Chapter 72: Sebastian’s Test
They entered inside a spacious office lined with ancient tomes, enchanted relics, and several artifacts radiating an aura of dormant menace.
The walls pulsed faintly with containment wards, so intricate that Nero doubted even his Raven Eyes could decipher them without considerable effort.
At the center of the room, a desk carved from obsidian-like stone stood as an anchor in the magical storm.
Ironquill stepped aside, allowing Nero to advance.
The air thickened, the weight of layered enchantments pressing against his senses.
Then, slowly, the man took his seat behind the desk, one hand brushing across a silver rune etched into the wood.
The wards responded, settling like a vast, unseen beast curling back into slumber.
He was middle-aged, perhaps in his early forties, with short-cropped silver-streaked hair and a face lined not with age but with experience.
His robes, a deep shade of charcoal, bore faint traces of enchantment, protective wards woven into the very fabric, subtle but potent.
A thin scar ran from his jawline down to his collarbone, disappearing beneath the folds of his cloak.
Ironquill, standing beside Nero, folded his hands in front of him. "Young Master Nero, allow me to introduce Sebastian Drake. One of Gringotts' finest curse-breakers, an expert in ancient magical artifacts, and one of the few wizards with the experience, and recklessness, to lead expeditions into the truly cursed ruins."