Part 17

Noah woke up in the middle of the night from a nightmare. He often dreamt about Professor Fig, or more precisely, their last conversation. Guilt was consuming him from within. Quietly dressing up, he stepped out into the corridor. The prefects were no longer patrolling, so he could walk around the castle undisturbed. He recalled his last meeting with Sebastian in the astronomy tower. Did Sebastian actually know about the rescue room there? If not, then had he simply relied on luck and waited there all night? And since when had Noah started thinking about Sebastian so often?

Noah quickly dismissed these thoughts and headed to the cartography hall. Since the completion of his OWLs, he had been spending nights there rather than in the rescue room. Empty canvases exuded despair, longing, and missed opportunities. Noah couldn't stop pondering what might have happened if he had initially sealed the ancient magic instead of attempting to use it. Perhaps the guardians wouldn't have vanished and might have agreed to train him?

Noah burned all the paintings he had brought there, except for the main ones.

"If I can't undo my choice, I'll at least finish what they couldn't," Noah resolved to rid himself of all the accumulated ancient magic. Of course, he couldn't absorb such incredible power all at once. Thanks to Ranrok, he understood the consequences it would lead to. Therefore, he decided to take in a particle of pain each day, just as Isadora did. Eventually, the container would be empty. This thought had been lingering in his mind for some time.

In the morning, he found himself lying on the floor, overcome with fatigue. He lacked the strength to get up and tidy himself. He felt an urge to continue lying on the cold floor. The school year would end in a week, and he didn't know where to spend his summer break. As an orphan taken from an orphanage, he had nowhere to go back to.

"I'll have to ask Professor Weasley if it's possible to stay at Hogwarts for the summer," Noah thought, and it made him feel even worse.

Noah decided that today he would remain secluded and do nothing but lie on the floor.

Sebastian didn't see Noah at breakfast and assumed he had overslept. However, when Noah didn't show up for lunch, he started to worry. Since moving into the crypt with Ominis, Sebastian began to fear that Noah had decided to disappear again for an extended period.

"Calm down, Sebastian. He's done this before. It's impossible to find him if he doesn't want to be found," Ominis calmly reassured him, leaning against the stone walls.

"Yes, but that was during the war with those damned goblins. Now he's not in danger, and the school year is ending," Sebastian paced back and forth, trying to figure out where Noah could have gone.

"I'm going to Anna's for the summer, just so you know," Ominis suddenly mentioned. Sebastian stopped and looked at him.

"And I'm not supposed to know where she is?" Sebastian approached Ominis and sat down beside him.

"Well, yes, but if you want to send her a message, I don't mind," Ominis placed his hand on Sebastian's shoulder. Sebastian would give anything just to catch a glimpse of Anna, even from a distance, even for a moment.

"Thank you for taking care of Anna," Sebastian reminisced about their games of spit stones in the crypt. "I turned out to be a lousy brother. I can't even look after her." Longing for Anna flooded his heart, but he knew that he was to blamefor their distant relationship.

"You could invite Noah to Feldcroft," Ominis suggested, thinking it was a great idea.

"Why would I? No, I'd rather be alone," Sebastian liked the idea, but he wasn't sure if Noah would agree.

Meanwhile, Noah finished his self-examination and made his way to the sealed magic. With a light wave of his wand, he drew a stream of dark matter towards himself and inhaled it. Each time he did this, Noah felt a slight euphoria and an incredible surge of power. For amusement, he cast several spells, all of them turning out to be nonverbal. He wondered how strong he could become if he continued inhaling the pain. The feeling of omnipotence was intoxicating, but Noah kept such thoughts in check. He couldn't afford to lose vigilance with ancient magic.