Sal had not told them what castle they were heading to. He knew his friends. Not one of them would accept using the castle if they knew that it was the legendary Camelot.
"Here we are," he finally said, opening the wards so that they could see it. "Welcome to my childhood home." Well, it was his third childhood on King Arthur's court but Sal decided it would be a bad idea to tell them of the technicalities.
"You grew up here?!" Godric asked, astonished.
"Well, somehow," Sal answered. "It was the home of my father. I came here when I turned fifteen. Now my father is dead and it is mine."
"And you haven't been here for how long?" Rowena asked, hesitating. They still had not talked about Rowena's suspicion of who exactly Sal's father had been, and for now she seemed to have forgotten it - something Sal had hoped she would lose track of. Of course, she would one day remember but until then, he was content to act as if she never heard his almost-exclamation about Myrddin when they met.
Sal simply shrugged.
"I do not know," he answered sincerely. "But do not worry. It was under a stasis charm. Nothing should be ruined."
The awe in the faces of the others when they entered was definitely entertaining for Sal.
"So… this castle… it's been empty since the time you decided to travel?" Peverell asked haltingly.
Salvazsahar shrugged.
"It might have," he answered. "But it also might not have."
"Huh?" this unarticulated question was one of Godric's.
"It's a sanctuary," Sal explained. "If someone truly needed it, it would have opened for them until they are ready to leave again. It was always like that - even when my father was still living in this castle."
"A sanctuary?" Rowena asked interested.
Sal just nodded.
"The wards will let anyone who needs to get away from unwanted persons enter. The castle will guard the inhabitants until they are ready to move on. This kind of function is imbedded in the wards and even if you want to, I will not change it. So… even if this castle will be our school, be prepared to accept those who are in dire need of help to find it."
"So… they simply come in? Wouldn't be that a danger to the apprentices?!" Helga exclaimed nervously.
"It won't," Sal answered soothingly. "No one who wants to harm the inhabitants of the castle would be able to enter the wards - in dire need or not. But I had to tell you beforehand that it might come to an unexpected addition if there is someone near who needs help right away."
For a moment the others hesitated, and then Godric shrugged.
"As long as the apprentices are safe," he said dismissively. One after another the others nodded their consent.
A few minutes later, they entered the castle itself and Sal let them explore the rooms and the grounds. He himself settled in the Great Hall and looked at the ceiling.
"I am home, atr," he whispered and a warmth enveloped him, a warmth he had missed dearly. His father was still here - imbedded in the stones of the castle. "I decided to make this castle a school," he told the shadow of his father. "It will be great, I am sure of it. Camelot should have been the beginning of a new world - now it will be. It will change the world with the children that were taught within its walls."
The warmth caressed his hair and for a moment Sal was sure his father was happy with his decision. Sal did not know how long he sat in silence, relishing in the feeling of being caressed by his father, when the doors of the Great Hall opened and Godric strode in.
"This castle is awesome!" he declared loudly. "I found a tower that the apprentices could sleep in - it would be the perfect place for them!"
"You do not mean that far away tower I saw you coming from, do you Godric?" Rowena said while entering behind her husband. "Really, Godric! It would take them far too long to gather when they start their day from there! But you are right. A tower would be a good place for the apprentices. There is a nice tower near here that would be perfect for dormitories!"
Godric just snorted.
"Well, Peverell and I found some nice rooms in the middle of the castle," Helga said, entering from another, smaller entrance. "I think they would be lovely as dormitories - what do you think, love?"
"You are right, my dear wife," Peverell answered nodding. "Quite nice with a lot of space for a lot of apprentices."
Sal just buried his head in his hands.
"How by wind and fire can you start with the search for dormitories already?!" he asked sighing. "We did not even decide if we are changing our teaching place to this castle!"
"Oh, but we have decided," Godric said. "This place is perfect!"
The other three nodded.
"I found some quarters where we and other future teachers could live," Rowena said. "And there is a tower where we could have our official meetings."
"And we can take in all the children that have asked for apprenticeship," Helga said. "There is enough space here for them."
"But we will soon be too few to teach them all," Sal said sighing.
"Soon, but not now," Rowena said. "When we are, we will have to hire others to help us, but for now we do not have to. We are still enough, for now."
"But maybe we should sort the apprentices somehow," Godric said. "So that not everyone looks after every student. It would be easier for the apprentices when they know where to go to and we don't have to look after all of them, too."
"And how do you plan to sort them?" Peverell asked.
"Well, we could sort them by their character, so that their personality fits ours," Helga said enthusiastic.
"Do we really have to?" Sal asked, this time pleadingly.
"Well, I think it is brilliant!" Rowena answered. "It will be easier to gain friends if they have something in common. And we can aid them better if they think like we do."
"But wouldn't it be improper for the children to go to you, Rowena? You are a woman after all - you shouldn't be alone with a male without your brother or Godric nearby…" Sal said.
Rowena just shrugged.
"I do not think the lords care anymore when it is I who breaks tradition," she answered and Sal knew she was right. The last few years she had gained a reputation of a teacher - and her status as a teacher simply out-weighted her status as a female. The last year Godric and Peverell even had stopped bothering to be in the same room when Helga and Rowena were teaching or when the women were with Salvazsahar.
Sal knew that the lords knew and did not object. Godric had brought up his intentions of letting Rowena teach without a male escort at the last Gathering of the Lords and the lords simply had inclined their heads. No, Rowena and Helga definitely had left behind their status as female in the eyes of the world of the sorcerers - of course nothing like that would have happened if Rowena and Helga would not have been married…
"So you have nothing to object anymore?" Helga said when Sal said nothing. He just sighed and shook his head defeated.
"So we will sort them by character," Rowena said triumphantly.
"Well, then you should take those who cannot stop learning," Godric answered teasingly. "You know: all the know-it-alls and book-lovers!"
"And you will take the courageous stupid ones who act before they think," Peverell snorted.
"Well, I would take in all the hard working ones," Helga answered shrugging. "As long as they are loyal to their friends and families, it does not matter what other characteristics they have."
"And you, Peverell?" Sal asked, knowing that there would be no way the man would even think about founding a house.
"I will take in no-one," Peverell answered as predicted. "I am our official face - I have to do enough without having children at my sleeves wherever I go. But you, Salazar, should take in the sly and cunning ones."
"And those with ambition," Helga added.
Sal snorted.
"Every human has ambition. You wouldn't be able to get anywhere in the world without ambition. I don't think that's a trait that should be applied to a house…" he said.
"I think it should!" Helga objected. "It simply fits you to the 'T', Salazar!"
"And why do you think that?" Salvazsahar asked frowning - Sal did not like where this was leading. He had given up correcting them when they said his name wrong but he was not taking in cunning, sly and ambitious children! Definitely not!
"Because that's what you are," Rowena said.
Sal snorted.
"As if," he said coolly.
"Think about it," Godric answered. "You have rescued me once - and you were cunning enough not to storm in. You used tricks to rescue me and the others. Definitely cunning."
"And sly," Helga added.
"And you are ambitious," Rowena said. "You did not let us storm off with half-baked plans. You were ambitious enough to plan ahead, and you do not let your apprentices be anything but the best. And then there is your plan about teaching lasses - don't you dare veto this! I know you haven't given up on that and you and I know you will succeed some day! If that isn't ambition, then what is?!"
"Rena is right," Peverell said. "You want our apprentices to be the very best - and even when they are you want them to be better!"
"Yes, but -" Sal said, still protesting.
"Well, then this is settled," Godric interrupted him. "Next stop: dormitories! My courageous Gryffindors will take the tower I decided on as a dormitory!"
"Gryffindors?!" Helga asked.
"Well - we have to name them something," Godric shrugged. "And I cannot name them 'LeFays', as LeFay is a family name and there would be two of them because Rena's would also be 'LeFays'. And I do not want to call them by my own given name - that would just be strange!"
"So you used your nickname," Peverell said while shaking his head.
"Do you have a better idea?" Godric asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well… no," Peverell answered.
"Well, I like the idea!" Rowena said. "I will also use something like that!"
"Then you should use Raven's claw," Helga said, pointing to Rowena's hand where the parallel scars could be seen. "The raven is a wise bird and the claws would point to you."
"Or you could put it together into Ravenclaw," Godric suggested. Rowena just thought about it for a second. Then she smiled.
"Taken," she declared. "Mine will be the wise Ravenclaws!"
"And I will name mine Huff-the-puff," Helga declared. The other ones stared at her. "What?! I like the sound of it - and I love eating pastry - and that would be 'puff'!"
"But why 'huff'?!" Rowena asked.
Helga just shrugged.
"Because she thinks puffs give off an intoxicating aroma that she wants to smell everywhere…" Peverell answered snorting.
Helga stuck her tongue out at Peverell. Her husband just grinned.
"I'm right, aren't I?" he said smirking.
"Even if you are - I still will call my House Huff-the-puff!"
"At least make it 'Hufflepuff'! Like that no one will know for sure why the House is named like it is - or do you want your apprentices to feel ashamed if they have to tell the name of their house?" Rowena said, rolling her eyes.
Helga shrugged.
"Well, if I have to," she conceded. "Hufflepuff it is. It's a lovely name, isn't it?"
"Well… if you must call them that," Peverell sighed. "They're your apprentices. If you want to call them Hufflepuffs so be it."
"So… that just does leave Salazar's," Rowena said. "How do we call yours?"
Sal frowned. He definitely did not like where their discussion was heading.
"How about 'Sal's'?" he asked.
"Nope, not accepted. We have all used a nickname. You will do so, too."
"Sal is a nickname," Sal defended himself.
"But not a good one for a dormitory," Rowena said.
"Well - my apprentices do not have a dormitory, so why bother with a name?" Sal countered.
"You don't have a place for a dormitory?" Helga asked surprised.
Sal just shook his head.
"I don't," he answered. "All I know is that my classroom will be in the dungeons. I need the steady temperature for my potions ingredients."
"Well - then your dormitory should be near it," Godric decided. "I am sure there are enough rooms in the dungeons for a dormitory."
Sal just sighed. They really wanted to, didn't they?! At least there was no way they would come up with… that… nickname, was there? No, Sal felt content that whatever they decided on - history was not yet written!
"That just leaves the nickname," Helga said in that moment grinning.
"And that should be easy," Rowena continued.
"And we should be the ones to give him this nickname," Peverell said, grinning as evilly as his wife. "How about something with 'sly'?"
Sal suddenly had a really bad feeling about that. They couldn't… they wouldn't…
"Well… you should integrate a snake. Look at his clothing. The snake seems very important to him," Godric added.
"Well how about 'slithering'?" Rowena asked. "Like a snake slithers. It would fit. He always startles me because I do not hear him coming!"
"I think 'sly' fits better," Helga countered.
"No, 'slithering' it is," Godric said grinning. "Slithering something or so…"
"I am all for 'sly'!" Peverell added. "Sly something - I think it sounds better than Slithering something…"
"How about nothing?" Sal intercepted, dreading where the conversation was leading.
History wasn't written yet! The name shouldn't… wouldn't be written in stone!
"Hush you!" was the answer he got, and all Sal could do was follow the conversation with big eyes.
They couldn't, wouldn't…
"May I say some -" he started again, but was rebuked by more than one person - again.
"No! We are the ones who will choose the nickname!" Godric said.
"You did not try when you had the chance," Helga piped in.
"Just wait, Salazar, we're quick with that," the Peverell promised evilly. "We were quick with the other ones also."
"Hey, what about 'Slytherin'?" Rowena said in that moment, grinning. "That would include both 'slithering' and 'sly'!"
They had…
"Good idea, Ravenclaw!" the Godric said now also grinning evilly, the others nodded their content.
"Well - Slytherin it is," Peverell said, still grinning.
"And if I don't like it?" Sal asked just one more time trying to prevent his fate.
"You have no say in it, Slytherin," Godric said laughing. "I had no say in mine, you have no say in yours - easy, isn't it."
"But the others…"
"You did not want to take your chance - and now you are stuck with what we have chosen for your apprentices," Rowena reminded him.
"Yes," Godric said. "And it fits to our names. Look at it like that, will you?"
"What do you mean now, oh brother mine?" Helga asked.
Peverell just suddenly burst out laughing.
"You're right, Godric. It does fit! Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff - Salazar had to get something with S! Salazar Slytherin definitely fits perfectly!"
Sal just sighed inwardly.
The others were idly planning the layout of the new classes inside the castle. They all were content with their chosen names - all but Sal. But the others had not been named after the villain - and the others did not know about the future…
"Now I just have to find a Basilisk and ask it to move in…" he thought sarcastically.
"Come on, Salazar! You will learn to live with it. Salazar Slytherin really sounds good, you know? We should become famous with these names!" Godric said. "And it would distinguish between us. There will be less problems if we ourselves also go by our chosen names, how about that, Professor Slytherin? You have no idea how funny that will be!"
"And you have no idea that you just have named me the fourth founder of the first magic school in the world," Sal thought sighing again inwardly. "And not only the fourth founder, but the 'evil' one."
So there was just one question left: What had Sal done to get his evil image in the future - because he was sure, that he would not choose the path of evil in the next few decades…
"Come on, Salazar!"
This time Sal shook his head and cleared it from his thoughts. He had to do other things - like planning the dorms for his Slytherins and the change of the castle…
And indeed, the castle did change. While the children were away for harvest, the teachers decided to prepare the castle for the apprentices - well they prepared it somehow, Sal just doubted it really was solely for the apprentices… or at all for the apprentices…
So one day Sal woke up and walked in the Great Hall - just to find the ceiling looking like the weather outside.
"How do you like it, Salazar?" Rowena asked grinning. "Helga and I have worked on a charm like that for years. We thought that applying it here would be great."
"It is," Sal answered, staring at the ceiling that he once loved so much. The ceiling of his first home.
In that moment Godric entered.
"Who enchanted the stairs to move?!" he asked astonished and slightly cross. "They all moved away as soon as I was near them!"
"Well, they still need fine-tuning," Rowena answered. "But it will be great as soon as I am ready. And don't worry - I will key them to our wishes."
"Nice," Helga commented when she entered together with her husband. "Who enchanted the stairs? I like them!"
Godric just sighed and looked pleadingly at Sal. Sal shrugged.
"I live in the dungeons. The stairs definitely don't bother me," he said, inwardly grinning.
"You're evil, Salazar," Godric commented. "Really, really evil!"
Sal just shrugged and decided to seal the servants' stairs and secret passages in the walls with Parseltongue - that would prevent Rowena from finding and hexing them - and it definitely was 'hexing' even if she would object and call it 'charming' - and as a bonus it would prevent Godric from using something different then the main stairs…
And Godric deserved it. Sal had not yet forgiven him for the idea to nickname the dormitories and themselves…
So Sal finally fled from the breakfast table to seal the servant stairs before Rowena could find them. The only thing that was left in the end, were little stone snakes where there once had been the entrances to the servant stairs.
"That should do it," Sal decided, still grinning.
Peverell instead decided to secure his own rooms - the so called public rooms - from his sister. He enchanted a gargoyle and the stairs so that they would move upwards. The gargoyle instead became the guard of his office - an office that later the Headmasters and Headmistresses of Hogwarts would use.
Helga, Godric and Rowena took his idea and changed the doors to their dormitories so that they would just open with a password. Godric hung the portrait of his mother in front of the entrance of his dorms.
"This way, I don't have her following me everywhere at home," he told them when he was questioned about his choice.
Rowena just enchanted the door handle to ask riddles before entering.
"So they will get used to solving riddles," she told them.
Helga also used a portrait for her entrance in the dorms and the rhythm of her nickname for the entry.
Sal had watched them all until he knew all their securities and safe-guards, then he simply vanished the entrance to his dorms so that just a simple stone wall was left. He secured the wall with a password and a security code in Parseltongue for himself.
"Godric," Sal said one day.
"Huh?"
"I need some inspiration for my dorms…"
Godric looked at him blankly for a moment, then his eyes brightened.
"Oh! Sure! Do you want to see mine?"
"Er… may I?"
"Of course! Come on, let's go to Gryffindor tower to have a look!"
When they reached the portrait, Godric stated the password and they entered.
The room was red.
Absolutely red.
Swamped with red.
And whatever wasn't red was gold.
"Great, isn't it?" Godric said. "I colour-charmed it myself; I thought I could make those two colours the colours of Gryffindor crest…"
Sal just thought that someone in the future must have dimmed the colour scheme.
"Er… yes, great… now I definitely have inspiration…" Sal said.
"Great."
Sal just was happy to leave again after he had been shown the dorm rooms for the boys and the added washrooms - not that there was any plumbing. The washroom was connected to a charmed pipe which ended in a tub to bring in fresh water and a dumpster pipe to bring away the used water. It was something Helga had thought of and the other founders had adopted her idea.
Sal guessed that the original method never fully changed even to his original time - not that he could prove it, stuck in the past as he was.
So when Sal finally fled Godric he ran straight to Helga.
"Helga," he said. "May I see your dormitories? I need something to purge from my eyes the shocking colours I saw a few minutes ago."
Helga just raised an eyebrow at him.
"What did you do, Salazar?" she asked.
"I thought it was a good idea to ask Godric for inspiration for my dormitories…"
"Ouch," said Helga. "I guess we should hope Godric's apprentices are colour blind… well, come on. I'll show you."
A few minutes later Sal had entered his second dormitory for the day.
Helga's dorms were decked out in black and yellow.
"I decided on those two colours for my crest," she explained.
"Crest?!" Sal said. "Why are all people suddenly talking about crests today?"
Helga stared at him blankly.
"Because we are building Houses, Salazar," she said. "Every normal House has a crest - so of course we are talking about crests. Rena and Godric said we should use animals as a part of the crest so I decided on a badger for Hufflepuff. Godric said you would take a serpent, he would take a lion and Rena said something about an eagle…"
"Er… all right," Sal said and finally left the rooms after telling some platitudes. Helga's rooms weren't as bad as Godric's but…
Sal entered his dungeon dorms and the first thing he did was to lighten the rooms by turning the outer wall with some rune-work invisible so that you could see in the lake. Then he used a muted green and some silver highlights for the common room.
He might not have been very happy with his House's name, but he suddenly was somehow glad that he had Slytherin as his House. At least the green gave off a homey feeling - and it did not kill you by just looking at it like Godric's red!
"So… my crest colours are green and silver," he concluded - not that he hadn't known it beforehand. "Note to myself: If I ever find out who dulled the red and gold in the Gryffindor tower later on I have to reward them!"
That night he used the knowledge he had gotten the day before and entered first Gryffindor tower and then Hufflepuff House. There he charmed one part of the dormitories and added a charm to make the others forget about the dorms he had hidden away. The charm he used definitely belonged to the Dark Arts - it was a charm he had learned from Morgana - but Sal didn't care. He was a dark wizard, whether he used the charm or not. After all, everything he had once learned from his father Myrddin had been banned as Dark Arts at least two hundred years ago.
Sal had simply stopped caring as long as the charms he used did not harm anyone…
After he had hidden away the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor dorms he entered Ravenclaw tower - answering riddles definitely made it easier to enter for him - and did the same. The hidden dorms were going to be the girl's dorms. Sal just had to work out all the charms he intended to add and then convince the others to add the girls as apprentices to their school - not that they called it a 'school' at the moment.
After that he returned to one of his bigger projects: The Chamber of Secrets. He built the chamber deep down under the school, building it big enough so that all the apprentices would fit in, in case of an emergency. He included a way out - which ended way behind the village of Hogsmeade that was still there from Arthur's time, in the mountains. He secured it with wards based on intent and a Parseltongue password. From inside it would simply open when you would lay your hand on the wall.
Then he connected the servant stairs with the chamber. The servant stairs were connected with the dorms of the other founders - even if they did not know that. He changed the entrances to open in case of an emergency and enchanted the servant stairs so that they would lead the apprentices automatically in the chamber.
"What are you working on?" Rowena finally asked him after seeing him vanishing every day for the last three weeks. The others also stared at him with interest in their eyes. Sal sighed, but then he gave in. After all - why shouldn't he show them his work? It was just a safety measure.
"No changing of my work," he warned them before he opened one of the servants' entrances and showed them the way down to the Chamber of Secrets.
"What's this?" Rowena asked astonished, staring at the chamber.
"A hide-out," Sal answered sincerely. "If the wards will ever be breached doors in the whole castle will open and lead the apprentices here. There is a tunnel to the mountains so that the apprentices are able to flee if we ever have to give up on the castle."
"And you did this by yourself?!" Rowena asked astonished. Sal just shrugged.
"I wasn't sure if you'd agree," he answered sincerely.
"Of course we would have!" Godric said, shaking his head. "None of us even thought about something like that!"
"Well, none of you have fought in a war," Sal answered seriously. "I have. I would think about something like that."
When he said that, Rowena looked at him oddly. Had she remembered her suspicion?
Sal stared back at her but shrugged it off when Helga spoke her mind.
"Still… wow, Sal," Helga said.
"Yes, wow," Godric said. "Building your own Chamber of Secrets under the school, I am impressed."
"You know of it - so it is hardly a Chamber of Secrets," Sal countered.
"Well, but it has been one," Godric said shrugging.
"Yes, but it isn't anymore."
"You should add some décor," Helga said in that moment.
"Yes… something like this!" said Rowena and suddenly a dozen of stone snakes lined the walls.
"Rowena! Do you want to frighten the apprentices?!" Sal hissed.
"No," Rowena said. "But you have to add them - you know, rather like your signature."
Sal just sighed and shook his head.
"I will add some dorms at the bottom of the snake bodies," he said. "Then they might be of use somehow. And now hush! Back where you came from!"
And with that they left again.
Sal indeed added the dorms. He also added a ritual room and some other rooms somewhere near the place where later would stand the huge sculpture of… him?!
Well - Sal decided that he definitely would not add this statue to the room - the snakes were bad enough. Instead he added another, bigger snake to hide the ritual chamber, eventual library, and potion room and hospital wing with a connected bed chamber.
After that he was ready.
Harvest was ending and it finally was time to welcome home their apprentices for their first year at Haugh's Wards.