Iverstead

"Don't worry, almost everyone vomits after first apparition." Zuri showed a helpless expression and waved her wand again to clean up. Luca tried to catch his breath looking around in confusion. What appeared before his eyes was a replica of Stonehenge he stood in the middle of, past it loomed undoubtedly the most dilapidated village anyone could think of, not fit to exist in the 20th century at all. Thatched huts built of rotten, mossy tree trunks, misplaced here and there with no visible plan or uniform aesthetic, dirt winding paths connecting them, sometimes four of them meeting at the doorstep of a house. The constant rumble of a nearby waterfall along with an open-air sawmill working on the force provided by a waterwheel required people to almost shout to be heard. Luca in doubt turned his head to Zuri, this looked more like forgotten by time ruins of a Viking village than a hospital.

"It doesn't look much because Iverstead is relatively open, as one of the first wizarding habitats in the 17th century people worried about no-maj somehow making it here and decided to camouflage. Then it became a tradition to make facades as ugly as possible to compete with each other who had a worse house." as the pair went forward from the outskirts, Luca could see many dark holes in roofs and walls, every single building seemingly on the verge of destruction. A universal colourful plaque hung beside all doors, describing their purpose. Luca walking along read a few of them curiously, 'Klimmek's house', 'Narfi's Apothecary', 'Eagle Nest', 'Floo Point In Iverstead'. Luca spotted a bald man wearing a dirty apron coming out from a dark entrance and hurrying to the opposite side of them, a big barrel levitating after him.

"Must be going to sell some alcohol at the quidditch pitch, it's no wonder streets are so deserted at good weather." said Zuri squinting her eyes and looking up.

"Where are we exactly?" Luca asked, having accepted the teleportation as one of wizard's representative abilities in common knowledge.

"Oh, actually still in Massachusetts, just the westernmost, no-maj call it Berkshire County I think? This is Iverstead, the only wizarding village open to the entire magical community instead of just wizards. It's also affiliated with Ilvermorny, the official wizarding school of America. You came from a no-maj family so this is where you will live during summer breaks." as per the order of her superior, Zuri had to guide Luca a bit before going back to the team. She pointed to the door from where the barrel emerged.

"There is Vilemyr Inn, inside there are at least 777 rooms at normal times, if business is good they add more. There are no tuition fees or anything else, you don't have to spend money. MACUSA covers essentials and allowance once you are on a list of students until graduation." Zuri said with pride in her government. A circular building emerged from the corner, this one finally neat looking, painted white and with big red crosses along the walls. Door leading inside presented as a four by four meters square of black.

"Well, you can guess what this is for." Zuri quickened her pace, disheveled Luca trotting behind, hopeful to get rid of the imprint on his chest as soon as possible. As she crossed the door and plunged into darkness covering all doorsteps in this village, Luca took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and stepped inside too. As if a curtain of skin-temperature water, this barrier slipped over him. Luca was sure it had an additional function of killing germs and washing clothes as a mild vanilla scent emanated from under his nose.

"Welcome to St. Jelweth's Hospital For Ailing, how can I help you?" Luca opened his eyes to see a white marble counter right in front of the entrance, with 3 nurses on duty to classify patients and guide them to the right wards, one of them speaking to Zuri. Floor made of black tiles, portraits with people chatting or moving on the right side, red-leather waiting armchairs in a row on the left side ranged from tiny children-sized to huge more akin to sofas, and golden chandeliers adorned with white orbs of light made this place look positively nouveau riche, or at least that's what Luca thought of it. The ceiling stood at least 5 meters tall according to his estimation.

"Blood magic curse in the form of seal, come and show it." Zuri beckoned Luca to come closer. As he did, he read a capitalized description of the facility:

'Floor -2, Laboratories, access denied for unauthorized personnel

Floor -1, Morgue, access denied for unauthorized personnel

Floor 0, Lobby, Souvenir shop, Staff facilities, Restaurant

Floor 1, Magical Creatures, Non-wizard care

Floor 2, Magical Creatures related injuries

Floor 3, Plant-related trauma

Floor 4, Potion, Artifact, Item failure

Floor 5, Spell failure, Curse damage

Floor 6, Non-wizarding curse treatment

Floor 7, Magical and non-magical sickness

Floor 8, Quarantine ward, Permanent disability, access denied for unauthorized personnel'

"Floor 6, Healer Quentin Forges, office number 3, left side out of the elevator." nurse wearing a green headdress glanced at his chest and directed Luca to an available doctor.

"There was only one floor looking from the outside." Luca spoke confusedly.

"Permanent stretching curse, never heard of it? You look old enough to be in 2nd grade." surprised nurse asked.

"No-maj freshman, excuse us, matter is urgent." Zuri pulled Luca once again to a corridor marked 'ELEVATORS' with a green arrow pointing at it. Corridor didn't let down Luca's expectations as to the level of luxury on display, silver and gold ornaments and patterns adorned tiled floors, jewels or glowing crystals embedded in walls, lighting the passage in colours of rainbow. The elevator door huge in size led to a room-like space with an aquarium on all sides of it, more akin to a giant pool with an elevator inside, containing a bunch of creatures growing red mushroom-like heads frolicking among castle models and miniaturized trees.

Luca staggered and almost fell, what are these wizards doing to exaggerate like that was asked in his mind. Zuri pressed the button and looked sympathetically at Luca's sluggish expression.

"As a signboard hospital for all allies of the wizarding world, it is indeed built a bit ostentatious. Personally, I don't like this look much, what a stupid tradition to only care about the inside of the buildings. At least we got lucky not to come at rush hour, sometimes it's really busy, I was an intern Healer over here for a year to qualify for a position on Captain Arthur's team." she reminisced.

'Sixth floor, non-wizarding curse, blood magic, demonology' a pleasant female voice announced in more detail than on the introductory board. Red ominous light shone at Zuri and Luca's faces, going out it turned out to be coming from horns of strangely shaped silver demon skulls hanging on the walls of this department. Above their heads red cracks were constantly moving on a black ceiling background, vaguely forming silhouettes of humans or animals before scattering aside. Pair of Healers in red gowns with green printed 'J' and the universal badge of the hospital, wand and bone crossed above a lying human figure, were walking in the corridor discussing a recent case.

"...gradually his chants for Abbadon's mercy get quieter, but I can't be sure if it's because of my treatment or exhaustion…" Luca overheard. Standing before the door numbered 3, Zuri opened it boldly.

"Quentin, I hope you can focus on this case, don't let me find Lucy to scold your sorry ass." obviously acquainted with Luca's doctor, she started by threatening him to do a good job or else. As Luca followed, a sloppy-looking wizard half-reclined upon his chair with legs on the desk, reading a book oozing a vicious black tar out of its cover that strangely disappeared upon reaching his clothes emerged. His robe crumpled aside, unshaven beard and stained white shirt didn't inspire confidence in his ability, but an immersed glint in his eyes and a piece of parchment with a quill standing upright, ready to note his thoughts, revealed his dedication to acquiring knowledge from that enchanted volume.

The man ignored her and finished reading the page, only then his sight moved to the visitors. After a glance at Zuri's normal state, he spotted the circles on Luca's chest. Like a child seeing a new toy, he grabbed his wand and a monocle located on the desk, then quickly jumped over the desk with surprising vigor considering his lazy demeanor until now.

"So this is a complicated problem." Zuri facepalmed, familiar with her former colleague's quirks, he couldn't deal with standard cases at all, presuming them a waste of time that anyone could treat.

"Great demon's power, how interesting, how interesting!" Quentin stuck his face to almost lick Luca's nipple, looking carefully at the circles through his monocle. The petrified boy was afraid to disturb him, a mutter and a beam of light coming from Quentin's wand hit the seal every other minute to no visible effect until Zuri that sat on his chair and tried to read the weird book lost her patience fifteen minutes later.

"Well? Do something or not?" she interrupted the absorbed Healer.

"Ehem. This is a sacrificial enslavement crest, but it got enhanced many times over because of a few reasons. One, it got cast in the name of some Great demon. Two, the seal seeped inside the heart because of the child's growth instead of staying on the surface. Three, the caster invested a great deal of positive emotion for some reason, mutating the intended function unpredictably. I can't see through it, besides normal kill on thought and locate there should be an unknown effect. Four, the caster seems to be of the same bloodline as this boy, I never heard of such a thing, his mother cast it or something? If they are not relatives, the only explanation would be a vampire drinking his blood exclusively, but the amount needed to feed a vampire should drain him, or rather drain anyone. It isn't just a simple fluid exchange, they suck a bit of lifeforce along the blood. Five, from what I know, it isn't a common thing to put on random people, too much pointless effort, and too little benefit to bother with a ritual for people already at your disposal. Most wizards that require such means to ensure loyalty are also perhaps unwilling, but nonetheless accomplices of their master's crimes, so studying specific countercurses wasn't required, nobody cares if they die. Some other situations may occur too, generally, I don't think any Healer has practical experience unraveling a slavery seal so strong, I only have theoretical knowledge because of my studies." straightened up the fingers of his hand Quentin as he explained slowly in a pondering tone. Luca and Zuri listened attentively, it was their first time learning about such things, but it sounded reasonable.

"So I have no choice but to wait and write a testament in case that crowd of wizards can't kill Catherine?" muttered Luca, his expression lost.

"No, no. I can figure it out, give me a moment. If it can't be unraveled without detonation, maybe trigger it and save your heart? Having said that I don't know how to trigger it without blowing up your chest because of magic spillage..." Quentin started looking at the side of the office containing metal shelves behind various glowing barriers designed to keep temperature or create a vacuum to preserve potions inside. He deactivated them all and picked up potions one by one with furrowed brows.

"I have to go back, can you take care of this kid and send him to register with Mr. Grimsditch?" Zuri stood up and asked her friend.

"Yes, yes, no trouble. I can take that seal down." answered the wizard as Zuri exhaled in annoyance for being ignored.

"Remember, although this maniac looks stupid, he is most involved with studies on blood magic in this ward, if he can't do it probably no one can. After you are done, go to Vilemyr Inn and ask for Mr. Grimsditch to register your identity and give you room keys plus some money. I will ask Captain to dedicate a part of the Blanco family's seized assets to your name as compensation. Have a happy school year, it begins in a week." she walked past Luca ruffling his hair, and instructed him in case Quentin turned unreliable. Luca nodded with a serious expression.

"Thank you and rest of wizards for rescue. I will try my best to repay this favor if needed in the future." Zuri smiled and left waving her hand.