Disclaimer: Alright! First things first, there is no chance in hell that
I own Harry Potter. If I did, why do you think I would be writing about it
for free? However, if the good J.K. Rowling is looking for a substitute
writer, I will be more than happy to place my own input into her work
(particularly if she wants to share some of the royalties!).
Anyway, this is the first of a fifteen-chapter series concerning Harry's fourth year. I know that you've already seen a version of this, but this is my take on it. I apologize if it seems pretty confusing now, but I want to put all my eggs in one basket and work with a group of characters that don't often get mentioned in the Harry Potter universe. Allow me to assure that this story about Harry Potter will be centered on Harry Potter in Chapter 2. Until then, I hope you enjoy.
Chapter 1: Salazar's Fascinations
'To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.'
"What a load of rubbish," Rowena Ravenclaw grumbled to no one in particular. She ran a fine hand
through her raven-black hair as she sifted through the pages of her own book. The book was chock-full of
inspirational messages and words of wisdom that she had gathered and put to words during her brief time in
the land of the living. At the time, she considered it to be her greatest work, something that she could be
proud of and hold her head high. Now, she found it to be a somewhat simple form of amusement.
'Ah, the wonders and revelations that death can bring,' she thought with a lop-sided grin. Closing her
magnum opus, Rowena rose from her wooden chair and started to make her daily trek through the various
realms of the afterlife. After all, she had appointments to keep today, and she wasn't one to leave an acquaintance waiting.
'These spirits may believe that they have all the time in the world,' Rowena thought as she rushed about, 'but I've got a lot of things to do.'
She had a brief, yet evocative, debate with Socrates over the role of the judicial system in an organized society. Rowena usually enjoyed debating with the renowned Greek philosopher, although she would grow annoyed with his persistent air of superiority. After chatting a bit with Merlin and Sigmund Freud ('What an odd pair,' Rowena thought), she rushed to reach her first destination of the day.
Her senses were violently assaulted with the smell of rich lager and the sound of horrendous off-key voices singing far too loud for her liking. When she entered the impressive pub, the bartender, a rather large and merry fellow, gave her a kind smile and a hasty wave of his hand. As she returned the gesture of the kindly barkeep, she spotted the person she was to meet. Making sure that she wasn't spotted herself, Rowena quickly walked towards the bar and ordered a lager. As the red-faced bartender turned his back to prepare the drink, Rowena's eyes drifted back to her future destination.
There were three men at the table, all large, burly, and dressed as if war was at their walls. However, that is where the similarities ended. One of the men, a black-haired fellow with light-brown skin, held a disdained look upon his face, as if he loathed being there. The second man, a rather regal-looking, fair-haired gentleman, had a jolly look on his face that seemed awfully contagious. However, it was the third member of this group that Rowena Ravenclaw was particularly interested in. He had emerald-green eyes that seemed to glimmer with merriment. His long, scarlet-red hair shined within the pub's dim firelight. His loud, bawdy voice was booming throughout the already noisy environment as if it strained to dominate everything within it. With a shake of her head, Rowena took a deep breath, slowly grabbed her lager, thanked the bartender, and made her way towards the unlikely trio. The red-haired gentleman was the first to spot her.
"Oi, gentlemen! Here is the lovely bookworm, Rowena Ravenclaw," Godric Gryffindor shouted with great aplomb. "We should be honored to receive her presence this fine afternoon," he shouted further after taking a long drink from his bottle of wine.
"Hear, hear, kind Godric!" the fair-haired gentleman said while turning to lock Rowena's black eyes with his sky-blue ones. "I am always appreciative with the company of a beautiful lady."
"I am here because you asked me to be here, Godric," Rowena said calmly as she resisted the temptation to hex the blonde-haired gentleman. "If you interrupted my studies only so I could join you in your aimless carousing, then I'll be more than happy to take my leave." With that comment, Gryffindor calmly waved his left hand and beckoned for Rowena to sit down. After a brief bit of hesitation, she relented.
"Before we move on to business, allow me to introduce the rest of my company," Godric said. He made a quick gesture to the surly brown-skinned fellow. "This kindly fellow sitting here goes by the name of Temujin, but you'll probably know him better as Genghis Khan." Rowena gave a brief nod to the general behind the Mongol Empire, to which he gave a brief nod in return. "And, this lively fellow is Alexander." Godric said while pointing to the fair-haired gentleman.
"Alexander the Great," the gentleman said as he offered to kiss Rowena's hand. She inwardly shuddered at the idea, but she accepted the offer out of courtesy.
"We were discussing Alexander's conquest of Persia before your timely arrival," Godric said as he smiled at Rowena's look of disgust. "However, I highly doubt that you would like to speak of such things now would you, Rowena?" Rowena instantly grew angry at Godric's depreciatory tone.
"Oh heavens no, Sir Godric!" Rowena cried while she mockingly threw her fine hands to her cheeks in a false sense of dismay. "It is clear that a woman could not possibly understand the intricacies of such fine military strategy. After all, you were such a great strategist yourself, good sir! I have always admired your strategy regarding your magnificent display against Faust's army at Briar's Hollow." Godric blanched at the mention of his long-time enemy and the site of what was his greatest military failure. Alexander howled with laughter at Godric's horrified expression and Temujin raised his eyebrows in appreciation of taking the wind out of the wizard's sails.
"However," Rowena continued, "I understand that Faust's defeat came at the hands of another magician. A witch, if memory serves. She was a bright young lady. I believe her name was Rowena. . ."
"Yes, yes," Godric sputtered in a desperate attempt to regain control of the conversation. "Well, enough talk about the field of battle. Let us go on with our business!" The old confidence was now back in his words and his bright, green eyes.
"And what is this business?" Rowena asked while placing her half- empty lager on the table. It took a while for Godric to continue on. Godric's left index finger swirled through the contents of his wine glass as he seemed to struggle to produce what he wanted to say.
"It concerns Salazar," Godric said finally.
Salazar was Salazar Slytherin. Along with the assistance of herself, Godric, and Helga Hufflepuff, he had constructed the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry after many years of toil and battle with the dark wizard Faust to build an institution devoted to teaching young wizards and witches the skills they need to prevent the future rise of people such as Faust. They divided the school into four different houses, each of which named after themselves, and they made a Sorting Hat to place the students into the house that best suited them: Gryffindor for the brave of heart, Hufflepuff for the loyal and unafraid of toil, Ravenclaw for the wise, and Slytherin for those with the lust for power. Salazar never fully agreed with the policies they constructed and was the first to break away from the school. She had quickly followed suit while Helga and Godric remained with the school until their dying days. She was the only one to keep ties with Slytherin in the afterlife so Rowena couldn't help but presume that was the reason that Godric had called her instead of Helga.
'Typical Godric,' Rowena muttered in disgust, 'pawning off your duties just because you don't have the stomach.'
"What about him?" Rowena asked calmly.
"Salazar has been spending an. . . unhealthy. . . amount of time within the Hall of Time," Godric went on. "I was hoping that you would speak to him in order to find out why."
"Where Salazar chooses to spend his time is his own business," Rowena said, maintaining her calm façade.
"Yes, but if Salazar wishes to interfere with the rightful passage of time, then it is our business," Godric said.
"He is merely observing," Rowena said as she rolled her eyes in frustration, "your mistrust of him is grossly unjustified. However, if you are so convinced that Salazar's activities are detrimental, then I will speak with him."
"Excellent!" Godric cried as if he had won a great battle. "I'm certain that you will take care of this matter directly, Madam?"
"Yes," Rowena said as she gritted her teeth in frustration ("The nerve of this man!"). Rowena gave a brief stare at her still half-full drink and then hastily rose from her seat and gave a brief goodbye to Temujin and Alexander. After a friendly goodbye to the bartender, Rowena strolled out from the dirty pub and made her way for the Hall of Time. She was tempted to apparate out of a desire to try to maintain her schedule, but a combination of wishing to see the sights and her anger towards Godric convinced her otherwise.
Rowena had always marveled at all the intricacies of the afterlife. Simply put, there was something for everybody. Vast debate halls were next to brothels, playhouses were next to bars, and libraries were next to casinos. There was green grass, train tracks, dirt paths, and gravel roads throughout the "landscape." It was a composite of the wishes and desires of all the souls that now took up residence there.
"It's also an urban developer's worst nightmare," Rowena said to herself with a smile.
Rowena ceased her introspection once she arrived at the Hall of Time. She was greeted with the appearance of ivory columns and grand fountains that seemed to spring to the sky. To say that it was a grand structure would be a ridiculous understatement. The best Terran equivalent that Rowena could think of was the great Library of Alexandria. However, the documents here were worth far greater value than anything ever placed in Alexandria. For within the Hall of Time lay the records of history throughout countless realities concerning the past, present, and future. The Hall of Time also held devices that could alter the history of certain realities and even cause the destruction of time itself, though Rowena believed that no one would be foolish enough to attempt such a fruitless endeavor.
Most importantly for Rowena, however, was that the Hall of Time, was where Salazar Slytherin currently made his home. And, the sooner that she could take care of this frivolous task the sooner she could go on to more beneficial activities. Thus, after taking in a breath of the fresh air, Rowena marched towards the Hall of Time. Once she arrived at the doorway, she was greeted by a tiny fellow wearing a large turban and sporting a gap- toothed grin.
"Is Salazar Slytherin here?" Rowena asked with a polite smile.
"Yes, Madam Ravenclaw. I believe he is expecting you. Come right this way." After being taken aback by the little man's statement, she quickly followed the kindly doorman. After an exhausting trek down seemingly endless staircases and numerous dank reading rooms occupied by numerous scholars and historians, they had arrived at the study of Salazar Slytherin. He was a short, thin man with dark black hair and an eager look in his eyes. His attention seemed to be completely focused within a book that even Rowena couldn't identify. However, when the tiny man loudly cleared his throat, Salazar looked up swiftly in surprise as if he hadn't had a visitor in years.
"A Miss Rowena Ravenclaw is here to see you sir," the doorman said with a practiced tone of indifference. Despite the lack of emotion from his assistant, Salazar's thin, sallow face quickly brightened and a great smile formed as he rushed to greet his old confidante. Rowena, pleased that she was finally in the company of a person who was glad to see her, gave a bright smile towards her old friend and rushed to embrace him. When the embrace ceased, Rowena stepped back from Salazar and gave the wizard a sour grin.
"You're looking pale, old friend, even in posthumous standards. Perhaps you should spend less time locked away in the Hall of Time and more time enjoying the other wonders of the afterlife."
"Ha!" Slytherin shouted in mock outrage. "As if you are one to speak of such things! Anyway, the fruits of my labor here are far greater than I could ever achieve anywhere else." After saying this, Slytherin quickly marched to his desk and closed the book that he had been previously so fascinated about. Spotting his old friend's hesitation in returning his comment, Slytherin continued on. "Which, most likely, leads to your being here, does it not, old friend?"
"Indeed it does, Salazar," Rowena said with a resigned sigh. "I am here on behalf of Godric to learn of your intentions here." At this statement, Slytherin gave a derisive snort as he once again turned his back to her.
"Intentions? My intention is to learn and nothing more. Is he still accusing me of starting this Voldemort nonsense?"
"It's hardly nonsense, Salazar," Rowena said soberly, "the effect that Tom Riddle has had within many realities has been catastrophic. Godric believes that his claims to be the Heir of Slytherin are true."
"Heir of Slytherin?!" Slytherin said as he twisted his face in outrage and paced around the room. "Honestly! I would never make such a foolish wizard my heir."
"Be that as it may, Salazar. Helga fears that Riddle may be only the tip of the iceberg." At this, Slytherin's pacing abruptly ceased and he made a slow return to his desk.
"Our good friend has every right to be fearful," Slytherin said calmly. Rowena's eyes were wide with shock.
"Then the rumors are true?"
"Indeed they are, Rowena," Slytherin said with a hard smile. He carefully walked towards a small bookcase and pulled a rather large book out. Although the cover of the book was all black, a white field of energy surrounded the book and gave it a truly bizarre appearance. "However, the danger lies only within a single reality."
"How is such a thing even possible, Salazar?" Rowena asked, her voice mixed with a potent combination of fear, excitement, and incredulity. As she continued to stare at the book, Slytherin pulled up two chairs for them to sit in and he gently handed the book to his old friend.
"According to this text, the rise of this great evil is said to occur only within this reality in the year of 2003. Upon further research, I've determined that this evil could only be defeated by the efforts of three individuals, all of whom are attending Hogwarts at that time."
"And who are these people?" Rowena asked. Instead of answering the question, Slytherin takes the book from her grasp and quickly turns the pages until he arrives at the picture of three people. The first person was a young lady with chocolate-brown eyes and bushy, brown hair. She had a bemused look on her face as she observed the childish antics of the two boys in the picture with her. One of the boys had bright emerald eyes and had black hair that seemed to wait to shoot for the sky. However, what truly enticed Rowena to the young man was a lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead.
"Yes, Rowena," Slytherin said, answering her question before she even asked it, "this young man survived the Avada Kedavra curse when he was only a baby. The young lady may quite possibly be the brightest witch that I have ever laid eyes upon." Rowena, always an admirer of an intelligent magician, and a witch at that, smiled again at the picture of the young lady. Rowena chuckled at the antics of the two boys, who were playfully fighting one another for the camera.
"What are their names, Salazar?"
"Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Matthew Mcgonagall."
Whew! That was some heavy stuff, don't you think? I apologize for getting out of hand, but I really wanted to get "the big picture" wrapped up before I started in on the little picture. Reviewing is greatly appreciated and flames are as equally appreciated as compliments. After all, how am I going to get better if I don't know what I'm doing wrong? Oops! I forgot my chapter preview!
Chapter 2: A Twist in Time
Well, now that I've introduced the three main characters, it's high time that I bring them together! In the next chapter, we'll break away from the after-life and head down to Hogwarts. Until then, I'll see you next Thursday!
Anyway, this is the first of a fifteen-chapter series concerning Harry's fourth year. I know that you've already seen a version of this, but this is my take on it. I apologize if it seems pretty confusing now, but I want to put all my eggs in one basket and work with a group of characters that don't often get mentioned in the Harry Potter universe. Allow me to assure that this story about Harry Potter will be centered on Harry Potter in Chapter 2. Until then, I hope you enjoy.
Chapter 1: Salazar's Fascinations
'To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.'
"What a load of rubbish," Rowena Ravenclaw grumbled to no one in particular. She ran a fine hand
through her raven-black hair as she sifted through the pages of her own book. The book was chock-full of
inspirational messages and words of wisdom that she had gathered and put to words during her brief time in
the land of the living. At the time, she considered it to be her greatest work, something that she could be
proud of and hold her head high. Now, she found it to be a somewhat simple form of amusement.
'Ah, the wonders and revelations that death can bring,' she thought with a lop-sided grin. Closing her
magnum opus, Rowena rose from her wooden chair and started to make her daily trek through the various
realms of the afterlife. After all, she had appointments to keep today, and she wasn't one to leave an acquaintance waiting.
'These spirits may believe that they have all the time in the world,' Rowena thought as she rushed about, 'but I've got a lot of things to do.'
She had a brief, yet evocative, debate with Socrates over the role of the judicial system in an organized society. Rowena usually enjoyed debating with the renowned Greek philosopher, although she would grow annoyed with his persistent air of superiority. After chatting a bit with Merlin and Sigmund Freud ('What an odd pair,' Rowena thought), she rushed to reach her first destination of the day.
Her senses were violently assaulted with the smell of rich lager and the sound of horrendous off-key voices singing far too loud for her liking. When she entered the impressive pub, the bartender, a rather large and merry fellow, gave her a kind smile and a hasty wave of his hand. As she returned the gesture of the kindly barkeep, she spotted the person she was to meet. Making sure that she wasn't spotted herself, Rowena quickly walked towards the bar and ordered a lager. As the red-faced bartender turned his back to prepare the drink, Rowena's eyes drifted back to her future destination.
There were three men at the table, all large, burly, and dressed as if war was at their walls. However, that is where the similarities ended. One of the men, a black-haired fellow with light-brown skin, held a disdained look upon his face, as if he loathed being there. The second man, a rather regal-looking, fair-haired gentleman, had a jolly look on his face that seemed awfully contagious. However, it was the third member of this group that Rowena Ravenclaw was particularly interested in. He had emerald-green eyes that seemed to glimmer with merriment. His long, scarlet-red hair shined within the pub's dim firelight. His loud, bawdy voice was booming throughout the already noisy environment as if it strained to dominate everything within it. With a shake of her head, Rowena took a deep breath, slowly grabbed her lager, thanked the bartender, and made her way towards the unlikely trio. The red-haired gentleman was the first to spot her.
"Oi, gentlemen! Here is the lovely bookworm, Rowena Ravenclaw," Godric Gryffindor shouted with great aplomb. "We should be honored to receive her presence this fine afternoon," he shouted further after taking a long drink from his bottle of wine.
"Hear, hear, kind Godric!" the fair-haired gentleman said while turning to lock Rowena's black eyes with his sky-blue ones. "I am always appreciative with the company of a beautiful lady."
"I am here because you asked me to be here, Godric," Rowena said calmly as she resisted the temptation to hex the blonde-haired gentleman. "If you interrupted my studies only so I could join you in your aimless carousing, then I'll be more than happy to take my leave." With that comment, Gryffindor calmly waved his left hand and beckoned for Rowena to sit down. After a brief bit of hesitation, she relented.
"Before we move on to business, allow me to introduce the rest of my company," Godric said. He made a quick gesture to the surly brown-skinned fellow. "This kindly fellow sitting here goes by the name of Temujin, but you'll probably know him better as Genghis Khan." Rowena gave a brief nod to the general behind the Mongol Empire, to which he gave a brief nod in return. "And, this lively fellow is Alexander." Godric said while pointing to the fair-haired gentleman.
"Alexander the Great," the gentleman said as he offered to kiss Rowena's hand. She inwardly shuddered at the idea, but she accepted the offer out of courtesy.
"We were discussing Alexander's conquest of Persia before your timely arrival," Godric said as he smiled at Rowena's look of disgust. "However, I highly doubt that you would like to speak of such things now would you, Rowena?" Rowena instantly grew angry at Godric's depreciatory tone.
"Oh heavens no, Sir Godric!" Rowena cried while she mockingly threw her fine hands to her cheeks in a false sense of dismay. "It is clear that a woman could not possibly understand the intricacies of such fine military strategy. After all, you were such a great strategist yourself, good sir! I have always admired your strategy regarding your magnificent display against Faust's army at Briar's Hollow." Godric blanched at the mention of his long-time enemy and the site of what was his greatest military failure. Alexander howled with laughter at Godric's horrified expression and Temujin raised his eyebrows in appreciation of taking the wind out of the wizard's sails.
"However," Rowena continued, "I understand that Faust's defeat came at the hands of another magician. A witch, if memory serves. She was a bright young lady. I believe her name was Rowena. . ."
"Yes, yes," Godric sputtered in a desperate attempt to regain control of the conversation. "Well, enough talk about the field of battle. Let us go on with our business!" The old confidence was now back in his words and his bright, green eyes.
"And what is this business?" Rowena asked while placing her half- empty lager on the table. It took a while for Godric to continue on. Godric's left index finger swirled through the contents of his wine glass as he seemed to struggle to produce what he wanted to say.
"It concerns Salazar," Godric said finally.
Salazar was Salazar Slytherin. Along with the assistance of herself, Godric, and Helga Hufflepuff, he had constructed the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry after many years of toil and battle with the dark wizard Faust to build an institution devoted to teaching young wizards and witches the skills they need to prevent the future rise of people such as Faust. They divided the school into four different houses, each of which named after themselves, and they made a Sorting Hat to place the students into the house that best suited them: Gryffindor for the brave of heart, Hufflepuff for the loyal and unafraid of toil, Ravenclaw for the wise, and Slytherin for those with the lust for power. Salazar never fully agreed with the policies they constructed and was the first to break away from the school. She had quickly followed suit while Helga and Godric remained with the school until their dying days. She was the only one to keep ties with Slytherin in the afterlife so Rowena couldn't help but presume that was the reason that Godric had called her instead of Helga.
'Typical Godric,' Rowena muttered in disgust, 'pawning off your duties just because you don't have the stomach.'
"What about him?" Rowena asked calmly.
"Salazar has been spending an. . . unhealthy. . . amount of time within the Hall of Time," Godric went on. "I was hoping that you would speak to him in order to find out why."
"Where Salazar chooses to spend his time is his own business," Rowena said, maintaining her calm façade.
"Yes, but if Salazar wishes to interfere with the rightful passage of time, then it is our business," Godric said.
"He is merely observing," Rowena said as she rolled her eyes in frustration, "your mistrust of him is grossly unjustified. However, if you are so convinced that Salazar's activities are detrimental, then I will speak with him."
"Excellent!" Godric cried as if he had won a great battle. "I'm certain that you will take care of this matter directly, Madam?"
"Yes," Rowena said as she gritted her teeth in frustration ("The nerve of this man!"). Rowena gave a brief stare at her still half-full drink and then hastily rose from her seat and gave a brief goodbye to Temujin and Alexander. After a friendly goodbye to the bartender, Rowena strolled out from the dirty pub and made her way for the Hall of Time. She was tempted to apparate out of a desire to try to maintain her schedule, but a combination of wishing to see the sights and her anger towards Godric convinced her otherwise.
Rowena had always marveled at all the intricacies of the afterlife. Simply put, there was something for everybody. Vast debate halls were next to brothels, playhouses were next to bars, and libraries were next to casinos. There was green grass, train tracks, dirt paths, and gravel roads throughout the "landscape." It was a composite of the wishes and desires of all the souls that now took up residence there.
"It's also an urban developer's worst nightmare," Rowena said to herself with a smile.
Rowena ceased her introspection once she arrived at the Hall of Time. She was greeted with the appearance of ivory columns and grand fountains that seemed to spring to the sky. To say that it was a grand structure would be a ridiculous understatement. The best Terran equivalent that Rowena could think of was the great Library of Alexandria. However, the documents here were worth far greater value than anything ever placed in Alexandria. For within the Hall of Time lay the records of history throughout countless realities concerning the past, present, and future. The Hall of Time also held devices that could alter the history of certain realities and even cause the destruction of time itself, though Rowena believed that no one would be foolish enough to attempt such a fruitless endeavor.
Most importantly for Rowena, however, was that the Hall of Time, was where Salazar Slytherin currently made his home. And, the sooner that she could take care of this frivolous task the sooner she could go on to more beneficial activities. Thus, after taking in a breath of the fresh air, Rowena marched towards the Hall of Time. Once she arrived at the doorway, she was greeted by a tiny fellow wearing a large turban and sporting a gap- toothed grin.
"Is Salazar Slytherin here?" Rowena asked with a polite smile.
"Yes, Madam Ravenclaw. I believe he is expecting you. Come right this way." After being taken aback by the little man's statement, she quickly followed the kindly doorman. After an exhausting trek down seemingly endless staircases and numerous dank reading rooms occupied by numerous scholars and historians, they had arrived at the study of Salazar Slytherin. He was a short, thin man with dark black hair and an eager look in his eyes. His attention seemed to be completely focused within a book that even Rowena couldn't identify. However, when the tiny man loudly cleared his throat, Salazar looked up swiftly in surprise as if he hadn't had a visitor in years.
"A Miss Rowena Ravenclaw is here to see you sir," the doorman said with a practiced tone of indifference. Despite the lack of emotion from his assistant, Salazar's thin, sallow face quickly brightened and a great smile formed as he rushed to greet his old confidante. Rowena, pleased that she was finally in the company of a person who was glad to see her, gave a bright smile towards her old friend and rushed to embrace him. When the embrace ceased, Rowena stepped back from Salazar and gave the wizard a sour grin.
"You're looking pale, old friend, even in posthumous standards. Perhaps you should spend less time locked away in the Hall of Time and more time enjoying the other wonders of the afterlife."
"Ha!" Slytherin shouted in mock outrage. "As if you are one to speak of such things! Anyway, the fruits of my labor here are far greater than I could ever achieve anywhere else." After saying this, Slytherin quickly marched to his desk and closed the book that he had been previously so fascinated about. Spotting his old friend's hesitation in returning his comment, Slytherin continued on. "Which, most likely, leads to your being here, does it not, old friend?"
"Indeed it does, Salazar," Rowena said with a resigned sigh. "I am here on behalf of Godric to learn of your intentions here." At this statement, Slytherin gave a derisive snort as he once again turned his back to her.
"Intentions? My intention is to learn and nothing more. Is he still accusing me of starting this Voldemort nonsense?"
"It's hardly nonsense, Salazar," Rowena said soberly, "the effect that Tom Riddle has had within many realities has been catastrophic. Godric believes that his claims to be the Heir of Slytherin are true."
"Heir of Slytherin?!" Slytherin said as he twisted his face in outrage and paced around the room. "Honestly! I would never make such a foolish wizard my heir."
"Be that as it may, Salazar. Helga fears that Riddle may be only the tip of the iceberg." At this, Slytherin's pacing abruptly ceased and he made a slow return to his desk.
"Our good friend has every right to be fearful," Slytherin said calmly. Rowena's eyes were wide with shock.
"Then the rumors are true?"
"Indeed they are, Rowena," Slytherin said with a hard smile. He carefully walked towards a small bookcase and pulled a rather large book out. Although the cover of the book was all black, a white field of energy surrounded the book and gave it a truly bizarre appearance. "However, the danger lies only within a single reality."
"How is such a thing even possible, Salazar?" Rowena asked, her voice mixed with a potent combination of fear, excitement, and incredulity. As she continued to stare at the book, Slytherin pulled up two chairs for them to sit in and he gently handed the book to his old friend.
"According to this text, the rise of this great evil is said to occur only within this reality in the year of 2003. Upon further research, I've determined that this evil could only be defeated by the efforts of three individuals, all of whom are attending Hogwarts at that time."
"And who are these people?" Rowena asked. Instead of answering the question, Slytherin takes the book from her grasp and quickly turns the pages until he arrives at the picture of three people. The first person was a young lady with chocolate-brown eyes and bushy, brown hair. She had a bemused look on her face as she observed the childish antics of the two boys in the picture with her. One of the boys had bright emerald eyes and had black hair that seemed to wait to shoot for the sky. However, what truly enticed Rowena to the young man was a lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead.
"Yes, Rowena," Slytherin said, answering her question before she even asked it, "this young man survived the Avada Kedavra curse when he was only a baby. The young lady may quite possibly be the brightest witch that I have ever laid eyes upon." Rowena, always an admirer of an intelligent magician, and a witch at that, smiled again at the picture of the young lady. Rowena chuckled at the antics of the two boys, who were playfully fighting one another for the camera.
"What are their names, Salazar?"
"Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Matthew Mcgonagall."
Whew! That was some heavy stuff, don't you think? I apologize for getting out of hand, but I really wanted to get "the big picture" wrapped up before I started in on the little picture. Reviewing is greatly appreciated and flames are as equally appreciated as compliments. After all, how am I going to get better if I don't know what I'm doing wrong? Oops! I forgot my chapter preview!
Chapter 2: A Twist in Time
Well, now that I've introduced the three main characters, it's high time that I bring them together! In the next chapter, we'll break away from the after-life and head down to Hogwarts. Until then, I'll see you next Thursday!