Disclaimer: No infringement intended to JKR.
Prologue: Ancient History
Flames cast flickering light over the vast, mostly empty room. At a plain pine table, Salazar Slytherin regarded a chalice on his desk. It was Helga Hufflepuff's, he knew. Fashioned from a Griffin claw and enchanted by Rowena Ravenclaw, it was unmistakable and virtually identical to the one he'd surreptitiously examined at the breakfast table yesterday.
Yet this one appeared far older. It bore dents and scratches that bespoke an ancient relic. Puzzling.
A sharp CRACK had disturbed his slumber one fateful night half a moon earlier. Upon investigation of the noise, he had discovered the cup, surrounded by what seemed to be snakeskin, though the creature had long since perished. He'd brushed away the dried, flaky scales and lifted the cup for examination.
The cup appealed to him, though he knew not why. He felt it often since that night, whispering urgently in the darkness, drawing him from his bed. It had been in his possession just over a fortnight, and he had yet to discover the reason for its irresistible pull.
The cup contained Dark Magic, but that did not concern him overmuch. For that reason, he kept it hidden from the others. Gryffindor would destroy it without bothering to plumb the depths of its obvious powers. Deplorable, the others' fear of what they did not want to embrace. Dark magic, light magic… there was no real difference. It lay within the wizard, and the choices he made…