Salt to the Wound

"Did you bring it?" Hope asked, holding her hand out to Newt expectantly. He was still coming through the Gargoyle entrance of Albus' office.

Newt wore a weary expression as he handed her the burlap sack of salt. "This is a lot of salt."

Nodding, she shrugged. "I won't need to use all of it. Salt's a powerful agent of nature- which you probably already know."

"I do." Newt nodded with a small smile and watched Albus use his wand to move furniture to the side as instructed by Hope. He bit his lip and smiled sheepishly. "I know I do magic all the time. It's nothing new to me, yet I feel…" he trailed off and blushed a light pink, "Well, I feel excited to watch you perform magic. I know I watched the locator spell, but I'd been distracted then."

Hope glanced over at him and grinned. "It's not exactly as glamorous as yours, but useful." She moved to the section in front of the fire where the furniture and rug had been moved for her use and, with a practiced hand, slowly let the salt spill from the bag and onto the floor. Hope created a large circle to fit with a little extra room to fit her body.

"The candles?" She asked.

Albus handed four half-melted, white waxed candles and chuckled, though his eyes were set in a curious gaze. "And what spell do you intend to use, Hope?"

"Just a divination spell. With the right incantation and concentration on what information I want, I should be able to force a vision." Hope nodded, setting the candle an equal distance around the salt circle. 

They were lit with only a moment's thought.

"Originally, it was to foresee only the bad things, but I've tweaked it before so that I can see whatever I'm searching for."

Hope then held up the letter Mr. Creepy left at Lisette's shop.

Be my valentine. Wrinkling her nose at the wolfsbane inside, she set it on the floor in the circle before sitting criss-cross behind it.

"The way I see it, if this person is meddling with time, this spell should let me see what I want, whether it's the past, present, or future." She paused and took on a thoughtful expression. "Hopefully, at least."

Lastly, Hope removed a handful of crippled rose petals from her pocket. Taking the letter opener from Albus' desk, she sliced it into her palm.

Newt cringed more than she did.

Albus watched with a steely expression from a seated position on the floor not far from her circle. Newt joined him after the initial slice, their knees touching but focused on her.

Taking the petals into the blood-soaked hand, she let them absorb her blood before raising them above her head, directly above the letter. 

"Invidium cala mactus."

 Hope let the petals fall, drifting slowly to the letter before slamming her injured hand down on the bloody rose pieces and wolfsbane, ignoring the sting as her eyes glossed over in a milky sheen, but all she saw was black nothingness.

Pain shot through her arm, and the instant she regained her vision, she realized spitting flames were rushing from her fingertips.

With a sharp gasp, her foot instinctively shot before her to break the salt line. The heat that had licked up her forearm disappeared but left behind a nasty burn that swelled her skin with fluid-filled bubbles.

"That's not supposed to happen, is it?" Albus asked, voice calm but dangerously low.

Glancing up at him, she slowly shook her head.

"No. It's not." Hope watched her skin slowly repair itself but still took the shot of blood Newt offered. "Whoever this Wizard is, they understand my magic." Swallowing hard, she looked between them. "He blocked me from seeing visions on my own terms. If I see anything, it'll only be what he wants me to see."

"How is that even possible?" Newt asked with a frown. "How can he manipulate your magic?"

Shaking her head, she sighed. "I don't know."

What more could she say?

Hope had no fucking clue.