Title: The Four Founders' Hunt
Author: Zimagesto
Summary: AU. The four founders celebrate their success in building Hogwarts by going on a hunt. All fun and games until they become the hunted. Alone, they can't survive. And why does everybody think the school remained theirs?
Disclaimer: Don't own any of the founders or Hogwarts or anything else you might recognize from the HP books. But I own the plot and JS.
Story: In perfect accord with 'Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch', one of my other fics. However, it's not necessary to have read any of them to understand the other. Same world, different times. RER (Read, enjoy, review). Flames accepted.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
"Eagle! How are you!" Rowena cried, seeing her friend coming out of the forest. What was his name? She knew him for about a million years and still referred to him as Eagle or that king. What was his name? She remembered even from her childhood that that was the way he referred to himself. Eagle. A nickname, she knew, but what was his name again? It was starting to become an obsession.
"Milady" he said with a small bow. "Fine, thank you. And you?"
"Wonderful! How's your kingdom?"
"It is all peaceful and well, milady"
The king looked back at the forest he had come from and then forward to the castle of Hogwarts. What peaceful land was here, near the school! And it was a good thing he had run into Rowena. He wanted her wise advice.
"But it will soon be not" he added.
"Why?" Rowena Ravenclaw asked. "I thought all was going well"
"Yes. It was and it still is. But there is a dark shadow my Seers see that is coming over me. Cassandra says it is a great shadow that shall change us all. And she has Seen one of our friends shall fall, but she can not tell how"
Rowena looked at him thoughtful.
"Are her predictions usually trustable?"
"Oh, yes. Hardly have I ever heard her go wrong. She is quite accurate in her predictions and Sees all that there is to See"
"So one of us shall fall" Rowena said with a sigh. "Does she know who?"
"No. But she said that one shall fall, but not in death" Eagle said. "What do you make of it?"
"Not much. But I have an awful hunch" she said, thinking.
"Do tell"
"Maybe one of us shall fall in darkness. But I can't guess who."
Eagle looked at her and smiled sadly.
"Perhaps me. Or the one I wish to make my lady, Roxana Chase."
"No! She will not fall into darkness!" Rowena said with a small laugh. "And neither will you, Eagle. What if it were one of us, Founders?"
"One of you?" the king asked. "Oh, no. Who would it be? You, never. You're too wise for that. Godric definitely will not. He's a warrior for light for sure. Salazar might seem a bit dark sometimes, but would never fall. But maybe. Helga"
"Definitely not. Helga would never fall in darkness, you know her!"
"I guess not" the king said. "How is your betrothed?"
"Fine. He is here, in the castle, now. So, tell me, on a happier note, of Roxana"
The king smiled as Rowena grabbed his arm and started dragging him to the castle. Well, why not tell her? She was his friend since they were children, was she not?
"She's really beautiful and intelligent. One of the best witches I've met! And you should see. Such beautiful eyes. Such a sharp mind."
Rowena smiled widely and the two friends walked to the great castle, hand in hand.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
The Four Founders were -as usual, when they weren't in class- in the kitchen. Washing dishes. And cooking. Did this cycle never stop?! Salazar was quite pissed off with the situation. This was not his idea of having a school! Of course, magic helped a lot, but still!
"Hey, Salazar!" Godric cried. "Could you please give me a hand with these dishes?"
"Yes, sure" he answered through his clenched teeth. "Scourgify!"
Well, at least the spell always worked. The only down side to it was that you could not do too many with just one spell. And they also had to go through the school and clean the place up. Very, very annoying. At least the dishes were washed and the female Founders had cooked for dinner.
"Let's start with the bathrooms, shall we?" Salazar suggested.
"Fine" Godric replied. "Bye, Rowena! Bye, Helga!"
The two women nodded and the two left.
"Remind me -why did we make the school this large?" Godric asked.
"Because we wanted to impress. And it's adventurous and all that."
"Right" Godric said.
Well, it wasn't Salazar's fault! Well, maybe it was. He had proposed to impress with the greatness of the castle. But the very bad downside was that once a month they had to go through the castle and clean the place up. The self-cleaning spells were great, but not as efficient as they should have been.
"Steven!" Godric cried, taking his friend by surprise. "Make yourself useful and give us a help with cleaning this place up!"
Salazar smirked as he saw Steven Ravenclaw's face. Rowena's husband had done a very unusual thing and changed his last name when he got married. Very unusual, but understandable. His name had been Steven Wokingham- Nottingham. Ah, the elder generations had had quite a lot of fun by choosing stupid names for their children. Like Nymphadora or Galathorny. At least his name was Salazar, but his parents had made sure they always called him Salzie. Salzie! Well, at least they were far away now.
"Must I?" the man asked.
"Yes" Salazar replied. "Come on, it'll be deadly boring!"
"Wow, that's very. encouraging" Steven said. "Fine, I'll join"
The three of them went through almost every room in the school and cleaned everything up. Students walked past them and bowed respectfully. Well, at least they were fine.
It took them nearly the whole day -and it was Sunday, one of the best days of the week- to walk through the castle and clean the place up, although they had split up in the morning and all did their part of the place. Well, at night they were all dead on their feet, but hungry enough to go to the Great Hall and eat.
"We must find someone to do this!" Godric said, putting some mashed potatoes in his plate. It's unbearable!"
"Yes, it is" Steven agreed. "But where to find someone to work for us?"
"I have a proposal" Eagle said. The king had remained there for a few days, watching the children. He wasn't too much of a wizard, but a great warrior. To Salazar it seemed that he didn't like to use magic, not that he couldn't do it.
"Let's hear it" Salazar said.
"Have you heard of house elves?" the king asked.
"Of course" Godric replied. "But there are very few and I don't know if only four or five can take care of a whole castle."
"They are few here" Eagle said. "But not in the Northern Lands! Maybe you could bring some. The ones there have very little clue of what to do with them, especially since slavery is so bad looked upon here."
"Slavery?!" Rowena nearly cried. "I would never have slaves here!"
"You could pay them" Eagle suggested. "That way they wouldn't be slaves. And they would simply love to get out of there. Their masters are treating them like scum, so they won't work well. Now, their masters want to sell them, but to whom can you sell slaves that don't obey and who try to run away or do bad things all the time?"
"But would the elves agree?" Helga asked.
"Yes. At least until they get here" the king said. "But they don't cost much and if they refuse to work. well, you could always let them go."
"I guess it'll do" Salazar said.
"So, let's check them out!" Godric said.
Rowena agreed with a sigh. Maybe they could free the creatures.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
It was late at night and one shadow was walking through the forest near Hogwarts. Galathorny, the king was returning to his people. It had been a tiring day at the school and all he wanted was to get fast to his people. Ah, yes, there he'd be home. Not that he wasn't at home at Hogwarts, he was just 'homer' in his own bed in his own land.
He passed like a shadow through the forest, not noticing another shadow, which looked at him curiously. The other shadow shrugged and went in the opposite direction. It wasn't its problem if another human was walking through that forest. Not that she was too human anymore. Or was she? Hmmm. Well, she was dead, wasn't she? Or was she alive? Did the fact that she was a Guardian of Death make her dead? Well, she couldn't die. And she usually was in death. So, she was dead. But she had a warm body. That meant she was alive. Oh, hell! It didn't really matter, now, did it? Maybe she was on the border between Death and Life. Because she didn't quite remember herself dying, but she couldn't die anymore.
"Hello, Kate" she heard a voice.
"Hey, Jack-o! Am I dead or alive?" she asked the powerful man in front of her. Not that he was a human being. But he was a man. Wasn't he? Today, it was definitely Confusing Day!!!
He laughed merrily.
"You're alive, but not in the normal way."
"How am I alive?"
"You're alive like all Guardians" he replied. "No Guardian of Death or Life can die without the permission of Death or Life. You're alive Kate. And the fact that you're a Guardian makes you immortal, too"
"Thanks!" she replied. "Well, I talked to Galas. He said you're a complete evil bastard and that he must stop you."
"I know. Thank you for standing up for me. I liked the part where you called him 'a completely idiotic and megalomaniac pig!'. Nice touch"
Kate just let her mouth drop.
"You were there?"
"As I said once, I know everything. Including this."
She smiled.
"Well, then, you know then that Death agreed and that I took the gate to the Ministry of Magic, or the Magic Council as they call themselves"
Jack smiled and remembered the scene. Kate had that wonderful charm.
/*-/*-/*-
It was night and the people working in the Council were starting to pack their things to go home when a woman came in.
"Is this the English Magic Council?" she asked.
"Yes" one of them answered. "Well, listen here, lady, we were about to close for the night and."
"Listen here, human! I come from Death herself" she said.
"What do you mean?" the Councilor of Magic asked, confused.
"I mean I come from Death herself. Must I spell it out for you? I C-O-M-E F- R-O-M D-E-A-T-H."
"I understand" the Councilor said.
"Good. I was thinking of simpler ways of putting it, but found none"
"You mean Death is alive?" one of the people there asked.
"Yes, of course!" she replied. "Death is alive and has sent something to you."
"What?" one of them asked.
"Her Veil!" the woman said, obviously expecting some reaction. But she got none.
"What?" the Councilor asked, after a minute and the woman sighed.
"Her Veil. You know, you pass through it and get directly into death, no pain ad all and you can hear voices of the dead through it. You know, that Veil."
"Where is it?" one of the people asked.
The women smiled and opened the door through which she had come.
"Mobiliarbus" she muttered, waving a wand and a majestic archway came through the opened door, a Veil slowly moving on it.
It was a very odd sight: an obviously ancient object was coming through the door, in a rather modern office. And it was supposed to be the gate to death. Definitely strange. Would the king of England believe if they told him this? So, all they could do was gap.
"Don't go through it unless you really want to die" the woman advised with a smirk. "I don't Guard the Veil and my fellow Guardian has a knack for not letting people out."
"You're a Guardian of Death?" the Councilor asked.
"Yep"
"What's a Guardian of Death?" one of the others asked and the woman sighed desperately.
"A Guardian is a Servant of an Element or Death or Life or things like these. But the Guardians have great powers, especially when they do something in the name of their Master. Then, they are the Element or whatever you want to call it. For example, if Death told me to fight, I would be Death and it would be sufficient for me to want somebody dead that they'd die. Well, if Death wanted them dead, too. But that never happens, so stop paling. I usually sit at a Gate to Death and wait for souls to come and say the welcomes and all that and tell tem where they should go, or I scout around the world and do things Death wants me to do. Like carry this Veil here or things like that. You could say I'm almost like a priestess. Well, the guardians of the Elements have way nicer ways of manifestation than I do. Like the Guardian of Fire who can turn himself into flames. But I guess Death will do for me."
The people in the room were staring at the woman who was enjoying herself babbling.
"Well, I should go" she said. "See ya! Well, hopefully not soon"
With a small wave, she stepped through the veil, leaving the people behind her gap.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
"Thank you for that" Jack said with a smile.
"Welcomed, although I have no idea why you want it there" Kate replied.
"Later, you shall see"
"Please, please tell me now!" she pleaded.
"No" he said. "You know, you remind me of someone."
"Who?"
"Cassandra, when she was young. Just as hyper as you are"
Kate glared at him.
"You're comparing me to Cassie? The Seer?"
"Yes" he replied. "She is from your family"
"No!" Kate said, looking upset. "But I can't believe you're comparing me to miss know-it-all!"
Jack laughed.
"No, Cassandra! Cassie Trelawney! You're thinking about Cassiopeia."
"Oh!" Kate said, a smile on her lips. "Blasted Seers, all called Cassandra or Cassiopeia or Sybil or things like that. Yeah, Trelawney's so nice! We have so much in common!"
"What did I just say?" Jack said.
"I don't remember. what did you say?"
"That she used to be exactly like you when she was young."
"Ah, that. Well, she's family. My cousin" Kate said with a smile and Jack chuckled.
"That's exactly what I said" he commented. "Well, I should go. Got to take care of some problems with my school."
"Oh, ok. YOU HAVE A SCHOOL?!" Kate cried.
"Shush! Yes, I do, Kate, but I don't feel the whole Forest should know."
"What school, Jacky?"
"Jacky?!" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow and she shrugged. "I'll pretend I haven't heard that. Hogwarts, that's the school"
"This school we're next to?!" Kate nearly cried.
"That's the one"
"But it belongs to Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin."
"I know their names, Kate" Jack said. "I convinced them to make me second over the school."
"But that's' wonderful!" Kate said. "What problems are you talking about?"
"A minor there-is-nobody-to-keep-the-castle-clean-and-to-cook problem" Jack replied. "And I believe that Galathorny-" Kate chuckled "-came with one great proposal: house elves"
"House elves? But those are slaves by definition, Jack! You can't put slavery in Hogwarts!"
"Trust me, they won't be slaves" Jack said. "I have to put my founders in touch with some of the dealers with house elves and everything will be alright."
"If you say so, Jackushka!" Kate said, looking at him disbelievingly.
"Kate, for the love of God, stop changing my name!" Jack said. "What else will you turn it into?"
"Jack-o, Jacky, Jackushka, Jacks, J.J., Jess -from combining the first letters of your name-, J., S.J. -I believe it sound great!-, Stroisy,."
"Ok, I get the point" Jack said. "But please, stop!"
"Fine" she said with a sigh. "If you say so"
"See you later, Katie"
"Katie?!" she said, enraged.
"Giving you a taste of your own medicine, nothing more" the man said and kissed her on her cheeks. "Bye, Kate"
"Bye" she mumbled and watched him go.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
Salazar was wondering whether this had been a good idea. The four of them were talking to a man who supposedly had many house elves or could get them. With the meeting at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, it all felt like something illegal, in fact. Good point! Was it illegal? He had no idea, but he hoped not. That would not end up good.
"So, you want to buy one hundred house elves?" the man asked the Founders.
"Correct" Rowena answered.
"May I ask for what?"
"Housework" she answered.
"Ah, yes. Beat them up good and they will do whatever you like. Not too efficient, but it will do. It's worth even the small riots. But if you control them right, they will do all that you ask."
Salazar did not like this. Slavery was not one of the things he accepted. But maybe they could free the elves and get them to work for themselves. However, he did not like the man. He seemed to be a smuggler. No, he really didn't like him. But it was the only way they could get the elves.
"How did you manage to enslave them?" Salazar asked.
"Ah, it was difficult business" the man answered, sending a very unpleasant smile towards Salazar. "There were a few in the wild, building their own homes -small things, nothing great- and we stumbled across some of their houses and captured them. Then, we realized they spoke our language and we started to train them to do housework. Very reluctant little fellows. We started calling them 'house elves', too."
"What did you call them before?" Godric asked.
"Forest elves. But that doesn't really matter, now does it? So, we trained them to be house elves, but we still have a few minor problems. I'm sure, however, that you'll manage"
"Yes, we will" Rowena said. "So, when will you be giving them to us?"
"Hmmm. One hundred is not a small number. Maybe. a month?"
"Fine" Helga said. "And cost?"
"50 galleons per house elf"
"50?!" Godric said. "No, that's too much! How about 10"
"10 galleons?!" the man said with a laugh. "You have no idea how useful they can be! 45!"
"You have got to be joking" Salazar said. "15 the most"
"No, 40 the least"
"I'm not buying 100 elves for 40 galleons each!" Rowena said. "I'll give you 20 galleons."
"30 and you take them. I'll go no less"
"Deal" they answered and the man grinned.
"See you in one month, oh, great ones" he said with a bow and left, leaving the Founders behind.
"I do not like him" Godric said. "He has too much of an air of treachery."
"I agree, but all those from North have such an air." Helga said.
"So, do you think we can handle the elves?" Salazar asked. "If they cause a riot."
"We'll make sure they don't have to" Rowena answered. "If we let them free, they'll cause no riot"
"Let's go back to the castle" Godric proposed.
"Sure" the others answered.
"Oh, and does any one of you know Eagle's name? I can't remember it!" Rowena said.
"I have no clue" Helga said. "But what?! You don't know either?"
"No, I always called him Eagle, even when we were kids"
"Weird" Godric said. "Maybe he has a really stupid name. Like Nymphadora or."
"Yes, his name is definitely Nymphadora, Godric" Salazar said. "He must have a woman's name!"
"Oh, right!" the other said. "Maybe Nymphadorus?"
"Nymphadorus?" Rowena asked and burst into laughter. "I don't think so, Godric"
"Ok, maybe not" he admitted. "But how about Nikita?"
"Nikita's."
"Yeah, I know, a woman's name. But there are some man called that!"
"Oh, come on, Nikita, let's go cook!" Rowena said with a laugh.
"What- again?!" the man asked outraged. "Those house elves better come soon and agree to help!"
The others laughed, seeing the completely furious Godric. Life was beautiful!
/*-/*-/*-/*-
Author's Note: My own little version of how the house elves came to be. Oh, well, I'll update sometime soon. I feel very inspired. Ah, next time you shall see the house elves themselves!!! So review!
Thanks to: siriusforeva: Yep. That's the one!
Author: Zimagesto
Summary: AU. The four founders celebrate their success in building Hogwarts by going on a hunt. All fun and games until they become the hunted. Alone, they can't survive. And why does everybody think the school remained theirs?
Disclaimer: Don't own any of the founders or Hogwarts or anything else you might recognize from the HP books. But I own the plot and JS.
Story: In perfect accord with 'Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch', one of my other fics. However, it's not necessary to have read any of them to understand the other. Same world, different times. RER (Read, enjoy, review). Flames accepted.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
"Eagle! How are you!" Rowena cried, seeing her friend coming out of the forest. What was his name? She knew him for about a million years and still referred to him as Eagle or that king. What was his name? She remembered even from her childhood that that was the way he referred to himself. Eagle. A nickname, she knew, but what was his name again? It was starting to become an obsession.
"Milady" he said with a small bow. "Fine, thank you. And you?"
"Wonderful! How's your kingdom?"
"It is all peaceful and well, milady"
The king looked back at the forest he had come from and then forward to the castle of Hogwarts. What peaceful land was here, near the school! And it was a good thing he had run into Rowena. He wanted her wise advice.
"But it will soon be not" he added.
"Why?" Rowena Ravenclaw asked. "I thought all was going well"
"Yes. It was and it still is. But there is a dark shadow my Seers see that is coming over me. Cassandra says it is a great shadow that shall change us all. And she has Seen one of our friends shall fall, but she can not tell how"
Rowena looked at him thoughtful.
"Are her predictions usually trustable?"
"Oh, yes. Hardly have I ever heard her go wrong. She is quite accurate in her predictions and Sees all that there is to See"
"So one of us shall fall" Rowena said with a sigh. "Does she know who?"
"No. But she said that one shall fall, but not in death" Eagle said. "What do you make of it?"
"Not much. But I have an awful hunch" she said, thinking.
"Do tell"
"Maybe one of us shall fall in darkness. But I can't guess who."
Eagle looked at her and smiled sadly.
"Perhaps me. Or the one I wish to make my lady, Roxana Chase."
"No! She will not fall into darkness!" Rowena said with a small laugh. "And neither will you, Eagle. What if it were one of us, Founders?"
"One of you?" the king asked. "Oh, no. Who would it be? You, never. You're too wise for that. Godric definitely will not. He's a warrior for light for sure. Salazar might seem a bit dark sometimes, but would never fall. But maybe. Helga"
"Definitely not. Helga would never fall in darkness, you know her!"
"I guess not" the king said. "How is your betrothed?"
"Fine. He is here, in the castle, now. So, tell me, on a happier note, of Roxana"
The king smiled as Rowena grabbed his arm and started dragging him to the castle. Well, why not tell her? She was his friend since they were children, was she not?
"She's really beautiful and intelligent. One of the best witches I've met! And you should see. Such beautiful eyes. Such a sharp mind."
Rowena smiled widely and the two friends walked to the great castle, hand in hand.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
The Four Founders were -as usual, when they weren't in class- in the kitchen. Washing dishes. And cooking. Did this cycle never stop?! Salazar was quite pissed off with the situation. This was not his idea of having a school! Of course, magic helped a lot, but still!
"Hey, Salazar!" Godric cried. "Could you please give me a hand with these dishes?"
"Yes, sure" he answered through his clenched teeth. "Scourgify!"
Well, at least the spell always worked. The only down side to it was that you could not do too many with just one spell. And they also had to go through the school and clean the place up. Very, very annoying. At least the dishes were washed and the female Founders had cooked for dinner.
"Let's start with the bathrooms, shall we?" Salazar suggested.
"Fine" Godric replied. "Bye, Rowena! Bye, Helga!"
The two women nodded and the two left.
"Remind me -why did we make the school this large?" Godric asked.
"Because we wanted to impress. And it's adventurous and all that."
"Right" Godric said.
Well, it wasn't Salazar's fault! Well, maybe it was. He had proposed to impress with the greatness of the castle. But the very bad downside was that once a month they had to go through the castle and clean the place up. The self-cleaning spells were great, but not as efficient as they should have been.
"Steven!" Godric cried, taking his friend by surprise. "Make yourself useful and give us a help with cleaning this place up!"
Salazar smirked as he saw Steven Ravenclaw's face. Rowena's husband had done a very unusual thing and changed his last name when he got married. Very unusual, but understandable. His name had been Steven Wokingham- Nottingham. Ah, the elder generations had had quite a lot of fun by choosing stupid names for their children. Like Nymphadora or Galathorny. At least his name was Salazar, but his parents had made sure they always called him Salzie. Salzie! Well, at least they were far away now.
"Must I?" the man asked.
"Yes" Salazar replied. "Come on, it'll be deadly boring!"
"Wow, that's very. encouraging" Steven said. "Fine, I'll join"
The three of them went through almost every room in the school and cleaned everything up. Students walked past them and bowed respectfully. Well, at least they were fine.
It took them nearly the whole day -and it was Sunday, one of the best days of the week- to walk through the castle and clean the place up, although they had split up in the morning and all did their part of the place. Well, at night they were all dead on their feet, but hungry enough to go to the Great Hall and eat.
"We must find someone to do this!" Godric said, putting some mashed potatoes in his plate. It's unbearable!"
"Yes, it is" Steven agreed. "But where to find someone to work for us?"
"I have a proposal" Eagle said. The king had remained there for a few days, watching the children. He wasn't too much of a wizard, but a great warrior. To Salazar it seemed that he didn't like to use magic, not that he couldn't do it.
"Let's hear it" Salazar said.
"Have you heard of house elves?" the king asked.
"Of course" Godric replied. "But there are very few and I don't know if only four or five can take care of a whole castle."
"They are few here" Eagle said. "But not in the Northern Lands! Maybe you could bring some. The ones there have very little clue of what to do with them, especially since slavery is so bad looked upon here."
"Slavery?!" Rowena nearly cried. "I would never have slaves here!"
"You could pay them" Eagle suggested. "That way they wouldn't be slaves. And they would simply love to get out of there. Their masters are treating them like scum, so they won't work well. Now, their masters want to sell them, but to whom can you sell slaves that don't obey and who try to run away or do bad things all the time?"
"But would the elves agree?" Helga asked.
"Yes. At least until they get here" the king said. "But they don't cost much and if they refuse to work. well, you could always let them go."
"I guess it'll do" Salazar said.
"So, let's check them out!" Godric said.
Rowena agreed with a sigh. Maybe they could free the creatures.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
It was late at night and one shadow was walking through the forest near Hogwarts. Galathorny, the king was returning to his people. It had been a tiring day at the school and all he wanted was to get fast to his people. Ah, yes, there he'd be home. Not that he wasn't at home at Hogwarts, he was just 'homer' in his own bed in his own land.
He passed like a shadow through the forest, not noticing another shadow, which looked at him curiously. The other shadow shrugged and went in the opposite direction. It wasn't its problem if another human was walking through that forest. Not that she was too human anymore. Or was she? Hmmm. Well, she was dead, wasn't she? Or was she alive? Did the fact that she was a Guardian of Death make her dead? Well, she couldn't die. And she usually was in death. So, she was dead. But she had a warm body. That meant she was alive. Oh, hell! It didn't really matter, now, did it? Maybe she was on the border between Death and Life. Because she didn't quite remember herself dying, but she couldn't die anymore.
"Hello, Kate" she heard a voice.
"Hey, Jack-o! Am I dead or alive?" she asked the powerful man in front of her. Not that he was a human being. But he was a man. Wasn't he? Today, it was definitely Confusing Day!!!
He laughed merrily.
"You're alive, but not in the normal way."
"How am I alive?"
"You're alive like all Guardians" he replied. "No Guardian of Death or Life can die without the permission of Death or Life. You're alive Kate. And the fact that you're a Guardian makes you immortal, too"
"Thanks!" she replied. "Well, I talked to Galas. He said you're a complete evil bastard and that he must stop you."
"I know. Thank you for standing up for me. I liked the part where you called him 'a completely idiotic and megalomaniac pig!'. Nice touch"
Kate just let her mouth drop.
"You were there?"
"As I said once, I know everything. Including this."
She smiled.
"Well, then, you know then that Death agreed and that I took the gate to the Ministry of Magic, or the Magic Council as they call themselves"
Jack smiled and remembered the scene. Kate had that wonderful charm.
/*-/*-/*-
It was night and the people working in the Council were starting to pack their things to go home when a woman came in.
"Is this the English Magic Council?" she asked.
"Yes" one of them answered. "Well, listen here, lady, we were about to close for the night and."
"Listen here, human! I come from Death herself" she said.
"What do you mean?" the Councilor of Magic asked, confused.
"I mean I come from Death herself. Must I spell it out for you? I C-O-M-E F- R-O-M D-E-A-T-H."
"I understand" the Councilor said.
"Good. I was thinking of simpler ways of putting it, but found none"
"You mean Death is alive?" one of the people there asked.
"Yes, of course!" she replied. "Death is alive and has sent something to you."
"What?" one of them asked.
"Her Veil!" the woman said, obviously expecting some reaction. But she got none.
"What?" the Councilor asked, after a minute and the woman sighed.
"Her Veil. You know, you pass through it and get directly into death, no pain ad all and you can hear voices of the dead through it. You know, that Veil."
"Where is it?" one of the people asked.
The women smiled and opened the door through which she had come.
"Mobiliarbus" she muttered, waving a wand and a majestic archway came through the opened door, a Veil slowly moving on it.
It was a very odd sight: an obviously ancient object was coming through the door, in a rather modern office. And it was supposed to be the gate to death. Definitely strange. Would the king of England believe if they told him this? So, all they could do was gap.
"Don't go through it unless you really want to die" the woman advised with a smirk. "I don't Guard the Veil and my fellow Guardian has a knack for not letting people out."
"You're a Guardian of Death?" the Councilor asked.
"Yep"
"What's a Guardian of Death?" one of the others asked and the woman sighed desperately.
"A Guardian is a Servant of an Element or Death or Life or things like these. But the Guardians have great powers, especially when they do something in the name of their Master. Then, they are the Element or whatever you want to call it. For example, if Death told me to fight, I would be Death and it would be sufficient for me to want somebody dead that they'd die. Well, if Death wanted them dead, too. But that never happens, so stop paling. I usually sit at a Gate to Death and wait for souls to come and say the welcomes and all that and tell tem where they should go, or I scout around the world and do things Death wants me to do. Like carry this Veil here or things like that. You could say I'm almost like a priestess. Well, the guardians of the Elements have way nicer ways of manifestation than I do. Like the Guardian of Fire who can turn himself into flames. But I guess Death will do for me."
The people in the room were staring at the woman who was enjoying herself babbling.
"Well, I should go" she said. "See ya! Well, hopefully not soon"
With a small wave, she stepped through the veil, leaving the people behind her gap.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
"Thank you for that" Jack said with a smile.
"Welcomed, although I have no idea why you want it there" Kate replied.
"Later, you shall see"
"Please, please tell me now!" she pleaded.
"No" he said. "You know, you remind me of someone."
"Who?"
"Cassandra, when she was young. Just as hyper as you are"
Kate glared at him.
"You're comparing me to Cassie? The Seer?"
"Yes" he replied. "She is from your family"
"No!" Kate said, looking upset. "But I can't believe you're comparing me to miss know-it-all!"
Jack laughed.
"No, Cassandra! Cassie Trelawney! You're thinking about Cassiopeia."
"Oh!" Kate said, a smile on her lips. "Blasted Seers, all called Cassandra or Cassiopeia or Sybil or things like that. Yeah, Trelawney's so nice! We have so much in common!"
"What did I just say?" Jack said.
"I don't remember. what did you say?"
"That she used to be exactly like you when she was young."
"Ah, that. Well, she's family. My cousin" Kate said with a smile and Jack chuckled.
"That's exactly what I said" he commented. "Well, I should go. Got to take care of some problems with my school."
"Oh, ok. YOU HAVE A SCHOOL?!" Kate cried.
"Shush! Yes, I do, Kate, but I don't feel the whole Forest should know."
"What school, Jacky?"
"Jacky?!" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow and she shrugged. "I'll pretend I haven't heard that. Hogwarts, that's the school"
"This school we're next to?!" Kate nearly cried.
"That's the one"
"But it belongs to Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin."
"I know their names, Kate" Jack said. "I convinced them to make me second over the school."
"But that's' wonderful!" Kate said. "What problems are you talking about?"
"A minor there-is-nobody-to-keep-the-castle-clean-and-to-cook problem" Jack replied. "And I believe that Galathorny-" Kate chuckled "-came with one great proposal: house elves"
"House elves? But those are slaves by definition, Jack! You can't put slavery in Hogwarts!"
"Trust me, they won't be slaves" Jack said. "I have to put my founders in touch with some of the dealers with house elves and everything will be alright."
"If you say so, Jackushka!" Kate said, looking at him disbelievingly.
"Kate, for the love of God, stop changing my name!" Jack said. "What else will you turn it into?"
"Jack-o, Jacky, Jackushka, Jacks, J.J., Jess -from combining the first letters of your name-, J., S.J. -I believe it sound great!-, Stroisy,."
"Ok, I get the point" Jack said. "But please, stop!"
"Fine" she said with a sigh. "If you say so"
"See you later, Katie"
"Katie?!" she said, enraged.
"Giving you a taste of your own medicine, nothing more" the man said and kissed her on her cheeks. "Bye, Kate"
"Bye" she mumbled and watched him go.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
Salazar was wondering whether this had been a good idea. The four of them were talking to a man who supposedly had many house elves or could get them. With the meeting at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, it all felt like something illegal, in fact. Good point! Was it illegal? He had no idea, but he hoped not. That would not end up good.
"So, you want to buy one hundred house elves?" the man asked the Founders.
"Correct" Rowena answered.
"May I ask for what?"
"Housework" she answered.
"Ah, yes. Beat them up good and they will do whatever you like. Not too efficient, but it will do. It's worth even the small riots. But if you control them right, they will do all that you ask."
Salazar did not like this. Slavery was not one of the things he accepted. But maybe they could free the elves and get them to work for themselves. However, he did not like the man. He seemed to be a smuggler. No, he really didn't like him. But it was the only way they could get the elves.
"How did you manage to enslave them?" Salazar asked.
"Ah, it was difficult business" the man answered, sending a very unpleasant smile towards Salazar. "There were a few in the wild, building their own homes -small things, nothing great- and we stumbled across some of their houses and captured them. Then, we realized they spoke our language and we started to train them to do housework. Very reluctant little fellows. We started calling them 'house elves', too."
"What did you call them before?" Godric asked.
"Forest elves. But that doesn't really matter, now does it? So, we trained them to be house elves, but we still have a few minor problems. I'm sure, however, that you'll manage"
"Yes, we will" Rowena said. "So, when will you be giving them to us?"
"Hmmm. One hundred is not a small number. Maybe. a month?"
"Fine" Helga said. "And cost?"
"50 galleons per house elf"
"50?!" Godric said. "No, that's too much! How about 10"
"10 galleons?!" the man said with a laugh. "You have no idea how useful they can be! 45!"
"You have got to be joking" Salazar said. "15 the most"
"No, 40 the least"
"I'm not buying 100 elves for 40 galleons each!" Rowena said. "I'll give you 20 galleons."
"30 and you take them. I'll go no less"
"Deal" they answered and the man grinned.
"See you in one month, oh, great ones" he said with a bow and left, leaving the Founders behind.
"I do not like him" Godric said. "He has too much of an air of treachery."
"I agree, but all those from North have such an air." Helga said.
"So, do you think we can handle the elves?" Salazar asked. "If they cause a riot."
"We'll make sure they don't have to" Rowena answered. "If we let them free, they'll cause no riot"
"Let's go back to the castle" Godric proposed.
"Sure" the others answered.
"Oh, and does any one of you know Eagle's name? I can't remember it!" Rowena said.
"I have no clue" Helga said. "But what?! You don't know either?"
"No, I always called him Eagle, even when we were kids"
"Weird" Godric said. "Maybe he has a really stupid name. Like Nymphadora or."
"Yes, his name is definitely Nymphadora, Godric" Salazar said. "He must have a woman's name!"
"Oh, right!" the other said. "Maybe Nymphadorus?"
"Nymphadorus?" Rowena asked and burst into laughter. "I don't think so, Godric"
"Ok, maybe not" he admitted. "But how about Nikita?"
"Nikita's."
"Yeah, I know, a woman's name. But there are some man called that!"
"Oh, come on, Nikita, let's go cook!" Rowena said with a laugh.
"What- again?!" the man asked outraged. "Those house elves better come soon and agree to help!"
The others laughed, seeing the completely furious Godric. Life was beautiful!
/*-/*-/*-/*-
Author's Note: My own little version of how the house elves came to be. Oh, well, I'll update sometime soon. I feel very inspired. Ah, next time you shall see the house elves themselves!!! So review!
Thanks to: siriusforeva: Yep. That's the one!