The night of the next full moon, Cedric was fully recovered from his attack, and as promised, and Hermione and her coven agreed to lead the Triwizard champions through the ritual to protect themselves from the Imperius Curse as well as Legilimency.
Everyone met outside on the Hogwarts grounds near the edge of the Forbidden Forest, not far from Hagrid's hut. Hermione had mentioned the ritual they were planning to Neville and Daphne, hoping they were ready to do a ritual of their own, and to Hermione's surprise, Daphne brought her sister Astoria with her, the small girl shivering violently in the cold.
"Astoria needs to learn this too," Daphne told Hermione, her voice fierce, before Hermione had said anything. "She needs to be able to protect her mind from outside influences."
Hermione carefully didn't say anything, just flicked her wand at Astoria, who jerked suddenly before sighing into the sudden warmth of her cloak.
"The Warming Charm isn't covered until May generally, but you can skip ahead in your spellbooks," she advised Astoria, who looked up at her with wide, awed eyes. "It's worth the extra practice."
Hermione and her coven had come down ahead of time to set everything up – drying out and flattening the ground, dragging channels through the mud to mark out the lines of the circle, etching protective runes in the outer rings. Despite the careful setup the coven had done ahead of time and the cursory explanation the champions had been given, there was a bit of confusion and tussle.
"But what if I don't want my mind connected to someone else's?" Cedric said plaintively. "Isn't the whole point of this to protect my mind from others?"
Hermione took a deep breath, letting it out slowly to a count of 10. Cedric wasn't trying to whine; he was just concerned. She'd have the same sort of questions if it was her participating in someone's unknown ritual.
"The ritual works in part by linking the defense of your mind to another person instead of yourself," Susan explained. "They can't find the key to get through the walls of your mind if the key's hidden in someone else's."
"So we must pair up, yes?" Fleur said, eyes dancing. She gave Hermione a forlorn look. "And I presume you are already paired, yes? And cannot do it again?"
Hermione laughed.
"We've never tried it, but it wouldn't be a good idea," she admitted, smiling. "You'll have to pick someone else that it's new to too."
Fleur sighed very dramatically.
"What fortune you have, to have your thoughts defended by Hermione," she said to Blaise, and Blaise smirked.
"Don't look at me," he said, shrugging casually. "My partner's Luna."
Fleur drew herself up, immediately surprised.
"You mean to tell me," she said, astonished, "that Hermione's mind is defended by someone not in her coven?"
Hermione sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose tightly.
"I was the first run of people trying out the ritual, and it went wrong the first time," she said. "As a result, I defend my own mind. It's probably not fully safe or secure, and I don't recommend it. Luckily, we won't have that problem here so long as no one does anything stupid." She fixed them all with a fierce look. "Which nobody will – right?"
Daphne and Astoria volunteered to go first. Cedric seemed more amenable to linking himself to Neville Longbottom, so Fleur and Viktor were to go last.
At Hermione's instruction, the fire seeds went into the semi-circles, with the seax and mirror in the center intersection of the design. Hermione took on the responsibility of putting down the powdered silver herself, carefully filling the outer channels and making sure there were no gasps.
"Daphne, Astoria," she said. "I need each of you to take a seat in one of the inner circles." She gestured to the circles she meant. "Careful not to brush the powdered silver with your robes."
The Greengrass girls both sat down smoothly with the ease of having practiced gracefully sitting down like a lady. Daphne looked very regal and ready, while Astoria's eyes were alight with excitement.
"You'll need to hold your breath for this next part," Hermione advised them. "…actually, everyone hold your breath for a moment, please."
She spilled mercury in the parts of the circle she needed to and cast air containment charms. Blaise walked them through the premise of the ritual.
"The mirror and liquid silver are going to help your magic take on reflective qualities that will protect the other's mind," he explained. "You'll need to cut your hands and then hold hands, blood to blood. This will help your magic find the path to your partner's mind."
"When you feel like you've transferred enough magic to the other and you can feel your reserves running low, slowly pull your magic back to yourself," Luna said. She looked at Astoria, tilting her head. "Do you know how to do that?"
Astoria looked worried for a moment, before very determined. "Yes. I think so."
"Good," Hermione said. "Ready? Let us begin."
Daphne and Astoria, purebloods they were, fell into the chant to raise their magic with practiced ease, and the powdered silver slowly lit up as their magic stretched out and blended together. It made Hermione wonder just how many family rituals they'd already done.
"Now, take the knife," Hermione guided. "Repeat: 'with this cut, I freely bleed. May my magic protect you in time of need'."
Daphne gasped at the deep cut of the blade, red welling up in her palm, whereas Astoria was fierce, managing not to so much as flinch as she recited the couplet and drew the knife over her hand.
"Whenever you're ready, clasp your hands," Hermione said quietly, "and let your magic go."
Daphne looked nervous but resolute, while Astoria seemed very much like she was trying not to appear too excited despite immediately extending her hands to her sister. Hermione hid a smile watching them, and finally, Daphne reached out, clasping Astoria's hands in her own.
Immediately, a mirror-shined bubble arose over the sisters from the ritual circle lines, invoked by the protection runes. The sound of wind whirling about inside was an odd sound, almost dulled by the bubble. Both of the girls cried out, but the bubble held, and Hermione watched on tenterhooks as it held, doing her best not to gnaw her fingernails to the quick.
The Greengrass girls only lasted about a minute before the shimmer bubble slowly came down, both sisters panting. Astoria looked devastated.
"I—I couldn't do it for longer," she said, holding back tears. "I—I was too weak. I couldn't—"
"You did great," Hermione reassured her. "You did enough to protect your sister, and you did the ritual right. You did brilliantly."
Astoria took a deep breath, steadying herself, and Daphne stood carefully on shaky legs, before offering her sister a hand.
"Let's move aside," she said, gentle. "The others need their turn."
Cedric and Neville were next. They were both emotionless and precise with their words, and both managed not to flinch at the cut of the blade on their hand, but despite their best efforts, Hermione could still feel their discomfort with the entire thing.
"Whenever you're ready, next you hold hands," Harry said helpfully, and Hermione hid a snort as both Cedric and Neville shot him a look. The silvery bubble protecting them appeared as the boys joined their hands in a sort of death grip, and Hermione found herself running over the pairs of everyone else who had done the ritual so far in her mind. With amusement, she realized it was the first pair with two boys as partners – who, apparently, didn't take well to being told to 'hold hands'.
The bubble came down after a few minutes, Neville and Cedric both breathing rapidly and looking faint. Cedric looked around wildly, fighting panic in his eyes.
"I—that—" He was at a loss for words. "I—I could feel you in my mind, Longbottom. I could feel you planting lethal silvery plants in front of my thoughts."
"That was awesome," Neville said, breathless, but there was excitement in his eyes. "I could feel you too, Diggory – you building a wall of mirror-blocks—"
Susan gave Cedric a smile, then Neville.
"That's what ritual magic can do," she told them. "Isn't it wondrous?"
After the two boys moved aside, it was Fleur's and Viktor's turn. Both seemed excited but mildly alarmed.
"I do not know where my magic limits lie," Fleur told Viktor very directly. "I do not know if my Veela magic matches my own magic. I do not know if they are separate or not."
Viktor grinned his quirked grin at the other champion, unfazed.
"So my mind might to throw fireballs when attacked?" he said. "I will take."
Fleur laughed, reassured. "Am I likely to find Bludgers protecting my own thoughts, then?"
"I am Seeker; I dislike Bludgers," Viktor protested. His eyes gleamed. "Thousand tiny evil Snitches, though…"
Viktor and Fleur's magic melded extremely well as they chanted, and neither flinched at cutting their hands. When they clasped the other's hand, blood to blood, the protective bubble shell appeared fast, and it was entirely opaque and mirror-y.
"Oh wow," Daphne gasped. She glanced at Blaise. "Was it like that for us?"
"Not quite," Blaise admitted. "I think it's based on the strength of magic of those inside. It doesn't really matter, though – it's just to keep you safe during the magic exchange part."
The bubble around Viktor and Fleur held for over five solid minutes. Hermione began wondering if she should feel bored with waiting or worried that something had gone wrong before it finally slowly faded away, revealing the other champions. Both were breathless and wide-eyed.
"I—" Viktor faltered, shaking his head. "I not sure ritual worked."
"It did work," Fleur insisted, haughty. She tossed her head. "You're just struggling to understand the feel of Veela magic inside your head."
Viktor considered.
"Perhaps," he conceded. "Hopefully I will never need to know."
As Hermione helped Fleur up from the ritual circle, she very carefully did not look at Cedric, the one champion who had needed such protection. "Hopefully."