The Greedy Frog
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HP: The Salazar's Heir Chapter 48
🕑 Added 2024-03-15 04:46:04 +0000 UTCChapter 48: Flamel and the Stories of the Past (2/2)
For someone like Flamel, a man that had lived for longer than any king, his lifestyle was rather simple.
"It's nothing extraordinary, but I hope you'll enjoy the food."
He had amassed a fortune, but despite that, the old man preferred to live a modest life with his wife.
“This is a lot, ma’am.” Sebastian said, amazed by the amount of home cooked food. “And the aroma is simply exquisite.”
He just couldn’t lie. The home-cooked meal that he hadn't had in ages made it difficult for him to deny the array presented before him.
Steamed fish, rice, beans, baked potatoes, and a sweet, what he believed was a delicate brownie, made his mouth water. No matter how much food he ate, food prepared by magic could never compete against homemade food.
No matter how simple the dishes were, it was undeniably delicious.
“You purebloods are always scrawny,” Perenelle complained, “No matter how much luxury you live in, not one pureblood who lives for magic has been on the heavier side.”
“I would say I have seen a fair share.” Sebastian said, but the counter-argument by Nicolas left him speechless.
“And how many of them lived for magic instead of luxury?”
This made the boy go quiet, as every pureblood who had ever lived for magic had been scrawny. The only exceptions were those with health conditions that made them gain weight or who never took magic or the politics of their house seriously.
So, the Flamels had a point.
"But there is also a reason for that," Nicolas said, savoring the thick bean paste with the rice. "Since ancient times, of which you know more than me, the realms of magical prowess and physical prowess have been quite distinct."
Sebastian chimed in, "Knights and wizards constituted the strongest force a kingdom had to offer. Each was always a master of their craft, so there was no true reason to integrate the two."
"Do you think it was a waste?" Nicolas asked, munching down on the baked potato. "Wouldn’t those knights have benefited from delving into magic, considering many of them were born with magical abilities? And the wizards, they could have trained their bodies to improve their stance on the battlefield."
It had been a long time since Sebastian had been able to share his views with someone. This was a sad reality because, while he could boast superior magic over others, there was truly no one with whom he could share his views or beliefs.
He was considered a superior or simply put, an outcast. He was a child, but his views were that of the old and that caused him to be unable to hold a fun conversation with people.
However, this time was different.
"I had studied about this," he said. "Those books are probably lost in time, but a scholar once said that if every warrior chased after every craft they thought they could master, in truth, they could never truly master anything."
“Jack of all, master of none.” Perenelle said, looking at the boy.
"Exactly, and in war, no one wants a soldier who can barely hold a sword while also barely being able to cast a fireball," Sebastian explained. "A great wizard will always triumph over a soldier who can wield both a sword and magic."
“Because you cannot master both?” Flamel asked and Sebastian nodded.
“It is possible to be good at both, but the people that are able to do that are only a handful and when compared with the hundreds and thousands in an army, that number doesn't even matter.”
All that Sebastian said was from a book that involved the great wars fought by Arthur, Charlemagne and a few other great kings. And in each of them, it was proven that sword and magic can never truly work together.
"A man who could wield both magic and sword together, and do so skillfully, was one in tens of thousands," the heir added. "Similar to conjoined twins, whose birth is rare but possible."
“So, it is possible but not worth it.” The old wizard deduced and the heir nodded.
“Exactly. But well, it is also true that us wizards neglect our physical health a lot.” Sebastian realized that it wasn’t something good. “We don’t have to be buff, but we can at least work on improving our physical health.”
“I hope you are taking care of your health,” Perenelle said with a caring smile, “You are still growing so you need to eat well and maintain your physical health.”
“I… haven’t been taking care of my health.” Sebastian stared at his plate, “In a way, I am glad that you brought up this topic. Now, I have one more thing that I have to be mindful of.”
Sebastian enjoyed the conversations, the food, and the cozy ambiance of their home so much that he didn’t even realize when evening turned into night as they kept talking.
He enjoyed the small talks and the connection he felt with the couple. They were still centuries apart in terms of ideals and beliefs, but compared to the expanse of a millennia that he shared with everyone else around him, these few centuries weren’t even noticed by him.
“I hope you were not disappointed by the food,” The old man said, sitting in their little veranda while his wife prepared lemon tea for the two.
“It was lovely, sir.” Sebastian expressed honestly, “I cannot even recall the last time I had such a warm meal.”
“Warmth of home,” Nicolas said, staring at the forest ahead of them.
“Yeah…” Sebastian agreed, staring at the same forest. “Warmth of home.”
Something that he missed dearly.
“Have you ever been afraid of the forest?” Sebastian suddenly asked, aware that the forest was possibly filled with creatures attracted by the magic of the couple. “When a wizard lives outside the magical world, darkness follows them. And this forest… I don’t feel too good about it.”
He could not explain, but he sensed something around the place. Like some magical beast, one that he could not exactly point at.
"When you live for as long as I have," the old man said, "you grow accustomed to both the light and the dark. It's an ecosystem where good and evil coexist and feed off each other. When you've lived for half a millennium, you understand that you are not what makes the world revolve. You are simply a part of nature, just like every other creature—be it good or evil. In the grand scheme of things, good and evil don't matter." He looked at Sebastian. "You... don't matter."
Sebastian did not say anything. He wanted to argue, but he couldn’t. He didn’t have an argument.
“I know it is tough to understand everything.” Nicolas said, “You are from an older time, but you are still a child. You are much more mature for your age, but not mature enough to be able to understand everything around you.”
Sebastian… for some reason saw his grandfather in Nicolas.
Totally different personalities, but the same wisdom.
“Wizards live surrounded by a dark forest their whole life.” Nicolas seemed a bit sad, “And when a wizard is unable to exist in such a place, they either lose their life or lead to the downfall of their entire house.”
Sebastian understood that the old man said that for a reason. “Are you… talking about someone specific?”
“Not really,” The old man sighed, “But there have been many unfortunate people and families that failed to understand that.”
But someone else did explain the truth behind the old man’s words.
"The Gaunts," Perenelle said, walking towards the two with a tray containing their lemon tea, "were foolish enough to defy the world and paid the price for it."
This was news to Sebastian. All he knew about the Gaunts was that they had very few children and were unable to preserve their wealth.
However, this was something new that he was hearing.
“What do you mean by that?” Sebastian asked, finally getting a little information about the later half of his family’s history. “From what I heard, the Gaunts lost their wealth because of poor choices and the death and inability to birth heirs led to their demise.”
Hearing this, Nicolas showed a pained smile. “History is distorted by those that are powerful. And if that history happens to show their faults, they don’t mind erasing history itself.”
“So… what did they do?” Sebastian wasn’t dumb, he did pick up what Nicolas was trying to say. “Who did they go against?”
“Everyone.” Perenelle was the one to answer, “The purebloods, the wealthy and the politicians. They went against everyone.”
"Why would they do such a thing?" Sebastian's curiosity surged. "And to defy authority, one must have considerable power. Did they possess something that strengthened their belief in victory?"
“Possibly.” Perenelle said, “Possibly it was the Slytherin blood in them that made them believe they could gain the same level of power as what the Slytherins held. But what they forgot was that no one could have the level of authority that the four founders did.”
“They wanted power?” The boy asked, curious about the story.
“They did. As descendants of Salazar Slytherin, they believed that they should have the same authority as the houses at the top.” Nicolas closed his eyes, “But they were not Slytherins, they were merely the descendants of the Slytherins.”
“The ones that reached the position of the strongest after the death of the four founders could never allow another family to challenge their authority.” Perenelle sighed, “So they did everything they could to remove the Gaunts from posing a threat to them.”
“The countless years of inbreeding between the Gaunts to preserve whatever Slytherin blood they had led to the future line to be psychotic and highly unstable.” Nicolas stared at Sebastian, “Incest, greed and their challenge to the authorities came crashing down on them and led to their extinction.”
Perenelle scoffed, "The Gaunts are stained with more dirt than respect. From blood supremacist lords to the most cynically evil dark lord, they've scripted their own tragedy."
“Wait.”
However…
While the Flamel couple told the story of the Gaunts to the young Slytherin, they revealed a certain secret that Dumbledore and most of the authorities were keeping from the heir.
“Did you just say… a dark lord?” Sebastian’s eyes were wide, ears tingling as if yelling at him that he heard wrong.
Perenelle stared at her husband, Nicolas who cursed under his breath.
“Darn it, Dumbledore. Just how much have you been hiding from him?” The creator of the Philosopher’s Stone said in a tone that Sebastian could barely pick up.
“Am I missing something here?”
Nicolas stared at his wife, wondering if he should tell the boy.
But they had already slipped and touched a topic that everyone was hiding from the boy.
“Then again…” Perenelle placed her hand over her husband’s shoulder, placing the tray on the small table near them. “He is the heir of Slytherin. Young or not, he deserves to know the truth more than anyone else.”
“I should not say this, Sebastian.” Nicolas showed a pained smile, “But I pity you. Having to bear the responsibility of reviving the house of Slytherin, standing against the people that stole your lands and wealth and having to live through the ploys made by them to snatch whatever you are left with.”
“You do not have to worry about that, sir.” Sebastian promised, “Age does not matter when it comes to responsibilities. I am not the only one that has been facing such challenges, there are countless more. So, trust me. I can handle it.”
Nicolas saw a little bit of himself in Sebastian.
Challenging the norms to fulfill his beliefs and promises.
“You might be a child but I can respect you, Sebastian.” Nicolas said. “And because of that, I do not mind telling you the truth that most had been hiding from you.”
Nicolas was out of the politics of the pureblood families, the ministry and even hogwarts. He was a man living his life after fulfilling his dreams. Thus he had nothing to fear.
He had nothing to lose.
“So… tell me something, Sebastian.” Nicolas swirled the cup of tea around. “Have you heard of the dark lord by the name of Voldemort?”
Of course Sebastian had heard of Voldemort.
The man was solely responsible for him having to involve himself in a mess that he had no intention of taking part in.
“I do, he–” But then he froze. He realized something.
Why would Nicolas bring Voldemort in their little discussion?
There was only one explanation and he prayed to Solomon that it wasn’t what he feared.
“Don’t tell me…”
Nicolas gave an apologizing look, “Voldemort was the dark lord… that the Gaunts produced.”
The ugly monster of a man that Sebastian faced.
That same monster was the one who shared blood with Sebastian.
"He too… had Slytherin blood in him."
And this…
This was possibly the worst thing Sebastian had ever heard.
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[[A/N: The next update will be for Marvel]]
