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"Correct answer, but unfortunately, no points for you."
Snape made a joke so cold that even he himself did not seem to find it amusing.
'Are you seriously testing me right now?'
Every Potions Master was also a qualified healer.
And, of course, an excellent expert in poisons as well.
"First, let me assess the extent of your injury."
Dudley's expression turned serious. He began carefully examining Snape's wound, not overlooking a single detail.
The main artery in his leg hadn't been hit, and neither had the bone.
In other words, there was no need for Skele-Gro or any blood-replenishing potions.
That bite looked nasty, and the wound that almost pierced all the way through the calf was actually the easiest part to treat.
A little Essence of Murtlap would be enough to deal with the external damage.
That was the extraordinary effect of potions. Most external wounds practically disappeared not long after application. Even something like regrowing bones only required a single night.
But Snape's injury was not merely external.
That sort of superficial wound was something Snape could have treated himself with any ordinary salve.
The real problem was what came with the wound.
A faint gray vapor was rising from it, and the edges were coated in a layer of aged mossy green. The slightest touch made a thick, foul-smelling yellowish fluid begin oozing from beneath the skin.
To treat something like that, the first thing he needed to figure out was exactly what had caused it.
And, judging by the look of things, Snape had no intention whatsoever of telling him.
So he would have to deduce it himself.
"There aren't many large canine magical creatures that can cause this sort of cursed effect."
If there was a curse effect involved, then an ordinary animal could be ruled out completely.
It could only be a magical creature.
"Suppuration... decay..."
"And it even prevents new flesh from growing..."
Dudley muttered to himself while mentally comparing the symptoms of the wound.
In the end, he reached a conclusion.
"A guard dog? Or... a Cerberus?"
In truth, guard dogs and Cerberuses were just different branches of the same type of magical creature. Both were enormous, ferocious, carnivorous canines. The only real difference was that the latter had more heads.
According to legend, they were the watchdogs of the underworld. Whether that was true or not, only someone who had actually been to the underworld could say for sure.
That was why their teeth carried a curse that caused the body of any creature they bit to begin rotting little by little. Ordinary healing potions were not only useless against it, they could actually make it worse.
Since Snape remained silent, Dudley simply took it as tacit confirmation.
In any case, the treatment method was the same for both creatures.
"Professor, I'm curious. Where exactly did you run into something like that? As far as I know, there aren't any habitats for creatures like that in the shallower parts of the Forbidden Forest."
As he spoke, Dudley took out several small bottles and began preparing the potion right there on the spot.
He did not have any healing potions on him.
"You went to the Forbidden Forest?... tsk."
The potion fell onto the wound with a hissing sound.
It was undoing the curse.
But the process was not remotely pleasant.
Even Snape sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth. It hurt far too much.
"There are plenty of potion ingredients in there, Professor."
"Instead of letting them rot away in that place, it's better for me to put them to good use."
Dudley kept talking without pause, but his hands did not slow down in the slightest.
Since the bite had not struck a fatal spot, unraveling that curse was not difficult. It only required applying the potion at the proper intervals.
But with Snape's physique, it would still take at least three days to heal completely.
Dudley poured the finished potion onto the gauze he had prepared beforehand, then pressed it firmly over Snape's wound.
"If you apply this for three days, you'll be healed."
That took care of it.
"Assessment of the injury, full marks."
"Choice of ingredients, full marks."
"Potion preparation, full marks."
"But it looks awful."
Snape gave his evaluation point by point of what Dudley had just done, but when he looked at the bandage attached to his leg, his eyelid twitched slightly.
White cloth.
Black, round center.
It looked exactly like one of those old-fashioned herbal plasters.
Good thing Snape had been bitten on the leg and not the face...
"Professor, I'm not a professional healer."
Dudley said that while putting the materials back into the small pouch at his waist one by one.
"Now then, let's begin today's lesson."
Snape limped over to the front table.
Looking at his back, Dudley seemed like he wanted to say something for a moment, but held it back.
In theory, after being bitten by a wild animal, the proper thing to do was get a rabies shot.
Dudley looked at Snape's gloomy face and concluded that there was a very high chance he would flatly refuse.
Which brought up the question.
Did magical creatures count as wild animals?
Could a three-headed dog carry rabies?
Could a potion kill the rabies virus?
Dudley did not know.
All he could do was hope Professor Snape would be fine.
After all, rabies could take as long as ten years to incubate.
...
When December arrived, the temperature plummeted.
The students started bundling themselves up in heavy clothing.
Sunrise kept getting later and later, so Harry and the others' morning training schedule had been pushed back by half an hour.
Only Dudley still kept wearing nothing but a tank top, training at the same hour every day as always.
In winter, the water of the Black Lake was cold enough to pierce through the bones.
But for Dudley, it was little more than a minor annoyance.
As long as he kept training without pause, Hamon Energy would keep strengthening his body.
At that hour, even the merpeople living at the bottom of the Black Lake had already gone off to rest.
Only Dudley remained there, training without stopping.
After swimming ten round trips back and forth, Dudley finally gave up on continuing.
Golden sparks crackled nonstop all across his body, shining brilliantly in the dark water of the lake.
That was the visible manifestation of that energy.
Then he slowly drew in a breath, gently closed his eyes, and adjusted his mental state to the ideal point.
And then, Dudley did something unexpected.
His body began rising and sinking in the water.
The golden sparks produced by Hamon Energy also grew stronger and weaker in sequence.
His body rose and sank, rose and sank...
But that did not last long.
Dudley rose again.
Only this time, he did not sink back down.
Soon after, he rose once more.
His body rose above the water's surface.
Then, as if he were climbing invisible steps, he began walking upward slowly, one step at a time, until he was completely standing atop the surface of the lake.
In the end, both of his feet were planted firmly on the water.
Golden sparks flashed endlessly beneath the soles of his feet.
Walking on water was one of this ability's tricks.
Before, Dudley had not yet been able to reach that level. At most, he could only make half of one leg emerge from the water.
But with his continuous training during that period, he had finally reached that stage.
Right after that, Dudley saw on his personal interface that Hamon Energy had finally leveled up.
At the start, it had only been LV1.
Now it had risen to LV2.
"Finally, I have at least a little ability to protect myself."
Dudley could feel the vigorous, life-filled energy flowing endlessly through him, overflowing with strength.
And it seemed as though his body was on the verge of entering another growth spurt.
By then, Dudley had already reached 6'3.
If he kept growing at that rate...
Wouldn't he look like a giant from a distance standing next to Hermione?
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