Helga Hufflepuff slowly woke up. Images that had been in her dreams since she was a teenager flashed through her head. Since about that time, she had known the dream had to have some special meaning.
Not knowing whether it hinted at something in the future or whether it was just some fancy of her unconscious, Helga had often written every aspect of the dream she could think of down in her diary. The dream wasn’t always exactly the same, but the same creatures had been in it from the start: a raven, a lion, a snake, and a badger. The raven danced with the lion. The lion laughed with the snake. The snake leaned on the badger. The badger and raven were almost always side by side, just like great friends. Sometimes the different animals would do different things together.
The dream that disturbed her the most, though, was when the raven, lion, and badger argued against the snake. The snake had ended up attacking the lion before fleeing. It was the only time there was discord among the seeming friends.
Helga slowly sat up in bed. Today was a great day! It was the very first day of classes for Hogwarts, the school she had helped set up with three very good friends. They had each picked an animal to represent their houses, in which the students would be sorted into to live and relate while they remained at the castle. However, when the other three showed her what animals they had picked, it dawned on her that those were the animals from her dream. That was the moment she had realized the dream was prophetic.
Something in her hoped that the one where they faced-off was just something she had eaten the night before. Because it only showed up once, she tried to ignore it.
The sun would not rise for another hour, so Helga decided to go tend to the greenhouse before breakfast. Wanting to look through her notes for the Herbology and Charms classes she would be teaching that day, she quickly got dressed and headed out of the castle. She nodded to Salazar Slytherin who was in the hallway talking to a house-elf about breakfast, on her way out of the castle. As Helga walked to the greenhouse, she also saw Godric Gryffindor down by the lake. He liked a brisk morning walk to help him wake up.
Finally reaching the greenhouse, she grabbed her work gloves and got to work. Some of the plants needed fertilizer and others needed only water. Thinking of the new students still asleep in the castle, she spread some seedlings that needed replanting along the work tables to have them help her. One of the first things she would teach them is the proper way to care for young seedlings and have respect for the different properties of the plants. It would be such fun to share her knowledge!
At breakfast, Helga looked around the table that teachers and students alike shared. Currently there were 28 students, but all four Professors hoped that number would grow. All of the classes would have eight students in them. All four of the teachers trusted that they could prove that a formal education would help all aspects of the wizarding world.
Most magical families taught their own children. This made it hard when a son or daughter excelled at things that the parents had limited abilities in. Then the parents often had to send the child out to other families to learn, if they knew anyone who could help them out at all. Some books on Magical Theory were starting to show up, but were very hard to find. Many people didn’t know how to read, so books were useless in those circumstances. Most of the curriculum would be practical, but the Professors hoped to help the students learn to read along with the magic instruction.
Rowena Ravenclaw stood to make a few announcements. “Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As many of thee know, I am Rowena Ravenclaw, one of the founders of this school and the Head of Ravenclaw House. My fellow founders and Heads of House,” she continued as she pointed each one out, “are Salazar Slytherin, Godric Gryffindor, and Helga Hufflepuff.”
The small number of students watched the four founders with interest before Rowena proceeded.
“We all look forward to a year full of learning and mastering thy magical skills. If any of thou needs’t help, please do find your Head of House and do make certain of having all thy doubts cleared. Also, I realise that the castle is very big for the number of students currently enrolled, but we built on the hope that we shall grow rapidly. If thee have suggestions to help the school or classes improve, we shall gladly listen. We shall be thy Professors, but we hope to help thee in any way needful. Now, let us have a hearty breakfast!”
Chatter quickly started again, as platters of food appeared on the table. Taking some toast with honey and some tea, Helga felt proud to be part of such an effort. At her left, Godric and Rowena were talking softly together. Rowena seemed excited about her Transfiguration and Arithmancy classes. Godric would be teaching Defensive Magic and Magical Creatures. Salazar sat next to Godric and seemed to be frowning a bit. Helga couldn’t figure out what had him so upset.
All four of the founders would be taking turns teaching Astronomy. Rowena wanted to teach Ancient Runes in addition to her other classes, but because not all the students seemed to want to learn about Ancient Runes, she was going to teach it only once a week to those students that showed an interest.
Finally it was time to head off to their classes. Students and teacher alike went the appropriate directions.
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As the school year progressed, Helga found that teaching gave her the fulfillment she always knew she would get from it. Though they ran into problems from time to time, all four of the schools founders found that they loved sharing their knowledge with the younger generations. The students found that their teachers were competent and knew more than their parents.
As word spread, letters from new interested parents and students arrived in greater and greater numbers. Rowena, who had taken over as Headmistress, proposed they find other Professors to help teach and each take just one subject for themselves. The new students would have to wait until the following year to start, to give the founders time to find qualified professors.
Finally the holidays arrived. Some of the students were unable to go home for the holidays, so Godric proposed having a ball to celebrate the holidays to the fullest. The students thought it was a grand idea, and the other professors found themselves looking forward to the dancing and the feast that would go along with the ball. This also made many of the students that originally planned to go home to stay for the holidays.
The day of the ball arrived along with a carpet of snow surrounding the castle. Few of the students showed up in the Great Hall for lunch, so they could prepare themselves for the ball. Helga laughed to herself about the excitement she felt in everyone she passed. Heading back to her rooms, she had to admit to being excited herself. Rowena had asked some friends who were musicians to play for the evening. Helga had talked to the house-elves about some special menu choices for the meal. Salazar had decorated the hall with lots of evergreen boughs and even brought some fairies in to light them up. Godric had organized some ballroom dancing classes and helped Salazar with the decorations.
Helga took lots of care with her dressing. Wanting to look her very best, she pulled her hair back with some elaborate spell work, and worked lots of braids and ribbons through it. Her blue dress robes brought out her blue eyes and fit her in a slimming way. She headed towards the Great Hall to beat everyone else there.
There was one more touch she wanted to add to the hall to make the evening just perfect; a spell that she had been working on for ages. Salazar had been working on it with her and promised to meet her there.
“Ah, thy beauty is a sight to see, most gracious Lady!” Salazar greeted her with a deep bow and rich voice as she walked in.
“A woman hast to look her best when possible. This is our first Yule Ball, and I trust it is the first of many!” Helga admitted. “Are thee ready for the spell work?”
“Let us proceed.” Salazar said guiding her into the Great Hall. He then added with childish glee, “I anxiously await the look on Rowena and Godric’s faces when they sees’t!”
No one was able to get into the Great Hall until Helga and Salazar were done, about half an hour later. Rowena and Godric were standing outside the doors with looks of impatience on their faces.
“Why wast the door locked? The musicians have been unable to set up,” complained Rowena.
“Just wait until thee see! We have a Christmas gift for thou inside,” Helga said with excitement.
Godric and Rowena entered the Great Hall and their breath caught in their throats. The night sky was perfectly reflected by the ceiling. The moon shined bright overhead; it was just past the full moon. The stars were bright and beautiful, winking from up high. Cassiopeia was over head but not covered by the clouds which were scattered like feathers here and there.
“It will reflect the sky outside, no matter the weather conditions. I conceived the idea, but Salazar wast a help in putting the correct charms together to actually accomplish it,” Helga said with a laugh.
“What a superb idea! This ceiling is definitely one of a kind now,” Rowena stated after finding her voice. “I await the student’s reactions.”
Godric walked over and gave Salazar and Helga a hug. “This will be one of the defining features of our school! Thou just wait and see.”
After the final preparations, the four Professors sat back to wait for the students to arrive. The students started arriving in small groups. As each group walked into the hall, they stopped and stared with a look of awe on their faces. Salazar elbowed Helga every time with a look of glee on his face.
Finally it seemed everyone had arrived.
Rowena stood, “Happy Christmas! We hope’st thee have an evening of fun and enjoy the new ceiling. It reflects the sky outside perfectly. Thy have Professors Hufflepuff and Slytherin to thank for this wonderful gift. Now, let’st enjoy this feast and the dance forthwith!”
As she sat down, a grand feast appeared on the table. After everyone ate their fill, the table was cleared. A smaller table was set up in a corner with Butterbeers and punch. There was slightly larger table with sweetmeats and desserts.
The musicians started to play joyous holiday song to get the students feet moving. The pupils seemed too nervous to start dancing, until the Professors led by example. Godric asked Rowena to dance, and that led Salazar to ask Helga. As the Professors glided across the floor, the students slowly followed their example.
Enjoying herself greatly, Helga couldn’t help but notice what appeared to be a flash of jealousy cross Salazar’s face as Rowena kept dancing with Godric. Helga tried to distract him by talking about everyone’s reactions to their spell work. It seemed to help, but she kept catching him throwing knowing looks at their friends.
Helga had suspected that Godric and Rowena were starting to be more than friends a while back. She also knew that Salazar had similar feeling for Rowena. Only heartache would come from those feelings, Helga knew that Rowena’s heart was won by Godric. Sighing, Helga led Salazar towards the dessert table and let him lean on her in disappointment.
The evening ended a little less happy than Helga had wished it would.
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The following summer, the Founders looked through England for teachers to help take the load off. As Godric roamed the land, he started finding wizards and witches who had no magical family. He began offering these Muggle-borns a place at the school to learn what doing magic truly was and offer them the opportunity to have a place in the magic world.
When they all met a month before the start of the new term, they discussed their findings and hired the people they thought best for the positions. Salazar and Godric seemed back on good terms. The laughter they had always shared was heard throughout the castle again. Helga’s heart was glad to hear it. It seemed that the new Arithmancy Professor had caught his attention. Her name was Elizabeth Kendrick. Helga hoped that she would return the fancy that Salazar had for her. He deserved to find love.
When it came time to talk about the new admissions, some of the laughter disappeared. Godric made an account of his journeys, including his finding students from Muggle families. Salazar almost stormed from the room immediately. He didn’t even want to consider admitting Muggle-born students. Rowena and Helga both agreed with Godric.
“How can we not help? They have no parents or grandparents that may teach them. Just think of the new things they could think of! I’m sure they think differently from us. They could come up with the next great healing draught,” Rowena said with determination.
Salazar bowed his head in thought. “A few thee can bring, but none shall be in my house. I refuse to help them in any way, other than letting them in my classes. I won’t go easy on them just because they haven’t been taught anything before.”
“We need a way to sort the students, which is unbiased and true. That way we all shall list the attributes we wantst in our houses,” Rowena observed.
“Then we shall have it!” Godric took the hat from his head and started weaving some complicated spells on it.
“Put this hat on thy head and think of the attributes thee wantst for the students admitted to thy house.” Godric said after placing it back on his own head.
Helga placed the hat on her head and was surprised when it talked to her.
“Hmm, thee admire hard work and loyalty. Patience is one of thy biggest virtues. Thee love teaching, and will take any student, whatever their traits,” the hat spoke in her mind. “Ok, I know who to put in thine house, pass me on.”
After all four of them had worn the hat, Godric cast a few more spell on it.
“This shall make the hat tamper proof. The hat shall sort new students at the beginning of each year into the house for which they are best suited. I believe this shall suffice,” Godric said.
The other three looked at one another, but nodded. Godric was good at creative magic. Not knowing for sure what enchantments he had used, the others had to trust him. Over the years, he was proved correct; the hat always put the students in the correct house, even if the fit did not seem correct at first.
When all this had come to pass, Helga was reminded once more of her dreams. It was uncanny how many of them had seemingly come true. The lion was dancing with the raven. Rowena had even confessed that Godric seemed to be waiting for the correct moment to ask her to marry him.
Salazar had started looking to Helga as a confidant, and he often brought his problems to her. That could be the snake leaning on the badger. Godric and Salazar seemed to always be laughing together, except when they talked about the Muggle-born students. That would be represented by the laughing snake and lion.
Rowena was the best friend Helga could have ever wanted. That would explain the raven and the badger. Hoping that the one bad dream would never come to fruition, Helga couldn’t help but wonder if the Muggle-born students could make Salazar really turn against his friends. Only time would tell.
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Several years went by and the school grew and grew. Godric and Rowena were married and started having children. Elizabeth actually had shown an interest in Salazar and they were often seen around the castle and grounds together. After about five years, Salazar finally asked her to marry. Helga was glad to see them happy.
Salazar, however, still came to Helga when he needed help with his problems. She was the first to know when Elizabeth was expecting a child. Salazar, probably following the nature of man, was nervous and scared. Trying to calm his fear, Helga tried to explain some of the basics of childbirth. Unfortunately, that seemed to scare him even more.
After years of thinking she would end up as an old maid, Helga finally found the love of her life. Alexander Coping came to the school to take over Elizabeth’s Arithmancy classes. It didn’t take Helga or Alex long to realize they were meant to be together. Within the year, they were married. Helga had never been happier in her life.
That was when things started going wrong. Elizabeth died in childbirth. This left Salazar lonely and cold, bitter in the happiness of his friends. As more and more time passed, he became more and more secluded. His son, William, was the only one that could bring him out of his brooding. Helga feared what would become of her friend, but could find no way to get him to let her in. He no longer came to her in confidence. Even when she was expecting her own child, she did her best to bring comfort to Salazar and William.
Because Salazar really knew nothing about babies, Helga had to take care of William. As William became able to eat solid food and needed less care, Salazar insisted that William come back to his apartments in the castle. William still came to visit Helga often and looked at her daughter as a sister. As he began talking, he was known to call her Auntie Helga.
Unfortunately, time did nothing to heal Salazar from his bitterness. He spent even more time in his dungeons, and rarely came to the other parts of the castle, except for meals. Many of these he took in his rooms when school wasn’t in session. Salazar started keeping William with him more and more. A few times when Helga stopped by to check in on them, she couldn’t find either of them. This got Helga worried even more. When asked about where he had been, Salazar would never give her an answer.
Finally she tried to get an answer from William when she had him for a day.
William looked at her for a minute and answered, “Amber a ‘ecrets Auntie Helga.”
Helga couldn’t figure out what that meant. The next day she asked Rowena if she had any ideas. Rowena was more used to interpreting young children’s talk, having had three of her own.
“Well, my best guess would be Amber of Secrets, or Chamber of Secrets. I still don’t know what that could possibly mean though, I’m sorry Helga. Still, I’m worried about Salazar too. He has really been coming down on the Muggle-borns and most of them do very poorly in his classes, even when I know they are very talented students. I’m afraid that he is just going to leave us one of these days,” Rowena finished with concern.
“I’m afraid thee tis right. I just hope he doesn’t try to do anything crazy before he leaves,” Helga replied.
The following summer, their fears were finally justified. Helga would never forget that day, because she had woken with fear constricting her heart. The dream where the snake faced-off with the lion, raven, and badger had come again. This time he had wounded the lion and the raven. She was determined not to let that happen.
Salazar actually showed up for breakfast, with William in tow. William was now five-years-old and already showing magical talent. He greeted everyone and sat down next to Dorrie, Helga’s daughter who was now four. They started picking on each other, just like any brother and sister. They still had a very special bond.
Half-way through the meal, Salazar looked over at Godric and Rowena. “I have decided that I can’st teach thy pet students anymore. I think they have no place in the wizarding world. They should stay the ignorant Muggles they were in the first place.”
“We have had this conversation more times than I can count. They deserve in justice to share in the knowledge that we can provide to them. Many of them have more magic then the students who can trace their lines back indefinitely! I won’t allow them to be kicked out of this school,” Godric replied. And although his voice had never risen, the power in his words was cold enough to say that he was not going to give way.
All the children at the table knew they should back off when their parents started this battle. William pulled Dorrie into a far corner. Two of the three other children joined them. Godric’s eldest son, Arthur, sat tall beside his father and refused to move.
Helga got up and stood behind Godric and Rowena. “This is one issue that I have to disagree with you Salazar. I shan't let any child be kicked out of this school, especially because of something as unimportant as the blood that runs through their veins.”
“I too stand with Godric. All students will be welcome here as long as I live!” Rowena chimed in.
“Thee think thou art so smart! There shall come a day when a Chamber of Secrets shall open and wipe all the Mudbloods from these walls. I refuse to stay here and watch my dream become polluted with the likes of them… I hope this school falls apart around thee!” Salazar shouted as he stood up.
“Don’t talk to my parents that way!” little Arthur shouted back.
“I shall talk to thine parents any way I choose, thee spoiled brat. Beware of whom thee raise thy voice against. I am way beyond thy skills, little boy.” Salazar turned to walk away.
A red flash of light flew over Salazar’s shoulder when he was a few feet from the door. He turned to find Godric pulling his son’s wand down and looking at him with fear in his eyes.
“HOW DARE THEE!” Salazar had his wand out faster then anyone else could even move. A yellow flash of light flew and hit Arthur square in the chest. The boy’s body fell limply to the ground.
Without sparing the boy a second glance, Salazar grabbed William and pulled him out of the hall, while Godric, Rowena, Helga and Alex rushed to examine Arthur. When Godric ran to stop Salazar and find out what he had done, no trace of Salazar or William could be found.
No one knew what the spell was that hit Arthur. After a week, he still had not regained consciousness, but his heart kept beating. That afternoon, an OWL arrived with a note.
Godric and Rowena,
I hope that thy son finally learned his lesson not to meddle in affairs that are not his own. Enclosed tis a potion that shall wake him if he hasn’t already awoken. Thee shall find that his magical powers are quite gone. Thee love Muggles so much, now thee shall have one in thy family.
Salazar
Rowena brewed the potion, and it worked as they had been told. Arthur was never able to cast a spell with his wand again. He was able to brew potions, and became great at even the most difficult ones. Other then the seeming lack of magical abilities, Arthur was a normal, healthy boy; however the lack of magical abilities would be a wound to his soul for the rest of his life and everything anyone tried to help never could restore his powers.
Godric and Rowena took the damage to their son as best they could, but promised to make Salazar pay. Not one person from the castle ever saw Salazar again.
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When Helga was an old widowed woman, she finally retired to a small cottage in Wales. Late one autumn night, a knock came on her door. A gaunt middle aged man with peppered hair stood on her doorstep.
“Canst I help thee?” Helga inquired of the man.
“Aunt Helga ist that thee?” the man asked.
“William? Ist that thee?” Helga asked in disbelief.
The tired looking man smiled.
“I haven’t heard that name in years. It sounds so good to finally be called by mine real name. Father died over a year ago, and I was finally free to live as I wanted to.” He continued before Helga could get a word in. “Life has been dark and dim since we left Hogwarts, Aunt Helga. The only thing that got me through was my memories of thee and Dorrie… I’m sorry I couldn’t have found you sooner.”
“Father made us hide and we took on aliases. He taught me many dark things, and I’m ashamed I still use them.” His voice came out strangled, as though the scars of his life were burning in him. “It is the only life I know. I do have a family. He arranged a marriage for me… but my wife is cold and there is no love between us. She hast given me two children, and they are the only reason I keep on living. I just wanted thee to know that the light in my life comes from thee. I wish I could have stayed always with thee.”
Helga pulled him into the cottage and gave him a big hug. “Please come in and share a glass of tea with me. We canst talk for a while.”
They talked for a few hours. Helga filled him in on Dorrie’s life and how she followed in her mother’s footsteps and taught at the school. She talked about her Grandchildren and the children he wasn’t around long enough to meet.
Years seemed to melt off of William as he sat in her parlor drinking tea and sharing a friendly moment. Helga could tell that happiness was not a part of his life. Pity filled her. He should have stayed at the school and grown up with other kids. Imagining how things would have been if Elizabeth had lived, Helga pictured a very different past for this man. She wished it were in her power to turn back time and fix the injustices Salazar had wrought on his son. It was just a dream, but dreams have been known to come true.
“I wish I could stay, but my wife shall be looking for me. I shall try to come again, but I don’t know if I can. It was great to see thee, Aunt Helga. The warmth of thy smile shall stay with me always.” William smiled.
His smile seemed out of place, as if smiling was something alien to him. It made Helga cry after he disappeared into the night. Her poor William… she had tried to find him, but never could.