Chapter 2

Salazar looked out the window and saw a carriage coming up. "Well, it's about time her parents got back."

He heard voices and soon enough, a couple entered the room. The woman nodded at Salazar. "Where's Rowena been, Salazar?"

"Funny, I thought she went with you," the young wizard said, acting as if nothing unusual was going on, "What, is she not with you?"

Rowena's father shook his head. "Honestly, Salazar, you believed her when she said that she was coming with us? My daughter never liked such strolls with her parents."

His wife frowned. "Well, if she's not here, she must have run away. I could understand, with that goal of hers never to marry."

"In that case, Salazar, go and find her."

The man looked at them, dark brown eyes bewildered, as he choked on the liquid he had been drinking. "Um…lady and lord Ravenclaw, may I ask why I should be the one looking for her?"

Rowena's mother smiled, "You're her friend. You were in her room. Does that make sense? Who else will we make our scapegoat for our daughter's actions? And, you've got some kind of influence on her to begin with."

"Do not forget that your parents will be hearing about this, and it will not do your personal history good," lord Ravenclaw added.

The couple exited the room, leaving Salazar to his thoughts. "I should have left when I had the chance. 'All will be well' she says…bah!"

Salazar gathered his cload and disappeared from the vicinity.

~~~

"Bonjour!" Helga said, happily, as Godric came in groggily. "Please help yourself with breakfast. The milk iz over zere, and we have bread and butter on ze table. Rowena iz already having zome breakfast."

Godric groaned. Not that witch again. He shrugged, took a glass of milk and brought it to where Rowena was sitting. The young woman looked a bit annoyed. The two sat there in silence, and Godric attempted to make conversation. "So, were you able to—"

"No," Rowena said, killing the conversation. She plainly did not want to talk to the young man. "I knew it was a bad idea running away."

"Run away? Why would you run away?"

The witch shrugged, not wanting to talk about it. "Think of it as a means of intellectual pursuit as well as independent freedom."

"You're a girl with big dreams."

Rowena looked at him with her haughty expression, "And your dreams would be?"

Godric smiled. "To learn magic and to know how to cook like Helga! This bread is delicious!"

"Why, thank you," Helga came, blushing at the compliment, "It iz called a croissant. From my land."

"A qua-ssant?" Rowena asked.

Godric chuckled. "Close enough. Say, Rowena, we never did know where you came from. Who are you, really?"

Gray eyes scanned the area for her father's spies. Rowena saw none and replied, "Rowena Ravenclaw, daughter of Ariel and Rubien Ravenclaw."

Helga and Godric looked at each other and the red head laughed. "What kinda name is Rubien? Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"It doesn't matter. I won't be seeing them again anyway. I've run away and I'm not coming back," Rowena stated.

Suddenly the doors to the inn burst open, revealing a disheveled looking young man. He yelled out, "Rowena!! I know you're in here!"

The young man's black hair was tousled and he looked wildly around, shoving people who were in front of him. Helga's father tilted his head and frowned, but his daughter stopped him with a look. Rowena gasped and ducked behind Godric. "Hide me!"

The dark man was walking around in desperation, screaming Rowena's name until he spotted the blue robes and the familiar eagle crest. He scowled. "Rowena! Really, you were a lot of trouble to find! I had to look for you on foot! Your mother made sure of that! Do you know how horrible that was?!"

"Salazar! I said send me a note by owl or snake, not follow me!" Rowena cried out, "Now Mum and Dad are sure to find me!"

The wizard shook his head, reverting back to his calm state. "On the contrary, they sent me looking for you. After all, I AM YOUR FRIEND. Your dear mother threatened to tell my parents of my irresponsible behavior. I couldn't disobey, for fear of losing my inheritance!"

Helga smiled and offered Salazar a croissant. "Please, have some. You must be hungry if you have traveled all zis way to find your friend."

"I see you've met acquaintances, Rowena," Salazar scowled, "Are you not going to introduce me?"

Godric scoffed and stood up, "I'm Godric Gryffindor. And that's Helga Sommeil. You are?"

"Salazar of the house of Slytherin."

"Nice title. Hey, Rowena, are all your wizard friends noble?" Godric asked.

Rowena nodded. Salazar stared at the red headed man. "It depends on what you mean by noble. Are you implying something?"

"Oh, no!" Godric said, grinning.

"Hmph…well," Salazar said.

Helga was busily dragging two more chairs at the table and told Salazar to sit down. After everyone was served, she nodded to her father and joined the group. She addressed Rowena. "Does zis mean you are going back to your home?"

Rowena glared at Salazar. "I don't think I have a choice, do I?"

"Of course not! You dragged me into this, and you're going to get me out!" was her friend's reply. "This running away business is not doing us any good."

Godric raised a question. "Say, Salazar, how did you find Rowena here, anyway?"

The wizard shrugged. "To my despair, I had been roaming around for two straight days, finding nothing. Then I was quite fortunate to come across…her magic powder!"

Salazar pulled out a small blue bag glittering with the talked of powder. Rowena cried out and grabbed her powder from her friend, "There it is! And I've been looking all over for it!"

Helga clapped her hands happily, "Well zen, it iz all settled! I'm happy Salazar found his friend, and also overjoyed that Rowena has got her magic powder back!"

Rowena's friend stood up at this point, "Well? Let's go. I don't want your parents waiting."

"You mean you don't want them having a say in your inheritance," Rowena muttered.

Salazar gave her a menacing glare and Rowena decided to stay silent. Godric laughed and got up to do his work at the counter. Helga chose that time to curtsy and apologize, saying she's also got to return to her entertaining. By the time Salazar and Rowena reached the door, Helga was striking a catchy tune to dance to. Rowena half smiled and waved good-bye, getting a wave back from the dancer as a reply. Her friend also nodded and then threw the magic powder at himself, saying, "You turn into an eagle. You will have to carry me then."

What was left from the poof of smoke was a small silver snake slithering on the ground. Rowena scowled and looked around, making sure nobody had seen them. Then she also placed some powder on herself and grabbed the snake tightly, not afraid to squeeze it. The snake wriggled desperately, then suddenly stopped, apparently unconscious. If someone looked closely, the eagle looked as if it gave a small smile to the afflicted torture she beheld on her friend. She wondered whether Salazar would ever speak to her again after what she's done.

~~~

Godric looked up from the people who were asking for rooms. This was endless, and he wondered who would take his place for the late-comers. Suddenly, a hand was placed on his shoulder, and the red head looked up. Purple eyes stared back at him. "Ye'll be wanting zome rest, monsieur? You've done well for today."

"Thank you, sir," Godric said. He cleared the counter of his useless things and headed towards Helga, who sat at a table with a group of men and women. She looked up and beckoned for Godric to sit with them at the table.

"Mes amis, zis is Godric," the dancer introduced him, "He's just come from the isle of the Loch Ness. Be nice."

The red head was accepted into the crowd pretty quickly. After so much conversation, Godric realized that he was in the company of wizards. Each and every one of them were, and he also realized that the wizards did not doubt Godric was one either. Was it because they trusted Helga to keep non-wizard people from the group? Helga saw Godric's thoughtful face and lightly pushed his shoulder. "What is ze matter? Do you still doubt what you really are?"

He shook his head. "Not really…but I don't think it matters whether I'm what I am. I can't do anything with my…er…powers."

"Oh, but you can," said one of Helga's friends, "There are certain branches of magic that really doesn't require powder. To be able to mix potions is a specialty of Helga's. Maybe she'll teach you if you are willing to learn."

The blonde laughed. "Oh, really, Lynette, I'm not that very good. I could probably teach him more about certain charms than certain potions."

Another of Helga's friends spoke up, "Really, Helga dear, you're too modest." The young man who spoke up turned to Godric and said proudly, "She's discovered how to make fires retreat and to keep it from spreading. For goodness' sakes, Helga's also been able to brew fame and bottle fortune!"

Helga blushed from all the compliments and Godric looked at her with wonder. "Helga, will you teach me?"

"I'm not so sure about teaching, but zere iz a small library at ze back of ze inn," the blonde replied, "I will show you there if you want."

"Can I?" Godric asked, eagerly awaiting his first magic lesson, "That is, if it isn't any trouble to you."

The young woman excused herself from her group and brought Godric into the cellar. Again, he caught a scent of lemon coming from the cellar. He looked around, but found nothing that could inhibit that kind of smell. Helga saw his curious glance and understood. "Papa made sure zat ze inn would smell fresh and clean. So he decided to magically keep the lemon scent in the air. Wonderful, non?"

"It is pretty useful," Godric stated, "So that explains the fact that I don't smell sweat and other odors."

"Well, usually, we ask people whether ze lemon scent iz appealing to them. If not, then of course, they don't smell it," Helga said. She tapped into certain bricks at the back end of the cellar and the walls seemed to open to her touch. At first, Godric could see nothing into the darkness, but then Helga threw some powder into the room and muttered a few words, which ignited some light into the room.

Shelves of books were found in every corner. Godric didn't know where to start. He saw books that seemed to want to bite him, and others that looked like they were dismembered. But the one that interested him most was the book that approached him and began to sprout wings. Helga shook her head, "I thought I told papa to close some of zese books. Otherwise, the more dangerous ones will tear up the inanimate spell books."

Godric grabbed the flying book and looked it over. It read Shape Changing and Conjuring. "You can actually change your shape? That's pretty impressive."

"Oh, it iz, but very difficult to learn," Helga stated, "I've just managed to learn it a few months ago. But I think zere are zose who were taught to transfigure zemselves when zey were very young. Most of zem came off into accidents, though."

The red head didn't care for the risk. In his opinion, it was a very exciting branch of magic. He opened the book and began to read its contents. Helga looked at the book with disgust and searched her pockets. The blonde took a small pouch and handed it to Godric. "You will need magic powder to do any of zose tricks. Do not worry about me, I could get more magic powder from ze supply room. I'll give zese to you, since you seem determined to learn zat kind of magic first. It reminds me of a saying my mama used to say, 'Tis not you zat chooses ze magic, but ze magic choose you'. I'll leave you zen."

Godric nodded, only half listening, since he was absorbed in the book. He absentmindedly accepted the magic powder from his friend and heard her turn around and go back the way she came. Godric decided that standing in the end of the cellar would seem suspicious so he grabbed various books (even the one that was very violent) and headed to his room for a night of studies and experimenting.