Hopeless : Sirius Black's daughter Book 2

Soul magic

I tried to sneak into the Slytherin common room but Draco stopped me.

"Come on. I need to talk to Blaise." I pleaded.

"No. He doesn't want to talk to you." said Draco.

"Please? Let him be the judge of that." I said trying to squeeze past but Crabbe and Goyle blocked me.

"Look, Blaise is hurt okay. But a guy like him or me doesn't get hurt. We are tough Slytherins with a reputation to keep. If you talk to him you'll only add fuel to his wounds." explained Draco.

"Come on. Aren't you supposed to look after me? I'm your cousin." I whined.

"You said I shouldn't." he smirked. "I asked Blaise not to drag me into your messes but no.."

Fuming, I left him there and walked toward Moody's classroom but was pulled into an empty one.

"What have you done?" said an angry voice. It was Cedric.

"I don't know what you mean." I said freeing my arm.

"Cho hates me right now because of that article! Why did you tell that Skeeter woman what was happening?" he fumed.

"I didn't. She made me out to be a golddigger! I'm not enjoying this either. Blaise is hurt." I told him. He snorted.

"Guys like Zabini don't get hurt. He's just trying to make you feel guilty for fracturing his ego-"

"Don't you dare judge him! You know nothing about him." I snapped.

"Is it true then? Do you only like guys with money? Is that why you are urging me to win?" he enquired.

I shoved him and sidestepped him. "No one believes me. Why don't you believe what you want." I stormed off.

Two days later, hate mail started arriving for me. Ginny was the one who enjoyed reading out the letters. Some went like:

'Harry Potter has suffered so much already. You are nothing but pure evil to put him through such pain.'

'It is not surprising that you turned out this way. We can't expect a werewolf to have taught you common courtesy.'

'Your father killed innocent people. If you had any decency you would jump off a cliff before you turn into him.'

That last one came with a curse that would ruin my entire life. The owl brought an envelope that looked like a howler. But instead it opened itself and poured its contents onto my face. It felt like ice cold water, as if my face was freezing and my skin breaking. Ginny screamed.

"Hospital wing. Now." She said pulling me toward it. Even Madam Pomfrey gasped. I didn't care. The pain was overwhelming. I was screaming, touching my face that was producing a liquid thing. "Make it stop!" I screamed and Madam Pomfrey injected me with something. Then I fell into a deep soothing dreamless sleep. Familiar voices swirled around me but I didn't want to wake up.

But in the end I finally did. My face felt like it was stretched over a thin surface. Someone was asleep by my bed.

"Ginny?" I asked.

She awoke with a start. "You're awake? Like really awake?" she asked. Confused, I nodded. "She's awake." she called.

Madam Pomfrey hastened inside.

"You poor dear. How are you feeling? Any pain?" she asked.

"None. My face feels stretched." I said.

"It is bandaged." she said.

"Oh? Why?" I asked. Suddenly both of them looked nervous. I removed the bandages. Ginny flinched.

I picked up a mirror and looked. I screamed. My face was black blue and purple. There were also large red spots everywhere. A hyena, hell a dragon would look better than me.

"I tried, but the curse was meant to leave a mark. I contained the pain and I even called a healer from St Mungo's but even he said the marks can't come off. I'm sorry." said Madam Pomfrey. What? I couldn't live like this!

"Ginny get me every Potion making book you can find. I'll find out how to do it." I said.

"Only breathing in the smoke from the flower in which the poison was derived can heal you. But we don't know what it was." Madam Pomfrey said.

Days passed. I never left the wing. I read every book on Potions but nothing.

"Zabini came to see you while you were sedated. You were moaning in pain even in sleep but when he touched you, you relaxed." said Ginny but before I could answer, Moody arrived.

"I need to talk to Miss Black alone." he said and Ginny left.

"I have a no visitors policy." I said and he ignored me.

"Potions won't help you against those terrible marks. You need a defensive powerful magic." he said.

"Which is?" I asked.

"Soul magic." he said.

"No offense but you are not one to tell me how to get rid of unattractive facial marks." I said.

All through the Easter holidays he came to help me to delve into soul magic. It was performed wandlessly. All I needed was an anchor, a person to hold on to while I did it. It was the magic done within a circle. The circle was marked with candles and I had to draw power from the earth. My anchors were dad, uncle Remus and Blaise. Mostly I used Blaise as he was closer. When I first tapped into soul magic I felt like I had crossed a line, that I could never uncross. But then I felt something in me awakening. I felt a new kind of power engulfing me. It was like I was invincible. That was the best feeling.

One day Moody burned something that looked like a dead flower on the candle and said.

"This smoke is soothing. Breathe it in and concentrate on healing your face. Draw power from the earth." he said.

I breathed in the smoke and concentrated. I felt the earth yield to me. I opened my eyes. Moody gave me a mirror.

My face was flawless.

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