"Nice to meet you, Severus. I'm Salazar Slytherin." He turned to the headmaster, ignoring Severus' gaping jaw. "I destroyed one of the Horcruxes, and I believe the other is in the Gryffindor Girls dormitories. Now, unfortunately, those count as private quarters, one of the few places I, as a founder, cannot go without permission. And even if I had permission, Rowena put up that stupid spell so no males can enter," he finished, grumbling.
"What would his Horcrux be doing in the Gryffindor dormitories?"
"The Gryffindor Girls Dormitories. Let me see if the castle knows what it is doing there, and if it can transport the Horcrux here."
Severus had been looking back and forth between Salazar and Dumbledore, and Dumbledore chuckled at his obvious hero-worship of Salazar. Meanwhile, Salazar reached out for Hogwarts. He felt a wave of magic course through his body before a diary appeared in the middle of the floor. Dumbledore moved forward to pick it up, but Severus stopped him. "Albus, what are you doing? That thing is probably cursed! Don't touch it!"
However, the only magic Salazar felt coming from the diary was the dark magic of the Horcrux. He took out his knife, which was still coated with the venom, and thrust it into the diary. There was another scream which stopped as abruptly as it begun.
The three men stared in silence at the diary for a minute before Severus spoke up. "What was that?"
Severus looked fairly sick by the end of his explanation, and so did Dumbledore. Salazar shuddered. "There is one more Horcrux in the castle, however it does not appear to be a real Horcrux. The best I can guess is that Voldemort made so many Horcruxes that his soul splintered when a strong curse hit him, and a fragment flew to the closest person. Harry Potter."
Severus blanched, but Dumbledore sighed. "I suspected as much," and explained to Salazar in more detail what had happened. Severus was growing impatient. He had sworn to protect Harry Potter, and he was sure that included getting a piece of the Dark Lord's soul out of the brat.
He's my son too, Severus, said a voice in his head that sounded remarkably like Lily's.
"But how do we get it out without killing him?"
"Before I came here, I had been working on a potion to destroy Horcruxes. I believe that I almost succeeded, and with a bit of tweaking, I believe I could destroy the Horcrux in Harry without killing him. Severus, will you allow me use of your labs? … and perhaps inform me of advances that have been made in the past thousand years?"
"Of – Of c-course, sir!"
Dumbledore's eyes widened. "I do believe that is the first time I have ever heard Severus stammer," he said dryly.
Severus glared at the older wizard. "It is not every day that one is faced with the founder of the house one is the head of, who happens to be one of the most brilliant potion masters ever, and who has been dead for a thousand years. Forgive me if I am a bit … overwhelmed."
Chuckling, Dumbledore left the two wizards to floo to Severus' labs.
Salazar felt a bit sick as he landed in the laboratories. He was used to apparating, so he got over it quickly, but he was not used to flooing, as it had been invented after his time.
He listened as Severus explained the advances that had been made in the past thousand years, and Salazar smiled. Here was a Potions Master of his own caliber, one with whom he could actually discuss intelligently about their passion. They were even similar ages, if one ignored the time travel.
In turn, he showed Severus some of the potions he had developed, one of which was the concussion one he had had earlier. He explained about his potion to destroy Horcruxes, and he saw it click in Severus' mind. Rowena, though intelligent, never had the click that showed a person really understood.
Then Severus' expression fell. "But you said that shed basilisk scales were an ingredient in the potion. There is no way that I can obtain those on my salary…" he trailed off as he saw a growing smirk on the Founder's face.
"My familiar is a basilisk, and I can collect some of her shed scales. The freshness of the scales shouldn't matter, so I should be able to find a reasonable amount. Would you like to come with me? I believe there is a secondary entrance to the chamber in what was my old quarters… however I do not wish to visit those quite yet, so we will go to the entrance in the bathroom."
"Your chamber's secondary entrance is in a girls' bathroom, Salazar!" hissed Severus as he opened the door. Both men stopped suddenly at seeing the brown-haired girl hunched over a cauldron.
"So that's where my ingredients went," muttered Severus before he rounded on the girl. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"
But the girl wasn't paying attention. She was looking at Salazar, and the founder could see as she fit the pieces together. "Salazar…. Salazar Slytherin. Chamber… Chamber of Secrets," she muttered under her breath, before her eyes widened in fear and she held her wand out in front of herself, as if in self-defense. She slowly got up, keeping her eyes on Salazar and Severus. She was breathing heavily and about to hyperventilate.
Salazar gave Severus a look that said clearly "don't say anything," and knelt by the girl. The Water Mage could see that she was a member of Godric's house from the badge on her robes. He looked in the cauldron and wondered how a second-year could brew Polyjuice Potion. And, moreover, why she was brewing Polyjuice Potion. "I am not going to hurt you."
The girl eyed him skeptically. "…You hate muggleborns. It says so in Hogwarts, a History. Everybody knows that."
"And after a thousand years, facts can be twisted, Miss….?"
"Granger. Hermione Granger," she said, still holding out her wand as she looked at him warily. The expression in her eyes told him that she knew she would lose if she had to lose, but she would fight anyway. Hermione Granger truly was a member of Godric's house.
"Do you want to know why I was against Muggleborns coming into the school?" He asked softly.
"…you hate us," said Miss Granger. But she didn't seem as certain.
Salazar conjured three armchairs and sat down in one of them, waving to Severus and Miss Granger to take a seat. "Fifty points from Gryffindor for stealing from my stores," said Severus as he sat down. Miss Granger looked sheepish.
"…and twenty five points to Gryffindor for a successful – at least so far - brewing of Polyjuice Potion," Salazar added. Severus looked annoyed but didn't argue.
"It was the eighth year Hogwarts had been open; we had just seen our first group of students graduate the previous year. I had known Godric for sixteen years; Rowena and Helga had joined us twelve years ago." He closed his eyes briefly, remembering his friends as he lapsed into talking like it was yesterday. For him, it was yesterday.
"Godric taught Transfiguration and Ancient Runes. Helga taught Herbology, and was also the mediwitch, so taught Healing. Rowena taught Charms and Arithmancy. I taught Warding and Potions. All of us pitched in to teach Defense.
"There was a brilliant Muggleborn Girl, Gwenneth Cadell, from Wales, sorted into my House. She especially excelled in potions, and I had thought about approaching her to be my apprentice later in her school years. She helped me to create two potions, such as the Erumpet Potion, an explosive potion, and the Girding Potion, which gives extra endurance. I knew that she would go on to be a very successful Potions Master.
"Over Christmas, she went home to her father – her mother had died in childbirth – while Godric and I helped repel some Viking invaders (1), who had wizards with them. It was a little over a month ago. I used both potions that I had mentioned in the fight. The Erumpet Potion was especially effective; it was similar to a Bombarda, but I only had to throw it."
"Like a hand grenade," murmured Miss Granger. Salazar looked at her blankly before continuing.
"When Godric and I returned to Hogwarts, I saw her owl in the Great Hall, hooting wildly. There was a letter from Gwynneth. I can still remember it.
Dear Professor Slytherin,
I'm scared. My dad's been yelling at me a lot. He says that I killed my mother and that he should just kill me. He said that the Bible says "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live," and that he would regret it, but it was God's will for me to die. I really think he'll do it, Professor. Please, I need to come back to Hogwarts! Please help me!
Gwenneth Caddell
P.S. I don't understand. Dad must be wrong. If God did not want witches and wizards in the world, He never would have given us magic to begin with. The Lord loves us all equally. I know that to be true.
"I immediately ran out of the grounds and apparated to her village. I asked where the Caddells lived. Making sure not to be seen, I apparated into the house. I still remember the scene I saw as vivid as the day it happened.
"I saw the blood first, on the bed. I ran over. Gwynneth was cold and still. There was so much blood on the bed. Her father had been blown across the room by her accidental magic, and he had hit his head on the wall and had died instantly. The blood covered knife was still in his hands.
"The last thing she would have seen was the father who she had just killed in self defense. Her face… it was frozen in an expression of shock and fear. I scooped her up and apparated to the entrance of the grounds.
"The four of us buried her that night, by the lake. But I knew that if she hadn't come to Hogwarts, her father would not have killed her because of her magic. I started to doubt if Muggleborns should even come here, if it would only get them killed…
"Yesterday I had a final argument with the others. I couldn't teach any more Muggleborns, I couldn't play a part in the death of any more innocent children. I quit, and it was storming when I left. My Water Magic, combined with the lightning that hit me and my shield spell, caused an explosion. I landed in this time."
Miss Granger looked at him with wide eyes. "Thank you for telling this to me, sir. Am I correct that you do not wish your identity known?"
Salazar nodded. "Only the headmaster, Madame Pomfrey, a boy named Harry Potter and Severus here know –"
"Harry knows!?" the girl asked, incredulous. "Why didn't he tell me?"
"I swore him to secrecy."
"Oh," she mumbled, then nodded.
"It's five minutes till curfew," Salazar added. The girl took off running.
"We never did get those basilisk scales, did we?" asked Severus.
1: Hogwarts was founded around 990. During this time, Vikings were, and had been, trying to invade.
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