Chapter 1
Helga woke up to the sounds of screams. At first she thought the village she was helping construct was under attack, but a second glance told her that she was on the dinner table of some poor family.
"Sorry! Sorry!" Helga quickly scrambled off the table. "I didn't mean to come here! It was an accident!"
The family stopped screaming.
"Just how did you get in?" The lady, whom Helga was assuming was the mother and wife of the three-person household, asked in shock.
"I don't know." Helga sheepishly admitted. "Last thing I knew I was at Hogsmeade."
"Ah, stayed over for the summer did you?"
Helga paused in confusion. "Y-yes, I suppose?" Helga did spend the whole summer building Hogsmeade with Salazar.
"Oh, come over here. I'll get you a blanket and some hot cocoa." The lady gently grabbed Helga and pushed her out of the dining room and over to something that looked like a bed with a fabric wall on one side? "You must have had one fright to apparate all the way from Hogsmeade to here."
Apparate? Helga resigned herself to not knowing anything that was going on and sinked in the weirdly shaped but comfortable bed. It was more like a fluffy chair than anything. She should get Rowena to figure out how to make one.
"Are you kidding me?! Are we seriously giving cocoa to somebody that trespassed onto our property?" The teenage boy whined.
"Zacharias! You are not giving anything! I am. Go finish your dinner." The lady scolded her son.
"I can't! She," The boy pointed at Helga who looked away embarrassedly, "ruined it when she thought it would be a good idea to fall on our table!"
"Get one of the house elves to make you a new plate." The lady turned back to Helga. "What's your name, dear?"
"It's Helga, lady." Helga replied politely as she could to the nice woman.
"Oh, you don't have to call me lady. I'm Florence or you can also call me Mrs. Smith, "The lady turned to the person Helga assumed was her husband. "Honey, watch over her would you?"
The haughty looking man seemed slightly miffed at being asked to watch over Helga, but nodded. The lady left satisfied, leaving Helga alone with the two slightly pissed men.
Helga shifted uncomfortable from where she sat. If they try anything, Helga could always overpower them. Helga knew she was a very strong witch despite only being sixteen, though she never flaunted her strength like Godric.
"Dad," the boy asked his father, "do we really have to take care of her? Can't we just call the aurors and get them to deal with it?"
Aurors? What were aurors? If they called them to deal with a trespasser, they might be something like the sheriffs that muggles have. Wasn't that a novel idea? For there to be a law enforcement to deal with crimes. Maybe they could make one for Hogsmeade.
The man sighed, interrupting Helga from her thoughts. "You know how your mother gets when she starts on her pity projects. Best not to make a fuss."
Helga sunk deeper into the weirdly shaped bed. She hadn't been anybody's pity project in so long. She finds that she doesn't like it as she used to.
The room she was in was very elaborate and covered in linings of precious metals. She was probably in a rich pureblood's manor then. Helga was surprised that they didn't know who she was, but guessing on their weird accent, they weren't any where near where she lived. Must be from a different country.
A house elf popped in - they seemed well fed and dressed - and handed her a blanket. Helga kept quiet and held onto the blanket. She sat in tense silence with the father of the household, the boy had left earlier to finish dinner.
The lady finally came back with an steaming cup of hot cocoa. "Here you go, dearie."
A warm cup was pressed into Helga's hands.
"Must you have made it by hand. Couldn't you have gotten one of the house elves to make it?" The man asked, annoyed.
The lady scowled. "Hot cocoa made by house elves doesn't have the same feel," She turned back to Helga, "I mixed a magic replenishing potion in it. Merlin, knows you must feel drained."
Helga wasn't drained at all, but that was fine. She took a small sip of cocoa... it was lumpy. Helga was pretty sure it wasn't supposed to taste like this.
"How is it?" The lady proudly beamed, "I made it myself."
"It's great." Helga softly said. It was great to somebody in the world. Just not something Helga herself would choose to drink.
"That's wonderful," the lady sat down next to Helga, "um... sweetheart, can you tell us what happened for you to apparate here all the way from Hogsmeade."
Helga frowned in thought. She had been supervising the construction of a pub along the streets, Salazar had left to do who knows what. The last thing she could remember was searching for a right piece of wood by herself while the other wizards involved in construction were building what they could with the wood had. Then... there was a flash of light.
"I was looking for some wood. To build with. Then... there was light." Helga recounted.
"Light? What color?" The lady worriedly inquired.
"I think... green."
"Green!" The lady sounded horrified.
Helga smiled awkwardly. "Y-yes? Is there something wrong with that?"
"Oh, you might not know because you were born around the time ended. Green... green is the color of the... killing curse."
Helga's brows furrowed. She didn't think there was such a thing called the killing curse. Rowena would have told her if there was. It could be the color of a spell though. Helga internally groaned, not wanting to frighten the nice lady. Helga wished Rowena was here. She would have known what type of spell was green.
"Florence, stop frightening the girl. There was no report of an attack on Hogsmeade. No doubt it's one of Dumbledore's supporters trying to make it seem that you-know-who really revived. They probably set a prank and scared the girl into apparating away." The man reasoned.
"I suppose your right," the lady admitted reluctantly, "We'll call the aurors tomorrow morning," the lady gave Helga a smile, "In the mean time, you can sleep in a guest room."
The man started to protest, but was silenced with a glare from the lady. "Our floo isn't working right now, so we won't be able to send you off. Come along dear."
"It's fine." Helga smiled. "I can sleep here."
"On the couch!" So that's what it was called. "Absolutely not! You need to sleep on a proper bed."
The lady once again gently led Helga up from the - couch - and up a set of stairs. She stopped next to a door and opened it for Helga. "You'll be staying here until tomorrow, when the aurors can get you back to Hogsmeade."
"Thank you for everything you're doing for me."
"It's fine. The world needs more people to care for the less fortunate."
Helga shifted uncomfortably at the charity. "You have family in Hogsmeade, right? Or somebody you know. I can help them out when I go back."
"Oh, no. I don't know anybody," the lady waved her hand in front of her, "I don't expect anything back for this. Just pass on the good deed. Besides, if you hadn't apparated in, we wouldn't have known that the apparation wards around the manor had failed." The lady scurried away before Helga could put in another word leaving Helga very unsettled.
How did the lady recognize Hogsmeade if she didn't know anybody there? Nobody there was allowed to tell anybody they didn't know? Did news of it leak? Or... was there a spy?
Rowena woke up in a part of Hogwarts that she knew wasn't built yet. That was the first warning. She woke up next to a ghost, who looked suspiciously similar to her, gazing at her in shock. Second warning.
Third warning? The magic of Hogwarts was old. Old and aged, wisened on the passage of time itself. Rowena knew this was the Hogwarts she and the rest built with their bare hands, she could feel it in the stones.
And somehow it had grown ancient in a span of a few minutes. From an uncomplete project in it's infancy to an old, ancient building full of ancient magic.
Just a few moments ago, Rowena was mapping out this very room and now the room has been finished just as she had envisioned it.
"Time travel." Rowena whispered in shock.
"Time travel." The ghost repeated back to her before disappearing without Rowena getting a question in.
She cursed.
Now where was she going to get her information?
Helga woke up, not to screams this time, but to the soft rays of light.
She quietly got up and magic-ed herself and her clothes clean. She looked at herself in the mirror and could see dark circles under her eyes. Last night's thoughts and the creeping fear of being in the unknown had kept her awake.
Helga doesn't think she travelled too far from home considering the people here heard of Hogsmeade and speak the same language, just with a slight accent. She could feel the magical signature of Salazar faintly, so it's possible that whatever long distance travel spell that hit her had to have hit him too. Whether other residents of Hogsmeade were hit was worried her. Salazar was very strong and unusually mature for his age, so he wouldn't have any trouble. The residents though...
Helga sighed tiredly before going down the stairs and following the path back to the dining room she fell in, where the lady was already sitting at the right side of the table eating slices of fruit.
"Helga!" The lady smiled happily at Helga. "You're up earlier than expected. It's seven. My boy, Zacharias if you know him from school, is never up before nine during the summer."
"School?"
"Yes, Hogwarts. What year are you in?"
Helga sat in confusion of what the lady meant. "I'm sixteen?" Helga said faintly.
"Sixteen! That would make you a sixth year, wouldn't it? A year older than my boy. No wonder he doesn't know you."
"Lady, Hogwarts isn't a school yet. It's still being built." Helga corrected.
"Is this a joke," The lady asked curiously, "I'm afraid I'm a little behind on these new jokes. A little old in my years, you see, and my son wouldn't be caught dead telling jokes to his mum." The lady gave a small laugh for reasons Helga couldn't understand.
"Is that so." Helga asked, ready to sweep this whole thing under a rug. She really didn't want a confrontation over whether Hogwarts was finished or not.
"So, I'll already sent mail to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. They said they'll send two aurors to help you with your situation, but you'll be back an Hogsmeade in no time. Come on now, sit next to me."
"Is that so." Helga warily smiled at the lady before hesitantly sitting down in the chair beside her.
"So, Helga," the lady dropped her fork and rest her chin on her hand, giving her undivided attention to Helga, "what house are you in?"
"House?"
"Hufflepuff? Gryffindor?"
"Oh," Helga said in realization, "I'm of the House of Hufflepuff."
"Ah, my son is too. It's unfortunate you two haven't crossed paths there."
Helga furrowed her eyebrows in puzzlement. This family wasn't a part of the House of Hufflepuff. She'd think she'd know if they were considering her mother's zeal in making her memorize every single member of the family within five generations.
Unbeknownst to Helga, her confusion was seen by the lady who quickly backtracked. "I don't mean in the literal way. I'm sure you two have seen each other in the hallways and dorms but just didn't recognize each other. It's fitting though, isn't it?"
"What's fitting?" Helga quietly asked.
"Your name! You know, Helga Hufflepuff?"
"What about it?"
"Helga Hufflepuff."
Helga fell quiet not sure of what she was supposed to say. She didn't understand why the woman was saying her name over and over again. "Is there... something with the name?"
"Do you not know who Helga Hufflepuff is?" The lady asked concerned. Before Helga could say that she did know, it was her, the lady said, "She's the founder of the Hufflepuff House."
"She was?" Helga exclaimed. Helga had thought for sure the founder of the House of Hufflepuff was Aldrydd Hufflepuff. Not even her mother would have been arrogant to name her after the founder of the House. "Are you sure your right? I'm sure that is was Aldrydd Hufflepuff."
"Of course it's Helga Hufflepuff. What is that school teaching you days? Even a toddler would know this." The lady asked all huffed up. "Honestly, it's that Dumbledore. He's so caught up in the Boy-Who-Lived and that resurrections nonsense, the standard of teaching had gone down hill. Why, my son told me how pampered the Potter boy was because Dumbledore would let him get away with every single thing. Now it's affecting the education of you poor things who don't have the resources to get a better one at home."
"Yes," Helga agreed quietly, "there should be better education for everybody regardless of wealth." It was why she wanted Hogwarts to be built. To give a magical education regardless of whether they could afford it or not. Everybody deserved a fair education.
The lady smiled warm heartedly at Helga. "Your such a sweet girl. My son should have been more polite to you. When the next school term begins, I'll tell him to seek you out."
"T-that might not be a good idea."
"Nonsense, of course it will. You two could become friends."
Helga thought back to the boy who was so annoyed at her appearance. That wasn't happening. "If you say so." Helga still said regardless. "If I may ask, where are we?"
"We're in Glastonbury. In Somerset County."
"Glastonbury! I've here before." Helga revealed. "We're really in Glastonbury?"
"Yes! You've been here before?" The lady asked, "That's wonderful! Did you come to see King Arthur's grave?"
"King Arthur's grave? No, I was here at an inn with my friends. We were here because Sal said something would happen here. Of course it didn't happen, so we left."
"Oh, is Sal something like a seer?"
Helga quickly shook her head. "No, no. Nothing like that. He just said that he heard something. I didn't know your family lived here. I would have thought we would have known if a magical family was in the area."
"That might be because we're not really that notorious for anything." The lady joked. "We're nothing compared to the Malfoys. Their manor is in the county next to ours. Wiltshire."
"Malfoys?"
"Yes, the Malfoys. You may not have heard of us, but you most certainly have heard about the Malfoys. Lucius Malfoy is part of the Board of Governors."
"Board of Governors? Of what?"
"Hogwarts! Do they not teach you anything in that school? Should I transfer my son to another school?" The lady sighed. "The quality of that school has been going downhill. Such a shame. It was such a good school when I went."
Helga shifted uncomfortably at the talk of Hogwarts again.
A house elf popped in, saving Helga from the awkward discussion of why Hogwarts was or was not existing.
"M-mistress?" The house elf asked.
"Yes, dearie?" The lady asked, saccharine sweet.
"The aurors be at the door, ma'am."
"Why thank you. Lead them in Tizy." The lady shooed the house elf away.
"Tizy will." The house elf popped away and a few moments passed, the house elf appeared with two men in red robes - who Helga presumes were aurors.
"Good Morning Madame Smith, I'm Auror Wilson and this," the man motioned to the stockier man beside him, "is my partner, Auror Flinch."
"Pleasure meeting you two men," The lady smiled, "why don't you two have a seat? My husband won't be up until later, so I'll be the one talking to you."
"That's perfectly fine, ma'am." The two aurors took a seat across Helga and the lady.
"I must say, you two coming was a little of a surprise. I thought the ministry was going to send people from the Accidental Magic Squad, not the aurors." The lady questioned.
"It's because of Dumbledore and his group. The ministry was afraid that they would try something to make it appear as if you-know-who actually resurrected." The less stocky auror explained.
The lady huffed. "To think that you fine aurors have to go through this just because of a silly, spoiled boy is ridiculous. Why, I think you might be right. Helga over here was attacked by some people throwing around green light. She was so frightened, she apparated all the way from Hogsmeade to my dinner table! It must have been those hooligans that follow Dumbledore messing around trying to make it look like Death Eaters were conducting raids."
The less stocky auror nodded. "That's why we came. To make sure that nobody was spreading false information. It's a relief to know that it was just an ill thought prank. I'll file a report of the prank to the ministry."
"Yes, Helga, the darling, also needs a way back to Hogsmeade. Our floo is broken, so she can't use it."
"We'll take her back to Hogsmeade after we file our report." The auror assured.
The lady turned towards Helga. "Isn't that great, sweetheart? Your finally going back home."
Helga stared blankly at the lady. "Ministry?" Helga softly whispered.
"What about the ministry?" The lady asked.
"What's the ministry?" Helga asked. As far as she knew, there wasn't any ministry in the Somerset area that recorded magical accidents and the sort. And who was this you-know-who everybody was talking about?
"The Ministry of Magic, dearie. Honestly, do you see what they teach the kids these days?" The lady turned to the aurors. "She doesn't know that ministry is the shorter version for Ministry of Magic. Next thing she'll ask is whether the Ministry of Magic governs England or not! She must be a muggleborn. Only a muggleborn would know such little."
The stockier auror jeered at her. "She must be. Only muggleborns don't have enough common sense to figure that out. The Ministry of Magic has to manage them carefully so they don't make a mistake!
Helga stare back at him and his squinty, pig eyes. There wasn't any such thing as a Ministry of Magic or a ministry that controlled muggleborns.
"You do know what the Ministry of Magic is, dear?" The lady quietly asked.
"Ministry of Magic? There is no Ministry in the Somerset or Wiltshire area. I should know. Maybe there's some small government in a small, highly populated portion of England, but Somerset and Wiltshire. I've been here. I know there is none. There isn't enough people."
"Sit down Helga. We understand. You're brain is probably tired from that apparation-"
Helga shook her head. There was something wrong about this. About all of this. Something was wrong, Helga just knew it.
She looked at the stockier auror's sneer, the other auror's pitying look, and the lady's exasperated one. They were all trying to make her believe in something that wasn't real. She knew what the area was like. She knew that there weren't any magical governments.
"No!" Helga shouted hysterically. "Stop trying to make me believe in things that aren't true!"
"Helga!" The lady scolded her in a way that Helga hated. She hated how the lady treated her as if she were a small animal who didn't know how to do anything.
"I'm leaving." Helga whispered.
"You will not be doing no such thing. Sit down and have some breakfast." The lady asked - no, ordered.
"You can't make me stay. I'm leaving."
"Absolutely not! I'm trying to help you and I can't do that if you're being disagreeable!"
"I'm not!" Helga stood up from her chair and backed away. The three also stood up and tried to calm her down - rather the lady tried to calm her down, the less stocky auror just looked away and the stockier auror laughed at her.
Helga backed away further.
"Helga." The lady warned. Helga hated being treated like a dog with ill bread manners.
Helga jumped into a portal she created much to the surprise of everybody else.
Rowena had slept in one of the many secret corridors she had envisioned to be built into Hogwarts but never actually built when she grew weary of walking.
Rowena had found many other secret tunnels that she never even thought of making, the credit no doubt going to Salazar and Helga, the two loved secrecy much to the displeasure of Godric. The fool thought secret tunnels were for the weak.
The one leading down into a chamber with a basilisk corpse had to be Salazar's. Only Salazar would think a basilisk would be a good pet, and a good pet to be kept around students. Sadly for Salazar, the basilisk was killed a few years ago and nobody aid it any mind afterwards. What a sad fate for a pet with extremely valuable parts.
Rowena would steal some for herself, but she doubted Salazar would like it. Future or not, the pet was still his. Besides, she wouldn't want to upset the time line by bringing something from the future back to the past.
Rowena made sure to keep to the secret tunnels lest anybody found her before she managed to travel back to her original time. She compelled herself to stay away from the library lest she try to find anything about the future.
But that meant Rowena wouldn't be able to get any information there. Rowena needed books about time travel, which Hogwarts was sure to have if it ever reached what Rowena had hoped it to be.
Rowena sighed before walking deeper down the tunnel, reaching a hole that let her look outside into the corridors of Hogwarts. Where a house elf was cleaning a set of armor.
Rowena smiled.