« Still, there is something I don't understand »
Harry was pondering something in the library, with his friends. They had, for once, a work to do in History. A five inch parchment on the life of one founder of the school. A pretty interesting idea…
« What do you don't understand Harry? »
Said Hermione, excited that, for once, she was not the only one putting her brain in their works.
« How did Salazard to hide the basilisk. I don't mean only the chamber of secret… ALL THE CANALISATION WERE MADE TO ALLOW IT to travel freely in the school! Hell, I still don't understand where it came from. »
Hermione opened her mouth… Then closed it. Actually she didn't have the answer for that one and it was a pretty good question.
« It means that Salazar somehow managed to build all of it, without any question from anyone. It also means, according to this book, that someone build the girls bathroom on the entrance of the chamber of secrets… AND STILL DIDN'T NOTICE THE FLIPPING GIANT SLIDE! »
« QUIET »
Said the old librarian, with her pinchy voice. The students became quiets once again, but the questions Harry said plagued their mind… Except Ron, who was sleeping?
Harry whispered.
« After all, all toilets are « recent » addition from the 18th century! So… How? How he did it? »
Hermione still did not have the answer…
« Actually it is fairly simple. »
The voice came from next to them. From behind a giant book, whose title was « Legendary beast who might not exist and where to not find them ». Strange. It was a blonde girl, and Harry could slightly remember her speaking with Ginny a few times. Probably a friend of her. Something about her was…Strange, but the good kind. The fun one.
« Yes? » Asked Harry, wanting to know the sweet answer from the young lady… Hermione wanting to know too.
« Salazard was a plumber. » said the blonde girl, as if it was the most normal thing of all times.
« A plumber. » Deadpanned Hermione.
« Well actually, he was inspired by the Romans work of Aqueduct and deduced it would come around in a few centuries. He knew sorcerers tend to go to the most direct solution. Not the easiest, the smartest or the best. The most direct. Also, they strangely lack any kind of curiosity and like to just stay in what they know… However, I think it is just human. »
« Hmm interesting theory, miss? » Asked Harry, smiling to the theory and having the same advice about sorcerers…
« Lovegood. Luna Lovegood. » Said the girl, absently. It was weird, but still, Harry liked it. « And I have proof. This. »
It was a book. A normal book, titled « Story of the plumbery and the greatest plumber of all times. »
« Look at page 213. »
They did. They contained a loud laugh, with great difficulties. It was clearly Salazard Slytherin. He was even explicitly named as such… with the mention he liked to talk big, and was the first of his time to want to make mandatory bathrooms to reduce sickness… With a little side note. He was mentioned to be an excellent father to his children and a kind man who worked hard all his life to better the life of others.
« May be it was a homonym? I mean, if the description is correct, he is way kinder than the one in Hogwart books. » Said Hermione, frowning.
« … Well I have another theory. Salazard was a nice guy. »
Everyone turned to her.
« Well, his point of view made sense, as it was a witch hunt time. Taking kids who were not from their world was quite a big risk for everyone. So yeah, it was logical to do that at that time. I don't think he would have maintained his way all his life if he knew how it would be today. » Luna seemed quite sad about it, and Harry could understand why. It… was sad. If she was right, Salazard was a good man, whose intent was distorted after his death…
« Then why hide a basilisk to kill the mudblood? » Hermione wanted to debunk her theory, mainly because she would have to start her work from scratch.
« Was the Basilisk bad? » Asked Luna, quietly. Everyone stayed silent… The battle was legendary now.
« What do you mean? He… »
« He killed one person in many attack. And he was a giant snake. An intelligent serpent who knew the castle on the back of his tail. Let's see the attack in this year. Every time, it was only a petrifaction. Once, it is luck. Twice, there is a doubt. Thrice? It is on purpose. I mean, he is a big snake. A really big one. He wanted to kill a student? He would have swallowed them or just bite them. »
She… Had a very valid point and Harry began to think…?
« May be… He was not there for that. I mean… Now that I think about it… Snake don't see with their eyes. Well not well. They taste heat with their tongue. He could still « see » me during our fight. »
The young boy was struck with realization…
« He didn't want to kill me. He let me kill him so I could live. »
Luna was a bit sadder with her face.
« And now I wonder. If the basilisk was not there to kill Mudblood… Why was he there? »
Everyone, except Ron, looked each others…
« Shall we see? »
…
Let just say they were surprised. Behind the mouth of the big Salazard, was… A study. A quiet and ordained study, protected from the woes of age by strong magic… With many books, and two pictures from a long time ago. One with four people, probably the founders. They seemed happy and friendly… And another with the man they identified as Salazard, who was with a woman, probably his wife… and many children. More than what was accounted in the book, with three pure blood heirs only to Salazard. Maybe Squibs? A lot of squibs? Or… Was Salazard's wife a muggle? And these children… Not magic?
According to old documents, it was the first theory… And he became plumber in first place, only to make them a place in the muggle world. That is how he became sure that one day, mudblood and pure blood could coexist. He had to hide his idea because he needed his followers. He explained how he had to make « disappear » all of his children born without his gift…
And how he was sad from the fallout with his friend. He knew they wouldn't understand. He knew. But he had to do it, because otherwise, there would have been a chance for the school to die before it could thrive.
He asked to whoever found the place, most likely his heir, he hoped, to bring truth about him… And possibly check how their cousins, from the squib branches of the family were. Because blood was the most important, not magic. You had to protect your family.
« I think he wanted us to use that. »
Said Luna pointing a long tapestry… Who was actually… a genealogical tree? And immense one, and one it… there was only a few name still on it.
Four of them make Harry cringe…
« OH YOU HAVE TO BE …. »
Petunia, Marge and Dudley. And him, of course.
…
« So to be exact… The most exact possible… In your work, you claim that Salazard was a plumber, to help his secrets squibs children to have a life in the muggle world, and an especially good one. He proposed to make the entire plumbery of the school, and his friends accepted. He also laid the groundwork for additional addition, including bathroom, so nobody would bother digging in Hogwart or checked how it worked assuming « It is magic »… And it worked. »
« Yup. So he thought he was the best of the four founders because he was the smartest and most cunning with a great capacity to plan for the future »
« Also, he was actually not for the eradication of mudblood, but wanted to restrict their access to school to prevent witch hunter… »
« He made great books about the danger of consanguinity. »
Dumbledore was… astonished. It was quite the exceptional discovery and the children actually had proof to back it.
« My only regret now is killing the basilisk. It was supposed to be a guardian for Hogwart in its darkest hours, to protect the children. That is why the only one he ever killed was because… He could not twist the wording of the order given to him. »
The old man was tired, but… He smiled. Hooo… He loved to cause trouble for theses idiot pureblood people. He loved and he had now a great weapon for that effect.
« Also we have the proof that Tom Riddle was mixed blood according to the tapestry. It would be fun to reveal it no? »
Dumbledore smiled. He actually knew it but did not have the proof to back it up for a long time. Let's see how his old pupils fared without his support.
…
That is how Luna Lovegood joined the gang, at the beginning of the third year, bringing a good dose of weird and fun in their group. She made Hermione screamed a few times with her farfetched theories, but they actually became good friends as the two brains of the group. Ron had to stop calling Moony and Harry was happy to have one more friend that was quite funny and who did not care the slightest about the Boy-Who-Lived…
Simply because of a story about a founder who was a secret plumber.