Hello, I'm back for the new chapter. Thanks you for following or read this story.
Chapter III: Yew
Eat the rest of the basilisk's egg you made born,
To give your blood the power to make him obey and torn.
Footnote from the Codex of Slytherin
Sunday went surprisingly well. Since Eddy had gotten closer to Sal, none of the Gorgon Sisters tried to mess with him.
Even better, due to the young Riddle's undeserved reputation, everyone left him alone. They spent the day in the park and by the lake. Salazar knew everything there was to know about magical creatures, especially beings of the water. He absolutely had to meet Newt.
When evening came for his second detention, Eddy nonchalantly complied. He finished picking up the webs in the clearing with Hagrid without having the nerve to ask the half-giant about the mysterious origin of the Acromentulae he had never encountered and hoped he would never see in his life.
The next day came quickly and with it the beginning of the week. In his euphoria, Eddy had forgotten a tiny detail that jumped out at him when he sat down in Transfiguration class. Salazar seemed to hesitate between his sister and him, and then finally moved closer to him under the furious gaze of his sister when Professor McGonagall entered the Transfiguration class.
She handed out hedgehogs that they had to transform into a needle bowl with a wave of their wand. The gesture shown by the woman may seem simple, but the fact remains that Eddy felt paralyzed. Slowly, he pulled out his wand, which hadn't left his pocket since he arrived at Hogwarts. Some students seemed confused; others like Medusa and Rita, who had already completed the exercise, were giggling. When Professor McGonagall approached his table with Salazar and asked them for the results, Eddy felt like running for his life again.
Salazar carelessly turned his hedgehog into two other hedgehogs. If the feat seemed to disconcert McGonagall, it was not the required exercise. After admonishing Sal to be more focused, she turned to Eddy.
"Mr Lee? I would very much like to see you at work rather than imitating a hedgehog. You won't disappear by cowering, let's go."
Eddy grabbed his wand and attempted the indicated move, once, twice, then a dozen times under the uncompromising gaze of McGonagall. As expected, nothing happened.
"If he's a squib, I'm not surprised he spins in frustration. Not easy living with real wizards", Bellatrix hissed at Skeeter.
"Miss Black, leave. Twenty points from Slytherin."
Bellatrix jumped to her feet, baring her teeth, making her look like an angry cat. A spell from McGonagall threw her out of the room with the cheers of a few Gryffindors and a few Hufflepuffs, and Skeeter looked revolted. When the Transfiguration teacher looked back at him, it was with a look that was both satisfied and caring.
"Mr Lee, can I see your wand?"
Slowly Eddy handed her his possession. McGonagall put her triangular glasses back on her fingertips, peering down at his wand.
"Yew… your wand chose you, Mr Lee, didn't it?
"Y-yes."
"Know that the yew wands don't choose just any wizard, they would even be, say, out-of-the-ordinary wizards. Rare are the wizards to have this kind of wand. You are not a squib, that I can assure you. But this wand has a certain character that you will have to learn to understand. Work awaits you Mr Lee, but I have no doubt that you will get there.
She gave him back his wand with a small smile as the bell rang. Eddy's heart was a little lighter, even though a similar scene repeated itself in spell class, he was quite unable to spark the fiery sparks demanded by Professor Flitwick. So he made his way to the Defence Against the Dark Arts class with a lot of extra work after lunch. Salazar by his side seemed particularly cheerful.
"What makes you smile like that?"
"My father isn't here. He will be away all week. It's his alternate Eileen Prince, she's very nice."
"Does he often go away like that?" Eddy asked, nearly collapsing under the weight of extra textbooks sent to him by his teachers.
"Once or twice a term, it depends," Sal mumbled with a somewhat mysterious tone. "He does research."
These regular absences must have satisfied Dumbledore who hadn't hidden his distrust of this professor.
Eileen Prince was a tall witch dressed in a plum-coloured dress. She had long black hair; dark eyes and a sallow complexion made her look like she had just come out of a terrible disease. She continued the lesson on Grindylows and began a new lesson on werewolves. When the bell rang Eddy put his books back in his bag, and followed Riddle to their common room before going to detention with Professor Belline.
As usual, Charm waited for him in front of the classroom entrance and happily followed his example. They passed the Gorgon sisters on their way.
While Rita was watching them curiously, Bellatrix and Medusa shot Eddy a look so menacingly dark that he had to suppress a shudder. He sensed that they intended to take action soon.
The next day while going to breakfast with Sal, Eddy realized that Charm was not with them. He called for him into the common room, but his Kneazle didn't deign to come. Taken aback, he nevertheless followed his new friend towards the Great Hall. It was mail day. Multiple birds were flying in the Great Hall bringing messages to all the students. Eddy was surprised to see Icarus, Tina's owl flying towards him with a huge openwork packet of a small letter. He stroked the animal, gave it a piece of his toast as it flew out of the Great Hall.
Inside the package, Tina sent him a mountain of chocolate frogs , some old things of his, but above all a complete book on Asian flora. Moved by this present, Eddy opened the missive.
"Eddy,
You don't know how happy we were to receive your letter. We have just returned from Japan. We will be leaving for Egypt next week for a trip to the Valley of the Kings, but Newt needs a rest. He's not as young as he used to be, although he refuses to acknowledge it. It's fantastic that you've made a new friend! Everything is progressing, as I promised you. I hope we get the chance to meet him.
I kiss you,
Your Tina.
Big Boy,
After Tina's words, I don't know what to add as congratulations except that I'm very proud of you. Regarding that boy you told us about, I've never heard of such a thing. I will conduct some research. The world is vast and has not finished showing all its secrets, that's why I continue to travel.
Regarding this summer, I have a few leads for our research. I'll let you know soon.
See you soon,
Newt. »
" Newt." whispered Salazar, who had bent over his letter without Eddy noticing.
Considering that his biggest secret had been told to his friend, he whispered:
"Newt Scamander, he raised me with his wife."
"YOUR GUARDIAN IS NEWT SC-"
Eddy quickly covered Salazar's mouth with his hand before he could finish his sentence. Its brilliance had drawn a few curious glances to their table. Medusa nearby, who was playing with the ribbon in her hair, gave them a suspicious look. Eddy looked down and stuffed his letter in his pocket, removing his other hand from his bright-eyed friend's mouth.
"I can't believe it… That explains so much based on their research. Could I... meet them?
Sal looked so joyful that Eddy nodded in agreement. Riddle looked so happy that his euphoria was contagious and didn't let go of Eddy. History of Magic was soporific, they talked about magical creatures for the whole hour until their Potions class. Charm still hadn't reappeared and as Medusa walked past them, she pulled Salazar with her and gave him the most evil smile.
Eddy reluctantly went to sit next to Gwendal. The force solution they had to prepare was on Ilvermorny's schedule and Eddy had already done it. Assured of having something other than a zero, Eddy began to prepare the ingredients.
"So that foolish Riddle befriended you?" asked Gwendal casually, pouring lady's mantle into their cauldron.
"He's not crazy," Eddy retorted. "You do not know him."
"I've been in class with him for nearly three years, you, barely three days. I think I know him.
"If you say so."
"Yes, we're telling you", retorted Umbridge, who shared the pallet in front of theirs with Kheiron Shafiq, turning around. "It's to protect you, he can only hurt you."
"Are you saying that because he embarrassed you in front of the entire Great Hall or because you're still infatuated with him, Dolly?" Shafiq asked, turning the contents of their cauldron with a small smile.
Dolores turned as red as a crayfish.
"Don't call me Dolly!"
She got up abruptly and quickly went to fetch ingredients from the back of the room giving the impression she was resting on springs. The two Riddles were making their potion wisely like the other students, Bellatrix getting up to get something from the back of the room. Eddy exchanged a knowing look with the two Slytherin boys.
"Dolores absolutely wants to get together with a pure-blooded boy. Two months ago, she declared her feeling to Salazar," Shafiq explained.
"After the study she cornered him to talk to him, we heard her," Gwendal continued. "It was so cringey, and the worst part is that Riddle didn't even answer. He just turned on his heels and walked off, shrugging his shoulders. Watch out, Lee. See how she sticks to you? She will soon make a declaration to you."
"It's false!" Umbridge said even pinker than her ribbon, holding a jar of rat's tails.
As Eddy and the other two boys were about to laugh, Bellatrix walked past his cauldron. Without knowing how or why, his instinct screamed at him to take cover. This was what he did.
And the explosion that followed was so powerful that he was grateful for his instincts. For a moment, smoke invaded the closed space of the dungeon and nothing could be discerned. Eddy's ears were ringing and he could hear the screams of his comrades. He coughed to evacuate the toxic fumes from his lungs like his classmates. Slughorn flicked the smoke away before approaching what was left of their cauldron. Umbridge and Gwendal had been doused with the rest of the potion and had huge bumps on their faces. Shafiq was doing better but had a burn on his forearm, which had served him to protect himself from the explosion unlike Eddy who had had nothing protected under his wooden desk.
"Well, well," Slughorn said as he arrived, looking more annoyed than worried. "Who was behind this disaster?"
He bore them with an imperious gaze, and then eyed Eddy. He was the only one of the four to have had nothing.
"Mr Lee, detention, at the end of the month. I was just looking for someone to do the service for my next party."
"But pro-," Eddy tried to defend himself before being interrupted.
"Enough! Your excesses could have been much more serious for your comrades. Mr Shafiq, accompany Miss Umbridge and Mr Pettigrew to the infirmary, I think you need healing too."
The three stood up, Eddy tried to communicate to them silently that it wasn't his fault and if Kheiron and Gwendal seemed to understand, but Umbridge gave him an offended grimace before scuttling away, hiding her pimple-covered face under the laughter from others.
Professor Slughorn gave him another zero. Annoyed, Eddy leaned over to what was left of his cauldron. Inside was a wet Dr Filibuster firecracker. He looked up furiously. From her seat Bellatrix gave him the brightest of smiles. Sal gave him a sorry expression before Medusa called him to focus on his task.
Holding back a curse Eddy looked down trying to calm himself.
At the end of class, Charm hadn't show up and Eddy began to worry. He thought about questioning Salazar, but he was already dragged by his sister to the other end of the corridor. As she was about to follow them, Bellatrix and Rita blocked his way with a wicked smile.
"Are you looking for something? "
"Avoiding you, or perhaps the best way to cut the Devil's Snare you call your hair", replied Eddy acerbically, still angry at having been sent to detention because of the young girl.
Tony Flint, who had heard him, spun as if he had the devil on his heels precisely but Bellatrix did not lose any of her superb. She dug her fingernails deeply into his arm.
"The abominable ball of fur that serves as your cat has disappeared, hasn't it? We'll help you find him."
Eddy gritted his teeth, but Bellatrix and Skeeter clutched him tighter with expressions of wicked glee.
"Where's Charm? What did you do to him?"
"Follow us and you'll know", Rita trumpeted. "Now, move on."
Reluctant to listen to them but too worried for Charm, Eddy complied. The two harpies took him with them to the second floor. Just as he thought they were leading him towards the Defence Against the Dark Arts room, they heading toward the girls' bathroom.
Eddy suppressed a shiver. What were they doing here? He swallowed in apprehension. Before he could ask why he was here, the ghost of a teenage girl with big glasses burst out of a bathroom stall with a sulky pout.
"What are you Gorgons doing here? And why are you bringing a boy here? You do not have the right!"
"Go back and play with the acne's pimp that serves as your third eye on your forehead, Mimi," Bellatrix retorted wickedly.
Mimi burst into tears, and that was when Medusa appeared at the toilet entrance. She wore the same evil smile as her companions.
"Mimi", she said in a soft voice. "I heard that Rosier and Arabella Parkinson were going to take a bath in the prefects' bathroom. You wouldn't miss that would you?"
The ghost 's face went white behind her tears, (which must have been her way of blushing) and she dove into a toilet bowl in a large burst of water. Eddy was therefore alone, facing the three Gorgons who had taken out their wands.
"You're alone, Lee. Salazar returned to the dormitory."
"Where's Charm?"
Bellatrix shifted to open a magically closed bathroom, she came back with the stunned Charm she held by the scruff of his neck.
"Here is your stuffed animal, now the festivities can begin," Black sneered.
Medusa pointed her wand at the toilet, icy, dirty water gushing out to spray Eddy. Rita cast a tickling charm on him and another that knocked him down. He banged his head on the cold ground and tried to quiet his giggles, he found the strength to reply:
"Is that all you plan to do?" Ha, ha, ah?
This animated some sort of sadism in the three girls. Bellatrix grabbed him by the collar and dragged him to a bathroom.
"You don't defend yourself much either, Lee. Miserable squib, you surprise me that you were kicked out of your old school. But imposing your filth here, is out of the question."
She stuck his head in the toilet bowl. Eddy swallowed the stagnant water. The fear, the rage and the feeling of humiliation were powerful enough to drive Bellatrix out. Drenched Eddy pulled his head out of the bowl and pushed with all his might Rita who was trying to stop him.
"Let go of my cat! Leave us alone!"
"Never," Bellatrix snarled.
Medusa came to hug his shoulders; she was as strong as Bellatrix. Struggling against her, Eddy felt her hair tickle the back of his neck. Angrily, Bellatrix removed Charm's narcotic and held her wand firmly against the animal's throat.
"You'll see what I'm going to do to your damn fur ball!"
Charm gave a plaintive little meow, Eddy struggled more and Medusa immediately tightened her grip on him. The young boy noticed in spite of his situation that she smelled very good, a smell of wild strawberries.
"Wait, Bella," Rita said. "Lee is our problem. We are not going to mistreat an animal, are we?
"What the hell does that matter?! It's just a stupid cat."
Eddy felt Medusa hesitated behind him as Charm squeaked plaintively again. Bellatrix's wand was pressed deep against his throat.
"You are completely sick! Let him go!"
His magic answered his cries. Without understanding either how or why, Rita and Medusa closest to him found themselves caught in the vice of his magic and levitated several meters above the ground. They let out a high-pitched yelp.
"Take us down, Lee!"
Only Eddy would not have been able to, Bellatrix was paralyzed, and she didn't see Charm's clawed and furious paw slamming down on her hand. She let out a howl of pain as she let go of him. Eddy seized his chance, he tripped the young girl who fell, dropping her wand from her bloody hand and then fled with his cat on his heels.
"You're going to pay us for it!" Medusa screamed behind him still levitating.
He ran at full speed, in a hurry, to put as much distance between him and the three girls. Once away, he leaned towards Charm:
"How are you, old pal? Sorry for those harpies."
His friend said a small mew. Eventually, he jumped on his shoulder and Eddy hurriedly slipped away to his detention.
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.
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A few days earlier, Eddy had thought that Medusa Riddle was really a very pretty girl. A few days later, Eddy hated Medusa Riddle. He couldn't stand her made-up innocent little face, her ridiculous little ribbon in her hair. In each class Eddy shared with the Gorgons, the leader of the small group found a way to mess with him as soon as Salazar's back was turned.
In Herbology, - his favourite class - she had managed to kill the Devil's Snare that Eddy had to take care of; he had received another bad grade.
In Astronomy she had thrown the lens of his telescope from the top of the Astronomy tower. He must have gone to get it under the laughter of the others, the furious howl of Professor Sinistra and the threat of another detention. Thursday's Care of Magical Creatures class was one of the only ones he didn't share with Bellatrix and Medusa. Rita might be present, as she was less disagreeable without her two companions and the presence of Sal at his side allowed Eddy to breathe a little.
By diligently taking his potions, repeating his exercises and above all thanks to Salazar's amazing soft magic, Eddy somehow managed to control himself.
"I'm sorry, I'll try to talk to her," Salazar muttered, clutching a playful little bowtruckle in his hand. "Med is not really mean… It's complicated."
Eddy bit his tongue to avoid something venomous in response to his friend. He concentrated on drawing the bowtruckle that Sal was holding as Professor Kettleburn passed through the ranks to see their progress. Salazar probably had too high opinion of his twin.
Under the mild March sun, in the middle of the grounds of Hogwarts, the bowtruckle was striking poses, giving him the air of imitating muggle divas. Eddy wondered where the little creature had learned those gestures.
"One day, I'm especially going to put her between four eyes and show her what I'm talking about, magic or no magic," Eddy mumbled.
"No, Eddy, that's a very bad idea," Salazar retorted. "I told you, she mustn't stare at you too long."
Rita behind them who was sharing her sketch with Gwendal did not lose a crumb of their conversation. She gripped the bowtruckle so tightly in her large hand that he eventually bit her thumb viciously. She cried out along with Pettigrew when the bowtruckle tried to scurry toward the edge of the forest.
"Listen," Sal said. "Try to finish the week, forget them, you already have enough restraint. If all goes well and you're not in detention I can introduce you to someone by Saturday."
Eddy's interest was piqued. His gaze drifted to the Forbidden Forest and Salazar nodded.
Eddy figured it should not be that hard to stay out of trouble, so he nodded. The rest of the day passed smoothly, as did the next day.
.
In divination, Shafiq had decided to exchange places with Xenophilius Lovegood, the rickety little Ravenclaw. Thus, Eddy was with Sybill and Lovegood for another tea reading. The tiny Ravenclaw girl had been giving him apprehensive little glances since his outburst from the previous week, but as Professor Belline was dozing over his own cup of tea, she decided to speak:
"I wanted to apologize to you for the other time. I did not want to hurt you. I said foolish things."
"You are not a Seer for a knut, that's for sure", retorted Eddy acerbically.
"I really saw the wheel of fate in your cup", boasted the young girl who continued in a less assured voice. "But the death omen was… just to make you and Shafiq more attentive in class. Usually, scaring people calms them down."
"What a success," Eddy hissed.
The young girl blushed and looked in her teacup.
"I see a caravan today, you know. It follows the wheel of fate."
Eddy looked in his book for what that meant but Xenophilius interrupted him:
"The caravan is the Uprooting. You've been taken from your roots, but with the Wheel of Destiny that Syb' saw the other day, maybe it's a harbinger of a long journey to find them."
Eddy froze on his mug, thinking about the blonde's words. Maybe those predictions weren't meaningless after all. Xenophilius called out to him to find out what he saw of his destiny in his chipped cup cutting off his daydreams:
"Mmh, an eye, or maybe a rose? According to this book, it's a love gone too soon."
"Ah really?" murmured Xenophilius glancing Celestina Fawley, a blonde Gryffindor seated next to Belline with a transfixed gaze.
He too seemed pensive, so Eddy returned to his thoughts, feeling the need to dig deeper.
.
.
.
Since his arrival he had never been to the Hogwarts library, it was a huge room but barely bigger than Ilvermony's. Eddy was not a great lover of books, he was neither very studious nor even a very good reader. Tina had tried to give him to instil that interest in him after teaching him to read and write but Eddy was stubborn in his refusal to engage with books. He liked running, fighting or walking in nature, but certainly not sitting down to read a book. Despite his books aversion, he appeared on Saturday in front of the librarian, Miss Breviary, a toothless old woman, with Salazar.
"H-hello."
She darted him an imperious look, furious that by his simple mark of politeness he had disturbed the tense silence of the place.
"I… I would like to know if there is a list of former Hogwarts students."
"Yes, the Hogwarts Register," replied the old woman as it was obvious. "It is in the Reserve."
"Can I access it?"
"No," spat the old woman. "You need a note from one of your teachers for that. Now, remain silence and return to work."
Annoyed, Eddy complied with Sal. Having permission from a teacher was a privilege reserved for the best students, which it was not at all. He thought about asking Dumbledore, but he deemed it too personal for the Headmaster to interfere. Despite everything, he began to talk about some goblin war for Professor Binns like his friend. After scratching through just about every nonsense that came to mind to make sure he got the right number of inches on his parchment, he noticed that Sal had been watching him silently for several minutes.
"What are you looking for in the Registry?" he asked in a soft voice.
"My family," Eddy whispered. "My parents, even if I don't remember them, were maybe wizards. Or maybe I am Muggle- born, I don't know."
"Don't repeat that to the others, they might make you see all the colours."
Newt had warned him that English wizards had more prejudices than Americans about blood, yet Salazar despite his surname seemed far from these considerations. He was staring into space like every time he was in his thoughts. Eddy continued:
"Romanis are one of the most secretive and closed communities. So maybe, it's a blow in the water for nothing. But I have to be clear, this summer I'm going to look for them."
After his accident, when Newt and Tina had found him in the middle of the ashes of a caravan, they had spent several months criss-crossing England trying to approach the Romani communities of the region. But nobody had wanted to answer them, and Eddy still traumatized had not succeeded in communicating with these people.
His Obscurus becoming growing and impossible to control, they had abandoned the search to repatriate him urgently with them to the United States in order to offer him care. Today, he was no longer this gloomy, and thin child unable to control himself, or at least he had moved away from it. So he had to have his questions answered.
"Do you hope they're still alive?" asked Sal.
"Yes, I think my mother is alive," Eddy replied in a shaky voice.
He added nothing more. Bellatrix and Medusa entered the library dressed in their Quidditch uniforms. Salazar had confided to him that they were both beaters on the Slytherin team, which explained their fearsome strength.
They glared at him, then Rita rushed out of a nearby shelf to talk to them. Eddy, however noticed that Medusa had lost her lustre and seemed worried. She had heavy dark circles under her eyes and a greyish complexion.
"Who is Gavroche the Tardis?" Salazar interrupted, bending over his History of Magic parchment.
"Isn't that what Binns said the other day?"
"I think it was rather Garvolk the Tacky."
"Oh." He crossed out the name, grimacing.
It was time for Salazar's surprise as he stood up and motioned silently to follow him. Eddy put away his things, overwhelmed with curiosity. They left the library in silence. When they arrived in the park, night had fallen and slowly descended towards the forbidden forest while most of the students were going to dinner.
Sal plunged into the forbidden forest with an air of assurance. They went even further than during their detention, darkness surrounded them on all sides. Uncertain, Eddy approached his friend. It was terribly cold, in the darkness the halo of heat from their mouths was barely visible. After walking for half an hour, they came upon a clearing of yews lit by the moon. Eddy tensed.
In the middle of the clearing, there was a young centaur. She was very beautiful with her long blond hair wavy around her heart-shaped face and flowing down to her chest. She straightened her bow as she heard them, but relaxed as she recognized the wizard's face.
"Hello, Ancient Boy."
"Hi, Silvana."
She shot at Eddy a curious look.
"You bring a friend?"
"Yes, my first one," Salazar said in a voice so pure and happy it made Eddy almost uneasy. "His name is Eddy."
Slowly, uncertainly Eddy approached. He didn't know much about centaurs, Newt had always had trouble approaching them. Centaurs were not known to be the most communicative species with wizards. This one was to be considered as a teenager, she was smaller than her congeners. Silvana gave him a sweet smile and turned to Salazar.
"This boy is not like the others. What are you exactly? I feel your magic inside you burning to escape."
Sal gave him a confident smile, but because he was not answering, the brunette took over:
"It's an Obscurial. Have you ever heard of them?"
The young centaur thought, she bent her paws to sit on the ground and looked at the sky. Salazar sat down next to her, so Eddy did the same, his wizard's robe a thin bulwark against the icy floor, and he suppressed a shiver.
"An Obscurial, huh? Mine told me about it. A complicated life awaits you… or a very short life if you are not careful."
Needless to say, Eddy already knew all of that. She seemed to be watching something near the crescent moon in the sky.
"But… the stars tonight don't have bad omens. They indicate that soon you will find many things, at the cost of painful trials."
Eddy suppressed a shiver of cold and fear.
"Your friend is cold, Old Child," the centaur whispered.
Salazar spluttered an excuse and drew his wand. A magic fire of a pinkish colour slowly ignited. Eddy pressed his hands into it gratefully. He wasn't sure what Silvana meant, but there was something reassuring about her words.
The wisdom of the centaurs was not a myth, so such words in her mouth were worth more than all the predictions of Sybille Trelawney.
"Why do you call him an Old Child?" Eddy inquired.
She cast an affectionate look at Salazar wedged against her side who didn't notice him, busy playing with a small ashwinder coming out of the magic fire he had summoned.
Eddy thought that Silvana had become infatuated with her friend but her great misfortune, he seemed completely hermetic to it.
"What you call magic has been around for a long time, little wizard. The first wizards had many gifts, and many powers. These have declined over time. Salazar's blood is ancient; it seems to hide many mysteries there. I don't know what it is. Neither does the centaur I know. Uranus, Venus and Mars are on their axis, far from Pluto, it is a good thing. Very good even. One day, you will know who you are Old Child, you too boy overwhelmed with magic."
She pointed to three very bright stars in the sky. Eddy didn't know what that meant. Uranus was the god of the sky, Mars that of war, Venus that of love while Pluto was that of death. The centaurs' predictions were mysterious but often very true.
The sky was however magnificent this evening. As Sal tried to salvage his clothes from the ashwinder that was scorching his robes, Eddy pointed to a set of stars near the crescent moon.
"What is it here? Is it Saturn and its moons?"
"You should follow your Astronomy lesson a little better, young human. It is the Constellation of the Wheel."
Eddy could have laughed, he couldn't stand being told about those damn wheels anymore, but a shudder stopped the sneer in his throat. Behind them another centaur watched them with a disapproving look. He was taller than Silvana, the brown of his robe shimmering under the crescent moon. He drew his bow and the young wizards tensed.
"You have strayed a little too far from your school, little wizards.
"Bane," Silvana tried. "They-
"Enough, my sister. "Get up and let's go home."
The blond centaur wanted to reply something but pitifully abdicated under the order of her big brother.
"Now it's time to go home, young wizards. This forest is not yours." hissed Bane, grabbing his younger sister's arm.
Sal looked like he wanted to react, but he backed down, extinguished the magic fire, and they go back to the castle.
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