Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 3

"Oh Helga, that's wonderful!"

Rowena clapped her hands together in pleasure; the crest Helga had just finished was remarkable. Who'd have thought that the loud, violent, Viking woman was such an artist? Then again, she had suspected it a little when Helga had mentioned in passing that she'd decorated the metalwork on her axe herself, especially when she'd had a closer look at the knot-work on it.

"Indeed, you've really outdone yourself this time."

Praise from Salazar, now that was something to be proud of, the mercantile side of him was extraordinarily picky when it came to quality of work. And it looked like Helga knew it too as she smiled at him in thanks.

"So Godric," Rowena turned to the Saxon man who'd been rather quiet up until now, "what do you think?"

He stayed silent a little more with a thoughtful look on his face, or at least Rowena thought so, before he spoke.

"Helga?"

"Yes?" She replied, a little warily. With good reason too, Rowena thought to herself, after all the previous two times they'd asked his opinion of the crest he'd asked her to redo the whole thing. Surely he couldn't be doing that now, the piece was perfect.

"Why a badger?" To be honest, it was something she'd wondered about herself. The other three were pretty easy to figure out; after all they figured largely in each of their lives in some way. Salazar used a green snake as his trading sign, Rowena's own family crest was a dark blue raven on a bronze background so the choice there was obvious and Godric... well Godric wanted a dragon, then an acromantula, then a jarvey and five hundred other things that took his fancy at that particular moment. In the end, Helga had gotten fed up with all the changes and just bunged the first one he'd picked in, a lion. He actually seemed quite happy with the decision.

But in response to his question, Helga just shrugged. "I like badgers."

"Very good then, excellent work Helga. All we need now is a motto..."


"Rowena! Come and have a look what Salazar bought!"

"Ah there you are Godric, I wanted to talk to you about that mot-"

"In a minute." He grabbed her arm and pulled her over to where Salazar was standing, just in front of a large, opalescent egg.

"Oh he didn't." It couldn't be what she thought it was, after all Salazar wouldn't waste money on something as dangerous as that. Would he?

"It's a dragon egg! Isn't it marvellous?" Godric was practically beaming.

"Of course it is, Godric. It's beautiful." She then looked at Salazar and said to him sotto voice so that Godric wouldn't here. "Why on Earth did you buy that? It can't be safe, and what are we going to do with it once the students arrive?"

"It was gift actually, from a client hoping to curry favour. As for dealing with it, we'll just have to make sure we employ someone capable enough to manage it. Besides, there's rather a large market for dragon's blood at the moment. If we ever get low on funds..."

"Honestly, Salazar." Rowena smiled at his comment, although it was a little difficult to tell whether he was joking or not. "Have you thought about this motto idea at all?"

"Not particularly, I have been occupied with other things." She did have to concede that point, arranging the finances and supplies for the future school was a humungous task and certainly one that Rowena herself couldn't do. Salazar had admitted before now that I was taking all his skill to get things sorted. "Why, have you?"

"A little." About six or seven full parchments worth, and still she had none that really suited. She'd thought talking it over with one of the others would help. "But I have to go now anyway, the stairs nearest the Hall has been falling out of pattern and I really must get it sorted."

"Yes, we certainly wouldn't want any midair collisions, would we? Still, I must say that it is a wonder that you got them moving. I'd never seen anything like it at all before now."

"Flatterer."


"How about 'From possibility to actuality'?"

Helga swished her newly-made wand – Rivalin had made one for each of the four as a gift – and put the wording under the crest. A translation spell Rowena had set up translated it into Latin. Rowena had insisted that the motto had to be in Latin, it was only proper after all.

"Put that on the maybe pile I think." Salazar said, yawning. After several hours of doing this it really was getting quite boring and having to listen to Godric coo over his newly-hatched Welsh Green outside didn't help. Still it was better than nothing, and until the prospective teachers arrived for their interviews, there really was nothing else to do.

"'Knowledge is power'?"

"I think perhaps not. It doesn't sit underneath the crest properly." That was another one down then, another hundred or so to go.

"'No offence intended'? What, that can't be right."

"I expect Godric's been putting down suggestions again, for some reason I can't imagine you coming up with..." Salazar looked down the parchment briefly before putting his finger on a heavily-written suggestion, "'My dog ate it' for example."

"It's a shame," Helga said studying the words underneath the crest, "That first suggestion of his fits perfectly."

"So why not use it? It's not like the general populace will know what it means."

"I'd know. We're not using it." It was the principle of the thing, Rowena, no offence intended indeed.

"How about 'Cogito Ergo Doleo' then?" Salazar said smiling.

This seemed to set Helga off who said in amongst gasping laughs, "Or what about 'Appareo Decet Nihil Mundita?'"

The thought of having that as their motto was funny, Rowena had to admit. "I suppose we could just tell the truth, 'Non Curo!'" At that she curled up, laughing.

The silliest suggestions followed from each of the three, some rather obscene ones came from Helga whilst Salazar came up with the strangest ones. They became wilder and more hysterical with each one, the boredom presumably having driven them to such daftness. Of course, when Godric came in, beard frazzled and still smoking, he was presented with a rather unusual sight.

It was Rowena who first noticed the sorry state that the other founder was in, and it sobered her up a fair bit whilst the other two just sniggered at him. "Why Godric, what on Earth's happened to you?"

"Never tickle..." He was interrupted by a large coughing fit caused by the smoke, "a sleeping dragon."

"That's it!" The other's winced at Rowena's outburst and gaped as she leapt up and literally lifted Godric up off the floor in a hug. "That's it! Thank you, Godric!"

"She's gone insane." Helga muttered to a nodding Salazar.

"No, no. Look." She took her own wand and jabbed it where the crest sat. The words 'Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus' scrolled gently underneath it.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, our school motto."


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