Unto Eternity (Slytherin)

[Morgana le Fay]

She, as a general rule, preferred high places. It was easier to launch off from there when she transformed into a raven, and that foul wench Evienne feared them above all else as a bonus. The clock tower held a special place in her heart, though. She had retreated here during her time as an instructor at Hogwarts, as their first Transfiguration professor. Godric had bullied her into it, insisting that the drifting sort of half-life that she had adopted after her revenge on those responsible for the death of her dear Arthur was no life at all for a witch of her caliber. Think of what she could produce were she to teach, he had insisted. She had so much to offer. To make him shut up, she'd accepted the position. Being a professor didn't mean that she had to interact with the students outside of class. She was to pass along knowledge, not mentor, not involve herself. Sub specie aeternitatis. From the perspective of the eternal. She had sworn to be an objective observer, and so the tower became her refuge.

She found it much the same as the older version of her still drifting through life had left it when she abdicated her post, no longer bound by loyalty to Gryffindor. It was hard to imagine that she had grown into the witch that abandoned this place, but she had to admit that she saw some of herself there. Effects that only Morgana understood abounded, words that had lost meaning.

"Dieu et mon droit."

"Arthur," she sighed, running her fingers over the words swirled into the wood of the tower. "What would you think of your older sister? What would you think of this place?"

[Salazar Slytherin]

Salazar had hear rumors. Lots and lots of rumors. The new Slytherin, a seventh year. Named Morgan Pendragon. With the exactly physical description that one would give the famous Morgana. He had to investigate. If this girl, an old acquaintance of his, were to show up here, life for him would become a living hell. At least, most likely. She had been fond, if that was the right word, of Godric, but she and Sal never got along. She was a great witch, who believed she as equal as any man. He believed women were, in general, inferior. She was close to equal to men, but still not quite there in his mind. Not to mention that they had such similar personalities that they clashed horribly. If she had followed him, in some manner, and returned here, he must find out about it. The rumors led him to the clock tower, a place fit for her. It would be closer to her dear raven, someone he knew she loved beyond words. Though he did not know she knew this place from her past, he knew she would soon be convinced to teach here, in his timeline.

"He would think that it was obnoxiously overdressed and needed a sword fighting arena," Salazar said, when he reached the top of the tower and saw that she was, indeed Morgana. "It's been a long time, Morgana."

[Morgana le Fay]

Salazar Slytherin. She knew him well, better than she cared to admit. According to the history books that she had poured through upon arriving at this strange, modern Hogwarts, theirs was a long and complex history that had ultimately borne heirs. The younger version of Morgana that was still smarting from the loss of Merlin to Evienne could not imagine that she would ever care for another man as she had once cared for her rival in everything, but she would admit to a grudging respect of Slytherin. He was brilliant, she acknowledged, and better at anything that involved diplomacy than Godric, who reminded her so much of her dear little brother.

Admittedly, her tendency to antagonize women into wanting nothing to do with Godric probably arose from her memory how things had ended when Arthur fell in love. She would hate to see Gryffindor meeting the same fate.

"Likely," she agreed with a laugh. "The scenario you suggested screams of Arthur. Perhaps it has not been long enough for your tastes, litle snake? Rest assured, my intentions are, for once, benign."

[Salazar Slytherin]

Salazar knew that as well as he, she was thinking all she knew of him. They had an annoying past, and quite likely an equally annoying future. He had refused to read the history books that Dumbledore had suggested, deciding that learning from observation would do so much better. He did not want to know that much of his future before it occurred. It was probably a smart idea, as he would have hated the mention of him and Morgana being anything more than grudging allies.

“I may never have met your dear brother, but stories of him ran through most often in our time,” he commented. “Perhaps not, in my time stream we saw each other but two months ago as Godric kept his fight up to get you to teach at our school, which at the time had yet to be built yet. We were just beginning the blueprints for the castle. It seems that it’ll be so much easier when I return, I’ve seen what the castle looks in the future and can imagine where it began.” Salazar was rather surprised her hear her mention that her intentions were benign, it was rare. “The we have no conflict, at this current moment, though I suspect it will soon come to pass. Have you seen dear Godric? I have not managed to talk to him yet, but have found and observed him, he has graduated already, so ahead of my time stream. And seems to have a companion of some sort.”

[Morgana le Fay]

They had been allies in the past, usually in their efforts to thwart Evienne's machinations. Indeed, it had been Evienne's staunch opposition to the formation of Hogwarts that had caused Morgana to support it. She did the exact opposite of her nemesis on principal, which was probably good for the school. With Morgana on its side, Evienne's attempts to destroy it could be thwarted and vice-versa. Had they both opposed it, the school would have faced the wrath of two of the most powerful witches of their day. She supposed that Ravenclaw and Salazar had taken this into account, which might have been the reason for their hostility towards her. Even Morgana had to admit that she was a wild card at her best.

"That tends to be the result of being made into a messiah," she noted drily. "Stories now whisper in awe of his impending messianic return."

She made a disgusted face at the time paradox firmly established by his statement. She found them distasteful and inelegant.

"I seem to be from later in the time stream; I distinctly remember teaching Transfiguration," she noted. "I have not seen Godric. Has it occurred to you that there would be no way for him to have a companion if I had?"

[Salazar Slytherin]

Salazar thought about the last time he and Morgana had been grudging allies. It had something to do with Evienne and Godric, he seemed to remember. C ouldn’t be positive, of course, it had been a long while back. Unfortunately, he knew that it was necessary for them to soon be allies in his time stream, for without her helping with the school, there would be hell. It was one thing he and Rowena were dreading. If Godric could not convinced her to join the “team” their school would be destroyed within the first week because of Evienne and Morgana.

Salazar nodded, “they still teach of him in this time. Dumbeldore suggested some history books for me to read, including some that spoke of Arthur’s time. I declined, of course, I’d rather not learn of my future before it occurs.”

Sal laughed at her disgusted face, “don’t you just enjoy the paradoxes of time, dear Morgana?”

“Ah, so Godric does convince you to join. Or was it Evienne’s doing, in her opposition?” He knew it had to be one or the other, perhaps a combination of the two, but nothing else. “It had occurred to me, yes, but he keeps her name and face hidden, so there would always be the chance that you hadn’t discovered her identity nor threatened her yet.”

[Morgana le Fay]

She was sure that she remembered helping Salazar with something relating to Godric and Evienne's thrice-accursed lake. She had this annoying habit of drowning young wizards in it to prove that she could; Morgana got vindictive joy out of ruining this for her. The damnable bitch needed to invest in a more productive passtime. Granted, her negative perception of Evienne could largely arise from the fact that she hated her very existance, but Evienne's tendency to be vindictive and callous with human life didn't help with that at all. Morgana was a lot of things, but a sociopath had never been one of them.

"Well, I read those books; you've missed little. Evidently, we one day married and somehow managed to not kill one another," she quipped.

"Hah! He laughs, now, but just wait, little snake; you will understand," Morgana retorted with a scowl.

"You seem to think me so fickle as to do something because Evienne did the opposite," she groused, even though she knew thatitwas a little of both as well as he did. "Mayhap I will weed out the identity of this companion of his."

[Salazar Slytherin]

Salazar thought on how much he relied on Morgana’s aide when it came to Evienne. He hated it. But Evienne had a strong distaste for Rowena, and Salazar welcomed any help that would prevent Rowena from being harmed… even if it meant that he was shown up by a mere woman. Morgana was the only one who came even close to showing women as equal to men, but he still refused to believe it, even when he knew that she would destroy him if they were ever to come to battle.

“I feel as though the marriage was not one of love but of some other importance. Very little would prevent us from attempting murder each other. I’m surprised we’ve kept this truce as long as we have.” Salazar was talking both about this specific conversation as well as the time they spent together with Godric and talking of the school. She was still not on board, but they had yet to start a fight involving bloodshed, so it was a truce to them.

“I pray not, paradoxes lead to trouble everywhere they occur, but until such a time as trouble has ensued, I’d like to keep them in a light opinion.”

Salazar looked at her, “not fickle, dear Morgana, I know how much you hate her. But perhaps it was both, your dear Godric’s pulling and her opposition?” He chuckled, “I believe her to be German, from what has been said of her, though I know little else. When you’ve discovered her, perhaps you’d be willing to let me watch the showdown between you. I’ve missed real arguments. Those that occur in this time are mere debates, not arguments nor fights.”

[Morgana le Fay]

The Founders of Hogwarts were very young when they first approached her, whereas Morgana herself as well as Evienne had been born to the sound of Rome's death knell. That the two women were so powerful could be attributed to their long lives, as well as their descent from the fay, creatures that were considered extinct by the modern Ministry of Magic. Unfortunately, Morgana had seen enough to know that the fay lived, and she was still unsure of her feelings about it. Though she'd hated her inconsistent father, Merlin had been raised by the creatures; surely, they were not all so unreliable.

"Perhaps. My older self is a mystifying woman, though, I've not the foggiest concepts of her motivations," she noted with barely concealed distaste. "She has picked up many a passtime that I would find dreadfully boring, the writing of textbooks for example."

Granted, even the younger Morgana had been, on occasion, called mystifying. Well, more than just on occasion. It was something she was called pretty often, actually, generally by her younger sisters.

"Trouble will ensue," she predicted. "Trouble seems to follow Godric wherever he may go."

"Perhaps it had something to do with Evienne," she conceded reluctantly. "But more to do with Godric coming to Avalon directly and disturbing my peace. German, you said? Of what sort; they had many tribes."

[Salazar Slytherin]

Salazar listened to her mentions of her older self with surprise, “something seems to mellow you out, Morgana, the woman I know would never write a textbook unless the existence of those she most cares about were at stake, but those who she cares for died long since, so she’d never have a reason to do so. I wonder what it is that does this, perhaps so many years teaching at Hogwarts?” He was thoroughly confused by this. Morgana had fire in her, so much fire that sitting still to write a book would never get very far, she’d burn it several times over before getting close to finishing it. Though, he had to admit, if he were to marry her one day, he would not mind the looks of her, she was a lovely woman, just too… independent for his own tastes.

“Is that a prediction of sight or of experience?” He knew she lacked the sight that some had and suspected it was just knowledge of love and of Godric himself.

“I see you not as fickle, but understand how your mind works, to some extent. But whatever the reason, it is good that you will help us, in my time stream, or have helped us, in yours. The school would get nowhere without your help, as grudgingly as I say it. We have nearly nothing to protect it from Evienne herself.” He shrugged, a tendency he picked up from the people of this time, “they refer to her as communist, I believe, upon looking up the connotations of that word, I found it to relate to the German. Due to some event they call Holocaust upon which they seemed to purge their land of a certain religion or race.”

[Morgana le Fay]

"I have taught before; it did nothing to mellow me. I will admit to being a little wild, but it comes with what I am," she noted. "What it is that made my older self so placid, I do not know; you could find her and ask, were you so inclined. It seems that she lives still in this time. Not shocking; my sort is cursed to outlive anyone we ever grow close to."

When she had first discovered that she had stopped aging, Morgana had smashed every mirror in Arthur's palace in her despair before her brother could calm her. Since then, she had come to accept that she would live until killed, though she viewed it as the worst sort of curse. She had aged a little since then, but Dumbledore's talking painting of her older self had confirmed her fear that she would never grow old. She prayed that, in this time, the wretch that fathered her was still alive so that she could finally use the powers she'd cultivated to end him.

"Contrary to popular belief, I am without the sight. It is Evienne that has it, though what she uses it for I know not, her habit of drowning anyone that her eyes fall upon considered," she scoffed. "I simply know Godric."

"Evienne is a curse upon humanity as a whole; whatever I may do to keep her at bay, I do." Contrary to popular tales, Morgana and Evienne utterly lacked any respect for each other. Merlin had been Morgana's honorable rival; Evienne was her arch-nemesis, and the foul wench had Excalibur courtesy of that fool Arthur entrusted it to at Camlann. Morgana would have to retrieve it. The last thing anyone needed was for that harpy to own a magical sword. "Oh, I have read of that. Russia seems to have...grown since last I heard anything of it."

[Salazar Slytherin]

Salazar was thoroughly confused. Morgana was not one who would mellow easily, it must have been something huge. “I’d rather not take that risk, if the history books ring true then I may learn far more of myself than I choose to know. And perhaps an old face would rekindle the spark of fire in her. It’s simply not a risk I’d like to take.”

Salazar had no idea how she had learned she would live basically forever, unless killed by someone, he was sure she had a terrible reaction. She had been so fond of Merlin and Arthur and finding out that she would live many years past their deaths had to be horrible.

“No wonder Evienne knows all she does, the sight aides her.” He shook his head, “she will never change, I suspect, unfortunately for us. And yes, Godric is liable to lead himself into trouble. I have yet to find him to verify that theory.”

Salazar smiled, “one of the few things we agree on, my dear.” Though he called her often my dear or some similar thing, it was a courtesy pulled from his time. To call women of any form that was simple habit. “Yes, they have, they were but a small colony of sorts in our time.”

[Morgana le Fay]

"If my brief conversation with that awful painting of Dumbledore's is anything to judge by, she is infuriatingly fond of riddles. I doubt that there is anything to be gained by speaking to her, anyway, assuming that she can be found. I have been told that she cast some spell to obscure Avalon and consign it to folklore. Truly, it baffles me; Avalon was once the only refuge for those born with magic in all of Britannia," she mused.

She could think of nothing that would induce her to cut off access to her beloved island for the rest of the world; even if she was sometimes fickle and despised sharing what she viewed as hers under normal circumstances, she had made Avalon a place of safety. Many a young witch or wizard had passed through her doors looking for safety, and she couldn't imagine making that impossible. On the matter of her immortality, her discovery of it had not been caused by anything dramatic; she had just looked in the mirror one day to find that she still looked as she had when she was seventeen, while Arthur aged still, and Merlin had forsaken youth in favor of power to defend Camelot. The realization had instilled a despair in her that she had never managed to shake.

"Unfortunately for all that find themselves exposed to her, Evienne never changes; she has been the way she is now for so long as ai have known her," she agreed. "Perhaps his German keeps him out of trouble. If that is the case, she must have some supernatural ability that counteracts his natural inability to process common sense."

Morgana was not the type that smiled often, and rarely genuinely. The smirk she offered in response to his smile was about as close as she got.

"Now, they are some sort of empire. Have you seen a modern map? Russia covers all of Eastern Europe!"

[Salazar Slytherin]

Salazar nodded, “you have had many a time where you relied on riddles over normal conversation, Morgana, it surprises me not that she is fond of them.” He looked confused, “hidden Avalon from the world? What, daresay, would make you do that. You always offered shelter to magical folk in your precious Avalon. Perhaps because so many other refuges appeared you felt that you could now take your Avalon back for yourself and magical folk could find peace elsewhere.”

“Evienne is the devil who will forever continue her ways.” Salazar hated it, but it was true and unchangeable. “She may very well, from what people say of her she is strong in her ways, though it seems they only dislike her because she is German and different, not because there is anything wrong with her.” He could understand that, many people felt that way about him because he disliked muggle borns, but he was not cruel, he only wanted them somewhere else, with the muggles or in their own school of magic. He did not want to murder them, he simply wanted the magical folk who attended his school to be forever of pure blood. Purebloods tended to be stronger regardless. He considered Morgana and Evienne to be pureblood despite their blood being mixed with the fay.

“I have indeed, our country is tiny in comparison, though we still hold much power in the world.”

[Morgana le Fay]

"I can think of nothing that might make me conceal Avalon, though. Therein lies the problem," she replied with a frown. "More refuges are always needed for young magical folk. I never disagreed with you lot on that; I just thought you were misguided. You were not the first to attempt to establish a school for magics in Britannia, you were just the first to succeed."

There had been others that washed up on her shores with lofty ideas in search of guidance; she hadn't been surprised when these young ones had asked her what she'd thought of their plan. What had surprised her was that they actively sought out Avalon, since there were enchantments that were meant to prevent just that. The only conclusion she could reach based on their ability to evade her spells and find Avalon without being in desperate need was that they were powerful enchanters, or would be. That had been the largest reason that she'd decided to advise them.

"I believe very firmly that she is the Devil's daughter and not fay-born," she admitted. "If anyone exists that ought to know better than to fear and hate what is different, it is those born with magic."

She had never wanted much besides the various magical factions to realize that their chances of survival were increased significantly by cooperation. Muggle-born, half-breed, pureblood, it was all irrelevant to her. Muggles were strong because they were unified, but those with magic tended to be as mercurial as the power they harnessed. It was difficult to bring them all together, although it seemed that Hogwarts was doing an excellent job of moving towards that. She was unaware that Salazar considered her a pureblood, but it was likely a correct conclusion. Fay were magical beings, after all.

"The power dynamics of this world are...disturbing. Cold wars and nuclear weapons...how far the non-magical have come."