Hufflepuff - Cover

Don't Rage Against the Sun.

~º~

The stones fell limply and soundly, creating a melody pure and simple, and clearly out of tune. Very much like waterfalls in the spring.

The small pile of rocks, leaning against the base of a wide, strong tree and behind a large bush, kept growing and growing as slim, small and clumsy hands threw each maminha at the pile, one upon the other as the rain fell in mighty drops, and finally ending with the great finale: a cherry blossom, lying in the middle of the fort, so out of sight, so out of place. And a name, crafted on a large stone in the back of the small piles, like a gravestone.

'Please, my Lord, let this crafted stone be a reminder of one of your warriors that spent and gave all his life in these lands for you. Keep my father safe from the bad people, he is all I have left now. This is all I ask of you, Thor.'

"Salazar, where are you?" A voice asked, deep, warm and gentle.

Letting out a tiny, surprised gasp, the little boy hurried over to the man at the edge of the forest, tiny feet leaving mild footsteps on the mud behind, away from the small sanctuary.

"Here, father." Said the 7 year old, blowing his raven hair out of his eyes, a stormy, grey colour.

"Time to go, the ship is ready." Said the man, his face softening as he saw the boy's face. "Salazar, the bad people will not find us again after we move north to Scotland, I promise."

"Then why are we going by the sea when we can go by foot?"

He sighed. "Because the bad people are not gone. If we go by foot, there is a higher probability of us to be found again, and we don't want that, whereas if we go by the sea, there is a better chance to get away. And it is faster to get to the place we want."

"Why do we have to leave? The bad people have attacked us already. They have taken mother with them, what else could they want from here?"

"Salazar, we have to go. We can't be sure they will not be back again sometime and take our lands. We have lost too many men to fight, and they are too many bad people. The wisest choice is to get into different lands, on a place they cannot find us, where we are safe. Do you understand?"

"Yes, father." He replied, head bowed, rain and dusk falling around them. He didn't flinch when a long robe covered him from the rain. He didn't flinch when a large, heavy hand fell onto his right shoulder, and returned the embrace that followed eagerly, holding onto the man silently and strongly, as if he were a lifeline. Burying his face on his large chest, and hoping it would cover him from the dark of the near future as well as the dark of night.

~º~

He could remember clearly when he went into the large ship and saw the place he lived in and loved so much get smaller and smaller as they went farther away, a magnificent vista being swallowed by the horizon and into the sunset.

Norfolk would never be forgotten. He would miss the snakes and amphibians from the fen, but he would live, slithering his way out of any trouble that might arise.

Each day that went by, Salazar recalled the stones he hastily made so long ago, time running out and ideas slipping away, but it was good enough. Every time his father went into journey, Salazar prayed for Thor to keep him safe, and when he came back home full of health, stories and strong emotions, he thanked the God thoroughly every night, right before he fell asleep.

Ten years went by in this process, and in the way, he met people his own age and became best friends with three, who would never be apart from each other for very long. He loved them like family itself, and that was a welcome feeling as his father was all he had left of it, and when he went into journey, Salazar would stay with Godric Gryffindor and visit Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw very often, and they would do what they could so nobody would worry too much about their fathers, Viking warriors serving Thor to their best.

Salazar was known as the ambitious one of the group, with a talent for languages and a sarcastic sense of humour, he was a notorious wizard in terms of abilities, whereas Godric was the virtuoso of dueling, always willing to protect, much like Helga with her charms and delicious foods. Rowena, much like Salazar, enjoyed solitude and clever debates, known as being wise beyond her years.

~º~

It was after an afternoon on the woods, in the middle of the glorious spring, that a man with a dark expression on his face sailed to their land. Immediately welcomed and settled down on a wooden chair, milk in his hand, the man started talking in a quiet, clear and rough voice.

"Five weeks ago, we were planning to take over territory over the lands of Ireland's northern beaches. Everything was going according to plan, but fog engulfed us in the night, and before we knew it, our ship had been attacked in naked sea." He said, his eyes seemingly looking at a place very far away. "Our men fought with all their might and power, blessed by Thor so many moons back, but still, many of our side, unfortunately, lost. We were enraged and fighting blood for blood, and in the end we won. But too many were lost, and most of them decided to settle down on one of our western places in Ireland to rest and regain forces to fight another day. I was the one that recovered faster, and so I came here straight after being healed. There were three leaders on the ship for this excursion, one for the vigilants, one for the attackers, and another for the defenders. The vigilants and defenders leaders made it out alive, but the attackers' leader was not found, and we think he might be dead, for the last time he was seen was said that he was fighting off the enemy's leader, which is a man of great physical prowess. He saved my life thrice before. Salazar…" The man said, putting down the mug and getting up, reaching Salazar and setting his big hands on his shoulders, his eyes misty. "Salazar… I'm sorry."

"No." He said, pushing the man's hands off. "No! He's not dead!"

"Salazar, please, he -" Said the man, reaching for Salazar again, trying to make him understand, but he was cut off.

"NO! HE IS NOT DEAD! YOU LIAR, HE CAN'T BE DEAD!" Shouted the younger man, pushing the man's hands away once more. "THOR WOULD PROTECT HIM! HE IS NOT DEAD, RODRIK, HE IS NOT DEAD!"

Storming off the room, Salazar ran off as twilight fell over him, uncaring of the shouts telling him to come back and the stricken man standing in the middle of the room. All he wanted was to get away.

Whilst running to the forest, his knees gave away and he stopped near the lake, where he grabbed a few stones and threw them as far into it as he could, tears trickling down his face.

"BASTARDS!" He shouted, sitting down against a tree, elbows on knees and head on his hands. But something lit inside him and suddenly he was on his feet, a fierce expression on his face.

"YOU!" He yelled, looking at the sky. "Why didn't you save him? I did everything I could, I hailed you, I thanked you, I prayed, I even made up that reminder! Why did you do this to me? I TRUSTED YOU!"

He stood still, looking at the dimming red sky, but nothing answered.

"You don't even reply when we ask you something. You don't even give a sign you are there." He said, his eyes angry. "You never give a sign."

"Here we are, giving you our all, doing our best for you, and you don't do the least to help us. All lies!" He said, sneering, his eyes flickering as if something had clicked on his brain. Then snarled, disgustingly, the sneer still etched on his lips before walking away. "You don't even exist."

~º~

Everything happened so fast, he wasn't sure it happened at all. He was walking back to the house after a walk on the woods to clear his brain, when he casually looked over at the beach and saw a ship of a dozen men, maybe one hundred, approaching the white sand from the sunset.

His father, being a leader regularly and taking his son with him to teach him how things worked, Salazar knew each and every ship of the warriors. And this was not one of them, even less the heavy weapons they carried. This was war.

Running as fast as he could, the youngster ran to the village and knocked hard on Godric's door.

"GODRIC OPEN THE DOOR! GODRIC!" He yelled, pounding hard and running the opposite direction, pounding on Helga's. "OPEN THE DOOR HELGA!"

"What's wrong? Salazar, what are you doing?" Godric asked as Salazar ran over to Rowena's and proceeded to do the same.

"What's happening?" Asked Helga, tying her hair as she walked out of the doorway.

"Salazar, stop, what are you doing?" Asked Rowena, looking out the window.

"Vikings! Enemies, they want to take over! Godric, quickly, run over to Rodrik and gather as many men as you can. Take them all to the woods near the beach. Helga, come with us and gather all the children and women and hide them somewhere safe. Stay there and don't get out. Rowena, come with me and help me wake up everyone then join Helga. I will go to the woods and fight with Godric and the others." He said clearly, pounding on doors at the same time.

"Salazar! Are you sure they were not the ones who survived the attack?" Helga asked, concern evident on her tone.

"Yes Helga, I am sure. That boat is not ours, and we don't have that many warriors on land." He replied seriously. "Let's go."

~º~

"GODRIC! BEHIND YOU" A voice shouted, and a sickening slash was heard as metal collided with flesh, a gush of blood flying off the man's chest from the wound it made. And as he fell down, a boy with blood all over his face and clothes could be seen holding a bloody sword on one hand and a wooden stick on the other, his grey eyes looking at the red head. "Godric, cover me. I'm going to the leader."

"Are you insane? That man is not for us, Rodrik can hardly hold himself anymore after dueling with him!" He shouted, debris falling all around them as screams of agony sounded through the whole place. They were in plain battlefield, flesh against flesh, only saved by the magic they possessed. Magic both sides had. Thor was displeased.

"Not if we fight him off both. I can trick him into getting reckless and then we'll both fight him. You are the best dueler Godric, I need you."

"If we die because of this you will have to face my wrath." He said, running towards the leader, a strong man with arms as big as trunks and a rage so blind it was scary.

"Big man with the small eyes, look here!" Salazar said, throwing him a rock at his wand arm. "Here, you great pig!"

"You dare…" The man said, his voice cold and eyes cruel.

"Yes I dare." Salazar replied, hoping this would go right. "Are you too full of arrogance to go toward the weaker, or do you simply relate to them?"

"I know who you are. I will show you, weakling, your father was no better." He said, rising his arms high above his head with the axe, ready to hit Salazar square in the head.

"GO GODRIC!" He shouted, and suddenly the man yelped in pain, but turned around and started dueling Godric, kicking Salazar in the ribs hard.

"Nice dueler aren't you, little boy?" He asked, a sick grin on his face. "You are no match for me."

"Neither are you for us." Salazar said simply, rising his wand from the man's back, who whipped his neck around so fast it hurt, eyes wide, and shouting. "Avada Kedavra"

It was like fall. When a leaf frees itself from the branch and stars soaring in the air, going down and down and down and down, until it hits the ground. And all the other leaves watch as the first dies before them, so fragile and insignificant for that moment in which nothing else mattered, soon following its steps. It was just like that, and the leaf was the leader and the leaves were the enemies. And he saw as all of them fell, some fleeing, some dying. And then, silence.

It's at that moment that his mind reckons something. This was battle for Thor. And it was against them. He had displeased Thor in a way which almost doomed them all to death.

But he disregards it, as he remembers that the God of War never gave a sign of existence.

"It's over." He said, dazedly looking at the bodies being covered by tears of loved ones. Hugging his friends as they got all together at the end, as the cover of the book closed to its final page. "It's all over."

~º~

It's been years since I've last seen Godric or any of the girls. They would never understand my reasons for not letting muggleborns into the school, as if their executions and hunting of our kind had never existed. So I left, all these years ago. I changed a lot in those years, for me, Thor is nothing. He let those muggles take my mother, and he let those Vikings take my father. It was unforgiving. But now, as I lay dying, I realize how much I miss my friends. I see that perhaps, if those muggles had not done what they did, the school would be a better place. It's all their fault. For years I've been feeding that Basilisk that will put an end to this. When I left Hogwarts, I wandered with no direction in mind, and ended up in Norfolk again, for the first time since I was a small child. When my father was still alive. And I fell in love. And she was everything I needed. Together, we created a home I remember living in when my mother was alive. We had a family, and they are all healthy and well taught. Most might think I was a great idiot in leaving Hogwarts, but in my opinion, it was the best choice I ever made. Being bonded to my family, I have never felt so free. And so I pass down this locket to my descendants as a reminder of my existence to those who once knew me, hoping they will remember. My wife is coming in now, I have to go. Not to Thor, but to Death and the unknown. Goodbye.