PART TWO: The Consequences

1979

Lily

There was a strange woman, in the Order of the Phoenix.

None of us quite knew exactly who she was. Oh, we had a name, of course, but nobody quite knew where she'd come from or why she fought alongside us. There were theories and rumours, whispered between the Order's members, but none of us dared ask her to her face. She was far too intimidating for that. Nevertheless, Dumbledore trusted her- more than anyone, I think- and that was enough for us.

She was perhaps in her late twenties or early thirties, although it was hard to tell with that impossibly beautiful face. Yet even though her raven hair and pale green eyes and porcelain skin were stunning in a majestic kind of way, there was something ancient about her, something alien, something dark. She was a woman with secrets.

She'd been a part of the Order as long as anyone could remember, since it's very foundation, I think, but very few of us had even heard of her before joining. Whenever anyone asked Dumbledore about her, he was always suspiciously evasive, but Edgar Bones had once hinted that he knew something of her past. After much persuasion, he'd revealed that she had been at Hogwarts around the same time as him, but a few years above, so he'd never really known who she was. That is, until she'd disappeared mysteriously in 1944.

We weren't sure whether to believe his story. For one, he was significantly older than her- so how could she have been several years above him at school? And yet it also oddly made sense at times. The way she spoke about Voldemort, about his Death Eaters… it was as if she knew them well. As if she'd been at school with them. Plus, there was her clothing. She liked to wear wide trousers, blouses, below-the-knee skirts, red lipstick, strings of pearls. Perhaps she was just really into vintage fashion, albeit slightly gothic vintage, with her blacks and greens and purples. Or perhaps her mind was full of nostalgia, drawn towards a different time.

Once, at a meeting, we'd been discussing Voldemort's next move.

"He'll be heading towards London," Gideon had said, tracing him wand over the vast map splayed out on the table. The little hooded figures that represented the Death Eaters moved accordingly. "That's where he'll hit next."

"It makes sense," Marlene mused. "We know he's been building up for something big."

"No," Evangeline Chambers had said quietly.

We all turned to look at her. It was not often that she spoke during meetings, instead content to sit back and observe in silence, so when she deigned to speak, we all paid attention. Dumbledore looked at her sideways, his eyes narrowed slightly in something akin to concern. She leaned forward on her forearms, her pale green eyes flickering over the map.

"He knows he doesn't have the numbers for an attack on London," she began softly, but not weakly. Her fingers traced Voldemort's latest strikes lightly on the map, pausing at certain points. "When he moves on London, and he will, eventually, he wants it to be big. Showy. Extravagant. He wants no possibility of failure." Her eyes darted to another area of the map. "He's been amassing his forces, yes, but he's missing something." She looked up at us. "A weapon. Our spies tell us that he's been withdrawn, travelling a lot, only participating in a select few attacks. He's looking for something that will ensure his victory when he does move to take London."

Dumbledore stroked his beard musingly, contemplating. I glanced at James anxiously before looking back at Evangeline.

"What kind of weapon?" I asked.

She looked directly at me, and I felt the full force of those sharp green eyes boring into my own. "Knowledge," she said simply.

"What kind of knowledge?" Dumbledore asked eventually, when it became clear Evangeline wasn't going to elaborate.

Evangeline glanced at Dumbledore, and something unspoken passed between them. "Look at the last few attacks," she said, gesturing at the map. "The Sooths. The Imagos. The Vablatskys. There's a pattern here. They're all families that have had seers in their ranks." She gazed up at us, her face grave, her eyes piercing. "Voldemort wants the future."

Albus

Albus Dumbledore knew better than to act surprised when Evangeline Chambers- or rather, Salazar Slytherin- breezed into his office without warning. She liked to pop in unannounced when he least expected it, simply apparating into the headmaster's tower and waltzing through the door. As usual, she sprawled into one of his chairs, stretching out like an indolent cat.

Salazar Slytherin. That had been a surprise, to say the least. He'd nearly fallen out of his chair in shock when she'd apparated straight into the office one stormy September night in 1962, not a day older than she'd been eighteen years before, and declared that they needed to talk about Tom Riddle. Oh, and announced that she was also the reincarnation of the most infamous Hogwarts founder.

But in the many years since then, they'd built up a good working relationship, founding the Order of the Phoenix together, fighting side by side. He was, as far as he knew, the only one she'd trusted her secret to. Aside from Lord Voldemort.

"Do you really think he's trying to find a seer?" he asked casually, while she helped herself to a lemon sherbet. She'd definitely been more forthcoming at the latest Order meeting than she usually was, although he was perplexed as to why she hadn't spoken to him about her concerns first. Normally, they discussed all Order business together first, then decided whether it was worth the other members being notified.

"Of course," she replied nonchalantly, reaching for another sweet. "Hopefully, though, with the Order guarding all the known seers, it shouldn't be a problem." She glanced up at him. "Speaking of which, it's probably time you got yourself a new Divination professor."

He ignored her attempt to change the subject. "You don't think he'll come looking for you?"

She froze, her face becoming carefully closed off. "Why would he want to find me?" she asked stiffly after a second.

Dumbledore shrugged. "You're a seer," he said calmly. "Or at least, you have prophetic dreams."

"Yes, well," she began briskly, all business, "I hardly think that he's in a hurry to speak to me, given that last time we saw each other, I stabbed him."

There was a long moment of silence.

"You can't keep blaming yourself for what he's become," Dumbledore said quietly.

She looked away, avoiding his gaze. "Why shouldn't I? I'm the only one responsible," she declared crisply, her jaw clenched. Dumbledore sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"Lily's pregnant, by the way," he mentioned after a moment in an attempt to recover some sense of normalcy. "She told me after the meeting."

"Give her my congratulations," Salazar said shortly.

"Tell her yourself," Dumbledore replied. "She might even name the baby after you, given that you saved her life that one time."

She glanced back at him, a rueful smile tugging at her lips. "Shut up," she said. "Like Lily's ever going to name her kid something as pretentious as Evangeline."

We made it to Part 2! So as you can see, we've jumped to 1979. Salazar/Evangeline is (biologically speaking) in her thirties and is all mixed up in the Order of the Phoenix with some very familiar characters and I'm getting very excited!

Just to clear it up early on, other characters are generally going to refer to Salazar/Evangeline as she/her because in my head, when Salazar gets reincarnated she finds it easier to go with whatever pronouns are typically attached to her new body. I think internally she is (and forgive me if I get this wrong) non-binary? I think that's the right word? She basically just always sees herself as Salazar, and her physical sex doesn't really bother her that much. Let's just say she's unique, and I'm not really educated enough to put an accurate label on her.

Anyways, thanks a bunch for getting this far. As always, I love hearing from you guys.

Amy Grace xx