Secrets of Sallow

Chapter 18 [Book 1]

Sebastian and I quickened our pace to get to Feldcroft as fast as possible.

When we got there, I saw as the residents were fighting off Ranrok's Loyalists and not thinking for one second, I immediately took hold of my wand and cast bombarda, blowing up a red barrel.

Sebastian by my side began to let out a bustle of spells, the desire to protect his home.

Just when I thought I had defeated all of the Loyalists, Anne's screams erupted in the air as I turned to see a Loyalist march his way towards her.

Not thinking straight, I was about to cast the Cruciatas Curse when someone else beat me to it, using an unforgivable curse of his own.

"Imperio!"

The goblin stopped right in front of Anne, who in confusion removed her arm which was protecting her face, to see the goblin stab himself with his sword.

I gasped, not expecting to see such a grizzly sight and I knew whose hands it was on.

I looked over to Sebastian releasing the unforgivable curse and a sudden wave of fear washed over me. I didn't think he had the guts to cast the curse, let alone make a goblin stab itself as I watched its body fall to the ground, blood pooling around it.

My eyes then turned to Anne, who I saw, was shaking in fear. Sebastian went to her holding his hand out, but she just turned away from him. This isn't what I wanted when I agreed to help Sebastian. To see his sister fear him.

At the same time, Solomon Sallow came to tend to Anne, aware of what Sebastian had done.

"Boy, what have you done?"

Sebastian could only exclaim what he knew, "saved my sister! I - "

His uncle interrupted him, "with an Unforgivable Curse - from that damned book no doubt!"

He pulled Anne to her feet as he supported her, and my heart felt heavy as Anne continued to look at Sebastian in fear, she was practically scared of him and I couldn't blame her. If I had just watched my twin use an Unforgivable Curse to do, well, that, I'd probably be afraid to.

"Your father would be ashamed. You've gone too far, Sebastian. Stay away from her. From all of us", his uncle spoke as he guided Anne away.

I came closer to Sebastian, Anne's pained cries filling the empty space.

He turned to me, "what did my uncle expect me to do? The Imperius Curse saved Anne's life. That goblin was going to kill her."

This time, I had to disagree with him.

"There was little time to react, but it was an Unforgivable Curse."

"I acted in the moment. That's all", he spoke defensively.

"I shall make my uncle see reason. He cannot banish me from my own home. From my sister."

I went to reach for his hand for comfort, but he simply pulled away.

I sighed, "it might be best to let him calm down for a while. May I speak to him? Perhaps I can help to ease the tension a bit."

He just nodded, "I'll head back to Hogwarts."

As much as I tried to reason with Sebastian's uncle, he was very adamant about his perceptions of the use of the Dark Arts and threatened that if he saw me or Sebastian use it again, he would report to the Headmaster.

That's when I had no choice but to agree to keep Sebastian away, I didn't want to risk expulsion for me or Sebastian.

But perhaps, that will be a good thing. Though I would be a hypocrite for that, as earlier, I was about to use an Unforgivable Curse too. One worse than the Imperius Curse.

I headed back to Hogwarts, specifically the Undercroft, to meet with Sebastian after the events of Feldcroft.

Once he saw me, he immediately asked, "did you speak with my uncle?"

And I knew I had to break the bad news to him.

"I'm afraid he wants you nowhere near Feldcroft - nor Anne."

This caused Sebastian to get frustrated, his tone causing me to jump, "I had to stop that goblin from killing my sister! He has no right to banish me from my own twin!"

Noticing how his voice impacted me, he continued to speak in a more hushed voice, "if he thinks banishing me means I'm going to give up on Anne, he's sorely mistaken."

I also mentioned how his uncle will not excuse the use of Dark Magic in any form, relic or spell and he will go to the headmaster if saw either of us use it.

Sebastian could only laugh, "ha! That relic, Dark Magic or not, is the key to saving Anne. I will not lose Anne for good."

Sebastian went on to explain how he will send a crest to Anne, knowing they will need to meet. How that crest was a treasure for Anne after their parent's death and how she gave it to Sebastian to keep him safe.

Once again, he was being risky.

"Be careful, Sebastian. Your uncle could intercept it. We'll be expelled."

Sebastian just simply brought Ominis into it, "even if Ominis is upset with us, he has no love lost for his family. He'd use their connections to the Headmaster if we needed his help."

I was worried about how casual Sebastian was being about the whole situation, but decided not to push it any further.

"Very well, I shall wait to hear from you, then."

A smile appeared on his face, "thank you. I very much appreciate you standing by me through all of this."

Of course, I, at this point, cared too much to see anything bad happen to him, so, of course, I was going to stay by his side. But I knew he didn't need to know all of this yet.

Finally, letting myself relax, I left the Undercroft to get my day's worth of rest.

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Damn, Sebastian really just said let's just get this goblin to stab himself.

I felt so bad for Anne during this scene, because it's obvious she loves her brother but geez must be traumatising to have seen that.

Let's hope everything gets better.

Who am I kidding? It won't.

But hey, double update.