Snake Venom

Daze

Falcon sat in the common room alone, staring into the fireplace. The flames danced around, and he could have sworn he had seen something. Falcon kneeled before the fireplace, and the images became clearer. This time, it was two women that were shown. The first was a kind looking woman with chocolate curls and a daisy yellow dress, and the second a tall and slender woman with wavy silver hair gently cascading down her back. Falcon watched as they walked along, before the taller of the two stopped and grew tense. Then, she seemed to look right at him, and whipped her wand in his direction, a dark blue spell leaving her wand.

The spell didn't show signs of slowing, and to late Falcon realized that the spell had left the fire. As soon as the spell hit him, Falcon seemed to lose feeling in his limbs. He faintly registered that he was in fact moving, but keeping his eyes open was a struggle. Above the fireplace was the sword, and as he watched his hand reach for it, he swore he could hear something. His hand closed around the sword, and as the warmth once again flooded through him, he lost consciousness.

Falcon slowly regained consciousness, his limbs tingling but once again under his control. He looked around in confusion. The room was a light grey, with black accents. There was a black leather couch with yellow pillows and gold buttons, a grey high backed chair with blue pillows and silver buttons, and a green rug. In the center of the rug was a small raised dais, with a small rectangular hole lined in gold. Standing slightly above the hole were two empty gold claws. Falcon walked towards the dais, and without a thought thrust the Gryffindor sword into it, resting the guard in the claws. For a moment nothing happened, then the ruby in the pommel glowed a blinding red.

The glow slowly faded, and Falcon heard a chuckle behind him. He spun around, wand at the ready, only to come face to face with five portraits. There were three men and two women, and before each portrait was a wand. One of the men spoke up, and Falcon recognized him as the red haired man from the vision. "Welcome heir." Falcon cleared his throat. "Why am I here? What's going on?" The red - head held up a hand with a grin. "I think introductions are supposed to be first. I am Godric Gryffindor." Falcon could feel his jaw drop, and the silver haired man that had won against Godric smirked. "I am Salazar Slytherin." One of the women smiled. "Hello dear, my name is Helga Hufflepuff." The remaining woman nodded once. "Rowena Ravenclaw." Falcon turned to the last portrait, a portrait of a young man with black hair and a red ascot around his neck, who upon seeing his stares gave a lopsided grin. "Merlin."

The hours passed and Falcon found himself trapped in conversation with all five portraits, discussing the way magic and school itself had been split. Godric had been enraged when he learned that his house had become a place full of bullies and reckless fools. Helga had been sad that all her Hufflepuffs were viewed as weak, Rowena miffed when Falcon told her about the standoffish ways of the Ravenclaws, and Salazar held a cold fury at the new "evil and slimy" label on his house. Salazar had let a scowl cross his sharp features before he settled his face back into an emotionless mask. He then pointed Falcon to a small chest he had somehow not seen. The chest was a rich mahogany with silver trim and a golden lockplate. Falcon lifted the lid slowly. Inside the chest were five leather bound journals, five long objects wrapped in brown paper, and a jet black ring that was putting off a faint glow. Falcon felt the same daze come over him. As soon as he grasped the ring he felt a familiar tugging sensation at his navel. "What the fu-"

{Shout-out to HBlove23 and drammon23 for the wonderful ideas!}