Draco Malfoy was looking from the other side of the Ballroom where he was dancing with Pansy Parkinson. He was glaring daggers at Hadrian Potter and Daphne Greengrass who were kissing each other deeply, oblivious to their surroundings. While Pansy was nice for now, he had always wanted Greengrass. The girl looked so beautiful tonight that he had heard many say that she looked like a Veela. He was supposed to get her, not Potter. He was Draco Malfoy; he deserved Greengrass as his future wife! But Potter just had to get in the way with that thrice damned contract. This wasn't the way it was supposed to go!
With Sirius Black now married, he wouldn't inherit the Black Lordship and fortune either, he thought morosely. He had always been told when he was growing up that he would be the future Lord Malfoy as well as Lord Black. He had wanted to get married to Daphne Greengass to control the Greengrass Lordship and fortune as well. Now all his plans lay in ruins.
Draco Malfoy truly hated Hadrian Potter with every inch of his heart.
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Remus Lupin returned to Hogwarts just after the wedding ceremony, not staying for dinner or the reception. He was sad that he had not been asked to be Sirius's best man. That honour had gone to Harry. He knew that Sirius was miffed because of his close contact with Dumbledore, but what was he supposed to do? This was Albus Dumbledore!
He was also annoyed that Sirius had not invited Dumbledore to the wedding. Whatever problems Sirius had with the man, Dumbledore was a great wizard, and in his mind, no one could question that. Remus was sure that Harry must have had something to do with that. He had told Dumbledore about Harry's boggart; it had definitely been an interesting experience knowing what frightens Harry the most. But what was shocking was that Harry wasn't fazed at all! He had created a scene of Salazar Slytherin spanking Voldemort!
Oh well, he better inform Dumbledore what happened at the wedding. The Headmaster should be informed about what happens all around him. How else would he take important decisions when the need arises? Remus would trust the Headmaster; and soon, Harry would realise his mistake and apologise to him and Dumbledore. After all, one couldn't help but look up to someone like Dumbledore. He was the second coming of Merlin after all!
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Albus Dumbledore was annoyed. Remus Lupin had just come back from Black Manor and had told him all about it. It was a public slap in the face when he was not invited to the wedding; he was a member of the Wizengamot, after all. He knew that people would definitely know that things were bad between the Lord and Lady Black and Albus Dumbledore.
Albus didn't like Sirius and Amelia getting married to each other. That was another reason why he had sent Sirius to Azkaban. They were a powerful pair, just like James and Lily had been; and that just wouldn't do. Amelia was also the Head of the DMLE, one of the most powerful and influential departments in the Ministry of Magic. With her now being Lady Black, her position was cemented as the most powerful woman in the country. She already had a base of power, and this marriage would create a bigger block. There was already a subtle shift in the Wizengamot. The Most Ancient and Noble Houses of Potter, Black, Greengrass and Longbottom were now together and were gathering support among the other Houses as well as members of the body. Sirius was laying the foundation for when Harry would take his seat so that he could inherit a powerful block and alliances in the Wizengamot. Albus was also being targeted and discredited subtlety nearly every week by the media.
Things weren't going as planned at all. He felt like banging his head against the wall.
Fawkes looked amused; the human was an unending source of entertainment for the phoenix. He had chosen to accompany the human decades ago because he was fighting for something he believed in, and frankly, Fawkes had wanted a different experience. But only later did he realise that Albus was nothing like what he portrayed himself to be. The man wasn't really evil but just didn't care about anyone but himself. He always believed that he was acting in the best interests of others, but frankly, his decisions cost more lives that Albus would care to admit. Fawkes could have left Albus anytime, but he knew that Hadrian Potter had a special destiny ahead of him. All the magical creatures knew that change was imminent; magic was going to be brought back to the forefront again, with Hadrian Potter leading it. The non-magical creatures sensed that something was going to happen as well that would benefit them. The phoenix wanted to be close to the Lord of Lightning in case the boy needed help. Besides, it was fun watching the stupid human curse and destroy his office every time the boy did something that went against Albus's plans. Ah, what a vacation. The sorting hat too chucked.
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It was well past two in the morning when finally the last guest flooed back to their house. Harry breathed a sigh of relief and flooed to Potter Castle. He was exhausted, and he probably would get up only past noon. He went to the master bedroom, removed his clothes and just crashed in bed wearing only his boxers. He was sound asleep within seconds.
Harry found himself being shaken awake. He frowned, still refusing to open his eyes. "Five minutes, Minnie" he mumbled, covering his eyes so that the sunlight wouldn't hit his face.
"I'm not Minnie" said a voice. "And you better get up now, Hadrian James Potter, or I will be forced to resort to drastic measures."
Harry groaned, took a pillow and covered his face. "Go away" he mumbled.
"Very well then" said the voice. Suddenly, Harry found himself hoisted in the air, with his ankle dangling in the air, and him hanging upside down. "AAAHHHHH" he screamed.
"It is half-past three in the afternoon!" said Daphne exasperated. "You slept through breakfast, but I'm not going to let you skip lunch as well."
"Alright, alright" said Harry. "Just let me down, will you?"
Daphne flicked her wand, and Harry came crashing down to his bed. Daphne's eyes went wide, and she blushed heavily as she caught sight of the large tent that had formed in Harry's boxers. "Harry Yuletide" he said, standing up and stretching, much to Daphne's embarrassment.
"I'll be downstairs okay? Come down once you're dressed" said Daphne and rushed out of the room as fast as she could.
"What's up with her?" asked Harry out loud, confused. He looked down, and suddenly his eyes went wide and he blushed as he caught sight of his very obvious erection. "This is awkward" he said as he went to take a bath.
Once he was dressed, he went down to the informal dining room where Daphne was seated, reading the morning's copy of the Magical Daily, while watching something on her handheld E-Mirror. Harry sat at the table and started eating. "Anything about the wedding?" he asked her.
Daphne nodded. "It's made the front page news. It's quite good, actually. It focuses on the beautiful decorations, the guest list, the ceremony, the magical fireworks, the delicious food and the wonderful time everyone had dancing with each other. Albus Dumbledore has been specifically mentioned that he had not been invited by Sirius and Amelia, so people now know that they can't get along, even if it was speculated before. And there is an article about the impact of the wedding on the balance of power in the Ministry and the Wizengamot."
Harry nodded. That was good news. Once finished, Harry and Daphne flooed to Greengrass Manor as the Greengrasses had insisted that Harry should not spend the holidays alone. Harry's elves had transported all of his gifts to Greengrass manor so that he could open them there.
When it was time for Harry to give his present to Daphne, he first asked her, "What do you think it's going to be?"
Daphne looked amused and tapped her chin. "Well, you've given me a ring, a bracelet, and a locket. So I'm going to go with earrings" she said looking around for the present.
Harry grinned. He wandlessly summoned a large package and said "Nope. This is my gift."
Daphne curiously opened the package and removed a stylish pair of Dragon-hide boots. "Oh this is gorgeous" she exclaimed.
"I remember you saying that your boots were getting worn out and that you wanted new ones" said Harry, smiling at her. "So here you go."
Daphne smiled and kissed his cheek. "Thanks Harry; I appreciate it."
Elizabeth Greengrass was shocked and suddenly she rounded on her husband. "He remembers something she mentioned once! How is that you don't remember the hints I give you even if I bang the ideas over your head? They've been together only for two years while we're been married for so many and you still don't know how to buy me a present" she ranted, her hormones taking control again.
Cyrus cringed. "Sorry Lizze. I'll pay more attention next time" he said, hoping it won't make her mad.
Elizabeth huffed. "That's what you've been telling me since we've been dating."
Harry looked and Cyrus and said, "I'm sorry for what I'm about to do, but if I had any indication that this would happen, I wouldn't have brought it with me." With that, he slid a small box to Daphne.
Daphne curiously opened the box and her eyes went wide. "I knew it! It's beautiful. Thanks Harry" she said and kissed him.
Elizabeth curiously looked at what Harry had given her daughter when she found a pair of stunning diamond earrings.
"What?" she yelled, looking at her husband, who looked like he wanted to run away rather than deal with his heavily pregnant wife who seemed to have gone into one of her mood swings again. "He is only thirteen years old, and look at the stunning jewellery he buys for his fiancée. What about you? Your selection is horrible! You're a man in your late thirties and yet you can't buy proper gifts, Cyrus. What do you have to say for yourself?" she demanded.
Cyrus gaped at his wife and rounded at Harry. "Okay look. I'll do anything" he pleaded. "Just take me shopping with you from now on. At least then I won't have three angry women yelling at me."
"Alright, alright" said Harry, raising his hands in a motion of surrender. "If that's what you want Cyrus, I'll be more than happy to take you shopping next time."
"I can't wait for this pregnancy to get over" muttered Cyrus. "I could swear the last two were nowhere near this bad."
"What was that?" snapped Elizabeth.
"Nothing dear" said Cyrus, not wanting his wife to get on with another rant again as both of them headed to their room.
Harry shook his head. He couldn't believe how the sweet and soft-spoken Elizabeth Greengrass could yell like that. He smiled as he idly wondered how his mother must have yelled at his dad when she was pregnant with him; he would have to ask Sirius for stories. They surely must be funny; James Potter crouched behind a sofa with Lily Potter throwing hexes at her husband.
He looked around and frowned when he realised that Daphne wasn't there. Just then, he spotted her levitating a very large rectangular wrapped present. She placed it front of him and said, "This is for you Harry."
Harry, with brimming curiosity, unwrapped it and gasped. It was a large frame with several photographs of him and Daphne together. In the center was a large picture that seemed to have been –
"Wasn't this picture taken yesterday? In fact, there are many pictures that seemed to have been taken last night" said Harry in confusion.
"Oh yes" replied Daphne. "I was awake all night getting those pictures and arranging them. I only finished it this morning. Like it?"
Harry closed his eyes. Daphne always went out of her way to make something special for him; the photo album last year, and this large photo frame with their pictures this year; his gifts to her seemed so impersonal in comparison. Sure, his gifts were more expensive, but they lacked the emotional component which Daphne always preferred when gifting him something.
"What's wrong?" asked Daphne, kneeling down in front of him. "Don't you like it?" she asked with concern. "I can change it if you'd like. I can add - "
"No, it's perfect" replied Harry softly. "It's just that I can't help but compare the gifts I give you and the ones you give me. You spend so much time and energy into them; they carry such an emotional and sentimental value, while my gifts seem so superficial and impersonal."
"Oh, Harry" said Daphne, cupping his face with her hands. "I don't feel that way at all. I honestly love the presents you give me. Do you think any girl will complain about it? I don't mind at all. The reason I give you such presents which are so sentimental is because I want you to know that there are people around you who love you; I don't ever want you to forget that. That's why I don't care about any discomfort or lack of sleep. You've suffered a lot in your life, Harry. I just want to bring some sunshine and happiness in your life. Don't ever think that you are not worthy of being with me or something of that nature. I love you, and that is more than enough a reason for me to do this; just like it is a reason for you to buy me stuff which I like. There is no difference" she said, looking into his eyes.
Harry smiled slightly and ran his fingers along the side of her face. Daphne was just so perfect. How could Magic have created someone so utterly perfect for him? He couldn't believe the extent she would go to, just to bring some joy in his life.
He brought her close to him, and touched his forehead with hers and looked deep into her eyes. "You're the light of my life; you're the love of my life. I can't ever live without you" he whispered.
"You'll never have to. And I love you too" whispered Daphne, and kissed him softly.
Daphne then turned and saw that there was once more gift left. She picked it up and said "It's for you, Harry. It's from Sirius and Amelia".
Harry took the package from Daphne and opened it. His widened when he saw what was inside it.
"Is that a Firebolt?" asked Daphne curiously.
Harry was too shocked to speak. He was very impressed with the newest and fastest broomstick in the market, but he had decided that since he had a working broom, he didn't want to buy another one. But looking at the broom in his hands, he had to admit this was the most stunning broom he had ever seen. Jet black handle and perfect bristles, along with a silver inscription of the broom number '7', along with his name 'Hadrian Potter' were engraved on the handle.
"I think I'm in love" whispered Harry.
Daphne rolled her eyes. "Great" she muttered to herself. "I should have known something like this would happen".
Harry then picked up a piece of parchment that was lying on the ground next to the wrapping paper.
Dear Harry,
Consider this as a thank you for all that you did to make our wedding so special. It truly meant a lot to us. We hope you like our present.
Love,
Sirius and Amelia Black
Harry smiled and stuffed the parchment in his pocket. He couldn't wait to fly on the broom. While nothing could beat flying in a storm with Aquila, flying on the Firebolt was a whole different experience.
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It was now February. Nothing much had happened in the one month, but Daphne had called him to the Room of Requirement urgently. He went in and saw his fiancée looking very happy.
"Hey Daph, what's up?" he asked curiously.
"I finished the animagus transformation" said Daphne, grinning. "So, it's time for you to guess what my animal form is going to be".
"You did it?" said Harry, moving forward and giving her a tight hug. "I'm so proud of you! Okay, if I have to hazard a guess, I think you're a leopard" declared Harry.
Daphne smirked and transformed and in her place stood a Siberian tigress in all her might. Harry screamed when the tiger pounced on him, knocking him to the ground. He looked up and saw the tiger's face was inches from his own. Unlike a regular tiger, this one's eyes were deep blue; a shade he was very familiar with. Suddenly, the tigress licked his face.
"Okay" said Harry in a shaky voice. "That's a good girl. Now, why don't you get off me so that I can see you properly? Damn, that was scary."
Instead, the tigress roared, and Harry cringed. Daphne really looked scary as those sharp fangs were just inches from his neck.
"Good girl" said Harry, nervously petting the tigress. The tigress purred and licked his face again, and got off of him. Harry got up and took a closer look at the tigress.
"You're beautiful, Daphne" said Harry, running his hands through the silky yellow and black fur. He looked into her eyes again, and he couldn't help but get lost in those deep blue orbs. The tigress licked his face again, and in a flash, Daphne stood in front of him.
"I think my animagus form is much better than yours, don't you agree?" asked Daphne, hugging her fiancé.
"Hey!" protested Harry. "I admit your form looks scary, but I prefer flying rather than walking any day. Besides, the eagle is considered the king of the sky. And while the tiger may not be called the king of the jungle, it definitely is the apex predator in the jungle, just like mine is in the sky. It really shows your character and personality, Daphne. I'm incredibly proud of you."
Daphne smiled into his chest. "Thank you" she whispered.
"Have you noticed any enhanced senses after the transformation?" asked Harry after a minute.
"Oh yes" replied Daphne. "My hearing is much, much better than what it used to be. I don't need a supersensory charm to tell me that someone is approaching; I can just hear their footsteps and know. Not much has changed with any of my other senses, but I can see easier in the darkness now; not by much, but the change is somewhat noticeable."
"Good" replied Harry. "It is prefect isn't it? My enhanced eyesight and your enhanced hearing; we make a great team" he said, resting his head on top of hers.
"We always are" said Daphne, smiling.
"I'll inform Aunt Amy to register you with the ICW as well" said Harry. "It will ensure that we don't run into any problems in the future. Or maybe I can do it myself."
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A week later, Harry, Daphne and Astoria found themselves at St. Mungos, waiting for Elizabeth to give birth to her son. After more than two hours, a healer beckoned them inside. The three of them went in to find Elizabeth holding a newborn baby boy.
Cyrus beamed at his daughters and said, "Girls, I would like to introduce you to your baby brother, Dylan Stephen Greengrass."
Harry looked at the baby, and he couldn't help but smile. It really was adorable. After some awws and cooing from both girls, Cyrus asked if Harry wanted to hold the baby.
"Me?" asked Harry in bewilderment. "I've never even seen a newborn baby in my life, let alone held one. Are you sure?"
"Yes" replied Elizabeth. "Come here" she said, motioning him to come near her bed.
Harry went over and tentatively took the baby from her grasp. He looked down and saw that like Daphne, Dylan had inherited his father's deep blue eyes. The baby snuggled into Harry's hold and smiled.
Harry wondered how his parents must have felt when he was born. He had always wondered why his mother had willingly sacrificed her life to save him, but now that he had an innocent, defenceless infant in his hands, he understood the feeling – had he been a father, he would have done the same as his parents had. As he gave baby Dylan back to his mother, Harry stepped back to give the family some privacy. He looked at Daphne and couldn't help but smile. There was no way he would let someone like Dumbledore or Voldemort steal his opportunity of having a family with Daphne. He would be successful; he had to.
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Harry finally finished Godric's journal and put it down. Silent tears were flowing from his eyes as he thought about the life of the most celebrated founder of Hogwarts. People thought that Godric had been the epitome of goodness, while Salazar had been the evil wizard of the time; oh, how wrong they were.
Godric had been the first born son of the Gryffindor family. The Gryffindors were an old family, dating back to the time of King Arthur and Merlin. In fact, they, along with the Potters and Slytherins were members in King Arthur's court hundreds of years ago. It was during such time that Godric had met Salazar, a boy five years younger than him, but they didn't have much contact during their childhood. He was taught magic by his parents and other tutors, and once he was an adult, he travelled abroad to learn the various branches of magic. While in Magical Italy, which still carried its traditions from the Ancient Roman Empire, he met a woman who was a year older than him, but she too wanted to go abroad and learn all about magic. Her name was Laurentia, and after fighting and convincing her parents, the pair travelled extensively for many years, learning various branches of magic. In Egypt, Godric won the friendship of the Goblins; a warrior race, known for their expertise in banking, warding, warfare and creation of weapons from magical metals that only their race could work with. He spent a lot of time with them, learning about their culture and how to wield a sword. Once, he saved a bunch of goblins from a mob of muggles who wanted to kill them, so the leader of the Goblin community finally accepted Godric's request and made a special sword for him as a reward (Godric still had to pay for it of course). It was a four-foot long blade, made of Goblin silver, so it was very conductive for magic use. While he was quite good with his wand, he couldn't help but be at home with his new sword. He spent many years enchanting and enhancing the sword to his style. By this time, he and Laurentia had fallen in love and had decided to get married.
After talking to her parents and returning to Britain to talk to his family, it was finally decided to hold the marriage ceremony in Rome. Once they were married, Godric and Laurentia returned to Britain, hoping to create a better life for the people of their country. But there were problems as witch hunts grew in popularity; if muggles detected witches and wizards or even magical creatures, they would be attacked in their sleep and killed in their beds. The muggles would then drag the mutilated bodies for all to see. These instances horrified Godric, but he felt that once they could explain to the muggles that magic wasn't evil, everything would work out and both magicals and muggles could coexist in peace.
It was a few short months into their marriage that Laurentia found herself pregnant. The couple was ecstatic and nine months later, Laurentia gave birth to a girl, who they named Geraldine Gryffindor. When Geraldine was only a year old, tragedy struck the family; Godric's entire family had been targeted due to them being witches and wizards. His parents and siblings were all killed by a large mob of muggles. Godric was filled with rage and wanted vengeance, but Laurentia managed to calm him down. It was then that Godric decided to rethink his plan for muggles and magicals coexisting with each other. During his tour of Magical China and India, he had come to a startling realization that the magical community of both countries had separated from their muggle counterparts because of all the violence and instability in their countries brought about by the muggles. While the muggle communities were unstable, the magical communities still thrived, keeping the rich heritage and knowledge of their ancient traditions and magic alive.
Life went on, but Laurentia had made a friend from Scotland named Rowena Ravenclaw. She was several years older than Godric and Laurentia and had come back to Britain from Albania, where her husband's family was nobility. Godric was very impressed with the older woman's sheer intelligence and talent with her wand. The Gryffindor family slowly got to know Rowena, who became close to Laurentia, and thus as an extension, her husband Godric.
But unrest in the muggles soon found its way to strike again. One night, when Godric was away on business, the muggles attacked his home. An entire mob of muggles managed to overpower Laurentia, and burned her at the stake, while her six-year-old daughter was badly injured. Luckily, Laurentia had managed to send a message to her best friend Rowena, who arrived quickly and managed to save Geraldine, but was unable to save her friend. Laurentia Gryffindor was killed.
Rowena sent a message to Godric telling him to come back to Britain as soon as she could, while she took little Geraldine to a well-known healer of the time – Helga Hufflepuff. Although Geraldine was badly injured, Helga was able to save her life. Godric returned to find his wife dead, and his only daughter badly wounded. Rage filled him in a way he had never felt before. He headed back to the village where his family had lived and slaughtered the muggles; every single one of them. The village was a bloodbath, and no one would forget the sight of Godric Gryffindor holding a sword in one hand and a wand in the other, killing everyone he could find, magic radiating off of him in waves, his face in tears. If the muggles wanted to see death so badly, he would show them what death really was.
Godric then spent his time raising his daughter. He befriended the Potter family, who had constructed a castle with a heavy amount of wards and a fortress so that no one could enter their home and kill them in their sleep. Godric then decided to do the same and built a castle at the outskirts of the same village where he was born; now known as Godric's Hollow. Only when he was sure that his daughter wouldn't be attacked did he breathe a sigh of relief.
It was during this time that he had met his childhood acquaintance Salazar Slytherin, who Godric had heard was in a similar predicament like him. Salazar's family too was murdered when he was just a child and had grown up as an orphan, using his cunning nature to survive and manage his fortune. But unlike Godric, Salazar was more in control of his emotions and used his sly and cunning personality to win. He was not a battle mage like Godric, but he was very knowledgeable in obscure magical arts. When Godric found himself very troubled with his past, Salazar taught him how to control his thoughts and emotions, which was basically Occlumency. Godric also taught Salazar many of the battle spells which he had learned during his travels. It was during this time that their friendship deepened.
The two men realised that the witches and wizards were in grave danger, and thus the knowledge of magic was dying in their beloved country. The muggles seemed to have forgotten the time when King Arthur ruled their land hundreds of years ago when Britain's population of both magicals and muggles coexisted peacefully. It was then that Rowena came up with the idea of a school. The idea was accepted by Godric, Salazar and Helga, who had by then become Rowena's friend.
They chose a remote location in Scotland, in the middle of a forest, away from prying eyes. They had to ensure that no one trespassed and attacked innocent children. They pooled all their money and constructed a castle. They collectively used their knowledge of magic to erect various wards around the place, to make the castle a magical fortress, something which Godric remembered the Potters stressing about. Once construction was completed, Helga named it Hogwarts. The four then spread the message among the magical community, so that parents would send their children to the newly constructed magical school. Godric personally went to Potter Castle to talk to them, and soon, Alan Potter was the first student enrolled at Hogwarts.
As knowledge of Hogwarts spread, many more parents sent their children to the school, so that they could learn from the four learned witches and wizards. Godric specialized in Battle magic and Transfiguration; Rowena focussed on Charms, Runes and spell crafting; Helga specialized in Healing and Potions, while Salazar specialized in Rituals and other obscure arts of magic. Rowena even developed an open ward which was so large, that it could detect magical children born anywhere in the British Isles.
It was then that the problems of muggle-borns came to be. None of them were comfortable with magical children being raised by muggles, so finally Salazar came up with the idea of taking the children from their muggle parents, obliviating the parents of the knowledge of their children and fully integrate them into the magical world. Godric was very leery about taking children away from their parents; he couldn't ever imagine what he would do if someone took Geraldine from him without his consent. Helga pointed out that even if they took the children, they needed people to raise them, as the four of them couldn't do it themselves as they were very busy. While the plan was accepted by all four of them, Salazar acknowledged that it was very difficult to implement it.
It was some years later that Godric found out that his daughter and Alan Potter were seeing each other. He was quite happy with the union, and soon the couple married. Rowena too had a daughter named Helena Ravenclaw, who grew up at Hogwarts with her parents, as Rowena's husband shuffled between living at Hogwarts and going to Albania to take care of his family business. Helga had several children with her husband, who was the Herbology teacher at Hogwarts. Although he remained unmarried, Salazar too wanted children, so he adopted a young boy who was also a parselmouth and gave him his own name – Salazar Slytherin Jr. But Godric had years later always suspected Salazar to have had a biological child of his own; a girl who Salazar was very fond of and not to mentioned possessed the man's vibrant green eyes, but Godric never found out if the girl was indeed Salazar's daughter or not.
Salazar Jr grew up at Hogwarts, but he tended to be very arrogant, and he looked at everyone as his inferior. The boy also hated Godric with a passion, which annoyed his father, as Salazar and Godric considered each other brothers in all but blood. Sure the two men had their differences because of their opposite personalities as Godric was loud and brash while Salazar was calm and cunning, but they both counted on each other as family. This slowly created a rift between Salazar and his adopted son. Several years later, when Salazar Jr did something unforgivable, he banished his son from Hogwarts, telling him to never come back ever again.
By this time, the founders were not their youthful selves. Rowena's husband had passed away, and her daughter had disappeared, and so had her diadem. While witches and wizards lived much longer than muggles, emotional distress tended to make them age a lot faster in their later years rather than physical problems. Rowena was dying, and there was nothing Helga could do to prevent it. Even in her death bed, she craved and cried for her daughter, begging Godric to bring her back so that she could see her daughter one final time before she died. By the time Godric had found out that Helena Ravenclaw had been killed by the Baron, Rowena had breathed her last.
It had been a sorrowful time at Hogwarts after they lost Rowena. But the other three decided to move on, and ensure that Rowena's name would live on at the school. After a span of a few years, whispers began reaching the school that Salazar Slytherin Jr had started killing various witches, wizards and muggles alike, so that he could become the ruler of Britain. Salazar finally had enough of his son's actions, so he decided to go confront his son and end his life once and for all. Godric had wanted to come along with him, but Salazar refused, stating that this was an internal matter between father and son. Salazar left Hogwarts so as to stop Salazar Jr from killing any more people, against Godric's advice. That was the last time Godric saw his friend. There was no news of his death, but Godric had used an arcane spell to check if he was alive. He was devastated to find out that Salazar Slytherin had been killed by his son, Salazar Slytherin Jr.
By this time, Godric was old, and all the hardship that he had endured had weakened him. Salazar Jr launched a massive offensive at Hogwarts, hoping to take the castle by force, but was thwarted by the wards and the combined forces of Godric Gryffindor and Helga Hufflepuff; though Helga was the one who finally fought with Salazar Jr and killed him although she died due to her injuries, while Godric dealt with Salazar's forces. But the battle had severely weakened the aged warrior, and he soon left to spend his remaining days at Potter Castle with his family.
Harry finished narrating the tale to Daphne, who too had silent tears flowing down her cheeks as they both stared into the fire in the Room of Requirement. The story in Godric's journal was nothing like what was now said was history.
"How ironic" said Harry. "The man who everyone thought was a muggle lover turned out to be the opposite, and the man who everyone thought was a Dark Lord turned out to be murdered by his own son, while he was trying to stop the said son from committing mass murder. Our history is so crappy."
Daphne nodded. "It was Salazar Jr who wanted to wipe out muggleborns, not Salazar. History is confused and clouded, and everyone thinks the founder was the one who was evil. How sad. What is actually ironic is the way they all died, did you observe that?" she asked.
Harry nodded. "Godric was a warrior who died of depression and old age; Rowena was highly gifted and intelligent, but died of a heartbreak; Helga was a healer and her House is said to be non-confrontational and are widely called as duffers, but she died a warrior's death after duelling and defeating Salazar Jr; Salazar was widely known for his cunning nature, but he let his heart overrule him, and rashly decided to confront his son and died in a duel with him. It's completely contradictory to their given traits."
Daphne sighed. "This will shake the country to its very foundations. Do you plan to publish it?" she asked.
Harry looked at the Gryffindor family ring glistening on his finger and answered, "Definitely. I have a duty as Lord Gryffindor to let the people know the real story of the founders of Hogwarts."
His eyes flashed green as he thought about the cause of so much misery – muggles, and their narrow-minded views and mindset. They just couldn't keep to themselves and mind their own business. They were the barbarians and freaks, not the magical races.