Chapter 17: Painful Memories
Fudge didn't like leaving his seat.
He felt authoritative, strong and tall sitting on his chair and thus getting off the chair and coming to the same level as the crowd was something he hated.
But now, there was an important reason to stand with the wizards.
"Do you really want to do this, son?" He asked, a hint of concern for the boy in front of him –an expression that he rarely showed.
"I am." Sebastian affirmed, putting his hand on top of Fudge's hand.
Next to them was a tub filled with water as to cast the memory magic, he needed some sort of reflective surface.
Mostly because he lacked the skill to cast memory magic in the form of holograms, so he decided to work around with a two dimensional version.
"By the roots of magic, I swear to show only the truth, memories unmasked and memories required to express the truth." Sebastian swore, pricking his index finger and letting a drop of blood fall on top of Fudge's hand.
As instructed earlier, Fudge immediately placed his hand on top of Sebastian's and did the same –pricking his finger and swearing by the roots of magic.
"By the roots of magic, I swear to accept and announce Sebastian as the Heir of Slytherin and grant him full authority of the ancient treasury of Salazar and his basilisk if and only if he is able to prove himself as the heir of Salazar with his true memories."
Sebastian smiled and nodded, "If either of us breaks the oath, the one to break the oath shall break the link to life as well."
The moment the two finished the chant, the drop of blood on top of their hands glowed purple before seeping inside their skin.
"That completes the contract." Sebastian said as he retracted his hand, "So, if either of us fails to keep our promise, the person dies."
Fudge gulped thickly as while he had to agree to the request as the minister of magic, he knew how severe of a pact it was.
What he failed to grasp was the duration and difference between the pact of Sebastian and him, which out of everyone present –only the heir and Dumbledore understood.
'If Sebastian fails to show his memory and prove his lineage, he will lose his life.' Dumbeldore witnessed the scene without saying a word, 'But… that is only a one time event. Once he proves his part, he is free from the pact. But if Fudge fails to keep his promise in the future and by chance has to make a decision against Sebastian possessing the treasures or the basilisk… he will lose his life."
Dumbledore wanted to point it out from the get-go, but decided not to as he realized that it was possibly the only way. And he understood that as a wizard, and especially as the minister of magic it was Fudge's duty to be responsible and thorough with his analysis before making any decision and if he failed at it, it was not Dumbledore's responsibility to remind him.
'It is most certainly the shock factor that made everyone overlook this dire consequence.'
"Begin, boy." Grayford said, frowning at Sebastian, "We haven't gotten all day."
Sebastian found the man annoying, especially his ordering nature but there wasn't much he could do about it.
Not until he proved his lineage.
And thus, he decided to do just that.
Prove his lineage.
Closing his eyes, he delved into the few years that he had shared with his grandfather, at least from the time he could remember.
Which started from the age of three.
An age that wasn't the kindest to him.
``Is that understood, Sebastian?``
A man, with graying hair, a semi-tall stature and a serious looking face.
The boy in question, who was barely three years old –an age when kids were supposed to play in the mud– stood straight and nodded.
"Yes, grandfather."
This answer made the audience gasp.
And so did the other people inside the memory.
"Father! Why!" A man, who seemed to share resemblance with the older man gasped in horror, "I told you not to cast that spell on Sebastian!"
The older man scoffed, "It was a mistake that I was this lenient with you in the past and look how much of a disappointment you ended up becoming!" The words felt like a stinger to the younger man's heart, "It is a mistake I cannot repeat with this boy. He is not just your son, he is not just my grandson… he is more than that." The old man nearly yelled, "He is the heir of our house! Heir of the House Slytherin and the heir of I, Salazar Slytherin!"
This statement on its own should have been enough to prove his claim as the heir of Slytherin, but for some it wasn't.
"That is not enough…" Grayford refused to acknowledge the scene, "His face doesn't even look similar to the three year old. You cannot prove that it was him with just that."
Grayford had already lost the moment Sebastian showed his memory, but the boy knew that if he wasn't thorough it would be an issue that would haunt him even in the future.
So, he decided to progress further.
"Casting a growth spell on your own grandson…" The man felt pain as he looked at the three year old Sebastian, "Forcing him to talk this way instead of teaching him from smaller syllables… You truly are the worst father."
As he said that, the scene changed and now everyone saw the young Sebastian in a room filled with books.
"Sebastian, in the world of magic nothing matters other than your hunger for knowledge and your gluttony to keep feeding on that knowledge." Everyone heard Salazar, "Sins are bad, but with magic sins are inescapable."
The three year old Sebastian sat on a high chair, his tiny feet dangling in the air as he nodded.
"Why is sin inescapable, grandfather?"
These words were not words that should have been easily pronounced by a three year old. At that age, kids just start to speak in sentences, typically with simple and small words.
However, Sebastian's vocabulary was already as vast as an average adult.
"Sins are aspects that make you lose yourself, that make you commit mistakes that you shouldn't." Salazar explained, "But with magic, you need sins. You need gluttony to not stop your hunger for consuming more magic, you should not lose your lust for more power, your greed for the knowledge, your envy of others who learn better spells than you, your sin of sloth to always find the easiest solution and your sense of wrath at not mastering the magic that you aim for. With these sins, you strive to be a great wizard."
The young Sebastian nodded, not fully grasping the meaning but understanding that his grandfather was asking him to be good at magic.
"You are the heir of the house Slytherin, Sebastian." Salazar said, "And you have to be better than everyone else."
This time, Salazar even took his name yet Sebastian decided to continue showing his memory.
Mostly to prove a few points.
"Today, I will start teaching you some basic spells."
With that statement the scene changed again.
"Again!" Everyone shuddered just as little Sebastian did.
The yell was loud and sharp and they witnessed how Sebastian forced himself to stand up despite the cuts and bruises on his body.
"Healus!" Salazar chanted, instantly healing the boy with his ancient magic.
"Keep chanting the spells without a wand!" Salazar ordered, horrifying the audience.
One of the reasons wands were used for casting spells was the reason that wandless magic was difficult to control and could go haywire in seconds –even resulting in the caster's death.
Most wizards, especially the European wizard only used wand magic while a few African and Asian witches and wizards used both wand and wandless magic.
However, it was rare for even them to fully give up on wand magic.
"Only if you can master wandless magic, will you be able to show better and stronger results with a wand!"
This made no sense to most of the audience, but to Salazar this was the only way to produce a skillful magic caster.
The scene changed once again, but this time, Sebastian appeared a bit older –by around a year or two.
"You have improved a lot, grandson." Surprising the audience, there was a hint of love and care in Salazar's voice, something that felt missing even when he was talking to his blood son. "But you have barely passed the first stage. After this, you will learn potions, herbology and about the mythical creatures while also improving your literature and social skills." The man said in a proud voice while the young Sebastian nodded firmly, a hint of pride and excitement visible in his eyes.
To the audience, it was a horrifying sight, forcing a five year old to learn topics that even adults struggled with but for a man that forced his grandson to speak with his magic, this was nothing.
As for Sebastian, he was happy to impress his grandfather and meet the old man's expectations. He wasn't aware of how ridiculous these demands from Salazar were or how cornering they were.
He only cared about proving his worth to the old man, something that his father failed at.
Maybe it was the reason that Sebastian's father distanced himself from him. He was sad, angry, possibly ashamed that his son was able to win his father's approval and be impressed by the child while he had never been called anything but a disappointment his whole life.
Maybe that was why he distanced himself from both Sebastian and Salazar.
The scene changed once again, and this time it was Sebastian who appeared quite similar to the eleven-year-old Sebastian.
This Sebastian stood in front of the old man in his study room, the lights dim as the man looked at his grandson with caring eyes.
"My child, you have learnt things that I expected you to not be able to learn." Salazar smiled, for the first time which surprised the crowd. "You possess the qualities that are expected of a Slytherin heir. You have learnt enough magic to hold your own against most wizards and you know enough to keep a foot in society."
Sebastian listened intently without interrupting.
"It is time I teach you about the world of politics and how you can survive it, how you can look through the wolves following you only for your name and your wealth."
This made Grayford frown a little.
"But above all else I want you to learn because there is a dream that I witnessed."
This finally made Sebastian speak, "What kind of a dream, grandfather?"
"A dream about the downfall of the Slytherins." The old man frowned, "I hope it is just a dream, but if it isn't…"
"If it isn't?"
Salazar looked at Sebastian and shook his head, "Do not worry about it. Focus on your studies for now. Have you learnt about the defensive runes that I asked you to study?"
"Yea grandfather."
The scene changed once again, this time to that of an open space –a mountain.
"Are you okay grandfather, your dreams are getting worse." Sebastian expressed his concerns, but Salazar remained quiet.
"Do not worry about it, focus on the reason you are here."
With that, a massive castle appeared in front of them, a very familiar castle.
And at that sight, Dumbledore mumbled. "Hogwarts…"
"I want you to study here, my child." Salazar said, "While you are free to explore the different opportunities, it is just a wish that I have. I want you to study here."
The audience could notice the difference in the tone that Salazar showed with the passage of time. Maybe it was his age but he seemed softer.
"I don't want anything grand like you becoming the headmaster one day, although that would be nice." Salazar smiled, "I just want you to experience life as a student at a place that me and… and my friends worked on building."
Sebastian was stunned to hear him call the other founders his 'friends' but maybe this was how he always considered the other founders as.
"I hope you can fulfill this small request?"
Sebastian nodded immediately, "Of course grandfather! I cannot even think about joining another school."
And with that the scene changed one final time.
To that of a cave, one that looked very familiar to Coleson.
'That… that is the cave where he was trapped.' Coleson mused.
"Why are we here grandfather?" Sebastian asked, curious about the reason his grandfather brought him to a cave.
"There is not much that I have left to teach you, my child." Salazar said, "I have taught you the basics of everything as for the advanced forms, you know how you can learn them and improve them."
Sebastian nodded as he knew about Salazar's book, one that the present Sebastian was hiding from everyone and even in his memory he made sure not to reveal anything about it.
"You have everything that you need to survive on your own and you have mastered everything that demands of you as the heir and future lord of House Slytherin."
This made Sebastian frown a little, "What are you getting at, grandfather?"
He had an uneasy feeling about the whole situation.
"My child, you… you truly make me proud."
Sebastian felt happy at those words but he could not shake the uneasiness off.
"Sebastian, you truly are a Slytherin through and through. You… You are my true heir, you are SALAZAR'S HEIR!"
"Grandfather, is everything okay?"
At this question, Salazar showed a sad smile.
"I am sorry, child. But you have to keep the Slytherin name alive." Saying this, Salazar pointed his wand at Sebastian making the boy's eyes go wide as he finally realized what was happening.
"NO!" The boy yelled but it was already too late.
"Revive the house when you open your eyes again, my child." Saying this Salazar bit his lips before speaking with the utmost pain –"Frostlock Tempus!"
And with that spell, Sebastian Slytherin was frozen in time.
"Forgive me, Sebastian. But you are the only hope of the house Slytherin."
And with that, that memory ended as the water in the tub vapourized.
Leaving an aghast crowd and a pained Sebastian, "Is that proof enough, Mr. Grayford?"
And a question that left even the most emotionless wizard speechless.
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