Once upon a time, in a magical land far away, the Giant Squid swam in the depths of a lake. Its movements, though quiet, brought sound to the otherwise silent world. A boy of seventeen was nearby, playing with the sparse rocks present here and there. He found the perfect flat stone to throw into the lake but was disheartened when all it did was sink. He supposed that he would never be able to master this pass time the way his friend, Ric, did.
The stone that he threw went on to hit the Squid, which responded in slight irritation by bringing its tentacle out and hitting it on the surface of the water. The boy jumped back in surprise and fear. When he noticed that the lake had settled back, he continued walking to the nearby settlement where he and his friends lived.
The three friends who had decided to run away a few weeks ago, had found this life difficult to adjust to but they had the water and fruit that they needed to survive on. The fire that had burned their village had taken their parents away from them, not even magic had been able to stop this fire. The surviving elders of the village, who had refused to leave the burnt ancestral lands, called it Fiendfyre, and they were determined to find how it had originated.
The boy upon reaching the small fire that his friends had built, almost ran away in fear, because even amidst the small flames, he could see and hear the sights and screams of his village burning away. He looked down at his feet, trying to control his tears. His friend, Ric, came up to him and looked at him understandingly and asked him where he had gone off to.
"Nowhere. There is hardly anything to explore here other than the lake. Though farther north, it looks like there is cave. We should go and see if it would be suitable to protect us in come winter.", said the boy.
The third boy, merely seven and named Gerard, asked excitedly, "Do you think we could go, Ric? It's been too lonely here without anyone and anything in sight."
Ric, a boy of nineteen, was the unspoken leader of the group, though he always chose to do what the other two had decided. He knew that there was no other choice as they weren't sure if they would find another land as suitable to their needs as this spare land and so he nodded. Gerard, his little brother, jumped up in delight. He had yet to live his life and witness the horrors of life, and so his childish spirit stayed with him. Gerard had not witnessed the fire and in fact was not even aware of what had happened to their village.
They ultimately decided to go there the next morning as it was reaching sundown. They built the fire a little more to get them through the night, and taking turns to be on the look out, they each slept. Sometime during the night, even the boy who was on the lookout would sleep as they had seen nothing eventful, just like the previous nights. And the next morning, when the two older boys would wake up to find Gerard gone, that is when the real story began.
Ric would look at his friend, frightened for his little brother. "Sal, where is he?"
Sometime in the near past, in the year 1998, students trickled into the Great Hall of Hogwarts, chattering excitedly with their friends. One could hardly hear what the other was speaking. After quite a difficult few years of school, ultimately ending with them facing Voldemort, though the students hid their scars well, they were just glad to return to normalcy once more. They all wanted to make new memories to replace the hellish year most students had to face with the Carrows. The previously gloomy halls, once filled with battle cries and bodies of the dead, looked just as it had once upon a time.
Harry entered the Hall with a small grin, his hand around Ginny's hand, hoping finally for some peace and quiet. He wished to go out from his usual norm of fighting Voldemort one year after another. Hermione was tagging along slightly behind, trying to pin her hair back, but to no avail. She glared at Ron who had mistakenly dislodged the pin from its rightful place. Ron looked back, with a hint of fear in his eyes and continued to apologise profusely.
They sat at their usual place at the Gryffindor table and waited for any sign of a teacher or the first years. Their year students had come back to join the current seventh years in an attempt to write the N.E.W.T.S so that then they could then head off into the real world. No new arrangements were really necessary, the magic of Hogwarts allowing the change to be made possible. Sadly, not much of a change was required as many of the students who had fought and lost their lives in the War were students belonging to these two years.
Neville came in a little later, with a limp in his walk, claiming that his attempts at trying to fly on a broom had landed him there. A little less than half of their year's students had come back. When the first years entered, looking around in awe, fascination and nervousness, the Sorting Hat was placed on a stool. Everyone looked towards it, wondering what message it would give them.
It opened it's brown mouth, which just appeared as creases and said, "Draco do..." before it fell silent.
Draco Malfoy who had been sitting with his head down at the Slytherin table, looked almost startled to have heard his name, from the Sorting Hat no less. Almost all the students were looking at him, in disdain, some in curiosity like Hermione. He just didn't know what to do with this attention and so just raised an eyebrow and said, "Do I look like I speak 'Hat'?" and when he received no reply but people glancing away in fear that he would go back to his 'Death Eater' ways, looked back down.
Some students however had just begun to notice that the Sorting Hat was not saying anything. In fact, quite noticeable from before, it looked for all intents and purposes, dead or as dead as a non living object could look like after it's magic had leaked away from it.
Slowly, such that the change was quite visible to an open eye, the Hat slowly transformed into the unconscious body of a boy, no more than nine. The scroll of names slipped from the hands of Professor Sprout who had been holding on to it. In her shock, she did not even go close to have a look at the boy. Instead it was Headmistress McGonagall who approached his seemingly lifeless body first.
She took out her wand and tapped it gently on the boy's forehead. He groggily opened his eyes and on looking upon an unfamiliar face, nearly screamed. He had woken up too many times in the past, not knowing where he had been for a few moments, until his memories came back, but he knew he had never been inside this grand castle like place. He stood up shakily and dusted his dull, brown rags and asked in a whimper, "Where is Ric? Sal?"
McGonagall tried to look at him kindly, or as kindly as she could manage, and asked, "I don't know where they are. But perhaps we can find out. Tell me, what is your name?"
The boy refused to answer, not until he knew where he was and what was happening. McGonagall, probably understanding his hesitation, continued, "I am Headmistress McGonagall. I teach here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. All those people behind you are the students of this school. We, like you, just want to find out what happened to bring you here."
The boy, though comforted by the woman's kindness, hadn't understood much of what she had said. He remembered what his brother had once told him, 'Be brave in the face of all your fears. You may be frightened but do not let it show, because then that fear becomes a weakness. Fears, you can overcome but weakness, it stays with you forever."
He opened his mouth and said," I am Gerard."
McGonagall smiled at him and said, "Nice to meet you Gerard, though the circumstances seem to be anything but nice. You look tired and hungry. I promise we will find out how you ended up here but first you must eat. Does that sound good to you?"
He nodded. McGonagall continued, "Go have a seat at any of those tables, it's your choice." He nodded once more and headed for the table at the far right corner. Someone then shouted, "Mate, not the Slytherin table." Many smiled at that and someone even responded, "Not unless you want to be evil." and snickered.
Gerard turned around in surprise and asked, "Slytherin?". McGonagall walked towards him from where she had been standing on the elevated step and asked, "Why Gerard, does that mean something to you?"
He replied, "Yes. That was the name of my brother's friend." Since the Hall was already silent, everyone could hear what he was saying. Suddenly it felt as if all the air had been sucked out of the room. Initially, the students had figured that what he meant was, "That was the name of the house of my brother's friend." but on actually contemplating the words, there were sudden gasps in the crowd.
McGonagall looked at Gerard with shock in her eyes, "What was this friend's name?" , because surely what was happening should not be possible.
Gerard, alarmed at the way all were looking at him, got tears in his eyes, but said, "Salazar Slytherin. But we call him Sal because who wants to hear that word all day right?". He laughed lightly to himself, reminiscing in his memories. Suddenly, a lot of students who hadn't been able to see him clearly until now, stood up, eager to find out how this boy belonged to the same time as one of the Founders of Hogwarts.
McGonagall had a hand over her heart and some students were looking among each other, but none spoke, clearly waiting to see what would happen next. She continued in quite a shaky voice, "And what was your brother's name?"
She could sense the answer because the stories of the friendship of the duo were meagre but the knowledge of this friendship had continued through the ages.
Gerard looked confused as to what was happening, but replied, "Godric Gryffindor." Still not understanding the severity of the situation, he continued, "I miss them." And went along and sat the edge of the Slytherin table, where the students had moved previously to give him space.
One of the first year student, who was yet to be sorted, fainted in shock.