Chapter Twenty

Harry, Hermione, and Ron ran down the stairs together from the Founders' office. Hermione had floo'd over minutes earlier after oversleeping. It made them all late for breakfast, something which Harry had promised three times the night earlier wouldn't happen.

When they reached the Great Hall, they were not surprised to find it full. They took seats at the very end of the Gryffindor table closest to the staff table. Dumbledore was already there and it seemed he hadn't spoken to the school yet if the loud whispers said anything.

"Why were you late?" Ron hissed at Hermione, tapping his foot nervously. "We were supposed to be here five minutes ago, Mione!"

"I know," she frowned down at her hands. She was unusually quiet and tense and hadn't even bothered to yell at him for snapping at her. "It was a long night, okay?"

"Hey," Harry interrupted before Ron could continue trying to pick a fight. He nodded at the doors and both of them spotted the Founders beginning to walk into the room. At the same time as Dumbledore, the trio got up and walked up the steps to meet their old Headmaster up there. The Founders got there at the same time that they were noticed and whispers turned into loud conversation and finally shouted, confused questions.

"Quiet," Dumbledore called. A hush fell over the room and Dumbledore nodded firmly. "Thank you. As you can tell, Undersecretary Umbridge was removed from the castle a couple of nights ago. She will not be returning. Unfortunately, neither will I."

"Who are they?" a voice shouted over the silence. Harry spotted Pansy Parkinson and did his best not to glare at the girl. It wasn't going well. She was just so easy to glare at.

"Ah, yes. A few days ago, there was an accident. Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley were sent eight hundred years into the past where they were then taught by the Founders of Hogwarts. Harry was adopted by Salazar Slytherin."

There was a moment of shocked silence.

"He's not lying," Harry spoke up. "We brought them back with us and got rid of Umbridge."

Dumbledore nodded. "They will be taking over once more and I will be stepping down to focus on protecting everyone from within the Ministry."

"You've gotta be kidding," someone muttered loud enough that they could hear.

"I assure you, he is not," Godric spoke up. "We were told about the state of the world today and decided we were needed here."

"But you're dead!"

"That's rude," a voice scolded. The trio and the Founders looked over at the Ravenclaw table to spot Helena shaking her head at a student.

"Helena," Rowena gasped, eyes wide. "Oh, my."

"Mother," the girl greeted with a smile, gliding over to them. "I hope everything went well."

"It did," Helga assured her. "And Théophile?"

"Here," the man grinned from a little ways down the hall. "Eight hundred years is a long time."

"We did warn you," Hermione spoke up when he eyed her in particular. "I told you the day we left!"

"No, hold on," Ginny called from the Gryffindor table. "You knew the Bloody Baron and the Grey Lady?"

"Helena and Théo," Rowena corrected.

"They only said they died in those ways because it's what I knew they'd told everyone," Hermione explained with a sigh. "They had to uphold history."

"I was never in love with Helena," Théo agreed. "It is a quite gruesome tale, isn't it?"

"Then how did you die?" Justin asked them in surprise.

"Mm, a dragon," Helena sighed. "Emrys was very apologetic about it. We told him it was a bad idea."

"I knew it," Salazar hissed. "That boy was much too obsessed with creatures. I did warn him."

"Hey, I know there's a lot to talk about and all," Harry told his father. "But we've got a bunch of students staring at us like we've lost our minds, Athair."

"We will be running this school once more," Helga picked it up. "And teaching. We will be adding classes that you should have been learning already like healing, warding, and strategy."

"Albus," Snape spoke up from behind them. "You cannot seriously be leaving Hogwarts."

"I am," Dumbledore confirmed. The two shared a long look before Snape scowled darkly and leaned back in his chair somewhat like a pouting teenager.

"We will begin the new curriculum next year," Salazar told the school. "And for the last few days of this semester, you may approach us with any questions you have. If we are not around, Harry, Ron, and Hermione will likely also have answers to your questions."

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Dumbledore left shortly after breakfast that morning. He'd only stayed to keep a handle on things until the Founders and the Trio were prepared to handle everything without him. The first day with Dumbledore gone saw all seven of them extremely busy with people hounding them. Salazar had used lunch as a chance to be questioned by the school on the fallacies of his legacy.

It had been hard.

A few Slytherins had been so furious by the truth of Salazar Slytherin that they'd actually tried to attack either him or Harry. It had led to them being immediately expelled. The threat of expulsion to anyone that tried to attack other students had been felt by everyone.

After that lunch, the Founders, Harry, and Ron made their way up to the Founders' office. It had already been rearranged to fit their four desks the way they'd been placed as well. Dumbledore's things had been moved out and replaced with the books, weapons, and magical trinkets that they'd had over the office in the past.

"Ah, there it is," Godric hummed, reaching up to grab the Sorting Hat. He put the magical hat on the nearby desk and moved aside for Salazar to kneel down and glare at it.

"What have you done to my House?" he asked angrily. "Who changed the criteria?"

"Whatever happened, it's not my fault," the Hat reminded him as he waved his wand over the thing. He was given a list of enchantments on the Hat as well as criteria for each House and who placed them.

"Dilys Derwent," Salazar read, narrowing his eyes. "My House has been growing darker and darker for over two hundred years?"

"We can only fix it," Helga reminded him gently. He nodded firmly and began to cast the complicated spells to adjust the Hat.

"Where's Hermione?" Rowena wondered, looking at the boys, who were both complaining about the students that had been bugging them. The pair exchanged a glance and shrugged together.

"She's been in a mood since she floo'd over here," Ron told the woman. "She's barely said a thing to me."

"Yeah, she didn't even yell at him when he was being a prat," Harry agreed, ducking the smack from his friend. "We figured it would be best to leave her alone."

Rowena pursed her lips. "And neither of you bothered to ask what was wrong, hm?"

"Er, no?"

"Very well. Next time you see her, please send her to us. We've got some things to discuss with her."

Salazar shouted and cursed in Parseltongue, spouting off a few words that made Harry blush. Everyone stared at him in shock as he glared down at the Hat. "You are not supposed to work like that!"

"I don't control how I work."

"Ridiculous hat," Salazar snapped, crossing his arms. "You cannot perform Occlumency! You are a hat!"

"I know that, do you?"

"Is- is he arguing with the Sorting Hat?" Ron asked Godric, who was snickering at the sight before them.

"Hats cannot perform Occlumency!" Salazar continued. "You can only read minds to the extent that you are charmed to. You cannot reach the farthest depths of ones' mind!"

"I do what I do. Yelling at me won't change that."

"Sal," Helga interrupted, touching his arm. "What happened?"

"It reached through my mind to find my affinity for Dark magic," he explained, glaring still at the hat. "It only broke past my shields because I did not expect to need them against a hat."

"Obviously, someone has charmed it," Rowena told him. "We can remove the charm. Was it looking specifically for an affinity for dark magic?"

"Yes," he nodded firmly. "And dark influences in one's life."

"Explains Crabbe and Goyle," Harry spoke up. "They're too stupid to be in Slytherin."

"Too stupid to be in any House," Ron corrected. Harry nodded along. Having met the Founders, they could both think of people that had no business being in any House at all.

"We will fix it," Godric assured his friend. "We can resort the school over the coming weeks."

"Wait, what?" Harry blinked. "Resort us?"

"Of course," Rowena hummed. "It has been Sorted unfairly. You, I would wager, would be in Slytherin naturally."

"Well, sure, but everyone?"

"And give first years a fresh start," Godric smiled. "No need to resort seventh years… though perhaps we should allow them to retake their final year since it was so-,"

"Fucked up?" Ron asked.

"Language," Rowena scolded. Harry's eyes lit up.

"Hermione said fuck!" he exclaimed, much to everyone but Salazar's shock. "She was arguing with Sirius and they were really mad and she swore!"

"What is happening to her?" Ron snorted. "It's like she no longer has a stick up her arse."

"Ronald," Rowena narrowed her eyes. "That is incredibly rude."

"Sorry, Professor."

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She wasn't entirely sure how it had happened, honestly. She'd been wandering around the halls and avoiding her friends for nearly an hour when she'd found herself in the dungeons. Her mind flashed back to the Founder's test as she neared the potions room and she stopped short in the door. She could still imagine Slytherin sitting there dead. It haunted her.

"What do you want, Granger?" a voice snapped at her. She gasped at the noise and finally saw Snape glaring at her from his desk on the left side of the room.

"Oh, Professor, I-,"

"If you think I'm going to treat you special now that you've made friends with the Founders, you're wrong."

"I didn't expect-,"

"In my mind, you're as insufferable and obnoxious as you were before."

"Leave her alone."

Hermione jumped and took two large steps forward when Draco spoke from behind her. "What are you doing?"

He ignored her and stared at his godfather. "I was never able to tell you because Lucius was threatening Mother, but you have no damn reason to be such an asshole. Granger is better than I am in Potions and you single her out for it."

Snape narrowed his eyes at the blonde boy. "I am still your Professor and you are still my student. Detention, Mister Malfoy, for a week. The same to you, Granger."

"It's Black," Draco told him. Snape glared at him and finally, he grabbed Hermione by her upper arm and pulled her out of the room and down the hall. She tugged her arm away from him quickly and frowned.

"What did you do that for?" she asked, confused. "It wasn't anything new."

"You were just staring, Granger."

"Hermione," she said absently, thinking back to what she'd been thinking about. "I know I was. I didn't realize he was in there."

"How? He was right there."

"Lost in thought," she tried. "I've got a lot on my mind… why did you yell at him? He's your godfather, Draco."

"Lucius named him my godfather," he explained shortly. "Despite how I may have treated you, Granger-,"

"Hermione-,"

"I never did hate you. You're smart."

"And now we both have detention for a week," she sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Great."

"What happened to Potter and Weasel?"

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "I thought you didn't hate us."

"You. And Potter. I can't stand Weasel."

"I think they went with the Professors to the office," she waved him off. "I wasn't really paying attention."

"And you didn't go?" he raised an eyebrow. She bristled.

"I'm not attached to them, Draco. I don't need to be with them always. I have things of my own to deal with."

"Like whatever had you so lost in thought that you didn't notice Snape?"

"You wanna know about that?" she asked, irritated. There was no way she'd tell him why she was actually avoiding her friends, but he might believe her if she told him what had happened.

"I am curious."

"Fine. We were here with Helena Ravenclaw and our friend, Théo. School wasn't in yet. The Professors decided they needed to know how we'd react to real danger, so they faked the death of Professor Slytherin, Helena, and Théo. We walked into the Potions classroom and I gave Professor Slytherin CPR - a muggle way of restarting a heart - for ten minutes. It was the first time I'd ever seen a dead body."

Draco was quiet for a moment. "They weren't dead. Were you in danger?"

Hermione's stomach flipped at the reminder of her fight. She glanced around, suddenly uncomfortable. "No, not real danger."

"But?"

"Why do you think there's a 'but?'"

"Because I don't think I've ever seen you look so close to passing out. Not even while Potter was fighting a bloody dragon."

Hermione didn't even have the energy to glare at him. She wasn't even sure she wanted to. "Professor Gryffindor is a Seer. He used a spell to figure out who would pose the most danger to us in our lives. Mine was a man I've recently run into for the first time."

"A Death Eater," Draco realized. "Who? I probably know them."

Hermione realized he was right. He'd been in that world his entire life and had clearly interacted with a number of Death Eaters because of his father. "You might."

"Do you know why they're a threat to you?"

She gave a near hysterical laugh and covered her mouth with the back of her hand. She didn't need to get emotional in front of him. "Now I do."

"You're… scared."

"I don't know why I'm even talking to you," she sniffed, taking a step back. "You've been horrible to me for years."

"Because we're… family now," he told her, looking slightly pained. "And no matter what you think, that is important to me."

"I'm not a mudblood?"

Draco winced. "No. You weren't before."

Hermione was unable to continue trying to fight him at those words. "Yes, I'm scared. If you knew what he did…" she shook her head. "I haven't seen Sirius so… so fucked up before as I did when I told him what happened."

"What did happen?"

"I was cursed."

"Curses have cures."

"There's no cure for this," she disagreed. He looked like he took that as a challenge.

"Maybe not yet. Tell me what it is."

"No," she stared at him like he was crazy. "I'm not even telling my friends, Draco. They'll… they'd lose it. Sirius did. Professor Gryffindor did, and now that I'm thinking about it, Professor Slytherin looked pretty scared, too."

"What the hell could be that bad? What sort of curse is that bad and over eight hundred years old?"

Hermione stared at him. They were family. He was right. More than that, she was Sirius's heir, which meant that Draco couldn't disobey whatever she told him. Biting her lip, she nodded. "Anima Coniungere."

Draco paled horribly. He looked just as sick as she felt and when his eyes slid down to her wrists, she removed the glamour over the bite and let him look at it. "Shit, Granger- Hermione. Who the hell-,"

"Dolohov," she answered him. "At the DOM. Sirius explained the entire thing to me. Does it make sense now why I'm avoiding them?"

"Yes," he confirmed, grabbing her hand. She let him, despite being startled, and watched as he turned it over to look at the bite. It was still swollen and dark but it hadn't been touched in two days and so it was beginning to feel better. "I knew he was… I never imagined he'd do something like this. To a teenager, too."

"Sirius was caught up on that part, too," she admitted quietly. "He asked me how old I was after I told him what spell it was. Truthfully, I don't know how old I am. I think I might be seventeen now."

"Go to a muggle neighborhood and perform magic," he suggested offhandedly, eyeing the nasty injury. "You're right. There's no cure to this."

"Thanks," she muttered, tugging at her hand. He tightened his grip on it and she met his eyes, startled.

"Be careful," he warned her quietly. "Dolohov is powerful, Granger. He's smart. He'll find you."

She glared at him until he released her hand. With it back, she put up the glamour once more and dropped it to her side. "Have anything cheerful to say? Anything supportive?"

Draco considered the request seriously. "No. But I'll watch out for you. If he did that, he won't be the only person you need to look out for. You need to watch for anyone that might take you to him."

"Great."

"See you in detention."

"Can't wait."

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