Day 13: The Scriptorium

Alone in a moonlit clearing deep in the Forbidden Forest, Margaret pointed her wand at a menacing Acromantula; dialogue wasn't an option, this was life or death. "Aguamenti." declared the girl, not shouting but not whispering either; the spell didn't behave like it should, her wand blasted water at the large creature: innumerable water orbs shot out of the catalyst at an incredible speed, impacting violently with its victim, tearing limbs, crushing small spiders who dared get in front of it; it was over within mere seconds. As if attracted by the bloodshed, an adorable owl dropped a gift box in Margaret's hands.

"Class... Dismissed..." yawned Professor Binns. What would otherwise provoke a loud chorus of creaking chairs instead provoked a quiet group yawn and stretching as the students woke up from their slumber; to Margaret's surprise she was among them, most likely due to the dreadful night she had spent spinning in bed.
Embarrassed, she quickly wrote an apology letter to the ghost-professor; no need to wake him up, falling asleep in class was rude enough.
Grimacing at her shoddy handwriting, she slid the letter on the desk carefully and scanned the room: bathed in sunlight, the now empty classroom gave her a feeling of nostalgia with its old curios, large stacks of ancient volumes and sturdy wooden benches; two students were still sleeping: Ominis Gaunt and My Appletrundle.

She had managed to wrangle her friend to class after encountering her in the kitchens at night, or rather early morning, with the convincing argument that most students would be asleep and she wouldn't be bothered by anyone; unfortunately they both ended up taking part in a group nap instead of learning about History of Magic.
The hint of a smile on her face, Margaret observed her sleeping friend for a moment, trying to think of a considerate way to wake her up. Her thinking was interrupted by Ominis asking for Sebastian. "Sallow! You took my wand again!"
His face covered in the red markings of having slept on his sleeves, the boy frowned angrily in front of him while he attempted to extricate himself from the bench; completely blinded without his wand, he didn't realize he was staring down the meek Hufflepuff sitting two rows on his left.
Blushing slightly, the short girl shrunk inside her scarf as she seriously considered turning into a rat.

"Hey! You! ...Apple fritter..?" beckoned Sebastian from the hallway. Overwhelmed and confused the girl obliged "Why me?" she thought? Unaware that from Sebastian's point of view she was the only student left in class. Hearing his friend's voice, Ominis turned around and almost tripped, confused and angry, prompting Margaret to approach in an attempt to assist him.

"You're shorter up close." commented the boy, a smug look on his face, enjoying how her eyes bolted away from him. "Fetch me my wand would you? I left it in class... I think." he frowned slightly, trying to pass his embarrassment for frustration, somewhat successfully. The Hufflepuff nodded frantically and trotted towards the class, beet red.

Margaret was standing silently next to Ominis, offering her arm for him to grab on so she could guide him; she didn't say a word.
Standing at the door, My stared at the odd sight, increasingly confused. The boy pawed around blindly while her friend just stood there in silence, perhaps expecting him to know.
Suddenly grabbing the pale Gryffindor's face, Ominis yelped and jumped in surprise, much to the Hufflepuff's amusement. Margaret's blank expression covered by the Slytherin's slender hand was enough to make her wheeze with laughter.
"Who are you people? Did you play a trick on me? I'll have you know I can get the Headmaster to expel you!" he hissed angrily.
"There you are, Ominis." said Sebastian who peeked inside the classroom, attracted by all the ruckus.
"Sebastian!" answered the blind boy, increasingly frustrated. "Give me back-"
"Have you seen my wand?" cut Sebastian.
The two boys ignored the two witches who just stood there silently, almost silently, the Hufflepuff was stifling her laughter: the bickering boys, her friend still standing there with her arm waiting for Ominis to catch on... The sight was simply too funny.

"Oh." whispered the dull Slytherin to himself at the sight of his wand on his desk; realizing his mistake he quickly swapped the wands. "Y-your wand is right where you left it, on the desk, Ominis."
He sighed "No, Sebastian, that's your wand"
Amused by My's struggle and laughter, Margaret grabbed the wand and placed it in Ominis' hand, interrupting the boys' quarrel.
"Ah... Much obliged." sighed the boy, relieved, as his wand lit up.
Catching the Hufflepuff staring at his friend, Sebastian poked her with his elbow and teased. "Why are you staring? Are you... Blinded by his good looks?" he wiggled his eyebrows as the girl gasped, turned beet red and hid her face in her scarf.
"Sebastian, lower those eyebrows!" ordered Ominis, Sebastian lowered his left eyebrow, looking dejected "And... The other one..." added his friend, as the left eyebrow followed.
Seeing her friend leave the classroom in silence, the panicked Hufflepuff followed in a hurry, grabbing on the tall Gryffindor's sleeve, a toothy smile on her teary, blushing face.
"Wait!" interrupted the Sallow boy, smiling as Margaret turned around. "Meet me in the Undercroft." The two girls puffed in laughter. "You too... Apple Crumble..?" Margaret nodded politely and left with her friend.
Ominis stared daggers, just how many people knew about the Undercroft?!

Sitting in silence in front of the entrance to the Undercroft, the two girls waited patiently, enjoying the peace and quiet; the Hufflepuff lost track of time and closed her tired eyes with a sigh while her friend stared emptily at the floor, not showing signs of the constant explosion of thoughts hiding inside her head.
Five minutes later, the pathway opened to a sighing Sebastian. "Did we just wait for each other for five minutes..?" Margaret nodded, he rolled his eyes and beckoned the girls downstairs with a wave.

"Thank you for coming, Megamelons." said Sebastian "And...You." he added, looking at the short brunette.
"My" answered Margaret.
"What do you mean, 'me'?" replied Sebastian, perplexed.
"That's her name."
My pulled on her friend's sleeve to share her hilarity, which was only amplified by the tall girl's blank stare.
Sebastian cleared his throat. "As you know, my sister Anne has been cursed and we have been trying everything to cure her to no avail."
He turned around to look at books pilfered from the Forbidden Section, slowly caressing the cover of a black tome.
"I need you to convince Ominis to allow me to enter Slytherin's Scriptorium. If anyone knows anything about the Dark Arts it's Salazar Slytherin."
Feeling the two girls staring at him he elaborated. "I'm desperate, the curse on Anne is destroying her. I know I will find answers in the Scriptorium, and I know I can count on you to help me."
"Why did he even ask me to come..?" wondered the Hufflepuff, looking at the two students.
"I will help you under one condition: trust us over the Dark Arts." answered Margaret coldly. "You should know your enemy, but don't mistake knowledge for affinity. It will destroy you if you embrace it."
"So cool..." thought the two students, and Ominis who was listening in.
"Fine." answered Sebastian.

"What are you three plotting?" said the Gaunt boy, barging in.
"Sebastian believes he should look into the Dark Arts in order to lift the curse on Anne." answered Margaret bluntly, sending a wave of stress through Sebastian's spine; Ominis was taken aback at the direct answer.
"I... Appreciate the honesty."
"Say... Applestrüdel, how do you pronounce your name, exactly?" asked Sebastian, trying to give his friend and the Gryffindor some privacy.
The embarrassed meek girl approached warily.

"I heard what you told Sebastian. I hope you will stay true to your word." said Ominis, now alone with the white haired girl.
"I will."
"He won't stop at anything and I'm afraid of what he might be capable to do with the wrong kind of knowledge. The Dark Arts aren't something you can just play with."
Margaret nodded.
"This is odd. I barely know you but I feel like I can trust you..." said Ominis, the tip of his wand glowing brighter. "Do you mind?"
Margaret nodded, looking ahead at a pile of poorly stacked furniture. "We did meet in the train back then though."
Taken by surprise, the glow on Ominis' wand flickered for a second. "You remember..?"
"You too."

Away from them, Sebastian was imitating... A cow? For some reason?
Ominis chuckled, feeling oddly relaxed around the strange witch. He renewed his focus, trying to visualise the girl sitting next to him. Her vacant pale green eyes, her blank expression, her silken white hair, that dangerous lack of smell, how she pinched her fingertips, chewed on her lips... The more he focused, the more he didn't know what he felt; was it dread? Melancholy? It couldn't be, he felt at ease. There was something about this girl, an aura..? As if he was sitting next to a Unicorn, or a Thestral?

Sebastian's moos echoed through the Undercroft, Ominis felt Margaret's pained expression, he felt the accelerated pace of her pinching and biting, how her eyes scanned the room constantly while her expression stood still, how she kept glancing at her friend anxiously.
Taking a deep breath as if he had surfaced from under water, Ominis rubbed his temples. "I made up my mind. Let us explore the Scriptorium." he gripped his wand tightly, feeling like he was making a terrible mistake.
"Mioooo" the brunette wheezed at the odd sound and ridiculous expression on Sebastian's face.

Leading the way, Ominis held his wand tight, and My held Margaret's sleeve just as tightly; the blind boy's thought were focused on his aunt, he remembered the journal he recovered in front of the ominous black door, its content, its implications...
"I vowed to leave the Dark Arts behind when I left home yet here I am..." he whispered.
"Reparo." whispered the Hufflepuff with a discreet flick of her wand; the girl had spotted a broken down mural, and filled with sympathy wanted to fix it right away. Margaret smiled gently.
"There's a voice... Speak to me it says... The door must be spoken to in Parseltongue to open." half-whispered Ominis, focusing on his senses.
The Gryffindor quickly plugged her ears and nodded.

Opening surprisingly quietly, the heavy black door beckoned the quatuor deeper into the dark confines of the Castle.
"I can't stand Parseltongue. Sorry." explained Margaret; the two boys stared at her quizzically, her friend felt the creeping urge to hug her tight.
Carefully exploring the dark passages with their wand lights, Margaret suddenly broke the silence.
"What language should you speak to be guaranteed good service at the post office? ...Parceltongue."
There was a blank, a choked puff, a distinctive gigglesnark, a groan.

Little by little, the darkness faded as the group lit up torches and sconces, and as they explored and gathered notes left by Ominis' aunt they could feel the boy's mood souring even more.
Anytime they regrouped, Sebastian ordered My around, grinning every time she trotted away like a little soldier, oblivious of Margaret's imperceptible glares. Pressing forward, the group found themselves in front of a long corridor with another strange black door at the end of it. Following Sebastian's reckless advance so as to not get split up, Margaret and Ominis stepped into the corridor with him; "A most wise decision..." thought Ominis ironically as the door closed behind them, trapping the three of them in the corridor.

Margaret observed My talking to a spider on the other side and congratulating it on its beautiful web, she waved at her friend through the door, who now trotted towards her with a worried look.
Kneeling in front of the black door, Ominis examined the skeleton and its journal.
"I didn't want to believe it but deep down I knew it... This is... Was my aunt." he said, a mix of sadness and anger on his face.
"This is where she died. This where we'll die... I shouldn't have listened to either of you." the boy started to panic.
"Is this your aunt? She's skin and bones..." whispered Margaret, thankfully only Sebastian heard her, which he answered with a nudge on her shoe.
"You will be fine! Margaret is with you! Chin up Ominis!" waved My, trying not to be too loud for her friend's sake.

Quickly glancing at the notes and at the message on the floor, Margaret deducted how to open the door.
"We have to cast the Cruciatus curse to open the door."
"No." answered Ominis adamantly.
"We have to." said Sebastian. "I can teach you-"
"I know." she answered, to her classmate's surprise.
The Hufflepuff was gripping the bars tightly, she felt powerless, she heard about the Cruciatus curse, and though some part of her found it endearing in her darkest times she knew her real self didn't want anyone to have it cast on them.
"Cast it one me." said Sebastian.
"Are you trying to impress the ladies?" said Margaret bluntly "Wait... That's us..."
"Silencio." she swished her wand at Sebastian.
"No... Don't..." Ominis looked shaken. Margaret approached him and whispered. "There is no other way, everything will be alright. Just turn around, trust me." Her quiet whispers sent powerful shivers down his spine, Ominis still couldn't tell if it was fear or endearment.
"My... Please don't look, I don't want you to see this." The Hufflepuff nodded and turned around, though Margaret knew her friend wouldn't listen to her, she was used to it.

"I assume you are familiar with the incantation and its intricacies." declared Margaret as she laid Sebastian on the floor on a bedding made out of their school robes.
"Now let me show you what it feels like." she pointed her wand at the boy. "Endoloris."
Sebastian's eyes went wide: it felt as if every part of his body was being pulled at the same time, he felt on the verge of ripping apart, his lungs filled with water, he was drowning, he was freezing, burning, stabbed, the intense pain made it feel like an hour went by; a crushing wave of despair hit him when Ominis turned around and said "That's the wrong incantation."
"It's not, don't turn around."
The girl lifted her wand, his body was shaking, he was drooling and seeing stars. He wasn't ready for what the Gryffindor was about to say.
"I'm sorry, it looks like I have to maintain the curse until the door opens, a simple cast wasn't enough."
"A simple cast?!" he thought.
"Brace yourself." she said coldly. "Endoloris."
Again. His body shook, spasmed, squirmed, he fought back against himself, trying to free himself from the pain, from his body, trying to get away. Thanks to the Silencing Charm he could scream at the top of his lungs, not that he could dream of holding back, there was no place for thinking in his mind, everything was pain: constant, permanent, infinite pain.
Alone in this dark corridor, writhing and screaming next to the statue with green eyes illuminated in red, Sebastian felt nothing but pain, he remembered sadness, illness, injuries and discovered many new ones he never knew he could feel.
Behind the bars, the Hufflepuff stared, unable to look away; terrified at the sight of her gentle friend's adamant resolve as she inflicted tremendous pain on the boy. How could she not falter, blink, wince... Anything? Why was she just... Staring? The reality of the curse slowly crept in her mind, making her darkest fantasies look even more grim, yet something inside her still stirred.

The red glow dimmed, the eyes faded into dark, and the black door melted, illuminated in red.
Sebastian's breath was ragged, his body was still spasming uncontrollably, he still felt the omnipresent pain and an unquenchable thirst; the robes were damp with saliva and tears and his face was bright red.
Ominis gripped his wand tightly, his fist against the wall, gritting his teeth. "Turn around... You think I need to face things to see them..?" he thought.
My rushed towards her classmates while digging inside her pouch for something, anything, her mind too preoccupied with her friend's wellbeing to think about what she had just witnessed.
"Expecto Patronum." whispered Margaret, engulfing the spasming boy in a comforting blue glow. Seeing her panicked friend approach, the Gryffindor pointed at Ominis with her eyes, the brunette nodded and approached him, her heart filling with warmth as she recognized her kind lion friend.
"It's alright, Ominis, it's over. I'm so sorry..." she whispered, gently touching his arm.
"For what?" thought the other three.
The boy clenched his fist against the wall; he felt this intense wrath about to burst out of him, a malignant voice whispered to him to slap the girl, tell her this is her fault, another one lashed out at himself for even entertaining the thought of becoming like his family.
"T-Thank you... Please let me... Think." He answered, visibly shaken by the experience. The Hufflepuff smiled and pumped a fist encouragingly.
"... Keep on... Trucking? Chin up!"
Ominis stood with a foot against the wall, holding his face in his free hand with his wand hand laying almost limp by his side in a dramatic and classy pose that would've looked very impressive and fetching if he wasn't facing the wrong direction. And a large cobweb.

Seeing Sebastian's body stopped shaking, the white haired girl checked his eyes, making sure he saw what he saw, then offered him water.
"Finite Incantatem." whispered Margaret, giving him back his voice.
He gulped the water loudly, hands still shaking, covered in sweat. His thirst finally quenched, he spoke up with a surprisingly raspy voice which made him realize everything was very real.
"That was...What happened? How long? Endoloris? How? What?"
"My father taught me the spell, in French. I first cast it for half a second, then for a full five second. The door is open, now."
"Seconds..? Just how powerful are you..?" answered Sebastian, feeling crushed by the revelation.
"My Cruciatus is weak, actually. I'm sorry it was still painful." she looked away, ashamed to have made him experience something so grueling.
Sebastian felt frustrated, he tried standing up but fell right away, his legs still too weak.
"Your father taught you..? What kind of monster-" hissed Ominis, before being interrupted by My.
"He's not a monster." her stern and scolding tone made Margaret smile.
Taken by surprise, the Gaunt boy calmed down enough to remember the Unicorns and the Dark Wizards, the girl's aura, her words, her actions, her behaviour. "Enough. You can trust her." he thought to himself.
Finally able to stand up, albeit shakily, Sebastian declared "Well I'm not using this curse willy-nilly that's for sure..."

Expecting a treasure trove of forbidden knowledge, Sebastian was struck with despair as he realized most of the material were the geriatric ramblings of an enthusiastic Dark Wizard rather than the insightful notes of a student of the Dark Arts, and even though he found a few interesting tidbits here and there he still felt unsatisfied. "This isn't nearly enough, there's got to be more somewhere else... This can't be it!" he groaned, shuffling notes.
"Please, Sebastian, that's enough, don't you see what the Dark Arts are capable of? Didn't you learn your lesson?" pleaded Ominis.
"I do! I did! But I need to save Anne! How long has this accursed curse been cursing her?" perhaps still shaken by the aftereffects of the curse, the boy sounded even more irrational than usual.
"Now you listen to me mister! You put these notes down right now and you stop making your friends worry!" snapped the short Hufflepuff.
Margaret chuckled approvingly and Ominis nodded; Sebastian's jaw fell to the floor.
"Now you go get changed, you properly apologize to Ominis and you stop... Acting in ways, mister Sallow!" she added.
Fearing the mighty badger, the two snakes scampered off to their dorms like children fleeing their angry grandmother.

Looking at each other, the two girls nodded and made their way to the lake, or rather Margaret did, a small overwhelmed rodent perched on her shoulder.
Sharing a meal, the two girls reunited on the pier; with her friend calmed down, Margaret listened quietly to her unusually cheerful chatting while she spun beautiful shapes of water with her fingers, absentmindedly creating mostly rats.

Behind the girls, the cruching sounds of a steps on the beach crept closer and closer.
"Good evening, Meg, Miiiii" said Sebastian with a warm smile, accompanied by Ominis.
"Can I sit?" he asked, despite sitting down immediately between the two girls, pushing them apart with his Slytherumpus.
Putting his arm around Margaret's shoulders, he chuckled when she jumped at his touch, but quickly retracted his arm when she clicked her tongue.
"James wasn't kidding, you are scary." commented Ominis, back to his usual playful self. The Hufflepuff buried her face in her scarf, red to her ears.
"Ominis told me there's a giant squid in the lake? Is he pulling my leg? How big is it?" asked Sebastian.
"Very large, it's a kind creature, it helps Madison Rout from time to time." answered Margaret.
"Isn't that the mold girl..?" inquired Ominis, his question was answered with a nod, he grimaced.
"How large is very large? Like this?" Sebastian put his hands apart about one meter.
"That's... The size of its eye?" estimated Margaret.
"You're pulling my leg. She's pulling my leg." Sebastian turned towards My, who was looking absentmindedly towards the horizon, not listening, though very uncomfortable.
"It's common knowledge, almost everyone has seen the Black Lake's Giant Squid." declared Ominis, who would've looked very elegant, if he wasn't staring at the nearby cottage.

Sebastian stood up, turning his back towards the lake and crossed his arms proudly. "I've read many books, including those in the Forbidden Section" Large tentacles burst out of the lake's surface " And none of them mention anything about a Giant Squid."
"It's right here, turn around." said Margaret, bluntly.
"Nu-uh" said Sebastian, shaking his head, as the tentacles retraced under the water.
"Besides, if it was real, it would be about... This size." he put his hands in front of him again, this time smaller than before.