THE THREE FATES OF DARTH GLADIOLUS

Part I

Ascension

Salazar's Final Legacy

Edelweiss Potter loved magic. She loved the seductive flow of power through her veins as she cast charms and jinxes, transfigured matter, and cursed her foes. She loved the potential of it all, of how with the same spell one could perform simple housework without the need to mind one's work or render armies into blood and guts. She loved the many ways to fly, and even her ability to converse with snakes, regardless of the uncertainties those powers might introduce. She loved the peace to be found in brewing potions away from prying eyes and the heart-pounding tempo of dueling, with its attack and counterattack, blocking and parrying.

And yet magic has also brought her pain and sorrow.

When she had been only fifteen months old, the Dark Lord Voldemort had darkened the doorstep of her family's cottage on Samhain night. Three times he cast the Killing Curse, yet only twice did the Green Death enact its fatal design. For when he had cast it upon her, a miracle occurred. She survived. His powers failed. His body destroyed. She was taken from the wreckage and, as her sworn godfather pursued a destructive course of vengeance, left with her mother's muggle relatives.

For some ten years, she lingered at Number Four, Privet Drive, treated barely better than a slave and beaten at every sign of magic. It was the source of their wrath, and the single thing that prevented her from truly joining the Dursley household. And they had kept it a secret from her, crafting a world of lies around her parents and her heritage. Upon her eleventh birthday, when she thought freedom from cruelty had come to her in the form of Hogwarts, Edelweiss was incidentally set onto a headlong path towards reunion with the monster who shattered her family and left her with her infamous epithet, the Girl-Who-Lived.

And now he once more has a body, she thought grimly, wiping sweat from her brow. The back of her hand brushed against the angry scar on her forehead, the lightning bolt left behind by the Killing Curse. Edelweiss breathed out slowly, using what little strength she still had to remain upon her feet. The tiled floor beneath her was murky at the best of times. Despite her efforts, the Chamber of Secrets was still coated in grime and sitting water, the accumulation resisting her best efforts. The basilisk she had slain in her second year had long since been taken away, rendered for parts, and sold for profit. Only enough skin for a future suit of armor and five large vats of venom remained in her immediate possession, while the goblins she had worked through dealt with the rest.

The Chamber had become her place of solitude in the years since. Watching, prying eyes followed her, everywhere she went. It had reached a point that not even the distractions afforded by her close friends was enough to push away how the hair on the back of her neck stood whenever someone's gaze lingered on the back of her head for too long. Sometimes, even, her hand would twitch, tempted to draw her wand.

Only a parselmouth, one who could speak with snakes, could access the Chamber. Beyond the abandoned toilet Edelweiss had used when the specter of the Heir of Slytherin haunted Hogwarts, she had found a handful of other ways to reach this most secretive place. The last entrance had been discovered only a few days before her name emerged from of the Goblet of Fire, forcing her into the Triwizard Tournament.

It, like many other tragedies and struggles in her life, occurred on Samhain. There had been the troll in her first year, which led to striking a friendship with Hermione Granger. Following that was the first attack in her second year, announcing that the Chamber of Secrets had been reopened. Even during the prior year, when her godfather Sirius Black made his first attempt to enter Gryffindor Tower and attempt the murder that sent him to Azkaban Prison.

She huffed, shaking her head clear of thoughts best relegated to the past. Being distracted would not serve her well, especially as she worked to develop and expand her spell repertoire into something respectable. While she might have escaped Voldemort thanks to the curious nature of the twin cores of their wands, she could not hold out the hope she would be able to rely upon that connection in the future.

Edelweiss knew with certainty that one day she would face the Death Eaters in battle, likely sooner than anyone might like. She needed to be ready for whatever they would throw at her. There would be no mercy, no quarter given. Not to her.

She closed her eyes and slowed her breaths. As she had prepared for the three tasks of the tournament, she stumbled upon a small book that extolled the value of meditation for mages. It calmed her increasing piques of fury and simplified controlling her magic. Her ability in her classes had noticeably improved. Ron might roll his eyes and Hermione might question the legitimacy of the book, but Edelweiss would not be swayed.

And, she had found, it expanded her senses. Edelweiss struggled to describe her new, strange powers any other way.

There was something strange connected to the Chamber. Her search lead her to pass over the parseltongue seals upon the entrances, the basilisk's lair, and the abandoned solar, long since pillaged with spare pages left behind, their writing linked to magics beyond her education. She sensed it below her feet, further below the Chamber's floor, hidden away like a dirty secret. Her senses told her it was there whenever she meditated within the Chamber, yet the moment she turned her wand and her magic towards the task, she was left stumbling in the dark.

Best she could tell, what she felt was neither of the magical world nor the muggle one. This puzzle frustrated her to no end, yet she couldn't justify introducing this particular problem to Hermione. Her friend might be the brightest witch of their age, but Edelweiss had grown up with nothing. She would possess her secrets for as long as they could remain so.

Damn this mystery. I will figure it out today, no matter what!

Edelweiss considered the failure of magic and, with a grimace, slid her holly wand into the dragonhide holster around her wrist. It had been a gift, made of Hungarian Horntail. She held out her right hand, the arm nice and straight. She closed her eyes, and reached out with her strange, new senses. Some of her fatigue faded away as her senses reached out and embraced the secret thing she knew was present. Power filled her, filled her as though she were merely breathing.

That was something she could always trust from her strange senses: power.

Whatever last secret Salazar Slytherin had hidden away pressed at the edges of her awareness, yet resisted her attempts to grasp it. Edelweiss scowled, reaching out further with her senses. Her magic strained, even as righteous power filled her. There was something about this place, about this moment, that spoke true.

Something cried out to her, begging to be found.

Edelweiss nearly threw herself at what she felt. There was a long moment where she wondered if she had grasped onto it. And then another awareness pushed back. Hard.

She grunted, eyelids clenching tight as she focused, intent upon claiming whatever it was. It sensed her will, her intent, and as though judging her worthy, responded as she wished.

Control was hers.

A wide, circular block near the base of the statue shifted and groaned. Stone ground against stone, slowly twisting as it responded to the raw power of her will. Edelweiss clenched her jaw as she raised and reached out with her left arm to bolster her efforts to move what she had assumed was merely a fancy section of floor. Her power grew, as rough and raw as it was. It responded to her intent, just as her magic did; yet she felt that slight difference as she relied upon her feelings.

It didn't come from within, as her magic did, but from everything around her. As she sunk into its power, Edelweiss swore she could feel others—their emotions, where they were, even their intentions. She wanted nothing more than to explore this power, yet her lacking guidance stopped her cold. Push the wrong way and she might expose herself. Certainly, someone else had these abilities.

Her eyes fluttered open, finding the towering statue of Salazar Slytherin. You had these powers, didn't you? Edelweiss thought, heart aflutter as she held the block in place. It was halfway clear, or so she suspected. Just as you could speak with snakes, you possessed this strange power.

Does that mean…?

She gritted her teeth, nearly growling. Edelweiss Potter was sick of the ever-increasing connections between her and Voldemort. She could only hope he did not possess these same powers, regardless of how likely it could be. She desired them to be her providence alone, to possess them for herself, and herself alone.

This she would not share.

Her sudden burst of temper, with its raging, wrathful fury, channeled the full might of her will into the massive stone. It complied; as if only waiting for her to call upon her anger. Where she had once struggled, it now moved with ease, revealing a pyramidal base that sloped cleanly to a point. A crimson crystal, filled with the hatred and wrath of a thousand human hearts, glowed, sitting within the point.

How beautiful, Edelweiss thought, as she twisted her hand. The stone moved in turn, flipping over as she moved it leftward. She allowed it to hover until it was parallel to the chamber floor, and finally lowered it. The stone settled without a sound, and she released her hold.

The moment she released those strange feelings that had given her power, a wave of exhaustion swept through her. Edelweiss nearly collapsed to her knees, her legs shaky and weak. A wave of rage and fury swept through her, emulating what she had felt from the red crystal. Her strength returned. The makings of a feral grin broke out as thundering realization shook her.

Her anger gave her power. It renewed her whenever she felt weak, just as hot soup warmed a cold child.

She peered down into the slight chasm, holding her anger at a light simmer. Green lanterns illuminated the stairs that descended, slowly moving toward the center. Without a moment of thought or hesitation, Edelweiss followed them down. Her footsteps were silent, any sound or noise devoured by the stone around her. Something called out to her, beckoning her down and down and down. She resonated with the call, as if part of her had long ago been sealed away within this place.

At the base of the stairs was a short corridor that ended at a strange, metal door. Edelweiss looked it over, frowning as she tried to find where the handle or panel to open it was. The metal was plain, though the lights around it shouldn't be working, unless somehow she was beyond Hogwarts's wards. Her right hand twitched, itching to draw her wand, but she stayed her hand. Her new feelings told her magic would not open this door. Something else would affect it as she wished, and allow her access to whatever was behind it.

Perhaps it is the same power which drew me here.

She approached the door with careful steps, peering around it for a hidden switch or panel. Once she was within arm's reach, the lights turned red. A transparent blue man appeared before her, projected from somewhere. He stared her down as his lips moved. Delayed words were relayed to her: [PEACE IS A LIE.]

Edelweiss flinched away, drawing her wand. She held it, ready to curse the figure.

[PEACE IS A LIE,] the blue man repeated.

A code, she realized. But what is the response? I may not have a third chance.

A voice whispered to her. It wasn't a voice she knew, yet it reminded her of the feelings, the power, that had drawn her to this place. The voice was soft, seductive, rich. She thought of the crimson crystal, of the wrath and fury it held.

'Peace is a lie. There is only passion.'

She nodded dumbly and said, "There is only passion."

The blue man stared at her. Before she could fear she had answered wrong, the eyes glowed brightly. [YOU HAVE ANSWERED CORRECTLY. BIOSCAN INITIATING.] A wide, silvery beam shot out and crossed her body, top to bottom and left to right. Edelweiss stiffened, wand clenched tightly as it hesitated upon the scar that cut cleanly from her hairline down through her right brow. She kept it hidden under her wild black hair, which often curled about her thin glasses. The beam went over it several times before the strange, unseen voice said, [ANOMALY DETECTED. FILING FOR FURTHER ANALYSIS.] A moment passed before the strange voice said: [ACCESS TO BE GRANTED FOR:]

Assuming what it was asking for, she said, "Edelweiss Potter."

[UNDERSTOOD. ACCESS GRANTED TO EDELWEISS POTTER. WELCOME TO ZIOST HANGAR, APPRENTICE.]

The red lights returned to white as the blue man disappeared. The door hissed open, rising so quickly she couldn't track it. The air that swept past her was stale. Her hand clenched tightly around her holly wand, her magic resonating with the phoenix feather within. Lights further within activated with soft clicks.

The strange voice called it a hangar, thought Edelweiss as she peered through the doorway.

With a hesitant step, she crossed the metal threshold and entered what the voice had called "Ziost Hangar." It was nearly the same size as the Great Hall, though Edelweiss couldn't say in the moment which chamber was larger. The ceiling was high and vaulted, with thick bars of metal rising up like ribs to support the top. There was a railing several feet before her. Beyond that, the floor fell away before her. She came forward and stared down at a black craft, long and smooth, resting there. She had seen nothing like it, not even in the muggle world. The closest she could think of was from Dudley's telly programmes—the sort he watched whenever Uncle Vernon was at work and Aunt Petunia was busy gossiping. She hoped it could fly. Edelweiss guessed it was the reason this place was called a hangar.

Her gaze flicked around before settling upon a door, identical to the one she entered through. Something beyond it called out to her, drawing her in with seductive whispers. Her feet moved before her mind could be made, though she didn't disagree with the impulse that possessed her.

It opened automatically, hissing like the previous door. Edelweiss entered a dark room and gaped once the lights activated.

It was an office reminiscent of Dumbledore's. The shelves covering most of the walls were filled to the brim, though only a third were tomes like she was accustomed to. The rest held small pyramids of red glass and thin black metal. Her gaze passed over them as she reached out with her feelings. She caressed them, and they reached out in return. She moved towards a shelf upon her right and was startled as a shining light caught her attention.

Edelweiss turned to the center of the office and stared at the red pyramid on the desk. It was larger than the ones spread across the room, glowing a brilliant crimson. She took a step toward it and nearly jumped back as it flashed. The image of a very familiar man hovered above the strange pyramid, his head, shoulders, and chest all that was visible.

"I am Salazar Slytherin, once a Sith Lord of Ziost and a founder of the Universitas Hogwarts magicarum artium." His gaze turned to her, terrible and burning. "You are the first to find this place. Name yourself."

"Edelweiss Potter," she said, ignoring the roar of pride and victory in her gut. "A witch studying at Hogwarts."

"Does the house system my peers and I established remain in place?" he asked. She nodded. "Which were you sorted into?"

She hesitated for only a second. "Gryffindor, sir."

Salazar sighed, his grim face drawn. "I have never liked being called sir. I am Lord Salazar to you, Miss Potter. Or Lord Slytherin, if you must insist so."

"Of course, Lord Salazar," Edelweiss said. She threw in a bow for good measure.

"Though for a Gryffindor to find this place," Lord Salazar muttered, as if troubled. His brows furrowed, not into a full scowl. "You are a parselmouth, yes?"

Edelweiss nodded.

"I assume you are very powerful in the Force to find me here. When did you begin your studies?"

She bit her tongue to prevent a stupid question from coming out. If she had to guess, the Force was the power she discovered through her senses and feelings, that which guided her to this place. "Only this year, Lord Salazar."

Lord Salazar looked her up and down. "You are small for seventeen."

"I happen to be fourteen, Lord Salazar. I will be fifteen in six weeks."

"So young, and so powerful." Lord Salazar smiled. "A powerful Sith Lord you shall be, Miss Potter."

"What exactly is a Sith Lord?" she asked, hoping it wouldn't lead to her death. Edelweiss wondered why he didn't call her a Sith Lady, but decided against asking. If Lord Salazar was anything like Snape, he would not suffer idiots.

Lord Salazar sighed. "I had feared you would not know. Tell me. How many years have passed since Godric and I had our public falling out?"

"A thousand years or so."

"…that long? Truly?"

Edelweiss nodded. "I, um, I should apologize, Lord Salazar. For killing your basilisk."

He waved away her apology as if it meant nothing. "After a thousand years, even the greatest of beasts born from Sith alchemy are more dangerous than they're worth. In time, I could teach you to breed a basilisk of your own, bound to your bloodline."

She opened her mouth, a thousand half-baked thoughts on her mind yet none springing to her tongue. Eventually, she snapped it shut and nodded. Lord Salazar appeared amused by her hesitation.

"For now, take one of the holocrons from that section," Lord Salazar said. He gestured to a bookcase on her left, small lights illuminating a group of pyramids—holocrons, he had called them. "Those are designed for fresh apprentices, especially those unfamiliar with the Force."

"What exactly is the Force?" Edelweiss asked, hungry for an answer.

Salazar nodded, almost thoughtfully. If he had a hand, perhaps he would rub his chin. "The first of many questions, and a good one for an apprentice like you to ask. I would recommend the holocron of a Sith apprentice and Master, the Lady Bastila Shan. She lived during the Age of the Revanchist, three thousand years before my own time. She was once a Jedi, the enemy of the Sith. They call our ways 'the dark side,' and we have adopted the term to spite them. She created a holocron to preserve the wisdom of her master, Darth Revan, and those of his peers she thought of value. Her teachings will aid you in understanding what the Force is and how our foes think. From there, she can begin your training as a Sith apprentice."

Edelweiss glanced between Lord Salazar and the holocrons several times. Eventually, she relented and approached the illuminated holocrons. She searched, scanning the small plates before each holocron. Each pyramidal device looked the same in her eyes. How they worked remained a mystery, for Lord Salazar had said nothing about how they worked or how to access the knowledge they possessed. Perhaps they would be like the massive holocron attached to his desk, responding to proximity. Yet when she reached out and grabbed the holocron behind the plate reading Lady Bastila Shan, no red figure emerged. It flickered upon her touch, but remained stubbornly silent.

"So you know," Lord Slytherin added, drawing her attention back to him, "activating a holocron requires the use of the Force. You will need to will it to activate, and you will find it easier if you use your passions. Remember the code that granted you access to this place. For you, anger shall be most ideal"

"Of course, Lord Salazar," she said, ignoring the twist in her gut at how easily he had read her. "Is that why the password for the door was there is only passion?"

The man chuckled. "I thought it might be wise to rely upon the Sith code when establishing this sanctuary. I could not risk this knowledge falling into the hands of one who would go against their teachings."

"A code, huh?" Edelweiss whispered, ignoring what else Lord Salazar had said. She focused her mind, using a trickle of frustration to activate the holocron she held. The glow brightened, and a figure emerged from the top, just as Lord Salazar emerged from the one upon his desk.

"I am Bastila Shan, first apprentice to Darth Malak and later to Darth Revan, the Dark Lord of the Sith," the woman drawled. Her voice was rich and succulent, sounding how Edelweiss once thought Draco Malfoy's mother would sound. "For what purpose have you activated my holocron?"

"To introduce myself. I am Edelweiss Potter, and I wish to learn of the Force from you."

Lady Bastila hummed. "I sense you are strong in the Force, but unwise as to its nature." She considered something for several seconds, as if the holocron was imprinted with the real woman's mannerisms. Edelweiss was certain the woman had already made her decision, or the holocron was programmed to not reject viable students. "I shall take you on as my own Sith apprentice. Just as Revan taught me, I shall teach you."

"As you say, Lady Bastila."

Her response was met with a tinkling chuckle. "I do not mind being called lady, but it would be proper for you to call me master."