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-:¦:- Beedle the Bards Unknown Tales
 In Twin Vice, Beedle the Bard, aka Sir Hector Oddness, was a wandering storyteller and archaeologist in the 17th century who quested after the Deathly Hallows. Through his travels he uncovered a great many truths about Salazar Slytherin and his legendary mother, the Snow Queen. Beedle the Bard disappeared soon after discovering Salazar Slytherin's house in London (the modern-day "Weasley Manor"). A portrait of Sir Hector Oddness now hangs in the living room on the first floor of the house.
Here you will find a few of his lesser known tales.
The Tale of the Winter Witch
There are many tales of the Winter Queen, but only one of them is true.
It is true when they say her hair is white as snow, her eyes dark as coals; her face pale as Death. It is true that she is as old as the mountains; that she has as many names as the stars have, and how a cloak of white rabbits falls over her shoulder.
It is also true what they speak of her serpent mirror, Ouroboros, the never-ending silver chain. Mirrors never lie, but neither can they be trusted, for mirrors are the trickiest of all magical objects. There are children in Her mirror; those who strayed too far from the forest path and found the white haired Queen with her empty eyes sitting lonely beside the glass; those who stepped through the mirror chasing dreams and flickering lights, dancing all the way. And behind the glass they remain, their hearts and names, and souls stolen away in a jar for the Winter Queen and her mirror to consume, for that is how she survives the tick-tick-ticking of the clock, for a child’s soul is much stronger than a grown-up’s.
So when you look in a mirror, dear children, remember the poor ones forgotten behind the glass, belonging to none but the dark and the Winter Queen in her cloak of white rabbits. And when you go deep into the heart of the woods in winter, you will find what became of those children. Where their blood once soaked into the earth, tall above the grass they now stand; flowers with the faces of sleeping children.
For the woods feel the loss of a child.
But the Winter Queen does not.
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Jack Frost
‘Once upon a time, there was a boy who left his mother to become a knight. Now ice runs his heart and chill blinds his eyes, and there he sits upon his throne of skulls in deepest Ironwood, where the wolf lords run – For who would befriend the winter prince, little Jack Frost, who sold his heart to the Snow Queen?’
‘On winter nights you’ll find him, children, cackling and crackling through the trees. And there you’ll find him come Christmas Day in the Fisher King’s court, playing a tune for the old Grail Lords. And then you’ll run, friends, for little Jack Frost hunts you tonight.’
‘Ah, but one day he’ll catch a real treasure, children; a fish with a ring in its belly. Just like the old tales…’
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How Werewolves Came to Be
Once upon a time, there was a girl named Gudrun who lived on the edge of the Black Forest. She was beautiful and strange, and far cleverer than any man who would be her suitor. The people in the surrounding villages often whispered of her, ‘One of the Snow-Walkers,’ they muttered, sometimes fearful, sometimes awed, ‘Definitely not one of us. Why, she could even be a Queen’.
Around her shoulders, Gudrun wore a red cloak (all the better to see her with) and often she would travel deep, deep into the forest, for she was a fearless girl who did not mind the dark places of the world. One night, as she was walking through a grove beneath a bright, full moon, she met a wolf. His name was Skald and his coat was silver and pale as the moon at which he howled. At once, Gudrun fell in love with the strangeness of his voice.
"Pretty wolf," she whispered, "why do you howl at the moon?"
"Because my brother was tricked by the cat to spend all eternity hanging there," the wolf replied, though wary. Never before had such a young girl come so willingly into his forest. "Are you not afraid of me?"
"Pretty wolf," she whispered again, running her fingers through his fur and grasping his ears; her hands were gentle but cold as ice and when she smiled, there was something very dreadful in her eyes, "the only thing I fear is Death."
From their union there came a cursed creature that was neither man nor wolf, but as terrible and cruel as the Snow Queen whom Gudrun grew up to be, and soon there were many of its kind; an army fit for her war against Godric Gryffindor.
And that is how Werewolves came into being.'
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The Snow Queen & her Sons
'Long, long ago, there lived a powerful witch who ruled a bare and barren land far in the North. The witch, who was called Gudrun, and sometimes the Snow Queen, lived in a large castle with only her mirrors and servants to amuse her; for Gudrun was a cold woman whose heart was as bitter and barren as the land she ruled, and she cared nought for the triviality of companionship.'
'On her twenty-first birthday, Gudrun was presented with the magical mirror Ouroboros, forged by the skilled fingers of Nogg the Nefarious. Nogg was a foul and wicked Goblin who hated Muggles with a passion, and spent his hours devising new and wicked charms in which he could trick them with. Amongst these charms was the sword Blackabar, who, in the midst of battle, would grow so heavy that his owner could no longer hold its weight and therefore perish in the fight; the silver bell Isil, whose sweet notes caused the listener to hear the death cries of loved ones who had suffered terrible fates; the ring Storge, whose wearer was turned pale with rage and envy, and saw only treachery and deceit in the actions of those around them.'
'But Nogg’s greatest treasure was the magic mirror, Ouroboros, whose silver frame was coiled to form the world serpent devouring its own tail. The mirror’s reflective surface was said to be composed of three scales stolen from the snake whose home was made in the legendary World Tree. Ouroboros was said to have so many spells cast upon it that even Nogg did not know its full wicked power.'
'Despite its beauty, the mirror was as rife with dark magic and mischief as its creator, for it trapped and fed upon the hearts of little Muggle girls and boys who had the unlucky misfortune to pass it. When these poor wretches caught their reflection in the mirror, they would feel so happy that they would dance, dance, dance, and dance some more until their little feet were bruised and raw. It was then, while their souls were tired and weary, that the mirror would seize the child’s heart, and leave them with the unhappy fate of seeing their gruesome deaths reflected.'
'Gudrun loved her gift at once and swore an oath that she would not marry less she find a man who matched the beauty of her mirror. Until then she would entertain herself with her reflection, for Gudrun was a very beautiful woman with hair as pale as snow and lips so red they looked painted with blood. But while there was no malice in her expression, her eyes were as hard and cold as black ice. And every time a suitor rode in from far and wide to ask her hand in marriage, the Goblins gathered on her order and cast him down to the rocks.'
'Every day the witch would go to the mirror Ouroboros and ask,
"Tell me glass,
Tell me of,
In all the worlds,
Who deserves my love?"'
'To which Ouroboros would always reply,
"Nae indeed,
Thou Queen may'st fair,
No love dost seed
in lands dwell there."'
'To this the witch would smile and retreat to her chambers, for she was happy in her cold heart. But as the years went by and her power grew, and grew, Gudrun began to wonder what would become of her after her death. What would be her legacy? And so she returned to the mirror and begged it to answer:'
'"Tell me glass,
and tell me true,
In all the worlds
In all the lands
Who deserves my love?
Tell me who!"'
'And this time the glass replied,
"Thou Queen may'st fair and beauteous bee,
The Knight Sinuous Slytherin, is he."'
'Soon thereafter, a magical portrait of Sinuous Slytherin appeared on the wall of Gudrun’s castle. Like the witch, the Knight was very handsome, but he had a dreadful face which looked very capable of dreadful things. The witch decided that she loved the man very deeply and so cut off her little finger and dropped it into a leather pouch all tied up in red string. Then she called to Nogg and said, "Make a wedding present of this to my Knight of Slytherin. And then, perhaps, I shall have a happy heart."'
'And so it was that the Knight of Slytherin and the witch Gudrun were married, and Gudrun soon bore them two twins: Sol and Salazar.'
'These twins were as different as the sun and moon. Where Salazar was proud and studious, Sol was kind and carefree, but his mother and father came to detest Sol for they saw in him a compassion for the race of Muggles which they so detested. Their rage was all the more so when Sol declared his love for a Muggle. When she heard this, Gudrun instructed Salazar to take Sol away into the dark fen, and take his life. And Salazar obliged his mother, for while he loved his twin dearly, he loved his mother all the more, and so led Sol deep into the fens and slit his throat so that it would appear the work of rogues.'
'The wicked deed was never spoken of and Salazar went on to found the first school of witchcraft and wizardry with the three greatest witches and wizard of the time. And with him, Salazar carried his family’s abhorrence for Muggles and Muggle-borns. But his beliefs clashed violently with that of Godric Gryffindor’s and he left the school in a rage.'
'After her second son’s failing, Gudrun flew into a terrible fury. Her legacy was lost, and her youth was spent, and all that remained were her cold, hard eyes of black ice. So Gudrun returned to the mirror, Ouroboros, and begged for help. The mirror obliged and a bargain was struck where by the witch’s soul was split into seven equal parts and hidden away for a thousand years...'
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"The thing about growing up with Fred and George is that you sort of start thinking anything's possible if you've got enough nerve." -- Ginny Weasley
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