Tale of a Time Long Gone

A/N: Well, new chapter's up! Hope you will all have fun...

In this chapter: Rowena's mad. Rowena's determined. Rowena's very stubborn. And she's dragging Helga down with her...

Enjoy!

Chapter 5 - Book and Armour

"In modern times, most of the Wizarding World views Salazar Slytherin as the one who ruined the Founders' unity. Most people believe it was his dislike to those of Muggle heritage that resulted in his leaving the school.

"Naturally, we cannot cast all the blame on him, for in truth it is equally shared by all four Founders, who, in the late years of their lives, started disagreeing with each other on minor issues concerning the way they should run the school.

"However, truth or falsity, what is remembered by all is Salazar's departure.

"Why had he left? What was the main reason behind his angry leave-taking? The obvious reply 'because he disliked Muggle-borns' does not hold sway, for it is known that Helga Hufflepuff herself was of Muggle heritage. If the reason for his departure was only hate to Muggle blood, why did he help founding Hogwarts to begin with? He knew for a fact that Helga was one and still he aided the founding.

"So, yes, one of his reasons for leaving was definitely his disagreement with the others concerning the admission of Muggle-borns to the school - but was it all?"

- Hogwarts, A History; Author unknown

What's this? Helga thought, turning sharply to look at the woman who had been like a surrogate mother to her for the past two years.

Almost as if she heard Helga's words, Rowena demanded, "What's this?"

"Rowena!" Rosalind's voice was slightly too shrill to Helga's liking. Whatever the two men had to discuss with her was not going to be good. Rosalind's voice continued climbing into panicky tones. "I want you and Helga in bed - now!"

Helga started getting up from her chair, even though she wanted more than anything else to listen in on them.

"No!"

Helga was shocked. She stared at her best friend. Never in her life had Rowena dared disobeying her mother. She was always the obedient daughter - Rosalind never had to issue a command more than once. But now...

Now Rowena was standing, auburn hair loose from its knot, skirts wrinkled, eyes blazing - she looked almost wild.

"Didn't you hear what I said?" Rosalind demanded in a sharp tone, blotches of red appearing on her face, mute testimony to her anger.

"Oh, I heard you well enough, Mother," Rowena seethed. "And I said no. I am twenty years old - you can't cuddle me for ever! What are they talking about? Who is Lord Ambrosius? What is this Council? Why do you have to face them? I will not leave 'til I have some sort of an answer! You've kept me in the dark long enough and I have had enough! I know you and Father have been keeping secrets from me. I know that you think I can't handle things - but you're wrong. You always underestimated me. I knew there was something weird going on for a long time - long before Father was murdered. You should have hidden the book from me - not charm it so I cannot see what written! I have a brain and I can use it, as you of all people must know!"

Helga watched Rosalind with bated breath. The woman's anger seemed to rise as if to match her daughter's, but when she spoke, her voice was deathly calm.

"You will go to your room now, Rowena, and you will go there without protest. You are still my daughter and therefore honour-bound to do everything I tell you 'til you are married. I don't want to repeat this twice."

Rowena lowered her head. To anyone but Helga it would have looked like the young woman deferred to her elder, but she knew better. She, unlike Rosalind and the two men, had a clear view to her friend's eyes. The glint in them was the farthest away from defeat.

"Let us go, Helga," she said in a deceptively sweet voice.

Helga glanced at Rosalind and then hurried after the already retreating Rowena. The moment the door to the main room closed behind them, Rowena put a finger to her lips, telling Helga to keep quiet. She tiptoed to the door and put her ear to it.

"What are you doing?" Helga hissed.

"Listening in, naturally," Rowena whispered with a mild grin. "Mother will immediately know if I will use magic - but she can't detect good old Muggle tricks. Can you go and fetch our water cups?"

Helga nodded and walked to their room, making as little noise as she possibly could. What Muggle tricks did her friend think of using? What had the glasses to do with it? How on earth did Rowena think of something when she, the Muggle-born, did not?

She picked up their glasses and went back to where Rowena was pressing her ear to the door. She handed her one and watched as she put the glass to the door.

"It's supposed to enhance the sound," Rowena explained in a soft voice. "Put it to the door and listen."

She did as she was told, glad that Rowena deemed her worthy to eavesdrop together with her.

"-Great Merlin, woman!" came Godric's voice. "I have no idea what he wants! How many times do we have to explain this to you? We are merely the delivery service. We do what we are told!"

"And when exactly did the son of Gawain Gryffindor become a mere delivery boy? Your father would never have stooped so low!" said Rosalind

"Don't you talk to me like this, Madam! I have done you no wrong! I am a man of honour and I have been commanded by the Council to bring you to face it. That is what I will do!"

"So much for the pride of the Gryffindors," Rosalind said scornfully. "Sticking to a corrupt system just because it is the system."

"Madam," said Salazar softly, "it is not willingly that we do as the Council commands us. We have been sworn Servants of the Council eleven years ago. We cannot disobey them."

There was a shocked silence for a while before Rosalind said weakly, "I didn't realize. Forgive me. But...why? Both your families were members of the First House since the day the Council was founded. You are part of the Council. And if you are Servants, then-"

"Then we cannot rejoin the Council," Godric said bitterly. "Ever. Oh, yes, Ambrosius knew exactly who he had to take out in order to have everything his way. He found a way to make sure that the Gryffindors and the Slytherins will never plague the Council again with their troublesome manner."

"Still," Rosalind said softly, "I will not come with you. When he had exiled Ryan, Ambrosius lost any kind of friendship that may have been between us. He had doomed the two of us and our child to an outcast's life, and indirectly he had cause Ryan's untimely death. For that, he has my eternal hatred. If I lay my eyes on him, I might just as well kill him. For what he had done, there is no forgiveness. I shall remain here 'til the day I die."

Next to her, Helga felt Rowena involuntarily flinch. What was this about exile? What was it that Rosalind and Ryan kept from their daughter?

"But don't you understand, Madam? Ambrosius will have you if that is what he wants," said Salazar. "He may have done a mistake by sending the two of us who are reluctant to do his will - but if we come empty-handed he will just send more willing Servants and get you anyway."

"I will not come."

"Madam!"

"I suppose that what he wants from me is my research on instant transportation. I'd rather die before I see the research of my life in the hands of that murderer. You will just have to go back empty-handed, my lords."

"And what about your daughter?" Godric asked.

"What about her?" Rosalind's voice was sharp.

"Will you always keep her like this? In the dark? Not knowing who her father was? Not knowing that most of the Wizarding World regards him as something close to a hero?"

"The day she'll find the book I believe he had hidden for her will be the day she will learn."

"Never, then - because you will never tell her of the book."

"Exactly...I love her too much to let her know."

"I think we got the gist of the matter," Rowena muttered to Helga. "Let's go to bed." And she walked to the bedroom.

"I don't get it," Helga said truthfully. "What happened there?"

Rowena slid out of her clothes and into her nightdress. "Well, from what I understood, there's this government sort of thing, called the Council. It is headed by a man called Ambrosius, and from the tone of their words, I think neither Mother nor that pair like him much."

"That's an understatement," Helga said dryly. "I think the phrase your mother used was 'I might as well kill him'."

Rowena chuckled. "I never thought Mother could say such a thing... Anyway, so this Ambrosius fellow exiled Mother and Father for some reason and somehow got lords Gryffindor and Slytherin out of the Council and did something that prevents them from influencing the Council. Now he wants something to do with Mother's research concerning travel by magic and he sent them to fetch Mother - but Mother will not have it. That is about it."

Helga followed Rowena's lead and changed into her nightgown. She expected Rowena to get into bed, but the other woman surprised her. She closed and opened various drawers and boxes in the room, frantically searching for something.

"What are you looking for?"

"Something I filched from Father a long time ago," Rowena answered, her head stuck deep inside their wardrobe.

"What?" Helga was surprised. "Why would you filch something from your own Father?"

"Because I was curious about things," she said as if it explained everything.

"Curious about what?"

"Well, I was just six at the time, so I did not really understand, and my reading was not very good-"

"What are you babbling about? Just get to the point, please."

"I'm getting there! Anyway, Father used to disappear a lot back then, and when he came back, his clothes were covered with dirt and grass stains. So one day, Mother was too busy doing something, and she asked me to wash his clothes for him. When you wash clothes - what is the first thing you do?"

"Err..." Helga looked at her friend uncertainly, not sure if this was a rhetorical question or not.

"Come on, Helga! It's not a trick question! What is the first thing you do?"

"Sorry, Raven. Search the pockets, of course - so that nothing left there by mistake will get wet."

"Exactly. So I search the pockets, and what do I find? A piece of parchment with a doodle on it. It was not a very good one. It had a few crooked lines and a big X on it."

"A map?"

"You think of it now, when you're eighteen - but I was six and I thought it was simply a doodle Father made to pass the time - so I put it in my room and meant to return it to him."

"Only you never did."

"That's right. Now I want to find it."

"Why?"

"Because of the book Mother was talking about. If I'm not very much mistaken - it will lead me to the book. I think that Father meant for me to find the map - otherwise, how could he have expected me to find it? He probably put the parchment there just so I would find it. He knew I wouldn't be able to know what it is when I was six - I think he guessed I'll remember it at some point and realize what it is!"

"That is a lot of assuming, Raven," Helga said carefully, not wanting to spoil Rowena's excitement. "It might really be just a doodle."

"I doubt it. Now where is it?"

Helga winced as something metallic crashed on the floor. It was a tin box. Its lid fell on impact with the floor and everything in it scattered.

"Damn!" Rowena swore, and then froze.

The sound of running feet came from the corridor and the door burst open to reveal Rosalind. A very scared Rosalind for that matter.

"What are you doing?" she demanded upon seeing Rowena trying to pick up a selection of stones, pieces of parchment, carved pieced of wood and the like. She seemed to have regained her composure.

"Sorry, Mother," Rowena muttered, not really sorry by the way her eyes rolled, Helga decided. "I was looking for my hairbrush."

Not a very good lie, considering the hairbrush was in plain sight on the bed, but Rosalind was preoccupied enough not to notice. "Go to sleep," she said shortly and walked out, closing the door behind her.

"That was close," Rowena said after a few moments. "Here. I knew I'd find it sooner or later. Hold this, please?"

Helga gingerly took from her the rather old, grubby folded parchment. Rowena quickly put everything back into the tin box and put it back into the wardrobe where it had lurked for over a decade. She then retrieved the parchment from Helga and unfolded it.

"I was right!" she said triumphantly. "It is a map. Look!"

Helga peeked at the parchment and reluctantly nodded. "Yes, I suppose you are right. What are you going to do then? Show it to your mother?"

"Merlin, no!" her friend said indignantly. "I am going to look for that book, of course! Mother would have me completely ignorant to their past - but I want to know! Now let's go to sleep. It is getting late."

Helga shrugged and slipped into bed.

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She was woken up early the next morning. She doubted Rowena meant for her to wake - but the other woman dropped the hairbrush by mistake and the noise alerted Helga that something was not as it should have been.

It was dark - maybe two hours after midnight, she estimated. It was also very cold, and she shivered beneath the warm blankets. Sometime during the night the fire had burnt out.

"What are you doing?" she whispered, startling Rowena.

"Oh, nothing! Get back to sleep Helga. I'll talk to you in the morning."

But Helga's mind, brought to sharp awakening by Rowena's tone of speech, refused to listen. "You are going to look for the book, are you not?"

The dark figure that was Rowena sighed. "Yes, I am. Are you going to tell Mother?"

Helga felt rather hurt that Rowena did not trust her, but said, "Of course not! I am coming with you, however!"

"What?"

"You heard me. I'm coming with you. You are going to be needing help anyway. He probably had it buried, and you can't dig all night by yourself."

Not waiting for Rowena's reply, she slid out of bed and started pulling her clothes on. "Don't forget your warm coat," she said briskly. "Nor your scarf. And put an extra skirt on - and your heavy stockings. The snow has not entirely melted yet."

"What are you - my mother?" Rowena grumbled.

"No - but in her absence someone has to make sure you are taking care of yourself. How did you plan on leaving? They might be still awake."

"Through the window."

"Oh, good - what?"

"Through the window."

Helga stared at the shadow that was Rowena incredulously. "Through what window?"

"Our window, of course. Come on. We will have to break into the tool shed to get a shovel. Ready?"

"Err... yes, I suppose I am," she said, though in her head, her brain screamed. What do you mean you suppose you are ready? You are not ready! Climbing out of the window in the middle of the night? You may get killed! You may lose your way, gets stuck in a bog and never be found again! Is she out of her mind? Are you out of your mind?

Her brain continued shrieking insults at her, but she calmly watched as Rowena carefully unlatched their window and climbed out. She heard a soft thump as her friend hit the ground five feet bellow the windowsill.

"Come on, Helga! We don't have all day!" came the hissed whisper.

She followed her friend outside. She just knew that her jump down was not as graceful as Rowena's. She landed straight on her behind and had to ask for Rowena's help to get up again. Rowena muffled her laughter and pulled her back up.

After breaking into the tool shed and getting what they needed, they walked a small distance in the dark. When Rowena deemed they were far enough to safely light her wand, she muttered, "Lumos!" and the small wand-light flooded Helga's eyes.

Rowena pulled out the map her father had drawn many years before and they started walking.

It was strange walking in the darkness. The Glen was very familiar to Helga - having spent there a large part of the past few years, but she had never traveled it after dark - especially not when winter still prevailed. It was gloomy, and they had trouble seeing outside the circle of wand-light.

She had no idea for how long they walked. More than two hours, that was for certain, but also less than four. It was already starting to get light when Rowena said "We are here. It's this hollow here - I'm sure."

And then they started to dig. Rowena went first, clearing the snow from the small hollow and breaking the tough ground, first using her magic to warm it by little. She worked until her arms were threatening to fall off (or so she told Helga) and then they switched. Rowena rested until Helga could not continue and they switched again.

It was a little after daybreak when Rowena let out a cry of victory and fell to her knees, her hands clearing the dark soil from a large wooden crate. Helga helped her until they managed to uncover the lid. With combined efforts, they pulled it off.

"An armour?" Rowena said weakly. "What has armour to do with the book?"

"I don't know, Raven - but let's at least see if there is anything else beneath it," Helga told her and started pulling the bits of armour out.

There was a preserving charm on the crate, for the metal was not touched by rust, nor were the leather straps rotten. The metal parts were painted blue, and on the breast of the suit of armour (for it turned out to be a whole knight's armour) was a large bronze eagle.

Beneath all the various parts of the armour, was a blue velvet case with golden strings. Rowena picked it up reverently and untied the strings, pulling out a simple leather-bound notebook. She opened it. Helga peeked from behind her shoulder. The words on the first page were very simple:

The Legacy of the Phoenix

A study of History

By Ryan Raven Lord of House Ravenclaw

"Is this the book?" she asked her friend quietly.

"It has to be," was all she said.

They packed the armour back into the crate. Then Rowena levitated it and they started heading for home. The way home turned out harder than she expected - mostly because Rowena was reading while she walked and had to be herded to the right direction.

By the time they reached the house, two things happened. One, Rowena finished reading the book, and her face told Helga that she had come to a decision, and two, three figures bore down on them and started talking all at the same time.

"-Where have you been?!"

"-Worried you mother to death-"

"-Could have been found by a wandering Muggle and put to-"

"-Was about to go mad with worry-"

"-Never do that again-"

"-What is it that you're levitating?"

This final question came from Godric, who was more amused than worried.

But with that simple question, he directed Rosalind's attention to what Rowena was holding. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before finally letting out in a weak voice, "You found the book."

"Yes. I did," Rowena said proudly. "And I have read it."

"All of it?" Salazar asked in surprise. It had taken him more than a week to finish reading it.

"While we were walking," Helga said with a small grin. "And we found Master Ravenclaw's armour - I think." She nodded at the crate that still hovered in midair.

No one was listening however, because Rowena's and Rosalind's staring contest caught their attention.

"So now you know," Rosalind said.

"Yes."

"And what do you think?"

"I don't... know what to think," Rowena admitted. "I was angry at first, because you hid things from me. Then I was confused, because I wasn't sure of all that I read. Now I simply know what I am going to do."

"And what is that?" Rosalind's voice was weak.

"I am going to face the Council in your stead."

"What?" three voices demanded in alarm. Helga was simply surprised.

"You are most certainly not!" Rosalind said fiercely.

Helga expected Rowena to rise, but it never happened. Her friend merely smiled a sad, small smile. "You cannot stop me, Mother. I want to face the man who had killed my father and tell him exactly what I think of him. I want to see the faces of all the men who had helped him bring our world to such a state. I want this - and I will have it. I know just as much as you do about our system of travel by magic, and that will give me legitimate reason to come with lords Gryffindor and Slytherin into Stonehenge. If you refuse me, I will find another way to go. I just needed you to know."

The staring contest was long. None of the two wanted to be the first to give in, but in the end, Rosalind lowered her eyes in defeat. "Very well," she said. "I can no longer keep you here. You may go."

"And I am coming with her."

Helga looked for the person who said that, before realizing, with a sinking feeling, that it was her who had let these words out of her mouth.

"Helga!" Rosalind said in shock. "You are not my daughter, but I care for you as if you were - I cannot let you go to Stonehenge!"

"Yes, you can," she said softly, feeling bolder by the second. "And you will. I cannot stay here without Rowena. I always did things with her - and I am not going to let her go by herself. Besides," she said with a wry grin "She is going to need a chaperone, will she not? What impression will she make if she comes alone with two men - an unmarried girl?"

"Absolutely out of the question!" This did not come from Rosalind, but from Salazar.

"Why not?"

"Because you are a woman."

"That cannot be it and you know it! Rowena is a woman and you did not say a word against her coming!"

"That is different."

"How?"

"Rowena is from a long line of witches and wizards. She knows far more than you about magic."

"That is true - but that does not make her any better than me!"

"It... it does."

"Does not!"

"Salazar!" Godric finally snapped. "This is no time to start this argument. Helga may come if Madam Ravenclaw says she can."

Four pairs of eyes focused on Rosalind, who finally said, her voice quiet, "She may go."