Chapter nine: Salazar's tale
Previously: "There is no need for you to apologise Ric. It was our usual fight and we were equally responsible for it."
"Then why did you not return Sal, why did you abandon us?" Rowena broke in tears as she came to sit near Sal and held his hands.
"I never abandoned you lot. You were right in your assumption that I had gone out to cool my temper down." Salazar paused in his explanation and chuckled without humour.
"I knew that 'Ric would never agree on my idea of having Muggleborns taken away from their families at an early age (after wiping the memories of the parents) and then raising them in our society. I also knew that you and Helga would side with 'Ric on this one, 'Row. It was cruel, I agree. That was the reason I never pushed that idea further. But what really got me was that your proposal of having the parents of Muggleborns visit Hogwarts! You refused to listen to me and also refused to let me put any security spells to repel Muggles! I knew that whilst most parents of Muggleborn children were not fully against the idea of magic there were some who wanted nothing but to kill those people who had magic inside them. I just wanted to protect the students and other residents of Hogwarts. I wanted to avoid a full out war between the Muggles and ourselves. Was that really such a bad idea?"
Finally Salazar looked at Godric and Rowena, with questions in his eyes. Both Godric and Rowena couldn't meet his eyes and looked down to their laps. They remembered the time when there was a full out war between the Muggles and wizards at Hogwarts. That was after Salazar's disappearance. It was then they realised that what Salazar was suggesting was right. They realised that they had made a mistake in understanding their friend. But the milk was already spilled and there was no point in crying about it.
After a few moments of silence Salazar looked at the fire again and continued with his story
"The security of the residents of Hogwarts was on my shoulders, and I did not want to risk that by inviting Muggles to visit the castle. But you never gave me the chance to explain myself properly. Instead you always shouted at me, and blamed me of being corrupted by my use of the hidden arts. You thought that the hidden arts and the rituals that I used were the reason behind my heartless behaviour. You forgot that to be a Lord of the land, you have to be able to keep your emotions in check. That is what I was taught since my childhood. Never to show my emotions and think about the security of my people first."
Salazar sighed heavily
"You knew everything, you knew the reason behind my behaviour, yet you chose to ignore it." he continued bitterly. "I never had a brother, you know and I always regarded you as my brother, 'Ric. But when you said such things to me, it hurt' it hurt very deeply. I always veiled my hurt feelings behind anger or put on a neutral expression. That was why you thought that I was heartless."
Salazar chuckled lightly at the irony of the situation and looked down at his hands on his lap.
"I was never angry after our fights, I was hurt and lonely. I would always seek solitude after that. Hence I would leave the castle from a hidden passage inside my chamber and go into a Muggle village where no one knew me."
Salazar paused with a faraway look in his eyes as if he was reliving his lonely trips to the Muggle world away from magic and everything related to it.
"The same thing happened that day. You shouted at me in front of everyone in the castle and I felt insulted and hurt. So I went to seek solitude. I went to my chamber and after locking it went out of Hogwarts through one of the hidden passage. I had left my wand behind in my bed chambers. Helga would have murdered me if I had taken the wand with me. I had learnt that lesson from my previous experience."
All three of them chuckled fondly at the thought of an angry Helga threatening the mighty Salazar. All of them clearly remembered the day Helga had hexed Salazar badly for taking his wand with him to a Muggle village. That day Salazar was upset at something and took off to the Muggle world. He got drunk and had set off some pranks on some of the Muggles in the bar. Helga had reached there in time to save the Muggles and no one was hurt and there were no dire consequences of the situation. However, Helga was extremely angry at Salazar and had hexed Salazar to Mars and back. It had taken Salazar a week before he could walk properly.
"I started walking and reached a Muggle village which was miles away from Hogwarts. I did not want to encounter the Muggles or anyone really; so I turned to go to a forest. But before I could leave I heard a terrible scream of a young child calling out for her parents. I went to investigate. What I saw there froze me in my place. There, in front of me, the entire village was gathered for the burning of a couple. Their two children, a young girl and a boy were made to watch that and the children were screaming for their parents desperately trying to reach them. Both of them were about 6 or 7 years old."
Salazar paused and looked as if he was reliving that night and remembering the horrified faces of the children.
"Just then the wood surrounding the couple was set on fire, and the chief of that village told the couple that they would sell the young girl to recover the cost of the wood and the boy would be made to live with next to no food. They also told them that when the older son would return from the 'freak school' they would burn the two boys together so that there will be no more 'hocus-pocus' corrupting their village."
Godric and Rowena were frozen in their places listening to Salazar's tale. They could almost picture the scene and that made it all the more real for them.
"I realised that this was the family of one of the Hogwarts students. So in a way it was my duty to save them. But I did not have my wand to pour water on the fire. I could have consumed the fire but, that would mean that I would have been the one burning. I still would have done that if it could have saved the family. But it would not have helped. All it would do was to draw attention to me and then the villagers would have killed the family by the weapons that they were all carrying."
Salazar paused again trying to gather his thoughts.
"I made a decision. There was only one way to save that innocent family from those Muggles. That was to divert the fire around the village. I was only focused on saving the couple and didn't realise the consequences of my actions till late. My actions burned the entire village with its residents. The couple and their children were saved. I went to the children to calm them down; but as I bent down to talk to them, I was attacked with a sword on my back. I looked around, and saw that the father of those children had sliced my back with one of the swords. I tried to explain that I meant no harm and that I was trying to save them. But before I could do that, I was attacked again; this time from the back and the front. The mother and the son had both stabbed me with their swords. As I was dying, they told me that it was my fault that their elder son went to Hogwarts. They thanked me for saving them and said that now they can go and join the army that was planning to attack Hogwarts soon. They also told me that they would be welcomed with open arms in that army as they will give the news of the death of one of the founders of the school and the lord of the land."
Rowena and Godric were horrified to know that Salazar knew about the attack but couldn't do anything. Tears were flowing freely from their eyes as they listened to their friend recall dying alone.
After few moments Salazar continued retelling his tale without ever looking away from the fire burning in the fireplace.
"I had to stop them, if that army got the news of my demise than they would attack sooner and Hogwarts will have no chance to defend itself. But if that news did not reach them then there was chance that you three would know about the attack and be prepared."
The other two occupants of the room were stunned at the amount of care that Salazar showed them and more tears ran down their cheeks at the thought of their own actions after this sacrifice form their friend.
"The last piece of magic I performed as Salazar Slytherin was to call the fire element and burn those four people alive. But that cost me dearly as well. I had very little energy left in my body and so the usage of elemental magic drained me and the fire that I had created to burn that family consumed me as well. I embraced death in the hopes that you three would be able keep my Hogwarts safe. I am proud of you, so proud that you were able to save Hogwarts form that attack and also set anti Muggle protective charms to avoid a repeat. "
Silence fell in the room for a few moments, when Salazar paused to collect himself enough to continue speaking. Other occupants were also frozen in their places unable to believe what was revealed to them.
"That was the reason why I burned an entire village, and why you never heard back from me. I wished that I could come back to you and tell you to be ready, but I couldn't."
Salazar finished his story, still refusing to look away from the fire place and meet anyone's eyes. He couldn't bear to look at his friends faces as he knew they wore a horrified expression. He didn't want them to feel sorry for him or feel guilty.
It was also why he never told this to the reincarnated Helga after he regained his memories. He knew that if Helga (or as she was now called ' Ginny) knew the truth behind his disappearance she would be devastated. He had researched on the events after regaining his memories and from what little he could find, he gathered that Helga was the last to die from all four of them. He could only imagine the pain Helga must have gone though, not knowing what happened to him and facing the questions and accusations of the world on him.
Salazar was brought out of his musings by someone hugging the breath out of him. All he could see was a mass of bright red hair. After he regained his senses, he realised that it was Ginny/Helga hugging him. He also realised that Helga must have known that he would never tell this thingto her. She would also have known that now that they were back to their home in Hogwarts he would be more likely to pour his feelings to Godric and Rowena. And so she must have pretended to sleep; so that he could slip away and talk to Godric and Rowena. Then she would have crept behind him and listened to everything. She just knew him too well.
Before he knew what was happening he was being hugged by three people at the same time. He had difficult time breathing but he would not have it any other way. At last, he felt the burden on his shoulders lift. He had regained his friends and had come back home. He could deal with anything now and after such a long time he felt at peace.
AN: So that was it.. a little peak into the past of the Founders... how was it? do let me know your views and theories...
Preview: the next chapter is one of the most awaited one.. the introduction of the Founders... So how is everyone at Hogwarts going to react and how will the Founders make their appearance... keep reading to find out more ;)
Originally posted by: bookworm-ALS--Wow. This puts...a whole different spin altogether. Well done, you got me to like Slyhterin! :D
Originally posted by: KS_ShreyaAll of a sudden I can't hate Slytherin anymore. I don't like that. 😆
Too awesome!!!
Chapter Ten: Introductions
The founders and the headmaster were standing in the shadows just outside the doors of the Great Hall, watching, as the last of the students entered the room. From what they had observed so far, as they stood there, unnoticed, the whole school was curious about yesterday's events and were clearly looking forward to hearing what Dumbledore had to say.
It was decided that at eight in the morning, the Headmaster would enter the Great Hall and then would introduce them as the Founders. Hence all four of the time travels were dressed in a manner that highlighted their house colours nicely. They had also decided that Helga would enter the Hall first followed by Rowena, Godric and at last Salazar. Helga was very saddened to see the reputation of her house, after she regained her memory, and thus they had all decided to let her take the lead and set the record right.
However this was not what Helga was thinking about at all! She (like all other time travellers) was still thinking about the conversation of the previous night. She had pretended to be asleep in her quarters as she knew that only then would Salazar go to their common room and share the turmoil of his heart with Godric and Rowena. If not that then he would defiantly say something that he would rather not say in front of her. He was always very over protective of her. Salazar had always been like this. He always wanted to protect her from the horrors of the world and also would not share what is bothering him just so she could have a stress free life. This was something she was really sad about as she always wanted him to share his sorrow and worries with her, just like she shared it with him; but he would never do so.
But this time she was determined to know what was worrying him and so she pretended to sleep.
Salazar slipped away from their sleeping quarters just as expected and she followed him to their common room without letting him know.
What she heard there was something she never thought she would ever hear. In her previous life she never entertained the thought that maybe the fact that Salazar, her Sal, her saviour, her knight in shining armour could die. She always wanted an explanation for his absence in the later part of her life; and when she regained her memories as Ginny, she didn't want to ask that question. She was scared that if she started questioning Harry then he might go away from her again, so she agreed to whatever he wanted her to do. She just wanted to be there for him and not bring up the past. So she stayed at Hogwarts and protected the students just as Harry wanted her to do. She followed all his orders and remained quiet, as she feared that if she became too bubbly or did something wrong then he might leave her again.
Now she wished that she had probed him, she felt her world shatter around her as she heard how he was still trying to protect all three of them as he died. How could she ever misinterpret his intention to save the residents of Hogwarts?
She clearly remembered that when he suggested that they should not bring Muggles to Hogwarts, she was outraged. She believed that every parent, be it Muggle or magical, had a right to see the place where they would be sending their children. They had a right to visit their children during the year, whenever they wish.
This view was shared by Godric and Rowena. Godric had also voiced that the selection of students should not be based on their blood status, but rather on their qualities as individuals. But now she understands that Salazar knew the ancient arts and thus by opting to teach the children who had magical parents, he was trying to retain their history. It was never about blood status, and he did have few Muggle born students that he deemed worthy to have the knowledge. How had she not seen that as Helga?
She had wanted to hug Salazar tightly and never leave him; she wanted to take away all his pain and sorrow. But she also wanted to shake him and ask him why he had not shared anything with her, why had he not shared his reasoning with her?
So when he finished his tale and seemed lost in his past, she rushed to hug him. She couldn't bear the thought of him reliving his past and also couldn't imagine the pain he must have felt after knowing that they were in danger and there was nothing he could do about it.
When she hugged him she felt him stiffen at first. And then, as he realised who she was, she felt him hug her back. Just as he did that she felt four more arms around them and just as they had done in past, all four of them consoled each other.
They spent the night in silence, hugging and consoling each other. Then, in the early hours of morning they all had come out of the room after promising to always be there for each other and try to understand each other's perspective.
After that they had all gone to their chambers to get dressed and then met outside the Great Hall, to wait for their introductions.
They had met the Headmaster there and agreed on the order of their introduction. Then they had cast the disillusionment charm on themselves and waited for the clock to strike 8.
As Dumbledore left them, each of the four was thinking about the night. Unknown to each other, they had all simultaneously resolved to not allow history to repeat itself again. Godric, Rowena and Helga also vowed to make a better effort to understand Salazar and his intentions better.
Inside the Great Hall.
Something was very, very wrong.
Severus Snape'Professor of Hogwarts, Head of Slytherin House, youngest Potions Master on record, Master Occlumens, Master Legilimens, Death Eater, Order of the Phoenix spy, and quite annoyed'had absolutely no idea what was going on. Certainly, he had been with the headmaster the night before, but he was convinced that it was either a dream or someone up there had a bad sense of humour. Of course if those four were who he thought they were, then his childhood dream would come true and the amount of knowledge he would gain was just unimaginable. But it would not do any good to keep his hopes up. They could merely be someone who looked a lot like the founders. And he, like every resident of the castle, was curious. The result of this curiosity had everyone, even the first years, and the infamous marauder trio who were known to always be late for the breakfast, present at the Great Hall. Everyone was waiting patiently (or not in some cases) for the headmaster to come and introduce the newcomers.
Severus barely had to wait at all. The school clock tower rang out eight, and the Headmaster entered the Great Hall wearing shocking orange and blue robes.
The doors were shut right after his entrance, blocking the view of everyone inside. Not that it would matter to anyone as everyone was watching the headmaster intently.
As soon as the headmaster reached the podium, he raised his arms to quiet the already soundless Hall. Though still staring at the door and wondering why it closed behind the headmaster, Severus knew from past experience that Dumbledore was beaming maddeningly at his pupils.
"As I'm sure you all remember," Dumbledore began, in a formal voice with hints of childish glee mixed in. "There was a loud explosion last night. The causes that brought about the incident are being investigated. However, as a result of the events of last night, we will have guests in Hogwarts this year. How long they will stay is undetermined as yet, but I am sure that you all will find every minute of their stay extraordinary, and will be very sad when they leave."
Mutterings broke out among the students. Dumbledore paused dramatically, and though his face remained impassive, Severus frowned deeply. Dumbledore was really presuming quite a bit in his introduction of these inexplicable outsiders. If Severus wasn't so curious as to whom Dumbledore would be willing to so vastly break routine for, he would have found 'every minute of their stay' quite ordinary, just out of spite.
"This year," Dumbledore continued now, stilling the hall. "Hogwarts will play host to four very important people. They arrived here quite unexpectedly last night, as I'm sure most of you noticed, and will be staying among us until they can find a way to return to their home. But for now, that is all quite unimportant." Dumbledore raised an arm toward the doors at the far end of the hall, and every head snapped to them. "It is my great and deepest honour to present'"
The doors swung open slowly to reveal a young woman standing in the very centre of the doorway, magic roiling around her like a storm-tossed sea. Her basic clothing was very simple; a bright canary-yellow dress. The left sleeve of the woman's dress was long and form fitting, tapering to a point above her middle finger and allowing wedding rings to show. The right sleeve went to the elbow and then fell in strips of yellow and black down to just past her hips, exposing strange black lines upon her hand and wrist. She wore a twisted rope belt about her waist, from which her wand and a long, wicked-looking obsidian blade hung. All this was covered by a black satin cloak, and the young woman's long red hair spilled down her back, a few chance strands braided with a black ribbon.
"Milady, Helga Hufflepuff!"
Severus actually heard a pin drop.
If he were not a Master Occlumens, Severus would have fallen out of his chair. More than a few of the younger year Hufflepuffs actually did. His mind completely blank, Severus could do nothing but stare at the young woman as she walked calmly up the aisle between her own table and that of Ravenclaw, her long black knife glinting evilly in the candlelight.
Everything about her, from her fierce chestnut eyes to her warrior's posture screamed that Lady Hufflepuff had clearly been misrepresented in the histories. Far from the kindly, plump and pleasing person typically depicted, the lithe, sprightly young girl who moved smoothly up the hall was anything but weak and talentless.
Severus felt a stream of warmth and comfort watching her, emotions that his training in Occlumency enabled him to realize were not his own. Severus raised an eyebrow at that. A practising Empath was a rare thing to find, especially in someone who the Wizarding world thought they knew so well. But as Severus knew even in the bare seconds he had seen Hufflepuff, the Wizarding world knew absolutely nothing.
Lady Hufflepuff had, by this time, reached the end of the hall and she came to a stop before her long House table. The small group of sixth year boys that had sat at the teacher's end of the Hufflepuff table since their first year goggled at her. She smiled lightly, sending out a wash of friendliness, and gave them a little wave.
Dumbledore once again raised his arm to the doors at the back of the hall. "I give to you our next visitor!"
This time, only one door swung open, a regal woman of impressive stature stepping nobly through. Her hair, honey-toned and curled in ringlets, framed a face with warm brown eyes that shown with wisdom and compassion and sparkled with youth. She wore a long, flowing gown, starting with royal blue at the low, swooping neckline and fading all the way to white at the hem. The sleeves, slit to the shoulder but bound together by spaced links of bronze, were full and long, almost brushing the floor, lined in bronze silk. An obviously goblin wrought, hair-thin bronze, girdle encircled her waist. An icy blue cloak, strewn with threads of bronze and matching slippers completed the ensemble. Severus knew instinctively that this woman, whose magic coursed through the room like gale-force wind, could not possibly be any other than
"Lady Rowena Ravenclaw!"
The hall burst into curious mutterings as Ravenclaw swept majestically up the hall, her cloak flowing smoothly behind her, and Severus let out a small breath, clamping down his mental shields. It wouldn't do to get his hopes up over something so obviously too good to be true, he warned himself sternly. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff could have been out on holiday and accidently sent to the future with two medieval bellhops from the local five star hotel for all he knew. Gryffindor might not even have come, which would be a blessing to be sure.
Severus shook himself from the train of thought, casting his gaze to the other teachers as a distraction. Pomona Sprout of Hufflepuff, completely ignoring Ravenclaw, had eyes only for the youthful looking Founder of her House, and Filius Flitwick was equally disregarding Hufflepuff, gazing almost rapturously at Ravenclaw. The teachers who were not Heads of any House were still in a state of shock, with the obvious exceptions of McGonagall and Dumbledore and the strange omissions of Black and Lupin. The Marauders, all of them, looked excited beyond words, though Potter still seemed a little suspicious.
Dumbledore cleared his throat as Ravenclaw came to a stop before her House table and shared a grin with Hufflepuff. "And now our next guest!"
For a third time, the doors swung open, this time for a man. And before he even stepped into the light, Severus knew instantly who this person was. There was something about the way he carried himself'not with the usual Gryffindor arrogance, but with something a little more subtle'and the way his magic blazed through the air like a wildfire that marked him as Godric.
When Gryffindor stepped into the light of the Great Hall, several things happened all at the same time. Severus flinched, squeezing his eyes shut against the veritable glow of Gryffindor's red and gold outfit; the table along the far right edge of the Hall burst into a chant of 'GOD-RIC! GRYFF-IN-DOR!'; and James Potter'ooh, would Severus nail him for this later'fell out of his chair in full view of the school and landed with a thud.
Were it not for Legilimency and stoic Slytherin pride, Severus would have asphyxiated from laughter. As it was, he allowed a grin to creep onto his face as Potter crawled back up into his chair, red-faced, staring dumbstruck at Gryffindor.
Granted, the man was impressive, though certainly not worth falling out of a chair over, especially now that the shock of the founders had passed.
Once Severus adjusted to the blatant glare of Gryffindorishness, he too turned an observant eye on the man. Gryffindor was tall, easily more than six feet, with long auburn hair pulled away from his face, and a moustache that gave his slightly scarred visage a look of perpetual amusement, even when he wasn't smiling at all. From the moment the chanting of his name began, however, his face alit with a brilliant grin, his blue eyes sparkling in his glee. Gryffindor's cloak was red, of course, over eye-shocking gold robes that seemed ablaze with their own luminescence. Around his waist there was a thick belt of gold richer in colour than his robes, and attached to this, visible through an obviously-goblin-wrought sheath'for no other smiths could achieve such finery'was the famous gold and ruby Sword of Gryffindor.
Severus' mind instantly jumped into overdrive. While the more rational side of his mind counselled himself to avoid getting his hopes up lest the Founders had been mysteriously transported forward after the split, the rest of him was positively dying for Dumbledore to introduce the last visitor. The chance to meet, to speak with, to work with Salazar Slytherin'the Salazar Slytherin'was far too fantastic to be real, and yet it simplyhad to be.
Gryffindor, reaching the end of the hall, reached out and pulled Ravenclaw into a full passionate kiss. The Gryffindors, particularly Longbottom, Finnigan and Thomas, cheered even harder. When they broke away, Ravenclaw's face turned a beautiful rose tone and Gryffindor winked roguishly at his students.
"As there is no need to introduce Lord Gryffindor," cried Dumbledore above the wild cheers of the overenthusiastic Lions. "I give you, last but certainly not least, Lady Hufflepuff's husband!"
The chanting and cheering cut off abruptly, and a few upper year Slytherins jumped to their feet in outrage. All around the hall, people were frowning, and muttering angrily under their breaths. While not very popular, Slytherin was a founder and if his absence meant the loss of the full set, Hogwarts would not be happy. Severus wasn't paying attention. He fumed, raged, seethed, and boiled with fury. How could the Wizarding world's most impossible dream have come true and left Slytherin behind in the past? Goody-two-shoes Gryffindor, and his conniving cohorts, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw simply couldn't be allowed to influence the Wizarding world without Slytherin there to balance them out. It wasn't right! Severus glowered at the hall and particularly the tall oak doors as if he could make Slytherin appear behind them.
Dumbledore, for some odd reason, was grinning.
The tall oaken doors banged open with a wave of magic that ruffled the hair of those sitting closest to the entry way, revealing a single figure completely silhouetted by the torchlight of the passage behind him. An aura with force such as Severus had never felt slammed into him, pushing him back into his seat. Severus stared. This man, Hufflepuff's husband, was the most powerful wizard Severus had ever seen, and yet not a single drop of his magic seeped into the air around him. All his strength was carefully concealed by Occlumency.
Severus reached out with Legilimency to brush by the man's shields, and instantly probed closer. Most people's natural shields were like tiny wooden garden spikes, just enough to keep thoughts from spilling out of their minds. Dumbledore's and Voldemort's minds were protected by a barbed wire fence surrounded by chimeras of Legilimency. Severus had heard his shield compared to a muggle high-voltage fence with Hungarian Horntails on the perimeter, ready to attack the shields of another at a moment's notice. But this man's mind was Hogwarts, encircled by a thousand full grown Basilisks.
Voldemort suddenly looked like an open encyclopaedia.
Severus hadn't recovered from the shock of the man's strength when he stepped into the light of the great hall and everything was blown from Severus' mind.
Hufflepuff's husband was slightly shorter than Gryffindor with longish black hair that brushed against his glimmering emerald eyes. The man was swathed from head to foot in deep forest green, his cloak glimmering with a thousand strands of silver twisting and turning on the fabric. The naked blade of a short silver sword gleamed on his hip, and a pure white snake lay lazily draped over his shoulders.
Slytherin. Severus had never been surer of anything in his whole life.
Gasps swept the hall like a sudden breeze. The snake hung around Slytherin's shoulders hissed loudly through the silence, and Slytherin laughed, low and throaty. The sound echoed, and the hairs on the back of Severus' neck stood up.
Salazar quietly conversed with his snake in Parseltongue, and Severus let out a low breath of amazement. When Voldemort spoke Parseltongue, it was all hisses and spits and wheezing. But Slytherin, the Serpent Lord himself, made the language of the snakes sound beautiful, like a song or a gust of wind. Severus had never heard Parseltongue spoken that way.
The snake hissed something vehemently, jerking its head away from Slytherin's as they glided down the hall, and causing more than a few Hufflepuffs to edge away in fear.
By this time, Slytherin had reached the end of the walk between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables, and, stepping close to Hufflepuff, he bowed low over her hand, pressing a kiss to the wedding ring glimmering on her finger. Another zephyr of gasps and whispers blew through the hall.
The four newcomers moved together in the centre of the room.
"Witches and wizards," Dumbledore announced from behind them, arms raised. "Boys and girls. Allow me to give you the Founders of Hogwarts!"
And the crowd went wild.
AN: This time I am not giving any previews so do let me know what you think the next chapter will contain. You never know, maybe you will guess it right?! ;)
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