Chapter 141: Cure.
Draco with his suitcase in hand, was within twenty feet of Hagrid's house when the front door opened, but it wasn't Hagrid who emerged. Gilderoy Lockhart, wearing robes of palest mauve today, came striding out.
Draco stood there watching him, with mild annoyance.
"It's a simple matter if you know what you're doing!" Lockhart was saying loudly to Hagrid. "If you need help, you know where I am! I'll let you have a copy of my book. I'm surprised you haven't already got one — I'll sign one tonight and send it over. And you Ron, I already used the spell so you should be okay. Well, good-bye!" And he strode away when he saw Draco standing in front smiling at him.
"Oh! what a pleasant surprise." Draco said, "I thought we would never meet again as you kept hiding your face from me."
"Hiding? Me?" Lockhart snickered, "You can come to my office anytime you want to visit me, I am sure you want to apologize but I am not really that forgiving. But if you were to kneel and ask for my forgiveness then I might consider it."
"Well someone is still full of himself." Draco said rolling his eyes, "I don't want to waste my time further talking with you."
"Hmph! This isn't the end of it, Black." Lockhart said walking away, "I'll make sure to tear the wall of pride you've built."
"I'll wait for that."
Draco walked up to Hagrid's front door as he knocked slightly.
Hagrid appeared at once, looking very grumpy, but his expression brightened when he saw who it was.
"Bin wonderin' when you'd come ter here, Hermione said you'd come — come in, come in — thought you mighta bin Professor Lockhart back again —"
Draco was surprised slightly by Hagrid's reaction but he decided to ignore it. Walking in he looked at Harry and Hermione who were supporting Ron over the threshold into the one-roomed cabin, which had an enormous bed in one corner, a fire crackling merrily in the other. Hagrid didn't seem perturbed by Ron's slug problem.
"Better out than in," he said cheerfully, plunking a large copper basin in front of him. "Get 'em all up, Ron."
"Lockhart has worsened the situation even further." Harry complained as Ron vomited multiple amounts of slugs at the same time, "I don't think there's anything to do except wait for it to stop."
"What made you think I'll come here?" Draco asked Hermione.
"You always do," Hermione said smiling a little but she quickly frowned as Ron vomited another batch of slugs. "Please, tell me you have got a solution for it."
Draco sighed making a disgusted face as he looked at Ron, who looked extremely pale. Harry looked at him in hope but was disappointed when he saw Draco shaking his head.
"If it was like before, I had a potion for it but now... the spell's something that I can't handle." Draco said, "You said Lockhart used a spell, right?"
"Yes..." Harry said slowly, getting a bit nervous.
"The spell seems to have mutated into something, I haven't seen before, so the best course of action is going to Madam Pomfrey." Draco said, "I could experiment a bit but I don't know what action would come out of it. It might solve the problem or even worsen it."
Hermione and Harry sighed looking at Ron, who just shook his head, "I'd rather go to Madam Pomfrey's."
Harry nodded, "I'll take him there."
"Take this." Draco said passing a small vial of potion, "It's not the cure but it will give him enough strength to walk for a while on his own."
Harry nodded and passed Ron the potion, who after drinking it immediately started to light up, His pale skin turned normal and he seemed completely normal, even the vomiting stopped.
"I am fine, Harry." Ron said looking surprised and happy. "It really stopped."
"I wouldn't stay here if I were you." Draco said taking out his watch, "You've five minutes before you start going back to the way you were and you might end up a tad bit weaker so you better run."
Ron not knowing what to say stopped to stare at Draco, wondering what the potion he just drank was while Harry on the other hand quickly responded and started dragging him out of the hut leaving them without asking any further questions.
"What was that potion?" Hermione asked anxiously.
"A bit of diluted Re'em Blood." Draco said, "Enough to give a good enough adrenaline rush for such events, but has a side effect of weakening the person after drinking it. It shouldn't do much harm as it is diluted but considering Weasley's situation, he would probably suffer a bit. Well, he wouldn't have to suffer if he just went straight to Madam Pomfrey's."
Rather than just diluting it, Draco had previously experimented with his blood mixing it with the Re'em's blood, the result wasn't what he had expected before but it at least gave the solution a sort of temporary healing effect, making the person feel good and well, even in serious situations. Draco required more test subjects to continue to find its effects, so he used this opportunity to test it on Ron, so he could study the potion's effect on him for a bit.
"I told him the same thin' but he wouldn' lis'en to me at all." Hagrid said, "If he had jus' gone to Madam Pomfrey to begin wit', none of this would've happen."
"By the way, Hagrid why was Lockhart here?" Draco asked.
"Givin' me advice on gettin' kelpies out of a well," growled Hagrid, moving a half-plucked rooster off his scrubbed table and setting down the teapot. "Like I don' know. An' bangin' on abou some banshee he banished. If one word of it was true, I'll eat my kettle."
It was most unlike Hagrid to criticize a Hogwarts' teacher, and Draco looked at him in surprise. Hermione, too was surprised as she asked, "Do you really believe that Hagrid? I mean don't you think like the others."
"He was the on'y man for the job," said Hagrid, offering them a plate of treacle toffee, "An' I mean the on'y one. Gettin' very difficult ter find anyone ferthe Dark Arts job. People aren't too keen ter take it on, see. They're startin' ter think it's jinxed. No one's lasted long fer a while now. So tell me," said Hagrid, jerking his head at Draco. "I really think what you did was good, a waste of time to learn under him if you ask me."
Draco smiled a little, remembering what he actually came here for. "Hagrid, you mentioned the Kelpies, right? Can I take care of that."
Hagrid looked at him for a while, "You want it?" he asked,
"Yes." Draco nodded, "As you know, Kelpies are barely surviving due to all the muggle activities these days, so I'd like to keep a pair in hand just in case something happens and besides the way, they're acting out somethings gotta be wrong with them."
"Sigh! You can take them but make sure ter not harm them in the process, I hav' been tryna figure out what was wrong with it but I got nothin'." Hagrid sighed, "By the way, How's Fluffy?"
"He's good." Draco said, "He helped me a lot over summer and I think we've bonded pretty well."
Hagrid nodded.
"Wait! what are you talking about?" Hermione said. "Fluffy? Do you mean that three-headed dog on the third floor? Do you have it?"
"Don't worry about it." Draco said, "It's not a big of a deal, besides once you get to know him, he's really good."
"Get to know him? Where are you even keeping him?" Hermione asked again.
"It's a secret... I guess." Draco said slowly but looking at Hermione's face, he realized that he wasn't going to get away with it. "Fine! I'll tell you... follow me."
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