'What? Who?'

Tori shrugs. 'Professor Babbling.'

Hermione frowned. The soft-spoken, white-haired Ancient Runes professor attacked a student?

'She… what?'

'Well,' Tori says with a sigh. 'I have to admit I don't know for sure. But I'm 90% convinced. She refused to use my correct pronouns in class, and when I argued back to her, she told me to stay after class. At the end of the lesson, she left the room, telling me to wait here and that she just needed to grab something. Ten or so minutes later, someone came into the room. I turned, and was hit with Sectumsempra. She - or whoever it was - used a cloaking spell so I couldn't see their face.'

'It could be someone else! It could be a teacher!'

'That cloaking spell is highly advanced. There's not a single Slytherin, not even the Eighth Years, could cast one. I don't think even the Ravenclaws could.'

'What about a Gryffindor or Hufflepuff?'

'It's a dark spell. Do you know any Dark Hufflepuffs or Gryffindors? Besides, you're the smartest Gryffindor, and I don't think even you could cast it. It needs too much practice and raw power.'

'I totally could,' Hermione began, then shook her head. 'That doesn't matter. So we find out who has the raw power to cast it. That's who hurt you. Once we've found them, we'll expose them to the school.'

'I bet all the teachers can cast it. You have to be pretty powerful to be a teacher. I think a lot of them would refuse to, because it's, as I said, dark magic, but we don't know who wouldn't for certain.'

'Granger! Tori! What are you doing?'

Malfoy, of all people, rounds the corner and stops dead at the sight of them. 'Are you bleeding? What happened? Granger, did you do this?'

'He's not bleeding, I healed him. Apparently a teacher attacked him. We're trying to figure out who it was.'

Malfoy eyes her suspiciously. 'Tori, is this true? Did Granger heal you?'

Tori laughs. 'Ever suspicious.'

'I have good reason to be! Also, Daphne would kill me if anything happened to you.'

Hermione reaches down a hand and helps pull Tori to his feet. 'I wouldn't hurt someone like that. He was pretty injured.'

'Who do you think attacked you?'

'Professor Babbling. She told me to stay in the classroom, left, and ten minutes later someone came through and - sectumsempra-ed? -' he frowns, 'me.'

'Did you see their face?'

'They were using nigrum umbra. So no.'

Malfoy nods. 'So they have to be a teacher then. And a powerful one too. I can think of a few teachers currently that couldn't summon the brute strength required to cast that. Either that or there's a ridiculously powerful student going around attacking people, in which case we're screwed.'

'I doubt they would attack you, whoever they are. I'm genderfluid and a Slytherin. That makes me a target.'

'A target…' Malfoy says slowly. 'I need to talk to Pansy. Is that okay, Tori? Daphne might find out… And you know what'll happen.'

'Coddling and fury in equal measures.' Tori sighs. 'Sure. If you think Pansy can help us find the person who attacked me.'

'Pansy can do anything.' Malfoy says firmly, and Hermione is surprised to find herself agreeing.

They find themselves walking to the Slytherin Common Room, with the 'Blonde Git' on one side, and 'That Quiet "Girl" ' on the other.

Malfoy and Tori stop suddenly outside a green tapestry that has a young, dark-haired man on.

'Password?' He asks, then catches sight of Hermione. 'A Gryffindor! In the Slytherin Common Rooms? We haven't had that happen in hundreds of years!'

'Gryffindors used to come into the Slytherin Common Room?' Hermione asks, curious.

Tori makes a shushing noise, and Malfoy places a finger on his lips.

'Oh, you shush,' the man says. 'It's nice to see some students take an interest in history.'

'We love history! We've just heard your…' Malfoy falters.

'Lectures. Rants. One-sided conversations.' Tori offers.

'Well, I never!' The man frowns. 'Slytherins used to be respectful to their elders!'

'Did they?' Hermione said with a raised eyebrow. Tori dissolves into giggles and Malfoy cracks a smile.

The man laughs. 'Well, you're right. But they should have been!'

'Were you?' Tori says.

'I was the elder. I didn't have anyone to be respectful to!'

'Your teachers?' Hermione asks.

'I was a teacher, young miss. Now, since you're clearly so interested in the history of Hogwarts' - Hermione nods vigorously - 'I'll tell you a bit about it. When Rick approached me with the idea of teaching at a magic school, I have to say I wasn't that on board. But he convinced me, and I'm glad he did. Back in my day, witches and wizards-'

'And mages!' Tori adds.

'The gender neutral term.' Malfoy mutters to Hermione.

The man, whose identity Hermione is starting to get an inkling of, nods his head to Tori. 'Indeed. Anyway, these magical users were persecuted and killed for being who they are. Hogwarts helped save many lives and bring forwards the magical era, where mudbloods and mages can live in peace.'

Tori and Malfoy freeze.

'What? Is it because I said 'Mudblood'?' The man asks. "I was a mudblood, you know. It's not an insult. Well, it was an insult. But we mudbloods can reclaim the word and it's meaning.'

'That's what I've been saying! But the purebloods and halfbloods keep saying 'Don't call yourself that!'' Hermione does her best impression of Ron, and Tori laughs.

'You're one too?' Hermione nods at the man's words. 'Exactly! They tell us not to describe ourselves as it, because they see it as an insult, because they, who have never been called it, see it as an insult.'

'It's strange how people have vilified you in history,' Hermione says, frowning. 'Although… The basilisk? People think you told it to kill muggleborns. It attacked me in the second year.'

'I'm sorry about that, my dear,' Salazar Slytherin says with a wince. 'The basilisk wasn't mine. I did want to keep mudbloods out of Hogwarts, that is true, but only because I thought it would be kinder to keep them with their families, who would have disowned or attacked them if they knew their children had magic. The basilisk was actually put there as a defense mechanism for the school by Rowena. She wanted to protect us from any attack.'

Hermione frowns. 'So how did it end up attacking the students it was meant to protect?'

He shrugs. 'I'm assuming Tom, who was a very powerful student who could also speak Parseltongue, tricked it into thinking muggleborns were a danger to the school. From his twisted viewpoint, it makes sense.' He sighs. 'Shame about him. He was very talented. If he hadn't gone completely insane, he would have had a bright future ahead of him.'

'Insane? Don't you mean evil?'

'He wasn't evil. He just had misguided values, was sent back to an abusive, unloving home by… The Annoying Person Who Is Dead Now, Thank Merlin -'

'Dumbledore?'

Malfoy and Tori fake a gasp, looking at each other. Salazar shrieks and claps his hands over his ears.

Hermione laughs.

He slowly takes his hands off his ears, fake-glaring at her. 'As I was saying until you blasphemed, Tom wasn't evil. He could have saved the world, if he had been right in the head.'

'Shouldn't he have killed less people though? Or ideally no people?'

'Eh, killing some people is fine.' Salazar shrugs.

'Okay, let's go.' Malfoy starts pushing Hermione towards the tapestry. 'Turpe.'

Salazar sighs. 'We were having a good conversation! Why do you have to leave?' The tapestry starts rolling up, revealing a black door behind it.

'We don't want you giving the brightest witch of our age any plans for world domination.' Malfoy says firmly, opening the door.

As Hermione passes Salazar, he winks at her, and she grins back at him. 'That sounds fun. I'll come back and chat later?'

Malfoy lets out a shriek. 'No! Bad idea!'

The door shuts behind them.