THE KEEPERS: A Hogwarts Legacy Story

Chapter 4

Sebastian sat at the dining table, chin in hand.

His eyes lazily chased clothes and books flying across the parlor. At the wave of Ominis' wand, they lowered themselves, one by one, into the duffle bag set aside on the table.

The term was to start tomorrow, but Sebastian was yet to start packing. He was preoccupied with an idea. He had resisted it at first - it seemed unnecessary, preposterous even - but the more he considered it, the more it compelled him, and his legs refused to budge until a decision was made.

He finally got to his feet and headed to his bed nook. He came back to the parlor with an armful of books and parchments in his arm and deposited them on the floor by the fireplace. He then drew a chair and cast Confringo into the fireplace.

"Are you cold?" asked Ominis doubtfully.

Sebastian sat down facing the fire. "I need to burn some things before we leave."

"What are you burning?"

"Everything I own related to the Dark arts."

"What?" Ominis wheeled around, surprised. "Everything?"

No answer. Sebastian picked up a stack of books and parchments from the floor and chucked it into the fire. The loud crackling noise was an answer enough.

"But I thought you cherished them," said Ominis. "Most of them are from your parents."

Sebastian shrugged. "I don't really need them anymore. I got other things to remember them by."

The crackling noise of the fire filled the silence. Ominis walked over to the fireplace.

"I'm - impressed," said Ominis, leaning on the dining table with arms crossed. "I wasn't sure you would ever truly walk away from the Dark arts. This seems to show your resolve."

Sebastian scoffed faintly. He wished he could agree. But to him, burning the texts was nothing more than a show. The knowledge he had obtained from them - all the Dark magic he had taught himself - remained in his head, and it would never be incinerated like the bits of parchment before him.

Neither would the decisions he had made. Solomon was dead, Anne was gone, and he couldn't reverse any of those consequences. But if burning the texts convinced his friends to leave him alone, he figured why not.

Ominis chuckled quietly. "I knew inviting Sunan was the right thing to do - even though you kept whining about wanting to see no one."

Sebastian shifted in his chair. The thought of seeing Sunan again at Hogwarts made him uneasy.

When arguments arose, Sebastian was rarely one to apologize first. He preferred to let things dissipate from one's mind. Let bygones be bygones.

Ominis was the same way. The morning after Sunan's visit, Ominis had walked past Sebastian in the kitchen and said, casually, "you should have said that the book was your parents' manuscript." He'd said nothing more, and that was all good and well with Sebastian.

On the other hand, Sunan never liked to sweep things under the rug. He had an aggravating tendency to lay it all down, plain and simple, and make sense of everything before moving on.

Knowing him, he would seek Sebastian out the first chance he got and list everything that had gone wrong in excruciating details. He might even say - for Merlin's sake - that he made Sebastian cry, and apologize for it. The thought sent heat to Sebastian's face.

But maybe Sunan would sweep this one under the rug. His face - as red as a Remembrall. Sebastian was tempted to scoff out loud. Why was he so abashed by the embrace when he was the one giving it?