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Chapter Text

After receiving the urgent message from Lodgok, you turned tail, running steadily as you hastily summoned your broom from within an enchanted bag. With a whispered accio and sharp wave of your wand, the tale-tale gust of air announced its arrival.

With shaky hands, you grasped the handle as the long wood shot out from within the darkness of the small pouch and swung a leg over before angling your face to the sky and kicking off the dirt road leaving a dusty cloud in your wake.

The night air was cold, but the sky was clear as you flew by the castle, the warm yellow lights beckoning in earnest. With gritted teeth, you lowered your body to gain momentum as the castle slowly faded into the fog. You had more pressing matters to attend to.

It seemed like an eternity as you passed small villages, lakes, and mountainsides before you reached the cave. The stars twinkled overhead and on any other night, you would have stopped and taken the time to study them and their stories.

With a deep sigh, you entered the mine, casting a sad look back as the dim light from the stars and moon faded all too soon as you started your descent downward, into the heart of goblin territory. It seemed as soon as you stepped foot onto the metal floor the short crooked statures of the goblins noticed you.

“I don’t have time for this.” Before they could even raise their weapons you had already drawn your wand and cast.

Once the battle was over you breathed in deeply, the itching of ancient magic caused your body to twitch and you forcefully resisted the urge to claw at your own skin. With tired steps you traversed around the fallen bodies and sharp metal, bringing up your wand and quietly muttering the disillusionment charm as you tapped the top of your head.

The spell brought little relief as magic cascaded around you, it felt like someone lightly dropped a warm sheet on top of you. After a few precious seconds the wavey transparent curtain settled and you continued deeper into the cave, crouching and quickly ducking behind boxes whenever enemies came a little too close.

A faint smile spread across your face as you jumped onto the mine cart and heard the faint harsh grating of Lodgoks voice. You urged the machine to go faster, the screeching of metal that hit your ears and made your hair stand on end as you finally made it to a large cavern.

The next few moments were a blur, the feeling of ancient magic bubbling up as you rushed to protect Logdok, the air filled with dust as rocks came crashing down around you, the sound nothing but muffled static as you silently watched in horror as Ranrok raised his hand, his armor’s gold sheen dimming as his arm was suddenly ensnared in twisting black and red tendrils of corrupted magic.

At that same moment you released your disillusionment charm, black robes coming into view as you emerged from the cloud of dust. Both Ranrok and Lodgok turned to you but it was too late.

With a twisted snarl and gnashing teeth Ranrok threw out his arm, the mass of dark magic hurtled forward and hit Lodgok straight in his chest. You could only watch in agony as your friend crashed to the ground, his head slowly rotated to stare directly at you as pain filled his features.

“Run.” The goblin whispered as the familiar light within his eyes faded away all too quickly. With frozen limbs you were barely aware of footsteps moving closer from within the receding dust cloud. With a sharp gasp you were barely able to block a crackling ball of red that shot out from the darkness.

Now alert you took up a fighting stance as Rookwood emerged, grinning as he winked at you and moved to stand next to Ranrok’s side. After narrowly avoiding the cruciatus curse you were ready to expect a full blown dual to occur at any moment.

What you weren’t expecting was Ranrok to let out a roaring laugh as the cavern continued to crumble, with a quick glance skyward your eyes widened as a large portion of the ceiling broke off and quickly covered all three of you in shadow.

A pained gasp of air was punched from your lungs as a swirling mass of black and red corrupted magic struck your shoulder, the blast considerably smaller than the one Lodgok was hit with but you could already feel your ancient magic swirling to light.

You were barely aware of your body hitting the ground but above the cacophony of rocks, metal, and sweltering pain you managed to wrap a pale clammy hand around your wand before summoning every drop of magic and pooling it into a single point.

While still on the floor you managed to roll and closed your eyes tightly, the loud crack of apparition reverberated in the space as the ceiling crashed down onto the spot where you once lay.

In a gust of wind and a loud pop you appeared just a few meters away from the forbidden forest, before you could even take a step you felt a soft warmth spread along your stomach and slowly lifted your hand, shoulder angrily protesting as you cupped your side.

When you should have felt bone chilling fear at the sight of blood quickly dampening your hand and robes you felt utterly exhausted and despondent, an ice cold chill settled under your skin that began to itch worse than before.

With a pained whine you swayed before crumpling to your knees, your eyes glazed and breathing harsh as your surroundings twisted into colors around you, the bright castle lights almost too harsh as the adrenaline from battle surged once again.

The tug and pull of ancient magic was almost too hard to ignore, you took down so many enemies and repressed it too much to handle, there were no enemies near and any safe location to dispel the buildup was too far away to reach in time. With a clouded mind you considered trying to find professor Fig, but as blue streaks of crackling lightning started to erupt from your skin you realized finding your mentor was hopeless.

All you could do was shudder in horror as the cold chill of corrupted magic burst from your shoulder, the forest and castle walls quickly disappearing as you were surrounded in a cocoon of black mist, flashing with violent blue and red streaks of pure and dark magic.

With a scream you desperately tried to reign in the flow, back bowing as your forehead hit the ground, eyes screwed shut as your fingernails burrowed into your arms in an attempt to gain control. Your shoulder pulsed madly in pain as burst after burst of corrupted magic threatened to drag you under.

Frost started growing around you, covering the grass and crystallizing your robes as the temperature plummeted. Your body continued to shake, the last of your energy draining as your eyelids slowly slid down, your shoulder felt frozen and the surrounding puddle of blood had stopped spreading and had frozen solid.

You were barely aware of the distant feeling of charms being casted all around you and focused on the faint beating of your heart, each pulse growing longer and longer as your blood slowly crystallized within, causing your body to lurch and eyes snap wide open in pain.

“Absolutely not!” A gruff voice broke through the wild storm surrounding you and in a final desperate attempt you raised your head, half expecting poachers to take their one only advantage and collect the bounty atop your head.

You weren’t expecting a rough warm hand to shoot out from beyond the surrounding darkness and grab your uninjured shoulder tightly, the owner using the leverage to pull you closer and in a startling moment of surprise you could only watch in a mixture of shock and fear as the familiar bearded face of professor Sharp broke through the darkness.

“Professor?” Your slurred speech made the man’s expression harden as he pulled you into a tight hug, the sudden show of the auror’s soft side made your head dizzy and your limbs twitched in pain as your mental grip on holding back the mixture of magic failed.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but whatever Fig has dragged you into I swear I can help.” You turned, staring wide eyed at your professor. His face was tight in pain, his leg on the ground was doing him no favors and it seemed the magic surrounding you was harming him as well.

In a weak attempt to get him to move away you crawled backward out of his grip and pushed your hands against his chest, ignoring the fact you could get expelled for assaulting a teacher if you didn’t die first but in a fluid motion he caught your wrists and you halted.

“Please professor!” You begged “You have to leave, my magic’s affecting you too much!”

Professor Sharp's eyebrows furrowed, in pain or concentration you couldn’t tell but his arms only reached out again to pull you closer. His hands were as cold as yours as he shakily rose, you half expected him to leave but instead before you could react he grabbed your shoulder and with a strength you didn’t know he possessed hoisted you up and firmly pulled you to his side.

“Get ready.” Your sluggish mind flashed in alarm as he turned on the spot, the crack and tight pull of apparition as you traveled with him to an unknown location made your hands shake.

Just when you reached your breaking point the tunnel of light popped both of you out, with a pained grunt you fell to your knees. Sharp quickly lowered in front of you and pulled out a familiar bright green potion that you took with no compliments and trembling fingers. The glass vial dropped to the sand beneath you and a hazy glance around solidified the apparition point.

“Why a beach?” You hissed with gritted teeth as flashes of light erupted from your skin once more, your teacher's eyes narrowed at the sight as the darkened landscape lit up around you. You could only watch as Sharp quickly checked all your injuries, however when he tried to pull your upper robe away from your injured shoulder a bolt of pain caused you to fold over, a quick flash of red and crackle of corrupted magic darted from your wound to your professor's hand.

Before it could make contact he jerked back in surprise before it disappeared into mist. “Your wounds are severe, once you release all your magic we can return to the castle and I properly assess you.” You looked up in confusion, body taunt with pain as your professor gave you a hard look.

“I’m not entirely stupid. Your magic has faced a massive build up, and whatever adventures you and Fig have done made it worse. We are in a secluded spot along the coast, no one’s out here for miles.” Your mouth opened to protest but another onslaught of pain snapped your jaw closed, at the sight of your pain Sharp’s expression softened as his hand came to rest between your shoulders and he slowly pulled you into his chest.

“I-I just don’t want to hurt you.” You weakly pleaded as white frost slowly crept along the ground and started traveling up Sharps robes, the man eyeing it with hesitation before deciding to tug you closer.

“Just let it out, you won’t hurt anyone here I swear.” The low rumble of Sharps voice brought you comfort and you breathed in the scent of salty sea air and the sharp scents of potion ingredients as you relinquished your control, hands quickly convulsing and latching onto the nearest object, which happened to be Sharp’s robes as he pulled you in tighter.

Loud screams filled the air as your magic was released in waves, the pain all too consuming as your veins were flooded with fire, the cold burned away as your wounds reopened in a gush of blood. Your sobs dying down as the light from your magic slowly flickered out.

Your consciousness faded in and out as you felt warm hands lift you into the air. You were unconscious before professor Sharp disappeared in a pop, taking you along with him, leaving a melting circle of glass where you once sat in his wake.

Chapter Text

When you awoke it felt like someone used you as a training dummy and practiced casting nothing but crucio. Your body burned and you couldn’t help but thrash against a soft surface and desperately try to claw at your injured shoulder.

A harsh curse from somewhere broke through the ringing of static in your ears and an ice cold hand wrapped around your reaching wrist, yanking the trembling limb back and keeping it firmly pressed against something soft.

“Open your eyes, please.” The normally gruff voice of professor Sharp was now laced with concern and worry and you blinked in confusion before yelping in surprise as the bright light from the tip of his wand appeared directly in front of your face.

As quick as it came the light vanished with a harsh whisper of nox and the tense potions master turned on his heel, the gentle hand pinning your arm down vanished and you snapped your head to the side, staring directly into the wide gray bloodshot eyes of professor Fig.

Your mentor looked utterly shaken as he folded his hands back together and supported his elbows on his knees. “Professor?” Your quiet raspy voice broke through the room and the man jerked, eyes flaring wide as he suddenly reached for you but stopped inches away.

“You gave me quite a scare my friend.” Fig’s voice was wobbly and uncertain, a soft smile greeted you for a second before vanishing into a tight frown as he ran a shaking hand through his hair.

“Gave us all a scare if you ask me.” You both jumped at Sharp’s quip as he reentered the room, his cane clicking against the floor as he walked back over to your bedside, groaning as he slowly rested into the chair next to you and sat down a large tray filled with various colored potions on the nearby table.

Before you could say another word the waves of pain returned and you buried your head into the pillow beneath you, a pained whine spurred both men into action and you could hear Fig jump from his seat.

“Aesop I thought you said they released all their magic!” Fig snapped and you pressed your burning shoulder harder into the bed as the temperature seemed to drop in the room, you could feel your mentor's magic seeping out into the surrounding air and it suddenly collided with a warm gust of wind.

“They did, but still something darker remains.” Sharp growled, his magic roaring like a fire and you half expected both to start dueling and tightly closed your eyes in preparation. What you didn’t expect was professor Fig to join Sharp at a nearby table that was cluttered with stacks of books and papers.

As your body shivered and twitched you caught wisps of their conversation that was slowly tuned out to more static as the pain in your shoulder swelled, you blindly grasped at your shoulder and drew back a wet red hand, dizzily patting the soaked red sheets as more blood spread into the fibers of your clothes.

A quick poke determined your splinching wound from appariting was healed and you let out a sigh of relief, the feeling quickly fading as a loud bang drew your attention back to your teachers.

Sharp had his hands full of papers, knuckles white from his grip and his eyes were shadowed and hard in the light of a nearby lamp, “Eleazer you’re the one who studied ancient magic, there must be some solution.” His tone left no argument as he harshly pushed dusty and ancient looking tomes aside to make space for more yellowed and faded parchment and he quickly started writing with a black quill.

“I brought you all the research I had!” Fig yelled, eyes desperate as he paced in circles with his own handful of papers covered in unillegable words and symbols. “I don’t understand, this cannot only be because of their magic, there’s something more at play here!”

With dry lips and heaving lungs you let out a weak cough, managing to raise your head up from the pillow. “Ranrok’s magic.” You mumbled, in any other situation you would have laughed at your two stoic professors lightening fast turns in your direction but all you could do was curl into a ball as the corrupted magic tore away at your body.

“They did release all their magic,” Sharp whispered, his eyes now wide in understanding as Fig’s face paled dramatically. “They have nothing left to fight his magic with, it’s killing them.” Within an instant the potions professor turned onto Fig with a burning determination in his eyes, “Eleazer think, there must be a way to remove it!” Sharps snarl was terrifying as he glared at Fig, hands tightly clutching the older wizards robes

“There is.” Fig's hushed voice and hollow eyes made your stomach drop as he turned from Sharp to you, “But they would have to die.” A frightened expression fleeted across your potions professors face before hiding behind a stone mask. “You swear there’s no other option.” Sharp ground out, his neck twitching as he shoved every emotion down while taking quick glances at your dazed and flushed face on the opposite side of the room.

“If there was, I would have done it already.” The barely contained sliver of rage was evident in professor Figs words as he moved to your bedside. “I’m so sorry.” He whispered as Sharp moved toward you, a second too late before he could ask Fig of his plan.

Both professor and student watched in horror as Fig raised his wand, face tight in pain as the tip of his wand glowed a bright green, the sick color harshly contrasting and splashing the room in a light green glow.

“Avada kedavra.”

Chapter Text

You awoke again, this time in pure terror as the image of your mentor casting the killing curse on you flashed before your eyes. Your limbs twitched violently as the sensation of your nerves being contorted brought an overwhelming onslaught of pain and you finally realized the muffled screeching reverberating in your skull as coming from your strained throat.

As your eyes snapped open you were met with two hazey silhouettes standing over you. Both professors had their eyes tightly closed and appeared to be in deep concentration. Their wands hovering directly over your shoulder that felt freezing and numb.

You could feel your pulse fluttering weakly and watched as tendrils of Ranrok’s red and black magic emerge from your wound, a low groan tore from your lips as the magic was forcefully yanked from your body, leaving you empty and shivering.

“Aesoph!” The urgent cry from Fig gave you the strength to keep your eyes open as your mentor was now staring at you with concern. A hissed curse from Sharp made you turn your head to the opposite side of the bed, “We have to contai-.”

Before he could finish his words Ranrok’s voice filled the room as his corrupted magic ripped away from both wizards wands and slammed into the stonework of the ceiling, seeping into the cracks and rolled outward, covering the entire roof of the room in a dark red haze.

“You think you can keep them safe?” The goblin boomed, his harsh growl caused the room to shake and you winced at the sound of books falling and glass shattering. It felt like he was in your head and with shaking hands you curled yourself into a tight ball, uncaring of the flare of pain as you tweaked your bleeding shoulder.

Sharp's quick glance at your prone figure only made his stance more tense as he maneuvered into a dueling stance, hand tightly wrapped around his wand. Both professors prepared for Ranrok to break the rooms wards wide open and enter at any moment.

“How about I make this more fun? Let’s start by killing your precious student!” Ranrok roared with glee, a bolt of red lightning flashed brightly in the room before hurtling down from above, you watched in terror as the light partially blinded you as the lethal bolt of magic crashed down above you.

“Not if we kill you first.” Sharp growled, the look in his eyes practically lethal as his wand was held sturdily aloft, the tip glowing purple as he maintained a transparent glowing shield that stood against Ranrok’s magic. With a tilt of his head to Fig he dropped the spell as soon as the opposing magic fizzled out, the ceiling rumbling as Ranrok’s shout of rage was drowned out by another cast.

You watched in awe as Sharps protego faded and with no hesitation Fig took his place, staring straight at the mass of black and red with brows furrowed in anger. This time both men raised their wands to the sky and in unison performed a complicated series of wand work.

“Fiendfyre!” The wizards roared together as twin flames bursted from their wands and enveloped the ceiling. The crackle and smoke from the spell filled the room in a thick haze as the curse hungrily ate through Ranrok’s remaining magic above, fiery forms of large serpents, crows, and other magic beasts fought for space in the rolling waves of yellow and orange.

You couldn’t help but shriek as a dragon's head made of fire descended before you, the flames burning your skin as the flamed creature hissed loudly, teeth gnashing as smoke poured from its mouth. You weakly threw up an arm to block the creature as it reared closer, smoke now rising from portions of the bed where its large wings flapped for traction.

“Keep it in control, Eleazer!” Professor Sharp's yell was muffled over the roaring of flames but professor Fig’s head snapped from him to you in an instant, eyes instantly locked onto the flaming dragon that was trying to consume you.

You watched as your mentor's face twisted in a mixture of determination and terror at the sight of his casted spell mere moments from killing you. With a harsh wave of his wand he forced the flaming dragon back into the ceiling, arms shaking from force as he slowly moved his wand upward, guiding the large beast from above.

With the sound of an explosion professor Sharp drew back his curse immediately, sweat dripping down his face from exertion as the remaining flames were dragged back into the tip of his wand with the wood expending a few sparks and a stream of black smoke. It took Fig a moment longer to call back his spell, the flames still filling the room with heat and roaring as it disappeared into his wand with a crackle.

Both men stood on shaky legs, chest heaving rapidly as they eyed the ceiling ensuring no trace of Ranrok’s magic remained. After a few minutes of silence Sharp let out a sigh and walked back over to your bedside, with a wave of his wand he extinguished the smoking sheets and casted a silent scourgify to clean the remnants of ash.

He grabbed a familiar green potion from the tray beside your bed and uncorked it. “Drink this, now.” His rough tone left no room for protesting and you uncurled your aching body to grasp to vial with shaking hands, your parched throat greedily accepted the wiggenweld in earnest and you breathed a sigh of relief as the potion worked its magic. After multiple other foul tasting liquids you were finally deemed stable and after another vial of wiggenweld you felt your shoulder start to itch.

Within seconds you felt your shoulder reknit back together and with the help of both professors you were able to pull your robe off and wiggle an arm through the blood soaked fabric of your jumper. After a scrutinizing inspection from professor Sharp it was determined your wound was healed and free from any corrupted magic.

You couldn’t help but frown at inspecting the now closed wound, a large circle of scar tissue was forever stuck on your shoulder, smaller tendrils spidered out from the scar and left the impression of something wrapping around your arm. You couldn’t help but shudder to remember the feeling of Ranrok’s magic ripping into your flesh and your expression of disdain was mirrored on Sharp's face.

“How did you manage to remove Ranrok’s magic?” You questioned, your curiosity only growing as both professors exchanged unreadable glances. This time it was Fig who answered, “Due to the lack of knowledge around his magic we had to, bypass a few rules.” Fig explained sheepishly, his expression changing to a look of remorse as he steepled his hands together.

“What apparently your idiot of a mentor planned was to temporarily kill you, then use an ancient form of magic to resurrect one’s soul by sharing a part of their magical core.” Sharp smoothly interjected, shooting Fig a look of utter annoyance. “Then while you were in limbo he would separate Ranrok’s magic from the remains of your core, since the only way to weaken it was to eliminate a portion of your inner core entirely.”

“Then I would transfer a portion of my magical core to yours once Ranrok’s magic was removed to bring you back.” Fig said quietly, his expression pained as the flash of your lifeless body appeared where you were laying, now healthy and breathing.

“He neglected to mention doing it alone would result in his own death, therefore I took the liberty of helping.” Sharp said smugly, a faint smile dancing across his face.

It took your brain a moment to register and your jaw dropped open at the realization, “You two shared a part of your own magic to save me?!” And at that remark you stopped talking as Sharp’s face smoothed out into a familiar look of disapproval.

“Of course, it’s our job as teachers to ensure a students safety,” You felt pinned down at his sudden switch to his auror personality as he stared at you with a serious expression. “No matter how reckless or powerful they are.”

“I understand sir.” You meekly responded, wilting as your potions professor pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered something about irresponsible teenagers.

“We will need to keep an eye on you for the next few days, splitting one’s core is a rare occurrence and the after effects haven’t been officially documented.” He lectured, earning a steady nod from Fig as both seemed to come to the same conclusion.

“No adventure or leaving the castle without us.” Fig added, “and no overexertion of your magic.” Sharp interjected. Both professors waited for your slow head nod, clearly impatient, the gruff potions professor limped forward.

You watched as he slowly sat back down in the chair next to you, a hand gently rising to ruffle your hair as he gave you a tired smile. “I wish I had a balm for cursed scars, unfortunately due to the severity there’s little I can do.”

“It’s alright professor, it’s just another mark.” Your attempt at lightheartning the mood failed dramatically as Sharp raised an eyebrow, turning to look at Fig standing over his shoulder.

“Care to inform me of your other adventures that have been putting them in bodily harm, Eleazer?” You finally had the strength to weakly laugh as the older wizard paled a few shades at the question but eventually Fig gave in, moving to the opposite side of your bed.

“I think it’s time to tell him sir.” You insisted, barely finishing your sentence before yawning as your eyelids fluttered from a wave of exhaustion, you felt a charm sink into your clothing as the dried feeling of blood vanished and another charm transfigured your robes into soft pajamas of your house color.

The bed seemed to envelop your body as you faded into the realm of sleep, the conversation between Sharp and Fig slowly faded into a warm hum as your breathing evened out.

You were ready for whatever happens tomorrow, as long as you had your two mentors by your side.