Many people had played hopscotch as children. Originating in the Roman Empire, the game had been popular around the world for over two thousand years. All it required was an open space and a piece of chalk or a branch.
Things like beanbags and pebbles were used during the game. At first, Pomona saw a little girl playing alone. Then she realized the girl was playing with her own shadow. Pomona felt terribly sad and wanted to go over and play with her, but the moment she reached out, she felt as if she had been hit by a Force-Release Charm, utterly drained of strength.
After a brief spell of darkness, she arrived in Albus's circular office, a place always filled with the clinking and chiming of silver instruments.
Only after examining it closely did she realize that she was not in Albus's office, but in a manor in the Alps, one with a gigantic brass telescope.
A star chart still floated in midair. The white wizard in half-moon spectacles sat on the sofa beside the telescope, and there was now a dark shadow beside him.
"How do you feel?" Albus asked calmly.
"Am I going to die again?" Pomona asked.
"Not yet," Albus said. "But I think you need to rest for a while."
"Was Tom the one who did this to me?" Pomona asked wearily.
"Severus refused to listen to him, so Tom used you to threaten Severus. The most violent and spectacular reactions in chemistry occur among nonmetals. They are greedy and selfish substances, and they are also prone to losing control. Do you know what metals are?"
"Uh... what?"
"Metals are not all hard solids that gleam with a gray luster. They come in all kinds of appearances, but they all share one property: conductivity," Albus