The Voice

There he stood, arguably the greatest wizard of his time.

"It's my time, do what you must do," he said, standing there in his long black cloak, shivering, drenched in rain. He looked downward; he knew not to stare directly in Death's face. He replayed the day's events in his mind.

~*~

It had been a nice morning, at least in terms of weather. The sun was shining overhead, and there was not a single cloud for miles. Salazar was not even sure he was awake. The weather seemed to him like a dream. The breakfast he ate was hearty, and he had not one single stressor.

At least, that was the case until noon when there was a hard knock on the door.

"Would you like to buy a spell?"

"Would I like to what?" Salazar responded.

"Buy a spell. Would you like to buy a spell? Five galleons, I'll give you a spell you will never forget."

The man wore a dark green cloak. His eyes matched his cloak, and his hair was as bright as the sun shone that day.

Salazar smiled. He knew all of the spells imaginable. What made this man think that he could teach him a new one?

"I'll give you ten galleons if I've never heard of the spell before. If I know it already, I will take ten galleons from you. Deal?"

"But how will I know that you actually know the spell and you aren't just saying that to trick me?" the man answered.

"I will tell you exactly what the spell does."

"Fine. You've got yourself a deal, mister. I know you don't know this one. Voldemortis. What's it going to be?"

Salazar handed the man ten galleons and slammed the door shut in his face. Impossible. He knew every imaginable spell. How could one so intriguing slip through his fingers? He must find somebody to test it on. When he walked outside, he began humming the tune of his favorite song. The violins were so eerie, and the piano accompaniment added a hint of sadness to the song. It was the soundtrack to his life.

There was a note on his front porch. Salazar assumed it was from the man who was selling spells. It read:

You thought you were the best. You don't know half as much as I do. Enjoy the spell, and use it wisely. You never know what will happen. You might regret doing it.

S. Prince

Salazar pointed his wand at the note, and without muttering a word, it burst into flames.

"I can make you sweat, I can make you bleed. I fill up my leisure torturing half-breeds." Salazar made up words to go with the tune he was humming in his head. He cackled to himself, strolling down the street without a care in the world, other than figuring out what this new spell did.

The word was so intriguing. Voldemortis. It sounded evil, but flowed so gently out of the mouth. He liked to elongate the last syllable as if he was hissing.

At last he came upon the house he was looking for: the house of a Miss Helena Hufflepuff, the daughter of one of the co-founders of Hogwarts. She was a half-blood. Helga had met a nice muggle male and settled down with him twenty-three years prior to have a child. After Helena, there were others, but she was the eldest.

"Helena, darling, did you miss me?" he said with a smirk on his face as she opened the door, wearing naught but a towel.

Her eyes widened in what appeared to be shock and horror as she realized who was standing in her doorway. She had only met the man once when he had gotten into a huge argument with her mother, and had not seen him since.

Salazar pushed her into the house and slammed the door shut behind him.

"You will bow down in front of me," he told her calmly, pushing her backwards. He pointed his wand at her and she fell to the ground quietly. "You are no match for me, my dear. Consider this revenge. If your mother weren't chicken-shit, this would be her and not you. But she ran away and off-ed herself, didn't she? She knew what I could do to her if I found her. She was the smart one, I guess. You obviously don't take after her, do you?" He laughed, but was not joined by Helena's laughter.

"When I laugh, you laugh." He made a swift motion with his wand, and she screamed in pain. Blood squirted out of her nose.

She looked up at him, and through tears, managed to let out a small laugh to appease him.

"That's more like it," Salazar said. "But still, it's not enough to save your life." He pointed his wand at her and muttered "Crucio" under his breath. She screamed in agony as she lie writhing on the floor.

It was at this instant that the spell he had just purchased came into his head. He smiled as he let her out of the curse.

"Now, let's try something new. Are you excited?" He laughed as he made her nod in agreement. "VOLDEMORTIS!" he yelled, using a stab-like gesture with his wand.

The effects were instantaneous. She disappeared, as did the house. In fact, now that he thought about it, he was the one who disappeared. He was standing in a field in the rain. The sun was gone, and he could barely see anything in front of him. A Dark Figure came upon him with something silver hovering by his head.

"Salazar Slytherin," The Voice boomed. "You have done a grave injustice to this world. You are a disgrace to the name of wizardry. Torturing someone just because they are not pureblood. Is the fact that they are human not good enough for you? Your job is not to slay people. Your job is to live amongst the other human beings of this world and treat them fairly. You are all in this together, and it is about the common good. Can you not realize this? Your one-time friends knew this. They tried to teach you but they could not persuade you. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I...I...I don't know what to say." He was shivering, and his hair was sopping wet. He knew what he had been doing all of these years was wrong, but he had a following now. He couldn't go back on what he had said. He had to keep his reputation. He liked being feared.

"You don't deserve the chance to make up for what you have done. You will never have a chance for repentance. This is the end for you, Salazar. I hope you have realized what you have done. You are a snake, slithering in the grass. You are no wizard. You think that others are traitors, but it is you who is the traitor. You have broken the bounding contract between yourself and other human beings. And for this, you will be no more."

So there he stood, the greatest wizard of his time.

"It's my time, do what you must do," he said, and after reliving the day's events, he looked up into the face of Death. He fell to his knees, and with a swipe of a sickle, he vanished for eternity.