Birth of a Nightmare Man

Chapter Twenty-Two

It was hard to figure out how long time to give the Nightmare Lord. They had never seen him in so much pain, and then so calm. Rowena even fretted over if it had been a good decision, helping him remember.

"We basically forced him to do it," she said at first, the day after. "We gave him no choice."

"On a level perhaps he wished to remember," Godric tried with.

"It doesn't matter, we didn't ask him! I didn't ask him! Instead I kept insisting on making sure he would remember. What good did it do? He bled from his eyes, for Merlin's sake!"

"But he calmed when he saw the ghost. He seemed… human, almost."

"And he wasn't human before?" Rowena asked.

"He lacked things that made him human," Salazar said. "He didn't know things that made him human. It was like he had shut himself off to those parts of himself. So while it hurt him to remember, it could be a good thing in the end."

"I hope you're right," she said, "because I don't want to go back there and realize we've damaged him further."

Elise and Lucian had given them permission to return to the Nightmare Lord's manor, leaving behind a necklace and saying that it was a Portkey. Seeing as they had no idea what a Portkey was, Elise had told them to all hold onto it before saying the word "blood-tree". They had no idea what she meant with that either, but the necklace now lay on the table they sat around.

"We'll give him time," Helga said. "Some time. While he gets to get back his bearings, we'll continue to work. I want to have students here, have them learn… this castle feels so empty without students in it."

"You're right," Godric said. "Let's do our best, and hope the lord is well."

They tried to keep on building Hogwarts but found their thoughts scattered. Helga had actually enjoyed the lord's odd moments of advice what to do, and put her foot down when autumn had swung over to early winter, and snow had started to cover the ground. It felt like a long time had passed since they last saw the Nightmare Lord. Elise and Lucian had not been by, although they had received a few notes that let the four friends know they were all well.

"We're going to see the lord," Helga said. "And we're not building more without his input."

"I agree," Godric said. "I was about to bloody suggest it myself. I can't believe it, that I would suggest it!"

"At first I thought his presence intimidating," Rowena said, "and now I keep looking around to see where he's supposed to pop up. He was so good at just showing up."

Salazar went to get the necklace and they gathered in what would be the Great Hall, the lord's name for the large room, to travel. They all took a hold of the necklace, and glanced at each other. In the end, Salazar took the lead:

"Blood-tree."

It had an immediate effect. It was like being tugged forward, and then moved within an instant. They all fell in a heap in front of the Nightmare Lord's manor, and Salazar coughed.

"Well, that's one way to travel," he said.

"That was brilliant," Rowena said and took a hold of the necklace. "I need to know how to make this!"