"Once there was a beautiful young witch, by the name of Orabella. She had sweeping blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes, and everything she did had a certain grace to it. Orabella could easily have had any man she wanted, and all the girls jealous in an instant. But for some reason, she wanted more than just beauty. Her magic was never up to scratch with anyone else's, although no one noticed that, because of her entrancing looks. Orabella didn't think that beauty was just enough. She wanted more. Thoughts of power, control, and domination came to her mind. She wanted it all, and would do anything to get it.
She had heard of a man who could make wishes into reality, but only to a lucky few. She was sure that the man would choose her because of her stunning beauty, and set to go find this man. She traveled for many nights and days before coming across a cottage that was the home of the man.
Orabella knocked three times before she heard an old voice ask, "Who are you?"
"Orabella Malfoy, sir," she responded in her sweet voice.
"Come in," said the man, and the door swung open. Orabella stepped into the dusty cottage, and found the old man sitting in a rotten armchair, smiling like a snake.
"Ah, Orabella, what do you seek? For you must of come here for a wish, no?" The man laughed a hoarse, terrible laugh. Orabella, however, was in no mood to joke around.
"I come here for power. I wish for immense magic, more than any mortal has ever known." She said, her voice quavering slightly.
"But haven't you been blessed with beauty already? Surely you have the power to win over any man? Isn't that… enough?" the old man asked, a playful curiosity in his voice.
Orabella sighed, and replied, "No, it isn't. I want people to admire me for my beauty and my magic. I don't want one thing if I can't have both. That's why I came to you."
The man smiled like a snake again (dear Merlin, Orabella thought, how much like a snake that man looked!), and then said, "I'll give you the power, but everything comes with a price. You will marry a Muggle blacksmith, and beauty and magic will have no use for him. You will have a child who is greedier than you are, and will ruin what will be the greatest institute in Britain's history. The line you produce will be full of greedy, malicious evil-doers, and the last of your line will be the worst."
Orabella at this point didn't care about the consequences. She brandished her wand, titled her head back, and the great wizard made her more powerful than ever.
When Orabella got back to her village, she showed off her new-found extreme magical powers to everyone, making the girls grow more jealous and the boys fall even more in love with her. She was so proud of what she did; she never came to think again of the old wizard's prophecy.
But the day came when a lowly blacksmith came into town looking for a profession, and Orabella couldn't help falling in love with him- he had the most charming face she'd even seen, and beauty to match her own. When she told her father of her love for the blacksmith, he was enraged by her passion. He threw her out of the house and disowned her. Orabella didn't care; she had a man she loved! …and wasn' love all-powerful? They moved to a town not far away, and they got married and were expecting a baby.
After the second month of her pregnancy, she cried out, "Oh! What a fool I have been! I have talents that I don't even need, the things I prized most, yet I threw them away! Woe is me!" Devin, her husband, tried to comfort her, but she thrashed and screamed, "That old man's prophecy! It's true! My child! What will become of them?"
Devin still tried to calm her, but she begged him to leave her, for it would bring them nothing but misfortune. Finally, after a couple more days of screaming and thrashing about, Devin gave up and left. From there, Orabella traveled to a marsh, where she fashioned herself a tiny hut from magic, and raised her child there. She eventually adopted the surname of her mother, Slytherin, and the child went on to be known as Salazar Slytherin."
"So it's true?" a young child asked. "Is the legend true?"
The father smiled a sneaky smile, and said, "It can be interpreted many ways, Merope."
"But I want to know if it's true or not!" Merope whined, pouting and biting on her lip. "Did that really all happen? Is Salazar's mother really Orabella? Am I-"
"Stop it, child!" Rang Marvolo Gaunt, and he slapped his child across the face, to which Merope gave a whine. "I said, it is open to interpretation. Take it as you will."
As Merope sunk away to her room, Marvolo gave an even wrier smile. "Merope can be right sometimes, though."