Meeting the Founders
Wednesday, 2 September 1998
Harry woke up early on Wednesday morning. He’d been up once in the middle of the night with Teddy, but it had been no harder than usual to get him back to sleep. Harry found himself hoping that the adjustment would just be that easy.
It was only around 5 in the morning, so Harry had 2 hours until breakfast even started. Putting off getting ready for the time being, he picked up Teddy and headed into the living room, deciding now would be a good time to introduce the boy to Salazar.
“Ohhh,” Salazar squealed, and wow, Harry was really going to have to get used to Salazar Slytherin behaving more like Padma and Pansy than Snape, “is that the wee lad?”
“Good morning, sir,” Harry responded, “yes, this here is Teddy,” then, picking up the little boy’s hand to wave toward the portrait, he said, “say hello Teddy!”
The two men spent a little while longer talking before Salazar asked Harry what his training regimen was. Harry, slightly confused, just responded that quidditch season hadn’t started yet but that he ran at least three times a week to stay in shape.
“Quidditch?!” Salazar exclaimed.
“Yes?”
“Well,” Salazar conceded, “it’s a great sport, truly entertaining, but I meant your combat and strength training.”
“What do you mean?” Harry asked, “I guess I’ve done a lot of extra defense against the dark arts practice over my life, but I haven’t ever done combat or strength training, well except for when I was in the Goblin healing hall, they did some training with me as physical therapy, but nothing too intense.”
“Have you been named a friend of the Goblin Nation?”
“Yes, Neville, Susan, Luna, and I were all named friends of the Nation.”
“When?”
“Just a couple of weeks ago,” Harry responded, “when we went into the bank to discuss the school’s accounts and wards.”
“Ah,” Salazar said with a nod, “that makes sense.”
‘What makes sense, sir?”
Before Salazar had a chance to respond, the door to Harry’s apartment swung open. Knowing that Neville was literally the only person on the planet who knew his password, Harry simply said, “morning, Nev.”
“Morning, Haz,” Neville grumbled.
“What are you doing awake?” Harry asked.
“Our esteemed Lord Gryffindor took it upon himself to shriek so loudly that I could hear him through, like, three walls, when I finally got up and walked into my office to ask him what the bloody fuck he was on about, he just told me to come get you and go to the training room. I really don’t know what’s going on.”
“Ah,” Salazar said, his voice shocking Neville.
“Oh,” Neville said, standing up straighter, “good morning Lord Slytherin.”
“Ach,” Salazar waved, “don’t bother with that Lord shite, and Hadrian, dear,” at the pet name, both Neville and Harry looked up in shock, “please stop calling me sir, you may call me Sal or Grandfather, my Heir.”
“Alright,” Harry said, coughing slightly, “thank you, Sal. You can continue calling me Hadrian if you’d like, though most call me Harry.”
“Odd,” Salazar said, cocking his head slightly, “any short name would generally be a family name, why does everyone use it for you?”
“Well, I didn’t know that my full name was Hadrian until this summer.”
“So is Hadrian more like your family name now?”
“Yeah, I guess,” Harry conceded, “though my cousin likes to call me Hades as well, he decided that I needed a nickname only family called me. One of my aunts uses it sometimes as well but the other refuses to call me anything but Hadrian.”
“Then I think I’ll call you Hades, my Heir.” Salazar said with a decisive nod.
“Alright, Grandfather,” Harry responded, “now, do you happen to know why Lord Gryffindor asked Neville to get me?”
Instead of responding, Salazar looked pointedly between Neville and Harry, the later quickly realized he’d neglected to make a proper introduction.
“Oh, my apologies,” Harry said, “Grandfather, this is my godbrother, Neville. Neville, this is Lord Salazar Slytherin, though he seems to rarely use the honorific.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sir.” Neville responded with a nod.
“You as well, lad. If you’re Hades’ godbrother, you may call me Uncle.”
“Thank you, Uncle. Neville is my full name, though my closet friends and family call me Nev, I call Harry ‘Haz’ but I think I’m the only one.”
“Then I’ll leave that name to you and your brother,” Salazar decided, “though if your family addresses you as Nev, I may do so from time to time.”
“Well,” Harry said, clapping his hands softly, “this has been a truly mind-boggling conversation.” Then, shaking his head as if to dispel the insanity of this morning, Harry asked “grandfather, do you know why Lord Gryffindor asked Neville to fetch me?”
“If I had to guess, my friend wanted his heir to join you in your training,” Salazar said before asking, “do you have someone to care for your son, Hades?”
“Yes,” Harry responded, “I have a nursery elf, but I can also open the floo and call for one of my aunts if need be.”
“Very well, my boy, call your elf and ask them to please watch over Teddy then you and your brother should go down to the training room, there’s an empty portrait on the wall there, I’ll collect Godric, and we’ll meet you there.”
With that, Salazar disappeared from the frame. Deciding it’d probably be smart to just go along with whatever was happening, Harry called for Mimi and asked her to please watch over Teddy for a little while. The elf, as always, was ecstatic to have a child to care for and happily took Teddy from Harry’s arms, taking him back into his bedroom, likely to sit in the chair there and read.
Neville and Harry, both still dressed in their pajamas, made their way down the stairs. At the door to the training room, they found Susan – also dressed in her pajamas – and Luna, fully dressed in training robes.
“Luna,” Harry said, his tone failing to actually sound exasperated, “where on Earth did you get combat robes?”
“Diagon Alley, of course,” she responded, “we’ve been named friends of the Nation, we’ll have to be trained in combat. It was a logical purchase.”
“Of course,” Neville muttered.
Harry just sent her a fond smile while Susan silently berated herself for not coming to the same conclusion.
“We’ll just have to owl order some robes,” Harry decided, “or, honestly, there might be some in the armory we could use, we didn’t actually look through what was in there last night.”
As a group, they stepped in to the training room.
The room was large, about the size of the room that would materialize in the Room of Requirement when they were training the DA.
There were training dummies and targets lining the walls, the floors were padded, the North wall had windows that looked out over the grounds while the South wall was covered in mirrors.
The East wall had a large set of double doors which led to the armory. During their brief tour the night before, they hadn’t actually looked inside.
On the West wall, though, was a large frame. So large, in fact, that the inhabitants were life sized.
In the quiet of morning, Harry took the opportunity to analyze each of these near-Mythic figures.
The Founders had lived in the Middle Ages, so they weren’t necessarily tall. Each of the Heirs was noticeably taller than their Founder. Godric was the tallest of the group, standing at about 5’10”, while Salazar was a couple of inches shorter. Helga and Rowena appeared to be about the same height, maybe 5’4”.
Godric, though shorter than Harry and Neville, was an imposing figure. Most of the descriptions that Harry had read of the Founder said that he had fiery red hair and a massive beard. Most said that the man had always been dressed for battle. Harry was expecting to see, basically, a Viking. Instead, Godric looked regal. That’s not to say he didn’t appear as if he could level a battlefield on his own if given the opportunity. But he certainly wasn’t a brute.
The man was dressed in fine robes made of a deep burgundy, lined with delicate gold thread. His beard was short and well kept, as was his hair which was combed back. Both were a rich auburn, peppered slightly with greys. He had warm brown eyes, the same shade as Neville’s. His famous sword was sheathed at his right hip.
Helga was a beautiful woman with hair much like Susan’s. It was a lighter auburn than Godric’s and fell in soft waves over her shoulders and down her back. Her skin was lightly tanned, and she had a dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks. She was dressed in immaculately woven yellow robes. She looked incredibly kind, though the dagger visible at her waist was a great indicator that she was not to be fucked with.
Rowena looked a lot like her daughter, Helena who Harry had spoken to during the Battle. The story of Helena Ravenclaw had broken Harry’s heart, and he was looking forward to finding her again this year so he could thank her for her help and hopefully learn more from her. He never liked the way students addressed the ghosts and portraits. Sir Nicholas, for example, was an accomplished Knight. It was beyond rude to go about calling him Nearly Headless Nick. Harry had learned quickly that addressing him by his title endeared the ghost to him and made him more than happy to help Harry find his way or warn him if he was about to get caught out of bounds. He hoped to get to know Helena in a similar way.
Lady Ravenclaw was painted wearing her diadem. Harry still hated how Tom had sullied those priceless artifacts, forcing Harry to destroy pieces of history in order to stop the madman. She was wearing beautiful, silky royal blue robes and her long, dark hair fell in delicate curls over her shoulders. Her skin was pale, and her eyes were so much like Luna’s it was eerie. Harry decided the eyes must be a line trait. Though it was less the distinct light blue color, and more the knowing gaze.
Harry hadn’t really taken the chance to really look at Salazar late the prior night or early that morning. Looking now, Harry was shocked to realize the man looked strangely like Harry himself.
It wasn’t just the eyes which Harry and his friends had established was a distinct Slytherin trait (and, now that Harry thought about it, he realized that the teenage Tom Riddle hadn’t had Slytherin green eyes, his were dark brown … odd). But Harry and Salazar also looked alike. Salazar wasn’t just tan from spending days outside; his skin had a natural brown tone though it appeared more olive than Harry’s honey warm skin. Their eyes weren’t just the same color, they were the same shape and they had the same Roman-esque nose. Both men had jet black hair. Though Salazar’s fell in soft waves to his shoulders, pulled half back by some sort of clip while Harry’s curls refused to be tamed in any real way (especially right now, when he’d literally just rolled out of bed).
It seemed to Harry that the combination of Potter and Black traits, along with the distinct Slytherin eyes, had made him look more like the Founder than he ever thought possible.
Looking around the room, Harry noticed that the other three heirs were also closely analyzing the Founders, and the Founders were analyzing them.
After another minute, Helga broke the silence, saying softly, “it’s truly incredible to have worthy heirs once again.”
“Thank you, my Lady,” Neville responded for the group, “we are honored to stand as your Heirs, and we are honored to have the chance to learn from you.”
“Forgive me for asking if this is a sore subject,” Harry began, “but why doesn’t anyone know that there are surviving, speaking portraits of the Founders?”
“No forgiveness needed, Hades,” Salazar said with a soft smile that had both Luna and Susan turning to look at Harry in shock. Wow, Harry thought, shock is a weird fucking look on Luna Lovegood. The Founder continued, either not seeing or simply ignoring the shock his familiar and warm tone brought, “we sealed this Tower in such a way that only worthy Heirs would be able to enter. At the time, we thought we were maybe being paranoid, but a few decades ago someone claiming to be my True Heir tried to get into the Tower. He didn’t gain entrance here, but he got into my Chamber and corrupted my dear familiar.”
Harry winced at that, having deduced recently that the basilisk had been Salazar’s familiar.
Before Harry could apologize, Salazar continued, “don’t fret, my Heir, you did her a service by killing her when you did, she had been forced to go against her nature and was in a great amount of pain.”
“And you used my sword admirably, young man,” Godric said, his voice lilting and so similar to McGonagall’s thick brogue when she got well and truly pissed at her lions that Harry and Neville both immediately snapped to attention. Laughing lightly, Godric said, “I was proud to hear that both you and your brother were able to wield my sword in battle and I am incredibly happy that Fawkes has bonded to the two of you. I can feel the strength of your magic. I say strength not just to mean that you are both incredibly strong. Well, really, this applies to all four of you young ones, but I am more familiar with the magic of the boys as they’ve called upon my sword and share a bond with my familiar. Anyways,” he continued, shaking his head slightly, “you are each incredibly powerful, but what makes your magic strong is the fact that you refuse to use your power for anything but good. Your intent is pure, and your morals are firm, that is your strength.”
“Thank you, sir.” Susan nodded.
“Yes, thank you,” Neville said, “it makes sense to only appear to your true heirs then.”
“Why is it that Tom wasn’t a true heir?” Harry asked.
“A story for another time, my child,” Salazar said, “for now, we should train.”
“Yes,” Rowena said, “it seems my heir was prepared.”
Rolling her eyes, Helga responded, “yes, yes, Rowena, you and your blood are always perfect, now, you should each step into the armory. The door will open at your touch. When you are in there, close your eyes and allow your magic to reach out, you will find the weapon that responds most readily to you. Once you’ve found your weapons, we will see where you’re each at and discuss a training schedule.”
“What time is it now?” Godric asked.
Glancing quickly at his watch, Harry responded, “5:45, sir.”
“What time do you need to begin your day?”
“Since it’s the first day of class we do need to be in the Great Hall for breakfast so we can get our schedules, other days we may be able to eat in our quarters. Classes don’t begin until 9, but breakfast begins at 7. I’d say we should be there by 8 at the latest.”
“Very well,” Godric said, “we shall work until 7. That will give you an hour to get ready and collect your school things before going to the Great Hall. That should be enough time as you four will have an easier time of travelling through the Castle, simply ask her for passage and she will provide.”
With that, the four heirs made their way to the armory door. Neville placed his hand on the knob and the door emitted a brief blue glow before they heard a lock click.
When they stepped inside, the power was almost suffocating. It was clear that these weapons weren’t merely made, they were crafted. The walls were lined with bows, swords, daggers, knives, hammers, maces, and glaives.
Harry was familiar with the feeling of a goblin made weapon, as he’d been carrying the Slytherin Family Dagger for a month at this point. But the power he felt from the dagger felt very similar to the power he felt from the Slytherin ring.
The power coming off of these weapons was something more akin to what he’d felt when he used the Sword of Gryffindor or the first time he held the Elder Wand.
They each did as directed, closing their eyes and allowing their magic to reach out.
Luna moved first.
Still with her eyes closed, she grabbed onto the hilt of a traditional longsword. Stepping out of the armory, she unsheathed the sword to examine its design. It was clearly Goblin made and was immaculately crafted. She’d have to remember to thank the Nation for allowing this piece to remain in the Founders’ Armory the next time she visited the bank.
The blade was crafted from iron. It appeared to be charmed to always remain clean and sharp. The very metal was dripping with power. Like any Goblin made weapon, it only took on that which made it stronger which is why it was forbidden for the Slytherin Dagger Harry carried to be used on anything venomous. It was meant to be used for rituals and warding and you couldn’t exactly go about slicing palms with a blade imbued with poison.
The hilt of Luna’s new weapon was wrapped in soft dark brown leather, forming a perfect grip. The pommel was inlaid with lapis lazuli, a focus stone. The material made a lot of sense for someone so connected to the otherworldly.
While Luna was examining her sword, Susan had stepped back into the room holding a beautiful dagger. The blade was longer than the ritual dagger Harry carried and was made of beautiful, polished bronze. The hilt was carved with an intricate Celtic knot design around a sturdy leather grip. It was a practical weapon that would serve Susan well in life and in combat.
Back in the armory, Neville and Harry had stepped forward in unison. Something that was getting less and less strange as time went on.
Neville moved right and Harry moved left.
Neville reached his weapon first.
He stepped back into the room carrying a powerful battle axe just as they heard Harry exclaim, “oh you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
Deciding to ignore his brother’s outburst, Neville began to examine his weapon. It looked like a traditional, double-headed Celtic battle axe. The blades were iron and had a beautiful carving, much like Susan’s dagger, the handle was polished wood with a sturdy leather grip. Neville was looking forward to learning how to wield it effectively.
Just as he finished his examination, he heard Salazar start laughing. Looking over his shoulder, he watched an incredibly disgruntled Harry walked into the room carrying a glaive that looked almost … nope … that wasn’t a glaive.
“It’s a fucking scythe!” Harry exclaimed.
At that point, Salazar was entirely bent over, loudly cackling while the other Founders were looking at him as if he’d finally snapped.
Reacting to the ruckus, Luna looked up, when she saw Harry, she started laughing nearly as hard as Salazar.
Neville was trying his level best not to react while Susan just looked incredibly confused.
“This has to be some sort of cosmic joke,” Harry grumbled before his eyes went unfocused and he tilted his head as if listening to someone who wasn’t really there.
After a second, his eyes snapped back into focus, and he had a sort of manic grin on his face.
“Would it be safe to say that Thanatos might be a better moniker than Hades, my heir?” Salazar said through his laughter.
“Oh no,” Harry said, his grin becoming more of a teasing smirk, “I’m the Master, you know, not Death itself.”
After taking a moment to think over what had been said, Susan quietly gasped, looking at Harry as if seeing him for the first time.
“Lord Peverell,” was all she said. Harry simply nodded in response.
“So, are you truly meant to wield a scythe, Hades?” Salazar asked.
“Yes,” Harry answered, before setting the scythe down and moving back toward the armory, “though you four aren’t going to be the ones to teach me how. I’m meant to select a more battle appropriate weapon. I’ll be back in a moment.”
Only 30 seconds later, Harry stepped back into the room holding a traditional talwar sword. The sheath was made of dark, polished leather. When Harry unsheathed the blade, it was clear how well made the weapon was. Like the rest of the armory, the blade was sharp, and the weapon was clean despite centuries of disuse. But, unlike the other weapons, this one didn’t feel as though it were made by Goblin metalsmiths.
“Ah,” Salazar said with a fond smile, “I acquired that weapon during a trip to the Indian subcontinent to meet with a renowned Parsel Mage. Odd though,” he mused, “I don’t believe anyone else has ever effectively wielded that weapon.” He then looked at Harry closely, as if looking for something he might have missed, after a moment, he tilted his head and asked, “are you a mage, Hadrian.”
“Yes, sir,” Harry responded.
“And what are your specialties, young mage?” Godric asked.
“I’m a full elemental,” Harry responded, “and my strengths lie in soul magic and necromancy.”
“Ah,” Godric said with a nod, “that makes quite a bit of sense given your Peverell blood and close bond with Death.”
“Closer than you might think,” Neville said.
“Whatever do you mean, my heir?” Godric asked.
“My brother died, sir.”
“Died?”
“Yes, sir,” Harry responded, “though it’s a rather long story. If you’d like to hear it, that goes for any of the four of you, we’d be happy to tell it some time.”
“I’d like that,” Godric said with a nod.
“So, you’re a mage,” Salazar continued, as if the last bit of the conversation hadn’t even occurred, “I assume you’re also a parselmouth? I can’t believe I didn’t ask last night.”
“Yes, grandfather, I am,” Harry responded, slipping into the language, “for a long time I thought it was because of my connection to the false heir but found out recently it was a gift from your line through my mother as well as a long dormant Potter gift that was more prevalent when my family resided in India.”
“Ah,” Salazar responded in the same sibilant tongue, “it makes sense, then, why that weapon chose you. Look at the hilt, young heir, do you see the serpent?”
Looking down, Harry noticed an intricately carved serpent peeking out from the leather grip and wrapping around the hilt and down the knucklebow.
“Yes,” he replied.
“Well, my child, tell it hello.”
On Salazar’s direction, Harry hissed a soft hello to the snake. At his greeting, the carving began to move, coming out from under the hilt entirely and wrapping fully around the knucklebow before hissing a greeting back.
When the carving hissed back, the weapon glowed green for a brief moment before warming in Harry’s hand.
“It’s now bonded to you, Hades,” Salazar said, switching back to English, “it will remain with you and serve you well.”
With that, Godric took over the lesson. He had them set their weapons to the side. They then worked through the most basic footwork needed for fighting with a weapon rather than a wand. The exact movements would change depending on what weapon they were wielding, but it was all much the same.
Soon enough, an hour had passed, and the Founders sent them all up to their quarters to shower and get ready for the day. The girls made their way down the stairs and Neville and Harry started up.
As they climbed, Neville started laughing again.
“What!” Harry demanded.
“I absolutely cannot believe you ended up with a scythe!”
Shaking his head, Harry responded, “turns out it wasn’t even one of the armory weapons. Death had been wanting to train me but didn’t think it was safe to just leave a scythe laying around Grimmauld or Potter Manor, especially with Teddy around, so he took the opportunity when it presented itself and, in his own words, ‘thought it’d be quite the laugh.’”
“I don’t know why it shocks me that you’ve developed a sarcastic report with a deity, but somehow it does.”
Shrugging, Harry simply said, “he also told me that he hasn’t trained anyone to use the scythe before because there’s never been a true Master, so I think it’ll be pretty entertaining.”
“Ah,” Neville said with a nod, “so that’s why you looked Seamus after someone tells him he’s allowed to light a fire.”
“Exactly.”
They reached the top of the stairs and split off into their quarters.
When Harry stepped into his living room, Salazar was back in his frame, “I feel there is much that people don’t know about you, my child.”
“You’d be right in that feeling, Grandfather.” Harry responded.
“Secrets are sometimes necessary,” Salazar said, “though don’t put so much weight on them that you forget to truly live.”
Harry nodded his thanks and then walked into Teddy’s room to see how he and Mimi were getting on. Teddy was sitting quietly listening to Mimi read.
“Hello,” Harry greeted, “how’s he been?”
“He be doing good, Master Harry.” Mimi responded, “he be eating and bathing. Mimi will watch Young Master while yous shower and dress.”
“Thank you, Mimi,” Harry said, stepping closer to kiss Teddy on top of his messy curls before stepping through the door to the bathroom.
30 minutes later, Harry was ready for the day. He was wearing his Slytherin robes and tie over well-fitting black slacks and a white button down. His wrist holster held the Elder Wand while the one on his thigh held his old holly wand and a second dagger that Godric had asked (told) them each to carry. He’d moved his ankle holster with the Slytherin knife to the left, deciding to balance out his moving armory a little bit.
Susan thought they might get in trouble for walking around a school covered in weapons, but Neville made the good point that none of the teachers could exactly take points for something Godric Gryffindor himself told them to do.
Harry then packed up his book bag, a new bag he’d gotten during his shopping spree a few weeks prior. It was made of beautiful dark brown leather and had his initials (just HJPB, not the insanity that is HJAIPPBS) stamped into the corner. The bag had featherlight and extension charms on it, allowing him to carry all of his books instead of having to come back up and switch them out (and carry everything he needed for Teddy) and it also had a lock keyed to his Potter ring so no one else would be able to open it. It was probably his favorite thing he’d purchased.
He still had a couple of minutes before he needed to meet the others and head down to breakfast so he stepped into the living room to floo call Andromeda instead of sending a letter.
He threw in the powder and called out for Grimmauld Place, forgetting that his Slytherin robes might come as a shock to people.
“What in Salazar’s name are you wearing?” Andromeda asked.
That, of course, caused Salazar himself to start laughing.
“Who else is there?” she asked.
“Salazar.” Harry answered with a shrug.
“You’re joking” she said, then at Harry’s look said, “you’re not joking. Alright. Whatever, just another thing on the long list of insane shit that happens to Harry Potter. How are you, love?”
“I’m doing well, Andi. It’s been a pretty eventful few hours and I’ll call again later to explain it all, I’m meeting the others to head down for breakfast soon but just wanted to check in.”
“How’s Teddy?”
“He’s great, he slept well. He spent the morning with Mimi because the four of us were in the training room with the Founders.”
“Wow, you’re telling me all about that later,” Andromeda said before asking, “do you know your schedule for the day?”
“Not yet,” Harry answered, “but if it’s an entirely full day, would you like me to send Teddy to you?”
“You know I’m happy to see him whenever, love, just let me know what will be best for you.”
After thinking for a moment, Harry said, “alright, once I have my schedule I’ll make a copy of it and send it to you with either Fawkes or Mimi. Are you still alright with him sleeping at Grimmauld on the nights I have my Astronomy practical?”
“Of course, Harry, and if you have days where you have class nearly every period I’m happy to have him here throughout the day. He’s your son but I’m his grandmother, use the free babysitting. Don’t overwork yourself, you deserve to have moments of rest too.”
“Thank you, Andi, you’re wonderful.”
“Don’t I know it.”
“Alright,” Harry said with a laugh, “I’m going to head down to breakfast wearing Slytherin robes, a thigh holster with a sodding dagger that Godric has decided we all need to openly carry and holding a baby. Wonder if people might think me odd.”
“Oh, love, that ship has sailed.” Andi said, also laughing, “I’ll speak with you later, hope you have a great first day.”
With that, Harry said his goodbyes, grabbed Teddy – who was dressed in a white shirt with adorable linen green and white striped overalls and holding his trusty wolf stuffy in a death grip – and headed down to the common area to meet Luna, Susan, and Neville.