Part 42

 Noah dragged himself into the corridor in front of the cartography hall; he could barely stand on his feet. His whole body ached; the pain was akin to feeling as if every inch of his skin was being pierced by needles. Noah, with difficulty maintaining his breathing, held his left eye, fortunately, the bleeding had stopped, but the pain remained.

 "Damn you, Sellow!" He tried to open his left eye, but the eyelids were stuck together with blood, and the pain only intensified. Cursing his decision once again, he kicked the door to the hall with all his might and staggered down the stairs.

 "What about Garrett?! When did they have time to betray us?" Taking out his wand, he descended into the caves where the ancient magic was located. When Noah looked up, he noticed that the substance inside seemed to have changed its color. It had transitioned from gray-white to dark gray. Squinting and deciding it was merely his imagination, Noah stretched out his hand with a wand to remove the protective barrier and absorb all the magic at once. The tips of his fingers began to go numb, and his heart began to beat faster. Noah was full of confidence to end everything here and now.

 "In what sense did you lose?" Garrett sat down beside him, and Sebastian appeared to be in no mood to talk at all. The sun had long since sunk below the horizon, and it was starting to get cold. Goosebumps ran through his body, and Weasley sneezed loudly.

 "Go back to Hogwarts, Garrett," Sebastian finally managed to say.

 "You're finally ready to talk to me!" Weasley responded.

 "About Imperio," Garrett continued, looking at him. Sebastian felt like he'd been hit by an electric shock.

 "I didn't think that Noah could use an Unforgivable spell on ordinary people. It's terrible. I need to go back to Hogwarts and tell my aunt about it," Garrett stood up and looked at Sebastian again.

 "Please don't tell anyone anything," Sebastian felt a chilling sensation run over his body, from the tips of his fingers to the tips of his hair, and his heart began to beat faster.

 "It's not your fault! We really did everything we could. But using an Unforgivable spell is too much. Let the adults solve this problem," Garrett held out his hand to him. Sebastian felt like a cornered animal.

 "I taught you that," Sebastian said softly, almost in a whisper.

Garrett didn't hear him and helped him to his feet, asking him to repeat.

 "I taught Noah Imperio! And not only that, but also Crucio, and finally the killing curse, Avada Kedavra," Sebastian began to cry, not caring about the consequences. If only Noah wasn't blamed. It was all his fault. He had made Noah learn Crucio to open the door to Salazar's secret room for his dark secrets. He persuaded him to learn Imperio so he wouldn't have to use it against his childhood friend Ominis. And, finally, Avada Kedavra, so Noah wouldn't bear the heavy burden of killing his own uncle alone.

 Garrett froze in place like a statue, not knowing what to say for the first time in his life.

 "Why do you need this dark knowledge? You have excellent grades in all subjects, and your parents were teachers; I don't understand," Garrett lowered his gaze, trying to understand Sebastian's motives.

 "I do not know what happened between you and Noah, that you felt compelled to learn Unforgivable spells. But I promise that I will not tell anyone," Garrett walked over to Sebastian and patted him on the shoulder.

 "Don't feel sorry for me; I'm ready to answer for everything I've done. It's all my fault," Sebastian withdrew from Garrett.

 "But I do feel sorry for you!" Garrett started crying himself and tried to hug him, for which he received a push in the face.

 "Why are you helping me? They could send us to Azkaban for this! I'm guilty!" Sebastian said, ready to break his wand right there and then and go into exile.

 "But you didn't kill anyone, and you didn't use these spells. Noah only used them once, now. I think you can overlook this. He still saved Hogwarts from the goblin attack," Garrett realized they needed volatile powder to return.

 "I'm going to ask the locals for some gunpowder. Wait for me here," he said, and ran toward the village.

 Sebastian remained standing in place, clutching his wand in his hands, a feeling of guilt weighing heavily on his shoulders.

 "Didn't kill him?" He looked at his hands and felt disgusted with himself.