In the Shadows of Romance/Sebastian Sallow x MC

Prologue (Redone:July 2, 2023)

The Hero of Hogwarts.

The Hero of Hogwarts arrived at the school of witchcraft and wizardry in their fifth year, a rare occurrence, and though they had been excited to join the school they had a lot to learn. On the ride over, they and their mentor had been attacked by a dragon and one portkey later ended up in an area the lead the fifth year to realize they had the ability to see and use ancient magic. The events to follow that fateful day though the new student's fifth year were like no other.

There had been a goblin that went by the name of Ranrok that had been after the magic, so much so that he had allied himself with a dark wizard named Rookwood. Together they had formed quite the revolt. Between their loyalists as well as getting caught up in hunting down poachers, the new fifth year had their work cut out for them. They had come to find a place in the Hogwarts castle called the Map Chamber, it's where the fifth year found paintings of old professors from Hogwarts. They had explained more of the ancient magic the fifth year could wield and had sent the fifth year through a set of trials. And along the way the student learned what their magic could do, in both good ways and bad.

Each trial led up to harnessing the magic better, until the student was stopping Ranrok from abusing the repository of ancient magic that lay hidden under the school. Along the way the student lost their mentor and was given the choice to either contain the magic back into a repository or consume and absorb the ancient magic.

That was the story of the Hero of Hogwarts, except the story had one major flaw. There was no Hero of Hogwarts. No new fifth year coming in late...there were two. It was Heroes of Hogwarts, both blessed with the ability to use the ancient magic. A pair of twins, though they be different houses, a Gryffindor and a Ravenclaw, they had managed to take down Ranrok and his loyalists. A brother and sister who went by the surname of Grey. The odds had been stacked against them from the beginning and somehow they had come out as victors, though they did lose their father figure and mentor Professor Fig.

The Grey twins, Avery Echo Gray, Echo for short, had the bravery and chivalry of Gryffindor and Icarus Dante Grey, had the wit and intellect of Ravenclaw. The two had made friends through the year and the trials they had been put through. They had met a Hufflepuff who taught them the beauty of the beasts surrounding them. Natty, a girl from Echo's house, helped them through defeating Harlow, a loyalist of Rookwood. Two Slytherin boys named Ominis and Sebastian had taught them how the dark arts affect those around you. Those friends were just grazing the surface of friendships they made, but it all meant nothing to the fifth years if they couldn't keep their humanity.

Though they had come out as victors, stopping Ranrok, they weren't any better than the villains of their story.

Sebastian Sallow, who's own twin, Anne, had been cursed by Rookwood. The teen had been in search of a cure for his sister when he met the Gray twins. They managed to help him, or so they thought, in looking for a cure. Along the way they learned some of the most unforgivable curses from Sebastian himself and that was with the warning from Ominis to not go down the dark path, but the Grey twins wanted to help. They ignored Ominis' warning and though the teen was there with them every step of the way he had been in disagreement since they had found and entered the Scriptorium, the place they found a dark arts book from Salazar Slytherin himself and where Ominis' own aunt lost her life when she could not make it on her own. With that aside, through helping Sebastian they had found the truth of Isidora, a young witch who possessed the same ancient magic as the Grey twins. She had gone down a dark path with her magic, taking pain and emotion from those around her. That was where the Grey twins found their downfall, the twins so desperately wanted to help find the cure for Anna that they had considered using their magic to do the same as Isidora.