Behind her shone faint blue light, emanating from a stone in the center of the room that seemed to pulse with energy. It was a crystal, peeking out from dark calcified rock like a fallen meteor, the center gouged deep and large, the parent of the crystal above the city. Surrounding the massive mound of rock was coal-like dust. It coated Hermione’s arms and legs from where she was dropped in it, coalescing with her wet skin to form a dry paste, sticking the stuff to her like mud. Between her and the group of leering men were deep gouges in the dirt, ringed around the crater, filled with blackened, crystallized chunks of stone.