Tris was not sure whether the Prophet's death had shortened the spell's duration, or whether that was simply how long it lasted.
He flicked the Deluminator and did indeed sense the shadow mirror world quietly opening.
Meanwhile, pages flew out of the book in Eulalie Hicks's hands. Hundreds of them surrounded the three-headed magical serpent Voldemort had transformed into. Then the words slipped silently off the pages, growing larger in midair and forming chains of text that wound toward the serpent.
Even though most of those present were experienced, high-level wizards, their eyes lit up at the sight, amazement spreading across their faces.
The runic chains moved incredibly fast. Voldemort's enormous body seemed to hamper his speed a little, and he failed to dodge them. Hundreds of chains wrapped around him one after another.
Ink seeped down from the chains where they coiled around him, seemingly trying to permeate the magical serpent's scales. Yet a faint gray light flickered across those rough scales, stopping the ink from penetrating any farther.
Instead, one of the serpent's three heads turned toward Miss Hicks and spat a stream of sickly green liquid.
Runespoors were magical creatures highly prone to mutation. Those bred by different wizards often possessed very different abilities, with considerable differences in strength.
The liquid the serpent spat gave off faint sizzling sounds as it passed through the air, suggesting that it was highly corrosive. This was also one of the most troublesome abilities a Runespoor could acquire.
Facing an attack of astonishing speed and power, Miss Hicks showed no fear. The pages of her book flipped rapidly again, and a dozen or so flew up in front of her. Their words radiated silver light, forming a silver magical shield before her.
Yet the instant the silver shield touched the green