A tall man with long auburn hair ran through the castle, enraged.
“Where are you?” he yelled. “You can’t hide forever. You must come and face us eventually. You always were the cowardly type. Never wanted to be responsible for your own actions. I won’t let you get away with it this time.”
Where could the man be? The castle was large, yes, but they both knew it equally. There wasn’t a place the other didn’t know about. The room! Yes, he would go there wouldn’t he? Even if he wasn’t there, the room would become whatever it was needed to be; he could easily find the other man with the many devices provided.
He ran up to the seventh floor, cursing his beloved for having thought of the anti-Disapparation charm only days before.
“It will be prudent, my dear,” she had told him. “We don’t want anyone to simply be able to jump here whenever they so desire.”
Yes, prudent, but bloody annoying too. He quickly passed the room the required three times, thinking of his most desired goal. He smiled when he spied the golden handle. He went inside to find a single piece of paper on a table in the middle of the room. On the paper was the grounds of the castle and on the grounds of the castle was the man he had been looking for, heading towards the gates. He ran out of the room, down the stairs and out the front doors of the castle. He spotted the other man walking briskly down the front path, almost at the castle gates.
“What do you think you are doing?” he yelled. “You can’t just leave.”
“You can’t stop me. I can and shall leave if I please.”
“You would abandon your friends for such a ridiculous reason? Leave us to carry on without you? You aren’t the man I thought you were.”
“Neither are you,” Salazar hissed. He began to walk away.
“Impedimenta!” The spell had the desired affect; Salazar was unable to move.
“How dare you,” the other man snarled. “Casting my own spell on me now Godric? Tsk, tsk, tsk. What would your beautiful Helga think of such a thing?” Salazar turned to leave once again. Godric, incensed, wasn’t quite ready to let his friend leave.
“We aren’t through here, Salazar!” he roared after him.
Salazar turned to face the man opposing him.
“Yes, Godric, we are. Serpensortia!” An adder slithered from the end of Salazar’s wand, striking threateningly at the other man.
“Are you going to let your serpent fight for you, Salazar? You never were brave enough to face me in a proper challenge. Parioleo!” A magnificent lion shot out from the end of Godric’s wand. It began to prowl around him, prepared to protect from whatever harm might come his way. “Oppugno!” The lion sprung forward towards Salazar. Turning suddenly, it began to head toward the snake.
“Can’t make up your mind? It would be so easy to have your animal finish me off, but then, that is so unlike you.” Salazar taunted.
The lion sunk its claws into the top of the serpent’s head. They both vanished in furls of smoke.
“You will face me and me alone Salazar. No creatures to do your dirty work for you.”
“As you wish, dear friend.”
The two men stared at each other. Godric wondered when Salazar would strike and what he would do in response to his friend’s attack. There was a spell he had been working on, but should he really use it against the man who had once been such a dear friend? He wasn’t sure of the exact effect as he had not had the time to test it properly. He knew what he intended the spell to do, but there were times when things didn’t work out exactly as you wished. Before he had time to think, Salazar struck.
“Aduro vi-!”
"Crucio!" Godric screamed. Salazar squirmed on the ground. His face contorted. It was nearly unrecognizable. His screams reverberated in Godric’s ears until he couldn’t take it anymore. He hadn’t realized the full impact of the curse until it was too late. He raised his wand and lifted the curse. He looked down at the strong, crumpled man in front of him. “Goodbye, my friend.”
With those final words, Godric turned and left Salazar lying on the ground.
He walked through the doors to Helga’s office. He knew the two women had been in there most of the day trying to come up with a curriculum.
“He’s gone,” he told them solemnly. They only stared at him in disbelief. Helga moved towards him and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.
“But, why? How?” Rowena croaked out.
“You know why, just as I do,” he said as he put Helga away from him. There would be time for them to discuss things more privately later. “We dueled. I left him on the ground. No, he is not dead.” He responded to their shocked looks. “I have a curse that needs to be added to our list of unforgivable actions."