The Founders Four

Chapter 10: Introductions

The founders and the headmaster were standing in the shadows just outside the doors of the Great Hall, watching, as the last of the students entered the room. From what they had observed so far, as they stood there, unnoticed, the whole school was curious about yesterday's events and were clearly looking forward to hearing what Dumbledore had to say.

It was decided that at eight in the morning, the Headmaster would enter the Great Hall and then would introduce them as the Founders. Hence all four of the time travels were dressed in a manner that highlighted their house colours nicely. They had also decided that Helga would enter the Hall first followed by Rowena, Godric and at last Salazar. Helga was very saddened to see the reputation of her house, after she regained her memory, and thus they had all decided to let her take the lead and set the record right.

However this was not what Helga was thinking about at all! She (like all other time travellers) was still thinking about the conversation of the previous night. She had pretended to be asleep in her quarters as she knew that only then would Salazar go to their common room and share the turmoil of his heart with Godric and Rowena. If not that then he would defiantly say something that he would rather not say in front of her. He was always very over protective of her. Salazar had always been like this. He always wanted to protect her from the horrors of the world and also would not share what is bothering him just so she could have a stress free life. This was something she was really sad about as she always wanted him to share his sorrow and worries with her, just like she shared it with him; but he would never do so.

But this time she was determined to know what was worrying him and so she pretended to sleep.

Salazar slipped away from their sleeping quarters just as expected and she followed him to their common room without letting him know.

What she heard there was something she never thought she would ever hear. In her previous life she never entertained the thought that maybe the fact that Salazar, her Sal, her saviour, her knight in shining armour could die. She always wanted an explanation for his absence in the later part of her life; and when she regained her memories as Ginny, she didn't want to ask that question. She was scared that if she started questioning Harry then he might go away from her again, so she agreed to whatever he wanted her to do. She just wanted to be there for him and not bring up the past. So she stayed at Hogwarts and protected the students just as Harry wanted her to do. She followed all his orders and remained quiet, as she feared that if she became too bubbly or did something wrong then he might leave her again.

Now she wished that she had probed him, she felt her world shatter around her as she heard how he was still trying to protect all three of them as he died. How could she ever misinterpret his intention to save the residents of Hogwarts?

She clearly remembered that when he suggested that they should not bring Muggles to Hogwarts, she was outraged. She believed that every parent, be it Muggle or magical, had a right to see the place where they would be sending their children. They had a right to visit their children during the year, whenever they wish.

This view was shared by Godric and Rowena. Godric had also voiced that the selection of students should not be based on their blood status, but rather on their qualities as individuals. But now she understands that Salazar knew the ancient arts and thus by opting to teach the children who had magical parents, he was trying to retain their history. It was never about blood status, and he did have few Muggle born students that he deemed worthy to have the knowledge. How had she not seen that as Helga?

She had wanted to hug Salazar tightly and never leave him; she wanted to take away all his pain and sorrow. But she also wanted to shake him and ask him why he had not shared anything with her, why had he not shared his reasoning with her?