Warning

"Friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate." -Thomas Jones

Two boys in the middle of a village market leaned in close, whisper and hissing in angry, unhappy tones before one - a monkey-eared boy - jumped the other child.

"Argh!" The young boy yelled as he pushed down his once-friend and beat him with his fists. "You liar! You traitor!" He screamed at the other child as said child crouched down against the barrage of fists. Footsteps behind them, the monkey-eared boy hardly knew how close they were until a hand yanked him back.

He fought the grip for a moment; still wanting to hurt the liar, once-friend, but once he stopped upon being cuffed in the side of the head. A bit dizzy after, the boy had to concentrate on the face now hovering above him. It was his mum. Somewhere in his daze, her voice began to fill his ears;

"Salazar! You moron child! Who do you think you are to hurt master Buxton?!"

Scowling up at the dour woman, the child wrenched himself away to cross his arms in a sulk. "He lied to me! He said he didn't fancy Liannah but I saw him give her a flower crown earlier!"

The woman sighed and brought him close. "You get on so well though...mayhap it can be forgiven?" Salazar's mother partly pleaded with her son as she suggested it.

"No!" He yelled back loudly. "I will never be friends with a liar and traitor such as he!" The child declared with rage. "I shan't degrade myself by trusting him again!"

Seeing that there was no talking down her impassioned son, Salazar's mother took his hand and said to him; "If you so choose to hold grudges against once-friends instead of blessing them with forgiveness, remember this my dear child; friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate."

"What does that mean?" Salazar inquired, puzzled slightly by his mother's warning.

A sad sort of smile on her lips, she told her only son "It means if you are to leave a friendship, do not part badly; it will only lead to more trouble."

"I see," the child replied. His lips were pressed thin with sternity, but the way his pupils darted to and fro told Salazar's mother he did not in fact "see". So with a sigh, she hoped he'd remember her words and when the time came, he'd recall her warning and heed it.

xXxXxXx

By the time Salazar Slytherin left Hogwarts - the school he helped build and loved - he'd forgotten his mother's warning and so his children, the ones he'd picked especially for his house, were left with enemies at every corner of Hogwarts due to no fault other than the failed friendship between Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor. And as another saying goes, the friend of my enemy is my enemy; and all picked by Godric to be of Gryffindor were friend to Godric - same as those picked by Salazar to be of Slytherin were friend to Salazar.

And so started the Slytherin/Gryffindor rivalry (or rather, enmity).

This is for the Muggle Studies Classroom of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments) forum.

Thanks for reading everyone and pretty please review!