In the Shadow of Darkness | Sebastian Sallow

Plans, Quidditch, and Trolls

The five of us crowded around a library table that Friday. Poppy had already pulled every book about the Forbidden Forest and laid it out on the table for a total of twenty-one. The majority only spoke of the flora and fauna of the forest, however, and once we discarded those, we each had two books to explore. Once we had a more discrete understanding of the forest's geography, we could move forward with narrowing down the number of possible caves we needed to investigate. We decided to meet again in two weeks in the Room of Requirement so we could talk more freely.

Ominis seemed reluctant, and likely only agreed to help to keep an eye on Sebastian. He shared with me later that evening that his best friend would still occasionally never arrive at their dormitory for the night; but that he never wanted to talk about it, assuring Ominis that he'd been up late studying or any other excuse that seemed plausible but unlikely. Ominis did say that the nightmares were lessening when Sebastian did sleep in their dormitory—at least the ones that woke him up.

Before we parted for the night, Sebastian invited me to watch some of the Quidditch trials the following day and then head to Hogsmeade, which I accepted. We met the next day at the entrance to the pitch, where he was already in a Slytherin Quidditch uniform for his own trials later that day. He guided me to a seat in the stands to watch.

Since Gryffindor had won the House Cup the year before, they had the privilege of holding their trials first. Due to the year-long gap, three of the Quidditch team would be new for this year. Leander Prewett, a Keeper and the Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, would try to prevent the other team from scoring, much like with the Muggle game of football. Nellie Oggspire was a Chaser, Sebastian explained, making her one of three players responsible for scoring points via the three goal posts on one end of the field. Additionally, the team only had two Beaters, Garreth Weasley and Eric Northcott. Sebastian said the Beaters were responsible for keeping the two semi-sentient iron balls at bay with bats. The last position, he said, was called a Seeker.

"The single-most important member of the team, if you ask me," Sebastian told me. "They spend the game looking for the snitch, and once it's caught, that team gets 150 points and the game is over."

"That's a lot to remember."

"Yeah, I suppose it is, but it's fun to watch," he said, leaning in slyly. He looked back out at the pitch, hands clasped between his knees. "Anne was the Seeker for Slytherin. She always loved it."

I gave his forearm a squeeze. He looked at me with a gentle smile, sitting up and taking my hand before tucking it into his. He explained that since these were trials and not a game, what I was seeing was more of test of speed, agility, and other required skills for individual team positions. I caught sight of Lucan Brattleby and Hector Jenkins from Crossed Wands, and several other familiar faces I'd seen in the Gryffindor common room also dotted the pitch below. It was admittedly fun to watch them all compete for a coveted spot on the team.

"To be frank, I'm surprised you didn't decide to participate in the trials. After the ones you faced last year, these would seem easy," Sebastian teased.

I rolled my eyes, laughing a bit at the thought. "I hardly have the time for my current obligations."

As the Gryffindor trials drew to a close, the Slytherin team and its hopefuls, including one I recognized as Ominis' little sister, Eris, began lining up on the pitch. Sebastian asked, "I do unfortunately need to head down to the pitch. Hard to do Quidditch trials without the Keeper. Will you be all right up here by yourself?"

I nodded, smiling at his apparent enthusiasm. I knew flying was an outlet for him, and I was excited to see him in action. He flashed a grin before disappearing down the steps and then reappearing on the pitch a few minutes later with his broom. Imelda cocked her head as she approached, and I just knew she was chastising him for being late. I surveyed the field of players. In addition to Sebastian and Imelda, Violet McDowell, Constance Dagworth, and another Slytherin boy I didn't recognize rounded out the returning players on the Slytherin team; leaving eight members of the house competing for the remaining two team positions of Beater and Seeker. Looking more closely, I recognized both Sirius and Phineas Black, the headmaster's sons, among the crowd of hopefuls.