Protego

I try to hide my frustration as I leave the dueling room after my lesson and continue through the halls. Detention! How could you conceivably use "didn't follow directions" as an excuse for giving me detention? I mean, gambling my life on a theory is a valid reason to give detention, but did he say that? No!

It's not like it was any worse than the spells that hit me when I miss-timed the Shield Charm, I think, looking down at my torn uniform and bandaged hand. Although I do think that I'll go with using Shield Charms, considering that I've gotten the hang of the timing and absorbing a spell doesn't completely nullify it and just weakens the effects.

But that might be just because my bracelets limited my syphoning, even though that might just be a theory. And who's fault is it that I couldn't test that theory!

I might need to ask Professor Flitwick if I damaged them, I think looking down at the silver bracelets and the slight burns they left that now color's impossibly pale skin. Even after all of that, I didn't even get a single attempt at the nonverbal form consider he made me try every way of-

My mental rant gets cut off as ancient Mana wafts through the hall strong enough for me to detect it without concentrating. It's similar to the magic of the freezer-type room in the kitchen, only stronger, older; and I dare say, deadlier.

The unfamiliar Mana leaning on my hamartia, I follow the Mana trail like a bloodhound trailing a scent to a hall that can very much be described as off the beaten path; Dust and cobwebs trail the hall until the rare sight of a dead end.

It's not very usual for a part of the school to be this dirty. I think as I enter the hall and canvass the area. Why don't they let the House-elves in this hall? I wonder, swiping my finger across a ledge and effortlessly taking off a good amount of dust layers; indicating the long span of time in which the school, anyone, cared about this hall's appearance.

As I start to regret getting dust all over my finger, the soft light of the candles all gets snuffed out in an instant. The sudden darkness jolts my mind and kicks my body into action as I automatically reach into my pocket for Mana beads with one hand; the other grabs my annoyingly long wand. Body getting into dueling stance, I'm fully ready to put my Shield Charm practice to use until a reminder pops into my head and gives me the urge to facepalm.

"Make sure to run along to your dorm quickly, the candles will be snuffed out soon and I will not be liable for a clumsy first year getting lost," Snape's words, clearly forgetting about my night vision, rings through my head as I relax my grip on my wand.

Refocusing, I grab onto the Mana trail again, now stronger than ever, and continue to follow it to a room marked "Storage". Is this a trap? It's not like no one wouldn't want to see me in the Hospital Wing again. With that thought in mind, I firm my grasp on my wand as I use my bandaged one to grab the doorknob.

Filling up with the residual Mana I've been following, I throw the door open and prepare to Shield a Spell cast my way or absorb a Curse placed on the room. Relief, and slight disappointment, cause me to lower my wand after sweeping the room to find: nothing.

Well I say nothing, but what I really mean is nothing unusual; just the boxes and nicknacks you'd expect to find in a storage room at a wizarding school filled with ancient Mana. My definition of unusual has gotten very skewed, hasn't it?

Closing my mind, I open myself up to the Mana. Not to absorb it, more to try to be a part of it, familiarize myself with it. Come on, come on, where are you? Annoyance peaks through the crack of a slightly opened door in my mind as I search the Mana for an area with high concentration; as if I was searching my nerves for the source of pain.

Frustration causes my hand to unconsciously scratch at the scar on my face after my approach fails. Think Catlyn, think! How do you find the source of a magical artifact giving off Mana? Merlin, this is harder than finding your way around the Ravenclaw Labrinth!

The reason it isn't working is that I can't connect with the Mana enough without absorbing it. Wait, What if that's the answer? Stepping out into the hall, I put as much distance between the room and me as I feel needed. Taking my silver bracelets off, I mentally run through my task one more time.

I have to focus on the room while pulling the Mana out of it. And if that wasn't enough, I also have to make sure I don't take in the Mana, or else I'm sure something bad will happen. Too little distance and I might get swept up in the Mana which will do who knows what to my body. Too much distance and I might not be able to stop and might break a, potentially, priceless magical artifact. No pressure.

Putting all my mental energy into visualizing the Mana filled in that room, I concentrate on every little detail of it, its effect on me, its strength, how it interacts with the other Mana seeping out of the other artifacts. Once I have a clear, detailed, understanding of it, I will it to me.

Put every fiber of my being in wanting to fill the hole where part of my soul should be, my theory starts to gain weight. The ancient Mana that filled the room, starts to pour out as if I opened the floodgates on a dam.

Putting my multitasking ability to the test, I divide my effort and continue to decipher the Mana in that room even as it pours out into the hall. Come on, just a little more, I cross my fingers as the tidal wave of Mana reaches two classrooms away.

That's it! Feeling the storage room, I take a mental snapshot as the room empties and the artifact I've been looking for continues to feed the wave of Mana like a pipe feeding water into a broken fish tank.

Breathing A sigh of relief, panic hits me again as a new problem rears its ugly head; it can't stop. It's not that I can't stop willing the Mana to me, that's not it. It's like a car rolling down a hill, even if you turn it off the car will still roll.

Think, think, think! How can I stop something I can't see? Looking down at my bracelets, I immediately dismiss the idea of closing the distance in time for the wave to crash over me; until they spark an idea. Grabbing my wand, I take in the Mana of every bead in my pocket and wait until the timing is perfect.

"Protego!" I silently scream as I stab my wand in front of me with as much force as my body is capable. Just as the Mana wave approaches, an invisible wall stops it in its tracks.