Robert knew firsthand how dangerous it was to go to certain places at night, regardless of what stage the moon was in, and the Forbidden Forest was probably close to the top of the list. There was a reason that, first, it was called forbidden, and, second, that the school had a permanent rule that students were not to go there. He also, though, understood the natural lure it held especially for students to be able to honestly declare that not only had one ventured there in the dark but one had returned and had survived. Hell, he had done it himself at that age.
Robert examined the bite mark. This suggested to Robert that the werewolf had been hunting, aggressive, and had fully intended to harm, meaning that this werewolf was most likely not taking wolfsbane or at least hadn't taken it this month. Robert knew that it wasn't unusual for werewolves to choose the forest to hide. Alex was very fortunate to be alive to be able to tell the tale.
Alex had probably also already been told, ad infinitum, about his mistake that had put him in this position, and he was going to hear it a lot longer than just today. Robert had no intention of making such judgments.
The wound itself was nasty. He could clearly see where the wolf had initially planted its teeth and how it had shredded skin as it bit down and closed it's jaws with Alex's arm in it's jaws. It was going to need careful tending, and it was going to scar. Werewolf bites always scarred. There was no avoiding that, unfortunately, unless one removed that entire area of skin with a pretty dramatic skin graft, but even so, Robert believed there was some definite tissue loss. A bit of the muscle in the arm was just gone.
"Well, I can definitely attest to how easy it is to not take the moon phase into consideration," he said. He got up and got a bottle of his own formula of antiseptic. He preferred this formula because, first of all, it didn't have much scent except for a slight herbal essence, and second, it had a touch of a numbing agent in it so that it cleaned without burning. He put the antiseptic on a gauze dressing and used it to carefully dab at the wound. The healer at the school had clearly been at it with silver and dittany.
"This wound is rather deep," Robert glanced up at Alex. "Bite marks like these can be resistant to closing, but in this case, I do want to accomplish two things. I want the wound itself to close from the inside out. I want the lower layers of skin to close first, and I want the outer areas to close last. I realize that isn't normally the way it goes, but it will minimize the chance of infection if we do it that way. Secondly, there is some damage beneath the skin. It's the norm with this sort of wound. I want to regenerate some of that so that you don't lose any functioning in your arm or in your hand or your fingers. It does take just a wee bit longer for it to heal that way, but I'm more concerned that we do it right, not fast. So, with your permission, I'm going to start with treating the damage beneath the skin, and then I'll work on the skin itself. This is going to take just a little, so settle in. This is going to take a minute.
There was a soft knock on the door, followed by a nurse poking her head in.
"Ah, there you are, Robert. Someone thought they saw you arrive down here. Do you need anything?"
"I think we're fine," Robert told her. "I'm going to be a few minutes. What's the tea in the break room today?"
"Its some of your almond tea," the nurse said. She looked at Teddy, Lily, and Alex. "Would any of you like some? It's a favorite here, and it's fresh. I'll be happy to bring some if you like."