Over the past few weeks, I hadn't seen much of Sebastian due to all of the interviews he had been doing for newspapers. His biggest one had been for the Daily Prophet and they'd taken such a remarkable picture of him.
It had cost me a lot of galleons, but to have it standing there on my nightstand... It reminded me that he was participating in the tournament, but also on the other hand, he looked so dapper and handsome. I couldn't believe that he was mine to have and to keep.
Roaming the halls of Hogwarts before my potions class with Ominis by my side, was different. Usually, Sebastian was always there to accompany us and the both of them were often squabbling about the silliest of things. But now, it was only Ominis. And silence.
A sigh fell from my lips and he stopped dead in his tracks, leaving me to turn around a few feet away from him. "Ominis?" I voiced quietly and I could see him pursing his lips in thought. The both of us had been racking our brains about what the first challenge could be. It cannot be easy considering the nature of the tournament and Headmaster Black mentioning that people have lost their lives in these tournaments before.
"I cannot help but wonder," he began, pacing back and forth without his wand and for a moment, I was worried he'd be bumping into other students on their way to their respective classes. "Ominis watch out-" I spoke in a hurried murmur before pulling him to the side. An angry look already being shot at him by a Gryffindor student.
"I do not need assistance, Clara. I am perfectly capable of handling myself." He announced, my eyes dropping for a moment. I had always been protective of Ominis, ever since I got to know him. Worried for him due to his condition and helped him with writing his essays which had to be turned in. He'd always been very appreciative though now, it seemed as if he wasn't too pleased with my trying to help him not make any more enemies than he already had.
Over the Summer between fifth and sixth year, word had gotten out about how the Gaunts had been responsible for many Muggles going missing and returning in an utter state of shock. What with them using the Cruciatus curse on them. And Ominis had received a lot of backlash from it as some students' parents had fallen victim to the Gaunt family.
And him having an attitude was definitely not helping. "Ominis, you need to calm down-" I started but a frustrated groan was heard. "I needn't do anything! What I need from you is to stop supporting and being proud of Sebastian! Do you not see what he is doing- Again!? We should have turned him in when we had the chance!"
For a moment there, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I gulped and felt tears brimming at my eyes, students in the hallway stopping in their tracks turning around to see what the commotion was with Ominis shouting. "Don't you all have classes to be!?" He then yelled insistently, having all the students rush off.
"Quick, quick, before he casts Crucio on us," a Ravenclaw student uttered to his friend and I turned around, a sudden helpless feeling of rage casting over me. "What did you say?" I called out, my wand at the ready and having the Ravenclaw student turn himself around.
"Oh, you heard what I said. We know what a messed up family those Gaunts are."
I could feel my blood begin to boil and Ominis was about to voice something but I couldn't help it. "Levioso!" I voiced, my want aimed at the student and watching him rise into the air. "You shan't make accusations and assumptions about things you do not know anything about!" I yelled, my hands trembling with range. "Depulso!"
With my speaking that incantation, watching the student fly into a nearby wall, I could feel a warm and familiar hand on my shoulder. "Clara," he spoke, feeling my wand fall from my hand as I recognised that voice. "Enough."
Taking a step back and watching the Ravenclaw student hop to his feet, wand at the ready to retaliate, though Sebastian stepped in front of me. "If you dare touch her or him, I will make sure you won't see the light of day again." I could feel my heart drop- Had I really just harmed a student? Granted, he had been speaking ill of Ominis, who was one of my closest friends. But still... I stared at my hands in disbelief and I heard Ominis clear his throat, a hand of his wrapping itself around my wrist.
"Come on, let us get you out of here before any professors show up." Ominis spoke quietly and Sebastian nodded at the mention. With both boys at my side, we made our way over to the Boathouse, down the steps and sat ourselves down at the docks' edge.
A shaky breath escaped me as I looked across the lake, an arm snaking around my waist and pulling me closer. "Are you alright?" Sebastian questioned and an ironic breath of laughter escaped Ominis. "Of course she is not alright, Sebastian, I needn't see the look on her face to know what she might be feeling like."
At that, Sebastian rolled his eyes. "I am just checking in, Ominis, no need to get catty about it." To which Ominis only huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "I do... Want to thank you for vouching for me back there. I am not my family and my family is not I. Cannot believe the nerve of that damned Ravenclaw sixth year, the Headmaster will be hearing about this."
"You cannot go to Headmaster Black with this, Ominis, word will spread about how Clara used her magic on a student like that, you cannot simply-" At this point, I was done. "Enough! Can we not talk about what I did there, please? I can't let people speak ill about friends of mine and I shouldn't have done what I did, but... It happened before I realized it."
Ominis huffed and Sebastian nodded slowly before getting to his feet. "I should get going- Oh, could you guys help figure out what the first task might be? I've received a clue from Josephine, but I'm not quite sure." He voiced before handing over a drawing of a broken wand.
And with that, I watched Sebastian turn on his heel and head up the stairs of the boathouse, leaving myself and Ominis overlooking the lake.
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Ominis and I had been looking into the clue Sebastian had given us and were curious to know what the first assignment could be. We'd been spending hours and hours in the library, reading into the previous logs on the Triwizard Tournaments, learning about the fallen ones and noticing that there was one pattern for all of them.
Not being on their guard. "We'll have to have Sebastian and Natty know that they should always expect the unexpected." I muttered and Ominis hummed as he paced around, fingers sliding over the backs of the books to make out the letters. "Wandless incantations." He mumbled and I paused in thought, biting my bottom lip as I turned around in my seat. "That could have a link to the broken wand, could you hand me that book."
Ominis grabbed the book from the shelf and handed it to me. Scanning through the pages in the book, I widened my eyes and rose up from the chair. "I have to send them an owl."
And with that, I packed up the book, linked my arm through Ominis' and he protested for a moment before realising I was pulling him along to follow me out of the library.
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"Casting without a wand?" Natty questioned and I nodded. Sebastian ran a hand across his face while Natty giggled. "Not to worry, I can teach you. In Uagadou we never had a wand."
I let out a relieved sigh as I watched Natty already busying herself with explaining basic spells to Sebastian. "The key is to be determined and more precise with your hand movement. Fingers can sometimes confuse your magic."
It was heartwarming to see how Natty took Sebastian under her wing for this and I was sure now that the first task would be one both of them would make it through. Provided we were correct in our assumptions that it was to cast magic without a wand. We'd be learning this later on in the year, with the tournament extending the school year until January next year.
"Seems simple enough." Sebastian responded to Natty as she watched him cast spells on the dummies surrounding them. A laugh escaped her and she shook her head. "You are a natural, Sebastian. How are you not top of our class in Defence Against the Dark Arts?"
At that mention, he turned to me and Ominis and pointed at myself. "Because of that beautiful lady right there." He responded and I could feel a blush creeping up onto my cheeks. "Right, well. Clara and I will have to attend Charms class in about fifteen minutes, so we will be making our way over to Professor Ronan's classroom. Good luck, both of you." Ominis intervened and I could see the confused look on Sebastian's face as I felt Ominis' arm linking through mine.
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As I was basically being dragged through the hallways, I shot a confused look at Ominis. "What's the matter, we still have fifteen minutes?" I voiced and he only shook his head. "You need to prepare yourself." He only responded and I stopped, making him stumble for a moment.
His wand lowered and he had an annoyed look on his face. "For Sebastian possibly not making out of there alive. Be realistic and do not be too hopeful." Ominis added and I could not believe what I was hearing.
"I-" But words escaped me. Turning on my heel and stalking off. "Where do you think you are going, Clara!?" He then shouted after me and I rapidly stopped in my tracks. "Away from you! I cannot believe you just said that!"
And I could see his head dropping a bit as I turned around again, running a hand across his face as he muttered something to himself. But I was already heading on over to the Hufflepuff common room. How dare he make such claims about Sebastian?
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Well, that was something. I know it's a bit lack lustre sometimes, but that's also because we're still in the beginning stages of the book 🙃
I'll try and update again today because the updating schedule is all over the place but rest assured, I won't leave you hanging!
I'm also much enjoying the game right now and started my second save account as a Slytherin now 👀 Had to check out that common room as well!!! Character's name is Farlan Riddle and I was wondering if you guys wanted him to be included as well???
He's obsessed with the Dark Arts and somewhere in the Riddle/Gaunt family tree. Meaning that he's related to Ominis and he's like, the one that does enjoy casting Crucio for sport on Muggles, would also be an interesting dynamic to have him there!! Let me know your thoughts, ideas, what you would like to see, who you would like to see more of (yes, Poppy Sweeting is also coming to help soon).
Love you all and thank you so so much for the continuous support on this story!
All the love,
E.