The Forbidden Love of Aesop Sharp

Chapter 4 - Calm before the Storm

August 31th

Dear Katherine,

I hope your return to Scotland went smoothly, and that you were able to settle quickly.

Katherine Evans becoming the nurse of Hogwarts? Who would have thought? Ominis always believed you would become the greatest doctor in North America. As for me, I was certain you would eventually return to Hogwarts. Despite all your efforts to distance yourself from Sir Grumpy, I knew you couldn't leave this story without a conclusion.

However, I hope your daily life won't be consumed by the mystery and the matter that has plagued your heart for too long. It's time for you to think about yourself and the life you want to lead, my dear.

I'm sure you've already spent more than your fair share of time wandering among the rows of books in the library, like the true Ravenclaw you are.

We miss you,

Love,

Sebastian and Ominis.

P.S.: Perhaps we will settle in Japan permanently after all. Anne seems to like it here, and the curse appears to have halted its progression thanks to the care she receives. She has even regained her appetite.

"Mr. Grumpy," I whispered, suppressing a smile as I read the letter from my two best friends. I was seated in the library of the castle, surrounded by a mountain of books, just as Sebastian Sallow had predicted.

However, my heart grew heavy as I reached the end of the letter. After our studies, Ominis and Sebastian had traveled to numerous countries in an attempt to find a cure for Anne's affliction. They even spent a year with me in Canada during the final year of my education, and the four of us had lived together in a tiny apartment.

At the beginning of this summer, I joined them for a few weeks in Japan, after they had spent several months exploring various Asian countries. That's where Ominis and Sebastian confessed to me their feelings for each other, revealing the depth of their love and attachment. Initially, I was overjoyed for them, thrilled that they could share their lives and support each other. However, my own loneliness suddenly seemed more profound and challenging to endure.

Upon returning to Toronto, I realized the emptiness of my life. Apart from work, I had no friends or people I wanted to spend time with. It was at that moment I made the decision to leave the Grand Hospital behind, leaving behind the traumas that had mentally shattered me and the bitter memories of my childhood.

My sister and I had grown up in a rundown house on the outskirts of the city. After our father's death, tortured by dark wizards before my eyes when I was barely 4 years old, my mother, pregnant with Olivia, decided to cross the Atlantic and leave Scotland behind to start a new life.

Unfortunately, by distancing us from the wizarding world, she had subjected the three of us to years of poverty.

I still remembered the freezing winters when the three of us huddled in front of the fireplace, which barely emitted enough heat to keep frost from creeping into the house.

A few years later, as I reached the fateful age of 16, a bearded man, dressed strangely, appeared before me at the library, introducing himself as Eleazar Fig, a professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Initially thinking it was a joke, I had refused to listen and returned home, finding my 11-year-old sister diligently drawing on the little notebook I had bought her, earned through my work as a hospital assistant on top of my studies.

On the other side of the room, my dear mother, drunk, pointed a wand at Professor Fig, who was trying to maintain his composure. That day, I used magic for the first time with a full understanding of what it was.