(i started writing this when I saw Fantastic Beasts which was like. Half a year ago)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all affiliated characters are the property of JK Rowling. No copyright infringement was intended.

"He's going to kill you!"

"As if he'd be able to get his grubby hands on me."

Helga Hufflepuff could only shake her head, watching bemusedly as one of her best friends fiddled with a shiny compass. "Rowena, you know he loves that thing."

Rowena impatiently brushed her long hair out of her face, bringing the surface of the compass closer to her face. "And we both know this damned thing is broken." She tapped her finger on the red crest that was pressed onto the back, and something inside whirred and clicked.

Helga clicked her tongue at her friend's use of profanity, but couldn't deny her claim. The four friends were taking a break from the construction of their school, and also because Godric had wanted to see dragons. They were supposed to reach their destination a week ago, but they were now very lost.

Salazar blamed Godric.

Rowena blamed Godric's compass.

"Ah."

Hearing the note of trepidation in her friend's voice, Helga peeked over her shoulder. "What happened?" She saw the large black streak in the center of the compass and blinked. "Oh."

Rowena sighed impatiently. "I should've just used my wand."

"Shh!" Helga looked quickly around, but nobody had heard. Voice hushed, she hissed, "We're in a Muggle town!"

The door to the tavern suddenly swung open, and the two men in their group came out. Godric was looking back, expression bright. "Thanks for the directions!"

Salazar dragged him by the elbow over to the women, whole-heartedly done with the whole endeavor. "This idiot nearly started a bar fight."

Aghast, Helga chided him, "You were in there for five minutes!"

Godric narrowed his eyes at Rowena, who was holding her hands innocently behind her back. He didn't know she'd picked his pocket earlier, but her expression caused wariness enough. "Rowena. . . ."

She flashed him a brilliant smile. "Godric."

Salazar took one look at her face and let out a laugh. "You broke it even worse, didn't you?"

She shot him a withering glare. "Stop reading my mind."

Salazar's thin lips spread into a vicious grin. "Make me." Rowena tilted her head, and Helga could see her magic fly out to meet Salazar's, blue meeting green in the air between them. It was intense and hot and electrical.

Even though he couldn't see it, Godric guessed what was going on and knocked Salazar upside the head and tapped Rowena's nose. Their powers melted back into their respective owners, and Godric said casually, "Any more and the sexual tension will be through the roof."

Salazar winked at him. "You know we're down for a threesome."

Helga groaned out loud, wondering for the millionth time how she'd ended up with such idiots for friends.

Rowena linked her arm with hers and said kindly, "You're free to join as well."

The others laughed when Helga's face went red and she elbowed Rowena.

Godric slung his arms around Salazar's shoulders and said casually, "The innkeeper said we only have another day's walk."

Ducking out from his grasp, Salazar added pointedly, "Over the mountains."

Rowena's dark brows went up and she pointed at the huge mountains that cast shadows over the village they were in. "Those mountains?"

Sheepishly, Godric nodded. "Sort of. Yes."

Helga looked up at the sky, eyes narrowed. "There's no way we'll make it over. It's already past noon."

Godric shrugged. "So let's get started."

As one, they started down the road, a group of unlikely friends eager to see the world. Rowena slipped the compass into her cloak pocket and Salazar, noticing, raised his eyebrows at her. She pretended to ignore him.

Helga squeezed both their arms. "Get along."

A cold breeze suddenly blew past them, and Helga frowned. Godric suddenly stopped walking, one hand falling to the sword at his waist. The others reacted instantly, all humor vanishing from their faces. Rowena's hand went to her wand; Salazar's went to Godric's shoulder to keep him from doing anything stupid.

It was Helga who stepped forwards, cornflower blue eyes wide as she stared at the wreckage in front of them. While the entire village had the dismal feel of a sinking ship, this home had been completely obliterated. Walls were crumbled. Bricks and columns piled haphazardly together. Furniture lay in pieces. It was as if a strong wind had blown the house over from the inside.

Helga's own powers flickered yellow around her, and she could see the dark tendrils that stuck to the wreckage like shadows. "What happened here?" she whispered.

A wash of red flowed over the wreck. Godric's magic. He relaxed, his hand falling away from his sword. "There's nothing alive in there."

Salazar still didn't move. "Something Dark happened here."

Rowena walked slowly towards the wreckage until she was at the very edge. She crouched and touched her hand lightly to one of the many bricks that were scattered across the ground. "It looks like. . . ." She trailed off and shook her head, clearly unsure how to voice the thoughts raging beneath her dark eyes. "A tornado?"

Helga snatched Rowena's hand away from the brick instinctively, raking her eyes over her friend's pale skin. But she didn't see any trace of the strange dark smudges that covered the house, or of any foreign magic. A hand lightly brushed against her back, and she knew from its warmth that it was Godric's.

His voice was pitched low with worry. "What do you See?"

As the only member of their group that could physically see magic, it often fell to her to find traps or curses. She inspected the wreck, confused. She'd never seen anything quite like this magic before. "It looks like . . . glitter, almost. Black and blurry."

Salazar crouched by Rowena, expression wary. "It looks like a beast did it."

"But there's magic," Rowena said pointedly.

Salazar nodded. "There shouldn't be magic in a Muggle town." The four shared dark looks, knowing well the danger this could possess. In a world where even the slightest whisper of magic could send the Muggles in angry mobs after wizards, secrecy was of the utmost importance.

Godric said in a low voice, "I'm going to go ask the barkeeper what happened here."

"I'll accompany you," Rowena said immediately, standing and shaking out her skirts.

Helga and Salazar exchanged a look, and she said, "We'll check out the rest of the house."

Rowena's hand brushed across Helga's cheek, dark blue eyes sharp with concern. "Be careful."

Salazar snorted. "Between a Magic Seer and a Dark Wizard, I think we'll be fine."

Rowena hit his shoulder. "You're not a dark wizard, and you can go trip over a rock."

Helga merely rolled her eyes. She knew all her friends well enough to see the concern in their eyes. As soon as Rowena and Godric left, she and Salazar wandered into the wreck.

She kept her eyes out for the dark smudges, stepping carefully around it and instructing Salazar to follow exactly where she stepped. His own intuition with dark magic must be sending alarm bells off in his head. There was a tightness around his eyes, and his thin face was pale.

She hated to see him so tense.

They quickly discovered that, while the dark smudges covered most of the house, it was thickest near the back. She started in that direction, but Salazar stopped before they got too close. She did as well, trusting his judgement.

"Did you see something?" Her voice felt horribly loud in the silence.

His voice was flat and emotionless, which she knew meant that he was distraught. "This was a child's bedroom."

She turned, first to make sure he was alright and second to see what he saw. Sure enough, his face was impassive, the set of his shoulders haughty. An impenetrable mask to most, but she saw through it to the pain and uncertainty that he tried so desperately to hide. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, and some of the tenseness left him. She followed his gaze, and saw a crushed chest full of children's toys. Quietly, she crouched to push aside the plank of wood covering it.

The toys were crude but well-loved, and there was the remains of a bed crushed against the side of the chest. A shudder ran through her, and she stood up, her heart aching deep inside of her.

"Do you think it was spirits? Dark wizards?"

Salazar looked seriously at her. "What need would they have to terrorize a random Muggle village?"

She shrugged and pointed deeper into what had been the bedroom. "That's where the most smudges are."

He looked, but she knew he wouldn't be able to see anything but dirt and wood. "Can you feel it, Helga?"

Startled by the softness in his voice, she glanced at him. "Feel what?"

His grey eyes were cold. "The despair."

Slowly, she shook her head. She could feel the heaviness in the air, and what might have been fear, but not despair. "Let's go see if Godric and Rowena have learned anything." She reached out and laced her fingers through his, hoping to comfort him. He squeezed her fingers and didn't let go.

The two of them slowly made their way out of the wreckage and back towards the tavern.

Rowena and Godric were waiting outside, talking in hushed tones. They looked up, and Helga's heart dropped to her toes. Rowena's face was even paler than normal, and there was a deep furrow in Godric's brow.

She squeezed Salazar's hand one last time before letting go. She half-wanted to suggest that they just walk away from the village. But she knew they wouldn't. Not Godric, the protector of the innocent. Not Rowena, with her inability to leave a question unanswered. Not Salazar, with his personal quest to leave as little darkness in the world as possible. Not even Helga herself, with her drive to protect.

And so, despite dreading the answer, she asked, "What'd they say?"

Rowena pressed her thin lips together and didn't speak. Godric's green eyes flicked to her and then back. "Nothing, really. There was a family of three living there, and some kind of dark wind destroyed the house. Apparently the same thing happened to a barn a couple months ago."

Salazar's crossed his arms. "There's more than that."

Godric let out a sharp sigh. "Yes."

A glance passed between the four of them, and Helga saw Salazar's emerald green reach out to brush against the others' minds in a casual display of his formidable Legilimency. Godric batted him easily away with a bolt of red, and Rowena sent out a stream of blue in return, but Helga merely pressed herself to his powers the way a cat brushed against its owner's leg. Something meaningful passed between them, one of those conversations that ran deeper than words and thoughts and feelings.

They hadn't always been able to do that, back when Helga knew Godric who knew Rowena who knew Salazar, but now they were four and not one and one and one and one.

It was Rowena who first moved, expression sharply pained. "Only the daughter survived. She's living with her aunt right now."

Godric ran a hand through his wild red hair. "The parents weren't killed by the collapse of the house. They had— How did he describe it?"

"Veins," Rowena murmured.

"Yes. And their skin went grey."

Helga didn't know what that meant; she didn't know as many magical creatures or curses as the others. She was the only one Muggle-raised.

Rowena bit her lip. "We need a place to rest for the night. I'd like to keep talking once we're indoors."

They all knew what they meant; there were a couple seconds of pulling Muggle coins from pockets and counting and muttering and accusing the others of hiding money.

Salazar muttered, "We might be able to rent a closet." But the joke was flat, and none of them laughed.

In the end, they were able to get one room, a hot meal, and a lukewarm bath once Rowena added one of her rings to the pile.

The room was small, with only one bed, but the four of them were used to sharing. After dumping their cloaks and bags into a corner, they all positioned themselves around the room, Salazar sitting backwards in a chair, Godric on the floor, and the women sitting on the bed.

"Alright," Helga said, hugging the flat pillow to her stomach, "What did it?"

"We don't know for sure. . . ."

Godric interrupted her, voice suddenly a growl. "We think it was an Obscurus."

It was as if somebody had used a silencing charm. The room fell as silent as a grave, and Helga could hear nothing but her heart pounding in her chest.

An Obscurus.

Rowena leaned back so that her back was against the headboard. "Yes." Her voice was uneasy and sharply uncomfortable.

Godric reached up over the bed to place his hand over hers, and Salazar pointed his wand at the door. "Muffliato." He cleared his throat. "What's an Obscurus?"

There was another beat of silence, this one of surprise.

"I expected that from Helga," Godric admitted.

Salazar snorted. "Contrary to your beliefs, I'm not a walking encyclopedia on everything Dark."

Rowena gave a one-shoulder shrug. "It is very Dark. An Obscurus is the manifestation of a child's suppressed magic."

Helga let out a short laugh, one that startled everybody with its bitterness. "You make it sound so simple," she murmured. Salazar's eyes were fixed on hers, clearly surprised that she knew what it was. "The child never survives long."

"An Obscurus is invisible," Godric added, "and very destructive. Obscurials are rare."

"But more common now, with all the prosecutions." Rowena swallowed hard and shuddered. "I met one, once. It was horrible."

Salazar's thin brows were drawn together in a frown. "They have white eyes, right? And the Obscurus itself looks like a shadow."

"When it's not invisible," Godric muttered.

Salazar's expression cleared. "Then I have heard of them, just not by name."

They were all silent, and Helga felt sick. There was an Obscurial in this town. She hated that there were people who were so afraid that they suppressed their magic so long that it turned destructive. The purpose of magic was to create. "We need to find her."

Rowena's expression was hurt. "Of course!"

Helga emphasized, "Now."

Salazar jerked the corner of the curtain back and looked out. "It's nearly sunset."

Helga refused to relent. "I don't want to leave her with people who are turning her into an Obscurial!"

Rowena shifted and hugged her hard. "Of course we won't."

Helga leaned into her touch, feeling a sob rising in her throat. She felt like crying. Or screaming.

Rowena pressed her lips to the top of her head and then got off the bed to grab her cloak. Salazar opened his mouth, but she shot him a glare. "Come, Salazar."

They all prepared in silence, grabbing cloaks and wands and mentally readying themselves. Rowena went down first to find the address of the newly orphaned girl's current abode, and the others followed not long after. Salazar's expression was closed off, but they were all uneasy.

Rowena met them outside the tavern, her face set. Wordlessly, they started off down the street.

The girl's aunt's house had two stories and was well-looked after, its windows clean and shuttered. Godric knocked on the door, the heavy thump thump thump that Helga had learned to recognize as him.

The door slipped open, and a young man's face appeared. His eyes narrowed when he saw the four strangers, and his arm tensed to shut the door. Rowena slipped her hood off and smiled familiarly at him.

"Hail and well met. Do you mind if we have a word?"

He hesitated. Rowena was stunningly beautiful, Helga knew, and so it wasn't a surprise when the young man didn't immediately shut the door. "Depends. What do you want?"

Rowena stepped back and allowed Salazar to talk. When he wanted to, Salazar could be very persuasive. He used that now, smiling his cold little smile that promised good things. "We don't mean any harm. We'd just like to talk to the girl. We saw her prior home, and we believe we may have known what caused it."

The young man stared at him. "You think it was her?"

"Of course not!" Helga said quickly, "We were just—" And the door slammed shut.

Puzzled, Godric knocked again. "We did say we weren't going to hurt them, right?"

"I did," Salazar muttered.

Rowena knocked, her sharp tap taptap echoing through the house.

Helga wrung her hands. "What if we just broke in?"

Salazar raised his eyebrows. "Did I just hear Helga Hufflepuff suggest we break into a house?"

She opened her mouth to retort when the door swung open again. This time, there was a middle-aged woman there, her face hard. "What the hell do you want with Ciela?"

Startled with her hostility, Helga stuttered, "Nothing! We only wanted to talk to her."

The woman narrowed her eyes. "The boy said you know what's wrong with her."

Helga bristled, but Godric placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her. He smiled warmly and said, voice betraying none of his wariness, "We'd just like to make sure she's not hurt."

The woman examined the four, and Helga didn't like the look in her eyes. "You're like her, aren't you. Unnatural." Her voice was accusatory, and the effect was immediate.

Salazar stiffened, and Rowena casually tucked her hands under her cloak so that she could draw her wand faster.

Helga could feel her heart thundering in her chest, but she was done being afraid of Muggles. She'd run from them for long enough.

Godric's voice was still pleasant, but there was a hard undertone in his voice. "I suggest you let us see her. It'll be better for all of us."

She seemed to think for a couple seconds, eyes shuttling nervously between the four. After several seconds, she stepped back and shut the door.

"Are you kidding me," Godric muttered, "I saw we take Helga's suggestion."

But then the door opened again. The woman said sharply, "She's in a cabin out in the woods. For her own safety, you know." None of them believed her. Helga's jaw clenched painfully tightly. "Derek can show you the way." She shoved the young man out, and they all noticed the crossbow strung across his back.

He was scowling, clearly annoyed that he had to do this. "Come on," he muttered, "I want to get back before dark."

As they followed him, Helga saw Salazar whisper into Rowena's ear, "I'd like to hex him."

She merely rolled her eyes.

None of them were inclined to trust Derek, but Helga felt herself relax as they left the town and headed into the woods that dotted the base of the mountain.

Rowena and Salazar continued bickering quietly, but Godric's eyes — sharp and perceptive — were on Derek. Helga quietly asked him, "Do you see anything suspicious?"

He leaned down to whisper back, "Not yet."

She took his elbow and continued walking. After what felt like far too long, Helga spotted a small shed. She instantly felt outraged; the roof was sagging and the single window was cracked. Derek stopped just before the door and turned to the four wizards.

"I'm going to have to ask that you take off your cloaks and put your weapons over there." He pointed at a tree several feet away. "You'll spook her."

Godric smiled amiably. "I'm afraid we can't do that."

Derek shrugged, as if it didn't matter either way to him. "Then you can't see her."

There was a moment of tense silence, and then Rowena declared, "This is ridiculous." She raised her wand, about to murmur a spell.

Several things happened at once. First, Helga noticed as Derek's eyes shifted to the left and above Godric's head. She turned, and there was an explosion of sound as an arrow whistled out from the trees, heading towards Rowena. Godric launched himself at her, sending them both pitching towards the floor. Rowena's charm missed, and Salazar and Helga whipped out their wands. Derek raised the crossbow and fired. Salazar flicked his wand and it bounced harmlessly away. "Avad—"

Helga shoved him hard as another crossbow bolt just barely clipped his shoulder. The two of them tumbled down a hill and into a pile of leaves.

Helga tried to stand, but the ground beneath her gave way and suddenly she was falling. She landed with a hard thump and groaned, sitting up and blinking rapidly. Beside her, Salazar was groaning on the floor. Looking up, she guessed that they were in a hole that was eight feet deep. "Animal trap?"

Salazar's expression was dark. "Maybe."

They both heard scuffling noises, the twang of arrow strings and the crack of spells being fired. Suddenly, a scream that sounded like Rowena rent the air. Salazar's face went white, and Helga frantically waved her wand before realizing she didn't have it. She must have dropped it while she'd been rolling down the hill. One look at Salazar showed that he was in a similar situation.

Above them, the noises suddenly fell silent. Salazar swore blackly.

Footsteps came, and the two looked up to see somebody peering down into the whole. It was the woman who'd been at the house earlier, a bow in her hands and a quiver at her waist. "Yeah," she called over her shoulder, "I got the other two here."

Derek's voice drifted over. "I ain't killing them. Everybody knows they'll just come back to curse us or something."

Salazar bared his teeth. "Where are our friends?"

The woman smiled. "I don't think I'll tell you! They're alive, however." Salazar looked like he wanted to hex her. She turned away from the hole. "Derek! I'm going to go grab the authorities. You make sure they don't escape."

His reply was sullen. "Why can't you stay?"

"Just do what I said!"

Footsteps travelled away from them, and Helga closed her eyes, straining to hear either Rowena or Godric. But she couldn't hear anything but the sounds of twigs and leaves cracking as Derek paced back and forth.

Salazar whirled around, trying valiantly to climb out, but he was limping. He must've landed badly on his foot. She wrapped her arms around him and dragged him into the center of the hole. He was trembling.

"Sal, please."

His reply was sharp and angry. "I refuse to just sit."

"Think! If we do anything reckless, he could hurt Godric or Rowena! Or the girl."

Anger flitted across his features, dark and rich. "We should never have come."

Helga stepped backwards in what little space they had. "How can you say that? Ciela's a child. We need to help her."

He gestured wildly. "And look where it got us! We should've just let things be."

She began to feel the first stirrings of anger. "You don't know what you're talking about. You don't know what Obscurials are like."

He sneered, eyes flint-like. "I do, Helga. Back before I met Rowena, the group I was with used to hunt them down." A bolt of horror shot through her. It must have shown on her face, for he added, "It was kinder. It's better to be dead than an Obscurial."

Suddenly furious, Helga shook her head. "No! It's not!" The footsteps up above grew louder, and the two wizards fell silent. When they grew quieter again, she hissed, "They're children! How can you just kill them?"

Coldly, Salazar retorted, "Most of them preferred it."

She wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly terrified. "No. What they need is help. They need somebody to show them they deserve to be cared about. Children like Ciela are hurt. Children don't just suppress their magic for no reason!"

Salazar scowled at her. "What do you know anyways? You never had to deal with them. You never had to deal with dark wizards every single day of your childhood!"

Helga felt a sudden surge of pity and anger and it was all she could do not to strike him. "How do you think?!" She held her hands up in a helpless gesture. "Because I had an Obscurus!"

That shut Salazar up. For a second, all he could do was stare at her. "You what?"

Helga looked away. "I don't want to talk about it."

Salazar slowly nodded. "But you will later." She didn't move, and he swallowed hard. "Alright, we'll save the girl. I'm going to transform, and you'll toss me up."

She shook her head. "You're hurt. I won't leave you up there by yourself."

"It's just a sprained ankle." Without waiting to argue, he melted into his Animagus form. Most Animagi needed a wand; they'd been forced to learn to do it independently for survival.

Helga gathered him up in her arms, his smooth scales cool against her skin. It was getting darker outside. They needed to finish this soon. "Ready?"

He hissed, and she braced him against her arms and tossed him up. He just barely made it, slithering rapidly away.

Helga waited, heart pounding in her throat, unable to see anything but the dirt walls of the hole and leafy sky above her.

She heard the twang of a crossbow and nearly bit her tongue off. But then there was a scream, a sick gurgling sound, and a thud. She knew that sound with a familiarity that startled her; Salazar's venom worked very quickly.

There was a rustling, and something long and narrow fell into her hole. Helga pushed herself out of the way, but it was just her wand. She grabbed it and cast a simple Levitation Charm on her clothes. Salazar was there to pull her to safety and, after cancelling out the charm, she put one arm under his shoulders to help support him.

"I'm fine," he muttered, but he leaned against her nonetheless.

"You're a disaster," she informed him fondly, and flicked her wand at his ankle. The relief on his face was palpable, but she still didn't let him try to stand on his own; it would be weaker than usual for the next couple days.

Once satisfied that he wasn't going to try walking on his own, she looked around quickly, but saw nothing but the disturbed dirt and Derek's corpse. His face was pale, and there was a thin line of froth at the corner of his lips. With a shudder, Helga turned away. But she still couldn't find her friends.

"Rowena?" she called, terrified of what she might (or might not) hear, "Godric?"

"Here!" Godric's voice, from the other side of the shed

She nearly collapsed with relief. From Salazar's expression, he was feeling the same way. The two staggered towards the voice.

Like them, the other two had fallen into an animal pit. The two were sitting on the ground, Godric's arms around Rowena. Helga let out a sharp gasp when she saw the stark red of blood.

Godric quickly said, voice tight with worry, "She's fine. The bastard shot her shoulder."

Rowena tilted her head up and smiled wanly. "Did you truly throw Salazar out of the hole?"

"Shut up," Helga said automatically, critically eyeing her friend's shoulder. Godric had tied his scarf around the wound, and Rowena was still as alert as ever, if a bit pale. That certainly explained why she hadn't just flown out. "Is it still bleeding?"

Rowena said, "No."

At the exact time, Godric said, "Yes."

Helga let out an exasperated sigh. She and Salazar shared a long look and he suggested, "What if we just left them down there?"

"Good idea," she muttered, but they still waved their wands and helped their friends out of the pit. Helena attended to Rowena's wound, waving her wand in a complicated motion over the wound. The bolt vanished, and the skin stitched itself back together. Rowena smiled thankfully, and cautiously stretched the shoulder. After satisfied that she was fine, Helga stood up again and nodded firmly to them. "Let's go get the child."

The four Founders walked warily over to the cabin. Rowena was still pale from blood loss and Salazar had an arm around Helga and all four were covered in dirt and, in some cases, blood. Godric muttered, "What're the chances that it's locked?" Nobody answered, although Rowena rolled her eyes, and he tried the doorknob.

It was, and Godric swore loudly and began fumbling in his bag. Rowena snorted audibly when he produced lock picks. "Godric, we are literally the most accomplished witches and wizards of our time, and you want to pick a lock?!"

Easily circumventing the brewing argument, Salazar pointed his wand at the door. It swung open easily, and Helga let out a shaky laugh, reaching out to placate Godric. He huffed and then muttered, "I mean, I guess."

The four limped into the tiny room, Helga automatically summoning an orb of light. She froze upon seeing the state the room was in, furniture and loose objects thrown about as if a hurricane had passed through. Standing in the back, shoulders hunched upwards and arms wrapped around herself, a little girl glared at the intruders.

Helga's heart broke. She couldn't be more than eight.

Gently, Godric lowered his wand. "Hello, little one," he said, smiling warmly. Despite his intimidating size, Godric could be as friendly as a teddy bear if he wanted to be. "We're here to protect you."

Ciela's voice was raw with anger and pain. "I don't need you. I can take this whole city down!"

Helga's hand gripped Salazar in a vice-like grip, and he winced at her tight hold. She could see the Obscurus rising from the girl's skin, painting her eyes white and the air around her black. Gently, Salazar pried her fingers from his arm and murmured quietly, "You're angry, and that's okay. It's okay to be angry, and to want to hurt the people who wronged you." He didn't pause, although Helga could feel the tension in his muscles. "But you're better than them, Ciela. You don't have to destroy."

Ciela trembled, tears tracing their way down her cheeks as the raw power within her churned. "You don't know me."

"Oh, but we do!" Helga couldn't help the words that rushed from her, couldn't help dropping Salazar and taking a hesitant step closer. "Ciela, I know what you're going through right now, and I know how awful it is. But you don't have to hide anymore! We're like you, look." She held out her hands and, with a surge of will, summoned a glowing golden cat that leaped from her hands and trotted in the air around their heads.

The girl froze, and so did the Obscurus that twisted around her. Her eyes, huge and filled with unsurmountable longing, followed the cat's progress. "But it's bad," she protested, childishly, "It's not right."

Rowena expression was inscrutable, but the hand holding her wand was white. "It's as natural as the color of the sky or the air we breathe," she said, a little too coldly to be gentle, but Helga loved her for trying anyways. "It's just a skill to be taught, like reading or writing."

The girl flinched, clearly opposed to the idea, and Helga remembered her old fear of magic, an internalized hatred that had taken years to leave behind.

Desperately, Helga pleaded, "Please let us help you."

But Ciela's countenance was terrified; her uncertainty had given way to her fears and now, now—

Helga saw the Obscurus rear up, and knew immediately what was going to happen. She screamed a warning, and Salazar threw his wand up, but Godric had always had the fastest reflexes out of all of them. His shield — blindingly red to Helga's vision — surrounded his friends in a bubble of power, and they stood trembling as Ciela's latent magic swirled in a sickly storm around them.

Godric gritted his teeth with the effort of holding such a barrage at bay. "Well now what?"

Salazar looked glum, eyes flashing around and taking in the fact that they couldn't see anything but Ciela's Obscurus. "We won't be able to get near her." His normal response would clearly be to attempt to kill Ciela, but Helga's admission had shaken him and he didn't even attempt to voice such a suggestion.

(Helga loved him in that moment too, deeply and passionately)

Helga refused to be dissuaded. "We can talk her down!"

"Because that worked so well last time," Rowena snapped.

Helga shot her a hurt look, and Rowena's response was lost in the roar of power around them. Salazar's emerald magic flowed outwards, connecting all of their minds in the heat of the moment. He rarely did this without their consent, but Godric's strength would flag soon and time was of the essence.

In that moment, no words passed between them. But emotions and intentions flowed rapidly, turning and twisting until all four reached the same conclusion.

"I'll let go in three—" Godric said, voice rough with the strain of holding a shield against something as powerful as an Obscurus.

"—two—"

Rowena shifted into her eagle shape, wand clutched in her talons, and Salazar caught her in his outstretched arms.

"—one—"

Helga flicked her wand in the air, and her Sight blurred and then sharpened until she could see nothing but magic, twisting around herself and her friends in dizzyingly complicated threads of color. They were bright, almost too bright to look at, but their familiarness filled her with an intense warmth. Ciela's magic was a dark, twisting spool with only a single white thread twined around its center.

"—now!"

Godric's red barrier exploded outwards, momentarily scattering the Obscurus, and Salazar launched Rowena into the air. She faltered but then took flight, vanishing into the sky to keep a watch out for the woman and the guards she'd gone to fetch.

Both Godric and Salazar let loose spells that Helga trusted to clear a path for her, but she wasn't able to focus, already barreling straight into the heart of the Obscurus' dark magic. If she thought too hard or stayed too long, she would never leave, terrified that neither of them would be there when she came back.

The Obscurus closed behind her, rushing in to consume her friends. She felt the intensity of the dark broiling magic as it rushed past her, and it scared her. It scared her how close she'd come to becoming this. More than anything else, it was hungry. It was hungry for vengeance, for destruction, for death.

It was angry, too, and it was this anger that made Helga feel sick inside. The feeling of this magic, this unmagic, was horrific and wrong and she wanted nothing more than to shrink away.

Helga, Salazar said, voice uncharacteristically desperate in her mind.

Helga came back to herself, shaking off the terror that came with facing one of her oldest nightmares. With a deft flick of her wand, she wrapped her and her friends' magic around herself in a pure cloak of power, its brilliance serving to keep the darkness at bay.

She fought her way to the center of the mass of power, each step like walking through quicksand. Her lungs felt like they were full of cotton, and it was only the thought of her friends fighting because of her and Ciela's terrified face that pushed her on.

As she neared the center of Ciela's power, she unlooped a thread of her magic, and her Sight returned to normal.

Ciela was standing very still, dark black power pouring from her eyes like blood. Helga tried to talk, tried to say something to help, but her mouth filled with sand and she choked, collapsing to her knees as she couched and hacked to clear her lungs.

In the distance, she heard a scream.

Her blood ran cold. Her friends were trapped, surrounded by this Obscurus, and Helga was helpless on her knees because she couldn't breathe?

Something in her gut pushed her arms out, through the power and the anger and the torment, and she took Ciela's small hands in hers. That shocked both of them, because Ciela's eyes snapped to Helga's.

"What are you doing?" she asked, puzzled, "I'm trying to kill you."

Helga laughed, shakily, and found she could breathe again. She struggled to her knees, and Ciela's hands tightened on hers.

Ciela was just a scared child, nothing more.

Helga, without thinking, enclosed Ciela in a hug, holding her tightly to her body and wanting nothing more than to protect her from the entire world.

Ciela went limp, falling into Helga's grip as if too shocked to stay standing. Around them, the roar of magic and destruction faded, and the forest fell silent.

Voice trembling, Helga stammered, "Y-you're okay. You're safe with us. I promise you that we won't let anybody hurt you."

Ciela looked at her, eyes brimming with tears and desperate hope. When she spoke, her voice was shaky with sobs. "You promise?"

Helga nodded, and hugged the girl to her chest. "I promise."

Ciela didn't seem to know how to hug back, and her eyes slowly shifted around the forest, taking in the toppled trees and overturned earth. Thankfully, Derek's body had seemingly evaporated The small cabin was completely demolished, a small circle of wrecked plywood beneath their feet the only sign that it'd even existed. Godric and Salazar, bless their stupid hearts, were revealed a dozen feet away, Salazar leaning heavily on Godric but both of them very much alive. They both wore equal expressions of shock, and Helga turned her head to smile at them.

Ciela whispered, "I hurt people." She paused, brow wrinkled, and then shook her head. "I wanted to hurt people."

Helga pressed a kiss to her forehead. "But you didn't, and that's what's important. You don't have to want to hurt people anymore."

Helga stood, but Ciela refused to let go of her hand. Godric all but tackled her, hugging her tightly and saying fiercely, "I am never letting you out of my sight again."

Salazar examined Ciela blithely. His eyes met Helga's, and she nearly sagged at the mixture of shock and affection in his eyes. He clearly hadn't expected this night to end nearly as well as it had. "She'll be old enough to join the school once it opens."

She didn't get much chance to reply, because Rowena fell from the sky at that very moment. Helga yelped as the witch transformed gracefully into her human form just as she hit the ground.

"Show off," Salazar muttered, but the look of relief in his eyes belied his sharp tone.

Rowena was a mess, her hair tangled and her clothes torn. "They're coming," she said grimly, "And they broke out the pitchforks and torches for us."

"Oh, goody," Godric said, smiling grimly, "This will be fun."

Helga shot him a glare, but Salazar slid his arm around Godric's waist and muttered something into his ear. A little bit of the tension drained from both of them, and Helga sighed. "None of us are in any state to run right now."

"For the last time," Rowena said, a little bit impatiently, "We're wizards. We don't have to go barging into every situation with all the grace of a bull."

"Sounds like Godric," Salazar quipped, and everybody was surprised when Ciela let out a shocked little laugh. She appeared just as shocked as everybody else, eyes widening and clapping her hand over her mouth.

Rowena examined her with sharp blue eyes, but then her expression softened. She'd always liked children; all four of them did. "Hello, little one. I suppose this means we'll have to cut out journey short?"

Godric nodded, a little bit reluctantly. As much as he wanted to find dragons, there was no sense in doing it with a small child in tow. Salazar's eyes found Helga's, and she knew that he hadn't forgotten her promise to talk.

Later, she mouthed. Later. She didn't feel like talking about her past yet, not when the wounds were red and raw after this fight.

He nodded, and she smiled thankfully. Of course he would understand.

"So lets cover ourselves in Disillusionment Charms and head back," Rowena suggested, as reasonable as ever. "We'll go just far enough to put some distance between us and the mob, and then we can rest before attempting to Appar—" She stopped, impatient. "Godric, what are you doing?"

Godric looked up from where he was frantically going through his pockets. "I think I lost my compass," he said, alarmed.

Helga bit back a shout of laughter and Salazar snorted. Rowena cleared her throat a little bit awkwardly. "Well we can just use a compass charm, right?"

"But it was my favorite compass," Godric protested, looking around on the ground.

"I think Rowena—" Salazar began, smugly.

Rowena interrupted, loudly, "We should start walking! The town guards are going to be here any second."

Rolling her eyes, Helga looked down at Ciela. "We're really much more competent than this, I promise."

She smiled shyly, and Helga smiled back. There was a haunted look in her eyes, and there likely always would be. But for now, amid the banter and the friends, she looked content and relaxed.

Interrupting whatever argument was brewing between her friends, Helga whipped out her wand and tapped it on all of her friends' heads, muttering the incantation under her breath.

In a second, they all faded from view. Rowena took Salazar's hand, who took Godric's, who took Helga's, who held onto Ciela's.

Hand in hand, the four friends and their newest companion started the long trek back home.

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