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(English is not my mother language so beware :D This are only parts of the third year. Want to read the full story? Read it here on ArchiveofOurOwn)
°I’m glad to have a friend like you.°, wrote Godric to Tom.
°Ha. You call me friend and I don’t even know your name.°, came the reply.
°You could call me friend or pal?°
°How about Gryffin, because you’re in Gryffindor?°
He had to laugh which ended in coughing blood but it was worth it.
°More blood…°
Was Tom worried?
°You can call me as you like. ;)°
°Gryffin it is. I’m glad we get along and not like Salazar and griffins.°
He had to laugh again. ~~~
“Big ugly brute.”
What? Godric turned at these words that just reached his ears and saw how Buckbeak wasn’t happy over this insult.
“Malfoy!”, he warned, but too late.
Draco was dumb enough to be within the reach of the hippogriff and got scratched. He fell to the ground, holding whining his arm. Hagrid was quick enough to prevent a second attack.
Was this a Slytherin thing? To go to a really proud creature and just insult them? Salazar did the same with Godirc’s Griffins. The difference was that Salazar was intelligent enough to have Godric between them and had been not within reach. Draco was an idiot, but he was still a student and hurt.
The class ended with Hagrid taking Malfoy to the hospital wing.
“Why are Slytherins so dumb?”, murmured Godric with a sigh.
~~~
Why a dementor?
“Enough for today. You all did great!”
The students were sad that the class had ended, but they all obeyed. Except for Godric who looked thoughtfully at the wardrobe.
“You’re okay, Harry?”, asked Lupin.
Godric shivered. Oh, by Merlin…
“I thought it would turn into something different… But it’s turned into…”
His last thought was not a destroyed Hogwarts. It was students who would be lying in front of him, their blood on his hands because he couldn’t protect them, even killed them.
But he would never kill students, he would never turn ‘evil’ or would see a destroyed Hogwarts because he would die trying to prevent that. But he couldn’t defend anyone against a dementor. He couldn’t protect others against this threat and the boggart had shown him that.
Godric’s face turned white.
The dementors were currently a real treat for Hogwarts’s students.
“Harry?”
“I’m fine.”
Liar. He turned around and fled to the Griffins. He needed time to calm down.
~~~
At Christmas, he decided to come out of his shell again. Something he would regret later, but currently, he stared at the Christmas decoration. Green and red. Why didn’t he had seen that sooner?
“I never thought that Slytherin’s and Gryffindor’s prominent colors would together be seen as colors of a holiday. And now I can’t fucking stop to imagine how both of them are running through the castle to sneak presents to their students… That’s just hilarious and believe me, they would do that.”
Hermione and Ron looked at him, but Godric had to snicker. That was an imagination. They would have tried to out best the other and in the end, Helga would have easily won, because she would have given every student a Christmas snack.
“Why should Slytherin do that?”, asked Ron skeptically and Godric sighed.
He forgot that Ron and Hermione didn’t know what Tom knew.
~~~
°Griffin? Can I ask you something personal?°
°You can ask what you want. It’s on me if I want to answer.°
°Do you think that Salazar would be proud of Voldemort?°
What? Godric laughed.
°I don’t think it’s a personal question. Salazar wouldn’t be proud. You know… Voldemort was a danger to Hogwarts. I know that he tried to kill a student at least two times since I’m in Hogwarts and he had been trying to lead the magical world, to gain power. And as far as I know, he also tried to have control over Hogwarts. That are No-Goes for Salazar if you ask me.°
°Do you think… he would be proud of his… heir? The one who hunted muggle-borns with the basilisk?°
°No.° °To be honest… I’m the heir of Slytherin.°
Godric refrained from writing ‘You don’t say.’.
°When I opened the chamber once, a student was there and got killed by accident. I was too afraid to open the chamber again. But last year… I controlled a student to open it again and forced the basilisk to hunt down muggle-borns because I thought it was there for this reason. I was power-hungry and proud of my ancestors. I thought this is what I was chosen to do. To end his work, to be the most powerful wizard the world has ever seen. I tried to kill a student called Harry Potter because he had killed Voldemort… who is… my future self. I hid a part of me in this diary. So I’m Voldemort, but also not.°
°I know.°, he wrote and it took a few minutes until Tom wrote again.
°You knew??? Since when?°
°I recognize a Horcrux if I see one. I wasn’t honest myself. I knew who you were because I can speak parseltongue. Salazar’s basilisk told me what happened and I stole the book from the student. But I also knew that your mind is that of a student of Hogwarts.°
°Then why did you not choose to hide me and let me be? Why did you choose to write your research in my diary? Why Griffin? Is that the reason, why you never got too personal? Because you are afraid of me?°
Should he tell the whole truth? Wasn’t it too early?
°Because I know how you feel. I’m a Horcrux of your future self. I… can parseltongue because of it and I can sense the feeling of that foreign part in me. And it’s mostly anger, fear, insanity, and loneliness. When I found you I wanted to help you instead of tossing you away. You know that my relatives hate me. No one is born evil Tom. It’s the world that changes us, it’s life itself that tests us. I could turn evil myself if I just choose to let my darker emotions be my motivation. But I believe we can choose to be better than that. Only because people are mean to me, doesn’t mean I have to react the same way. If someone hurts me I shouldn’t inflict this pain on others. It doesn’t help to feel better and it will never break the circle. I choose to help you because I can understand at least a little. So you’re asking me, why I never got personal? I’m not afraid of you Tom. Dark Wizards like Voldemort are not uncommon. There will ever be dark wizards who choose to be evil. But you just have to learn to defend yourself and others. I never got too personal because I was cautious. There is a part of you in me - a very weak one, the soul was too often shattered - but it could be that you would have it easier to control me if you knew more about me. My first priority was and is always to protect the students and Hogwarts. If you could control me, I couldn’t protect Hogwarts, I would be a danger myself. That was one reason, the second one, if you knew who I was, you wouldn’t focus on the facts, wouldn’t start to rethink.°
Not all truth, but at least he would try to be as honest as he could be at the moment. But he was so much afraid, that this was already too much.
°Why the facts? The reason I mentioned it a year ago is still the truth. I wanted to write down the truth about the founders. And I thought it would help you to see life from a different perspective? I don’t know much about your past Tom, what had inflicted you, what had hurt you so much that you grow up into a man who was willing to split his soul into seven parts. But sometimes it helps to see that the world is not always the way it seems. History can teach us but is also often falsely written down. I knew you would be interested in the founders. Salazar Slytherin was your ancestor. I would be very interested in the founders if one of them were my ancestors - they’re not.°
°Griffin, you ARE interested in the founders anyway.°
Good, Tom was still writing in this kind of way. Light and teasing.
°Right… So, I thought if you can see the true colors of Salazar then you have it easier to see other things differently.°
°What is the difference? Even if I change my view, I killed a student, I forced a basilisk to hunt down others even though she didn’t want it to do. I tried to kill… one of your housemates….°
°Me. You tried to kill me.°
°What? Wait…°
~~~
The screams of Ron got silent and Godric growled.
“What do we do, now?”, asked Hermione, but Godric was already stepping near to this damn tree. He was a founder and a student - and his friend! - was in danger. A goddamn tree wouldn’t stop him. His magic cores reacted both, so his magic was stuttering but then his old core won the upper hand. Like in Winter his magic came out of him, raw and unformed but powerful and destroying in nature. He let out a scream and throw his magic against the tree. The tree groaned and almost lost its hold on the ground. Wood splintered, branches broke and then it was silent. Godric forced his magic back, and the golden shimmer in his hair vanished. He coughed up blood but hid it before Hermione could see it.
“Harry, what…?”
“Not now, Hermione. We have to… get to Ron!”
For a short moment, he felt like the world was spinning around him but he forced himself to crawl into the hole between the roots of the Whomping Willow.
~~~
°I wish I could have seen that. Your Patronus must be really impressive.°, wrote Tom.
It was soon time to leave Hogwarts. Godric had retreated to his chambers. He felt still terrible, even though it had been a week since this adventure.
°Maybe I can show it to you someday. But right now I just want to sleep.°
°The sleep.°
°Can’t. We have to go to the Hogwarts Express soon. I don’t want to. My family will be… excited to see me… Not.°
°I hope you can relax more over the summer, after that incident they should try not to anger you. Hopefully, next school year will also be less intense.° °You believe that? In my first year, I had to get things right because Dumbledore thought it would be a great idea to hide something he knew was something Voldemort would want and he even knew that Gringotts wouldn’t be safe enough. So instead he allowed Voldemort to sneak into Hogwarts and get students in danger. I mean first years had to save the Philosophy Stone! My second year was okay. I found you, I see that as an improvement.°
He could swear, Tom had snorted and was laughing even though nothing was showing up on the page.
°But if I haven’t been so careful a basilisk would have tried to fight against a kill commando and I don’t want to know how long she would have the luck to turn people into stone. What if I had been just an ordinary student? t could have led to Hogwarts closing for good! No, thank you very much. My third year… Yeah, you know it already. It was okay. But still, we had dementors on the school ground and we know that this rat of a person is now running free and… if I believe Trelawney's prophecy he is searching for his master or had already found him. I don’t believe your older self will let me be. He will attack sooner or later. Or he has the decency to attack me during the vacations outside of Hogwarts. Blood protection or not.°
°You know I’m really glad that you have given me the chance to think more and try to change myself. I have the feeling my other self will not have this luck… And sometimes I’m just asking myself… Who you truly are. Even if you’re the ‘boy-who-lives’ you’re right… You’re not ordinary- You’re acting more like an adult you have knowledge that someone who is turning 14 soon should have. You can use powerful magic even I couldn't use at this age. Really. If I didn’t know it better I would say you’re the heir of Gryffindor who has his talent of battle instinct.°
Godric laughed and looked out of the window. Tom had the right direction but he still wouldn’t tell him this secret.
°I’m Griffin, Tom. I’m a lion and I will protect Hogwarts with everything I am. It doesn’t matter if my name is Harry Potter, or which blood I shared. It is my heart and soul that are important. And yes. I gave you a chance because I hoped this part of your soul is still intact enough. But whatever part of your future self is out there. It will be beyond saving. I will not hesitate to defend Hogwarts. I swear. As long as I am standing, Hogwarts will stand. And as long Hogwarts stays, I will fight.°