~~II~~

"There is no way we can publish this! Should the public hear of this, well-"

"The people have a right to know, Rowena! The entire wizarding world should have this knowledge bestowed on them – hard though the truth is, as one community we will stand ever stronger in the face of danger-"

"As one? Don't you see? This…revelation…is almost definitely going to spark a wave of panic amongst the community rather than unifying them!"

"Ladies, please!" Gryffindor called out, trailing off. The two women were stunned by his voice, turning to face him. He was stood with his arms leaning on the wooden table, an exhausted look on his face.

Wiping his brow, Gryffindor continued, aware that he now held his co-founders' attention.

"We cannot simply shy away from what we have discovered. This is, well…grave news; we can but hope that our interjection into this awful secret was not too late. Now, whilst on most occasions I would be tempted to agree to the policy of fairness that Helga has so vividly championed in this debate – by letting everyone know – I must cede that Rowena is right."

"But Godric-"

He continued, unperturbed by the outcry from Hufflepuff. "If this was something that we were certain we could handle – normal circumstances, one might argue - then there would be absolutely no point in keeping this from the public. However, these are not normal circumstances; we do not know what we're dealing with, how to stop it, and whether or not we are too late."

A deafening silence befell the room as none of the three founders were able to speak. They each remained motionless for some time, their own thoughts tripping over one another, attempting to come to terms with what they had discovered. The silence was eventually broken by Helga Hufflepuff, who cleared her throat anxiously as she reached forward and gingerly took one of the many scrolls from the pile that lay in the centre of the table.

"This is ridiculous," she said after some time with steeliness in her voice, breaking the tension that had slowly been building in the air. "How had we not discovered this before?"

"You're forgetting the cunning, wildly intelligent man who was behind their production," Gryffindor was quick to reply. "Salazar would take absolutely no chances in risking revealing this. It is evidence enough to sign your own death warrant, I expect."

"Almost certainly. Dealing in such ancient, evil magic is a sure-fire way to make wizards lose their entire faith in you," Rowena added, "Why would he do such a thing? He was a respectable man!" Her rising angst caused her to hack once more; it was clear to everyone that Rowena was on an ever-constant downward spiral of health.

"Aside his loathing of non-Purebloods, you seem to have forgotten." Helga failed to recognise just how curt her reply had been to Ravenclaw. "Anyway, I imagine that he'd be using ancient magic as a weapon. Think about it, once you have the most ancient of all dark magic on your side, you're a mighty force, virtually unstoppable. There'd be nothing we could have done. Who knows, he may have conquered the world and killed all the non-Purebloods, simply on principle-"

"Sir?"

A small voice sounded from the doorway, where stood a young man that all could recognise as one of the many staff members assisting in running the school. Quite clearly he was addressing Gryffindor, who stared intently at his young cohort.

"We-we've been working on tracking his apparition route, Sir. The wards succeeded in picking him up as he passed though them – and from this we should be able to extract further information shortly - but unfortunately, so far this is as far as we've got."

Slowly nodding, Gryffindor spoke. "Well done, tell your team to remain ready. We shall be down in a few minutes." He watched as the heavy door closed, once again leaving the three founders alone in the room. Without hesitation, Gryffindor turned to the two women before him. "This is our only chance," he began. "We have to follow Slytherin and stop this."

"Forgive me Godric, but – I – are you losing your sanity? Did you not just hear what the boy had said? They haven't tracked him down! We could apparate and 'follow' his path but Merlin knows where we'd end up!..."

"Helga, I appreciate your concern. But this is something we must do. If we are to have any hope of stopping this – at least knowing exactly what it is that we're trying to stop – then it is our duty, as protectors of the wizarding world, to destroy the evil that threatens to destroy us."

There was a deathly pause.

"Regardless of your decisions, I will be going."

Gryffindor's final words hung in the air, seemingly echoing in the chamber. None of the founders made an effort to move or speak for some time, the tension once again boiling over.

And it was then that they spoke.

"It's the right thing to do," Hufflepuff stated, solemnly yet determinedly.

"I'll go," Ravenclaw added.

Smiling meekly, Gryffindor watched his co-founders stand. "Give me five minutes," Hufflepuff said to him. "I must say some goodbyes before we go." Understanding, he let her leave the room. As Ravenclaw went to follow suit, Gryffindor closed the door and sealed it, much to her surprise.

"Rowena…"

"Godric, what is all this about? Why are we locked in here?"

"Please, sit down. I want to talk to you."

Nervously, she sat, her eyes never leaving his direction.

"It's about Helena…"

She let out a clearly frustrated sigh. "We've been through this before. Let's forget about that – episode – for now, we have a duty-"

"This is different," he said, his tone dropping. "How much of Slytherin's texts have you read?"

In no hurry to reply, Rowena slowly spoke. "Little, but…enough to paint a detailed picture."

He nodded. "Helena stole your diadem and ran off to Albania, claiming jealousy of your intellect did she not?"

"Of course she did, you and I both know that," she spat at him, wheezing slightly. He had once again hit a sensitive spot yet seemed to care little as he blundered through. He was speaking of her own daughter, who had abandoned her for the sake of intelligence.

She coughed violently once more, the negativity pooling inside of her and bringing her degrading state of health to the forefront.

"I…Rowena, I know you're ill and I know this is not what you wish to be speaking about right now. But… here," he said, handing her a scroll from Slytherin's recently discovered pile. "You must read this one."

She snatched it from his hands and saw him sink into a chair from the periphery of her vision. Her focus then turned back to the parchment, labelled 'the Black Brotherhood'. Below this label there was an extensive list of names with a few details regarding each person.

"The Black Brotherhood – the dark cult that Slytherin had founded himself," she barely heard his voice say. She was too lost in the names, scanning the list. Ravenclaw had a good idea of what it was that Godric was alluding to but denied it at first, then prayed it wasn't true the further down the list she read.

But there it was – the stark prof she wished she would never have read.

'Helena Ravenclaw. Committed member of the Brotherhood. An invaluable personal assistant. Killed mercilessly by the Baron in Albania. A tragic loss – although her work had long since been completed.'

"I've seen enough," she whispered, thrusting the scroll in Gryffindor's direction. "Why…why would you show me this now?"

"You needed to see it," he said coolly. "Perhaps it may come as comfort to you that Slytherin had cursed her into running away with your diadem."

Her throat sounding raspy, she raised her voice. "Why would you keep all of this information from me until now, Godric?"

"Please, you must look after your health," he said to her, almost forgetting the topic of conversation that had come before. "You are weak, anger will do you no good."

She sighed, coughing again. "I repeat my question."

"I had found out merely hours before. After we had made this…discovery," he said gesturing to the pile of scrolls, "many people approached me with information. Somebody had informed me that they had witnessed Salazar cursing your daughter, instructing her to retrieve your diadem and pass it to him so that he might gain that extra wit he would need to complete his dark mission. You will remember she had fled to Albania?"

"Yes."

"By this time, Salazar had already gained the knowledge he would need for his mission. He exiled Helena to Albania – she did not choose to leave – with a fake diadem, falsely telling her that it was the real artefact. Hence, when the Baron found her, she had 'your diadem' and refused to return because Salazar had cursed her into staying away from you. Rowena, I'm sorry – it was a hoax the entire time."

The information hit her as if a dragon had smashed into her with full force. Despite this, it took longer still for the meaning to sink in – by the time it had, she had masked her pain; her sullen features remained motionless, her eyes dry – she was too frail to produce tears.

"Let's go," she demanded, standing briskly. "We must stop this ancient force once and for all." She made for the door, seeing Gryffindor removed the locking charm. The pair slipped through the doorway, heading for the dungeon where Slytherin had apparated from. The found Helga waiting there and a small group of cloaked wizards who looked expectantly at them as they made their entrance.

"Sir," one young wizard said. "We've been able to plot Slytherin's destination thank to his magical signature that lingered behind."

"Good," Gryffindor said to the young wizard. "Where are heading?"

"Er, somewhere odd, sir. We've never seen a town named as such before." The young wizard handed Gryffindor a scroll, with a word scrawled across it; R'lyeh .

"Right," he replied, unsure of how to even pronounce the word he was looking at. After a brief moment of contemplation, he turned to Helga and Rowena. "It has been a truw honour serving with you two."

"You make it sound as if we're going to our deaths," Helga noted sharply.

"For all we know, we may very well be," he retorted. "I wanted to let you know that if we do not return alive; thank you for everything that we have been through in the establishment of this fine bastion of witchcraft and wizardry – you two are some of the smartest and most powerful witches I have had the pleasure of coming across."

Silently nodding, the two women watched as he extended his arms for them to grab. They did so, as he reached down to double-check his sword was in its hilt.

"Here we go."

With that, the trio disappeared with a loud crack, their destination unknown and their fate sealed.