The Story of Ominis Gaunt //Hogwarts Legacy

Chapter 1 - 4

Ominis stood perfectly still with the poker in his right hand and the cane in his left. There - even though the two eyes observing Ominis were absolutely there.
　Ominis strained his ears. He no longer felt the warmth of the flames, and his whole body broke out in a beading cold sweat. The sound of breathing, the rubbing of clothes, the sound of knees scraping the floor in the fireplace over there ......... whatever. 'Look for evidence that someone is there,' he said. But whatever noise the intruder made was hidden by the crackling of the fire.
　Ominis became curious about the mysterious visitor, who did not make a single sound. After all, the visitors could do no harm to Ominis.
　Ominis thought. There is no clear sense of hostility from the two eyes. Who would want to be in the Slytherin common room this early in the morning? What kind of person would not run away, knowing that Ominis was the only one left in the common room? Is that guy trying to tell Ominis something, without saying a word?
'Who the hell is this? Where did you come from? What the hell do they want with me?"
　Ominis was slowly approaching the fire, as if an invisible rope had been wrapped around his body and was being pulled from the other side. With a metallic clang, the poker slid unknowingly from Ominis's left hand and struck the floor. Ominis reached his left hand into the flames...
Whoa!"
　Ominis' stomach turned over. He touched human skin - a hand! A bony finger emerged from the flames - and grabbed Ominis' wrist. Ominis was not to be outdone. Quickly, like a snake finding its prey, it seized the other man's wrist. Ominis gritted his teeth. Ominis and his opponent tried to pull each other down into their world, throwing their weight against each other as if they were playing a tug-of-war.
............!"
　Finally, a sound like a voice escaped from the throat of his unnamed opponent. Hearing this, Ominis almost stumbled into the flames - it was a man. He wasn't sure if it was a familiar voice or not. This time, Ominis took a firm grip on the other's wrists without holding back. The balance between the two men was shifting, and it looked as if it would finally come to an end.
　Suddenly, he heard the bedroom doors opening one after the other. Ominis reflexively turned towards him. In that momentary lapse, Ominis's wrist was jerked free from his opponent's arm. With a thud, Ominis fell back onto his buttocks on the carpet. On the other side, there was the sound of pottery cracking.
　Sparse footsteps entered the common room with morning greetings. Almost as soon as the students appeared to be the first to get down for breakfast, the fireplace was plumb out of sight. Ominis was stunned and unable to move.
'What's the matter, Gaunt? Are you sleepwalking? 'Hey, you look like you've had a nightmare. Are you alright?"
　A supervisory student entered the room and approached Ominis quizzically.
'I'm fine, ............ I just lost my balance.'
　Ominis said bluntly and got up. I didn't want to look so bad in my pyjamas amongst all the students who had finished their morning preparations and changed into their uniforms. Ominis did not look back at the fireplace for example, but turned to go back to his bedroom.
'Wait a minute, ......, it looks like you broke something when you fell. Did you drop him on the mantelpiece?'
　A supervisory student stopped her.
'If it's dormitory equipment, you'll have to pay for it, but ...... it looks like it belongs to you. Here ...... it's sharp, so hold it carefully so you don't hurt yourself. Where's the rest of the debris? In the fireplace? 'Well, ...... then, well, let the ...... house-elf  clean it up.'
　The supervisor student pressed something angular, about the size of a piece of cheese, into Ominis's hand. The sound of the supervisor's footsteps moving away.
"Ouch."
　Ominis was so excited that he forgot the advice of the supervisor student and clutched the object in his hand.
-The sound of something cracking just before the intruder disappears - this is it! This must have been a piece that had scattered to our side when it broke!
　Ominis strode swiftly into his room.
　Even with his wand, Ominis could only make out the blurry outlines of the object in black and white, but if he asked a ......... transfer student, he might be able to find information about the other side from this shard.

　オミニスは右手に火かき棒、左手に杖を持ったまま完全に静止した。そこに───オミニスを観察するふたつの眼が、絶対にそこにあるのに。
　オミニスは耳をそばだてた。もはや炎の温かさは感じられず、全身からはビッショリと冷や汗が吹き出した。呼吸の音、衣擦れの音、向こう側の暖炉で膝が床をこする音.........なんでもいい。何者かがそこにいるという証拠を探すんだ。しかし、侵入者がどんな音を立てたにせよ、それは火のパチパチという音に隠されている。
　オミニスは声ひとつあげない謎の訪問者に興味が湧いてきた。結局、訪問者はオミニスに害を与えることはできないのだから。
　オミニスは考えた。ふたつの目からハッキリとした敵意は感じない。こんな早朝に、スリザリンの談話室に用があるのは誰だ？談話室にオミニスだけが残っていることを知って、逃げ出さないのはどんな人物だ？そいつは、無言のまま、オミニスに何か伝えようとしているのか？
「いったい誰なんだ？どこから来たんだ？俺に何の用があるっていうんだ？」
　オミニスは自分の身体に見えないロープが巻きつけられて、向こう側から引っ張られているかのように、じりじりと炎へと近づいていった。金属質な音を立てて、オミニスの左手から知らず火かき棒が滑り落ちて床を打った。オミニスは左手を炎の中へと伸ばした───
「う、わっ！」
　オミニスの胃はひっくりかえった。人間の肌に触れた───手だ！わしっと骨ばった指が炎の中から現れ───オミニスの手首を掴んだ。オミニスも負けなかった。蛇が獲物を見つけたときのように、すばやく相手の手首を捕らえた。オミニスは歯を食いしばった。オミニスと相手は引っ張り合いっこをするように、お互いに体重をかけて自分たちの世界へと引きずり込もうとした。
「............！」
　ついに名も知らぬ相手の喉から声らしき音が漏れた。それを聞いたオミニスは炎の中につんのめりそうになった───男だ。知ってる声かどうかは分からなかった。オミニスは今度こそ手加減せずに、相手の手首をがっちりと握った。ふたりの間のバランスが崩れ、ついに決着がつくかと思われた。
　ふいに、寝室のドアが次々に開く音がした。オミニスは反射的にそちらを向いた。その一瞬の気の緩みで、オミニスの手首が相手の腕から振り解かれた。オミニスはドタッと音を立てて絨毯の上に尻餅をついた。向こう側でパリンッと陶器が割れるような音がした。
　まばらな足音が、朝の挨拶とともに談話室に入ってきた。朝食に一番乗りで降りていこうとする生徒たちが現れたのとほぼ同時に、暖炉の方はぷつりと気配が消えた。オミニスは呆然として動けなかった。
「どうしたんだゴーント。寝ぼけてるのか？───おい、悪夢でも見たような顔してるぞ。大丈夫か？」
　部屋に入ってきた監督生が訝しげにオミニスに声をかけた。
「大丈夫です............バランスを崩しただけです」
　オミニスはぶっきらぼうにそう言うと立ち上がった。朝の支度を終えて制服に着替えた生徒たちの中で、パジャマ姿で無様な姿を晒すのは嫌だった。オミニスは例の暖炉を振り向きもせずに、自分の寝室に戻ろうとした。
「ちょっと待て......君、転んだ拍子に何か割ったみたいだぞ。マントルピースの上から落としたのか？」
　監督生がオミニスを引き止めた。
「寮の備品なら弁償する必要があるが......君の物みたいだな。ほら......尖ってるから怪我しないように気をつけて持てよ。残りの破片は？暖炉の中か？......それなら、まぁ......屋敷しもべ妖精に片付けさせろ」
　監督生はオミニスの手にチーズの欠片ほど大きさの角張った何かを押し付けた。監督生の足音が遠ざかっていく。
「イタッ」
　オミニスは興奮のあまり、が監督生の忠告を忘れて手の中のものを握りしめていた。
───侵入者が消える寸前の何かが割れる音──これだ！これは、割れた拍子にこっち側に飛び散った破片に違いない！
　オミニスは足早に自分の部屋に入った。
　オミニスはたとえ杖を使っても、白黒で描かれた物のぼやけた輪郭しか知り得ないが.........転入生に頼めば、この破片から向こう側の情報を見つけてくれるかもしれない。