Chapter 16: Test Run

Chapter 16: Test Run

"Enlighten me, Tom. Why are we staying in a cabin that's not even two kilometers away from the school? Don't you think we'll get caught?" Giovanna asked. Voldemort shook his head slowly.

"Staying this close to the school is the last place they will think to look for us. Think about it. They are probably thinking that I am not that dense when in actuality this is a relatively smart plan," Voldemort stated in an arrogant voice. Giovanna scoffed and looked out the window. Then, Nicola Apparated in the room, looking pissed.

"That yielded absolutely nothing," she said in an angry tone. She glared maliciously at Voldemort, who just looked as placid as ever. "Did you know that was going to happen, Tom?" Nicola asked, crossing her arms.

"If you are asking if I expected you to return with any relevant news, then no, I did not."

"Why Tom Marvolo Riddle! I didn't know you expected so little of me. What about the other team that was sent to the Ministry?" Nicola asked, taking a seat across from him.

"They did some major damage to the Aurors and Magi that were there. So, we should have a relatively easy time ahead of us. Most of the Aurors and Magi were sent to St. Mungo's with serious injuries. We also suffered some losses, but none that were too serious to our plan," Voldemort said. Nicola nodded and then looked at her sister. Giovanna was still staring blankly out of the window. She had not said a word since Nicola had entered the room.

"If by any chance you are wondering, Vanna, your children are doing just fine. I even saw Avarielle. She looks exactly like you. Unfortunately, she has your demeanor and unbelievably scary eyes, Tom," Nicola said, laughing inwardly. Voldemort narrowed his eyes.

"And what do you mean by that?" he asked, staring at her Nicola smiled wickedly.

"Well, she has your seriousness. She also seems to like wearing a lot of blank expressions on her face. It's uncanny how much she looks like Vanna, but acts exactly like you. She doesn't strike me as the evil type, though. Tell me, Vanna. Did Avarielle inherit anything other than Tom's character?" Nicola asked. Giovanna turned and looked at her sister.

"She's a Parselmouth, and she's been trained as a Soliopath, whereas Tomás was born with the ability. But, I guess she could've gotten the ability to speak to snakes from either one of us, now that you think about it. Nic's right, Tom. Ava has always been sort of a recluse and serious person. The only difference is that she hates Dark wizards with a passion. She's also one of the most powerful telepaths in the world, to be so young. In my opinion, you should've used her instead of Tomás," Giovanna said, sitting down next to Nicola on the couch. Voldemort nodded.

"How powerful is she exactly?"

"Powerful enough to kill, I suppose. She thinks I don't know that she is a telepath. Tomás told me some time ago that she was when she killed his dog. It was intentional and inadvertent at the same time. She wanted the dog dead, but she didn't really mean to kill it. Tomás was furious, and they didn't speak for at least a month," Giovanna said. Voldemort nodded.

"Hopefully, Tomás will not let me down. He seems bent on keeping his friends safe. Especially Neveah Assante, his sister, and you, Vanna," Voldemort said. Giovanna, unsure of what her reaction should be, just nodded slowly.

Ava sat in Slytherin's common room, staring at the fire. She heard footsteps coming down the stairs behind her. She closed her eyes and focused on the thoughts around her. Smirking, she made a sound.

"Nice try, Draco," she said before he could even say anything. Draco frowned.

"You cheated. That's not fair," he said, taking a seat in a dark green armchair. He noticed Ava's grave facial expression. He raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with you?" he asked. Ava looked at him. Her silver eyes seemed to burn holes right through him.

"I have a funny feeling about someone among us. The thing about it is, I can't seem to get a lock on their mind to find out the truth," Ava said, being careful not to mention her suspect's name. Draco nodded.

"You think that someone here is leaking information to the Death Eaters?" Draco asked. Ava nodded. "Who?"

"I can't tell you that because I am not completely sure. Plus, I wouldn't want anything really bad to happen," Ava said quietly. Draco raised an eyebrow.

"Ava, you have to say something. If not, something bad WILL happen to us because of that person."

"That's the conflict. Either way it goes, someone will get hurt. I would like to be sure before I tell anyone of this person I am suspecting. I will just have to investigate further," Ava said, sighing deeply. Draco nodded.

"Is this person really close to you?" he asked. Ava looked up at him. Answering this question truthfully would give Draco a clue as to whom she was referring. She stared at him blankly. Draco raised his hands in defeat. "I get it. If you were to reveal that to me, then I would probably be able to guess who it is, right?" he asked. Ava smirked and nodded.

"You know me too well, Draco," she said. Draco nodded.

Harry woke up. He looked around, realizing he was in the hospital wing. The last thing he could remember was the barrier and a very bright light. Then a sharp pain in his head reminded him of everything that had transpired. The sun flooded through the windows, nearly blinding him. A figure stirred across from him. Aurora sat up quickly, looking scared.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow. Aurora looked at him questioningly. "Aurora?"

"Yes, Harry?" she asked. Harry let out a sigh of relief. He was hoping that her memory hadn't been erased from the past day's events.

"How do you feel after what happened yesterday?" he asked. Aurora held her head.

"Like the Knight Bus ran over my head repeatedly. How do you feel?" she asked. Harry smiled.

"I feel what you feel most of the time, Aurora. It's kind of frustrating, though," he said, smiling. Aurora faked a smile.

"Ha ha, very funny, Harry. Let us go get something to eat before Madam Pomfrey comes in," she said. Harry nodded and started to get off the bed. That was when Poppy Pomfrey burst through the doors. She was holding a tray of potions.

"Ha! Caught you in the act! Thought you could get away from me, didn't you? Back in bed, both of you!" she said, placing the tray down. Harry and Aurora sighed. "Sigh all you want. You will not be slipping out of my grasp today. You of all people should know how things are done around here, Potter," Madam Pomfrey said. Harry grumbled something illegible and sat back down. Madam Pomfrey eyed him suspiciously.

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey." It was then that he realized that he was the student who probably spent the most time in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. All the portraits were practically his friends. Aurora frowned and sat back down also.

In the Great Hall, Hermione sat down, holding a folder. All sorts of papers were sticking out of it. Ron looked down at it for a moment. Then he looked back up at Hermione, who was reaching for an apple.

"For Merlin's sake, Hermione! It's Christmas Break! Must you do homework when there is none to be done?" he exclaimed. Hermione glared at him and took a bite out of her apple.

"It's not homework, Ron. It is what Aurora, Ava, and I have been working on for about nine months now. Aurora and I started around the last time we fought Voldemort. Then we included Ava when we realized how smart she is," she said, opening the folder. Neve, who occupied the seat across from Hermione, looked down into the papers. There were drawings of all kinds with notes and little yellow pieces of paper sticking to them.

"What are these?" Ron asked, pulling one off the paper. Hermione sighed and snatched it back from him.

"They're Post-Its, Ron. Muggles use them to leave little notes and reminders on things," she said, looking down at some of the papers while still chewing on the apple. Neve squinted to try and read the sloppy words when Ava and Draco plopped down noisily beside them.

"What is all that, Granger?" Draco asked. Hermione again shot another one of her death glares.

"If you must know, it is what Aurora, Ava, and I have been working on for the past nine months. When Aurora comes, I will happily share it with you all. Now until then, mind your own business," she snapped. Draco raised an eyebrow and then started helping himself to some of the food.

After about ten minutes, Harry and Aurora showed up, looking pale and sick to their stomachs. Ginny looked at Harry with concerned eyes.

"What's wrong with you? Are you ill?" she asked. Harry shook his head.

"If I was, I'm not anymore. Madam Pomfrey just gave us quite possibly the most disgusting potion known to mankind. It tasted like... I can't even begin to describe it," Harry said, looking for something to wash the taste out of his mouth. Aurora, Ava, and Hermione started whispering to each other. Aurora nodded. Both she and Hermione looked out at their friends.

"You guys, Hermione, Ava, and I have been trying to come up with some curses of our own," Aurora said. The group just continued to stare at them.

"Yeah. So what?" George asked groggily. Alicia hit George in the arm, and he glared malevolently at her. Before they could start yelling at each other, Ava spoke.

"Well, we call these original curses the Zaviassagran Curses. If you're wondering where the name came from, we just took the first four letters of each of our last names and put them together."

"What are these curses?" Harry asked with a mouth full of biscuit. Hermione frowned at his display of rudeness, but continued where Ava left off.

"Well, our curses necessitate using a specific phobia against a person. The person doesn't have to already have this phobia, but we can give it to them to a high degree. The curses are basically just distractions, but if held long enough, they could drive a person insane with that particular phobia placed upon them," Hermione said.

"You guys definitely have too much time on your hands," Lina and Rina said together, both peeling oranges.

"I guess you can say that. But, these curses could come quite in handy when the final battle arrives. The only thing we need now is test subjects," Hermione said. She looked at all of the boys. They all realized that the girls were staring at them.

"You can't be serious," Harry said. Aurora nodded. Ron's jaw dropped.

"What if these curses go wrong? You could permanently damage one of us," Ron said. Hermione shook her head.

"Not probable, Ron. It is true that our curses haven't been perfected, but the Room of Requirement can only go so far with imitations of you all. So, we decided to test them out on you guys," Ava said. Tommy shook his head.

"There is no way that I'm letting you three point a wand at me and put some vicious curse on me," he said. Ava glared at her brother, and he stared defiantly back. Neve sighed, ending their staring match.

"I can't believe you guys. What a bunch of punks! I'll do it, Hermione. I'm sure that you can't do anything to me that Madam Pomfrey can't fix," Neve said bravely. Hermione smiled, not knowing whether to take that as an insult or a compliment.

"Thanks, Neve," she said. Neve smiled and nodded.

"I can't believe you guys are going to let me show you up," Neve commented, crossing her arms. Ron frowned.

"Fine. We're in," he said.

"Good. We will go outside after this," Aurora said.

Out in the snow, Hermione took out her wand.

"Ron, be a dear and stand right there," she said, pointing next to a tree. Ron nodded. Hermione looked down at her piece of paper. "Okay. The first curse we are going to try is the Pho Aichmo curse. It implies aichmophobia," she said. Ron stared uncomprehendingly at her.

"Which is...?"

"Aichmophobia is the fear of pointed objects like needles. You should feel little pins and needles picking at you. In addition, you will get unnaturally and unreasonably frightened of them. Ready?" Hermione asked. Ron nodded slowly. Hermione readied her wand. "Aichmolus!" she yelled. A jet of yellow light flew from the tip of her wand, hitting Ron squarely in the chest. At first, nothing happened.

Ron felt little prickly things all over his body. He began getting a little worried and thinking that this was the way he was going to die. Everyone around him seemed to disappear. All he could see and feel was needles. He began picking at his skin, trying to brush them off.

Meanwhile, the group was watching him with wide eyes.

"Hermione, I think you should lift the curse now," Ava said. Hermione nodded slowly.

"Pho finite!" she yelled. The curse was lifted, and Ron looked over at his friends. They were all watching him with wide eyes. He found he could not remember what he had just been doing.

"What in the bloody hell just happened?" he asked. Hermione smiled and clasped her hands together.

"It worked! The Pho Aichmo curse worked!" She jumped up and down. Ava stepped up and looked at the paper. Tommy stood before her. She smiled at her brother.

"The next curse I will test is the Pho Api curse. Apiphobia is the fear of bees," she said. Tommy nodded apprehensively, praying that her curse worked. Ava held her wand out. "Apilus!" she yelled. The same yellow jet of light flew from her wand. Tommy stepped back as it hit him.

Tommy looked back up and saw swarms of bees coming at him. He tried to bat them away. His fear of them was starting to take over his mind. He continued batting them away, screaming profane words and such.

The group watched him. To them, it looked like Tommy was swinging at the air. They obviously did not see what he saw. Ava decided it was time to lift the curse, although she did it begrudgingly. Ginny and Draco took notice of her facial expression as she did it.

"Pho finite!" she said. As the curse lifted, Tommy noticed his hands were up. He looked confused. Neve was giggling profusely.

"What?" he asked. Neve shook her head, trying desperately to stifle her giggles. Next, Draco stepped up and faced Aurora. Aurora watched him with no emotion on her face. He stared back at her with even more of a cold expression.

"This curse is the Pho Keno. Kenophobia is the fear of voids or empty spaces," she said dryly. Draco inclined his head ever-so-slightly. Aurora nodded, pointing her wand. "Kenolus!" she yelled loudly. Everyone blinked at the force in which she yelled. Neve's face went serious as she watched.

"Intende farla tan danno come possibile..." she whispered in Italian. Tommy looked over at her. Her eyes were filled with worry.

Draco looked around him. Everything was black. There was nothing around him. He looked below him and realized that there was nothing either. He began walking, looking desperately around for some light somewhere. Instead, there was nothing but a big empty space, devoid of any color or light other than him. Draco began panting.

Outside of Draco's mind, Aurora was staring at him vindictively. Neve walked up to her.

"Aurora, lift the curse," she said sternly. Aurora did not seem to be paying her any attention. Neve sighed and took out her wand. She looked at the paper and pointed the wand at Draco. "Pho finite!" she yelled. The curse was lifted. Draco looked around and noticed that he was on the ground. He looked up at Aurora. She looked down on him with same disgust as before. Everyone noticed this, but no one bothered to say anything.

"Come on, Neville. You're next. This is curse is called Pho Mnemo. Mnemophobia is the fear of memories, particularly bad memories," Hermione said. She looked at Neville. "Are you sure you want me to do this?" she asked. Neville nodded.

"It can't be that bad, can it?" he asked jokingly. Hermione smiled.

"Okay. Get ready. Mnemolus!" she yelled. This time, a red jet of light was emitted. It hit Neville and he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he was standing in St. Mungo's.

Everyone watched Neville look frightened and miserable all at once. Hermione looked away. She hated watching Neville this way, so she immediately lifted the curse.

"Pho finite!" she said lazily. Next, it was Lee. Ava smiled at him sweetly. He smiled back. Ginny rolled her eyes. The two had been beating around the bush since they met, and it was starting to get on her nerves. She wanted them to get together and get it over with already.

"This curse is the Pho Pnigero curse. Pnigerophobia is the fear of being smothered..." After everyone had a chance with a curse, Aurora and Harry faced each other.

"So, what curse are you going to do on me?" Harry asked nonchalantly. He really did not care about the answer. Aurora smiled and thought for a moment.

"I think I will do the most obvious one. You do not seem to fear much, Harry... except maybe the death of one of us. I will just do one that you will never think of being afraid of. Ready?"

"Do your worst," Harry said, smirking superciliously. Aurora nodded and pointed her wand.

"Phobolus!" Aurora yelled. A black jet of smoky light streamed from her wand. It hit Harry in his chest, and he was jolted backwards for a moment. Hermione looked at Aurora.

"You used the fear of fear itself on Harry?" she asked. Aurora nodded. They watched Harry.

Inside Harry's mind, he was seeing everything that had ever frightened him at least once in his life. It was starting to frighten him. Then, something clicked in his mind. Harry closed his eyes and put his hands on his head.

"This is all in my mind. None of this is real..." he repeated over and over. Aurora and Hermione watched him. Ava looked shocked.

"He's fighting it off..." she whispered. She looked at Aurora and Hermione. "How is that possible?" she asked. Hermione shrugged her shoulders. "Lift it, Aurora," Ava said.

"I do not think I need to," Aurora said, barely audible. "Look at him." She pointed at Harry.

Harry was still shaking his head and whispering to himself. Then, he threw his head back. Opening his eyes, he saw the sky above him. His heart was racing. He looked back down at his friends. Ava blinked.

"Wow. You're the first one to have done that," Ava said. Harry looked confused.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. Hermione sighed.

"You, Harry, just managed to fight off the curse. Aurora used the one curse she thought you wouldn't be able to fight off. Somehow, you managed to fight it off, though," she stated. Harry still looked confused. He stood up, rubbing his head.

"What curse was that?"

"The Pho Phobo curse. Phobophobia is the fear of fear itself. You managed to fight it off. We made it the toughest curse to fight, and you did it without even training to do so. We have not even made up a way to throw the curses off ourselves," Aurora said. Harry nodded.

"What did you do to do that?" Ava asked.

"I told myself none of it was real. I basically did the same thing I do when I'm subject to one of the Unforgivable Curses, especially the Cruciatus Curse," Harry said. Ron walked over to him and pulled him off the ground.

"Good job, mate. You should teach me how to do that sometime. Mione, you wouldn't happen to have a curse on spiders, would you?" Ron asked. Hermione's eyes narrowed evilly.

"Arachnolus!" she yelled, pointing her wand. A yellow jet of light stung Ron.

Intende farla tan danno come possibile = She intends to do him as much harm as possible