Slytherin Forever! Book Two: Shadow

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Chapter One: To Serve His Will.

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It's time to turn the page and start

And then

Don't you think that it's time

To convince yourself it's over?

- Purify, Lacuna Coil.

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Ministry Of Magic, London, England.

Shanna strode into the hall of the Ministry with her brow furrowed as she scanned the front page of the Daily Prophet. Sighing mutely, she folded the newspaper up and made her way towards the security desk while glaring at everyone who looked at her longer than two seconds.

"I need you to check my wand," she said to the wizard behind the desk. "But please make it quick; I'm already late for the meeting."

She held her wand out for the wizard to take. He placed the wand on a brass instrument and he tore a piece of parchment off that came speeding out of a slit in the base.

"Nine inches, unicorn-hair core, has been in use twenty-two years. That correct?"

"Yes," Shanna said impatiently.

"I keep the parchment," the wizard said. "You get your wand back."

She moved towards the lifts after she had grabbed her wand and got in together with a large crowd of Ministry employees. She tucked the newspaper she had been holding into her leather bag and flattened herself against the wall after a particular grim-looking wizard placed himself in front of her.

Most of the wizards and witches were gone by the time they got to the second level and that was something Shanna was extremely grateful for. Nobody should know that the Aurors had asked The Zeppo to support them after Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban, nor that everyone of importance in the Ministry was powerless when it came to Black.

She arrived in an open area that was divided into cubicles and found herself being whisked away moments after she had passed the first cubicle by Leonard Quentin, an Auror who always wore red robes no matter how much he looked out of place in them. She was steered into a sideroom where she found most of the Aurors and Zeppo members sitting together quietly.

"We are here today to discuss the case of Sirius Black," Colin Damaro began as Shanna seated herself. "How much security do we need to place on Harry Potter? How will we track Black down? These are questions that need to be answered today."

***

Egypt.

Dear Natalya,

It's fantastic here in Egypt! Most of the money we won has been spent on this holiday but Ron will get a new wand because the Whomping Willow damaged his old one last year.

Alisha told me that you were going to Spain this year together with Zeynep and Blaise. You lucky, lucky thing! The only cool wizards here are the old Egyptian ones who put all kinds of curses on the pyramids; here in the hotel there are only stuck-up boys and ancient men.

Mum wouldn't let me go in one of the pyramids because there were mutant skeletons in it. That's a real pity because I think that it would have helped me finish the essay for Binns. My good arguments could not persuade her either; although I told her that the Chamber of Secrets was freakier.

We will return to Britain a week before school starts. Try to come to Diagon Alley then because I'd love to see you. Dev and Pansy are coming too; maybe we can meet up somewhere.

Anyway, did you hear about Sirius Black escaping from Azkaban? He's supposed to have killed thirteen people with one curse! I hope that they catch him soon. I overheard Dad talking to Mum one night and they talked about Black being Harry Potter's godfather and James Potter's best friend. Do you think that this is true? If it is really true, I would not want to be Harry when he finds out.

I think that you should not show this letter to Zeynep seeing as I don't really want to ruin his holiday. Percy has been made Head Boy. He got the letter last week and he has been bragging about it ever since. Mum is not helping either; she loves Percy and thinks that he is setting a good example for Ron and me. Can you visualise me as Head Girl?

I hope to see you in Diagon Alley or on Platform Nine And Three-Quarters.

Love from Ginny.

Virginia Weasley got up from the bed and rolled the letter up. She moved over to the window where Errol the owl was seated and tied the letter to his leg, after which he took flight with a hoot. She followed the owl's flight with her eyes until he disappeared beyond the horizon.

She went to stand in front of the mirror and looked at her reflection critically. Flaming red hair framed her oval-shaped face that had many freckles, mainly on her cheeks and nose. Light green eyes looked at the mirror from beneath black lashes, the only reminders of a heritage that belonged to her alone. She was an Heir of Salazar Slytherin, Founder of her House.

Sighing, she picked the white dress up from the bed and disappeared into the bathroom. She slipped out of her daily clothes with ease and put the dress on, looking at herself in the bathroom mirror along the way. She looked into mirrors more often than she used to, expecting to see another girl staring back at her some day. And yet here she was, being nothing more than Virginia Weasley.

She put her shoes on, checked her reflection one more time and bounded out of her hotel room. She was aware of the stares she was getting, mainly from boys her age or a bit older, but somehow she did not care anymore.

It all belonged to growing up.

***

Salem Academy Of Magic. Salem, Massachusetts. United States Of America.

"I saw the Weasley girl last year," Mel said to May Sheldon. "She looked so small and not ready for the huge task ahead of her."

"Size does not matter," May replied with a smile. "The Weasley girl might hold enough power to save us all. You don't really know her, Mel, remember that."

"It would have been easier if the Heir of Slytherin was Harry Potter," Mel grumbled. "That boy knows what people are like and he has faced You-Know-Who three times already."

"The Heir is female, you said so yourself," May told the younger woman. "She would be possessed by the First Heir to Slytherin and taken into the Chamber. That came true, didn't it?"

"What if I was wrong? What if she is not really the one we have been waiting for?"

"Then somebody out there has power to match Salazar Slytherin himself," May sighed. "But I think that we have got the right person. Virginia Weasley is the Heiress of Salazar."

"No, not of Salazar," Mel whispered. "She is the Heiress of his daughter: Taigan."

***

Approximately a thousand years ago, Hogwarts.

"They cannot be gone!" Godric shouted at nobody in particular. Then he rounded onto a man he had known for all of his life, a man who was currently his worst enemy, and spat: "This is all your fault, Salazar! If you had not let yourself in with that denomination, with those insane lunatics..."

"Your daughter would have left too," Salazar interrupted smoothly. "She felt more than friendship for one of my bastard sons: Jored."

It took a while for these words to sink in and when they finally did, Godric began to laugh. His laughter echoed around the grounds and carried over the lake; it was the laugh of a man who had been driven insane with grief.

"My daughter Taigan will take care of your Jessica," Salazar said softly. "Jored and Josselin, damn those boys, are the ones who have persuaded Teggie to leave Hogwarts before the Vayaen could initiate her."

"Get out, Slytherin!" Godric roared suddenly. "I beg you: leave this school and your students behind! Go to hell for all I care, but do not return here again! Not for refuge, not for shelter, not for power shall you return to Hogwarts again. Take a long look at it, you cursed son of a serpent, because this day is your farewell to everything you knew."

"Godric, my dear friend, isn't this a bit... harsh?" Salazar asked. "I am not to blame for your daughter's decision to leave the school, am I? All I did was offer my own daughter a chance to be remembered as one of the greatest magicians that ever roamed these lands, nothing more than that."

"Your daughter is wiser than I thought," a new voice said suddenly. "For this denomination, the Vayaen, will seek a way to destroy us and sooner or later they shall find it."

Both men looked at the one who had spoken, suddenly looking like a couple of quarrelling children. Rowena Ravenclaw, for it was she whose voice had rung out so clearly, was looking at them with her hands on her hips and a frown visible on her face. She looked every bit like the strong woman she was; and with her blue robes flaring out behind her and her dark hair drawn back in a braid she seemed to be somebody who had been blessed with eternal beauty.

"The Vayaen will bring glory to us all," Salazar replied. "They are my friends and my loyal servants. They will not call for the destruction of the one thing they need."

"What have you promised them?" Rowena whispered, light blue eyes suddenly filled with both apprehension and tears. "Tell me, Serpent-Tongue, what is it they need? Why did your daughter leave with most of her friends and with Godric's daughter? What is it they asked her to do? What did she refuse?"

"I promised them Hogwarts," was the grim reply. "Taigan refused to be initiated as one of the high-ranked Vayaen and she also refused to let her unborn child become one of them. Why she left with her brothers and Jessica Gryffindor in tow I do not know."

Rowena clasped her hand over her mouth as she looked at the blond man, horrified. Godric, however, had quite a different reaction. He drew his sword and pointed it at Salazar's chest. At that very moment Helga Hufflepuff arrived, panting because she had ran all the way down to where the other Founders were standing together.

"What is going on?" the redheaded woman asked in surprise. "Godric, put that sword away before you harm somebody! Why are you all looking so grim?"

"This man," Godric growled as his sword touched Salazar's chest slightly, "has promised those Vayaen that they will get Hogwarts. His children left in the middle of the night together with my daughter Jessica and some other Slytherins."

"That is still no reason to point a sword at Salazar!" Helga exclaimed. "Your daughter is not going to return to you when you start to use the heirloom of your family, Godric, and you know it. The Vayaen have no power here, they will never get Hogwarts!"

"That's what you think," Salazar whispered. "I have asked them to build a Chamber, hidden deep inside the school. This Chamber will be sealed off and when the time is right for it my Heir shall open it to unleash the horror within. This monster will be used to get rid of the Muggle-borns who are tainting our school with their filthy blood."

"I have got news for you, Slytherin," Rowena said, smirking. "You don't have an Heir anymore. Your daughter has broken the ties that binded you and your sons have left too."

"It does not matter," Salazar said impatiently. "My daughter's blood is still my blood and she will give birth to an Heir of Slytherin. My bloodline shall not end with me, it shall live on in every child born into my family."

"And what will they see you as?" Rowena asked him. "An insane man who drove his own children out of Hogwarts because of a denomination who will brainwash everyone if they are given the chance! Think before you act, Salazar!"

"I shall not do that," he replied. "Farewell, my friends."

The blond man turned on his heels and pulled his hood up as he walked away from Hogwarts. The three remaining persons followed him with their eyes until he disappeared from view. What they all did not know was that the leader of the Vayaen was already plotting something very sinister and disturbing...

***

The beginning of 1925, Little Hangleton.

"Tom, you cannot be serious!"

The blonde woman's pleas did not affect the dark haired man who was still pointing his finger at the door. She began to cry, even fell to her knees at some point, but it was no good.

"Leave, Gwendolyn," the man said to her. "When I first met you I had no idea that you were a witch. You say that you come from a highly-respected wizarding family; all you have to do is go back to them."

"They will not take me in!" the woman cried out. "I married you, Tom, because I loved you more than anything else in the world. But you are a Muggle and my family hates everything that is remotely associated with them. They hate me."

"You should have listened to them then," the man said impatiently. "Now leave, Gwendolyn. Don't make me force you out of the house, please!"

"Fine," the woman said after a brief silence. "Fine! I shall leave! But one day, Tom, one day you and your family are going to pay for this. I will not return to you but my child will. He or she will have been raised with the idea that you were a lousy father who turned his back on the woman he once loved just because she was a so-called witch."

"Your child won't be able to do anything," Tom whispered. "He or she will not have the power to."

"There are curses out there," Gwendolyn hissed. "They will make Muggle weapons look like children's toys and they are more effective too. If my child seeks to kill then so he or she will. All that is needed to make you fall to the floor and die are two words."

"Then utter them now, woman, and be done with it!"

"I will leave that satisfaction to somebody else," Gwendolyn said grimly. "One day you shall remember this conversation and it will be just as I said. Mark my words."

She left the room then, picked her suitcase up and closed the front door behind her. It was only then that bitter tears started to roll down her cheeks. It was only then that she placed her hand on her stomach, murmured something, and walked into the town.

***

That day a turning point in history was reached. Gwendolyn Riddle, maiden name Williams, left Little Hangleton and gave birth to a healthy son. She died shortly afterwards but not before giving the child his name; a name that would one day be feared throughout the world.

Tom Marvolo Riddle, Gwendolyn's child, would one day become the one known as Lord Voldemort. With sending his wife away Tom Riddle sealed the fate of the entire wizarding world for in the orphanage Tom Marvolo would be raised in there lived another girl who went by the name of Laura Seideira.

This little girl would one day be killed at the hands of Aurors because of her foster family, the Malfoys. Tom would witness the murder and he would kill the men who did it. His eyes would turn as red as blood while whispering a promise. This promise would affect a boy born almost forty years afterwards, the boy who lived while others died... Harry Potter.

One single event in history can affect loads of things at the same time. Chain reactions like this one are very common and there are loads of examples provided in history books dealing with such things. Yet this chain reaction is a very special one because it shows the very thin line between hatred and love, as well as a fear for the unknown.

Lord Voldemort did many great things while he was at the height of his power. They were terrible, oh yes, but great at the same time. Seeking a way to become immortal, finding a path of revenge along the way... it was all meant to be. Thanks to Tom Riddle the whole world was drawn into a web of lies and fear. But who decides whether Tom made the wrong decision or not?

He obviously thought that he was making the right decision because he could not look into the future. That is why Divination is so difficult and that is why Seers have been equally feared and loved throughout the ages. The ability to see what the future holds is a burden for those Gifted with the power but a good thing for people who have to make difficult decisions. If Tom Riddle had the Gift of Foresight he would not have made the decision and perhaps the future would have been different...

But unfortunately this was not the case, and now not only Harry Potter has to prepare himself for the battle that is ahead of him. Virginia Weasley, last Heir to Slytherin and perhaps the most powerful witch Hogwarts has ever seen, has to be prepared for a task in this war as well. The wizarding world is now depending on decisions that shall not be made by those who are able to see the future; it is depending on two young children who have no idea of the power they hold...

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