Minds Without Fear (OPEN)

[parvati patil macmillan]

Since many of the students had left Hogwarts for the holidays, Parvati was left with a little more free time than she would have had otherwise. It was nice to have that time to get things done, and she had hoped that Hogsmeade would be slightly less crowded than it had been ever since the winter festival had begun. She'd had no such luck, despite Christmas's having been a few days before. In the crowds, she had also run into her ex-husband, and that had gone better than she'd anticipated.

Really, the day wasn't turning out to be too bad, Parvati thought. That continued, at least, until she was just about to enter one of the shops. It felt, at first, as though there might be an earthquake, until she realized that the rumbling was coming from the skies above rather than from the ground below. Flying down were some massive dragons, and they must have been from the MacFusty reserve.

It had been decades since she had been so close to dragons, herself, and the situation then had been under the relatively controlled Triwizard Tournament. People scattered. Some Disapparated on the spot. Parents took small children by the hand, seeking shelter as quickly as possible.

Parvati cursed under her breath, hoping that neither of her own children were in Hogsmeade at the moment, either. She stepped back into the street, holding the door open for those who wanted or needed to seek refuge inside. There were very few people with the experience needed to handle dragons properly, compared to the general population. She wasn't one of them, but she was a strong witch who, with a bit of assistance, imagined that she could probably help to get the situation under control.

[parvati patil macmillan]

"Parvati!"

The voice, Parvati recognized, was that of Nova Lyric, and she was relieved to know that there was someone else who would be of help around. The Alchemy professor was one of her newer colleagues, but she knew that the younger woman was certainly clever.

She'd not paid much attention to Nova's hands before, though she noticed that her palms were glowing. It was something that Parvati couldn't recall having noticed previously, though now wasn't the time to question it.

"I've never faced a Dragon before. What do you advise? Offensive, defensive, or running?"

"Defensive," Parvati instructed, calling out to her colleague as she moved from the shadow of a dragon preparing to land and drew her wand. She imagined that they would need a few other people with them if they were going to try to stun a dragon; the beasts were far stronger than any human, and she didn't want to risk agitating any of them. "If we can maintain a strong enough Shield Charm," she advised Nova, "that should help to minimize the damage." There was no way that the two of them could secure the entire village; it was foolish to try. What they could do was keep a barrier between at least one dragon and the immediate area.

There were some protective enchantments that they wouldn't be able to use without the risk of harming innocent people, so a shield alone seemed like the safest option. "We'll need to be quick about this," she warned Nova, glancing at the area around them and motioning for passersby to get themselves inside with her free hand.

Parvati took in a breath and pointed her wand in the direction of the castle, casting a silvery mongoose from its tip. "Dragons landing in Hogsmeade. There are dragons in Hogsmeade." she cautioned, hoping that the message would reach the staff who had remained in the castle. They couldn't risk allowing any more students into the village until it was safe.

Satisfied that her Patronus was on its way, Parvati then made eye contact with Nova. "Run. Now. To the opposite side of the street. 'Protego Totalum' on three."

@rivcinq

[parvati patil macmillan]

Nova was quick to follow orders, running to the opposite side of the street. Momentarily, she dug her hands into a snowbank—curious, Parvati thought, though she waited to see what the Alchemy professor had planned. With her wand, Nova swirled the mist in the dragon's direction—something not unlike a wintry smokescreen.

"On three," she confirmed.

Parvati counted aloud, her voice raised over the commotion so that Nova would still be able to hear her clearly. On three, she held her wand firmly in the direction of the dragon. "Protego Totalum!"

@rivcinq

[parvati patil macmillan]

It would take significant strength of mind for them to keep the Shield Charm going for as long as it needed to remain in place, but that was a challenge that Parvati was willing to face. If they could keep the dragon from part of the street without hurting it or anyone else around, that would be the best possible scenario, and Parvati was determined to make that a reality. As Nova cast the charm in unison with her, the shield came into effect.

Parvati kept watching the dragon in front of them. The barrier that she and Nova had created was barely perceptible to the eye, though she could feel the energy of it through her wand arm. She kept her wand steady, not wanting to risk affecting the shield by looking over in the direction of her colleague. "Good," she stated to the professor, keeping her mind on the shield and their need to keep it up.

Fortunately or unfortunately, a dragon wasn't the typical combatant. It was a beast rather than a human, so it would be difficult for either of them to predict what it would do next. In an ideal world, it would realize that it wasn't going to get anywhere—whatever it was wanting. Though, what if it did become more agitated? They would have to be ready for that possibility, too.

@rivcinq