Acceptance: Hogwarts Legacy Continued

Chapter 31: MC- tales of a keeper pt. 1

Diana went silently down the halls, it was very late, but she still had something she needed to do. She knew there wouldn't be anyone around this part of the castle, but she kept up her disillusionment spell all the same. She entered the map chamber and went into the secret room below. Once inside she dropped her spell, and headed through the maze-like cavern to where the repository of power was held. She had agreed, after meeting with the Keepers again, that she would keep this power safe and hidden. After the battle with Ranrok they had pushed her into taking up the mantle of the Keeper, and it weighed heavily on her.

She had spent the summer trying not to think about what affects this role would have on her future. She pushed the thoughts away, trying to hold on to the only warm summer she had ever known. But sadly summer does not last forever. This new life that she had, that she had been able to fully relish in the past few months, came with a price. The price of unknown power and responsibilities to safeguard it. She couldn't allow herself to be as carefree anymore.

She felt the surge of power before she saw it. It hit her like a crashing wave, radiating to her- wanting to be set free. She pushed past it, she never wanted more power. There was no temptation in the call- which she was grateful for. Being up close to it, she could see things were as they had been left at the end of last year.

In truth though, she wasn't really worried about anyone coming for the power anymore. Maybe in the future there would be someone who knew as much as Ranrok did, but she doubted it. Diana felt in her heart that she was now the sole living keeper of this secret- that not even the teachers who came to help her battle the evil forces truly knew what this was. Nonetheless, she was still troubled.

She had spent the last year doing all the keepers had asked of her, letting them try to keep her from turning into Isadora. While she understood their motives, she felt that they were... unsuccessful. She didn't despise her like they did. When watching the plight that the witch had gone through, for all she was trying to accomplish, she felt she understood her. Isadora cared so much about helping those around her. The Keepers had worked so hard to instill in her the belief that Isadora's actions, no matter her reasoning, were bad. Still she couldn't help but wonder if maybe they were only looking at her actions through the lens of fear.

Diana sat down on a stone, overlooking the cavern and thought about the memories she had seen about Isadora. She remembered the face of her father, from absolute misery to... well not misery at least. She remembered he had thanked Isadora after she had taken away his pain, but it seemed to leave him a bit hollow. She had freed him from the pain, but it was as if that pain was a part of him, as unwelcome as it might have been. Diana didn't think that losing any part of yourself was a good idea- the good, and the bad; it's what made each person who they were.

She thought about Ominis, and wondered if she had the power to give him his sight, would she? To take away his blindness. Her wish from earlier, to be able to help him experience everything he could, everything he had missed out on... not being blind would do all of that wouldn't it? Yet at the same time, being blind was a part of who he was, it shaped who he had become. It didn't so much define him as it did refine him. With all the things it made harder, she knew it also made him stronger. Even just his other senses seemed to be more powerful than the average person, as a way to compensate for what he did not have. Having sight would have changed him at his core, and she didn't want him to be anything more or less than how he was right now.

It would be great if she could give Ominis his sight or take away the troubles of those around her- she knew Isadora and her were the same in this. But Diana felt it wasn't what her powers were meant to do. How could she take away the things that in the end, made people who they were, it didn't feel right, no matter how much you cared about that person.

As her mind swirled with the ethics of it all, she felt the lateness of the hour press on her. She got up from where she sat, and stretched. These things were important, but they would have to wait until another time to be fully sorted through. She turned and headed back to the chamber. At the door she casted her charm again, wanting to avoid the other keepers' portraits if they were there. After escaping the map chamber unseen, she snuck her way to her common room.

As she stepped through the barrel the warm comforting air moved around her, adding to her drowsiness. She lumbered up the stairs and to her dorm room. Inside she found Poppy, asleep on her bed. She figured she had stayed up waiting for her to return so they could talk as they had planned- she would have to make it up to her tomorrow. Diana kicked off her shoes, and didn't even bother to undress, as she plopped down next to her friend, and fell instantly to sleep.