"So," said Hermione, pacing around the console. "We need to find this Salazar Slytherin and convince him to found Hogwarts!" She stopped pacing and turned to Clara, just as Ron opened his mouth to speak. "But how?" they asked in unison, as the Doctor scribbled something on one of his blackboards. "Um…" said Clara, tapping her fingers thoughtfully on the console. "We could offer him something…"
"Like POWER!" shouted the Doctor, tapping on his blackboard with the chalk. In the center of the blackboard, he had written 'POWER' in large letters and underlined it. "Salazar Slytherin is power hungry, or so the books tell me, therefore we offer him something of immense power!" He walked down the stairs. "You, Pond!" he exclaimed, pointing at Ron. "We can offer him your wand!" Ron glared at him. "No!" retorted Ron. "We can't because you snapped it earlier!" The Doctor shrugged and turned to Hermione. "You, Freckles, any ideas?" It was Hermione's turn to shrug. "Maybe we could give him…" she trailed off, to look at Ron who was playing with Scabbers. "An animal! A rare, powerful animal!" she exclaimed.
Clara thought through a list of powerful animals. Phoenix? No. Dragon? No. "Wait," said Hermione, "What kind of animal represents the Slytherin house in your world?" Clara shrugged. "Just a… Snake!" she exclaimed. "Salazar Slytherin was a Parselmouth!" Ron looked at her blankly. "Which means what?" he asked, as Scabbers ran up his sleeve. "It means," continued Clara, "That he could talk to snakes! And what is a really powerful snake-like animal?"
"A Basilisk!" finished Hermione, as her eyes widened. "But where are we going to find one?" They all turned to the Doctor. "Don't ask me," he complained. "I don't know of any shape-shifting creatures that could help…" Clara thought of an idea. "Zygons!" she exclaimed, but the Doctor shook his head. "I'd have to bargain with that lot! Anyway, they have nothing to mold themselves on." Clara slumped down into one of the TARDIS chairs. "Then what Doctor?"
