Hogwarts Legacy: The Price of Power

The Calm Before the Storm

A whisper of wind danced through the verdant trees of the forest, barely disturbing the soft stillness of sunlight, filtering through the boughs in golden streams. Dappled shadows winked across the ground, dancing to their own, private tune, fluttering gently. The trees surrounded a small clearing, the grass long and peppered with summer wildflowers of peach, aureolin and rose. A small stream hushed around one side of the wonky circle, the shallow water babbling in a voice as soft as a feather landing in hay.

Beside the stream lay two figures, their feet resting in the water. One was tall and blonde, his hair brushed back from his forehead above neat, slender brows, brows that were narrowed slightly over pale, sightless eyes. Ominis Gaunt sat up and turned his head slightly as the figure next to him sighed, stretching in the long grass, before they too, sat up.

Dracaena Hoctina brushed a hand over her forehead, sweeping back her long, dark hair in a swift movement. She glanced at Ominis, green eyes meeting opaque, and she grinned.

"It's such a beautiful day," she said. "I can't believe we're going back to Hogwarts in two days!"

"I know," Ominis replied, smiling himself. "And as seventh-years, to boot. Hard to believe, after all this time, we've only one year left."

"I hope this year's as uneventful as the last," Dracaena said, flopping back to the grass with a soft oof. "Really, all I want to have to worry about is the NEWTs."

"That's plenty enough worry for me," Ominis said, with a light chuckle. "It was somewhat of a blessing to only be perturbed by textbooks and essays. Not this year though. This year, we really have to focus, and put the effort in."

"Ah, we'll be alright, won't we?" Dracaena nudged him playfully with an elbow. "It's what comes after that worries me. I don't even know what I'll do once I've left Hogwarts! It's alright for the rest of you, you've had five years on me to think about it all."

"Longer," he replied. "A lot of us have come from wizarding backgrounds. Our parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles..." he trailed off a moment, his brow furrowing, before he shook his head. "Well. We've had much longer to consider where our careers might take us."

Dracaena swatted him. "That doesn't help me! I'm just lucky I did so well in my OWLS, I got to choose my favourite subjects. I just don't know what I'm going to do with them all. The careers advice at the end of fifth year didn't help much."

"I thought you'd go on to be an Auror," Ominis leaned down, propping himself up on his elbow. His eyes moved, seemingly roving over her, though Dracaena could tell he couldn't actually see her lying there. Good thing too, because she'd rolled up her trousers to a scandalous length, baring her calves to the late summer air. Grinning, she plucked at her blouse, allowing the sunlight to kiss a sliver of her belly.

"Really?" she said. "Why?"

"Well, let's see." Ominis rolled onto his back, tucking his hands behind his head. "You regularly snuck out of school to eviscerate poacher camps, tore apart Ashwinders by the handful, took down Rookwood and Harlow almost single-handedly, and then managed to save the whole school, if not the entire wizarding world, by kicking the arse of the most power-mad goblin that anyone's ever heard of. I'd say that was enough for me to think you like destroying Dark Magic."

Dracaena's laugh was a little forced. Ominis, and indeed most of the school didn't know what had truly happened below Hogwarts when Ranrok had tunnelled in, seeking the repository of Ancient Magic. The teachers who had been present had kept the information to themselves, partly for her protection, and partly for theirs. Who knew what Professor Black would do if he knew a student had the abilities she did, and that half the faculty had fought a terrifying battle right under his nose? Best it be kept a secret, like Professor Fig always wanted.