Chapter 14: The Four Founders
The man was tall and lanky. He had black hair and piercing black eyes that held no emotion in them. Harry gaped at the man. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Mike do the same. All he could mutter was a "Who are you?"
The man was silent. All he did was stare soulessly back at Harry and Mike. Just when Harry was feeling a little creeped out, another tall man dressed in scarlet robes appeared out of nowhere. Harry supposed that it was apparition. "Then these men must be wizards!" he thought excitedly. "Maybe they would know where he and Mike were."
"Salazar," began the scarlet-robed man. "Go easy on them a little."
"Salazar, Salazar," Harry thought. He knew that he had heard that name somewhere. A spark of recognition crossed his face. "You're Salazar Slytherin and you're Godric Gryffindor!" Harry yelled.
"How did you know about us?" Gryffindor asked, smiling. "We are not that famous. At least, I think not." Gryffindor had a weird sort of twinkle in his eyes. It reminded Harry of Albus Dumbledore. Slytherin just frowned.
"Is he always this moody?" Mike piped in, meaning Slytherin.
Gryffindor chuckled. If possible, Slytherin's frown deepened. "No, Salazar's just having some disagreements with the rest of us. It's nothing really. Please, come in," Gryffindor said, motioning towards the tent from which he had come from.
"Uh, no thanks," Mike said hurriedly. Harry knew what was wrong. Mike knew which time period they were in, thanks to Harry. He was afraid to change the past.
"Oh, but I insist," Gryffindor stated in a firm voice.
"Just let the silly kids go. Put a modification memory charm on them," Slytherin butted in in a bored tone of voice.
Mike now looked scandalized. Harry quickly said, "Wait, where are we? Or when are we. We know who you are. You're Salazar Slytherin and you're Godric Gryffindor. You built Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry along with Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff. And what is a modification memory charm? All I know is the memory charm."
"Ahh... You see, Salazar. These boys are wizards. There is no need for a modification memory charm. Now, how did you find out about Hogwarts? If I remember correctly, you two were not part of the students invited," Gryffindor said, his blue eyes twinkling, clearly amused.
"Yes, how did you know about Hogwarts?" Salazar Slytherin asked suspiciously. "We haven't disclosed information of this to anyone but the new students." Slytherin gave a small sidelong glance at Gryffindor. Gryffindor was obviously trying to hide his amusement but was failing miserably.
"Oh so you think this is funny, do you?" Slytherin said accusingly. Now they were in a glaring contest.
Five minutes later, Mike couldn't stand this anymore. "We do exist, you know?" he said. Gryffindor tore his eyes away from Slytherin and smiled at him.
"You know he is right, Salazar," Gryffindor said, still smiling. "We can continue our petty argument elsewhere. Right now, we have guests. Do come in for some tea."
"I still say that we give our guests a modification memory charm," Slytherin said grumpily but made no move to perform any magic. "Well," he asked when he saw that the two were still rooted to the spot. "What are you standing there for? You heard the man. Do come in." Slytherin said that last part sarcastically.
Harry smiled. Gryffindor was obviously the one in charge here. Slytherin had no power. He had always read that Gryffindor was the nicer one of the two, and Harry found that it was true. He and Mike started up the small incline towards the tent. Although they were aware that the founders had great magic, they were still surprised when they found the interior of the tent to be a full-blown palace instead of a grubby small space filled with bugs.
"Wow!" Mike said astonished at the magnificent sight before him. Harry silently agreed with Mike. 'Wow' was the only word that could describe this place. Although not as magnificent as Hogwarts, it was still a gigantic palace with beautiful, winding staircases and great portraits of famous witches and wizards. Harry took the lead and walked up to a portrait of a Roman lord. He wasn't smiling and was grumpy looking, kind of like Viktor Krum. Below the portrait was a caption: 'Sir Rodney Rudisle - Died - 100 A.D. in battle with manticore.' Harry turned and saw that Mike was doing the same as him, inspecting the moving photographs of countless famous lords, wizards, kings, nobles, etc.
"Enjoying the palace, I see," said a voice from behind Harry. He spun around to see Godric Gryffindor standing there with two beautiful ladies. Behind them, Harry could just catch a glimpse of Salazar Slytherin in the shadows. "Typical," Harry thought.
Aloud, Harry said, "Of course. This palace is truly magnificent."
"I fully agree with Harry," Mike said truthfully. He had finished studying the paintings and was now listening to the conversation with interest.
"Yes... It is magnificent now, is it? Oh, I almost forgot. I'm Godric Gryffindor and these two lovely ladies behind me are Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff. Behind them is Salazar Slytherin, but of course you already knew that. So tell me. How did you two know us and Hogwarts?"
"Why bother?" Slytherin interrupted, stepping out of the shadows which had previously engulfed him. "They obviously do not have any magical talent. We would have noticed if they did."
"Even we do not know somethings," Gryffindor stated, glaring at Slytherin. Slytherin only glared back."
"Oh, I give up," Ravenclaw said, throwing her hands into the air dramatically. It was the first time she had spoken and Harry noticed she had a melodic voice. "You guys just will never stop arguing and glaring at each other."
"Sorry dear," Gryffindor said, looking down and properly ashamed. Slytherin just hmmphed. That is, until Hufflepuff interrupted him.
"Excuse me?" she asked sharply.
"Fine," Slytherin said, looking contemptuously at Gryffindor. "Sorry."
Gryffindor cleared his throat. "Now, where were we. Oh yes. I - "
Ravenclaw cleared her throat.
Gryffindor looked abashed and stopped talking. Then, he began again, "We would like to know who you are and how you knew about us."
"Oh, that!" Harry said. "Well, you see. It began like this..."