Cursed (Hogwarts Legacy fanfiction - original in German)

Chapter 22 - Empathize with her

Trigger warning!
The following chapter contains content related to the following possible triggers: Violence against women and children, trauma
If any of these sensitive topics could be distressing for you right now, please do not continue reading this chapter.

Phina's heartbeat accelerated from one moment to the next as she stood in front of the final painting frame, finally realizing whose face was the last to appear in this Keeper's Trial: Ominis. His face seemed somewhat expressionless, and even though Phina usually felt comfortable in his presence, she now sensed something sinister. This feeling was so unfamiliar that it immediately unsettled her. He appeared so different, and although it was undoubtedly Ominis whose image she had before her, he somehow looked foreign. Changed.

"Ominis?" Phina addressed him. At that moment, he turned his face toward her, and his typical gentle smile appeared on his lips, finally making him look a bit more like the Ominis she knew and loved.

"Phina," he replied, and his voice sounded as if he were glad that she had finally arrived with him. At the same time, he also seemed nervous now. She wished she could jump into the painting to hug him immediately, just as she had done in the undercroft probably only a few hours ago. It felt to Phina as if that lovely evening with Sebastian and him was already ages ago, and she had no idea how long she had been in her Keeper's Trial. She had lost all sense of time.

Suddenly, she noticed a strange shadow behind Ominis, as if a figure from a distance in the rear part of the painting, which was only vaguely visible, was approaching him. As the person came closer, the image became clearer, and Phina finally recognized that it was Clarissa. Ominis wordlessly stepped aside to give her enough space beside him. He lowered his head, and Phina could barely bear to see how humbly he stood beside Clarissa, who was grinning arrogantly and then looked down on her from the painting.

"Do you trust him?" she asked, almost condescendingly, crossing her arms over her chest. Ominis remained still.
"Yes, absolutely. Even if you don't like it, I would entrust him with my life," Phina said without hesitation, with a determined voice, looking Clarissa in the eyes unwaveringly. She wanted her gaze to make it unequivocally clear to this terrible girl that nothing and no one would ever change her opinion about her friends. Neither about Sebastian, nor about Ominis. She knew both of them better than Clarissa ever would, and she wouldn't allow anyone to try to break up their trio again. 

To Phina's surprise, Clarissa didn't respond with a hateful look but with a soft, condescending laugh.
"Oh... poor Phina," she said, while Ominis grimaced, as if he wanted to say something but, for whatever reason, couldn't. "You'll see what you get for it."

Phina waited for the painting with the two of them to fade and the frame to dissolve, but nothing of the sort happened. Instead, Clarissa now stretched to her full height, as if trying to appear even more threatening.
"I won't change my mind," Phina said resolutely, then looked at Ominis. "Ominis... I trust you."
For some reason, she wanted to reassure him once more, which was why she addressed him directly, even though she somehow felt that he couldn't really hear her.

"You asked for it," Clarissa retorted, and her dark eyes shot to a point in the back of the room. Phina didn't even need to turn around to know what was happening behind her; she could hear it from the familiar ominous rumbling. A huge Pensieve Guardian emerged from the ground and prepared for battle. This time, it wouldn't be as easy. 

Even if she only had to deal with a single opponent, this one was much larger, and its attacks were more dangerous. Phina couldn't quite fathom why she had to fight the most challenging opponent, even though she trusted Ominis as much as probably no one else, and this was his painting. However, she suspected that Clarissa simply didn't want her to reach the Pensieve without another battle because she didn't trust her. It was a straightforward retaliation. Or perhaps Clarissa wanted to impose her mistrust of anyone with the name Gaunt on her in some subtle way.