The Founders

Chapter 19

By the time Saturday came around, the weather had cleared up slightly; weak sunlight had broken through the clouds and was shining on the sodden grass stretching out from the castle to the lake. Kyra woke up early, unaccustomed to the sunlight in her room. Unable to fall back asleep, she had a shower and walked down alone to the breakfast hall. Seeing Kat already seated with some friends, sipping a mug of coffee, Kyra walked down the aisle to the Gryffindor table and swung herself onto the bench next to her.

"Why are you eating porridge?" she asked, wrinkling her nose. "That stuff is disgusting."

"Absolutely," said Iris Keller, a sarcastic, bored-looking girl with curly brown hair who was opposite Kat. "One might say it's the equivalent of boiled cardboard."

Kyra nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, I would agree with that."

Kat took a large spoonful of porridge and aimed it at Kyra, who immediately put her hands up. "Sorry. I forget sometimes that had hippy parents," she said, pulling the plate of bacon towards herself and giving Iris a wink.

Kat shook her head, putting the spoon in her mouth. "So, are you excited for today?" she asked around the food.

"Words couldn't do justice to how excited I am. Which is why I say, no comment."

"Are you even dressed for quidditch?" Kat asked dubiously, appraising Kyra's jeans and sweater.

"Um...yes?" At Kat's look, Kyra added defensively, "I don't own quidditch clothes!"

Kat nodded. "Alright, you can borrow some of my flying robes. There's no way you're getting on a broom in jeans, I think Oscar might actually have a fit."

Climbing through the Gryffindor portrait hole twenty minutes later, Kyra asked, "Will I have to wear Gryffindor colours? Because I don't really want to destroy my Slytherin rep. Gryffindors are scum and all that."
Kat snorted, walking up the dormitory stairwell ahead of her. The stone steps were worn and sunken in the middle, the walls of the stairwell painted red and hung with portraits. Kyra walked up them two at a time, bracing a hand against her thigh each time. "Slytherin rep?" Kat said. "You don't have a rep, Kyra."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot that I'm socially irrelevant," she responded cheerfully.

Kat huffed out a laugh as she reached her door at the top of the stairs, pulling out a key. "But yes, you will definitely be wearing Gryffindor colours."

When Kyra didn't respond, Kat turned around to see her, arrested part way up the stairwell and looking at a portrait of a woman. Taking the few steps back down to her, Kat explained. "Her name was Evelyn. Evelyn Gryffindor."

She waited for Kyra's reaction, who glanced back at Kat in recognition. "Godric's wife?"

Kat nodded, and gestured at the portrait. The woman was pale, with large brown eyes, long brown hair, and thin lips, very red. Something about her facial features looked out of proportion. "She died really young. Her daughter died too, and they say that Godric was never the same again. Could never do magic in the same way."

Kat kept her eyes fixed on the portrait and then blinked when Kyra asked, "How did they die?"

"Illness, I think," said Kat. She shrugged. "There are so many diseases which they just didn't have a cure for back then. It's a sad story though."
Kyra nodded and they continued to Kat's dormitory.