Veniamina "Vinnie" O'Larra.
"It seems we've arrived," her companion remarked, squinting slightly as he stared at the sky. The weather had changed, subtly but noticeably — it had become darker, more overcast.
Probably the effect of Dark Magic. Or maybe she was just imagining things, and the magical world simply had different weather.
"I don't like this place," Vinnie admitted honestly, her intuition screaming that something was very wrong here.
"The atmosphere is indeed different from Durmstrang, although they've used Dark Magic for centuries and still do," the long-haired blonde nodded in agreement, squinting intently as if scrutinizing every detail. Another minute, and she might have mistaken him for an Asian rather than the pureblooded Aryan her grandmother — who had fought on the British side during the war — loved to talk about.
This German was an odd character. Strange.
He wasn't the first of the old wizarding families that O'Larra had met. His appearance fit the typical description of someone from his background, but his behavior reminded her more of a wealthy half-blood. It was strange, even for the Irish lands, where pureblood wizards — she'd be honest — weren't too different in behavior from their British counterparts.
Her curiosity about his unusual behavior had become the main reason she joined this… adventure. The exploration of a previously inaccessible place had become just a pleasant bonus.
And with every minute she spent near him, Vinnie learned something new about her temporary partner.
"Vinnie... you've zoned out," he called, snapping her out of her thoughts.
"Huh? Oh! Just thinking," she shook her head, silently cursing herself for getting lost in her thoughts at the worst possible time.
"As I was saying, I've spotted the castle we're looking for. I think the only way there is through the forest," he gestured with his wand toward the large forest on their right. The trees there only vaguely resembled anything from the Muggle world. "It'll take a while to go around it, and we didn't bring any provisions. But if you want, we can go back and get some. We've got time," the boy — whose name she had long given up trying to pronounce — shrugged. Why couldn't he have a simple name like Hans? Short, easy to say, easy to remember.
"No need," Vinnie finally answered. "The two of us are strong enough, and we're not too deep into the magical world yet."
"Then forward, onto the road of adventure!" the wizard muttered with some amusement, striding ahead.
Not wanting to fall behind, Vinnie followed.
Her cloak trailed behind her, effortlessly sliding along the ground thanks to weight-reducing, durability-enhancing, and dirt-repelling enchantments. The cloak, despite its lightness, was more than just a fashion choice. It was also excellent protection against magic, made from the hides of various magical creatures. It was the most expensive item she owned, and she wasn't the type to stash it away as some prized treasure. Why hide something if it was made to be used?
…After about ten minutes of steady walking, things started to change.
"Stop," the boy whispered, holding out a hand to halt her.
"What is it?" Vinnie asked quietly, matching his tone.
"I got a response from the detection spell. And judging by the… Scheiße!" Without ceremony, the German grabbed her shoulder and yanked her behind one of the thickest trees nearby.
Meeting his tense gaze, Vinnie swallowed her protests.
"What is it?" she repeated, her voice just a breath.
"A troll… or something similar," he explained in a whisper, nodding in approval when she raised her wand. "Purple skin and yellow eyes… Know of any trolls like that?"
Vinnie shook her head.
"I don't either. And I'm an honors student, a bit of a bookworm, too," he muttered under his breath.
"A new species…" Vinnie's eyes briefly sparkled with curiosity, but the excitement faded when she remembered that this new species would likely want to eat them.
"Rr-rrark!" came a low growl, making the wizard clamp his mouth shut.
"Kuru-ga, ura-ga, deh-ka-aar-t!" followed in a slightly lower, but still audible, rumble.
"Great. And they're intelligent," the wizard muttered irritably, furrowing his brow.
"They?"
"There's a group of them," he replied. "That's why we're hiding. I doubt they have immunity to magic like dragons or chimeras, but still…"
"...It's better not to provoke them," Vinnie finished for him.
"Smart minds think alike…" he nodded. "Do we try to sneak around them or take them on?"
"I don't know about you, but I—" Her sentence was cut short as the wizard suddenly jerked forward, casting a spell any practitioner of Dark Magic would recognize:
"Avada Kedavra!" A green flash shot through the air, striking a small creature — about a meter tall with purple skin — dead in an instant.
"What the… What is that?" Vinnie stared at the corpse of the grotesque creature in shock, then shook her head and shuddered.
It wasn't easy to unsettle witches who worked with potions and their various ingredients, but the ugliness of this creature managed to do just that.
"This one's smaller than the ones I saw… and it looks like the bigger ones noticed us," the wizard said, his voice laced with frustration as he peeked out from behind the tree. "Aim to kill and don't hold back."
"Got it," Vinnie agreed without argument, peering out as well. Her eyes quickly locked onto the larger creatures rushing toward them.
"Bloody hell!" Vinnie cursed, her eyes widening as she got a good look at the creatures. "I thought these things were just myths!" She tensed her shoulders and assumed a combat stance. The creatures weren't quite in optimal striking range yet, so attacking now would be pointless — unless she used Avada Kedavra, but she couldn't throw those around so carelessly.
"Myths?" her companion, Adal-whatever-his-name, shot her a sidelong glance. "Avada Kedavra!" Another green flash illuminated the gloom of the forest, striking one of the larger creatures and sending it tumbling forward in a heap.
"Fomorians. These are bloody Fomorians," she muttered, her shoulders twitching again.
"Fomorians... Of course," the wizard mumbled, almost as if talking to himself. "Who would've doubted it…? Let's hit them with a double Bombarda Maxima."
"Right."
A double explosion erupted right beneath the charging monsters' feet, blowing off their legs and sending them rolling forward, their tumbling bodies tripping up those behind them.
"Damn, they're bigger than I thought," Vinnie muttered nervously, unconsciously taking a step back.
Just a few moments ago, they'd seemed about the size of trolls. Now, they were towering giants, almost the size of giants themselves!
"Vinnie!" The wizard shook her by the shoulder suddenly. "It's a mental illusion! If you're truly a Follower, you know the basics of Occlumency — focus and use it!"
"R-right," she stammered, exhaling deeply as she closed her eyes. She began organizing her thoughts, filling them with extraneous details to shield against external interference. Just like in the textbooks.
The effect was immediate. Now the creatures looked more like trolls — big, but not so massive that her knees would give out from just looking at them.
Now they were within her range.
"Cuimilt suas! Déanfaidh mé é a tholladh!" Vinnie cast in her native tongue, sending several semi-transparent beams of beige and brown light forward.
The first beam ripped through the stomach of one of the monsters, tearing it apart. The second beam smashed through the chest of another.
"And this isn't even considered Dark Magic? Ha!" her companion muttered from the side before adding, "Let's finish this. No more playing around. Zylindrischer Wind."
There was no mistaking the sound of German.
But what caught her attention were the patterns he traced with his wand. At about a meter and a half away, three horizontal, elongated cylinders formed — one to his left, one to his right, and one above him — all appearing to be made of interwoven streams of wind.
It all happened in just a few seconds, and the cylinders shot forward toward the remaining creatures.
The effect was… impressive. As the cylinders collided with the bodies of the oncoming monsters, now only about fifteen meters away, they suddenly expanded in size. It only lasted for a few seconds, but that was enough time for the air blades within them to sever the necks and heads of the purple-skinned beasts.
"Persistent creatures — Protego Duo!" the wizard suddenly shouted, sharply raising his wand to cast a translucent shield in front of them both. A moment later, a glowing horizontal slash slammed into the barrier. "Resilient little bugger," he muttered.
Following his gaze, Vinnie spotted the last remaining Fomorian, brandishing a whip covered in spikes above its head.
"What… Are those leprechaun ghosts?" Vinnie blinked, staring in confusion at the small, translucent figures swirling around the legs of the hulking creature.
"Hm… This just keeps getting more and more interesting. But we'll figure it out later — I'm not invincible. Avada Kedavra!"
Another green flash shot through the air, and while the monster tried to dodge, its massive size made it too slow. The spell hit it dead-on, and it crumpled to the ground, lifeless.