Sebastian was in front of The Three Broomsticks pacing anxiously when you approached. You could see he was muttering something to himself, shaking his head and turning around just to see you walk up to him.
His eyes lit up and a smile brightened his expression. "There you are! How did it go?"
You returned his smile. "As good as I could hope. I got my answers at least and a few more questions."
Sebastian nodded in understanding. "Let's go inside then, Sirona gave us permission to use the private room upstairs. Poppy and Ominis are already there."
When everyone thought you going alone to Hogsmeade to meet Gornuk wasn't a good idea, you decided it was best to all go together. Given the mistrust of Goblins towards wizardkind, Poppy had suggested they'd wait for you in The Three Broomsticks where you'd fill them in on whatever Gornuk had to say.
So here you were, walking into the cozy room while Sebastian closed the door behind you.
Poppy looked up when she saw you enter. "How did it go?" She handed you a Butterbeer as you sat down and you took a grateful long sip. It was infinitely better than the one you got served at the Hog's Head.
"Well, he was a bit distrusting at first, but he told me some valuable things."
You told them all of your conversation with Gornuk, from the way he put you to his own little test -Sebastian had scoffed at that, but you ignored it- to him telling you that the rings were a pair and were made specifically for your family.
"It was clear to me that my grandmother must have had Ancient Magic too and wanted to make sure her children could control their powers if they happened to inherit it."
"But what good did that do given that your uncle certainly has it and the ring only helps him be more powerful?" Poppy asked confused. "Would she have wanted that to happen?"
You shook your head. "I'm pretty sure MacMillan doesn't possess the ability to use Ancient Magic. Not naturally at least. The ring is making him able to wield it though, he told me as much when he lured me in the Map Chamber."
"Interesting. And as his family you are the only one left to take it off." Ominis said, looking pensive. "Aside from your grandfather and his children in America, you are the only MacMillan left to do it."
That caught your attention. "How do you know?"
Ominis sighed and sat back in his chair. "I hope you can forgive me for not telling you sooner, but as soon as you told me that your uncle's name was MacMillan, I recognized it and did some research."
You were surprised to hear that and didn't really know what to think of him not sharing that with you.
"It's not that I did not want to tell you, but due to what happened when Poppy's grandmother got taken, I just forgot. And then it wasn't of real importance anymore, so I figured I'd share it with you if it came up."
That made sense and if you really thought about it: It wasn't like it really mattered to you all that much. You had heard enough from Sebastian to make it very possible you were one of the last of the name MacMillan -a name you didn't really wanted to associate yourself with anyway.
"I understand Ominis. I'm glad to hear you didn't want to keep that from me on purpose." But now you did have another question. "Gornuk mentioned something about my grandmother being part of the Sacred twenty-eight. Do you have any idea what that means?"
To your surprise, that got a reaction out of all three of them. Sebastian rolled his eyes, Poppy's eyebrows knitted together in a frown and Ominis scoffed.
"What? Is it bad?" You asked, looking at their reactions of obvious discontent.
Ominis cleared his throat. "One might argue it is." He sighed. "Basically, someone once published a directory which contains the names of twenty-eight families that are -according to that directory- 'truly Pureblood'."
Subconsciously you made a face at that. Sebastian saw it and nodded his head. "Yeah, it's disgusting honestly. It's codswallop as well, given that there are a lot more families that should be on that list." You raised your eyebrow at him and he shrugged.
"Like the Potters. Their whole line is Pureblood, but just because they are what some would call 'Pro-Muggle' the author didn't include them, even though they did include Ollivander when there are records of there being a Muggleborn in that line, making their blood not 'truly pure' according to the directory."
"Pro-Muggle?"
"When you view Muggles as equals, aren't opposed to them and would even consider marrying one, the elitists of Purebloods would call that Pro-Muggle." Poppy explained. "It's disgusting really, making it seem like a bad thing you should be ashamed about."
That was indeed a repulsive thought. As if Muggles were somehow less human just because they didn't possess the ability to do magic. "That's horrible."
"It is." Ominis agreed. "My family and yours -the MacMillans- are part of those twenty-eight in the directory. So that's what the Goblin meant."
That made sense. It also made you want to distance yourself from the name even more.
"Thank you for the explanation." You turned towards Ominis. "You told me that Goblins have a different idea than wizards do when it comes to ownership."
He tilted his head in your direction and nodded. "I did. You know it now too, since Gornuk asked you to pay up for the ring initially."
"Yes, but I'd like to know if any of you know why that is?" You looked at Poppy, but she shrugged. "I only know it's a thing, but never cared too much to find out why." She said. "I just see it as different species having different values and opinions."
Ominis reached out to her, his hand landing on her arm. "That's because you're too sweet and respectful to question it and risk offending them, darling."
His tone was fond and so was the smile on his face as he gave her arm a squeeze before lowering his hand to hold hers.
Poppy blushed lightly and only shrugged her shoulders.
You looked towards Sebastian. Surely your boyfriend, who loved to spend time in the library, would know?
He did. "It's a centuries old story to be honest, dating back to the time Godric Gryffindor still lived."
You downed the rest of your Butterbeer and made yourself more comfortable in your chair, showing him that you were ready to hear the tale. Sebastian gave you an amused grin.
"Back in those days, a Goblin named Ragnuk the First was their King and Gryffindor commissioned a sword made by him."
"Made of pure Goblin's silver and set with rubies at the hilt." Ominis added. "Just to give you an idea."
Sebastian chuckled. "Right. Well, Ragnuk made one and Gryffindor paid him the agreed upon price." Okay, so far a pretty normal transaction. "But afterwards, Ragnuk had become so enamored by his own making that he wanted it back for himself, so he send Goblins after Gryffindor to retrieve it, telling them he had stolen the sword from him and it should be returned to its rightful owner."
"So he was deceitful." You stated as a fact and Ominis and Sebastian nodded while Poppy was leaning forward, fully engaged in the story just like you. "What happened then?" She asked.
"Gryffindor defeated them all- he was a skilled duelist- and send them all back to Ragnuk with the message that if he ever pulled something like that again, he'd kill him and all of his subjects."
You flinched. "Bit extreme don't you think?" Sebastian shook his head. "They tried to kill him and take the sword, which he paid for. He could've killed them all when they came for him, but instead he let them go with a warning."
It still seemed a bit much, but then it also wasn't fair how Ragnuk the First had deceived his subjects, turning them all against Gryffindor. Maybe it was justified.
"Either way, Ragnuk didn't attempt to get the sword anymore, but it became a fact in the Goblin community that Gryffindor stole the sword." He went on.
"Gryffindor passed on the sword to his son after his death and Ragnuk was extremely bitter when he heard about it -still claiming to be the rightful owner." Ominis filled in, causing Sebastian to shoot him an annoyed look.
"Are you telling the story or am I, Ominis?" His best friend smiled. "Yes, alright you grump. Go on then."
You blinked in surprise at his reaction, never really having seen the Slytherin that cheerful when it comes to quips to his best friend. Come to think of it, ever since he started courting Poppy he'd been in an overall better mood.
Sebastian cleared his throat, pulling you out of your thoughts and back to the story. "Anyway, yes, Ragnuk was so bitter that he convinced the whole Goblin community that the maker of anything is the rightful owner and thus if they pass away, the owner should be paid again by the one who wants to inherit it."
You became angry again thinking back on your conversation with Gornuk and how he told you, you had to pay up. Even if it was just a test, with this context you're not fully sure it was.
But when you opened your mouth to voice your opinion, Poppy spoke up. "That's a load of bullcrap!" She exclaimed, making Ominis, Sebastian and you turn to her in surprise.
"Sorry, I just realized something." She apologized half-heartedly, letting go of her boyfriend's hand, she crossed her arms in a huff. "My grandmother wears a bracelet made of Goblin silver and she'd like to pass it on to me in the future. It's really expensive and I really don't want to have to pay for it again, it'd take me years to save that up."
"No need to apologize, it's just the fact that you said it was a load of bull crap that surprised me." Sebastian said after a few seconds of silent. "Poppy Sweeting, you keep surprising me."
"Only in the best ways." Ominis added, searching out her hand again, making her uncross her arms when he found it and intertwined their fingers. "Calm down dear, you'll get that bracelet and I'll make sure you won't have to pay for it."
The Hufflepuff's shoulders sagged and she nodded. "Sorry for throwing that in there all of a sudden, but the bracelet has multiple charms hanging on it, one for every generation. It'll miss one for my mother for obvious reasons, but it's very dear to my gran and I'd like to continue with the tradition one day."
"Of course! I understand." You told her. "We'll make sure you'll get it once that moment comes."
That seemed to reassure Poppy. She nodded and squeezed Ominis' hand. "Thank you. Sorry for the interruption, please continue."
"It's fine darling." Ominis lifted their entwined hands and gave the back of her hand a kiss before dropping them again. "Sebastian was probably done either way, weren't you?"
Sebastian had been looking fondly at his best friend being sweet to his girlfriend, but when his name was called he sat up. "Yes! Yeah, that's mostly it." He turned to you. "That's where their idea of ownership comes from."
You looked at your hands and thought about all the information combined.
"So, what we know now is that my family on my mother's side is one of the Pureblood families. Does that make me a Pureblood too?"
Sebastian shook his head. "You're a Halfblood, well... if we go by technicalities you're more Pureblood than Halfblood, but-"
You looked at him utterly confused. "What are you talking about?"
He scratched the back of his neck a little nervously. "I uh, just realize that I might have forgotten to tell you that your father and his siblings weren't really Muggleborn?"
You would've been able to hear a pin drop in the room with the silence that followed his statement.
It took you a moment to digest that information before you stood up. "He wasn't Muggleborn? I knew it!"
Your excited yell had made Ominis jump and Poppy lean back in surprise. Sebastian was looking less nervous and more curious now. "What do you mean, you knew it?"
"Well, remember that day in the library when we were looking through the lists of students who attended Hogwarts, searching for my parents' names?"
"Ye-es." He reluctantly nodded, unsure of where you were going.
"We found out that day that my father had two siblings and I asked if it was common for Muggles to have more than one child with magic abilities."
Understanding began to dawn on Sebastian. "I do remember. I said I only saw it happen with twins."
"Indeed. So, are you saying that my grandparents on my father's side were both able to use magic? Or only one of them?" You looked at him as you sat down again.
"Your grandmother was Muggleborn, your grandfather was a Halfblood. Not that it matters much, but in the eyes of the Ministry it makes you a Halfblood, since there are Muggles in your lineage." He explained. "I'm sorry I actually forgot to tell you this earlier."
You waved him off. "It's really fine. I could've asked if I was really curious, but there were other things I wanted to know more about back then." You smiled at him. "It's all good. To be honest, I don't care about the whole blood-supremacy in the slightest. It doesn't say anything about you as a person."
"It really doesn't." Ominis chipped in. "It's ridiculous really."
"Absolutely." Sebastian agreed and Poppy nodded fervently. "It's just another way for people to look down on others."
Sighing you leaned forward, placing your elbows on your knees and holding your head in your hands.
"At least we got some good news. I am able to remove his ring since we're family." You said. "It'll be easier said than done though."
"I know you can do it." Poppy said encouraging. "We're all well prepared for when he'll invade Hogwarts and we will make sure you get your chance to take it off of him." A look of hesitancy flickered in her eyes. "Do you think it'll really help though?"
You shrugged your shoulders. "Honestly? I haven't a clue, but what I do know is that he can only control Ancient Magic while wearing it. He told me as much, so I think it'll at the very least give us the upper hand."
"He will have back-up too though." Ominis said. "My mother, Poppy's parents and however many poachers are left in the area will be on his side."
"We'll be much stronger than last time." Sebastian argued. "And we can call on the Professors."
"How?" His best friend retorted.
"I don't know yet, but I'm sure we'll figure something out. The others will return in a couple of days and classes start three days from then, so that must give us at least some time to discuss this all with them and come up with ideas on how we'll notify the Professors."
It was nice to see how your friends had your back, but you couldn't help but feel guilty. You hadn't even thought of the problem on how to reach out to the staff should you need them.
Somehow you felt like you should've, since you were the one your uncle wanted. If it weren't for your Ancient Magic- "Stop that. You're doing it again."
You looked up at the cutting tone to see Sebastian watching you with a hard expression. "What?"
"You're either blaming yourself right now for this mess or feeling guilty about it." He stated.
"That's ridiculous." Ominis shook his head. "None of this falls on you. It's not your fault your uncle is a raging lunatic."
Poppy reached out and patted your shoulder. "No negative thoughts. You did nothing wrong."
You let out a sigh. "I just can't help but think that if it weren't for my ability-"
"MacMillan would've still invaded Hogwarts, just without us knowing." Sebastian countered swiftly, effectively shutting you up. "Love, this is far bigger than you. Ancient Magic has clearly always existed, hence the ancient part and what MacMillan wants most of all is control over the Wizarding world."
He had a point there.
Sebastian came to stand in front of you, gently guiding your hands away from your face before making you lean back so he could look you in the eyes.
"If it weren't for your ability, he would definitely succeed. We'd be at his mercy and who knows what would happen to Hogwarts after he got to the Repository." His eyes softened and a tiny smile formed on his lips. "Because of you, we know of his plans and I promise you we will fight and stop him. We'll protect you, Hogwarts and the world from him."
Your eyes stung as his words squeezed your heart with affection. "Thank you, Sebastian."
"Aw, you guys are so cute!" Poppy exclaimed, making both of you jump and look over with a blush. You had for that little moment, sort of forgotten you weren't alone.
Your best friend was looking at you and Sebastian with a happy smile, while Ominis was shaking his head in exasperation -though you could see the hint of a smile pulling at his lips.
Sebastian cleared his throat. "Right. I think that we're done talking for now. We should get back to Hogwarts."
You stood up to follow Ominis and Poppy out of the door, the couple holding hands and moving quite swiftly.
Before you reached the door however, Sebastian held you back for a second, turning you around and looking into your eyes. "I meant what I said. You're not to blame and we will make sure he won't get that magic."
You stepped closer, invading his space and wrapping your arms around his waist. "I know. Thank you for reminding me that it's not all about me."
He smiled. "Anytime."
Then he leaned forward and captured your lips with his in a sweet kiss. You sighed happily against his mouth and kissed back.
You wished you could stay in this moment a little longer, but your friends were waiting for you and it was almost time for dinner.
Reluctantly you broke the kiss and smiled up at Sebastian. "Let's go before Ominis yells at us."
He chuckled. "Ah, we wouldn't want that."
"Not really." You replied giggling and pulled him with you, letting the door fall shut behind you.