"Is it really that powerful?"
Astoria, kneeling beside her sister, had also read the contents of the note and couldn't help feeling skeptical. But the moment she spoke, she realized the danger and quickly warned her sister not to try using the brooch inside their dormitory.
"I'm not stupid!" Daphne shot Astoria a glare.
"Yes, right—but seriously, don't trigger it. We're under the lake!"
Daphne glared at her again but couldn't help recalling the memory Rhys had shown her the first time he brought her into the Chamber of Secrets—a "recording" depicting the founder of the House, Salazar Slytherin, locked in battle with the World-Devouring Serpent.
He had maintained the upper hand and ultimately slain Jörmungandr by relying on that same "domain." And now, could this brooch from Rhys really summon something of that magnitude?
Daphne found it hard to believe. She was already itching to test it in the Chamber of Secrets as soon as possible.
Seeing her sister receive such an extraordinary Christmas gift, Astoria hurriedly opened her own small package—and found that she too had received a brooch.
It looked identical to her sister's, except the crystal embedded in it was yellow. Likewise, the gemstone radiated a dangerous aura.
Realizing she had one as well, Astoria finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although her sister had received one extra necklace, it didn't really matter—after all, that could be considered "compensation." If her own bracelet had also been broken in Egypt, Astoria was sure she'd have received a new one today too.
The same applied to the brooch Astoria received—Rhys's note also instructed her to test it only inside the Chamber.
How could the two girls possibly resist such temptation? With no time to open the rest of their gifts, they hurriedly threw on their robes and shoes, then rushed together toward the Slytherin Chamber of Secrets.
After arriving, they exchanged a glance, and Daphne indicated that Astoria should try hers first.
"Alright." Astoria didn't stand on ceremony and immediately floated up into the air.
Standing on the ground, Daphne followed the instructions in the note and injected a thread of her own magic into the crystal brooch. In the next instant, a powerful magical surge erupted from the teardrop-shaped amethyst.
Crack!
The amethyst shattered into powder, and the droplet inside burst outward. While still midair, the droplet expanded rapidly, and by the time it hit the ground, it had already become a large splash of water.
After that, Daphne watched with her own eyes as the water spread at high speed, devouring all the magic in the surrounding air.
Not wanting it to touch her feet, Daphne quickly rose into the air like her sister.
Under their gaze, the puddle—barely a meter across at first—expanded with shocking speed. Within just a few minutes, it had already swallowed up more than a third of the Chamber's great hall and was still rapidly spreading outward.
"Big sister, where's your crystal?"
Daphne's face darkened. "It shattered."
Astoria: ???
Could it really be single-use?
But that didn't make sense. If it were truly disposable, why wouldn't Rhys have warned them? And why would he tell them to try it in the Chamber at all?
"Try the Mending Charm?" Astoria suggested, remembering the simple spell Professor Flitwick had taught them for repairing small damaged objects.
Daphne pressed her lips together. The crystal had turned into powder—how could the Mending Charm possibly fix that? Even the Mending Charm had its limits.
Still, she tried it anyway, just in case. As expected, nothing happened.
Both sisters fell silent. Daphne felt her breathing grow unsteady, while Astoria secretly thanked Merlin that her sister had gone first.
"Let's just tell Rhys once we get back to the common room," Astoria suggested.
"…Alright." Daphne nodded helplessly. There was nothing else she could do.
Just thinking about having to tell Rhys that she'd broken his Christmas gift before she even had the chance to warm it in her hands made Daphne feel absolutely awful.
The two of them stood in awkward silence, staring down at the expanding water. After a moment, Astoria suddenly frowned—she felt as if the water beneath them was alive.
It behaved like a living organism, "feeding" on something—and its food was the ambient magic in the air. As it continued absorbing magic, its volume steadily grew.
A strange thought surfaced in Astoria's mind: If it keeps devouring magic like this, will it eventually cover the entire world? Or does it have a limit to its growth, like a living creature that stops expanding after a certain size?
She wanted to test it.
To verify her theory, Astoria drew her wand and cast a Blasting Charm at the surface. The explosion hit the water and kicked up a spray of droplets.
Astoria raised an eyebrow—the spell's impact was noticeably weaker than expected.
Daphne, startled by her sister's sudden attack, asked what she was doing. In response, Astoria shared her observations and suspicions.
Now Daphne narrowed her eyes as well. Hearing her sister's explanation, she too began to feel that the water below them seemed alive.
Wait—she suddenly remembered the scene back in first year, when that mysterious dark-haired young man fought Quirrell, who had been possessed by Voldemort. The marsh he created back then seemed to possess this same characteristic.
Could this be a shared trait of these peculiar phenomena?
Following that line of thought—if she could create something with similar properties… didn't that mean she might be able to produce something like this herself?
In Daphne's mind, she was ninety percent certain that the young man from back then had been Rhys. If so, then the marsh from that battle—and this strange water beneath them now—were both things Rhys had created.
Why had he given her a brooch capable of summoning something like this?
Was he trying to inspire her to comprehend this kind of magic herself?
While Daphne spiraled through her thoughts, Astoria continued her experimentation. She was now fully convinced that the water was absorbing the magical power contained in their spells.
However, because the rate of expansion wasn't dramatic, she couldn't be sure whether her magic was actually accelerating its growth.
So she decided to go big.
Astoria activated the magic in her bracelet and fired an offensive spell at the ground.
BooOOOoom!
This time, the spell punched through the water layer and shattered several floor tiles beneath it.
"Careful—Rhys might actually strangle you for that," Daphne said teasingly.
"I'll pay for it…" Astoria replied absentmindedly, her attention fixed on the water. She noticed that after releasing the stronger spell, the rate at which the water spread suddenly jumped noticeably.
"This water… it can absorb magic," Astoria said with certainty. "Even the magic inside spells. It's assimilating everything!"
"Then shouldn't we go find Rhys? Before this thing completely loses control?" Daphne asked anxiously, fear creeping in. The idea of the water expanding without limit terrified her.
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