𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐖 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐑 || 𝐒𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰

Chapter Twenty-One: Salazar Slytherin's Secret Scriptorium

Chapter Twenty-One

After pestering Ominis for what felt like weeks, Sebastian was able to at least get him to tell him a bit more about the Scriptorium. But Ominis was still hesitant. Not wanting to pester him further, Sebastian sent an owl to Matty requesting that he meet her outside the Slytherin Common room so he could speak to her.

So Matty, like really any other night by now, snuck out of her Common room and down to the Slytherin dungeons.

She met Sebastian outside of the Common room. "You're here. Brilliant." He said as he watched her walk down the stairs.

"I received your owl. What happened with Ominis?" Matty asked, raising a brow.

"I told him none of us will be able to avoid Dark magic forever. So the more we know about Salazar Slytherin and the Dark Arts, the better prepared we'll be." Sebastian explained. "Unfortunately, only a Gaunt knows the location of the scriptorium entrance and Ominis won't tell me."

As hesitant as Matty was to be getting mixed up in business with anything related to Salazar Slytherin—after all, she was a Muggleborn and wouldn't even be let into the school if his ideas of only allowing purebloods into the school had been pushed—she wanted to help Sebastian find a cure for Anne. Solomon himself mentioned that her curse was from Dark magic and if it were caused by it, perhaps it could be reversed the same way.

She didn't want to pressure Ominis, but she had made a promise to Sebastian.

"Hmm. Perhaps I should have a chat with Ominis." She suggested.

Sebastian furrowed his brows—he almost looked humored for a moment. "You? Hmm, I suppose it's worth a try, but don't get your hopes up. Ominis is annoyingly stubborn. Nothing new." He said. "I know where he is. I'll lead you to him and then leave you to it. Come on."

He led Matty down a corridor of the dungeons and Matty got a bad feeling about all of this. She felt like she wasn't meant to be down here but she wanted to help.

"Keep an eye out. Never know who's watching—although that hasn't stopped us before." Sebastian said, referring to how late it was and how they could get into some serious trouble for being out of the common rooms after hours.

"Strictly speaking, it has. We were caught." Matty replied in a bit of a teasing tone.

Sebastian rolled his eyes. "Ugh, that poltergeist. Such a nuisance." He said, remembering how Peeves was the reason why they got caught in the first place.

They walked down the corridors before Ominis was in sight. "There he is. Good luck." Sebastian said as Matty nodded and walked ahead to Ominis. Before she even had to speak, Ominis knew she was there.

"What are you doing here?" He asked with confusion in his voice.

"Hello, Ominis. Do you have a moment?" Matty asked, trying to keep on a polite tone. She wasn't going to get anywhere with this conversation if she acted like Sebastian and pestered him.

Ominis furrowed his brows. "What is it? What have you and Sebastian been up to now?" He questioned.

"Well, first off. I owe you an apology, Ominis. I wasn't honest with you before about the Undercroft. Sebastian did show me." Matty said, wanting to make it clear to him. "He wanted me to have a safe space to practice some spells—to try and catch up to the other fifth-years. He didn't think you'd mind."

Ominis sighed. "I suppose that makes sense." He sighed. "It's just—Sebastian has been pestering me lately about something and I'm frustrated with him." He had a bit of an angry expression on his face—a sign of his frustration.