Disclaimer : I don't own anything you'll recognize !

A/N: Finally! Well this chapter haven't been betaed yet, so I apologize for the horrendous grammar…

I hope you'll enjoy it, despite the long time it took me to have it out.

Thanks a lot to all of those who reviewed, it really helped!

Naia

Chapter Twenty

« Concentrate ! »

Harry tried to focus on the task at hand, but the pain shooting from his body was distracting him.

"Focus! You're not trying! A baby would do better!"

Gritting his teeth, the young Gryffindor attempted to do it again. Sweat was dripping from his forehead. Finally he managed to complete what he was asked to do.

With a sigh, he slumped to the floor, his body screaming against what Salazar Slytherin was doing.

"Not too bad, but you're still taking to long!"

"It's not that easy!" He protested, panting slightly, trying to ignore his aching muscles as he wiped his damp forehead.

Slytherin sent him a sardonic smile.

"Any seven year old can put pearls on a thread."

Harry frowned.

"Maybe they can, but are they under pain curse while they do so?"

Slytherin features darkened.

"Do not take that tone with me young man! You think this is painful? Then what about this! Crucere!"

Harry's eyes widened as a red light made its way towards him and hit him in the chest. Excruciating pain shot thorough his body. His every nerves seemed to be on fire.

He barely bit back a scream as he fell on the floor.

He didn't know how long he was held under the curse, but at one time he started to convulse.

Finally the curse was lifted and he breathed avidly, realising he had stopped doing so at some point.

Slytherin strode to his side, kneeling on the floor and took his head in a hard grip.

"This is pain, Harold of Gryffondor. And until you're able to manage to completely ignore it, we will not make any progress. Once I'm through with you, your immunity to pain will be next to total."

Harry didn't answer, he couldn't… He could feel every part of his body throbbing with pain. He only moaned in pain, as Salazar let his head fall to the floor.

"Don't you dare pass out… we are not finished with today's lesson, so stand up!" he snarled.

After what seemed like minutes to Harry, He managed to draw himself to his feet. With wobbling steps he walked to the nearest wall and leaned on it, trying to gather back some strength…

"Hurry up, I don't have time to waste! Or do you want another incentive?" He raised his hand again.

Harry gritted his teeth and straightened himself.

"You're not supposed to use Crucio…"

"Crucere you mean, and since when can't I?" Slytherin was looking at him with narrowed eyes.

"I-It's not fair…."

"And since when was life fair, no stand up like a man and not like the snivelling baby I have in front of me…. Or maybe Godric is right and you're just weak…."

Harry sighed and closed his eyes, trying to gather what little strength he had left as Salazar sent him another pain curse… The spell hit and his world was once again an endless sea of pain.

Three hours later, he limped back to the rooms he had been given. He had been relocated in the dungeons near Salazar's own chamber since the man was going to do most of his teaching.

It had been decided he would be pulled back from the class, his new nature being too much of an hindrance for now. He was being tutored privately when the different professors had some time to spare. Salazar's lessons were aways scheduled last as it was very unlikely that Harry would be in any state to do much more than dragging himself to his bed and nurse his wounds before sleeping.

It had been nearly a month since the incident. Harry was starting to wield more and more of his power and so Salazar had decided that should he survive a backlash, he would need to up his pain tolerance. So for the past two weeks he had been assigning Harry tasks requiring precision and skills while placing him under more or less potent pain curses.

Any illusions about Salazar's kindness had been shredded to pieces: the man was cold, callous but was able to be gentle if the need of such a behavior arose. Harry had learnt that the man did nothing without a motive. He was calculating and had always his own interests in mind. He could perform the Darkest magic as well as the purest without being phased in the least.

"Salazar really did a number on you this time…"

Harry didn't bother looking up, he knew the voice, no use wasting energy looking up.

"What do you want Merlin?..." His voice was loaded with exhaustion.

"Nothing, just checking on you."

"Sure and pigs fly…"

"Well…"

"Merlin…" Harry really not up to a wit war, "Not, now…"

The young wizard stumbled towards his bed and slumped on it, not bothering undressing… he was simply too tired.

He was out like a candle.

Merlin looked at him with worried eyes… before floating out of the room and to Salazar Slytherin's lair.

"Merlin," said the man, aknowledging the spirit's presence.

"Salazar,…"

"What did you wish to speak about, I assume this is no social call…"

"Indeed not. Are you sure of what you're doing with Harold, you're treading on thin ice there…"

The man turned cold blue eyes towards Merlin's spirit.

"Rest assure, Merlin, I know exactly what I'm doing with the brat."

The gosht studied the Slytherin founder.

"Do not make me regret trusting his well-being to you, Salazar. He is needed."

"He won't die…" Salazar smirked.

"I was not only speaking of his physical well-being."

Slytherin face could have been carved in stone as he fixed the spirit with a cold glare. However Merlin hadn't been heralded as one of the greater wizard for nothing. In the end, Slytherin had to back down, not able to bear the intensity of the ghost's eyes.

"I will train Harold as I see fit. Godric doesn't realize what a treasure this boy is, nor the power he could wield. The boy is little like him… Harold doesn't even look like him!"

Merlin's gaze hardened.

"Do not mistake the boy's lineage, Salazar, Harold is a Gryffindor. Godric will come to his sense soon."

Salazar sneered.

"I didn't picture you as a foolish optimistic, Merlin. You know as well as me that his stubbornness is on par with a mule's. And even if he was to see the truth, I don't think Harold would forgive him completely." He smirked. "The boy might be a Gryffindor by blood, but he's got the Slytherin loyalty."

Merlin knew this was true so didn't even bother to contradict Salazar.

"I trust your judgement, Salazar, but tread carefully."

The Slytherin founder nodded before going back to his reading. Merlin's spirit looked closely at him before leaving. He was starting to wonder if entrusting Harry's teaching to Salazar had been such a good idea.

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Godric was once again his room, pacing, his mind on the current dilemma he was faced with.

Harry.

His wife was currently working at her desk, writing list of potions she needed for the Healer wing.

"Godric! If you don't stop pacing right now, I will tie you to a chair! You'll end up digging a hole in the floor if you continue like this! That's it if you haven't passed out from your drinking first!" Leanne definitively sounded pissed of.

"Leanne, you don't understand…."

"No I don't," she snapped, annoyed. "You've been brooding over Harold for weeks now; it's all you can talk about!"

Godric frowned.

"I don't agree with his choice! And do have Salazar teach him! No offence to Salazar but Harold is a Gryffindor!"

"Then why don't you teach him?"

"I'm a real man, no weak healer! I know nothing of what little he can learn! I don't even understand why he wasted his abilities by choosing what he did!"

During his rant, Leanne had risen.

"So you mean that since he will not be able to impale people of those shiny sticks you like to wave around he's good for nothing! Do you think I'm a good for nothing? Do you think me weak, Godric!"

"No… no, of course not!" stuttered the founder, backing away a little.

"Then why are you so irked about Harold! He will be a powerful healer, I can sense it, you have nothing to be ashamed of. He can still wield his sword to train, as long as you place a safety on his blade so he can't harm any one… Salazar is building up his pain tolerance levels so he shouldn't be defenceless. So what are you so angry about!"

By the end of her rant she was nearly shouting.

Then she brusquely calmed down.

"Unless you resent the fact that Salazar managed to bond with Harold and not you…."

"He is my heir!" countered Godric.

"Then behave like it! You're losing him to Salazar as we spoke."

Godric scoffed.

"I don't deny Salazar is brilliance but he has as much social skill as a bear…"

Leanne shook her head.

"You really don't see it, Godric. Salazar can be extremely charming when he want to or when he has to obtain something from someone. It is not for nothing that he chose a snake for blazon…"

"Salazar? Charming? He could freeze the strongest fire with his coldness and sarcasm!"

Leanne only rolled her eyes.

"Harold is powerful and not really like your usual descendant, he is more closed, silent and he wish to prove himself above everything else. Those are traits that Salazar prizes, and added to his magical abilities, I would not be surprised if Salazar apprenticed him for the rest of his stay here, if only to keep an hold on him."

Godric frowned.

"I don't think so… Harold can't really be of use to him…. He is a healer… not a warrior!"

"Do you know what would have happened if he had done as you wish he had?" said someone from the door. The Gryffindors whirled on their heel and saw Julian Mallon standing in the entrance.

"I've known for a long time that these youths you kept bringing here were descendants of yours, Godric but I kept silent as you wished to keep it hidden… But I can't let you continue what you are doing."

Godric's face darkened.

"I thought you didn' like leaving your tower and your wards, Julian, something about them blocking your sight from the others"

Julian's eyes narrowed.

"Yes, so you can imagine what it would take to make me come here…. I was meditating when I was caught in a vision, one of my strongest ever. I saw what happened before and what could come."

"What did you see Julian? Stop speaking in circles, I don't have time for idle talking…" said Godric, snappishly.

"Your descendant was cursed by a Warrior, or an Arhox in the old tongue. I don't know how much you know about the Warriors and the Healers of Old, but just learn that as soon as one of the Ten Warriors or the Ten healers die, the next one is born. They balance each other and can't kill each other. They are bound by magic older than time. When Harold was cursed, his Healer power blocked an attack from a Warrior but as he was only a baby he absorbed a part of the Arhox."

Godric had stopped pacing and was listening closely at Julian.

"My guess," continued Julian, "is that the two cores managed to balance themselves in him but put a damper on his abilities. His stay in the forest which is saturated with magic and the fact that he used healing spells there unbalanced his core, sending him in an self-destructing spiral."

He paused.

"Now here is what I saw. Had he chosen to become a Warrior as you so wish he had. He would have risen above everyone, becoming a power never seen before. He would have killed his enemy and try to settle down. But the urge to kill and to battle would have never ended. Without an healer to balance him he would have fought his urges but in the end he would have given in. Years after years he would have delved in darker and darker magics before becoming a Dark Magician. In the end, he would have sent the world in a Dark Age or he would have been stopped and put in a stasis for eternity as he could not be killed…"

Godric sat abruptly, his face pale.

"You may scorn his decision Godric, but he put his life on the line to make sure he would not end becoming his worst nightmare. Would you wish this on him? Now, think about it. He'll need the training only a kin can give him to survive."

"But…"

Julian raised an eyebrow, then turned on his heels to go back to his tower and wards.

"Oh! And give this to him."

A parchment floated in Leanne's hands.

"I will, be sure of that."

"Thank you Leanne," and with those last words, Julian left. The woman stared at the parchment, sealed with the Seer seal before looking up at her husband.

"So what will you do Godric? Are you going to resume your passing or try to act like a mature adult?"

Her husband look up.

"I don't know what to do anymore…"

"Talk with Rowena, she could advise you on what to do, after all she is following Harry quite closely, even if Salazar and him are closed mouth about what they're doing."

Godric looked up at that.

"Really?"

"Yes,"

His wife nodded, still looking at the parchment in her hands. Before putting it on her desk and ordering her papers. She then walked to the bed and slipped under the covers.

Godric stood up and started pacing again.

"What is he doing to my heir? After last time, I had thought that Salazar would avoid any new descendant of mine…"

"Harry is different; you should have understood this by now, Godric. As to what they're doing; Rowena told me Salazar was increasing his pain tolerance as well as instructing him in the Shadows' Arts on Merlin's request."

Godric paled.

"The Arts! But…. "

"Merlin asked it of Salazar, he must know what he's doing…" replied Leanne.

"That meddlesome spirit! I always said he was up to no good!"

"Why is that?"

Godric halted and looked at his wife.

"The Arts are no small magics. They were wielded by Magician of Old, what Salazar knows to wield is only a tiny part of them. Even Merlin couldn't use them to their full potential. They are dangerous; to an unprepared mind they can be lethal. Why do you think all the books written on them were destroyed or hidden? Lots of people attempted to tame this kind of magic but in the end, they ended dead, crazy from an overload of power on their mind or possessed. I can't believe Salazar agreed to it! And without telling me!"

Leanne raised an eyebrow.

"And would you have listened to him?"

Godric had the decency not to answer and walked to the door.

"Where do you think you are going?"

"I need to speak to Salazar and that ghost."

Leanne sighed.

"Godric, it's the middle of the night…"

The man stopped and went back to the bed, slipping under the cover.

"You're right, I'll see them tomorrow."

Leanne looked relieved.

"Good, now can we sleep?"

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The next day, Godric tried to find his heir in the Hall, but didn't manage to do so. He turned to Rowena, asking for an explanation.

"Well, we pulled him out of the classes, so it would have been awkward for him to stay with the students… His meals are sent to his rooms."

Godric nodded.

"What are his classes?"

Rowena thought for a bit.

"Today he's spending the morning with Philip. He needed help with the trimming of the Devil Snare and the potting of mandrakes and some others plants in the Greenhouse one. Helga is seeing him this afternoon for Charms and then Merlin for Runes and Runic enchantment. As usual he's spending his evening with Salazar."

Godric nodded. He had classes all day today, so he would eavesdrop on the lessons with Salazar. The day passed slowly for the man, as he pondered on the problem that his descendant was giving him.

Finally he dismissed his last class and headed for the dungeons, where Merlin and Salazar taught his heir

He shivered as he reached the dungeons. He couldn't even start to understand how someone could enjoy this part of the castle. They had only build them on Salazar's insistance.

He heard Merlin speak as he walked deeper in Salazar's territory.

"Yes… now be carful with the design and the location of this rune… you always need to keep the whole sequence in your head…"

There was a long silence then Merlin started again,

"Very good, now make your summon."

There was some muttering and then a loud roar which nearly sent him in a panic.

"Excellent, now dispell it... Good… Alright, we'll stop here for tonight, it leaves you some time before your lessons with Salazar."

Godric muttered a quick invisibility spell as a door opened.

He blinked as he saw Harry.

The boy looked like he had not slept for weeks. He was thin, with dark circles under his eyes. His expression was even more closed than upon his arrival. He walked quickly to another room. Once there, he took off his robes, and sat at a table, opening a book and resumind his reading from where he had stopped the previous day.

Ten minutes passed and Godric was starting to grow restless, maybe Rowena had been wrong and tonight was just a study session.

As he was about to leave, a door opened and Salazar walked silently in the room, his robes billowing slightly behind him.

"Are you finished?" he asked sharply.

Harry closed the book, while answering.

"Yes."

The man nodded and motionned to the youth to explain the chapter he had assigned him the past day.

For the next fifteen minutes, Harry described a particuliar enchantment.

The Shadow Arts were not merely a branch of magic, they were a way of thinking, of acting. There were codes and rules, a hierarchy amongst its users. They covered potions, charms, runes, divination, enchantments, dueling, summoning and a few more obscure branch of magic. The better known ability of the Shadow masters was there abilities to call on the Shades and make them to their biding; that and their silent way to walk, from one shadow to another, nearly invisible to an untrained eyes.

Apparently Harry was getting started on the enchantments as Salazar made him go through the basic steps of this subject. He had to enchant a painting to make it moove. The main difference between charms and enchantments was the former only lasted for a given time before fading. Enchantments, if cast correctly would never fade.

As he was trained in a particular form of Enchantment, he was using the shadows of the room, weaving them together to coat the painting with a shine of magic which permeated the object.

All the while, Harry had been whispering a chant, never breaking his concentration. Finally the picture shone a light blue color for a few seconds before going back to his usual aspect.

Salazar nodded as he examined it, observing the now moving characters.

"Good, you're getting better, but your weaving is still a bit crude, even if it is effective. You need to be more subtle, more precise when you tie your enchantment."

For the next hour he had Harry enchant or desenchant various objects. Then they both sat, leg crossed on the floor and meditated for another hour. Godric was about to leave when his co-founder opened his eyes and stood up, followed quickly by his student.

"Put your wand aside and took your needle, the pearls and threads are in the seconds drawer."

Godric didn't miss the stiffening of the youth's body and frowned. Pearls?

Slowly, Harry took out a box and opened it, taking a thin needle and put a thread through the eye before looking up at the Slytherin founder.

"Today, you'll do two hundreds, the usual sequence and after I want you to write me feet essay on the uses of belladona. I want the writing to be legilible and straight," stated the man.

Harry only nodded, trying to relax his muscles for what was to come, knowing that being tense would only increase the pain. He couldn't repress a shudder as he was hit with a pain curse which was a favorite of Salazar. It started by making the victime feel like her skin was scratch lightly, then more and more roughly until it felt like sharp needles piercing the skin a little at the beginning, then deeper and deeper while they became larger and larger until it was like burning red dagger plunging his body.

He started to put the pearls on the thread: red, green, yellow, blue, red, green….. He had put about sixty of them when he reached the sharp needles stage. Trying to relax himself and to ignore the feeling, he kept his attention on his hands and the task. He had put about three thirds of his pearls when it felt like knives stabbing him, by this time his hands were trembling slightly. He accelerated a bit, trying to convince himself that the pain was not real.

Finally he reached two hundred and tied the threads to prevent the pearls from falling. His body was racked by shivers by now as he took some paper, only keeping the pain at bay by sheer will. Dipping his quill in the ink, he started writing, trying to suppress the twitching in his hand.
The pain reached a new level as he was writing his third line and the quill snapped under his grip. Trembling, he took another and inked it, resuming his essay. Lights were flashing before his eyes as he tried to focus on his essay. As the pain increased again, he couldn't suppress a pain filled whimper as he hunched over his paper, ink dripping on it. He tried to catch his breath, but couldn't repressed a moan as the pain increased again. His body felt as if red-hot daggers were plunged in him, twisted then taken out, only to hit another place.

"Be silent, and get back to work, you will not leave the room before you have written at least one foot," snapped Salazar, looking up from his work at his desk, waving his hand and smiling darkly as Harry cried out. "Now, get back to work."

Now shivering from head to toe, Harry took his quill and painfully traced the words on the parchment, nearly piercing it as he leaned heavily on it, his knuckles white.

Godric couldn't believe it. What was Salazar thinking!

Time seemed to slow down. The Gryffindor watched as his heir managed to write the required foot, all the while shaking and crying out from time to time, or whimpering when the pain got too much. Each sounds punished by a curse from Salazar. By the end, tears of pain were racking Harry's cheek as he silently sobbed, wanting to curl and nurse his screaming body.

Salazar stood up and took the parchment, reading it.

"Barely legible and sloppily worded, not to mention dirty. A bit better than yesterday, though. We'll end it for tonight. You can go."

Harry didn't wait to be told twice.

He stood up shakily and exited the room as quickly as possible.

Once the door was shut and that Salazar was sure his charge was out of earshot, he turned towards the corner where Godric was standing.

"What are you doing here Godric?"

The man waved away his invisibility charms.

"How did you know I was here?"

Salazar rolled his eyes.

"As if I couldn't sense your aura, Godric, Harry felt something too, but knew better than to ask… So now, why are you here? You were very clear about what you thought awhile ago."

Godric colored slightly.

"I wanted to check on Harold…"

The Slytherin raised an eyebrow.

"Why waste your time on him, after all, he's a weakling, isn't it?"

Godric's face was now a light shade of red.

"What are you doing to him Salazar? We never agreed to this sort of training!" he said hotly, trying to dodge the question.

Salazar took a few steps closer.

"And I'll ask you again, Godric, why do you care?"

The Gryffindor took a few breaths.

"He is my heir, Salazar. Leanne and Julian made it clear. And I don't agree to your ways. What are you trying to do? To prove?"

Salazar only smirked.

"You wouldn't understand, Godric, you never did… you're too set in your views to see the larger picture. He does."

"He is my heir!"

"And he needs to learn control! He needs to be able to bear pain and smile through it."

"There are other ways," said Godric, more calmly.

Salazar sighed.

"There aren't, but you don't want to admit it. As usual… Your heir lacks everything a wizard should have when it comes to control, composure, behavior, facial expression."

Godric glowered.

"Harold is not one of your Slytherins, Salazar, we Gryffondors are not closed off like you, we know how to live and we live our life to its fullest!"

"If you want him to have a chance to live, you'll help teach him to guard himself, or he will not survive to see his twentieth birthday."

The other founder frowned.

"Why are you saying that?"

Salazar crossed his arms, a derisive expression etched on his face.

"Really, Godric, unlike you I continued my studies of the Arts, I'm a master Legilimens. No matter how good your heir thinks he's warding his mind, a wall always has cracks big enough for a snake to slither inside. I saw what he will face and to defeat my heir, or more precisely the thing calling itself my heir, he'll need Slytherin cunning, not Gryffindor foolishness!"

Godric looked at his old co worker, gaping.

"Your heir…."

Salazar scowled.

"Listen attentively to me Godric. We might not see eye to eye on a lot of things, but I would never lower myself to possession or the drinking of unicorn blood to survive. This man forfeited his claim of heirloom by doing so. He may bear my blood but nothing more."

Godric eyed his colleague cooly. It was no mystery that the two men were fireworks when put together. They came from opposite backgrounds. Salazar was the second son of a high ranking noble family and had spent his childhood learning etiquette, protocole, diplomacy, strategy, politics, warfare. Godric came from a much lower ranking family and was the fourth son. He had often mingled with his people, helping with the crops or the breeding, living a more down to earth life. Thus their point of views and attitudes differed most of the time.

Salazar met his eyes firmly, not backing down, until the other nodded sharply.

"Very well, I'll trust you on this matter, as well as this meddler who like to think himself the father of Magic. Just be careful with what you're doing. There are things best left alone…"

Salazar watched Godric leave the room, slightly bewildered. First Merlin, then Godric, what was going on with the boy? His curiosity only more fuelled, he went back to his study where a large tome was opened on his desk:

Healers and Warriors of Old, the facts behind the legends.