//------------------------------//
// In Which the School Year Comes to a Close 
// Story: Hogwarts: Sunset's Legacy 
// by witegrlninja 
//------------------------------//

They had finally arrived... The last few weeks of the school year were upon me.

It was time to take the OWLs. The proctors from the Wizarding Examinations Authority were introduced to us during dinner on Sunday evening, Headmaster Black nearly stumbling over himself as he foppishly dragged them along on a tour of the school shortly afterwards, boasting about the excellence of his students the entire time as they politely smiled and nodded along.

The battery of tests would replace all of our classes for the first two weeks of June. Most of my classmates only had one test per day, though there were some foolish overachievers that would have to squeeze in two at times. The written portion took place in the mornings, where we had up to four hours to finish our work, and the practical portion was held in the afternoon, or at midnight in the case of Astronomy. Our results would be available by the end of the second week, and then after that was... well, loafing around while the rest of the students had their finals during the third and final week of the year, with the End of Term Feast on Friday evening. Then in the morning, everyone would leave Hogwarts for the summer and go home.

I was more than ready to take these OWLs. After countless hours of study and practice, there wasn't a single thing I could think of that I felt lacking in. Even as Sebastian and I quizzed each other, I could answer every question he threw at me. And he could do the same.

But as excited as I was to show off my knowledge, it also made me feel a little... melancholy. Soon I'd have a little over two months of hardly anything to pass the time. I could certainly work on developing my ancient magic, but I wouldn't have access to the school library or its Restricted Section, nor my thriving Herbology garden in the Room of Requirement... and I'd be living in a large house all by myself.

Indeed, Fig had updated his will sometime back over the Christmas holidays, leaving all of his worldly possessions to me. Professor Weasley had helped with the paperwork, so everything was all settled. His leftover finances in his Gringotts vault would take care of any bills or taxes for many years to come, and once I got there and reinforced all of the anti-Muggle enchantments, I wouldn't have to worry about some random inspector from the Ministry stopping by and wondering how an underage witch never had the Trace put on her. Though I still mourned his passing and regretted not spending more time with him, I felt more relieved and at peace knowing that he had come to think of me as his own kin... perhaps like the granddaughter he never had.

Of course, though the financials might've been handled for me, there was much to do around the house to make it suitable for my own uses. Furniture would need Transfiguring and rearranging, the walls and floor would need new paper and tile to match my aesthetic preferences, and I would have to purchase some upgrades for the bathroom and the older magical apparatuses. It might not have been my very own castle, but a humble two-up two-down magically expanded into the size of a mansion on the inside would do perfectly for the time being. I absently wondered how much a House Elf or two might set me back, but that was a purchase that could wait if they proved expensive, or I needed to be seventeen to buy one - I might've once been Celestia's personal protégé, having countless maids and servants at my beck and call, but that certainly didn't mean I had no knowledge of cooking or cleaning. I hadn't had to do either ever since being adopted, and it would admittedly become annoying as the weeks dragged on, but it was okay if it was only temporary. I'd be able to survive just fine.

Imagining getting my very own house up to snuff, however, also made me think of Sebastian... and Ominis, by extension. What were they going to do for a living situation over the summer? It was questionable how much Solomon did for them around their house other than the basics, and with Anne gone it'd be one less mouth to feed, but her absence would likely only worry them sick. It'd be just the two of them, fending for themselves... both with no family to rely on. It didn't feel quite right to just let fate play out like that.

Not to mention I'd miss the hell out of my dearest... and Ominis too, I guess. And Natty and Poppy, for that matter, but at least they both had their families to go home to, as well as each other. They'd be fine.

The clock in my Room chimed eleven times. Sebastian let out a yawn as he shut his Potions textbook and rubbed his eyes. "And on that note, I think it's time for bed," he mumbled as he stood up from his chair.

"I'd definitely like to be able to enjoy my coffee in the morning before the test begins," I nodded drowsily. The written portions of the OWLs began at 8am and lasted until noon, leaving an hour for lunch before the practical portion began at 1pm. Despite our nerves we slept soundly through the night, curled up in each other's arms.

...Another thing I would miss during the summer break.


~


We woke up at exactly 6:45am, getting dressed and heading for the Great Hall so we could eat quickly and get a little last-minute studying in. Before I knew it we were on our way to the Potions classroom for our first OWL.

"Nervous?" Sebastian asked as we neared the door.

"Nah. This'll be a piece of cake," I smirked confidently. "I've never not passed a test with flying colors."

"Not even a little?" he grinned in amusement, chuckling when I shook my head.

"And so will you," I softened my gaze. "You and I are the smartest witch and wizard in this whole school, professors included." He laughed again as he nodded in agreement, gradually falling silent.

"...Here, take my cloak," he smiled as he pulled it off and handed it to me. "For good luck." At first I stared at him in surprise, but soon gratefully stuck my arms through the sleeves and wrapped it around me.

"It's warm... and it smells like you."

"Does it? And here I thought you didn't want to smell like me," his grin quickly grew smug.

"I can change my mind, can't I?" my eyes playfully narrowed. "That was before I realized I love the scent of your Macassar oil."

"Fair enough," he nodded, opening the door for me. We walked inside and sat down at one of the desks that temporarily replaced the potions stations, waiting impatiently for the rest of our classmates to arrive. Everett barely made it through the door in time before Professor Sharp waved his wand to close and lock it, then curtly nodded to the proctor seated at his desk.

"Welcome, young ladies and gentlemen," the official-looking man greeted us in a neutral, slightly-bored tone. "Today you will all be taking your OWL in Potions... I'm sure you will all do just fine, as long as you remember to stay calm. Answer what you can and come back to the prompt later if you feel that you're stuck on what to write down. You have until noon to turn in your work, but you may leave if you finish early. Any questions? You may begin."

The written portion was easy - first I had to list and describe the properties of the three selected reagents. Antimony was a flame retardant used in fire-resistance potions, Sal Ammoniac was used to purify other reagents if they were tainted by dirt or dust, and then Five Minerals Powder was a sort of cursed medicine that could alleviate one illness or injury, but in exchange it would inflict a random different one. Then I had to write down how to brew an Invisibility potion; I included a few notes on acceptable substitutions for certain reagents and even a few shortcuts that would cut the brewing time in half. It only took Sebastian and I the better part of an hour to finish - we were the first to hand in our papers and leave. The practical portion later on was also easy: create an Everlasting Elixir - a liquid that could either make the potion it was added to self-replenishing, or make the effects permanent. When I added mine to an ordinary Wiggenweld potion, it turned out I'd brewed it so perfectly the elixir added both effects to it, seriously impressing both the proctor and Professor Sharp.

And so the days passed. Tuesday was our Charms OWL. The written portion had me list the differences between the Seize-and-Pull and Accio spells. Serendipitous occurrences like these made me chuckle - I still remembered well the quiz where Sebastian had come up with an additional fact Professor Ronen had never considered. I made sure to include it in my writings. The other half involved explaining ways one could remove the Permanent Sticking Charm from an object.

Then the practical portion was quite fun: first the proctor had me cast Colloportus on a chest's lock - I cast it so well that she couldn't open it no matter how hard she tried, even after giving up and blowing it apart with Bombarda. The chest itself was destroyed in the blast but the lock was still perfectly intact! Next I demonstrated the Featherlight Charm by first Transfiguring a desk into an elephant, then after casting the charm on it she was able to lift the massive animal with one hand. The last spell I had to demonstrate was the Unbreakable Charm, which I did by casting it on a piece of parchment Transfigured into a pane of glass. She threw it on the ground, stomped on it, even cast another Bombarda on it... but the glass survived without even a scratch.

Transfiguration was on Wednesday. The written portion was a test of my comprehension of thaumaturgical physics, as I had to explain how Reparifarge would work to un-Transfigure both a wardrobe half-Transfigured into a donkey, and a monkey half-Transfigured into a doll. By the time I was done writing everything down and drawing all the charts, I felt confident that even a toddler could figure it out. The practical portion involved a demonstration of Crinus Muto - I nearly gave the old proctor a heart attack after transforming the short white hairs on his head into a fabulous rainbow mohawk gelled into foot-long spikes. Then I effortlessly Transfigured a teapot into a badger, and finally demonstrated my mastery of Evanesco and Vanished a chair into the aether.

Next was Herbology. For the written portion I had to explain how to introduce Bowtruckles to a potential wandwood tree (plenty of woodlice and fairy eggs), how to safely collect Bubotuber pus, and list all the uses for the herb dittany. The practical portion had me interacting with a Screechsnap and making it happy, collecting said Bubotuber pus, then demonstrating Herbivicus to make a maple tree grow to maturity within seconds. Mine was the tallest and thickest out of the entire class.

Then finally, on Friday, while Sebastian had his Ancient Studies OWL I had Beasts. While he had to describe the esoteric mystical practices of ancient Egyptian wizards, I had to list the similarities and differences between Dementors and Lethifolds, which was easy enough. I also had to list the similarities and differences between griffins and hippogriffs, which was a little harder - I often had to stop myself from listing facts from the Equestrian varieties of these creatures. For the practical portion we had to bathe and feed a rare Fijian Fire Crab without being burned by the flames that shot out of its arse like a skunk, remove Gnomes from a pen and trick a Kappa into bowing so the water in the dent on its head poured out.

The weekend between these tests brought a brief reprieve. Sebastian and I lounged in total confidence while the library was filled with our classmates frantically studying for the other half of their OWLs. So far he hadn't had a problem with any of his, writing down answers and achieving results with his spellwork similar to mine. Great minds do think alike, after all.

For the second week, Monday was History of Magic. There was no practical portion, which was nice, but the written test was to write a minimum ten-page essay on the entirety of the Goblin Rebellion of 1612. Several of our classmates groaned once they read the prompt, as Professor Binns' lecture on the topic had the highest rate of putting his students straight to sleep out of all of them. Nevertheless, my essay wound up being just under twenty-five full pages.

Our seventh OWL was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Other than listing and explaining the differences between Expulso, Confringo and Bombarda, the written portion was largely explaining why the three Unforgivable curses were unforgivable. I had to stop myself from snorting in laughter as I read the prompt, and considered explaining reasons and examples of how each curse could have a non-Dark use... but then I figured these proctors weren't hoping for any insightful deviations from their dogma, and I remembered that I didn't really want to give them any reason to take interest in me, lest they find out about my ancient magic or Equestria. Instead I wrote down exactly what had been in my textbook about them, word for word.

And as fun as the practical portion of the test was, it also left me wanting. First the proctor wanted me to demonstrate the Bedazzling Hex, which I did by making it look like the entire room within the castle had disappeared and become an empty space - floor, walls, ceiling and all. Next I had to use Protego to withstand a spell from an enchanted practice dummy, which was so easy and weak I didn't even blink when the dummy's Aguamenti struck my shield. Then I was to duel the dummy, but I wound up destroying it entirely with one Depulso. The poor thing shattered into a thousand pieces, the impact against the wall was so strong.

Wednesday was Astronomy. The written part didn't take long, as it was simply filling out a completely blank star chart from memory. We had to wait until night had fallen for the practical portion, where we then had to find the four moons of Jupiter in our telescopes. I found Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto easily, but not before discovering what I was pretty damn sure was a fifth moon. It was irregularly shaped and reddish in color, not at all like the others. After showing both the proctor and Professor Shah, they barely paid attention to the rest of my classmates as they talked excitedly about my discovery. If it was indeed a fifth moon, then it'd better be named after me!

There were no OWLs for Flying class, so I had Thursday off to relax. Sebastian had Ancient Runes, however, but I knew he wouldn't have any trouble with it. He was incredibly good at translating Elder Futhark, Kanbun, Hopewell Traditional runes and Mayan glyphs, and the Universal Wizarding Numerical runes were embarrassingly easy to figure out. The test only had a written portion, which was translating a set of Mayan glyphs that ended up being an anecdote from some ancient Seer that they didn't see the need to keep scrying predictions for the distant future - they had stopped at 2012.

Finally, while Sebastian could begin his weekend early, my last test was in Divination. I listed and explained the many differences between wizarding and centaurian astrology, and interpreted a sample picture of a tea-leaf reading to the best of my ability. The practical portion seemed mildly unprofessional - while the first half was performing a type of divination of our choice on Professor Onai and telling her her future (I chose tarot cards), the other half was interpreting the dream the proctor had the previous night. It was something about looking up at the night sky and not seeing stars, but huge bands of color in different shades of brown, red and tan. Then those bands began to swirl together, and he felt intensely dizzy, like he could feel the whole planet being thrown through the universe like an unfathomably-huge buckball. I simply explained that he subconsciously feared that the gods of fate were displeased with him, and he felt like an insect under their gaze... that seemed to satisfy him, as much as such a wild guess could.

The results were posted on Saturday evening, just after dinner. All of the fifth-years crowded around the massive piece of parchment that had been hung up opposite the four House point hourglasses, sighing in relief or groaning in despair. Sebastian and I pushed our way through, and a proud grin spread across my face.

All nine of my grades were Outstanding, as were all nine of his. I barked out a haughty laugh, was there ever any doubt about my greatness?

"I'll bet Shimmer cheated," I heard Cressida Blume mutter under her breath.

"I don't need to cheat when I'm just that much smarter than you," I sneered. "What, was the proctor not impressed by your nonverbal Colloportus making the lock vomit glitter everywhere?" She turned away and grumbled about her Acceptable grade in Charms, while I quickly forgot she existed and smiled at my duly-earned position at the top of the list. With marks like these, I could chase any career and take any NEWT-level class I wanted! And I wanted to take them all, just to prove that I was the best, soon to be the greatest witch in the world.

...

...

...

...But, that would leave a lot less time to spend with Sebastian. And he later agreed, coming to a similar conclusion... Perhaps there's more to life than being the greatest, most powerful witch in the world, after all.


~


The final week of school passed by peacefully, a harbinger of the vacation to come. Natty, Poppy and Ominis had all done well on their OWLs, getting a mix of O's and E's. The two girls were often nowhere to be found, surely exploring the castle and its grounds for places hidden away from prying eyes.

But Sebastian and Ominis spent much of the time together, uncomfortably discussing their plans for the summer. Neither of them were particularly excited about spending the next couple of months in Feldcroft alone. Ominis' suggestion of using the Gaunt family's rarely-used estate on the Isle of Man was rejected, as Sebastian wanted to be home in case Anne returned... as unlikely as it seemed. From the words in her last letter to him, it really did sound like she wanted nothing to do with him for a long time. They would also have the help of their neighbors if they needed anything... although their payment would likely be answers to the questions they dreaded being asked.

Where did Anne go? What happened to Solomon? Was there any threat of the relic's curse returning? Neither of them wanted to think about the whole ordeal more than they had to. And it frankly seemed unhealthy to tie themselves down to a place that brought them both such negative memories.

So I plotted and planned, and made my decision. I had also had a bit of a revelation myself in the meantime, and rushed to the Slytherin common room. The two boys were relaxing on a couch by one of the fireplaces, Ominis sipping from a teacup while Sebastian read quietly.

"You guys!" I snickered, slowing down so I didn't crash into them. "Oh Celestia, you'll never believe who I caught snogging each other!"

"Who?" grinned Ominis. Meanwhile, Sebastian didn't seem to even notice my presence.

"You know how Imelda's absolutely hated Garreth ever since Valentine's Day? Well, it looks like the two enemies have become lovers-" It was only then that I realized Sebastian was reading his History of Magic textbook, of all things. Besides not listening to my gossip, classes were over for the year! There wasn't much of a good reason to look through it now! "What are you reading this for?" I groused as I snatched it away.

"Hey! W-Wait-! Er..." His face instantly paled and his eyes went wide like a mooncalf's. Something had to be up, History of Magic never elicited that kind of reaction from anyone. I looked at the page he'd been reading, and... the material was definitely not about history. I quickly flipped to the title page of the book, which only made him cringe harder.

"...'The Romance of Lust'...?"

"What?" Ominis blinked as I went back to where I'd saved the page. My eyes lingered over a couple sentences, finding them to be so... unbelievably, incredibly filthy within seconds. A raspberry escaped my lips before I could stop myself.

"Sunset..." Sebastian drawled in a warning tone, only causing me to grin mischievously.

"...Sebastian. This is porn!" I purposely yelled, barely able to contain my laughter as Ominis' face flattened into a disappointed grimace.

"Hey! Are you trying to get me detention during our last night here?!" he recoiled.

"Not only that, but holy wow, is this some kinky stuff!" I jeered, holding the book like a pin-up calendar and letting the pages flip past. "I'm impressed!"

"...Is it any good?" Ominis asked after a few seconds of Sebastian quietly squirming in his seat.

"Looks like I've done my job corrupting you," I chuckled as I handed the book to Ominis, who shamelessly began sweeping his wand slowly across the pages. "So much for your antiquated notions."

"Oh, please... I've been reading all those confiscated books in the Restricted Section for the past three years," Sebastian rolled his eyes. "Besides, soon I won't have access to the school library for two whole months! Wouldn't you like me to have some... ideas we can try?" he purred, wiggling his eyebrows. While the sentiment wasn't entirely lost on me...

"...The Restricted Section has smut in it? Where?"

"Twelfth bookcase on the right from the entrance, second-to-lowest shelf."

"I see... Damn, I missed out," I pouted.

"You two are terrible," Ominis shook his head as he casually slipped the book into his own pocket dimension. "And besides, what if someone catches the two of you Apparating to each other's houses without a license?"

"Then... we can just use Floo Powder?" I raised an eyebrow as I drawled. "Speaking of which, do you guys really even want to spend the next few months there, in Feldcroft? After everything that's happened?" Both boys inhaled sharply, glancing at each other before looking away.

"Well... I want to be there in case Anne comes home," Sebastian answered hesitantly. Ominis nodded in agreement.

"Which I can understand, but what if she never does? You'll just be sitting there by yourselves wallowing in guilt," I reasoned. "I mean... it's not like you can't return there whenever. I'm sure the neighbors'll keep an eye out for Anne if she comes back while you're both gone."

"I know- ...Well, I suppose you're right," Ominis sighed. Sebastian opened his mouth to speak, but he quickly decided against whatever they might've been, and instead stared at me blankly. 

"See? So, you guys can live with me if you want," I grinned. "Fig left me his house in his will, and all his stuff. All the anti-Muggle charms should still be good so we can still use magic, too."

"You're serious?" asked Ominis, recoiling in surprise.

"Yea! I..."

I like having friends around! I... I don't want to go back to being alone.

"...Honestly? I like being around you guys. And without Fig- ...other people living there, it's gonna be real quiet and empty. You can just leave a note for Anne with the address so she can Floo over, or we can go and check the house everyday... and, well, I don't want you guys to spend the summer all depressed and moping around. We're supposed to have fun over the break, right?"

"I suppose so." Sebastian smiled as he rapidly warmed to the idea. It sure beat the hell out of having to travel to see each other again, even if that travel wasn't really much of an effort.

"Well," Ominis smirked wryly, "you may enjoy both our company, but I do believe you enjoy one of us a little more than the other."

"Hey, you're basically family to Seb, and your real family is nuts. Of course you're welcome, too," I smiled. "We'll take care of each other, alright?"

"Take care of each other..." The grin on Sebastian's face fell slightly, becoming more philosophical as he echoed my words. "...I suppose this would make us a family of sorts, wouldn't it?"

"In a manner of speaking," Ominis nodded. "If the three of us live together under one roof." I nodded as well, quietly basking in the soft, warm glow I felt radiating within my chest, deep within my soul... and between the three of us.

A feeling, an emotion I had come to crave, and love.

Yea... it's perfect. We'll be each other's family from now on.

But of course I had to ruin the moment before it became too sappy. "We're already a family - I'll be the mommy, and you can be the daddy, and widdle Ominis can be the baby," I snickered through inane baby-talk, both Sebastian and I quickly breaking out into chuckles.

"Then I'm going to start wailing whenever the two of you are in the same room," snorted Ominis. "There'll be no horizontal refreshments for either of you if I can help it."

"Eh, that's what Silencio is for," Sebastian quipped, shooting me a smirk. "Baby can't cry for milk if he doesn't have a voice."

"Or we could use it on ourselves, be as quiet as a pair of jobberknolls," I added with a chortling grin. "And you're already blind, so you wouldn't even notice if it happened right next to you."

"I most certainly would!" Ominis shrieked. Sebastian and I erupted into laughter while he groaned and shook his head. "Oh, why are my two best friends such psychopaths...?"


~


The final evening of the school year arrived. All of the students piled into the Great Hall for the End of Term Feast, where final batches of points would be given out and the House Cup would be awarded. Sebastian, Ominis and I took our seats at the Slytherin table among the other fifth-year girls, who tittered among themselves about their plans for the summer break and Imelda's new boyfriend. My eyes wandered around the room - I saw Natty and Poppy enter together, sharing a quick hug before breaking apart to go to their respective tables.

The food was especially lavish, featuring the favorite dishes of the student body and flagons of Butterbeer to wash it all down. Everyone ate and talked amongst themselves, then when the dessert course finally materialized onto the tables, Headmaster Black walked up to the owl lectern with his arms raised, and cleared his throat for attention. "This year, we have seen our students exemplify the bravery of Godric Gryffindor-"

The Gryffindor table began cheering wildly, cutting him off... which made him mad.

"Allow me to finish!" he shouted over them. But the other tables only added to the din as they were mentioned. "...The loyalty of Helga Hufflepuff, the wisdom of Rowena Ravenclaw, and the ambition of Salazar Slytherin." He stopped talking for a minute or so, impatiently waiting for the premature celebrations to die down. "And so, the winner of this year's House Cup-"

"Excuse me, Headmaster," Professor Weasley strode up from behind him. "If I may." Black's mouth formed a thin line at being interrupted once more, but he nodded curtly and gestured for her to go ahead. "In honor of two particular students' show of heroism during the attack on Hogwarts, not to mention the level to which they have excelled in their coursework, one of them as a new student, no less..."

Everyone at our table looked at Sebastian and I with a mixture of awe, respect, gratitude... and mild jealousy. Though we both held our heads high and basked in the praise, I couldn't help but feel a slight blush on my cheeks at being declared a hero out loud, by the Deputy Headmistress herself. Glancing over at him, Sebastian was blushing, too.

That's right... we are pretty amazing, aren't we?

"Well, it would seem that it certainly merits... I'd say, 100 points to Slytherin? Wouldn't you agree?" she smiled to the crowd. The other three tables cheered in agreement, though less raucously than before, and much less so than ours.

"Ha! That means we win the House Cup!" Priscilla whispered in excitement. Once Headmaster Black realized that Weasley was finished speaking, he snapped back to attention.

"Ah! Yes. Thank you, Professor Weasley," he grumbled with disinterest, then shrugged. "Then I suppose we have our winner." He brought his hands together in a clap, and two rows of huge green and silver banners depicting a grand snake appeared on the ceiling, unfurling in neat succession. They were soon joined by a shower of green fireworks and confetti, the explosions echoing off the walls of the Great Hall and almost drowning out the celebration at the Slytherin table. All the fifth-year girls and a number of the sixth and seventh-years stood up and surrounded Sebastian and I, dragging us out of our seats and lifting us into the air on their hands and arms.

Pride swelled up within me - I knew I was great, but I'd never expected I'd be crowd-surfing great. Winning this House Cup must've meant a lot to my classmates if they were this excited. Ah, how I enjoyed my rightfully-earned, justly-deserved limelight; how nice it was to be the center of attention yet again, and not just because I was the new girl! I'll bet Natty wasn't anywhere near this impressive when she transferred here last year.

Then again, she didn't have ancient magic calling out to her to find and claim, or an angry little cabbage man to wage a secret war against. But I did, and now that the magic was mine and the goblin threat was over, it felt like there was no limit to my abilities. I could become the greatest witch in the world without even trying!

...

...

...

You know? Both the Crystal Mirror and the Mirror of Erised were right. All my life I had chased greatness, wanting power and prestige equal to or greater than a princess. Both of those mirrors had shown me my destiny, that such greatness was within my grasp... and all it took was traveling to another world to achieve it. I finally had the power and adoration I had craved for so long... but I had also gained something even greater in the process.

I guess friendship with others isn't so bad after all, especially when one of them turned out to be my equal - the part of me I never knew I was missing. With Ominis, Natty, Poppy and my dear Sebastian at my side, my power and renown would only grow and flourish. There wasn't anything I couldn't do.

That's right... My legend, my legacy, had only just begun.