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Chapter 30: Meeting a Snake (983 AD)
🕑 Added 2021-10-06 16:48:50 +0000 UTC983 AD, somewhere in Britain
It’s been a couple of years since I started traveling with Godric and Rowena and I’ve learnt a lot about them. Godric for example is a great swordsman, something he probably got from Mordred; even Rowena confessed that she could use a rapier but usually prefers magic over weapons. We travelled everywhere in Britain, gathering information and learning new types of magic, well new for them. I really underestimated how curious Rowena actually is and how obsessed she was with knowledge. I can’t count how many times both siblings almost died stealing a rare book or spying on local wizards and witches. It’s really ridiculous.
Godric, on the other hand, is very impulsive and brash. I do not exaggerate when I say that he doesn’t have a sense of self preservation. He lived for battle and constantly found himself in duels for no reason, going so far as to antagonize the ones that were not willing to fight.
So yeah, both siblings had their own faults but who doesn’t. Godric might be reckless but he is brave and kind. Rowena might obsess over knowledge but she does not hoard it, she shares it with everyone. It has been a while since I had company but I’m glad it’s them. Even though I do have to act as their mother to stop them from going too far.
What I did notice was the discontent among the muggle population for the magical. Not only has the church been spreading some rumors about magicals but in general a wizard is more likely to have a better life than a muggle. They can build shelter at any time, they can make water, find food or increase its size, and the muggles were very envious. We even heard some rumors of witch burnings.
Now, we are arriving to a small village for some rest before going to Scotland. Apparently, there were still some druids there and Rowena was adamant to learn from them. This village was home of one of the most prestigious magical family, one that I’m personally curious about how they’re doing, the Peverells.
We decided to stay at an inn to recover and after a while, I got bored and decided to take a walk in the village. It was curious, there wasn’t a single spark of magic in this town and it was bothering me. No, there was one spark, just one piece of magic that’s still alive in this land. I follow towards it slowly to find a young man, around my age, passed out next to a tavern. From the smell, I could tell that he was drunk but the emotions he projected were of suffering and despair. I noticed my stone on a ring on his fingers and knew that this young man is a Peverell.
I pick the young man up and take him to my room, rest him onto the bed and let him sleep comfortably. This situation will probably be uncomfortable.
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The morning after, the man was still asleep and I went down to take my breakfast. Explaining what happened to Godric and Rowena went better than I expected; I guess they thought I was due some reckless actions considering how much I had to put up to with them. Anyway, I decided to bring some breakfast back to my guest only to find a wand pointed to my throat as I enter the room.
“Where am I? Who are you?” asked the man.
“My name is Helga, you’re in the village’s inn and I would like to ask you to stop pointing your wand at me.” I replied with a raised eyebrow.
He still kept pointing his wand at me. “And how did I get here?”
“You were drunk and passed out on the street. You were the only wizard I met in the village and I had some questions I needed answers to.”
“How did you know I was a wizard?”
I decided to tell a lie on this since I didn’t want it to be known that I can sense magic. “You had your wand in your hand, which might I add, is very dangerous and could accidentally cast a spell.”
The man grumbled, muttering under his breath something probably unflattering and put his wand in a holster. “What do you want to know?”
“It is polite to introduce oneself first.”
He huffed and said “My name is Salazar, Salazar Peverell.” Huh, didn’t expect that. Kinda makes sense considering the Gaunts will have my resurrection stone and Salazar’s locket in the future.
“Hello, Salazar, would you like some breakfast?” I can tell he wants to refuse but a noise from his stomach shuts him up. Looking down at my hands he looked at the plate of food I was carrying and nodded.
He ate his breakfast like a starving man, as if the food would disappear a few moments later. After he was done, I asked, “So where are the wizards in this place.”
“I’m the only wizard around here.”
“How is that possible?”
“You really don’t know, do you? About what happened.”
“What happened?” I asked confused.
He sighed, his eyes looked dead and he looked like broken man. It was rare to see a man this young having this haunted look and it always broke my heart. “The only magical family that lived here was mine, the Peverell Family. We kept to ourselves; we didn’t involve ourselves in the affairs of the village. Everything was nice, everything was peaceful and we were content. Then one day he came, whatever he was. It was a wizard, he still used his wand and looked humanoid but he had this aura around him. His mere presence made me terrified, like I would never be happy ever again. It was suffocating, my worst memories kept appearing in my mind. He destroyed our wards and protections with a wave of his wand, like they were never really there. He then killed every single resident in the house. He just pointed his wand and they died. He absorbed something from them, I still don’t understand what it was but small balls of light left every single member of my family and he absorbed them. Even the children, no one was spared.”
His description caused warning bells to start ringing in my head. This reminded me of dementors, but they can’t cast magic, I know that for sure. Maybe someone was harnessing their essence somehow, or trying to modify the curse to their benefit. And the magic used was soul magic and there’s very little information left on it nowadays. Still if something like this happened, I would have sensed it and if someone can hide from me on this planet that was something dangerous. I wanted to go to Azkaban just to check on them but felt time warning me that it would affect the future of this reality. Damn, this is very annoying. I guess I’ll just have to play Helga and put the Morrigan on hold for a while.
“So how did you escape?” I asked.
“I didn’t. He was looking for something. A very old book. We weren’t allowed to read it. Our ancestors were supposed to make sure it didn’t fall into the wrong hands. I never even looked at it. I was told it was made with flesh, skin and bones. I had nightmare about it when my father told me about it. He called it the Darkhold. The man, he was able to take it. He took it and while he was distracted, I sent a curse at him. I could tell he was hit but his injuries healed in seconds. He just laughed at me, told me I had potential and disappeared. That was what happened. They call it the Peverell massacre, you know. I’m alone now and I don’t know what to do with myself.”
I was stunned, I knew the Darkhold was stolen from Kamar-Taj a few centuries back and that while the demon summoners were caught, the Darkhold was never found. I guess it was guarded after all this time, by this family.
“My family called me prodigy in the magical arts, you know. And now look at me, I couldn’t even defend them, I should have died with them. Some prodigy I am, right?”
“Don’t say that, you have plenty to live up to.”
“Like what?”, He snapped.
“Like making sure that what happened to you doesn’t happen to anyone else. Can you think of a more noble goal?”
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Salazar sort of latched onto me, ever since our conversation. It was understandable since I was the only positive thing in his life ever since his family’s slaughter. I gave him hope, a goal while the villagers simply didn’t care. A millennia old legacy, almost gone, just like that. I, of course, knew that Ignotus’ descendants married into the Potter family but even then, Salazar was alone in the world.
He almost begged me to take him with us while we were traveling and I was now taking him to meet Rowena and Godric. Both siblings were sitting eating lunch. As soon as they noticed me, they signed me to get to them.
“Helga!!”
“Hey Godric, Rowena.”
“Where have you been all this time?”
“Guys, this is Salazar Peverell. Salazar, this is Godric and Rowena Le Fey.”
And so, for the first time, the four founders of Hogwarts met. The only thing that was left is, well, the actual school part. But at least, that’s a step in the right direction. After Salazar, finished explaining what happened to his family, they immediately agreed to allow him to travel with us. Though, I’m pretty sure that Rowena only agreed because she would be allowed to read through Salazar’s family library. Then the conversation turned to Salazar’s goals.
“So, what are your plans, Salazar?” Godric asked.
“I don’t know. I just know that I want to prevent what happened to me to happen to someone else. I have no idea where to start though.” Replied Salazar.
“What about creating a sanctuary for wizard and witches?” piped in Rowena.
“Not a bad idea, but what would be the point. What if someone like the man that killed my family lived there. A sanctuary wouldn’t stop someone already inside.”
“What if we teach them better?” I asked.
“I don’t understand.” Godric said.
“Oh, this is brilliant! We were thinking about adults. But the thing is, adults are usually inflexible and they’re not the future of wizard kind, the children are.” Exclaimed Rowena.
“And it’s not the adult that need protecting it’s the children.” I nodded.
“And we can guide them, nurture them. It would lower the chances of them turning into someone like the dark man for example.”
“The dark man?” I asked with a grin on my face. Rowena blushed.
“What? We can’t just keep calling him ‘the man’ and we know anything about it. From what Salazar told us he was shrouded in darkness, hence the dark man.”
“Fine, we’ll call him the dark man.” I replied.
We all laughed, even Salazar cracked a smile.
“But seriously, are going to teach them how to protect themselves with magic. It would be like have multiple apprentices at the same time. It wouldn’t even be called apprenticeship. The council is not going to be happy with that.” Godric chimed in.
Sometimes I forget that Godric was trained to be the heir of his house and can be quite savvy with politics.
“Let them think what they think. It’s not like they could do anything about it. The council has no real power, it hasn’t had any since Merlin died, it’s why my family attending any council meeting. They can’t even enforce their own rules. Even then, what we’re doing is not against any law they ever made.” Salazar supposed. “And It’s not like they will be forced to come. We just have to make it clear that all magical children are welcome at our sanctuary and that they will have access to a better education than a regular apprenticeship.”
“How do you know that we will offer a better education?” Godric asked.
“Please!” I replied, “All four of us are better than most master in our fields and if we combine both our family libraries and what Rowena, we would have the most extensive library in the country.”
“What about a residence for our sanctuary. It needs to be very well protected and easily defensible. I don’t think my family home would fit hundreds of children.” said Salazar.
“Neither would ours.” Said the siblings at unison.
Not hearing any denial from me, they all looked at me. I grinned, “I have a fantastic idea.”
