For the next two minutes, Sorimus and Filch simply sat there staring at each other.
No way. Even if the magic were that weak, there should still be some reaction. Unless Filch isn't a Squib at all, but actually a Muggle?
Sorimus was a little stunned.
"Wait, I think I feel something."
Filch's eyes suddenly widened.
"It feels like my body is soaking in hot water."
Sorimus moved at once, stepping forward and rolling up Filch's sleeve. His skin was flushed red, and when touched, it was faintly hot.
"Very good. If anything else changes, tell me immediately."
Sorimus began scribbling notes in his notebook.
Filch paced back and forth excitedly inside his little room. A reaction, any reaction at all, was better than none, was it not? To him, this felt like the beginning of his ability to use magic. Still, at Sorimus's insistence, Filch eventually sat back down in the only chair the room had.
"Mr. Selwyn, I think the heat is going down now."
Filch had completely lost the vicious attitude he had shown when he first met Sorimus.
Sorimus glanced at the large hourglass in the corner and nodded.
"Nearly thirty minutes. That is enough to tell us what we need."
He put down his quill and closed the notebook.
"Congratulations, Mr Filch. Your case is the best kind. In other words, there is a possibility that you can rid yourself of being a Squib."
Ignoring Filch's mounting excitement, Sorimus continued,
"Once I have prepared a few things, I will come and visit you again."
"Mr Filch, I suggest you begin exercising your body properly," Sorimus said as he packed away his things and prepared to leave. "Even if this truly can succeed, your body as it is now would not be able to endure a magical outburst."
Once he returned, Sorimus intended to contact his grandfather immediately. For the past half year, his grandfather had not had any work to do. Unless something urgent arose, he remained in the underground chambers beneath Selwyn Castle. But once he began working again, once he resumed carrying out his duties, Sorimus would no longer be able to contact him. So Sorimus meant to ask for as much help as possible while he still could.
After all, this was for the sake of a member of the Selwyn family.
His request to his grandfather was simple: confirm Silna's condition. If it proved to be the worst-case scenario, then Sorimus would think of another way. But if her condition matched Filch's, then his grandfather should try, as far as possible, to locate other Squibs with the same condition, so they could see whether there were differences between individuals.
That enormous book Sorimus had been reading lately had been personally copied by his grandfather from the family archives. Rather than calling it a book, it would have been more accurate to call it a bound collection of notes, journals, and research records. It contained studies and solutions for curses, Transfiguration damage, spell injuries, and all manner of difficult magical disorders.
Because the volume had no index, Sorimus could only search through it page by page. And since there was very little in it related to research on Squibs, that only made his work harder.
Sorimus was a very rational person. He had never developed any sense of superiority toward this world, both familiar and unfamiliar, just because he was someone "special." That was largely due to his background, which had allowed him to learn many secrets ordinary wizards would never know. And it was also because of that same background that magical knowledge, knowledge ordinary wizards could only dream of or had never even heard of, stood open before him.
Squibs were a social problem.
More precisely, they were a social problem among pure-bloods.
Strictly speaking, any wizarding family that could trace five generations of magical ancestry could be considered pure-blood. Compared with half-bloods and Muggle-borns, pure-blood wizards had many advantages. Earlier magical outbursts meant greater magical power. A long family history meant accumulated wealth and connections. But the troubles that plagued pure-blood families were not few, and Squibs were one of them. There was also the so-called pure-blood curse, though that was not something Sorimus cared about right now.
Since the problem of Squibs had existed for centuries, naturally there had always been wizards studying it, researching the cause of Squibs, methods of resolving the condition, and ways of eliminating it at the root.
Sorimus had never once imagined solving his sister's problem entirely on his own. As the saying went, the predecessors plant the trees so that later generations may enjoy the shade. Since others had already studied the issue of Squibs, then examining their results first, looking at their lines of thought and direction of research, was itself a sensible way to solve the problem.
Research, after all, required enormous amounts of time and money.
Fortunately, within that chaotic compilation of manuscripts and notes, Sorimus had found what he wanted.
A very detailed research manuscript on Squibs.
Within it was a method for restoring a Squib's ability to use magic.
The only problem was that the researcher had specifically noted that the method had never been put into practice.
That was the one thing that truly worried Sorimus.
In most cases, Squibs became Squibs because they lacked sufficient magic. It was an inborn deficiency. In every manuscript Sorimus had been able to find, such cases were described as having no solution whatsoever. And this kind of congenital deficiency was by far the most common cause of Squibhood. Cases like Filch's, where there was enough magic but no magical outburst had ever taken place, were rare.
Before deciding what to do next, Sorimus first had to confirm which type his sister Silna belonged to.
Sorimus had never before known how long it took for an owl to fly from Hogwarts to the Isle of Man and back.
Now he did.
He had chosen the strongest owl in the Owlery to carry his letter. Less than an hour had passed from shortly after lunch until dinner, and while eating in the Great Hall that evening, Sorimus received his grandfather's reply.
And that included the time needed to verify Silna's condition.
Sorimus was overjoyed.
His grandfather's letter stated that Silna's condition was the same as Filch's. However, his grandfather could not be certain whether he would be able to find a third Squib with the same condition. There were also problems on the Potions side of things. The Potions master his grandfather had originally contacted had gone back to work. There would be no possibility of reaching him for at least half a year. As for the Potions masters currently in their rest period, they could only be checked after Sorimus's grandfather had received replies confirming whether they were already occupied with other tasks.
Sorimus knew what his grandfather's work involved.
He also knew what sort of work those wizards his grandfather knew were engaged in.
If every Potions master his grandfather contacted already had work on hand, then Sorimus would have to find another way himself.
Still...
Was there not already a ready-made Potions master at Hogwarts?