The four founders screwed up their eyes as a blinding light came from the direction of the bar. Salazar, Helga and Rowena stood up and drew their wands in one fluid movement, pointing them towards the bar and the bartender.
"Get your wand out!" hissed Salazar at Godric, who sat there, stunned. Slowly, floorboards creaking as he did so, Godric rose up, towering above the others.
"Come out, wizard!" he roared. Nobody came out. The four of them edged cautiously towards the bar, holding their wands before them. Godric pointed his wand around the bar and muttered, "Petrificus Totalus!"
"That's a new one," commented Rowena appreciatively.
Godric turned to her and replied, "I finished developing it last week. It paralyses people, so it's completely harmless. There are still a few things to sort out, though. For one, it wears out after a few minutes."
"I'll help you with that," offered Rowena happily. They looked around the bar tentatively to see who they had caught, not sure whether Godric had been entirely accurate in his summary of his cobbled-together magic. Even Godric wasn't entirely sure about the effects, but he somehow knew that he could cast the spell perfectly. Lurking just behind the bar, crouched awkwardly beside a large barrel of slightly stale mead was... nobody. Nobody was hiding behind the bar. Salazar reacted first, putting his hand on the head of the bartender, who maintained his glazed look and vacant expression.
"Nothing there," reported Salazar, clearly having demonstrated his remarkable knack for legilimency. "The spell didn't come from him." Salazar quickly rounded on Godric.
"Sally, why me?" asked Godric petulantly.
"You," he explained, "being the most famous dueller in the country, didn't react when we were clearly under attack." Salazar paused, thoughts precipitating in his mind. "AND DON'T CALL ME SALLY!" he roared.
"Go on then," challenged Godric, straightening up to his full height. "Read my mind." These words he accompanied with antagonising finger wiggling.
"Barbarian," Salazar muttered, irritated at the lack of appreciation for what was actually quite tricky to learn, and almost impossible to master. He placed his hands on Godric's head, and began to probe.
Harry watched from behind Godric's eyes as this exchange took place. As Salazar began to probe into Godric's head, Harry shrunk back. Even so, the legilimens brushed him slightly in passing, almost being alerted to his presence. Salazar almost knew that Harry had helped Godric cast the spell earlier, but he could find no evidence of it. Salazar pulled away, not entirely convinced that Godric was 'clean', but announced that fact anyway.
At this, Rowena ran up to him and hugged him tightly, not wanting to let go. Helga blushed and Salazar tutted impatiently. Godric bent down and lightly planted a whiskery kiss on her forehead. She squeezed him tight, looked into his face and smiled brightly. The future looked bright for all wizardkind.
Slowly, Harry got used to the feel of Godric's mind and began to take it over. First he took the least important parts, the more automatic parts, as these coincided with his own the most. It would be days, though, before he could fully control Godric. Until then, he would continue to avoid Salazar's probes and watch the four founders at work. Hermione would be so jealous if she knew he was here. With thoughts of Hermione, he experienced a huge pang of sadness, as the Hermione he once knew was gone, lost forever. He would never see her again. She would never smile at him again in her strange way, nor would she ever chide him with that smirk that so often played around her lips. His thoughts rested also on his greatest friend, Ron, who he had discussed everything with. Ron knew everything about him, and he knew everything about Ron. He knew that Ron and Hermione would sadly never be.
"Right," interrupted Helga. "Everyone contact your helpers and get them to meet here as soon as possible."
"My people have said they can be here within an hour. They'll need time to see their families every day, but it should go quickly with the number of people I have," confirmed Godric.
"Same," chorused the other three, looking shocked at such perfect mimicry. Godric, Helga and Rowena all shouted "Avis!" and sent magical birds with notes to each of their recruited helpers. They were surprisingly quick, given their diminutive sizes. Rowena returned to the table and sat opposite Salazar, who had done nothing except fingering his own ornate locket. It was large, also golden, and bore an engraved letter S, encrusted with tiny emeralds.
"I wish you'd call your friends in some less unnatural way," complained Rowena, opening her own locket.
"And I wish you'd stop looking at your picture of Godric. It's just nauseating," he retorted.
"Well who do you see in the Amulet?"
"No-one! No-one! Take it away!" squealed Salazar, not wanting to be taken by the locket's magic.
"Does looking into your heart pain you so much, Sally?" inquired Rowena joyfully. Salazar grunted, not even bothering to take offence at 'Sally'.
Within ten minutes, witches and wizards began appearing with sharp cracks. The bartender continued to take no notice as the pub filled up more than it had ever done, some wizards also lighting their wands different colours. When the final few had dribbled in, Rowena addressed the crowd.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" she called. There was only a small lull in the volume of conversation before it shot up again. Salazar snorted into his mead, earning a dark scowl from Rowena.
"QUIET!" bellowed Godric, smiling at Rowena as silence flooded the rickety room. "Let's begin the plans." The pub was enlarged on the inside in order to create a large space in the middle of the floor to lay out their plans. Each of them drew their wands and pointed them towards the floor, emitting thin snakes of blue light, which met up and cris-crossed into a 3D castle plan. Harry added his ideas to the mix, and slowly, a detailed plan of Hogwarts began to form.
"This is a magical castle," reminded Rowena, "so we don't have to have a constant layout." Harry saw the cavern taking shape below Snape's dungeon, and with a pang of sadness, quashed it.
