CW: Blood
That evening, Hermione, Harry, Luna, Susan, and Blaise all gathered outside the statue of Boris the Bewildered on the 5th floor. Most of them had a small sack with them with things inside of it, while Susan had a large bag bulging with cloth.
"You try fitting five robes into a school bag," she said huffily, giving them a dark look from behind her colored glasses, and Hermione held back a smile.
"If we get caught, we are going to be in so much trouble," Harry said, glancing up and down the corridors.
"This is necessary, Harry," Hermione stressed. "And this is worth the risk."
"And we won't get caught," Luna said. She stepped forward, stopping at the fourth door to the left. "Spring breeze."
The door swung open, and they all scurried inside, quickly closing it behind them.
A massive swimming pool was spread out in front of them, a huge, luxurious bathtub, with tons of golden bath taps all over the outside, each marked with a different colored jewel. The tub could easily fit twenty people comfortably, possibly more, and Hermione was impressed.
Susan was walking along the outside, examining the taps.
"There's a marked one," she said, searching. "My mum wrote about it in her diary once, how they used this once when they were alumni at the school for something…"
She stopped short at one tap that was different than the rest; it was silver and had no jewel, and Susan smiled.
"This one," she said, turning it on. "It's got to be."
They watched apprehensively as the pool filled with what looked to be just normal water. Hermione glanced around, looking.
"If this was originally used properly, there's got to be a trigger for stairs," she murmured. She glanced back at Susan. "Did your mother say anything else?"
"I don't remember much," Susan told her. "And it's not like she wrote down all the details."
Hermione hummed as she wandered around, examining the bricks and searching for a hidden trigger. They all looked the same, though, and she hadn't the slightest idea how to find what she knew must be there. It was a shame they all looked the same and were all tightly together; she'd have liked to use her air magic to sweep around and feel out which one was different.
Hermione paused, a thought occurring to her as she laid her hand on the rock.
Very carefully, she reached down and touched the earth elemental inside of her magic, waking it up.
A strong, alive feeling curled through her, feeling like green vines growing out through her hand that rested on the wall and into the stone itself. Hermione's eyes widened as she felt the magic unfurl, resonating a soundless tone in each rock until one was found that rang with a lower tone, and Hermione could tell which stone was.
Carefully pulling the earth magic back into her, Hermione walked over to an entirely inconspicuous stone in the wall that looked like all the rest and pushed it in, confident. The stone sank into the wall with a groan, and at the same time, the short sides of the pool groaned, taps parting and sinking into the ground as stone stairs appeared, the ground shifting.
Hermione grinned. "Got it."
"How did you know it was that one?" Harry demanded, astonished. "They all look the same."
"I'm special." Hermione flashed him a smile.
"No, really. How did you—"
"Not now, Harry," Luna admonished. "Hermione, you need to go first, so you can help the rest of us."
Hermione held her breath. "Right."
There was a changing area over to the side of the pool with a large screen. Hermione supposed that some people came here just to swim, sometimes, and might wear suits to do it with friends. With a look, Blaise and Harry went over to the changing area to hide themselves. Susan was digging through her bag, handing one of the black bundles to Luna, before setting the other bag at the far end of the pool and hurrying to follow them.
Now alone, Hermione looked at Luna, and Luna looked back.
"Are you ready?" Luna asked quietly.
Hermione held her chin high. "I am."
Somewhat self-consciously, Hermione disrobed. Though Luna's eyes looked over her nude body, there was no judgement in them, and Hermione relaxed slightly. She set her robes on a bench at the side of the room and approached the near end of the pool with the stairs, while Luna took her place at the far side of the pool. Hermione took a moment to twist and pin her hair up, not wanting to get it wet.
"Hermione Granger," Luna intoned. "Magic has called you to lead a coven. Will you answer the call?"
"I will."
Hermione was careful taking the stairs down into the pool, the water a weirdly perfect temperature. It wasn't as if she was in water at all, just walking through oddly heavy air. But as Hermione pushed her way through the pool, something was changing.
She could feel a change within herself.
The water around her was gradually turning from crystal clear to a milky white. As she moved, she could feel her core magic slowing, somehow, becoming steady, as distractions and worries about the world were seeped from her mind. All that remained was her focus on Luna at the end of the pool and her coven, and she pushed her way through the heavy water to get there.
When she reached the other end of the pool, she climbed the stairs, shivering slightly in the air with her body damp. The merest notion of a thought flitted through her mind before Hermione found her air elemental had already reacted, a swirl of warm air buffeting her body and drying her quickly.
Luna remained unperturbed.
"Hermione Granger, do you come to bind yourself to this coven?" she asked. "Do you bring yourself and nothing else, and offer to the coven all that you are?"
"I come to bind myself to this coven," Hermione said, feeling the weight of the words in the air around her. "I have purified my sense of purpose, bringing myself and nothing else, and I come to offer the coven all that I am and all that I will be."
Luna nodded. "Then clothe yourself and your coven, Hermione Granger, and lead us."
With Luna's help, Hermione clad herself in the coven robe Susan had provided. It was made of a deep obsidian silk, so dark as to mimic the night sky, and hers was lined with a dark violet silk, cool against her body as she buttoned it closed. Hermione was a bit self-conscious about not wearing her underwear, but it couldn't be helped; it was to be coven robes and nothing else for the binding, though undergarments would be able to be worn under these robes for rituals in the future.
As Hermione adjusted the robe on her frame, Luna beamed.
"Welcome, Hermione," she said. Her eyes danced. "I can't wait."
Luna scurried around the pool to behind the changing curtain, and a moment later, Blaise emerged. Glancing over at her with a smirk, he began disrobing, stripping off his shoes and socks, followed shortly by his robes.
Hermione found herself somehow able to focus only on his face and eyes. Whereas once before she was sure her eyes would be drawn to take in his body and memorize and trace its lines, her purpose had been purified by magic, and she found herself wonderfully clear in the mind.
"Blaise Zabini," Hermione said. "You are called to join the coven. Will you answer magic's call?"
Blaise nodded. "I will."
He descended the stairs and into the water, which had gone clear again after Hermione had stepped out. She watched him traverse through the pool, each step heavy, and she watched his expression change as he came towards her, a transformation occurring as the water clouded.
Blaise had started off confident, slightly cocky; she could tell from how he moved that he was self-assured in his nude body. But as he made his way through the water, the water clouding around him, the flirtatious gleam in his eye was replaced by one of awe and wonder, and Hermione could see his thoughts were beginning to settle and focus as expressions flitted across his face.
When he came to the other side, he ascended the stairs, the water clearing as his body left the pool. He shivered slightly in the cold, and with nary a thought, a warm cloud of air buffeted him, drying his body the way it had hers, while Hermione kept her eyes firmly fixed on his.
"Blaise Zabini," she intoned. "Do you come to bind yourself to this coven?"
"I do," Blaise said, his eyes holding hers.
"Do you bring yourself and nothing else?"
"I bring myself, clean of anything else," he answered.
"And what do you have to offer the coven?"
"I come to offer myself to the coven," Blaise said. His tone was reverent, a note of awe in his voice. "I offer the coven all that I am, and all that I will be, that we may be bound together in magic and life."
Hermione gave him a small smile.
"Then welcome, Blaise Zabini," she said, moving to drape his robe around him. "Clothe yourself and join us."
Blaise pulled the robe around him and slipped his arms through the sleeves, his fingers nimbly doing it up. The lining of his robe was a dark green, and it made Hermione smile. When he was done, he looked up at Hermione. His smile was almost tentative, uncertain, and with a smile, Hermione nodded to let him go, and Blaise relaxed.
Blaise went back behind the changing station, and Harry came out next, awkward.
"I don't have to take my glasses off, do I?" he asked.
"Magic would want you to see clearly," Hermione assured him, amused. "Keep them on."
Harry's trek across the water was one of relaxation; his nerves seemed to leave him, and his anxious awkwardness seemed soothed and calmed when he emerged. Hermione's gaze held his as he settled, ready.
"Do you come to bind yourself to this coven?" she intoned.
"I do."
"Do you bring yourself and nothing else?"
"I bring myself, and nothing else." His voice was steady and calm.
"And what do you have to offer the coven?"
"I come to offer myself to the coven," Harry said. His bright green eyes held hers as he said the words. "I offer the coven all that I am, and all that I will be, that we may be bound together in magic and life."
Hermione helped clothe him in his robe, lined in dark red, and he gave her a grateful smile before returning to the changing area to maintain the others' privacy.
Susan came out next, giving Hermione a cheeky grin.
"I heard you tell Harry we could keep our glasses on," she said, and Hermione laughed.
"You can," she told her. "You can tie your hair up, too."
Susan seemed the most calm of them all as she moved through the water, her purpose already strong and clear. Hermione knew that though Susan tried not to show it sometimes so as not to appear overeager, Hermione could tell that she had longed to belong to a true coven ever since her mother had told her stories of her family heritage as a child at her knee.
Susan's words were strong and unwavering as Hermione spoke and she answered, and she watched Susan close her eyes as Hermione clothed her in a robe lined in a deep gold, drinking in this deep, meaningful moment in her life.
Luna was the last. She paused at the far end of the pool, looking into it, before looking up at Hermione.
"I know you can't close your eyes," she said finally. "But… though I trust you… please don't look?"
Hermione felt a flicker of surprise. She wouldn't have thought Luna self-conscious or overly modest.
"Though I'm not looking away, the magic is guiding me to only see people's faces," she assured her. "I couldn't tell you the slightest details about anybody's body, if it comforts you."
Luna seemed to relax. "It does. Thank you."
She disrobed quickly, and when Hermione called her forth, she entered the water immediately, unhesitant, and began pushing her way forward.
The water clouded immediately around Luna, going immediately milky white, and by the time Luna reached the other end, it was almost opaque. Hermione didn't know what all would need purified from Luna's magic or her mind, but when Luna reached the other side, she seemed settled and calm, more present than Hermione had ever seen her as Hermione spoke the ritual words.
"I come to offer myself to the coven," Luna said, her voice unwavering. "I offer the coven all that I am, and all that I will be, that we may be bound together in magic and life."
"Then welcome, Luna Lovegood," Hermione said, draping the last robe around her, one lined in silk of a deep blue. "Clothe yourself and join us."
Luna did up the buttons and shook out her hair, which she'd trailed in the water behind her. Hermione offered a press of warm air to flit through the strands, drying it, and Luna looked surprised, but she gave Hermione a small smile.
"Thanks," she said. "Are you ready?"
Hermione's magic felt settled and determined.
"I am."
They left their clothes bundled up in the prefect's bathroom, as well as their underwear, socks, and shoes. The five of them donned the hoods of their robes before they eased out into the night, five figures quietly moving to the Forbidden Forest with small sacks of supplies slung over their shoulders. As they reached the edge of the trees, Hermione paused.
"We'll need these later," she said, passing out small necklaces. "They're not part of the ceremony, so better to have them now."
"Alright." Harry put his into his pack.
"Is this just a stone with a hole in it?" Blaise asked, holding his up to look at it in the faint moonlight.
Susan was examining hers. "Seems that way."
Hermione looked at Luna. "You okay?"
Luna was staring down at the necklace in her palm.
"Hermione," she breathed, her voice low. Something in her voice vibrated, felt wild. "Where did you get these?"
Hermione blinked.
"They were gifted to me," she said honestly, "by one of the House Elves. He bid me 'to use them wisely and be true'."
Luna's eyes widened, and it was with reverence as she put it in her pack.
"I never thought…" she said, trailing off. "Hermione…"
Hermione was focused on her purpose, magic guiding her thoughts, and she led them into the Forbidden Forest, careful to follow a nearly-overgrown path that led toward the center of the woods. The path had only dirt and soft grass, to her relief – they were all taking this journey barefoot, and she didn't want anyone to get hurt.
When they were maybe halfway in, Hermione estimated, she heard the sound of hoofbeats in the distance. Hermione held up her hand, and the group paused.
"Wait."
A minute later, several centaurs broke through the trees to ride around them, their hooves loud and clambering. One centaur rode up to her and glared down at her.
"You dare invade our territory?" he demanded. "On this night of all nights?"
Hermione paused, wondering how best to phrase her words.
"We come not to invade, but to respectfully ask for safe passage to the circle inside," she said. "We seek to bind ourselves to each other as a coven tonight at midnight, at the turning of the day into Beltane, and we need the circle for our ritual."
Whatever the centaur had expected, it wasn't that.
"You come…?" He seemed incredulous. "To bind…? A coven?"
"It was in the stars," another centaur reminded him. "We knew one with the Old Ways in mind would come tonight, leading a group who would harken great change."
"But wizards…" the centaur said again. "For Beltane…"
"We come in witchcraft, not wizardry?" Hermione offered. "I promise."
Those seemed to be the magic words, and the look in the centaur's eyes changed from one of suspicion to one of wonder.
"It has been a long time since these woods have seen proper witchcraft done," the centaur told her, drawing himself up. "Come, little foals; we will walk you to your circle."
Hermione glanced back at her coven, all of whom were watching her, before she turned back to the centaur. "Thank you. It would be much appreciated."
Though she was sure the centaurs were walking with them as much to keep them from veering off and invading their territory as they were to keep them on the path, having centaurs walk alongside them added to the anticipatory feeling in the air. They hadn't even entered the circle, and already she could feel magic vibrating in the air, waiting.
They reached the circle several minutes later, the trees breaking open to reveal a perfectly circular clearing. Once the circle was reached, her friends began moving, taking out components to get started. The waxing moon above them helped illuminate the clearing, just over half full, and Hermione looked around at the trees surrounding the circle as she passed through; each one was of a different wood.
"How long has this circle been here?" she asked the centaur.
"Longer than living memory," he told her. "It is said that the forest grew up around the circle, not the reverse."
Without so much as an adieu, the centaurs galloped off into the distance. Hermione watched them go before turning to her coven, who were already setting up. Blaise was laying out components from the ritual kit he had gifted her, taking out the silver dagger and the chalice, while Luna set up candles at the points of the star Harry was tracing inside a circle with powdered moonstone.
"We're sure blood-borne illness isn't a thing we need to worry about?" Harry asked again. "I don't want us to do this and end up with Hep C."
"They're not," Hermione reassured him. "I checked; they're not magical diseases. And each of us has a clean bill of health."
"Even if one of us did have a blood curse," Susan added, "it wouldn't be shared; we've been ritually purified now. A blood curse might even be burned out."
"On that note, is everyone wearing their robes and only their robes?" Blaise wanted to know. "We can only bring ourselves to this, nothing else."
"Yeah, yeah, we know," Harry said. "Except glasses, no one is wearing anything else. We know."
"There are records of underwear burning up on a person who wore theirs during this ritual," Luna said, blinking at Harry. "An overabundance of caution isn't a bad thing here, Harry."
Harry's eyes went wide.
"Ah—alright, then. Yeah – nothing extra," he said hastily.
The circle they set up in the end was simple, the coven-bonding circle that had been used through all of time: it was a circle with a star inside, theirs with five points, and that was all. The magic would be done through their force of will and magic and mind, without the need for complicated channels or veins.
"In order for the circle to have symmetry," Luna said, "we need to sit at a different point than the one where we light the candle."
Hermione gave Luna a sideways look, but Luna was demonstrating.
"For example, Blaise will light his candle, then circle once and three points," she said, walking around the circle, "ending here, where Susan was. Hermione, you'll light your candle, then walk around once and three points, and you'll end up where I started."
Luna's eyes were on Hermione's, intense.
"We're here to join each other in magic and trust," Hermione said finally. "If you say this is necessary, I believe you."
Luna's eyes lost their combative note, and abruptly, Hermione's arms were full.
"Thank you," Luna breathed, hugging her hard. "Thank you, Hermione, for not making me explain."
Her voice was a whisper of desperate gratitude, and though Hermione was curious, now was not the time to wonder.
"You're welcome," Hermione said, hugging her back and stroking her hair. "It's fine. Now come on. It's almost midnight."
They each took their places around the circle as directed by Luna. Once they were in place, they each took a candle, fat and white. They looked around at each other with bright eyes, everyone's eyes eventually settling on Hermione, who was waiting.
"We are here to bind ourselves together as a coven," she said. "If anyone is unwilling to continue, step out now."
No one moved.
"Well," Hermione said, with a small smile. "Then we begin."
Each of them lit their candle with a small spark of magic from their fingertips. Hermione managed it wordlessly, but most of them whispered Incendio under their breath as they pinched the wick. Once each candle was lit, they each set them down at the points of the pentacle before carefully walking around the circle once fully and then shifting down three more points, before they all sat down together, managing it somewhat simultaneously.
They each moved their new candle further inside of the circle a ways to sit in front of them, so no one accidentally set their robes on fire.
"Are we ready?" Hermione asked quietly. "This might be hard."
There were nervous looks exchanged, but everyone nodded. Hermione took a deep breath, then reached forward and took the chalice and dagger from the center or the pentacle.
"I offer my blood with the cut of this knife," she said, dragging the blade through the skin of her left palm deeply, red welling up immediately. She fought not to wince as she switched hands, awkwardly dragging it through her right. "May my blood be yours for the rest of my life."
She set the knife down and held her fists over the chalice, bleeding into it. She had no idea how much blood really needed to be in it, but she made sure a goodly amount had pooled into it before she passed the cup and blade to Harry on her right, her hands still bleeding.
"I offer my blood with the cut of this knife," Harry said, cutting himself. He gasped. "May my blood be yours for the rest of my life."
He cut the other hand and bled into the cup, looking slightly queasy when he passed it on to Susan.
"I offer my blood with the cut of this knife." Susan's words were steady, and she didn't flinch as the blade cut deep into her palms. "May my blood be yours for the rest of my life."
She poured her blood into the chalice, offering to Luna on her right next.
"I offer my blood with the cut of this knife," Luna said calmly, stabbing herself with the point. "May my blood be yours for the rest of my life."
Blaise was last, and he turned the knife over in his hands for a moment before cutting his palms.
"I offer my blood with the cut of this knife," he said. His voice was low. "May my blood be yours for the rest of my life."
He passed the dagger and chalice back to Hermione, completing the circle. Everyone was slightly cupping their hands, blood still awkwardly pooling in their palms. Ignoring the dripping blood from her own hands, Hermione withdrew a pentagonal box, a star etched deeply into the lid. She set the lid aside and pulled from it a ring.
"Everyone take one and pass it down," she murmured, holding her ring. "Don't put it on yet."
She passed the rings clockwise this time, Blaise taking one and handing the box to Luna, Luna taking one and handing it to Susan. When Harry handed her the box, it was empty, and she set it aside outside of the circle.
Hermione looked around the circle. Everyone was looking at her, ready, and she moved on.
"A coven is sacred, formed in perfect love and perfect trust," she said, setting the chalice in the center of the star. "Let our intentions be pure, and none of us unjust." Her eyes held each of theirs in turn. "As we join hands, we become pure magic unfurled." She moved her hands in a gesture. "With our bond as our strength, we can change the world."
The forest around them had gone quiet.
It was time.
"We'll need to put our hands on the circle," Hermione guided them, "so the blood stains the moonstone. We'll go counter-clockwise, and I'll start. Don't raise your hand from the circle until you need to take someone's hand, or it's your turn to offer yours."
They all nodded.
"Is this the painful part?" Harry asked.
"I'm not sure 'painful' is the right word," Hermione said quietly. "But it's going to be hard."
Following her lead, they each put their hands on the circle of moonstone. Immediately the stone began to stain with red, and a feeling of power began to resonate in the lines of the circle. The moonstone began to glow faintly, vibrating with magic.
Hermione began to hum, and they each joined in, matching her tone until the clearing resonated with their voices. The feeling of magic began to build inside of the circle, and she took a deep breath.
"I share with you my magic, I share with you my life," Hermione said as she looked around at them, her voice strong and certain. "I offer myself in times of joy, I offer myself in times of strife."
She picked up her ring, leaning forward over the chalice.
"I trust you to call on my power, and my magic will respond—"
She gasped as her ring hit the collected blood, a rush of power surging through the air, ready.
"—I give myself to the coven and to the strength of our bond!"
As the incantation finished, the white candle in front of her turned purple, power that had spun into the air consumed her, and Hermione screamed.
It was power, sure, but it was too much – it was like all of her magic at once was let loose, surging through her and burning through her veins, tearing through her body and leaving wreckage behind. Some part of her was vaguely aware of the ground beginning to rumble underneath them and a hash wind picking up and swirling around, and in another world, Hermione would have reflected if it was really the wisest to offer herself to the bond first.
In another world where she wasn't screaming, that was.
"What's going on?!"
"Grab her hand, Potter, grab her hand!"
There was a solid feeling of being tethered abruptly, as Harry's left hand clasped her right, the bloodied slash on his hand pressing to hers. Hermione still felt like she was going to be torn apart with the force of her magic let loose, but now she felt slightly tethered, like a kite fighting against a string, and her voice faded, finally able to stop screaming.
Harry was speaking next to her, though she could hardly hear with the wind ringing in her ears.
"—give myself to the coven and to the strength of our bond!"
Immediately there was a feeling of joining, and Hermione could feel the whirlwind of her magic be joined with Harry's. And it was Harry's, she was certain – she could feel him inside of it, feel who he was within his magic. He was in pain, the magic tearing through him too, but he was brave, his magic facing the agony head-on. She could feel his magic, determined, trying to shield her as best he could, though it was for naught.
Out of the corner of her eye she could see his candle had turned red, and the feeling of being tethered returned as Susan clasped Harry's hand.
"I share with you my magic, I share with you my life! I offer myself in times of joy, I offer myself in times of strife!"
Susan's incantation was loud, and Hermione could hear it over the rush of magic whirling around in a tornado of raw power that was slowly eroding her sense of self away.
"I trust you to call on my power, and my magic will respond! I give myself to the coven and to the strength of our bond!"
There was another feeling of bonding, of the immediate mingling of the truth of Susan with the rest. Susan's magic felt brought fierce loyalty, a stubborn determination to hang on no matter what. Her magic felt ancient and heavy, laden with the expectations of her ancestors and her clan, and Hermione dimly realized Susan was screaming as well, her voice filling the clearing as tears streamed from her eyes until Luna took her hand, holding her down.
Luna's chanting was rapid, and Hermione felt as soon as she'd completed her part – a rush of wild magic wove through them all, a feeling of keen insight, of wisdom, reminding Hermione of who she was, why they were doing this, and that they were almost done.
"I share with you my magic, I share with you my life! I offer myself in times of joy, I offer myself in times of strife!"
Blaise's voice was loud next to her, just shy of frantic as he called out the words.
"I trust you to call on my power, and my magic will respond—"
The feeling of power rose into the air again as the last ring clinked into the cup.
"—I give myself to the coven and to the strength of our bond!"
As Blaise took her hand, the world exploded in color.
Gone was the circle with the color-changing candles, in its place were splashes of color, green and blue and gold and violet and red entirely consuming her vision, all melding and fighting and swirling around together in a kaleidoscopic nightmare. The wind was still screaming around them, and the strength of the magic coursing through her and around her had Hermione full to bursting.
Fighting against the overwhelming force of the wild magic run amok, Hermione yelled out the next words.
"I take who you are, and I give you me!" she shouted.
"I take who you are and I give you me!" they returned.
"We bond together—" she began.
The last, they all shouted together.
"—so mote it be!"
Their last couplet ringing out through the clearing, the magic surged and changed as it coursed through her, and Hermione gasped, her vision going white.
It was if she had died...
...and she was being reborn of pure light.
Energy and magic tingled in her fingertips and her bones and her eyelids, every inch of her vibrating with life. Someone next to her screamed, overwhelmed, but Hermione couldn't find the air in her lungs to shout herself. The feeling of all their magic joined in harmony coursed through her, and it made her shudder as it suffused her body, a gasp escaping her that turned into a moan. Her body was alive and alight, her magic was happy, and alongside herself she could feel her friends – there, there was Blaise, with his sly amusement and never-wavering faith, and there was Susan, her magic coursing with pure joy. Luna's magic was there too, as was Harry's, and hers was there too, cycling through the others as their magic spread and merged and shared. And amazingly, they were perfectly balanced, the symmetry flawless and their magic humming a harmonious chorus through them all.
Slowly, slowly, Hermione was able to steady her breathing and open her eyes, and she gasped when she did.
The circle was glowing – glowing – from the power in the moonstone, lighting up the entire clearing with a bright white light. And her friends were glowing – Luna was glowing slightly blue, and Blaise was illuminated with a green light emanating from him. Susan cast a golden light on the trees behind her, while Harry gave off a red glow that looked faintly ominous in the shadows of the woods.
"We're a coven," Hermione murmured. "We're a coven, now."
"Merlin alive," Susan said, gasping and cracking her neck. "That felt incredible."
"That was amazing," Blaise breathed, looking at his hands glowing in front of him, his expression one of wonder. "This is amazing."
"I can feel you all," Harry said, his eyes distant, though his expression was one of joy. "I can feel you all. Like my magic's not alone…"
"We're coursing with magic," Luna said, smiling faintly. "Are we ready for part two?"
"Not yet," Blaise said, quickly gathering the components into his bag. "What do I do with the blood in the chalice? Drink it?"
"There is no blood," Susan told him. "It went into the rings."
"Put on the necklace I gave each of you," Hermione told them. "We need them."
Once they were ready, requisite bags slung around their glowing bodies and pendants hanging down, Hermione refocused her intent.
"Everyone hold hands again—" she began.
Everyone clasped hands.
"—and hang on."