AN: So, this is my first ever shot at anything like this. Constructive criticism would be very welcome and hopefully this might actually go somewhere...
The Four Founders
Chapter One – Helga
The bell of the convent rang out loudly on the cool summer day. There was a gentle breeze and the courtyard soon went quiet as all attended the service that the bell signalled. All except one.
A young woman stood in the centre of the courtyard, her thick blonde hair safely tucked under her hood. She held her cloak around her tightly because it was a rather chilly afternoon.
Helga hoped that her absence from the service today would go unnoticed since the congregation of the convent had been growing so rapidly in recent months and she was not yet a true sister of the faith.
Helga's problem was that she was fast approaching eighteen years old and thus, had been asked to make her decision soon; become a nun or leave the convent for her home or for somewhere else. Of course, Helga knew that they wouldn't force her out if she decided not to become a nun and not to leave, but she didn't want to become a burden to the people who had looked after her for five years.
Looking to the gates, Helga sighed. They were always open to allow people to come inside if they needed help. It was Helga's favourite thing about the place; they always helped people who needed it, including Helga herself.
"Helga?"
Helga looked to her left and found the speaker. It was Sister Marie Claire, an elderly woman who often spoke to Helga in a kindly way.
"Yes Sister?" Helga asked.
"You are not at the service." Sister Marie Claire pointed out.
Helga knew she ought to be, "I shall come, Sister. I was just feeling unwell." It was a lie. Helga had been stood by the gate in the courtyard for almost an hour, just thinking.
But Sister Marie Claire nodded in understanding, "Very well child. Come when you are feeling better."
Helga watched the retreating nun with affection. She loved everyone at the convent and could not bear the thought of leaving. It was her second home, her only home even, Helga thought bitterly.
As a child of just thirteen her mother and father had insisted she be married and sent away to live with her husband. Thus, they had invited over a family of dark haired strangers to greet and assess Helga.
Helga's own parents were extremely wealthy nobles and this other family, Helga had no doubt, were also nobility; Helga's parents would stoop no lower since they were stuck up and haughty people. On the day of the arrival of the other family, Helga's mother had inspected her.
"Stand up straight, you look less fat that way."
It was an age old gripe that Emma Hufflepuff had with her daughter; the fact that she was small and slightly pudgy. Helga thought this was rather hypocritical, since her mother was also not a thin woman, even less so than Helga. Nonetheless, it was one reason Emma wanted rid of her daughter. The other reason….well that was much more of a secret.
The boy Helga had been due to marry was only just taller than she and he had curly black hair and piercing grey eyes. He was, however, twenty four years old to Helga's meagre thirteen years. He was not unpleasant, though his parents and brother were very weird in Helga's opinion, and he smiled at her occasionally.
It had been so long ago now that Helga could not for the life of her recall his name but she knew it had been strange, like his family. Despite this, Helga felt that she could get on well with the young man and he had told her that her favourite herb, Locksnettle, grew mainly in the southern areas of England, though reality had hit her the evening that the other family departed.
Helga had gone to her room, in her family's magnificent castle, and sat on her bed. She was angry; heated with rage because her mother had yet again told her how ugly and unwanted she was.
Deciding that she could not possibly sleep, Helga had gotten up and wandered the castle at night. However, passing by her parents' chambers she caught the angry whispers of a conversation.
"She is a disturbed child Lisle, can't you see that? If they will have her for their son's wife then we must oblige immediately."
Emma Hufflepuff's words were the final straw for Helga. The loathing bubbled inside her and she stamped her foot in anger.
Immediately flames flickered in front of her and her parents' chambers became lit with fire. Inside she could hear the shrieks of her mother and her father's panicked voice, "Helga? Was that Helga? Emma, the whole room is aflame!"
Helga panicked, rushing down the corridor and out of sight she watched her mother and father emerge from their room, coughing and sputtering.
"Ingrid! Ingrid!" Helga's mother shouted, her voice sounding strained. Helga's father was patting rapidly at his coat which was on fire at the corner. He ripped it off and threw it to the ground.
The maid appeared immediately and took in the situation, "I shall fetch water My Lady."
Helga heard her mother shouting more things at Ingrid before she began to run. Guilt washed over her like a wave and she knew what she had to do.
Packing a few essential supplies, Helga had slipped past everyone easily that night, with the chaos of the fire, and made her way to the nearest town. From there she had entered the convent and since then had been looked after by the Sisters there.
Helga had no regrets, apart from obviously setting her parents on fire, for she knew that she could not stay with them. They did not understand her and they never would. For only Helga realised that such strange events were not because she was disturbed but because she had magic.
"Magic." Helga breathed, looking to the sky. It was warmer now, in the courtyard.
Magic was the reason she could never have married the young man either, for how could she tell him that his bride was burdened with magical powers that any normal person might think madness. No, the only person Helga could and had ever shared this with was her childhood friend, Rowena Huckle.
Rowena Huckle was a girl a few years older than Helga whom she had met when she was seven. They had only met a few times but Helga's parents were keen on Rowena's adoptive parents and so the two girls had chatted. Rowena had apparently seen at once that Helga had magic and when Helga had revealed her talent for making magical remedies with herbs of all kinds Rowena had been certain. Since then they had written often and Helga only told Rowena which convent she was at.
A noise from beyond the gate made Helga start. She snapped out of her daze and stepped towards the gate. Looking out, the path led to a forest not far away and Helga could make out a group of people running towards the convent. This was unusual; normally people came to the convent alone or in small groups but this group must have been about twenty men.
What alarmed Helga most though was the fact that the two men at the front of the group appeared to be running away from the rest. Helga watched, frozen to the spot, as one of the two at the front threw his hand over his shoulder and yelled. Suddenly, as if the man had wished it, three of their pursuers fell to the ground. Helga frowned, studying the man as he got nearer. In his hand was what looked like a stick but he held it as if it were a formidable weapon. Again the man aimed it over his shoulder and took out another pursuer. His companion followed suit.
Helga jolted as she realised she ought to do something; she ought to get help. But for whom? The larger group of men appeared to be the aggressors but then again, the two men with sticks appeared to be able to defend themselves easily.
Deciding that, whatever happened, she couldn't deal with it alone Helga began to stumble backwards and towards the chapel where everyone else was.
However the men were getting closer and closer; Helga could hear their shouts and their footsteps. Looking back over her shoulder she saw the last of the larger group of men fall and the two at the front were mere metres away from the gates. Helga broke into a run.
She wasn't very fast. No sooner had she reached the other side of the courtyard than the two men were inside the convent.
"Get the gate!" One of them shouted to the other.
Now terrified, Helga shrieked and tried to run again. The man who had yelled the order caught sight of her at her shriek and took after her. Helga continued to scream as the man grabbed a hold of her and put his hand over her mouth.
"Shhh!" He told her. Desperately, Helga bit his hand and the man yowled in pain, letting go of her. Helga caught a glimpse of his red hair before she sprinted off again.
"No! Come back! I don't mean to hurt you, just come back!" His voice followed Helga and so did his footsteps. Helga knew she would never make it to the chapel in time and that she would be caught again. It must have only been an hour since the service began so they would all be in there another hour at least. Desperately Helga yelled for help. She checked over her shoulder once more and saw the red headed man reluctantly raise his stick. Helga prayed she would be safe and then her world went black.
XXXXXX
Helga awoke spluttering.
She continued to cough as she sat up and wiped the water off her face. Blinking wildly she gasped for air.
"What was that for!?" she demanded, searching for her assailant. She found him, sitting with her on the floor of the courtyard, holding a water skin. It was the red headed man from before.
Taking in her surroundings Helga realised that she must still be in the convent courtyard and that the service must still be on, since nobody else was around. Unless…..
"Have you killed everyone with those sticks of yours!?" Helga yelped, scrambling backwards and away from the man.
He chuckled, his blue eyes sparkling. Now Helga saw him, she thought he had a rather friendly face complete with his wild red hair and the beginnings of a red beard. He looked a bit older than Helga, maybe in his early twenties.
"No miss, we have not killed all of your friends with our….sticks, was it?" his chuckles were low and rumbling and came from his stomach.
Helga huffed indignantly, "Well you might have done. I saw you outside the gate, killing those men!"
The man laughed again and Helga felt insulted that he obviously knew more than he was telling her.
"My dear girl, my friend and I were not killing those men, we merely stunned them temporarily and they are all outside your convent now and perfectly fine." He paused, "Well, I say perfectly fine; they want to kill us but that is beside the point."
"I told you we should have finished them off." Helga looked up to find the other man standing over them but she could not make out his face because the sunlight kept reflecting off it.
"Come off it Sal," the red head said, "Anyway, we're here now so we should get our job done."
He turned to Helga and, standing up, offered her a hand. Helga took it tentatively and faced him.
"I'm Godric Gryffindor," he introduced himself formally, "and this is Salazar Slytherin." He gestured to his friend.
For the first time, Helga looked properly at the second man and gasped. He had curly black hair and grey eyes and he was only a little taller than she was and if she had to guess his age she would have placed it about twenty nine years to her eighteen.
"It's you!" she cried.
Godric frowned, "You know Sal?"
Helga nodded earnestly; she was sure of it, "You're the boy my parents had over when I was thirteen and they told me we were to marry. You told me that Locksnettle grows mainly in the south of England."
A flicker of understanding came upon the second man's face and he smiled slightly, "So I did. But then my parents told me you had died in your bed."
"Died?!" Helga gasped, "My parents told your family I'd died?"
"They did." Salazar said, "But evidently they were mistaken."
"Evidently." Godric snorted. He had been watching the conversation with mild interest but Helga could tell from his face that he had a more important job on hand.
"Well, enough with the niceties," he began, "where can we find Helga Hufflepuff?"
"I am Helga Hufflepuff." Helga admitted, though she wasn't sure this was the wisest choice.
Godric frowned. Helga thought desperately about why these two strangers, well one stranger and one almost stranger, might want to find her. She hoped it wasn't why she thought it might be.
"Oh." Godric sounded disappointed and Helga was offended by this.
"What?" she asked, "Am I not what you were expecting?"
"Well no not really." Godric admitted, "I mean, you don't even know what a wand is. Can you even do magic?"
"Yes, she can." Salazar cut in, "You can see it in her eyes. Do not worry Godric, she is our woman."
Helga frowned at him. How could this Salazar Slytherin suddenly tell so much about her when five minutes ago he hadn't even known who she was and then he had thought her dead?
But these things apparently did not matter to Godric Gryffindor. Once he seemed convinced that Helga was the person he was looking for he nodded and picked up the one bag that he had with him. It looked tiny and Helga wondered how he had ever survived any journey with such a small thing as that.
"Let's go then Sal. Come on Helga Hufflepuff, we must be off. We'll need to take a back exit to avoid those nasty men."
The two men began to walk away from the closed gates but Helga called out, "Wait! You can't just leave like this! And I certainly can't come with you, this is my home. And you can't just leave the gates shut with nasty men on the other side, what happens when the nuns come out of the service and open to gate to them? And who are you really? What is a wand and why do you need me to come with you anyway?"
Salazar looked amused at Helga's tirade of questions but Godric rolled his eyes and spread his hands, "Look Helga Hufflepuff, the truth is that we're wizards. And we need your help to save lives."
