee and Professor Sprout as an earthworm—those have very clear characteristic links.” “But you don’t see Professor Flitwick or Hagrid as bugs.” “And those two share something in common: they both have special mixed-blood ancestry.” “Professor Flitwick has goblin blood.” “As for Hagrid…” She paused.
“Although he rarely mentions it, most people can tell he’s most likely a half-giant.” The fly lady tightened her white coat.
“The fact that you can distinguish them probably isn’t a coincidence.” “It’s very possible that your magic is unconsciously reacting in a special way to anything that isn’t purely human.” Hearing her say that, Thorne thought it made a lot of sense.
For instance, every single healer he’d seen at St.
Mungo’s after arriving in this world had appeared as… flies.
Just as some rather unpleasant thoughts began forming in his head, Thorne suddenly noticed the jelly-like sensation in his mouth disappearing rapidly.
His eyebrows shot up.
He opened his mouth and ran his tongue over his teeth.
The teeth that had been knocked out were completely regrown, perfect and whole, with not even a trace of pain left behind.
“Whoa… how did you do that?” Madam Pomfrey’s wings gave a light flutter, and that irritating buzzing sound filled the air again.
Her many compound eyes curved slightly in what looked like a smile.
“This is the result of a potion personally improved by Professor Snape.” There was clear pride in her voice.
“When it comes to dentistry, Hogwarts leads the entire magical world.” “Oh?” Thorne looked surprised.
“I didn’t expect that… Do Hogwarts students and staff run into a lot of tooth problems?” As he said it, images of earthworms and mosquitoes flashed through his mind.
They didn’t exactly look like creatures that would have dental issues.
Was it because of Snape?
…Though bats did have teeth.
“Actually, not that many.” Madam Pomfrey shook her head.
“It’s just that the absolute consumption of tooth-strengthening potion is quite high.” She gently closed the cabinet full of the potion.
“Well, your teeth are no longer a concern.
If you have any other problems in the future, feel free to come find me anytime.” She paused.
A spark of genuine interest lit up in her compound eyes.
“Speaking of which, I’m quite interested in your condition as well.
Perhaps we could do some research on it.” “Research?” Thorne raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued.
“You mean… there might be a way to cure it?” If there was any real chance of fixing the problem where he kept seeing people as bugs, he’d cooperate with any research.
Hell, he’d even kowtow to Madam Pomfrey on the spot if it helped.
But Madam Pomfrey shook her head.
“I can’t say for certain.” Her tone was cautious.
“However, I saw a case at a St.
Mungo’s treatment magic conference about using dream intervention to treat Muggle schizophrenia.
Perhaps we could try something similar—Professor Thorne?” She stopped mid-sentence, suddenly startled, and turned around.
Thorne, who had been standing right there a moment ago, had vanished.
The hospital wing door was ajar.
— “Whew—close call, way too close…” Thorne stood outside the hospital wing, heart still pounding, and let out a long breath.
Jesus.
Dreams… That stuff was an absolute “slide to hell” in Hallownest.
You never touched it.
Even though he hadn’t shown any signs of the Radiance yet, if he accidentally brought something like the plague into this world, the consequences would be unimaginable.
The horrors of Hallownest were still fresh in his memory.
He had no desire to see Hogwarts go down the same path.
Just as he was thinking this, a concerned voice sounded behind him.
“Thorne, you all right?” Thorne turned and saw a huge, burly man standing not far away.
The man’s face was almost completely hidden behind a wild tangle of hair and a thick, matted beard, but even so, Thorne could see a pair of eyes like black beetle shells gleaming through the gaps.
This was the man who had nearly killed him with a single cookie.
Hogwarts gamekeeper, Hagrid.
The half-giant walked over with a guilty expression, voice muffled.
“I’m really sorry, Thorne… I never thought the rock cakes could actually hurt someone.” Thorne waved a hand and couldn’t help smiling at the big man’s face.
“It’s fine, really.
It was my own fault.
Madam Pomfrey’s excellent—she fixed everything.
You can’t even tell now.” “Whew… really?
That’s great.
I won’t be making any more rock cakes after this.” Hagrid visibly relaxed, but then looked confused again.
“But when I’ve given them to other professors before… they all seemed to like them…” Thorne’s mouth twitched involuntarily.
“Uh… maybe they just have really tough mouths.” “You think so?” Just then, a light buzzing sound interrupted.
“Personally, I think Hagrid’s cooking can be quite acceptable when paired with a softening charm.” Thorne turned around and immediately perked up.
“Professor McGonagall, good morning!” A mosquito lady in dark green robes was walking toward them, carrying a book, her posture as upright and serious as ever.
“Good morning.” She nodded to Thorne first, then looked at Hagrid.
“Sorry, Hagrid.
I need to speak with Professor Thorne about his lesson plan first.” “Oh, of course.” Hagrid nodded at once, said goodbye to Thorne, and left.
Thorne raised an eyebrow, a teasing note in his voice.
“Oh… Professor McGonagall, does that mean you’re agreeing to let me teach the young wizards how to extract living souls?
That’s one of the most important achievements in soul magic, after all.” “Please rest assured, Professor Thorne.” Professor McGonagall’s tone was calm but firm.
“Even if the headmaster one day stops eating sweets entirely, I still won’t agree to put that content into the syllabus.” Thorne’s expression immediately fell a little.
Though, looking on the bright side… At least now he finally understood who all those tooth-strengthening potions were really for.