Run Away ✧ Hogwarts Legacy

chapter fifteen

Haunted by Spanish Love Songs

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There were many points in time where Antheia could recall questioning her discussion or how she ended up in her position each day. What is the point of even being here right now? This had been most recently present on her mind at the Ministry of Magic, as she and Sylvie seemed to process endless amounts of paperwork. Sylvie had even begun to theorize that Marvolo Gaunt was creating himself to keep them busy. Sneaking in each night to create leads for them to go through each day, just to wake up and do it all over again. All of the reports of sightings in England were clearly false, given that they had just sent all of their other Aurors to another nation in the same search to follow a positive lead. It was such an obvious waste of their time.

Antheia dipped her pen into the bright red ink at the corner of her desk, then gave the next paper the routine slash of disapproval. She wasn't even troubling herself to read them anymore.

Crossing off the false leads may not have been so deathly dull a task if she could get the actual information she wanted in the meantime. But Ominis Gaunt's desk had been empty for the past week. It had been days since they last spoke, and now it was becoming crystal clear that his absence at the Ministry was intentional to avoid her. His request for a day without discussing their issues was growing into weeks.

And Antheia's patience was shrinking from minutes to seconds.

It seemed like every time she needed someone's help, that person seemed to disappear. She was not a fan of this pattern.

"Wynters," Marvolo called from his office. She lifted her head, hoping for a quick conversation, but he pulled his finger back like a lure to the room.

Come to think about it, Marvolo Gaunt seemed to be the one man she couldn't get to disappear when she wanted him to.

"We still haven't found any new leads," Antheia explained as she shut the door behind her. But she knew that wasn't why she was being called in for, or he wouldn't have called her by her real name for a change.

"Probably because Esper is not local anymore," He agreed, all but confirming the theory of their busy work. "The Unspeakables confirmed that ridiculous painting once had traces of Ancient Magic, but it seems to be of no use to us now. Sallow can add it to the collection of broken glass on his desk when he returns."

The torn painting was pushed across his desk as if he expected her to pick it up, but her body pulled back. Blood had never bothered her before. She did not consider herself someone with a weak stomach for gore, considering that she had seen plenty of it. Yet something about the blood-soaked canvas made her ill. Maybe it was because she knew where the blood came from.

Or it could be because Marvolo was wrong. There were traces of Ancient Magic left. She could see the soft blue hue dancing at the edges. It just wasn't in the canvas; it was in Desmond's dry blood.

"It isn't going to bite you..." Marvolo spoke up. He had trailed on about some other matter, but seemed to become distracted by her lack of acknowledgment. Now, he glared at her like a disappointed parent.

"Apologizes," Antheia quickly lied, "I don't do well with blood."

Marvolo huffed a short laugh. "You are an Auror. It is about time you stop pretending that, and begin acting like one." He said bluntly. It took her by surprise, but when she opened her mouth, she couldn't find anything worth saying. "I wouldn't have done Ominis the favor of recruiting you on my team if there was no benefit to me. You are capable of great things. You need to quit wasting your talents waiting for everyone else to do something for you."