"This seems..." Professor Kettleburn began hesitantly, as he turned the prosthetic arm over in his remaining hand, "to look no different from my previous ones."
The afternoon sunlight streaming through the shop's dusty windows glinted off the polished ebony surface as he examined it with the eye of someone who had been through countless prosthetic fittings over the decades.
He stared at the artificial limb with intense scrutiny. Despite his careful examination, he couldn't discern anything particularly remarkable or special about it.
From all outward appearances, this new prosthetic arm looked virtually identical to the well-worn one he had been using for the past several years.
For the sake of direct comparison, Professor Kettleburn carefully unbuckled the leather straps that held his current prosthetic arm and removed the arm he was currently wearing and gently placed it on the counter beside the new one.
Except for the obvious signs of long use on his current arm like numerous deep scratches, several scorched patches from various magical mishaps, and the subtle discoloration that came with years of exposure to the air, he truly couldn't identify any significant differences between the two prosthetics.
Despite his initial disappointment, Professor Kettleburn maintained an undercurrent of optimism beneath his puzzled expression. He was absolutely certain that this new arm must possess some special quality or enchantment that wasn't immediately apparent to the naked eye.
After all, Adrian had previously promised with great conviction and enthusiasm that he would spare no effort to create the most perfect and advanced set of prosthetics ever crafted specifically for his unique needs.
Observing Professor Kettleburn's evident confusion, Adrian's lips curled into a knowing smile, the expression of someone who had anticipated precisely this reaction.
"Try it on, Professor," Adrian suggested with quiet confidence, leaning slightly forward in anticipation. His voice carried an unmistakable note of excitement. "Experience its effect for yourself. I believe that will answer all your questions far more eloquently than I could explain."
Professor Kettleburn nodded thoughtfully, his curiosity thoroughly piqued by Adrian's confident demeanor. He carefully picked up the new prosthetic arm, and slowly fitted it to his stump.
The moment the prosthetic made contact with his flesh, something amazing happened. A faint magical pulse quietly transferred through the connection point, spreading throughout both the wooden limb and Professor Kettleburn's own body like ripples on a still pond.
Almost instantaneously, in the fraction of a second that followed, Professor Kettleburn discovered to his astonishment that he could completely control this new prosthetics with ease. From the fingertips to the powerful muscles of the upper arm, every part of the prosthetic seemed to synchronize perfectly with his nervous system.
He lowered his head in stunned amazement, gazing with wonder at the arm he had seemingly regained through Adrian's craftsmanship. Tentatively at first, then with growing confidence, he slowly raised the prosthetic, watching as it responded to his mental commands without the usual delay or resistance he had come to accept as inevitable with magical prosthetics.
With almost no conscious effort, he gently spread his wooden fingers apart, then brought them together again in a fluid motion that mimicked natural movement.
The prosthetic moved with a grace and responsiveness that far surpassed any artificial limb he had ever used throughout his long career.
Adrian noticed his professor's expression growing increasingly astonished, and his own smile widened.
"This... is simply incredible!" Professor Kettleburn finally exclaimed with genuine awe.
Adrian smiled slightly, his eyes showing confidence: "Professor, this is just the beginning. There are even more incredible aspects."
He gestured for Professor Kettleburn to place the new arm on the table.
Professor Kettleburn raised an eyebrow feeling slightly puzzled, but followed Adrian's instructions, and removed the arm and laid it on the table.
"What exactly are you planning to do?" He inquired, curiosity evident in his tone as he watched Adrian with rising interest.
Adrian took out his wand and gave Professor Kettleburn a mysterious smile.
"Bombarda!"
Under Professor Kettleburn's disbelieving eyes, Adrian gently waved his wand, casting an explosion spell at the new arm he had just received.
"!"
Professor Kettleburn's face suddenly showed a horrified expression. He instinctively wanted to stop it, but it was too late.
"BOOM—!"
The explosion reverberated through the small shop with surprising force, rattling the collection of tools on nearby shelves and sending a cloud of dust and wooden splinters into the air. Various items that had been resting on the table were violently blasted away in all directions, several glass vials shattering against the far wall with tinkling crashes barely audible above the echoing of the spell.
Through the settling haze of dust, Professor Kettleburn stared in stunned astonishment as his brand new prosthetic arm, along with the table that had supported it were blown in neatly into two separate pieces.
His eyes widened in disbelief, unable to understand why Adrian would do such a thing—destroying the newly made prosthetic.
"What are you doing?" he asked in bewilderment.
"Ah," Adrian responded with an awkward chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck as he surveyed the damage with a slightly sheepish expression. "It's been rather too long since I last used the explosion spell." He glanced at the table split in half. "I appear to be somewhat rustier than I anticipated. I was aiming for a more controlled demonstration."
After a brief moment of respectful silence for the broken table, Adrian bent down and carefully picked up the two separate pieces of the prosthetic arm from amid the broken wood and scattered workshop debris. He handed the upper portion—the half closer to where it would attach to the stump—to Professor Kettleburn.
"Try it on again, Professor,"
Professor Kettleburn took the half prosthetic, skeptically reattached it to his stump, and said doubtfully, "Will this still work?"
To his mild surprise, the half-prosthetic still fit perfectly against his stump and could be operated with the same fluid responsiveness as before, though the bizarre sensation of having the prosthetic abruptly terminate at the elbow created a strange feeling.
While Professor Kettleburn was still adjusting to this strange sensation, fidgeting slightly as he tested the cut limb's range of motion, something extraordinary occurred. Without warning, the severed end of the half prosthetic suddenly emitted an eerie black-green light.
"Great Godric's ghost! It's biting me!" He exclaimed with a startled jump in alarm. Instinctively, he shook the prosthetic vigorously as though attempting to dislodge an invisible creature that had attached itself to him which was a reaction born from decades of handling unpredictable magical beasts.
"Relax, Professor," Adrian reassured him calmly. "There's absolutely nothing to fear. Look closely—it's already responding to your magical signature exactly as designed."
Following Adrian's direction, Professor Kettleburn forced himself to calm his instinctive reaction and focused his attention on the prosthetic. The black-green light flickering and pulsating at the severed end of the half prosthetic created an unusual sensation, not painful but clearly weird--like feeling something growing from within his own body.
The professor could feel the previously flat, cut off end of his prosthetic gradually becoming fuller, extending from the point of cut.
"Don't resist the flow of your own magical power," Adrian instructed gently, observing the process with obvious satisfaction. "Allow it to channel through the prosthetic naturally, just as you would when casting a familiar spell. Your magic is the catalyst it needs."
Professor Kettleburn nodded, now understanding that the new prosthetic had some self-healing function.
As soon as he consciously stopped resisting the magical connection between himself and the prosthetic, the transformation accelerated intensely. The broken end of the wooden limb began to visibly change, opening up like a time-accelerated view of a tender spring sprout emerging from fertile soil. Tiny wooden fibers extended from the severed surface, intertwining and strengthening as they grew with amazing speed.
Professor Kettleburn watched the metamorphosis of his artificial limb with a mixture of fascination and childlike wonder.
In less than a minute—perhaps forty seconds from start to completion—his arm had completely restored itself to its original form and function, though the newly regenerated portion was noticeably lighter in color than the original ebony, creating a two-toned effect that marked the boundary between old and new growth.
Such rapid magical regeneration, impressive though it was, did not come without cost. Professor Kettleburn winced slightly as a dull throbbing began to build behind his temples which was a moderate headache caused by the unexpected and substantial drain on his magical reserves.
It was similar to the fatigue that followed after casting particularly complex or powerful spells in rapid succession.
Nevertheless, the minor discomfort paled in comparison to the astonishing capabilities of this self-healing prosthetic.
He couldn't contain his admiration any longer.
"By Merlin's beard, you're truly a genius, Little Ed!" he exclaimed with genuine enthusiasm, flexing his newly regrown forearm and fingers experimentally. "I believe my days of constantly commissioning replacement limbs may finally be behind me!"
Hearing the professor's praise, Adrian smiled confidently, narrowing his eyes, seeming to greatly enjoy it.
"I used a special variety of magical wood that has inherent self-healing properties," Adrian explained, "With careful processing and the application of several enchantments, it becomes an exceptional material for prosthetics. The wood essentially remembers its original form and can regenerate when damaged, provided the core remains intact."
Professor Kettleburn's eyes flashed with interest at this explanation. "Fascinating! Might I examine a sample of this remarkable substance in its raw form?"
Adrian nodded, gesturing for the professor to wait, then retrieved a dark wooden stick from a nearby cabinet and handed it to Professor Kettleburn. It was leftover material from the ebony tree he had harvested.
Professor Kettleburn took the dark wooden stick, examined it carefully for a while, rubbed it with his fingers, and even bit it a few times.
"Absolutely perfect material, Little Ed," He praised after completing his thorough evaluation. "But, Don't you perhaps think using such a extraordinary material for prosthetics might be somewhat wasteful?"
"Oh?" Adrian paused his work of cleaning up the debris from the explosion, looking up at Professor Kettleburn with genuine curiosity. He leaned against the damaged table, giving him his full attention.
In his mind, if Professor Kettleburn said this, he must have his own insights or unconventional applications.
Professor Kettleburn smiled slightly. "May I take this stick with me? You know, little Zok has just reached his teething period, and he's been desperately in need of a suitably durable chew stick."
"..."
Adrian found himself momentarily speechless, his expression frozen somewhere between disbelief and resignation. This was apparently what the professor had meant by avoiding "waste"—repurposing a rare magical material with remarkable self-healing properties as... a chew toy for a magical creature.
For clarification, "little Zok" in Professor Kettleburn's affectionate terminology referred to a young Murtlap he had recently adopted, a magical creature similar to an oversized rat.
In the end, Adrian agreed to the professor's request.
After all, this type of wood wasn't particularly precious to him—he had grown several trees in his greenhouse number two.
"Also, Professor," Adrian added after a brief pause, his tone shifting to one of serious instruction as he remembered an important limitation of the prosthetic design. "There is one matter that requires your special attention and care: the core component of the prosthetic, which enables its regenerative capabilities, is located at its innermost point, where it connects to your stump. If that critical part sustains significant damage, the recovery ability will be greatly reduced, or in worst cases, the prosthetic may lose its ability to regenerate."
"Don't worry," Professor Kettleburn patted his chest. "I'll use it carefully."