Hogwarts Legacy: The Price of Power

Born in Fire

Dracaena, Ominis and Sebastian all froze as down below them, they heard the front door slam.

"Oh, fuck," Sebastian said, and they disillusioned themselves. Dracaena dashed to the bookshelves, hurling the wooden box up to the top. Borne by desperation, or perhaps the magic she was failing to hold onto, it sailed up and settled atop the shelves. She ran to the others, the three of them tearing into the corridor, where they pulled up sharp.

Someone was coming up the stairs.

Sebastian snatched her sleeve, and she grabbed onto Ominis. The three of them backed away from the stairs, creeping along the corridor as Mr Valentine appeared. Dracaena's heart was in her throat, and she held her breath, her watch searing with heat, staring at him with new eyes as he paused at the top of the stairs, his eyes narrowing.

An Ashwinder. Here, in her village! Working for the Ministry, no less!

They backed up further, passing the study as Mr Valentine made his way towards it. He raised his hand to the handle, then paused, a light frown creasing his brow. He turned, slowly, facing in their direction. All of them stood as still as stone, hardly daring to breathe, praying the disillusionment was enough. Mr Valentine's brows lowered further, and he suddenly strode in their direction.

They flattened themselves against the wall as he passed by, heading to the end of the corridor, where he stopped, his hands shooting out and feeling around in the air.

"Move," Dracaena breathed, tugging Ominis & Sebastian's hands. They crept towards the stairs, wincing at the tiniest scuffles of their shoes on the carpet. Her chest was afire, straining for breath, but she didn't dare take in more than the tiniest hisses of air. Beside her, she could hear her friends, both of them panting softly, so quietly, but still agonisingly loud. They reached the stairs, and she chanced a look back. Valentine was making his way along the corridor, his wand out, frowning as he swept it from side to side.

They inched down the stairs, clinging to each other. Dracaena's hand itched to reach for her wand, but she couldn't! She couldn't risk it, not if he worked for the Ministry!

They were halfway down when the stairs creaked.

All three of them froze, wincing, turning back to the top of the stairs. There was a moment of silence.

Then heavy footsteps thundered towards them.

Shitfuckshitfuckshit! Dracaena thought, unable to stop a sharp gasp rising to her throat. She pulled Sebastian and Ominis on, rushing down the last few steps and yanking them to the side, just in time as Valentine barrelled past, skidding to a stop in the entrance hall and staring around, his fists clenched, breathing hard.

"I know you're here," he muttered. "You set off my Exploratorem Charm, whoever you are. I'll find you, just you wait."

He raised his wand again, and Dracaena backed the three of them through the open door behind them, ducking into the kitchen just as he muttered "Finite Incantatem."

She hissed as their disillusionment charms ended, standing revealed in the kitchen. Sebastian and Ominis were pale beside her, turning to her with wide eyes. Wordlessly, she grabbed them and ducked behind the central counters, pulling them low.

"What do we do?" Ominis hissed.

"Fight our way out," Sebastian muttered, drawing his wand.

"No!" Dracaena said, grabbing his wrist. "If he's Ministry, we'll be for it if we attack him!"

"We have to do something!" he hissed back.

"Unless either of you know how to remove memories, we need to sneak out," Dracaena whispered.