Chapter 13 – Further Translation

Rachel made Liz repeat every single detail of the dance as least five times. She sighed with happiness when Liz told her of their graceful dancing, and scowled with anger when Liz got to the part about Bettie. But she was appalled when Liz told her about the kiss that wasn't. "Are you insane? You've liked him for over a year and a half! Why shouldn't you kiss?"

"Because he's liked me for about two weeks at the most. I'm just not ready yet."

"Then when will you be ready?" Rachel asked, folding her arms across her chest.

Liz shrugged. "I don't know. It's not something you can ever be ready for."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "You're hopeless."

March came to Hogwarts, melting any trace of snowfall that was left. Liz was excited, not only because her birthday was in late March, but also because she finally had some more time to work on the manuscript. She headed to the library with her bag at five o'clock on a Friday night, with four hours before her to work.

The first thing she started with was D. She still couldn't find the D. It was as if it had been ripped out of every book of the library. Liz was frustrated. Why couldn't she find it? She decided to move on to L.

After two hours, she had gotten L, M, N, and O. She was about to start on P when Rachel and Michael came in and sat down at her table. Liz looked up at them. "Hello," she said. "What are you two doing here?"

"Looking for you," said Michael.

"Well, you found me. What do you need?"

"What are you working on?" Rachel asked, looking at the manuscript. Liz pulled it away. "What is that?"

"If you must know, they're Ancient Runes."

"For Professor Stickler?"

"No, for Professor Magus," Michael repeated blankly.

"Ancient Runes for Professor Magus," Michael repeated blankly.

"Yes. Just—don't ask, all right?"

"Fine," said Rachel, sitting back. "Are you coming back to the common room anytime soon? You've been in here for nearly two hours."

"I'll be there soon," Liz promised. "I just have to finish one more thing and then I'll be there."

"All right," said Michael. He and Rachel stood and left. Liz just wanted to plug in what she had found out so far into the manuscript and then she'd quit.

After she was finished, it read:

M name i alaa lhein. I am one of he fo fone of Hoga. I hae been hnne, iicle, an neee a b hoe I once calle m fien. Afe leaing m legac in he Chambe of ece, I hae ccmbe o hei ihe an eigne. he hae no oecie ell on Hoga o I ma no Aaae back. B lile o he kno, I ook hei lan ih me, o I kno ho o no hem an enac m eenge. he bailik in he chambe i no enogh.

If o ae eaing iecl fom m incion, anlae ino Ancien nic, he oce ill ake one a. If no, i ill ake i monh o a ea, eening on he engh of he iniial ia ho ill i ino acion.

eaing fom hi, an a he ege of he Fobien Foe ne he ea oak ee ha nee fall, an a alo, "Come on, he hiel of Hoga, come on!" hee ime. ake one e foa, an he gon ill ake ne o fee. hen o kno ha i i afe o Aaae o iaaae henee o leae.

If o ae eaing a anlaion, hen o he ame ee nigh. A a lea one eon ee o monh. On he la a, o ill kno i ill be ea hen a banch fom he ea oak ee fall. Eeone ake a e foa an i ill be comlee.

Cae fo m legac. alaa lhein

Liz stared at the manuscript. She could pick out a few words, such as "of" and "on" and "name" and "Hogwarts," occasionally. She folded it up, stuffed it in her bag, and left for the common room.

As Liz's birthday drew nearer, she got more excited. March was always her favorite month of the year. She wanted to get in another lesson with Chris before she turned fifteen, so in the middle of March, she headed down to Hagrid's cabin with her bag in tow.

Chris answered the door. "Liz! What are you doing here? I wasn't expecting you. Where are Michael and Rachel?"

"Homework," Liz answered. "I thought I'd drop by."

"You want to have a lesson, don't you?"

"Not if you don't want to."

"It's all right, I don't mind. What do you need to teach me today?"

Liz led him outside, where Liz set her bag down on a large flat rock. "It's not so much as what I need to teach you as what I need you to help me with. What do you make of this?" she asked, taking out the manuscript and handing it to him. He stared at it.

"This is weird," he said at last. "You're trying to translate it? How far have you gotten?"

"Here," Liz said, handing him the translation. "Can you see anything now?"

He stared at this for a few more minutes, and then pointed to the first two sentences.

M name i alaa lhein. I am one of he fo fone of Hoga.

"Probably 'my name is'…something," said Chris.

"I couldn't figure that one out either."

"Then, I am one of…the…something something of Hogwarts."

Liz's eyes lit up with sudden realization. "I am one of the four founders of Hogwarts!"

"You're right! That's got to be it," said Chris. "So…who are the four founders?"

"Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, and…Salazar Slytherin."

They stared at each other for a second, and then they both grabbed the manuscript, nearly tearing it, both trying to plug in the letters. Chris spoke first.

"My name is Salazar Slytherin. I am one of the four founders of Hogwarts," he said quietly. "It fits."

"What's the next line say?" Liz asked. They read again.

I hae been hnne, iicle, an neee a b hoe I once calle m fien.

"I have been something, something, and something something…something something I once called…my friends, probably," said Liz. "That's no good."

"But it probably talked about the other three founders," said Chris. "You know, how he left because he didn't like Muggleborns, and he built the Chamber of Secrets with the basilisk inside, which your father killed when he was in second year." Liz looked at him. "What? I read up on it!"

"Basilisk…wait, that reminds me of something. Hang on." Liz picked up the manuscript and scanned it. "There, look!" she said, poking it with a finger.

he bailik in he chambe i no enogh.

"…The basilisk in…the chamber…is not enough!" said Liz. "It's about something else for revenge against Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff."

"But what?" said Chris.

"Chris!" Hagrid called. "You out there? Yeh still need ter finish yer chores! Say goodbye ter Liz an' get in here!"

"I guess that's all the time we have for today," said Chris. "Good luck on that Ancient Runes thing, Liz."

"Thanks for your help, Chris," Liz said. "I'll go over it again and see if there's anything else I can figure out, and I'll let you know, all right?"

"All right. Bye."

Liz set off for the castle, scrutinizing the remainder of the manuscript. She picked up a few phrases and the very last line: Care for my legacy. Salazar Slytherin. This sent shivers up Liz's spine, though it was mid March. She looked back at Hagrid's hut, where Chris was looking out the window. She waved, and he waved back. Then she continued up her chosen path, leaving a trail of footsteps behind.