Knights of the Jaded Veil | Lilizar
@licnbcrn
It happened every century or two. A rise in power, the possibility that Salazar could get what he’d always wanted, and then the stark reality that he’d have to shut everything down before the damage became irrefutable. And he fell for it every time like a child who’s been told his father had just gone to the market and would be home any minute now, though weeks have gone by. The Veil was formed from within Hogwarts, in his days before he’d left. Young allies that grew powerful and joined him as he recruited more and more more-than-able-bodied witches and wizards became his colleagues, his brothers and sisters, his confidants. Salazar felt The Veil was what the Houses of Hogwarts were originally meant to be, the true cornerstone that would not fail him.
The Veil remained vigilant while staying unnoticed by the masses, pulling in magic users from around the world that showed the greatest potential—some nearly as powerful as Salazar himself, some with minds so brilliant they deserved to be crowned as nobility, others with hearts pure enough to keep the rest of them in check. At first, it’s purpose was selfish. Salazar felt he could do everything better than his old friends, and he was going to prove it. He would take the best of the best right out from under their noses and everyone else’s, and create the greatest set of witches and wizards this age had ever seen. But it became so much more than that.
After Salazar’s fall within the halls he’d helped build from the ground up, after he’d soaked the courtyard cobblestones with the blood of the only man he’d ever had a right to call brother, things changed. The Veil became more than just revenge, it became an escape. Salazar was on the run for Godric’s murder, and without allies in the east and the eventual commandeering of Durmstang, Salazar wouldn’t have made it. It was isolated there in the cold eastern school that Salazar saw what truly had to be done to save his kind back home. Hogwarts wasn’t going to be enough, and in truth the four of them had always known that. The campus’ beginnings were rocky enough, now without him or Godric, the children wouldn’t be safe enough, let alone the entirety of wizarding kind. So Salazar gathered his brothers and sisters of The Veil, and after great, great hardship and trials, a peace treaty never meant to be honored was formed. The statute of secrecy was in it’s beginnings. Slowly, trials stopped and accusations were dying down. Salazar had aimed to allow the muggles to get comfortable and attack when they were at their most vulnerable, but it never happened.
Life got in the way. A lack of imminent threat allowed The Veil to work on other things, and one of those things was the secret to immortality. It became his obsession after an attempt on his life was made by an unknown assailant at the time, and it proved a quest that kept the true members of The Veil around. Loyalties were tested then, but the original members of The Veil all passed on and Salazar did not. He kept The Veil alive, constantly looking for new worthy members with each generation born. And it seemed with each generation, a new statute was being created and kept.
The Veil gained notariety as time went on, and though knowledge Salazar’s immortality itself had died with the first generation, there was rumor within The Veil itself in current times that there was someone else pulling the strings. Salazar was not apparent in the general population of The Veil, only it’s highest ranking officials even knew of his existence. The last time he had been outed was when he’d had to step in a few decades ago between two of his most promising elites, Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald. thankfully cover-ups were possible, memory potions had been near perfected, and anyone who’d seen his face or heard his name were taken care of. The day he’d had to get rid of those two was one of the saddest, the sheer potential that had been wasted nearly broke the cold dead heart inside Salazar.
Time still went by. Rumors were silenced and The Veil went back to normal after it’s hand in the first recognized wizarding war. The fact that the war itself remained recognized to this day was living proof of the Veil’s first failure in centuries, but it didn’t take long for another chance to arise for The Veil to do what it did best, ensure the pure survival of wizarding kind no matter the cost. This time, this chance, it was personal again. Salazar had found someone that he’d never thought would be possible after so long—her heir. The last living breathing soul to share his true blood, and Salazar saw himself as prevailing. Salazar saw this as the second chance he was waiting for since the instigation of his immortality. Sure, Tom Riddle wasn’t the only heir Salazar had come across over the years, but he was the one with the most potential.
Tom would not be just another mess Salazar would eventually have to clean up. Salazar refused to believe it, refused to allow it. In truth, his own heir wasn’t the only blood Salazar had been searching for. Like any other time before this, another would rise to meet his chosen. It had happened as such decades ago with Dumbledore, who had proved to be the bands of Grindelwald’s existence and oh, how high Salazar’s hopes had been for the madman. He wouldn’t let it happen again. For centuries Salazar had searched for the one of his own that would finish what he started, and the one of Godric’s blood who would stand in his way.
“Lily Elizabeth Evans,” The name rolled off his tongue as he addressed the first summons he’d written himself in centuries. This one was special. This summons was going to change The Veil as it was. He could feel possibility emanating off the parchment like an overwhelmingly bright aura. There was no doubt in his mind that the heir of Godric Gryffindor would be the brightest of his recruits this year.
He watched until the owl carrying her summons became nothing but a speck in the distant sky. A riddle lay in it’s claws. What seemed like a piece of parchment blank aside from Lily’s name and an emerald hued drawing of a chess piece knight was actually a map that when burnt would lead her deep into the Forbidden Forest. There she would be joined by the other recruits that managed to use the proper spell on it.
II
The night had finally come. Two weeks had gone by since the summonses had been sent out. Salazar stood cloaked inside the Forbidden Forest along with the Four Greeters, waiting for recruits to come one by one. The Greeters job was simple; when each recruit arrived they would be their final test.
