There once was a Prince of Castellane @teddyniffler - Tumblr Blog

In The Shadows of Friendship Forever

This chapter is 15,000 words, it's two very important chapters in one that overlaps with each other in a very tight timeframe. These two chapters works best in one super chapter, with Ominis and Sebastian's parts clearly labeled, with the time they are in so... Shall we start the downfall of the House of Gaunt?

Ominis and Anne sent Sebastian to Azkaban for his own good. Their friend and brother had changed from the kind boy he once was, and they regretted their decision ever since. They are desperate to have Sebastian back and are willing to do anything, anything. Ominis will even become the monster he vowed he was not.

The Fall of the House of Gaunt. How did the ancient House of Gaunt, once among the wealthiest, most powerful, and most dangerous families in the wizarding world, become the desperate souls depicted in The Half-Blood Prince? How did Sebastian’s life sentence to Azkaban trigger the downfall of the heirs of Slytherin

Chapter 54: It's a nice day for a ... A03

6:00am. Ominis

Ominis woke with a jolt, outside of the small cottage door something on wheels had come to a stop. To anybody else, it would have sounded soft, but to Ominis he heard wood creaking and the unmistakeable sound of a horse blowing from it’s mouth. It took him a moment to comprehend why he was hearing glass bottles being placed at the door right underneath his window. Of course, the muggle whose job it was to bring milk to people had arrived for his early morning deliveries, as muggles didn’t have owls to deliver them. He laid for a few seconds as the cart was pulled up the road, the horses shoes clicking on the road as it went. If the muggle milkman was outside, it was still very early. He had learned from Sebastian and Anne that milkmen were like house elves in a way, they came by very early and left your items behind as if they had never been there, to not be seen by the customers at all. Not even the birds were singing yet. Today was the day he either changed history, or it was the day he got himself, Sebastian and likely Anne all killed.

The more the laid in bed, the more he felt dread settle upon him. He couldn’t lay here anymore, so he got out bed. Anne had carefully selected clothing for them both from the local charity collection. He had no idea what he was pulling on his body, but they made him itchy, the fabric rough and scratchy. A few times he felt a hole in the trousers as his toe hit them, and the suspenders were so threadbare that they threatened to snap. He knew why she had picked these at once, it was to blend in casually in London as a homeless street urchin, which were plenty in the city. His father had once told him the Black family had lice because they lived in London with homeless muggle children living and sleeping on his front door. Ominis doubted it was true as knowing the Blacks, they had muggle repellent charms on every inch of their home, including the doorstep. Ominis only hoped if things turned bad, their outfits would help them escape in the streets around the Leaky Cauldron, hiding among the other children who were said to sit in groups on the floor. He tried not to think about running away without his wand to guide him, he knew he couldn’t. He would never get away on his own, but he trusted Anne at least could get away. Matilda Weasley’ home was over two floors, Ominis sat down to descend the narrow little steps set in a steep spiral. Unlike the wide steps in his own home, these ones he knew not to risk, he would never be able to walk down them without twisting his ankle. He reached the bottom and made his way into the kitchen. He fully expected Anne to be still asleep, but judging by the sounds of cups moving, she was also up. “Good morning.” Came Anne voice softly. “Couldn’t sleep either?” “No.” Ominis said, finding his way closer to her. “How long until we need to leave?” “We can leave anytime you like, but we dont need to be at the bank for another three hours or so.” Anne said, she poured out some tea for Ominis. “I won't need any help getting through Diagon Alley and into the bank, I’ve been there many times with my father. Am I right in guessing you’ve never been there? Sebastian said he had never seen London at all before last summer.” “No.” Anne said, “Solomon did all our shopping in Hogsmeade, we never saw London until these recent years.” “Just follow behind me at a distance, and come into the bank shortly after me.” Ominis said, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

They sat down, Ominis was nibbling on his thumb, his feet moving side to side on the tip toes of the oddly thin shoes Anne had picked for him. He couldn’t sit still in this terrible anticipation. They had to find the Leaky Cauldron first, and while he knew roughly where it was from his family, he had never approached it by foot before. “Are you feeling ok, you look a little unwell.” Anne asked. “I’m ok.” Ominis said, hallowed out. “I’m just worried out of my mind about Sebastian. I hope he is safe and isn’t delayed getting out of my family’s home.” Anne moved closer to him and put her hand onto his shoulder. “In a few hours time, your money will be in our vaults, and we’ll meet Sebastian at the Weasley’s home, as if nothing had happened.” Ominis nodded. “Yes.”

7am. Sebastian.

Sebastian woke up suddenly, to a frantic snake hitting his face as a series of knocks ran out on his bedroom door. The chair he kept up against the door was doing its job by keeping the knocker firmly out of Ominis’ room. “Oh, Galloping Gargoyles.” He whispered quietly, he hastily grabbed the robes he had discarded on the floor the night before and drained a vial in one gulp. “One second!” He called out in Ominis’ voice once everything had gone black again. “Thanks snake.” He whispered, to where he thought the small serpent was curled up on the bed. Making sure his skin had stopped bubbling, he moved the chair away from the door, found the handle and opened the door. “Master Ominis, your bath is ran and we are to assist you in getting ready for your wedding.” Came a high pitch voice of an elf. “Please come with us Master Ominis, we have your toiletries ready and the fragrances your mother has chosen for you.” “A bath?” Sebastian said, his mind racing over this new unseen development. “I went in the bath last night.” He lied. There was a pause.

“Begging master’s pardon, but we were not aware Sir had taken a bath, on his own.” The first house elf said, and Sebastian knew he had been caught in a lie right there. “Yeah!” Sebastian said “Sorry, I should have said something, but-“ “Our orders were to get you washed before your wedding, sir. It’s of great importance, your mother said so. Please come with us.” “I don’t want a bath.” Sebastian said flatly. “I had one last night.” There was a pause. “It’s our orders” The second elf said, desperately. “No. I’m the master here. You will obey me or I shall kill you.” Sebastian said, shutting the door in their faces. He was sure Ominis would never talk to them like that and it did feel overkill, but these elves were clearly terrified of the Gaunt family. A threat like that would certainly make them go away, right? He sat on the bed and pulled off Ominis’ nightwear. He would dress in Ominis’ robes and casually eat some breakfast, before walking outside on the pretence of needing some air to ‘steady his nerves’ before he got dressed. That would be passable to the Gaunts.

As he was dressing, there came a series of bangs on his door and it opened. “Hahahahahaha.” Came a laughter that lacked warmth as Marvolo stepped into the room. “So, you’re the master here?” Marvolo snorted. “Mother said if it were any other day but today, she’d have your hide for acting above your station. You may be getting married today, but you are still the blind worm of the family.” Marvolo pushed Sebastian back onto the bed, and Sebastian was caught completely off guard. There was a loud hissing next to him and Marvolo cried out, then laughed more as something shot past Sebastian to hit Marvolo. “Awww, your little worm has come to your rescue.” Marvolo taunted, now pinching Sebastian’s checks so his lips came together.

“Let me make this clear, Ominis, dear brother.” Marvolo said, his face inches from Sebastian. “You may have wormed your way in to father’s good graces, like a little white wiggly maggot, but not mine and certain not mother’s. She hates you just as always. I hate you just as always and I’m the only one who matters. You? You are being married off like a prized little piggy because it’s all you’re good for. Me? I am going to be Minister for Magic one day soon. I am going to have all the power to lock you away for good, in a tiny, tiny little room. Father can’t protect you forever, one day he will be gone and it will be me who looks after you… my hospitality to you and any blind little maggot-lins you create, I will take such great care of you all. You’ll regret ever entertaining any thoughts father has planted in your head, of you being better than me.”

Sebastian gasped as he felt a great deal of weight pressing down on his chest to the point his breath was squeezed out of him. Unseen by Sebastian, the lights started to flicker in the room. Throughout the house, the lights had started flickering, making the human, snake and elf inhabitants of the house all looked up. “Now, it’s bathtime. We need to wash the prized piggy pig-pig before we marry him off.” Marvolo gripped Sebastian’s hair now, as well as his checks, watching as the face under him contorted in pain, then-

Marvolo yelped in pain. He didn’t stop, in fact he yelped louder in fury and pain as something seized him and a second later, Marvolo had been thrown through the door, smashing a Gaunt shaped hole in the wood before slamming into the wall, then sliding down it. The two elves still standing out in the hall tried to make themselves look as small as possible. A trickle of warmth ran down Marvolo’s face from his hairline and as he touched it, his fingers came away bloody. “YOU LITTLE BAS-“ “Marvolo!” Came Mr Gaunt’s voice from the floor above in warning. Marvolo got to his feet, trembling as he looked at Ominis in disgust and disbelief. “Since when did you get good with wandless magic?” He asked, putting a foul emphasis on ‘you’. Sebastian didn’t say anything. He just sat up on the bed, finally freed from Marvolo. He heard Marvolo walking off, the latter still mopping the flow of blood from his head.

“Your bath, sir?” One of the elves asked in a pleading tone, putting its head through the hole Marvolo had made. “Ok” Sebastian said, feeling like he didn’t have a choice. At least he was already dressed, knowing at least he’d be able to continue Ominis’ appearance with the Polyjuice Potion. He would have a quick bath, then flee from this house. He slipped another dose when he believed the elfs weren't looking to ensure it lasted his bathtime. As the elves bowed him into the bathroom, unseen by him, they listed all the treatments they had set out, including shampoo, conditioner, hair tonics to thicken his hair and make it glossy. Washes and oils to make his skin smell nice and dusting powders to make him fragrant. Sebastian stared back, blank faced as the list of treatments went on and on, including emptying and refilling the bath at least twice. “Is Sir ok with this? Your mother has also recommended we pluck your eyebrows too-“ “I just want a standard bath, thanks.” Sebastian replied. “Sir. Please, we have orders-“ “-Get in the bathtub, sir.” Sighing, he knew the way not to raise suspicion would be to just go ahead with their plan.

He had plenty of time. It would be ok. Surely the chance to still get out before 9:30am would be met with ease. But, as he climbed into the tub, only then did he realise with a sense of dread. He may still have time to leave, but would his Polyjuice Potion last long enough for him to leave this bathroom?

8:00am. Ominis

Ominis could not see the girl next to him, but he knew who she was because she had been the girl Sebastian and himself had accosted at Hogwarts, chopping off half of her hair with enchanted scissors. The chance of this muggle born first year going to Diagon Alley, very early in the morning during the first week of the holidays was next to none, so Ominis at least felt confident in this part of the plan. They had both just left the house as if they were going on a simple walk, they knew they couldn’t apparate around the muggles who were all starting to come out to go to work in the fields or in local shops. Nobody watching them right now would suspect them of the real reason they were out so early, nor could they be linked to any sounds of apparition. Anne’s hand touched him and held him close as they found a quiet place away from Professor Weasley’s home to apparate together, Ominis didn’t have a wand with him so needed her to guide him in side along travel. They had appeared in London, Anne had picked the Westminster bridge as a landmark to focus on and she and Ominis appeared right on it. Thankfully it was still so early, so the muggles whose memories she had to alter were only a few. She now had to find her way to Charing Cross Road. Her wand was pointed to its direction in her sleeve, so with one hand on Ominis, and the other gripping her wand, she started leading them to their destination.

They walked slowly down the streets of London. Ominis had never been in the city itself before, but there wasn’t anything for him to see and the strangle dry hair stung his noise, there was a weird smell too in the air that wasn’t normally present in Diagon Alley. Even if he had eyes that worked he wouldn’t have been able to see anything. He had a tatty old hat pulled low over his forehead, hiding his eyes and most of his face. He and Anne looked like local workhouse children off for the day’s work, and their disguise was certainly working, as a police officer’s eyes narrowed as Anne and Ominis walked past him, as if he fully expected them to start robbing the local shops and market stalls at any moment. “Will they let us into the Leaky Cauldron dressed like this?” Ominis asked Anne. He was unsure how bad they looked, but going by the tuts and degrading remarks from posh sounding accents as they walked past, he imagined they looked pretty bad. “I believe so? I’ve seen our kind dressed in clothing much worse than ours. Ours are just tired and old, it’s not like we look very bad." Anne said. "Did Sebastian ever tell you about that witch in Hogsmeade who was wearing an opera dress under a big fur coat with a ballerina tutu over the entire thing? She was holding this abnormally large umbrella as she felt it complimented her clothing and would help her blend in perfectly with the muggles around the highlands. This was in the middle of a really hot summer too. We look very ordinary, very muggle. The barman will likely just think we are muggle borns in our normal muggle clothing, coming for our school supplies early to beat the crowds. Don’t worry, we are clean looking, just a bit threadbare and down on our luck.”

Anne was now consulting an enchanted map, tapping it with her wand to locate how close they were getting, they had been walking for almost twenty minutes now. Eventually the Leaky Cauldron came into view in the middle of the road to Anne’s relief, the map had been confusing even with a wand and a moving humanoid figure to show where they were. She made sure Ominis had stopped walking and as he stood still next to her, she reached into her robes and took out her father’s old watch. She could read the time on it, as she had always asked her dad when he was alive to explain how it worked. They had plenty of time before they needed to enter the bank. Almost a little too much time to spare.

“Oh.” She said, “We’ve found it, but it’s still too soon to go in. It’s only 8:30am” She said. They had an hour until they needed to be at the bank, she steered Ominis over to the shadows between a narrow alley and sat on the step by a side door. “I’ll take more Polyjuice before we go in, but we must not go down to the vaults ourselves, the thief’s downfall will trigger otherwise.” She reminded Ominis, who nodded. “Then we alter the Golbin’s memory so he can’t tell your family where the money is. Then we move the money again to my parent’s vault to make sure it’s really traceless. Then remove the Goblin's memory again, so they don't remember us ever been there. Oh, it shall be a miracle if we are not caught.” Anne rubbed her eyes and straightened her fringe flat on her head. “They did not prepare us for this at school.” She half joked. “I’ll pick the quietest counter I can hear,” Ominis said. “I never go down to my family’s vault, the ride makes me sick.” Ominis answered her. “They won’t suspect us not going down, not with me there.”

As Ominis sat next to Anne, his arm up against hers, he wondered how she was holding up. He knew she, like him, was flooded with anxiety and nerves. They sat in the shadows, now actually looking the part of two youngsters who had nowhere to go, other than a side street nobody wanted to walk down. Anne watching up and down the ever growing busy London street as 9am slowly crept closer. “He needs to be leaving my home soon…” Ominis said, in a voice slightly higher than a whisper. “ … He will get out….” Anne said. He had too.

9am Sebastian

“I’m very finished!” Sebastian protested as the elves tried yet again to clip his toenails. “Our orders were to make you perfect to minimize your obvious flaws.” The first elf said, while it’s friend tried to grab Sebastian’s ankles and pull them up to reveal his toes. “Do you want me to drowned you?” Sebastian snapped at them both. “I shall do it!” “Master Ominis is rather stressed today, sir, it is to be expected. The wedding sir.” Sebastian swore at the elf, just to show how stressed he was. “Or maybe,” He said, in a voice of deadly ice. “I don’t want anymore. I am done.” And slapping the first elf away, Sebastian got out of the bath. He couldn’t be sure how long his bath had lasted, but these two had made more than a fuss of him, and Sebastian was starting to feel edgy. almost an hour had passed and he knew he had only moments left before the Polyjuice Potion wore off. He went back to his robes and went to pull them on-

“Wait sir. We have your dressing grown. You are to return to your room to be dressed.” “Well I want breakfast first, so these shall do.” “Erm, sir? There is a breakfast served at the wedding, and a lunch, and a dinner, and a super.” Sebastian paused at that. His cover story on going outside in normal robes depended on wanting breakfast afterwards. Never mind, he would improvise, he was good at that. “I forgot, wedding nerves, but I’m still wearing these to return to my room, this house is full of snakes, or have you forgotten? I refuse to walk around in a dressing robe.” Sebastian threw the robes back over his head, as the two elves shared a look. “Sir, those robes are dirty and you’ve worn them since you’ve gotten back from school. You’ve just had a bath, surely sir wants fresh clothing?” “No.” Sebastian said stubborn. “These shall do, now leave-“ As he pulled the robes fully back on, he noticed that they were a bit long in the leg, his toes were hidden under the fabric, with Ominis being a few inches taller than him now. They also hung on him looser then what they should have an hour ago. Sebastian looked down at his toes. Actually looked, because the room was becoming clearer by the second. Due to the wetness on his skin, he hadn't even noticed himself turning back, but the elves had.

His hour was up and there was no quick fix for this, because already the elves mouths were dropping open as ‘Ominis’ in front of them was replaced by an entirely different boy. They were looking at a young man with messy brown hair, brown eyes that could see them. Whoever this was, it was not Ominis Gaunt. He plunged his hand into the hidden wand pocket in the robes and pulled out his own wand. The two elves were still too stunned to raise the alarm. “STUPIFY!”… “STUPIFY!” he cried aiming two spells at the pair.

They fell flat on the bathroom floor, stunned. Sebastian quickly looked around, there wasn’t anything to hide the two unconscious elves in. A cabinet holding towels was full when he opened the doors. He turned and looked at the walls, didn’t posh, rich houses like these have a laundry chutes of some sort? He couldn’t see one, the Gaunts had hidden it well if there was one in here. He looked at the elves again, then at the bathtub, then the door. He had two choices. Either dispose of these two in the still full bath, they would drown in the bath water they had ran for him, or he could hide them in Ominis’ room and pray they wouldn't be missed by the Gaunts. One thing he knew, he couldn’t carry the elves back to the bedroom and drink the Polyjuice Potion to resume looking like Ominis. He’d never find his way blinded and carrying them. He couldn’t risk leaving them here for somebody to find either. He stared at the door, both felt risky to him, but one thing he knew, it was always better to hide evidence then have somebody find it. He wasn’t up to murdering two innocent elves either.

This bathroom was only a floor above Ominis’ bedroom He grabbed the silk pillowcases the elves wore and carefully peered outside into the corridor. His brown eyes widened when he saw how grand and big the house was, with wooden floors, marble stairs, high ceilings and rugs that made the ones at Hogwarts look cheap. This was only one hallway and he was caught off guard already by how big the house was. It would be a nice place to live if it wasn’t inhabited by lunatics. His ears strained for any noise or movement as he carried the two elves in his arms as he slowly exited the bathroom. Expensive looking paintings in solid gold frames greeted him from the walls. A chandelier sparked down at him as he moved down the hall. Everything shone and dazzled him, all these riches just piled up to the point it was wasteful, nobody needed precious stones imbedded into door handles, but the Gaunts apparently did.

He felt like he was in a house he shouldn’t touch with his own fingers for fear of breaking something. How did a family as bad as this one live in so much riches, while other families, like the Weasleys had to live in poverty. His eyes were now passed over the wedding bunting somebody had hung through this floor and likely the others too. It was made of gold leaf with real pink and white flowers, all of them had green gems dangling from them, with a small silver snake wrapped around them. Slytherin colours.

As he walked closer to the stairs, he couldn’t help but notice a life size painting of Salazar Slytherin himself on the wall in front of him, greeting anybody who came to the fourth floor. Sebastian looked at him in curiosity and a bit of distaste. Slytherin was in pride of place. Not pictures of the family, of any happy memories, Sebastian hadn’t seen so much a family portrait on his way to the stairs, but they had one of their ancestor. In the picture was also a locket and a ring and, in the middle, a triangle with a line going through a circle. Sebastian didn’t understand what that meant, but he had to move.

As he went to climb down the stairs, a door closed on the top floor above him and somebody had started to make their way to the stairs, just feet from where he stood! He backed up fast, careful not the drop the elves. There was a door to the right slightly open, he ran through it and closed it almost shut with his foot, just as the person reached the landing he had just been standing on. Sebastian hoped whoever was walking around outside wasn’t about to walk in. As he listened, the footsteps continued down the staircase, heading towards the lower floors.

Quickly Sebastian turned and looked at the room he had hidden himself in, it wouldn’t do him well to run into Marvolo’s bedroom, but his mouth opened as he gazed around, he had a suspicion this was one room Marvolo wouldn’t normally visit. He was in a library, easy as big as the one at Hogwarts. He paused, surely the house wasn’t this big, but then he realised the Gaunts had used magic to extend this room. The difference to Hogwarts was, as Sebastian noticed as he walked around the shelves taking a closer look, all the books in here seemed to have been hand written, by the Gaunts themselves or other names he recognised from Slytherin house. Nott, Dolohov, Rowe, Mulciber, and Avery were all among the names on these books, going back generations, or very limited printings of books only sold down Knockturn Alley. Sebastian gawped at some of the titles, they all had the dark arts or unusual magic not widely known in common, he couldn’t imagine them ever being sold in Flourish and Blotts. Was this where the Gaunts learned all their magic? If so… Could they be something in here for Anne?

A lot of the books written by the Gaunts themselves seemed to be about Hogwarts and Slytherin. Display cases after display cases sat between the shelves, Sebastian could see at once they all held Emblems from Hogwarts, but looked centuries old, indeed he counted at least ten display cases alone in the part he stood in. What looked like the green emeralds of the House Point glasses sat next to what looked like stone taken from the castle itself, and oddly, on a purple cushion roped off with lights shinning down on it was a very old copy of Beedle the Bard. Sebastian looked at it, a little bemused. It was almost like the Gaunts were mocking it. It wasn't in a case to keep it safe, but out in the open, in a fake setting of royality. He examined it closer, he could see it was maybe an original copy, from centuries ago, maybe the one written by the Bard himself. The titles was in runes rather than English. Where did they get it from, and why was it displayed so comically? He remembered what Ominis had told him about the story of the Three Brothers in this book and the Gaunt’s personal connection to it, that must be it. They were taunting the man who had told their secret to the world.

A noise from in the room made him jump, something had clicked towards the back out of his vision, reminding him of the danger he was in. He needed to go! He tore his eyes away from this room, he wanted so badly to explore, but he needed to leave, time was passing and he needed to get back to Ominis’ room safely. He pressed his ear to the door and when he couldn’t hear anything, he nudged the door open with his foot before stepping out. This time the stairs were empty as he descended and ran back to Ominis’ bedroom, somehow keeping hold of both elves in his arms as he ran.

Snakey’s lower jaw almost unhinged itself as he saw ‘Once-Nasty-Now-Just-Foolish-Boy’ back in his normal form and not looking like Ominis, and worse, he was carrying what looked like two dead house elves in both arms. If this boy could have understood Parcelmouth, he would be hearing Snakey giving him a lecture on being stupid and reckless in this house. Snakey give it to him anyway, regardless.

Sebastian looked around and Ominis’ shelves near the ceiling caught his attention. He would hide them both up there, nobody checked those shelves judging by the dust. He still had his wand in his hand as he carefully levitated the two elves up and settled them among Ominis’ old teddy bears. He sat on the bed, rubbing his face. “That was too close.” He said, panting as he dug out a fresh vial from his pockets. Next to him, Snakey was still giving him a lecture Sebastian couldn't hear. Oh, what he would have done to have a look in that library upstairs, he forced it from his mind, it wasn't important to him. Leaving this house was all that mattered.

While Sebastian was turning back into Ominis, and scooping Snakey into his arms, a clock in the library chimed three times.

9:15 am.

Mori flicked her tongue as her large body slowly, and carefully came down from a wide section of display cases at the far end of the library. Now, that was strange indeed. None of the Gaunts had been expected in here today, she had been sure of it, they were too busy fussing over the blind worm. She had been instructed to stay out of sight, the Minister for Magic, among other members of society who didn’t know about Mori or Shiva, were invited and would be in the house, so all the snakes had to hide. That was how the masters all liked it. The snakes were the Gaunt’s best kept secret, only known to their closest friends who they worked with to kill or intimidate. The Gaunt’s enemies also knew or suspected they had snakes, but as their enemies could never prove the snakes existed in person, the Gaunts mocked them. This was her favourite room to stay in whenever her family asked her to hide, it was large enough for her to stretch out ten times over and still have space. Everybody in the family, except the worm who had no reason to come in here, knew she would always be in here, if not Marvolo’s bedroom. This person had come in and didn’t offer her a greeting which the Gaunts always did. They had moved around near the front, and then left just as fast on a morning when all the Gaunts were busy, which made her curious. Who had it been? She wanted to know.

Mori had found the general spot of the lingering smell of the person who had come in. It was stronger near the door, but also around the first row of books. She stopped by the door and smelt with short, quick flicks of her tongue. It was that strange smell again; she had smelt it faintly near Ominis’ bedroom door when she did her tour of the house the night before last. Ominis had been in his room pacing, and the vibrations from his feet had attracted her to his door. This same smell had came out through the frame, but mixed with Ominis’ normal smell. This time, there was no Ominis mixed in here, just a human smell she didn’t know. It wasn’t any of the Gaunt’s friends who she knew too. In fact, she was sure this was the first time she had ever smelt this smell. And the fear mixed within it. Oh. She didn’t know this smell at all among the Gaunts.

A hiss and a rumble vibrated out of her. It rumbled down to the foundations of the very house and into the earth, and it only got louder and louder. Snakes all within a mile could hear what could only be described as a distress call. In Mr Gaunt’s room, Shiva lifted her head, swaying on the spot. Mori was calling out in alarm, she would go see what was up with the giant snake, their fighting suddenly forgotten about. Greer’s head came up from the railing, the ancient snake waking suddenly, then he placed it back down. He wasn’t dealing with Mori today and the news they could be an intruder in the house was old news to him. He had already met the Ominis-faker, in fact, they were walking past him right now. And on Sebastian’s neck, Snakey’s little head rose into the air as Mori’s alarm vibrated through the house. He had learned certain words from Ominis, and it was now he used one particular phase. He swore. ‘Bugger!’

Sebastian had reached the entrance hall and a cool breeze reached his face. There was no way for Snakey to tell him to run, that they had been discovered by Mori. All Snakey could do was head bob on the back of Sebastian’s neck, make him go faster, faster, faster. Mori was alerting the entire house right now and he was walking at a leisurely pace. Then-

“Ominis…” Came a voice to the side of the hall as he reached the entrance hall to the house. “Come with me…” My Gaunt had appeared from out of the door to the kitchen, his eyes on his youngest son as Mori’s distress call got louder and louder. Far up the stairs on the first floor, Marvolo’s yellow’s eyes narrowed as he watched his brother and his father yet again meeting quietly without him. He moved his eyes away from them as Mori’s rumbling grew even louder.

He was going to see what was up with her, but as he reached the second landing, she flew past him on the stairs, ignoring him entirely as she raced down to the ground floor. He was going to go after her, until Shiva appeared. He would calm these two down, no doubt they had been fighting again, but their timing was terrible. No doubt it would be somehow his fault if the snakes were seen. Still flaming inside at being left out by his father, Marvolo turned to the snake now watching him.

9:15am Ominis.

“It’s time.” Anne said to Ominis. They both got up and brushed off their old clothes before Anne drank more Polyjuice Potion. So far her new form had held out without her turning back. Nobody looking at her right now would know she was Anne Sallow or suspected her of being. Anne yet again took hold of Ominis’ hand. Nobody would know he was a Gaunt either. His blue icey eyes were covered, the dark blonde hair was hidden and his normal luxurious robes had been traded for rags. All in all, Anne had to admit they had covered their identities well.

They walked into the Leaky Cauldron and as expected, it was slowly getting busy with early morning shoppers who were all having breakfast. Not many people paid any attention to them, the younger girl leading a tall boy through the tables, but a few wizards and witches moved their handbags closer to them as the two shabby youngsters passed their table. The barman raised an eyebrow as the two made their way through his pub. He was not one to judge somebody on appearance, but there was something a little odd about these two, but he knew it was often best to not ask questions of the youth, they got very defensive and they likely were from an orphanage going by their clothing, off into Diagon Alley maybe, at least he hoped they didn’t go down Knockturn Alley.

For Ominis, he knew the layout for Diagon Alley from all the times he had come here with his family. He let go off Anne’s hand the moment she finished tapping the bricks to open the Alley up. He walked ahead of her as she hung back before entering the Alley herself. The cobbles, Ominis knew, had a certain feel to them. He knew where the steps into the shops lie, he knew on instinct to side step tables and chairs, he knew where the Cauldron Shop had placed all of their outside wears and as the breeze blew down the street, he could smell the hay of the Magical Menagerie. His feet made little noise on the cobbles as he walked the street. Nobody looking at him would have ever guessed he was a blind young man, he walked with ease, his ears now picking up the slight rustle of wings and a distant hooting from inside Eeylops Owl Emporium. Some people walked almost in front of him, he kept his head down, walking in the centre of the road. He walked with purpose as if he had a place to be, which he did. A small crowd was in front of Quality Quidditch Supplies as always, their excitement chatter about brooms signalling to him that the road was going to curve slightly around. He followed the curve around and knew from the sweet smell of fresh fabric he was passing Gladrags Wizardwear. He continued up the street, past the smell of dust that was Ollivander’s Wand Shop, which mean… He stopped, one foot reaching up to stand on the steps of Gringotts bank. ‘Please Sebastian, be out of my family’s home.’ He desperately prayed. It was now 9:30am.

"Pardon there boy, but... are you Ominis Gaunt?" Came a voice...

9:30am Sebastian

“I hung out your dress robes in my room, an elf will help you dress.” Ominis’ father told what he believed was his son. “Thank you, father. I will get dressed soon, I just want to get some air first.” Sebastian lied, he was getting good at being Ominis. “I was thinking about jewellery you can wear. If you would like to wear the ring, it is yours by right anyway.” “My hands are a little sweaty right now.” Sebastian said with a small smile. “I will wait to wear it, I just want to get some air right now.” Somewhere in the entrance hall, a clock claimed half the hour. 9:30am. He needed to go, right now.

“Don’t be too long, the guests will arrive very shortly, you’ll need to be dressed and out on the lawn in half an hour, and- What in Merlin’s name? Can’t Marvolo control that snake! Ominis, go to my room when you come back in." Sebastian felt the air move as next to him, Mr Gaunt rushed behind him. “Mori! What in Merlin’s name are you doing down here?” Gaunt hissed in Parceltounge. Sebastian slowly made his way to the doors, he could hear birds singing, but it was drowned out by a series of intense hissing from behind. He kept walking. More and more hissing. It sounded like Gaunt and the giant snake were having a shouting match with each other. Sebastian didn’t stop, nor did he look back. He passed the door step and turned right, waiting until he was clear of view and lifted the wand to his mouth. “I need an escape.”

Back in the house, Mr Gaunt was looking down at Mori. Shiva had briefly appeared, but Gaunt pointed up the stairs and she had retreated without a word. Mori on the other hand? “What do you mean by intruder?” Gaunt was asking Mori, frowning by the snake. “You had better not be lying to me, Mori, or I swear to god you’ll regret it. How could somebody get into our home without being seen. Have you forgot the large workforce of elves everywhere, the other snakes and us? I’d like to see an intruder just walk in without Greer stopping them.”

Mr Gaunt was beyond annoyed with the pair of them: Marvolo and Mori. So far this morning he had suspected Marvolo had tried to hurt Ominis again, perhaps on his wife’s orders no doubt, and now Mori had alarmed every snake in the house and local area by making claims of ‘intruder’ but didn’t give any description or other information, appearing just moments before the first guests where due to arrive. It would be a miracle indeed if the entire hill was not now covered in snakes, all coming to the Gaunt’s aid at what they thought was an attack on their own kind. As much as Gaunt was concerned, this was a massive security risk for all the Gaunts. It risked everybody seeing the snakes they had long claimed didn’t exist at all, and it appeared to be a prank Marvolo was playing on Ominis! “Greer!” Gaunt called over to the giant snake on the rails. “Is anybody in this house who shouldn’t be here?”

‘No’ Greer hissed truthfully from the rail. Sebastian was, of course, now out of the house and moving further away, one step at a time at a steady pace. ‘Just Gaunts right now in the house.’ “As fully expected…” Gaunt said, then he turned on Mori. “Now, get back in that library and I’ll deal with you later. What were you thinking off Mori? You know you aren’t to be seen, now go!” He took a deep breath. That letter in his desk was so temping at that moment, he would personally and gladly hand deliver it to Carrow in under an hour. He took a deep breath, of all days to act up, they pick today. If only he knew the hassle his wife and Marvolo would have given him all these years, he would have married any pure blood from any suitable family over them both. He was already dressed in his robes and his ‘civil’ persona was firmly in place, until Mori had heated his rage up. He took a moment to settle back down and after a quick look up the stairs that was yet again snake free, except for Greer who everybody knew about, he went into the kitchens to make sure everything was going smoothly.

In the second his back was turned, Marvolo stepped onto the stairs and descended swiftly with Mori at his side, and one glance at the kitchen door told him his father was still in the room, he took off quickly outside to find the place strangely devoid of Ominis. Mori had just told him something interesting as she came to his room, there had been an intruder in the library upstairs. Not a snake, but a human, and one who was not a Gaunt. Marvolo’s father had not believed her. It did sound amusing, pranking Ominis’ wedding day with a fake intruder to spook everybody, but Marvolo had not done anything of the sort. He trusted the word of his snake, she had never let him down. If she said they was somebody in the house who shouldn’t be there, then that was settled in his eyes. They had an intruder and Marvolo knew exactly where to find them - With his brother. Ominis had clearly let somebody into their home. They were practically the same soul in different bodies; they were that close. If Mori said they was a strange human in the house, he was going to see Ominis about it, and oddly, his brother had just vanished, yet he should be out here. That just confirmed it more to Marvolo. “Now, where have you got too?” He mused, looking out at the hill that stretched out below while Mori lingered at the door, sniffing the frame for the intruder with her tongue. Ominis was nowhere to be seen.

Sebastian lay deadly still. Snakey was lying flat cross his face and even the wand in his hand had suddenly gone heavy. He knew exactly why. He had fallen over, the wand had been guiding him to what he had hoped was the gravel path out of here, and it felt that way, he could hear the crunch, crunch, crunch of the stones as he walked as fast as he could without looking like he was running out of there. Then the wand had suddenly veered sharpy to the left and Sebastian had followed, only to fall down with a small yelp. He had tried to stand back up but Snakey had flown over his face and the wand turned suddenly as heavy as an anchor. Then he heard footsteps above him on the gravel path.

“Now, where have you got too?” Came the sound of Marvolo’s voice, just feet above him. Marvolo couldn’t see him, the grass bank was just long enough that it hid Sebastian, but Sebastian could hear him just slightly above. He didn’t dare move and didn’t need the snake or the wand to tell him not to move, the throbbing in his knees didn’t matter, as he lay face down in the long grass seconds seemed to pass slowly. The crunching stones told him Marvolo was moving away, heading off around the house. Snakey moved and tapped his face, at the same time the wand vibrated and pushed up slightly. Sebastian crawled into a sitting position and started scuffling down the hill as fast as he could go. He did not dare stand in case Marvolo saw him. What he needed was for the Polyjuice Potion to wear off, surely it had been an hour since he took the last one, Mr Gaunt had talked to him for a little while. If he could see, he could apparate out of there, he did not dare to attempt apparition blinded, he would certainly splinch himself. He had planned to go the Gaunt’s little building down in the valley below, it had a Floo network connection, but the plan had not worked how he'd hoped. Something had happened, something he couldn’t hear as he wasn’t a Parselmouth. He had a strong feeling it was about him.

Mori left the door of the house to stand by Marvolo’s side as he searched the front gardens. She had decided not to obey Master Gaunt, it did not matter to her if more humans were arriving at their home in a matter of minutes, the Gaunts had an intruder and she was going to find them, body coil them, then her master, Marvolo, would interrogate them. “Is this intruder with my brother?” Marvolo hissed to her, voicing his suspisions as he crouching down to her level as she lay on the floor with a few feet of neck raised into the air. ‘Yesss. Together.’ She answered. The smell of the intruder had been present since Ominis returned, mixed in with him. She had thought Ominis had just smelt a little weird but now she knew why. They was another person, a none-Gaunt in their house. She was sure of it. She had smelt the intruder in Ominis’ room with him, then on his own in the Gaunt’s library, where they kept all their knowledge and secrets. What she wanted to know was why had Greer not alerted them? She let out a small hiss of pure rage, the old snake was too old to be their protector, he had failed them.

“How did he get in?” Marvolo said, more to himself than Mori. “It’s not like he can be invisible, no real spell can do that. Couldn’t have apparated in, we’d have heard it. There’s elves, they would have seen somebody walking the house… Who cares, we find them and we kill whoever Ominis is with, then drag them both back to father. That will show him… I’ve always said he was making a great mistake replacing me with Ominis. Find them, Mori.” Mori didn’t move. ‘The smell… Is under us.’ She put her head down to the floor and sniffed. ‘Here… and here.’ She moved forward. Marvolo scanned the area. He had looked around the house and down into the garden at the back of the house. Nobody was there.

“No one there.” Marvolo told her. “I already looked down the path.” ‘Here.’ Mori said, going down the side of the hill. Marvolo walked back over to the very edge of their land. The drop from the hill was casual but steep in places, you could run down it if you wanted a broken ankle. “There’s no way Ominis would walk down there, he’d fall-“ Marvolo then laughed with a cry. Near the bottom of the hill, all the way down was Ominis, still in his normal daily robes, hair unbrushed after his bath, bum shuffling the few feet left to go until he reached even ground. “Where’s he off too? He can’t be seriously thinking of jilting his lovely deformed bride just minutes before her arrival? Could it be he’s meeting whomever it was in our home…”

He looked down at the Gaunt’s hunting shack in the valley below, the first of the wedding guests had just started arriving from the Floo network, brushing off their dress robes. Well, most of these pure blood families in the crowd knew of the powers of the Gaunts, it didn’t hurt to give them a demonstration now. He would go down the hill, right this second, to intercept his blind little brother, then torture the answers out of him. He wanted to know who this intruder was. Was it possible Ominis was going to see them right this second? Was it Sallow he was meeting? Was it the wizarding family hiding Sallow? Was it some anti-Gaunt family, like the Potters that Ominis was meeting? Marvolo smiled. “Follow me Mori.”

He raised his two hands, palms facing forward and stepped up first with his right foot, as if placing his foot onto an invisible step. He did the same with his left. It was always a rumour among the wizarding world that the Gaunts could fly without needing brooms, but not many people could claim they’ve ever seen a Gaunt flying before, so the rumour wasn’t really believed. Marvolo stepped into air and began levitating, before stepping forward into nothing, now over the edge of the hill. He was moving forward and down swiftly. Mori flicked her tongue in excitement and followed her levitating master, who was smoothly going down the hill. At the bottom, unaware of the approaching danger, Sebastian stood up, he was sore and hurting, but the wand was pushing him forward and he knew he could walk again. He hurried as quickly as he could. “I need somewhere to hide.” He desperately told the wand. Marvolo’s yellow eyes were fixed upon his brother as he slowly drew nearer.

9:30am. Ominis

“Ominis Gaunt?” The voice said unsurely. “Is that you?” Ominis stomach dropped like a led filled Quaffle. He stepped down from the step of Gringotts as footsteps came strolling in front of him. “I didn’t recognise you lad in that clothing, what a strange ensemble, but you do pass exceptionally well as a muggle, as wrenched as they are.” Said the voice in a pleasant enough tone. “Pardon me, unless I am mistaken, is today not your wedding day? Sadly, my family was not counted among the invitees, but I am not complaining or anything. I just hope one day my family can rub shoulders with the Gaunts. Is it today, it’s all pure blood society is talking about.” Ominis tried to remember who that voice belonged too. “My wedding isn’t until tomorrow. We leaked the wrong day to avoid the Daily Prophet from turning up and ruining everything, as they're sure to try.” He said in his most drawling cooly voice he could muster. “So you were mistaken, Mr – “ “Malfoy.” Said the voice. “Mr Malfoy.” Ominis ended, then tried for a distraction. “How goes building Malfoy Manor? I heard your inheritance was finally found after all these years?”

The ‘inheritance’ he knew was the handsome bribe his father had paid the Malfoys, including paying off all their debt for building the manor in return for them destroying all of Sebastian’s Azkaban records, the one thing they needed destroying to ensure his freedom. It was the price to get Ominis back on board with the family. Ominis felt no guilt, his family had shed out much more money in the past than what they paid the Malfoy family. Not that the Malfoy’s knew any of this, due to the memory charm on this man. Malfoy had no idea where the money really came from. The Gaunts considered the Malfoy family a lesser pure blood family, for being foreign born like the Blacks, but without the friendly banter and childhood connections between the families. The Malfoy's were ambitious to the point they wanted what the Gaunts had. The Malfoy’s served a purpose, a need, and that was all. They were not considered old money enough to be invited to a Gaunt wedding as they couldn’t afford to build their house until now. Ominis wished badly that he had sent the Malfoys an invite, just to hear his parent’s reactions when they turned up. Behind him, Anne had turned and pretended to be window shopping at Olivander’s Wand shop.

“My manor is beautiful, you and your family are always invited for a visit. It would honour us to have the Gaunts over for dinner.” Mr Malfoy drawled back. “I shall be sure to tell my father, it would be nice to bring my new wife and family along for dinner, it shall be us who will be honoured.” Ominis said, picking his words carefully. Sweeten him up, stroke his ego. Hopefully he will go away without any more questions. “My pleasure.” Mr Malfoy looked Ominis up and down once more, taking in the very messy muggle clothing. “But where is your wand? Pardon me, but don’t you carry a guiding wand? You haven’t lost it -” “- Of course I have not lost it. I don’t need it to walk here.” Ominis said coldly, then added, “I know this place very well, I shop here almost daily when off Hogwarts. Knockturn Alley too.” He added. Malfoy chuckled. “Only the best shops as found down there. Anyway, it has been nice talking with you, enjoy your wedding tomorrow.” “I shall.” Ominis said as he walked away.

He placed his foot back on the steps to Gringotts and climbed up carefully. There was no reason why the Malfoy man would talk, would say Ominis was here. The guests would be at the wedding by now. Even so, he hurried up the steps as quickly as he could, pulling his hat lower so that nobody else would see him. How had Mr Malfoy seen through his clothing so easy? Had anybody else? He heard the shuffle of the bowing Goblin as he walked into the cool bank. Keep calm. Keep calm. Ominis reached into his pocket and took out the real Gaunt key before heading to a counter. “Yes. How may I help you today?” Said the Goblin. If he took offence by Ominis’ very scruffy appearance, he was very professional at his job and didn’t let it into his voice.

“The Gaunts have a special request.” Ominis said, very quietly, leaning forward so his voice didn’t travel. “I’ve been asked by my father, Mr Gaunt, to come down here with our key, which he keeps guarded at all times. This is a very delicate matter he only wants the best Goblins to deal with, who are sworn to secrecy, who will be discreet with our personal business. Can you help with this or are you able to call for a superior.” At this, Ominis raised his head so that the Goblin could see who he was. Ominis knew the Goblins in this bank knew him. He had often waited at a counter while his father went down to the vaults. “Young Mr Gaunt, welcome. I can deal with your request today and I assure you have my complete discretion.” “Thank you.” Ominis said, still talking quietly.

“My father and mother have had a breakdown of marriage and my mother and brother are making certain, difficulties, for my father. He cannot come here right now, my mother set her snake upon him, he is greatly injured, but he will be okay in a few days. He wants to move the majority of our vault’s content to a different vault to keep it safe, while leaving my mother and brother a generous parting sum of Fifty Thousand Galleons. He has asked if the bank will hold on to the key and return it to my mother when she comes here in person. As this is a very sensitive subject, my father wishes the rest of the money, roughly about Five Billion Galleons to be transferred out into an account he also has a key too, which I have brought today. As this is the Gaunt families’ entire generational fortune, he wishes discretion to the fullest amount. My mother and brother have already expressed their wishes for the majority of the family wealth to take with them, but father, as the head of our family, wishes a generous fifty thousand Galleons only, to see her through. She has taken on a new lover. A Malfoy.” Ominis added the last part, knowing it would cast suspicion on Mr Malfoy who had just been in the bank, who had recently in the last year received a large income of money. It would validate his story better.

There was a pause. “I see. We are sorry to hear about the hardships your family are going through, the Gaunts are one of our oldest and valuable customers and we shall of course see what we can do.” Ominis handed out the Gaunt key and the Goblin took it. “I am sorry that I don’t have my own, or my father’s wand. My mother and brother are withholding mine from me and Father is holding on to his own wand for protection, as he’s on his own. I got the Knight Bus from my home to London this morning, not being able to apparate or work Floo Powder on my own… I was due to get married today too, but mother called it off last night.” He finished, dejectedly. Maybe the Goblins had also heard of his oncoming nuptials.

“This key is in order.” The Goblin said, an air of sympathy in his voice. “This is the second key, the one my father wishes for the Gaunt money to move into. Father requests it happen as quick as possible. He is most gravely concerned.” Ominis said, handing over Solomon Sallow’s key. The Goblin took the second key and looked it over. “A Sallow key?” The Goblin queried, a slight raise in his voice as if in confusion. “Family connection.” Ominis said simply. “Very well.” The Goblin said. He knew what connection normally meant with the Gaunts, and it was not good to ask. He handed back the Sallow key, while keeping hold of the Gaunt key, he placed that aside.

The Goblin reached down and opened his books. He didn’t offer Ominis Gaunt the normal cart ride down, he knew the blind boy couldn’t stomach such a ride down to the deepest of vaults and he was a little bit of a safety liability. He could not see the two dragons guarding the vault down there. Even if all the Goblins took Clangers down there and rang them, this boy wouldn’t know where to walk. Gringotts did not want to suffer the wraith of the Gaunts should one of their children be eaten by their dragons.

The boy was known, he was from one of the oldest wizarding families, a descendant of Salazar Slytherin himself (If it had been Godric Gryffindor, the Goblin would have reminded them to return the sword if it ever resurfaced.) He had the key to the vault, which was rumoured among Gringotts Goblins to be guarded by Dark Magic only Mr Gaunt could control. He had another wizard’s key, which while strange and unusual, it did mean another wizarding family had offered him it. The story checked out, the Gaunts were half insane due to inbreeding, it was not a surprise to hear they had turned on each other. Families did occasional split, with new vaults opening under two names. He started transferring the money, while the money was leaving the Gaunt account and going to the Sallow’s account, the Goblin took out a quill and started writing a letter that Ominis could not see.

Dear Mr Gaunt, as per your request the money from your vault has been moved. - Gringotts Bank.

At that moment, a young girl stepped into the bank. She was only young, clearly in her early years at Hogwarts due to her appearance. She glanced around at all the Goblins with a look of wonder, before her eyes settled on the young man at the counter to the left. He had his hands together by his back. A signal that everything was ok. She waited, holding back on the pretence of rummaging through a backpack. “That has been done, can you sign here please Mr Gaunt.” The Goblin said. “Of course.” Ominis said, reaching forward slowly for the document. Ominis had told Anne what would happen at the bank. He would need to sign if everything went well, but that would be her que. She walked up to the counter. “Excuse me.” She said. Inside her robes, she pointed her wand at the Goblin through the counter. “Obliviate.” She said quietly, while Ominis coughed. “Thank you.” Anne said, taking the unsigned document from the Goblin and placing it into her bag while smiling at the Goblin, who blinked, suddenly taken back. He couldn’t remember why he had handed this girl a form. Never mind who these children were? Ominis now had his head down, yet again covering his eyes. The Goblin looked a little confused, as if he had no idea who these two were, or when they had come in. “We need to transfer some money, from my late uncles account to my parent’s account.” Anne said brightly, as if repeating herself, but still quietly so that the other Goblins couldn’t hear.

“Do you have the keys?” Asked the Goblin, trying to focus on his job, and the girl handed him them both, one key at a time. “This one is the vault with the money in, we need to transfer it into this one, my parent’s account. Here is my wand for ID. Both keys are Sallow keys.” The Goblin took the girl’s wand, nodded and returned it to her. “If you follow me to the carts…” “Oh!” Anne said. “Sorry Sir, but I’ve only ever used the carts once before and they terrified me. My brother here can’t stomach them either. Would it be ok if we could do the transfer up here?” “Very well.” Said the Goblin, with as much patience he could. How rude of these wizards to always expect Goblin kind to do all the work. “Please sign here.” “Of course.” Anne said. The Goblin’s face didn’t change, but after a glance at how much money this family possessed in their accounts, he did wonder why they couldn't afford some decent muggle clothing. They were dressed like paupers, and in a way, it served them right. The Goblin had no intention of offering any advice on their clothing choices. Let them figure it out. “We’ve just left the orphanage.” Anne said softly, and the Goblin’s eyebrows rose a little. “No family, but our uncle left us all his money. So we are making a home for ourselves.” “That is done.” The Goblin said. He did not care much for the whims of unknown wizards who didnt even look old enough for Hogwarts, they were all greedy and untrustworthy in the end. Why, the boy hadn't spoke and left everything to the girl. “Thank you…” Anne said, then-

“Obliviate.” She whispered again.

Yet again, the Goblin looked a little taken aback as Anne’s wand arm fell again. “Confundo.” She whispered. The Goblin looked unfocused and a bit dazed as Anne reached onto the counter itself and collected the parchment he had been documenting, leaving nothing behind. And he let her do it, with no hesitation at all. All the paper trails were now in Anne’s bag, and she was going to burn them the first chance she got. Everything from the Gaunt's accounts, to Solomons, to her parent's. It would be as if they had never visited today. The Goblin sat there. And sat there still. The male and feale had left. The Goblin sat there. He blinked.

He hadn’t had a customer yet, being so early in the morning, but a key sat in front of him. It was very old and ancient. As he picked it up, he struggled to focus, for a little while he looked at it, not sure he remembered how to identify keys at all. How very strange, it was like his mind wasn’t working right. He had never been tired at work before, but he had been very busy for a few days, maybe he was over worked? This was surely the property of a witch or wizard. Maybe it had been lost and was handed in and he just hadn't seen it until now? Then he noticed there was a note next to him, one Anne had not seen, and the one Ominis didn’t know had been written.

Dear Mr Gaunt, as per your request the money from your vault has been moved. - Gringotts Bank

It was signed… by him. It had the Gringotts’s wax seal. He looked in horror from his own signature and the words that would spell his own doom. He had moved the Gaunt’s money? But where? When had he moved it? There was no documentation, he flickered through his books, but there was nothing. He looked all around him, in his folders, in his books, there was nothing to say where the Gaunt’s money had been moved, or why it had been moved. He was becoming more and more focused again, to the point he could think straight. He was panicking as he glanced down at the key which he now could identify as the Gaunt family key. How did he get this?

He had to act fast, to safe his own life because the Gaunts would kill him. He casually walked down the hall, hiding the Gaunt’s key close to him and took a cart all the way down to their vault. He was ringing the Clangers, not even focused on the two large white dragons sitting there as he opened the vault door. The Gaunt’s vault was almost as long and wide as the very bottom of Gringotts, it held gold stacked high to the tall, cathedral sized roof above. There was no Knuts and Sickles in here, just Galleons. The Goblins often joked if the Gaunt's Galleons were to fall out from the vault, then Gringotts would be lost to the shear amount of gold spilling out. Currently, the vault had a small sea of Galleons at the bottom. A small sea. Not an endless cathedral. Where did the gold go? He did not know.

Upstairs, another Goblin was passing the table and noticed a letter laid out. The Goblin frowned. Gringotts’s standards were falling fast if confidential letters were left out like this for anybody to see. He picked up the letter and shock his head. This letter was for the Gaunts, their most valued customers, he would see that it was send off by a fast owl at once, he did not want to keep them waiting for confirmation. As the owl carrying the note to the House of Gaunt took flight and soared into the sky, the first Goblin arrived back on the bank floor, looking sickly pale and sweaty. “I sent the letter to the Gaunts, you know they should be served swiftly, they are one of our oldest customers.” The Goblin who had sent the owl said to him in a stern voice. “Don’t keep them waiting next time.” The Goblin looked horrified. “You don’t understand….” He said, his voice shook, his whole body trembling. “…We’re all dead…”

As the owl swept down Diagon Alley, it passed two youngsters who were making their way at speed down the Alley. They were shabby and their clothing straight from a charity collection for the poor and needy, but they were neither poor or needy. They were the wealthiest eighteen-year-olds in that Alley, in the entire wizarding world. They hurried on by, the girl holding onto the boy as if she were his life line, and just for a second, the sound of bird wings flew overhead, casting a shadow over the pair of them, an owl.

The boy looked up, he could tell it was an owl by the rush of it’s wings. It was a fast-flying bird for sure and was flying from the direction of Gringotts, heading up the Alley and to the north. North… He knew official owls often were apparated closer to their final destination, to make a flight that would normally take hours arrive in a matter of minutes. The Ministry of Magic hurried them along their way to make owl post even more convenient for Wizarding Kind. He had no way of knowing where that owl was going, it could be going anywhere, but he quickened his steps with the intense feeling that they needed to get out of there now. Right now.

While the boy was looking up, his pale icey blue, pupilless eyes reflected in the sunlight and shone as if lit from behind. If a photograph had been taken of Diagon Alley in that moment, it would have unknowingly captured the last time Ominis Gaunt was seen alive.

In time, nobody would remember the blue eyed boy, he would be lost to history, not even a whisper about him would be heard, no echo of him to be felt. The few people who once knew him would never give up their silence. They were scared to even hint there had been a second son.

9:45am. Sebastian

The first thing that hit Sebastian, as the wand guided him through the streets, was the pressing silence of the village. It must have been close to 10am now, but oddly there was no sounds of people moving around. He had learned from Ominis that the Gaunts liked to target the village people for Muggle Baiting and most had been killed or had left, but it felt like the village was too big to be so silent. His steps were loud as he almost ran, trusting Ominis’ wand and Snakey to not let him stumble and fall. His entire body was screaming at him, both with aches from the hill, but also a sense of danger. He was most certain now that he was in terrible danger.

His skin was tingling with his own magic and his ears picked up every noise as the wand pulled him, at last, into a cool building. The air was cooler in here, he felt a vibration and he knew he had to step up and as he did, his steps echoed as if he were walking on stone. The wand led him deeper into the building and to the right. The arm holding the wand was tugged down and Sebastian knew he was to hide here. He was scared; he wasn’t ashamed to admit it. Blinded, with no way of knowing if Marvolo was still pursuing him, no way of seeing if the entire Gaunt family were now hunting him. The seconds past, the silence stretched on. A breeze ran over his face as he crouched down, trying to work out where he was. He had no way of knowing if he was fully hidden or in the open. There was something on his left side, like a bench running alongside him, and a cold stone flooring.

Then he heard it. Footsteps were approaching and the unmistakeable sound of something heavy dragging itself across the floor. “Are you really hiding in here, little brother?” Marvolo laughed as he stepped into the old church, now missing it’s decorative congression of hanging bodies it had during Easter. “You know Mori can smell you out a mile away.” Marvolo looked around and a grin appeared on his face. “Little Omi, come out, come out.” He leaned over the first row of pews but couldn’t see Ominis. His yellow eyes flicked over the confessional box. “Are you in there, confessing that you don’t want to marry Maelia?” Marvolo said. “Because if so, that’s not really a secret.” Marvolo looked down at Mori, and he bent down and whispered in a hiss. “Is the smell you picked up in the library here?” Mori nodded. It was here, but not so strong. More like Ominis had just been around the person, rather than if the person was in here right now. She didn’t tell Marvolo that as she was still sniffing to make sure.

“You could run away?” Marvolo said, standing back up and peering over the next row of pews. “I can tell father you’ve quit the family, and your inheritance.” They both knew there was no quitting the Gaunts, but Marvolo linked quitting the Gaunts to quitting life itself. Third row and no Ominis yet. “Aren’t you hungry, little brother? I know mother and father have a spread out, the elves are putting it out right now. It’s very rude of you to keep everybody waiting.” He was playing with Ominis now. Mori’s head was fixed at the front row and Marvolo knew that was where they would find Ominis, crouched down like a little child, hiding. “You are taking this too far; you can’t be scared of your wedding night this badly.” Marvolo crudely said, a grin on his face now. Then in a high pitch voice. “Oooh I’m Ominis, and I am so scared that my wife is gonna show me her ankle. Oooh what ever will I do? I shall just faint.” He laughed out loud as he walked slowly nearer. He was mocking Ominis now. “Do you even know how to take a corset off? Oh wait, you won’t even be able to see it. How mortifying. She'll have to ask father to take it off.” He let off a loud bark of laughter. He stopped a row behind. He still couldn’t see Ominis, or the person or people he believed his little brother was meeting.

“So…- ” Marvolo said… He tiptoed across the row. Mori knew her master well to know to keep still and not move. His feet made no sound as he crossed closer and closer to Ominis. Now he could see his brother just, under the pew. “…- Who were you meeting?” Marvolo hissed, leaning over Ominis.

Sebastian flew back as a series of loud hissing came inches from his face. Marvolo laughed, then questioned his brother still in Parceltounge. “Mori smelt somebody in the library, who was it, Ominis?” Ominis didn’t answer, he looked white, terrified. His hand was clutching his wand and- another wand was in his free hand. Marvolo stared at the unknown wand. “Whose is that?” He hissed. “Where did that wand come from?” Again, Ominis did not answer.

“I am talking to you! Answer me if you don’t want to experience the Cruciatus Curse again.” That threat always worked, Ominis was simply terrified of that spell. The memory still raw in every nerve in this body. Marvolo knew Ominis always submitted if you threatened him with torture. But there was no reaction at all from Ominis. It was like he was unsure how to react. “Ominis!” Marvolo shouted. He checked his watch. Up the hill, the wedding guests would have all arrived by now. He could curse his brother and drag him up the hill, but he knew his father would not approve of that at all. He glanced back at this brother, Snakey was watching Marvolo and in the far distance of the room, Mori.

Snakey wasn’t talking to Ominis, which was slowly dawning on Marvolo by the second. Snakey would always provide commentary for his little brother, would tell him what was happening, so why was the little snake suddenly silent when Ominis clearly needed him to explain what was happening right now? Come to think of it, had Ominis even spoken once to his snake while being here? Normally the two never shut up. Marvolo was quite sure he hadn’t caught them talking at all.

That time on the stairs, when he got into Ominis’ face and told him he knew where Sebastian Sallow was, he should have gotten a reaction from Ominis for sure, but he got nothing. His weird behaviour at each mealtime, it was as if he had never been at a civilized dining table in his life. Eating food deemed, long standing, by the Gaunts to be subpar. Even their father felt Ominis had a Confundus Charm placed on him. Ominis had suddenly became gifted in wandless magic when he was hopeless at it before.

Marvolo’s eyes narrowed, the flashing lights in their home had only started flickering when Ominis came home this time, never before had they flashed like this. Now, no reaction at all to threats for the Cruciatus Curse? Marvolo looked down at him. What was it Marvolo was feeling right now? Something wasn’t adding up. A thought nagged at him in the back of his mind.

“Mori,” Marvolo called in Parceltounge “That smell the intruder was giving off, it’s in here now, right? Is it coming from Ominis himself?” Mori’s tongue flickered. ‘ … Yess …’ Marvolo’s sneered. Ominis as suspected give no reaction to Mori’s answer, nor to Marvolo’s question. His brother couldn’t hear this conversation, could he? Which meant… “Snakey.” Marvolo called to the small Milk Snake. “That’s not Ominis, is it?”

Snakey tightened on Sebastian’s neck. ‘It is friend. Yes. Ominis, friend.’ “Don’t lie to me!” Marvolo shouted at the snake in a series of hissing. “If that was Ominis, how come he can’t understand me? He would answer for himself. Wouldn’t you, Ominis?” Marvolo leered down at his ‘brother’ who hasn’t so much as blinked. “So, who are you?” he hissed in Parseltounge. There was no reaction from ‘Ominis’ at all.

All too aware of how bad this had turned, Sebastian weighted up his choices. Marvolo was not attacking him – yet, but if that were to change, Sebastian would of course defend himself. He had placed a non-verbal shielding charm on himself while he waited for Marvolo to attack, or for the Polyjuice to wear off, which ever came first. He could have already lashed out with a hex, he could have used any curse, jinx, hex, or spell he knew, and he knew many, but he could see it was reckless to act rashly. He was still blind, being spoken too in a language he didn’t know. For all he knew, Marvolo was still just taunting who he believed was his brother about his wedding night. Maybe this situation was not yet as bad as it could be. But then-

He could feel a tingle in his toes and he inwardly thanked Merlin. He could feel his skin withdrawing slightly as he grew thinner, his bones moved slightly inwards as his stunted frame grew back, replacing Ominis’ more developed broadness for his own skinny form. He could almost see again, tiny bits of light and colour returned as pupils regrew in his eyes, which turned from silvery icy blue back to the warm brown shade. Sebastian flew up. ‘Expelliarmus’, The non verbal spell had been performed the same moment he flew up, Marvolo’s wand flew up and hit the floor with a clatter some feet from the giant snake. His cover was well and truly blown now. No longer was Ominis Gaunt in this church, in his place stood Sebastian Sallow.

“Well, well, well…” Marvolo said slowly. “Well meet, Sebastian Sallow, at last.” He was looking at the boy before him. He had changed a lot, Azkaban had done a pretty number on him, he still looked a little boyish as if petrified in time at fifteen years old, but his eyes, oh Marvolo knew that look well. He had seen horrors, lived through them. Marvolo could almost see where he had tried to claw his eyes out, no doubt under immense distress of Azkaban. It was in his face too, he looked haunted, all the sanity once sucked out of him that it still left an echo upon his person. He was looking thin, but Marvolo could tell he had gained back a bit of weight and strength, no doubt at Hogwarts or with the Blood Traitors, the Weasleys. His pale freckled face flushed with colour as he glared defiantly at Marvolo. Oooooh. Marvolo could see it now, why Ominis liked him. This boy was unhinged, drawn to the dark arts. Part of Ominis, the part Ominis tried to deny to himself, were all fully alive in Sallow.

“Polyjuice Potion.” Marvolo said. “You’ve been drinking Ominis all this time. No wonder you look sickly and all messed up… or do you always look like that, since Azkaban, Sallow?” Sebastian didn’t react. “So,” Marvolo asked Sebastian. “Where is my brother, and what in Merlin’s name are you doing here pretending to be him?” Sebastian still didn’t answer.

Destination. Determination. Deliberation.

The three Ds for apparition. He couldn’t allow his fear to get him killed. He needed to apparate out of there, but fear clutched him. He needed to focus on where he wanted to go, but his eyes would not stop flickering over to the giant snake which was looking right at him. He would admit he had a slight distaste to Snakey at first, but Snakey was nothing compared to the monster of a snake guarding the door. “Mori, get him. Don’t kill him. We’ll take him to father.” Marvolo hissed at the snake. Sebastian’s eyes flickered from Marvolo who had just hissed something, to the giant snake, just as it flew with astonishing speed right at him.

“Impedimenta!” He cried out. The snake slowed down, and at the same time, Marvolo held out his hand and his wand flew back into it. “Depulso!” Sebastian cried, and Marvolo flew back into his slowed down snake with a cry of rage from both of them. “Mori! Get behind him.” Marvolo hissed as he got up, in seconds he had summoned his wand again by just waving his hand. Sebastian shot a hex at Marvolo to distract him. He needed to create just a second gap for him to disapparated out of there.

“Petrificus Totalus.” Marvolo’s wand was pointing at him, but Sebastian yet again deflected the spell with a shield charm and ducked under a pew. His heart was racing and adrenaline flooded him. His time in Cursed Wands was really paying off, part of him was still outraged they had outcasted him from duelling club. If he lived through this, he would be sure to rejoin, even by making them take him back. “Stupefy!” Sebastian cried. “Reducto.” Marvolo counted, aiming at the pew Sebastian had crouched under. It shattered and he felt pain explode in his head. As Sebastian moved out of the way, blood ran down from his eyebrow.

The giant snake then appeared at Sebastian’s side suddenly, and his brown eyes went wide in terror as Mori flew at his face. Her jaws were wide open, showing Sebastian two very long rows of teeth going all the way around the bottom and top, a wide, endless opening. It was going to swallow him whole. ‘Body coil’ Mori crooned as she positioned herself to entrap the boy. As if in slow motion, her tail end left the floor, her head stretched out to secure the boy in a none lethal hold around the throat, her body twisted around, readying to coil tightly and crush until the boy stopped fighting, then they would take him up to the house, where he would be questioned and then – She would eat him. She hoped they would find Ominis in time, maybe she would have a double meal. In a single second, everything happened.

Snakey flew up, in front of Sebastian’s face as Mori came flying down, teeth bared to bite him. Then Mori crashed into the floor, her own body coiling around herself as she trashed under her bulk, and Sebastian- He wobbled, his feet hitting the ground in a different part of the church, away from Marvolo and Mori. “Wha-?” Marvolo said, looking at Sebastian, then he narrowed his eyes. “What magic is that?” He demanded, but Sebastian was taken aback just like Gaunt. Neither Sebastian nor Marvolo understand what had just happened, but Mori did. She let out a furious hiss as her head finally found air again.

So, the little one was yet again doing his stupid trick. How many times had Mori chased Snakey through the house, only for Snakey to appear in Mr Gaunt’s study, seeking his protection from the bigger snake. How many times had she watched and encouraged Marvolo as he tried to stamp on Snakey, only to find Snakey had simply disappeared. Marvolo had always assumed the snake had just slipped under the floorboards or railings, but Mori knew.

Mrs Gaunt hated the small snake, never believing it to hold any value or magical properties other than intelligence and maybe the ability to talk more. Snakey wasn’t a natural killer, even his food was pre-killed for him, but Mr Gaunt understood fully what Snakey could do, knew he could protect Ominis from Marvolo and so had brought the protectively enhanced snake, for more money than Mori ever cost. Snakey was full of protective magic.

Sebastian didn’t know what happened, if that had been him using instinctive magic or not, but he pointed his wand at Mori and yelled. “Confringo!” His favourite spell had never let him down, and as the snake exploded in a ball of fire, he knew it never would. Seeing the snake ablaze, he didn’t care if it was alive or dead, he had a moment at least in which it was incapacitated. He turned in cold calm fury to Marvolo, who was now trying to put the fire out. “I know what you did to Ominis.” He said softly. His eyes were both on Marvolo and the burning snake. “And I know what you did to Poppy too.” Sebastian continued. Her smiling face, her laughter, her happy demeanour in all his classes came to his mind, followed by the horrible imagination of what Marvolo and Mori did to her. He would make them pay for what they did. Marvolo smirked. “Aww, was she your friend? She was such a sweet little thing.” Marvolo taunted.

Sebastian raised his wand, just as Marvolo raised his again, but Sebastian was ready for him. He used Ominis’ wand to disarm Marvolo at the same time as summoning up all his hatred for Marvolo. He had turned over a new leaf, he was no longer THAT wizard who resorted to the Dark Arts, but Marvolo was the exception. “Crucio!” He roared, pointing his own wand at Marvolo. The wand was only happy to obey him once again.

Marvolo screamed, he twitched on the floor. He joined his snake in shrieking in agony. The pain had stopped. Marvolo looked up and slowly sat up, gasping, clutching himself. Merlin that hurt! Somehow it was even more potent than his father’s spells, and the Gaunts were experts in the Torture curse. Sallow was gone.

“Mori!” He choked, using his wand to put out the last bit of fire on his snake. She was still alive, but bits of her flesh had burned and melted into her, she was bleeding, but the hot raging look in her eyes matched Marvolo. “I’ll get him!” He vowed to her, he didn’t mind leaving her, she was hurt and useless to him right now. He needed Sallow to suffer by his own hands for this. He got up, but his entire body screamed at him. The pain was still etched into him and he ached terribly. With difficulty he limped slightly to the door. All he needed was to see Sallow, one good curse. He decided right there that they didn’t need Sallow alive after all. Maybe burning him slowly to death would avenge Mori and himself.

For Sebastian, he had run, with his hands full with both wands and the small snake, he ran as fast as he could, feeling blood falling off his head as the blood still trickled down. Part of him had ran because he needed to flee, he needed to escape. Part of him ran because he didn’t want to be that person again who used Unforgiveable Curses. And the rest of him ran because he liked making Marvolo hurt. Wanted him to hurt more.

He was back into the streets, trying to loose himself among the houses here. He needed to get out of there, so hid himself in an overgrown garden and crouched down so Marvolo couldn’t see him. He tried to picture the Burrow, but he just couldn’t, his mind was racing and he was shaking so hard he could barely hold the two wands in his hand, so he thought of home, remembered how it felt before everything bad had happened, remembered the warmth of his bed, playing with Anne on the floor, having meals cooked for him. The feeling of never using Dark Magic. He wanted to go home, that was where he would go as he couldn’t focus on The Burrow. He flooded himself with memories, tried to remember what home looked like. He turned on the spot and all went into blackness.

Marvolo knew as he turned the corner into the main street, there was a loud CRACK. Sallow had apparated out of there, along with any answers he may have provided. Marvolo screamed in rage, his voice echoing loudly in the deserted village. His cry of fury was so loud that the Wedding Guests up on the hill all turned to look in the general direction of the village. “My word.” Phineas Nigellus Black said, looking down. “What in Merlin’s name was that?”

Down in the village, Marvolo turned back to the abandoned church, he needed to collect Mori and take her up to the house. He would demand his father to heal her right there and then, guests be damned. Who cared if they saw his snake, she was hurt, she was a Gaunt too. He needed to tell his father, oh yes, he needed to tell his father all about Ominis. Ominis who had not came home at all, it was an imposter just as Mori had said it was and he had ignored her. It was Sebastian Sallow no less, in their home. Who knew what he had learned, or seen in their house. The boy the Gaunts had personally freed from Azkaban.

His cut and bruised face split into a smile. His father would be humiliated, and humiliated in front of all his own people, and Marvolo would be the one to deliver the devastating news. That was Marvolo’s reward and justice equally for his father shutting him out. His father, humbled and humiliated before Marvolo, begging Marvolo for his forgiveness, assuring Marvolo that he was indeed the true heir after all. Ominis? He should have been killed at birth. His father would confirm all of this to Marvolo, and then they would kill Ominis together.

Giggling to himself while still in a lot of pain, bleeding himself while holding his horrifically injured snake as best as he could, with her tail trailing on the floor behind him, Marvolo started walking back up the path out of the village, he was going to walk up the path back to the big house on the hill for all to see.

And as he did, the fateful owl flew overhead to the big house on the hill, carrying a note from Gringotts Bank.

It was 10am, and all the guests, almost all of the pure blooded society, had arrived for the wedding.

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