Chapter IV
A/N: In this chapter, there's going to be another time jump. I am trying to get to the founding of the school. Selene is 17 now. Another OC or two will be introduced in this chapter. The Ollivander that runs the wand shop in Diagon Alley will be in this chapter. Thanks go out to PrisonerofAzkaban711, for her beta work. Enjoy the update. SSD
P.S-Happy Father's Day to my dad and all dads. Mine actively encourages my writing, and even helps with it on occasion as a sounding board!
The past six years had been full of letters from Salazar. He and Godric had been all over the continent, making their names in the magical world. Selene had a feeling that when he came back for her seventeenth birthday, they were likely to get mobbed.
Selene had been looking forward to this day for a long time. It was now finally time for her to get her wand. Learning magic could be dangerous. One time over the course of the past several years, Selene had managed to turn her body transparent! It had taken a lot longer than she would have liked to get her body back to normal.
Since she'd been 15, and during one of her brother's visits back home, she had been living on an estate that was Salazar's. There had been a rather enormous argument between her brother and Lord Blackwood. Selene had a feeling that it had to do with Blackwood's attempts to marry her off to Cailean Selwyn. The Selwyns had been more than pleased to have her in their family. She had not liked them, but she knew that she had little say in the matter as to who she married.
In a turn of events that was particularly convenient for her, Salazar had come back for a visit. He'd been nearly blind with rage when he had found out about the idea of her marrying that man. From what she'd heard among other things, Salazar called Cailean a coward and that the Selwyn family would never see a Knut of the Slytherin fortune. That it was none of Blackwood's affair who she married, that it was his place to decide who Selene married when the time was right.
Shortly after that, Salazar had come up to her room, much calmer and had told her to pack her things up. He had an estate of his own, where she could live in peace.
And live in peace she had, even if it was a bit lonely. Occasionally she'd meet up with some female friends she'd made, but they all had families of their own, and were too busy for Selene. But there were other ways for Selene to entertain herself. Male friends were few, because even though he was not around, Salazar's reputation already reached far.
There were many ways for her to entertain herself on the estate. Most of the time she spent outdoors, finding the magical creatures that ran rampant in the area, including the herd of Thestrals that had used to be on the Blackwood estate, they'd followed Selene there.
On the subject of thestrals, that was what the core of her wand was going to be. The wood was chosen by the Wandmaker, using methods that were not understood by none other than another Wandmaker.
"Selene, are you ready to go? It's time to head to London." She turned around at her brother's voice.
They would be apparating. Selene disliked the sensation and was not very good at it just yet. Her brother would be bringing her along with him, as he had some business of his own to attend to in Diagon Alley.
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Selene had never been to London before. She'd stayed up in Scotia with the Blackwoods during her childhood, as she'd learned it was called down here in England, where Salazar had his estate. The estate was in an area known as the Forest of High Peak. Another magical family, the Peverells, also lived within reasonable distance on horseback.
"Stay close to me. Especially in the entrance area to Diagon Alley. The Leaky Cauldron is full of all types. I don't want you going in there unaccompanied," Salazar ordered.
Before leaving, Salazar had cast a spell on himself so that he could be with his sister in peace.
He had a feeling that his sister would not appreciate being bothered by the multitudes of women who now fell at his feet.
###
Diagon Alley was full of shops that contained whatever a witch or wizard might desire. Books, potion making supplies, stores to try and find familiars.
Selene loved it.
"Ah Lady Slytherin. I've been wondering when I'd be seeing you. I take you are here for a wand?" Virgilius Ollivander asked as Selene entered the shop.
"Yes, I am. I do have samples for the core." Selene handed him a narrow box.
The old wand maker opened the box, his eyes went wide shortly thereafter. "Only those who can face death can successfully use a wand with this core, my lady."
"I am aware. I have seen death, and I accept it as a part of life. So this core will work for me." Selene was looking the old wand maker right in the eyes.
"As you wish, my Lady. Your wand will be ready in a week. I know just the wood that will work perfectly with your core."
"A week?" Selene was surprised.
"Wandmaking is delicate work, my Lady. I can assure that you will be satisfied with my work."
Selene nodded. It seemed that she would get to stay in London, magical or otherwise.
She went to her brother who was waiting outside. "It'll be a week before Ollivander is done."
"Did he have any problems with the core?" Salazar asked. Thestral hair was temperamental most of the time.
"No, he just warned me that I have to be willing to face death to be able to use my wand properly." Walking back towards the Leaky Cauldron, Selene muttered, "I have no idea of what to do while I wait for Ollivander to finish."
Salazar was silent for a bit, "We're going to be staying with a friend and her family, I have business that I need to attend to."
Selene turned her head towards her brother and asked, "What kind of business? Business with a woman?" The second part of her question was clearly ribbing her brother.
Ignoring his sister's tone, Salazar went onto say, "It does involve a woman, but not in the way you think. In time, I will tell you what I'm up to. I don't even know if it's going to work out just yet."
Despite her best efforts to prize more information out of Salazar, Selene could not gain any more details about her brother's secret little project.
###
Selene did not court chaos. She had kept the estate in good working order in her brother's absence. The house elves did most of the actual cleaning, but Selene kept the records of the estate well. It was not a money drain, thanks to her.
Salazar's friend Helga's family home was… chaos was not a strong enough word for it.
Helga was more than likely one of the nicest people Selene had met. She had no idea how she and her brother had met, but it did not seem to have ever been romantic in nature. Selene also knew that they were planning something together, with others whose names she had not heard yet.
Salazar could be a real dog when it came to women. He thought Selene did not know of his romantic escapades. She was surprised that she did not have a niece or nephew that had come into the picture.
Her thoughts on the matter were interrupted, when Helga poked her head in saying, "Conri is here. Apparently he's here to help you with you with potion making?"
"Yes he is. I will go see him," Selene smiled.
She did not need Legilimency to know that many people thought that Conri was carrying a torch for her.
###
Lord Conri Black was waiting in one of the many sitting rooms at the Hufflepuff house for his friend Selene. They'd first met shortly after she and her brother Salazar had come to live with the Blackwoods. Since they had been of an age, they'd been around each other most of the time.
As they got older, there had been a fair amount of owls between the two of them. Most of the letters from him had been him asking questions about magical creatures, and the majority of the letters from her had been asking him about potion making.
Selene was awful at making potions. She could not even make a simple potion without it boiling over. After several attempts at potion making on her own, Selene had decided to leaving the making of the potions to those who could make them.
"So what potion are we going to be trying to make today, old friend?" Selene had entered the room with a smile on her face.
"We will be trying to make a Shrinking Solution. Let us go down to the potions laboratory at my place. I do not want to make it with small children around."
Conri knew that he was extremely lucky that Salazar allowed him to be alone with Selene. He'd been threatened thoroughly that if his behavior became inappropriate, that he would have to run and run fast so that Salazar would not be able to find him!
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The rest of the week passed normally. Salazar had been there at the midday meal when the owl from Virgilius Ollivander came and told Selene that her wand was done.
"I'll come with you. I would love to see what he has come up with for you," Salazar said with a smile on his face.
Both finished up their meal in record speed, and hurried down to Diagon Alley. The wand maker was behind his desk. He looked up to see the Slytherin siblings in his store.
"I suppose I should not be surprised to see the two of you here so quickly. Excuse me, I will go get it."
Selene was fidgeting with excitement. "You're acting like it's Yule," Salazar smiled at his sister's excitement.
"This is better than Yule, brother. And I already know what spell I am going to perform first. I've been working on it tirelessly, and want to try it with my wand."
Before Salazar could ask what spell she was going to do, Ollivander walked in. When he put the box down, he began with, "When I first saw what you had brought me for your wand core, I had my doubts, as it is not a common core. I thankfully found a wood that worked perfectly with it." With that he opened the small box.
Selene picked up her wand and asked, "What wood did you go with?"
"Pine was what worked best with the thestral hair. It is eleven inches long, slightly knotty, and this wood loves being used creatively, so if you know the perfect first spell you want to do…" the old man trailed off.
"I know exactly what spell I want to perform first," Selene grinned.
"Expecto Patronum" she murmured. Her grin went even bigger as her thestral patronus cantered around the small room.
Salazar was surprised at the spell his sister had chosen. The Patronus Charm was a difficult one.
Selene saw that her brother was looking at the corporeal patronus in disbelief.
"It took me a year and a half to get to mist, another year to get it to an unclear form, and another year or so to get it to the Thestral you see here. This is every bit as difficult a spell I was told it was." Selene smiled.
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Several hours later, Selene roamed into the library. Her brother had been in there with Helga and Rowena Ravenclaw, formerly of Clan Blackwood, for several hours. She had also thought she may have seen Godric around.
Finding her way into an alcove, Selene saw elaborate plans for a castle sprawled out on a dark oak table in front of her.
Before she could examine them any further, the plans vanished before her eyes. Turning around, she saw her brother who replied in an answer to the look she gave him,
"You'll find out more about that when the time is ready. Time for dinner."
###
January 1992
The Dueling Club had been an absolute joke. At least Ariadne had gotten to watch Professor Snape hex Lockhart.
"At least Snape is a competent instructor. He may have his issues, but at least Snape knows what he's talking about," Ariadne thought to herself.
What had made the meeting so very interesting, was that Harry Potter seemed to be a Parseltongue, and he had not been aware of it. Now people were buzzing with conversation about him being the Heir of Slytherin.
Ariadne thought that to be highly unlikely. The Potters had not married into the Gaunt line at any point. There were other reasons that some Medakans over the years that had been Parselmouths.
But she needed to find the kid before there were any more displays of Parseltongue. Keeping that ability as private as possible was key.
After giving him Granger's Transfiguration homework, she asked "Potter would you wait a moment? Weasley can go up to the hospital wing to give your friend her homework."
When he nodded to his red-haired friend, Harry approached the desk.
"You're not in trouble, Potter. I'm just going to give you a small bit of advice," Ariadne did not look up as she said this.
"What advice is it?"
"Be careful with that new ability of yours. You should have kept it to yourself. Parselmouths have horrible reputations."
"I swear I didn't know I was one. I was telling the snake to go away," the second year sounded like he had said this multiple times.
"Be that as it may, be cautious. You may go up and see your friend. I hope she's feeling better," Ariadne smiled at him.
She had a feeling that the young Gryffindor was wondering why a Slytherin was being nice.
A/N 2: Well, this one turned out to be a lot longer than I anticipated. As always, this one was fun. Loving this story. I played with the timeline a bit, and put the Dueling Club incident after Christmas. Hope you all did, and please tell me what you think!
