The Keeper and the Monster

Chapter 5: Sebastian in the shadows

Sebastian Sallow was shopping for chocolate frogs in Honeydukes. He had never been quite fond of them until a month ago.

He had spent the summer either in a cell in the ministry or in a court room, without seeing much of the daylight. At least, it wasn't Azkaban – although he did spent two nights there before his trial. But still: he had been surrounded by Dementors for 8 weeks. They hadn't been allowed to touch him, but their presence was enough to wound one's heart and soul and fill it with despair. Like he needed those to feel that.

Towards the end of his trial, the aurors would give him chocolate frogs to cope with those revolting creatures. Somehow, it worked. He would still feel depressed, but it had soothed his mind a bit.

Now that he was back to Hogwarts as a free man, there was still an ache in his heart, and he needed the chocolate. Actually, he felt a whole palette of all kinds of pain. Guilt, sorrow, grief, loneliness, self-hatred, and so on. He deserved it, though. In the end, he had been lucky. Anything was better than Azkaban, and he wouldn't wish it to Victor Rockwood himself had he not died.
Well, no actually. He totally would.

"You do love those frogs, don't you?" smiled the merchant to Sebastian. "Your hands are full. Here, take that shopping basket."

"Thank you, sir."

"Are you a card collector?"

"I guess I am now. I don't feel like throwing them away."

"I see. Well, tell me if you need anything." He then went to help another costumer.

"How nice meeting you here, Mr Sallow" said a voice behind him.

"Hello, officer Singer." he replied without an ounce of surprise.

He didn't actually went to Hogsmeade to buy chocolate – though it was a good excuse. He and Singer were supposed to meet. Officially, she was in charge of his "reinstatement" and kept him under surveillance. That wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth.

His freedom came with a price.

"I've read that book – the one I told you about? I think it will be a great help for my studies."

"I'm glad to hear that. Let's talk about it elsewhere. Give me your basket – my treat."

She paid for the frogs and they walked to the cemetery, away from prying eyes and from eavesdroppers.

"Now, tell me. You found a book?" She asked with a less polite tone.

"I heard Venesca Rosier, a friend of the Gaunt's, talk about a spellbook. Marvolo wanted to borrow it with Black's permission. I stole it before he could."

That hadn't been easy. There was no way of getting inside the restricted section of the library by night anymore, so he had to go during the day. Once inside, he'd spent the whole lunch break looking for that bloody book.

"A spellbook, you say?"

"The Mysterious Spellbook of the Darkest Revelations. Though not all of its spells use dark magic."

"Are you tempted to cast those that use dark magic?"

"No" was his immediate answer. Then, he sighed "Yes. I am."

"Thank you for you honesty. Try not to use them unless it is a matter of life or death. And warn me if you do. Did it help you found something?"

"For now, I've only been reading it. I've seen nothing about the Chamber, but I've not finished it yet."

"The most important is that our suspect can't have access to those spells. Well done. Will the librarian notice?"

"I used a spell to replace its pages with a cookbook, in case someone's allowed to borrow it."