The Darkest Enchantment

CHAPTER 9: Scriptorium Part I

Y/n's POV

Stepping into the entrance of the scriptorium sent shivers down her spine, even though she knew the doors had already been opened and there was nothing to be afraid of.

The entrance door was already sealed when she was walking down the stairs and once she put her foot down on the ground, the stairs behind her moved up, just like she remembered. Leaving the only way out of here by going forward.

The smell of damp and moss, along with the cold stone walls took her back to the moments when the three of them walked through the corridors. Sebastian only had eyes for the end goal, he didn't give a damn about what Ominis had to go through and not once did he bother to check if she was alright after she volunteered to be hit with the Cruciatus Curse. Only Ominis, whom she hardly knew at the time, worried about her.

The place remained the same, frozen in time, yet from her perspective, everything had changed.

Determined, she moved forward to the first challenge but once she got there, she froze in shock. The door with the snake ornaments was locked. She was trapped. The entrance behind her was closed and out of reach and the door in front of her would open only to descendants of Salazar Slytherin.

But the next thought made her gasp in horror. Goosebumps covered her body and she began to tremble. If this door was closed, then all the others were closed too.

The memories flooded her mind, the pain she felt when the red flash from Sebastian's wand hit her body. The unbearable agony and her blood curdling screams, the Cruciatus Curse...

She clutched her hair in desperation. How could she be so stupid as to assume that the doors had stayed open after her last visit.

Maybe she could get through the Snake gate if she tried to speak Parseltongue. But that would only get her one step further. It really didn't matter at this point if she would stay trapped here or there and anything felt better than to say at one spot.

So, parseltongue... she had heard Ominis last time they were here, and a few times after. He would speak it when he got upset sometimes. Y/n doubted he even noticed that. She could have tried to imitate the sound.

"Haaethaasssseyythaahaa..."

To her surprise the strange words caused the snakes on the door to move and unlock it. Y/n walked into the next room and behind her the snake door slammed shut and locked itself. The next task was to complete and although it didn't require any special skills, she first leaned against the wall and buried her face in her hands.

Being alone in those cold corridors was terrifying. She slid down the wall and crouched in a corner. The snake with the symbols underneath looked her way expectantly, but y/n made no move to begin the puzzle. She closed her eyes and tried to think clearly. There had to be a way to open the third door without having to use an Unforgivable Curse.

Perhaps Noctua had missed something, a loophole in Salazar Slytherin's entangled system. There had to be another solution! There was no way she could allow Ominis to go through his childhood trauma again. She couldn't even imagine how horrible it would be for him to cast the curse on her, she knew she wouldn't be able to do that.

How could Sebastian have cast the dark enchantment so easily? He hadn't even needed several attempts, he had succeeded immediately. For the last two years, y/n did all in her power to push away this experience and the painful truth, that he really wanted to hurt her. But here in these surroundings, she was forced to go through it again.

She had enough time to recall all the details, replaying the decisions made over and over again in her mind. The entire course of events unfolded before her, vividly...