Never Tickle A Sleeping Dragon

Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus

"Ouch!" 

"Shush, Helga, or else we'll be found out!"

"Sorry." Helga Hufflepuff whimpered, gently massaging her stubbed toe as she winced in pain. 

Salazar Slytherin's scowling expression softened a bit when he saw his friend in pain. "I'm sorry." he whispered. "It's okay." Helga smiled. "Slytherin, mate, you there?" another voice called out from behind them. "Over here, Ric." Salazar called back. 

In a moment, Godric Gryffindor and their other friend Rowena Ravenclaw turned a corner and appeared. Their shadows bounced off the wall as they both held their torches up. 

"Blimey, mate, we almost left you behind! Should've given us a warning before you stopped walking," Godric cajoled, throwing an arm over Salazar, who shrugged. "Helga stubbed her toe." 

Rowena sighed dramatically. "How are we supposed to start a school if one of us can't even walk through an entire tunnel without stubbing a toe?" 

Helga flushed. "Sorry." she said sheepishly. Godric retracted his arm from around Salazar and flicked Rowena on the shoulder. "Don't be so hard on her," he reprimanded. "And besides, we don't even have a school motto or anything big yet. We're just looking for tokens." 

  Rowena scoffed, but let it go. "We must continue." They nodded.

"I want my token to be a sword." Godric said as they continued walking, his hands moving animatedly. "A weapon for the brave of heart. And with rubies too, for, you know, extra red so that it looks better. I just hope there's one where we're looking." 

"I want mine to be a cup." Helga said wistfully. "Merlin, why would you want your token, the representation of you to be a cup?" Salazar said loftily. Helga reddened, but she persisted. "A cup can hold wine. It can hold water. It holds sustenance, and it's important." Godric nodded in approval. "What'll your token be, mate?" he asked Salazar, ducking under a torch on the wall to avoid setting his hair ablaze. "A locket." Salazar answered immediately, as if he was just waiting for someone to ask. "A locket?" Godric laughed, his voice echoing through the narrow tunnel. "Why? To give to your significant other?" 

Salazar's ears turned pink. "Not a golden, heart-shaped one like the ones people give to girls when they're wooing them, of course," he defended. "A silver one, with hints of green and maybe a snake. Or the letter S in green gems. Something that would be beautiful, yet mysterious and secretive." 

"Mine would be a tiara. I would store my knowledge in it, and share it with whoever wears it." Rowena spoke up impatiently, the last one to share her ideas. "I didn't really think of powers," Helga mused. "But I guess I would want them to be -" 

Rowena stopped abruptly and held up a hand. Godric, Salazar, and Helga - who were all walking a few feet behind her - nearly slammed into her. "Blimey, Rowena, what -" "Shhh!" she hissed. "Be quiet." Then she lifted a finger, pointing ahead. 

In front of them was a giant, silver dragon, sleeping in a room full of gold and treasure.

Helga let out a tiny, terrified squeak at the sight of the huge beast. Salazar smiled warmly at the dragon, as if it was an old friend. Godric growled at the dragon and drew his sword. Rowena had on her thinking expression, plotting a plan to get them their desired tokens and escape. "All right, we need -" her eyes suddenly zoned in on Salazar, who had begun to make his way through the gold to get to the dragon. "Salazar!" she cried out. "What are you doing?" 

"I'm going to tickle it!" he said gleefully. "Do you have a death wish?" Helga squeaked. "You'll wake it up, and we'll all perish!" 

"Now, don't be so pessimistic, Hufflepuff." Salazar chided, huffing as he climbed over piles of gold. "Maybe it's friendly!" "Never in the history of magical creatures has a dragon been friendly, you fool." Rowena scoffed. 

Meanwhile, Godric's eye had nestled on a few different objects, scattered in various spots in the mountains of treasure. His breath hitched. 

A handsome sword, its tip sharp and deadly and a ruby in its pommel. 

A shimmering silver tiara, its center holding a deep blue sapphire and curving into an eagle. 

An elegant locket, either gold or silver - in the light, Godric couldn't see its color too well - with a shining green snake on it. 

And a shiny golden cup, intricate designs carved into it. 

Godric inhaled and exhaled slowly. "Rowena..." he whispered, poking her in the side and tearing her away from her and Salazar's argument. Salazar winked at him, thinking he was distracting her for him, and continued on towards the dragon. "What?" Rowena answered, annoyed. "Those four objects over there." Godric said calmly, pointing towards the places where the four desired tokens were. "What - oh." she said. "I'm going to collect them." Godric said, calm as ever. "Gryffindor." Rowena said sharply as he started creeping towards the one nearest to them - the locket. He grabbed it and wound it around his hand. He then made his way up a small hill of gold coins, the top of which the tiara was nestled. "Two down," he muttered. 

Helga whimpered from behind Rowena. Godric climbed down carefully from the hill and reached for the golden cup, which lay on the bottom of the next hill. He then scaled that mound and grabbed the sword - the last token. "Got it!" he exclaimed, holding the tokens up in triumph, his face beaded in sweat. "Yay!" Helga cheered, and Rowena smiled. Then she saw Salazar. 

"Slytherin!" 

Everything happened at once. 

The dragon awoke with a roar just as Godric skidded down from the pile of gold and made a break for the entrance to the room. Salazar's eyes widened, and he screamed, scrambling for the exit. Godric crashed in the entrance/exit just a few seconds before Salazar did, and they ran faster than they ever had in their lives, Rowena and Helga already sprinting in front of them. The dragon's roars shook up the tunnel as they ran in the darkness, all torches extinguished. The dragon, not being able to fit in the tunnel's entrance, compensated by blowing fire into it. 

Godric yelped as the fire scorched his behind. "Dang it! Blimey, that hurts like a -" 

"Keep running!" Salazar panted. 

Finally, they saw the sunlight streaming in through the tunnel's main entrance, and they collapsed on top of each other as they skidded onto the grass outside the stone manor. Helga and Rowena were already sprawled out, both of them taking large, heaving breaths. 

"The light at the end of the tunnel." Godric said, panting, as he flopped over. "That's the saying, right?" 

"I - do - believe - I've - created - a - better - saying -" Salazar said, gasping for breath in between words. "Our - school's - motto - if - you'll - allow - it." 

"What's that?" Rowena said. 

Salazar rolled over, looked her solemnly in the eyes, and said:

"Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus: never tickle a sleeping dragon." 

Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for the read :) 

xo, 

Wendy