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mari4212Most people here know I'm in a lj comm called Hogwarts_Elite. Heck, about a third of you are from H_E. If you are, go ahead and ignore the rest of this, if you read the quibbler contest you've already seen this story.
For the rest of you, we had a fiction contest, and I threw caution to the wind and entered for the first time.
Scarily enough, I won. I've been bouncing between dancing around in circles and asking people exactly what they were smoking all day. But it does mean that I got a nifty new banner from my fellow Hufflepuffs, and a lot of nice comments on the story. And, since it went well, I'm inflicting the story on you all, as well.
Looking Back
Founders era fic, Harry Potter
Rated G
Looking back, there are times when I blame Rowena. Or, not so much Rowena as that blasted quill she created.
It had all started back when we were still building Hogwarts, three years before we would be able to open the doors to the students. In the midst of a discussion, argument really, over plans for the tower arrangements, Godric had wondered aloud about how we were going to find all the magical children to attend. It would be easy enough to find and contact children born from magical parents, he pointed out, and half-bloods wouldn’t be that hard to reach either, but how were they to find the Muggle-borns they knew existed?
Rowena had gone quiet then, with that distracted, airy expression on her face that she only had when she was facing a new intellectual challenge. I had let it go then, certain that Rowena would eventually create an ingenious solution. There were some advantages to living and working with a creative genius, even if she occasionally forgot everything else she was supposed to be working on in the process. I just arranged for the rest of us to take over her duties, convinced that it wouldn’t take long for her to figure everything out.
Sure enough, a week later Rowena had waltzed into the dining area during supper, interrupting the latest argument between Godric and Salazar. She had dropped the large quill down onto the scarred wood of the table, and smiled as she described how the quill had been enchanted to record the birth of any magical child. Godric had shouted in joy and then taken my hands in a dance, and Salazar had actually picked Rowena up and spun her around, he was so excited.
Of course, no magic is perfect, and the quill wouldn’t work retroactively, so it would be eleven years until they could actually reach the Muggle-born witches and wizards that the quill listed. For the first seven years of Hogwarts’ operation, the student body was composed only of children from magical families. Looking back, those years were the best, because we had such hope in the future.
We had been so excited to use the list that first year. At last we would be able to reach the Muggle-borns that we’d missed before. It was such a shock, that first day, when three-fourths of the owls sent out to Muggle-borns had returned. Owls cannot find someone if they were dead, you see, and most of the Muggle-born children had been executed as witches long before the letters had been sent out. I would never forget Salazar’s face. Something in him died that day.
It was the beginning of the end. He couldn’t accept a society that destroyed its children because of their gifts, and he couldn’t stand to be reminded of the faces that weren’t there. We channeled our sorrow into reaching those few children who survived, and rescuing those who we could, but Salazar was not so lucky. Eventually, his sorrow turned into bitterness, and then to anger, and the break between us all became inevitable.
Some days, I still blame Rowena.
Oh, and my shiny new banner
And finally, the comments made on the story. All of these were anonymous, so if anybody here on my flist actually said one of them, speak now so I can hug you to bits.
--I really like the idea of there being a reason behind Salazar's anti-Muggle stance. The hints of angst were very well done.
--I loved the twist with Salazar at the end. It really humanized him.
--I really like how this story explains how Salazar went from friends to enemies with the other Founders. It makes him seem quite human and seems like something that could be found in Hermione's favorite book, Hogwarts A History.
--Simple, clear language, a Rowena who resonates with canon Hermione is always lovely, and a heart wrenching and original portrayal of Salazar Slytherin
--Very moving and sad.
--Really compelling POV, beautiful prose and writing style
--Great explanation about Salazar hating halfbloods or Muggle-borns. Very original
--Because it shows how Slytherin might have turned into the anti-Muggle path.
--It was short and sweet. I liked that it was interesting to read but wasn't drawn out, and I liked that it portrayed Salazar as something other than just a jerk, by explaining why he became so angry.
--Founders fic is hard, and I thought this was a great explination of the schism.
--simple and effective, with an interesting idea of the quill and good reactions to it from the characters
--I just liked the bittersweet tone to this story.
For the rest of you, we had a fiction contest, and I threw caution to the wind and entered for the first time.
Scarily enough, I won. I've been bouncing between dancing around in circles and asking people exactly what they were smoking all day. But it does mean that I got a nifty new banner from my fellow Hufflepuffs, and a lot of nice comments on the story. And, since it went well, I'm inflicting the story on you all, as well.
Looking Back
Founders era fic, Harry Potter
Rated G
Looking back, there are times when I blame Rowena. Or, not so much Rowena as that blasted quill she created.
It had all started back when we were still building Hogwarts, three years before we would be able to open the doors to the students. In the midst of a discussion, argument really, over plans for the tower arrangements, Godric had wondered aloud about how we were going to find all the magical children to attend. It would be easy enough to find and contact children born from magical parents, he pointed out, and half-bloods wouldn’t be that hard to reach either, but how were they to find the Muggle-borns they knew existed?
Rowena had gone quiet then, with that distracted, airy expression on her face that she only had when she was facing a new intellectual challenge. I had let it go then, certain that Rowena would eventually create an ingenious solution. There were some advantages to living and working with a creative genius, even if she occasionally forgot everything else she was supposed to be working on in the process. I just arranged for the rest of us to take over her duties, convinced that it wouldn’t take long for her to figure everything out.
Sure enough, a week later Rowena had waltzed into the dining area during supper, interrupting the latest argument between Godric and Salazar. She had dropped the large quill down onto the scarred wood of the table, and smiled as she described how the quill had been enchanted to record the birth of any magical child. Godric had shouted in joy and then taken my hands in a dance, and Salazar had actually picked Rowena up and spun her around, he was so excited.
Of course, no magic is perfect, and the quill wouldn’t work retroactively, so it would be eleven years until they could actually reach the Muggle-born witches and wizards that the quill listed. For the first seven years of Hogwarts’ operation, the student body was composed only of children from magical families. Looking back, those years were the best, because we had such hope in the future.
We had been so excited to use the list that first year. At last we would be able to reach the Muggle-borns that we’d missed before. It was such a shock, that first day, when three-fourths of the owls sent out to Muggle-borns had returned. Owls cannot find someone if they were dead, you see, and most of the Muggle-born children had been executed as witches long before the letters had been sent out. I would never forget Salazar’s face. Something in him died that day.
It was the beginning of the end. He couldn’t accept a society that destroyed its children because of their gifts, and he couldn’t stand to be reminded of the faces that weren’t there. We channeled our sorrow into reaching those few children who survived, and rescuing those who we could, but Salazar was not so lucky. Eventually, his sorrow turned into bitterness, and then to anger, and the break between us all became inevitable.
Some days, I still blame Rowena.
Oh, and my shiny new banner
And finally, the comments made on the story. All of these were anonymous, so if anybody here on my flist actually said one of them, speak now so I can hug you to bits.
--I really like the idea of there being a reason behind Salazar's anti-Muggle stance. The hints of angst were very well done.
--I loved the twist with Salazar at the end. It really humanized him.
--I really like how this story explains how Salazar went from friends to enemies with the other Founders. It makes him seem quite human and seems like something that could be found in Hermione's favorite book, Hogwarts A History.
--Simple, clear language, a Rowena who resonates with canon Hermione is always lovely, and a heart wrenching and original portrayal of Salazar Slytherin
--Very moving and sad.
--Really compelling POV, beautiful prose and writing style
--Great explanation about Salazar hating halfbloods or Muggle-borns. Very original
--Because it shows how Slytherin might have turned into the anti-Muggle path.
--It was short and sweet. I liked that it was interesting to read but wasn't drawn out, and I liked that it portrayed Salazar as something other than just a jerk, by explaining why he became so angry.
--Founders fic is hard, and I thought this was a great explination of the schism.
--simple and effective, with an interesting idea of the quill and good reactions to it from the characters
--I just liked the bittersweet tone to this story.
