The Echo of the Star
"He is dead, Bright Star."
The blue circle beneath Hazel trembled just as her heart trembled within her chest. The color seemed to vibrate with a chaotic rhythm, even as a low hum moved through the floor, following the pulsing strum of light and kinetic motion.
Bright Star. Shylah only called her that in the darkest times. Hazel took a steadying breath, her lungs feeling as though they were filled with cold ash. "Where is he?"
"He is still in the Sala Dimension." A golden, starlight-touched wing extended through the pinpoint of light and brushed against Hazel's face. "We knew this would happen. There was nothing to prevent it, nothing to change his lines of fate. Do you want me to tell your mother?"
Her mother?! Fresh anxiety flowed through her. Her skin prickled like needles were being plunged into every inch of her body. On reflex, she tried to see her mother through the layers of the world. The blue-black chain of light flared, and the room seemed to come to life with a predatory hunger. Bright pain arched through her body, and a cacophony of noise sounded in her mind. She was in both mental and physical agony as the cell reacted violently to her attempt to use magic.
Hazel, Gaelia, and Shylah all worked in a desperate silence to kill the alarm. Hazel's third eye began to drip—red blood stained black with the residue of the cell's suppression.
"They believed you would be able to break through your restraints. The binding was laced with a curse. I didn't realize En was still this devious." Gaelia spoke quickly as she and Shylah both worked to heal Hazel and stop anyone outside the cell from ever knowing anything had happened.
The Mirror of Indifference rose from its hiding spot and spun around the room. Everything calmed, and the blue circle quieted. Shylah sent her starlight into Hazel, and the young witch's entire body illuminated from within. Her third eye stopped bleeding, and the blood was burned away by the celestial heat.
Hazel let out a ragged breath and oriented herself. She had to remain calm. "Go tell Mother. Tell her to go and get him and that I will be alright."
There was silence in the room once more, but Shylah did not make a move to leave her ward. "You will be okay by yourself?"
"I will be with her." Gaelia once again disappeared at Hazel's side.
"What can you do? You cannot speak for her. You will be seen as a dangerous, foreign magical item."
"She has enough people to speak for her. I will help her stay strong. That is what she needs."
Shylah nodded. She looked to Hazel. "I will tell Minerva. I doubt that she will leave you, but she will know about Montague." She paused—Hazel feeling her gaze slide over her very being—and then the small portal disappeared with a faint, crystalline pop.
"You just wanted her to leave so you could brood. Do it as quickly as you can." Gaelia's voice was sharp, a necessary sting. "They didn't register the alarms, but you still have your trial today. Don't let them see you actually broken. They can think whatever they want, but you need to be able to handle everything they throw at you. Especially if Minerva will not be there."
Gaelia continued on, but Hazel heard little of it. All she could think about was her father, his death, and her absence. Shylah was right—she did know what would happen—but knowing the lines of fate didn't make the severing any less painful.
An image of Montague McGonagall came to her mind unbidden. Him smiling broadly as they talked about travel magic, his eyes crinkling with pride. She smiled to herself. He had taught her so much.
Then her mind snapped back—someone was unlocking the cell door. The door made a sound of metal scraping on metal as it groaned open. Hazel instinctively looked down at the cold stone below the open door.
Dolores Umbridge entered, humming a sweet tune and holding a clipboard of black light, a pure white quill hovering over the paper. She frowned a bit as she entered, her eyes moving over the cell to land on Hazel. The quill began to scratch upon the clipboard.
"It would seem that you have become more cooperative, my dear. Oh. I am sorry to inform you, but your pretend mother, Professor Minerva McGonagall, had to leave. It seems she understands your guilt and has decided it is best to leave you to your punishment." She smiled sweetly as she continued into the cell.
Hazel felt Gaelia move and position a reflection before her. She froze, sure she was about to be caught with an illegal magical item. Instead, she heard her own voice emanate from the air, cold and steady. "And have the Longbottoms, Madame Pomfrey, Professor Snape, and Professor Dumbledore left as well?"
Umbridge stumbled slightly and shot Hazel a glare. She righted herself and smiled sweetly again, the quill once again writing across the page. "Have you decided who will speak for you?"
"I will speak for myself."
Umbridge let loose a cackle that was like raindrops pattering on a tin roof. "Do you even understand the processes of our courts, dear? Of civilized courts?"
"I have studied history." Hazel cocked her head. "I extensively studied the Death Eater trials. I think I understand things well enough."
Hazel still had not spoken; Gaelia had taken over the exchange, and Hazel was rather grateful for the shield of indifference. Umbridge paused for a moment, a serene smile playing on her lips. Her eyes slid over Hazel, as if she were looking for a crack in the stone.
She slowly took out her wand and tapped the blue-black chains of light. Hazel's head shot back in a spasm as white-hot pain shot through her from her wrists and ankles.
The quill began writing again. "You must remember that there is a time and place for everything, dear." Umbridge looked down to her clipboard. "Your trial has been scheduled to begin in three hours."
Dolores Umbridge turned to leave. As she did, she tapped the blue-black chains of light once more, and they rose before her. Hazel's body contorted oddly as the chains moved her arms and legs like a marionette. Dolores Umbridge began to hum again as she left, and the cell door closed with a resounding, final clang.