I sat down in the auditorium and watched the four redheads. Garreth was really good with children. Especially with Jennie, whom he would cheer loudly over and over again when she flew towards a ball. She was a really good flyer for a first year, which was because the Weasley kids were taught to fly at home before they even went to school.
They played exuberantly until I saw Sebastian and Ominis enter the field. "Ey, Weasley!" all four turned. "Garreth, do you need another player?" Sebastian asked. I also saw Garreth's surprise from a distance, but he nodded. "Sebastian, I'm definitely not going to get on a broom.", Ominis said annoyed, "I'll sit down on the stands and read something.". "Perfect. Caelie, are you playing? Then it'll work out." Garreth called out to me. I hurried down the stands and got a broom. Sebastian and I greeted each other with a hug before we got on our brooms and flew to the others. Jennie asked me to join her and Garreth, so Sebastian joined Hector and Kay.
Since it was a modified Quidditch variant, Garreth explained the rules to him and off we went. This variant was more akin to Muggle football than Quidditch, which is probably due to the fact that Garreth went to a Muggle kindergarten as a kid and he had Muggle friends.
We threw the Quaffle at each other and tried to hit one of the opposing team's rings. If you managed to do this, you got a point for your own team. The other balls were not involved, otherwise more players would have been needed. You just played as long as you wanted and in the end the team with the most points won.
We used to play it for hours in the summer, especially when his cousins were at his house. Sebastian put his heart and soul into it and despite not knowing the game like that, he was a worthy opponent.
We played for quite a while and it was actually very balanced. Our teams mostly balanced each other out, with our team currently having a two-point lead. This awakened Sebastian's ambition. He tried harder than ever, throwing the Quaffle with full force. I tried to catch it, but it flew right on my face. I heard something crack and flew to the floor. Sebastian and Garreth immediately came running, examining my face and looking at each other worriedly. I felt liquid run down my mouth. It tasted metallic. Blood. It seems the tough Quaffle broke my nose. Slowly the pain stimulus reached my brain and I felt the stabbing pain clearly.
"Okay kids, I'm sorry, but that's probably the end of it for today. We'll be playing again soon. Please put the brooms away and then come back to the castle." Garreth called to the three of them."Does anyone have a handkerchief?" Sebastian asked, slightly panicked. All shook their heads. Garreth supported me on my right arm to take me to the hospital wing, but the blood was pumping faster and faster.
Sebastian took off his robe and held it under my nose. "Oh Caelie I'm so sorry I didn't mean to hurt you." Sebastian said sadly. He took my left arm to give Garreth support. "I know that," I said and took a deep breath. Unfortunately, due to the bleeding, I didn't smell the scent of his robes, but they were still nice and warm. "It's not the first time she's hurt herself either, so don't worry," Garreth said relaxedly, "Last time I broke her nose. She also tried to catch the Quaffle with her face. Luckily my mother was there, she's a healer". They both laughed, but they still looked concerned.
We were walking toward the hospital wing when Nellie came up to us. "Caelie, have you tried to play Quidditch again?" she laughed. "Yeah, laugh at me. But I'll try again and again. Until I get through a game without injury, even if it takes forever!" I laughed. "And it's always said that I don't learn anything from my mistakes.", Sebastian said with a grin.
We got to the hospital wing and Madam Blainey came rushing right at us. "Mr. Weasley, what have you done to poor Ms. Lewis now?" she asked while glaring at Garreth. "It wasn't me this time. Mr. Sallow hit her with a Quaffle," Garreth said, holding up his hands.
Madam Blainey directed me to a chair. I pulled the robe away from my nose. Unfortunately, I also covered the green Slytherin stripe with my blood. "Sebastian, I'm sorry about your robes, I'm going to wash them. I hope to get the stain removed. Otherwise you're probably a bit of a Gryffindor too." I said while Madam Blainey fixed my nose. "Oh Caelie, that's part of me anyway." He laughed softly.
My nose hurt immensely for a moment before the pain immediately subsided. The nose was back to its old self.
Madam Blainey wiped the blood off my face and let us go. My skull pounded terribly.
We walked a little and I sat down on a couch in the hallway when Garreth sat down next to me. He asked me to lie down and offered me his lap for a pillow. Sebastian, who continued to look very sullen, lifted my legs, sat down next to me and put my legs on his lap. He kept his hands on my shins, stroking them with his thumbs. "Caelie, I'm really so sorry," he said dejectedly. I smiled at him, "Like I said, this happens to me quite often, you don't have to feel bad." "Have you ever had your eyes checked? Sounds like that glasses might help. But of course it makes me feel bad if I'm causing you pain that I didn't intend," he said with a slight grin smiling.
"Glasses might not be the worst idea, really," Garreth offered. "We should go to Aunt Matilda later, she has one, maybe she knows where you can get one from."
Garreth and Sebastian continued to talk while I rested. It really seemed like they were starting to like each other a little better. I just enjoyed them both being with me. Garreth kept stroking my head while Sebastian kept caressing my shins with his thumbs.
"Oh, I forgot I wanted to tell you something else. I found out who Isidora Morganach is.", Sebastian said after he tapped me to get my attention. "She was a teacher. Here at Hogwarts. Sometime between the 15th or 16th century. She was a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and was probably very popular because she was said to be able to put her hand out of her affliction with a wave of her hand, so that they could lead a happy life from then on," said Sebastian. "Some even claim that she healed seriously ill students in an instant. To be honest, that reminds me a bit of what you did with me in the hospital wing."
"How do you know all this?" Garreth asked. "I read a lot and in the forbidden section you can occasionally find interesting books. Actually, I have a request for you, Caelie, and for you, if you are interested, Weasley. It is said that Hogwarts has the secret scriptorium of Salazar Slytherin himself. I'd like to look for it, but I don't know how to get into the chamber and Ominis won't help me. He's worried and thinks it's all too dangerous. So, can you please talk to him? And it would be nice if you two would accompany us. That way he can see that it's not dangerous.", Sebastian said quietly.
"I'm in. Slytherin might have written down a potion recipe or two as well. And if there are any, I must know them." Garreth said confidently. "Caelie, are you with us too?" Sebastian asked carefully. "Sure. Who knows what we'll find there," I replied. Sebastian was delighted with our confident response.
"But if Ominis is scared of all this, why are you trying to convince him to come with you?" I asked. "Well, he's descended from Slytherin. And he's the only Parseltongue at Hogwarts. From everything I've read about Slytherin, I'd bet my wand you have to speak Parseltongue to find or enter the scriptorium ." Sebastian replied. I took my legs off of him and sat down again. "And when do you want to look for it? Do you know where we have to look?" I asked. Sebastian nodded, "Yes, I know at least roughly where we can find the entrance. And we could go as soon as you are well again and Ominis has let himself be persuaded."
"Then I'd say, let's go to the Gryffindor common room, get some things, I'll give Caelie another essence of dittany for a headache, and then we'll find Ominis," Garreth said, getting up. Sebastian and I followed him. "Do you want to come in or wait outside?" Garreth asked as we reached the portrait of the fat lady. "I'll stay here. No stress.", Sebastian answered, and sat down on the ground in one smooth movement.
We entered the common room. The three other Weasleys hadn't come back here. Presumably they kept playing outside. Garreth stormed into his dormitory. He held out a vial to me, took his bag, hid the bottles of liquor but packed all kinds of small bottles, glasses and vials. "Need anything else?" Garreth asked, checking to make sure we both had our wands in our pockets. I shook my head, he gave me a kiss and we went back to the aisle in front of the portrait.
Sebastian got up. "Do you think Ominis is still out there?" I asked. "I'd suggest checking out the Slytherin common room first, that's where he usually sits," Sebastian said. We sat down on the stairs in front of the Slytherins' front door.
After a few minutes Sebastian came back and shook his head. We were walking towards the exit when Ominis ran straight into our arms. "Ominis, Caelie and Weasley also want to see the Scriptorium. Please help us. We can't get in there without you." Sebastian said pleadingly.
"Sebastian, why do you want to go in there? Salazar Slytherin wasn't a good person and I'm sure he didn't use good magic either." Ominis said annoyed and continued walking in the direction of the dungeons. "I don't want to see my sister suffer like this forever, Ominis! Anne is suffering. I just want her to be happy again. And that she can come back to Hogwarts. That's her biggest wish," Sebastian said, agitated. Ominis stopped, took a deep breath and went in another direction. Sebastian ran after him and waved his hand at us with a smile. We ran after Ominis. In the corner of a long dungeon passage he stopped.
"Somewhere around here is the entrance. But I don't know how to open the hidden door.", he said and leaned against one of the walls. Garreth, Sebastian and I looked around and couldn't make out which mechanism opened the door, so we split up and looked around. After a few minutes, Garreth came running over to me, looked around, and ran to Sebastian without saying a word. A short time later he and Sebastian came back to me. Slightly out of breath, Garreth said, "I think we need to light the torches. Here are exactly three torches that aren't burning. It's worth a try." "Incendio?" I asked. Gareth nodded. Each of us went to a torch. "On three we all cast Incendio. One... Two... Three.", Sebastian counted down before we "INCENDIO!" shouted in chorus.
"Guys, come here quickly, something happened!" Ominis shouted. I went back and indeed. One of the walls had disappeared, revealing a dark corridor. We all cast Lumos and entered. The wall closed behind us again. "We definitely can't turn back now," Garreth said unperturbed as he looked towards the entrance. We went further in and suddenly stood in front of a large door, the frame of which was decorated with innumerable metal snakes. "Ominis. I think it's your turn now. I think this door can only be opened as a Parselmouth.", Sebastian said. Ominis walked to the door, "I really wish I was just a muggle." He snorted. Suddenly he began to hiss. The snakes moved and opened the door. We went further in.
Again we stood in front of a closed door. Next to the door was a small twisting snake statue that displayed different symbols. Which were the right ones? Sebastian and Garreth looked around while I continued to examine the statue. After a short time, Sebastian called out two symbols to me. They were engraved on a wall behind a thick layer of dust. I turned the statue so that the two symbols were facing forward and the door opened. We passed through these too. "How many locked doors are we expecting?" Garreth asked, "Wait a minute, could it be that there's a skeleton lying there?"
He pointed in the direction of the next door and indeed. There was a skeleton by the door. I walked up to the skeleton. There was a letter next to it. "Noctua Gaunt? Ominis, do you know the name?" I asked. Ominis ran up to me. "Noctua was my favorite aunt. She wasn't like the rest of my family. She didn't want to use dark magic either. Unfortunately, she disappeared a few years ago. Now I know why. Poor aunt Noctua," he said sadly. "Ominis, do you want her necklace? It's here." Ominis nodded. A few tears ran down his cheeks as he took the necklace.
"Do you already know how to open this door?" he asked to distract himself. "Yes, and we need your help for that.", Sebastian said shocked. "You have to cast the Cruciatus Curse on one of us."
"No! I won't. Sebastian, you can't ask me to do that. To this day, I haven't forgiven myself for doing it to the Muggles because my father forced me to do it. I can't do this. I've experienced this pain many times, so I am not able to use it. I'm sorry, but I can't help you there. We will die here. Just like Aunt Noctua," Ominis said in panic. "We're going to die if nobody uses the curse, Ominis!" Sebastian shouted angrily, turning to Garreth and me: "Okay, we have two options. Either I cast the curse on one of you, or one of you casts it on me. If you don't master it, I can teach it to you. Which do you prefer?"
"Teach it to me, and then cast it on me," I said bluntly. "Do you want to learn it too, Weasley?" asked Sebastian. Garreth shook his head gently, "No, but thanks. I'm more into brewing and enchanting than stuff like that. But I want you to use the curse on me instead of Caelie."
"No Garreth, that's out of the question. Better catch me if I fall," I said, "And no arguments. You have to be ready if someone needs a potion and Sebastian has to be able to fight depending on what's behind the door. That is why the curse must be used on me."
Garreth took a deep breath and nodded in dissatisfaction. Sebastian showed me how to perform the curse in fast forward. "And you have to really want it. Otherwise it won't work. Are you ready?" he asked. "Yeah, do it. Garreth, please stand behind me," I said. Sebastian faced me and closed his eyes for a moment. He opened them again, looked at me and shouted "Crucio!".