𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐖 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐑 || 𝐒𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰

Chapter Twenty-Two: Dilemma

Chapter Twenty-Two

It had been a few days since Matty, Sebastian, and Ominis had gone into the scriptorium and found Salazar Slytherin's spell book and all three of them were still a bit on edge about it. But every moment Sebastian wasn't in classes, he was in the Undercroft studying it.

Matty tried to move on and just have some time to herself for a while, just to be normal for a bit. She played Summoners Court against Samantha Dale, competed in another broom trial, spent some time in the Room of Requirement out in the vivariums, or spent hours talking to Hope about whatever came to her mind. It felt good to be safe inside the castle walls.

She also took some time to catch up on her field guide. Now that she had a broom, it made it so much easier to get around now that she had a means of travel other than walking. And of course, Highwing was there too.

After school, Matty went down to the Undercroft to see if Sebastian had discovered anything in the spell book. So far, he hadn't said much about it.

When she entered, she saw Sebastian leaning over a table, looking at the book as his arms supported him. He seemed to be completely focused on the book and nothing around him since he didn't even hear the Undercroft gate open.

"How's it going?" Matty asked, walking over to him. Sebastian turned around, confused, before he realized it was her.

"Well, it's going alright." Sebastian sighed, running a hand through his hair. "This book has been particularly difficult to interpret. It's fascinating but frustrating at the same time. Although, I was able to discover a few more things."

Matty leaned over the table, looking at the book. "And those are?"

"Evidently, he encouraged the teaching of Dark Magic at Hogwarts. Neither the Imperius curse nor the Killing curse was unforgivable during his time." Sebastian answered. "He believed students should be prepared to use Dark Magic when necessary, not to fear it."

Matty sighed, leaning on the table wither her arms, facing Sebastian. "Of course he did." She said with a sigh. "Is there a single good thing about this guy? I mean, I don't blame Ominis for hating his family if they are anything like him."

Sebastian just chuckled. "There's a reason why the other founders didn't agree with him, Matty." He said. "But I suppose that's why we had to use Crucio to gain access to the scriptorium. He didn't want the knowledge shared with anyone who was afraid of the power of Dark Magic."

Memories of the scriptorium filled Matty's head. "Well, I'm glad we got out of there alive. But it's definitely not something I'd like to repeat."

"Of course, I completely understand. I don't think any of us would want to repeat that." Sebastian said. He had his own regrets and he didn't think the guilt of casting Crucio on Matty would ever leave him. "I was beginning to think going on there had been in vain but I found references to a lost relic which, from what I can tell, grants the holder the power to reverse Dark Magic curses."

Matty perked up a bit. "Like the same kind of Dark Magic that cursed Anne?" She asked and Sebastian nodded his head.

"Precisely that." Sebastian answered. "I want to search for this relic, in hopes of helping Anne. But I'm not sure if we should tell Ominis. He still doesn't seem too keen on any of this."

Ominis, right. He still wasn't happy about the scriptorium and understandably so.

"Perhaps we shouldn't tell him for his own sake. I don't necessarily want him uninvolved; I just don't want him having to go through anything like he did in that scriptorium again." Matty said, rubbing her arm and staring off a bit. She felt bad keeping information from Ominis but this was such a tricky situation.