Leo looked at his right hand. The veins were glowing orange, like embers under skin. He felt the Confringo not as a spell he could cast, but as a hunger. A constant, low-grade urge to blast .
But the seventh-years saw the real potential. The Triwizard Tournament was banned. Dueling was sanitized. True, dangerous magic was locked away in the Restricted Section and in the memories of aging professors. Until now.
“Leo?” Sebastian croaked, sitting up. “What did you do?”
And Leo? Leo was standing there, empty-handed, a single, horrifying realization dawning on his face.
The auction happened in the Room of Requirement, disguised as a knitting circle. Students from all houses sat in a circle, not with knitting needles, but with ledgers. Bidding was in Galleons, favors, and future loyalty. A Hufflepuff offered a first-edition Magical Hieroglyphs and Logograms for a repacked Petrificus Totalus that worked on a handshake. A Slytherin put up his family's secret passage to Honeydukes for a Repacked Disillusionment Charm that lasted a full day.