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Chapter 27: Grindelwald's Charm

Róisín coughed and felt the weight of the damp air slide into her lungs. The cold floor of the Restricted Section was not a cozy place to read. The first two pages of The Trials of the Death Eaters Vol.1 contained a list of names of the accused and the corresponding pages with their court records. Róisín's eyes slid down the list.

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Merton Blackwood...22/12/1980...pg. 359-384

Igor Karkaroff...5/9/1981...pg. 385-431

Antonin Dolohov...20/9/1981...pg. 432-510

Leroy Montague...27/9/1981...pg. 511-572

Garrick Selwyn...1/10/1981...pg. 573-591

Blythe Harlow...5/10/1981...pg. 592-605

Barwolf Axton...23/10/1981...pg. 606-639

Walden Macnair...27/10/1981...pg. 640-700

Thiebaut Marchand...2/12/1981...pg. 701-719

Thorfinn Rowle...10/12/1981...pg. 720-787

Sirius Black...16/12/1981...pg. 788-793

Rolant Travers...20/12/1981...pg. 794-820

Osmont Mulciber...28/12/1981...pg. 821-832

Norval Avery...4/1/1982...pg. 833-870

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Her gaze jumped back up. Sirius Black. He was the wizard still at large. The first person ever to escape Azkaban, followed recently by Rookwood, who after scanning the rest of the list, Róisín decided was in volume two.

Had Black taught Rookwood how to escape?

Róisín flicked to page 788.

Sirius Black

Born: 3/11/1959

Sentenced to life in Azkaban without trial in Wizard Court.

Róisín's hand raised to cover her mouth as she read. In the sentencing records, muggles described how twelve of their peers were blown to pieces and Cornelius Fudge himself testified to Black laughing maniacally at the scene of the crime, surrounded by bodies. Róisín turned the page,

The Twelve Muggle Victims

Sally Addington, age 15, John Brent, age 35, Alison Brown, age 20, Robert Clark, age 57 - CLANG

The noise was followed by a BANG as the Trials of the Death Eaters Vol. 1 exploded. Róisín whipped her stinging hands away. Pages fluttered to the ground.

A tall black-clad figure stood in front of her.

Róisín scrambled to her feet.

"Sorry, Professor, I-I was reading."

"And wanted to destroy the evidence?" Snape eyes flicked to the scraps of pages littered around her.

"Oh, that was me?"

"Liber reparo"

The papers flew together and the repaired book landed in Snape's hands. Róisín winced as he read the title.

"Do you feel vulnerable?" He asked, his voice unnervingly quiet. He replaced the book on the shelf.

Róisín swallowed. "I-"

"You are alone and defenceless, in an isolated part of the castle in the middle of the night. Do you have any sense of what a dark wizard would do to find you, what he would do once he had you?"

Róisín's throat tightened.

"Come," Snape ordered.

Róisín followed him through the library. She jumped as the gate to the restricted section swung shut behind them with another clang. Snape turned towards her and Róisín let out a squeak at his sudden movement. A book exploded overhead.

"Could. You. Control. Yourself," Snape spat at her. He whipped out his wand and muttered, "Liber reparo". Róisín took a step backwards,

"Sorry, sir, I-"

"Stay still. The crimes shelf is ridden with fear fungus." Snape flicked his wand at her and muttered in Greek. His brow creased.

"Sir, I em, I think I got rid of the fungus," Róisín said.

"What spell did you use?"

"Ekapsa Mykita"

Snape turned on his heel and Róisín had to trot to keep up with his long strides.

"Put on this." He thrust a piece of fabric at her. It felt like water but left her hands dry. Róisín recognised it; it was the same cloth Dumbledore had confiscated from Potter. She wrapped it around herself and gasped. Her body had disappeared. So this was how Potter snuck into Snape's chambers.

"Cover your head," Snape ordered. Róisín ducked under the cloak and shivered. It felt like dipping into a cool spring.

Snape headed towards the west of the castle. He took out an old piece of parchment, looked at it, and turned into a classroom. Róisín followed and Snape shut the door. His eyes swept around before he muttered,

"Take off the cloak."

Róisín threw it off. Snape took a step back, as though he hadn't expected her to be so close. Róisín twisted the silk in her hands.

"Your magic is clearly unstable," Snape stated. He lent with one long arm against the back of a chair. "I know it is late but I cannot leave you in your current state. I can either put you under a stasis charm or we could go back to the dungeons."

Róisín's eyes widened. She had heard of the stasis charm in History of Magic, also called "Grindelwald's charm" it was used by the infamous wizard to control his most unruly followers.

"You can cast a stasis?" Róisín asked, unable to hide her disbelief.

"That is what I said, yes. Do you know what it does?"

"Em, doesn't it keep a wizard's magic from working in the world around it? By confining it to the air around them?"

"A stasis charm puts a sphere around a person which the magic cast from within has difficulty leaking through." Snape flicked his wrist and a wave of cool air washed over them. "You're experiencing spontaneous outbursts of magic tied with your emotions. A stasis would help control them, however to be put under one is reportedly unpleasant."

"Does it hurt?" Róisín asked.

"It's unsettling. I will only be able to cast it if you're willing to be put under it."

"Em, what was the other option you said?"

Snape's adam's apple bobbed and his jaw tensed.

"I said we could go back to my chambers."

"Oh." A desk on the far side of the room popped like a balloon into shards of wood. Róisín winced. Snape sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He repario'd the desk without turning around.

"That answers that question," he muttered. The heat in Róisín's cheeks was like a furnace. "I expect you will last only a day or two under the stasis," Snape continued, "After which you will have to come to me."

"Why didn't you cast the stasis charm on me before?" Róisín asked.

"It's only a temporary solution."

"Oh."

"And I only recently mastered it. There are three stages to the enchantments, but it should take only five minutes to complete."

It felt longer with Snape staring at her and pacing around her, speaking in dead languages while his magic did funny things to her insides. Finally, he lowered his wand. At the beginning of the incantation Róisín felt like there was a fly buzzing by her ear but by the end it felt like her head were in a wasps' nest. Snape looked her up and down before stating,

"I'll accompany you to your common room."

Róisín put back on the cloak and followed him out of the classroom. He took the steps from the library corridor to the second floor two at a time and Róisín took deep breaths as she tried to keep up. She felt like she were wearing itchy wool all over. On Boris the Bewildered's fifth floor corridor, just as they passed his muttering statue, Róisín realised she was scratching at her arms and stomach. She clutched the cloak tighter around herself and clenched her teeth.

The Ravenclaw staircase spiralled up and up seemingly without end. Róisín could feel the magic trapped by the stasis charm niggling at her skin. Snape was now a dozen steps ahead of her.

Róisín's foot missed a step.

A spell caught her before she hit the stone steps. Snape's arm was around her, steadying her to her feet.

"Is the stasis tolerable?" he asked.

"It's a little weird," Róisín whispered, overly aware of the feeling of him against her. Snape stepped away from her and accio'd the cloak which had landed a few steps behind.

"Do you need me to reverse it?" he asked.

"Em, no I'll be ok sir."

The air around her hissed.

Snape gestured for her to go ahead and for the rest of their ascent he kept close behind her. Finally they reached the eagle knocker. It narrowed its eyes at Róisín and asked,

"I am found in the most innocent of beasts and the most wicked of men, what am I?"

Róisín bit her lip, trying to concentrate.

"Unicorn blood," Snape answered.

Ugh! She should've gotten that.

The door to the common room opened and Róisín rushed through. Snape called after her quietly but sternly,

"Feral." She turned back to him. "When you find the stasis too much, go to the classroom behind the statue of Merlin on the third floor." Róisín nodded and rushed up the stairs to her room.

She threw off her clothes and jumped into the shower, turning the cold faucet fully on. She moaned as the freezing water did nothing to ease the tingling in her skin. She got out, grabbed her softest pyjamas and hopped into them on the way to bed, crawled under the covers and let out an indulgent sigh. Her body felt like lead, but she still found herself rubbing against the sheets and twisting the duvet between her palms, her toes creeping up her leg to scratch her thighs.

Pots bubbled in the steamy kitchen. Róisín's mum stirred the stew while she sang,

"I'll tell me ma when I go home, the boys won't leave the girls alone….".

Whiskey barked. A flash of silky red as he wrestled with Brandy, saying no, he wasn't a sheep to be herded.

"Hungry," Róisín moaned, sitting on the floor, tugging at a paw of the red setter while the collie licked her ear. "Hungry." She pulled at mum's sleeve. Dogs growling. Reaching. Splash! Burning. The pot ringing against the tiles. Singing to shrieking. The ringing pot now a silver mask, slithering towards her, twisting with Kun's crooked smile. Ring.

"I knew you were raping her."

Snape took off the mask. Ring. His furious face melted into hundreds of beetles crawling towards her, pincers snaping, up her legs, over her stomach, squeaking and squealing until they almost covered face. RING.

Róisín woke. Her alarm was ringing. She reached across to slap it, her skin stinging as it rubbed against the sheets. She dragged open her eyes, and the details of the dream vanished as she sat up, although an unease clung to her like a bad smell. Her fingers rubbed against the scar on her hand from when she had spilt boiling water as a child. The fingers turned more violent and she was scratching again.

It was Tuesday. Róisín had Runes then double Transfig until lunch, but she couldn't go to class, her classmates would think she had fleas. Also, since the stasis charm stopped her magic from leaking, would it prevent her from intentionally casting spells too? She pointed her wand at her bag and said,

"Accio Satchel"

It was a mistake. For a second, it felt like she were on fire. The bag did a little hop in her direction, then lay still.