Amelia POV
After their romp, Amelia took a quick shower and came out, staying naked as the ritual required, though the cool air against her skin made her more aware of herself now that things had settled. She brushed her damp hair back slightly, glancing toward Gilderoy as he stood near the center of the room.
"Ready?" he asked, his tone calmer than before, though there was a clear focus in his eyes.
Amelia nodded once. "Yeah."
She heard Gilderoy request the Room of Requirement to merge with the space where he had done the preparation and drawn the ritual circle, and a moment later, the room shifted smoothly, the walls subtly moving as the ritual circle formed clearly on the floor, intricate runes spreading outward in precise patterns.
Amelia stepped forward, her attention drawn completely to the circle now.
"This is it?" she asked quietly, looking down at it.
Gilderoy nodded. "Don't overthink it. Just follow what I told you."
She exhaled once, steadying herself before walking into the circle and kneeling in the middle, as she cut open her palm, the sharp sting brief before she pressed it firmly against the runes.
Amelia nodded as she spoke the phrase Gilderoy had previously made her practice, each word leaving her lips with care.
"Corpus refoveo. Os roboro. Sanguinem renovare."
The moment the final word was spoken, the ritual circle beneath her turned blue.
The glow spread across every rune, connecting them, the light intensifying as if something had been activated properly.
"…it's working," she murmured under her breath.
And then—
Her vision cut.
Everything turned completely black.
When she opened her eyes again, she wasn't in the room anymore.
She was floating.
There was no ground beneath her, just an endless empty space stretching around her, silent and still, yet not entirely lifeless.
"…what is this…" she whispered, though her voice didn't seem to carry anywhere.
She looked around, trying to orient herself, when something shifted.
Blue energy.
At first, it appeared faint, like thin strands drifting through the void, barely noticeable unless she focused on them, but as she kept watching, more of it began to form, slowly converging toward her.
The energy reached her, sinking into her body smoothly, expanding her core.
The process continued for a short while, though time itself felt unclear in that space, until—
Her vision cut again.
POV end.
_
When she opened her eyes, she was lying on the floor, Gilderoy's concerned face hovering above hers.
"Amelia!"
"I'm fine…" she muttered, blinking as she pushed herself up slightly, still trying to orient herself.
"You passed out," he said.
"Did I?" she replied, frowning faintly. "It didn't feel like that."
"Amy, Meditate quickly and check your core."
Amelia shifted, sitting properly now as she closed her eyes again and focused inward, her breathing steadying as she searched for the familiar presence within her.
Then she saw it—her core.
It had changed.
"…what?" she whispered under her breath as she stared at it.
It had tripled in size, the difference immediate and impossible to miss, and she could feel it too, the raw increase in power flowing through her far more easily than before.
She opened her eyes slowly.
"I feel… stronger."
Gilderoy leaned forward slightly. "How much stronger?"
"A lot more than before," she answered honestly, still processing it.
His expression sharpened as he asked the burning question in his mind. "Did you see anything? A massive blue glowing figure of a woman?"
Amelia shook her head. "No. Just… energy. Blue energy. It came into me."
"…that's different," he muttered, more to himself than to her.
"Different how?" she asked, watching him now.
Gilderoy leaned back slightly, exhaling before speaking. "When I did the ritual, I met someone-a massive, blue, ethereal figure of a woman. She didn't speak, just smiled… and then she threw a huge ball of blue at me."
Amelia blinked. "She threw a ball of magic at you?"
"Yes," he said, nodding his head. "But the amount of energy she forced into me… it expanded my core too much at once, and it actually broke prematurely because of it."
Amelia frowned, clearly surprised. "That didn't happen to me."
"Yeah," Gilderoy replied, watching her carefully, "yours was controlled."
She looked at him again, more seriously now. "How strong did that make you?"
Instead of responded, he reached up and removed his necklace.
The change was instant, his magic pulsing outward in waves that filled the room, heavy and overwhelming in a way that made the air itself feel thicker.
Amelia froze.
"This…" she whispered, her voice lower now as her body reacted instinctively.
She could feel it, the density, the sheer presence of his magic rolling over her, raising goosebumps along her skin, and strangely, instead of feeling suppressed, she felt… enhanced, her own magic responding.
"…wait," she said, looking at him more closely, "I feel stronger again."
Gilderoy's brows furrowed slightly. "Because of me?"
She nodded. "Yeah."
He went quiet for a second, thinking. "Maybe my magic recognizes you… and it's amplifying yours."
After a moment, he put the necklace back on, and the pressure disappeared almost instantly.
Amelia exhaled, her shoulders relaxing as she came back to herself, and only then did she realize something else-she was still naked.
"…right," she muttered under her breath, a faint blush forming as she quickly reached for her nightie and slipped it on, the earlier intensity of the ritual fading as she grounded herself again.
Gilderoy, meanwhile, reached into his pouch and pulling out a small package.
"This is the gift Pandora gave me," he said, holding it up slightly. "She told me to open it away from everyone."
Amelia raised a brow, curiosity replacing everything else.
Gilderoy unwrapped it, revealing a small perfume bottle inside, simple in shape but with glowing orange inscriptions running across its surface.
They both leaned in slightly to read it.
"Perfume for your lover."
Amelia blinked once.
Then she snorted, the sound escaping before she could stop it, and the next second she burst out laughing, unable to hold it in as she tried to catch her breath.
"Ha ha ha ha ha! No way—" she started, but couldn't finish, her laughter cutting her off again.
Gilderoy stared at the bottle, unimpressed.
"This is not funny," he said flatly.
---
I was actually considering doing what some authors do and splitting chapters into smaller 700-900 word parts so readers would get 4 chapters a week instead of two larger ones and I'd get more chances at Power Stones.
But as a reader myself, I always preferred getting a larger chapter instead of multiple short ones.
Because of that, I've gone the opposite route and increased the chapter length. From Chapter 61 onwards, all chapters strictly follow the new 1500+ word count rule. (the last 3 released chapters on Patreon already follow it)
Since the fic updates only twice a week now (Monday/Thursday), I'd really appreciate it if you could try to save some Power Stones for those release days. It helps the fic a lot, and you still have the rest of the week to support other stories you enjoy.
P.S. My reader base is extremely loving and supportive when it comes to Power Stones. Sometimes you all just need a little reminder lol. Thank you for giving me stones❤️
Read Advanced Chapters on Patreon- we are ahead by 10 chapters
https://patreon.com/A_Peverel