The Five Founders
Veriria.com

Chapter 1, Part 2

The muffled voices of children and adults danced through the walls as they started to arrive inside the castle. Rowena had instructed some of the house elves to attend to the newcomers as they arrived, because Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin, the other two founders, were a tad bit late.

Veriria and Rowena were seated comfortably in front of the fire, and neither said much to the other person. Helga was seated in a small chair in the other corner of the room, indulging in an outsider's activity known as knitting.

Veriria was focusing on what she would say to the parents and children; there was no doubt in her mind that they would want to meet her. Veriria's hands started to clam up and shake slightly at the thought.

"Now, where could those two be?" said Helga thoughtfully. "They know what time they planned this to start at, so why must they always be the ones to break their own appointments?" she asked, and shook her head.

Rowena stood up and walked towards the small window. "Well, I hope they do get here in a timely fashion, I would hate to leave our guests waiting so." she said, the disdain barely hidden in her voice.

Veriria reached for her cup of tea, which was presently occupying space on the table to her right. She bit her lip when she thought about having to talk to so many people at once again. She stopped that trail of thought when she heard the crack of the teacup shattering on the floor.

"Now really, Veri, there is nothing to be so upset about." Rowena said turning towards her, then sighed. Rowena turned towards the window again, to resume looking for any signs of Godric and Salazar, no doubt.

"I know there is nothing to be nervous about, its just that I still think this is a bad idea somewhat..." Veriria trailed off with her thought. She waved her hand impatiently which caused her teacup to reassemble itself back into her hand, and cleaned up the spilled tea on the floor.

"Ah, I think they are on their way, I see their robed figures coming up the road right now." said Rowena. She walked slowly back to her seat, and sat back down.

"Have you come up with a charm yet, Helga, to protect the school?" inquired Rowena. Both women looked over to Helga.

"Don't you worry, I've come up with a charm that will stop people from snooping around here, I assure you. It will make it so the castle looks run down, and an anti-curiosity spell will be put upon it as well." Helga smiled mischievously.

As Veriria began to play with the cords on her sash, the door to the office flew open and Godric strode into the room, with Salazar close on his heels.

"Forgive us, Ladies, but we had to outsmart a few outsiders on our way back from Hogsmede." Godric said. He then walked over to the desk, and sat down in the chair behind it. Salazar silently nodded to each of the three women, and walked over to the fireplace, and placed a foot on the hearth. He took out a pipe and lit it, then inhaled deeply. Then Veriria noticed he was smirking.

I wonder what exactly they did to the outsiders, Veriria thought lazily. The lull of the fire was trying to pull her into a light sleep, but she prevented it from taking a hold of her. She blinked and held her hand over her mouth to stifle a yawn.

Salazar. Veriria's family, Cerridwen, never really held Slytherin in very high esteem. Then again, there were few who did. But, he was in fact one of the best wizards of their age, and had consented to help in building Hogwarts. Meaning, they all had to work together in peace.

"Well, we have a lot of work to do today," Godric said as he slapped his hands then rubbed them together, "I am glad we told the parents to bring their children on the earlier side, because it looks to be a full day, getting the children sorted into their proper houses and such."

Helga looked up from her knitting, Veriria noticed, trying to stay awake. Listening to more conversation was helping, although her eyelids were starting to feel heavy again. "I'm still not so sure about separating the children into different 'houses' though, Godric, I think it would be promoting a bit too much competition between them, wouldn't you think?" Helga said, she set her knitting down on the small table beside her, and set her hands in her lap, looking straight at Godric.

"Now Helga, we've all gone through this before. You know it will be a good way to promote making new friends between the students, its not as if we are going to totally isolate each house from each other - as much as Salazar might like that." Godric smiled widely, and starred up at Salazar who was still standing beside the fireplace.

The corners of Salazar's lips turned downwards, and he sneered at Godric.

Helga let out a small 'humph' and picked up her knitting again, clearly unhappy with the decision.

"I still don't understand why you indulge in such frivolous outsider habits, Helga," drawled Salazar. He stroked his chin as he looked at Helga.

Veriria shifted in her seat slightly, and she bit her lower lip again. I really don't want there to be a fight over this... she pleaded with herself. Godric started shuffling pages around on his desk, and finally found what he was apparently looking for.

"Because I enjoy it, Salazar." Helga blushed slightly, but never looked up as she said this.

Godric cleared his throat and changed the subject. "I assume you all have had the students dormitories set up by now?" he asked. All of them nodded a silent 'yes'.

"I bet I can guess where your House's dorms are, Salazar." Rowena said, breaking the silence and finally saying something for all this time. She was a very silent person, when she wanted to be, Veriria noted.

"I suppose there is no harm in telling you," replied Salazar, turning to Rowena, "Yes I have chosen the dungeons. Not that it matters much, I am putting a password on the door so only my House's members may enter and leave as they see fit." Salazar snorted, and took his foot off of the hearth. He crossed the room in three paces.

Veriria looked at him, and then reflected on Salazar's appearance as he strode past her. He was a very tall man, easily over six feet tall. He had black hair, an aquiline nose, his features were quite chiseled and his face was all around very pointy. He always had a hint of stubble on his chin, though it never seemed to bother him. However, Salazar always dressed in the finest of clothing, and he never seemed to 'dress down' at all, either.

Veriria's gaze followed Salazar as he sat on a chair in front of the desk that Godric was sitting behind. The two men were complete opposites. Godric, in contrast to Salazar, was a very slovenly person. He always forgot to button the top button of his cloak; he had slightly greasy brown hair, and was always fashionably late as he called it. But at least he knew what a razor was for, considering his face was always clear of stubble.

"That is a rather good idea," Veriria said thoughtfully. "I think we should all do that, put a password on each of our House's entrances. It would deter students from being out after curfew." she looked at Godric, then to the rest of them.

"Yes, yes, very well." Godric said impatiently. "Now, if there is nothing further to discuss I would like to start bringing in the children." Godric grabbed one of the pastries that Wambo had previously brought into the room, and shoved it into his mouth. He licked his fingers, and then absent-mindedly wiped them off on his tunic.

"We should all have a go at bringing the children in, that way all of the parents can meet us all formally." said Rowena.

"Why don't you go first, Veriria, bring in the boy named Baldric Malfoy." said Salazar, taking the list of children out of Godric's hand.

Veriria's lips thinned, and she stiffened as she stood up, her body not happy to loose its' comfortable protection. She crossed the room to the door lightly, and caught a glimpse of Salazar sneering at her out of the corner of her eye.