The Founders Four: The Return

The Greeting

Chapter 2: The Greeting

"BOY! BOY, GET DOWN HERE! YOUR FREAK FRIENDS ARE HERE!" was the first thing Harry heard as he regained consciousness. Harry rubbed his eyes, and blinked as his surroundings came into focus. 'Stupid Muggles...' Harry stepped off of his bed, and stared at the door, wondering just how long he had been unconscious. Harry cautiously opened the bedroom door and hesitantly stepped down the stairs, one by one, his mind racing with thoughts. Would they notice that he was different? Harry felt as if Salazar's memories were a boat lost at sea, and he was trying to rein it in to shore, and every time he pulled it closer it made a giant leap forwards. He hoped that they did not notice his coldness or Slytherin-like tendencies. 'After all, worse comes to worse I'll blame it on how the sorting hat wished to put me in Slytherin.' Thankfully, his vocabulary hadn't changed as much, but he would have to place the blame upon the pile of books in his room. As Harry stepped into the living room, he was greeted with a quite amusing sight. His aunt and uncle were standing by the kitchen counter with his uncle red in the face and his aunt looking faint. Dudley, his cousin was hiding behind his parents, a terrified look on his face as he stared at the fireplace. Harry looked over to the fireplace just as he saw Arthur Weasley join the twins and Ron by the fireplace. 'They must have flooed here. I must have forgotten to inform my guardians that I was being picked up. Harry thought, inwardly laughing at the looks of astonishment on all 3 muggles faces.'

"HARRY!" cried Ron, as the twins stepped forward to shake his hand.

"It's a pleasure-"
"to meet you after so long."
"Hope you're ready for some Quidditch -"
"as we have been preparing for weeks-"
"and weeks. Come along, then!"

The twins said the last line in unison, as Harry simply looked over at Weasley senior who was shaking his head at the twins antics.

"I'm all packed. Where exactly are we going?" Harry inquired. Ron replied.

"We are going to see the International Quidditch match. I'm rooting for Bulgaria. Krum is on the Bulgarian team. He is a famous Quidditch player, and one of the best seekers of the decade!"

"Krum?" he asked.

"Alright boys, that is enough. I am afraid that we are quite short on time. You may continue this conversation at a later time." Mr. Weasley cut Ron off before he could say anything.

"Hang on a second. The boy'll be gone for the rest of the summer?" Vernon asked. Harry nodded as he turned to face his aunt and uncle, how had remained silent up until now. Harry merely raised an eyebrow and said in a false, sweet tone of voice

"Don't worry dearest aunt and uncle. I shall return here next summer. I'm sure that that we will see each other for a couple more years, don't you fret." he added at the end to make sure they understood his point, while he stressed the words with a slightly cold voice, which sent shivers down their spines, due to the look in his eyes. Harry looked towards the the Weasleys, who was looking at Harry with furrowed brows, except for the twins who were looking at Harry with something akin to pride at Harry.

Harry didn't have time to ponder on this as he was dragged forwards towards the fireplace. He took some floo powder in his hand, looked back at his relatives, as yelled "The Burrow" as he was swished away by the flames.....

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As Harry stepped down from the fireplace, he was greeted by the sight of more redheads. As he took a step forwards, he was pulled into a tight hug by Mrs. Weasley. He hugged her back, and dislocated while he looked around the room. Every Weasley was in the room except for an obvious little red-head.

He shook hands, hugged and greeted everyone, then asked "Where's Ginny?" Immediately the mood in the room darkened. The twins said, in a morose tone of voice,

"Ginny's been feeling quite off the past 2 months."
"We're not sure what it is but-"
"She's been crying. We're not sure what triggers her-"
"but when she starts crying, she can't stop."
"We've heard her go on once or twice about betraying someone-"
"and being an awful friend, but-"
"we can't figure it out." they finished with a sad look on their faces.

Harry looked towards the stairs, a questioning look on his face. Surely she couldn't be another of the Founders, could she? It would be the most logical conclusion that she was the Hufflepuff founder, as she and Gryffindor founders would take their wrong-doing the hardest, as they were very close to 'him'. Harry wasn't very comfortable with referring to himself as the Slytherin Founder, but he knew that he had to get used to it soon. Meeting the others would bring up past issues that would be really confusing if they referred to themselves as someone. Harry shook his head as he followed the Weasleys into the kitchen. As he walked into the kitchen, he felt Helga's magical signature, and tried to leave the kitchen undetected before Helga caught onto his magical signature. He excused himself to the lavatory, as he ran up the flight of stairs, two at a time. He wasn't ready. It was hard enough coming to terms with the fact that he was someone else, but to face someone else from the past? He couldn't. However it was not his choice to make, as when he hesitantly stepped out from the loo, he was greeted with the sight of the resident Weasley girl, as she stepped forwards towards him with a depressed look on her face.

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

Ooohh! We get to see Helga/Ginny's reaction to Harry/Salazar. Will Harry be forgiving or be cold towards her? Until we meet again!

P.S Thanks for the support guys. It means a lot to me! :D

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