The Best Minds of My Generation

Bren

Story Summary:
A Founders story, casting Salazar, Rowena, Godric and Helga into the real events around the turn of the last millenium. Salazar plays a monk expelled from his monastery for his ability to speak Parseltongue, Godric is a wizard from the Danelaw, a dangerous person at a dangerous time, Helga is a witch captured in the north and sold into slavery far to the south, while Rowena is the wife of the powerful but Dark wizard who draws them all together. The founding of Hogwarts!

Chapter 04 - Horcruxes and Souls

Chapter Summary:
In this chapter, Godric discovers that Salazar's perception of magic is slightly skewed, and Salazar realises that his understanding of magic is very naive.
Posted:
02/14/2010
Hits:
82
Author's Note:
Thank you to Ravenpuff for reviewing the first three chapters of this fic! All reviews are enjoyed, but since this is the first story I've posted in ages, her/his reviews were especially welcome.


As they finished their meals, Ulric, one of the less pleasant apprentices, came toward Godric and Salazar.

'Slytherin,' he announced as he stood beside their bench. 'Hengist has asked that I begin to teach you to Apparate this evening. I shall accompany you to your rooms after dark.'

'Uh- well,' Salazar said, hesitant. He looked to Godric, and it took him a moment to remember the books in Salazar's room, the ones he had lied about.

'Are you sure, Ulric? Haven't you got a girl you're courting?' Godric asked. With a wink, he said, 'I'll teach Salazar myself.'

Ulric looked torn. On the one hand, he was courting a girl- an heiress - and any moment he wasn't paying her attention was a moment some other man was, and he would lose her like he had the last heiress; on the other hand, Hengist the Great had given him a responsibility, and Ulric desperately wanted Hengist's favour.

'No, no. Hengist obviously thinks I am the more suitable candidate,' Ulric said, giving Godric a dirty look. It was well known among the other apprentices that for some reason Hengist had all but dropped Godric. Once his favourite, now he was sent only on menial tasks and the like.

Godric watched Ulric leave and found his eyes locked on Hengist's. Without betraying anything, he looked away. Locking eyes with the old wizard often gave him a sick feeling, but he was sure it wasn't simple revulsion, just as there were more in the looks that Hengist gave him then simple inquiry.

'How are your Runes coming, Miles?' Godric asked.

'I hate Runes,' Miles said heatedly. 'Why do I need to learn it? Nothing interesting is written in Runic.'

'You know, Salazar was telling me about some interesting books he had that are written in Runes. Perhaps he would let you borrow them?' Godric said with a significant look at Salazar.

'Yes. Yes, I think that is a good idea. Very interesting things in the books,' Salazar said slowly.

'Really?' Miles said in doubt. 'All right...'

And so, leaving studies early by claiming he needed to visit an armourer about his sword, Godric Apparated into Salazar's room and took all the books from it, transporting them to his own house. There he sorted out two that had lots of drawings in them and left them for Miles. With a charm that not even Hengist could break, Godric left to visit the armourer, who laughed at Godric's suggestion that his sword needed rebalancing.

'Goblin made, if I've an eye for these things,' the smithy said. 'Wouldn't muck with their work for my life. It'd be like rearranging the notes of a bard's ballad.'

When he returned home, Miles was sitting, unhappily reading one of the books Godric had left out for him.

'Godric?'

'Where's Simon?' he replied, not seeing any indication that the boy had been home.

'Dunno. He went off with Osbert after lessons,' Miles said. He gave a hacking cough.

'He didn't even walk you home?' Godric asked, handing Miles the bottle of potion he was to take at dinnertime.

'Nope, but I walked with Cillan. Did you know she's afraid of the dark?' Miles asked. 'She thought I was brave like you to walk with her in the dark.'

'I bet she did,' Godric answered, thinking how Cillan lived on the other end of the city.

'Godric?'

'Yes, Miles?' Godric asked as he put dinner on the table.

'What does this symbol mean, Godric? It's everywhere in this book, but I've never seen it.'

Godric bent over the page, glancing at the rune. Frowning, he looked at the illustrations on the side of the page to see if they jogged his memory. The grotesque scenes of painful death could mean any number of runes, though, and the presence of a god meant little. The object beside the scene was odd, though, just a pendant.

'Um... I'm not sure,' he said, going back to the dinner.

'Oh. That's too bad. It says that whatever this rune is, to gain everlasting life all you have to do is kill someone and perform the spell it indicates.'

The knife stopped halfway to Godric's mouth as he gaped at Miles. 'What?'

'Yes,' Miles said, turning the book over to Godric. 'See?'

It took Godric a few minutes to read the page over several times. 'Miles?'

'Yes, Godric?'

'Can you keep a secret?'

'Of course, Godric! I never told Ulric that you cast a Troll-Breath Charm on him, did I?'

Godric smiled at the memory. 'No, you didn't, and thank you. But this spell is evil and you can never tell anyone about it. Do you understand, Miles?'

The little boy assumed a serious expression. 'Yes. I promise.'

'You won't tell Simon?' The boy shook his head. 'Or Wigan?' Again, a shake. 'You won't tell the cat or the goats or the birds in the trees?'

'I can't tell Blackie?'

'No. Not anyone, do you understand?'

'All right. But will you explain it to me, Godric?'

Godric sighed. 'I can't, Miles. I don't understand it myself.'

'Then how do you know its evil?' Miles asked, his head quirked.

'I just do, Miles. I can feel it right here,' Godric said, slapping his belly. 'You have to listen to such things.' Miles nodded.

At that moment Simon entered the house. Godric placed the book inside his robes.

'What's that?' Simon asked, pointing at the book.

'It's a book,' Godric said. When Simon opened his mouth to say something more, Godric continued, 'So, you didn't walk Miles home this afternoon?'

'The king was returning from Winchester today,' Simon said defensively. 'Osbert and I saw the end of his procession.'

'Why didn't you take Miles with you?' Godric asked.

'Why should I have to take the boy with me everywhere I go?' Simon demanded.

'He's your brother!' Godric shouted. 'You're supposed to keep him safe!'

'You didn't take him to the blacksmith's with you!'

'I somehow imagined I could trust you,' Godric said.

Simon stood for a moment until Godric raised his eyebrows, and Simon stormed from the house, slamming the door behind him. Godric jumped from his seat, intent on dragging the boy back for a thorough beating, but stopped when Miles scurried from his chair and ran up the stairs.

Standing still for a moment, Godric groaned. Then, taking the stairs slowly Godric walked to the room his brothers shared. The door was locked with magic; pulling his wand, Godric opened the door and walked in.

'Miles, stop crying,' he said gruffly. 'It isn't really your fault Simon and I fight.'

'Yes it is,' the little boy sobbed. 'Just like it was my fault mama and papa always fought. It's because I'm small and weak and because-' He gulped and sobbed again. 'Because I'm not brave like you and Simon.'

'That's not true,' Godric said, picking his brother up and placing him beside him. In reality, it probably was why their parents had fought; Ulf would not have been able to stand having a son as small and fragile as Miles, wizard or not, while Emma would have secretly felt triumphant at the arrival of a son who looked so little like her husband.

'Then why do you fight about me, just like mama and papa did?'

'Because we want to fight about something,' Godric said. 'We don't like each other very much.'

'It isn't because I'm not brave?' Miles asked, his eyes still wet.

'Cillan thought you were brave, didn't she?' Godric asked.

'Godric,' Miles said, rolling his eyes, 'Cillan lives on the other side of town.'

'Oh.'

'I don't want you to fight over me.'

'We aren't really fighting over you. You're just very important, so when we want to shout at each other, you're a good reason. I'll try very hard not to do it again.'

Miles didn't speak for a moment though a question was clear on his face. Godric nudged him.

'If big brothers are supposed to protect their little brothers, then why did you leave us, Godric?'

'Papa made me go.'

'Oh.'

'Come down for dinner, Miles,' Godric said, dragging his brother into a standing position. 'I need to go out this evening.'

'Where are you going? Are you going to kill Salazar?'

'What?'

'Well, if that spell is evil and it was in Salazar's book, then doesn't that mean Salazar is evil?'

His brother's logic gave Godric pause, but he pushed it from his mind. 'No, I'm not going to kill Salazar. I don't think he's evil.'

'Why not?'

'Because Salazar learnt most of what he knows from his own study. He didn't really have anyone telling him when a spell was evil.'

'Oh.'

'And I don't think he would ever use the spell. Salazar is a good person.'

'Don't good people do bad things?'

Godric sighed. 'I can feel it here,' he said, slapping his belly again.

'I like him, too,' Miles said, slapping his own gut and giggling.

That evening Godric sat in the public house that made up the ground floor of the inn Salazar stayed in. He hid when he saw Ulric jog down the stairs and out the front door, no doubt hoping to salvage some time with his heiress. Ten minutes later, Salazar came down as well.

Seeing Godric, he came over to the table where he sat.

'Thank you for taking my books,' he said immediately.

'Why did you lie to Hengist about the books? They are from Hereric the Hunched, aren't they?'

Salazar studied Godric for a moment. 'Yes they are. Are you going to tell Hengist?'

'No, I'm not, Slytherin, but... Do you know what this symbol represents?' Godric asked, retrieving the book Miles had read that afternoon.

'Uh...' Salazar said, pondering for a moment. 'Yes. A Horcrux.'

'A what?' Godric asked, perplexed.

'It represents a Horcrux, and here,' he said, pointing to the next symbol, 'is the spell to enact a Horcrux.' Salazar looked back at him, his eyes innocent. 'Why do you ask?'

'What,' Godric began quietly, 'is a Horcrux?'

'You're pronouncing it wrong,' Salazar said with a sigh. 'It's a device that a wizard stores a portion of their soul in after having killed someone, so that they can become immortal,' Salazar said, his tone hesitant.

Godric just sat, staring at the man across from him.

'Come with me,' he said, standing and walking out of the inn. Salazar jogged to keep pace with his quick walk toward the riverbanks. There, Godric cast a charm that would keep anyone from overhearing what was said.

'You cannot possibly be this innocent, Slytherin!'

'What is the matter with you, Godric?' Salazar demanded, shivering slightly in the cool night air. 'What is so important about a Horcrux?'

'Salazar, that is the most evil tool I have ever heard of! Why would you keep this book? Why did you not burn it, so it would not fall into the wrong hands?'

'What are you talking about?' Salazar said, confused. 'Why should I worry about it falling into the wrong hands? Haven't you heard of a Horcrux?'

'No! I haven't. I've studied magic for ten years, Slytherin, and never come across reference to anything so evil.'

'I- I didn't know!' Salazar said. 'Hereric told me of them, saying they were ancient magic and that not even he knew the origin. He said nothing else about them, though; I just assumed they were known of.'

'No, they aren't. At least not well-known.' Godric paced a bit. 'We must burn this book.'

'No!' Salazar said. 'You cannot burn such an ancient book! Think of the knowledge you'll destroy!'

'It can easily fall into the wrong hands,' Godric asserted, gripping the tome in his strong hands.

'But there are other spells in the book that aren't evil. Spells for healing.'

Godric shook his head. 'It's evil.'

'No, it isn't!' Salazar said, rising to his full height. Godric was unimpressed. 'It isn't dangerous to have a book, Godric, if no one but us two know about it and know what it means.'

'No, Salazar, a book like this will find its way to someone who wishes to use it way their own purpose,' Godric warned.

'Like who?'

'Like Hengist. An evil book for an evil man. No, we must burn it.'

'It will not be burnt,' Salazar said, drawing his wand.

Godric watched Salazar's wand for a moment, wondering if he would have time to draw his own before Salazar cast a spell. 'Put you wand away, man,' Godric said gruffly, tearing out the pages that mentioned the Horcrux and throwing them to the ground. 'Incendio!' he shouted. Flame shot from his wand tip and engulfed the parchment. 'There. Happy?' he demanded of Salazar, who stood staring at the ashes.

'Uh, Godric?'

'What?'

'It didn't work,' Salazar said quietly.

Looking down, Godric saw that Salazar was right. Cursing, he tried a different spell, and then another spell, until every spell he could think of was exhausted. He looked to Salazar, who tried three different spells Godric made a note to learn later, before he, too, gave up.

'There isn't any way to get rid of it, is there, Godric?'

'No.'

'Perhaps if we buried it?'

'It would leave a trace on the ground, showing that something magical was underneath.'

'How do you know?'

'I once dug up the grave of a dead wizard to find an ancient spell.'

'My God, why?' Salazar asked, horrified.

'My uncle told me to.'

'What happened?'

'The spell was extremely effective,' Godric said coldly. 'Unfortunately, it fell into the hands of an lesser man, and now my uncle is dead.'

'Oh.' A pregnant pause filled their charmed spot of the riverbank. 'What do we do?'

'We hide it,' Godric said. 'I don't suppose Hereric left it out in the open, did he?'

'No. It was hidden, with the other important books.'

Godric groaned. 'There are more?'

By the next morning, Godric had made his way through the majority of the spell books Salazar had told him Hereric had hid. Disgusted and exhausted, Godric rose to breakfast and placed the books back in the trunk, sealing it again with even more enchantments then before.

He had heard of Hereric, had heard of his greatness and his greed, but he had never believed the whispers. He had never believed Hereric had really been responsible for the famines and the wars and the sicknesses that had laid waste to the kingdom when Godric was small.

How Salazar could see the good in such a man was beyond Godric.

'He was not evil, merely weak, willing to work for a man who had no magic, and therefore no had understanding of what it meant,' Salazar had said, defending the man who had first told him he was a wizard.

Defending the man who had killed his own parents!

But Godric could accept that, in whatever strange way, Salazar felt a debt to the man who had made so many things make sense. Without Hereric, Salazar would have been less then the lowest hedge-wizard, not even knowing he was capable of magic. How the man had lived so long without realising he was magical confused Godric, but Godric had a mother who, uneducated and without a wand, was a witch all the same and had never thought that Godric would be any different. Salazar was robbed of that, but was able to forgive the man because the man had been human, and humans made mistakes. It was a peculiar notion to Godric, and one he would never adopt, but it suited Salazar.

'He never returned to the king after he realised what he had become,' Salazar said. 'He never returned for his reward, and he never created a Horcrux for himself, did he?'

No, he hadn't.

Walking into the main room, Godric saw a sight that would always warm his heart. Simon, who had returned to the house very late, was laughing with Miles.

'Godric! Did you know the king has a bit of a tail?' Miles asked.

'Of course I did! How do you think he got it?' Godric asked, causing Miles to break into giggles again.

*

Winter in the city passed rather slowly, but by Epiphany Salazar felt he had made the right decision by coming south. He missed the north, especially the fens, but he knew that day by day he was gaining exceptional knowledge that he would never have learned if he had not come to study under Hengist.

Of course, studying under Hengist was difficult for Salazar.

'Godric had the same problem. It's because you didn't come to him when you were younger,' Dunne suggested. 'You learned much of your knowledge on your own, and it doesn't sound as if Hereric the Hunched offered much discipline in your studies.'

'I had plenty of discipline as a monk, though,' Salazar reminded her as he bent to pick Leofewen up. 'She's looking much stronger.'

'Yes, thank the gods,' Dunne said sweetly, smiling when Salazar shook his head in disapproval of Dunne's continuing trust in pagan gods. 'Stop being so virtuous, Salazar. You've been away from the monastery for how long?'

'That isn't the point, Dunne. I intend to live my life as I would in a monastery. God made me the way I am, and I can accept that, even if Father Hugh could not. However, just because I am not in a monastery does not mean that I am free to live an unholy life.'

'Yes, actually it does, Salazar,' Dunne said. 'I know some pretty girls who would-'

'No, Dunne, but thank you,' Salazar said with finality, bouncing Leofewen on his knee and laughing as the girl giggled.

'Don't get her too excited,' her mother warned. 'She begins to cough after too much laughter, and it isn't good for her.'

'Right,' Salazar said, stopping the action. Leofewen let out one last giggle and then, realising the fun was done, began to squirm out of his grasp. He placed her on the ground and she began to crawl about the room, putting things in her mouth.

'If you don't meet a girl, you won't have children, Salazar,' Dunne said, watching his gaze follow Leofewen across the floor. 'That would be a shame, because Leofewen has made me happier than anything.'

'I'm well aware of how children are created,' Salazar said huffily.

'Sorry!' Dunne said, laughing. 'I can't help it, I just can't imagine why you wouldn't want love and a family.'

'Can we speak about something else, please?' Salazar said, just as a knock came at the door.

Dunne rose to answer, and in walked Godric and Rowena. 'Hello, Salazar,' Godric boomed, and Rowena smiled merrily. 'Rowena has finally finished looking through Hengist's library.'

'And?' Dunne asked, scooping up her daughter and placing her into Godric's arms. Immediately, the little girl popped her thumb in her mouth and closed her eyes.

'Absolutely nothing referring to these Horcrux things,' Rowena reported. 'Not even a casual mention.'

'Are you sure you checked them all?' Salazar asked.

'Yes. I've studied under Hengist since I was ten, and in the last fifteen years, I read nearly every book in the library. I never saw anything referring to them, and so I focused on the books I hadn't read. There's nothing in there.'

'Couldn't he have hidden books?' Salazar asked.

'Not that Rowena couldn't find, no,' Godric said, smiling.

'Perhaps somewhere else?'

'Perhaps, but it's unlikely. I've been married to him for five years,' Rowena said. 'He never goes anywhere mysteriously, and he rarely goes anywhere without me. I could figure out a way to follow his Apparition, though...' at this, Rowena's eyes went hazy and it almost seemed as if she were in a trance.

'Rowena?' Salazar asked.

'Leave her,' Dunne said. 'She's thinking.'

So, for a few moments, they sat at the table, staring at Rowena, Godric rocking Leofewen to sleep. Then, suddenly, her eyes refocused.

'It's probably impossible,' she said simply.

'It's probably pointless, as well,' Salazar said, although Rowena looked ready to argue the point. 'I don't see why you three are so sure that he's planning on making a Horcrux.'

'Immortality is something Hengist would dearly love,' Rowena said, quietly. 'He cannot have children- I'm his third wife, and none of us have ever conceived- and his health is not good. Wizards generally live much longer then Muggles, so most wizards, at seventy, would not be too concerned about their longevity, but Hengist has taken too many Curses and experimented with too many dangerous things. His death will come soon, and he feels it.'

'So he'd be willing to rip his soul in two? That isn't exactly life, is it?' Salazar asked.

'We don't know if it is or isn't,' Godric said, shrugging. 'But Hengist is not going to philosophize about the state of his soul.'

'I don't think you understand, exactly, Salazar. You were trained once by a proper wizard, but even he had overstepped boundaries- did horrid things,' Rowena pointed out. 'The other wizards you met and learned from...'

'Hedge-wizards?' Salazar suggested, having heard the term over and over since he'd started apprenticing to Hengist. Always with a sneer of disgust.

'It's not nice, but yes,' Rowena continued. 'Little bits of knowledge, passed from father to child, but the true form of magic never practiced, secrets and mysteries never considered or examined. But Hengist has made it his life's work to examine and gain mastery over real magic! The magic that, with all the time and training available to any witch or wizard, most of us could still not conceivably accomplish!'

'Like a Horcrux?' Salazar said, still unconvinced.

'What about it makes you think Hengist wouldn't?' Godric asked. 'Do you somehow imagine he has not already killed? He has, I assure you. He earned his name the same way I earned mine, but he killed with magic.'

Dunne cleared her throat. 'I don't pretend I have the skill or the talent of you three,' she said, 'but I've seen Hengist whimsically use magic that terrified me. Perhaps, Salazar, you do not think pulling a person's soul from beyond the veil is true evil? Forcing them to remain here in this world as a ghost forever more, simply to see if you could?'

'That is impossible,' Salazar said, rolling his eyes. 'The soul, after death, is in the keeping of Our Lord, or the Devil, and I do not imagine either care what Hengist wishes to accomplish.'

'And yet, I've actually seen Hengist accomplish his magic!' Dunne said angrily. 'Hengist has no respect for the souls and lives of others, Salazar! He considers them his playthings, and I don't imagine he has much more consideration of his own soul.'

'I don't see how any of this matters, as he doesn't know about Horcruxes,' Salazar said, deciding not to quarrel with Dunne. 'If he doesn't know, he can't create one.'

'Oh, he knows,' Godric insisted. 'Hengist, for all his faults, understands magic in a way I'm certain I never will. He's the most powerful wizard I've ever met, and I promise you I've met some wizards who had all but destroyed themselves in evil. Hengist is better then all of them. If even the whisper of such evil has reached him, he knows.'

'But he doesn't know the incantation to finish it,' Rowena insisted. 'But you do, Salazar. You must guard yourself when around him. Do not think of Horcruxes in his presence, because he will know.'

'How will he know?' Salazar asked, confused.

'I don't understand it exactly, but he can...' Rowena stopped, pondering. 'He can understand a person's thoughts.'

'That's impossible,' Salazar said. 'This is all impossible!'

'It is not impossible!' Rowena said, sternly. 'You, Salazar, are still a student of magic. You know quite a lot of spells, some potions, and you're very talented and you will advance quickly, I can tell already. But you have not considered the real question of what magic is and how it works!'

'Yes I have!' Salazar said firmly. 'I try very hard to understand why I have this power.'

'Salazar, you told me earlier this evening that you accepted God made you this way,' Dunne reminded him. 'What Rowena is saying is that truly understanding magic requires more then acceptance and faith. It demands inquiry! Otherwise, you might as well go back to the fens now, because why did you come to study under Hengist if it wasn't magic itself that you sought?'

Salazar blinked. 'Oh.'

Salazar had a difficult time sleeping that night. He, of course, was not afraid of death; when he did die he would be welcomed into heaven and would live for eternity. Some part of him thought that, perhaps, if he could make Hengist see that death was nothing for a Christian, and that Hengist could achieve eternity through piety, Salazar could somehow make all of this go away. His problems would be over.

But another part of Salazar understood something in himself, something that, if he didn't have the comfort of faith, might lead him too to a Horcrux, the one aspect of his character no amount of homilies or prayers could rid him off: ambition. It was his greatest weakness, he knew, and he had tried to make his ambitions altruistic. He wanted to be the greatest wizard of his age, but he wanted to pass on his knowledge too. So, his ambition to learn and study was good. But Dunne and Rowena were right- it wasn't just Hengist's reputation for being the greatest wizard in the kingdom that had drawn him to London. It was the knowledge, after knowing Hereric and then wandering the north for long years, that there was more to magic than spells and potions.

There was something living in magic that Salazar could sense and that he wanted to hold.


Please do review. I'm posting the next chapter either today or tomorrow, so there shouldn't be too much of a lag.