Sentire, a Hogwarts Legacy story

Chapter 8 - Magic in the Mask

Sebastian stayed quiet the long way back to Feldcroft. In between floo flames, Terra and Ominis had shared several laughs and mockery about the Gaunt family, with Terra nailing down a near-exact impression of Mrs. Gaunt, over-exaggerating her hand movements and vocal inflections in a way that even gave Ominis the shivers. But Sebastian remained his silence, only providing a few slight smiles in-between jokes as his downcast gaze was stubbornly fixed to the floor. Ominis could no longer ignore the periodic sighs and feet dragging against the dirt; he knew Sebastian was once again struggling against himself inside his head.

A few steps away from the front of Hogsmeade, Ominis pulled Terra aside. "I think I need to talk to Sebastian. Man-to-man. How about we meet you at home later?" he asked. Terra also silently worried about Sebastian, taking notice of his new physical aversion to her, despite resting his head against her earlier in the pub. He kept himself at distance, opting to have Ominis constantly buffer between the two. The behavior was a cross between silly and strange. "Of course. Take your time," she said, before summoning her broom and charging off.

"Where's she off to?" Sebastian asked, marking his first words since the trio had left Diagon Alley. Cracking his neck to ease some of the tension, Ominis gave a small sigh. "Off. Come on, let us talk."

As the sun started to settle behind the horizon, the dirt road ahead was already magically lit with torches. Sebastian was no longer mindlessly sighing at himself, though he could not help dragging his feet and kicking the loose rocks they passed. It was an anxious habit Ominis always noticed from his friend, and after realizing Sebastian's tension dramatically eased with Terra leaving first, he hoped the long walk would provide some clarity.

"I thought it nice if the two of us shared a moment to talk. It has been a while, and seems you have a lot on your mind," Ominis said. Without a thought, Sebastian replied, "It's nothing really."

"I know you better than that. Come, Sebastian. Let your old friend help bury your troubles," Ominis implored.

"Where do I even start... what can I even tell you?" Sebastian said with a depressed hesitation. "Start small," Ominis replied. "We have all night."

"Sure," Sebastian relented, letting his fingertips touch the letter in his pocket. "Anne reached out." It was news Ominis could not have expected if he tried. "Wow, Anne. It has been a while. Is she safe?"

"Yeah. She's with our estranged Great Aunt somewhere out there," Sebastian said. "At least the Ministry won't come snooping around about us unaccompanied minors. Anne took care of the guardianship."

"Then, it is a relief things worked out as they did," Ominis said, to which Sebastian shook his head. "She still won't hint where she is at. I don't know where any of my family on Mum's side are. Solomon never told us."

"The good thing is that she wrote," Ominis interrupted, "and that itself is progress." Sebastian stayed quiet for a little to churn that detail in his head. He had been caught up in agitation over his twin purposefully not letting him know where she was, but Ominis had a point. Had he known Anne's location, Sebastian would have dropped everything and went off to find her. But with the Vows, maybe he had much less freedom than he thought. "Yeah, you're right. That is all I can ask for at this point."

"Have you talked to her much? This is the first time since she left," Sebastian asked.

"Only once, early in the summer. She wrote that she was okay, but not much else. I surmised Solomon's death was too much of a shock. And, I think she knew I would end up staying with you again for the summer," Ominis said. The letter was addressed to him, but sent to Sebastian's house. He supposed despite all the mess that happened with the relic, she knew Ominis would still stand by Sebastian's side in the end. It was a loyalty that Ominis once was proud of, but now a bond quite undefined.