12th of July - 978 AD

It was a day to remember. This particular summers day was a beautiful, seemingly joyful occurrence. The sky was cloudless and blue like the ocean and the hot sun was smiling down at the people gathering in the village square below. They were all there; the Gryffinhofts, the Gryffingrogges, the Gryffinmoors and the Gryffindors. Today, the Gryffindors had organized a tremendous feast, with servings of every delicious meal in the country. Stuffed turkey, wild boar, rabbit gravy, stewed pigeon, raisin bread, slow cooked version and a number of other flavoury foods decorated the long tables. Pumpkin mead was pouring over and laughter was becoming louder by the minute.

A small boy, although big for his age, was standing alone on one of the tables. His face was beaming at the watching crowd. They were singing a song in honor of him, and the boy looked both excited and nervous.

When the song ended, a huge man with a big crimson beard stepped out of the crowd. In his hands, he held a black wizards hat. The hat appeared to be average of all sorts. Not too large, not too pointy and certainly not an eyecatcher. Furthermore, the man stepped towards his son on the table and crowned his son.

"Finally," the boy's father said, "you are a man."

Loud cheering erupted from the crowd in an instant and a massive amount of colorful wizards hats filled the air. Godric Gryffindor grinned from ear to ear as the group of people cheered his name. He couldn't believe it was actually his eleventh birthday. For over a month he had been anticipating this moment. Finally, as he stood on the table, he tried to enjoy it at much as possible.

His three younger brothers were standing on the tip of their toes, trying to get a good glimpse of him, while his mother was carrying his baby sister, Gwendolyn, on her arm. She waved encouragingly when he caught her eye. Beside her, his favorite uncle Merwyn, was clapping enthusiastically. Behind Merwyn, the Gryffinhoft and Gryffinmoor Chiefs were bumping their cups of mead together, toasting his health.

With one hand on his shoulder, Chief Grimmauld guided Godric off the table. "My son!" he bellowed, slightly intoxicated. "My firstborn child! My legacy!" His eyes were shining with pride as he studied his son. "You'll do great things, ma boy, you hear me? Great things, I am confident. It's in your blood."

Godric felt his cheeks flush. He wished his father wouldn't say such things. Godric didn't feel special. He was just like any other kid. In fact, Colbert Gryffngrogg was ran much faster than him and Daya Gryffinhoft was ten times better than him in levitation charms. Suddenly, Godric felt a lump forming in his throat. There was no way he was as great as his father claimed. He was sure to become a disappointment. Sometimes, when his father was on his bragging spree, Godric secretly wished he lived far away from his family and the village of Gryffin. There were just so many expectations.

"Father, please stop," Godric pleaded.

"Why on earth would I do that? You are my successor, the next chief of Gryffindor, and I'll be damned if I keep my mouth shut!"

"But I don't - " Godric was cut off by his uncle's drumming laughter.

"Take it easy, my dear brother, you don't want your boy get too confident. Wouldn't want him ending up arrogant like his father."

Grimmauld stared at Merwyn for a second before he too, chimed in with an equally drumming laugh, punching his brother playfully. Merwyn winked at Godric before he led Grimmauld away towards the mead table. Immediately after, his brothers ran towards him, interrupting each other and speaking rapidly.

"Godric! Show us the hat!"

"Can I see it? Oh please, let me see!"

"Wow, look at that! Can I try it?"

Godric chuckled at the sight of his younger brothers, Gordon, Galian and Gemson. They were all the splitting image of their father. All Gryffindor boys had flaming red hair, high cheekbones and a defined jaw. Godric's only distinguishable feature was his eyes, which no one knew from where he had gotten. They were the colour of bright green, although the rest of the inhabitants of Gryffin had either brown or grey eyes. Godric let his brothers try on his new hat, and chuckled when it fell over Gemson's eyes. He had just put it back on his head, when a loud bang erupted from the far end of the village square.

Suddenly, the earth below him began shaking. The tramping of hooves ringed the air and his whole world trembled. Then he saw it. A horde of horse riders were galloping towards the square, sending green flashes of light in every direction.

"They have broken through the shield!" called a voice Godric recognized as his father's.

After that, everything was a blur. Villagers were fleeing the riders, screaming so loud he thought we would go deaf. A nearby table blew up in the air, sending red sparks all over the square which further ignited the nearest houses. Red and yellow flames liked the walls of the houses and Godric heard faint screams coming from inside. Someone tugged on his arm, and Godric looked down to see the petrified face of his five year old brother Galian. Before he could register what was happening, a jet of bright green light hit Galian straight in the back. His expression froze. With a last exhale, his limp body fell to the ground at Godric's feet.

"Galian!" Godric shaked his brother's shoulders, trying to wake him. This had to be a nightmare. He had dreamt about his birthday for months. This was probably just another figment of his nerves for the hatting. He pinched himself, trying to leave his dream. He did not wake up. In fact, the screams were growing even louder. The strong smell of burned flesh caught his nose. In despair, Godric slapped his brother as hard as he could, trying to wake him, but Galian's stare remained empty.

"Get up, you dumb boy, he is dead." Godric shrieked and looked around to see who had spoken. Befuddled, he squinted his eyes, trying to see through the black cloud of smoke, but his vision was compromised. His lunges burned with every inhale, and Godric had to bend over and caught as hard as he could. At that moment, a man fell less than two feet away from him. Godric's eyes were so blurry, he realized he must be crying.

"You fool, listen to me and move!" Godric had no time to contemplate the foreign voice. Still, he did as he was told. With shaking legs, he started towards the woods.

"Duck!" yelled the voice. Godric ducked as a flash of green rushed past him, missing him only by an inch. He willed his legs to run faster, thinking that his lungs would burst. Suddenly, the earth rushed towards him and soaring pain stabbed his right knee. He had knocked his leg into something hard and tripped over a dead body. He looked behind him to see who it had been, and his insides instantly turned to ice.

The frightened face of his mother was lying motionless on the ground. At her sight, Godric let out a heartbreaking schriek of terror. This was the worst nightmare he had ever had. He wanted out. He wanted to go home. Home to his mother's calm embrace, because this was not right. At that time, he heard a baby's cry nearby. He frantically looked around and found his baby sister Gwendolyn, lying in her mother's arms. Her face was red and puffy.

The sight of his sister gave Godric new courage. He had to save her. As he had no idea where the rest of his family were, he was her only chance. Surprisingly, he felt a faint feeling of calmness in the surrounding chaos. They had to leave at once. In a heartbeat, he had leaned over and picked up his sister. As soon as he made to stand, a rush of blinding pain ran up his knee. When he looked down, he saw that the lower part of his leg was bent in an unnatural angle. He let out a gasp when the true pain of his injury hit him.

"Shh, it's alright, Gwen." However, Godric had no way of knowing whether they were going to be alright. He hugged his sister tightly, and layed down beside his mother. Closing his eyes, he prayed that their horrible surroundings would disappear. "Shh, don't cry. We'll be fine. This is not real. We'll be fine."

He continued to repeat his mantra over and over, rocking his sister. Over Gwendolyn's cries, his quivering voice was faint. "We'll be fine. This is not real. Shh, don't cry. We'll be fine." The air was thick with ash, and while coughing, Godric ripped off a part of his shirt, using it as a mask. After a while, the screaming slowly died out. Had he woken up? Godric opened his eyes. However, the scenery was even worse than before. A green mist had blended with the thick smoke, and he couldn't see more than a couple of feet in any direction. Even so, the ground was covered in lifeless villagers as far as he could see. Holding his breath, Godric scanned the bodies. He saw a couple of Gryffinmoors and Gryffingroggs. Surprisingly, the Gryffingrogg chief had a faint smile on his face and was still holding his cup of mead. Godric's heart dropped when he recognized his father's long crimson beard on a bloody corpse with a smashed nose and a wand sticking out of an eye. He quickly looked away, blinking away his tears.

There was a rushing of leaves, followed by the sound of someone kicking a corpse. Godric layed completely still, hoping against hope that Gwendolyn would remain silent. Then a man spoke.

"Hah, that was child's play."

"I expected as much," said another voice. "I even told my wife I'd be home before dark."

"Hah, I bet she'll be surprised when you actually keep your promise. How is Marion anyway? Still looking after them nargles?"

"Nah, these days she is obsessed with garden gnomes. Imported a dusin of them from the Byzantines, she did. I must say, they are - ."

"We are not done yet, lads. Go make sure we got them all." said another man.

Panic rises rapidly as Godric realized he had to get away as fast as he could.

"Keep it together, kid," said the mystery voice. Godric was now pretty sure it was coming from his head. However, it was gave excellent advice, and Godric took a deep breath beneath his face mask. He had to leave before they noticed he was still alive. Slowly, he started to crawl away. It was a slow affair, as he was moving with one arm around Gwendolyn and with one injured leg. Also, his path was regularly blocked by corpses, and he had to take detours around them. His survival was his sole focus. Everything else seemed far away, like in a parallel world.

"Hey, something is moving over there!" yelled one of the soldiers.

"Run!" It was the voice in his head. "Now!" Without a second thought, Godric rose to his feet, ignoring the pain in his leg. On the command of his inner voice, Godric dashed to the left. A jet of green rushed passed his ear. Clutching Gwendolyn, he stumbled forward, turning to his right. Then his left, evading more jets of light. He ducked, but lost his footing. He rolled over, making sure not to crush Gwendolyn. In an instant, he was back on his feet. The edge of the forest was drawing closer. For the first time, Godric felt a smudge of hope. He forced his legs to sprint faster and dodged yet another green jet. His heartbeat ringed in his years. He was racing death himself.

At last he reached the forest and he spurted through the trees. "Jump!" He jumped over roots. "Duck!" He ducked under large branches. Godric had no idea how far he ran or for how long, but after a while, the yells behind him died out and the forest grew dark. Still, Godric dared not slow down. With one foot in front of the other, he continued on. At last his feet gave away from under him and he stumbled to the ground.

For a while, he lay there, motionless, listening for the soldiers to reach him. His breathing was ragged and his leg was throbbing like never before. Even the smallest of sounds made him jump, but the riders never came. Eerie silence filled the woods. Suddenly, Godric's belly jolted in terror. He hadn't heard his sister cry for a long time. Slowly, almost without moving, Godric looked down towards his baby sister.

He wanted to scream, to release his pain from his chest. However, nothing came out. Instead of his sister, he was now holding a lifeless bundle of something that resembled an infant. His last words to her had been a lie. She was gone and he was never going to watch her grow up. He would never again hear his father's reprimands, or be subject for his little brothers' practical jokes. The full blow of what had happened suddenly hit him with full force and he felt his world spin. He had failed them. Tears flooded down his cheeks and he clutched his dead baby sister as tight as he could. It was indeed a day he would never forget.

"Forgive me," Godric whispered before he passed out.