Harry did not answer the question immediately. In fact, he had not yet recovered from the amazing event of magic that he had heard from Vernon Dursley and Dudley Dursley. However, the confusion in his eyes seemed to Harry's uncle Vernon as a taunt and challenge, which further pushed his uncle Vernon's already tight nerves to the breaking point.
"Answer my question, kid--"
Uncle Vernon finally let go of his restraint and bellowed at Harry, and upon hearing this familiar roar, Harry actually found it a bit more pleasing to his ears.
Harry quickly interjected, "If you're referring to something like a pimple on your face, insomnia, or some minor injury, perhaps I could handle it--"
No one likes the feeling of hunger, and this applies to everyone. If possible, Harry would also try to avoid provoking the Dursleys, even though they despised each other... Although he didn't know why they were interested in this, he still answered the question honestly.
"Is that all you can handle?"
As Dumbledore's laughter echoed, Mrs. Weasley interjected the topic with a suspicious look, "What if it's a more serious issue?"
Honestly, Aunt Petunia's skepticism irritated Harry, but he was only a just-graduated second-year wizard. What could he possibly be expected to do? Furthermore, when it came to healing, one could not avoid talking about potions, which happened to be the subject Harry was least good at in all of magic!
"--More serious issues? If you mean poison..."
As far as I recall, during the potions class at the beginning of first year, Snape mentioned something with an extremely strong detoxifying effect.
Harry furrowed his brow and racked his brains, the reason he was trying so hard to think of an answer was not because he was eager to show off in front of the Dursleys, but because he didn't want to give them an opportunity to mock magic if his magical skills weren't good enough.
In that moment, Harry found himself missing Hermione. He was confident that if Hermione were facing the questions from the Dursleys, her answers would surely stun them into silence.
"Not poisoning, kid!"
Purple-faced Uncle Vernon roared, "So even the trickery hasn't made you a bit sharper, has it?"
Harry, splattered with saliva, immediately cooled down. Without flinching, he stared directly into Uncle Vernon's eyes and retorted with a scowl,
"Wizards can handle all kinds of ailments, I don't know what you guys are actually asking for!"
"Let me talk to him, Vernon."
Mrs. Weasley immediately stood up in a panic the moment Harry finished speaking that sentence. She hustled Vernon Dursley and reluctantly Dumbledore to the living room before turning around and staring at Harry with displeasure, sternly saying,
"You should show respect to every member of this family. If it weren't for our mercy and generosity in taking you in, your best outcome would be to become a homeless vagrant sleeping under bridges!"
Faced with Mrs. Weasley's scolding, Harry remained expressionless and silent, as he had heard similar remarks countless times over the years.
Every time Harry showed a questioning attitude in front of them, they would say it ruthlessly, as if if it weren't for their mercy and generosity in taking him in, his ultimate fate would be to be locked up in a muggle prison.
For the next ten minutes, verbal abuse rained down on Harry like a gale, of course, all of it was old news. Even Dudley, who loved seeing Harry reprimanded, yawned and trudged to the living room to turn on another television.
Taking advantage of the opportunity while Mrs. Weasley was taking a break to catch her breath and with only a thread of reason left, Harry, with a gloomy face, asked grumpily,
"What do you guys want to do?"
Mrs. Weasley did not answer Harry's question immediately, but instead remained in an oddly silent mood, and Harry could tell that for them to talk about it required a lot of courage.
"I've heard about it before--"
Just as Harry couldn't help but want to hurry and speak up again, Mrs. Weasley finally spoke up, using a slow, hesitant tone of voice. As she spoke, the already long-faced Weasley family member pulled her face even longer.
"...diseases and complexities..."
A hospital for treating rare and complex diseases?
Harry's eyes showed confusion. Does the wizarding world have hospitals? Harry wondered in his mind.
But soon, Harry realized that his confusion was silly. Of course the wizarding world should have hospitals, he just hadn't heard of them before. Just as last year he found out from Malfoy that there was a prison in the wizarding world named Azkaban, so feared by wizards that its name alone evokes fear.
In fact, these things are just the simplest of common knowledge for children raised in wizarding families. Harry believed that Ron must know the name of the wizarding world's hospital. However, for someone like him who grew up in the Muggle world, such things can be quite novel.
"If I'm not mistaken, it should be called St. Mungo's--"
Mrs. Weasley tried to cover up her pain and shame by mentioning those terrible memories with a light and casual tone.
"How did you...?"
Harry was about to ask an amazed question, but he quickly stopped himself. He realized that the person in front of him was his mother's sister, and if his mother had not grown up in a terrible family environment like Harry's, she would have certainly talked about the wonderful wizarding world with her family many times.
"Oh, yes... you're right, that's the name."
Nervously and awkwardly, Harry said with a blush.
Without a doubt, he lied, as he had no idea what the name of that hospital was. The reason for his lie was simple. First and foremost, he wanted to understand why Vernon and Petunia Dursley were breaking the ice and talking to him about the wizarding world. Second, it was his strange sense of pride that made him fib.
Though Harry was the one receiving formal magical education at Hogwarts, Aunt Petunia knew things he didn't, which made Harry feel a bit uncomfortable.
Clearing his throat.
Over in the living room, Vernon Dursley coughed twice loudly while watching TV with Dudley. In the kitchen, Mrs. Weasley knew she needed to step up the pace. She took a deep breath and looked down at the two pairs of eyes that always made her uncomfortable, trying to speak in a calm and composed manner,
"I suppose you remember the company your Uncle Vernon works for, right?"
"Granger Industries, they make drilling machines."
Harry quickly looked over his shoulder at the living room with a glimmer in his eye, and spoke quickly.
Mrs. Weasley nodded slightly, looking somewhat satisfied.
"You should also remember who the boss of the company is, shouldn't you? We mentioned him a lot at home when we talked about Uncle Vernon's job--"
This time, Harry's response was not as quick, and he frowned, thinking for a while before speaking slowly,
"Curdle Brain... what happened to him?"
"He has cancer."
Mrs. Weasley said heavily.
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