A/N: Thanks to all those who have reviewed, followed, and favorited this story. I'm glad that people have been enjoying it. And a special thanks to Bonnie and Mainsail for beta reading this and thus improving on the original. If you have questions or concerns about what's going on, feel free to include them in a review or a PM — I'll try to answer.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does.

Recommendation: This chapter's recommended fic is "Beltane Child" by White Angel of Auralon. During the Horcrux Hunt, Harry is desperate to get away and unwind, even for a single night. Sneaking out in disguise, he ends up playing the role of the Horned God in a Beltane ritual (only Harry, right?). A few months later, after the end of the war, he runs into a very pregnant Daphne Greengrass. Care to guess how she got that way? This is one of a very few Harry Potter fanfics which explore the idea of ancient pagan beliefs and rituals still playing a role in the wizarding world and was in some ways the inspiration for my giving them such a central role in this fic.

Chapter 38 - Ring of Fire

Monday, January 31, 1996, 4:15 PM.

When the Hogwarts witches portkeyed into Moel Tŷ Uchaf in Wales, they were greeted by what had become a familiar sight: dozens of veela making preparations for the upcoming magical ritual by tending a fire in the center of a stone circle, setting up an altar, and arranging candles on the many stones that made up the circle. For Jasmine and Hermione it would be an especially noteworthy celebration because the previous year's Imbolc had been the first magical holiday ritual they'd ever participated in — though they understood now that that had been a simplified ritual designed to make it easier for them to understand.

Upon seeing the goblins who were standing outside the circle, Jasmine and Hermione noticed that the female goblin who was usually hidden under a dark cloak had her hood down this time — and she was watching them intently. They both gave short bows of respect to the goblins (an act that was almost immediately imitated by their friends), then moved to join the many veela who were chatting and waiting for the ritual to start.

"Oh, my," Hermione said when she saw two figures who stood out quite prominently: Phoebe and Areto. "You two are... are..."

"Massive?" Phoebe suggested.

"How about gargantuan?" Areto said.

"Big as a house!" Gabrielle giggled.

"I wouldn't have used those words myself," Jasmine said dryly, "but I won't deny that they fit. When are you two due?"

"Tomorrow," Phoebe said nonchalantly.

"Tomorrow?!" Hermione exclaimed. "Then what are you doing here? You should be at home, resting!"

"And miss this year's Imbolc?" Areto said dismissively. "Not only is it your anniversary, but remember that it's a day that celebrates fertility, birth, and motherhood. How could we not be here — especially with you two participating?"

"Though the two days we had to spend travelling by muggle means caused me to reconsider a couple of times," Phoebe admitted.

"Why did you use muggle transportation?" Jasmine asked.

"At this late stage of pregnancy, it's a really bad idea to travel magically," Phoebe said. "It's possible, but it can place a lot of stress on the body and puts the baby at risk. Muggle methods may be uncomfortable, but they're safer in our condition."

"Really uncomfortable," Areto groaned, "so I'm not surprised that the others chose not to. I can't believe how cramped muggle trains can be!"

"What others?" Hermione asked.

"We weren't the only ones to get pregnant on Beltane," Areto explained. "Quite a few did, in fact, but none of the rest wanted to inconvenience themselves by travelling here for this celebration."

"Bunch of scaredy chicks is what they are," Phoebe sniffed.

Both Jasmine and Hermione spent some time gently touching Phoebe's and Areto's bellies, thinking about how their own magic had contributed to the creation of the two new lives waiting to enter the world. They were soon joined by the other Hogwarts witches, all of whom were extremely curious about the veela couple — a curiosity that had only increased now that they knew Jasmine and Hermione were a couple as well.

None of them noticed the small winces of pain that both Phoebe and Areto made every so often.

Monday, January 31, 1996, 4:45 PM.

Once the proper time had arrived, they entered the stone circle in a line, lighting their candles at the altar before taking their places in a ring around the central fire.

Shortly after everyone was assembled, Apolline entered as she had the previous year, lighting her own candle then addressing the assembled witches. "Winter brought cold and darkness to our land, but neither the cold nor the dark can persist forever. Tonight we mark the moment when winter reaches its halfway point. Tonight we celebrate the emergence of new life as warmth and light begin to reassert themselves once more, both across the earth and in our hearts. So long as our respect for the goddesses remains strong, light and warmth will always accompany us."

She stopped and looked at two veela in particular. "We also celebrate the new life that will soon emerge from within our community. Normally we focus on examples of new life in nature around us, but this year we don't have to look any farther than our own circle." Everyone smiled at Phoebe and Areto, who were holding hands — and squeezing quite a bit harder than anyone else realized.

While Apolline was speaking, a wind had picked up and begun swirling snow around the stone circle, and it wasn't long before there was so much snow blowing that it wasn't possible to see far past the group of goblin observers. At the same time, magical energy had begun swirling around inside the circle as well, spinning inwards into the central fire.

Next, Sybine entered the circle carrying a lit candle that was nearly spent; this she dropped into the fire. "As the Winter Crone prepares to depart," Apolline continued, "the Spring Maiden approaches. Where our fields lay bare, the seeds of new life will soon begin to push up out of the dark and into the light. The frost retreats, the ground warms, and life emerges." Once again she looked at the two pregnant veela, then said, "As with the ground, so with the womb; as with the earth, so with the mother, the source of all new life."

Next a young girl — not Gabrielle this time — entered the circle with Brigid's rod. As Gabrielle had done, she walked in front of all the witches in the circle, striking the ground with the rod as she passed by each one. Every time she did so, the central fire rose higher and the swirling snow outside the circle spun faster.

"Brigid!" Apolline's voice rose above the growing din. "Goddess of healing, of fertility, and of motherhood, hear our call! Give us your blessing for new life! Grant your vessel the power to light and warm us from your fires!" The candle next to the statue of Brigid lit on its own with a blue flame, and the energy around Hermione's feet shifted to blue.

"Hekate!" Apolline continued. "Protector of children and families, hear our call! Bless us with the fortitude to stay on the path of the light! Grant your vessel the power to defend our homes and little ones!" The candle next to the threefold form of Hecate lit with a green flame, and the energy around Jasmine's feet shifted to green.

When the young girl finally reached Jasmine, absolutely everyone in the circle held their breath, and even the girl herself seemed to hesitate for a fraction of a second. Then she banged the rod on the ground and... nothing special happened. Everyone let out a sigh of relief as she moved on, taking her place near the altar with Apolline and Sybine.

Next Fleur entered with a large chalice and began moving along the circle, offering it in turn to each witch. "Partake of this milk," Apolline said. "It is a sign of coming birth and the means by which a mother sustains the new life she has created. In this way, you are partaking of the life of our coven and community." As Fleur moved from witch to witch, the fire kept growing higher and the energy spun into it ever faster, causing some of the younger witches to begin swaying slightly from the drain.

Once the final participant had drunk, Apolline announced, "Go forth! Share the light and warmth with the world so that others may know the love and protection of the goddesses for their children!" As she spoke the final words, the fire collapsed as it did at the previous rituals, bursting out into the swirling snow and mixing with it as they both spread out like a wave across the land.

Only a few of the witches were knocked off their feet this time, and they only went to their knees. As Jasmine stood straight again and shook her head to clear it, she noticed that two had gone all the way to the ground and weren't getting back up: Phoebe and Areto. She and Hermione were among the first to reach them, and both veela were grimacing in pain.

"What is it? Is something wrong with the babies?" Apolline asked as she knelt down next to them.

"No," Phoebe said with a gasp. "But they are coming!"

"What, now?"

"Now!" Areto cried.

"Bloody hell!" Jasmine whispered.

The wave of magical fire and snow spread quickly through northern Wales and across central England into Lincolnshire. As the wave passed over Wales, however, it encountered another Imbolc ritual being performed in a small stone circle a little less than 100km to the southwest. Hitting that ritual at the right moment, it ignited the magic there and created a secondary wave that never would have been possible otherwise.

Combined, these two waves of magical energy now had enough power to spread all the way to the southern coast of Wales as well as the English counties of Shropshire and Hereford. The participants in that second ritual, though, were all overcome by the large amount of unexpected magic and knocked unconscious.

Monday, January 31, 1996, 6:30 PM.

Phoebe cried out as she gripped Areto's hand; lying on the ground right next to her, Areto was clearly in as much pain herself.

"We've got to take them to St. Mungo's," Hermione said as she tried to comfort her friends.

"How far apart are the contractions?" Apolline asked.

"Seven minutes now," Fleur said. "Ze last one was forty seconds long."

"It's too late, then," Apolline said to Hermione. "While it's inadvisable for pregnant witches to use magical means of travel, it's forbidden for witches actively in labor — and these two are officially in labor now."

"What are we going to do?" Hermione said, starting to panic. "We're not prepared. We can't—"

"Easy, lass," Minerva said, putting her hand on Hermione's shoulder. "These may not be ideal circumstances, but women have been having babies since long before hospitals existed. We'll manage."

"And veela are especially knowledgeable when it comes to pregnancy and birth," Sybine noted.

"The good news is that veela don't have to spend as much time in labor as other women," Adrienne added. "These two won't have an easy time of it, especially since this is their first, but all veela are at least familiar with childbirth. If there are any complications, then you can worry; otherwise, you can be confident that everyone will get through this fine."

"I've got a complication," Minerva spoke up then with a frown, her wand out and moving in an intricate pattern. "I can't conjure anything. I wanted to at least create chairs for them to sit in, but it's not working."

"Nor should it," Apolline responded, "not in the wake of so much ritual magic having been released. Simple charms might work, at least temporarily, but nothing complex — and especially no wanded magic where you're trying to impose your will on reality in that manner. It's almost the antithesis of the feminine magic now suffusing this area — magic whose very essence works in harmony with nature. We'd have to walk some distance before such spells would function properly."

"Is someone injured? Is there anything we can do to help?" Lufestre asked as the goblins approached.

"Injured, no, but these two are about to give birth," Minerva said. "I don't suppose you carry anything that can help with that?"

Lufestre nodded and turned to Sharpaxe, who issued orders to his guards before turning back to the veela. "Goblins in the field always carry the elements of at least a basic camp with them — the bigger the troop, the more elaborate the camp. There aren't many of us, but we can at least ensure that your warriors have cots and blankets so they don't have to give birth in the snow and dirt."

"Given the size differences, though, I suppose we'll need to line up two of our cots for each of your warriors," Lufestre added with a rueful smile.

Sharpaxe nodded. "We have tents, too, but they are designed for defense in the field rather than luxury. I suspect they'll be too small."

"Doesn't anyone know any spells for making them bigger on the inside?" Jasmine asked.

"Even if that weren't complicated and difficult magic, we couldn't cast it on goblin tents," Minerva said. "That's why goblin-made items are so highly prized among wizards and witches: they're strong and spell resistant."

"Nor can we change them now," Sharpaxe added. "Our magic is primarily used during the process of crafting."

The goblin soldiers, all members of Sharpaxe's personal guard, quickly had a basic campsite erected in the stone circle. As Sharpaxe had predicted, none of the tents were large enough to accommodate both women (who refused to be separated) and those attending them. This meant their daughters would be born in the open under the stars — something which neither of them greatly regretted, especially since the central fire had been relit and kept most of the chill of late January away.

Veela and goblins mixed together indiscriminately in the impromptu campsite as everyone paced around, waiting anxiously.

When the five participants in that smaller ritual to the south woke up and looked around, they were at a complete loss as to what had happened.

One wizard pulled a wand and began casting detection spells. "That definitely wasn't our ritual — there's magic here that couldn't have come from any of us."

A second, taller wizard was also casting detection spells and added, "I think it came from... the north? Yes, definitely somewhere north of us."

"Do you think it was another ritual?" asked one witch.

"I've never heard of any celebration creating an effect like that," answered a second, "let alone one so large. And besides, no one else is supposed to be holding a ritual in Wales tonight."

"There are several sites in the north that would be well suited for rituals like ours," said the third witch in an accented voice, "and I'm pretty sure we've used them all in the past, so they should be easy to get to again. I think I'll go see who else is playing in this region."

"It's not safe!" the taller wizard said. "You don't know who did this. Or why."

"That was a tremendous amount of power that hit us," pointed out one of the other two witches. "Whoever could do that might be dangerous!"

"And we'll never know who they are if we don't look," the third witch responded. "Aren't you curious? Don't you want to know who else here is following the Old Ways? Whether they're potential friends or potential rivals, we can't afford to ignore a group exhibiting so much power, and this may be our best chance to learn something about them." With a crack, the olive-skinned witch disapparated in search of who or what created the massive wave of energy that had knocked them all unconscious.

Monday, January 31, 1996, 7:00 PM.

While the mothers-to-be spent much of their time walking through their labor pains, the cots provided a welcome place to rest when needed; that hardly made it a pleasant process, however. Areto and Phoebe were gripping each other's hands so tightly that they probably would have crushed the hands of normal women.

"Contractions are now five minutes apart and lasting fifty seconds," Adrienne said. "It's taking a lot longer than it should, though. They should be much farther along by this point."

"Our soldiers have made their contribution," Lufestre said. "Perhaps I can contribute as well." Ignoring the others, she knelt between the two veela, who were now resting again on the cots, and began to chant quietly as she put one hand on the head of each.

"What is she doing?" Apolline asked.

"It's a prayer to the Goddess," Sharpaxe answered. "I can't quite hear her, but I think it's one that's usually used to ask the Goddess for help with the sick."

Slowly the contractions came more frequently and lasted longer, but their suffering was clearly reduced — the two women were undeniably uncomfortable, but they no longer cried out in pain. The improvement seemed to make time pass more quickly — especially for the two enduring labor — and soon the wails of two newborn veela filled the air.

Cheers from the rest of the camp soon followed, and the goblin warriors broke into song as part of a traditional celebration of a new birth. Apparently one of the most essential pieces of equipment in any goblin camp was a cask of goblin ale, for reasons that no one bothered to explain. It was quickly opened, and mugs were passed around to celebrate the two births.

The olive-skinned witch looked around at the third ancient magical site she'd visited and found absolutely no sign of any rituals having been performed there in years, and certainly nothing of the power she'd felt wash over her earlier in the evening. "If I don't find the right site soon," she muttered to herself, "they'll probably be gone... if they aren't already."

She then apparated to the next likely location.

Monday, January 31, 1996, 7:30 PM.

"I see you two are wearing the bracelets given to you on Yule," Lufestre said to Jasmine. She and Hermione had chosen to sit with the obviously tired High Priestess while others tended to the new mothers and their daughters and the rest celebrated.

"Yes, we both like them," Hermione responded.

"Have you discovered anything about them?" Lufestre asked. "Anything that might hint at where they came from, who made them, or who gifted them?"

"No, unfortunately not," Jasmine said as she ran a thumb across the metal. "Only... they feel comforting, somehow. It's hard to describe."

"I think I understand what you mean," Lufestre replied, absently fingering the brooch which was hidden beneath her outer robe.

"What is that word I keep hearing in the song the goblin warriors are singing?" Jasmine asked.

"Hellyon, you mean?"

"Yes, I think that's it."

"That's our word for infant or young child," Lufestre said. "It's a shortened form of a much older word that, literally translated, would mean something like 'one who needs nurturing.'"

"That's interesting," Hermione commented.

"It's why our queen adopted the name Hellraiser when she ascended the throne," Lufestre continued. "It's akin to 'mother' or 'one who nurtures' because that is what she is to our people. Her job is not so much to rule and command, but rather to nurture the rest of us so that we can live the best and most fulfilling lives possible."

"Wow," Jasmine said, taken aback. "In English that word means something so very, very different..."

Lufestre laughed. "So I learned when I studied your language. We all found it amusing at first, but then we realized that it might lead to horrible misunderstandings."

"That makes me wonder how many such misunderstandings there have been," Jasmine said. "I mean, in our History of Magic class, the professor drones on and on about 'goblin rebellions,' but how many of those rebellions were due to similar misunderstandings? How many of those goblin leaders had scary names because of mistranslations?"

"That's pretty deep, Jas," Hermione said admiringly.

"Always the tone of surprise," her girlfriend replied with a bit of a pout.

Lufestre laughed again. "That's a good point. It sounds like you witches and wizards learn mostly unflattering things about my people. We should look into what can be done to change that."

Before either witch could explore that possibility further, Fleur and Gabrielle appeared and dragged the two back to where the new mothers were resting with their infants. "We decided it was about time for you to meet your new goddaughters," Fleur said with a grin.

"Goddaughters?" Jasmine squeaked.

"Yes, if you're willing," Phoebe replied. Jasmine and Hermione looked at each other for a moment, then turned back and nodded.

"Hermione," Phoebe said, "meet Ayella Lablanc."

"Jasmine," Areto said, "meet Diantha Lagrand."

"They're so small," Hermione whispered, her eyes wide and full of wonder.

"Strong, too," Sharpaxe commented approvingly, wiggling his finger as it was held by a tiny fist.

"How soon before you all can travel?" Jasmine asked while Diantha looked at her with an unusual intensity.

"At least a day," Adrienne said resignedly. "Sharpaxe says the wards will last, and he's promised to leave guards to help us since only a few Amazzi attended this time."

"It's a pity my parents had to leave the country," Hermione said. "I could call and ask them to bring their car."

Daphne, who had come closer to see the newborns, started looking uncomfortable.

"What's wrong?" Jasmine asked her.

"Well... I might be able to help with that," Daphne said.

"How? I wouldn't expect you to know any muggles with a car," Hermione responded.

"Not muggles — my parents," Daphne answered. "You won't hear it talked about openly, but a lot of purebloods have cars. They don't need them, but they find automobiles fascinating — especially expensive luxury cars. My parents have one, I don't know what kind, but like most rich purebloods they had a lot of charms put on it: space expansion, comfort, and even flying."

"Wow," Jasmine whispered. "Mr. Weasley wasn't so strange after all."

"The problem is," Daphne continued, "if I call them in, they'll ask all sorts of questions. I don't think I'll be able to keep hiding what we've been doing..."

"Don't worry about it," Adrienne reassured her. "We'll manage. We can—"

Whatever Adrienne was going to say was lost in the commotion as an alarm sounded and both goblin and veela warriors rushed to the perimeter of the circle. "Intruders!" called out one of the goblins.

"You!" Sharpaxe barked as he pointed to a group of six of his personal guard, then pointed back to the High Priestess, the new mothers, and their infants. "Stay with them. I want you to stand between them and any harm, understood?" He then went to the goblin who originally called out the alarm. "Report!" he commanded as he got to the edge of the stones where veela and goblins stood side-by-side, facing out into the night.

"Only one so far," the warrior said. "They tried to apparate in and got redirected to the outer markers."

"Will your wards keep them out?" Apolline asked.

"Depends," Sharpaxe responded. "These wards are designed to distract and conceal, not create a hardened defense for battle. If they already know the site, they won't be fooled into thinking that nothing's here. If they have a strong enough desire to visit the site, they won't be easily distracted into going off to do something else. We couldn't risk erecting stronger defenses without detection by your Ministry, so we had to stick with more subtle methods."

There was little moonlight, and not even the goblins were able to see the approaching figure until they were only ten meters away.

"Halt!" Sharpaxe called out, and the person stopped almost immediately. "State your business!"

"I... I wanted to see what was happening here," came a female voice with a foreign accent.

"None of your business!" the goblin commander said sharply. "Why do you care?"

"We felt a wave of magical energy wash over us during our ritual," she said. "I assume it was from here? From you?"

"How many are you?" Sharpaxe demanded, ignoring her question. "Where are the rest?"

"There is only me," she replied. "The others didn't want to come."

Sharpaxe didn't look mollified. "If you're lying, you'll be the first to be struck down. Now why do you think we did anything?"

"None of the other sites I've checked show any sign of recent magical use," she said. "Here though... here I can feel the magic everywhere, just like at the site in Hirnant where we performed our ritual."

Just then one of the babies started to cry loudly.

"Why do you have a little bambina there with you?" the witch asked, sounding offended. "These rituals aren't a good place for one so young!"

"I... I know that voice!" Jasmine whispered.

Sharpaxe looked at her with a scowl. "Are you sure? Were you followed here?"

"Pretty sure," she replied, "and I don't see how we could have been followed."

"Can't drop our guard," Sharpaxe muttered, then whispered to the warriors to keep their weapons at the ready. Even the veela obeyed, despite never having received instructions to follow orders from a goblin commander.

"Keep your hands empty and out to your sides, then you can approach," Sharpaxe said. "Slowly!"

Everyone heard the witch mutter something that was probably insulting, but none could make out the words. She did, however, put her empty hands out to her sides and walk slowly towards the stone circle. Once she came into the light and everyone could see her, no less than four Hogwarts students cried out simultaneously: "Mrs. Zabini?!"

"Daphne? Tracey? Miss Potter? Miss Granger?" she responded. "What are you all doing here? Why aren't you in school?" Only then did she notice the wands and swords pointed at her, held by a mixed group of squat goblins and tall, blonde women. "My, my," she said as her eyes roved over everyone. "Such interesting company you keep. I had no idea."

"Who are you?" demanded Sharpaxe. "How do you know these witches?"

"I am Alessandra Zabini," she replied a little haughtily. "My son attends Hogwarts with... well, with all of these young witches, I guess, but he has been close friends with two of them ever since he started school there. Where is he, by the way? Blaise!"

The second baby chose that moment to join her sister in crying.

"And once again," Alessandra said, "why do you have not one but two little bambinas here?"

"Not exactly by choice," Daphne replied. "Their mothers just gave birth to them, and we can't transport them magically for at least a day. I was... I was thinking of trying to contact my parents so we could use their car, but—"

"No, I said we won't put you at risk," Adrienne interrupted. "We'll be fine here for a day or so."

"A day or so!" Alessandra exclaimed, outraged. "A day or so! You can't leave two newborns and their mothers outside in January, even with warming charms!"

"And what do you suggest?" growled Sharpaxe. "I think we might be noticed if we tried carrying them down into the local muggle village."

"I have a car!" Alessandra announced. "More than one, but I don't think I'd be able to fit two mothers and their infants in my Ferrari. My third husband, though, owned a beautiful Rolls Royce that he treated like his baby, and I could never bear to part with it, even though I don't drive it myself. It's too big and bulky for me, but I think it would be perfect for this."

Sharpaxe turned to Adrienne. "I haven't the slightest idea what a Ferrari or a Rolly Royce is. I don't even know if we can trust her. What do you say?"

Adrienne looked at Daphne and raised an inquiring eyebrow; after a moment, Daphne nodded.

"Alright, we accept," she said to Alessandra. "How far away is this car? How long will it take to drive back here?"

"I live outside Cardiff," she replied. "It shouldn't take too long to fly back, especially at night."

"I'll go with you," Apolline announced.

"Fine," Alessandra said, though she didn't look entirely happy about it. "Blaise can come as well. I'd like to know why he participated in this without telling me first. If he was so anxious to take part in another ritual, we would have welcomed him at Hirnant."

"Uh, he isn't here," Daphne said awkwardly.

"Why not?"

"He... wasn't invited," Daphne responded.

"This was a female-only ritual," Apolline explained.

Alessandra looked at her for a moment, then looked down at the obviously male goblin with an eyepatch.

Sharpaxe snorted. "We provided security, nothing more. We stood outside the circle and protected those inside."

Alessandra nodded, then looked around more carefully, noting the appearance of the women. "Veela?" she asked. When Apolline nodded, Alessandra continued, "I'd heard rumors about veela female rituals. I'd be interested in hearing about them and learning how they differ from what I am used to."

She then looked back at Jasmine and said, "Very interesting company indeed, mia cara. You are full of surprises, aren't you? I hope you'll consider inviting Blaise next time, though. He might learn something by watching."

"I'm not sure he'd accept," Jasmine said hesitantly. "He knows about this, but he took issue with it."

"He seemed to think there was something fundamentally wrong with an all-female ritual," Daphne explained. "Though he also seemed conflicted about it."

Alessandra raised one eyebrow. "Did he now? Well, you should come along, too. On the trip back you can tell me what nonsense my Blaise has been saying."

It took a little bit for the three witches to finally leave, mostly because Alessandra insisted on seeing and then cooing over the newborns.

Monday, January 31, 1996, 10:00 PM.

It only took Alessandra about ten minutes to take the other two witches to Cardiff in two side-along trips, then almost two hours for her to fly back in the 1965 Phantom which her third husband had loved so much. She was right that there was plenty of room — more than enough for both mothers to stretch out with their new daughters as well as for Apolline and Adrienne to accompany them. The rest of the veela would make their own way back, the goblins would return to Gringotts, and the professors would get the students back to Hogwarts — while hopefully avoiding notice by Umbridge or the Headmaster.

Before everyone went their separate ways, Alessandra took Jasmine, Hermione, Daphne, and Tracey aside. "We're all going to have to have a long talk," she said. "It's a shame we can't now, but the trip to Calais and back will take forever. There's a lot more going on here than you've told me, I can tell — and I have a feeling that whatever it is will affect my Blaise, which means it affects me, too. Young witches like you shouldn't be dabbling in the sort of power that had to have been produced here, but I'm not your mother, so I can't tell you what to do."

She then turned to speak to Daphne directly. "Tell Blaise to stop being such an idiota. I'll be in Hogsmeade on the twelfth to meet with you — him first in the morning, then I want to talk to the rest of you in the afternoon. Capite?"

Thursday, February 3, 1996, Afternoon.

This time, Tonks didn't feel the need to collapse, but she did have to bend over to take a few deep breaths. She was getting used to casting with a blood sacrifice, but it still took a lot out of her. After a moment, she could focus enough to look around at the ghostly images flashing in and out in the stone circle located in northern Wales. It had been a complete fluke that she received information about a surge of magic in Wales, and it had only taken her a few days beyond that to track down its origin point.

Now she was getting real information. There were numerous flashes of figures standing in the circle, and as she watched, she was finally able to recognize that all looked like they were female. That's unexpected, Tonks thought. Not a single one of them appears to be a wizard. Why? Or did I do something wrong with the spell?

Then she saw what looked like two of them being injured in the magical backlash, which didn't surprise her given how dangerous such rituals could be. It was the apparent involvement of goblins that freaked her out. Witches and goblins working together? In magical rituals? What in Merlin's name is going on here?

Once the spell ended and the images petered out, Tonks wasn't sure what to do. She had developed new and interesting intelligence, but she couldn't use any of it. She wasn't even sure that she believed any of it herself, and certainly didn't think she'd be able to convince anyone else.

I need more. Maybe there's something important that I'm missing, she thought. I can either wait and hope that I get a lucky break again or... or I try to see what might have been happening around Hogwarts. That's the one site I haven't checked yet, though it's not definite that anything happened there. Any investigation there will take bloody forever, though, and I can't even be sure that I'll find anything.

But I can't count on luck, either. So, Hogwarts it is...