The protective spell Amelia had cast around herself could do nothing to protect her from what she was seeing, and thus as the fog lifted from the ground her eyes landed on a lifeless form on the floor, a woman she had seen earlier pushing a trolley full of sweets. Amelia felt a chill run down her spine, but was ashamed of its cause. Although a person’s life had been ended in this room, Amelia’s emotions for that fact were hidden away as quickly as they appeared. Instead, the chill was one of realization of just what type of situation she had run headlong into.
As the fog lifted away from the woman’s body, Amelia was forced to look away from the lifeless form and turn her attention back on the mist itself. It was unlike any weather phenomenon Amelia had seen before, with a life of its own that suggested it was certainly made of more than just condensed water droplets. As she watched, the darkness began to move closer to her, spreading out to fill the size of the dining car. Distracted by the imposing threat, Amelia’s concentration on her spell was interrupted and the glowing shield which had previously protected her flickered and fell away.
Immediately upon releasing her grasp on the charm, Amelia could feel the palpable difference. The room was suddenly colder, the black mist swirling around her, making her turn on the spot to try to discover at what she should be aiming her defenses. This was fruitless, however, as trying to identify any point in the black abyss was like trying to locate the source of the bubbles in a champagne glass – they came from nowhere and everywhere, each progressively more unpredictable.
In addition to the cold, Amelia was feeling more of a change within herself than out. Although she was trying to think rationally, it seemed that whatever this was surrounding her had more power than she realized. Each tiny box that resided in the back of her mind to hold emotions – the good, the bad, and everything in between – seemed to have been thrown open, letting everything she had carefully tucked away come flooding toward her at once. The happiest emotions – joy, love, happiness, hope – came fleetingly, as though they were sucked up as quickly as they had been released. The negative emotions, however, lingered and swelled within her, threatening to overwhelm her as jealousy, anger, pride, defeat, loss, and guilt flooded her mind and her senses.
No… Amelia’s mind stuttered, trying to overcome the sudden onslaught. But it was even more difficult for Amelia to overcome this type of attack than it would have been for other students, and for several reasons. First, Amelia had difficulty confronting and overcoming challenges she didn’t understand, and this nameless, identity-less black mist certain fell within that category. But perhaps even more importantly, Amelia was very nearly inept when it came to dealing with her emotions. Good, bad, or otherwise, Amelia tucked all of her feelings away, asserting that emotion clouded judgment and reason. Without the regular encounters most individuals had with their feelings and emotions, without the experience dealing with them, Amelia was crippled almost immediately by the effect this particular brand of torture had on her.
No, fight it! Amelia’s mind demanded, echoing with a shriek as her mind began to panic under the weight of what was happening. She was spinning wildly now, batting uselessly at the air with her wand, fighting back against an attacker she couldn’t even find.
Just as Amelia could feel her knees begin to buckle beneath her, she heard a shout from behind, her mind still functioning just enough to identify what has been said. The redhead spun on the spot to see a girl pointing her wand menacingly toward a point over Amelia’s shoulder, and without thought, Amelia sunk to the ground, getting out of the way of the curse and finally giving in to the pressure of the emotions that had been weighing her down from within.
I can’t…. it can’t… this can’t be happening…