Chapter 12 – Aftershocks

CLASSIFIED 03M/03R

This document can only be read by personnel with Level 03M or 03R clearance or above. Personnel without proper authorisation caught possessing or viewing this document or a copy of this document will face an Azkaban sentence of at least 30 years in addition to a Memory Charm being performed.

MINISTRY OF MAGIC

DEPARTMENT OF MYSTERIES

RESEARCH DOCUMENT E7J112G

PROJECT WILTSHIRE FIVE: EXPERIMENTATION REGARDING HUMAN AUGMENTATION VIA 'LIVE' RUNES

DATE: █████████ 1903

DOCUMENT BY: 04A ████████████

CONTENT

ABSTRACT - 1

PROJECT SUMMARY - 2

PRIMARY WORKINGS - 4

APPLICATION OF THEORY - 70

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION - 178

ANNEX A - 211

ANNEX B - 289

ANNEX C - 313

ANNEX D - 336

Page 1 of 347

ABSTRACT

Both historical sources and current proven research has indicated that Active Runes can be applied to humans just like other various objects that have been used as a platform for Active Runes. These have traditionally been used to enhance the physical and mental capacity of the human body.

However the process of applying runes on humans is a much more dangerous and painful process involving tattooing, carving and branding to name a few. Additionally, Pythion's Laws on activating Active Runes comes with the restriction that no Active Rune is permanent in is its magical effects unless an input of magical energy is present every time an Active Rune is manifesting. On an inanimate object, this can be done through the appropriate charms or runic energy conservation systems. However, these methods cannot be feasibly applied on living beings such as humans.

As such, Project Wiltshire Five aims to further push the laws of magic by circumventing this issue, thus coming up with a method to permanently augment the human body. This document serves as a record to the process and results of Project Wiltshire Five. As of the date this document has been recorded, Project Wiltshire Five has been concluded by 05R ████████████ and 05M ███████████ as a success. Declaration as success had been approved by 08M ██████████.

PROJECT SUMMARY

Project Wiltshire Five began on ███████████ and ended on ████████ 19██, building on various other works of research from sources both inside and outside the department. Namely, results from ██████████████, ███████████████████ and ███████████████████████████████████ were the most heavily used. Further details on derived research can be found in Annex C.

Project Wiltshire Five was proposed by 05M ███████████ for research purposes, stating that the results of such a project can lead to its implementation in the █████████████████████ to further improve their operating capacity, as well as its implementation in █████████████ to ensure their ███████████████████████████████████. This was approved by 08M ██████████. Full details can been found in Annex C.

The project was held at Sector ██ Lab █, working under a ██ men team. Majority of the research duration involved theoretical hypothesis and calculations, working out possible runic scripts and systems on parchment and deriving its potential feasibility via Arithmancy deciphering. In order to facilitate the project, ██████████████████████ of varied ages were acquired from the █████████████ supervised by 07F █████████ in order to test the various rune scripts during the latter part of the

Page 2 of 347

"Astounding, simply astounding," chirped Professor Flitwick, bouncing on the balls of his heels. "Who would have thought Ms Seryy was capable of wandless magic at such a high proficiency. Why, Albus, I think that even you wouldn't be able to do that.

Accompanying him were his fellow Head-of-Houses and the Headmaster. Their bright orange dirigible gently descended onto the designated landing area alongside other dirigibles. The whistling sound of steam signalled the stop of the droning propellers and the doors opened on its own. Hordes of people filtered out from the plump airships and made their way to the castle. Many were chatting animatedly, the Second Task was just as exciting as the First Task. However, one thing clearly stood out in this task to be the highlight: the wandless and nonverbal Blasting Curse that had sent the famed Durmstrang Champion sprawling on the floor.

Even beside the professors, a second-year Gryffindor was speaking with excitement to his friend, "And just like that, snap, and Krum when flying from that explosion. How did she even do that?"

"Probably cheated, being the Slytherin she is," the other student grumbled.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for senseless slander," Snape said silkily as he passed by the pair, catching up with the other professors. Once again, Karkaroff had decided to corner him for a discussion.

"Really now, Severus," Professor Sprout admonished. "Just let the boys have their fun."

Snape chose to remain quiet, allowing Dumbledore to speak up. "It is indeed quite astounding, very unexpected indeed."

"Unexpected?" Professor McGonagall asked suspiciously. "Weren't you the one who accepted the girl's transfer to Hogwarts? Surely you would have anticipated her abilities from the portfolio her family provided."

"That is exactly what made it unexpected," Dumbledore replied serenely. "Her results from the Magical Academy of St Petersburg show her to be a rather average student, showing high proficiency in only Transfiguration, Runes and Muggle Studies. Whereas her other fields were quite lacklustre."

"Well, she is proficient in Transfiguration," Professor McGonagall admitted. "She probably rivals Ms Granger in the coursework, and I can confidently say she is more than ready for her Transfiguration OWLs"

"Filius, Pomona, Severus?" Dumbledore inquired. "What about her other subjects?"

"As you said Albus," Professor Sprout responded. "The girl is lacklustre in her Herbology, averaging at only an 'Acceptable' score. Honestly, I suspect it isn't the lack of skill rather it's the lack of effort."

"Filius?"

"Quite strange actually," the short man piped up, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "She results in Charms are very temperamental, she could be struggling with even the simplest of charms one day but master difficult charms the very next day. It's as though she never had consistent practice in Charms back in Russia, only practicing certain charms while ignoring the rest."

"Their syllabus could be different in Russia. Honestly, from all these, I find her to be very strange." Professor McGonagall suggested. "Have you checked on that Albus, delved deeper into the records?"

"Honestly, I didn't," Albus said with a casual shrug. "You know how the paper trails are in the Russian Ministry of Magic. It's a complete swamp to trudge through."

"It's like they never recovered," Professor McGonagall exclaimed with an exasperated sigh, as though she was commenting on a particularly troublesome student. "They had what? Three years to recover?"

"Three years is a short time for a country," Professor Flitwick said sagely. "But from what I hear from my old acquaintances, it has made leaps and bounds in ensuring civil and financial stability. It's just that no effort was made to improve the administrative aspects of the government."

The group had reached the great doors of the castle by then. Lunch was about to start soon and they had silently agreed to have their lunch together before the start of their work. After all, the Great Hall was just a door away.

"Well, Severus," Professor Sprout asked the Slytherin Head who had been quietly following. "What's with the silence? She's in your house, you ought to know her best."

"It was as Professor Dumbledore said," Snape simply replied. "She is does well in Transfiguration, Runes and Muggle Studies while having an average if not shoddy performance in her other fields."

"Surely you know more than that," Professor Sprout pressed.

Snape seemed to consider the words for a long moment before speaking. "She is highly independent and seems to prefer working on her own. Although she seems reclusive, she is able to make friends despite being a foreign newcomer, developing bonds with Nott, Zabini and the Greengrasses. On top of that, she has proven herself very worthy of being in House Slytherin, especially after this task."

"The wandless magic?" said Professor McGonagall curiously. "I was unaware that raw power and high magical capacity were what Slytherin prides itself in."

"No, but cunning is," this time, Snape allowed him to crack a slight grin, the corners of his lips twitching up. "Evidently so if she had managed to trick everyone, include all of you here, into thinking that the explosion was purely wandless magic."

"It wasn't!?" Professor McGonagall gasped in surprise, stopping in her tracks. "But how was that even possible?"

"A very simple trick that can fool even the most brilliant of wizards," Snape answered. "Muggle science, the moment I recalled her aptitude in Muggle Studies, I saw this as a possibility to the cause of her display in 'wandless' magic."

"Do explain Severus," Dumbledore coaxed him gently.

"As I potioneer, I – like many Muggles in certain professions – understand the danger of reactive substances suspended in air as dust. Should there even be the slightest spark, it could trigger a reaction that can result in an explosion similar to what we have just witnessed."

"I didn't see her throw a vial at Mr Krum," Professor Sprout reasoned. "How could she even have reactive substances in the air without us noticing?"

"Filius, how was her duelling?" Snape asked the ex-duelling champion. "Particularly, her aim."

"She was very fast and agile," Professor Flitwick recalled. "As for her aim, very accurate and never missing. Krum had to constantly use a Shield Charm for all her attacks."

"Never missing?" Snape echoed, emphasising the first word.

"Well... I suppose there was one," Professor Flitwick said thoughtfully. "Her Reductor Curse was the only one that missed- OH! I understand now! Indeed, as you say Severus, she is very cunning. I never even thought of that!"

"Do explain Filius," said Professor McGonagall. "I'm sure we'd all like to know."

"If you observed closely and were not distracted by the ongoing duel, you will notice the missed Reductor Curse hit a tree quite close to Krum, completely rendering it into puff of dust. As we all know, wood being flammable can fill the requirement of a reactive substance. Add that with a Reductor Curse and..." Professor Flitwick trailed off, allowing the rest of the professors to piece the clues together.

"Unbelievable," said Professor McGonagall weakly. "Ms Seryy truly is creative, but how did she ignite the dust?"

"I did say she fooled everyone into thinking it was purely wandless magic," Snape explained as the professors took their seats in the Great Hall. "The ignition of the sawdust could have indeed been wandless magic."

"But to even have that degree of control in wandless magic is still quite impressive," Professor McGonagall responded, helping herself to some haggis. "Not many could even do that without a wand."

"Hold it!" Professor Sprout's fork clattered onto her plate. "Wouldn't that be cheating? After all, she didn't truly use wandless magic the way we thought she did. That was what the judges gave her the points for."

"And the same points can be given for her ability to deceive even the Headmasters of three prominent magical schools," Dumbledore said jovially with a chuckle. The chuckles lasted a few seconds before a grimmer expression took over. "Now that you say she's strange Minerva, I do agree with you. And the timing of her transfer too, of possible times to transfer why now?"

"You mean transferring over during the year where there's the Triwizard Tournament?" Professor McGonagall said. "Well, it is odd but surely a coincidence."

"No, not that," Dumbledore said slowly, gazing at Snape. "The requested for her transfer comes the day after the Dark Mark was cast over the Quidditch World Cup."

"Honestly, Albus," Professor Sprout frowned. "Alastor must be rubbing off you."

"It's not just that Pomona, it's what she's able to do, especially in the two tasks we've seen so far. Filius, you say she's shaky at Charms but I realised that she does quite well in four charms just in this task alone. Disillusionment Charm, Notice-Me-Not Charm, Silencing Charm and Banishment Charm, the first three being spells rigorously drilled during Auror training for Tracking and Evasion. As you said, she is 'only practicing certain charms while ignoring the rest'.

As for runes, in the two sets that she has demonstrated in total, one is a sensory alteration and the other specifically denies magical transport. Not the usual rune scripts a student would learn. Furthermore, she actively chose to hunt the other Champions down during this Task are rather than evade them despite knowing that evasion is easier with broomsticks being disabled. And from the looks of it, being in a fight fazes her to absolutely no degree whatsoever. In fact, she rather looks to be in her natural environment."

"Now that's taking it a little too far," Professor McGonagall scowled, not liking the direction of the conversation. Snape on the other hand, met Dumbledore's gaze and seemed to be pondering deeply.

"Is it?" Dumbledore countered gently. "I'm sure all of you had heard of what happened in Alastor's class."

There were nods all around, all of them have heard about Moody casting the Imperius Curse on the students, with only Harry and Anya being the only ones who could throw it off.

"Many of you may not realise it, but the method she apparently used is a method I've seen before. I last saw it during the war against Grindelwald," there were a few gasps from Professor Sprout and Professor Flitwick. The looks on the other two Head-of-Houses became more solemn. "It was a technique devised by the British Ministry of Magic as the twentieth century just came. Specifically, from the Department of Mysteries as a method for those who might lack the high mental capacity to counter the Imperius Curse. Despite looking simple, which it actually is now that I think of it, a great deal of training is still required for a person to instinctively inflict bodily harm on oneself upon receiving an Imperius Curse. This method was then employed by several Auror brigades throughout Europe in an attempt to counter any Imperius Curse from Grindelwald's Acolytes."

"That's what she did!?" Professor Sprout burst out, looking at the raven-haired girl sitting on the Slytherin table. "I thought it was just an accident."

"Feels comfortable in a fight and received specific Auror-level training in her magical education," Professor McGonagall summarised, a dawning sense of comprehension overcoming her. "Albus, just who is she?"

"I can't say, Minerva. She could have been a child soldier, I've heard that such things were a commonplace in Russia. Or she could possibly be an agent in the Russian Ministry. But what worries me is – as I had said previously – the timing of her request to transfer to Hogwarts and the fact that Severus has said that the relations she had struck up here were the families Nott, Zabini and Greengrass."

Their lunch had gone cold by this point, but not that any of them cared. They all understood Dumbledore was trying to say.

"Albus, just what are you trying to imply?" Professor McGonagall asked carefully.

"I'm not implying anything, Minerva. I'm merely putting down the possibilities. Severus do keep an eye on her, will you?"

Snape nodded before turning to face the girl, who was by then surrounded by a large group of people, all clamouring to speak to her.

XXXXX

"Come on Seryy, just tell us how you did it!" the same question reached her ears for the umpteenth time. She deflected with a casual shrug and a small enigmatic grin, choosing to carry on with her lunch.

"She ain't letting it up lads," Zabini told the group over his soup. "I've tried asking her for over an hour and she didn't budge."

"Does anyone here have Veritaserum on hand?" Astoria asked the crowd innocently, bringing out a rousing wave of laughter. "We could force feed her and then ask her. Oh! We should ask Professor Snape for some."

Anya joined in the laughter, waving off yet another question on how she achieved a wandless Blasting Curse. In the corner of her vision, she picked out the Head-of-Houses and Professor Dumbledore discussing. There were a few moments when their eyes flicked over to her direction, she was the topic of their conversation. Judging from their expression, they were not discussing anything positive, their faces ranged from shock to suspicion, she reckoned she probably overdid the whole wandless magic act. As their conversation came to a close, Dumbledore said something to Snape, who nodded and chanced a look on her. Anya sighed internally, it was bad enough having to avoid Moody, another professor's watchful gaze was not what she wanted.

Finishing her meal, she left the Great Hall. She avoided crowd of people nipping at her heels, insisting that she deserved a well-earned rest after the Second Task. Taking a turn towards the dungeons, she found herself further away from the hustle and bustle of the students. It was just a passing ghost or two that occupied the corridors, which was the reason Anya was surprised to find Mr Crouch loitering around.

The man moved with a quick pace, the sharp and rapid clacking of his shoes brimming with an anxious and frustrated urgency. However his face was a blank, his glossy eyes darting all over. If it had not been for the nerve bundle that connected it to the body, Anya would not have been surprised to see his eye spinning like Moody's magical eye.

"Ms Seryy, what are you doing here?" his voice was hallow and strained, making it seem as though articulation had become a gruelling chore for him.

"Going to my common room," Anya answered casually, though she had already shifted her body to hide her drawn wand from the man's view. She remembered Dimitri's warning in the letter and Mr Crouch's behaviour seemed to corroborate the oddness of the letter. "I'm in Slytherin after all."

"Is it now..." Mr Crouch trailed off, beginning his pacing down the corridor again. He was not acting suspiciously, Anya thought. No, he was acting like a deranged vagrant. Anya observed the man in his trip down the corridor trying to figure out the uneasiness she was feeling. Suddenly, she caught it, the lines of magic twisted and wounded around his head. She wondered why she never noticed it till now, probably because this was her second time seeing the man up close and during the first time she had been swept up by the excitement of being chosen as the Junior Champion. This man was under the Imperius Curse. That meant that someone had him in their pockets, obtaining dark ritual ingredients from overseas under his name and utilising his position as Head of International Magical Cooperation to smuggle them in. The main question now was what to do, but before she could even come up with an idea, a gruff voice growled from her back

"Good afternoon, Mr Crouch," Moody limped over to the man and shook hands. "Sorry to intrude, but you're wanted by Bagman in Dumbledore's office. He wants to discuss something for the Third Task."

Mr Crouch complied, walking obediently down the corridor. Moody place a firm grip on Anya and steered her away, leading her away from the Slytherin common room. "Come on Ms Seryy, I want to discuss something about your most recent essay."

"I think that can wait, Professor," said Anya, glad to have a solution to Mr Crouch's behaviour. "Because it would seem as though Mr Crouch is under the influence of an Imperius Curse."

"Nonsense, lassie. Why would you think so?"

Just what happened to the paranoid man who screamed 'CONSTANT VIGILANCE'? On her periphery, see could see privacy wards being casted by the professor, swirling around the corridor. Anya's caution grew tenfold, something was off, and she had to choose her words carefully.

Red lines filled Anya's vision as soon as her hesitation became to apparent, prompting her to twist herself out from Moody's grip and tumble onto the floor. A red Stunner flew past where she was just standing moments ago, colliding with the stone wall in a sharp crack. Turning around, Anya saw a drawn wand in Moody's hand, still faintly glowing from the spell he had cast. She reached for her pistol before realising that she was still in her previous Tournament attire. She never brought her weapons for the Task, fearing an item check. This was going to have to be all wandwork and unarmed combat. And against a physically disabled old man, she opted for unarmed combat.

Lunging forward with an inhuman speed, she landed her foot onto Moody's kneecap, hearing the satisfying crunch of it fracturing. The ex-Auror staggered forward into her incoming elbow, which snapped his head upwards, sending his body off balance. Moody crashed onto the floor on his back and Anya seized the advantage, landing her knee on his wand hand to direct it away from her. With her right arm on his neck, the other reached for her wand.

However, it was not quick enough. Searing flames shot from Moody's wand, encircling the pair like a coiling snake and even taking the form of a giant snake. The fire grew larger and larger with a loud billowing noise, smothering the entire corridor in a matter of seconds. But it never reached for the pair who were on the floor, it moved about jerkily towards them but was pulled back by an invisible force whenever it got too close.

"It's Fiendfyre, Ms Seryy. It only heeds my command, and is the sole reason we are still alive now," Moody growled. "You wouldn't be so foolish as to incapacitate me now, would you? I doubt you would know the counter-curse for this."

A magical Dead-man's trigger. Smart. Very bloody, fucking, damn smart. Should have went straight for the neck.

Anya looked around from a possible escape route, but found none. The cursed fire covered too much area for any movement and Hogwarts was warded against Portkeys. She was cornered, she had to admit Moody played a very good move. Sighing, she completed her drawing of her wand. Still keeping the knee on Moody's wand, she pointed her wand at Moody.

"Imperius Curse wouldn't work, lassie," Moody smiled, stretching his scars into an ugly form. He called her plan out accurately. "Fire will go straight out of control."

It was definitely a fib. It could be a fib. It might be a fib. But it did a very good job in making Anya hesitate, Moody's smile grew wider, knowing that girl was too cautious to try. He will give her credit, she didn't look the slightest bit scared. Many girls her age would have been frightened senseless, but she merely put on a look of deep frustration, as though he just played a very good chess move against her.

"Privacy wards to keep people from hearing this noise too, smart," Anya murmured before raising her voice. "You know, Professor Moody, I could just stall until someone comes across this mess."

"Oh, you like to play this kind of game," said Moody wildly, his eyes alight with a mad excitement. "Let's see who cracks first then."

He twitched his wand slightly and the fiery serpent tightened its coil, bring the flaming wall closer to the pair. With a triumphant grin, he faced the girl.

"Well, lassie, are you still going to play it like this? You do know that I could control the flames to burn only you," the smile on his face grew wilder with each passing moment, whatever facade he had been maintaining seemed to break down rapidly.

"And you would start an investigation for a missing student who was seen just mere hours ago," Anya replied smoothly. "And being a Triwizard Tournament Junior Champion no less. You wouldn't risk this, you'll need me alive."

"Oh, you're a clever one," Moody cackled with the same madness in his eyes. "But are you sure? Let's just see if you're as mad as I am!"

The fires coiled even closer, inching in slowly until only a feet of hot air separated the pair from a fiery death. Anya was sweating bullets at this point, the heat was unbearable.

"Curse damage is irreparable," Anya told the grizzled man. "If I get harmed by just the tiniest bit, something would be off."

"You think I care?" his grin grew even wider. The flames were inches away from licking Anya's boots at this point, Anya swore under her breath. She did not know what his plans were, trying to ensure that the Imperius Curse on Mr Crouch stayed confidential, but she was sure it wasn't worth her life. With a final look for any passing student or ghost that ended in vain, she dropped her wand, allowing it land on Moody.

"You win," Anya relented, raising up her hands in surrender and moving off Moody's body.

"Good effort, lassie," said Moody, picking up Anya's wand and climbing on his feet with difficulty due to a fractured kneecap. "Not enough."

"What's next?" Anya asked slowly, narrowing her eyes at Moody. "Can we both just forget this moment? Literally too, a Memory Charm would do just fine right about now."

"That would be my plan too, Seryy," Moody growled, slowly building back his original expression of an ex-Auror and not a crazed maniac. "But first, ten steps back."

A flick of his wand widened the coil of fire around them, providing Anya ample room to move. However, Anya merely looked at him in confusion. "You need space to cast a Memory Charm?"

"Don't fool around, lassie," Moody barked. "I need space to ensure that you stay harmless. You didn't think I would just cancel the Fiendfyre right now without any insurance, not when you are able to cast wandless magic and move as fast as a werewolf on a full moon. Now sit on the floor, legs crossed. And the hands stay up too."

Anya swore under breath, her last resort scrapped. She obliged, settling herself onto the hot floor. Moody threw her wand back to her, knowing full well she can't use it against him without dying herself. Anya caught the wand with a puzzled expression.

"Stun yourself, you know that spell very well."

Very damn smart.

Not like she had much choice, Moody held all the cards here. Steeling herself, she pointed her wand at her chest. Hopefully, Moody wouldn't plan on messing around with her unconscious body. Then again, lunch should be over by now, if he didn't make his clean-up neat and fast, he would be caught.

"Stupefy."

Her world when black.

XXXXX

It was cold, very old. It was painful, very painful. Each snowflake that landed on Anya's face seemed like a taunt from mother nature. She sat on the snow, her hands gripped tightly on her right thigh, attempting to stem the bleeding. The effort was in vain though, as Vlad had said. The wound was cursed such that applying pressure would not achieve any results, cauterisation was called for.

Anya cursed out loud, tears streaming down from the pain and exhaustion. She was close to giving up now, so damn close. All it took was one word, one syllable, and she would be whisked away by a portkey to the comfort of a warm bed and medical treatment. She was feeling a little woozy from the blood loss, she had been bleeding a lot, evident from the long trail of blood on the white snow. Turning her head, she looked on hopelessly at the bundle of kindling and sticks she had struggled to find in the Siberian wasteland. She had no wand, no lighter, no match, not even a flint to work with. She couldn't even rub the sticks to generate enough heat to start the fire she so desperately needed, they were all too damp and she didn't even know how to do it correctly.

She was only provided two items, a blunt knife for wood cutting and as cauterisation tool and a patch of steel wool to start a fire. There were no batteries to ignite the latter item though, because she was supposed to be the batteries herself. Taking another deep breath, she focused on the steel wool nestled within the kindling, yearning every last drop of energy into her fingertips. With a frustrated grunt, she snapped her fingers but once again, nothing happened. This was messed up, she never even got the hang of it before being rudely shoved into this predicament. She collapsed onto the snow, looking distantly at the unlit bundle. Looking up, she saw a lone Soviet attack helicopter - a Mi-24 - flying off in the distance. She wasn't far away from a Muggle military base too, getting caught would not bode well. Her eyes followed the helicopter's path until she could turn her head no further without twisting her body around.

She wrung her hair in frustration. It was not like as though she had anything to lose. As Nathaniel had said, anyone of them was free to walk out anytime. Many had, she had seen them walk away never to return. If anything, giving up now would put her life less at risk, both present and future.

With a sigh, she realised that this was the only life she had known. She had found a sick sense of comfort in it and she was not willing to leave the realm of familiarity. Also, she wanted to stay with those who had grown up with her. Those who had cared for her and those she had cared for in return. Her family. She was enduring so that she could stay by their side.

Though they were all orphans from different parts of the world, a strong sense of camaraderie had formed between them. They were all shedding the blood of others in this murky life of theirs so that they can stick together. If all of them chose to leave simultaneously, Anya doubted that any of them would look back with regret. But that never happened, so they all stayed.

Anya turned back to the unlit bundle of wood, she was sure somewhere in the hundred mile radius, Dimitri, Wei Jen and Kiel were all facing the same predicament, placed in the same grueling test. Nathaniel had made it clear, they probably would not find themselves further in his personal tutelage should they fail this. She was confident Dimitri would pass this, he had the raw magical power built to brute force his way through. Jen and Kiel probably would pass too. If she failed this, she would still be able to see them, but living together like they alway did in Arkhangelsk? Not anymore.

Listen up all of you – especially you Dimitri, stop dozing off – understand that wandless magic requires a high degree of purposefulness. It not just magical power and ability that allows one to wield wandless magic. Understanding exactly what you desire is the key, that is how magical children create accidental magic, the forerunner of wandless magic. Known exactly what it is that you desire and materialise it into the physical plane, that is the key to using wandless magic. Of course, the scale of things you can do with wandless magic still falls on your ability, power and amount of practice. Nonetheless, I expect all of you to be able to achieve the standard set of cantrips wandlessly by the end of this month. Magic is only truly dangerous if it is completely independent of all tools, wand included.

One last time, she lifted her hand and with great deliberation, snapped her fingers once more. This time, a crackle of electricity danced about the steel wool, igniting it into a warm glow as the fire spread to the kindling and to the sticks. A relieved smile cracked open at the orange light, she brought her hands close to the fire, warming them up.

When the fire grew big enough, she stuck her knife in the fire, giving ample time for the metal tip to heat up into a red glow. Taking a deep breath, she pressed the burning metal against the wound on her thigh, screaming as the pain overwhelmed her. The process repeated until finally, her wound had stopped bleeding. Anya allowed herself a small smile, she couldn't wait for Tanya's turn to be tested.

If all of them failed simultaneously, Anya doubted that any of them would look back with regret. But that never happened, so they all stayed.