The four of them sat in a comfortable sitting room tossing back and forth ideas. Helga had already told the other two what Harry had told her and he had explained that witches and wizards from his time needed wands to do magic, Wandless magic was rare and difficult.
Occasionally Harry would shake his head at a name that he disagreed with. All the other names the others disagreed with. They had already decided that Harry was going to stay with them
"Gregory Stamford?"
"Jessie Grey?"
There was a pause as no one objected. Finally Godric frowned. "It's alright, but it lacks the noble sounding ring to it, like ours."
Rowena snapped her fingers. "That's it!"
The three others looked at her in confusion.
"Think about it, all of our names have the same first letter: Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, Godric Gryffindor." She and the others sat up straight. Harry eyed her nervously, she hadn't said-
"S." Helga announced. "His name should start with the letter S."
"Salazar," Rowena offered.
"Slytherin." Godric finished after a moment's pause.
"Salazar Slytherin, I like the sound of that," Helga turned to Harry. "What do you think?"
"Something wrong with it?" Godric asked, seeing Harry's pale face.
Harry shook his head. HE was Salazar Slytherin? No wonder the Sorting Hat thought he would do good in that house. "N-nothing wrong with it." 'Why am I agreeing to this?'
"You recognize the name, don't you?" Rowena asked, knowing the answer.
Harry nodded weakly. Godric clapped his hands excitedly.
"It's settled then! Hello Salazar, I'm Godric Gryffindor." He held out his hand for Harry-no Salazar to shake.
Straightening, Salazar did so. "It's a pleasure to meet you Godric."
--
Time passed quickly. Salazar discovered he loved riding horses and startled the others by informing them he had never even seen one before. Not a normal one anyways. Rowena, Helga, and occasionally Godric worked with him to teach him how to use his magic wandlessly and without incantations. He found out that Rowena was a year older than he was at 17, Godric was 14, and Helga was 13. He hadn't been aware there was such an age spread between the founders.
Helga had pounced on him one morning, quite excited. He had reached for his glasses and she swatted his hand out of the way.
"Now, this may hurt, but do you trust me?"
Salazar squinted at her nervously then nodded. "What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to drop a few drops of this potion on your eye and then do the same with your other eye with this other potion."
"Er, what for?"
"To fix your eyes of course!"
The idea both scared and excited him. He nodded again and let his friend prop his eye open with her fingers as she dropped three drops on his eye. Before it had time to start working, she dropped some of a different potion into his other eye. They both started burning and he closed his eyes tightly to prevent himself from crying it out.
They burned all day and Helga refused to let him wear his glasses while the potion worked its magic. He had been restricted to the garden, unable to see and in pain comparable to that of his scar when Voldemort was near.
Comparing the pain to his scar made him reach up to his forehead and feel his scar. It was gone, just a barely noticeable ridge the same color as his skin and the pain was gone as well. He hadn't had any nightmares since he had arrived in the past besides the one where Rowena, Godric, and Helga were chasing after him and teamed up with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny.
He missed his friends dearly, but he couldn't help but think that he was only here for a vacation, that he was going to go back in September and see them on the train for another adventure at Hogwarts. Hogwarts made him think about his three new friends. All three of them were orphans like he was and Godric was the only one of them that actually had been allowed to keep his home as he was the male heir.
They were good teachers though. After he had finally gotten his magic to flow through and do what he wanted it to, he had told them so.
"Good work Sal!" Helga cheered as he levitated the pillow in front of him around the room. Godric was chasing it while Rowena laughed in the background.
He grinned back. "Good work to you three, you're the ones who got it through my head."
Godric paused to input, "And we all know how thick that is."
Helga laughed so hard she was crying and Rowena was doubled over.
After they were no longer in danger of laughing themselves to death Salazar spoke again. "Seriously, though, you'd be great teachers." He paused in thought and Godric caught the pillow. The other two girls exchanged looks and Godric frowned. Salazar shook his head and tugged the pillow out of Godric's hands with a grin and the chase began again.
Something nudged his side and he startled out of his musing. Looking over, he didn't see anything. He sat up and reached out, brushing up against something silky. Breath catching in his throat, he tugged on the fabric and revealed his broom. In awe, he ran his fingers over the sleek wood reverently and the broom trembled. He grabbed it and it pulled him to his feet.
"Where have you been hiding?" He whispered and the broom twisted in his hand. He let go and the broom poked at the cloak. Salazar was reminded of the flying car that he and Ron had let loose in the Forbidden Forest and grinned. "Gained a personality did you?"
The broom thrummed in answer.
He laughed and, throwing the invisibility cloak over himself he climbed onto the broom. Without a thought, he had pinned the cloak around him so that no one would see him and he flew off.
He didn't even notice that his eyes had cleared.
--
Letting the Firebolt take whichever direction it wanted, Salazar mapped out the route as they flew so as to not loose his way back. When the broom stopped in midair, he looked foreword and gasped.
The heart wrenching sight before him beckoned him, inviting him into the castle's lonely corridors. He dismounted the Firebolt before the grand doors he knew all to well and walked in with a sense of Déjà vu.
There were significant differences. The halls were empty of paintings and suits of amour and only some of the few things he saw like the structure were familiar. Still, it was familiar.
A sudden sweep of urgency had him running back outside and jumping on the broom. The castle and grounds had been abandoned for quite some time and he knew he had to show the others.
He left the broom with his invisibility cloak, which the Firebolt promptly donned, at the front doors. He ran through the halls of the manor and startled the others who were converging in the sitting room.
"Salazar Slytherin! Where have you been?" Rowena demanded.
Salazar frowned then reached up to his eyes. "Oh yeah." He gave the others a sheepish smile and Helga slumped into her seat.
"I should have known, we all know how much of a scatterbrain you are."
Rowena sighed and Godric stood from his seat. "What's got you in such a hurry anyways?"
Salazar snapped his fingers. "Right! Come on, you have to see her!"
Rowena huffed and sat down. "All this for a girl?"
Salazar frowned in confusion then brightened. "No, no, she's a castle!"
Godric frowned as he leaned up against the back of a chair. "Sal, the nearest castle is a two days ride by horseback."
Salazar opened his mouth to argue then closed it with a snap. When he opened it again it was to ask, "Is it inhabited?"
"Well, of course."
He then grinned. "This one isn't!"
That of course attracted their attention. "What are you talking about? Who would just leave a castle?" Godric asked.
"No idea, but please? We can pack for a trip if we need to, but you three have to see her!"
"She's calling you isn't she?" Helga asked softly.
Salazar started then nodded. "She feels like home." He refrained from mentioning that it was home.
Rowena stood and clapped her hands. "We'll need food, horses..."
A/N: And another one up! Okay folks, I need the name for a very respectable vampire, not one that's well known to humans though, and an idea of where the vamp came from, kay? Cya!
