Many are called, few are chosen

♧

Helga Hufflepuff hadn't expected it to work. She'd only ever met one person with a mind similar to Rowena's. One she could not read like an open book at will or manipulate into a certain state.

So, when she told Rowena to stand before her and imagine she was back at the battle scene, she'd left out the part where she'd try to transport her mind back to the scene. She liked to call it Guiding. Guiding, like her 'mind reading' ability, was something Helga chose not to practice often if she could help it. For it was abnormal, and there was little Helga Hufflepuff despised more than being regarded abnormal in any way.

From the age of five, Helga's sleep was plagued by dreams that were not hers. 

Although, she only realized this when she was around ten. She hadn't thought it strange in the slightest when she'd hear a stray thought or two from the help or even her own parents. From a very young age, Helga had come to realize that there were certain things one did not talk about in the Hufflepuff household. For instance, why her papa never spoke to her mother and her. Ever a quiet child, Helga hardly engaged in conversation with anyone, not even her mama. She preferred to listen to what was being said and what was not. There was a lot not being said and good sense told her to keep it that way. However, on the day of her mother's passing, Helga wanted to rip her head off of her body. For the grief toppled by her own father's heinous thoughts was unbearable. He was all she could hear whether he was present or not. His thoughts were drilled into her mind constantly leaving her on the verge of tears. However, it was not like a switch she could turn on and off as she pleased, she later realized to her displeasure.

She was sure her life would be one of solitude until she breathed her last. Who would want to be with a fat little freak who hadn't the sheerest respect for others' privacy? However, on the day she met Salazar Slytherin everything changed, completely unbeknownst to her of course. Although their interactions had been brief, Helga had spent enough time with Salazar to know he was not like his brother or her father. Or anyone really, he was just Salazar.

"You. It's you."

It was on the Slytherin brothers' second visit, a couple of years after their first one. Salazar had managed to slip out of his brother's sight. Helga had joined him, once again, in their flower garden. He'd looked at her oddly as she desperately tried to capture a particularly cheeky fairy that had set one of her sleeves ablaze. "Me what?" she answered breathlessly.

"You've been poking around in my head."
Helga froze. "What?"

"Don't bother trying to lie. So, tell me then, what do you see?" The question had been asked casually and Helga felt he meant no harm, but she was afraid. Did her father know? Had he always known? Salazar must have sensed her conflict for he then said, "look, how about we do this. I'll show you a cool trick of mine and you can tell me more about yours. I won't tell if you don't." His eyes gleamed at the last sentence as if the idea of trading secrets excited him.

"Alright."
"Lovely." She hadn't wanted to really, but he'd used such persuasive tones and there was little she wouldn't give to have him smile like the way he did for her now. No one ever smiled for her that way. Maybe he'd genuinely enjoyed her company. He scouted the surrounding area searching for something Helga could not identify. He turned back to her and spoke before she could ask. "Don't be alarmed, alright. It won't hurt you."

She was about to ask what he meant when he started hissing and making harsh noises to a nearby bush. She shrieked when a scaly, slithery and slimy serpent slithered out of the bush following Salazar's voice as though hypnotized. He chuckled at her look of horror as the reptile wound itself around his leg. "H-how did you-? What-"

"Keep it down, Hufflepuff! Raya, here, does not like loud noises. Horrifying, isn't it? I have never met another wizard- or witch - who can communicate with snakes or any animal really." He made the hissing sound again and the snake-Raya- slithered away with a final hiss.

"When did this start?" Helga asked him after they'd settled on a beautiful little bench overlooking a small pond.

"I don't know. I've been this way for as long as I can remember. Sometimes, they make more sense to me that humans do. They're misunderstood creatures, serpents.'

"Yes, well their venom can prove to be deadly when one hasn't a potion nearby."

Salazar laughed humorlessly. "Typical magi-folk behavior to think all creatures should exist to serve them. You only think of how their venom can kill you yet that is not why they have it. They too, like all of us, have to survive somehow."

"You can't exactly blame us for being wary of them nonetheless."

"Oh yes, the same way we are wary of dragons- oh wait, we are not. Because what would our world be without dragonhide and heartstring for our wands."

"If you're quiet done declaring your undying love for serpents." Helga rolled her eyes at Salazar who smirked at her retreat.

"Alright, time to keep up your end of our bargain Hufflepuff."

Helga sighed and told Salazar everything. She told him about the time she'd had a nightmare and heard one of her maidens in waiting recounting the exact same dream to another as her own. She told him about how she could be in a perfectly fine mood but be attacked by a random strong yet fleeting array of emotions whose source she could never place. She told him about the thoughts. How clear or how vague they could be. How wrong or how right they could be. How strange they could be. It was only after recounting it all to him that she had the sense to ask- "How did you know?" Instead of replying, Salazar just blinked at her.

"Did you hear me?"

"I can't hear you." she answered automatically. It was strange, she hadn't meant to answer honestly.

Helga did not ask for the meaning behind his words.

~*~

"...and then, the most magnificent, pearly white eagle burst out of her wand!" Helga recounted proudly to the group of curious people around her. Their faces were that of shock and wonder. Needless to say, Godric was among the first to suggest they learn the spell immediately.

"It's not that simple, Gryffindor." Helga said trying to ignore the guilt gnawing at her brains. She had acted on impulse without taking into account what would follow. She had helped Rowena perform the spell by guiding her subconscious back to the battlefield, so it was safe to assume the spell required two mages to work. Also considering the fact that at least one mage had to have Helga's ability to guide. She could not bring herself to tell her friends, even Rowena (who was still in William's office), this news.

After a few hours the excitement had finally died down and the number of people in the common room dwindled significantly as each person made their way to their rooms. Helga decided to read, an activity she found most boring but it helped keep her mind out of other people's heads. She was planning on waiting for Rowena who happened to be taking her sweet time. She would have gone to nurse the younger ones back to health but most of them had made full recoveries. She pretended not to notice Godric and Maryrose talking and laughing close-by. She hoped they were not getting too cozy, for Godric and Rowena would make such a lovely pair.

Rowena's mind was not as open to read as the others but Helga did not need to penetrate her thoughts to notice the way she looked at Godric when she was absent-minded or the way he seemed to annoy her less and less each time. She prided herself in knowing her bestfriend more than anyone, even herself, for that is what Helga Hufflepuff did. She knew people and understood them. So even when Rowena was not aware of her growing fancy, Helga was.

Too ensnared in her own devious thoughts, she failed to notice the figure approaching her until a shadow fell across her book. It was Salazar. He never approached her when there were people around, especially Rowena who, Helga realized, he seemed to be quite wary of. Surely enough, the common room had emptied out and they were the only two left. "Hello." she said pleasantly. He nodded in acknowledgement and then sat opposite her without a word.

"I need you to try and enter my mind again." He stated. Helga rolled her eyes.

"How many times must you ask, Salazar. By now, haven't we already established that it's impossible."

"Everything is possible if you can want it enough. Try harder, Hufflepuff."

"What, might I ask, are you hoping to gain? And more importantly, what am I gaining in all this?"

It was Salazar's turn to roll his eyes. He folded his arms and directed his gaze towards the book in her lap. "I dunno. Don't you want to learn more about your ability and how far you can exploit it for maximum benefit?" He said it casually, as if anyone in Helga's shoes would feel the exact same. She wondered if he even knew the weight of the words he uttered so matter-of-factly at times. Maybe he knew, just couldn't bring himself to care.

"No. I already invade people's privacy enough, don' you think."

"Yes, but imagine if you could actually control it. Wouldn't it be wonderful to finally get some sleep at night instead of skulking around the corridors at night like some ghost?" His offer was enticing, and she had grown tired of her nighttime wanderings.

"I guess it would be great to finally have dreams of my own... but this does not feel right, Salazar." The truth was, much as she would've denied it pointblank to Rowena, she did not trust him entirely.
There was no telling what he could do or what he was capable of. She liked to believe he was a good person and he had a bad side like everyone else but at times she was not so sure. He had this dangerous glint in his eyes sometimes when he was not aware of her attention...

"I'll do it. I'll help you get better at protecting your mind. However, you have to promise to use what you discover about all this for good, alright?" she said decidedly.

"You want to make a Death Oath?" he asked darkly.
"Heavens no! What is the matter with you? A simple promise will do Salazar."

Helga imagined if someone were to draw Salazar's current expression, they'd dub it 'The Great Confusion'

"You mean a blood oath-?" He asked, appearing quite lost.

"Holy hippogriff, do you not know what a promise is?"
Her genuine concern seemed to infuriate him. "Of course I do, I am not an imbecile."

He scrunched up his face in annoyance at Helga's laugh and said coldly, "I daresay the same can not be said for you, Hufflepuff. You make deals without leverage."

"Deals, he says. " she giggled, "The way you take it so seriously, one would assume it was a treaty between kingdoms."

"Think what you want. It is to my advantage after all. I mean, who's to say I won't break the said 'promise'?"

"Your honor, your dignity, your nobility... your word."

He looked at her with amusement dancing in his eyes for a while. She was sure he would burst into laughter there and then, but he extended his hand to her. "Alright, then. I promise." She shook it.

The door leading to one of the main corridors suddenly opened, revealing the slightly flushed face of Rowena Ravenclaw.

"Helga, you wouldn't believe the- am I interrupting something?"

Salazar and Helga quickly parted their hands under Rowena's suspicious glare. Helga mentally slapped herself because she knew this only made them look guilty. "No, I was just leaving." Salazar murmured, completely avoiding Rowena's eyes as he practically ran out of the room and up a flight of stairs.

"You can tell he's very fond of you." Helga smirked.