Chapter 2
Rowena led the way through the forest her single shod foot carefully brushing away rocks and twigs so she and Helga could pass without harming themselves. She did not glance to see if the men were following, rather listened. She smiled when she heard their footsteps through the undergrowth, as Helga's were non-existent, she had surprised Rowena with her ability to move silently.
They approached a clearing that seemed very much empty until Rowena waved her hand and the wards that had been in place fell to reveal a small camp with a small stream on one side and succulent green grass that three horses munched. Rowena's horse, Starlight looked up when she entered and whinnied happily as she pranced over to but her head up against her mistress. Her black coat shined in the sun revealing a deep blue sheen to it. Helga's horse greeted her mistress in the same fashion before lipping her giggled and rustled through her pockets to bring out an apple.
Rowena moved to the third horse that held their packs or at least the ones still on it, the majority were at its feet. She rustled through them and brought out a pot and food. Helga had silently directed the boys to gather wood as she poked the coals into existence. Godric threw a log into the fire before dumping the rest a few steps away. Helga flinched away from the sparks that flew from the fire and he smiled apologetically.
They cooked and ate in an uncomfortable silence as they were not sure what to say to each other. It was not until Rowena got up and gathered the dishes to wash was something said, "I am Rowena Ravenclaw and my companion is Helga Hufflepuff. Who are you?"
"I am Godric Griffindor and my companion is Salazar Slytherin. We try to save people from the witch fire."
Helga nodded before speaking in a soft voice that grew stronger and stronger, "it is a terrible thing, witch fire. We are humans as well, we deserve a place in society. I cannot see how someone can treat someone else like that. I wish there was a place for magical peoples to be safe, for them to learn control. For them to live without being despised, where Muggleborns can live without being killed before they even know the gift they posses."
The other three looked at her before they all grinned and said, "that was what I was thinking."
"A school," said Rowena, placing her hand in the center of their circle.
"A refuge," said Godric as his hand joined hers.
"A sanctuary," said Salazar placed his hand ontop.
"A home," said Helga placing her hand on top of them all.
Thus started the journey of the founders, thus is how they strived to create something good in a world where they were seen as pure evil.
Chapter 3
The four traveled, looking for a place to create their beautiful home for all things magical. They agreed there would be a magical town with a large boarding school nearby. A place protected by wards, that Rowena designed on horse back or on the dirt of their campsites, that was safe for all those magical. They would sit by the fire and laugh, tell stories and plans for their place.
"We need a name for our place," said Godric from where he lay in the grass looking at the sky.
"Hogwarts," said Helga suddenly.
They all looked at her as if she was crazy, she blushed before explaining, "I was trying to remember the name of that lily over there, it is Hogwarts."
"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, rolls off the tongue nicely," said Salazar with a small smile, laughing silently at the looks his friends were giving him.
"You can't be serious," said Rowena flatly before looking at his grinning face, "no, you cannot be serious. Please tell me he is not serious."
"He has a point Rowena, besides it can always be a good laugh whenever someone asks us how the bloody hell we came up with such a ridiculous name," said Godric with a laugh.
"Language Godric," scolded Helga but it was obvious she didn't mean it as she tried to hide her own giggles.
"Fine," said Rowena, throwing her hands up in the air, "Hogwarts it is, besides," she turned back to her friends a mischeivious grin on her face, "I cannot wait to see peoples faces when they hear the name."
They all started to laugh as the stars twinkled above them and it seemed as if the universe itself smiled down on them, soaking up their joy as it whispered to itself and the wind seemed to carry its voice that still no one heard, "laugh young ones, you need it. You have much ahead of you."
§
Rough plans were made on scraps of parchement, ideas, floor plans, possible lessons and things needed. Godric, Salazar and Rowena each possesed a small fortune in gold so they knew they could use it however needed to create what ever they wanted.
Salazar was writing lists of all the potions he knew and writing numbers one through eight beside them, meaning when they would be taught from first year to beyond Hogwarts level and for masters to teach apprentices who decide to specialize in that field. Rowena was doing the same thing with charms, arithmancy and runes while Helga worked on lists of plants. Godric however was planning general layout of defences that could be adjusted to where they chose to build. That was the problem, they had not chosen a place or even found one. They needed a large space, preferably with a few things already built on it or at least a place for the school which they want to be quite large so there was room to expand.
They traveled under the summer sun, the land flourished around them in their beautiful hues. Rowena pulled out some maps and used stones to weigh down the corners to keep it from rolling up. She started circling large places where nothing was and the other three surrounded her to see what she was doing.
"Rowena, why are you circling random areas on the map?" asked Godric, tapping a finger in the middle of one of the circles.
"She is circling possible places, places far away from muggles," said Salazar noticing the similarities between all the areas circled.
"That one is no good, it is on the top of a mountain range," said Helga pointing to one, "and there is one in that pocket valley."
Rowena smiled crossing off the one Helga pointed out and circled the pocket valley. Salazar pointed out several without water sources to be crossed off, it would be easier if there was a water source. Godric would point out ones to small or a bit close to villages. Soon they had narrowed them down to three. There was the pocket valley, a place near the sea and one by a lake in scotland.
"I guess we need to go check these out?"
"What else are we going to do? We need a home and so does everyone else, it is worth it."
"I was just thinking," Helga looked up from the map, "we should make a sanctuary for magical creatures, the humans are near to hunting several of them to extinction, the unicorns for example."
"A forest within the wards, a place for them to be free," Godric looked at her and nodded.
"It is a good idea but that means we can't use this one," Rowena pointed to the one by the sea, "there isn't enough forest and it will be a tight squeeze in the pocket valley. The ideal choice is the one in Scotland."
She reached down and rolled up the map, "we need to rest, tomorrow we are leaving for Scotland."
§
It took the small group several days to arrive at their location but it was worth the effort. They topped the rise to see a large lake surronded by forest. Beside the lake sat the ruins. They were of an old castle that no longer exists even on maps. "We could use the ruins as a fondation for the school," said Godric looking over the land
"It is perfect," said Helga breathlessly.
"We can clear out some of the trees and use the wood to make the houses of the village, over there we can leave them standing and that can be the magical creature's forest. Let's go set up camp and we can finalize plans." They all followed Salazar's instructions and brought their horses down the rock outcropping. The tents were set up and a fire was started, the four friends doing it all with ideas running through their minds. Rowena and Godric climbed back up the rock and started to map out the area and adapt their plans for protections.
"I think we should let the citizens of the town build their own houses, makes them more their's," said Helga as she sprinkled a herb into the stew she was making.
"But we should still help them," said Salazar, looking up from a parchment, "without proper education a lot of wizards are not good at a lot of spells."
Helga nodded, she was glad they were building a school and town. Soon the wizarding community will grow becoming a wizarding world, this was the first step in the right direction. She knew it.