chosen - harry potter

Chapter 15 - Oculorum

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Fred and George had certainly left their mark. Cassia heard the story retold multiple times, and, as always, it became further and further from the truth each time. Several students were convinced they had seen the twins throw Dungbombs at Umbridge on their way out.

"I don't understand how on earth they got the premises," Ron said as the quartet sat in Charms. "It's a bit dodgy, isn't it? They'll need loads of Galleons to afford the rent on a place in Diagon Alley."

"Yes, that occurred to me too," Hermione said. "I've been wondering whether Mundungus persuaded them to sell stolen goods or something awful..."

"He hasn't," Harry said. "They got the gold from me. I gave them my Triwizard winnings last June."

"What?" Cassia said, smiling.

"Oh, Harry, you didn't!" Hermione said.

"Yes, I did," Harry said proudly. "And I don't regret it either. I didn't need the gold, and they'll be great at a joke shop."

"You never told me about that," Cassia said incredulously. "They're going to have the coolest joke shop ever."

After Fred and George's departure, Cassia suddenly had her first idea for a spell. The idea was simple: a spell to blur the eyes of opponents. There was the Disillusionment Spell, but that made you blend in with your surroundings. There was Obscuro, too, but that conjured a blindfold to blind the opponent. She wanted something different. A spell that blurred someone's eyes. And as far as she could find in multiple old spell books, there was nothing of the sort.

She sat in the library, mostly, attempting the spell on herself. Surely not the best practice, but it felt like the only option she had. A small book of Latin translations sat to her left. The incantation she landed on was Caligo Oculorum, which translated, roughly, to 'blurred eyes.'

Her attempts were somewhat successful. Focusing her magic, she would point her wand at herself, muttering the incantation, and moving her wand in a small circle. The first attempts yielded absolutely nothing, making her grow quickly irritated. The fourth day of attempts, though, she finally got a slight blur in her eyes. She blinked it out after a couple of seconds, but it was something.

From there, her progress took off. Within the day, she was completely blurring her vision for minutes at a time. She scared herself on one of her attempts, quickly making up a counter spell, Patet Oculorum. 

However, the spell would be helpful to her in combat. When successful, she couldn't see a thing.

Before she got a chance to try the spell on anyone else, though, the final Quidditch match of the season had arrived.

It was Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw. Slytherin had lost to Hufflepuff the week before, so the winner of this match was taking the cup. Gryffindor wasn't feeling too hopeful, though, mostly because of Ron's...unfortunate goalkeeping.

Ron, however, was more optimistic than anyone.

"I mean, I can't get any worse, can I?" he said grimly at breakfast that morning. "Nothing to lose now, is there?"

As they reached the Quidditch pitch, Harry stopped by the locker room, as Cassia expected him to.

"Not as nervous this time?" he said, a smile on his face.

"Definitely not," Cassia said. "Got all my nerves out last time."

"You'd better be careful," Harry teased. "Those Ravenclaw Beaters are pretty big guys."

"Shut up, Potter. I can hold my own."

"I know you can."

He took a step closer and placed his hand to her jaw, pressing a quick kiss on her lips.