Recommendation: This chapter's recommended fic is "Harry Potter and the Girl Who Lived" by Agnostics Puppet. Harry finds himself transported to an alternate reality where he meets Rose Potter, the Girl Who Lived, and commits himself to helping her survive the trials which took so much from him.

Chapter 34 - Every Rose Has Its Thorn

Saturday, February 13, 1995, Morning.

With only eleven days to go before the second task, Hermione and Jasmine finally got a chance to practice the dangerous spells which they had received from Sirius Black. While none of them were likely to be useful for the task itself, Jasmine didn't want to put off starting on spells that might save her life in a fight.

They also couldn't tell their charms professor exactly where they had gotten these spells. Based on his reaction, they got the impression that at least some of them couldn't be found even in the Hogwarts Restricted Section, which wasn't terribly surprising.

Professor Flitwick frowned as he addressed the two young witches, "Some of these spells I have no problem teaching you — they take power and skill, but other than that there isn't any harm in learning and using them. The others, though..." He trailed off as he held up the parchment where Hermione had written down the spells.

His brow furrowed as he continued, "They aren't quite dark magic, but they are a bit darker than the other grey spells you've learned so far." He looked back and forth between them before asking, "Are you sure about this? They may not be considered impermissible, but they are usually only learned by witches and wizards who have a lot more experience and maturity than you two."

Hermione and Jasmine looked at each other briefly before turning back to their professor. "Yes, we're sure," Hermione said.

"We don't intend to use the darker spells as part of a standard attack or defense," Jasmine explained, "but we wanted to have a few serious offensive options in case we found ourselves in an especially desperate situation."

"So," Flitwick summarized for them, "spells of last resort?"

"More or less," Jasmine answered. "I don't know that I'd wait until the very last minute before using them, but I also wouldn't start out with them, either." Hermione nodded her agreement.

Flitwick sighed, then said, "That's reasonable. As unpleasant as some of these spells are, it's worth having them in your arsenal if they can save your lives. Let's get started with the simpler ones."

Curiously, the simpler spells also happened to be the darker ones. First they learned Ossus Diffringo, the bone shattering curse. It was easier to cast if one already knew Ossus Fragmen, but it was darker because it required one to visualize and intend much more serious injuries. A bone snapped by the bone breaking curse could be easily healed, even sometimes right there in the field; but shattered bones needed to be tended by a trained healer, usually with skelegrow potion. The curse also tended to cause internal injuries that needed to be treated.

"Tell me," their professor asked once they proved capable of casting it against conjured pigs, "when would you choose to use bone shattering over bone breaking and vice versa?"

"The bone breaking curse will put down an opponent," Hermione answered, trying to focus on the intellectual issue rather than the echoes of shattering bones that were still rolling through her mind. "But they are still capable of casting spells and even of being healed somewhat quickly, so I'd cast it if I am able to follow it up with other ways of disarming or incapacitating them."

"Especially if they are the only opponent," Jasmine added. "Or if you need to stop someone, but not necessarily hurt them badly — like if maybe they are more of a threat to themselves than to others?"

Hermione nodded, then continued, "But the bone shattering should be used if I need to put them down hard enough that they stay down and thus not be a danger to me or others."

"And if we're willing to accept that they will be severely injured and possibly killed if they don't get to a healer fast enough," said Jasmine.

"Correct on all counts," Flitwick said. "The bone shattering curse is not an option you should reach to lightly, but use of the bone breaking curse will leave you vulnerable if you're not careful. It comes down to whether you're willing to risk yourself and those you're with, or if you'll risk the opponent who is attacking you."

After that, their professor showed them how to cast Discerpo, a darker severing curse than Diffindo or even Lacero. "The darker nature of this curse can be seen in its name," Flitwick explained. "It comes from a Latin verb which means to mutilate or tear." That was demonstrated quite vividly when it was cast on the conjured pigs — the horrible gashes in their bodies were even worse than the shattered bones that the witches had caused earlier. Like with the Lacero curse, they had the ability to control the angle of the wound as well as the depth or length.

"As you can see," Flitwick explained after they learned how to cast it reliably, even if not with very consistent power, "the wounds created by this are much worse than those created by your overpowered Diffindo or even your Lacero. Whereas those other spells make clean, straight cuts that can be healed again smoothly, this curse rips jagged, chunky holes in the flesh that will not easily seal. The others could be treated by most witches or wizards, but these wounds would be very hard to seal by anyone without healer training, and there would be extensive scarring. What's more, anything severed with such a curse almost certainly won't be able to be reattached or regrown."

"So it's like Ossus Diffringo," Hermione said. "You put your opponent at much greater risk if you use it, but if you use less nasty cutting curses, you're taking greater risk on yourself and your allies?"

"Exactly," Flitwick replied, pleased to see how well they were understanding the issues. "If you're sure you can stop someone with a weaker curse or hex, then this is massive overkill and really shouldn't be used. If you're not, though, then you have to weigh the risks of using it versus not using it. Unfortunately, you'll probably only have a fraction of a second in which to make your decision."

Next was Contundo, a slightly darker variation on Reducto and Bombarda. "Often called the demolishing curse," Flitwick explained after showing them how it worked, "it does more damage than lighter spells, especially against bodies, and can more easily pass through or shatter shields. It's not nearly as dark as the other two you learned today, though, because it doesn't require the caster to visualize any specific injuries to cast it. However, it's much more effective against bodies and bones if you also try to visualize the relevant impact injuries."

Once those darker spells had been learned, Professor Flitwick moved on to the high-power lighter spells which Hermione had written down. The first was something completely new to them: Sagittas Profundo. "This spell requires more skill and power than witches your age typically have," Flitwick explained, "because it essentially conjures physical arrows, and conjuration is a NEWT-level skill. However, it's an easier form of conjuration than most others."

Their first attempts weren't particularly encouraging: Hermione could only produce partial arrows, while Jasmine's were distinctly deformed. Of course, none of what they conjured flew very far, much less made it all the way to the targets they were aiming at. Smiling, Flitwick said, "That's actually very good for beginners — I expected you to get nothing at all." He then showed them how to improve their wand movements and pronunciation in small, subtle ways that eventually enabled them to successfully conjure arrows, though only one or two at a time rather than the stream of arrows which the spell allowed for once mastered.

"You will get better as you practice it, and fortunately it's something you can do during your regular practice sessions at Hogwarts. Before we move on, though, I'd like to tell you about a variation on this spell which might prove useful. It has the same wand movements, but if you add "Argentas," you'll be casting a stream of silver arrows instead of regular wooden ones."

"For fighting against werewolves and vampires!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Precisely, Miss Granger," Flitwick responded. "However, conjuring silver like that takes a lot more power than conjuring wood, and wooden arrows may stop a vampire if your aim is good enough. I'd recommend only using this when being attacked by werewolves."

Hermione and Jasmine then learned that Sagittas Argentas Profundo was indeed much harder than just Sagittas Profundo. After a bit, they felt lucky to get even a single silver arrow to fly, and of course it was hopelessly inaccurate. Their professor wasn't surprised, however, and told them that as they progressed with the regular arrow spell, their skill with this one would improve as well.

The last spell was the biggest of them all, Terra Motus. "Commonly known as 'earth mover' or 'earthquake,' this spell can do a large amount of damage to people and property all around you," Flitwick explained. "Unlike most spells, this one almost requires that you be able to accurately control how much power you use and how long you cast the spell for, so I don't expect either of you to do very well with it for a while yet."

After numerous attempts, neither Jasmine nor Hermione could get much more than the barest shudder out of the rock directly under them. However, both of them were sure that they could feel the power coursing through their arms and wands before traveling into the earth, so they were hopeful that they'd master it eventually.

"Under what conditions do you think it would be appropriate to cast a spell such as this?" Flitwick asked them.

"When you're surrounded and outnumbered," Jasmine said almost immediately.

"When you're not going to get caught by the spell's side effects," Hermione added.

"What do you mean, Miss Granger?" prodded Flitwick.

"Well, this spell can be a danger to you," Hermione answered. "In the middle of a city, a building could fall on you. Or a tree, if you're in the woods. Even a cave-in, if you're underground. So I wouldn't cast it if I weren't standing more or less out in the open."

"That also means my allies need to be very close to me," Jasmine added. "Ideally, at any rate."

"Correct," their professor said. "This spell affects a large area around the caster, and it cannot distinguish between friend and foe: all within its range will be equally affected. The spell itself will not directly harm anyone, but it will make your immediate environment potentially dangerous and difficult to move through. It's entirely possible that you will use a lot of power to do little more than disorient and topple your opponents; however, those seconds while they're down may mean the difference between survival and death."

He paused to think for a moment, then added, "I suppose that if someone were to push enough power into this, they might be able to take the effect to the point where fissures open in the ground. At the extreme, one might perhaps even be able to cause magma to rise up. Such extreme effects are unlikely, however, even for the two of you — and they'd pose as much danger to you as they would to any opponents."

Both witches nodded in understanding. As powerful as this spell was, it wouldn't allow them to defeat their opponents, but it could give them a chance to get into a better position to fight… or perhaps to simply flee.

When all three arrived back via floo in Minerva McGonagall's office, Jasmine turned to Professor Flitwick and asked, "Professor, I keep meaning to ask you something, but I always forget. Do you know much about veela?"

Not having expected such a question, he had to stop for a moment to think before answering. "Well, I know what's in most basic descriptions that you find in texts about magical creatures and beings. However, I don't think I've ever known or been in the presence of any veela. Well, before this year that is. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, we've gotten to know Fleur Delacour, the French Champion," Hermione explained. "She said she could detect some sort of connection between us even back when she first arrived here at Hogwarts, which was well before we, er, well, became a couple."

"Also," Jasmine added, "her mother and grandmother apparently know more about this 'connection' of ours than Fleur has been able to explain. Either they won't tell her, or they have but she's under oath. It's annoying, and we've been hoping that knowing more about veela might help us understand what they are talking about."

Flitwick nodded and said, "Yes, I can see how that would be frustrating. Unfortunately, I don't have any special knowledge of their people that might help."

"Is there any chance that whatever she senses is connected to whatever it is that you two know but can't tell us?" Hermione asked.

"It's certainly possible," Minerva responded carefully, "but I have no way of knowing for sure. And if I did know, I might not be able to tell you that."

"Frustrating is beginning to sound more and more like an understatement," Jasmine grumbled as she walked out.

Hermione smiled apologetically and said, "Thanks for all your time and help, Professor Flitwick. Oh, and don't forget that tomorrow is Valentine's Day, Professor McGonagall, so we won't be here. Bye, Professors!" And with that, she left as well.

Professors Flitwick and McGonagall shared a long look before the latter said, "I'd be shocked if they weren't the exact same thing, rather than merely connected."

"Oh, I quite agree," Flitwick said as he sat down to begin telling her what they had done that morning, though in the back of his mind he kept thinking about what he'd just learned and why veela would be so interested in those two witches.

Saturday, February 13, 1995, Night.

Once again, Hermione Granger was lying in bed, unable to get to sleep. Over the past several weeks she had discovered that it was getting easier to cast the darker spells that she and Jasmine had been practicing so extensively. Not that she didn't still shudder a bit at the sight of gaping wounds in her targets, or when she thought of the distinctive sound of snapping bone. Still, the regular repetition had dulled those reactions and made her instinctive empathy with her target easier to ignore.

On the one hand, it was a relief to be spared that kind of visceral horror at the damage she was causing (though she knew the fact that the conjured pigs couldn't feel pain helped a lot). She also took pride in her developing magical skill, just as she always did, and the challenge of mastering a difficult spell made it easier to focus on the process rather than the outcome.

Still... now she was beginning to wonder if it might not eventually become too easy to cast these spells without a second thought. Flitwick's warning about heading down a dark path still troubled her, and the more she hardened herself to the effects of these spells, the less her own tendency for compassion would protect her from that fate.

There's just no pleasing some people, she thought ruefully. I hate how these spells make me feel, but now I'm worried about not feeling so awful anymore. Is there a middle ground here somewhere?

When she did eventually fall into an exhausted sleep, it was only to be visited with dreams of being hounded by Death Eaters, dreams in which no spell she knew — no matter how dark, no matter how many times she cast it — could stop their relentless pursuit.

Sunday, February 14, 1995, Morning.

Neville Longbottom had no idea how he got talked into these things. Granted, it was for the sake of friends, but sometimes he wondered if he wasn't being taken advantage of.

Jasmine and Hermione wanted to spend Valentine's Day together, which was fine with him. Two witches together might still feel a little weird, but he could at least understand the desire to spend a day like this with each other. And of course, they didn't want rumors to start about them, so they decided to let people to think that they might be spending the day with Neville and Ginny instead.

Neville couldn't disagree with that, but it meant being cooped up here in their commandeered training room all day while Hermione and Jasmine spent the day together in the Room of Requirement. It could be worse, but frankly he'd rather be on a comfortable couch in the common room or even in the library. There was work that could be done in the greenhouses, too. Well, at least he had Ginny for company, and they did say that he could ask Dobby to get him anything he needed...

Now there was a good idea.

"Hey, uh, Dobby?" Neville asked uncertainly.

Dobby appeared with a pop and said, "Yes, Missy Jazzy's Nevvy?"

A snort from the other side of the table reminded Neville that he wasn't alone. "Yes, Dobby — uh, these chairs won't be comfortable for the entire day. Is there any way you could get a decent couch for us that isn't being used?"

"Oh, yes, Dobby can do!" and with a pop, the little house elf was gone. A few minutes later, he reappeared with another pop and brought with him a large, elegant couch upholstered in plush green fabric.

"Wow, that's a nice couch, Dobby," Ginny said as she got up and sat down in it. "Comfy, too. Where'd it come from?"

"Dobby be getting couch from nasty snakey room," the elf said happily.

Neville froze halfway through the motion of sitting on the couch."Uh, do you mean the Slytherin common room?"

Dobby nodded his head vigorously, causing his large, bat-like ears to flop around.

"But I said to get a couch that no one was using!" Neville protested as he dropped heavily the rest of the way onto his new seat.

"Yes, and no little snakeys be using couch when Dobby be fetching!" Dobby said enthusiastically.

Ginny laughed and said, "He's got you there, Nevvy! Might as well enjoy it!"

Neville grumbled at this new nickname but got up, gathered his books, and sat down next to Ginny, bouncing a little in the seat. "You're right," he said, "this is comfortable. Better even than our couches in Gryffindor." Suddenly Neville started squirming in discomfort. Reaching under him, he started fishing around until he came up with a very expensive looking wristwatch. "Huh," Neville said, "I wonder whose this is."

Down in the dungeons, Draco Malfoy stormed into the common room, saying, "Has anyone seen my watch? My father gave that to me! I know I had it earlier when I was sitting..." He looked blankly at the big open space where a large couch might fit.

"Who took our couch!?" Malfoy shouted in bewilderment

Sunday, February 14, 1995, Evening.

Both Hermione and Jasmine could agree that Valentine's Day had been a truly glorious day for them. Despite having loads of work to do, both for classes and for their extracurricular projects, they had committed themselves to doing as little as possible on this date — and what they did do, they did together as they spent the entire day in the Room of Requirement.

The morning was spent relaxing in Hermione's Hot Tub Grotto. Some of that time was just spent enjoying the warm water, some was spent debating possible strategies for the second task, and a whole lot was spent with Jasmine sitting in Hermione's lap while they snogged. Hermione was careful to reign in her wandering hands, but with Jasmine sitting in her lap, clad in a two-piece swimsuit, it was very difficult for her.

For lunch, Winky and Dobby provided an amazing array of dishes, most of which seemed to be French in origin. The Room also transformed itself into what looked like an apartment in Paris — an apartment with a large balcony that had an amazing view of Paris, to be specific. Hermione praised it as the most romantic lunch setting she'd ever heard of while Jasmine started wondering what had gotten into their elves, because neither of the two witches had asked for anything of the kind.

Not that Jasmine was going to complain, of course, because regardless of why the elves were doing this, it was clear that they were making Hermione very happy. And when Hermione was happy, Jasmine was happy — even when she didn't quite know what was going on.

After lunch, they spent the bulk of the afternoon getting caught up on homework, though because they were working in private Hermione was able to offer Jasmine a number of "rewards" for getting things done correctly and efficiently. Jasmine had never done a better or faster job on her homework in all the time she'd been at Hogwarts thus far. Hermione made a mental note to make her new system a permanent feature of their study sessions, provided they could get away and work in private.

Once dinner time arrived, the elves outdid themselves again. It was, if possible, even more romantic than the dinner which Jasmine and Dobby had set up for New Year's Eve, though the setting of the table, dance floor, and loveseat were all repeated. Jasmine had never had oysters before and wondered why the elves served them — and in three different dishes, too — but Hermione had had oysters before with her parents and explained how to eat them. Jasmine wasn't impressed, especially with the ones accompanied by a spicy avocado dip.

She really needed to find time to talk to those elves...

The dessert, though, won approval from both of them. The thick, creamy, dark chocolate mousse was sinfully delicious, though Jasmine thought it was odd that the elves only gave them one dessert and two spoons. Hermione didn't seem to mind — quite the opposite, in fact, so Jasmine didn't bother complaining.

Dinner was followed by dancing, which was followed by a bit of snogging on the couch. Before things could get too far, though, Hermione paused and said, "Something I've been meaning to ask... You know those plans I originally had for after Imbolc? Well..." she hesitated, then pressed on in a rush, "I was wondering if tonight might not be a good time to try again? Only if you want to, I mean."

Jasmine looked at her girlfriend then, and even though Hermione was obviously trying to keep her voice neutral, she couldn't miss the hope in her eyes. Jasmine felt a twinge of apprehension rise up, but only a twinge, and she stuffed it back down as usual. "Yes," she finally said softly, "I think that might be doable."

The shy smile that accompanied her answer made Hermione almost glow with happiness.

Not long thereafter, they had to get changed and meet up with Neville and Ginny before heading back to the Common Room, thus giving the impression that the four had been together all day.

Once ensconced in their dorm, Hermione snuck out of her bed while under Jasmine's invisibility cloak, sealed her own bed curtains, then slipped into Jasmine's bed. After taking off the cloak, she gave her auburn-haired girlfriend a questioning look. Jasmine's only response was to remove her bathrobe to reveal a lacy nightgown that Hermione had convinced her to purchase before Christmas at Gossypamer & Organza's.

Smiling, Hermione crawled up the bed so that she was on her hands and knees above Jasmine and began kissing her, starting back at her ears and gradually working her way along her jaw until reaching her lips. As Jasmine wrapped her arms about Hermione, the bushy-haired witch lifted one hand and placed it on Jasmine's waist. Like before, she moved her hand up Jasmine's abdomen, though more slowly this time, giving Jasmine a chance to either get used to it or to object.

When Hermione reached her destination. Jasmine stiffened slightly and Hermione stopped moving, but it only took a couple of seconds before Jasmine relaxed again and pulled Hermione more tightly against her, giving her girlfriend tacit permission to continue with what she was doing. And that's exactly what Hermione did, causing her to come to the conclusion that touching another girl's chest and giving her that kind of pleasure, even through a silk nightgown, was in some ways more brilliant than doing it to herself.

Both witches were far, far too distracted by what their lips were doing, and especially by what Hermione's right hand was doing, to notice the pale, glowing lights that grew outward from their chests. Where the green and blue tendrils met, they entwined together and merged into a soft white; then gradually the blended light extended backwards and started shifting the colors at the source.

At the same time, a very small, black shadow began emanating from Jasmine's scar.

Before that process could go very far, however, Jasmine and Hermione stopped. Breathing heavily, they pulled back a bit so they could look into each other's eyes. Although neither was ready to say the words, both could see the love, devotion, and pleasure the other was feeling.

In Little Hangleton, Peter Pettigrew lay in one of the bedrooms of the abandoned manor house, drooling into the dirty carpet. He'd fallen into this state several hours ago after an especially long session of the Cruciatus curse from his master. Peter probably would have fallen into catatonia much sooner if it hadn't been for the fact that Voldemort's Cruciatus curse had been weakening steadily over the past weeks.

Voldemort himself was currently unconscious in his bassinet. He had tortured Peter for hours because he'd been enduring terrible pain that was lasting much longer than usual. It had started in the morning and continued through most of the day. Once Peter was catatonic, there was nothing Voldemort could do but scream until his throat was raw and his voice little more than a rasp.

Then, just when he thought it couldn't get any worse, a blinding flash of agony stabbed him in the head and he passed out.

In a rundown old shack near the Riddle Manor in Little Hangleton, an old ring with an even older stone mounted on it lying hidden under the floorboards quivered and convulsed several times before finally stilling.

In #12 Grimmauld Place, a house elf named Kreacher stood in the sitting room, quietly watching a gold locket. A few minutes previously it had started vibrating, and he was certain that it was in pain, though he couldn't figure out how a piece of jewelry could experience pain or how he could know such a thing.

"Something's wrong with Master Regulus' locket," Kreacher muttered to himself. "Kreacher didn't follow Master Regulus' last instructions, now locket is starting to do things." He looked up to the ceiling, thinking about the person who had recently moved in and was currently asleep. "Maybe bad master Sirius is to blame. Oh, what is poor Kreacher to do?"

Slowly, the decrepit house elf backed away, hoping that Sirius would soon leave so everything could go back to normal.

In the Come and Go Room of Hogwarts, several house elves abandoned their search of the room of hidden things. They'd received a report of dark magic here, but while there were several dark items hidden in amongst the junk, none of them were currently active or giving off detectable levels of power.

Pappy, the oldest and therefore top elf in Hogwarts, decided that nothing could be done at that time, but if it happened again he'd have to look into setting a rotating watch on the room so they could catch whatever was creating the danger.

In Gringotts, a team of goblins stood outside the Lestrange vault holding a number of odd magical devices. While the guard dragon was kept back via the clankers, the other goblins walked around the outside of the vault, waving the devices around in an attempt to get information.

"Report!" called out a new goblin who had just arrived.

"Vault Master Ripsaw, we've been unable to detect anything. No new readings and no indication of what might have set off our alarms earlier," said the goblin who was in charge of the team examining the vault door and surrounding area.

"Do you still think that the dark magic alarm was caused by something inside this vault, Nailtooth?" the Vault Master asked, putting a bit of menace in his voice.

"Yes, sir," Nailtooth said, neither showing fear nor backing down. "Aside from the fact that the Lestranges are a dark family, there's simply nothing else around here that could possibly have set off that alarm." Ripsaw didn't look convinced, but then Nailtooth added, "Also, sir, I had our records checked carefully, and exactly one week ago, we got a very small hit on our dark magic detectors. It wasn't big enough to cause the alarms to go off, but it was enough to register."

"And where was this dark magic?" Ripsaw asked, his curiosity now aroused.

"Unfortunately, sir, the hit wasn't big enough to locate it precisely," Nailtooth admitted, "but it was in this general area."

Ripsaw nodded and said, "Very good work. Good initiative. There are several vaults down here, but it's too much of a coincidence to pretend that the two hits aren't related. Unfortunately, this still isn't enough for us to invoke clause #492 of the treaty of 1755, allowing us to enter the vault for an inspection."

"There is one option," Nailtooth offered.

"Oh?" Ripsaw asked, even more curious now.

"We can set up dark magic detectors right outside this vault," Nailtooth said. "The problem is, that dragon over there will probably end up stepping on a few and knocking over others with her tail."

"So we'd have to remove her if we wanted to install the detectors," Ripsaw said, seeing where his subordinate was going. "That's a creative suggestion. Unfortunately, moving a guard dragon isn't something either of us can authorize. Given the current evidence, I doubt anyone higher up will want to. However, I will forward the idea — if this happens again, I suspect their minds will change. And I'll be sure to attach your name to the suggestion, too. Good work!"

Nailtooth stood a bit straighter and said, "Yes, sir! Thank you, sir!" All the other goblins on his team looked at each other and smiled. If Nailtooth got a promotion out of this, he'd take them with him, giving them all more money and prestige. It paid — sometimes literally — to find a good supervisor and work closely with them.

In the headmaster's office of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore's brow was furrowed in concentration. He had received two conflicting reports from the castle's wards, and he couldn't figure out how to reconcile them. On the one hand there had been a burst of dark magical energy from an unspecified location. Normally this would be worrying, but it was a relatively small burst. According to Pappy, the elves had been unable to locate the source.

Not long prior to that there had been a larger burst of raw magical energy, also from an unspecified location. In a magical school there were always bursts of magic, but the strength of this was a bit more than the wards normally recorded. What was more, this wasn't the first time that a burst of similar energy had occurred, but the previous ones had all been too small to be brought to his attention. It was only after he did a search of the records that he found the reports.

This was a conundrum. Apparently, something in the castle was giving off bursts of raw magical energy that were growing in strength. There was also either a second source of magical energy, this one dark, or the first source was responsible for both reports. It's possible they could be completely separate, he mused to himself, but it's not a coincidence that I'm willing to trust.

Uncontrolled magical energy could be dangerous, especially to children. But what can I do? he asked himself. The wards can't pinpoint the location, so I can't tailor my response that way. I can only do something that involves the entire castle, like a school-wide search. That would be difficult to defend regardless of the circumstances, never mind when we have two foreign schools visiting. On the other hand, the presence of so many guests might make it easier to justify...maybe just a security precaution... I'll have to ponder this.

The Headmaster leaned back in his chair, popped a sherbet lemon in his mouth, and started thinking about how he might be able to explain a search of the entire school.

On the coast of England, in a hidden sea cave filled with inferi and protected by dark magic, nothing happened at all.