The Start of a Legacy | Hogwarts legacy fanfiction | mc x Sebastian Sallow

Being Human

I cried. Cried because of the embarrassment, and because I had probably just lost two of my closest friends.
"Deek would like to know what's wrong," a voice came from left.
I didn't care what Deek thought, I unleashed the events of the entire night.
By the end of it I was exhausted.
"Wizards have always been unkind to elves, because they believe we are too powerful in comparison to them. Wizards are scared of differences. Especially when these differences are a threat to their livelihood. They think muggle borns will dilute their blood, and make them less powerful. Deek is sorry you had to experience this."
I was shocked. That was the most I had ever heard from an elf on this matter.
"No Deek, I'm sorry elves are enslaved."
He shrugged, "that's just how it is. We are used to it now. It's all we know."
My heart broke a little more when Deek said that.
"Thank you Deek," I said.
He smiled.

I slept in the room of requirement again that night. This time the room provided a bed when I asked. The next morning I woke up, eyes puffy from crying the night prior. Once again I returned to the common room to change. I was terrified I'd run into Imelda. Knowing her, without a doubt, the school knew of my blood status by now. I had all but confirmed I was muggle born by fleeing.
After I got dressed, I went down to the common room. I needed to see if everyone knew. As I walked though, not a single eye was on me.
'Perhaps she didn't tell anyone,' I thought.
I scanned the room. Ominis and Sebastian were by the fire.
Sebastian muttered something as his eyes met mine. Shortly after Ominis approached me.
"Aura, there you are. Come to the Undercroft with me," he said.
'Oh no, this can't be good.'
I followed Ominis, wondering what was in store for me.

We stood there silently. I was too afraid to ask what he wanted.
Ominis broke the silence. "Is it true?"
"Is what true?" I feigned ignorance.
He shook his head, "it doesn't matter anyway. Just make sure it stays a mere rumour. It could mean trouble for you."
"Imelda has probably told everyone by now," I said.
"You don't have to worry about Imelda, Sebastian handled it."
"Huh?"
"He was furious with her. Sebastian doesn't take kind to people who bully his friends like that. I must confess, I was so taken aback from the whole ordeal, I regrettably didn't say anything."
'Why would he do that?'
"Wouldn't that make her more inclined to tell everyone?" I asked.
A smirk grew across his face. "Sebastian likes having people in his debt. Whether that's by helping them, or having dirt on them."
"What does he have on her?"
"I can't say, but let's just say you get to high places by having wealthy parents at Hogwarts."
I gasped, "no! Is that how she became Quiddich captain?"
Ominis's smile grew wider. He didn't say a word.
"Anyway, you should probably thank Sebastian. He stood up for you."
I remained quiet. We weren't exactly in the best place right now. He was clearly upset about something, and he had every right to be. The way I was acting was to protect my own heart, and deep down, I knew it would hurt him. I mean how would anyone feel if your friend suddenly grew distant?
"Aura?"
"Sorry. I will thank him," I said.
"Can also you see if you can find out what's wrong with him?" He asked.
"I can try, but I highly doubt I'll be able to."
Ominis was his best friend, if he didn't know, then he wouldn't tell me.
"I wrote to Anne, asking if she was well. She said she was as well as she could be. However, I didn't bring up Solomon. I don't know exactly how Anne feels about how he treats Sebastian, but I will say; she never holds their uncle accountable for his actions."
"Is it really that bad?" I asked.
"Last time I went there with him he barely spoke to Sebastian. All he did was yell at him any chance he got."
"I can imagine that's only making him feel more isolated from him sister," I said.
Ominis nodded.
"Well I can try but I can't make any promises."
"That's okay," he said.
With that we parted ways.

I walked back to the common room instead of taking the floo flame because I needed to think. I wasn't entirely sure what to do if I saw Sebastian. Of course, I had to thank him. What then? How would our friendship be after that? Even more, how could I continue to distance myself from him if had been nothing but kind to me? That would just be cruel.
I entered the common room, keeping an eye out for Sebastian. He was there, where he always was, reading a book. It's topic no doubt had something to do with curses. I missed the days we'd sit and read together. As I approached him, he kept his focus on his book.
"Sebastian," I said.
His looked up at me, "I'm reading."
'Ouch, that was cold.'
"I just wanted to say thank you, for sticking up for me."
"I'd do it for anyone," he brushed me off, once again focusing on the book.
"Is everything alright?" I asked.
"I could ask you the same thing," his stared blankly.
He was angry with me. I couldn't blame him. I would hate me too.

———————

After moping for an hour, a distraction was presented to me. It was an owl from Professor Fig. It was finally time for the next trial. Professor Fig and I ventured to Rookwood castle, where we more or less defeated Ranroks loyalists and Rookwoods lot. It was all relatively routine at this point, that was until I spotted something that shook me to my core. We were beneath Rookwood's castle. It was incredibly dark, except for an ominous red glow. As we approached, Professor Fig and I realised it was a repository. The keepers had mentioned that ancient magic repositories that lay scattered around the Scottish Highlands, although I still didn't quite have the full picture. I watched the swirling glow that the repository emitted and had a foreboding feeling. This was incredibly powerful magic, and if Ranrok could get access to more of them, it would no doubt lead to a civil war.

We walked further until we came across an entryway to the next trial.
"I must leave you here," he said.
Professor Fig couldn't enter the trial.
I signed. I loathed the pensive guardians. They always outnumbered me.

I entered. Obliterating each guardian. After a particularly difficult battle against a gigantic guardian, I found myself in a familiar setting. I slowly approach a waist-up statue of man that towered over me. Beneath him lay a pensive. I touched it and looked up. A single teardrop fell from his eye and into the pensive. I plunged my head in. A scene appeared before me. I watched from a distant. Isidora had invited the Keepers to her home. Her demeanour showed she was excited of a new discovery. She ushered them to her dining table and sat them down.
"What if we could use out power to take away pain? A problem we've always thought magic couldn't solve," Isidora spoke.
I didn't like where this was going.
She exited the room, and returned with a man that I assumed to be her father.
He seemed stricken by grief.
I watched as lifted her wand up to his chest. Slowly a black, bubbling type of magic was drawn out. It looked revolting and unnatural. At the tip of Isidora's wand, she transferred it into a jar and trapped it, then breathed a sign of relief.
"Thank you," he said, gazing into her eyes lovingly.
I approached them, desiring to see the Keepers faces. Each had looks of horror.
"Isidora, what have you done?" Professor Rackham said.
The memory washed away. I pulled my head out of the pensive, gasping for air. I didn't know what to make of it. This was something else entirely. It was one thing to see and wield ancient magic, but it was another to use it as a tool to alter the natural order of things. What Isidora did was wrong. She had mentioned that her father hadn't been the same since her brother died, so she took his pain. What she failed to realise is that to live is to suffer, and living is striving everyday to stop that suffering. Taking something that is fundamentally human, and contributes to who you are as a person, is to make them inhuman.
That is what I told myself to make peace with my situation. I had suffered my entire life in that orphanage, however, that is what made me who I am. It gave me compassion for elves and goblins. It also gave me independence. Sure there were cons, but I wouldn't be who I am today. The universe can throw whatever it wants at you, and your only choice is to make of it what you can. It's not fair, but that is how the world works. Magic is a tool, not something that should allow you to play God.
I left the pensive room through an archway that looked upon the map chamber. My mind was swelling with new information. In one of the two previously empty portraits, a new person stood. It was a Professor from the memory.
"I'm Nimah Fitzgerald. Nice to meet you," she said in a thick Scottish accent.
I smiled, she was the third keeper.