Sirius set down the register and gestured for her to proceed.
"Go on. Good luck."
Angelina nodded, picked up her parchment, turned, and walked toward the three protective rings radiating powerful magic.
She took a deep breath and took her first step.
The moment her toe touched the ground, the golden Age Line drawn by Dumbledore himself burst into dazzling light.
The light was warm but not harsh, spreading from beneath her feet like a golden wave before swiftly fading away.
She did not pause, continuing forward.
The second defense, the silent waterfall cascading from a halo, lay right before her.
Without the slightest hesitation, she plunged straight in.
A bone-piercing chill instantly enveloped her.
It was not the damp cold of water, but a pure, icy chill capable of cleansing the soul.
It was as though all the invisible dust on her body, all the traces of magic clinging to her, were being stripped away and purified at that moment.
Just one second.
When she stepped out through the other side of the curtain of water, the chill receded like a tide.
Her skin and clothes were as dry as before, even carrying a hint of freshness like grass after rain.
Only the final, most mysterious defense remained.
That utterly unremarkable metal ring set up by Professor Douglas.
She stepped forward again, entering the ring.
At that very instant.
The world changed.
The chatter in the Great Hall, the flickering candlelight-everything was still there.
But something more fundamental had vanished.
The warm flow of magic within her, innate and long familiar, seemed to have been completely severed with a snip from an invisible pair of scissors.
An unprecedented sense of emptiness and helplessness instantly seized her heart.
She felt she had become a Muggle.
An ordinary, defenseless person, standing