CHAPTER 12

Malfoy spun around, his eyes wide with surprise. "Who is it?"

"If you looked closely, your blind eyes could have seen me," Marcus Flint teased, stepping out of the shadows to greet his former schoolmate.

"I'm not blind!" Malfoy protested, though his face was as red as a cherry. He must have realized it too, because he turned away quickly. "Besides, we all know you're the blind one- losing the Snitch to Potter while he was in his first year."

Flint was getting mad, but he did not wish to show it. "Silent!"

It was bad enough that he lost to Potter in a duel. Well, he almost won… until that infuriating child in the blue shirt showed up and petrified him. He wasn't going to let Malfoy know that.

Malfoy stopped his train of thought. "You're awfully quiet. Did Potter snap your broom with his bare hands, or did you?" He roared with laughter at his own joke. Flint didn't find it very funny, and they were drifting away from the main subject.

"The Deathly Hallows," Flint said loudly over Malfoy's laughter. Malfoy cringed at the name and fell silent.

"He wants the Deathly Hallows-"

"Who does? Is it-"

"Slytherin does, you dull prat!" Flint bellowed. Malfoy fell silent again.

"Slytherin wants the Deathly Hallows, because he wants immortality." Flint continued, calming down. "Being Master of Death would give him immortality."

I should have known. Malfoy thought to himself. That's why he took a book with the Deathly Hallows symbol on it! I feel so dumb…

"It's not really a mystery, really," Flint said. Malfoy actually met with Slytherin and he didn't figure anything out. This is embarrassing. Fortunately, Flint added, "But I don't know what's stopping Slytherin."

My turn to show you what I know, Malfoy thought, satisfied. "It's the Elder Wand, obviously."

"What?" Flint asked, surprised. "The Elder Wand… I thought Dumbledore owned that wand."

"Dumbledore was killed, didn't you hear?" Malfoy sneered. "He died because Professor Snape killed him. God, that old fool-"

"Bah," Flint spat. "Get on with the important stuff. I don't care if that excuse of a headmaster is dead or not."

"Dumbledore was disarmed by me," Malfoy said.

"Wait," Flint interrupted. "You're the Master of the Elder Wand?"

"No! Don't interrupt!" Malfoy hissed. "Don't you want to know what Slytherin is up to?" Flint scowled, but didn't talk anymore.

"Potter took my wand," Malfoy continued, glaring at Flint as he spoke. "So he owned my wand, the Elder Wand and his own wand.

"He gave my wand back; apparently he was smart enough to realize that he didn't need three wands to carry around in his pocket."

"But…" Flint thought aloud. "He's the Master of the Elder Wand? That means Slytherin has to kill him!"

"Or disarm him," Malfoy added. "Obviously-"

"I don't CARE!" Flint shouted and he launched himself at Malfoy.

"Who is it, professor?" Luke pressed. "Is it someone we know? Is it a bloodthirsty monster? Is it Don Paulo in disguise? Is it Slytherin?"

"Correct, my boy!" Professor Layton beamed. Luke choked. "DON PAULO?"

"Ah, no," Layton said. "The heart of the mystery is Salazar Slytherin."

"Hermione, you're okay at piano, play a bit of dramatic music," Ron suggested in Hermione's ear. Hermione slapped him on the arm.

"Salazar Slytherin?" Harry asked, amazed. "He's… he's gone! How could he have revived himself?"

"That," Professor Layton murmured. "I do not know. But there is a reason that I have come to believe Salazar Slytherin is the cause of the disappearances.

"Look at the note, everyone. The note says 'I am not alive, yet I am not dead'. I have read a book on sorcery- people can attach their souls to a person, or even an object."

"Horcruxes!" Hermione whispered.

"It can't be a horcrux, though. Slytherin is known to be proud, quick and clever." Ron pointed out. "He would never copy Voldemort, because he would lose his pride… or something."

"True," Hermione said. "Horcruxes aren't the most reliable things in the world."

"Go on, Hershel," Harry said.

"If the culprit is indeed Slytherin," Layton continued. "Then we can match that up with the initials, can't we?"

Layton wrote on the note, Slytherin, next to the "S March 10th, 1999"

"'S' stands for 'Slytherin'," Luke realized. Then, he took out the Salazar Slytherin chocolate frog card that he had.

SALAZAR SLYTHERIN

Salazar Slytherin is one of the four original founders of Hogwarts. Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor were originally very good friends, but when the other founders found that Slytherin decided to block out Muggle- borns and half- bloods from the school, they banished him. However, they did not do it in time to stop him from constructing the Chamber of Secrets. The monster in the chamber, a basilisk that only answers to the Heir of Slytherin, was killed by Harry James Potter in 1993. Salazar Slytherin's date of death is currently unknown.

"They don't know when he died!" Luke exclaimed. "That means he could, technically, still exist!"

"These people must be mental," Ron muttered, but he had to agree.

"This makes sense!" Hermione whispered excitedly. "That's why we found the note in Malfoy's home!"

"And that's why the people who disappeared were-" Ron started but stopped as Harry gazed ruefully into the distance.

"And that's why the people who disappeared were related to me." Harry finished for Ron, looking back at the group. His eyes were burning with a fierce determination to save the magical world once again. "And that's why we must stop Slytherin."

The five had forgotten about Madam Pomfrey, who was trying her best to understand what was going on.

"Err… I know you Gryffindors have a grudge against the House of Slytherin-" she started.

"It's not the Slytherin house." Ron corrected. "It's Salazar Slytherin himself."

Madam Pomfrey glanced at each one of them once.

"Do you all need pills for amnesia?" she asked politely.

"Um… no," Luke answered, puzzled.

"But Slytherin died!" Madam Pomfrey frantically waved her hands around while speaking. "He couldn't have revived himself! Death cannot be mastered!"

"Unless you're the Master of Death, he can," Harry said.

"But Mr. Potter- everyone knows that you're the Master of Death," Madam Pomfrey said. "They say that's the only path to avoiding death that is not really considered dark magic."

"Well," Harry said slowly. "If you can't cheat death in any other way… and you can't use Horcruxes… I've got it!"

"What is it?" The other four asked.

"The… the sorcerer's stone." Harry whispered.

"What?" Professor Layton and Luke asked.

"The sorcerer's stone is a supposedly destroyed stone that can make anything into gold," Hermione recited as if she was a textbook. "It is also known as the Elixir of Life, and it provides immortality."

"But Dumbledore said it was destroyed!" Ron remembered. "Or… do you reckon he was lying?"

"Maybe, because after I took it out of the mirror, it fell into my pocket… I saved it from Quirrel, and it fell to the ground… but it wasn't broken yet."

"Hang on," Luke said. "A mirror?"

"The Mirror of Erised," Hermione said. "Is a mirror that can show you your life's desire or your deepest wishes. However, if your strongest thought is not for your own gain, it may come true."

"Harry tried to keep it from this Quirrel bloke, so it wasn't for his own gain." Luke thought about it a long time. So did the professor. After a minute of silence, they looked at each other. They had the exact same conclusion.

"So if we're trying to keep the stone from Slytherin," Luke started.

"It is not for our own gain," Layton said.

"The only way to find if the stone still exists…" Harry was starting to catch on. A smile crept up his face.

"We have to find the Mirror of Erised," they all said in unison.

"I must go fetch someone from St. Mungo's," Madam Pomfrey thought as she hurried to her office. "These kids aren't in their right mind!"

Salazar Slytherin felt the sorcerer's stone roll around satisfyingly in his coat pocket. He decided to change back into his wizard form and turn invisible.

"All I have to do now is to kill that silly alchemist Flamel," he thought, pleased with his work.

It was noon already. Slytherin, as himself never needed to sleep or rest, so he could easily arrange his meetings with Malfoy in the early morning. He wasn't alive, after all.

But I am not dead, he thought, grinning evilly. He stepped up to a large wall of brick. A dead end, a Muggle might say.

But any wizard would know that this was the entrance to Diagon tapping a series of bricks, the wall could lead to the wizard shopping district.

Slytherin simply waved his hand. The wall was blasted apart, bits of rock disintegrating in the process. After a few long seconds, the dust slowly started to reform.

Slytherin did not care. He walked on under the sun, passing people who were watching the suddenly blown apart brick wall magically reform. They were too distracted to notice slightly damp footprints on the cobblestone path up the district.

Slytherin quietly arrived at Knockturn Alley's entrance. He walked down the filthy stairs and slid past a madman, who was pounding the wall and hollering, "I didn't steal that acid pop! That was the dragon! Please, don't put me in detention, Professor McGonagall! I would give you my entire wizard card collection…"

Slytherin slid past him and arrived at Borgin and Burke's. A very old and grimy skull greeted him on the way in. A normal person would say "Ew!" and run away. Slytherin pushed it aside with his bare hands and kept his steady pace.

"I am so close," he thought to himself. He neared a small desk, where a small note was placed.

"What the-" he muttered.

"Salazar,

It has come to my attention that you have sought for immortality for many years now; It does not pleasure me that you, my childhood friend, has been filled with such greed and hatred. You have broken a promise, an oath. You must remember being excluded from the rest of us that day, when you allowed only pure- bloods into the school. You will soon come to regret that decision, Salazar.

You must not stay this way. You must meet me when the third month dies. You and I shall have a little discussion."

Slytherin read the message a few times in disbelief. Then, his eyes traveled to the signature.

"No… it can't be…"

Slytherin's worst fears came true.

G March 20th, 1999