Of Cunning Minds: Sebastian Sallow

Chapter 18 - The Sleepy Village

Ominis plucked a decanter of whiskey from one of the shelves in the study and poured two hearty glasses. He handed one to Thea before returning to his armchair and taking a long, slow swig of the amber liquid.

"Explain," he said simply, tilting his glass so that the whiskey swayed back and forth.

Thea took a cautious sip and relished the way in coated her tongue. It was dark and smokey. She let out a shaky breath and gripped the cool glass between her hands.

"A couple months after we finished our seventh year at Hogwarts, Anne was transferred to the permanent resident ward of St. Mungos."

Ominis waved his hand impatiently, gesturing for her to continue.

"I visited her and saw that the curse had infected even more of her body. It had interwoven itself with her soul. Even with my ancient magic, it would be almost impossible to destroy the curse without leaving Anne as an empty shell of a human being."

"That's the mistake Isidora Morganach made, correct?" Ominis asked.

"Yes, I don't think she realized the delicacy of the soul when it comes to magic. Just one wrong spell could rip away a person's emotions."

"If it's that risky, how did you manage to remove the curse?"

"I went to St. Mungo's every night for almost a year. Using ancient magic, I carefully isolated bits of the curse and extracted them from Anne's soul piece by piece. It was a slow and grueling process. When I finally finished, she asked that I help her make it appear that she had died." Thea gulped down more whiskey. "She said she wanted to escape everything that had happened."

Ominis was silent for several minutes. He alternated between sipping from his glass and rubbing his temples. "I think there may have been a mistake," he eventually sighed.

"Regarding what?" Thea pinched her brows in frustration.

"The sorting hat." Ominis chuckled and set down his drink. "I take great pride in our house, but clearly you are far too selfless to belong in it."

It was Thea's turn to laugh. "You think I'm selfless?"

"Thea, I watched you stretch yourself thin during our fifth year trying to help Sebastian find a cure for Anne. The fact you never gave up on that endeavor speaks volumes on your character—"

"I didn't do it for her," Thea interrupted. Her eyes became glossy as she studied the fire. "I mean, it was truly tragic that she was cursed, but I don't want you to think I'm some Hufflepuff just because I kept a promise I made." She shivered despite the warmth of the room.

Ominis exhaled as he sank further into his chair. His mouth was slightly agape. "I'm sorry, you went through all that effort to save Anne simply because you promised Sebastian that you'd help her?"

When Thea remained quiet, Ominis continued.

"Please don't tell me you risked your life performing complicated magic for days on end because of a stupid childhood crush," he lectured.

"Of course not." Thea glared at him as she rose from her chair. "I think you understand my motivations just fine, Ominis."

He scoffed and stood as well, following Thea as she made to leave the study. He caught her arm just as her hand closed around the doorknob.

"And what makes you say that?" he challenged.

"Maybe you should think about why you killed that man tonight." Her words made him flinch and a devasted expression appeared on his face.

"I-I had to, he was hurting her," he stammered. His hand fell from her arm.

Thea hadn't realized she had started to cry. She angrily brushed away her tears as her next words came out as a mere whisper.