Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or anything else about Harry Potter, I only own the plot.
A/N: I have had the idea for this fan fic for some time. It is not usually a setting that is seen often and I wanted to explore some ideas. Please read and review. Thanks.
Chapter One:
The morning dawned clear and cold as the woman got up out of her bed and walked to the window. She looked out on the highlands around her and thought about the plans that she and her three friends had made. She was so exited. After everything they had been through, everything they had done, today the construction would start. There was a knock on the door of her room and she called 'enter' to her best friend in the world.
'Oh! Rowena, good you're finally awake, I was worried that you would never get up,' said Helga as she entered the room. Rowena cringed at Helga's direct speech. She herself preferred to speak in a much softer manner, as befitting one of high station and recognition, but her friend Helga was a practical person of common birth, and felt that it was not necessary to change the way she spoke just because her station had changed.
'Yes. The party lasted far too long last night, and I am not accustomed to bedding down at such a late hour. And Godric! If he had consumed so much as a drop more firewhisky I fear that that disreputable hat of his would have burst into flames' Rowena responded with a chuckle.
The four friends were staying at a well thought-of inn in a small town in the highlands of Scotland. They had spent the previous night partying and toasting their grand plan to establish a great wizarding school in the hills near the town. They each had made important achievements, earned many honours, and their good friend Merlin was there to give his blessing to their project, as well as to seal their vows to the school. Rowena was particularly happy about what they were doing. She thought about the bright young minds that would come to learn. She had never had children, though Helga had borne a brood of them to her first husband, who was now deceased, and Godric was known for having fathered many, with two official wives, and many suspected that there were other, unacknowledged offspring of Gryffindor out there. Salazar also was childless, and she and he had been brought together by this. This was the reason that the two of them had proposed the school to their friends, who had met the idea with much enthusiasm.
'Helga, dear, I'll be down in a moment. I'll just get my house-elf to help me dress, and I'll come to breakfast,' she said to her friend, and as Helga left she called Flicky, her elf, to her. She chose a silver dress with blue trim, and was pleased with the effect. She always liked to look her best, and this was no ordinary day after all. She brushed and set her hair, looking at the touches of gray starting at the temples of her golden hair, sighed, and sent her elf to the staging area outside of the town. The four had brought a large company of elves with them, both to serve their personal needs, as well as to help with the construction. After the school was built, the elves would serve in the school, along with all their descendants.
Rowena went down to breakfast, but though she was ravenous, she ate little. She knew that too much food would make her sleepy again, and wanted to be wide awake for the vow taking ceremony. In addition, it was not proper for a lady to be seen overindulging at the table. Helga and Godric on the other hand, ate with gusto. Helga had always had an appetite, and this, combined with the dozen or so children that she had borne, made her more than a little plump. Salazar also did not eat much, but he never did. It almost seemed that he found such mundane things as the consumption of food to be beneath him, and thus wasted little time on it. He was a thin man, not skeletal or unhealthy, but had the appearance of a person on whom all the fat had been trimmed away, and looked like a greyhound in top condition.
Rowena really preferred his company to Godric. Godric looked more like a bulldog. He was an exuberant person who enjoyed all the pleasures of life. Food, drink, women, song, he sampled them all. He was a very adventurous person with a great love of life, and was on occasion a very trying person to be around. Only Salazar was able to keep up with him, and that was mainly due to sheer determination. Salazar was not the kind of person who liked to be shown up, and Godric taunted him mercilessly. Salazar knew what Godric was up to of course, and rarely took the bait. He was frequently able to counter some of Godric's more outrageous propositions with the application of a cutting, dry wit that seldom failed to draw blood. They had an interesting, but still fulfilling friendship.
The two of them were engaged in a heated discussion over who had won their most recent competition, which had been a terrifying ordeal for Rowena and Helga to witness. Salazar had challenged Godric to tame a dragon, and Godric was still insisting that his last command to his dragon, (to fly off the mountain top they were perched upon), was heeded, while Salazar was saying that he had not done anything, as the dragon would have done so any minute and Godric was trying to win on a technicality.
'I'm telling you Sal, that dragon looked at me, winked, and flew off, just as I told it to!'
'My dear Godric, that dragon was about ready to fly regardless of what you said. I tell you the dragon was already in the air when you shouted that last "command" to it. And do not think that by insisting on calling me by that ridiculous diminutive I shall start calling you God, or Ric, or any other absurd thing,' shot back Salazar, with a hint of a smile.
'Salazar, you don't have one fun bone in that skinny body of yours! If I didn't know better I would think you were the most arrogant person I have ever known. The fact of the matter is though, that I hold that particular title, and that is one thing that you can't deny!' Said Gryffindor with a loud guffaw.
Rowena and Helga giggled into their plates at this exchange. Truth be told, they quite enjoyed the verbal sparring of their male counterparts, though some of the physical contests frequently had them at their wits' end.
At this point, Merlin announced that if they were all quite finished with their breakfast, they should head up to the building site. It was almost time for the ceremony, which had to be done at precisely mid-morning. Gathering up their things, and with a growing sense of anticipation, they left the inn to go up to their destiny.
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The four friends walked up the path to the area where they had chosen to build their school. They were all full of excitement and wonder. Merlin accompanied them to the building site, along with most of the residents of the town of Hogsmeade. Hogsmeade was really not that big, there was only one street, with a few houses and shops, but it was an all-wizarding town, and that was what was most important. The four did not want too many prying eyes around as they built the school, and so they picked an area that was totally devoid of muggles. The set up was perfect. The school would have access to the wizarding town for goods and services, and the town would prosper from increased trade and visitation. Everyone was happy.
When they all arrived at the site, the four friends stood in a circle holding hands, with Merlin in the center, and the rest of the town gathered around to witness. Merlin began the ceremony.
'Here on this earth, these four have chosen to create a great legacy. A school of learning will be erected here to educate the young in the ways of magic. This is a solemn undertaking, and must be done with the most dedicated mind, and the most serious commitment. In your hands will rest the education and future of the children of our kind. This is a great obligation, and therefore must be undertaken willingly, with free will, and must never be shirked.'
Merlin now turned to address each of the founders, and as he spoke, his voice took on a terrible seriousness that commanded the full attention of everyone there.
'Do you, Helga Hufflepuff, Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slitherin, vow to teach the young who come to learn from you, educate them to the best of your ability, with unwavering dedication?'
'We do.'
'Do you vow never to drop this burden, no matter the obstacle?'
'We do.'
'Do you swear to work with your co-founders to resolve conflict, to support each other in times of need, and to run the school wisely, together?'
'We do."
Merlin's voice rose louder over the throng, and as he spoke, tendrils of golden light wrapped themselves around the circle of four, tying them together and growing more intense with each word spoken.
'Then I declare that by this vow you are now forever bound. You are bound to each other, you are bound to this land, and you are bound to the school you have vowed to build together. You are now bound to Hogwarts.'
The light reached an unbearable brilliance and then faded away. The four founders looked at each other and smiled. It was done. Now it was time for the work to begin.