            Pain that was growing worse. Hermione gasped, glancing down at her thigh—the wound was bright white, the rune glowing from within and burning like fire. She reeled onto her feet just as something gold shimmered in the air. In a second, it manifested completely—a spindly chain of golden links, one end wrapped around her wrist, the other around the mouse’s neck. As the pain in her leg ebbed, Hermione reached out, her fingers trailing over the chain. It was warm to the touch, though it had no hardness of metal. No—it was something else. Pure magic. She hiked up her skirt to find the rune back to its normal red.