A/N: Next chapter:
Chapter 28: History of the Concave CastleHermione found herself on very soft cushions on the floor, surrounded by millions and millions of books that were placed neatly on mahogany bookshelves. She decided to use the opportunity of being here, she might not be able to find the library later on, and see if she could find something about this castle they were in. Hermione got up and walked slowly through the bookcases, reading the spines of the books, hoping to find something about this fortress.
Hundreds of books were taken from their place and then put back as Hermione read their backs, trying to get a picture of the contents of the books. It seemed like hours before she had finally found a thick leather volume that was not sitting between two books on a bookshelf but laying on one of the working desks covered in a thick layer of dust. Hermione drew a deep breath and blew most of the filth off it, wiping the remains off with her hand.
"Home of the Four Founders," She whispered as she read the title. Hermione opened the book slowly and on the very first page was a magnificent picture of the castle when it had still been in its new state. Hermione flipped the page over and began to read:
Thousands of years ago lived four friends who were called the Four Founders. These four had the same dream: To build the most excellent magical school in the whole wizard world. Young Witches and Wizards would come to this school and be taught magic.
The Four Founders worked together effortlessly for years while building the school and after that while teaching. Everything seemed to work as planned but a massive quarrel erupted between Salazar Slytherin and the other three. It all started in their home 'Hatsrowg'… the Concave Castle, as it is called today.
Hermione knew immediately that the letters from the name Hogwarts had been scrambled to form the name Hatsrowg but she stopped reading for there were no more sentences. Instead there was a small little square that seemed to grow bigger every second. Hermione was strongly reminded of what Harry had told her happened while he had been reading Tom Riddle's diary in his second year. Soon the square was big enough for Hermione to see the castle again, but very small. She leaned closer, in order to see better, but as she bent forward she felt herself being sucked into the picture.
Hermione landed with her feet on soft ground and looked around. She saw the forest that contained the water pool to the far left and the castle right in front of her. It was a beautiful light gray color with dark wooden window frames and oak front door. Hermione stood still for a few seconds, not knowing what to do. Obviously she had traveled back in time to when the Four Founders had lived but she didn't know what to do or where to go.
Just when Hermione was about to walk forward and enter the castle she heard two voices bellow at each other. With nothing else to do Hermione decided to investigate and she headed to the right, from where she thought the voices were coming. As she rounded the corner two figures came into view, mouths open wide and fists shaking. Hermione slowly walked forward, not wanting to interrupt their quarrel.
"THEY SHOULDN'T BE ALLOWED IN OUR SCHOOL, GODRIC!" Yelled the man on the right.
"Calm down, Salazar!" The man on the left shouted over the other man's yells.
"I WILL MOST CERTAINLY NOT CALM DOWN! I HAVE SPENT HALF OF MY LIFE BUILDING THAT SCHOOL AND I DO NOT WISH TO SPEND THE REST OF IT TEACHING THOSE FILTHY MUDBLOODS!" Shrieked Salazar, fully outraged.
"You've taught Muggle-borns for twenty years without complaining, Salazar!" Bellowed Godric, fuming due to his friend's inconsideration. "You haven't complained up until now! What is different than twenty years ago?"
"I DO NOT WISH THAT MUDBLOODS GET AN ADVANTAGE OVER PUREBLOODS. ONLY PUREBLOODS SHOULD BE ABLE TO LEARN MAGIC!" Salazar bellowed back.
"That is preposterous, Salazar, and you know it! Muggle-borns have an equal chance at learning magic as the other witches and wizards!" Screamed Godric, shaking his fist in Salazar's face.
Hermione stood to one side in silence. She had known why the Four Founders had broken up but she never knew it had started with such a big battle. Hermione watched the quarrel as it got more and more dangerous, but she noticed that, even though they were beside themselves with rage, they never once took out their wands. The fight went on for what felt like hours and it came as a bit of a shock when Hermione saw Godric Gryffindor rush in her direction. She quickly got up from her seat on the ground.
"I'm s-sorry, sir, but I-I was s-somehow brought h-here by s-some kind of…" Hermione began, stuttering immensely, but Godric Gryffindor paid no attention and rushed right through her. Hermione felt a weird sensation as he walked through her and she spun around to find Gryffindor turn around, too, but he wasn't looking at her, instead he was staring at Salazar who seemed to have turned around, too. 'Are they starting another argument?' Hermione thought exasperated. She turned around to find a curse shooting straight at her. She immediately ducked and realized that they weren't done with their fight but that they had merely reached another level of it; they were dueling.
Hermione crawled to one side and stood to watch the duel, her head moving from left to right and back as if it were a tennis match. She thought it was incredible how the two men could throw curses at each other in such swift movements. Not five minutes after the dueling had started, two women ran out of the castle, one with dark brown wavy hair and the other blonde.
"STOP IT! STOP THIS NONSENSE RIGHT NOW!" Screamed the blond one.
"STAY OUT OF THIS, HELGA!" Yelled Salazar and as he said it, he made a movement with his arm at her as if swiping something off a table, but instead Helga Hufflepuff flew backwards with extreme force and crashed into the outside walls of the castle.
"HELGA!" Shouted Rowena as she ran over to the limp body of her friend.
"There was no reason, Salazar!" Screamed Godric and he shot a spell at him, which had such a power that Hermione was pushed back a little as it passed her. The spell hit Slytherin square in the chest and he was thrown backwards into the air, only to land with a loud 'thump' meters away.
"Rowena!" Called Godric. The dark haired witch got up from the ground and dragged herself over to Gryffindor, her face tearstained.
"How could he, Godric?" She shouted when she had reached him. "There was no reason at all!"
"I know," agreed Gryffindor. "I know. But there is no time now. You must warn the Ministry and Aberan (Aib-uh-ran) Dumbledore about Salazar." Rowena Ravenclaw nodded and wiped her tears away determinedly before walking off towards the golden gates that surrounded the grounds. Like Hogwarts, you couldn't Apparate into or Disapparate out of Hatsrowg.
Godric Gryffindor watched Rowena walk towards the gates and his heart skipped a beat. He was about to call out to her and speak his feelings out loud when someone else called out before him. He saw Rowena turn around and a look of fear spread on her face. Godric turned around, too, only to find Salazar standing a few meters away, his wand held out, an evil grin on his face.
"Oh, no you don't," Salazar said. Rowena turned to look at Godric, unsure of what to do.
"Leave her alone, Salazar!" Godric shouted angrily. He would not allow anyone to hurt her.
"Why is that, Godric?" Asked Salazar menacingly. "Because you love her?" He added in a mocking voice. Gryffindor felt his temper boil. Rowena looked at the two men.
"What?" She asked quietly. Salazar looked at her.
"Ooooh, you mean you didn't know?" He said. Hermione thought he sounded a bit like Peeves. "Everyone knew, and you didn't? This is good fun." Godric looked at the man who used to be his best friend. In five years had had changed drastically and it was beyond him why.
"Leave her alone, Salazar!" Godric repeated, more resolutely, for Slytherin was still pointing his wand at Rowena.
"No," Salazar replied simply, and before anything could be done the two deadliest words escaped from his mouth and a jet of bright green light headed towards Rowena, hitting her in the stomach. For a minute she stood still, her eyes wide, then she collapsed onto the ground… the cleverest witch ever known was dead. Godric ran over to her immediately, hoping he would find her alive, but to no avail.
"Oh, before I forget," said Salazar. Godric turned to face him, his eyes full of pain. "She loved you, too." Gryffindor let out an almighty roar of anger and frustration before pointing his wand at Salazar, but rage had blocked out every spell in his mind and he couldn't think of anything to cast at his former friend. His arm slowly dropped to his side and he held Rowena in his arms, hugging her tightly. Salazar took this opportunity and shot the same blinding green light that had killed Rowena Ravenclaw at Godric. Godric had expected this but did nothing to prevent it and he, too, fell to the floor dead.
Hermione gasped loudly and looked at Salazar in fright as she covered her mouth, only to realize seconds later that he couldn't see or hear her. She took a few steps forward, trembling. Hermione knew Salazar had turned evil but she hadn't known he had killed his three closest friends. It was impossible, and yet she had seen it happen right in front of her. Which reminded her of a problem that had been bothering her all along: how was she going to get back into her own world? As if answering her question she saw everything spinning around her almost immediately and soon she felt herself fall onto the warm marble floor of the library.
Grabbing the working table, Hermione pulled herself up, still in shock. She snapped the thick leathery book shut and walked towards a large door, wondering how she was going to find her way to the others.
Hermione walked into a large corridor, lit by torches and covered with all sorts of paintings. A thought sprung to her mind. She walked over to a large painting of a woman standing on her balcony of her castle, smiling down on a man who was kneeling on the ground below.
"Erm… excuse me," began Hermione, hoping she wasn't disturbing anything.
"Yes?" Asked the woman on the balcony sweetly, turning her head to Hermione.
"I was wondering how I could find the way to the Entrance Hall," Hermione told her politely.
"Oh, that's simple dear," the woman said, smiling. "All you do is just walk in that direction," she explained, pointing to Hermione's left. "Go through the doors and you're there."
"Thanks." Hermione said and she walked off towards the large door, 'Home of the Four Founders' clutched tightly in her arms.
Draco got up from the cold stone floor and put a hand to his forehead. When he looked at it, it was covered with his blood. He looked up at the Death Eater standing in front of him.
"Stupefy!" cried Draco as he pointed his wand at the masked man. The Death Eater toppled over and lay unconscious on the floor. He looked around the room and saw Nora, Hermione and Ron dueling Death Eaters, too. On the other side of the room Harry was dodging Voldemort's curses with lightning speed, thanks to training. Draco looked to the right and saw a Death Eater charging at him. Thinking quickly, he cast another stupefying charm and then decided to help the others.
Draco began to cross the gloomy dark room but after a few paces the doors burst open and a hundred more Death Eaters stormed in. Draco's friends looked up, distracted by the sudden commotion, and they were hit by spells. The three struggled to get up and then took into hiding in a corner, casting spells at Death Eaters out from their new, hidden position. Draco stood in the middle of the room not knowing what to do. He turned around when he heard Voldemort laughing cruelly.
"Every time when I have tried to defeat you, I was hindered, but you will not escape me now!" He exclaimed in his icy high-pitched voice that raised the hairs on everyone's necks. Harry was lying sprawled on the floor, breathing fast. Draco tried to run over to him and help, but someone had caught his arm. He turned around and looked straight into the eyes of his father.
"Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort shouted and Draco spun his head around to see a flash of bright green light hit Harry in the chest. Draco gave a great tug and freed himself of his fathers grasp. He ran over to Harry and crouched beside him, trying to see if he was still alive, but unfortunately Harry had not survived the curse this time. Lucius Malfoy walked up to Draco and held him painfully by the shoulders, not letting his son escape from his grasp a second time.
"Ah, Draco. How nice of you to join us again. I haven't seen you for quite a while, even though you are my heir. Of course, you will be punished," Voldemort said softly, but everyone in the room could hear him very clearly. Draco glared at Voldemort with his steely gray eyes, not letting the snake-like wizard frighten him. "Now, for your punishment…" whispered Voldemort. "Ah… but of course." He turned around and Draco gulped, knowing what was coming. "The little mudblood you love so much."
"Don't you dare," Draco whispered threateningly, knowing he was in no position to save her anymore. This only caused Voldemort to chuckle.
"I suppose it would be a nice punishment, wouldn't it?" said Voldemort, more to himself than to anyone else. "And it would do me a great satisfaction to kill some more mudbloods," he added.
"Do your Death Eaters know your father was a Muggle?" Nora asked him from her seat on the floor, Hermione and Ron behind her. Voldemort's face turned a good bit whiter than it normally was. His Death Eaters looked at him. "You mean you haven't told them? And they haven't found out yet? When Harry's said it out loud millions of times before? Boy, you lot sure are thick," Nora said, shaking her head and grinning. Draco wondered what the bloody hell she was doing; this would only enrage Voldemort more.
"Shut up! I will not have you speak of me that way!" Shrieked Voldemort. Nora laughed in his face.
"What are you doing?" shouted Draco, struggling to get free. Everyone turned to look at him and Nora surveyed him with her hazel eyes. Draco couldn't read if they were filled with love or hatred. Or both. "This is not going to help you!" Draco told her, feeling very frustrated. What was she? Suicidal?
"Can't you see?" Nora said, talking to him at last after so many hours, days, weeks of silent treatment. "There is no way out. Might as well have a bit of fun before I go. Mock the 'most powerful wizard of all time' a bit." It was very clear that Nora had put a sarcastic tone on 'most powerful wizard of all time'. She smiled as she saw Voldemort's face. "Aw, can't handle a little bit of teasing? No wonder you became this 'powerful'." Nora told him, more sarcasm in her voice. "If I didn't have any friends I'd buy them with 'power', too." She grinned evilly.
"STOP IT!" Shrieked Voldemort. He ran a hand through his hair, obviously very frustrated. No one in the room had seen the dark wizard ever this frustrated, except when Harry always managed to escape him. Nora laughed out loud and Voldemort pointed his wand at her determinedly. She looked at Draco and this time he could clearly see the love in her eyes, he almost felt that all of the love would spill out of her eyes and flood the whole room. Nora's evil grin faded and she was just smiling sorrowfully at Draco as Voldemort cast the spell that had killed Harry just moments before. Nora was hit in the stomach by the blinding green light and then she fell on the floor dead.
"Finish them off!" Yelled Voldemort, pointing at Hermione and Ron. Two Death Eaters stepped forward and seconds later the two students lay sprawled on the floor, dead, like Harry and Nora. Draco watched helplessly, unable to do anything, as his father was still painfully holding on to him. Tears filled his eyes and they were threatening to overflow.
"Now, I have decided," began Voldemort, looking Draco straight in the eyes, "That I do not need an heir any longer. Avada Kedavra," he muttered and Draco felt a painful jab in his stomach. Everything moved unsteadily in front of him and gradually his vision began to blur. Draco fell to the floor slowly and hit it with a loud 'thump'. He looked up into the cold red eyes of Voldemort and then into the warm gray eyes of his father. Warm? Draco did a double take and saw that his father's eyes were indeed not their usual stony cold gray.
"I'm sorry, my son." Lucius Malfoy whispered so no one else heard. Draco could only blink, letting loose the tears that he had held in his eyes for what seemed like an eternity. Then darkness spread over him with a feeling of unbearable cold and he closed his eyes for the last time.
Draco shot up in his bed, sweating all over. He grabbed his pillow and angrily chucked it out the window as he had done to a different one just last morning. He never wanted to have that nightmare ever again. It seemed too real and caused him too much pain and anguish whenever he had to relive those terrible last moments. This was why he hadn't wanted Nora or Hermione to fight Voldemort. He was afraid the nightmare would become real life and that the girls wouldn't be able to protect themselves. Draco also thought that if Hermione and Nora weren't there, he, Harry and Ron would be able to fight the Death Eaters and Voldemort off a lot better.
Looking at his alarm clock, he saw it was 7:30 a.m. Draco got out of bed and dressed. He needed to go for a walk and get rid of the nightmare. Draco dressed himself and quietly walked into the hall, deciding to just go wherever his feet would take him.
After forty minutes Draco realized he was lost and had no idea which way he had come from or which way to go. Frustrated, he turned 'round and 'round in the large corridor, trying to see where to go. He finally stopped when something caught his eye. I was a large wooden door with a golden handle and high in the center were printed, also in gold, the words: "Salazar Slytherin". Draco stared at it and then at the corridor. For the first time he realized that it didn't look like the others. For one, it had beautiful chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The paintings were much more exquisite and the carpet was a wonderful crimson color. The walls were a creamish color and had foreign signs on it Draco didn't recognize.
Curiosity finally got the better of him and Draco slowly walked up to the large door and carefully opened it. First he couldn't see anything at all; the whole room was as black as the night, but when Draco stepped inside the torches on the walls burst into flame, casting eerie shadows around him. He looked around and came to the conclusion that it must be some working place for Salazar Slytherin. There was a large bookcase that reached the ten meter high ceiling and took up an entire wall, a large wooden desk stood in front of a window, covered by a green drape.
Parchment lay scattered all over the desk and floor and Draco walked over to inspect them. As he picked up what seemed to be some sort of manuscript, a single piece of blank parchment floated to the floor. Draco picked it up and turned it over and over but there was nothing on it at all. He lay it down on the desk and started looking through the other papers, but in his excitement he knocked over an open inkbottle.
"Bloody hell!" He shouted as he tried to get the papers out of the way. Luckily only the blank piece of parchment had gotten wet and it was now completely soaked with ink. Draco was about to crumple it up, he had no use for it now, when the ink was sucked into the parchment. He stared at it with disbelief and then turned the parchment over yet again, trying to see where the ink had gone off to.
"What the -" he whispered as words in neat cursive handwriting started forming on the parchment. "Now that they have left." Draco muttered as he read the title. He supposed it was some sort of diary that had belonged to Salazar Slytherin.
It has been a whole year after I killed them and I am beginning to get a hold on my own life again. I still do not know what had possessed me to murder them and many, many others but I do know that I have fought it off. I was too strong. My memories of the good times have driven it away.
Sorrow fills me when I think back and I have hardly eaten for the past week. Hogwarts was in absolute ruins but Aberan Dumbledore fixed most of it up and is now running the school himself. I am not allowed near it or any of the students. To make matters worse he has locked me up in Hatsrowg and I have nothing here to take my mind off the horrible past six, seven years.
I killed many Muggle-born students, numerous Muggles and my three closest friends. Nobody believes it wasn't really me, and I understand: it is too absurd to believe that something dark has possessed my body and controlled my actions for me.
I remember every single detail, except for one thing: I have created a chamber inside Hogwarts that holds a terrible beast…but I do not remember where it is. It will only open to parselmouths so all I need to do is find where it is and then defeat the monster, but Aberan Dumbledore will not let me out of the castle…this monster will kill every Muggle-born student if it is let lose by my heir and I have no doubt that the dark magic that has possessed me the last few years will control my heir when he is just born, so he will not have a chance to fight against it.
Draco laid the piece or parchment down. Salazar Slytherin was good? Not evil, but good? It seemed impossible, yet here was the proof. Draco quickly got out of the chair he had seated himself in and ran out of the room and into any direction. He had to show this to Dumbledore. He stopped running. Dumbledore was mentioned in this. He scanned the parchment, searching for the part.
"Here it is." He muttered. 'Hogwarts was in absolute ruins but Aberan Dumbledore fixed most of it up.'Could this be some sort of ancestor of Dumbledore's? He would have to ask that, too. Draco started running again and turned corners whenever he thought was necessary. He had no clue which way he was to go, so he just guessed. After about an hour of running Draco, already exhausted, reacted too late when he saw a door open in front of him and ran head long into it. He fell to the floor, but didn't bother to get up; he needed rest.
"Oh my god! I'm sorry, Draco! Are you all right?" exclaimed Hermione as she laid the thick leathery book she was holding on the floor and then bent over Draco, who was panting rapidly.
"Yeah, I'm fine," replied Draco while rubbing his forehead.
"Why were you in such a hurry, anyway?" asked Hermione as she pulled him to his feet. She picked the thick book up again. Draco held the piece of parchment out in front of him, giving it to her.
"Here," he said. Hermione looked at it and then turned the parchment over.
"There's nothing on here."
"What? Oh. Well first you have to spill some ink all over it," Draco told her, taking the parchment back. "So what are you doing up at this hour?" He asked while peering down the corridor Hermione had come out of.
"I was in the library," Hermione replied.
"The library?" She nodded. "How did you find that? I can hardly find my own bedroom."
"I'm not quite sure, but remember when we fell off the bridge and into that thick dark mass?" Draco nodded. "Well, instead of landing on the ground somewhere outside, I landed in the library and so I decided to do some research. That reminds me, do you know what happened to the others?" Asked Hermione worriedly. Draco shook his head.
"No, sorry," he replied.
"Well, where did you land?"
"In my bedroom."
"Strange. So what are you doing up so early?"
"I was just taking a walk. What's that?" asked Draco hurriedly, while pointing at the huge leathery book in Hermione's arms. He didn't want Hermione to ask why he was taking a walk so early.
"It's a book I found in the library. It contains information on this castle," answered Hermione, deciding not to ask anything about Draco taking a walk so early; she had a pretty good idea what it was about.
"Really? That'll be very useful, won't it?" said Draco. Hermione nodded. "So… what do we do now?"
"I don't know. I guess we could look some more information up about this castle. Maybe find a map that shows all the halls and corridors so we don't get lost next time we're searching for something," suggested Hermione.
"All right," said Draco and he followed Hermione into the brightly lit corridor. She stopped in front of a large door and pushed it open revealing the large library to Draco.
"Wow… this is huge," he muttered. Hermione smiled.
"I know," she said, her eyes shining with excitement; she wished she could sit here all day.
A tall man stood staring out of a window in a dark, overcast room, his hands behind his back. In the corner was a small balding man, cowering for his master, drops of sweat trickling down his forehead. The tall man turned around, his red eyes full of rage.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S NOT THERE?" He suddenly bellowed. The balding man cringed even more. "ANSWER ME!"
"I-I-it isn't t-t-there a-anymore," came his terrified whisper.
"YOU HAVE TOLD ME THAT ALREADY, WORMTAIL! WHERE IS IT NOW?" Shrieked Voldemort in his high-pitched voice.
"I-I d-don't k-k-know," replied Wormtail, still cowering.
"Do you have any idea at all where it could be?" asked Voldemort menacingly.
"M-maybe one o-of the f-five has it, my lord," answered Wormtail.
"Yes. That has occurred to me long ago, but they have been one step ahead of me and have taken into hiding," muttered Voldemort, still in that same frightening high-pitched voice.
"Y-you will b-be able to f-find them, won't you?" An evil glint twinkled in the tall man's red eyes and a wicked grin spread over his face. He spoke in what was barely a whisper, but it was menacing all the same.
"I will not only find them… I will kill them, too… Malfoy!" A door to the right swung open and in walked a tall figure, dressed in a long gray cloak, a hood covering his face.
"What is it?" Asked Lucius Malfoy in a cold voice.
"Get the others ready to perform the new plan as soon as possible. I know where our little friends are hiding," came the dark lord's reply. A malicious grin came on Malfoy's face, though his mask hid it.
"Where?" He asked, anticipation in his voice.
"Hatsrowg, also known as the Concave Castle," replied Voldemort as he stepped into a small amount of light given by a single torch.
Harry shot straight up in his bed, clutching his scar, which felt like it was burning a hole in his forehead. He looked around the room, panting, not letting go of his scar. Harry could only remember very few times when it had hurt him this much before and all of those times had been quite a while ago; this worried him.
Only a few parts of the nightmare were still vividly in his head and he strained himself to hold on to them, but slowly the details were leaving his memory. Harry could only remember that Voldemort knew where they were hiding and wasn't sure if it was really true, after all he himself had no idea where they were or what the name of this strange castle was. What had Voldemort called it? Hastrig? Hatsrowg? Hatsrowg! That was it! He remembered it now!
Harry jumped out of bed got dressed and hammered on Ron's door for what felt like an eternity.
"Ron! Quit snoring and wake up, you drooling trumpet!" He yelled, pounding loudly on Ron's door. A door to the left opened and out poked Nora's head, her eyes half shut. She yawned sleepily.
"What on earth are you making all that racket f-f-for?" She asked, trying to stifle another huge yawn.
"I'll tell you later, first I've got to wake him up," Harry replied, pointing to Ron's door. He was about to start beating again when the door opened and Ron's head poked out, looking very angry.
"What… on… earth… did… you… wake… me… for?" he asked threateningly.
"I'll explain to both of you on the way to Dumbledore," Harry answered hurriedly. "Get dressed as fast as you can and meet me back here in the hall," Nora and Ron disappeared in their rooms and came back out about five minutes later.
"Spill," said Ron. His bad mood had cleared up a bit. Harry explained about his nightmare, though it went very difficult since he hardly remembered anything of it at all.
"You mean he knows where we are?" asked Nora, terrified. Harry nodded curtly and then explained about his scar hurting.
"It hurt really severely?" asked Ron, horrified. Harry nodded again. "You should go to Dumbledore. He'll know what to do." Harry looked at his best friend.
"Where do you think we're going?" He questioned.
"Just testing you. At least you can still think clearly," Ron answered, pretending he had been stupid on purpose, but no one fell for it; they had known him for too long.
Hermione and Draco were both sitting in the library looking through all sorts of books, trying to get more information, but no such luck yet. Hermione heaved a big sigh as she snapped a thick green book shut.
"Rubbish," she muttered as she put it back on its bookshelf. Draco was on the other side of the library flipping through a very thick black book Hermione thought might contain some useful information. She decided to go over and ask. As she crossed a small open clearing in the middle of the library her Amulet, that she wore at all times, suddenly shot a bright crimson light through the large room. Draco looked up at the Amulet and snapped his book shut.
"Come on," he said roughly as he grabbed Hermione by the arm and pulled her out of the library.
"What? Where are we going?" She asked as Draco dragged her through the wonderful corridor and into the Entrance Hall.
"Dumbledore," replied Draco, turning his head every which way and finally letting go of Hermione.
"Oh, right," said Hermione. Stupid she hadn't thought of it herself, maybe the sudden light had just startled her, but realization dawned upon her as she remembered what the red light was for.
If Good is feeling very strong emotions or powerful the Amulet will give off a bright blue light. If Evil is at a particular powerful stage, however, the Amulet will shine a bright red light.
Hermione remembered this information clearly now, she was the one who had looked it up in a public library after all, and knew it was critical for them to find Dumbledore. She walked over to a painting of a horse grazing on one side and a knight sitting on a floor on the other, looking extremely befuddled. Hermione thought the knight looked an awful lot like Sir Cadogan, the crazy knight who's picture hung somewhere near the north tower in Hogwarts, but she decided to let it go.
"Excuse me," said Hermione to the knight, who had grass stains all over his armor.
"Ah, a damsel in distress!" shouted the knight. He quickly got up, grabbed his sword and started fighting an invisible enemy.
"Erm… yes," said Hermione. "I have a question." The knight stopped fighting and turned to her.
"An inquiry! Ask me anything! I know all!" He shouted.
"Could you tell us where Dumbledore's office is?" Asked Hermione, hoping with all her might that the squat knight did know.
"A Quest!" He shouted. "Of course, my dear lady! Follow me!" The knight ran over to his gray pony and tried to mount it but he slipped and landed loudly on the ground. "On foot then!" He said, as he got up off the ground. The knight ran into a picture on the left and Hermione and Draco followed him. They were led up the marble staircase and down many beautiful corridors they had never seen before. Along the way they crashed into Harry, Nora and Ron and now the five of them followed the knight who was running two paintings ahead.
"Reminds you of Sir Cadogan the mental knight, doesn't he?" Ron muttered to Harry.
"Yeah. Wonder if they're related," Harry muttered back.
"Hurry, my gentle men and fair ladies!" The knight yelled as he went up yet another staircase, the other's following, panting hard. "It is not far, now!"
Finally the clanking of armor stopped and the knight was standing in a painting beside a large stone unicorn with a bright shining golden horn.
"Thanks," the five students told the knight.
"It was not a problem at all," the knight replied.
"Say… you wouldn't know of a sir Cadogan, would you?" Ron asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"Why… yes… that would be me, kind sir," came the knight's reply. Ron frowned.
"You have a painting here and in Hogwarts?" he asked.
"No, I do not. I only have a painting here," The knight told Ron, then his face lit up with understanding. "Ahhh… you are, perhaps, referring to my kind brother, are you not?" He asked. Ron shrugged.
"I dunno. Is he some mental knight running around in armor challenging people to duel with him?" He asked before he could stop himself.
"Yes! Yes, he is," The knight said, smiling proudly. He pointed to the Unicorn. "The next part of your quest will have to be done without me. I am off!" He shouted and then ran into the next paintings, the clanking of his armor fading slowly.
"Right," Harry said, turning to the others.
"What do we do now?" Hermione asked.
"Guess the password, right?" said Ron.
"How?" asked Hermione, looking at the stone unicorn.
"Well, it's Dumbledore, isn't it? So, it'll probably some sort of candy," Harry told her. "Cockroach Clusters," he said, but nothing happened.
"Beet-ums," said Ron. Still no movement.
"Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans," suggested Hermione.
"Chocolate Frogs," said Harry.
"Ton Tongue Toffee," suggested Ron, yet still nothing happened.
"Treacle Tart," said Draco, but no movement.
"Butterbeer," said Hermione
"Jam tarts," offered Draco.
"Custard Creams," recommended Harry, beginning to give up hope.
"Canary Creams," said Nora, deciding to give it a shot, too. To her surprise the stone Unicorn came to life, pawed the ground with its left hoof, eying them suspiciously as if knowing they didn't really know the password, and then stepped aside to let them through the door it was guarding.
Harry opened the door and walked into a very wide and brightly lit corridor. Candles were floating above them and paintings of the Four Founders hung on the walls. The five students looked around in amazement when they suddenly walked into a large circular room with long crimson drapes hanging from a ten meter high ceiling. On the walls were pictures of the Four Founders and on the other side of the room was a little elevated section with more bookcases.
"How many books does this castle hold?" muttered Draco under his breath.
"More than one million," whispered Hermione, leaning over to him so that he could hear her. Draco looked at her, a befuddled look on his face for a very split second; he hadn't really expected an answer from anyone. Hermione gave him a little smile before gazing around the room again.
In the center of the room was a large oval table with twelve chairs around it and a fireplace to the right was crackling merrily, casting odd shadows around the room. A soft chirping sound turned the attention of the five to a bird stand on the left where a beautiful phoenix sat.
"Fawkes!" Exclaimed Harry happily as he walked over to the red bird and started petting it's brilliant head.
"I see you have found your way into my office once again," said a friendly voice behind them. The five students turned around to find Dumbledore standing in the doorway, smiling down upon them all, his eye twinkling as usual.
"Yes," said Harry as he walked away from Fawkes and over to his friends. "We have some things to tell you, sir," he told Dumbledore.
"Well then, let's have a seat, shall we?" Dumbledore said and he walked over to the large table and sat down. Harry sat down right across from him, Hermione and Ron on either side of Harry. Nora took a seat beside Hermione and Draco sat down next to Ron, wishing there was at least another Slytherin here with him.
"What is it?" Asked Dumbledore, looking more serious. Harry decided to go first.
"I had a nightmare and when I woke up my scar hurt worse than it had done for a long while," he began. Harry paused a little and then told Dumbledore all about the nightmare. "He knows where we are, sir," he finished, worry in his voice. Dumbledore sat with his elbows on the table, his fingertips put together, clearly in deep thought.
"What exactly did he last say before you woke up?" He asked, gazing at the ceiling. Harry frowned, trying to remember.
"I believe his exact words were: 'Hatsrowg, also known as the Concave Castle.' Then he stepped into the light and I woke up," Harry said. Hermione looked at him. This piece of information confirmed that Voldemort did indeed know where they were hiding and she was, truth be told, feeling very anxious and unprotected.
As if reading her thoughts, Dumbledore said:
"There is no need to worry, this castle is well protected. Voldemort will be unable to harm any of you while you're here."
"That's what you said about Hogwarts, too," muttered Draco, his arms crossed over his chest.
"Very good point, Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore said. Draco kept staring at the table but his ears turned a pinkish color, clearly he hadn't expected anyone to hear. "But I think that problem has been solved. Harry?" Harry looked from Draco to Dumbledore.
"Yes?" He asked, a bit confused.
"What do you know about a snake?" Dumbledore asked. Harry frowned at him. 'A snake?' He thought, bewildered. 'I don't know any snakes… Except the one I set loose on Dudley in the zoo. WAIT!'
"Nagini," he told Dumbledore.
"Is she Voldemort's snake?" Asked Dumbledore, looking at Harry intently.
"Yes," replied Harry, wondering what Nagini had to do with this. Again it seemed like Dumbledore could read minds because he said:
"I believe she is the one that made our protection charms on Hogwarts go haywire. I have said a long time ago that only a powerful magic animal would be able to do it and Nagini certainly seems strong enough," Dumbledore explained. "Now I believe there were other things I needed to know, too?" He asked, looking at the others.
"Yes," Hermione said, sitting up straight. "While Draco and I were in the library my Amulet shot off a red color. That's why we tried to find you." Ron looked at her in disgrace; What was Hermione doing in the library with a Slytherin?
"What time was this?" Asked Dumbledore.
"Around quarter to ten," replied Hermione.
"Harry? When did you wake up?" Dumbledore questioned Harry. Harry thought for a minute before replying:
"Around that time, I think," He said.
"I believe that when Voldemort told Lucius Malfoy where he thought we were hidden, a burst of powerful evil energy spread through the two, causing the Amulet to shine red." Dumbledore told the five students sitting in front of him. "Anything else?"
"Yes. I found Salazar Slytherin's diary," said Draco, laying the blank piece of parchment on the table. Harry and Ron looked at him as if he were mad. Hermione looked at Dumbledore, to see his reaction, and Nora stared hard at her hands, which were fidgeting nervously. Dumbledore picked up the blank parchment and looked at it closely for a few minutes before pulling open a drawer in the desk and taking out a bottle of ink.
"If I am not mistaken," he began, while unscrewing the inkbottle. "This parchment will only show its contents when it is covered in ink like Tom Riddle's diary, am I right?" Dumbledore questioned Draco, who nodded. "Well then, here we go." And with that the old wizened man poured the entire inkbottle empty over the parchment that he had laid on the table. At first nothing happened and then, like it had done before, the ink seemed to be draining into the parchment until no drop was to be spotted. The six waited for about a minute before words started forming at the top, slowly making their way to the bottom.
"Interesting," muttered Dumbledore as he started reading. Harry, Nora, Hermione, Ron and Draco watched him for a few minutes before he finally spoke again, a slight frown on his forehead. "Apparently this piece of parchment is the only evidence that Salazar Slytherin was not the evil Muggle-born hater like we thought."
"What?" said Harry, who wasn't quite sure he had heard right. "Did you say Salazar Slytherin wasn't evil?"
"Yes," replied Dumbledore, who was now tapping the parchment with his wand, trying to see if it wasn't fake. "Yes I did," he said again, looking up.
"But he built the Chamber of Secrets," said Ron, sitting up. "How can he not be evil if he built a chamber, put a basilisk inside and ordered it to start killing off Muggle-borns next time someone lets him out?"
"Very well noticed, Mr. Weasley," said Dumbledore. Ron sat back in his chair, ears turning bright red. "Salazar says in his diary," explained Dumbledore, waving that parchment a little with his hand, "that he was possessed by some kind of dark matter."
"Come again?" said Ron, furrowing his eyebrows a little.
"Some kind of darkness possessed him and made him do all sorts of evil things, like building that chamber, killing Muggle-borns and even killing his three closest friends."
"He didn't," said Nora before she could stop herself.
"I'm afraid so," Dumbledore told her.
"What if it's a lie?" Began Harry. "I mean, the only proof we have of that is his diary and maybe it's not really true. Maybe he didn't even kill his own friends. Maybe it's all some sick lie just to fool who ever stumbles across it." Dumbledore seemed to think this over.
"We do not know what happened and what didn't, no one does."
"I do," Hermione said softly. Everyone looked at her and she heaved the heavy leather book out of her lap and set it down on the table. "I saw it myself."
"You… saw it?" Asked Harry. Hermione nodded.
"The exact same way like you saw Tom Riddle get Hagrid expelled, remember?"
"Yeah, but how could you see it in a book?"
"I was reading and suddenly this little square grew larger and larger and next thing I know I'm sucked into it and I land in front of this castle a good thousand years ago," explained Hermione.
"What exactly did you see, Hermione?" Asked Dumbledore softly. Hermione began to describe all of the events she had witnessed, very aware of the fact that everyone was watching her intently.
A/N: I spent some time writing this so I hope it's a bit good.