Shadow of the Key | Sebastian Sallow

Chapter 29: A Lie and a Truth

"Save me again, I've waited all my life to touch you."

- Stellar Circuits

Amelia's POV

As expected, the library was completely empty.

Not even Madam Scribner nor Peeves were present.

She didn't bother to use Disillusionment to find the key hidden in one of the drawers of Scribner's desk to the Restricted Section, grabbing it and making her way over to the gate to unlock it.

As the gate creaked open, she thought for a moment that she heard footsteps somewhere in the vicinity, but when she took a quick glance around, there was no one.

Must be her paranoia.

She flipped her hood up and carefully closed the gate behind her, ensuring it wouldn't make any noise before descending down the stairs into the desolate Restricted Section.

As she took a glance at the rows of dusty books that sat perched against the bookcases, she began to grow an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Like she wasn't alone down there...

But as she made her way farther down into the hall, she didn't see or hear anyone that could be nearby. Even the other ghosts that usually lingered by weren't anywhere to be seen.

The Deathday Ballroom must be 'lively' tonight with the Halloween celebrations.

She wasn't even sure what this family directory looked like. She felt like she was flying in blind.

She searched and scavenged through the endless rows of books, only finding some older spell books, some on curses and counter-curses, and some ancient texts.

She also noticed as she traveled further down the bookcases that the Secrets of the Darkest Arts wasn't in its usual resting place.

Madam Scribner must've hidden it to ensure some destructive wanker wouldn't get their hands on it.

While she continued her endless search, she was about ready to throw in the towel, until she felt the familiar tingling sensation of ancient magic, looking down to see silver tendrils pooling on the floor beneath her feet and flowing against the ground, leading to one of the bookcases closest to the stairs.

She followed the trail back towards the entrance and eventually came to a halt in front of one of them, where she spots one of the books higher up on the shelf with a glowing spine.

This must be it.

She reached up on her tiptoes to grab it, and as soon as her hand made contact with the spine, the glow dissipated, pulling the mahogany book out from its place and studying its cover.

It really was a simple family directory.

But it was only on the families associated with the Sacred Twenty-Eight.

What type of information do these families hold that the Headmaster felt as though it needed to be hidden here? It wouldn't make sense to hide a family directory inside the Restricted Section-