Ancient: The Legacy of Slytherin

Fig-ures

November. Six months before the Goblin Rebellion of Hogwarts.

Arabella POV

"Arabella! I came straight from the Ministry as soon as I heard. Are you ok?" Professor Fig walked briskly to my infirmary cot, his brow creased with worry.

I sighed. Sure, I was happy to see him. Happy that he was finally back after weeks away. Happy I could tell him about everything that's happened. But Ominis had been so close to me again, his lips barely ghosting mine, before our moment was abruptly ripped away. Again.

I put on a fake smile. "Hi Professor, you're back from the Ministry! Yes, I'm ok. But we should talk. There have been a few...developments."

Professor Fig eyed Ominis, who was still seated on the edge of my cot. He looked at Ominis for a minute, then back at me, before he raised one brow. "Ominis, thank you for being here. Kindly excuse us for a few moments."

"Of course, Professor. Arabella, I'll find you later." Ominis' wand blinked its signature brilliant red color as he turned to leave the infirmary. I let out an exhausted sigh.

Why can't I lead a normal bloody life?

Professor Fig took Ominis' place at my bedside. "Tell me what happened while I was gone."

"Well, I found the missing pages to the book we were seeking. Once I placed the missing pages back inside the book, it became a key that opened something called the 'Map Chamber.' Inside, there are four sentient portraits. One of them is Professor Rackham, from the pensive memory at Gringotts. He was a professor at Hogwarts during the Tudor era, and he could weild ancient magic, like me. He told me I need to perform four trials that will teach me to hone my magic and make it more powerful. I already performed the first one. At the end, there was a pensive, just like Gringotts. It showed Rackham using ancient magic to heal a village that was suffering from drought. It looked like Feldcroft. And there was a girl, Isadora. She was there when they healed the village and then she started at Hogwarts during her fifth year. Professor Rackham also started his fifth year when he attended Hogwarts. I think she could weild ancient magic too. After I completed the first trial, Sebastian and I went looking for an ancient relic that allegedly has the potential to reverse dark magic curses, like the one that cursed his sister Anne. When we emerged from the catacomb, Feldcroft was being attacked by Ranrock's loyalists. One of them cut me with a blade that contained Acromantula venom, and now I'm here. I'm starting to think that the whole series of events in Feldcroft was a setup to distract me and hurt my friends. Like they knew that somehow I'd be there."

"Merlin's beard. You certainly have been through a lot, young one. I'd like to talk to you more about this Map Chamber once you're feeling better. But...how did you come to know about the relic?"

"Sebastian found a mysterious journal on his bed that belonged to a student at Hogwarts who learned under Salazar Slytherin during his time as a Professor here. We don't know who put it there, but Sebastian said we owed it to Anne to at least try and find the relic it spoke of. It also spoke of a Scriptorium here in Hogwarts, built by Slytherin himself. We haven't tried to find it yet, but it may have more information about the relic."

"Hmm. The fact that someone put this journal in Mister Sallow's dorm troubles me. It could mean that someone has gained access to Hogwarts who shouldn't, or that someone is using our students to further their agenda."

Professor Fig paused for a beat. "How much do you know about the Gaunts?"

"Just that they're a powerful family of Dark wizards whose lineage can be traced back to Salazar Slytherin. But Professor, you aren't suggesting that Ominis..."