The violet flame in the brazier surged toward the ceiling, casting a harsh, unnatural glow over the Astronomy Tower. The stone floor beneath their boots began to vibrate, a low hum that rattled the boys' teeth.Mattheoโs voice grew louder, the Latin incantations rolling off his tongue with a dark, commanding rhythm. The temperature in the tower plummeted instantly. The boysโ breath billowed in white plumes, and frost began to spiderweb across the stone walls and the glass of the large telescope.Draco Malfoy gripped his wand so tightly his knuckles turned white, his eyes fixed on the center of the circle where the air was starting to warp and tear like wet paper. Theodore Nott leaned forward, a mixture of scientific fascination and pure dread on his face as the black candle flames suddenly turned a blinding, pure white. Lorenzo Berkshire stopped flipping his dagger, his smirk vanishing as a heavy, suffocating pressure pushed down on his chest, making it hard to breathe. Blaise Zabini took a cautious step back, his hand instinctively going to his pocket as a smell like ozone and burning feathers filled the room.Mattheo shouted the final syllable of the invocation, throwing his hands wide.The candles flared with blinding intensity, and then, with a sharp pop, every single flame went out.Plunged into sudden darkness, the boys froze. The heavy, magical pressure in the air evaporated, leaving behind nothing but the mundane chill of a Scottish night. The stone floor stopped vibrating. The air in the center of the room remained perfectly, disappointingly empty."Is that it?" Lorenzo asked, breaking the silence. He flicked his wand, lighting the tip to cast a dim glow across the empty space. "Did we just spend three weeks stealing restricted books for a drafty room and some burnt wax?""Shut up, Enzo," Mattheo snapped, his jaw tight as he stared down at the unmarred rune circle. He kicked a piece of obsidian across the floor, his frustration bleeding through. "The incantation was flawless. The alignments were exact. It should have torn the veil."Blaise stepped closer, inspecting the edge of the circle where the chalk met the stone. "Maybe the blood sacrifice wasn't pure enough, or maybe the text we found was missing a line. Magic like this doesn't just fizzle out without a reason."Draco let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, his shoulders dropping in a mix of relief and irritation. "We need to clear this up before Filch or a prefect comes up here. If we get caught with blood-magic runes drawn on the school floors, not even my father will be able to keep us from getting expelled."Theodore knelt down, running a gloved hand through the ash in the brazier. "It didn't fail completely," he murmured, looking up at the others. "Look at the frost. The temperature dropped too fast for a simple spark. The connection opened, Mattheo. Something just blocked it from the other side."
