Chapter Thirteen

Journey to the North

Gryffindor and Slytherin had zero trouble finishing the fight. Slytherin took the Dark wizard's still, laughing form and slumped him over his shoulder. Gryffindor picked up the fallen wand and placed it in his robe.

"That was most impressive spellwork," Gryffindor complimented. He extended his left hand. "I am Godric Gryffindor."

Slytherin accepted the greeting and shook Gryffindor's hand. "Salazar Slytherin. I have been travelling for some time; it was mere coincidence that I arrived when this… madman was running loose."

"I know a place in the north where he can go," Gryffindor said. "It has a strange energy that stops magic from being cast. It is far from pleasant, but such is the punishment for ruthlessly attacking these innocents."

"Muggles," Slytherin pointed out. "Not innocents at all. These are the people who persecute our kind so much that they are willing to slaughter countless of their own just for the chance of killing one of us with them."

With that kind of argument, Courtney could see another reason why people might be opposed to the Light Magic Movement - It wasn't just that Muggles would try to take advantage of magic, but they actually made an effort to kill them just for being wizards.

Gryffindor raised an eyebrow at Slytherin's words. "You must have spent much time among the Muggles. I knew of their hunts for our kind, but never dreamed that it was so severe they would lash out against their own."

"Well, it is the truth," Slytherin said coldly. He regarded the frozen Dark wizard over his shoulder. "However, if it is acceptable, I wish to accompany you to this place in the north where this monster can stay."

The scene shifted again.

"What?" Albus asked. "We don't even get to see if Gryffindor accepted his offer!"

When it cleared, they were standing in a snowy valley between two mountains. A thick white storm flurried in front of their faces. A roar shook the area.

"Do you see that?" asked Slytherin, still carrying the same Dark wizard upon his shoulder.

Gryffindor peered through the snow. "It looks like… two people being attacked."

"Never mind," Albus said again. Yeah, it was pretty clear that Gryffindor accepted the offer.

"I think I see the two people getting attacked," Lynne said. "Let's get a closer look."

They ran through the snow, leaving no footprints, as they approached the figures in the distance. There were actually three - a large redheaded woman, a tall brunette, and… a giant, grey-skinned bald creature that clearly wasn't human. The women were both holding wands and firing spells at the creature.

"A mountain troll," Lynne breathed. "That's a four-star beast, one of the most dangerous in the world!"

Gryffindor and Slytherin got closer to the witches and the troll. Slytherin gave a quick "Stupefy!" and shot at the troll's chest. The witches turned to look at the two of them.

"Don't kill it," the redhead said.

"We need to take some of its blood before it dies," the brunette explained. "Just leave this to… Wait, you have a sword?"

Gryffindor understood the message. He unsheathed his sword and tossed it at the troll. In a heartbeat, he pointed his wand at the sword and chanted "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The sword stopped falling and was now guided entirely by Gryffindor's wand. The troll recognized the sword as the greatest threat and swung a mighty club to knock it out of the way.

The redhead shrugged. "I thought the sword was a good idea."

"It still is," Slytherin grunted. He ran toward the troll. The brunette saw what he was doing and shook her head. Then she ran for the troll as well.

The troll, now faced with two idiotic humans running right at it, grinned and reached for them. With both its arms, and its attention, elsewhere, Gryffindor sliced a strip of skin off its shoulder.

Before the troll got Slytherin or the brunette, they vanished.

Suddenly they were right beside Gryffindor and the redheaded witch.

"Did they just Apparate?" Lynne questioned.

"That was pretty smart," Courtney said.

The brunette witch pointed her wand at the troll's slightly bleeding wound. "Accio!"

A swirl of the troll's blood emerged and flew toward her wand. She took a bottle from a pouch on her side and led the blood into it. The troll stumbled toward them, then fell flat on its face.

The brunette sealed the bottle. "Thank you," she said to Slytherin and Gryffindor. "You have no idea how useful this is in potions. My name is Rowena and this is Helga."

"A pleasure," Helga said with a slight nod.

"My name is Godric," Gryffindor replied. "This is Salazar."

"You don't think…?" Courtney asked.

"That this is Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff?" Lynne finished. "Oh my god, we seriously just watched the moment when the Founders of Hogwarts first met!"

"And they fought a freaking mountain troll," Albus added. "I hear there's nothing that cements a friendship better than that."

Gryffindor put his sword back in its sheath and looked at the Dark wizard Slytherin still carried. "It has been nice," he told Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. "But my friend and I are making a delivery."

"You're delivering a… person?" Hufflepuff questioned suspiciously.

"They'll all die," the Dark wizard mumbled with a smile. Then he laughed a few times. "All of you! All of you!"

"He's a little unsafe around people," Slytherin said.

"Understatement of the century," Albus muttered.

"Can't say for sure," Courtney pointed out. "This is our first time in this century. Maybe they had even worse understatements back then."

Lynne and Albus laughed. Once it died down, they finished watching as Gryffindor and Slytherin parted ways with Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.

A large stone moved, revealing a cave beneath it. Slytherin and Gryffindor stepped inside the cave, and Courtney, Lynne, and Albus followed.

Within the cave was a deep set of stairs - manmade, no doubt. The two Founders descended, still carrying the Dark wizard, until they reached the bottom.

"You will be staying here," Slytherin said. "You won't be able to use any magic around here…"

"... But I'm still keeping your wand anyway," Gryffindor added.

They started walking back up the stairs. The Dark wizard started mumbling again, "You're going to suffer. You're going to suffer and die…"

Gryffindor sighed and Slytherin rolled his eyes. The other wizard grabbed the nearest thing he could find - a live lizard - and threw it at them. It had no effect, and the cave sealed.

With them gone, the Dark wizard started laughing. He reached into his robe and revealed a small white object that looked like a stone. Then he lay it on the ground. "Suffer and die, oh yes! Suffer and die…" he kept singing.

They emerged from the Pensieve and looked at each other.

"Yeah, that Dark wizard was the creepiest thing I've ever seen," Albus said. "All agreed?"

Courtney had seen some of the pictures in the textbook in Lochram's class, but after a second's hesitation she said, "Agreed."

"Same here," Lynne said. "But, wow, so much information! I've got to write this all down really fast so I don't leave any details out… Do you know how to spell 'Letitia'? And, oh, I should really look up what potions use troll's blood… This is so exciting!"

"Yeah," Courtney couldn't help smiling at her enthusiasm. "This place… this Room of Knowledge… we really should come back here sometime. Maybe next time we can go to when the Founders actually, well, founded Hogwarts."

Lynne was practically bouncing. "I can't wait! Even though I really have to!"

Courtney, Lynne, and Albus left the Room of Knowledge, and the door vanished behind them.

Author's Note: Yes, this is the Room of Requirement. But they don't know that yet. I'm seeing where it can go with students who know about the Room of Requirement, but think that it can only provide information. Also, just so there's no ambiguity, yes, there are a few parts of this backstory that will become important later. Reviewers, let's see if you can figure out which parts exactly.