Foundation

Prologue

Rowena smiled happily at her friend. "Do you really mean it, Helga? You've found someone at last?"

The blonde girl nodded vigorously, her hair bouncing. "Of course! I wouldn't lie about such a thing. He's perfect! Such a kind, nice fellow, and from another part of the country! He said he was from a moor. Isn't that just terribly exciting?"

"It is." But Rowena was deep in thought already. Helga knew her for her cleverness and could tell that she was thinking about something very hard, so she quieted down and let her best friend think.

And Rowena, for her friend's sake, thought aloud. "You see, Helga, perhaps we shouldn't bring in people from all over. I mean, yes, you and I are from different parts--I from a glen and you from a valley--but maybe that's as far as it should stretch? We should limit our search to somewhere closer to home, perhaps."

Helga shook her head, her curls bouncing willy-nilly. "Nope. I don't agree at all. It shouldn't matter where this person is from, as long as they're good and kind it doesn't matter. Oh, but you should meet him, dear Rowena! He is so handsome."

Rowena raised a skeptical brow. "Handsome, eh? And tell me, what is his name?"

"Godric Gryffindor."

* * *

"How are things with the family, Salazar?" Godric Gryffindor clapped his friend on the shoulder.

"Quite good, thank you for asking. And you, Godric?"

"Ah yes, my mother is recovering! Thanks to the awe inspiring work of this young witch here." He gestured to a young girl who was standing behind him, clearly shocked at receiving such praise.

"This is Helena Wicket, the best medi-witch in this part of the land. She has agreed to help my mother!" Godric gazed at her fondly, a smile lighting his usually dark features. It had taken him quite some time to find such a good witch, and despite her exceptional talents at healing she was kind and patient as well.

Godric stood with the two others--his best friend and a kind, new acquaintance--in the front hall of his expansive estates. He and Salazar had been talking when Helena had come down the large stone staircase to report on the progress of his mother's health, which had been steadily improving since her arrival.

But while Godric and Salazar were quite used to such a large home, Helena had been more than overwhelmed at the sheer size of the place. For instance, when first entering the home she saw a great room the size of her own house, with the Gryffindor crest hanging on banners around the room and light pouring in through six large, magically paned windows. There was a grand staircase that led to the three upper floors and a rich red carpet that led right up those very stairs. Several rooms were off to the sides of this great room, including, but not limited to: the kitchens, where the house elves slaved over hot fires and burning stoves; the dining hall, which was used on formal occasions; the informal dining hall, used for Godric's private meals with family; the study, a place that only Godric used; and no less than seven guest bedrooms, all large enough to hold eight elephants comfortably. It was no wonder Helena had been overwhelmed, for each floor was just as expansive as the first.

Of course, Godric's home was the biggest of all his friends, including Salazar; who now stood, patiently waiting for Helena to make her leave so that he could speak with Godric alone.

And when Godric Gryffindor did finally ask Helena to leave, Salazar was ready to talk.

"There has been talk that you are courting a young lady from the valley. A beautiful young lady. Is this true?"

Godric laughed heartily, earning him a bemused and slightly irritated look from Salazar. "Of course not! I'm married, my young friend. I wouldn't dream of cheating on my wife!" Godric laughed harder and shook his head. "Where have you heard this?"

Salazar stared at him until he quieted down. "All of the people in the village are talking about it. I would know; I live there. Everyone thinks it's true; perhaps you should go and tell them otherwise. They might listen to you."

Godric considered, his dark eyes twinkling with amusement at the very thought of him courting her, sure, she was sweet enough, and very kind and beautiful, but very certainly not his type.

Eventually he came to a decision. But he said nothing yet, and he motioned for Salazar to follow him through his home. They walked together through the torch-lit halls of the first level, passing moving pictures of Godric's ancestors and forest scenes that surely depicted the very same forest that could be found on the other side of the fifteen foot-thick walls of Godric's castle. They passed room upon room, some emitting strange, musty smells, some with a brilliant blue light that sought to push its way through the cracks in the door. Others were ordinary, some doors were elaborate and were carved to show a certain scene: perhaps the killing of a wild boar or a young maiden gazing fondly at a shining unicorn.

This was the least traversed passageway of the whole castle, for none but Godric and his family--and sometimes Salazar Slytherin--used it. But yet, the brilliant red carpet that ran down the middle of the stone passage was worn with use. Godric used it quite often, and those before him had too. It had remained unchanged for as long as the Gryffindor family had been in existence. It was home to some strange creatures that his family had acquired through hunting in exotic locations, and to dungeons that were used to brew all manner of potions. But perhaps the most secretive room of all was the one at the very end of the incredibly enormous passage: one that had never been opened, not even by Godric himself.

Salazar had been down this way a few times before, but not this deep. Godric was leading them past more doors than Salazar had even known existed on this one hallway, and as they passed them he stared in astonishment. Godric, knowing that his friend would want to take it all in, said nothing as they walked.

And when they did finally arrive at a door just around the bend from the never-been opened one, Salazar was intensely curious to find out what did, in fact, lay beyond that bend. Godric, on the other hand, didn't want Salazar's curiosity to be aroused by this door and had never told him of it. Therefore he opened the one they were in front of--a stiff, oak door that had a large acorn carved in it--as fast as he could and ushered Salazar in ahead of him. Naturally, no braziers were lit here, and so he left the door open for just a second so that he could light to first one. After that first one was lit, however, he snapped the door closed and locked it. None would disturb him while he was there.

"Salazar, light the torches on the other side of the room, please." He busied himself lighting the ones on his side of the room while his friend lit the others, it smelled slightly odd but that could be ignored with time.

When all the lights had been lit and Salazar and Godric stood together near the center, Salazar took the chance to look about him.

They were in a relatively small room; the walls were of stone, as well as the floor. The floor was, however, covered in a lush burgundy throw rug that gave the room a sense of warmth. There was a wooden armchair in the far corner that was upholstered in gold cloth--quite rare to come by--and another chair sitting across from it that was the same except for the color, which was a deep, rich red that complimented the floor rug quite nicely. And in the middle of the room stood a small cherry table, and upon that table sat a wooden basin. It looked to be made of holly or some other extremely magical wood, and there were intricate carvings covering the outside and inside. And inside this ornate basin was a thin, silvery liquid that seemed to swirl about and there was a mist that hung in the air just above the surface.

Godric pulled one of the chairs over to the small table and gestured for Salazar to do the same. Then he pulled out his wand--mahogany, dragon heartstring, twelve inches--and put it to his temple. He seemed to concentrate for a moment before pulling it slowly away and pointing it down to the wooden basin. A long, silvery thread seemed to be stretched between his head and his wand, and as he drew it away it floated down and landed in the bowl.

"Godric, what is this? If it is what I think it is then you owe me an explanation."

Godric Gryffindor smiled, his off-white teeth flashing in the torchlight. "It is, Salazar. I have acquired a Pensieve."

Naturally, it took Salazar several seconds to recover from this information, and as he sat there: his mouth hanging open ever so slightly, his gaze fixed on the wooden bowl with the silvery contents, Godric continued to draw the silvery stuff from his head and deposit it in the basin.

"But...but..." he blubbered, clearly quite shocked.

Godric smiled again. "Surprised, aren't you. I was quite honored when they presented it to me."

"Who's 'they'?"

"Ah, the people who came up with it, of course." Godric put his wand down and turned to face his friend.

"But...there's only one known Pensieve, and that doesn't include yours!" Salazar looked at him with wide eyes.

"Of course! They couldn't just announce that they had handed one out already, could they? No! And they trusted me to not tell anyone. Now I am trusting you to do the same." He gave Salazar a stern look.

Salazar nodded.

"Good. Now, look." He pointed into the swirling depths. Salazar, quite afraid at this point of what was in store for him, put on a brave look and placidly leaned over to look into the Pensieve.

And as he stared he felt himself being jerked, head first, into the swirling mist.

Not quite believing that he could actually fit in that small basin, he looked around. If he hadn't been a wizard (and a quite advanced one at that) he would not have been as calm as he was. It was quite odd, being sucked into someone else's memory, and Salazar had actually never intended to do so.

Of course, it was much too late now.

He looked around, searching for some sort of sign to follow. Immediately he noticed Godric standing some ten feet away.

He walked over; quite sure that this was his friend, come into the memory with him. He wasn't entirely sure that this was in fact Godric's memory but he had enough sense to assume so. He knew enough about Pensieve's to know that they held one's memories, and therefore could accurately assume that that was where he was.

He tapped Godric on the shoulder, but instead of his hand meeting solid flesh it just sort of floated through. Amazed, Salazar did it again. He stifled a snort of laughter at the strange sensation that this caused in his arm, but stopped when he heard someone approaching with soft footsteps.

She was young, and blonde. Her hair was rather curly, though not to the point where it was overwhelming. They were soft curves that were seductive in their own right, and in the midst of those curls was a pleasantly pink face with bright blue eyes. Her nose was small, and rather cute, and her lips were equally proportionate. She was wearing a yellow dress with black lace on the sleeves and at the bottom, her hands neatly folded in front of her as she walked.

When she spotted Godric a very attractive smile lit her face, her eyes twinkling with happiness. Salazar couldn't help but be envious of his friend when he saw this beauty looking at Godric with such fondness.

But it seemed that Godric hadn't seen her yet.

"She's here, silly. Look around!" Salazar whispered, as if he thought that the memory Godric could hear him. Of course, he didn't. His voice sounded oddly thin in the memory, as if it didn't belong.

But then, at the same moment that Salazar told him to look, Godric did, in fact, look. And what a look it was!

His dark eyes swept up and down her body, taking in the small feet, black lace, wide skirts, and extremely small waist. It was rather low cut as well, but not so much that it was immodest. And Salazar was amazed to find that his friend smiled his own seductive smile as he saw the beautiful woman coming towards him. Perhaps this was the first time they met? Salazar wondered if they knew how they were looking at each other.

The three of them were in a sort of alley that looked rather unused. Cobwebs were hanging on many of the abandoned shop windows that were lining it, and the only living creature (besides Salazar, Godric and the astonishingly beautiful women) was a tabby cat that was watching the scene unfold, its yellow eyes dilated in the evening glimmer.

Salazar took a step back. If these two were about to do something, he certainly did not want to watch. At that moment he felt a tap on his own shoulder, and he whirled around to see whom it was. Godric stood behind him--the real, current Godric that Salazar had just been sitting next to--and smiled lazily.

"I thought I'd join you," he said quietly, and that he did. They stood off to one side, just at the perfect angle to see both Godric and the woman, and watched.

As the two got closer together, Salazar wondered why Godric was there with him. He knew that if the two had done something in this dark, abandoned alley Godric wouldn't be there to watch it with him. That consoled his frightened soul quite a bit.

The woman dressed in yellow did stop a few feet from Godric. They stood there, smiling at each other, for just a moment before Godric took her hand politely and kissed it.

"Madam, if I am not mistaken you are the one and only Helga Hufflepuff. Pleased to meet your acquaintance," Godric said quite clearly, and gently dropped her hand.

She blushed quite vividly and curtsied, her blonde curls bouncing as she moved. "You are correct, good sir. You must be Godric Gryffindor."

He made an elegant bow that caused Salazar to sneer. Godric had always been the elaborate, pretty boy that the girls fell for.

"Quite right, my dear." Salazar heard, and he rolled his eyes at Godric's apparent politeness. He glanced at the real Godric and saw quite an odd expression. But before he had time to place it the two in the memory were talking again.

"I trust your day is going well?" Godric was saying, and Salazar noticed the two were standing much closer.

She giggled. "It is, thank you for inquiring."

Salazar bitterly wondered when the pleasantries would be finished.

And it seemed that they did at that moment. Godric--the memory Godric--conjured two fluffy chairs and moved to help Helga to her's. He sat when she was comfortably seated in her own.

"Now, you contacted me about a project that you are working on. How may I be of service?" he asked, sitting back and putting an inquisitive expression on his dark face.

Helga Hufflepuff sat forward excitedly. "Well, I have this friend who is quite smart, as well as magically inclined, and she and I were thinking of starting some sort of school. But the two of us are much to busy to do it on our own. We had been racking our brains for some time before I remembered that I had heard of an incredibly talented wizard who lived somewhere in the moors, and so I decided to see if I could possibly contact that person." She paused, a bright twinkle in her blue eyes shining. "That person, of course, was you. We thought that three could quite possibly handle it better than two. Would you be willing to join us?" She leaned forward eagerly, her hands still folded neatly in her lap.

Godric thought for several moments, a thoughtful expression on his face. Finally, he looked at the woman sitting opposite him and smiled. "With a little bit of persuasion, I have no doubt that I will help you. Tell me, what is your friend's name?"

"Rowena Ravenclaw."

* * *

"I think I've heard of him, but you know me. I'll have to do some research at the library to see if I could look him up and find out more about him." Rowena sat down in a wooden chair at the front of a dessert shop. She and Helga had quite the sweet tooth.

Helga looked positively delighted that she had found someone. She beamed at her friend. "I have no doubt that you will be able to find out something about, my friend. Now, let's get some cake!"

It didn't take long for the two of them to finish off their snack, and with full stomachs and dreams of the future that really seemed to be falling into place, the two parted with a hug. Helga headed home for the night, excited about sharing the news with her brother, while Rowena headed to a library just down the road from the shop where they had eaten. It was a very good library and had helped her find the answers to more than one question.

Of course, the people there knew her by name, and as she walked through the wooden doors she was greeted with a volley of smiles and questions about her well-being. Answering each smile with her own and politely telling them what they wanted to know she slowly made her way to the section labeled 'G'.

It didn't take her long to find a book that was quite an interesting read, although she knew that there wasn't time to read the whole thing. She pulled out her wand and cast a spell to find a certain person, and as she muttered the words to find "Godric Gryffindor" the book flipped through quite a few pages before stopping. Satisfied, she tucked her wand back into the folds of her dress and looked down at the page.

The first line read: Godric Gryffindor, a man of the past, present, and future.

* * *

When Godric felt that Salazar had seen enough of his memory he took them back to the stone room that awaited them. The torches were slightly dimmer than they had been before, though that was to be expected, and a house elf was busy cleaning the chairs when the two of them were thrown out of the basin. It squeaked and threw itself to the floor, apologizing for being seen and not doing its job discreetly.

"It's alright, Blinky. You don't need to worry about it one bit. You did not know that we were here."

The elf looked up at them with bright green eyes. "Master is too good to Blinky, Sir," he muttered, and with that and a loud crack it was gone.

It was quite common for Blinky to become distressed when he was seen, and therefore Salazar and Godric continued as if nothing had happened.

"Now, why in the world did you tell me about this?" Salazar asked, seating himself in the red chair once more.

"I felt that you would be able to contribute valuable knowledge that neither Helga nor I--I've not met Rowena Ravenclaw and therefore do not know about her capabilities--could bring to the project. You would be a great help and a fine teacher."

Salazar sniffed. He was quite vain, really, and therefore knew (or thought) that he could do wonders with a school. He accepted promptly.

Godric grinned. "Excellent, now, all we have to do is tell Helga and Miss Ravenclaw!"

* * *

Helga, upon arriving at her home, sat down to read a very interesting book about the evolution of a vampire. Her brother was not home yet, and therefore she could not tell him. It had been roughly three days since she had met with Godric Gryffindor, and she was quite eagerly awaiting their next meeting. She felt quite taken with the young man.

As she sat down, settling her skirts around her and moving around for a comfortable position on the stiff couch, she pulled the book into her lap. It was quite thick, and therefore could not be held up but instead must be propped up or held in one's lap; there was a fireplace in front of the couch and a large clock behind it. It was a rather simple room, used only for greeting guests in, and therefore it was a quiet place and not used often. She flipped the book open, quite excited about reading, and was just reading the first line when the fire in the fireplace made a great whoosh and flared green.

"Oh goodness!" she cried, and jumped up from her seat. Floo powder was quite a new invention, and therefore this was the first time she had ever received a message--or rather, spoken with someone--through this method. But despite the fact that she was surprised to be receiving someone through her fireplace, she was even more surprised to see that that person was none other than Godric Gryffindor.

She smoothed her skirts habitually and smiled at him. "Hello there. I expect you're well?" she asked politely, not wanting to seem bad hostess.

"Yes, quite, thank you. I have contacted you to inform you that this project is to be done. I'm in! But I would also like to ask if you would be much apposed if a friend of mine helped as well. His name is Salazar Slytherin."

"That would be splendid! Where shall we meet to discuss plans?"

"Anywhere, my dear, as long as the four of us are there."

She nodded. "Since you seem to know the location of my house I would be terribly happy to host you and your friend here for a meeting."

Godric smiled. "I would be delighted."

It all happened rather fast after that. Quite a bit faster than one would have thought, in fact.

It happened that the four of them were able to meet just a fortnight later, when not one of them was busy with their own affairs. It was quite odd, really, for all of them to be free on the same night, but they were happy nonetheless to finally meet one another.

Rowena was the first to arrive, wearing a brilliant blue gown with a v-neck and glittering hem. She seemed quite excited about meeting Godric, for her research had gone quite well and from what she had read he was a rather learned person.

It didn't take long for Godric and Salazar to arrive, and when they did they were eagerly brushed off by magical brushed that seemed quite happy to do their job. Helga had to stop them with a spell before they would leave the two men alone.

They got right down to business. Each was busy and had little time to spare, and therefore the four of them sat right down and began a heavy discussion about the location for the school.

"I suggest somewhere in the mountains," offered Helga.

"I say in a forest!" cried Salazar.

"Nay, near a lake!" Godric told them eagerly.

"Why not all three?" supplied Rowena, and so it was that their school was to be built somewhere in the mountains, near a lake, and in a forest. Really, it all came about quite quickly.

The next important issue was a name for this future school.

"I say Pollywish," Helga said.

Salazar snorted. "If you're teaching little girls! It should be called Ashtenson University."

Rowena shook her head and gave him a wild look. "I think not! I say Codswarsh School of Witchcraft."

Godric laughed. "All of those ideas are absolute hog warts!"

The three looked at him, then at each other, and then back at Godric. "Why not Hogwarts?" Rowena said, and they all turned to look at her.

"That could work," Salazar said slowly. "But it needs more. Is there something we can put with it to make it sound more official?" Salazar looked around the room as if looking for clues.

Helga brightened up, a slow smile spreading across her face. "Rowena wanted it to be called Codswarsh School of Witchcraft. Why not add "Witchcraft" onto the end? Hogwarts School of Witchcraft!"

Rowena smiled broadly. "Well done, Helga."

Salazar shook his head. "Ah, but there's one problem. Are we to teach only girls?"

Helga frowned. They all sat back. Then Rowena sat up quite suddenly. "We should have thought of this before!" she cried.

"Well? What is it?"

"Tell us!"

"Rowena!"

She sat there, a devilish smile across her face. "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."