Godric Gryffindor was a wide-eyed fool, and Salazar Slytherin made sure to tell him that with some regularity. No one denied that he was a genius, Godric already knew that fact, too well at times. But he was undoubtedly also a fool, and for Salazar, telling him as much was doing his duty as a friend.
Most of the time, Godric's foolishness was innocuous enough, harming only himself, but this time it went too far.
"You want to allow who to go to our school?" Rowena demanded.
"There are wizards born of muggles too! We could take them under our wing, teach them! Living among muggles is dangerous for wizards, we have to help them!" Godric exclaimed.
"Godric, you are a fool!" Salazar said, his usual friendly admonishment turned harsh with anger. "Muggles want to kill us, why do you think their brood is any different?"
"But they're wizards-" Godric insisted.
Salazar interrupted, "No! They're muggles born with magical abilities, who if given the chance would destroy our already fragile, tentative world, and you want to give them the skills to do it!"
"But you've seen the burnings, Salazar! If anyone's in danger, it's those kids, being born with powers that they can't control, only to be killed when they use them!"
"That is quite enough!" Helga declared, finally speaking up, but this time she was not the voice of reason Salazar had hoped for. "Salazar, your concerns are understandable, and we must be careful," - she shot a glare at Godric - "But Godric is right, these children are in danger, we must do what we can to save them."
"What about the rest of us?" Salazar demanded, forcing himself to his feet, his hands on the table. "What if they decide to turn on us, like their parents? We would just be arming them!"
"The reason their parents are so afraid of us is because we let young muggle-borns grow up without ever learning how to control their powers," Helga said, her voice still level despite the heat of the argument around her.
"What's done is done," Rowena said. "If our ancestors knew what would happen, they would have acted differently, but now is the time to protect ourselves from a threat that exists. Salazar is right, knowing the truth would only make it worse now."
"That's why we hide ourselves from muggles, but this is about magical children!" Godric exclaimed, standing with his hands on the table, to mirror Salazar.
"Who says they would behave any differently from their parents!" Salazar shouted back.
"Gentlemen, calm down." Helga said, "Sit, like civilized people, if you don't mind."
Reluctantly, both men returned to their chairs.
Helga continued, "We must stop this vicious cycle of fear when we can, or things will get no better in future generations. I fear that it is too late already, but we must try."
Salazar was about to speak, but she motioned for silence.
"I do not think that the children will turn against us when they find out the truth," Helga said. "They are all frightened by what they do not understand. Once they understand, their fear will vanish. They are just children, scared with nowhere else to turn. And if in the future, things do improve, then we will have set a precedent of cooperation with muggles. I do not believe that this time of darkness will last forever."
Rowena nodded in assent, "I see your reason. Still, I suggest we try with one muggle child and see whether that succeeds before we allow more into our sanctum."
"You are fools, the lot of you!" Salazar said, standing once more, "Given the tools and the knowledge, they will kill us all! You've all seen the massacres!"
"They're children, Salazar, children!" Godric mirrored him again.
"They're not our children, they're muggle children, and that's how they should stay! But you want to invite them into one of our sacred- our few safe places! That will be the death of all wizard-kind!" With that, Salazar turned and left the 'war room' of the old palace, ignoring the others' protest. Let them be fools! He would protect them from themselves, if need be.
Of course this duty fell upon him. They didn't think, not even Rowena! He would not be party to the destruction of wizarding-kind. But he would protect them when they discovered the inevitable and he had just the plan…
"Salazar! Wait up!" It was Godric, running to catch up with him.
"Go away, you've made your choice, you don't need to involve me in it." Salazar turned away.
Godric followed. "It's our school, the four of us started it together, it wouldn't be right to do anything without one of us!"
Salazar stopped and spun to face him. "It wouldn't be right to lead muggles to the place where we're supposed to be educating and protecting wizarding children. But you obviously don't have a problem with that."
"Salazar, don't be like that! Rowena, Helga, and I all agree!"
"And I don't."
"You can't dictate what goes for all of us. You can have no muggle-borns in your house, but you can't prevent the rest of us. We decided when we started that it wouldn't be fair for any of us to have that kind of power…"
"This isn't just an administrative matter, Godric, this is a matter of life and death! Fairness doesn't compare. I don't want to have any part in this disaster." Salazar turned and continued on his way.
"Salazar, that's not how it works!" Godric called after him, but he was gone.
It had been decided. The others had sealed their fate and he could not stop them, but there was still something Salazar Slytherin could do before he left - and leave he would. Deep in the bowels of the castle lived the Basilisk. His unique gift with Parseltongue had enabled him to speak with the beast on multiple occasions. He would give it instructions, to be called upon when it was needed - when the others' folly eventually caught up with them, and all their students. They would not like it, but when the need came, he only hoped that they would not hesitate too long to use it.
Note: This story was edited in July 2018 for cross-posting on Archive of Our Own.