Harry Potter and the Sorceress of the Stars

"Aquamirror Epitomizing the Stars!"

As soon as Oleandra spoke those words, the Fountain of Magical Brethren shattered into pieces, sending clear water cascading and splattering all over the Atrium. Water kept continuously shooting out of the fountainhead and raining down on the battlefield— but little by little, the rain's time seemed to be slowing to a crawl; resulting in a myriad pearlescent droplets of water remaining suspended in midair, catching the light in a peculiar way…

At the same time, a whirlpool of dark waters swirled at Oleandra's feet, its radius growing ever larger— and such was the darkness of its depths, that she appeared to be standing in the void of space itself.

Then, once the whirlpool had reached the Atrium's walls, it abruptly stopped growing and swirling, becoming as still as death itself— a perfect mirror that reflected the luminous droplets of water hanging above it— a mirror epitomizing the very stars!

"The runes," whispered Tracey, gazing at her surroundings in wonder, almost forgetting that they were facing the Dark Lord himself. "I can feel them again!"

Even though they were still underground, Oleandra's, Daphne's and Tracey's runic powers were humming back to life. If the magic of the stars could not reach them this far under the earth, then Oleandra would pluck the very stars from the sky itself and tear them down to Earth!

Feeling power surging through her small body, Daphne automatically reached for her runic tattoo of the Pleiades— but there was nothing left on her right shoulder, other than charred and blackened skin…

It was in vain that Voldemort tried to dispel Oleandra's magic; firstly, the water spouting out of the fountain was real water, which would have required the use of a Siphoning Charm or a Vanishment Spell to remove; secondly, Oleandra's Authority over water was second to none— it was no use trying to wrestle it out of her control!

And so, unwilling to accept that an immature Witch such as Oleandra could Conjure a piece of magic that not even he could undo, Voldemort decided to get rid of the problem at its source!

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

"ISAZ!" Tracey shouted, jumping in front of Oleandra.

A wall of shaped, crystal-clear ice grew out of the pool of water at Tracey's feet, refracting the deadly ray of green light away from her, and redirecting it towards the ceiling, where it exploded harmlessly.

"You know how I feel about the cold," said Daphne, shivering as she laid a hand on the wall of ice. "Isaz, Hagal, Teiwaz— Ice Spear!"

The wall of ice spun itself into the shape of an arrow, which Daphne sent soaring across the Atrium, aimed directly at Voldemort's heart! In response, Voldemort conjured a silvery shield in front of him, but to his utter shock, the armour-piercing properties of Teiwaz nullified its defences, passing straight through it!

Voldemort turned himself into an intangible cloud of black smoke, nearly avoiding the fate of getting impaled by the sharp spear of ice. But as he returned to human form, he began weaving a ball of lightning into being, waving his wand in ever-greater concentrical circles above his free hand…

Oleandra did not need to have attended primary school to know that water conducted electricity— and they were standing in a pool of it! However, if it was pure water, then water would become an insulator…

"Purification!" cried Oleandra, plunging her hands into the water just in time.

"Thursaz!" shouted Tracey, offering covering fire. "Thursaz, Thursaz, Thursaz!"

Chain lightning erupted from the ball lightning in Voldemort's palm, scouring the periphery of Oleandra's Aquamirror Spell without penetrating it! Seeing that his spell had failed to work as he had expected, Voldemort temporarily went back to slinging Killing Curses as easily as he breathed.

Astoria was intercepting many of them, but it was only a matter of time before his unerringly accurate Curses hit someone…

"Book!" Oleandra barked out, and the Book of the Stars flew into the air, halting at an arm's length in front of her. "I can't keep this up for much longer," she shouted to her companions. "We'll need to use that to even stand a chance to win, but Voldemort's not going to give us the opportunity— so, I'll need you all to buy me some time again!"

"But we've never even tried it before!" Tracey shouted back. "We don't even know what it does!"

"Duck!" Astoria screamed.

Manipulating her roots, Daphne swept Tracey off her feet, and a blindingly bright flash of green light passed through the spot where her head had been just a fraction of a second ago.

"The Full Suit of Armour of Awe," Oleandra muttered, and the Book of the Stars flipped to corresponding page, which displayed a frighteningly complex sigil, composed of a sixfold repeating Lokk. "Ægishjálmur above, Ægishjálmur below, Ægishjálmur in front, Ægishjálmur behind, Ægishjálmur in my left hand, Ægishjálmur in my right hand— PROTECT!"

Oleandra ignored the Killing Curses whizzing past her ears, entrusting her life to her sisters as she split her concentration between two active spells; the Aquamirror of the Stars, and the Full Suit of Armour of Awe…

The sigil drawn on the book's page glowed to life, while the stars reflected in the water mirror under her feet rapidly began to dim. Still, the spell worked; the air around the four girls began shimmering, as an invisible bubble of power spread outwards to shield them from all harm… not even the Killing Curse would pierce it!

"Enough!" hissed Voldemort.

He whipped his wand towards the debris of the Fountain of Magical Brethren, and under the influence of his magic, the golden metal began melting and coalescing into one big lump, before turning into a gigantic snake; a replica of the Basilisk!

"Here goes!" Oleandra shouted. "Ready for the Insigil of the Lindworm?"

It was Draco's Constellation Spell; if only he knew they'd be using it against his father's master!

"Ready!" Tracey and Daphne shouted back.

Ignoring Voldemort and his summoned beast, all three girls positioned themselves in a circle, and they began a rhythmic dance of stances, their bodies gyrating, twisting and contorting. Around and around they went, following each other's footsteps in circles. It was almost as if Oleandra, Daphne and Tracey were merging, becoming one as an imaginary serpent— an ouroboros swallowing its own tail!

"Laukaz, Isaz, Naudhiz, Dagaz, Wunjo, Odala, Raidhu, Mannaz!" they sang, joining their voices as one. "The Lake, the Ice, the Hand, the Wheel of Time, the Standard that Unites, the Land of our Foremothers, the Sun's Chariot Shining its Light on our Ancestor, Mani! Awaken, Devour and Grow! Emancipate yourself from the bonds of power which hold you! Disappear, and let the runes give way to the Dragon of the Earth, so that it may rid us of the Being of Darkness! LINDWORM!"