Oh Draco was going to get Hermione back for that. She would suffer dearly for the her little comments. He didn't know how, or when, but he'd make sure that when the opportunity arose, he wouldn't pass it up. The taller, boisterous Gryffindor leader had pulled Draco along heartily. He immediately began explaining the four houses, how they were picked and so on. Pulling Draco along, Godric gave him a fairly similar tour to the one Helga gave Hermione, the difference was Salazar had followed Godric, adding in tidbits here and there.
"Your quarters are down in the dungeons. I hope that you don't mind, your classroom will also be down there, for good reason though." Godric grinned at Draco. "We didn't know it when the class was designed of course, that we would have a Magical Creatures teacher, at least not this soon, it is very convenient though."
"Yes, I'm sure that no one properly planned for this." Salazar mumbled dryly. Though Godric only clapped him on the shoulder laughing heartily.
"Don't be such a stick in the mud 'Zar just because you wanted the room down here with your students. You know that the tower is better. More open air, the kind of magic that you do all but requires it." Godric reminded him, though to Draco Salazar didn't look as if he needed to be reminded.
"What classes do you teach?" Draco asked both of the men. He was doing his best to seem polite, interested. Unlike Hermione he knew better than to make it seem as if he had just 'heard' everything.
"Ah, Transfiguration is what I attempt to teach these rascals. Transfiguration and dueling. Not everyone has the heart for the kind of dueling I like to do though." Godric chuckled, his hand falling to the sword at his side. Draco hadn't noticed it before then, instead he had noticed the way the older man's eyes had lingered on Hermione. Surely he didn't fancy Granger of all people.
"Yes, not everyone thinks it's a good idea to cross blades, or wands, with you Godric." Salazar commented a wry smile on his thin lips. "I on the other hand teach Wandlore. It's not for the faint of heart of course." Draco had the sneaking suspicion that Salazar meant him. The irony of it. Draco, a pureblood who had been sorted into the house of Slytherin and the Founder didn't seem to like him.
"Oh, no I doubt it is. Wandlore is one of the most difficult magics to master. Some might say that you don't truly ever master it." Draco couldn't help himself. He'd be damned if the Founder of his House was going to think him a nimrod. "Some suggest that the magic of creating wands simply allows you to twist the fabrics of their magic so that others may prosper. So that they may find the witch, or wizard, they were intended for." Godric blinked looking at Draco before laughing, clapping Salazar on his thin shoulder.
"Well 'Zar! It would seem as if someone here finally understands the wands the same way that you do." Godric grinned. The more he did it though, the more he smiled, the more Draco found that he didn't like the man. Not that, that was a surprise. He was a Slytherin afterall!
"That, Godric, remains to be seen." Salazar mumbled glaring at his friend. Draco couldn't help but feel a little smug that the two weren't as chummy as it seemed at a glance. His next words were purely to appease Salazar.
"Oh, I wouldn't dream of thinking that I know or understand wandlore. I've done a small bit of reading other than that, I wouldn't say I know much about the subject. Though learning would be something I wouldn't be against. Unfortunately my own wand got destroyed on the journey over. Gra-." Draco cleared his throat, removing the scowl from his face. "Hermione and I got into an accident and a horse stamped on it." The lie wasn't a good one, but it was the best he could do.
"Oh not to worry!" Godric exclaimed pulling Salazar in the way he had held Draco previously. "I'm sure 'Zar here can whip you up a replacement wand. Next week when you start your classes I'm sure that you'll have a new wand made by the best Wandmaker in well, we're not exactly in Britain but he is the best in Britain." Godric assured Draco.
"Of course, you can come by my office later and we will begin choose your core and wood. After that I will be able to construct your wand." Salazar explained. Draco arched a brow looking at him. "Is that not suitable to your tastes Draco?" He asked seeing the look on Draco's face.
"No, that's perfectly alright with me. I'm just surprised that you don't have pre-created wands." Draco explained honestly.
"I do have some in stock. If they call to you, you are free to have one of them. Typically they are for examples in my classes though. I would have devote my time fully to the creation of wands, not running this school, if I were to have enough different wands for you to just choose one. After all, it's the wand that chooses the wizard Mr. Malfoy, it's not always clear why." Salazar explained looking peeved.
"Of course, I was not trying to question your methods." Draco bowed a little. If he knew one thing, it was how to interact with those of a high standing. There was a sort of etiquette one had to have. One of the few useful things his Father had taught him.
"Aww lay off him Salazar." This was the first time Godric had used the man's real name and it seemed to cull the man a little. "Now, here you are Draco. This will be your quarters." The heavy door was rounded, made of smooth metal, there was no door knob, instead there was a rune. A symbol that Draco didn't recognize. Godric pressed his wand to the rune and muttered the word "Mellon." A heavy click sounded and the door swung open.
"Oh, this will do nicely." Draco commented at once entering the room. He also had a living room/office area. Everything was made of dark ash wood, or stone, it was decorated in tones of grey, silver, and green. Yes, he could tell that Salazar's influence had been all over the dungeons. "Yes, this is a very big step up from what I had to endure while we traveled. It was practically squalor." He added darkly to himself. The bedroom matched in color, though the bedspread was grey with emerald designs on it.
"Glad you like it. While green might not be my chosen color it isn't a bad one by far. I'd say that Rowena and Salazar did a great job decorating the castle." This news surprised Draco. The whole castle? Together Salazar and Rowena had decorated the whole castle? That was very interesting news indeed.
"Perhaps we should show him where he will be conducting the classes that will be held inside the building? I daresay that not all of them will be inside. After all, not all creatures will be brought into the school I'm sure. Some are far too large. Not that I expect our young friend here will be able to coax a dragon into letting people ogle at it."
"I daresay not." Godric laughed in agreement. Though Draco only felt challenged. "You are right though 'Zar, come Draco and we will show you the classroom I was speaking about before." Draco couldn't bring himself to give anything more than a little nod. He didn't have any excitement in him at the idea of teaching a but of snot-nosed dweebs about different creatures that they didn't want to learn about.
The room that they entered wasn't far from his quarters, though a little deeper down. He could feel the degrees drop slightly. For a moment Draco thought the only light in the room was green. Looking at the high dome of the room, Draco realized that it wasn't green light. They were under the lake. The dome of the room was made of glass, very sturdy glass. They were near the bottom of the lake Draco had to guess because a little ways away he could see the bottom and the small colony of merpeople gathered in their homes. Even as he watched the giant squid flashed by, a giant orange eye gazing into the classroom for a moment.
"Magnificent isn't it? In this room alone you'll find different magical species to have your students study." Godric explained. "There are many creatures in the lake, some we put there, others were here long before we chose this location." He added staring off into the green waters.
"Yes, yes, I'm sure this will be an excellent place to teach the students on days that we will be inside." Draco agreed. The dawning problem that he saw was the lesson plans he would have to make. Different creatures he'd have to teach them about. "How many classes will I have?" Draco asked looking over the few books that had appeared in the classroom. There weren't many, but Draco had the sneaking suspicion that the elves had done their work and quickly.
"You'll probably have two or three classes a week. There are only 70 students in the school currently. All classes, save for mine." Salazar gave a little bow a slightly smug look on his face. "Are mandatory. So I imagine you will have no more than twenty students at a time. You will of course have each segment of students each day you have a class." He added. Draco nodded a little curtly.
"Yes, you and your lovely friend will probably have a bit of spare time. Perhaps we could branch out. There are other subjects that could be taught." Godric suggested rubbing his beard as he thought about it. "Defensive Magic, Herbology, Healing Magic, the realms are quite open." Draco didn't hear much of what he had said save for his 'lovely friend' it made Draco's lip curl though Godric didn't see it.
"Yes, I'm sure Hermione would be more than happy to delve into another area of teaching." Draco said, feeling a little dead inside, his words reflecting that. The Founder of Gryffindor house seemed to be soft on Granger. The founder of Slytherin house seemed to loathe him. God the world had gone topsy turvy.
"Yes, yes, I should go and talk to her about that. I will leave you two to talk about wands." Godric said, a glint in his eye. He clapped both the men on the shoulder, striding from the room meticulously combing his beard with his fingers. The awkward silence in his wake made Draco and Salazar look at one another boredly.
"I suppose we should go about setting up your wand wood and wand core." He didn't say anything else, he turned, and began walking out of the dungeons. Draco took that as his cue to follow and did so, glaring at the man's back the entire time having the greatest urge to cut his thin little ponytail off. From the paintings, statues, and look of his receding hairline, Draco reckoned that Salazar valued the small amount of hair he had left incredibly.
Salazar's office, or his quarters whatever he wanted to call them, weren't that impressive. It was strange though. He had various different types and lengths of wood all around the place. He also had, what Draco could only guess was different cores for wands. He recognized unicorn hair from it's white luminescence there was also solid gold strands of air.
"Is that juvenile unicorn hair?" Draco asked walking over to it, looking at it in the jar. They sparkled, almost humming with magic.
"Yes." Salazar answered shortly. Draco shot him a perturbed look making the old man sigh and set down the piece of wood he'd been holding. "While not as stable as adult unicorn hair juvenile unicorns are immensely powerful. They don't have an exact control over the magic they harness but within a wand, with the right barer, they are extremely powerful."
"Yes, I can certainly see why it would be an interesting wand core, not to mention a good one." Draco mumbled moving on looking at different cores.
"Indeed, now if you'd please, I'd like you to walk over to this table. Keep your eyes closed and hover your hand over the wood on the table. With your eyes open it might change whether or not you feel the pull of the wand. It will feel like warmth, almost a burning sensation. The wand wood is at it's most unstable so the magic reverberates into heat." Salazar explained and they began the slow process of Draco picking out the wood to his new wand. Unfortunately when they got to the cores things were much more difficult. Each of them either pulled away from the wood or burned. The unicorn hair had burst into brilliant silver flames when Salazar had touched them together.
"It would appear, that none of the things I have in stock are a suitable match for the Ebony wood." Salazar said. Draco could see that it more than frustrated him. "There are more cores for wands of course. Basilisk horns, for example." Draco didn't miss the twitch of Salazar's finger toward his own wand. Draco smirked, he couldn't help but feel that Salazar Slytherin having a wand made from a Basilisk Horn was. . .badass. "I do not have any of those cores in my possession though so we'll have to gather you one."
"How do we go about that?" Draco asked curiously. The more Salazar had explained, the deeper he'd gotten into the Wandlore making it intrigued him. "I feel as if the easy answer is, going and plucking it ourselves." He added groaning.
"Yes, young Malfoy you are exactly right. That is what we will have to do. How do you feel about taking on a dragon? Dragon heartstring and dragon fangs are the only cores I have worked with that I don't have here." The smile on Salazar's face did nothing to calm Draco's nerves. The man looked as if he almost wanted to go haggle with a dragon.
"If that's what we've got to do." Draco grumbled rolling his eyes.