The Adventures of Godric Gryffindor

The Nameless Companion

19th of July - 978 AD

It had been a week since the gruesome events of July the 12th, a week of wandering hungry through the forest. On the first day, Godric had been fortunate to stumble upon a small pond at a clearing. It wasn't big, but gave the siblings a sense of protection. Tall trees were standing as sentinels at the edge, guarding the meadow. After that, Godric had not dared venture too far away, in fright that he would get lost and run out of water.

Gwendolyn had slept through most of the first two days, probably too tired from everything that had happened. Godric tried not to think about it, thus occupied his days trying to find something to eat. It was a surprisingly difficult task, as his leg seemed to be broken. Godric had used the summoning charm to gather the nearby berries, but his charm was weak and had not reached far. That however, didn't stop the young wizard, and he had found himself a nice branch, and used it as a cane whenever he had to move.

I didn't take him long to discover a small spot containing a variety of mushrooms, but his mother's voice had rung in his head. "Don't eat any mushrooms or berries you don't know!" Since Godric hadn't been paying much attention when lectured, he had decided to go hungry instead. The next day he had been lucky. He had found a crow with a broken wing. That night their hunger had been quelled, but soon after they were even hungrier than before.

After five days only eating strawberries, he began to worry for his sister's health. She was crying all the time, something that made it very hard for him to fall asleep. Also, Godric always kept an eye on the lookout, even though they were alone. He had no idea who the attackers had been, or why they had come for his village, but he feared they would find them. Every time he closed his eyes, he could see his father's mangled face, or his mother's empty stare. It didn't help on his sleep deprivation. With every passing day it was getting harder and harder to find the will to stand up.

He had no idea what to do next. There was nowhere to go. He had spent his whole life in Gryffith. Come to think of it, he had never actually left the hollow. "The world is a dangerous place, son," his father used to say every time he wanted to go exploring. "One day you'll understand." Godric understood now. He had to leave the pond. It was not place to raise a baby, especially not when there were riders around. There was also the matter of food, which was scarce at the moment.

Thus, on the seventh day, Godric decided to venture out into the unknown. The sun was plastered high on a cloudless sky and the heat made Godric sweat. He used his shirt to tie a sling around his neck and placed baby Gwen inside. For once she was quiet, and Godric appreciated the new silence, as the journey was going to be hard. His arm was hurt as well as his leg, from a fall he had suffered during his escape. Even though it was healing, it was in no shape to carry an infant for an extendible amount of time. He placed his wizards hat on his head and stepped into the woods.

Leaning on his cane with his good arm, Godric stumped forward. His walking was slow, but steady. Trees cast long shadows on the bare ground and made it difficult for Godric to see the twisting roots. Occasionally he spoke to Gwen. It helped with his feeling of loneliness. "Look at that crooked tree, Gwen, it looks just like grandpa Greg's nose!" or "Oh, that was close! Almost tripped there." He had to concentrate on every step and before he knew it, the sun was on its way down. His leg was once again throbbing hard and he had no other choice but to call it a day. As careful as he could, he lowered Gwen and himself down between two tree trunks. The trees made an arch overhead that formed a natural protection against potential rain. Godric was quite proud to have found such a place.

"Ah, a good day's march I would say." Godric almost screamed in surprise. He knew that voice. He had heard it before, on the day of the attack.

"Where are you?" Godric demanded, looking around in alarm and feeling very stupid asking the air. The voice only chuckled.