Hermione was devouring all the books in the library she could find on magical illnesses, but it was all to no avail. So far there was no mention of potion-resistant illness anywhere. She couldn't shake the feeling that this was all too familiar though. She knew something, or at least suspected something, but she couldn't get the thought to fully form. Maybe she was looking in the wrong place? She sighed in Neville's direction.
"Neville, you're useless," she grumbled unhappily. "The boys usually say something asinine and then it sparks something and voila. You don't make me 'voila.'"
"I'm sorry Hermione," he replied sheepishly. Then his face lit up with an amused grin. "Maybe you should try for a 'eureka' instead? I might be eureka material."
She smiled wanly at his attempt to cheer her up. She really did miss the boys.
"Okay," she said, trying to refocus by talking aloud. "So, what do I know about magical illnesses? Maybe my scope is too narrow?"
She paused to consider the problem. "Okay, what do I know about illness in general? In muggle medicine, illnesses are typically caused by either viruses or bacteria. Are magical illnesses caused by the same thing?"
She answered her own question. "No one has ever studied it. So, let's just assume that magical illnesses have the same causes."
She pinched her lips between her fingers in thought. Neville studied her with a lost expression on his face.
"If that's the case, then are we dealing with a virus or a bacteria?"
Neville fidgeted nervously as she studied him. "Ummm, I don't mean to be rude, but what the hell are we talking about?"
She waved a hand at him in a dismissive manner and continued speaking aloud.
"If it is a virus, we use anti-viral medicine. If it is a bacteria, we use antibiotics. Madame Pomfrey has a variety of potions to treat a number of different ailments, just like with the different antibiotics and anti-virals."
Her eyes widened as the implications dawned on her. "Eureka!" she announced, grinning at Neville. "MRSA."
Neville was taken aback by the strangeness of her exclamation.
"Is that some kind of spell?" he inquired.
"MRSA," she repeated. "Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus."
"I still don't get it," Neville replied with a shake of his head.
"MRSA or Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a muggle bacteria that developed a resistance to traditional antibiotics – the medicine muggles use to treat it. Maybe we are dealing with something similar? A bacteria that has developed a resistance to magical medicine?"
Her eyes were twinkling with excitement as she stood. "I need to discuss this with Madame Pomfrey right away."
"That's probably a good idea, Hermione," Neville replied with a wolfish grin. "I think she needs to give you a once over while you're there - you've been speaking in tongues."
<<<<< >>>>>
"I had no idea that Muggle medicine was so advanced," Madam Pomfrey exclaimed. "We rely on potions and spells to identify the qualities of an illness and then utilize the appropriate spell or potion to treat it. To think that all this time, these spells may have just been providing us information about tiny little organisms living within us."
After a moment's silence she inquired, "So, how does that help us with the boys?"
Hermione paused to consider things, glad that the witch had understood what she was trying to explain.
YOU ARE READING
When the Snow Melts
Fanfiction[COMPLETE] How can love blossom in the midst of hatred? How can it catch you so suddenly and unexpectedly? Draco's 6th year was not at all going how he had planned. But a friendship, a relationship with Harry? That was definitely not something he sa...
