PRAETERITUS - 𝕊𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕦𝕤 𝔹𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕤 𝔻𝕒𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕖𝕣

22 - Forbidden Books

꧁•⊹٭22 Forbidden Books٭⊹•꧂

Olivia Black was having an off day. Her morning was plagued with headaches, a dull, persistent pain radiating through her skull that felt as though it had frozen over. So when Rodger Davies wouldn't stop asking her questions in their history lesson, she had snapped a retort about his bad haircut.

Now she was wandering through the halls, feeling as though she were floating, her vision not her own. The lights seemed too bright, dazing her eyes and making her feel as though she were in a dream. She knew she was meant to be in Defence against the Dark arts, but she simply could not face the class. All she wanted to do was curl up in a dark hole and pretend she didn't exist. Instead, she opted for the library as a close second.

She loped into the grand room, the books blurring together as she walked past. Thankfully the lights were dimmer in here, saving her from the dizzying kaleidoscope of the outside world. Feeling slightly bad she would be missing the class, she felt obliged to choose a defence against the dark arts book, not wanting to get behind in the subject. 

Finding the shelf was harder than than she had expected, and she had hunted for it for a good while until it was found. Fittingly hiding in a dark corner in the far side of the library, the bookcase was shrouded in darkness and covered in dust. Shaking off her disgust, she plucked a random book from its depths and sank to the floor in a mass of robes, swirling around her lap. 

The book had no title, with only the authors name, Arthur Yaxley, printed in spiky writing on the spine. She imagined an old man, stooped in darkness and dust, scribbling across pages. Prizing open the book, a dim chandelier illuminated yellowing pages, which were cracked with age and creaking like old joints. 

The unforgivable curses, while powerful, scratch only the surface of the capabilities of dark magic. While the majority of the population preoccupy themselves with fear, they miss the true peril of the Dark Arts. That therein lies its beauty.

Olivia frowned. Beauty? It sounded like the strange man was supporting the dark arts, something she had been told time after time in her lessons was wrong. What could be beautiful about hurting people? She found it strange for Hogwarts to even stock such a book for students to access.

For while light is plain, the dark is infinite. We can craft any curse we desire, none too powerful. The only limit is our imagination. As we know, the dark has always shown more proclivity to crafting than the light, and its spells hold more power.

"Excuse me."

Olivia startled to see the librarian, Mrs Pince glaring down down at her with a stern expression.

"You are not allowed to be here, this is restricted access."

She felt the woman's accusatory eyes on her, flicking towards her tie and growing icier. Mumbling apologies, Olivia hastily shoved the book back on the shelf, trying to ignore the eyes following her out of the door. That made much more sense, she thought. The book wasn't meant to be accessed by students at all. Though something niggled in the back of her mind. While she didn't agree with the book's ideas, she never liked the thought of information being censored. And what was it saying about crafting dark magic? Olivia had always been told that dark curses couldn't be created, they simply existed, so why was the book saying the opposite?

Her face screwed in confusion, she tried to forget the strange book as she made her way to the great hall. Class would be finished now, she figured, and her friends would be making their way to lunch. Her stomach grumbled at the thought, eager for food. Walking into the hall her friends were easy to spot, Mia's faded green hair acting as a beacon.

"Hey guys." She sighed with relief as she sat down, glad to get off her feet.

"Oh hey. You alright? You missed Defence." Mia asked between mouthfuls.