Battlefield

After the Lucius Family and Voldemort's Soul Artifact incidents had come to an end, Hogwarts had finally returned to peace, at least for the time being.

Of course, in the eyes of many young wizards, the school had always been peaceful. The only real discord came from the Tactics Club members, whose tempers had grown unusually short.

But the misunderstanding was cleared up after Ginny apologized. After the Tactics Club meeting that week, following Voldemort's attack, Ginny stayed behind and apologized to everyone.

The twenty-odd members spent more time together than anyone else, so they had been affected most by the Negative Energy. Even Draco and the others from Slytherin Academy had been affected to some degree.

So after Ginny used Holy Water to treat everyone, the difference was especially obvious.

It was as if someone had doused them with a bucket of cold water, washing away their anger and the dust clouding their eyes.

Only then did several of them, including Hermione and Ron, realize that the tension between them had been growing because of an outside influence.

"So what exactly was that thing that affected everyone's minds?" Once she had come to her senses, Hermione first gave Ron an apologetic look, then eagerly asked Ginny.

"Well..." Ginny remembered Anduin's warning and didn't dare reveal anything about Voldemort. "It was a Dark Magic Item I happened to come across. I never expected it to be so dangerous. I'm really sorry."

"It's fine, Ginny. Nothing was actually lost, after all." Ron was quite magnanimous about it. "I knew it! I've always found Hermione annoying, but I wouldn't have nearly come to blows with her."

Hermione shot Ron a glare. Even without the curse affecting him, he still had a knack for running his mouth.

The others who had been less