A healer speech (Patreon)

Jon woke up thanks to the rays of sun that slipped through the window of the infirmary, he felt quite relaxed, he felt so calm that he did not notice the woman next to him until she spoke to him

"I see you woke up, that's good, you suffered from a severe case of magical exhaustion, your body was subjected to a huge magical force, to be honest it's a miracle that you came out so well boy" replied the elderly woman, she wore a white dress over a red robe, she looked severe and inflexible, but she also looked very capable with respect to healing

Remembering his manners, Jon began to speak “I'm afraid I'm at a disadvantage my lady, could you tell me your name?” Jon replied politely and kindly

The lady looked at him raising an eyebrow and with a small smile of amusement said "I guess it's fair young Stark, my name is Poppy Pomfrey, I'm the chief healer of the castle, I was the one who treated you while you were unconscious"

Jon bowed his head slightly and simply said “so I am indebted to you Healer Pomfrey, and I thank you for your attentions” although inside Jon had mixed feelings

These people referred to him as young Stark, he liked that feeling, he had always wished to belong to the family, to be a Stark and not a Snow, to belong completely to the pack and not just be the outcast, the disgrace, the only mistake that the honorable Lord Eddard made, therefore, and with some guilt he did not correct the assumptions of these people

“It's not a nuisance young man, it's my job, so I expect that you don't get used to coming here often when you start your studies, magic can be dangerous and we must always be careful when practicing it, understand?” The witch replied sternly

Jon heard the tone nodding automatically while placing his back straight and replied “understood healer Pomfrey” what a terrifying woman Jon thought to himself “do you know when I could talk to Professor Dumbledore? I would like to know more about my family in these lands” Jon asked with some anticipation

"Youth these days" muttered the witch to herself "Professor Dumbledore is in a meeting with the rest of the teachers about the next school year" replied the woman

Jon nodded to himself, it was understandable that the old headmaster was busy, after all, even if he didn't bear the title Dumbledore was the Lord of this castle and even if it was magical, it must have required a lot of maintenance and first-class logistics

"I understand Lady Pomfrey, then I will try to rest a little and wait for him here, or you need support with anything? I don't want to be a burden," Jon replied politely

The witch looked at Jon for a few seconds thoughtfully, analyzing his proposal and replied, "Hmm, there are some boxes with potions and tonics that I must move, it's a bit heavy for my age, I'd appreciate it if you could move them for me," she replied.

"It won't be a problem, just tell me where they are and where you want to place them," Jon replied

"Follow me then," the woman replied as she turned and began to walk towards the exit of the infirmary, Jon hurried after her, it would do him good to stretch his legs

They walked silently through a couple of corridors, Jon was not an expert in construction, but he had no doubt that the architecture of the castle made Winterfell look like a hut, every pillar, wall and vault looked like works of art, the castle was designed defensively but without sacrificing visual harmony, Winterfell was his home, but he couldn't say it was the most beautiful castle in Westeros either, the Starks' ancestral fortress fulfilled its function masterfully, but it wasn't a work of art like Hogwarts appears to be.

They came to a door that led to an exterior corridor of the castle and he found a view that took his breath away, he was quite high, perhaps the tenth floor, looking down he saw a fairly large lake, its waters moved calmly and its blue so dark that, from this height it looked black, near the lake was a vast forest, its trees so large and thick that he had no doubt that the forest would be in complete darkness even during daylight hours, Jon did not know the name of the place, but he knew that he must be careful if he ever found himself in its depths.

Moving his gaze towards some hills a little far away, Jon managed to see smoke on the other side, he assumed that a village or town was on the other side, so concentrated was he that he did not hear the witch stand next to him

“It takes your breath away, doesn't it? The views are spectacular, you are new so let me give you a quick guide, the lake that is located at the foot of the school is called the black lake, it is one of the lakes with the highest concentration of magical plants in the country, it is in a state of protection by the ministry and is inhabited by mermaids, which have a village at the deepest point of the lake, the other important resident is the giant squid, be calm it is harmless although sometimes it likes to play, it is logical considering that this specimen is still a baby” explained the witch

“Sirens? Are they real? A giant squid?” Jon asked quite surprised, mermaids were considered myths in Westeros, stories of drunken sailors and chatty captains about beautiful women with fish tails who had angelic voices, some sailors said they helped them when they were lost and others said they wanted to sink them to eat them, so Jon never took these stories seriously

“That's right lad, the largest colony in the United Kingdom, don't get too excited about seeing them either, they don't get along very well with wizards and they don't come to the surface unless it's an emergency situation” replied the witch with little interest

“And does that forest have a name?” Jon asked changing the subject, the lake had caught his attention, but the forest was mysterious and esoteric, there was something wild that called him with such force that Jon wanted to know more about it

The witch looked at him sternly and replied “That's the forbidden forest, an extremely dangerous place for experienced wizards in battle, so, for an untrained novice like you, it would be deadly, stay away from that place, it is inhabited by dark and dangerous creatures that would not hesitate to tear you apart in the blink of an eye, understood?” answered the witch

"Got it Lady Pomfrey” Jon lied, of course he would explore said forest, it was a magical forest, just imagining the number of secrets found in those gloomy trees did nothing but pique his curiosity, but he wasn't stupid either, he wouldn't throw away the healer's warnings, he would prepare himself as well as he could, he wasn't in any hurry to be honest, It's not like I could go back to Winterfell

The woman stared at him for a few seconds, judging his answer, then shook her head and just answered “and finally, to finish this little explanation about the neighbors of the castle we have the village of Hogsmeade, across those hills, it is a village of witches and wizards, it is not very big, just over 5000 wizards and witches call it home, It is the largest magical town in these lands and it is one of the places that students visit most frequently” explained the healer

Jon still fascinated by the meaning of that just nodded, a completely magical town, where every person was a sorcerer, living in peace and without worries, Jon wondered for a moment if they existed in their homeland, hidden from the whims of the great lords, shook his head and replied “I thank you for the explanation, Lady Pomfrey, but I have already wasted a lot of time, let's continue with your task” he exclaimed

“You're right about that, young man, so shall we continue?” exclaimed the woman as she continued her way towards her destination

Jon followed her in silence until they reached a type of closet, where you would store cleaning supplies, however, what was his surprise that, when he opened the door he found a giant room, 10 meters high and about 40 meters long, full of warehouses with jars and bottles marked with things that were the strangest to him, what good would toad warts be for the wizards, Jon thought with revulsion

Madame Pomfrey approached a wooden box that looked quite heavy, Jon approached and lifted the box feeling how his legs trembled with the effort, he turned to see the healer who, with him looked at him incredulously for a few seconds until, shaking his head he gave a soft movement of his wand, and suddenly, Jon felt like the weight completely disappeared, Jon felt like he was lifting a feather

The healer spoke “it’s a featherweight charm, you'll learn it at Hogwarts, reduce the weight of objects significantly, let's go boy” exclaimed the woman as she left the room, followed by Jon

The boy was still thoughtful, such an incantation had thousands of applications in his mind, for mundane tasks such as military operations, he made a mental note to learn such an incantation as quickly as possible, however, Jon had a doubt and expressed it to the woman

"Madame Pomfrey, and could you not levitate the box of potions to the infirmary with the spell that the headmaster used when I was in bed?" I ask curiously

Shaking her head the healer replied “normally there wouldn't be any problem, but part of these potions are necessary for a particular student who will start her education next year, her family provided the necessary doses so that her treatment can continue without problems even if she is at Hogwarts, the problem is that these potions are quite sensitive to a certain type of magic and can lose their effectiveness”

Jon was intrigued by such an act, but he remembered that the nurse had an enchantment to the box and asked with concern “but I observed her using magic with the box, didn't that affect the special potion?”

Smiling pleased, Pomfrey replied, "Excellent observation Mr. Stark, and for your information it has to do with the amount of magic that is in contact with the potion, the featherweight charm consumes much less magic than a constant use of the levitation charm, so applying it to the box does not affect the performance of the potions, but congratulations on such an observation” she exclaimed pleased

Jon nodded silently and walked towards the infirmary, wondering if Madame Pomfrey could give him an express course on potions, from what he saw were most interesting.

Jon began to speak and the healer interrupted him "yes boy, I can teach you a couple of things, I have a little free time, let's hurry up" the woman replied as she quickened her pace

Jon smiled and followed her, eager to begin his first magic lesson