Chapter 3. December 27, 1890

Ominis carefully lowered Sebastian's head from his shoulder. He still didn't like the whole plan, and he didn't want to make Sebastian doubt it in any way. He surreptitiously aimed his wand towards his friend and regretfully noticed the admiration in Sebastian's posture. "Dark magic should horrify and repel, Sebastian," he thought bitterly.

"Let's go quickly," Sebastian impatiently urged, stepping into the darkness. Ominis followed him.

"Lumos!" the boys almost simultaneously cast the spell, illuminating the dark damp walls of the seemingly endless corridor. The sounds of their footsteps, which should have created echoes in the large and empty space, were absorbed by the surrounding darkness. Even the light from the spell seemed dimmer than it should be. The corridor gradually descended deeper underground, and now, looking back, they could no longer see the small square of grayish light that had filtered through the arch. Ominis and Sebastian relied solely on their hearing and sense of touch, cautiously stepping on the ancient tiles and occasionally brushing against the walls to avoid missing any turns.

After a quarter of an hour, they found themselves in a large, spacious chamber, feeling momentarily lost in the vastness of the space. Their wands had gone out, and in the room, they heard the sounds of something large and unwieldy moving through the dampness. Ominis froze, listening intently, trying not only to pinpoint the source of the noise but also to search his mind for associations with it. He cautiously took a step towards Sebastian, grasping the sleeve of his robe and whispered, "It's ahead, to the left." A soft hissing sound followed, and the movement became more active. Sebastian pointed his wand towards the source of the sound and shouted, "Incendio!"

The creature burst into flames and writhed in agony, emitting painful cries and shrieks. In the flickering flames, they saw a bizarre fusion of devil's snare and snakes, as if united by a single mind. Some of the appendages still attempted to reach them, but under the influence of the spell, they withered and convulsed, turning into ashes. Sebastian noticed that the creature was literally entwining almost all the walls and the ceiling of the chamber. It pulsated painfully, dying and disappearing in the flames. The heat of the fire scorched the boys' faces, and they covered them with their sleeves, waiting for it to be over, hoping that the fire wouldn't catch them. The ancient creature's agony continued and dragged on. Blind, snow-white eyes of the snake's heads, and the same translucent white skin revealed that it had spent not just centuries but millennia guarding its creator's secrets. However, all those ages hadn't been kind to it, as it couldn't even sense the approaching students. One of its appendages swiped at Sebastian's shoulder, and he cursed loudly, almost dropping his wand. The creature's screeching gradually subsided, much like the roar of the flames devouring it.

"And is this reliable protection?" Sebastian chuckled, adjusting his cloak and casting Lumos.

"This is clearly not the end," Ominis replied tensely, thinking that such a clearly weak creature couldn't be the only thing guarding the scriptorium.

At the opposite end of the room, the boys discovered a locked, barred door. They immediately guessed that ordinary unlocking spells wouldn't work, but still attempted this approach.

"We should inspect the walls, the floor, every single millimeter of this hall. There must be some clue, some key," Sebastian said, beginning to examine everything around them.

"I'll go along the left side of the hall, you go along the right," Ominis instructed, eager to put an end to all of this and secretly hoping they wouldn't find anything.

For almost half an hour, they crawled through pitch-black darkness, searching for anything that stood out from the sea of stones. The small circles of light from their wands seemed to shrink with each passing minute, threatening to vanish altogether. Sebastian cursed every couple of minutes as he stumbled upon fragments of the dreadful, slippery creature, while Ominis quietly chuckled about it. And finally, Ominis felt something in the ashes of the burned creature and found a small key. They rushed to the door, inserted the key into the lock, and heard the grating sounds of old mechanisms hidden within the walls. Each clang reverberated loudly, echoing through the space as the ceiling showered dust, and the walls trembled with fear at the intrusion into their depths. The grated door split with a grating sound, each half retreating into its respective side of the wall. In the depths of the next room, a torch flared brightly and invitingly.

"We're progressing quite successfully for now," Sebastian remarked with pleasure.

"Unfortunately, yes," Ominis sarcastically added and sighed.

"You've already agreed to come with me, so save that sharp tongue for other pursuits," Sebastian playfully teased, his breath brushing against Ominis's ear. Ominis's cheeks instantly flushed, though luckily, Sebastian couldn't see it in the almost complete darkness. But he heard the hitch in his breath and chuckled in satisfaction.

They entered the next room, which was much smaller than the previous one. In the corner of the room, there sat a skeleton in the remnants of rotting clothes. Several strands of long, light hair still clung to the skull, indicating that it once belonged to a girl. Approaching closer and illuminating the scene with Lumos, the boys recoiled in horror, recognizing the tattered fabric as a Hogwarts cloak.

"Oh god, she's a student!" Ominis exclaimed, covering his mouth with his hand.

"A Slytherin student," Sebastian added grimly, pointing his wand at the remarkably well-preserved house emblem on the cloak.

"I told you we shouldn't have come here. It's unlikely that her skeleton ended up here long after her death. She died right here, Sebastian. And we'll die right here too," Ominis' composure began to waver. He turned away and moved towards the opposite wall.

Sebastian squatted down, noticing the sparkling ring on the dead girl's finger. Holding his wand between his teeth, he carefully took her hand with one hand and began to gently remove the jewelry with the other. His eyes widened with horror as he recognized the ring. "Damn, damn, why her?" He closed his eyes and turned away, briefly considering hiding the ring in his pocket and saying nothing to Ominis, but he couldn't. He took a deep breath and looked back at his friend, his face filled with resignation. He stood up and slowly approached Ominis, silently offering him the ring, trying not . Ominis examined it carefully, his face contorted in astonishment.

"Yes... It's... Our family ring... So that means..." the full horror of the situation gradually dawned on Ominis, "It's aunt Noctua?"

He pointed his wand at the skeleton, now seeing it as a much more ominous omen. The door leading back to the exit slammed shut with a loud crash. The room fell into a deathly silence. Both Sebastian and Ominis were paralyzed with fear and tension. Why couldn't Noctua Gaunt escape from here? Was there simply no way forward, and is all of this just a trap? Or did she fail to find the way? And if she couldn't, will we be able to find it?

"She just rotted away alive," Ominis murmured in a choked voice, "She was the only one in our family who refused to use dark magic. Her example always inspired me, even though I never had the chance to meet her. I was sure that the terrifying stories of her disappearance were just a fabrication from my family, and that she had simply run away."

Ominis continued to lament in horror, clutching the ring in his hands. Sebastian placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and turned him towards himself. With confidence, yet gently, he shook him.

"Calm down, Ominis. We can't afford to despair right now, we just can't. We mustn't share her fate. We will find a way out, but only if we both gather ourselves and find an exit from here," Sebastian cupped Ominis' face in his hands, and gradually, Ominis began to regain his composure.

After some time, they resumed their exploration. Not far from the skeleton, there was a massive bas-relief on the wall depicting the suffering of hundreds of people. Distorted faces, unnaturally large mouths, empty eye sockets, bald skulls, and protruding bones were all depicted. The sight sent shivers down their spines. At the bottom, a word was etched. Crucio. Seeing it, Ominis and Sebastian understood without any discussion what they needed to do to proceed further.

"I won't use it. I'll never utter another unforgivable curse, Sebastian. That one time was more than enough for me," Ominis snapped, but after a brief silence, he added, "I can teach it to you, though. And you can use it on me. But know that I would never do this if our lives weren't at stake."

"I know that curse, Ominis," replied Sebastian.

Ominis was stunned. Yes, Sebastian had shown an interest in various forms of dark magic, but damn it, this was an unforgivable curse. Using it could easily land someone in Azkaban. He had no idea that his friend had gone so far. But what shocked him even more was that Sebastian had been hiding it. Perhaps, to spare his feelings, to avoid arguments, and so on. He knew the excuses Sebastian could come up with, but it didn't matter. It was still deception. Overwhelmed by hurt and anger, Ominis clenched his teeth, unable to say anything at all.

"I know, I should have told you earlier. Back when I first started studying it. And you would have been against it. I would have gone against you and learned it anyway. But you wouldn't have been in the dark, and that's the most important thing," Sebastian quickly spoke and fell silent, but almost immediately added, "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? Sebastian, it's your life, and you can hurt me as much as you want. Do whatever you like for your selfish purposes, destroy both your family and our friendship. But it could destroy you, don't you understand? Have you ever seen a single positive outcome from using dark magic?" Tears welled up in Ominis' eyes, and he turned away sharply, wiping them with his sleeve.

"I'm sorry. I'll do everything to avoid any consequences. I promise, as soon as I cure Anne, I'll stop all of this," Sebastian said, approaching Ominis from behind and hugging him gently.

"And if you don't cure her? What if you realize that nothing can help? What if it's too late to stop?" Ominis asked in a hoarse, soft voice.

"I'll cure her, you'll see. There's no curse in the world that can't be lifted."

"And the other two? Do you know them too?"

"Yes, I do."

Ominis laughed bitterly, his voice tinged with sadness. He had suspected that Sebastian's exploration of forbidden spells was only a matter of time. However, the fact that he did it so quickly and kept it a secret from him was the worst part. Mentally, Ominis was already prepared to teach Sebastian those spells if he asked. He thought that if Sebastian engaged in dark magic while under his guidance or supervision, he could prevent him from plunging headfirst into that abyss. But Sebastian chose a different path. Ominis felt scared, and a sense of loneliness gripped his chest. He felt rejected, as if the vortex of forbidden magic was carrying his friend away. This was especially painful because recently, they had been closer than ever before. Sebastian seemed to sense Ominis' emotional state and tightened his embrace.

"Dark magic won't change me, Ominis. I'll remain the same as I've always been. And I'll always be by your side."

Ominis let out a soft chuckle, turned to face Sebastian, and rested his head against his chest. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Sebastian's cloak smelled of the forest and cold stones, sweet berries, and smoke. Despite their occasional arguments, Sebastian was his refuge, his home, his safe haven. He could endure anything as long as he could keep coming back to this sanctuary. Sebastian gently placed his hand on the back of Ominis's head, running his fingers through his hair, and pressed his lips against his forehead. He was afraid that Ominis would eventually grow tired of his antics and he would have to choose between saving Anne and his best friend. Or perhaps Ominis would simply leave, and there would be no choice at all. The thought of it made his heart ache, and he held onto Ominis even tighter. Despite standing in a dark, gloomy, and cold underground chamber, with only one chance to escape from there, Sebastian was reluctant to let go of Ominis.

For a while, they silently listened to each other's breathing and heartbeat, but eventually they had to stop. Now they faced an incredibly unpleasant task: in order to get out of the underground chamber, Sebastian had to use the Cruciatus Curse on his closest friend. When he tried to suggest to Ominis to do the opposite, he vehemently objected, saying that they would never escape from there if they did so. Ominis set aside his wand, shrugged his shoulders, and took a deep breath and exhale. He tried to push away the traumatic memories from his childhood that were resurfacing in his mind. Sebastian stood tensely opposite him, pointing his wand forward.

"Crucio!" Sebastian shouted, and a bright red, lightning-like beam shot from his wand, hitting Ominis directly in the chest.