Two days later.
"So, you're saying that in your eyes, only people like Professor Flitwick or Hagrid don't appear as various insects?"
In the Hogwarts Hospital Wing, Thorne sat on a hospital bed, clutching the swollen half of his face, looking at the Fly lady in a white coat before him.
As she spoke, she opened a nearby medicine cabinet.
Thorne nodded slightly.
"Um... yes, that's right."
He added indistinctly.
"I was just too happy, Madam Pomfrey, so I was momentarily careless... and got attacked by his ridiculously hard biscuits, hiss—"
Those were his honest feelings.
In this despairing "bug world," being able to encounter two beings who looked like humans was truly worth celebrating for Thorne.
Even if one could barely reach his knees by jumping, and even if he stood straight, he only reached the other's elbow.
Strictly speaking, neither quite met the standard of a "normal human."
But it was still enough to be heartening.
However, on his third day in this world, this was already his third time in the hospital...
One could only say that he and this place truly shared a certain destiny.
"Hmm..."
Madam Pomfrey let out a thoughtful hum.
"Interesting."
"Combining your previous descriptions with the diagnosis given by the Muggle doctors."
"I believe your symptoms are likely not a simple mental illness."
As she spoke, she skillfully took a bottle from the rows of bottles labeled "teeth strengthening potion" in the cabinet and handed it to Thorne.
"Here, keep it in your mouth, don't swallow."
Thorne immediately complied.
The moment the liquid entered his mouth, it felt like holding a piece of cool jelly; the texture was strange, even slightly elastic, making one want to take a bite.
Madam Pomfrey continued her analysis, the wings behind her vibrating unconsciously, making an annoying sound.
"I'm more inclined to believe that this is a manifestation of your magic going haywire."
"One piece of evidence is that your perception of 'insect forms' clearly has some kind of selectivity."
She closed the cabinet door and looked at Thorne.
"For example, Dumbledore is a Bee in your eyes, and Professor Sprout is an Earthworm; these all have quite clear characteristic pointers."
"But you don't see Professor Flitwick and Hagrid as insects."
"And these two have one thing in common: they both possess special Half-blood lineages."
"Professor Flitwick has Goblin blood."
"As for Hagrid..." she paused, "though he rarely mentions it himself, most people can actually tell that he is likely a Half-blood Giant."
The Fly lady tightened her white coat.
"That you can distinguish them might not be an accident."
"It's very possible that your magic is unconsciously having a specific reaction to 'non-pure humans'."
Hearing her say this, Thorne also found it quite reasonable.
For instance, the Wizard healers he had seen since coming to this world seemed to be, without exception... flies.
Just as some unpleasant associations surfaced in his mind, Thorne suddenly noticed the jelly-like sensation in his mouth rapidly disappearing.
His eyebrows twitched, and he subconsciously opened his mouth, licking with the tip of his tongue.
The teeth that had been knocked out had actually grown back completely intact, without even a trace of pain left behind.
"Whoa... how, how was this done?"
The wings behind Madam Pomfrey vibrated slightly, and the somewhat irritating buzzing sound rang out in the air again.
That pair of densely packed compound eyes curved slightly, making an expression similar to a "smile."
"This is the result of a Potion personally improved by Professor Snape."
Her tone carried obvious pride, "In the field of dental strengthening, Hogwarts can be considered a leader in the entire wizarding world."
"Oh?" Thorne was somewhat surprised, "I really didn't expect... do Hogwarts teachers and students often encounter dental problems?"
As he said this, images of Earthworms and mosquitoes involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
They didn't look like creatures that would have tooth troubles at all.
Was it because of Snape?
...Though Bats did indeed have teeth.
"Actually, not many."
Madam Pomfrey shook her head, "It's just that the absolute consumption of teeth strengthening potion is indeed very large."
She said this as she gently closed the cabinet filled with teeth strengthening potion.
"Alright, you don't have to worry about your teeth anymore. If you have any other problems in the future, you can come find me anytime."
She paused, a glimmer of keen interest flashing in her compound eyes.
"Speaking of which, I'm quite interested in your mental illness; perhaps I can do some research in this area."
"Research?"
Thorne raised his eyebrows, clearly interested, "Is there... a way to cure it?"
If he could really solve his current problem of seeing people as bugs at every turn, let alone cooperating with research, he would be willing to kowtow to Madam Pomfrey on the spot.
However, Madam Pomfrey shook her head.
"I can't be sure."
Her tone was cautious, "But I've seen a case on the St Mungos healing magic forum about treating Muggle schizophrenia through dream intervention; perhaps we could try—Professor Thorne?"
She stopped mid-sentence, suddenly stunned, and subconsciously looked back.
Thorne, who had been standing there, was nowhere to be seen.
The Hospital Wing door was slightly ajar.
—
"Phew—close, that was close..."
Thorne stood outside the Hospital Wing with lingering fear, unable to stop himself from letting out a long breath.
My god, dreams...
That stuff was an absolute "no-touch slide" in the Holy Nest.
Although he hadn't shown signs of dreaming of light before, if he really brought something like the "Plague" to this world, the consequences would be unimaginable.
The tragic state of the Holy Nest was still vivid in his mind; he didn't want to see Hogwarts follow in the same footsteps at all.
Just as he was thinking, a concerned voice suddenly rang out behind him.
"Thorne, are you alright now?"
Thorne turned his head and saw a burly man standing not far away.
The man's face was almost completely hidden by disheveled long hair and a tangled mass of thick beard, but even so, one could see a pair of eyes like black Beetles shining through the gaps in the hair.
This was the man who had almost solo-killed him with his cooking.
Hogwarts' Gamekeeper, Hagrid.
The Giant stepped forward with a guilty expression, his voice muffled: "I'm so sorry, Thorne... I really didn't think rock cakes could actually hurt someone."
Thorne waved his hand, involuntarily laughing at the expression on the Giant's face.
"It's fine, it's fine, it was my own fault too. Madam Pomfrey is quite professional; you can't tell at all now."
"Phew... is that so? That's great then. I won't make rock cakes anymore."
Hagrid was clearly relieved, but then he showed a puzzled expression.
"But when I treated other Professors before... they all seemed to like them..."
The corner of Thorne's mouth twitched involuntarily.
"Uh... maybe they're all just stubborn."
"Is that so?"
Just then, a slight buzzing sound cut in.
"I think Hagrid's cooking is actually acceptable if paired with a Softening Charm."
Thorne looked back and immediately perked up: "Professor McGonagall, good morning."
A "Ms. Mosquito" in dark green robes was walking toward them with a book, her posture upright and serious as always.
"Good morning."
She first nodded in response to Thorne, then looked at Hagrid.
"Excuse me, Hagrid, I need to speak with Professor Thorne about his course syllabus first."
"Oh, of course."
Hagrid immediately nodded, and after saying goodbye to Thorne, he turned and left.
Thorne raised his eyebrows, his tone carrying a bit of testing.
"Oh... Professor McGonagall, so you agree to let me teach the Young Wizards how to extract the souls of biological beings in class? That's one of the most important achievements in the field of Soul Magic."
"Rest assured, Professor Thorne."
Professor McGonagall's tone was calm and firm.
"Even if the Principal really stops eating sweets one day, I will not agree to write that content into the course syllabus."
Thorne's expression slumped quite a bit.
But looking on the bright side...
At least he finally understood who those teeth strengthening potions were prepared for.