The controlled figure snaps their wand up with jerky precision, blue candlelight trembling across their mask-like face. A jet of red light lashes across the chamber and catches the second robed figure square in the chest, hurling them backward into a stack of crates. The impact rattles chalk symbols into pale spirals on the floor, and the open book slams shut with a sound like a snapped bone. Your scar pulses hard, as if warning you that every secret in the room has just heard the clash.

For a heartbeat, only the candles move, their blue flames bending toward the hidden trapdoor in the floor. The stunned figure groans and tries to rise, while the one under your control stands rigidly waiting for another command. Beneath the stone, something answers with a low shudder that makes dust sift from the beams. You grip your wand tighter, knowing the room is no longer a puzzle but a countdown.