THE FIFTH FOUNDER ⚡️ [h.p./founders era]

Twenty-Seven

I left early in the morning. I didn't want to risk being seen and asked a million questions about where I was going. But I was hoping to back before Salazar even noticed I was gone.

After the events that took place a few nights ago, I was furious. I thought that fury would go away and that time would heal me. Like always, time was only doing further damage.

When I wrote to my parents, I wrote out of anger and emotion in the heat of the moment. I thought by now I would have backed out and reconsidered.

But no, I was still just as furious.

Not only had I lost my daughter, but I lost a son as well. I couldn't risk losing anyone else ever again. Not another student, not a friend, and not a lover.

I knew the only person that could help me would be my father. There's a reason we haven't spoken to each other in nearly a decade.

I was terrified of him as a child.

He practiced magic unlike any I had ever seen before. Some might consider it inhumane.

He liked to experience on animals. I'd seen many animals enter my house as a child, but it was rare I would get to see them leave. When I was really young, he would experiment on birds and toads, with the occasional goat or cat. As I got older, he started to try larger things like horses.

Eventually he found his magnum opus. His favorite animal was the snake. Once he figured out that his experiments worked best on the creatures, that became his obsession.

Soon, I could barely see the floor in our small house. It was a true miracle I was never bitten by one.

To tell the truth, I had no idea if my father or my mother were still alive when I wrote to them. I wasn't even expecting a response.

And when I did receive a letter, I half expected it to be my mother, cursing me for even asking them for anything.

It was my father, however, who did indeed write back to me. He promised to meet me in Scotland, in a small Muggle town near the border. I had no idea what he was going to bring to me, but he assured me it would solve all the problems I had.

Tightening my cloak to my chin, I entered the small pub in the small town. The journey wasn't far, but it was far enough that I knew I wouldn't make it back unnoticed.

I sat at a table for a few minutes, scanning the room. I wasn't sure if I would recognize my father or if he would recognize me. I had a sinking anxiety inside of me that his letter was a cruel joke and a stab in the back, a payback for abandoning them years ago.

A thud on the other side of the table broke me from these thoughts.

A dark figure, with the hood of his cloak concealing his face, sat down across from me at the table. He was a large figure, potentially half-giant. He was not my father, but he seemed exactly like the type of person who would work for him.

I stared at him for a few seconds, unsure of what to say. What if he didn't work for my father? Then I would give myself away and put myself into more potential danger.

Thankfully, he spoke before I could.

"Nikolov rarely sends anything my way. Whatever he gave me must be important." The figure spoke. How was I supposed to respond to that?

"Yes, so I imagine he would be awfully disappointed if that ended up in the wrong hands." I tried to mask my anxiety, but I think my voice tremor gave me away.

The figure chuckled. "You are smart. Who are you?"

"I don't see why that is of any importance." My hand gripped my wand underneath the table. I did not want to have to do this the hard way, but I really needed to go.

The figure raised his hands and my grip loosened a bit. "I understand, I am only here to deliver."

He handed me a bag.

"Careful, it is fragile. Do not drop it." He warned me.

I glanced into the bag and saw an oval shape, but I didn't have time to inspect further. Instead, I tossed a bag of coins onto the table for his trouble and I was out the door before he could say anything else to me.

I was nervous to try apparition with this fragile item in hand, but I had to get back to the castle as soon as possible.

I took a deep breath and apparated with a crack.

Once I was on the castle grounds, I reopened the bag and everything seemed to still be in tact. I still didn't quite know what it was, but I didn't dare to take it out in such open space. I needed somewhere that was concealed and open.

That led me to Salazar's chamber. I knew this wasn't what he intended this room to be used for, but I needed the space and I planned to move it once I figured out what it was. I couldn't just set it out on the castle grounds.

I practically ran up to the second floor of the castle and used the secret entrance down into the chamber. Once I was down there, I opened the bag completely for the first time.

As I pulled the object out, I knew immediately that I was given an egg. My heart started to pound so hard that I feared it might fall out of my chest. I wanted to throw the egg against the wall, but for some reason I didn't. I sat it down in the middle of the chamber. And I left.

I had no idea what was going to hatch out of this egg, but if I had to guess, it would be the animal that my father was obsessed with.

If I had to guess, the animal that would be hatching out of that egg would be a snake.

our bestie sal isn't gonna be happyyy