Author's note: Lots of thank you-s and a lot of hugs to Seldes Katne for beta-reading Hearts and Hourglasses before it's posted on Sugar Quill! She's a wonderful person and a fantastic beta-reader!

Reminder: Godric's alias is Godfrey. Salazar's is Sextus. Rowena's is Rachel. Helga's is Hannah. Rowena cast a spell so that everyone who hears them will hear them referring to each other by their aliases, but to their own ears, they hear each other's real names. It's a complicated spell.

Hearts and Hourglasses
Chapter 29: The Other Side

"Leave him alone!"

Harry stumbled to a halt the moment he came into the entrance hall of the castle. Students were lining the walls, up the marble staircase and down the dungeon steps, keeping the center clear. By the dungeon entrance, Draco was struggling to get pass Professor Snape who was keeping him from rushing to the Aurors, who had surrounded Salazar. Their wands were out, and the Dark wizard was unconscious.

"Fudge!" Dumbledore was incensed. He and the Minister of Magic were facing each other by the open doors of the Great Hall. "What do think you're doing?! You can't come into Hogwarts and arrest people without proper cause!"

"You heard him, Dumbledore!" Fudge was quivering with outrage. "You heard him! By his own admission, he's a Dark wizard!"

Dumbledore's eyes flashed with impatience as murmurs of fear ran through the students watching them.

"You fool."

Fudge breathed in sharply as Dumbledore straightened in an imperious manner.

"You're a fool, Fudge," said Dumbledore in a low tone, which came clearly to everyone's ears, "You're so frightened by the other side, that the mere mention of them is more than enough to strike fear in your heart."

Fudge started, his lips curled back in anger, but he didn't say anything as Dumbledore continued softly, "He hasn't done anything but say he is of the other side. Yet, already you consider him too dangerous. Immediately you feared him when you found out he isn't one of us."

"Dumbledore-" said Fudge, but he was cut off when Hogwarts Headmaster said, "Don't you see it? Because of fear, our side has already lost even before the battle has begun. Voldemort has already won."

Almost everyone winced upon hearing that name, and Fudge was no exception. Foolishly, he began demanding that Dumbledore never say You Know Who's real name again. Harry's stomach spasmed in disgust as he looked at the Minister, who was quaking in angry terror at just the mention of Voldemort's name.

Fudge wasn't the only one. Even the Aurors were frightened. Harry could see their hands shake. They were still pointing their wands at Salazar although he was unconscious and lying on the cold stone floor. Most of the students were staring at Dumbledore and Fudge, who was still railing. Unbelievably, Fudge was now accusing Dumbledore of conspiring with the Dark wizards for allowing the Dark Arts session.

Dumbledore remained silent at this, but Professor McGonagall didn't. Furious, she confronted Fudge and demanded how he could even dare utter such foul and absurd accusations against Dumbledore. Professor Sprout joined in bashing Fudge verbally. The kindly Herbology teacher was gentle no more.

Even the Hufflepuffs were taken aback at their House Head's reaction; this was a side of Sprout that they had never seen before. Fudge was speechless: it is one thing to face off against people taller than you, quite another when a smaller person challenges you. Sprout was making Fudge look ridiculous.

"ENOUGH!" Fudge roared. "I have done what I have seen fit!" He pointed a finger at Salazar's prone form. "After the Dementors question the Dark wizard, he'll be sent to Azkaban where his kind belongs!"

Harry's breath caught. Fudge ordered the Aurors to put Salazar in chains and find the other conspirators. Draco suddenly screamed, "You can't do that! He's-" Snape clamped his hand over Draco's mouth and half-dragged half-carried Draco down to the dungeons.

A strange calm descended on Harry as he watched one of the Aurors cast Mobilicorpus on Salazar. Vaguely he remembered it as the same spell Lupin had cast on Snape in the Shrieking Shack. When Salazar's form was in an upright position, the same Auror conjured up heavy iron chains whose manacles fastened by themselves around the prisoner's wrists and ankles.

Harry couldn't believe this was happening. Never had he imagined that the Ministry would arrest Salazar.

A small faint voice whispered in Harry's numb mind. They don't know. Fudge doesn't know who he is. Tell him. Tell them who he is. They'll let him go once they know who he is.

He stepped forward towards the Aurors and opened his mouth to tell them. But hands suddenly clamped down on his shoulders and pulled him back. Surprised, he looked to his right to see Ron, shaking his head at him quickly.

"You can't tell them who he is," said Ron in a barely discernable voice.

"Ron's right," whispered Hermione, who was on Harry's left side. "It will only get worse if they know who he really is."

Harry was about to disagree when Fudge said loudly, "Find the other wizard called Gloucester. He'll be sent immediately to Azkaban for casting Crucio on another human being, even if it's on scum such as this Dark wizard."

His eyes snapped back to Fudge even as a thought rang out in his mind. Fudge wouldn't dare send Godric Gryffindor to Azkaban!

Are you sure? A teeny voice inside him said with derision. He might not even believe you if you say the Founders have returned. He doesn't even want to believe Voldemort is rising again. He thinks you're mad, you know. Full of crackpot stories. Remember?

The voice vanished to be replaced by Fudge's angry sputter.

For heaven's sake, Dumbledore --- the boy was full of some crackpot story at the end of last year too --- his tales are getting taller, and you're still swallowing them --- the boy can talk to snakes, Dumbledore, and you still think he's trustworthy?

... He doesn't trust me. Harry stared at the portly little wizard who was Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. He and Dumbledore were arguing heatedly again. McGonagall and Sprout were standing aside, their eyes shooting daggers at Fudge.

He doesn't trust me, Harry thought again. He didn't believe me and Hermione, when we told him that Sirius is innocent. He didn't believe me when I told him who the Death Eaters are.

You are merely repeating the names of those who were acquitted of being Death Eaters thirteen years ago. You could have found those names in old reports of the trials!

That tiny voice returned. That's right. Fudge doesn't trust you. Especially since you're a Parselmouth.

A memory three years ago surfaced with Ron saying, "It's not a very common gift. Harry, this is bad."

This was the time when Harry first found out about Parseltongue, after he had rescued Justin Finch-Fletchley from a snake Draco had conjured up during the Dueling club Gilderoy Lockhart had started.

Hermione with a worried expression told Harry in a hushed voice, "- being able to talk to snakes was what Salazar Slytherin was famous for. That's why the symbol of Slytherin House is a serpent."

Ron adding, "Exactly. And now the whole school's going to think you're his great-great-great-great-grandson or something ---"

The memory receded as the voice queried. How's Fudge going to react when you tell him the Dark wizard he has just had arrested is none other than Salazar Slytherin? Fudge's scared of Slytherin. He doesn't trust you, because you can speak Parseltongue just like Slytherin. He'll think you're mad, of course. Another crackpot story. Fudge will think you're too full of yourself if you tell him the Founders are back.

After all, everything does happen to Harry Potter.

Harry blinked, returning to his senses. Fudge was now striding towards him and towards the open doors leading out of the castle. Behind the Minister, only two of the six Aurors remained, bringing along Salazar still suspended in mid-air and unconscious. The other Aurors must be searching the castle for the other Founders, whom Fudge had referred to as conspirators.

The Minister's pace slowed when he saw Harry. There was a suspicious glint in Fudge's eyes as if he considered Harry an enemy too.

Then suddenly, Harry felt the coldest chill come over him, and he whirled around to see Dementors coming towards him.

***

Godric had rarely felt as helpless as he did now. He, Rowena and Helga had returned to the main hall of Wvelte. In front of them and floating in mid-air was a large wispy mirror. It was showing to them what was happening below in Hogwarts.

The wizards who had chained and manacled Salazar were now handing him over to a trio of Dementors. He heard Rowena gasp softly and Helga mutter, "How could they allow Dementors on Hogwarts grounds?"

"We have to rescue Salazar," whispered Rowena, her voice turning desperate. "He can't stand Dementors-"

In the mirror, Salazar had jerked awake when one of the foul creatures touched his face. His green eyes were wary and surprised then widened in fear when he saw them.

"S-stay away-" It was all Salazar managed to say before he stiffened, his eyes rolling back until only their whites were seen. His body began to tremble then fell limp as Salazar lost consciousness again. The Dementors took him away, and the wizard called Fudge ordered the two other wizards (Aurors, Flitwick had called them) to join the others in searching for the other Dark wizards.

Helga was outraged as was Godric, but their anger was quickly overwhelmed by concern for Salazar, and again terrible helplessness weighed down on Godric's shoulders. They could only watch as the Dementors took their friend away.

"We have to go after him." Godric looked at Rowena, who was pale. She looked ready to faint, but a quiet strength inside her wouldn't allow her to give in to despair.

Helga looked very tired, and she was shaking her head. "I knew we shouldn't have allowed you two to hold that Dark Arts session." She was addressing Godric, but the blame in her voice was not directed at Godric but at herself. She had been adamant in her refusal to allow the Dark Arts session, but slowly and surely, Salazar had persuaded her to be lenient about it. He'd made her see the reason behind it.

"Magic is magic, Helga," Salazar had said to her, "Light magic or Dark magic, Light or Dark Arts, White magic or Black magic. They are equal, Helga, and both should be learned side by side. If a Light wizard, makes use of Dark magic, who or what changes? Is he to be considered a Dark wizard? Or does the Dark magic become Light magic? It's the wizard who changes, not the magic. You cannot rightly blame magic no matter what kind it is."

"Magic is magic," repeated Salazar. "Our students should learn all the kinds of magic there is rather than be ignorant or be frightened of what they don't understand. Let us show them what magic exist in this world and leave it up to them to decide what to do with that knowledge."

Helga had still been reluctant even after that. She finally agreed rather huffily when Salazar insinuated that perhaps she preferred their students to be unprepared when they encountered Dark Arts outside of Hogwarts.

Still, she did have the last word. "But if you cast Crucio on a student, Salazar, I will wring your skinny neck!"

The corners of Godric's mouth twitched at the memory, then the cruel present intruded, and he sighed softly. He turned away from the mirror and walked away from it, trying to think clearly. They hadn't expected this would happen. They hadn't known how much their side now feared the other side.

When they had found out that Salazar had been arrested, their immediate reaction had been to go to him, but Flitwick and Hooch had insisted they hide, saying that this Fudge was mad and too frightened to see things straight.

When news of the Dark Arts session at Hogwarts had reached the Ministry, it had come as a tidal wave. Parents had sent owls to the school governers, demanding to know why Dark Arts were being taught at the school. Their children had owled them about it, owled them that a professor had cast the Cruciatus Curse on another professor. It also brought up a previous matter about another professor having cast the Imperius Curse on his students the year before.

The general supposition now was that Hogwarts was being infiltrated by Dark wizards, who were intent on corrupting students' minds over to their side. When Fudge had arrived at Hogwarts with his Auror bodyguards, he had seen Salazar demonstrating a Dark magic spell to a group of Slytherins in the entrance hall.

Then Flitwick and Hooch had refused to tell them what had happened next, and had insisted that the three of them hide. Flitwick had told Harry and his friends to go back to the castle while Hooch had taken three Firebolts and told Godric and the others to use the brooms to go someplace safe and hidden. Neither professor had known about Wvelte, but Godric, Rowena and Helga had taken the brooms and ridden them to the nearest Portkey point. From there, they had gone up to Wvelte and seen what had happened to Salazar.

***

"What happened next?" Ron asked George demandingly. They were all in the Gryffindor common room. The Aurors had finally allowed them to enter the Tower after searching it in vain for the other three Founders. The trio was talking with George, Fred and Lee who had been present earlier when Salazar was arrested. They had been on their way back from the kitchen with snacks for the other Gryffindors when they came across Salazar with some Slytherins in the entrance hall.

Salazar had been demonstrating the Fortune charm.

"Fortune charm?" Hermione asked. Ron then explained that the Fortune charm made people lucky, but that it was an illegal spell.

Harry was puzzled when he heard that. Why would a charm that made people lucky be illegal? Hermione was also confused, and it was Lee who told them that the Fortune charm was dangerous, because it made the caster really lucky, but made the people around him unlucky.

"The Fortune charm is a parasitic spell," added George, "it gets luck from other people and adds it to the caster's luck. It can cause a lot of trouble obviously. But, luckily, no pun intended, it's also a very very hard spell to cast."

"And," finished Fred, "if you don't cast it perfectly, it will backfire on you, and you'll wind up being very very unlucky instead."

Harry couldn't help but think that Salazar had cast the Fortune charm incorrectly, and he asked them if that was what had happened.

George shook his head. "No, Scaevola had sealed the charm in a globe. He was showing the Slytherins how to check first if the charm was cast properly or not before breaking the globe and using the charm. If the charm was done properly, its color will be golden. Any other color, and it was done wrong."

"Then Fudge showed up," said Fred. "He saw Scaevola with the globe and asked what it was."

Lee continued, "Scaevola said it was a Fortune charm, and Fudge went ballistic. He told off Scaevola for casting an illegal spell."

Fred said, "Scaevola frowned at him and asked why it was illegal. Fudge went purple and shouted because it was a Dark spell."

"Scaevola snorted and said that when people don't know enough about a spell, they usually label it as Dark magic," said George. "Then, he continued his lesson to the Slytherins saying that the Fortune charm was easily countered by casting Finite Incantatum on it."

Harry frowned slightly. Finite Incantatum sounded familiar to him. Then he recalled that Snape had used it during the Dueling Club in Harry's second year.

"Fudge looked idiotic when Scaevola got rid of the Fortune charm so quickly," said Fred. "We were all surprised too. We didn't know it was that easy to counter the Fortune charm."

Lee sighed and said, "But then we are behind on DADA. Look how much we learned from Quirrel and Lockhart. Lupin's great, but he left when it was let out that he's a werewolf, and not that I have anything against the real Moody, but the Moody last year was a terrific teacher. He really taught us about the Dark Arts even though he was a Death Eater. Plus, if you think about it, Barty Crouch did get the better of Alastor Moody."

Fred nodded. "Yes, even though Moody is a retired Auror and is always on guard about Dark wizards and conspiracies and stuff."

"Makes you wonder really," said George with a frown. "You heard what Scaevola said about the Cruciatus Curse. There are ways to defend against it, and Lupin showed us how to do the Hawthorn Charm too."

Fred was thinking the same thing as his twin, because he said, "It always bugged me when I think that the Aurors were allowed to use the Unforgivable Curse when You Know Who was powerful around thirteen fourteen years ago. Couldn't the Ministry figure out other ways to take down the Death Eaters? Aurors are no different from them if they use illegal magic as well. Fudge was wrong to have Scaevola stunned and arrested just because he's a Dark wizard. He hadn't done anything except try to teach us about the Dark Arts for our own good and protection."

"He'll be fine," said George suddenly when he noticed how worried Harry, Ron and Hermione looked. "I'm sure he'll be released soon. The Headmaster and our teachers won't let Fudge get away with such a silly charge. Scaevola hadn't even tried to fight back. One of the Aurors was wand happy and stunned him. They were scared when he told Fudge that the reason why he was teaching Dark magic was because he was a Dark wizard. It's funny and stupid. Fudge got angry when he found out that Scaevola had cast an illegal spell, but he got scared when Scaevola said that he was a Dark wizard."

Lee agreed his best friends and added, "The Minister lost his marbles even before Scaevola told him that. Scaevola had made him look like a fool with the Fortune charm. Fudge had demanded to know who he was and said that clearly Scaevola had no idea that he was the Minister of Magic."

The Twins and Lee suddenly had identical expressions of amusement and admiration on their faces, and this time it was Harry, who demanded, "What happened next?"

Fred grinned slightly. "Scaevola told Fudge that it was he who had absolutely no idea who he was."

George chuckled. "He looked so cool, and boy, did Fudge look dumb! I almost felt sorry for him. He really had no idea who he was talking to."

Lee commented, "I almost wished that the Sorting Hat had placed me in Slytherin."

It took thirty seconds for Harry, Ron and Hermione to comprehend what the older trio was saying.

"... YOU KNOW!!!" They yelled simultaneously at the twins and Lee, who immediately shushed them and led them out of the common room, where every Gryffindor's head had turned their way when the trio shouted.

***

"How did you find out?" Harry asked and looked around curiously in the room they were in. It was a disused classroom, which had been turned into part lab, part rumpus room, part storage closet. The room was well-lit. Stacks of the twins' practical jokes, tricks and inventions filled up a corner while along one whole wall the classroom tables had been arranged against it to form the laboratory section of the room. Beakers, test tubes on stands, flasks, burners and other potion making implements were on the tables. In the remaining corner were three cushiony bean bags. Comic books, reference manuals and magazines were scattered everywhere.

George had made them swear not to tell anyone before showing the trio into their secret hideaway. They had entered through a door, which appeared to be a brick wall at first. But if you tapped a certain brick with your wand a certain number of times, the wall would disappear, just as the entrance to Diagon Alley would appear in the wall behind the Leaky Cauldron.

Ron gave his brothers an irritated look. "I can't believe you've never told me about this place," he complained.

George gave Ron a Percy-like look in return. "You have your secrets. We have ours," he said wisely.

Fred draped a brotherly arm around Ron's shoulders and extended his other arm expansively at the room. "Don't worry about it, Ron. Besides, we're leaving all of this to you."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Right," he said sarcastically, "I am really honored."

Lee chuckled, and Harry quickly asked again how they found out about the Founders. Hermione seconded him, and George said, "We weren't one hundred percent perfectly sure until the three of you yelled at us in the common room."

"Oh." Harry blinked, and Fred said reassuringly, "Don't worry. The three of you didn't give the secret away. It was this." He suddenly whipped a piece of parchment out of his pocket and unfolded it. Harry stared at it as George, who already had his wand out, tapped it and said dramatically, "Reveal yourself, oh map of Hogwarts."

George earned groans and punches in the shoulder from his brother and Lee as the map of Hogwarts appeared on the parchment, and teeny tiny ink dots began moving all around it. It was a familiar sight to Harry.

"You made your own Marauder's Map," Harry breathed out with awe. Ron was speechless. Hermione was stunned.

The twins and Lee grinned, and Fred said that this was an upgraded version of the Marauder's map. Harry then noticed that there were more secret passages shown on this map.

"It's not yet finished though," said Lee, "but it works quite fine already. See?" He pointed at a dot. "It already shows names."

Harry stared at the dot labeled Ginny Weasley and realized how they found out about the Founders. Hermione figured it out at the same time.

"You saw the Founders' names on it," said Hermione, and the older trio nodded.

"We were very surprised," said George. "Shocked really," corrected Fred.

Lee said, "We even thought we did something wrong with the map. You see we were also programming it to identify the Houses." Harry noticed that their dots were red. He looked over to a blue dot, and saw that under it was scribbled Filius Flitwick.

"When we saw Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin on it," started George while Fred finished, "we really thought we goofed up badly somewhere. Then, we heard Professor Gloucester ask Dean what is Quidditch." Both twins made faces and declared, "It's impossible for anyone who graduated from Hogwarts to not to know about Quidditch."

Lee nodded and said, "George and I distracted the professor while Fred went up to our dormitory to check the map."

Harry could only stare at them wordlessly. ... All along... They knew all along...

Hermione was frowning at them. "I don't understand," she told them, "why are you making another Marauder's Map? Is it because you gave the original to Harry? You'll be graduating this year," Hermione reasoned, "so you won't be able to use it much. Plus, this map only causes mischief, and the three of you definitely don't even need a map like this to get into trouble. Not only that, but it must have taken a long time to make it, and it's such a waste of time as well."

The older trio looked affronted. George muttered, "Girls just don't understand true works of art." Fred nodded, wiping the map clean with his own wand and putting it away. Lee suddenly smiled and nudged George with his elbow. "Go on," Lee said when George gave him a questioning look. "Tell them the real reason why the two of you started on that map."

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at them with curious expressions. The twins looked embarrassed and suddenly said they had other places to go to. They left the room quickly, and the trio had to ask Lee what that was about.

Lee grinned at them and turned towards Hermione. "Remember last year when Harry and Ron here had a tiff and refused to talk to each other?"

Hermione nodded while Harry and Ron looked startled. Lee continued, still talking to Hermione in particular, "Ron was very upset about Harry being chosen as one of the champions for the Triwizard Tournament."

Ron froze. Harry glanced at him. Hermione nodded again at Lee who said, "George and Fred tried to talk to him about it, but he snapped at them, saying that they liked Harry more than him before storming off."

"What?!" Ron turned very red, and he protested, "I don't remember saying that!"

"You were too angry to remember about it, Ron," Lee told him in a gentle tone of voice, "but what you said got to them, and they started to think about what could have given you the idea that they liked Harry more than you. The first thing that came up was the Marauder's Map that they had given to Harry."

Harry remembered. Two years ago, in Hogsmeade, the first time he had visited the wizarding village. Ron saying, "How come Fred and George never gave it to me! I'm their brother!"

Hermione had distracted Ron immediately by saying that Harry wasn't going to keep it, because it was dangerous. But a thread of jealousy against Harry was present inside Ron, and the twins giving Harry the Marauder's Map and never once showing it to their younger brother only added to the feeling of inadequacy that Ron struggled with every day of his life.

"Oh!" Hermione suddenly squealed with delight, snapping Harry back to the present. "I understand now!" Hermione was clasping her hands together and looking touched. "They started on a second map so that they could give it to Ron! That's really so sweet of them!"

Hermione might think it sweet', but the look on Ron's face suggested he might never be able to face his brothers again. Harry grinned when Ron looked his way, and his best friend flushed even redder and ducked his head down, utterly abashed by it all.

Happy as Harry felt right now for Ron, quite soon, he would be feeling irritated and angry with himself for having been distracted from the fact that Salazar had been arrested.

To be continued...

Author's scream: ARGHHHHHHH!!!

Lee asked George and Fred: What's she so mad about?

George: She's mad, because she got distracted by us. This chapter was supposed to be serious. You know, because Slytherin's been arrested and all, but it got kind of sappy...

Fred: No kidding. Look how she made us look. We never get embarrassed no matter what we do.

Lee: Uh huh. Then why did you two run away when you saw Ron just now?

George: Well. We know Ron would be embarrassed about it. Our little brother's a very sweet kid.

Fred: So we're steering clear of him for a while until he gets used to it.

Lee: ... Right...

Author's note: This chapter didn't actually make me scream, but I did stare at the screen for a long time, wondering what had happened. This chapter was suppose to be very dark and very serious. I had incorrectly assumed that I could make the twins and Lee serious. I was so wrong.

Review this chapter please. Tell me if you think the Marauder's Map part was okay or not. Was the transition from serious to not serious all right? Also, I would like to know which chapter in Hearts and Hourglasses you like the best. It will help me gauge what sort of scene readers prefer, be it humorous or dramatic. As you can see with this chapter (and the rest of HnH), I have great difficulty separating the two.

I don't expect you to remember chapter numbers or titles so just say something like this:

That chapter where Godric and Salazar show they're nuts about dragons. Or.
That chapter where Harry lost it completely. Or.
That chapter with the lion and serpent painting. Or.
That chapter about the Chamber of Secrets. Or.
That chapter where Harry and Draco had it out. Etc. etc.

As for me, the chapter I liked the best is Chapter 9: Hidden where Draco got slapped by Helga.

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