Invisible String - Sebastian Sallow

Chapter Fourty: The Killing Curse

"But, why not just tell us about them, then?"

Sebastian's handwriting was looping underneath mine as I read the note he had tucked under my pinky.

Slytherin could see wisps too. Later.

My mouth fell open, but I forced it shut quickly, not waiting to draw attention. Professor Hecat was still talking, answering questions I was still burning to know the answers to myself, but I couldn't hear anything anymore aside from the ringing in my ears and the whisper of my magic.

A Hogwarts founder- my house founder- could see wisps of Ancient Magic. That did not keep with the story that the Keepers had told me at all. They had said the ability was rare, yes, but when I had pressed them about any other place I could read upon the subject and further understand my skills, they insisted that they had it all mapped out for me.

That they had all that there was to know.

How many more times did I need to learn about their lies before I burned their portraits to the ground?

Sebastian's knee hitting mine forcefully pulled me from my revery. He was staring at my fingers around the parchment, his eyes wide and flashing between my hands and my face.

The tips of my fingers were glowing, red wisps of my magic seeping from the pads, pooling lightly in the palms of my hands. Mesmerizing pools of red magic, my magic, flowing without the use of my wand.

I wrenched my hands under the table, looking startled over to Sebastian, wanting answers he surely didn't have, just about to speak when Hecat cleared her throat.

I took a few deep breaths, shoved my hands in my pockets, and looked forward, dreading what was to come from todays lesson.

"The truth of the matter is these curses are very real, and exact a heavy toll. It is for this reason that I feel I should teach you everything I know about them. Why the unforgivable curses are so named."

Professor Hecat walked through the class, her expression serious, her face pulled into a frown showing her wrinkles even more than they usually did. Her eyes traveled over each partnership in her class, studying the friends, that I knew she was hoping would never turn on one another.

"They are Unforgivable because you cannot stop them, yes. But they are also unforgivable for what they do to your soul. Avada Kedavra is a spell unlike any of the others, because of the cost it exacts upon the caster."

Her eyes landed on Sebastian and I, her next words coming out like a freight train.

"The Killing Curse tears the soul in ways that it can never be repaired. To cast the unblockable, the darkest of spells, causes your souls to become unstable, destroying part of it in the process. It cannot be forgiven because the soul is not meant to be torn in this way. We are meant to stay in tact, whole and complete. But to take another's life leaves your soul to ruin."

Professor Hecat turned away from us, her lecture continuing on and she returned to the front of the class. Poppy scribbled notes; Ominis had his arms crossed, head leaning back against his chair. Sebastian and I didn't move at all.

Souls?

What on earth did killing have to do with souls?

I'd killed plenty back in fifth year, and I didn't see her warning me then about the dangers this would cause my soul, even though she battled in that Repository and knew what I had done.

Where was the warning then?

"What a load of rubbish," I growled, eyes narrowed at the professor.

"Deep breaths," Sebastian said, hardly audible to my left.