Imperium

Chapter 1 - Esto Perpetue

Year: 1097

Judith stood on the very edge of a cliff overlooking the Hogwarts lake, her back to the castle walls. Strong winds buffeted the young woman, sending her shawl snapping wildly next to her face, but she did not flinch. A hand rested protectively over her stomach and a slight smile graced her lips. Finally, after all her years of planning, the fruit of her labour was about to be plucked and consumed for her enjoyment. She was pregnant. With Slytherin's heir.

She could finally complete her plan.

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Judith had first come to the isle of Britannia from her home in Isfanhan after her father came to power as sultan of the Great Seljuks. Jalal ad-Dawlah Malik Shan, successor of the great Alp Arslan, had driven the Byzantine Empire out of Anatolia, and continued to expand their lands until they bordered China on the east. He had sent his daughter to the Hogwarts School to learn magic - for the Founders, though they were near Christian lands, did not let the religion hold root in their school. Indeed, magical peoples from around the known world came to learn at Hogwarts, and Malik Shan, knowing from his wizard father that magic was a powerful ally, sent his only magical child, Judith, to learn from the four great minds.

Judith and her father had a close bond, despite the fact that she was a bastard. Her mother had been a Hebrew woman, Miriam Heber, a witch of an old and powerful bloodline that traced back to Abraham himself. Judith did not know the exact nature of her parents' relationship - all that she knew was that her mother had given birth to her in Jerusalem, and then sent her to Iran to Alp Arslan's palace, where her father resided. The fact that she had a Jewish mother was a closely guarded secret, and her being a bastard was never mentioned. Her father had known exactly who and what Miriam was, though, and what her bloodline represented to both the magical and Muggle worlds. Judith supposed that was the only reason that her father had not thrown her out at the time.

Her true name was Judith Heber, but she was not called that at the palace - but rather, Hameeda ad-Dawlah. But upon her admittance to Hogwarts in the Christian year of 1077, Judith had chosen her Hebrew name, not only out of pride for her bloodline, but also because she knew that to have an Arabic name close to Christian lands was not exactly the wisest thing.

She had been Sorted into Slytherin's house at the age of twenty-two, a bit older than most of the other first-year students, but there were also some that were older than that starting out. Judith was the top student for her year and quickly bonded with her mentor, old Slytherin himself. Over her course of study, she frequently sent back magical items she had created, or otherwise procured, to her father, who then used them to enhance his military power. Indeed, more than one battle had been won due to the artifacts Judith sent - the Byzantine Empire had very few magical friends these days. Their clergy, who had once been an assortment of wizards who believed their powers came from the Christian god, had been slowly replaced by non-magical men who couldn't cure sickness or transfigure water to rum to save themselves. And thus, the "holy" Byzantine Empire began to crumble against the Turkish might, pushed further and further back west.

When Judith's coursework was over - most students only studied for seven or eight years - she stayed on to further enhance her knowledge, a practice the Founders encouraged in their students but few ever took advantage of. She began to teach some of the younger years, and became a close friend to the Founders, Slytherin particularly. She had even begun to fancy herself in love with the old snake, but was never sure if the feeling was returned or not.

But then, in the Christian year of 1092, Judith received word that her father had died. Judith had been sure that there was foul play, but nothing had ever been proven - indeed, Malik Shan was an old man when he passed. Though Judith no longer had any ties to the palace, she still felt deeply concerned for her people's fate. Her uncle and brothers squabbled over the land her father had once controlled, which incensed Judith to no end. If only she were male, she would seize control and rule, not those pathetic, Muggle men who were more worried about their own personal power than the condition of the Seljuk power.

But as such, she was practically disowned by them, and Judith felt her inclinations turn down a darker path. Her father's empire was falling to ruin, and she would not stand for it. Judith began to study the Dark Arts, and much to her surprise, Slytherin began to take an interest in her shortly after. She did not know if this was because he had finally noticed her in that manner, or approved of her studies.

Slytherin was in his fifties, and while as a wizard he still had a good forty years ahead of him, he would need to produce an heir soon, just in case. Perhaps that was why in 1094, he took her as a wife, much to Judith's surprise and pleasure. She had always desired him; now his body, and more importantly, his possessions - hundreds of books that were not in the main Library, magical artifacts of the Darkest nature that he kept hidden away - were at her fingertips.

Slytherin did not know of her desire to seize control of the Seljuk Turks, nor did she really think that he cared to know. It was the affair of Muggles, and Slytherin did not bother with such things, a failing point in Judith's mind. The man could rule entire empires, easily, if only he put forth the effort.

Despite all that Slytherin did reveal to her, as his protégé and as his wife, Judith knew that there were many, many more things that Slytherin kept in his hidden chambers beneath the castle. The other Founders did not know of the chamber, which was probably a good thing, considering what Judith imagined he kept down there. She had never been there, herself - she did not even know where the entrances were. Slytherin had only revealed its existence one night when he had told her of the instructions he would leave to his heir when he died - but not before - given that she outlived him, which she probably would. Judith had been delighted in the trust Slytherin had shown in her, telling her of the chambers' existence. She had, that night, never thought that she could love the man any more than she did.

It was the same night that she had begun to plan his downfall.

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It had been easy enough to begin with. Slytherin had always had a strong distrust in Muggles, as did many of the older families in these days. They could all too well remember the stories of the Roman Empire's conversion to from paganism to Christianity, and the massacres that had followed. Many influential magical families fell from power in the Muggle world; some were outright killed in their homes. There were some, of course, who quickly converted, and sent their sons to be in the clergy - indeed, many became Saints for being able to perform the miracles that others could not. The clergy was where the political power resided, and for a long time there was a split in the magical world - those who had power in the Holy Roman Empire, and those who recoiled at the viciousness of the Christians and stuck to their older religious roots.

It had only been recent that there had been a general shift away from the Roman - then Byzantine - Empire, and away from the Church. Witch hunts were becoming more and more frequent - and more effective, as fewer families sent their sons to be in the clergy. The magical world - while still intertwined heavily with the Muggle world - found itself less and less of a religious persuasion. There were still quite a few old Jewish, Greek, Persian and Egyptian families who held close to their religious roots, but the modern day Christian wizards - while still inherently believing in the teachings of the Church - found themselves separating from the Muggle political power it had become.

Slytherin's paternal line was one of the old Celtic bloodlines, the same as Gryffindor's - in fact, Judith recalled that they were cousins of some sort. The Celts had always been hostile at best to the Romans, even in their pagan days, and so they viewed the entire Christian movement with a vein of disgust and anger. Slytherin's maternal line was a bit of a mystery, though - his father had brought his wife back from India with him, a snake-charmer's daughter, and while both of Slytherin's parents were long dead, Judith knew that it was from his mother that Slytherin gained his famous Parselmouth ability.

Judith's plan relied heavily on that deep-seated family distrust that Slytherin had grown up with. Slytherin was already at odds with the other Founders when she had first come to Hogwarts - his distrust in Muggles was so much that he did not think that those born of two Muggle parents should be allowed in the school. Gryffindor had married a Muggle-born, though, and Ravenclaw was of an old Roman family who worked closely with Muggles despite the Christian persecution, so the two potential allies in this argument were already against Slytherin's views. Hufflepuff's origins were a bit sketchy, but she had always taken in anyone and everything - she even worked with centaurs and giants, it was rumoured - so Slytherin found himself at odds with the other three Founders regarding this.

However, Slytherin had eventually relented when the House system was implemented. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff did not teach anything of a remotely dark nature, and Ravenclaw never delved too deeply with her students, teaching mostly theory. So Slytherin, the only one teaching the Dark Arts, could choose his students based on their bloodlines in addition to his other parameters, and would not have to worry about Muggle-borns turning traitor with knowledge of the Dark Arts up their sleeves.

And so the Founders had their happy truce, until Slytherin married Judith and chose to not reveal all his knowledge to her - knowledge that she needed. Judith finally reasoned that she would simply have to bear Slytherin's heir, and eliminate the old snake, so that she would have the instructions on how to enter the chambers. Nothing stood between Judith and her ambition.

But killing Slytherin was not exactly the easiest thing to do. Indeed, if she even managed to kill Slytherin - which was no small feat - the other Founders would be deeply suspicious of their friend's death. And he could not simply disappear - they would search the ends of the Earth for him. She could not have the Founders suspect foul play of Slytherin's demise and have herself found out.

So Judith set up the stage for Slytherin to turn on his friends. It was a process that took two years of scattered conversation with him - stories of how cruel Muggles had been to her in her childhood - news she had heard of witches and wizards who had fallen to Muggle witch hunts. Stories of how some Muggle-born wizards in the Far East had turned on their kind and seized control of the entire Chinese Empire - which was not in the least a lie, the Liao Dynasty which currently ruled had come to power in exactly that manner, and so had the Tang Dynasty four hundred Christian years before. The fact that Slytherin did not know the intricacies of Chinese politics or history (and how often these take-overs happened) in the least helped Judith's case tremendously.

Slowly, she could see the wheels turn as Slytherin became more and more vocal about the danger of letting Muggle-born students into the school. The other Founders, Gryffindor especially, argued that nothing had happened as of yet despite Slytherin's earlier reservations, but that did not deter Slytherin in the least. Judith wisely kept out of these arguments; least the other Founders suspect that she was the cause of Slytherin's change of heart. Still, Judith swore that Ravenclaw's soft blue eyes turned questioningly to her more than once, and Judith began to avoid the old witch for fear of being found out.

Then, less than a year ago, Judith had received word that the holy Christian armies were banding together to march on her people's lands. Judith became fearful - if she did not gain access to the hidden secrets of those chambers soon, there would be no Seljuk lands to go back to. She must have Slytherin's child, and soon.

Judith had sheepishly gone to Hufflepuff for a fertility potion, causing the old witch's brown eyes to sparkle mischievously and give Judith a fond pat on her arm as she handed over a pink potion. Judith knew that the old woman was regaling with the thought of the pitter patter of little Slytherin feet running about the castle - the other Founders' children long ago grown up - and Judith was a bit sad that the witch would never get the chance. Judith generally liked the Founders, all of them - but she had her ambition, and it did not include the Hogwarts School or its Founders.

The potion had worked, much to Judith's relief; she had feared she would be barren. Judith's belly was full of child, and she had only one more step in her plan. The animosity was set between Slytherin and the others - she need only wait for one final argument.

Her mind returned to the present and the task at hand. Judith squeezed her stomach slightly, hoping that the child would be male. She would gain access to the chamber regardless of the child's gender, but a male child would allow her to secure her position as ruler over the Seljuk lands, by ruling through her son. Even if it were a daughter, she would find a way. She would have, after all, the Dark artifacts of Slytherin.

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It just so happened, that the day after she told Slytherin about their impending child, he had had his largest argument with Gryffindor, yet. It had even degenerated to hexes - which had never before happened, as Slytherin normally kept his head in these situations. Nothing serious, of course, all easily reversible, but the tone had been set. Slytherin and the other three were further apart than ever before. Perhaps Slytherin felt that now he had a future heir to protect, the situation was more dire, but Judith didn't know nor care.

As she laid in his bed that night, she let her hands remember the very contours of his body, her nose remember his scent - along with his musky human scent, there were traces of cinnamon and saffron, the incense he burned for protection and channeling in his classrooms. She needed to remember this, all of this, for this would be her last night at his side, whether her plan succeeded or failed.

And Judith knew, she would miss him. She adored and loved her husband, and she would miss his company and his knowledge. The fact that she loved and would miss him did not deter her from her plans at all - there was love, and there was ambition, and one ranked higher than the other in her mind. Perhaps, in the Afterlife, they would be together again. Islam and Christianity told her that they would probably both be going to Hell, but Judith always favoured her mother's religion - where there was only Sheol, and everyone went there. Judith also knew that while Slytherin would probably begrudge her murdering him, he would see, yes, he would see and be proud of what her ambitions had gotten her. The power she held over the mortal men when she lived.

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Salazar Slytherin arose early, as he did every morning, and after one glance at his now-pregnant wife still sleeping in his bed, he donned his robes and swept out of his sleeping chambers. Salazar had brooded the entire night, thinking of his argument with Gryffindor. He was a bit appalled at letting himself go as far as flinging hexes at his old friend. Yes, they were harmless now, but what about in the future? He could make no such guarantee. He descended deeper into the dungeons - he needed a proper place to go over his thoughts, with no distractions of a passionate wife, as had happened last night.

Salazar had been greatly excited with the idea of a child, at last. He knew that his child would be a powerful witch or wizard, considering the bloodlines of its parents. Judith may not be an extraordinary witch, but her maternal bloodline was one of the oldest in the magical world. Indeed, that was the only reason he had finally chosen Judith as his wife - careful research of all the old bloodlines revealed that the Heber line was about as old as there could be, their claims of being descended from Abraham probably true. Perhaps it was something in the Slytherin blood, which caused his father to go to India to find a powerful witch of an old bloodline, and likewise caused Salazar to look at the exotic Hebrew-Muslim woman as a possible candidate. Judith's paternal line was not as pure as it could be, but her grandfather had been a wizard, though none of his sons were.

Judith was not exceptional, but Salazar had always enjoyed her company as a student, and when he realised (with no end of nagging from his friends) that it was coming high-time to produce an heir, he had eventually relented and asked for her hand. The fact that she had begun to show an interest in the Dark Arts only cemented his intentions.

But against all hope, Judith seemed more suited for Rowena's house than his. She was cunning if she needed to be, but Salazar soon realised that the young woman had no ambition whatsoever. She seemed content to simply stay at Hogwarts and learn, and while there as no dishonour in that, Salazar had always secretly hoped that she would develop some ambition outside of her coursework.

Conversations had always turned up null in that area, though, and Salazar finally resigned to the fact that she just was not ambitious after her father's death - apparently, before then, she had spent her time to helping him gain power in the Muggle world through use of magical means, which Salazar thought as slightly odd. The death of her father, though, made Judith very complacent and prone to many hours spent in the Library, much to Rowena's happiness.

Still, the woman was good for a stimulating conversation, and now that she was pregnant, Salazar was glad that he no longer needed to worry about producing an heir.

He was, however, worried about the future of Hogwarts if his son or daughter were to learn there. The very reason Hogwarts had been built so high up in the Scottish hills was precisely because of the Muggle threat. His friends, however, did not seem to share their concern when it came to their students. Godric and Rowena were at least a bit selective with their students, but Helga just went around the countryside and gathered the rest up, much to Salazar's chagrin.

Salazar came upon the bust of Hippocrates, and focusing on a tendril of hair that looked remarkably like a snake, he leaned down to the bust's ear.

"I command you to show the entrance," he hissed in Parseltongue. The bust slide back into the wall, revealing a stairway that led even further into the bowels of the castle. He lit his wand and stepped into the darkness, the bust closing the entrance behind him. There were multiple ways of entering his private chambers, and each entrance had a different command. He used a different entrance each time, least anyone notice a pattern in his actions.

He walked down the spiral-cut stone stairs for a good two minutes before reaching the landing and extinguishing his wand as the torches in the main chamber flared to life, casting a warm green glow with their enchanted fire. He walked briskly between the tall, snake-engraved columns towards the large statue looming ahead. To the left and right of the statue were small chambers where his family heirlooms and minor Dark Arts books and artifacts resided. He normally did not bother with these items - the chambers were merely a place to keep them in case he ever needed them - or even, in the event that entrance into the chamber was somehow forced in the future by someone not his heir, well, those two rooms should be enough to deter them from the real prizes he kept.

Salazar stopped and stared up at the giant statue. Some far time into the future, he imagined that his descendents might mistake the statue to be a depiction of his own features. But no, Salazar would never grow his beard that long - he preferred to keep it trimmed close to his face, thank you. And his features were chiseled and delicate, yes, his face a far cry from the monkeyish appearance of this face.

No, actually, Salazar had a statue of Merlin - or Mad Merlin, as he liked to call him - guarding his most treasured artifacts. He had always had a fascination of the famous wizard, a man who treated magic as if it had no distinction of Light or Dark like the wizards of today, and who mastered all, something Salazar always taught to his students. A man who was probably a bit touched in the head, too, if even half of the tales were to be believed - after all, he created a society to protect Muggles from wizards, when in reality, the danger was quite reversed.

But nevertheless, Salazar chose Merlin's likeness to guard his artifacts, and as he smirked up at the giant statue, he let loose one question in Parseltongue, "Merlin, what's that in your mouth?"

There was a sudden great rumbling as the bottom lip of the statue's mouth began to drop to the floor. Stone chips flaked off and showered Salazar with debris, but a quick cleaning spell removed them. Considering the drop, it didn't take long for the lower lip to finally descend into the floor, revealing a tunnel to another room. Salazar walked through the tunnel, and the rumbling started again as the entrance closed behind him.

He entered a rather large circular room, the tall, oak-shelved wall full of books - some Dark, some not, all powerful and dangerous in the wrong hands. There were multiple battered oak tables scattered around, each holding an assortment of magical artifacts - enchanted armour and weapons, rare potion ingredients and spell components, enchanted clothing and tools, and other miscellaneous artifacts - one of which apparently even let the user travel back and forward in Time, though Salazar had honestly never gotten it to work (though he wasn't about to doubt the potential that it could). Some were heirlooms from both sides of his family, some were items he had created himself, and some he had collected over the years.

In the center of the room was a small silver dais, with an enchanted circular window above. The dais was the other entrance into the room; the window showed the spot on the grounds that the dais was connected to. Salazar, however, never used that entrance, as it was basically meant to be an emergency entrance - or exit. It was out in the open, outside the castle, and there was little point to having a secret chamber if everyone saw you going down there. No, the dais was meant to let Salazar quickly get in and out if there was some sort of attack on the school. The chamber would no longer be secret if he sheltered students there, but he was not about to put his privacy above the lives of his students, no matter how much he valued it.

A chorus of hisses greeted him when he entered, and he hissed a greeting back. Salazar enjoyed the company of snakes - like Judith, they were very good conversation. Some were a bit dull, yes, but there were quite a few intelligent snakes in the world, and those were the ones Salazar kept around him. The snakes could all enter and leave the chamber at will - there were small round entrances all about, for Salazar wanted them to come and go as they pleased. The largest, his basilisk, was unable to fit through any of the smaller holes though, and used the main entrance through Merlin's mouth if it needed to be let out to hunt - for the entrances accepted all Parseltongue commands, be they from a snake or man.

Though the basilisk was dwarfed the other snakes, it was still rather small. In a few decades it would be too large to fit into the room, sadly enough, so it joined him here while it still could. Most of them were piled on the dais, sunning themselves in the artificial magical light.

His basilisk swung its head towards him, carefully keeping its eyes shut. Salazar knew it was still able to see him through its second sight, which the basilisk explained had something to do with warmth, but Salazar didn't exactly understand it. "Good morning, massster," it greeted.

"Good morning," he replied in Parseltongue, setting himself down in the only chair in the room, a dragonwing-leather armchair made from a Turkish Horntail. It was rather supple and comfortable, with a pleasing black colour and clawed feet. Salazar summoned his crystal ball and set it into his lap, gazing into its murky silver depths.

Crystal balls were a revolutionary bit of magic that Rowena had actually invented. The user could transport memories from his mind into the crystal, and then watch those memories play out. It allowed the user to remember details they may have never recalled with their own mind, and play out memories in their minds to find similarities in events they may have otherwise overlooked.

The spell used to transport his memories was actually a variance of a spell used to bind and trap a soul to an object - this was the reason that Rowena showed her invention to so very few. The last thing they needed were people bungling the spell and getting their souls trapped. Not only did it have the great potential for innocent mistake, but even more so for harmful abuse, and so thus, Rowena kept it a closely guarded secret between her friends until she could refine the magic more.

Salazar rested his wand on his temple and brought up the argument with Gryffindor from yesterday. "Transferi memoria," he muttered, and drew a silvery-green strand from his temple. He then touched the tip of his wand to the smooth surface of the crystal ball, and saw as the memory began to swirl in the depths.

"Transferi memoria," he said again, drawing another argument from his mind and letting it drop to the crystal ball. Salazar continued to pull memory after memory from his mind, squinting into the ball to see if any patterns emerged.

As he brought his wand to his temple again, he heard a loud warning hiss start up from his snakes, and then suddenly, a searing pain in his neck. He quickly slapped his hand to his neck, but met only bare skin. A faint tickle of legs ran across his hand and shoulder, and he saw a black and red blur race down his arm. What? A spider? He blinked as the thing scurried away, rubbing the bump on his neck. Spiders were normally terrified of snakes, especially basilisks, as evidenced when his companions suddenly lunged forward to stop the intruder.

He recognized that spider, though. It was larger than most at about two inches long, and a shifting red pattern on its abdomen - he realised it was a rare Redback spider, a magical creature that was almost extinct. The spider suddenly jerked, as if it had had a sudden change of plans from running towards the entrance to scurrying towards the darkest corner, like a normal spider would.

Salazar had had quite a few snakebites over the years, mostly due to misunderstandings, and had built up immunity to most venom, but the Redback spider's venom only held a candle to one other creature - a basilisk's. Salazar realised at that moment that he was going to die, and there was only one person he knew who would not only have access to a Redback, but would know how to control one.

Judith.

'Why?' his mind screamed out. 'No, no it cannot be her...'

Salazar shook his head as he felt the poison cloud his thoughts. His heart beat faster against his wishes, and he knew that that would only make the poison spread faster. He had to think, fast. It was at this moment, that Salazar did the only thing he could think of as the pain spread from his neck down his arms and legs. His breathing was constricted and he gasped for air as he felt the venom paralyze his muscles. He rested his wand tip on his temple and murmured, "Transferi...Transferi animus."

With his last bit of strength, he rested his wand tip, now a ball of brightly glowing green and silver threads, upon the crystal ball in his lap, and felt his mind slip away into darkness.

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Judith felt her command over the Redback with her Imperius curse fade, and she leaned back into his bed, smiling. It had taken all of her strength to keep control of the spider when it had first sensed the basilisk - she should have known he would keep one down there - but no matter. Her willpower had been enough, and she had managed to get it into position to bite him in the place where his skin was thinnest and the venom would spread most quickly - his neck.

It was only a pity that the spider, hidden in his robes, had not seen the way to the chamber entrance, nor had heard his passwords, but she would have the scroll containing those instructions soon enough.

Judith still had a bit of acting to do - she had to convince the other teachers of a distraught wife who had awoken to find her husband and all his belongings gone. On the very day she was going to tell him she was pregnant, no less. The others would think that he had left in the night because of his argument with Gryffindor, with no means for them to contact him.

It was really rather perfect. Judith fancied that somewhere out there, he was proud of her for her cunning.

Rising, Judith began to pack his belongings. She would shrink them and hide them somewhere deep in the dungeons until she could get into the chambers and move them down there.

It was all really rather simple, and Judith began to think of her dead father, conjuring up the tears that she would need later.

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Judith stared blankly at the scroll before her. This was, apparently, the instructions he had written to his heir, which the Library had been holding onto until his death - but it was all in some gibberish she could not understand.

"Rowena, what is this writing?" she peered at the witch in front of her. Ravenclaw took the scroll from her and looked at the writing.

"Oh, Salazar," the old witch sighed. "He wrote it in Parseltongue. I'm afraid you'll have to wait for your child to be grown before they can know what he wanted them to know, and hope that they have the gift - sometimes it skips a generation."

Judith could not believe her ears. The old snake! This time, the frustrated tears that came to her eyes were very real.

"Oh, what a pity," she sobbed, as the other witch looked at her strangely for suddenly bursting into tears. "I had hoped to be able to let our child know from a very early age what his father wanted of him - it seems Salazar took me out of every part of rearing our child." Judith was still incensed about the fact that Slytherin had left explicit instructions with Ravenclaw that in the event of his death, if he had a child, it was to be raised and tutored in Hogwarts and not be allowed to leave with its mother, even if she demanded it. Apparently, Slytherin had not completely trusted her to raise their child, something that stung her pride more than anything else, even though taking the child away had been exactly what she was planning to do.

The others still believed Slytherin to be alive, and hoped that once word got out that Judith was with child, that he would return - because they did not believe for a second that Slytherin would have left had he known.

"You sure that it will be a boy, then?" Ravenclaw's eyes lit up in excitement.

Judith nodded glumly and took the scroll from the elder witch, turning to leave the Library.

Ravenclaw mistook the other woman. "I'm sure he'll come back, Judith."

Judith didn't even warrant that a response as she walked away.

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The Founders had been deeply depressed by the loss of their old friend, who never again returned to Hogwarts. Only a few months after his departure, Judith gave birth to a boy, and named him Mycaelis after Rowena's father, oddly enough. She then handed over the child to the three, and left Hogwarts for good, not wanting anything more to do with Slytherin or his child.

Two years later, they received word that Judith had been killed in Jerusalem when the Christians took it and massacred its Muslim population; an event that would later be known as the First Crusade.

By then, they had given up all hope of ever seeing Salazar Slytherin again, though they wondered, until the end of their days, what had happened to their friend.