Part 35

  "Open the door; let's talk, please?" Sebastian tried his best to open the door, but Noah blocked him. Without wasting time, Noah waved his wand and, within a minute, had all his things collected. He pushed the bed away from the door that Sebastian was trying to break into and allowed him in. Sebastian, who wasn't expecting the door to open suddenly, practically flew into the house.

  "I'm sorry, but there's nothing you can do to help me," Noah raised his wand.

  "Wait!" Sebastian said, grabbing his arm. He was still sitting on the floor, and Noah crouched down beside him.

  "Take me with you, please. You're all I have," Sebastian pleaded with a look of desperation. "I can't lose you, too."

  "I have to finish what I started, you know?" Noah looked at him with all the tenderness he could muster. "Maybe when it's over," he ran his hand over Sebastian's cheek. "I'm sorry, but I have no other choice," with these words, he took his suitcase and apparated.

  "Don't go!" Sebastian stretched out his hand into the void and collapsed on the floor in helplessness.

  Noah apparated right into the cartography hall. As he looked around and realized what a mess he had made there, he used Depulso to tidy up. All the debris from the burnt portraits and their frames rolled under the large portraits of the keepers. Placing his suitcase on the floor next to the stairs, he sat down.

  "I must be a fool," Noah smiled sadly and covered his face with his hands. It felt like this whole week had stretched into one incredibly long day that refused to end. Everything swam before his eyes, and Noah didn't even resist; he fell asleep while sitting on the stairs.

  With the sunrise, Sebastian finally came to his senses. Looking around, he saw a box with a Chocolate Frog on the floor, which Noah had slipped him once. Apparently, it had fallen out when Sebastian had bumped into the door yesterday. Sebastian leaned back and sat with his back against the bed, his gaze fixed on the chocolate. He felt indifferent to everything, overwhelmed by a heavy sense of loneliness. He didn't know how long he sat in this position until a large red owl with a letter in its beak flew in through the window.

  Sebastian didn't recall anyone he knew having such a bird. The owl regarded him with accusing green eyes.

  "I'm pretty sure you've got the wrong address; fly away from here," Sebastian told the owl. After a couple of minutes of eye contact, Sebastian assumed his usual sitting position. The owl dropped the letter on the floor and began hooting loudly throughout the house.

  "What's wrong with you?!" Sebastian got up, picked up the letter, and read the recipient. The owl hadn't made a mistake; it was addressed to "Sebastian at the Sellow family house, Feldcroft." There was only one sentence written in the letter: "I'll be there soon. Garrett."

  "What the hell?!" Sebastian exclaimed, but he had no time to ponder as someone knocked on the door. Thinking that Noah had returned, Sebastian hastily opened the door, but to his surprise, it was Garrett standing there. Garrett was not in his school uniform, an unusual sight.

  "Hello!" Weasley greeted Sebastian with a smile.

  "What are you doing here? Well, it doesn't matter; you should leave," Sebastian said, closing the door. At the moment, he didn't want to talk to anyone. He couldn't fathom why Garrett had come; they weren't particularly close.

  "I sent you a letter before I came," Garrett replied. He walked around the house, eventually spotting a window to the right of the entrance. Climbing onto the collected firewood, he peered into the window. Seeing the destruction inside the house, he grew seriously concerned.

  "I didn't call for you, Weasley, I told you to leave!" Sebastian climbed onto a cabinet and closed the window.

  "Actually, I didn't come to visit you, and your rudeness isn't appreciated. I came to see Noah. By the way, I don't see him," Garrett used Revelio.

  "Right, it's just you inside the house. Did he go for a walk? Where is he?" Garrett started tapping the window with his wand, irritating Sebastian even more.

  "I don't know!" Sebastian shouted as he opened the window. "I don't know anything! He left me here alone and just disappeared, like my sister, like my best friend Ominis." Unbeknownst to himself, tears began rolling down Sebastian's cheeks. Garrett silently looked at him with pity.

  Collecting himself, Sebastian quickly wiped his tears away with his sleeves. "Leave me alone." Garrett hadn't expected such a cold reception. Instead of a warm welcome, he found a lonely Sebastian. He couldn't just leave him alone, so he decided to unceremoniously climb through the window.

  "You're going to break your neck, you idiot!" Sebastian tried to push him back.

  "Then let me in through the door!" Garrett tumbled back out. Sebastian rushed out into the yard to make sure he wasn't injured.

  "I'm not empty-handed," Garrett said, sitting on the ground. He smiled as he handed Sebastian a bag.

  "Come in, since you're already here," Sebastian sighed and let him into the house.