The Hope beneath the Dark - Sebastian Sallow

28. I might be blind but not stupid

"Why? You never reached out to me during all those years, but you came and just wiped my memories?" I got up, confused but furious.

"I didn't wipe them. In fact, I didn't obliviate you really. I extracted them and placed them in a crystal. The same way, I suspect, is explained in the book your boyfriend read about. " He confessed

"But for what reason?" Sebastian questioned him.

"It's not dark magic, even if Salazar Slytherin thought it was at first. He wrote that book with Oswald. Actually, it was that book that made Oswald realise what Salazar's real motives were, but that's irrelevant." Tom explained. "Oswald could wield ancient magic. You can extract pain, but also memories. In fact, you could extract pretty much anything with decades of practice. I suspected for a while you possessed that ability too, but I wasn't sure until that incident at your muggle school. I wasn't there, but someone at the ministry recognised that kind of magic, a good friend of mine. Luckily, your case was brought to her first, and she reached out to me before doing anything."

"So she knew about your daughter?" Sebastian asked.

"She's the only one. We've been best friends since we were little kids. We both trust each other more than our own family." Tom explained. "I recognised that magic because I can wield it too. That's how I was able to extract your memories the way I did. I placed them in several fragments of the same crystal. I had to extract different parts separately. I managed for you to get into Hogwarts, instead of becoming the ministry's guinea pig. We were able to keep your ability for ancient magic from the ministry, well until they were made aware due to Ranrok's rebellion."

"What did I do? What happened that was so bad you needed to take away a whole year of my muggle life?" I asked.

"It was not my intention, but by extracting that memory, it also took away parts where the same people were involved." Tom explained.

"What did I do!" I insisted.

Tom hesitated and went silent until I got up and tried to leave. As my hand gripped the doorknob, ready to open the door, he finally spoke out.

"You killed a student." He finally confessed.

"I did what?" I answered in shock, unable to turn around and face my father, or Sebastian.

"It was an accident, but you were in shock for days, and we knew you would refuse to attend Hogwarts if you knew. That's why your grandmother had you moved, the summer before Hogwarts. You couldn't stay in Aberdeen after what happened."

"My grandmother knew about it?" I asked. "No, she would've told me!"

"It was too risky at that time." Tom explained.

Sebastian pulled me away from the door and hugged me. I didn't know how much I needed it until he took me in his arms and placed a soft kiss on my forehead. Even though we were angry, he was still there for me.

"Why send her a fragment?" Sebastian asked.

"It wasn't me. Eileen found them and sent you one. My family was always jealous of my power. I tried stopping them, but now they have the other fragments. I tried to retrieve them but was unsuccessful. That's why I'm in that state today."

"Aren't you like super stronger than them? Because I've seen what your daughter can do, sir!" Sebastian tried to joke.

"Yes, but they caught me off guard. I'll get them next time, but I just felt right into their trap..." Tom explained.

"I was caught by them too and I have that same power. They're sneaky, that's for sure." I added, then turned to my father with a death serious face. "I need the other fragments."