Alina perused the documents, contemplating how to coax Quirinus into drinking the potion later.

Of course, she wasn't entirely against resorting to methods other than persuasion. She had plenty of options like forced administration or direct commands.

However, if Professor Quirrell could actively cooperate with the experiment, it would significantly ease subsequent potion refinements and efficacy testing.

The fusion of magical and scientific medicine was potentially one of the most impactful and meaningful endeavors she would undertake in this world. And the inaugural collaborative target of both worlds would naturally be the most representative disease: the common cold.

The common cold. A disease most familiar to humanity.

With millions of years of history, this ailment consistently ranked high in both mortality rate and total deaths.

According to later statistics, adults contract an average of 2-5 colds per year, while adolescents and children may experience 6-8 annually. The frequent sneezing echoing throughout Hogwarts Castle proved that even magic offered no special immunity.

Furthermore, Madam Pomfrey's approach to treating colds revealed another issue.

The magical world was still in the darkest hours before dawn in the field of medicine.

However, by the end of this Christmas, dawn should arrive.

Alina surveyed the people gathered in the room: healers from Salzburg Magical Injuries Hospital, scholars from the Mendeleev Institute, Hogwarts' oldest Potions Master, and the world's foremost alchemist…

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the first ray of light would most likely be ignited by the people in this very room.

Knock, knock, knock.

The knocking interrupted Alina's thoughts, and she looked up at the door.

The Hogwarts Charms professor and Muggle Studies professor stood before her.

"Professor Quirrell, your cold shouldn't be better yet, right?"

"Actually, I think I'm getting better…"

Alina's opening remark sent a shiver down Quirrell's spine, and he anxiously looked around.

"It's just a minor cold, there's no need for any new medicine. In previous years, even without Pepperup Potion or Muggle interference, a good night's sleep usually does the trick… almost…"

Quirrell stared blankly at Dumbledore, Grindelwald, Flamel, Slughorn, and a host of other old wizards arguing, then at the healers surrounding them, engaged in serious discussions with Muggle scholars—most of whom he recognized from his time at Salzburg Magical Hospital, leading him to suspect he might be suffering from some terminal illness.

On the other side of the room, a smoking cauldron sat next to a pile of glass instruments, creating a rather peculiar sight.

What was going on?

"Ah, Quirinus, you've arrived."

Dumbledore looked up, glanced at the bald-headed wizard standing at the door, and said gently.

"Don't worry, we'll definitely help you cure your cold… but there are still some minor details to discuss. Have a seat and wait for a moment, as for the principles, difficulties, background… hmm, Miss Kaslana?"

"Of course, I'll take care of the explanation."

Alina nodded obediently, swinging her little white legs as she hopped off the table.

"Professor Quirrell, how much do you know about the dangers of the common cold, or, to put it simply, aren't you curious about why people catch colds, and wouldn't you like to know how to treat them?"

"…"

Not curious!

Don't want to know!

Quirrell felt inexplicably nervous, and swallowed hard.

As for the danger… in this room, the little witch was the most dangerous, wasn't she?

As a lucky survivor who had barely escaped Voldemort, Grindelwald, and Kaslana, Quirrell now regretted more than anything that he hadn't wrapped himself up tightly before the first cold snap arrived.

"Don't underestimate this seemingly insignificant illness. The mortality rate of seasonal influenza is 0.1%, but in the case of something like the Spanish flu decades ago, the mortality rate could be as high as 2-3%. In other words…"

Alina glanced at the sickly bald-headed wizard and said softly with utmost seriousness.

"On average, 20 to 30 out of every thousand people will die as a result—equivalent to the number of Gryffindor's new students this year."

"If that's not intuitive enough, then London currently has a total population of around seven million. Even the seasonal flu with the lowest mortality rate would cause seven thousand deaths, while a high-risk flu would result in more than twenty thousand deaths… equivalent to dozens of times the number of wizards killed by the 'most dangerous' Dark Lord during those years."

Alina cleared her throat slightly, and Lockhart quickly found a document and handed it to Quirrell.

To persuade Dumbledore and a group of scholars, she had already had Gringotts Wizarding Bank collect relevant data.

When tens of thousands of death records were stacked together, the impact was far greater than cold numbers or objective descriptions could convey.

"The most terrifying thing is that the current treatment methods in the magical world are merely superficial."

Alina looked at Quirrell's changing expression, her voice slightly lowered, and said seriously.

"Professor Quirrell, you should have noticed the special nature of the common cold—it is never truly cured. When you start sneezing, death is actually watching you. Out of curiosity, what do you think a cold is?"

"Uh—a cold, just, just caught a chill, drink some… hot, hot water should be—be, be alright, right?"

Quirinus Quirrell became inexplicably nervous, as if he had returned to his stuttering state from last year.

It was just a small cold, how did it suddenly become like this?

"Alas, Quirinus, you…"

Just then, Quirrell heard a faint sigh in his ear, and felt a heavy pat on his left shoulder.

Gilderoy Lockhart shook his golden curls, his pearly white teeth gleaming under the light.

"Quirinus, Quirinus, Quirinus. Don't look so worried, you are a wizard favored by luck—think about it carefully, how many people can still be jumping around after encountering so much misfortune?"

"…"

He looked at Lockhart blankly, the situation starting to exceed his understanding.

If that was the case, he seemed to be one of the unluckiest wizards in the world, after all, not everyone smoothly jumped from the clutches of one Dark Lord to the clutches of two other Dark Lords in succession.

More importantly…

Before entering this room, he wasn't anxious at all!

"Catching a chill? Drinking hot water? Unfortunately, all wrong—you are suffering from viral influenza."

Alina straightened her fingers in a serious manner, looking into Quirinus Quirrell's eyes, and said, word by word.

"Viral… influenza?"

Quirinus Quirrell blinked his eyes in confusion, repeating this new term.

Beside him, Gilderoy Lockhart had the same confused expression.

As a blade in the shadow of Her Majesty, Lockhart didn't pay attention to other research progress besides the field of memory—his core job was to keep secrets and sniff out and eliminate traitors for various organizations.

"From ancient times to the early twentieth century, the world had a highly unified understanding: colds are caused by cold, and driving away the cold can cure the cold. Obviously, this is why Madam Pomfrey chooses Pepperup Potion when treating colds at Hogwarts… Unfortunately, this is just relying on immunity, high temperature, and luck…"

Alina propped herself up with both hands, sitting on the high-legged square table behind her, continuing to explain unhurriedly.

Accompanied by Alina's voice, the wizards and scholars who had finished their discussions also leaned over, watching the little witch who was giving popular science with interest—such a situation was rare, even if they had already heard it once before.

Russell, Bacon, Descartes, Mendeleev, Washington…

Looking at those who died of colds over the years, a simple statistic could easily support a book called "The Stars Shine on Humanity."

"Unfortunately, luck doesn't always arrive in time…"

Alina lowered her gaze slightly, her tone extremely complicated as she said in a deep voice.

"About seventy-five years ago, in 1918, the largest collective 'cold' in human history quietly descended. This disaster, named the 'Spanish flu', caused half of the world's population to suffer from the flu. And then…"

Snap.

She snapped her fingers lightly.

"In an instant, 5% of the world's population disappeared, and nearly 100 million people died in this disease. Even the most tragic self-slaughter in human history—World War II—couldn't do what happened so suddenly. I specifically consulted relevant literature, and there are not many related records in the magical world, only a simple record."

Alina pointed her chin at a yellowed newspaper, her voice full of mockery.

"It was truly a cold winter, except that the price of Pepperup Potion rose, Gringotts Wizarding Bank also transferred thousands of accounts from active to dormant, of course… this debt was finally attributed to Gellert Grindelwald."

She glanced at the "retired old Dark Lord" who was unfortunately shot nearby, the corners of her mouth slightly raised.

"Anyway, the biggest villain during that time was just that one."

"As a matter of course, with Grindelwald defeated by Professor Dumbledore, the magical world had no reason to continue to delve into the truth of that cold winter—but the non-magical world didn't have such a target. From then on, any small sneeze was enough to make people without magic shiver. Muggles began to invest madly in related research."

"Decades later, these people without magic took the lead in solving this mystery—"

Alina pointed to the blackboard behind her, which was covered with various graphics, molecular formulas, and numbers.

"What causes the common cold is not cold or wind, but the cold virus: a life form that is smaller than sand and cannot be seen with the naked eye. And what we are going to do now is to use magic to complete the final blow."

"This may be a small step for you, but it is a big step for human civilization."

The girl's face shimmered with bright brilliance.

What is a white angel?

What is Saint Alina?

What is the seed of hope for the new world?

Ehehehe—

"Uh, um… so—"

Quirrell was stunned, and said hesitantly.

"So, the potion I'm going to drink later is not an improved version of the Pepperup Potion, but is specially formulated to kill those… um, cold viruses… sounds a bit, dangerous?"

"Don't worry, not dangerous, not dangerous."

Alina waved her hand, saying with utmost sincerity.

"You should know Mr. Nicolas Flamel, as the maker of the Philosopher's Stone, even if there is a small accident during the drug test later, he can use the power of the Philosopher's Stone to 'revive' you, besides, we have also tried the drug before. Before conducting human clinical trials, all the necessary procedures have been completed, and now only the last step is left."

"Uh, I, I think…"

Quirinus Quirrell opened his mouth, looked at the cauldron that had stopped rolling, and then looked at everyone in the room:

Dumbledore and others who were still arguing and discussing seemed to have reached a consensus, Nicolas Flamel was holding a bright red Philosopher's Stone in his hand, scholars and healers were looking at him expectantly, Lockhart was absentmindedly playing with his wand…

What a reasonable request that is difficult to refuse.

"If… if my verification is successful, will it be distributed to the whole school, or even the whole magical world?"

"No, no, we will explore the industrial production process and carry out small-scale pilot projects in the non-magical world and the magical world. Hogwarts will also be投放, but not so soon… If all goes well, yes, we will popularize it to the whole world."

Alina thought for a few seconds and corrected some of Quirrell's inaccurate descriptions.

In fact, what they were fiddling with now was just a semi-finished product.

Strictly speaking, it was more like a magic-synthesized targeted drug for the cold virus, and there was still a long way to go before industrial production and large-scale popularization, but its success or failure could determine whether this path was correct.

Before this, wizards had never studied and understood the world from a microscopic field.

If Nicolas Flamel and Slughorn's "cold medicine" was effective, it would mean that magic could learn from the scientific worldview.

More importantly, Professor Dumbledore would also judge the proportion of non-magical knowledge introduced into the subsequent curriculum reform of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry based on this "cooperative project", and then use this to persuade people outside the school.

No one is afraid of death, even wizards are.

Under the threat of birth, old age, sickness and death, no one will refuse a more sound and complete medical system and medical theory. After Quirinus Quirrell's pilot project is successfully verified, Salzburg will start trying new drugs.

This was originally Grindelwald's excuse to fool the "Ministry of Magic"—a top magic hospital that solves difficult and miscellaneous diseases.

"Okay, I understand, I am honored."

Quirinus Quirrell was silent for a moment, and nodded seriously.

At this moment, he suddenly understood what Gilderoy Lockhart had said before.

The world is too vast, compared to these clearly foreseeable epochal changes that may involve tens of millions or hundreds of millions of lives, these careers that can leave traces on the progress of human civilization… Voldemort's ideals expounded in the Albanian Black Forest are as childish and ridiculous as children playing house.

"Thank you for your support, Professor Slughorn, please…"

Alina smiled slightly at Dumbledore, turned her head to look at the potions professor standing by the cauldron, and was about to let him serve a standard dose of 'Cold Relief', when she suddenly felt a tickle in her nose, and then…

"… Achoo!"

Under the quiet gaze of a group of adult wizards and scholars, Alina touched her nose and said frankly.

"Please prepare two standard doses of 'cold medicine', and also establish a file—patient name: Alina Kaslana; age: 12 years old; symptoms: suspected influenza; taking drugs: 'unnamed new cold magic medicine', medication time…"

As a cute and lovable Black Demon King cub, it is normal to have reduced resistance after staying up late for several nights in a row.

Not to mention, her bed is often filled with sneezing little beavers, little moons, little keys, and little iron girls… Even if she is a Veela hybrid, surrounded by so many cold viruses, it seems that she is still unfortunately hit.

That's good too, sample reference +1.