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New Beginnings Helga was sitting on a patch of grass outside their small home that fateful day Rowena came running toward her with news that would change their lives. “We have to get to the village immediately,” she said. She trembled a bit. “What’s wrong?” asked Helga. “I had a vision. Use the Sight, I can’t talk. Hurry,” panted Rowena. Helga closed her eyes. Three of the town’s elder wizards lay dead at the feet of a man in crimson and gold robes. He was laughing. “I, Silhon, declare myself king of this village,” he said. He spoke with an accent Helga could not place. Around him kneeled villagers, trapped in chains. Arren was one of them. “It’s the fault of these wizards,” whispered a Muggle man. No one could do anything. There were tears in children’s faces. Helga quickened her pace. “When we get there, I’ll confront him,” said Rowena, “You free the townspeople. Don’t come to my aid unless absolutely necessary. Save them!” Helga wanted to protest, but instead just nodded her assent. They approached the center of the town. Helga broke away from Rowena and moved into the shadows. Rowena glided into the wizard’s view, about twenty feet away from him. He did not pay attention to her. “Wizard!” she cried out, “Let these people go!” He looked at her and sneered. Fury burned in his red eyes. “Who are you to make demands of King Silhon?” the Dark Wizard demanded. “I am Rowena of the Glen,” she said, “Face me, Wizard!” “Do you seek your death so soon, pretty child?” Silhon laughed. “Why do you seek to harm these people?” Rowena asked, “They’ve done nothing to you.” “Foolish wench,” snarled Silhon, “This is just the beginning. The preparation for the destruction to come.” “I won’t let you enslave these people,” said Rowena. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Helga silently free them. “Then, little girl, you’ll be dead,” snarled Silhon. He raised his wand and an energy blast surged toward Rowena. She held out her hand. The bolt touched her palm and gently dispersed. Silhon looked at her in shock. “Are you about finished?” said Rowena, but she did not wait for an answer. She raised her arms above her heads and crossed her wrists. A strong wind began to blow. It lifted Silhon and threw him against a wall. He responded by casting vicious curses, all of which she deftly blocked. She moved close to him and grabbed him by the throat. With her free hand, she took his wand and snapped it in half. She threw him to the ground. The earth beneath the wizard slithered around his body and transfigured into chains. Rowena looked around her. Helga had freed all the villagers, and they stared at her in awe. Rowena looked into Arren’s stunned face and knew that he understood why she would never marry him. She was surprised to discover that she felt a tinge of regret. Rowena and Helga stayed at their house for one more night. Both knew it would be their last in the town. Words had not been exchanged, but they knew what each other thought. For too long they were sheltered, first in the Glen, then away from it. Now they had to go out into the world and fulfill their duty. Hours after Rowena defeated Silhon, an Auror had arrived to apprehend him. Where he would be taken, no one knew. “Our dungeons are full of wizards like him,” the Auror said, “They’ve all been trying to conquer towns too. There are rumors,” the Auror shuddered, “rumors of a vast army coming to invade our shores.” He made a sign to ward off evil then kicked the prisoner. “This scum is involved with them. The others, someone else has been apprehending them for us and breaking their wands. We don’t know who.” Rowena and Helga knew who it was. And in that moment, they realized that Rhiannon and Modron could not fight this war alone. They left the house shortly before dawn, leaving the scant few possessions they had amassed. As they left walked past the town, a figure came out to meet them. It was Arren. “You’re leaving for good?” he asked softly. Rowena nodded. “You weren’t going to say good bye,” he said. There was hurt in his voice. Rowena shook her head slowly. Then she walked over to him and put her hand gently against his face. She leaned in and kissed his cheek softly as the sun’s first rays enveloped them. “Stay well, Arren,” she whispered, “In another life perhaps.” Helga was not certain, but she thought she saw a tear run down the young man’s face. He turned away and walked back to the village. As the sun rose over the two women, Helga looked at her cousin. Rowen’s eyes were different older, wiser, and far sadder than Helga could have imagined. But in Rowena’s movements, there was a sense of determination. They were no longer then same two girls raised in the Glen, Helga thought to herself. And she sighed. As the years passed… The stories in the Book of the Raven detailing the adventures of Rowena of the Glen and Helga Hufflepuff are myriad. Together they defeated the vampires at Dunshire, and, perhaps most importantly, discovered the Patronus spell to drive back the dementors when those loathsome creatures left their mires to poison our world. Not once did Rowena or Helga seek or receive any word from the Glen. In Europe during this time, heroes were desperately needed, and none more so than Godric Gryffindor, who upon coming of age, left the safety of his castle and carved his legacy across the continent. At home, Ferdiad maintained Hogwarts as a defense against evil and a sanctuary for those magical folk who fled increased Muggle oppression and the Dark Wizards. But Ferdiad grew weaker as the years passed. Without the aid of seers or foresight, he could see his own inevitable death. Rowena and Helga could not worry about the Gryffindors. The foreign wizards of the so-called Dark Horde continued to attack towns, terrorizing mage and Muggle. It was through defeating these sorcerers that Rowena and Helga created the greatest part of their legend, one that would nearly disappear only centuries after the founding of Hogwarts School. But no matter how hard Rowena and Helga fought, there were always more wizards. And whispers of a powerful army across the sea… |