The ring
Chapter 1
Late in the autumn, the farmer still did not have the harvest he wanted.
- Inscription
Salazar Slytherin is getting married.
With another woman.
The House of Slytherin, permanently dark and damp on the marshes, has changed its gloomy ways, and has made extravagant arrangements for the life events of an heir, entertaining famous wizards in the wizarding world.
The dust had been swept from the air of Slytherin Castle; the grey tiled floors were spotless; the wormy tables and chairs had been replaced with new ones. The fragrant white roses filled the dais where the couple was about to be blessed and celebrated.
In an unobtrusive corner, leaning on a soft, dark red cushion, a silent guest studied an object in his hand.
"Hey, I didn't think this family would ever rise from one man!"
"Yes, it was only a small family that had moved over."
"Why, the white wizard in the Dark wizard's home?"
The witches who had gathered in twos and threes were muttering.
Slytherin Castle had taken the opportunity to look very new indeed.
A polished goblet of liquor that the wizard held up in conversation.
The polished, open and airy Windows overlook a beautiful garden.
The polished serpentine crest of the Slytherin gate, gleaming with silver.
Polished... Some wizard's eyes and heart.
They believed that Salazar Slytherin would make the family "flourish" like the Malfoys and the Blacks.
A few flies were inappropriately buzzing around the clean Slytherin Castle.
The red-headed wizard, who sat backlit, did not wave or wave like the others, but quietly turned the object between his fingers, oblivious. A faint ray of light hit his cool side face.
"Well, what are your chief's plans?"
"Er, I don't know..."
"Who is the betrothed of the young chief of Slytherin? Who has?"
"Me! I've seen it before I got here, and I must say, well, it's pretty."
Several chattering wizards tutted.
The Slytherin door was pushed again, and there was a gust of wind, and the violet robed wizard entered, his eyes sweeping about him. "Ha ha, our patriarch has made a deal with the Patriarch of Slytherin..." As he said this, he also pushed his way into the throng.
A few white wizards were invited to an area that had been neglected by the collective understanding of the dark wizards.
Near the fluttering green curtains woven with silver snakes, two white wizards of prominent families sat around a round table.
"Roina," said the brunette witch, "is Godric not here?"
Another witch, with black hair and a crystal crown, pointed with a thin finger. "There it is, Helga."
Helga turned his head to one side. "Why, why is he sitting there? Isn't he most active at times like this?" Roina shook her head.
"RON, I never thought Salazar Slytherin would get married," said RON. Hal sipped his own scented tea.
Roina tapped her fingertips on the table top. "His betrothed appears to be an honest daughter of the great pure-blood family, in charge of nearly a quarter of the wizarding world's resources and wealth."
For a moment neither witch looked very well and said nothing.
"Roina, do you think he might..."
The black-haired witch waved her hand.
"Helga, what do you think that man over there is holding?"
The brunette witch squinted away and frowned. "A little box, perhaps?" She looked back at Roina. "Do you think..."
The black-haired witch smiled faintly. "An old thing to remember." Shrugging at her, a strand of soft black hair fell before her pendant ears.
Then they saw Godric, who had been sitting, get up and stride off into the back garden of Slytherin Castle.
As autumn approached, most of the flowers, Muggle and wizarding alike, inevitably faded. The owner of the castle called in the Hufflepuffs' wizard, who was well versed in gardening, to revive the yellowed gardens.
The green of spring has returned to the earth in this cool and eventful autumn.
His fingers swept across the flowers, pausing from time to time to caress a beautiful face of delicate flowers. A vine carefully rolled his fingers. The green leaves moved and patted the back of his hand, as if in silence to comfort him. The red-headed wizard smiled for the first time in Slytherin Castle.
Tap, tap, light footsteps gradually. Godric turned. "Slytherin, long time no see."
'Gryffindor,' said Harry. The tumbling hem of his white gown stopped a metre from him.
The grey-haired wizard raised his eyebrow. "Invitation..."
"I got it." The swaying flowers and plants that were wrapped around Godric's fingers were squirting away under Slytherin's amused gaze.
"Oh, I thought you hadn't even heard of it in the months you were away." The grey-haired wizard was dressed in a suitable white wedding gown of elaborate patterning, and the collar was adorned with a gray stone that shone like the eyes of Salazar Slytherin staring at Godric Gryffindor.
"You know I'm busy." The red-headed wizard pressed his lips together, and there was a fleeting trace of fatigue in his green eyes.
"And," he said, looking up at him in his new clothes, standing in the bright afternoon sun, about to be married to the "lucky" woman for one night.
"Congratulations."
Salazar Slytherin could see nothing wrong with that statement. His mouth, which was already a crack open, was stiff, and a complex and indescribable strangeness rose in his heart.
Mixed taste.
He could not understand why.
No, he thought, as long as it didn't interfere with the execution of his plan.
He breathed a deep sigh of relief.
"Salazar, I have something for... Here it is." The red-headed wizard rummaged in his underwear pocket near his heart, placed something solemnly in the grizzled wizard's hand, and folded it.
Salazar could not see it, but through a thin layer of gloves he could feel the rough touch of the wood and the faint warmth of Godric's body...
"Just give me a... A little wooden box?" He frowned.
Godric smiled. "It's your... Wedding gift. But it's yours, too."
"Why do you have my things?" He felt Godric squeeze his hand for a moment.
"Oh, you've lost your mind."
He let go and dropped. This time, Salazar did not miss the inexplicable relief and light... in his eyes Sad.
The grizzled wizard put a hand over the wooden box to try to open it, but it would not open as though it had been superglued by despicable Muggles.
He shook the wooden box in his hand at him. 'What do you mean?
"Ah," said Godric, with a wink of realizability that betrayed the emotion of the moment like a bubble bursting in the sun. "As you have left it with me for a long time without paying for it, I make this arrangement."
"It's - it's mine." The Snake King turned slowly and looked Godric in the eye.
"Well, won't you guess what's in it?"
Salazar looked at the familiar Godric smile. "You won't be... again." He seemed to have a hot potato in his hand.
"Ha ha!" As Salazar sat down on his bottom, poof, the seemingly soft cushion beneath him emptied itself and crumpled. "Godric!" Salazar snorted heavily from his nostrils. The black-faced Salazar was absolutely terrifying, but some Gryffindor who was clutching his stomach and laughing through his tears wouldn't have cared, and would have had a fight at best.
We can't do anything about him.
"Believe it or not I ruined it." "Salazar said fiercely, clutching the small wooden box.
The smile faded from Godric's face.
"It's yours, anyway. Do with it what you will, throw it away, destroy it."
It won't make any difference to the end result.
"I have business, so I won't drink your wedding wine."
Salazar watched Godric as he walked away. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at the stubborn wooden box.
"Open the Alahomole."
Nothing happened. The box didn't budge.
Damn it.
Salazar didn't know whether to leave it behind, and without determining the danger of the object, carrying it with him was no doubt a time bomb waiting to go off.
Pause, Dong dong - the bell is ringing, it is husband and wife.
He put the little wooden box in one pocket and walked away.