Four
Summary: One school, Two deaths, Three comings of age, and the Four teachers that started it all. Return to Hogwarts at the turn of the eleventh century to discover what really happened to the four founders.
Disclaimer: JKR owns the names of allthe characters that sound familiar, and quite a few of them that don't. I don't plan on using this story for money or anything else that might be of value, except for constructive criticism.
A/N: There will be a list of all the students and their respective houses at the end of each chapter (unless I forget) so in case you get confused (there are a lot of students) you can check it. P stands for Prefect, and H stands for Head Prefect.
Chapter 1
Wednesday, September 12, 1010 A.D.
It was a brilliant summer day, the leaves refusing to turn even though it was the middle of September, and the children were getting the most of what could possibly be the last warm day before autumn swept in. As much as Lilian Woodstock wanted to go outside and chase Kim and Jonathan Ratcliffe about on their broomsticks, the scroll about Woodwort and slivers of Flossweed was many inches short of the designated length-- eight inches short, in fact. She cursed her tiny handwriting and wondered how large she could stretch her letters without Professor Slytherin noticing the change.
She hated third year Potions class. Each year it grew a little more challenging, and each year she fell that much more behind. Charms, however, was her favorite class, and she could learn a new spell within the first ten minutes of class. They were working on the new spell "Accio" for the next week, and she could already call large objects like broomsticks and cats. She giggled at the memory of Kim's cat flying into Charms class, sound asleep in midair. How Professor Ravenclaw had loved that little trick, and had commended her for her deftness...
A small golden object flashed across the table, disturbing the memory and making Lilian jump. It glinted in the sunlight and did a small flip in front of her nose, and then was gone. She looked around her chair, certain it had fallen to the ground somewhere, and collided heads with Cedric Diggory, the gorgeous fourth year.
She yelped and nearly lost her balance, and Cedric's arm shot out and caught her shoulder.
"So sorry, Lilian," he yelped, one hand rubbing his forehead where they had connected. "Did you see that Snidget come through here?"
"Snidget?" She ran her thumb along the sore spot on her temple, tilting her head up at him. As the pain faded, she found her cheeks heating up because of his proximity. Cedric Diggory was such a nice boy, cheerful and spirited, and every girl fifth year and under wanted to date him, or even be looked at by him. Even the haughty girls that looked to Godric wanted Cedric Diggory.
"Small golden bird, about..." he held his fingers open in front of her face, "this big."
"I just saw it!" She exclaimed, excited that she had intelligent things to say to Cedric. She had the horrifying tendency to be clumsy around him, and often found her elbow in the butter dish at dinner when he looked her way. And speaking to him usually turned into a disaster, a verbal train wreck. Kim laughed at her after Cedric had gone away, but Kim had the tendency to stare without blinking whenever he looked at her, so she really shouldn't laugh.
"It's in here, then," he said conspiratorially. "Can I enlist you in helping me find it?"
"I'd love to help; it sure beats trying to remember what Slytherin said about Woodwort!"
They set about the Common Room, seeking for that elusive glint of gold, but it was Lilian who saw it first. "There, look there!" She pointed wildly at the far corner, and the Snidget, which had been idly beating its wings, sprang to life. It shot upward and then straight between them, wings whirring like a bug as it gusted past. Cedric made a fantastic dive for it, but it dodged left and he slammed into the long couch and flipped over with it. Lilian watched the Snidget, entranced; it was as if she knew which way it would go before it went. She stepped calmly over Cedric and his couch, one hand coming forward, and as the Snidget dove toward her, she reached and plucked it out of the air. Its wings beat frantically against her fingers, her heart racing in time with it, and then stopped flapping.
"I got it, Cedric," she grinned, and turned to hand it back to him.
"You caught that so easily..." He watched with the light of admiration in his eyes, and she flushed and looked away for a moment. "What is it for?" she squeaked in embarrassment.
"It's part of a game that Adrian Puddlemere created. Hey, I bet I could teach you how to play!" He grinned, and she helped him to his feet. "It's like you were pulled to it... There's an interesting side-effect. What are you doing on Sunday?"
"Me?" She squeaked again, and almost started using those cuss words Alexander Pritchard used when his potion turned red instead of yellow. Couldn't she have five minutes without being reduced to a bumbling fool? "Sunday sounds nice..."
"Right, then. After lunch? We'll go for a broom ride and I'll teach you how to play the game." Cedric smiled and tucked the Snidget into his pocket, and then went up the stairs to the male dorms.
Lilian stood there for a long while, smiling at her good fortune, and then returned to her work.
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"Not a good idea, love," Ronald Ackerly informed his younger sister Amy. "William Malfoy is a Slytherin, first and foremost. Letting a Slytherin get your goat like this makes you little better than a Gryffindor."
Amy had smoke pouring from her ears-- literally, as William Malfoy had mixed her drink with the Pepper-up potion they had been making in Potions this morning. A vengeful Amy Ackerly was synonymous with an angry dragon-- except that she had the intelligence of a true Ravenclaw, and could easily befuddle the greatest Slytherin minds.
Ronald and his twin David were sitting at the table, one on either side, the forgotten remnants of their extensive research papers across most of the table. Two weeks into classes, and the seventh years already had papers due the Friday after next. Because they were Ravenclaws, the amount of work didn't bother the Ackerly twins, but they knew several Gryffindors (namely Rhiannon Pelland and Christopher Black) who were already complaining about the amount of research and work that they had to do. One almost thought, when listening to Rhiannon and Chris, that Hogwarts wasn't a school at all, but an extensive playground for eighteen-year-olds who have forgotten to grow up.
"We'll get even with the little snot later," David soothed their younger sister, putting a reassuring arm around her and fogging his glasses on the steam shooting from her ears. The glasses were the only way to tell the twins apart-- and at that, David only needed them for reading, and would take them off when he and his brother were up to mischief. And they were up to no good often, despite the ever-increasing workload. They suspected that was why Brian had become a Prefect-- to keep his older brothers and his younger sister in line. Unfortunately, he had no more jurisdiction over them than Aaron Dumbledore did, and Dumbledore was the male Head Prefect, and could actually assign detention where he saw fit. Brian didn't have the power, but even if he did, he couldn't use it against his own brothers, and they knew it.
"I don't want to get even," Amy said vindictively. "I want to make him pay." She glared at her brothers, as if challenging them to argue with her, but they knew this mood too well. Nothing would be gained by arguing with her in this state.
David grinned, and said, "Then we'll have to make him pay, love." He exchanged looks with Ronald, and through the twin bond, Ronald caught a hint of the plans he had in store for that prissy Malfoy.
The portrait entrance opened, and Professor Ravenclaw stormed in. She looked quite preoccupied, and more than a little frustrated, and David shot to Ronald, Maybe we should hide?
No, she'll find us either way. She thinks like us. Ronald picked up his quill and pretended to be working on his essay; David grabbed up a book and flipped through it slowly.
"I'm leaving you two to your punishments," Amy muttered. "I'll catch up with you later." She picked up her Astronomy tomes and retreated to the windowsill, ears still smoking. Ronald watched and wondered if she might actually get a tan before summer ended... It was looking that way.
God, she's gorgeous when she's in a mood, David quipped, and Ron was shocked at the implication that his younger sister was appealing to his twin. He gave David a strange look, and realized that he was talking of Ravenclaw. Ron kicked him in the shin beneath the table, and David yelped. I'm just saying...
This was one of the few things that they did not share through the twin bond. If David wanted to have a complex over the pale black-haired teacher, that was his problem.
I heard that! David glared at him, and then Rowena spotted them.
"David and Ronald Ackerly," she said in a loud voice, and the few younger Ravenclaws that were sitting in the armchairs beside the dark fireplace dropped their books and looked around at her and the Ackerlys. It took quite a bit of commotion to make Ravenclaws drop their books, seeing as many of them were only responsive to their own name shouted in their ear, but the more mischievous had also grown attuned to David and Ron's names. It was wonderful entertainment for even the first years. Ron suppressed a grin as all eyes were trained on Professor Ravenclaw or the twins.
"Yes, Professor?" David put on his most innocent face, which he had perfected years ago, when we had really been innocent (Ronald snorted mentally, as David was feeding words into his head again). "What is it?"
Her stern expression did not alter, and she continued, "Yesterday, Professor Slytherin tells me, you two put Mirthwodle into Francine Parkinson's Serpent Venom Antidote, which concurrently exploded onto several Slytherin students and changed them into snakes."
That was Monday, not yesterday, David muttered, and Ronald kept a straight face. They had exchanged frank or glib comments since the day they could speak via the twin bond, and Ronald especially had become a master at thinking one thing and acting innocently with the rest of his body. He pressed some of that charm into his spoken response: "We did no such thing, Professor."
"Really? Then why did Professor Slytherin find traces of Mirthwodle on your worktable when you finished class?"
Shit! Ronald sent to David, but they kept their composure, and Ronald began. "I don't know why he--" The thin teacher slapped her fist onto the table and leaned forward, getting in David's face. David was the more likely of the two to confess to her, and she was determined to get a truthful answer out of one of them. In the past, David had been the more squirmish, the one she had been able to coax the truth out of, but David had matured in the past year, and had gleaned how to keep a straight face through trial and tribulation both. Ronald sent bracing comments over to his brother, pledging him not to speak of their misdeeds, and it helped. David simply shrugged and continued Ronald's sentence: "Found Mirthwodle on our desk. We were not working with it, nor did we damage her potion. She must have added it herself."
Wonderfully done! Ron cheered, and Rowena pulled away.
"If you don't tell me what that Mirthwodle was doing on your desk, I will have to assign you punishments with Professor Slytherin."
Fuck, we're screwed! David moaned.
"This is the third time since the beginning of classes..."
We're not screwed, just think of a purpose for that Mirthwodle, and quickly! said Ronald, communicating fast.
"...Slytherin hates you two with a vengeance..."
There was a silence as David cogitated; neither of them was paying attention to Rowena at this point. Got it! he thought triumphantly after a moment, and Ron held a smile inside.
"What do you have to say for yourselves?" She had assumed the classic "I'm waiting" pose: arms crossed, head tilted slightly, and for all Ronald knew, she was tapping her foot beneath the table.
"Professor, we needed the root for our Clear Mind Potion, but we didn't put it in her cauldron. Mirthwodle can clear the senses when combined with Collyswap." David added the tiniest bit of impatience to his tone, to imply that he wanted to return to his homework.
"What do you have, David, that you would need to clear your mind from?"
He looked at her, and blushed, and didn't need to say anything. Ron rolled his eyes and would have kicked his twin if he wasn't getting what he deserved. Rowena looked affronted at first, and then she smiled, relaxing a little as she caught the implications. Ronald could almost see value in David's obsession, when she smiled at one like that...
She chuckled and the electricity in the air dispersed. Off the hook! Ron crowed, but he could sense that David was still peeved at the revelation of his secret.
"Now I know why I chose you two to be Ravenclaws," she said affectionately, and tousled David's hair. "You've outsmarted me! You win," she smirked, "Another crime you 'didn't' commit."
"A good Slytherin sneaks around; a good Ravenclaw doesn't get caught," Ronald said in a stage whisper.
"But you did do it," Ravenclaw said, pointing upward.
"Certainly not!" Ron protested.
"We said nothing of the sort," David said at the same time.
"Fine, fine, " she said, holding her hands up in defeat. "I don't think we give you enough work, if you still have time for pranks." Her lips parted as she smiled, showing a short row of teeth, and she left the Common Room shaking her head.
Ronald let out a triumphant whoop when the portrait had shut, and David sighed his relief. She's learning from her mistakes, Ron. We'll have to be more careful.
Ron twitched his mouth in a one-sided smile as the second and third years began applauding. Brilliant bit of work there, although she has engaged her brain on this one.
David took a very theatrical bow, one arm out behind him and the other pressed to his heart. It's just another challenge I'll have to get through. And this topic is off-limits for a while!
Why is that?
I saved our asses with it. David smiled sweetly at Ron, and they both burst out laughing.
Neither noticed that Amy went upstairs, disgusted by the way they worked their crowd. She preferred the subtler ways of tricks, and she was brewing a plan. That snot Malfoy wouldn't know what hit him.
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"ROWENA!"
Peter St. Thomas lost concentration and jumped, positive that Professor Gryffindor was right behind him and yelling in his ear, and the gold vial he had been pouring fell from his hand and clunked noisily onto the worktable. Being that it was a gold phial, it did not shatter, but the contents oozed out like a serpent.
"Bloody hell," Salazar cursed dangerously, and then realized what Peter had dropped. "Get back!" He yelped, and pulled the startled Slytherin and his station-mate, Elsa Snape, away from the table, as the dragons blood began smoking and the wood peeled away in thin strips.
"What's happening?" Brian Ackerly asked from the next table, and his eyes widened as the pool of dragons blood reached the nearest glass vial. It lit up and hairline cracks splintered all along the base where the volatile substance touched it. The glass emitted a low-pitched noise, which quickly ascended...
"Get down, everyone!" Salazar ordered, and all of the students in his Advanced Potions class ducked just in time. The glass shattered and glowing shards flew all about, stabbing into the stone walls of the dungeon. Peter looked at his mentor and wondered if now was the time to use one of the new spells he had been taught. Salazar looked around at the eight students, to make sure that no one had sustained injuries, and looked at Peter with a murderous glare.
Godric yelled again, calling for Rowena more insistently.
Peter's jaw dropped a little at the accusation in Salazar's glare. It hadn't been his fault, it was that fool Godric-- he stopped himself. Godric, as self-absorbed as he was, was still a competent teacher. He made Defensive Tactics and Flying lessons enjoyable-- when he wasn't telling outrageous stories about things that obviously hadn't happened to him. He released his anger at his teacher and at Professor Gryffindor and accepted his punishment, whatever Slytherin would throw at him.
"Scorgify!" Salazar snapped, and the dragons blood disappeared from the table. Nothing could fix the sorry state of the workspace, however, and he looked it over before condemning it. An inch of wood was peeled back in some places, and there were glass slivers and shards embedded in the table.
"ROWENA!" Came the call again, and Salazar closed his eyes as if begging for patience. "Damn fool is Amplifying," he muttered, and opened his eyes and addressed the class. "Elsa, please clean up this table and move your things to another one; everyone else, please put stoppers in your dragons blood vials if you haven't already added it to your potion. Those of you who have," he looked over at the two Ravenclaws, "Continue to stir as instructed on the board. I will be back. Come, Peter."
Peter followed nervously, not knowing what to expect from his tutor. Slytherin could be undeniably cruel, and he could be infinitely patient, depending on the many variables his life revolved around. He was especially ferocious this year, but Peter felt that it was from the breakup of he and Rowena over the summer. They had married over the winter holidays between 1004 and 1005, and they had kept it secret, having gone to a Muggle church to get married. Peter only knew of the marriage and annulment because Salazar's snake had told him.
The main reason Peter had become a Slytherin was that he could speak to snakes. He wasn't particularly devious, like the others, or adept at sneaking, like the Torres family. He was normally very quiet, and the one thing that set him apart was Parseltongue. It was as rare a gift as Elemental powers, and there were none of those in the school. However, if there were any, they would be under Ravenclaw's jurisdiction, because she specialized in the branches of Mind-magic that dealt with Animagi and Metamorphmagi.
"Peter, be on your guard. I need you to understand something about Godric," Salazar murmured while stalking purposefully toward Godric's Defensive classroom on the next floor. Peter was pressed to follow close lest he be forced to run. His mentor's legs were incredibly long, and one wide stride was worth two of Peter's.
"All right, Professor," Peter admitted, although he couldn't imagine what Salazar meant.
Salazar slammed the door open and demanded, "What the blazes do you think you're doing, Godric?"
Peter stifled his laughter at the look on Gryffindor's face. He was afraid, and Peter could see a small black tail hanging from the chandelier. The rest of the body was a flurry of wings and black fur, a sinuous body with wings that were larger than the creature itself. This was awesome: Godric was afraid of a little gryffin, the thing he was named after? A glance at his teacher's face indicated that this was amusing to Salazar, too.
The gryffin launched from the chandelier and landed on Godric's shoulder. "GET THIS THING AWAY FROM ME!" For heaven's sake, Peter thought, and he really did laugh at the irony. Fortunately for him, his laughter was drowned out by the sound of the gryffin shooting flame out of its beak.
Godric ducked, but the gryffin was firmly attached to his shirt, and he grabbed the creature around the middle to try and pry him off.
Salazar just stood there watching, a delighted look on his face that Peter hadn't seen since last semester. This was new; why did Salazar enjoy watching Godric make a fool of himself?
"What is going on in here?" Rowena demanded, entering with a herd of second years flocking behind her. She wrinkled her nose and demanded, "What are you doing to my gryffin?"
One of the second years twittered a little, and was quickly silenced by the Gryffindors in the group. It looked like mostly Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, as five of them were sporting blue ties and sashes. Blue seemed to be the Ravenclaws' color, although the reasoning behind it was unknown to the other three groups. They had fashioned themselves, the four groups, after their supporting teachers. With the association came certain characteristics, which was primarily why they had been chosen by their namesakes.
The one who had giggled was none other than Amy Ackerly, and she was almost as delighted with this scene as Salazar was. Peter knew her from his awkward entanglements with her older brothers, and from Malfoy's over-the-top hatred of her for silly reasons. They had been dubious to begin with: "She looked at me funny", "She threw potato at me while the teachers weren't watching"... Malfoy was always griping about her. Peter and Elsa Snape were betting cleaning-duty for a month (against Reggie Mordente and Diana Verily, who didn't know what they were talking about) that Malfoy started dating her in the next two years.
"HELP, ROWENA!" Godric yelled, and batted at the gryffin. Peter and the rest of the students laughed as she silenced Godric and called for the creature with an odd chirp; it immediately launched to her shoulder, folding its wings neatly enough that they didn't even brush her hair around, and gave an echoing chirp. She cooed soothingly to it for a moment, and then looked at Godric who was trying to speak.
Salazar finally seemed to take pity on Godric, for he pulled his wand out and pointed it at Gryffindor, and Godric began speaking. "--Why was that thing in my office in the first place?" He seemed a bit startled at being audible again, but continued after a moment. "Rowena, can't you keep your creatures in the dungeons?"
Rowena gave a long sigh and, without answering, turned to push her students out the door and back to their classroom. The gryffin winged up into the air at the door, once again not touching Rowena's head with its wings. Peter looked up at Salazar and noted the look of sorrow that crossed his face as Rowena left without a word in his direction. Peter was dying with curiosity as to the unfavorable circumstances that had broken the two of them apart; he could never ask Slytherin, though. There were just subjects that one didn't approach with Professor Slytherin, and all the Slytherins knew where the boundary lay. The other three groups were mostly afraid of him, or at least respected him enough, that they weren't going to pry into his personal life.
"Thanks for rescuing me, Sal," Godric huffed, using Salazar's most-hated of nicknames. Godric was trying to use sarcasm, and it was failing quite obviously. Slytherin gave Godric a dirty look, and Godric's sarcastic face melted into an easy grin. "It's all right, though," he said, as if confiding with Salazar, "I can understand if you were afraid of that animal, too. Why she keeps them in the castle I'll never know; I've even heard that she's got dragonets down there!" He clapped Salazar on the back and grinned. Salazar gave him a sneer, which Godric interpreted as Salazar's attempt to smile, and Godric swept out of the room.
Slytherin closed his eyes for a few moments, as if praying to the gods for patience, and then looked at Peter when he was sure Godric was gone. "That man is going to be the ruin of this school if something isn't done about him!" Salazar motioned for Peter to precede him out of the class, and then added, "If it wasn't for his idea, though, Hogwarts wouldn't exist at all. He did come up with the idea of making a larger castle, although it was Rowena and I that implemented and investigated it."
"What was it that you wanted me to understand, Sir?" Peter kept his voice down as they retreated to the Potions section of the dungeon.
Salazar smiled. "I'm sure it will become evident in time; just keep watching him, and inform me of what you see. I want you to come to your own conclusions, Peter."
Peter nodded, and resumed his poker face as he returned to Elsa's side.
"Don't drop anything this time, Peter," the greasy-haired girl warned, but she was dying for information about what had occurred, so she wouldn't bully him too much. He related the incident to her as they set up to remake their potion (for it had spoiled when the dragons blood hadn't been added promptly).
She smirked as he finished, and informed him, "Frederich Torres put that gryffin there."
"But he's a Prefect!" Peter gasped softly, and then said a little louder, "Don't forget the Elkshood."
"That's what makes it all the better. This is going to be an interesting year for Frederich, you just watch him and learn." She began dicing the Elkshood, and whispered more softly, "Since Slytherin is training you to take over after Frederich leaves."
"Me?" Peter mixed the black tea leaves into water, as the recipe called for "strong black tea, dregs optional," and thought back on the previous two weeks. Salazar had been giving him special attention, had spoken to him after classes... he was even training Peter to understand the other teachers. What Elsa said must be true. "I guess so," he hazarded after a moment.
"We'll talk more about this later," Elsa admonished gently, and tossed a pointed look in the Ravenclaw Ackerly's direction. He had been watching them rather curiously, but look down with a blush when she eyed him.
"Maybe he's got a crush on you," Peter muttered, and she glared before breaking down and giggling.
"That would be wrong," she replied, and they set to the task at hand.
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Ravenclaw: David Ackerly 7, Ronald Ackerly 7, Maria Brown 7, Kelly Hall 7, Rachel Pembroke 7 P, Brian Ackerly 6 P, Fern Chatham 6, Jillian Trelawney 6, Grey Pembroke 4, Roger Steward 4, Amy Ackerly 2
Hufflepuff: Emily Dutch 7 H, Adam Sadler 7 P, Marie-Kate Dutch 6, Jeremy Hufflepuff 6, Harriet Barnes 6, Megan Radderson 6, Virginia Smithee 5 P, Sybill Trelawney 5, Cedric Diggory 4, Kimberly Ratcliffe 3, Henry Smithee 3, Lilian Woodstock 3, Jonathan Ratcliffe 1
Slytherin: Lucius Malfoy 7, Francine Parkinson 7 P, Frederich Torres 7 P, Reginald Mordente 6, Peter St. Thomas 6, Elsa Snape 6, Isaac Torres 6, Diana Verily 6, Alexander Pritchard 3, Laura Pritchard 3, Rebecca St. Thomas 3, William Malfoy 2, Jacob Snape 2
Gryffindor: Christopher Black 7 P, Richard Braveheart 7, Aaron Dumbledore 7 H, Rhiannon Pelland 7, Rebecca Sutherlin 7, Henry Barnes 6, George Weasley 6, Jeremiah Sutherlin 5, Diana Weasley 5 P, Mary Connor 4, Sarah Longbottom 4, Adrian Puddlemere 4, Russell Weasley 4, Alice Longbottom 3, Richard Weasley 2