Disclaimer: All characters belong to JKR, the mother of Hogwarts.

Chapter 3

The Baron's ears perked up. Ever since returning to Hogwarts as ghosts, he and Helena had witnessed how English evolved and learned the style and grammar in each period. It had been so long since he last conversed in Old English that he thought he had heard wrongly.

Then, there was the boy's pair of eyes. The Baron had seen only one man's eyes that were darker than the coal-almost pitch black, but said man should've been dead centuries ago. A sideway glance at Helena's scrutinizing eyes told him that she might have thought he was familiar too.

Helena was stuck between getting excited or wary. Here sitting right in front of her was a boy, who looked no older than twenty years old, saying their names in Old English.

She scanned the boy from head to toe. The boy was not wearing any of the Wizarding Schools uniform. In fact, his entire outfit screamed 10th century, from the cloak and how it was fastened over the chest with the serpent brooch, to his mid-thigh length trousers and the Viking leather shoes.

From the day sleeves were added to cloaks and renamed as robes, every wizard and witch chose wearing robes as it was more convenient than tunic and cloak. The Viking leather shoes too, looked as if it belonged in the museum located at the Wizarding Ministry. Only the Baron could be seen wearing such an outfit.

Knowing that the Granger kid owns a time turner, there was likelihood that the boy was a time traveler. On the other hand, he could have been raised by parents who still speak and dress as people in the 10th century. Helena thought it was more of the former since the boy seemed to know the Baron's and her name, which suggested that he could have been a student in Hogwarts who had seen them before the runaway incident.

"Greetings, young lad." Helena said with a smile, glad that she was not rusty in speaking in her mother tongue. "Have we met before?"

Salazar scoffed. "Young lady, do you not recognize Uncle Salazar now that I have hair and no mustache?" He personally did not think that he was so unrecognizable from his older self.

Helena gasped. No wonder the aura he emitted was so familiar. But, she couldn't believe him. Uncle Salazar was gone. "Well, young lad, I find that quite preposterous. The last I saw Uncle Salazar, he was celebrating his 45th birthday and certainly not his 17th birthday."

"Please don't remind me of that horrid day. What I would do to get rid of that memory." Salazar shuddered, remembering the morning he found Rosa Gaunt in his bed. He couldn't recall how they ended up there but both he and Godric had suspected that it was Rosa's father, Ernst Gaunt's doing. He had always offered Salazar his daughter's hand in marriage to which Salazar kept declining. His relocation to the cave was also partly to avoid the father and daughter duo.

Then he remembered what he always called Helena as a child. "Now, now, do I have to tell Baron your embarrassing childhood stories or is calling you young eaglet enough?"

Helena was stunned. Only two men used that nickname. Could it really be him?

The moment the boy announced that he was Salazar, the Baron instantly believed him. That explains the eyes. He wanted to congratulate his Lord in his discovery of de-ageing potion. He wanted to welcome his Lord back to Hogwarts. He wanted to cry in joy and hug his Lord for being alive and breathing. Perhaps this is why he did not return to Hogwarts! The Room of Requirement brought him to the future!

But he couldn't. Helena had to accept that the boy is indeed her Uncle Salazar. Unlike her mother, Helena could only accept facts and evidences that are right in front of her eyes. This could be the reason why Helena could never be cleverer and outperform her mother. It was not her intelligence that failed her, but her logical brain that lacked of intuition.

On the other hand, from the many years of close relationship with his Head of House, the Baron knew that there was no such word called impossible in his dictionary. Without his Lord's open-mindedness in researching new potions and spells, as well as persistence in making things possible, the Baron daresay the students in all Wizarding schools would not have anymore materials for potions making from their 5th year onwards.

The Baron thought sadly, Not that the society knows. After all, Lord Salazar is only known as the narrow-minded pureblood bigot. He had no idea how to break this news to his Lord.

So, for now, the Baron would stay put and happily listen to whatever childhood stories his Lord was about to tell. "You see, Baron, when young Helena here was three years old, she learned the word eaglet and its meaning. So, one day when Godric and I brought her to the beach, this little eaglet here thought she could fall off the cliff, have those little wings sprouting off her back and fly. Thankfully, Godric was flying on his broom and spotted her right when she took her first step. Needless to say, that nickname was banned ever since."

The Baron had to bite his tongue to keep himself from laughing. To think that he always thought Helena was Miss Perfect ever since she was a baby.

Helena stomped her feet and protested. "I was three, Uncle Sal! Three! Must you bring that up whenever you have got the chance?"

"Your mother blinded me for one whole month for taking my eyes off her daughter." His Lord rolled his eyes. "I missed one whole month of experimentation! I swear, your mother is too cruel to me sometimes that I don't know how she ended up being one of my best friends. Just in case you've forgotten, I was trying to build you a sandcastle of Hogwarts that we envisioned. How was I supposed to concentrate on it and look after a kid with her own mind at the same time?"

Two words though did not go unnoticed even as he ranted. Salazar grinned. He did not realize how much he had missed this non-blood related niece of his. "Back to Uncle Sal instead of young lad, aren't we?"

Helena blushed. "Well, you can't show up thirty years younger and expect everyone to believe that it's you. But how?"

Salazar shrugged. "I'm hurt that you seem to have forgotten about my hobby. It's my latest experiment! What do you think? I can't wait to surprise your mother, Helga and Godric with my new look."

Helena thought with a tinge of sadness. Does he not know that all three of them have crossed over to the Other Side? He's going to be devastated.

However, Salazar mistook her dejected face as directed to herself. "I'm sorry, Helena. Nobody told me the news of you and Baron's passing. Or could it be a recent incident? Does your mother know? I would hate to bear this news to her."

Helena glanced at Baron. "Baron, what do you make of this? I'm at a loss here." She looked on the verge of tears. "How do I break this to him?"

Helena Ravenclaw was given the title The Grey Lady for a reason-her constant look of aloofness and coldness. No one had ever seen her cry or laugh. So even when Helena reverted back to their daily language, it was Helena's range of emotions that flashed on her face that halted Hermione from asking questions. In fact, there was no need of any confirmation. Helena's reaction in that span of few minutes had proven Hermione's theory.

Once Helena and the wizard started conversing, Hermione knew that she could get her wand back in no time. It was the look of familiarity on the Baron's otherwise brooding face that caught her attention though. She took a few steps to her left to take a proper look at the wizard who wore the excited face that she, Harry and Ron sported each year they reunited at the 9 ¾ Platform.

Hermione then looked between the both of them, taking note of the similar clothing style. They could be speaking in Old English! That was the period Grey Lady and the Baron came from! She connected the dots and grinned. She was bubbling with excitement at the thought of meeting someone who came a thousand years from the past, especially when said person is well and alive, unlike the two ghosts standing right before her. She had someone with direct contact with the Founders themselves who could tell her all about them. Not that the two ghosts couldn't satisfy her curiosity, but rumors had it that they refused to mention anything about the Founders period.

As Hermione was mulling over what sort of questions that she wanted to ask the wizard since there was practically no information about the Founders in the Hogwarts: a History, Baron was shocked that this was the first time Lady Helena asked for his opinion. He would have been ecstatic in normal circumstance, but this wasn't normal. It concerned his Lord, his Head of House. The Baron was always a hot-tempered man. How was one such person supposed to know how to tell someone of his three best friends' deaths?

For once, the Baron wished Lady Helena hadn't talked to him. He had no answer to her dilemma. His shoulders slumped and he gazed downwards at the floor as if words of advice would appear if he stared harder. "Baron," he heard the whisper of his name followed by a sniffle.

Seeing young Helena's miserable face made Salazar wonder how Rowena was coping with her daughter's death. He guessed that a burial had been held but why was he not notified. Rowena could've passed him a message using that owl of hers that she trained. She didn't want to take any chance that the owl could be tracked to where he lived. He reasoned with himself. All he could think of was how he was not there for his best friend when she needed comfort most. He regretted leaving Hogwarts.

Automatically, his hands shot out to pat Helena's head as an act to cheer her up only to find his hand passing through her, as if she was thin air.

Suddenly, it was as if a dam broke and hot tears streamed down Helena's cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Helena. It was insensitive of me to do that knowing your current state." He wanted to hug her so badly; to sooth her like how he did when she had her little bouts of nightmares during his occasional eaglet-sitting sessions.

"Hush, child."Salazar soothed gently. "Everything will be alright. I'll return to Hogwarts and take care of your mother once I find a way to get out of here, wherever I am at."

The serpent brooch, her wary side reminded her and Hermione's excitement instantly deflated. If he were to be from the Founders' era, the serpent would suggest that he was placed in Slytherin. No wonder he's a powerful wizard. He could've been practicing dark magic! What with Salazar Slytherin being his Head of House.

She had to find out whether he was friend or foe. If he strongly believed in blood purity, he needed to be isolated from the rest of the world. He couldn't find out about his Head of House's descendant's plan to cleanse the world of muggleborns. If he did, he would've gone over to the Death Eaters's side and that was a situation Hermione thought they had to avoid at all cost seeing how his advanced skills in dueling would be an asset to the enemy.

The sound of crying snapped Hermione out of her reverie. She looked up to see Grey Lady choking in tears.

"What did you do to her?" She yelled at the wizard and pointed at the weeping figure. There was no way Grey Lady, the emotionless, would've cried unless the wizard provoked her. Great, Hermione, you've been screaming at the wizard ever since you met him even now when you don't even know whether Grey Lady cried because of him. For some reason, her inner voice made her feel guilty for judging the wizard too quickly.

The wizard held up his hands, a universal sign for 'I did nothing!' though it might not have been one in the medieval age.

The Baron could not take Hermione's questioning gaze anymore. His Lord did not deserve that. "No, Miss Granger. Lord Salazar would never wish any harm on his niece."

Hermione continued staring at the wizard. Lord Salazar sounds familiar. Niece? Did Rowena have any siblings? But he and Grey Lady do not look alike. Then she remembered what the sorting hat said. Friends. The other founders could've treated Grey Lady like their own niece. So, Lord Salazar could only be….

"By Lord Salazar, you don't mean Salazar Slytherin, do you?" Hermione asked the Baron, all the while watching the wizard. He's really young. Shouldn't the Slytherin snake be in his fifties? Does dark magic maintain the practitioner's youth?

"Of course!" The Baron proclaimed before realizing his mistake. Here, he was telling a muggleborn that the wizard who supposedly started the bloody purity ideology was standing right in front of her. Not any muggleborn, but the smartest witch of her age.

A surge of anger coursed through Hermione as the Baron confirmed that the wizard before her was indeed the cause of the prejudice against muggleborns like her. "Accio wand!" she exclaimed and for the first time, she managed to retrieve it wandlessly.

The wizard before her was the cause of the grief she endured from the insults such as filthy little mudblood. She cast a freezing charm at the wizard.

The wizard before her was the cause of the war seventeen years ago that took Harry's parents' life and the impending war that might kill Harry too, or so the prophecy said, even if Hermione wasn't much of a believer in that Trelawney fool. She wanted to place a few slicing hex, but she couldn't. She wouldn't stoop as low as the Death Eaters.

"Incarcerous." She conjured thick ropes to wrap the wizard onto the chair.

"You can't tie my Lord like that!" The Baron's eyes widened.

"Why can't I?" Hermione glared at him.

"Because he deserves much more respect than that, you little witch!" The Baron's hot temper showed itself as he went towards Hermione and threw a punch at her, but to no avail. His ghostly figure went right past her.

"I suppose not if he teaches you to hit young ladies." Hermione replied and walked towards Grey Lady who was only sniffling by then. "Grey Lady, are you feeling better?"

Helena looked up at the young witch and nodded her head.

"Helena, this little witch here immobilized your uncle and tied him with those filthy ropes." The Baron glided towards Helena and pointed at his poor Lord.

"If I don't, he would be joining his descendant the moment he finds out about it." Hermione explained to Helena.

"No, he won't. He-" does not even believe in blood purity was what the Baron wanted to relay but was cut off by the constriction of his throat.

"Why am I not surprised that you would side your Head of House." Hermione pointed her wand at the ghost, even though she knew nothing would happen if she decided to hex him. "Don't you forget, his little pet was the monster that killed Myrtle, a muggleborn."

"No, Mehen-" He heaved hoarsely and started coughing.

Helena wiped away her tears and guided the Baron to the unoccupied wing-backed chair, rubbing his back soothingly. "Sit and I'll take it from here."

She stood in front of Salazar before facing Hermione. "Miss Granger, do you trust me?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow but nodded nonetheless. "Of course, Grey Lady."

"Would you please remove the freezing charm from Unc- I mean, Lord Salazar Slytherin? I have a theory that I would like to test." Helena gave her what she hoped was a reassuring smile. She could only pray that the plan she had in mind would lift the curse off them. Should it not work, her Uncle Sal would be subjected to the 'punishments' for things that were not his fault.

Hermione thought that the Grey Lady was mental. Despite him being her so called uncle, she should've known of his fallout with her mother and the other two Founders. "But, Grey Lady, he's-"

"The man behind all the pureblood ideologies, I know. But Miss Granger, it is imperative that I talk to him about certain things." Helena decided to appeal to her using her given name. "Hermione, I promise I'll explain and answer to whatever queries you have once I'm done."

It was the first time that the Grey Lady addressed a student other than the surname, and the said student was not from Ravenclaw. As if being confunded, Hermione waved her wand and the freezing charm ended.

"The ropes too,"

"What? There is no way-"

Once again, Hermione was cut off by the Grey Lady. "He's harmless. Hermione, please?"

Adding a Hermione to her request seems to be the magic word instead of please. Helena took satisfaction in seeing the ropes untied and Salazar flexed his arms.

"Helena, would you please tell this friend of yours not to attack me at any chance she gets? I'm impressed that a young witch like her managed to catch me off guard and can't wait to have a friendly duel with her. But an old man like me could only take this much of offensive spells a day."

Helena snorted. "Aren't you back to your youthful self? Shouldn't you have more stamina?"

"Tease." Salazar then looked towards the Baron. "Is he okay? I don't suppose that's a normal occurrence among ghosts. I mean you don't have to breathe, do you?"

"Of course we don't have to breathe!" Helena chuckled at his uncle's fascination with ghosts.

"You have to tell me more about what you can do, or can't! I can't wait to share this with your mother. You know how we've been wanting to speak to a ghost, but they seem to avoid us at all cost." Salazar's dark eyes, if possible, shone even brighter.

Just Salazar mentioning her mother made Helena panic and she blurted out. "It's your grandson. His curse did this to Baron."

"MY GRANDSON?! Salazar hollered.

Hermione winced. This Slytherin snake really could give Mrs Weasley's howler a run for her money.

AN: Hello! I'm back with another chapter! By the way, the italics are spoken in Old English, I just realized I didn't put this note up last week.

Anyway, just to let you guys know, the plot for this story does not follow the 6th and 7th books closely. I'll edit the first chapter to include this. Salazar Slytherin appearing at the beginning of the Golden trio's 6th year, of course there would be some changes to how they eliminate Voldemort. I'm not sure if there would be Dumbledore bashing, 'cause the last few fanfics that I've read had some strong opinion against the old wizard, I might have been influence :)

To the guests, I thank you for your kind reviews.

To Moi, I always look forward to your review. I really like your analysis of HP, so good, so so good. I hope this means that you liked the last chapter? Thank you! I kept thinking of direct attacking, but you've given me an idea of what Salazar could teach Hermione in the future. YES TEACHER SALAZAR! I like to think that Hermione takes the initiative to learn how to protect herself especially after she was hurt in the battle at the Ministry. Yes, about the portraits, I really can't remember. But according to Harry Potter Wikia, the Founders were mentioned only in the book, but appeared as portraits in the films. Of course, in this plot, it's preferable to not have portraits of them. There's something else that I want to add :) In this story, the RoR would need to be built after he left, I suppose. You took note of that eh? :D :D :D

To Lity, I had to google translate your review. Gracias! I will definitely continue, it's my first fanfic work after all :P

To Elizabeth, and also others who have the same question. Yes, JKR said that Merlin was sorted into Salazar's House. But King Arthur's legend placed them in the 5th century, early 6th century. That's between 450AD to 550 AD (I think). Hogwarts was built in 990s AD, so by that time, Merlin would be 540 years old. No matter how powerful of a wizard he is, I don't think he could live more than half a millennium. So the safest way was to make him the Founder's mentor. Please do correct me if I'm wrong, I could've misinterpreted the stuffs I read. Oh, and I don't suppose parseltongue can be taught. HP always emphasize that only those from Slytherin bloodline could speak that 'snake lingo'. But I'm not sure how Ron managed to imitate Harry in the 7th book.

THANKS FOR READING TOO! I TEND TO BE LONG-WINDED. SORRY!