The rain did not stop, but Helga stayed.
She was not normally one for mourning, but there was a dull numbness that she could not shake. She stood by the casket and nodded as the mourners passed by. Godric's shoulder was pressed against her, and she was grateful for the touch.
"I offer my condolences, Teacher Hufflepuff." One of her former students whispered as she passed. Helga murmured a response absentmindedly, her eyes transfixed on the coffin itself.
Rowena was dead. It was a bad death, filled with pain and sickness and phlegm that Helga's potions and cures could not shake. Rowena had given up after the death of her daughter, Helga had explained to Godric. There's no cure for grief.
And now, it was simply the two of them. Rowena was gone, Salazar had vanished long ago. Even now, despite the years of hard work and joy, teaching with Godric and Rowena and watching her school and students grow and flourish, Helga felt a dark pit of worry in her heart. She was not meant to continue this task alone, and the loneliness that began back in Salazar's departure had deepened with Rowena's death.
The truth was that there was nobody left for her but Godric, and they were getting old. Her staff of teachers was excellent, and the students were indeed wonderful, but Helga felt weary. The normally-comforting routine of everyday life was beginning to include the worries of the leadership and future of Hogwarts.
How could the school possibly continue beyond their deaths? Salazar's disappearance was a blow that they barely survived. Rowena was to become Headmistress of the school, but, now, who? What would happen when Godric died? Could they really entrust an outsider, one who was not a founder, with the future of their creation?
Helga shuddered at the thought, and gripped Godric's arm. No more of those thoughts, she squeezed her eyes shut. It can come later. For now…
He clasped her hand, squeezing tightly, and, for now, that was enough.
Helga,
My dear friend, I am deeply unhappy to learn of Rowena's death. I hope you and Godric are well, and I send my love. I hope you find strength in each other in the coming days, and remind you that I am a mere owl away.
Secondly, thank you greatly for your donation of gold. I am happy to announce that I have used it to successfully purchase the old Durmstrang castle and its land in order to build my school. I have a number of talented and spirited teachers already hired, many of them from your marvelous institution, as well as others from the local areas. I am confident that this maneuver will aid our region's magical education, and, hopefully, our continued friendship will encourage better collaboration and magical harmony between our communities.
I truly thank you from the bottom of my heart, and wish you and Godric well.
Please see the object I have attached. It is a gift from me. He is highly intelligent, and I hope he serves you well.
Nerida Vulchanova
"She sent you a what?" Godric yelped at the dinner table.
"Godric, please!" Helga whispered as the other teachers and the students looked at them curiously. "Be a little more subtle, you're disrupting the students. Look, Gustavo was reading peacefully. I think you might have frightened him."
"Helga, my dear." Godric growled back, lowering his voice. "She sent you a what?"
"She, er." Helga cleared her throat. "She may have sent us a squid. A giant one."
"W-What!?" He sputtered, utterly forgetting their earlier agreement of subtlety. "What in the name of rites and rituals-? What on earth does Nerida think we can do with a squid?"
"I'm not sure." Helga replied, stirring her soup contemplatively. "Right now, I shrank it and put it in a basin in my office, but a squid that large isn't going to stay small for long." Helga frowned. "I found a book about the squid. Apparently this one is just a baby. It can grow to be large. Incredibly large."
Godric sat thoughtfully for a moment. "Are…" He cleared his throat nervously. "Are we supposed to eat it?"
"No!" Helga replied, horrified. "Nerida said he's highly intelligent. That would be a waste."
"Well, where would we put him, then?" Godric huffed. "And what use would we have for a giant squid?!"
They stared at each other for a moment, and then laughed. Of course. They may not be Rowena, but logic and intelligence still held a position in their abilities.
The lake.
The springtime showers had ceased yesterday morning, and the grasses of the Hogwarts grounds were a brilliantly pleasant shade of green. However, Helga Hufflepuff, one of the most knowledgeable healers and witches in the magical world, had spent the early morning rescuing a rather foolhardy student who had tried to go for a swim in the nearby lake, ruining her routine check up around the castle, where she normally visited the greenhouse and greeted the house-elves in the kitchens. Apparently, the student was entirely too curious about the squid and had decided to introduce himself by shooting jinxes at the poor thing. Normally Helga would've accepted his folly and apology with simple forgiveness and put the incident out of her mind, but she was not any younger, was sore from taking an impromptu swim, and was currently consoling a very confused and hurt giant squid.
"I can't believe it's come to this." She muttered, rubbing salve onto a tentacle. "You are such a bizarre creature."
Another tentacle rose from the water and patted her on the head in a clearly playful manner, but also succeeded in splashing water and seaweed onto her head.
Helga groaned as icy-cold lake water ran down her face, but held her tongue, only patting the squid with a resigned affection, not wanting to voice her displeasure at such an eager-to-please animal.
"Well, you look quite a sight."
Helga turned to see Godric standing behind her, clearly trying not to laugh. "Stop standing there uselessly and help me put on this salve." She muttered. "My dear friend here had an unfortunate encounter with one of yours." Helga said pointedly.
Godric looked a tad uncomfortable. "He holds bravery and courage in his heart…" He insisted sadly, but sat down and took a scoop of the salve, rubbing it on another one of the squid's burns.
The two figures of legend sat there peacefully, tending to the needs of a 60 foot infant, and Helga felt better than she ever had been since Rowena's death. One day, Godric would die. Or perhaps she would die first. But it was okay. They had done their work in the world.
It was time for others to take on their role. Rowena's death was a tragedy, but it was Godric and Helga's duty to continue her legacy and promote the wellbeing of their students and magical society as a whole. They had left their mark in different ways, from Hogwarts as a whole, to this baby squid in the lake, who would live for thousands of years.
Perhaps, Helga thought, they were ready to begin that next step today.
"Godric," Helga said softly, and she felt the large man turn towards her, questioning. "Have you ever thought about hiring a headmaster?"
Fin.