The Start of a Legacy | Hogwarts legacy fanfiction | mc x Sebastian Sallow

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After absorbing as much as I could from the book, I decided I had to give the book to Professor Fig. One afternoon when class had ended, I followed him to his office.
"Professor Fig, I found a book in the restricted section."
"My word, how did you manage to get in there?" He asked.
I paused. Surely I couldn't tell him.
"You know what. It's probably best I don't know."
I nodded, then handed him the book.
Professor Fig flipped through the pages.
"Intriguing," he said.
I stood there patiently, as he speed read.
"Hmmm there seems to be pages missing," he let out an exasperated sign.
"What's our next steps?" I asked.
"I'll need to look into where the missing pages might be. It most likely holds a clue as to what we are searching for," he said.
I nodded, then excused myself.
How would I know where to start?

———————

A few days passed while I awaited word from Professor Fig. I buried my head into my books, and focused on practicing new spells I had learned. As a fifth year, I could explore the Highlands outside of Hogwarts. Was I as equipped as other fifth years? No. But fortunately, there were some rather easy targets near the neighbouring Hamlets. I ran into a few wolves collecting potion ingredients. As time went on, it was beginning to feel as if we'd never catch a break on the whereabouts of the pages. Then, one faithful day, I received an owl.
Sebastian and I were sitting outside on the Hogwarts school grounds. We had decided to study outside that afternoon, when the sky was bright and clear.
"Reading another book on curses?" I asked.
He nodded.
"How do you find the time and energy to study?"
Sebastian shrugged, "my parents were professors. I've always been good at it."
I watched Sebastian analyse the pages. There was something methodical in the way he read over them. I smiled as he frowned, pondering what I assumed to be a particularly difficult concept. My attention only drifted when the sound of a hoot came from my right. It was an owl.
My eyes followed it as it flew overhead, dropping a letter in my lap.
"What's this?" I asked, slightly confused.
"You haven't received an owl before?" He asked.
I froze. Clearly this was something I should've known.
"Yes... of course," I laughed nervously.
Then proceeded to open the letter. I read the name signed at the bottom.
"It's from an elf, named Scrope?"
"That's the headmasters house elf, why is he sending you mail?" He asked, wearing the confusion on his face.
I went through the rest of the text as Sebastian watched.
"Oh my god! This might be it!" I said.
"What?"
"The missing pages. He knows where they are!" I said excitedly.
"Fantastic, let's go," Sebastian said.
I turned to face him, analysing his facial features. He seemed sincere. Could I bring him along though? I was told to tell no one. Even more, how much did I really know about Sebastian? Everything he'd shown me so far indicted he was trustworthy, but you never know with people.
I nodded. "Let's go," and we were off to where the note directed us, the clock tower.

———————

Sebastian and I entered the clock tower courtyard.
"What exactly are we looking for?" He asked.
"Another note," I said, eyes scanning the area.
"Why is he being so cryptic?" Sebastian questioned.
"Revelio," I whispered. There were many students around.
"There! By the hippogriff statue in the the centre," I pointed.
Sebastian followed as I approached the note and picked it up. It was a folded piece of parchment, hidden behind the statue. It was almost impossible to see unless you looked for it.
'It isn't safe to meet in public, cross the old wooden bridge and find the next clue,' the note read.
I motioned for Sebastian to follow, and we crossed the bridge. For a brief moment I stopped, looking over the ledge to the scenery below.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Sebastian asked.
The bridge connected Hogwarts to the cliff adjacent to it. Below was a river that opened into the large lake surrounding Hogwarts.
"It is," I smiled.
We continued across the bridge. At the end was a set of large stones that lined up to make a half moon shape.
"Revelio," I said.
I scanned the scenery. There it was, on the ledge of one of the large rocks. I could see a thin blue outline of parchment through the rock. It was amazing how this spell worked.
"Up on the rock," I pointed.
As we approached, I soon realised it towered over me. Sebastian tried to reach for it, to no avail.
"Give me a boost," I said.
"Huh?"
"Lift me so I can reach it."
Sebastian looked at me awkwardly.
I felt the heat rise in my ears. "How else are we gonna get it? I can't see it clearly to cast accio," I said.
He nodded.
"Ready?" He asked.
"Yes. I'm ready," I said, facing the rock. My body tensed, this would be awkward.
Sebastian squatted then put his arm around my mid thighs, lifting me just enough to feel around for the note at the top of the rock.
"Got it!" I shouted. Sebastian carefully lowered me, and I swung around to face him, ready to open the note.
I froze. I failed to realise was how close we were. We were right in each others faces. I looked into his bright brown eyes, then lowered my gaze to his nose, and then his lips. We both stammered back, and I hit my back against the rock.
"Sorry," I said, the heat rising in my ears.
'I'm so stupid', I cursed myself.
"It's fine, what does the note say?" He changed the subject.
"Search the pumpkins down the hill," I read aloud.
"Seriously? How many notes are there?" Sebastian complained.
I shrugged, beginning to follow the path down. My mind wandered as we approached the hut at the bottom.
'How could I have been so stupid? I could tell how uncomfortable I made Sebastian.' I thought.
"Revelio," I said, as I caught sight of the pumpkins to the right.
A silhouette of the note appeared below a leaf. I reached down and pulled it out.
"Meet me by the broken docks," I read aloud.
"Finally," Sebastian said.
"Where are the docks?" I asked.
"Just down there."
"How did he expect me to follow these notes? I don't know where any of this is," I said slightly frustrated.
"It's okay. You have me," he said, before he began down the path.
The heat rose in my ears again. Why was Sebastian being so helpful? He didn't benefit from this whatsoever. Although, I had to admit, it did feel kind of nice to have someone to help me with it all.
I followed him, and a couple of minutes later, we could see Scrope in the distance.

———————

"Scrope thought you'd come alone," Scrope said as I approached.
"Sebastian can be trusted," I reassured him.
"If anybody spots Scrope, the headmaster will be furious," he said.
"Don't worry, we won't tell a soul," I said.
Scrope signed.
"Scrope knows you're looking for the missing pages from the book you found in the restricted section. Scrope might know where you can find it."
"Really? Where?" I asked.
"There's a nearby grotto that belonged to Apollonia Black that might hold a clue. Just continue straight and place this piece of toast on the pedestal," he said.
"Toast? Why toast?" Sebastian laughed.
Scrope shrugged, "Scrope does not know."
"Hold on, what's in it for you?" I asked.
"All Scrope asks is you locate the Black family ring in the cave, to give to the Headmaster," he said.
"Okay, I'll give it a go," I said.
"Scrope wishes you the best of luck," the house elf said.

I turned to Sebastian and motioned for him to follow. We began walking straight. Coming to a couple of Dugbogs, which we only narrowly avoided by using disillusionment. As we turned a corner, we could see a cave in the cliff side. The only problem was, that it was across 20 metres of water.
"Ugh, what now?" He asked.
"We swim," I shrugged.
"The water looks freezing," he argued.
"Oh don't be a baby, come on, it will be fun," I said.
I didn't think it would be fun. But at this point we had no other choice. He rolled his eyes and followed me in. As we moved further in, the water got deeper, for a few seconds I had to doggy paddle to stay afloat. Within a minute we reached the bedrock on the other side. I took of my shoe and emptied the water from it. Sebastian was right, it was freezing. The chilly air shook my bones. We wrang out our clothing before continuing forward.
"Remind me to carry a spare change of clothes when I'm with you," he said.
When we entered the cave, a strange mural of a giant squid appeared to be on the wall. A pedestal was located directly in front of it.
I grabbed the soggy toast out of my pocket.
"Ew," I said, before placing it on the pedestal.
In an instant, the toast broke apart and levitated to the giant squid began. It parted its tentacles to reveal a passage.
Sebastian and I glanced at each other. This series of events just kept getting stranger.
We walked into the passage. The room on the other side was lit by a fire, next to it sat a writing desk, with a journal on it.
"Fantastic," Sebastian said, taking in the warmth from the fire.
I approached the desk.
"Hello there," a ghost flew through the wall, straight into my face.
I jumped back.
"Are you alright Aura?" Sebastian asked.
I nodded. I didn't care to admit, but the ghost did give me quite a fright.
"Who are you?" Sebastian asked.
"Richard Jackdaw at your service, why are you here?"
"We are here to locate the missing pages from a book on ancient magic. Scrope told us it was here," I said.
"Ah yes. I know where they are. They should reside in the place I met my rather unfortunate demise. A cave located in the forbidden forest. One minute I was exploring and the next, I lost my head," he said.
Jackdaw proceeded to remove his head. My eyes went wide. It was quite a sight. Up until then, I had only encountered a nearly headless ghost.
"Perfect, can you take me there?" I asked.
He nodded, "meet me at the edge of forbidden forest."
"Oh one more thing, is the Black family ring still here?" I asked.
He shook his head, "I sold it long ago. Come on off we go."
"Wait, why the toast?" Sebastian asked.
"Ah yes, asking the real questions. It's a squids favourite food," he laughed.
Sebastian and I exchanged glances.
"Well best be off," Jackdaw said, and flew off to where I assumed was the forbidden forest.
Sebastian and I lingered in the cave for a moment.
"You're not coming," I said.
"What do you mean I'm not coming? You can't go meet a looney ghost on your own," he protested.
"I'll be fine. It's not like I haven't dealt with worse. Plus, it's too dangerous. Ranroks royalist and Rookwoods lot are everywhere in the forest."
"Aura, I can hold my own, and besides I'm not leaving you to go alone."
I examined his face. I could tell he wouldn't budge.
"Fine. Let's just go tell Scrope the bad news first," I signed.
"Can we go back to our dorm and change first?" He asked.
"Our peers will think we are the looney ones if we go back to the common room soaking wet," I laughed.
He agreed, and we set off to the forbidden forest.