In the Brilliance of Longing | Ominis Gaunt

In the Brilliance of the Veil

(a/n: as always, feel free to skip the note, esp bc this one in particular might get a little sappy

as we approach the midway point of the fic (and YA novel-length!) i'd like to say thank you to everyone who has supported me thus far! writing this has been, strangely enough, a very healing experience for little teenage cottagecoreunderscore who dreamed of being a published author while writing her one direction fics on quotev back in the mid-2010s. i'm finishing up the last of the outline for this fic, and my mind has been full of ideas for a sequel already following the characters as they navigate their seventh-year. i'd love some perspective on the idea if you have any!also i would like to deeply apologize for the cliffhangers between each chapter, i love drama lmao)

10:26am - November 12th, 1891: The Undercroft

"Sebastian? I got your owl."

"Kitty, come here." He waved me over to the closed triptych. As I approached, he stared at me. "Are you alright? What happened?"

I looked away in embarrassment. No matter how much wiggenweld I used, there was an ugly burn wound extending from the left side of my chest up my neck and to the hollow of my cheek. It took up nearly a quarter of my face, and although it had already begun to fade, it wasn't the prettiest. "I'm fine."

A familiar darkness came to his eyes, but this time I wasn't afraid of it. "Did somebody hurt you?"

"Sebastian. The triptych."

He huffed and turned his head without another word, opening the two panels to Isidora's portrait. Although I hoped to see her there, it was still a shock when I did. "Isidora?"

She smiled softly. "It's me. Thank you for repairing my portrait in Feldcroft." I nodded. Isidora was a complicated subject, given the memories I'd witnessed the previous year. I have always recognized that what I was seeing was heavily biased toward the Keeper's agenda, but she still had gone off the deep end with her power.

She must have sensed the general distrust I held for her, as she began to explain herself. "The group of wizards that destroyed my portrait were after the repositories I had created. When I refused to give them the information they wanted they slashed me to bits. I could tell they did not want to better the world as I had attempted.

"When I began regularly collecting negative energy, I knew that I was creating a new form of magic; however, so little was known about it. I should have concluded my research before widening my practice. I will admit that there are some... addictive qualities to using the magic for one's own benefit, but I never expected it to be as powerful as it was. Nor did I expect a group of goblins and Dark wizards to find any of it. Were they successful?"

"They found and drained all but one repository. It caused a lot of damage, Isidora. I am very lucky to have come to Hogwarts when I did."

"So I am correct in assuming you possess our ability to see and wield ancient magic?"

I nodded. "The remaining repository was nearly taken by the leader of the rebellion, and now it needs to be repaired."

"I assume the remaining repository is the one beneath Hogwarts?"

"There's a repository below the castle?!" Sebastian exclaimed. "Kitty, why didn't you tell me?" Shit, I had forgotten he was still here.

"I had to do it alone, Sebastian. It's over now, though. It doesn't matter."

"Like hell, it doesn't! You just said it needed repair." I needed to think of a way to get him out of the undercroft so Isidora and I could finish our conversation privately.