Tag: founders era

Harry Potter: Philosopher’s Stone: Until the World End

Until the World End

Fandom: Harry Potter
AU: Philosopher’s Stone
Series: Fireside Tales
Word Count: 248
Characters: Godric Gryffindor

He’s the last of them left, Salazar leaving after one quarrel too many, Helga married for the sake of land she doesn’t care about and sisters that she does, and Rowena buried in the soil and stone beneath the broad base of her tower.

Outside the walls of their castle, lightning creates a brilliant show of the fury of nature, and Godric watches it, wondering where it all had gone wrong. He’s the last of them left, Salazar leaving after one quarrel too many, Helga married for the sake of land she doesn’t care about and sisters that she does, and Rowena buried in the soil and stone beneath the broad base of her tower.

Another strike illuminates the inside of the tower room he’s called his own since he’d raised the stones from the earth toward the heavens. The bed hasn’t been made in days, the desk is a mess of parchment that he should have scraped and books that belong in the library, and his cloak and mail are tossed carelessly to seperate corners. He should allow Alys to come in and clean it, as he’s no inclination to do it himself.

But he won’t. He knows he won’t. Godric looks out at the defensive measures – the clear lawn, the steeply sloping hill, the forest without road or track – and hopes it will be enough to keep the school safe from the chaos that will come in the wider world. That the wards will be enough to defend them against what the world will throw at them, magical and not.

“This will be our legacy,” he murmurs, closing his eyes against seeing more, against everything he doesn’t want to deal with alone. “And it will stand until the world end.”

Originally Posted: 24 December 2013

AO3 | DW

Harry Potter: Philosopher’s Stone: Destructive Differences

Destructive Differences

Fandom: Harry Potter
AU: Philosopher’s Stone
Series: Fireside Tales
Word Count: 295

Characters: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Salazar Slytherin

Their discomfort be damned, she is tired of listening to them both, and understanding them both, and the two never really listening to her about the other.

Helga watches Godric and Salazar as they sit on opposite ends of her table, neither comfortable in her hall while the other is present. Their discomfort be damned, she is tired of listening to them both, and understanding them both, and the two never really listening to her about the other.

Godric says he wants the school they founded together – in that brief, glorious few years before their friendship began to sour – to be open to all, but he resists the changes of the world around him, leaving Salazar desperate to find a way to protect his own.

Salazar says his return in the retinue of William is not about revenge or Normans or magic, but his being among conquerors only puts Godric on edge because Godric cannot see anything beyond the warfare that William brings with him while claiming the throne of muggle England.

Godric wants to avoid teaching a whole class of magic that Salazar uses because he finds the effects on the caster unsettling, and considers the results of them to be evil and dark.

Salazar wants to keep families close because his own is fractured and scattered, despite their loyalty to each other – and fears those who have no known magical family because he’s been betrayed by those who aren’t kin too often to trust.

Helga wishes Rowena still lived, but the fever had been something beyond even the magic that Godric fears to use, and it had carried off their fourth, who could see the path to navigate between the fears and insecurities of the men. Helga only knows that she must make them see what they are doing to their legacy, or she will have to watch them destroy each other, and take down all they’d built with them.

Originally Posted: 4 March 2014

AO3 | DW

Harry Potter/11th Century CE RPF: Philosopher’s Stone: Cousin of a King

Cousin of a King

Fandom: Harry Potter, 11th Century CE RPF
AU: Philosopher’s Stone
Series: Fireside Tales
Word Count: 221

Characters: Salazar Slytherin, William the Conqueror

A comet blazes across the sky, a message burned in fire to be interpreted in many ways.

A comet blazes across the sky, a message burned in fire to be interpreted in many ways. Salazar thinks William is right that it is a sign, but if it is one of conquest or some other destiny, he isn’t so certain. He’s only certain that this will be one insult too many on the long-strained friendship he’s had with Godric and Rowena, because they will not understand why he had returned to Normandy, why he follows the banner of William the Bastard.

Helga will understand, but she’s Norman-born and Norman-raised. She may not approve – she’s not fond of war and conquest, for all her heritage – but she will understand. It’s not about magical and muggle, though Rowena will certainly be surprised to know Salazar is in the retinue of someone who isn’t magical in the least. It’s not about revenge for being cast out of Hogwarts and from England, even if Godric will no doubt be convinced of that. It’s not even about being Norman, and this being a Norman adventure.

“Are you ready, cousin?”

William is standing at the flap of Salazar’s tent, watching him with a solemn expression. This is William’s battle, William’s destiny, and yet he’s waiting on Salazar to be ready to return to the country which had barred him from his greatest work.

“I am.”

Originally Posted: 25 December 2013

AO3 | DW