3,458***WARNING*** This chapter contains both psychological torture and physical torture to Umbridge. She is a woman, and Salazar and Godric are men. This may be disturbing to some readers! ***
*A/N* It has been previously mentioned in this story that Godric has a dark past. In this chapter we see one of the worst moments of that past. This is a chapter of disgusting actions and happenings, but it has also been a long time coming.
***THIS WILL BE DISTURBING TO SOME READERS! ***
Chapter 63
Torture & Understanding
An unearthly scream ripped through the prison portion of Hogwarts, but Salazar only grinned at the sound. It had been six weeks since Godric had placed Umbridge in one of the cells, and Salazar's anger towards the woman had finally abated somewhat, but a part of him still burned for revenge.
He wanted that woman to suffer.
"I knew it! I knew it! You all wanted to take over the Ministry!" She screamed, as the copy of the Daily Prophet with Rita's article was thrown out of her cell.
Salazar grinned as he stepped in front of her cell door, which caused her to shrink back against the back wall.
"Yes, though not for the reasons you think. We just don't want Voldemort putting his people in key positions. At least with us in charge, and the Wizengamot effectively cleaning itself up, we are in a better position to fight him."
"LIES!" Umbridge screamed. "You'll never get away with this!"
"Oh but we already have, you stupid woman." Salazar hissed maliciously. "But now that it is the Christmas Holiday, I have more free time on my hands and I think it's time for you to pay for your treatment of Ron and Hermione. Not to mention the damage you've caused since you came to Hogwarts."
"But you're one of the good guys." She said with a smirk. "You're all talk Potter. You don't have the guts…"
"Crucio!"
The scream that ripped through the prison portion was loud and filled with pain, but Salazar watched the woman writhe and squirm as he held his wand on her. He let up after a moment or so, but he burst out laughing when she threw up all over the cell floor.
"Still think I don't have the guts?" He hissed. "Now get your arse up woman. I'm not done with you yet."
She whimpered and choked on some of her vile as Salazar ripped open her cell door, but she tried in vain to scramble out of the way of his hands. He reached down and hauled Umbridge to her feet, and promptly apparated into the one place Umbridge didn't want to be.
"Hello Toad." Nora said with a silky voice, even though Umbridge had no idea what she said.
"Welcome to the Chamber of Secrets." Salazar said, as he roughly shoved her to the floor.
Umbridge screamed again when Emeralda made a snapping motion in their direction, but Salazar only burst out laughing, along with the other person that was there.
"Was she predictable Salazar?" Godric asked, as he stood up from a small desk that had been placed inside the Chamber.
"Of course. She also said I didn't have the guts to carry out any torture, but I put that doubt to rest." He said with a grin, as he once again hauled the shaking woman to her feet.
"You're not going to kill me." She spat, as she nervously eyed both Emeralda and Nora.
Nora was sitting on the little desk watching them with glee, but she wasn't the only thing on it. A bunch of blank parchment and a familiar sharp black quill was also sitting there.
Godric caught her eyeing it and grinned. "Recognize that quill?" He asked with a chuckle. "You should."
"Lines with my own quill?" She scoffed. "I thought you'd come up with something better than that."
Salazar burst out laughing. "She thinks that is the only thing…"
"Apparently." Godric interrupted with a smile.
Umbridge scoffed again, but a malicious gleam sprang up in her eye as she looked at Godric.
"Godric Gryffindor," she said with a sickly-sweet smile, "is nothing more than a man who tortures an unarmed woman. Oh what your house would say to this." She hissed, causing Godric to chuckle.
"You have no idea, but what the students don't know won't hurt them, now will it?" He said, shoving her down into the tiny uncomfortable chair. "Let me tell you something about me woman. I have a very dark past. You know all those rumors about Salazar? About how he was a blood thirsty monster who hated muggleborns, half-bloods, and the like? I started those, because at the time I was mad at him. I'll spare you the details, but I will say that I became the monster I painted him to be." He hissed.
"I'm still an unarmed woman." She said, spitting into his face.
Godric chuckled darkly as he wiped the spit off his face, but then he got right in her face.
"I had a feeling you were going to say something like that, but I'm here to tell you, I don't care." He whispered, as Salazar looked on with a smirk.
"Showing your true colors Gryffindor?" Umbridge asked with a snarl.
"Nope, I'm just allowing you to see the man I once was." He said, pulling out an extremely old envelope containing some muggle pictures.
One by one he laid grotesque photos down in front of her. Umbridge's eyes widened as she caught sight of five different women who had been brutality murdered and mutilated, but as Godric showed her the last crime scene photo, she threw up again.
"Five different woman, all muggles, all prostitutes. They were innocent of any real crime, but I just fancied them. They were convenient, and I decided to play with them. I wanted to see the fear in their eyes, and I just wanted to hear them scream." Godric whispered in her ear, causing to her start shaking. "They called me Jack the Ripper." He whispered again, as Salazar glanced at him in complete shock.
He had not expected that.
Umbridge however, whimpered loudly.
"Lies." She said whispered in terror.
"Oh, so you have heard of me?" Godric said in a silky voice.
"Even the Wizarding World knows of Jack the Ripper." Umbridge said looking up at him in horror.
"Yes, we do." Godric said with a sick sadistic smile. "It was a time of terror in the Whitechapel District. The Daily Prophet was even broadcasting the murders of the savage muggle who was murdering innocent women. Little did they know, it was a wizard!" He suddenly cried, bringing his fist down hard on top of the desk.
Umbridge let out a terrified scream, but Godric only laughed.
"Scream for me Dolores." He said, as he looked her right in the eye. "Scream for me."
And she did, simply because Salazar cast another cruciatus curse on her.
"Cutting curse." Godric said, pointing towards the last photo of a woman sprawled out on a bed. "Simple, effective, precise, and to the point. I can still hear her screaming." He whispered, causing Umbridge to begin dry heaving. "They were innocent women, so what do you think I could do to you?" He asked. "You dared to raise your sadistic hand to mere children UNDER MY ROOF!" He shouted, causing Umbridge to scream in fright. "YOU DARE LAY A HAND ON A CHILD!? Not even I was that kind of monster."
"I'M SORRY!" She cried, causing Godric to chuckle darkly.
"Too late." He hissed, as he sent a cutting curse to her arm.
It didn't do anything more than create a mild cut on her arm, but it was enough to make her scream again. Then Godric scoffed at her and turned to Salazar, who was eyeing him with worry.
"She's pathetic Salazar. Break her mind open like a piñata, then feed her to Emeralda."
"No please." Umbridge whimpered, as she cast a worrying glance to Salazar. "I'm sorry. Please." She begged, as tears ran down her face."
"I'm not going to kill her Godric. Death would be too easy on her. I want her to suffer." Salazar said with a smirk, even though internally he was worried about his best friend.
"I'll be over here then, relishing her screams." Godric replied with a gleam in his eye Salazar had never seen before.
Salazar watched him walk a few feet away and conjure up a squashy armchair, but then he looked backed at Umbridge, who had tears pouring down her face.
And he smiled at her.
"Now you deal with me." He whispered, causing Umbridge to start another round of screaming as he cast yet another torture curse at her.
This went on for about five minutes or so, but eventually Salazar stopped. Umbridge was now nothing more than a shivering sack of tears and vomit, but Salazar didn't care. He made her get up off the slimy stone floor, and plopped her down into the tiny uncomfortable chair and handed her the blood quill.
"You will fill up four pieces of parchment, back and front. You will write, 'I must not piss off Salazar'. Begin." He hissed, causing a very shaky Umbridge to pick up the quill.
Her screams began again when she was about halfway through the first page, but Salazar kept glancing nervously towards Godric, who only sat in the chair with his eyes closed and a small smile on his face.
Umbridge kept screaming from the pain in her hand, but she wasn't even able to complete one of the pieces of parchment, much less four of them. Salazar scoffed at her again.
"And you were going to make Ron and Hermione write three pages." He said, holding up the said number of fingers in front of her tear streaked face. "What's the matter Dolores, can't take what you dish out?"
"Please." She begged, causing Salazar to chuckle darkly.
"I'm not done with you yet." He said, raising his wand and causing her to whimper. "Legilimens!" He cried, and dove into her mind.
Salazar was actually not expecting Umbridge to have substantial occlumency shields, but she did. It took him a few minutes to break them down, even after everything she just went through. When he did get into her mind, he found nothing of any real use, much to his disappointment. Umbridge was not in league with Voldemort at all, but to his complete disgust, he discovered that she had believed that he was back all along. He also discovered plans she wanted to implement should Voldemort ever take over the Ministry, and something called the Muggleborn Registration Commission was extensively planned out.
It only made him hate the woman even more.
Once Salazar was finished pilfering through her mind, it took everything he had not to kill the woman right then and there. Death was too easy on her, and he wanted her to suffer for everything she had done and everything she would have done.
"Nora," he said, looking over at her, where she had been coiled up on the stone floor the whole time. "Bite her."
"With pleasure Speaker!" She cried, and proceeded to sink her fangs into the wrist of the passed-out woman lying on the floor.
Once Nora was done ejecting every last bit of venom she had into Umbridge's wrist, Salazar scoffed at the woman in disgust. Then he turned towards Godric.
To Salazar's complete shock, he was no longer sitting in the chair and he had no idea how long Godric had been gone.
"Watch her." Salazar said, as he looked at his two beloved snakes. "And make sure she doesn't move. I have to find Godric. I'm worried about him."
"As you wish Master." Emeralda said with a nod of her large head. "I doubt she will be getting up anytime soon, but Fish Bait and I won't let her escape."
"I know you won't." He said, then he apparated out of the Chamber.
Salazar actually found Godric in the first place he looked, which was Godric house in the Forbidden Forest. When Salazar entered, he found Godric sitting at his small kitchen table with a large glass of firewhiskey sitting next to him and his head buried in his hands as he stared at the top of the table.
"Godric?" He asked cautiously as he moved to sit down next to him. When Godric didn't reply, Salazar placed a hand on his shoulder. "Godric?"
"I had to go." Godric whispered quietly. "I was enjoying her screams much more than I should have been. I had to get out of there."
"I'm sorry." Salazar replied. "I shouldn't have asked you to be there."
"It's not your fault." Godric said as he shook his head, but then he looked right at Salazar. "Are you disgusted with me?"
Salazar furrowed his brow in confusion. "No. Why would you ask that?"
"Because I would be." Godric replied as he looked back down at the table. "Being Jack the Ripper is only one example of what my past was like."
"I know that we have never talked about your past Godric, but I truly see no need—"
"No need!?" Godric cried. "Salazar, after learning what you just learnt about me, how can you sit there and pretend—?"
"I'm not pretending anything, Godric!" Salazar exclaimed. "I truly don't see the need to dredge up literal ancient history!"
"But…"
"No!" Salazar shouted. "No." He repeated more calmly. "Now you listen to me, and you get this through your thick-headed Gryffindor brain. You are my brother. I love you. NOTHING will ever change that. We all have dark pasts. We all have done horrible things, but tell me, why should I crucify you for your sins, when you are already doing that to yourself? If you ever need to talk about all the things you have done, I'm here to listen and help you if you want me to."
Godric opened and closed his mouth several times, but then he sighed loudly and shook his head.
"Salazar, it's not that. Merlin helped me get through all of that. I just don't understand why you can dismiss…"
"There is nothing to understand!"
"Will you shut up and let me finish!" Godric cried, causing Salazar to blink rapidly at him in shock. "I'm sorry." Godric said as he looked at Salazar. "I'm sorry, but please let me finish. I just don't understand how we were able to pick up right where we left off. It's been almost nine hundred years since I last saw you, and I just don't understand how we were able to do that. I don't understand how you were able to forgive me for what I did to your good name. I don't understand how you can't hate me for my past. Killing the occasional wizard in a pub fight, or causing someone to be killed accidently is one thing, but being Jack the Ripper…it's madness! I don't understand how you can just look past all that." He said with a frustrated sigh.
"Do you really want to know?" Salazar asked, causing Godric to nod as if it were a stupid question. "I'll put it in a way that is easy for you to understand. I can forgive you for trashing my name, being Jack the Ripper, and everything else…for the same reason Nehum could."
Godric stared at him for several long minutes, but after a while, Salazar grasped Godric's hand tightly.
"You changed, Godric." He whispered as he gave his best friend a small smile. "You changed." He repeated as his voice cracked a little. "Yes, it is true that nine hundred years separated us, but that night almost three years ago, I saw my best friend. I saw Godric Gryffindor. I didn't see Jack the Ripper. I didn't see the man who trashed my name. I didn't see the man you wanted to kill me. I saw my…best…friend." Salazar said, as tears streamed down his face. "I saw my brother. I saw the man whom I have wanted forgiveness from for the last nine hundred years. I heard the words I had longed to hear. I heard you tell me 'I told you so'. You changed Godric. So I will ask you this one more time. Why should I crucify you for your sins, when you already crucify yourself? Who in the hell am I to judge you?"
Godric stared into Salazar's tear streaked face, and he too began to cry.
"You really do mean that, don't you?" He asked.
"Yes, I do." Salazar whispered in a desperate attempt to make him understand. "Godric, I love you. You're my brother and my best friend. You were always there for me when I needed you the most. You don't know this, but you reentered my life three years ago when I desperately needed you." Salazar said, as he began to outright sob. "I needed you, and you came." He said as he began to sob even harder. "I was alone. I was scared, and I was beginning to doubt myself. I didn't know how much strength I had left in me to carry out this barmy arse plan of mine. Yes, I had Nicolas, yes I had Perenelle, yes I had Merlin, yes I had Severus, but dammit Godric, I didn't have you!" Salazar cried, as he slipped out of his seat and crumpled to the floor, where he totally broke down into tears.
Godric was out of his seat in an instant, and they both sat on the floor as they held onto each other tightly.
"I didn't have you." Salazar repeated, once he found his voice again. "But then, there you were. You came charging back into my life in all your bloody Gryffindor glory." He said with a quiet laugh, causing Godric to chuckle slightly as they both sat on the floor and rocked back and forth.
"I think we were both able to pick up right where we left off nine hundred years ago, because it was what we both wanted to do. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to do that." Godric said softly, as Salazar nodded.
"It was like the last nine hundred years never happened. We had each other and that's all that mattered." Salazar said in agreement. "I don't care about your past Godric. I truly don't. My selfish nature won't let me. I got what I wanted, so damn the rest. I don't care." He said firmly.
"Simply for my own sake, I'm grateful for that damnable selfish nature of yours." Godric whispered, as he continued to hold Salazar in an upright position. "I understand now my friend. I truly do. I understand. I understand." He said in a reassuring whisper, as he laid his cheek against the side of Salazar's head.
They both started to cry again, but they stayed like that for a long time. Just the two of them sitting there on the floor, holding onto each other for dear life, but it was in that moment that they both realized that neither of them was going to go anywhere.
Ever.
It truly was Salazar and Godric again. Gryffindor and Slytherin, Slytherin and Gryffindor. They were one fluid, cohesive unit. If one was going in a single direction, the other would follow. If someone messed with one, the other wouldn't be far behind. They were side by side, and neither of them would do anything to change that. They were brothers again.
The silence stretched on for several hours, but neither of them moved. They just sat there lost in their own thoughts. It was a comfortable silence though, and they sat there until the sun began to set.
As darkness over took Godric's small house, they finally let out a small sigh at the same time, which caused them both to chuckle quietly. However, a silent, soft burst of magic seemed to pass through the small house, and right after that, they both felt two different magical sensations wash over them.
It was as if two people had softly caressed their faces.
Tears once again began to fall from Salazar and Godric's eyes as they stared into the darkness, hoping to see the hands that had touched them.
"Helga." Salazar whispered softly.
"Rowena." Godric also whispered.
We love you both.
It wasn't a whisper, it wasn't even spoken words. It was simply something Salazar and Godric knew, as if it had been spoken straight into their hearts.
"We love you too, and we miss you so much." They whispered together.
That sat there for several long minutes before they helped each other off the floor, where they had been sitting on for hours, but then Salazar looked at Godric and nodded.
"I guess I better go put Umbridge back in her cell." He said with a tired sigh.
"Wait, what?" Godric asked, looking at him in confusion.
"She was unconscious when I left her in the Chamber. She isn't going anywhere." He said.
"But you left her with Nora and Emeralda." Godric said with a chuckle.
"Yeah so?"
"You left that woman with two wild animals, who have minds of their own and who despise her." He said.
It suddenly dawned on Salazar what Godric was saying.
"Son of Morgana!" Salazar cried, causing Godric to burst out laughing.
Then they apparated straight into the Chamber.
*A/N* I know this was a hard chapter to read, and I understand if you all feel the need to drop it, but I hope you will still stick with it. There is still a lot more to come, but I assure that nothing like THIS will happen again.
I know that this is probably the shortest chapter I have written for this story, but I felt the need to make this its own chapter. This is a topic I have been building towards ever since Godric made his appearance in this story. I have been trying to work this in for a very long while, but I finally found the perfect place for it to fit into.
I'm an emotional wreck right now because of this chapter, and I hope that doesn't sound stupid to you all, but it's true. I think I need to write something majorly off the wall and funny now, so I'm going to go work on my next chapter of Boredom is Deadly. It's a crackfic that I started not too long ago, and it's the perfect way to let off the emotional steam I've built up because of this chapter. I will have an update for C&C after I've gotten that chapter of Boredom is Deadly up though, so don't think it's going to be a long wait, because it won't be.
I will have the Potters, Remus, Hagrid, and everything that I promised in the last chapter, in the next chapter, but this one needed to be on it's own.
I hope you all understand.
I haven't said this in a while, but thank you to everyone who has Fav'ed Followed and Reviewed! It really does mean a lot to me! Thank you so much, and I hope you continue to enjoy this story!