Hogwarts Legacy: The Price of Power

The Sow, The Snake, The Sneak and The Stealth

As night drew in, Dracaena managed to convince Sebastian to go to bed and take some sleeping draught, with Ominis' assistance. No sooner was he settled under the covers and snoring that Ominis wound his arms around her waist, pressing soft, insistent kisses to the back of her neck. It didn't take much of that for her to give in to him, leading him back to the sofa for an hour of indulgence before they crawled into bed with Sebastian, taking up their customary positions and snuggling up together.

In the morning, Sebastian woke refreshed and eager to continue his research, complaining loudly when Dracaena insisted they spend at least a few hours revising. He made no mention of any nightmares, and she couldn't remember waking to him stirring and crying in his sleep. She crossed her fingers, hoping that the potion would let him salvage some vestiges of a normal sleeping pattern once more.

Once they'd done enough revision to convince Dracaena that they weren't all going to fail their exams, Sebastian dived for the pile of Fotheringham's books, requesting another from the Room to help him translate the reliefs depicted. Dracaena settled down beside Ominis, fully expecting them to be well into the start of term before they made any kind of headway with possible locations for the Source, but Sebastian rocketed out of his seat as though he'd been burned just after midday. She and Ominis jumped, the latter spilling tea all over his lap.

"It's here!" Sebastian yelped, holding the book aloft like a trophy.

"What do you mean?" Dracaena said, handing Ominis a towel as he hissed and spat under his breath.

"The markers!" Sebastian was almost dancing as he laughed. "They're here! They start here, at Hogwarts!"

"You can't be serious," Ominis said. "Are you sure?"

"More than," Sebastian said, rushing over. "Here, the book says the markers are all statues of animals, right? The first one is a soaring sow! A sow is a female pig, and the only winged pigs I've ever seen are-"

"The boars at the castle gates!" Dracaena said, grasping his forearm. Sebastian winced, then scooped her into a tight hug. "You're sure it's them?"

"Absolutely, it says here that the first marker is at the beginning of knowledge's journey," he grinned. "Obviously it means a school!"

"What about the others?" Ominis asked. "How do we find those?"

"Well..." Sebastian peered down at the book. "The next is a serpent, but the others aren't as clear. The sneak and the stealth, it says. We've just got to follow the direction each statue faces, and we'll come upon the next one."

"Right, so we have to go in a straight line? Or follow a path?" Ominis said. "And look for a stone serpent? Do you have any idea how large Scotland is, my friend?"

"Yeah, but... oh, fuck you," Sebastian said. "Don't you realise how great this is? We know the way!"

"Forgive me for trying to be realistic," Ominis said, folding his arms. "Don't misunderstand me, I'm impressed at what you've found, Sebastian, but this thing is supposed to be well hidden. It can't be so simple."

"It wouldn't hurt to look," Dracaena said, reaching out to squeeze his shoulder reassuringly. "We've got a few days before term starts at least, and if we fly down from here, we won't be followed."

"Won't someone notice if we're curiously absent from the castle?" Ominis asked.

"We've barely left the Room, and no one's bothered to come and find us," Sebastian argued. "Come on, please? Let's see if we can find anything? If we can't by the end of the day, we'll just try again tomorrow, yeah?"