Chapter 1
What a very peculiar situation you’ve gotten yourself into. First and foremost, you were attacked by a dragon that caused your delay to Hogwarts. Thus, you made a bit of an entrance to the sorting ceremony (being the last student, and possibly the oldest, to get sorted).
The other students bombarded you with questions about your whereabouts once the Head Wizard and Witch settled everyone down to the common room. You kept the explanation veg as Professor Fig – the man that brought you to Hogwarts and the one who taught you the basics to prepare you for starting the school term so late – had requested.
It was a simple story; you were immediately knocked out upon impact from the dragon biting the carriage in half, so you don’t remember much. Although, you did recall catching a quick glimpse of the Thestrals – your permanent reminder that you have witnessed the death of the Ministry wizard and the poor, innocent driver. Professor Fig had rescued you and safely brought you to the castle grounds. Most were satisfied with that story whilst the rest had expected something along the lines of fighting off spiders and poachers.
Now, your current situation; you are to sneak into the Restricted Section of the school’s library along with your fellow Slytherin classmate, Sebastian Sallow.
You first met Sebastian during your Defense Against the Dark Arts class. You both dueled each other and to everyone’s surprise, you had the upper hand. He was rather impressed with how you easily took him down and you admitted that it wasn’t your first duel. It’s sort of true if you count fighting off those armored guards at that strange place you and Professor Fig somehow stumbled upon. There, you discover you possess the sight to see some sort of “Ancient Magic”.
You invited Sebastian to accompany you to Hogsmeade to replace your lost school supplies – sadly, your books and robes could not be saved, but you're happy your owl found its way back to you.
“You’re the only one who’s ever bested me in a duel. The way I see it, I’d be wise to keep an eye on you.”
True to his Slytherin nature, he would want to keep his competition nearby. It was the perfect opportunity to discover your secrets whilst being an excuse to get out of detention.
Of course, your trip wouldn’t end on a good note and you both had a run in with a troll and Victor Rickwood. You later explained your story, not the made up one, and asked him to sneak you into the Restricted Section.
“See there? That’s the door we need to reach”.
Sebastian didn’t need to point to which door since it was obvious to tell by the two prefects in front, standing guard.
“And those annoying prefects would love nothing more than to rat on us to Scribner”, he informs with slight annoyance in his voice. “So don’t let them see us – understood?”
“I can be sneaky. Let’s go.” You say a bit too eagerly as you immediately head for the last flight of stairs.
“Hold on now,” Sebastian pulls your sleeve a bit to stop you before you could go anywhere. “There’s a spell you should know – The Disillusionment Charm. Good for getting you’re not supposed to be.”
He quickly goes over the incantation and you successfully cast it on your first try. Thankfully, it’s a simple charm. To your disappointment, it doesn’t turn you fully invisible, only camouflage with your surroundings.
Sebastian leads you down the stairs and around the Gryffindor prefect that was standing guard at the bottom. Luckily, it was easier to get through the library entrance since the prefects were distracted with chatting about their weekend plans.
“Blast, the librarian is still here.” Sebastian says and grabs your arm to pull you behind a bookcase.
“You told me the librarian would be gone by now.” You whisper to him.
“I said “usually”,” he whispers back. “Alright, new plan; I’ll distract her and you grab the key from her desk. We’ll meet at the Restricted Section.”
“Wait, why do we need a key? Isn’t there a spell for it?”
“Alohomora? That’s how I always used to get in, but the librarian twigged that I knew the spell and cast an Anti-Alohomora charm on the lock.”
“And now we would need the key, right?”
“Right, but don’t worry. I said I’d get you in, and I always keep my word. Trust me.” He winks before swiftly making his way towards a stack of books to knock them over. Taking advantage of the librarian investigating the source of the sound, you crawl to the desk and fish in the drawer for the key.
You notice that Sebastian was already at the Restricted Section – which wasn’t too far from the front desk. You hold up the key and he nods, indicating that it was the right one.
As the librarian approaches her desk, you practically sprint to Sebastian and hand him the gold key to finally open the lock.
“Don’t get too comfortable, we have ghosts.” He mentions as you were ready to remove the Disillusionment Charm.
“You’re kidding.”
“I wish I was – now, silent as a grave.”
Maybe this was a bad idea after all. Maybe you should’ve waited until Professor Fig and Headmaster Black were finished with their business, so Fig could easily let you in and you wouldn’t need to do all this sneaking around. But alas, you need that book as soon as possible and you don’t have time to wait.
Sebastian was an expert at this type of situation and you were both able to make it safely around the ghosts. He then gives the signal to remove the charm once you’re out of sight.
“So, what is it you’ve been looking for?” You ask. You take notice that Sebastian is already digging through a stack of books, hidden on the lower shelf. You wonder if he left it there to continue searching for whatever he was looking for. You took this as a sign to explore the room a bit while keeping an eye out for the book.
“I’ve been looking for a cure to help my sister, Anne – so she can return to Hogwarts.” He answers while flipping through the pages of the book he has laying on his lap.
“Why do you think you’ll find a cure in the Restricted Section? Does the Hogwarts matron have nothing that can help Anne?” You didn’t mean to pry, but curiosity got the better of you and you couldn’t help but ask questions.
“No! We’ve tried everyone from Nurse Blainey to St. Mungo’s.” He sounds frustrated and fed up, but it wasn’t directed towards you. It was the memory of going through countless nurses and all were unsuccessful. “But, I can research on my own. Let’s focus on what you’re after – which is what, precisely?”
“I’ll know it when I see it.”
“You’re being awfully cryptic.”
------
After nearly an hour of searching, and going through every nook and cranny of the Restricted Section, you weren’t even close to finding that damn book. Eventually, you reached the attic – which was mainly used to supply outdated textbooks and storage.
You wonder if you missed it somewhere while you and Sebastian were laughing at some of the ridiculous titles of the muggle novels or you simply weren’t looking hard enough.
An all too familiar, annoying voice announces; “Who have we here?”
Damnit. Not now, it can’t be–
“Damnit, Peeves.” You utter under your breath as the poltergeist ghost appears above you and Sebastian. It was obvious Sebastian is annoyed by his furred brows and him groaning, “Fucking Peeves.”
“Sebastian Sallows and his new little friend, out exploring where they shouldn’t be!” Peeves the Poltergeist laughs as he starts chanting, “I’m going to tell. I’m going to tell. I’m going to tell.”
“I’ve got to stop him or at least have a good excuse for all of this.” Sebastian says as he starts to chase after Peeves.
“Wait!” You stop him before he could get too far. “I don’t want you getting into trouble for me.”
“I have a way with the faculty when it comes to disciplinary matters. Besides –” He grins. You don’t like that look; that mischievous grin that all Slytherins seem to possess when they appear to be scheming something. “I like having friends who are in my debt.”
You were going to question what he meant, but he already applied his Disillusionment Charm and darts towards Peeve’s direction.
------
It felt like you had been in that strange Antechamber for hours. You did not expect to be led to a hidden room and you also did not anticipate to fight off more of those enchanted armored guards. But it was good practice for the new Incendio spell you recently learned from Professor Hecat.
When you returned back to Hogwarts, it seemed as if time didn’t even move – like it picked up right where you left off.
You hurry to the front desk and you hope you can catch up to Sebastian, but it appears Peeves got to him first. You scurry under a table when you see the librarian approach Sebastian.
“Sneaking in the Restricted Section – again!” Scribner scolds and there’s no indication she is going to stop any time soon. “That being said, Peeves informs me that you didn’t come alone tonight.”
Her expression softens and she leans to whisper, “If someone has coerced you, I would have you tell me. You’re a bright boy, don’t waste this.”
Sebastian looks in your direction and instantly makes eye contact with you. You cower back a bit, ready for him to point at you and rat you out.
He looks back at Scribner. “There was nobody else. I came alone.”
“Oh, Sebastian. What will your uncle say?” Scribner shakes her head and walks to her desk to write an Owl to Headmaster Black and Sebastian another detention slip.
You crawl out from under the desk and quickly leave the library. You are ready to retire to your dormitory for tonight. You don’t remember the last time you got proper sleep due to the stress of discovering your new capability while balancing school work on top of it.
As you walk to your common, the lingering question of “Why?” played in your head. Why would he jump in and easily take the blame for you even though he barely knew you? He knew you were hiding under the desk and he could’ve easily ratted you.
Perhaps in true Slytherin fashion, he saw some sort of potential in you, thus needing a reason to keep you around.