Ten years after I began at Hogwarts, Sebastian Sallow is back. And he's Professor Sallow now. He disappeared after the fall of Ranrok and Rookwood, after I lost Professor Fig, and after Ominis and I couldn't keep him from losing himself. But I never...
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"Ah ha! Here he is!!" Thiago's voice bellows towards me. The sound of his shoe's soles ticking quickly down the hallway's marble floor sounds as much like fresh rain as his presence feels like it washing over me. I suddenly feel like a kind of humanoid syrup-person as the kindly grip of his hands squeezes my shoulders.
Having not seen Thiago at all today, it's easier to note the impact of his presence. It is an arrival. A comfort. A joy. A respite I never thought I could feel.
"I have but two questions for you, my friend," Thiago says mischievously as he comfortably links my arm in his to lead me up the stairs at the end of the hall. His tone of voice runs through me like a wild toddler might run through my family's manor, pulling down the many curios that display all the precious objects – only in this case it's my composure and my serenity on the precarious shelves and he causes them to all smash across the cold and unforgiving floors of my cynicism.
"Go on..." I encourage him.
"First, I must know how hungry you are?" he says with interest, pausing for my answer.
"Oh!" My stomach tightens in response to the suggestion. "I have to admit I'm bordering on famished. Imedla kept us as late as she could and I had to freshen up..."
Thiago's steps halt. "Mister Gaunt, your words bring me to shame," he says melodramatically. "In my excitement, I have been the most distracted." He releases my arm and from the slight gust of air I feel and sound of his billowing overcoat, I think he may be bowing deeply as he says, "please accept my apology and allow me to begin the way I should have from the start. And yes, I am bowing for you feel like royalty to me!" I feel him take my hand, gently, with both of his. It has a curious impact on the state of my mouth and throat, removing any and all traces of saliva.
"I, Thiago Braga, could not be more honored by your presence, Sir Ominis Gaunt. I thank you to the top of the highest spire of this enchanted castle for the gift of your time this evening."
I can practically hear his own smile harmonizing with the poetry of his words as he speaks them. His enthusiasm overwhelms me. I've never come across anyone even half as vibrant.
"And before we go on," Thiago says confidentially towards me as he interlocks our arms once more, "I hope it is not too much for me to say that you radiate more brilliantly than the light of every moonbeam."
The sensation of feeling like I could swallow my whole tongue almost distracts from the sensation that I could swear I feel the pull of a hand drawing close to my face though it never lands so I can't be certain.
His words are perplexing. Complicated. Mystifying.
Unable to mask the shyness I feel, I clear my throat and push myself past bravery by saying, "perhaps I ought to share that your presence feels to me like a fresh rain this evening." A soft exhale of confidence escapes his nose and his mouth crackles as his grin grows. When I hear his lips part and the clicking of his tongue and lips against his teeth, it's almost as if he's attempting to say something. But if I had my guess, I'd say he was grasping for words. I can't deny I quite like the feeling of stymying the confident Professor Braga.
