The Founders Four: The Return

The Hufflepuff

Chapter 3: The Hufflepuff

Last Chapter:
"Hello Helga." was all that Harry said before he was tackled by the Founder.

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"Sal...I'm so sorry....I'm so so sorry." Helga sobbed as she grabbed onto his shirt. She tore herself away from him suddenly, and looked up at him, an agonizing expression etched upon her face. Harry couldn't bring himself to look her in the eyes. She was Ginny, his best friend's younger sister yet she was not. She was Helga Hufflepuff, one of his best friends and fellow founders from over a millennia ago, one of his friends who betrayed him, banishing him from Hogwarts, forcing him to flee the magical community, and take on an apprentice before being slain in cold blood by a muggle.

"Sal..." Helga trailed off in a broken voice. Before Harry could answer her, half to tell her to leave him alone and the other half to tell her that they should talk about this later in a more secure location, Fred came up the stairs and stared at the scene in shock. It was quite the sight. Both of their gazes snapped to Fred, and Harry knew that he had to do something before Ginny either spilled all of their secrets in grief, or started grabbing him and sobbing again. Now that would be hard to explain. Harry turned to Fred and said.

"Ginny was just telling me about how one of her Hufflepuff friends didn't want to be friends with her anymore because Ginny hasn't been spending time with her at all, and ended it when she forgot her birthday." Harry lied smoothly, sending a confused look in Fred's direction. Fred sent Ginny an unimpressed look, and backed up slowly as she shot him a familiar glare. It was one that Salazar got whenever he was in the infirmary and tried to sneak away. Helga could be quite terrifying when she wanted to. Harry simply ignored Ginny's looks at him, and followed Fred downstairs.

Before they entered the kitchen, Harry sent Ginny a look that said 'later'. Ginny carefully nodded, before she was ambushed by her mother, asking her a barrage of questions ranging from "Are you hungry?" to 'Why were you so sad?" Ginny merely nodded, and asked for a bowl of soup, while nibbling on some bread looking depressingly towards Harry.

He turned his head and started a conversation with Ron about the rules of Quidditch, however he wasn't quite as fond of Quidditch anymore. Before, Quidditch had been a way to have fame for something more than being 'The Boy Who Lived.' It was also a way to connect with his father. That was before he 'became' Salazar. Now, it seemed like a waste of his time. Why give up hours of studying and free time to get sweaty and play a sport in all sorts of weathers. It seemed like an absolutely....Gryffindor thing. Circe knows how his students became fond of the sports. 'Then again, they are but children. We all are at some point, some for a shorter amount of time then others.' Harry didn't feel like a child. As 'The Boy Who Lived' he never had really been a child. Chasing dark wizards, protecting the Philosopher's Stone, killing an untamed basilisk, escaping prisoners, fate hadn't really given him much time to be a kid, other than in Quidditch. And I'd rather not get started on the Dursleys.

"HARRY?" Ron suddenly shouted. Harry's head shot towards Ron, and could've sworn he heard a crack, which apparently Ron also heard and looked at him with an indignant look on his face. "Mate I've been talking for like 20 minutes. Were you even listening?" Harry sighed and replied.

"Sorry Ron, I was just thinking about school. 'Which technically was not a lie...' I should really finish my Charms homework. I left them for last, but I haven't gotten around to my last few parchments." Harry explained, as he heard some shuffling and summoned his incomplete essay with a simple 'accio'. As he started to dip his quill in ink, he looked up to see Ron looking at him with his jaw agape. Harry just looked back down at his parchment and started writing. Finally, Ron asked.

"Since when do you do your homework before it's due?" Harry looked up at Ron, looked him in the eyes and replied.

"Well, all of us don't spend our time talking about Quidditch and hating school. We go to school for a specific reason: to learn about magic, meet new people, and find things out about ourselves. We were lucky enough to be blessed with the gift of magic, and I for one do not wish to waste it by playing foolish games. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an essay to write." Harry finished, and looked back down, scribbling furiously at his parchment. Ron looked like he had been slapped in the face, and stormed away muttering about 'being like Hermione' and a 'obsessed with school'. Harry heard a giggle as he turned to see a giggling Helga at the door. 'Ginny.' He reminded himself. 'Not Helga.'

"You finally snapped. I understand. It's hard to deal with the memories of two people at the same time. It took me some time to realize that we're not two different people, but one person with more experiences than others. And that is not necessarily a bad thing, but when the first person I really looked at after weeks turned out to be Salazar, the dam broke. I understand that you don't want to be anymore different than you are now, but you are Salazar." She completed taking in a deep breath and breathing out as she stared at Harry, who had a decisive look on his face, as he slowly began to gather his thoughts. Finally he said.

"Alright, I suppose that it would be quite awkward referring to ourselves in third person. Could you imagine?" He said the last part with a joking look on his face. Helga cracked a smile.

"Also, when no one is around, I think we should refer to each other as Helga, Salazar, Rowena, and Godric. Eventually, we're going to have to call each other by those names so I suppose we better get used to them." Harry added, and then continued.

"Speaking of the other Founders, who do you think Rowena and Godric are?" He said with a thoughtful look on his face.

"I have a feeling that Hermione is Rowena. I mean, she seems like such a Ravenclaw at times, it's uncanny. Then again, it could be anyone. Same for Godric. Imagine if someone like Zachariah Smith is Godric. I'd go on strike." Helga giggled at the end and looked at him with an amused face. Harry smirked and retorted.

"Well I have a pretty good guess, and as for who it is, we shall have to wait and see." Harry gathered his essay and all of his ink, quill and parchments and started walking towards the door. As he gripped the handle, he looked over and said.

"Call me Salazar or if in other company 'Slytherin.'" He walked out the door leaving it wide open. Helga sighed, shook her head and smiled. She knew that Salazar loved messing with people. Helga bit her lip to halt a grin at the thought of calling him 'Slytherin' in front of her family. She also took a look at the open door and huffed. It looks like Salazar was up to his usual shenanigans. Leaving a conversation with an open door was such a.... Slytherin thing to do. 'After all, she mused. Instead of slamming the door in an argument, why not leave it open to make the other individual have to close it.' Helga smirked at the thought and gently closed her door before making her way to bed. She blew out her candle, and snuggled under her blankets as she slowly, after months, fell into a deep rested sleep.

Author's NOTE:

Here's Chapter Three! This chapter was a bit of awkward, as Ginny and Harry are trying to cope with having two sets of memories and seeing each other after such a long period of time. I hope you liked the chapter. Also, should I refer to Harry and Ginny as Salazar and Helga, should I just stick to their regular names, or do a combination of both, like in this chapter? Please let me know! Thanks!