A Tale of Shadows | Sebastian Sallow

Chapter 01

"Miss Fawley?"

My head immediately shot up, my eyes finding the green eyes of my house elf, Moss. The way he had said my name told me enough. He had been trying to gain my attention for a while now and I was too focussed on my work to have heard it. I am positive he was used to it by now. He also knew it was not something I did on purpose. It was a habit of mine to get lost in my work. Sometimes, it is not a great habit to have.

"I am sorry Moss. What is it you wanted to tell me?"

No matter how many times I got so lost in my work that I did not hear him, it did not change how bad I felt when it did. I always felt so guilty when I was ignoring him. I am surprised he has not left me yet. Moss is my house elf, yes, but he is here because he made the choice to be here. Moss is a free elf.

"A letter from the Ministry of Magic arrived Miss. Moss has left it on Miss' desk."

A letter from the Ministry? What could they possibly want from me? It is not like they are aware that I possess a rare kind of magic. As far as they know, I am a Magizoologist and nothing more than that.

"Thank you Moss. I will have a look at it later."

Before I could get back to what I was doing, Moss continued to say something else.

"Moss would also like to remind Miss of her plans with Master Gaunt."

Shit! Is it that late already? I am lucky I asked Moss to remind me, otherwise I would have been late once again. How Ominis still wants to be friends with me after the times I have made him wait for me, is an absolute mystery.

"Thank you for the reminder Moss. Could you finish feeding all the beasts for me?"

I did not wait for him to answer, my attention going back to the paste I had been making. I had managed to rescue a Porlock from poachers. He had been injured when I found him. Nothing major, luckily. But I still have to treat it. I was making a basic healing paste for him. The poor thing would be able to heal this on his own, but the paste will help with the process and reduce his pain.

When I finished making the paste, I made my way towards the grassy area in my vivarium. He was still sceptical of me, but because the other beasts around him did not seem to mind my presence, he allowed me to approach him. I put the past on the injuries scattered around his little body.

"There, that should make you feel better soon."

I kept my voice soft, almost like a whisper, to not scare him off. I gave the Porlock a little pet, before I turned around to leave the vivarium. I made my way back towards the little house located in the vivarium. I passed the desk and noticed the letter from the Ministry Moss had mentioned. It will have to wait until after I get back from Ominis'.

𝌀

My hand was on the door handle. Ready to leave and head back home. I felt better than I have in days. It was always nice to visit Ominis. One of the few friends that remained in my life after graduating Hogwarts. I had lost a lot of friends during the first few years after graduating. I travel around a lot, studying and rescuing beasts all around the world. Not everyone was willing to wait around for me to return home.

"It was good seeing you again, Ominis."

I said, turning back to pull him into a hug. He placed a kiss on my cheek, like he always did whenever I hugged him. My head shot up to his hair and ruffled it. He pretended to hate it when I do it, but I know he secretly loves it.

"Always a pleasure seeing you, Alex."

Ominis did not seem to care about my not so frequent visits. He was happy to see me every time I was back here. An invitation for tea always waiting for me when I would get home from a trip. I would tell him about all the beasts I had seen during my trip and the ones I had been able to rescue. He would tell me about the things that I had missed here in England. More specifically the crimes. As head of the Improper Use of Magic Office, he always had a thrilling story to share. I had not been surprised by Ominis' decision to join the Ministry after Hogwarts. The Improper Use of Magic Office was absolutely perfect for him.

"Take care, Alex."

I broke away from the hug and took one last look at my friend before I apparated to my house. Immediately making my way towards my enchanted trunk. I did not spend much time in my actual house. Most of my time was spent in my enchanted trunk, caring for my beasts and studying them. I entered the enchanted trunk and found myself in the cottage that was in there.

I took off my coat and was making my way towards the front door when my eyes fell on the letter from the Ministry of Magic. Right, I had completely forgotten about that. I should have asked Ominis about it. I better open this, in case it is important.

Dead Ms. Fawley,

The Department of Mysteries requires your expertise on confidential research they are conducting. You are expected to be at the Ministry on the 10th of January at 9 am for a debriefing by an Unspeakable about the nature of this research. Please report to the front desk on Level 9.

As this is confidential, we expect you do not speak about this to anyone that is not the Unspeakable you will meet on the 10th of January.

Hope you are well.

Yours sincerely,

Augustus Rowle

Department of Mysteries

Ministry of Magic

Well, that did not sound like I had a choice about this. No question if I wanted to help or not. Just a demand for my help on something they will not even disclose with her beforehand and when I am expected to be at the Ministry. They did not even specify which expertise they were talking about. I can't imagine this being about my knowledge on beasts. What could this possibly be about?

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Thank you so much for reading. I am sorry that this chapter was not that long. The first few chapters will be like this, but they will get longer along the way.

I am planning for this to be a long story, especially because it will be a slow burn.

Please let me know what you think and if there is something you would like to see in this story, feel free to leave a comment and I will see what I can do!

Happy reading!

Laura