The Taltons' Shadow IRebirth of the Dark ArtsI - [Hogwarts Legacy Fan Fiction]

Believe the Lie

The air around the castle grounds was cool and light, and there was a gentle breeze blowing, rustling through the leaves. The night was clear without a single cloud, creating a peaceful feeling. Ivy stepped into the Slytherin common room without any company. The room was cold and completely dark, with a hint of dark green tones. It was quiet and somber in there, and she felt a chill as the darkness engulfed her. Her mind was still trembling from earlier. She didn't say much after parting ways with the other three. She merely told them that she had some other stuff to do and tried to look tough in front of them so they wouldn't ask her any questions.

The sound of the crackling fire in the fireplace calmed her down a little bit when she moved her body towards it. She leaned back on the black leather sofa in front of it, and her head felt heavy almost immediately. Her eyes went straight to the tall stone ceiling. She loved the common room. The big windows that showed the water outside, the fish that showed their pretty colors, and especially the freedom she felt here, in the Slytherin dungeon, as they liked to call it.

She enjoyed the evening; everything was calm and quiet, and she usually spends it with Sebastian, running around the empty castle, causing problems, or running away from Peeves, but not today. She was being a good student, and just that thought disgusted her. Ivy rubbed her eyes, and a deep breath escaped her lungs. Other Slytherin students were already in their bedrooms chatting or getting ready for sleep, but she refused to move.

Her eyes grew heavy almost instantly, but the heavy sound of the door opening disturbed her. She could hear slow footsteps on the stone staircase leading down to the common room. Her head slightly turned to the side so she could see behind her, and she noticed a boy who was gripping his wand in front of his body. Ivy was surprised to see him enter the room at this hour, and she definitely didn't expect him to be so calm about it either.

"Is someone in here, perhaps?"

Ivy turned her head back towards the fireplace and knew she could relax more. "Right here, Ominis."

"Ah, I knew it was someone I recognized. What are you doing up at this hour, and where is Sebastian?"

Ominis took a few steps closer to her and sat down on the sofa right next to Ivy. Her eyes were closed, and she felt comfortable in her spot. He couldn't see her expression or if she was looking at him weirdly or not, but he definitely knew how she was feeling.

"Sebastian is, as far as I'm concerned, already asleep."

"Wait, are you sure? Are you telling me that if I go into our room, I will find Sebastian Sallow asleep? At this hour?"

Ivy opened one of her eyes and noticed his face. It made her lips turn into a soft smile, and it amused her how easily Ominis can get excited over small things like this. "Just make sure you don't wake him up."

Ominis laughed a little at her comment and went back to his usual calm face. He definitely knew something more; Ivy could tell by his expression. "They told you, didn't they?"

"Yes, Devika told me. She made sure to also tell Caelum and Elise since she felt like they would help."

Ivy scoffs. "Yeah sure. It's not like we're dealing with a problem or anything. It's just an old book with an old name. Who cares."

Ivy tried to stay on top of things and forget about the whole book situation. They made a scene out of something too small and not important. That's what she wanted to believe, and she kept repeating it in her head, knowing that if she did it more and more, she would believe it. Ominis was different; his eyes were staring at her now. He wasn't sure if he was actually looking at her, but even through the blindness, Ivy saw worry in them.

"I'm not so sure about that Ivy. I wouldn't just brush it off and forget about it."

"Come on, Ominis, you can't tell me you actually believe them. Once again, they find something that they don't understand and bother others with it. It's normal at this point, like when Devika couldn't figure out the author of a book and refused to let us leave the library. It's the same annoying thing."

Ominis seemed to disagree with her. His hands were in front of his face. He usually did that when he was thinking about something. "Maybe it's worth looking into this. I know it can be rather uncomfortable dealing with family problems; trust me, I would know, but I wouldn't want us to ignore this either."

"If you guys want to waste your time on something so stupid as this, then be my quest. I won't deal with stuff like this; it's not like I care about it anyway, and I thought you would actually see how dumb they're being." Ivy's voice was hostile and mad.

Her body moved. She stood up and walked around the sofa. Her fists were clenched, and her eyebrows furrowed. She couldn't admit what she was thinking about, she already said that she doesn't care, and if she opened up in front of someone like Ominis, she would definitely get a lecture about being more honest with people and herself. She did not need that right now, but Ominis was faster than her.

The boy stood up as well, his eyes following Ivy's voice, so he knew where to turn. "Ivy, stop, please."

He could hear her take a deep breath and stop in her tracks. "If you want to lecture me, then save it, Ominis; I don't care about it."

"I'm not on their side, Ivy; in fact, I'm on no one's side, but even I can sense that there is something wrong with that book and its contents. If you don't want to do this for them, then do it for me or for Sebastian. I know he's surely intrigued. I just don't want anyone to get hurt because of this, and I definitely do not want any more problems."

Ivy thought about it for a second, and she couldn't believe that even Ominis was curious about the book. His words got to her, which she hated. She hated how much power Ominis actually had over her and how every single word made sense to her. Ivy knew that she herself was curious, and she also knew that Sebastian wouldn't let this go even if he was the last one to try to figure it out.

"Fine, let me be honest because it's you, Ominis, but if you tell anyone about this, it won't be pretty."

Ivy could see the small smile that formed on Ominis' face.

"And stop smiling at me; it's creepy."

"Alright, alright. I apologize," he said without stopping.

"I actually already checked if the copy is in our common room."

Ominis had a surprised look in his crystal-clear eyes. "Ah, I see someone's been doing their research already. Clever."

"Shut up, Gaunt." Ivy said and leaned against the cold stone wall behind her. "It's not here, I couldn't find it anywhere. So that book definitely came from our common room which brings up another sets of questions huh?"