Hogwarts Legacy : A Sixth Year Continuation

Chapter Twenty-Four : Ladies First

I had decided to go to the Library after I had awoken very late on that frosty Saturday morning. Hanging around for Ominis to finish his whiskey's had proved exhausting, never mind the amount my mind had raced after I finally did reach my bed. Sebastian could see me yet he hadn't said a word. Even curiouser than that he didn't seem to hear any of the conversation that the cousins had been having , yet I had caught every word. I thought back to them discussing how the mysterious object Mammy and I had apparently stolen was definitely not going to cure Anne Sallow's blood curse.

He had been sitting right there while they spoke about the lie in front of him. Yet he didn't as much as flinch. They were using him to manipulate me emotionally, and making him think he was going to cure Anne gave him his own motivation. But it was all a lie to get as many people on side as possible. As many people who had their own specialist gifts. Luka was able to read minds , Sebastian could probably sneak from Azkaban with the power of his disillusionment, and Ruby , a true heir to Salazar Slytherin , had more cunning and ambition than anyone else I'd ever met.

I gathered my book bag up and decided I'd really need to crack on with Gareth's cigarette case for the transfiguration assignment. I hadn't left myself a lot of time and I'd promised him he would win the house points.
I pulled on a thick black wool dress, it had been Mammy's and fit far too tight round my chest and thighs, but it was a piece of her. So I'd kept it. I dragged myself to the mirror , once more casting a glamour charm over my tired face. I needed to look put together in case I bumped into Sebastian. Maybe I could channel my inner Luka and try and seduce him. Would it work? Probably not. But it might be fun to try.

I made my way to the library. Students all out of their uniforms laughing and teasing each other. Probably on their way to enjoy a nice weekend in the last of the Scottish summer. I eyed them enviously as I readjusted the heavy bag over my shoulder. As I passed the large mermaid fountain in the centre of Hogwarts my hand brushed someone else's and an image struck like lightening behind my eyelids;

A black, corpse like hand, rotten, damaged.

I spun my head round to see who I'd bumped into but there were too many students running around after one another to hazard a guess at who it had been. I tried to concentrate on the task at hand and pushed on. Trying to shut that vision into another box that I could bury in the dirt of my thoughts.

The library was barren, which suited me. I was quite happy to have the space to practice my charm for Gareth. I decided it might be wise to head to the second floor, have a good view from the balcony in case Mrs. Scribner decided to appear and scold me for waving my wand around too much.

I spread all of my things out over a large table that could have easily sat eight or nine students. Observing the deserted library brought me comfort. This might indicate I wasn't the only student who wasn't preparing for her NEWTS. Instead I was bargaining my wand work for clues to a mystery that in the end might not even really matter that much.

I opened the tiny cigarette case and peeked inside. Just a slightly bigger metal vessel. Boxlike when you lifted the lid and looked downward. Not nearly big enough or interesting enough for what I had promised Gareth. Spectacular. The promise rang in my ears and made me cringe. Had I overestimated my abilities? In fairness he wasn't giving me a lot to work with at all. The cigarette case was fit for purpose. Originally only as thick as it would need to be to carry smokes for the owner. Now I had managed to extend the few millimetres into about a thirty centimetre deep box. But it was still very underwhelming.

I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate. I tried to channel the room of requirement's power through my own mind. I had managed to turn that room into many wide landscapes fit for all of the rescued creatures. Graphorns played by a vast beach, a phoenix called castle ruins his home. Thestrals in a large Forrest. Of course the room had helped me, but it was my mind that had created it.