In The Shadow of Our Choices

Chapter 109: Perseverance

Previously:
Young Albus Dumbledore approached Ominis, Elizabeth, and Sebastian to request help with something, which turned out to be his missing brother. Albus led the crew to an abandoned house, where they located young Aberforth parked in front of a large mirror. Sebastian recalled seeing this mirror in the Hall of Memories in Isvik, and they subsequently removed Aberforth from the situation, taking him home and leaving Ominis to deal with the mirror.

Additional general reminders of goings-on since it's been a while:
Ominis is engaged to Grace Pinch-Smedley, which his father is enforcing via Unbreakable vow, yet Ominis is also secretly dating Elizabeth (With permission from Grace, who is seeing Adelaide). Aria Blackwell is the librarian's aide, and there might be some slight tension there with Andrew Larson, and because of this, isn't ~entirely~ happy with her choice of career. Andrew, for his part, recently learned Sebastian is a murderer, but decided against informing his auror father of this, and instead lied for him. Also, Leander and Mary.

Ominis

Ominis stood in the abandoned house, alone in front of the mirror. It was taller than he was, ornate, and far too heavy to carry by hand. His first instinct was to blast it to pieces, but that didn't seem the smartest move, what with the floor of the moldering wooden house likely to go right along with it. Yet, to move the mirror elsewhere posed its own problems. He might be able to move it magically, yes, but where would be safe to take it? Getting to the Undercroft or Room of Requirement involved lugging it through the school. Perhaps the beach near Feldcroft? Or somewhere in the woods? But what if he failed to destroy it and someone found it?

Reaching out, he gingerly touched the smooth, cold surface of the mirror. As he'd once told Grace, mirrors were not something he had a firm grasp on. Conceptually, he understood, but practically, it felt no different from a window pane. He was no fool though, and he had a dozen guesses for whatever nasty curses were on this mirror - especially given that it had once belonged to the oh-so-great house of the Gaunts. Yes, that was a topic he was most familiar with. Sebastian's mention of seeing the mirror in Isvik had tickled his own memories.

"Ominis, you've got family here - one Silvanus Gaunt."

"Let me guess - showing off a great treasure my family has since squandered?"

"No, actually. Apparently he rotted away in front of some cursed mirror that he couldn't stop staring at."

A vague sense of amusement tugged at him, because he had little doubt his ancestor had brought that curse on himself - whether by his own hands or by greed. And to think the mirror had nearly come full circle, with a Gaunt standing before it once more, yet this time the mirror's fate hung in the balance - because despite its good deed of the past, Ominis could not leave the thing intact in good conscious, not when young children became ensnared in its curse. He ran his hands along the frame, feeling the exact shape as he pondered what to do - where to move it, how to destroy it. If a Gaunt were truly responsible for its creation, he felt duty-bound to do something about it - and quickly, before someone came looking. If the mirror did cause some sort of obsession... Well, Ominis couldn't help but think of Sebastian and that other artifact in - in the catacombs. There was an idea..

Clasping the edges of the mirror tightly, he apparated.

He landed just outside the catacomb's entrance, pulling out his wand to check for anyone nearby. Finding himself alone, he levitated the mirror with a flick of his wand. Unable to use his wand to navigate at the same time, he felt his way down the steps inside. The cavernous entrance wasn't as humid as it had been on previous visits, instead feeling frigid and still, as if the very air had been frozen. The only sounds were those he made, each scuff of his shoe or rattle of the mirror echoing into the depths of the cavern, sending a chill down his spine. He didn't want to venture too far, recalling vividly the inferi he and Elizabeth had fought. The mirror crashed into the walls a few times, each thunderous noise bringing him to a halt with his heart beating in his throat. When he reached the room at the base of the stairs, he waited for a moment, listening. Beyond the occasional rustle of something small skittering in the distance or a whispering draft that slithered past, sending shivers down his spine, there was nothing. For now. Ominis prayed it stayed that way as he turned his attention back to the mirror. Elizabeth or Sebastian might be more suited to dealing with magical artifacts, but he could surely try. Running his hands over the thing, he found it perfectly intact despite its collisions, which didn't seem to bode well for his goal of destroying it.