Ancient: The Legacy of Slytherin

Feldcroft Part II

Arabella POV

Finding the relic was no easy task. Sebastian and I fought our way through so many spiders I lost count. At this point we'd nearly perfected our fighting as a pair, but it still took a lot out of me. We were both sweating messes by the time we made it to a large, circular room with an archway that resembled a door, but no way through.

Sebastian's eyes darted around. "This is the type of great room I want to be buried in."

I laughed and shook my head, taking in all of our surroundings. "Seb, look at this. There's...a pile of bones. And a note."

"It looks like a page from the journal I have...it's the exact same handwriting. Look." Sebastian opened the little black book and held it out for me. He was right, the writing was the same.

"It says that the student devised a series of security measures so no one could access the relic. But then, why would they leave a note? There has to be a way forward."

"Revelio." Sebastian cast the spell and the pile of human bones shimmered blue.

"There! The bones. I wonder..." I used my wand to lift the bones and place them in the archway. Once the final bone was in place, the door in the archway opened.

"You're brilliant!" Sebastian lifted me up in a tight hug and then charged forward. I went to move and froze in place when I heard something that sounded like a ceramic vase breaking. When I whipped my head around, there was no one there. I made a mental note to keep my head on a swivel as we progressed further.

We faced one more arch with the same puzzle before we found ourselves at a dead end. On the other end of the room, behind spider webs, was a desk full of artifacts. If the relic was here, it had to be on that desk.

Sebastian must have seen it too, because he looked at me like he was debating whether or not to tell me something.

"Talk to me. What are you thinking?"

"I need to tell you something."

"Ok...what?"

"I don't think it's going to be easy as walking over to that desk and grabbing the relic. I know you have your ancient magic, but I want you to be able to protect yourself, from anything. There's a spell I want to teach you, if you're willing to learn."

"Sure, what is it?" He took a deep breath and looked me in the eyes.

"It's the Imperius curse."

My chest tightened. "Isn't that...an Unforgivable curse?"

"Yes, it is. I taught myself because I thought it was important to know, and they refuse to teach Unforgivables at Hogwarts. I won't force you to learn it, but it may help us in the fights ahead, especially if we're outnumbered."

An Unforgivable curse. How different could it really be from my ancient magic? I've already used my magic to kill, more than once. My magic had to be more dangerous than it. If Sebastian thought it was important, I trusted him fully.

"Ok, teach me." He smiled at me before taking a few steps back.

"Move your wand like this and speak the incantation 'Imperio.' Just don't aim at me, love."

"Alright. 'Imperio!'" I moved my wand just as Sebastian demonstrated, and a brilliant green flash shot out from it.

"Perfect, Ara!"

I heard another crash behind us but before I could turn to look, two Matriarch spiders and dozens of smaller ones emerged from the crevices of the catacomb walls.