Alba Famiglia

New Revelations

Chapter Three

Harry opened his blearily, blinking several times as he tried to focus on his surroundings. Yawning, he surveyed the room, noting that he was lying on a bed with stark white sheets. As he continued to look around, he noticed various equipment placed at the side of his bed. It appeared that he was in a room in a hospital. L'ospedale di Carmenta, to be exact.

"Harry, welcome back to the world of the living. I took the liberty of getting the healers to give you a general check. The results should be coming back soon." Harry laid his eyes on Mrs. Zabini who was seated beside him. Blaise sat next to her.

"-Never in my life!" The door was roughly pushed opened as a woman strode in. Holding several sheets of paper in her arms, she was ranting aloud. "Signore Potter." Noticing that Harry was awake, the woman nodded at him. "I am Healer Sia. Normally I would say nice to meet you, but honestly, it's not. Your paperwork is in a mess! You. Are. A. Mess!"

"W-What?" Harry was stunned. Why was he getting scolded out of the blue? Confused, he instinctively looked towards Mrs. Zabini who shrugged in return.

"You have broken bones that never healed correctly. You are suffering from malnutrition. Your eyesight doesn't fit the prescription on your glasses. Your scar has a taint on it too. Your magical core is overtaxed and stressed not to mention, the seals on your core haven't been removed yet. Would you like for me to go on? It's a wonder you haven't collapsed yet from core overuse!" Healer Sia glared at Harry menacingly, practically daring him to say yes. Harry just gulped, choosing to remain silent.

"Seals on his core?" Mrs. Zabini frowned as she spoke. "Aren't those normally used for prisoners or the insane to protect them?"

"Yes, but sometimes they're used on infants whose magic is too powerful for their bodies. I suspect that this was the case with Harry just that..." Healer Sia sighed before continuing. "Well, it appears that they were never removed as they should have been. Using seals is an incredibly risky move that may result in death."

"Death?" Both Harry and Blaise spoke in unison, their face ashen white.

"Yes. Think of your magical core as a balloon. Your magic as water. What happens normally would be that as you grow, water is slowly pumped into the balloon until you hit your maturity where your magical core will have settled. For you, your balloon was unable to stretch slowly as you were born with a lot of magic, too much magic for your balloon to hold. As a result, your magic would cause high fevers as your magical core is unable to hold it, causing your magic to become a danger to your health, hence a seal was placed on you. Essentially, a seal basically puts a limiter to your pump, or well, the tap that's giving water to your balloon so your balloon can acclimate to the excess first. However over a period of time, the pressure behind your limiter will eventually build up and then well, it'll explode and you'll die! In addition to that, placing a seal also stops your magical core from growing pass a certain amount. So there's also a possibility that the pressure might build up on your magical core too and then boom! Bang!" Healer Sia mimed an explosion with her hands looking way too gleeful as she did so.

Harry choked, chills running down his spine. He could have died? No, he was still in danger of dying? Looking worriedly at Healer Sia, he asked if he was in danger of dying anytime soon. If his voice rose a pitch higher at the end of his question, no one pointed it out.

"Well, not really. Your magic found a way around to solve the problem thus proving my theory that magic in sentient, or at least slightly sentient!"

Healer Sia turned to her audience as she bowed slightly. Mrs Zabini, Blaise and Harry just imitated a dead fish-they stared blankly back at the healer, their faces devoid of expression.