Storms ⌲ Sebastian Sallow

30. ✭and, not all the prayers in the world could save us✭

☼Modern Soundtrack: Storms by Fleetwood Mac☼

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EPILOGUE

70 YEARS LATER

"Sebastian Sallow made his way through the familiar courtyard of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Things had changed, no doubt, but it still had the same smell, the same bright-eyed students, and the promise of thrills.

He had remained 18 years of age. I was right, he was constantly on the run - going by a different name every year, a different story - under an everchanging sky.

Every year he walks up to the Medieval Gothic pillars of the castle. It was plagued by its battle scars but still stood high among its students.

He continued walking around to the willow tree that had stood for the past century behind the school's Greenhouse. The surrounding area was as greener than ever, with a more modern feel, but much like the essence it had over seven decades ago when I was a student.

I am incredibly honored to be your new professor for the Defense of the Dark Arts - a class my old friend used to love, he excelled here.

He comes here every year, on the first day of classes, to visit Celestial Lovegood's tombstone. The school had placed one for her as a memorial when she passed away 5 years ago. She saved the school from Ranrok and Viktor Rookwood. She was the most powerful witch to ever study here.

She also had a tough decision to make..."

"Professor Gaunt?" A young, 5th-year student at the front of the class asked me.

"Yes?"

"That's my grandmother's memorial they put up outside the greenhouse," she said. I smiled to myself.

"Are you the Ravenclaw, Pandora Lovegood?"

"Indeed, Professor."

"Welcome to the class. Miss Lovegood..." I sighed. It was a melancholy sigh, one that had a story to it, a depth that could not be read by the naked eye.

"How come Mr. Sallow has never been caught?" She asked me, her voice lighthearted, but entrapped by trauma - much like her grandmother's now that I truly hear it. These are the type of moments I wish I could see. I don't have a single doubt in my mind that she has her sense of life. Her bright, brilliant, inquisitive mind.

"Well, I am the only one who truly knows. No one in this new generation can actually recognize him... of course, he stays hidden from those who are out to get him, but for the most part, most have moved on. He's practically harmless.

Since I've been a professor for the past decade, Mr. Sallow has always been my first lecture on the abuse of the dark arts. It's an old fable I keep close to my heart, as a message of caution.

But, as much as it is a cautionary tale -it is also a story of love... as no one can exist without it. He loved Celestial Lovegood. They had an adoration for each other like no other, ultimately leading to heartbreak. Mr. Sallow messed with the elixir of life. Miss Lovegood had a decision to make: to take the elixir or live a life worth living."

"I would have taken the elixir, I mean, c'mon! Living forever?" A student in the back teased and I huffed.

"It's not as euphoric as one would think. It breaks people apart. Mr. Sallow has lost the only person who has ever truly loved him... well, besides me," I chuckled. "If you're lucky you can catch a glimpse of him now, through this window, right here."

I heard the class shuffle around and steps run over to the stain-glass window.

"There he is!" A student yelled out.