Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the 'Harry Potter' universe, nor do I lay any claim to the lyric bits that I use. No money is being made by this literary sewage that I write.
A/N: Another update is finally here. Sorry about the cliffie on this chapter, it was end it here or write another 2500+ words, which would have substantially delayed the posting of this chapter. So, R&R& above all, enjoy!
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We sat by ourselves, still looking for company.
There could have been peace, but that eluded me.
All I could think of was what was on my mind…
You tried to be kind, but I blocked your feelings.
Now, senses still reeling, you sit in your quiet room and cry.
You tried to make me one, but I always hide when there's a glimpse of sun.
Running along in sunlight meadows,
your eyes were never more than half-closed.
Through fluttering lashes, you watched me watching you,
I tried to be true to the way that you thought I ought to be,
but, in spite of all my efforts, I failed.
I tried to make you see, but your eyes are blind to all but the bad in me.
What do you think I mean when I say that I need you?
How am I supposed to seem when we hit another problem,
and the answers are all torn from my book?
Our lives are on paths we just can't control.
We can grow closer as we get old…
Can you imagine us as we adjust?
Can you imagine us getting near eighty,
we live more sedately, still hoping the dreams will come true?
We'll try to be secure.
But I'm of uncertain mind
And how can I be sure?
How can I be sure?
Lyrics from the song, 'Out Of My Book' by the band, Van Der Graaf Generator.
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Chapter 25: A New Nature of Magic
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The workday had just begun when Percy Weasley sat heavily into the plush chair behind the desk in his office. Placing his elbows on the cluttered surface, he buried his face in his hands and let out a long breath. He had a very long, very restless night. He winced at the memory of his the encounter with his family the day before. Of course, he was glad he was able to help his sister… he didn't need to be reminded by that odd Lovegood girl that despite all that had happened within the family, he was still Ginny's brother. Having to deal with the glares from his brothers, the wailing of his mother and the disappointed frowns from his father didn't even bother him that much… they simply didn't understand him.
What did bother him was seeing the fugitive, Harry Potter, along with that… that half-breed Japanese girl, Potter's supposed 'girlfriend.' It was explained to him, in no uncertain terms, that the girl was not romantically involved with 'The Boy Who Lived,' but he could certainly understand why some people could think that, seeing first hand how clingy the little beast was with him, and how he reacted when she fell unconscious. He didn't even spare a glance at his sister, the girl who he was supposedly romantically involved with.
He had to admit, he was quite anxious when the half-breed approached his sister, but couldn't deny that, whatever she did, it had worked to calm Ginny down. He supposed that he should be thankful, but he couldn't bring himself around to that way of thinking. She was a half-breed, an animal… nothing more.
He was more than a little surprised when his father explained what had actually happened at St. Mungo's and at the orphanage. The story he got from his boss as well as what was printed in The Daily Prophet made Potter out to be some incompetent, reckless coward. He did wonder how he could be described as a 'coward' when he fled the hospital one day, and then be described as 'reckless' the next day at the orphanage. He left his supposed 'girlfriend' in the hands of Death Eaters at St. Mungo's, then rushes into a building full of Death Eaters to save that same girlfriend the next day? The more he thought about it, the less sense it made, even though it was he, on the Minister's orders, that authored those press releases. He neglected to mention that tidbit of information during the conversation with his father.
When he was then told of Potter's intention to adopt the 'girl,' he couldn't believe his ears. There were laws in place preventing any sort of half-breed from adopting a wizard child, but it was never even considered that a proper wizard would ever want to bring an animal into a bloodline. It was simply unheard of… it was just unnatural.
He reached across his desk and picked up a sheet of parchment that was sent up from the archives for confirmation from his office. It was a routine estate transfer form that informed the Ministry of the reinstatement of a pureblood family line in the wizarding community. As the last of the Potter line was an underage orphan, the family's seat on the Wizengamot was suspended and the Potter name was removed from the social register as well. All that was going to change when Harry Potter reaches majority on July Thirty-first.
The document also listed the properties owned by the Potter estate, as well as the real assets that were to be transferred in full from the inherited Black estate. Percy made a cursory examination of the assets, but soon looked away in disgust, then fully aware of the extent of the wealth of the Potter bloodline.
Percy shook his head and muttered, "Someday, I'll have wealth like that," as he signed the parchment, made one copy for his records, one for the Minister, and with a sigh, sent the original soaring back towards the archives.
A hole appeared in his door allowing the passage of the document. It soared down the hall and hovered in front of the lifts among the other memos waiting for the next available car. When the cage door opened, it lazily drifted in and rode the car down to the next level where it soared down a seldom-used corridor and entered through an unmarked door.
An instant later, two identical documents flew back out of the door, one returning to the lifts to continue it's intended journey to the archives, and the other disappeared into a ventilation shaft in the corridor's ceiling. It traveled through the ductwork, ending up in a small office off of the Atrium on the first floor. A small hand with fingers that resembled sausage links snatched the parchment out of the air. A huge grin appeared on the wide thin lips of Dolores Umbridge's toady face. She stuffed the hijacked document into her robes and hurriedly waddled out of the office, through the golden gates, and a minute later, had disappeared from a fireplace in a flash of green floo fire.
Umbridge stepped out of the fire at the Leaky Cauldron and quickly made it to the doorway leading to Diagon Alley. She made her way towards Knockturn Alley, all the while casting nervous glances at the people around her. She soon ducked into the seedier area of the wizarding marketplace and hurried towards a dark, decrepit-looking pub. She entered a dingy alleyway beside the pub and walked to the very end. She pulled out her wand and stuck the tip into a small hole near the bottom of the back wall, causing a door to appear.
She stepped through into a very small room that housed about a dozen owls. She quickly tied the copied parchment onto one of the owl's legs. There was an evil glint in her eye as she watched the owl disappear through a hole in the roof, carrying the document to her master. With a satisfied grin, she left the room, re-sealed the doorway and apparated back to resume her post at the Ministry.
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Small dust motes danced in a strip of late afternoon sunlight that was peeking through the faded curtains covering the dirty windows of the Black family library. The room was silent, save for the barely audible scratching of a quill on parchment when Hermione found a particularly interesting passage… which meant that the scratching was pretty much constant. She already had six rolls completely filled and was diligently working on the seventh.
The translation that the elves had performed wasn't perfect, as she fully expected given their odd dialect, but whatever syntax errors she found were minor and easily corrected. If she was impressed with the speed and accuracy in which the texts were translated, she was absolutely floored by the information that the books contained.
The books' writing was clear and concise, containing no superfluous information at all. Even the textbooks used at Hogwarts contained opinions and conjectures of the author, but Kotone's books held nothing but raw knowledge. What shocked her the most was that both of the books were written thousands of years ago.
The very first chapter she read was a detailed explanation of the differing schools of magic. There was a comprehensive list of magical specialties describing the characteristics of each school, from your standard 'Jack of All Trades' Wizard, the mind focused Illusionist, the seeing Diviner, the Abjuror, the Conjuror, the Enchanter, all the way through the combat-focused Sorcerer and the Necromancer, master of the dead. The book explained how people could be adept at two or more schools of magic, but would almost always be most proficient at one, the school that defined what type of wizard or witch the person was. The book also listed the characteristics of each type of wizard, even providing the means to perform magical 'tests' to determine which school a wizard is most proficient with.
The second chapter described the different types of magical energy, the way the types differed from each other, and which type is suited to which school of magic. It went on reveal that not all wizards can manipulate more than one of the different types of magic, and some wizards, albeit very, very few, can access many, or even all of them. In fact, the book stated that most wizards could only manipulate base, or 'raw' magic. Almost every spell could be successfully cast using base magic if a wizard is powerful enough, but without combining it with a specialized type of magic, the casting would always result in either an inefficient expenditure of the wizard's energy or a weak spell. It explained how 'mind magic,' coupled with the base magic was the forte of the Illusionist and the Abjuror. 'Element magic' combined with raw magic is the specialty of the Conjuror and the Evoker. The Enchanter utilizes the "emotion magic" combined with 'element magic' to create charms and shielding spells that surpass any that could be performed by the most powerful 'regular' wizard. By far, the rarest and most powerful type of specialized magical energy is known as 'soul magic,' used most efficiently by the Diviner, Sorcerer and the Necromancer.
The third chapter delved into exercises to determine a wizard's access to and control of the different types of magic, and ways to measure the wizard's aptitude for each type. She could only describe the different spheres of magic by comparing them to muggle radio waves. The different types worked on different magical 'frequencies,' and had characteristics that changed in each range of frequency. The lower frequencies required more power to produce and control, but resulted in stronger and more enduring magic, like what was needed for a permanent transfiguration. The higher frequency types were much more efficient, had a longer range and needed much less raw energy to control. The only exception was the 'soul' magic. That seemed to work on a specific combination of lower and higher frequencies that result in a sort of 'harmonic resonance' that, when properly evoked, would be more powerful than the two initial frequencies combined. She knew she would have problems explaining that concept to anyone, as she just barely understood it herself.
The fourth described methods and rituals to enhance one's abilities in producing and controlling a specific type of magic. The book cautioned that the methods would only work for wizards who show aptitude for a given magical type. Someone who cannot use 'emotion magic' would never use it, no matter what the person tried.
The fifth section of the book held particular interest for Hermione. It described, in detail, methods and techniques of spellcasting using the higher types of magic. It described the advantages of each type, as well as very specific process to refine the way magic is cast, methods that she had never even conceived were possible. It explained that the advantage inherent in 'mind magic' was the ability to be cast wandlessly, that 'emotion magic' was well suited to enhance protective spells and wards. 'Element magic' enhances any spells which cause physical changes such as conjuring and transfiguration, while the wizard who masters 'soul magic' would be particularly adept at near-instantaneous, non-verbal, non-animated magic… silent, motionless and deadly. Any combination of the higher magics by a talented wizard would create incredibly powerful enchantments and devastatingly effective offensive spells.
Hermione had skimmed ahead to get an idea on the next set of chapters and saw that they covered each of the known 'specialty' types of magic and how they interact with base magic, along with expected results of each combination. The remainder of the book was divided into three large sections, one specifically for the training of an Enchantress, one for a Necromancer, and the third and last for a specialized school of magic, the only school which is attuned to mind, emotion and soul magic… The Priestess, which was a combination of an Enchantress and Diviner, and according to what she gleaned from her short perusal, only witches have the ability to become one, not wizards.
She finished scribbling out a sentence, dropped her quill and then flexed the cramps out of her ink-stained fingers without tearing her eyes from the book. She was startled by a loud clunk beside her. She looked over and was surprised to see Ron standing there arranging the silverware on the tray of food he had just placed on the table.
"Ron! What are you doing here? Harry…"
"Is just fine," he interrupted, " but we're having a spot of bother keeping Kotone out. She seems to wake up every hour on the half. Luna's watching them for me. I figured you'd want a bit of food, seeing how you've been holed up in here all day."
She gave him a small appreciative smile as she picked up the bowl of stew from the tray. She was about to take a mouthful, but halted the spoon an inch from her mouth. As she sniffed the stew, she gave Ron an unsure glance.
"Don't worry," he said with a hint of annoyance, "I didn't fix the stew, Luna did."
With a sigh, Hermione smiled apologetically before stuffing the dripping spoon into her mouth and began chewing greedily. She knew that Ron was pretty useless in the food preparation department, his specialty was in the consuming. She carefully swallowed and said, "Mmm, this is really good!"
Ron wore a oddly distant smile as he said, "Yeah, I didn't know that she was so handy in the kitchen, she could actually give my mum a run for her money! The breakfast she made was great… and the fish and chips at lunch was…"
Ron's dreamy reminiscence was abruptly halted when he noticed Hermione's glare, "Breakfast? Lunch? Have you had Luna cooking for you all day? And me being up here never occurred to you until now?"
"Oy!" exclaimed Ron defensively, "I called you three times for breakfast, but since you didn't come down, we figured you weren't hungry, and it was the same at lunch!"
Hermione's eyes returned to the book. She quickly ate another spoonful of stew, then let out an indignant huff and snapped, "Oh, I'm sure it broke your heart, being forced to eat my meal as well as your own!" Truthfully, she was so engrossed in the books' contents that she hadn't even heard Ron enter the room with the tray, so it was entirely possible that she hadn't noticed his earlier summons.
Ron wore a frown that looked somewhere between sheepish and defiant as he retorted, "Well, I couldn't let good food go to waste, could I?"
Hermione gave a short, derisive laugh and was about to comment that there would be no chance of that happening with the 'human trash compactor' around, but decided that she'd nip the brewing argument in the bud and continued to eat in silence. After all, she finally had a job to do. She was useful to Harry once again, and all of the missed meals and lost sleep was worth it.
As that notion hit her, she unsuccessfully tried to stifle a yawn. Ron looked at her appraisingly, then cleared his throat to get her attention and said, "Maybe you should get a bit of sleep. You've been up practically all night, and we're going to need some help watching Harry and Kotone, as well as Malfoy. Luna's been right helpful and hasn't asked too many questions, but she's going to have to go home soon, at least for a while… she's got her father to take care of, too." Ron's demeanor became subtly more serious as he added, "and don't forget that we have to set up the Fidelis here. I'm not too keen on staying here for long being so exposed, if you know what I mean… What if Snape returns, or one of Sirius' relatives?"
Hermione sighed and looked up from the book. Ron was right, she did need sleep, they needed help, she really did forget all about the Fidelis, and she was taking entirely too much time with the books. She really didn't know what to expect once the books were translated. She assumed that the 'Soul Magic' book would have been just a book of spells and rituals where she could just read a page or two, find a spell, wave her wand and everything would be okay. She certainly couldn't have imagined that the book would introduce a completely new understanding of magic as it was known. The theories and revelations in the book opened a sphere of opportunity unheard of in the modern wizarding world. She was also aware that she hadn't even glanced at the second book that Dobby had translated and couldn't guess what information that one held.
Kotone had suggested that the book was critically important and that it was intended for Hermione to 'understand.' While the information in the book was indeed incredibly important, earth-shattering, for that matter, she still hadn't found anything that could directly help with the current predicament. She didn't know if there would be anything in the latter chapters of the book, and even if there was, she had no idea how long it would take for her to use the information to 'fix' Harry.
She rubbed her tired eyes as she rose from the table and began pacing the length of the room, "Well, we can't worry about the Fidelis right now… Harry has to be awake before it's performed. We'll just have to hope that the Death Eaters aren't aware of this place yet."
"It's not only the Death eaters we have to worry about, really. You do realize that the Ministry announced yesterday that they're looking for Harry, remember? They must know about his inheritance…"
Hermione stopped in her tracks and finished in a strained whisper, "…and this will be one of the first places they'll look for him!"
The considerable fatigue that Hermione had been feeling vanished as a surge of adrenaline coursed through her. She sprinted past Ron towards the library door in a panic. She flew down the stairs to the ground floor and noisily ran through the receiving hall, which caused the portrait of the Black matriarch to begin wailing madly about 'mudblood filth soiling the noble house of her ancestors.' She descended the stairs to the kitchen and tore open the door to the icebox, withdrew the bag that contained the supplies needed to perform the Fidelis, and then rushed back towards the front door.
Hermione stood in the center of the entrance hall and hurriedly dumped the contents of the bag onto the floor as Ron stepped through the doorway behind her with his hands over his ears and yelling above the din, "Is there anything I can do?"
Hermione was already kneeling on the floor and flipping frantically through a thick book entitled, 'Advanced Armour for your Abode: Traps, tricks and charms to secure your livelihood.' She glanced up at him and yelled, "Just shut that bitch up, I can't concentrate with that screeching going on."
Ron disappeared back into the receiving hall to deal with the livid portrait as Hermione began quickly organizing all of the components for the charm. After a few minutes, it appeared that Ron was successful in subduing the painting. She let out a relieved sigh, as she didn't need the distraction of a wailing bigot as she worked.
Hermione made a cursory scan of the page that contained the instructions for the Fidelis and began picking up various items from the assortment that was laid out on the floor. She produced a quill and picked up a bottle of what appeared to be glowing red ink. She quickly but carefully began tracing out runes onto small squares of tissue-thin parchment. When she finished, she stood and gathered an armful of seemingly benign objects and a bag full of sharp, crescent-shaped bones as Ron reentered the hallway. She gave him a determined nod then turned and walked to the front door.
"Come with me, Ron, you're going to have to be the secret keeper."
Ron stood staring at Hermione as she wrenched the door open, then complained with a surprised whine, "What?" Me?"
Hermione looked back over her shoulder, gave him a stern glance and said reproachfully, "Yes, you! I'm performing the charm, so I can't be the secret keeper… Honestly, would you like to be the one to wake a Harry/Voldemort hybrid and ask him whom he'd like for a secret keeper? For all we know, it wouldn't be 'Harry' we'd be waking at all…"
Ron just stood there, looking as if he were going to be sick, apparently despairing over having the responsibility of keeping such an important secret. Hermione let out an exasperated breath and continued, "Come on, Ronald! We have to do this now. Could you imagine what would happen if the ministry waltzes in here and 'Rennervates' Harry to ask about his 'girlfriend?'" Looking as though he were walking through the veil in the ministry's Death Room, Ron reluctantly followed Hermione out of the house.
Hermione rushed to the front left corner of the property and then unceremoniously dumped everything she was carrying, except for the bits of parchment she had drawn on and the bag of small bones, into Ron's arms. She then reached into the bag and produced one of the bones and impaled one of the rune squares to the ground. She walked around the perimeter of the property affixing a rune every few yards as she explained, "These are warding runes, and have to be placed in the correct order around the area being protected. These bones are the rib bones of newly hatched sphinxes and provide the means of focusing and connecting the protective magic between each rune..."
When Ron gave her a questioning look, obviously wondering why the self-proclaimed president of the 'Save All Magical Creatures Club' wasn't wailing as loudly as the portrait he had just subdued, she just kept working with a harried expression and said, "As you should know from the Care of Magical Creatures lessons we had, a mother sphinx only allows the strongest two of her hatchlings to live… the rest devour all of the other hatchlings in the nest. The bones are collected after the nest is abandoned… still, due to their relative rarity and the fact that they have to be imported, they are the most expensive component of the spell, almost as much as the gargoyle blood I used to draw the runes."
Ron just followed in silence and scanned the area as she diligently laid out the foundation for the charm. Once the last rune was in place she drew her wand from her waistband and, after pausing in concentration for only a moment, raised her wand over her head and slowly swept it across in a wide, graceful arc as she spun around and incanted, "Iunxi Praesidium!"
Ron watched in awe as a spray of fine, silky strands flew from her wand and arced over the entire property. The end of each strand seemed to affix itself to each of the bones that held the runes in place. As Hermione completed her turn, she snapped her wand upwards, causing the ends to float lazily in the air around her until she repeated the incantation causing the loose ends to fly to the wards that were diametrically opposed to the other end until it appeared that there was a silky silver balloon encompassing the building.
As soon as the spell was completed, Hermione was breathing heavily as she fell to her knees. Ron made a move to help her up, but she just held up her hand to stay him. After a few moments, she unsteadily rose to her feet, took a deep breath through her nose and then noisily pushed it out through her mouth, saying, "Whoa, this is harder than I thought."
Ron waited a minute for Hermione to catch her breath before asking, "Well, did it work? Is it done?"
"Oh, yes, Ronald, it's done… Doesn't it look lovely?" she hissed sarcastically, "and it took no time at all, don't you think?"
Ron looked at the web-like dome overhead and said, "I don't remember seeing…"
"Of course it's not done!" she snapped, "I have to cast this six more times, then set up for the next phase… and don't worry about anyone noticing the dome because muggles can't see it."
Ron scrutinized her for a moment before asking concernedly, "Can you even do it six more times? It looks like the first one knackered you out."
Hermione sighed, raised her wand again and said, "I have to. What choice do I have?"
Ron shrugged and resumed watching the street as she sent another stream of filaments soaring around the property, weaving themselves within the previous set. This time the strands connected the runes from the front edge of the land to the rear, and then from the left to the right with the next. Each time the spell was cast, Hermione needed more time to recover. The following spell sent the strands from the rear to the front, and the next from right to left.
Hermione had her eyes closed and was on her back, lying on the sparse, yellowed grass and panting heavily. Five minutes passed before she rolled onto her side, and then tried to push herself up. Ron grabbed her beneath her armpits and gently lifted her into a seated position. He looked into her glassy, unfocused eyes and was instantly reminded of the blonde Ravenclaw sleeping in one of the spare bedrooms.
"Hermione, you need to take a break," said Ron concernedly, "You're going to pass out if you don't."
Hermione took a deep, wheezing breath, then coughed out, "two more… only two more…"
Ron slowly shook his head, then stood up and reached out a hand to her. She looked up, ran her sleeve over her sweaty brow, and then allowed him to hoist her to her feet. He let go of her hand, but kept his hand on her arm, almost expecting her to fall right over. He saw her nod and crack a thankful smile, but her tired eyes betrayed how exhausted she actually was. He reluctantly released her arm and stood back a pace.
Hermione wavered slightly after he released her, but remained erect. She took a deep breath, raised her wand and cried, "Iunxi Praesidium!" Once again, the web-like filaments spread diagonally across the lot, and once again, she repeated the spell to affix the strands to the opposite runes. Once the spell was completed, her eyes rolled up in their sockets and disappeared under her drooping lids as she flopped gracelessly to the ground.
"Hermione!" cried Ron in a panic. He dropped what he was holding and lunged for her unconscious form. He quickly checked her breathing, which was coming in long, rasping breaths. Her skin was damp and pale, and unusually cold to the touch.
He looked around the area helplessly, although he knew there wasn't anyone around that could help them. As he was turning back to Hermione, some odd movement was just caught in the corner of his vision. Being careful not to be too obvious, he kept his head still but his eyes snapped to an area on the other side of the street. There was an old, abandoned car parked in front of a narrow alleyway between two buildings. Keeping his gaze on that one spot, he reached down and took one of Hermione's hands in his, trying to look as if his attention was focused on her.
There! A shimmering movement in the fading afternoon light, obviously someone who was disillusioned was standing there, only the shifting of his outline was visible when he moved. His mind began to race… an Order member? No, someone in the Order would have come to help by then. Death Eater? Probably not… they had plenty of opportunity to attack while they were distracted.
"The Ministry!" he whispered under his breath. He realized that they must be keeping watch for Harry. Not really knowing what else to do, he drew his wand and cast a quick 'Rennervate' on Hermione.
Hermione stirred sluggishly. She rolled onto her side and held her head in her hands while moaning softly.
"We've got to finish this," whispered Ron desperately, "I think the Ministry is watching us."
Hermione's eyes snapped open and she tried to sit up, only to fall back heavily to the ground, muttering, "I… I can't… I…"
She hissed in pain as Ron grabbed her shoulders, urgently saying, "Come on! Just once more! You can do it!"
Hermione just nodded weakly and took hold of Ron's forearms, allowing him to pull her to her feet, but her momentum caused her to fall heavily forward into his arms.
"Please, Hermione… just once more!" begged Ron as he picked up her wand and placed it in her hand.
Hermione raised her wand once again and paused. She swayed unsteadily for a moment before shaking her head and tightening her grip on her wand. She sliced downward and across while tiredly incanting, "Iunxi Praesidium." The final strands flew from her wand and flawlessly affixed them selves to the runes. With a flick of her wrist and a final, awkward twirl, she repeated the incantation.
As the last strands fell into place, Ron heard her croak out, "Oh…" before she collapsed into a heap. He quickly scooped up her wand and the components he had dropped before, then lifted Hermione up from the ground and carried her as quickly as he could manage to the front door. With considerable difficulty, he was able to wrest open the door and carry her inside. He let the items he had in his hand drop to the floor, and then gingerly placed Hermione onto the wooden bench along the wall of the entrance hall. He was about to step back to the front door to close and lock it when he heard the sound of light footsteps walking across the receiving hall.
Looking towards the hall, he paled when he saw the angry face of Kotone appear in the doorway, still dressed in the short gown that she had been wearing in the infirmary the night before. Her eyes narrowed as she bared her black teeth dangerously and growled out some unintelligible phrase in Japanese before her eyes landed on Hermione. He saw her eyes instantly change from anger to concern when she saw her unmoving form.
"Washi-chan!" she whispered before turning back to Ron, "What has happen to He-my-nee?"
"She sort of over-exerted herself," said Ron as he walked to the front door. He was about to swing it shut when they clearly heard the sporadic cracks of multiple apparitions coming from the street. All Ron could manage to say was, "Aw, bloody Hell…" as he saw a score of people in black cloaks and white masks appearing all along the street. A moment later, a volley of numerous curses and hexes were striking against the door and frame as he struggled to push the heavy door closed.