            A jet of brilliant, red light streaked forward as electricity snapped so loudly, so fiercely, Hermione stumbled backwards with her hands clapped to her ears. The spell ricocheted off Lucius’s chest, slamming the entire headboard into the drywall. Dust clouded, the spell split off into a hundred directions, and it was all Hermione could do to throw herself to the floor. Chunks of wall and ceiling rained down like offbeat notes on a drum.