A Thousand Years or More Ago
Author: ladyhuntress36
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Summary: A healer with a heart of gold, a warrior with a courageous soul, a scholar with an insatiable mind, and a crusader with a burning ambition. Each powerful in their own right, together they will create the greatest school of witchcraft and wizardry the world has ever known.
A/N: Well this is the first chapter of my founder's story. I normally write one-shots but I decided to switch it up and try my hand at a multi-chapter fic. I hope you all like it and I would love to hear what you think. Happy Reading!
Chapter 1: Cloaked Men and Rescues
Though he had seen the site before him numerous times before, it never failed to set his soul alight with rage. A young girl, no older than nine stood tied to a crudely cut wooden pole: her hands bound by rope and attached above her head. Her skin was nearly covered in dark bruises and there was blood leaking from a cut to her forehead. Her eyes, a bright blue, were horrified as she took in the kindling that was being scattered around her feet.
As a large man walked slowly towards the girl with a lit torch, the other man, who stood away from the scene, his position concealed by a few large trees and the dark hooded cloak he wore, griped the length of elm in his hand tightly. Yes, the site never failed to set him alight with rage, and he hoped desperately that it never would. He forced himself to calm though, his rage would not help the innocent girl.
"Please!" The young girl pleaded as tears streamed down her face, "Please don't do this."
The large man paused before the girl and fingered the torch lovingly. The crowd that surrounded them pulled in closer and started calling for her death.
"Burn her!"
"Death to the devil worshiper!"
"Burn the witch! Burn her!"
The man with the torch seemed energized by their cheering and moved forward until he stood inches from the girl's face.
"Please!" She begged again, desperately, "Please Father, don't do this. It's me, Ida, your daughter."
The man with the torch sneered and in a chilling voice told her, "You are no daughter of mine ."
With his words he lowered the torch to the ground and set the kindling on fire. The young girl started screaming, sometimes just wordless screaming born of fear and sometime for her mother, or for help. As soon as the first flame hit the kindling the concealed man was running. He moved swiftly and silently, and by the time that the first member of the crowd saw him his wand was up. With a red flash he downed three men and by the time the rest of the men had drawn weapons of various kinds two more were down.
The women took off running at the first sight of him so with five men down that left him four to deal with. Keeping an eye on the still screaming young girl the man's mind raced as he plotted his next moves. One member of the charging crowd was faster than the other and so with a swish of his wand the cloaked man sent his pitchfork flying and another swish had the man hitting the ground. The cloaked man took off again as the other man hit the ground, running towards the girl.
"Help me, please help me!" The girl begged hoarsely as she watched the cloaked man approach. He took a moment to mutter a quick spell and send it in the girl's direction, turning back around in time to watch a sword streak through the air towards him. The cloaked man flicked the wrist of his off hand and felt the dagger hilt hit his palm. He brought up the dagger to deflect the man's blow while using his wand to drop one of the other approaching men.
The girl's screaming, which had been growing duller due to the smoke that was hovering around her suddenly rang sharply in his ear, louder than ever. He saw with a quick glance that the flames were snaking up the girl's legs. He brought his wand up to stun the man who was locked sword to dagger with him and as he fell, the cloaked man took the now freed dagger and stuck it between the ribs of the last man. The potion that coated the dagger would insure he stay down but the dagger wound itself would be hard to heal. As the man he stabbed was the man with the torch and father of the young girl tied to the stake he felt little remorse.
He turned to face the tied up girl who was now covered in flames and still screaming her head off. He wasn't worried though; his spell would hold and prevent the flames from causing her harm. Another wave of his wand and the flames ceased, causing the scream to catch in the young girl's throat.
He took a step towards her but stopped as she flinched away from him as much as her bindings would allow. With a sad sigh he reached up and lowered his hood, revealing his short, jet black hair and gleaming silver eyes.
"It's alright, you're safe now." He told her gently.
"I was on fire. I could see the flames around me but I didn't burn."
The man nodded as he said, "Yes, I took care of it."
The girl's eyes, still panicked looked around at the nine bodies that lay strewn in various areas of the field before asking, "Are they… are they dead?"
"No, although I doubt it would be a great loss if they were. They are stunned, knocked out. They will wake in a few hours. It's safer that way, dead bodies leave trails, and we cannot afford to be found."
The girl's face showed her obvious relief at his words.
"I know it seems stupid. They were going to… they wanted…" She seemed unable to finish and looked up at the man who rescued her.
She seemed to find something reassuring in his gaze as second later she blurted out, "They wanted to kill me! I grew up with those men, knew them from the time I was born, and my father… my father would have sat and watched me burn."
The girl's strength gave out as she started to sob and the man walked over and used the dagger to cut her bonds, catching her in his arms when her legs would not support her. He was not an overly emotional man by nature but his heart went out to this girl. She was too young to have faced the horror that she had, too young to be forced to deal with the bitter taste of betrayal.
"Do you think you can walk young one." He questioned after a few moments had passed, it made him uneasy to remain in the field.
"I… I don't think so. My ankle was hurt pretty badly before. I… I tried to get away." She admitted.
"Alright then," He said and with a swift movement swept the girl up into his arms and started towards the woods that had concealed him before.
There was silence for a long while before the girl finally asked him, in a quiet voice, "You're a witch too aren't you."
"Wizard," He corrected, "Men are wizards, women are witches and yes I am."
"Magic is evil… I'm evil" She said but her voice was hollow and stoic, as though she was repeated something that had been drilled into her.
"That's your father talking." The man told her with a frown.
The girl leaned her head back against his shoulder as she said, "He said that magic was evil and that I was evil. I don't want to be evil."
His grip tightened around the girl as he told her, "You are not evil. Magic is an ability, nothing more and nothing less. Your father was dead wrong child, having magic doesn't make you evil."
The girl didn't seem completely satisfied with his answer but was comforted enough to shut her eyes and lie quietly in his arms. The man sighed bitterly, it would take time for her to believe his words but eventually she would, they all did.
"I just realized that I never thanked you." The girl's voice spoke up, interrupting his thoughts.
As he looked down at her and blue eyes met silver she smiled and said, "Thank you for saving my life.
The man allowed a small smile to cross his face as he said, "You're welcome young one. I set up a small camp where you can rest and I can take a look at your injuries but it's awhile from here, I'd try to get some sleep if you can. You've had a long day."
She shut her eyes but opened them a moment later to ask, "Who are you? I mean, you rescued me and are taking care of me but I don't even know who you are."
"I'm a friend. After all, we magical folk have to look out for one another because non magical folk certainly won't and I've seen far too often the damage they can do."
"My name is Salazar," He finally told the girl after he could no longer bear her continued staring "Salazar Slytherin."