'In the maze during the third task,' Harry answered. 'None of my memories seemed happy anymore, and I couldn't imagine anything that seemed particularly positive either.'
'Then you already know why,' Slytherin responded with a bitter smile. 'I told you that those who commit themselves to escaping death are consumed by their quest. By the end of my life everything else had lost meaning, and I had all but given up on ever discovering it. My happiest memories were tainted by loss and I could not longer cast it.' Harry could see the similarities, though his case was far less extreme. His happy memories with his former Gryffindor friends were tainted just as Salazar's memories of his family had been, and his dream had seemed out of reach.
'Are you going to cast the charm and show me?' Slytherin pressed, gesturing eagerly with his wand.
Harry closed his eyes, picturing the times he had spent with Fleur over the summer, the warmth of the sun though the willow and the perfect feeling that this was how things should always be. Her remembered the brightness of her silver hair in the sun, the way she always smelt of burnt holly and tasted of sugar.
'Expecto Patronum,' he murmured, sliding his wand from his sleeve.
There was a rush of heat up his arm from his wand, and a great eagle burst from the ebony tip of his wand in an explosion of silver vapour. Standing as tall as he did it spread its ghostly wings across the width of the study, fluffing up its silver plumage and eyeing its surroundings with sharp intelligence.
'An eagle,' Harry commented, letting his patronus fade.
'That's not an eagle, Harry,' the founder breathed. 'That is an Anzu, a giant bird supposedly capable of magically breathing fire. They went extinct millennia ago and are only found in the oldest stories of Mesopotamia their homeland.'
'An extinct, fire-breathing eagle,' Harry grinned. 'I like it.'
'The fire-breathing aspect of the Anzu is possibly a mistranslation from non-magical histories that associate the bird with their element worshipping religion,' Salazar told him. 'Having an extinct creature, let alone a magical one, as the form of your patronus is very rare, but it does suit you.' Slytherin eyed him slyly. 'A new patronus with the form of an ancient Mesopotamian magical bird, do you know where the first veela are supposed to have come from?' His smile stretched wide and unusually soft. 'I don't think it's any mystery what caused this change.'
'I like my eagle,' Harry told him. 'Is that why it's that form?' He asked after a moment. 'Is it really because of Fleur?'
'It's an Anzu,' his ancestor reminded him, still smiling softly, 'most eagles would disappear under its wings. It seems that way, mine changed because I found my wife, and then when I lost her. Helga's never changed from a phoenix, Rowena's was always an owl and Godric's patronus was a griffin for as long as I knew him, but he mentioned it changed when his parents died.' 'It's actually that large in real life?' Harry asked, awed. 'I expected the other founders' patronuses to be the same as the house sigils.'
'They were extinct long before I was alive,' Slytherin shrugged, 'but the corporeal form of your patronus takes on the exact shape of the animal as far as I understand, so probably.' He peered down at Harry curiously. 'Why would you assume we would give away so mush information about ourselves? Rowena chose a bird famous for its intelligence, I chose the serpent because nobody would expect anything else from me, Godric wanted to choose a griffin, but I told him that would look vain, so he chose half a griffin instead, and Helga just liked badgers. She thought they were adorable.'
'That completely ruins my image of the four of you being the perfect embodiment of your houses traits,' Harry sighed. 'Rowena's is fairly accurate,' Salazar mused, 'mine too. Godric would have hated the students in his house if what I've heard from you is true. He valued bravery, loyalty and forgiveness above all else.'
'What about Helga?'
'She loved children. Helga spoiled every child she met, her nephews and nieces adored her more than they did their parents. It wouldn't matter which house you were in to her as long as she could mother you.'
'I wonder how Slytherin ended up having such a bad reputation,' Harry thought aloud.
Salazar laughed bitterly. 'The blame lies partly with myself and partly with the traits I valued. Ambition, cunning, intelligence and bravery can all be used to do terrible things, but while bravery can be foolish and intelligence misapplied, cunning can only really be outdone by others. It did not help that I dabbled greatly in dangerous magic in the final years of my life. That would have attracted a great many wizards and witches of questionable morals to my house.'
'Like Tom Riddle,' Harry muttered.
'He was nearly sorted into both Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, actually,' the founder remarked. 'His ambition outweighed his desire for knowledge and the loyalty he felt towards a world that accepted him when his did not, but only just.'
Harry might have laughed at the image of Tom Riddle in Hufflepuff a year ago, but now, having glimpsed some of the moments from his childhood himself it did not surprise him or amuse him; it only made him sad.
'If only the magical world had not turned its back on him like the muggle one,' Harry voiced.
'If he had chosen either of Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff it might not have done,' Salazar commented sadly, 'but his desire was too strong and he did. There is little point regretting it now. I watched him change from Tom Riddle to Voldemort with pride and said nothing, not realising how much he had lost from himself in his becoming.'
'Could you have stopped him before he changed too much?'
'I believe so,' Salazar answered sadly, staring at Harry. 'I hope so.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ready to lose yourself in an epic tale? Download the full PDF now and start reading from page one!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
https://fictiontopia.tiendup.com/