Magicis Par // Sebastian Sallow

20. Zombies?

            Merlin, I hated this trial. It was almost worse the second time around, and knowing that I had to basically do two trials back-to-back again was far from encouraging. Not to mention, I spent the previous weekend dodging dragon attacks so Poppy and I could return the dragon egg.

Niamh's trial wasn't as difficult as the first two, but it was tedious in its own rights. The hoops I had to jump through in order to get to this trial were ridiculous. Professor McGonagall had known about the trials, so I was able to access her office when I needed to for Niamh's. But this time? This time I had to enlist Sebastian and Ominis to aid in retrieving one of Headmaster Black's hairs for the Polyjuice potion Professor Fig brewed for me. The boys enjoyed the experience so greatly that even Ominis tried to plot a way to do it again.

And then there was San Bakar's trial. I didn't even know where to find a Graphorn for the next trial. Last time, I got lucky that Hagrid had access to one. I didn't have to tame it or anything, which I knew to be a difficult task. I considered consulting Deek, as he helped locate and rescue a good number of beasts so far.

Though first, I needed to regroup after the third trial.

I returned to the common room both annoyed and a little disoriented to find Sebastian pacing the base of the steps. I internally groaned. I knew this wasn't good.

As soon as he heard my steps, his attention snapped to the stairs. "Good, you're back. We need to go." He took the steps two at a time until he reached me.

"What? Sebastian, I haven't eaten since breakfast, and—"

"There's no time. I know where the final piece of the triptych is." I stared at him for a moment as I assessed the severity of his plea. Sebastian took my silence as the need to explain. "I spotted droves of Ranrok's Loyalists coming up from the coast and overheard one saying they're headed to another cavern, like the one we found. How are they still one step ahead of us? They can't know about the triptych."

"Please tell me you weren't spying on them," I implored. "I thought I was clear about others getting involved. I cannot stand to lose another person to this war."

He huffed and crossed his arms over his chest defensively. "You're not the only person with something at stake, Clara."

I chose not to retaliate, but I wanted to. "I just finished the third trial and saw another memory. We need to be careful with this ancient magic. What Isidora did, what she was capable of...it's dark and dirty magic, Sebastian."

"That's just what they want you to think," he hissed.

"I have been studying and learning to harness this power for years. I have learned under some of the best witches and wizards the world has known in a time where magic was far more advanced than it is now. Their message did not waver over time. We need to tread carefully."

"They're playing games with you. You need to press them for more information!"

"And you think I haven't? They can't answer what they don't know! Even one hundred years into the future, they didn't know! It's not as easy as you think."

"Either they don't trust you or you don't care enough about Anne to ask the difficult questions."

I visibly recoiled from his response. I knew they didn't trust me now, but they did trust me in my time. We had many candid conversations about the ancient power and what they thought it to truly be capable of. They did believe it could be capable of healing to an extent, but it was unethical to experiment. I agreed.