Shadow of the Key | Sebastian Sallow

Chapter 30: Laying the Groundwork

Amelia's POV

The past couple of days came and went since the Ball, and after suffering attacks two days in a row from the mysterious cloaked figures in league with Harlow, Amelia was relieved to have some normalcy afterwards.

But with the attacks growing more prominent, she felt like she was racing against the clock to find the key.

And she was losing.

Still, she wasn't sure if the locket would absorb her magic without killing her, but after the weekend she and her friends endured, she could sense Harlow was starting to get desperate.

And with that, so was she.

Amelia, Sebastian, Ominis, Anne, and Valencia had all gathered in the Undercroft after Amelia sent them all owls to reconvene, after classes and Quidditch practice were wrapped up for the day, sitting in a wide circle on the cold, stone floor of their sacred place.

One of the only places she truly felt safe.

"So we know that Ominis' family is involved in all of this now," Valencia states, leaning back on her palms, sitting cross-legged between Anne and Sebastian.

"They're nothing but," Ominis sighs, though he still wore a somber expression on his face, his head leaned back against one of the pillars, "I can't say I'm too surprised about it."

"Are you sure it was a Gaunt ring you saw them take out?" Anne asks Sebastian inquisitively, picking at the hem of her uniform skirt.

He simply nods, also leaning back on his palms with his legs crossed, "It was a gold ring with a black stone. There was an engraving on it but I couldn't decipher it at the time."

"The Peverall coat of arms," Ominis clarifies, "It signifies the Deathly Hallows."

"The Deathly Hallows?" Amelia asks curiously.

All four friends turn to her with confused glances.

"You don't know the Deathly Hallows, Amie?" Valencia quizzes, "Our father told us about them when we were kids."

"I..." she tried to dig into her memory for it, but came up with nothing, "I'm not sure."

"Do you remember the third trial you did with Fitzgerald during fifth year? With the cloak, the wand, and the stone?" Sebastian asks, memories immediately coming back to her.

Of course. That was actually the only trial that gave her nightmares for weeks on end.

"Was that the Deathly Hallows?"

He nods and rises to his feet, walking over towards his chalkboard and picking up a piece of chalk before drawing a triangle with a circle in the center, a straight line down the middle of it.

He points to the triangle with chalk in hand, "This is the Cloak of Invisibility. You acquired this to maneuver around Death's minions without being detected at close range," he then points to the line, "This is the Elder Wand. You mentioned that wielding this wand gave you immense strength. It's the most powerful wand in existence," he lastly points to the circle, "This is the Resurrection stone, you used this to talk to a vision of Niamh. It can't bring people back from the dead, but it can call upon their spirits," he draws a clean circle around the symbol, "These make up the Deathly Hallows. Possessing all three of these artefacts make you the Master of Death."