Lord Black's Illness

I replied "Thank you, Lord Black. Calling you Lord Black doesn't seem right anymore. Any suggestions on what I should call you?"

Black "You can call me Grandfather, Charles. Due to our age difference that is more suitable."

I said "Okay Grandfather. So are you my magical guardian now?"

Black "I should be. Why?"

I replied "Since you trusted me with the future of the Black family, I should trust you too. You see I am not magically weak like others consider me to be. It is a disguise I created to make sure that people don't feel threatened and take drastic actions against me. I didn't have a backing in the magical world who can help me fight against them so I had to resort to this. In reality my magical strength is on par with my magical knowledge. I could go write my OWLs today and get Outstanding in all my subjects."

Everything I told him was the truth even though I hid my true level. But this was enough to satisfy him since his expectations were very low. Even though he was dying, there was no way I was going to tell him my true strength. It was always good to hide some of your true strength even from your close allies as you may never know what will happen in the future.

Black laughed loudly and said "It seems that the risk I took paid off. If what you are telling is true, then I am assured about the future of the Black family. Your decision to hide your strength was the right one. If people know about this, then both Light and Dark side would have tried everything to either bring you to their side or kill you to get rid of any future threat. What else are you hiding from me?"

I replied "I know a little pit of healing too. Your condition is suspicious, Grandfather. Can I cast charms and check what illness you have?"

He nodded. I cast Diagnostic spells on him and what I learned was troubling.

I asked "Did you go to St. Mungo's and get yourself checked?"

Black "No I did not. I was diagnosed with the disease by a healer who is a close friend and classmate from Hogwarts. What's wrong?"

I replied "You don't have an illness grandfather. You have been poisoned. The poison was given in very low doses over the course of some years and has spread to all parts of your body. It seems your healer is responsible for this as the poison is very easy to detect and he has allowed your condition to deteriorate to the extreme level."

He was furious after hearing my diagnosis. He asked "Are you sure? He has been my personal healer and close friend for many years. So I trusted his diagnosis. He said that going outside in my condition would deteriorate my illness further. So I did not go out to get a second opinion. It should have caused suspicion now that I think about it. What is the condition of my body?"

I replied "The poison has spread everywhere so I don't have the skills to remove the poison from your body. I would recommend going to St. Mungo's and see if they can treat you."

According to my estimations, he has only a few days left to live. It was expected since in the canon he died this year. My decision to not wait for holidays to visit was a good one.

Black "I will call a healer from St. Mungo's to come here and try to treat me. But after hearing that the poison has spread everywhere I don't think I have much hope. I just don't understand why my friend would even do this to me? He has nothing to from my death."

I asked "Maybe he was threatened or bribed by Lucius Malfoy or Cygnus Black. They might have thought that after your death, they will gain control of the Black Fortunes."

Black "You are probably right but I don't think he was threatened. I could have easily helped him if that was the case. I think they bribed him. It makes so much sense now. It is the reason why he always spoke highly of Lucius in our conversations. He knew that I was searching for an Heir so he was trying to influence me to choose Lucius's boy. He also tried to stop my search by citing my declining health. I will make him pay for betraying my trust."

I said "If Malfoy is behind this, I don't think you should go to St. Mungo's. He may have informants there who can warn him about your visit. I think it is better if you see Master healers from other countries."

I had another reason for this suggestion. According to my knowledge, poisoning at this stage was not treatable. But since my knowledge is based on Britain's books, it might be possible that maybe other country's healers are more advanced and have the skill to treat him.

Black "That is possible. I will see what I can do about the healer problem."

I asked "What is the name of the Healer friend? I will make sure that his descendants don't have easy lives and curse him for it."

Black "His name is Corvus Selwyn. Do what you want with that information. I think it is better for you to go back to Hogwarts now. I have a lot of work to do to make sure that my enemies do not get any benefits due to my death. I have to quickly change my Will. Elgar will apparate you back to Hogwarts."

Not many people are left in the Selwyn and I think they supported Voldemort. I won't kill them all as I did not want the family to become extinct but I will make sure that Corvus Selwyn's descendants will not have an easy life.

I replied "Okay. Bye grandfather. Take care. Keep me informed about your health. I will try to come here whenever I can."

I gave him a hug during the goodbye because I was not sure if I will be able to see him again. I cannot visit him before the next Hogsmeade weekend and he may not be alive then.

I then turned towards Elgar and said "Elgar take me to a secluded area in Hogsmeade near the Forbidden forest."

Elgar replied "Yes, Young Master."

He then popped me back to Hogwarts. I told him to inform me when grandfather's condition becomes serious and said goodbye. I made the Black Heir ring invisible and made my way back to Hogwarts. My absence did not cause any problems because my friends were used to me disappearing for long times. They did not ask me where I went during those times since they knew that everyone had their secrets.

I spent only a few hours at Black Castle and there was still a lot of time left before night so I decided to go to the library to read some books. I was worried about grandfather but there was nothing I could do to help him.