Hogwarts Legacy: The Price of Power

Choices and Consequences

The following week was torturous for Dracaena, Sebastian and Ominis. Though Ominis risked himself on two occasions by creeping out of the dorm in the middle of the night, disguised as a snake, he came back to report that the Room of Requirement was still being guarded, all night long it seemed.

With little else to do, they tried to focus on their lessons, which had predominantly taken on the theme of revision, their professors giving them short tests and going over the more vital parts of their subjects as their NEWTS approached, less than a month away. Each of them worked hard and kept their heads down, and Dracaena was somewhat relieved to see Professor Weasley offer her a guarded smile partway through the week as she pretended that she'd learned her lesson.

That didn't change the fact they had to take detention every night after dinner until curfew. Though they tried their best to draw their evening meal out as long as they could, there was only so many times Dracaena could chew a mouthful before her jaw started to ache, and she rapidly became sick of her supper going cold before she finished it.

Dracaena's detentions were set with Professor Ronen, which she supposed was the one small mercy out of the whole ordeal. At least he told the occasional joke, and he was easy enough to engage in conversation that made the hours pass by a little more quickly, though he was just as swift in returning her attention to her homework or revision notes. Ronen walked her back to the common room once their time was up, presumably to stop her taking any unsanctioned detours.

She waited in the common room for her partners to join her, or found they were already there. They were able to steal about five or ten minutes of conversation before they slunk off to their separate beds, just in case they were being watched, and both her partners were extremely grumpy in the mornings, missing her presence as much as she missed theirs.

Partway through the week, Natsai deliberately bumped into Dracaena during Potions on her way back from the whetstone, passing her three new woven bracelets and a tiny note. This, if nothing else, made their detentions somewhat bearable, as Natsai, whom Imelda had clearly told what had happened, had enchanted them to link together just for the three of them. Her bracelet corresponded with both Sebastian and Ominis', while theirs only linked to her. It made her smile to feel them twitch on her arm, and she would often stare into space, gently winding them back and forth on her wrist, letting her beloveds know she was thinking about them while they were apart.

Even without the detentions taking up their evenings, Dracaena found herself tense. Every so often she would feel the strangest twist in her belly, a spike of anxiety that had nothing to do with whatever was happening around her. Something innate inside her told her it was her Ancient Magic, trying to warn her about something, but she didn't know if these stomach-dropping wrenches to her guts meant that the Ashwinders had found a way into the castle, that they were seconds away from launching an assault, or if they had hurt Fotheringham, or if it was just simply down to nerves.

Sebastian and Ominis were similarly frazzled.

"I hate this," Ominis grumbled over lunch one day. "I keep feeling like there's this great beast behind me, ready to eat me. I'm half tempted to say we should risk the expulsion and just go looking anyway."

"Not worth it," Sebastian muttered, jabbing a chunk of salmon with menace. "If I get expelled, I go to Azkaban, mate, in case you forgot."

"I didn't forget, thank you."

"Charming."

"He's right," Dracaena whispered. "Ominis, if you get expelled, they'll snap your wand. How will you get about then?"

His hand went immediately to his arm, where his wand lay snugly in its holster. "I didn't think about that."

"Yeah well, not thinking's what got us into this mess," Sebastian said, shaking his head. "Look, I want this done as much as you two, but I've got prison to think about. Believe me, if I didn't, I'd have gone up to the Room already."