Natasha took her flock up seven flights, down three and through twenty-six different hallways before reaching the abandoned section of Hogwarts she'd found the final day of the previous year. She tapped the stone, trying to remember the appropriate combination. Finally the stone gave way, the grinding of the stone filling the air. Dust and cobwebs filled the passageway. She turned to the firsties with a grin. Isabel let out a squeal of joy. She lived for these adventures.
"Who's ready to get dirty?"
Off in the Forbidden Forest negotiations with Aragog were not going well. Mathilda Grimblehawk had been summoned to hopefully negotiate. Now that the children had been found, Amelia's goal had been to move them to a warmer place and most importantly, a place that was not three Quidditch pitches away from the doors to a school.
Mathilda was trying to reason with Aragog. She'd taken Hagrid with her and forced Amelia (who was incredibly unhappy) to remain behind.
"I cannot in good conscience move my colony to some unknown location. I do not know you, I do not want to know you. My children are barely containing themselves with the thought of fresh human flesh." Aragog clacked. His dry voice muffled inside his layer. Mathilda turned to look up at Hagrid, who shuffled he's feet a little.
"See, 'e don't mean no 'arm! There's no need 'ta move 'im or 'is family." Hagrid interjected, uncomfortable under the gaze of his oldest friend, and the experienced Magizoologist.
"That's all well and good Aragog, but what of when you pass on. You're nearing the end of your lifespan. When you die, your children will overrun the forest, and press on to Hogwarts, you must understand, we value our children above all else. We would like to come to some sort of accord with you." Mathilda's voice was almost musical, a low soothing sound. Aragog made the acromantula approximation of a low grumbling hum as he settled into his lair.
"This must be thought on at great length." Mathilda mentally groaned and prepared for a long few days. She was glad she packed snacks.
Natasha led her flock down the dusty hall, an orb of light floating above them while she cast detection charms every ten feet. Not that her Raven's had known. Isabel followed with cleaning charms. While she was a Gryff, there was no need to be dustier than necessary. She was glad the children were in comfortable clothes. Natasha kept a running commentary.
"Look at this! Snake statue! I feel like Salazar had a snake complex. Anyone of you speak parseltounge? Maybe it leads somewhere?" Natasha turned to look at the group, staring intently as if their potential parseltounge ability, her Ravens blinked at her while Isabel tried to stifle her giggles.
"C'mon, statistically it's got to be one of you. I know Isabel can't- Ow! Woman! What the bloody hell was that for?!" Natasha protested, rubbing her arm at the stiging hex. She pouted at Isabel, who was bemused by the six Ravens glaring at her.
"My wand slipped." Was her amused reply.
"Mmhm, 'my wand slipped' says the lady who never does anything without deliberate intention." Natasha grumbled good naturedly. The Ravens giggled.
"right, easy way to do this. Are any of you afraid of snakes?" There were six head shakes. Though Greg seemed a bit green at the gills.
"Alright, I'm going to summon a snake. If you can understand it, brilliant! You can talk to snakes. If not, well crotchety old Salazar gets to keep some secrets."
"I say! I'm not a fucking crotchety old man!" Came a voice echoing deep from within the passageway. The Ravens all jumped while Natasha merely grinned.
"I never said you were an old man!" Natasha shouted back, marching further into the passage, her Ravens following timidly, with Isabel murmuring reassurance.
"Gods be damned! Don't tell me I've been found by a Gryffindor." The voice coughed violently. Natasha grimaced. That did not sound pleasant. They came to a circular crossroad, the passage expanding to an ovular shape.
"Technically only one of use is a Gryff. Though the entire school is of the opinion she should've been a Slytherin." Natasha quipped, glancing down the three new passageways.
"At least you've got the sense to travel with a companion. How the bloody hell did she end up in Godric's house if the school is in agreement?" The little Ravens were a little less scared, and now glanced curiously at Isabel. She blushed.
"I may have threatened to set the house on fire if he put me in that house of scum. Besides. What real Slytherin would be placed in Slytherin. Especially since the house is in the absolute pits right now?" Isabel called out. There was more muffled wheezing and coughing coming from the left passage. She beckoned the others down, still casting detection spells.
"And WHAT has led to my name being considered a disgrace? Stop casting detection spells! It's messing with my wards!" Natasha paused for a moment before continuing to cast spells.
"Do you really think I'm going to believe the most conniving, clever, tricky wizard in history? Well, the most famous for those traits I suppose. Besides. You can thank the whole "Mudbloods are filth and should be purged from the school shite that you spouted. I mean really, what did you expect. Your house is filled with mostly newblood hating violent offenders." Several of the Ravens frowned.
"Tasha what does that mean?" Richie asked tentatively, his voice echoing down the passage. Natasha didn't have time to answer.
"What on earth are you doing bringing a CHILD down here?!"
"It's our adventure bonding. Tradition with all new first years." She said matter-of-factly, patting Richie on his head. She stopped for a moment, prodding the wards, determining them to be nothing serious after glancing at Isabel to confirm.
"No...please god no. I'll take Gryffs, please tell me you aren't a bloody bollocking Hufflepuff!" The painting begged. The group had arrived before a heavily dust coated painting of presumably Salazar Slytherin. Natasha was grinning from ear to ear, removing the dust with a wave of her wand.
"Hello Sally. I'm Natasha, Chaos Badger." His cry of frustration echoed through the passageways.
Albus Dumbledore sat up in his office, startled. The two Aurors glanced at each other, still standing at attention, watchful.
"Curious." Albus stroked his beard, staring out at the Forest.
Salazar's portrait was practically sobbing while he muttered under his breath about "Helga's damn brats" before devolving into parseltounge. Gabriel tugged on Natasha's shirt. She turned and knelt down.
"What's going on ol' chap?" He bites his lip.
"Um, he's saying a lot of rude things about Hufflepuffs, can we hex him with Miss Isabel's spell?" A dark grin spread across Natasha's face. She stood, straightened and spoke to the painting.
"Oh Salazar!" She sang. The founder stopped to glare at her, "My lovely lad Gabriel here has something to tell you." Gabriel stepped forward, a dark glare on his face.
"It's rude to insult people if they can't understand you! Mum always says insult people to their faces!" Of course for the rest of the flock, it all sounded like snake hisses. Natasha holds out her hand to Isabel.
"Pay up."
"How did you know?" Isabel hissed, arms crossed.
"I'm a wizard."
"That makes no sense." Isabel deadpanned. Natasha stuck out her tongue and focused on the gobsmacked looking Salazar as Gabriel laid some sort of verbal smackdown on the founder.
"So you gonna let us in or what?" Natasha was passing out Droobles Best blowing gum to the Ravens. Salazar was still bewildered and opened the wall without a second thought. Natasha went first, still casting detection spells all the while. The light orb flew to the top of the room. It was a cozy three story library. A fireplace stood cold across from the group. Isabel moved them inside quickly.
The two fifth years set about lighting the torches and fireplace, Natasha didn't understand how wood had survived for so long, but Salazar seemed to have an excellent grasp of preservation wards. The children quickly fanned out, looking at the books of the ground level, their fingers twitching with the deep Ravenclaw desire to devour books. Salazar filled the massive painting above the fireplace.
"How on earth did you commandeer a portion of the first year 'Claws? Let alone one who is clearly fluent in parsel?"
"Tasha found us outside the knocker!" Greg exclaimed, jittered from his place in front of a necromancy section.
"It just sounds like English to me." Gabriel shrugs, "My mother says we've got Naga somewhere down our line."
"Intriguing." Salazar stroked his pointed beard, "You will learn parselmagic from me. Merlin knows I have little else to do.
"Can I take this medical book to my mom?" Natalie called, standing in front of what Natasha thought might be a demon summoning section. She was holding up a book that practically stank of blood and death.
"CHILD PUT THAT BOOK DOWN!" He exclaimed. Gabriel glared at him. Natalie just looked down at the book.
"She just wants to play. I think she just needs a friend. Or a special friend."
"Child please, that book shouldn't even be down here. It holds the darkest of souls, a devourer of all evils, it corrupts all that it touches, please place it back where you-"
"Oops." Natalie said, having completely ignored Salazar and had undone the buckle of the book. The book warped in on itself, a black mist spreading out from within, surrounding Natalie, filling the room until it formed a massive solidifying figure that stretched its arms wide. Niamh's mouth dropped open.
"Holy shit." All heads turned to the quiet Irish girl. She paid them no mind
"Thank you for that release little one." The being spoke, its voice echoing despite the excellent sound proof nature of the room. "Now I do believe I'm quite hungry. It's been far too long. Take care child of the Healer. Daughter of Valkyrie. Listen to the star. You will never be led astray." The being vanished from the room, a trail of shimmering dust following her.
"This is why I never let Merlin dammed 'Puff's near my snakes. Too much blasted chaos!"
"Natalie did you just release a being of great potential evil?" Natasha asked gently. Her wand was gripped tightly in her head. Natalie was still in shock and answered in a daze.
"Um. Yes?" Natasha scooped her up in a massive hug, whirling her around the room.
"I'm so proud of you! This is such a great start! C'mon little ducks! Let's explore!" And she guided her group deeper into the library.
Amelia Bones was tired of waiting. She had the patience to endure Bagnold, and now she was developing the patience for Fudge, but she hated waiting while a colleague (granted Mathilda was in a different department, but she was still a valued colleague) was speaking with a beast, creature, being thing that could easily tear her to shreds without even blinking. Her Aurors certainly sensed her impatience and we shuffling around her.
"Fox." A short wiry female Auror was at Amelia's side in seconds.
"Contact Mr. Marquis's mother. If Barty's reports were right...she might have a...solution to our Acromantula issue." Fox gave a sharp nod and immediately moved to the gates, apparating as soon as she was off the grounds. Amelia turned back to the forest.
"Damned Morrigan."
"Hufflepuff girl! Get back here!" Salazar shouted. He'd been trying to get the entire group to come back for at least half an hour. Isabel had merely given a sly smile and practically skipped to follow the wayward Hufflepuff. He was incredibly frustrated. There was a reason Helga was the most feared out of the three of them. Though given what little he'd managed to glean from occasional discovery every two hundred years or so, her fearsome reputation had given way to a network of cunning well connected Hufflepuff's who'd taken to the loyalty and hardwork policy of Helga's to the highest level.
"You rang o crotchety one?" Natasha said, peering at Salazar from the second floor on the right hand side. He glared at her.
"You need to explain what the hell happened to my house and Helga's! Why-"
"Is your house filled with magic hating idiots with no concept of their own inbreeding?" Natasha finished for him. He whimpered.
"I just wanted to keep the muggles from following their children to Hogwarts! It's not my fault they were brainwashed Christians who thought they would kill the rest of us for being some sort of devil worshippers!"
"Yeah whatever, I figured, tell me about Helga. Was she the badass I think she is?" Natasha said, waving off. Slytherin grumbled and reached for a book behind him in the painting. He flipped through it until he landed on a specific page.
"Hmmm, let's see what did I- Ah! At our first meeting I described her as 'The most terrifying, intelligent, belligerent, fierce steaming pile of chaos level destruction who could never manage to actually accomplish something long term.'" He snapped the book shut. "I was of course, proven wrong and once I witnessed that her insanity and propensity for chaos was passed down to her students, I made mine swear to never fuck with a 'Puff. Of course that may have fallen out over time. There's a reason our motto is 'Never tickle a sleeping dragon'. The end of this quote is of course, 'because Helga will ride that bitch into the sun and drag you along for the ride.'"
Natasha looked like a love struck idiot. She'd always imagined her founded as some sort of badass Pirate Viking but this was even better.
"I still have no idea how she managed to find someone willing to procreate." He grumbled.
"NIAMH CAN I BORROW YOUR FIRE BOOK?" Came another shout from Richie. There was a click and a massive "WOOSH!" as a giant fireball headed straight for Natasha before she directed it through the nearest window where it seemed only to grow in size. She twirled her wand in her fingers, letting out a low impressed whistle watching its trajectory.
"THAT'S SO COOL! DO IT AGAIN!" Richie shouted.
"My firsties are the best." She cackled.
Mathilda had been waiting patiently for over an hour while Aragog muttered and clicked to himself while he tried to make a decision. She cocked her head at the low rumbling she could here. Her hand twitched, fingers aching to release her wand from her holster. She thought for a moment she could hear shouting. She tilted her head towards the castle. A massive fireball was making its way directly towards them.
"Hagrid we need to move!" She ordered, teeth gritted, tugging on his massive arms.
"O now, tha' would be rude. We 'aven't-"
"NOW Hagrid!" She demanded, beginning to Sprint away from the nest. She paid no mind to the spiders clicking angrily around her. Hagrid easily caught up with her, his large frame moving slowly, though his strides more than made up for it. Aragog had finally noticed. But it was too late the fireball hit. Mathilda reached into her trusty satchel, pulling out her broom, and leaping on to it. She cast the most powerful featherlight charm she could manage without exhausting herself onto Hagrid and tugged him up, weaving in and out of the trees before breaking through the tree tops. The two watched, Hagrid sobbing, as more than half the Acromantula nest was totally and utterly obliterated.
"Well, fuck me." Mathilda muttered in surprise.
"'E was just a baby!" Hagrid sobbed/bellowed behind her, blowing into a giant kerchief. Mathilda just really wanted to go inside.