Chapter 163

With a spectacular burst of flame, Hedwig materialized above them and flew down onto Harry's shoulder. Professor McGonagall was downright staring, almost as if she hadn't believed before this that Harry had a phoenix, and Professor Snape just looked slightly constipated. Lockhart gave him a grin and a thumbs up from behind them.

"Thank you, Harry. And hello Miss Hedwig" Dumbledore greeted, receiving a chirp of greeting back, "This is Mrs. Norris. She has been petrified by some unknown means that I am unable to determine on my own. Would you mind terribly if I asked you to tell me if she smells unpleasant to you?"

Hedwig sang a small note of acquiesce, before she flapped her wings and flew over to the desk, where she hopped over to Mrs. Norris and brought her beak close to the petrified animal. Filch's sobs quietened, and the entire room waited with bated breath to see if what would happen.

The moment Hedwig took a breath, she jerked back with a loud unpleasant caw, before she burst into flames and reappeared on Harry's shoulder. Harry gently rubbed her back, trying to comfort the clearly disturbed bird as he looked at Dumbledore questioningly.

"I must apologize for that Miss Hedwig," Dumbledore said to the albino firebird, before he turned back to Mrs. Norris's body, "We can eliminate any student from suspicion now. There is absolutely no chance that any student could have done this."

"But what happened Headmaster?" Snape asked from the shadows.

"Phoenixes have very poor tolerance for the smell of the effects of purely dark magic. It is not something humans can smell. Phoenixes can only sense very high amounts of it, and when they do smell it, it is very repulsive to them" Dumbledore said, summoning an apple for Hedwig and handing it to Harry, who held it as Hedwig gingerly nibbled on it.

"So what does this mean now Albus?" McGonagall asked, not once taking her eyes off Hedwig.

"That means," Dumbledore said, "that this is some very dark magic. Fortunately, we do have a cure that can counter any form of Petrifaction, no matter how dark it is."

"Mandrakes," Snape said, comprehending what the Headmaster was saying. Harry immediately recognized that as the name of the plant which Dean, Ron and Neville were talking about this morning.

"Indeed Severus. A Mandrake Restorative Draught would easily restore Mrs. Norris. Professor Sprout's Mandrakes should be reaching maturity by New Year's," Dumbledore said before patting Filch's back, "Cheer up Argus! We'll have Mrs. Norris up and chasing students very in no time at all"

Feeling a bit awkward, Harry asked, "Er…should I leave now headmaster?"

"Ah yes yes," Dumbledore said, "You can indeed. However Harry, could you please drop off Mrs Norris at the Hospital Wing before you head back to your dorms? The Professors and I have a few things to discuss. Here, I'll write a note for you"

Harry nodded, as Dumbledore quickly penned down a note for him.

"Remember to tell Madam Pomfrey to contact her friend at the Menagerie and make Mrs. Norris as comfortable as possible" he added.

Gingerly taking the stiff body of Mrs Norris from a hesitant Filch, Harry grabbed onto Hedwig's tail feathers and disappeared from the room with a burst of flame. The fire receded from his vision after a moment, and he found himself just outside the doors of the Hospital wing.

"Why don't you head back to the dorms Hedwig, I'll be there in a few minutes," Harry said.

Hedwig nipped Harry's ear, before she flapped into the air and flamed away, leaving Harry with a petrified old cat and his thoughts.

This petrifaction wasn't an accident. That much was self-evident. It almost definitely had something to do with whatever plan Malfoy put in motion. It was becoming more and more apparent that this heir person was that someone that Malfoy had sent to the school.

Looking down at the miserable cat, Harry wondered if he could help the animal.

Putting his hand on the cat's abdomen, Harry made his mana pool into his hands, making it glow from the inside, before he muttered, "Healing Touch."

A bunch white light started from his hand, but unlike the time he'd used it with Anny, the light didn't ripple across the cat at all, instead continuously pooling in his hand. It continued to do so for a few more seconds before it gave up and dissolved back into his own mana.

Ping!

ERROR! : Healing Touch Unsuccessful!

Primary Error Code: Unknown

Secondary Error Code: Status Unmatched!

Patient status classified as BEAST. Required status for skill usage classified as BEING.

Recommendation: Usage of Healing Skill

Harry stared at the new screen, slightly flummoxed. This was new! He couldn't heal animals with this power! Why!?

Shaking his head, Harry decided it must have something to do with his Healing Touch skill having come from human-made magic and his Healing skill having come from a unicorn, before he used Healing on the cat.

Ping!

You are attempting to heal somebody with several ailments! Please chose one to heal:

Broken Fibula

Petrifaction

Harry selected the Petrifaction, and to his utmost annoyance and infuriation a familiar window popped up.

WARNING: Petrifaction has status Ancient Magic on it, increasing cost of removal by 3000MP.

Total Cost - 3300MP

Harry stared at the window in shock before pulling up his own stats.

HP - 1675/1675

MP - 1425/1425

Oh no no no no…this was bad…this was very bad.

With his current rate of growth, he would need more than twenty level ups before he could cure this, even with the help of his Wardstone Perk.

If this Petrifaction thing happened to some student, then the only way to help them would be the potion. This was bad.

Pushing these thoughts to the back of his mind, Harry opened his Mage Sight. If he couldn't help somebody who was petrified, then the least he could do was diagnose them.

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