WeasleyGirl09 - Becky probably couldn't outline her feelings clearly for you herself. Suffice it to say, though, they're there...but for who?
ginny278 - Thankfully, now you'll find out what McGonagall was called for.
lbfan - Thanks a lot! When I write out the scenes in wordpad, I typically break up each scene with an extra break in paragraphs, but it looks like when it's submitted in fanfiction, all the indents are gone and there's a space between every paragraph. I'll see if I can break it up another way this go-round.
Chapter 12
"I wonder what that noise is?" Ron mused. He and Hermione had been enjoying some reminisces after the ugly business of Ron recounting all the tales since Hermione's incapacitation. Finally, though, they had been sitting in silence for a moment - aware of a somehow distant murmur in the background that was just the Order members congregated in the mansion - but then suddenly, Ron heard what he assumed were three loud knocks on the Order's front door. The person who had opened it - Ron couldn't recognize her from her voice - could recognize the person who had knocked - but apparently the operative had also brought someone else.
"Lester...who is this?"
"I don't know - says he needs to see -"
"Take me to McGonagall!" the man, who was evidently the operative's charge, snarled. Ron felt an inner sense of old loathing stir in him but he couldn't place the voice. Hermione looked questioningly at him, and he shrugged. Clearly she had felt recognition inside her as well.
"The Director is busy," the woman who had opened the door said stiffly. "And who are you?"
"Go away, for a moment," Lester said to his person. "You can't even see the house, so you can't see her."
"Make her come out to me, then," the man snarled. Ron felt the loathing sense in him increase - he knew this man, he had heard that voice...
"What's all this?" McGonagall's voice suddenly spoke out. Ron heard her footsteps. She had clearly heard the slight commotion in her office, and hadn't needed to be summoned. Ron started to get up, curious about what was going on himself, but Hermione motioned for him to be quiet and stay still. Ron acqueisced, though he kept his hand on the doorknob.
"Some man wants to see you, Minerva."
"Not in the Order?"
"No."
"How did he find...?"
"Lester brought him here."
"I found him in London," Lester said, sounding a little defensive, "he already knew your name, and that the Order existed."
"Very well...is that him? By the tree?" Ron heard McGonagall's footsteps lead out of the mansion.
Ron raised his eyebrows at Hermione, who finally indicated that he could go out. Ron opened the door to see McGonagall approaching the man by the tree. And, with a sudden instant shock of recognition, he recognized the face he had loathed more than ever all throughout his school years, and immediately began to run out to McGonagall, making sure she didn't meet him first.
"Professor!" Ron yelled. "It's Malfoy!"
McGonagall stopped dead.
Draco Malfoy, no more than a ten yards away, sitting by a tree, raised his head and grinned.
"Hello, Weasley," he drawled. "Figured you'd show up sooner or later."
--------------------------
Chris was reading the day's newspaper at the back of the mansion, ignoring the commotion at the door. Beside him was Becky, and beside her, Seamus, and across from them, Remus Lupin and Ginny.
"I wonder who he is?" said Becky.
"He sounded a little familiar..." said Seamus.
"Yes..." Remus mused. "He did."
"Remus?" Chris interrupted. "What's a Slytherin artist?"
"Why are you asking about that?" said Remus sharply. Seamus's expression became a little more grim. Chris tossed the front page of the Daily Prophet onto the table. Remus read aloud so Becky could hear, as she couldn't read upside-down.
"SLYTHERIN ARTIST FENDS OFF ATTACKS FROM DEATH EATERS
Renowned and extremely skilled Slytherin Artist Joseph Dart was attacked viciously by a group of Death Eaters, reports the Daily Prophet's Bruce Bungluds. Aurors found the recluse Slytherin Artist's house in flames and with five dead Death Eaters inside, two of whom had been former Slytherin Artists under Dart's command when he was head of the dissolved Artists Council. There was no sign of Dart anywhere in the house, and no Death Eaters had raised the Dark Mark over his house, so it must be assumed Dart escaped alive and is still at large. Though Dart is a well-known and extremely powerful Slytherin Artist, his most distinguishing trait is probably his refusal to join the Death Eaters along with the rest of his Council, making him an easy target for You-Know-Who's attacks...
Dart has always lived as a recluse...
...it's not interesting after that," Remus finished, talking to Becky.
"So, Remus?" Chris asked. "What is it?"
Lupin turned his head to Seamus, who shook his head.
"You can explain it better than I can," said Seamus.
"Alright," sighed Remus. "Chris, what do you know about the founding of Hogwarts?"
Chris shrugged. He was, after all, an American, and barely even knew the name 'Hogwarts' as a school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"I don't know...some people got together and said 'hey, we need a school to teach magic'?"
There was a pause. Seamus and Ginny, who had grown up steeped in Hogwarts lore since they were pureblood, were dumbfounded, and stared.
Remus didn't, though the corners of his mouth turned up in a half-smile.
"In essence, though it gets a little more complicated than that. To grossly simplify...four people, Salazar Slytherin, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, and Rowena Ravenclaw founded the school, and each had their own House in the school, named on their surname. Each student, when he entered the school, would be put into the House that most corresponded to his or her virtues..."
"How do they sort them now, then? I mean, those people are dead now, right?"
"The Sorting Hat," Ginny interrupted immediately, though she failed to elaborate. Chris was nonplussed.
"The what?"
"A magical hat..." Remus explained. "You place it on your head and it selects the correct House for you...that, however, is not important to our current story...Let me see if I can remember exactly...much of the truth is shrouded in mystery by necessity...
"Slytherin was much more secretive than the other Founders. While they were all close friends at the start, they soon grew apart due to differences in principle...Gryffindor and Slytherin, in particular, had many fights...the principle disagreement was on the subject of whom to let in. You are aware of the prejudices many of the few pureblood families left hold against half-blood wizard or witches, and especially, muggle-born wizards or witches?"
Chris nodded. "You don't mean that that long ago -?"
"Yes. A lot of the conflict, in fact, can be traced back to Slytherin's insistence on letting in only purebloods to the school...eventually, fed up with the constant fights with the other Founders, who disagreed, he left, leaving behind his House and the Chamber of Secrets as his mark on the school for all time."
"The Chamber of Secrets?"
"Later," Remus said, waving his hand. "If we went even through even a quarter of the Hogwarts lore here, it would take years."
"Does the Slytherin House still exist?"
"Yes," Seamus answered this time. "Though I can't see why. All bloody evil, the lot of them."
"Now, Seamus," Remus reprimanded. "While Slytherin House does have a slightly - er - disproportionate share of prejudiced and bigheaded wizards, not all of them are evil."
"Yeah? Like who?"
"Professor Slughorn," Ginny responded immediately.
"A bloody coward," Seamus snarled. "You only like him, Gin, because of that stupid 'Sluggy Club' or whatever it was called -"
"'Slug Club'!" Ginny answered heatedly. "And he is not a coward!"
"Quiet!" Remus said, overriding their bickering. "Slughorn may not be the best example. He is certainly not evil, no, but he is most certainly a coward, and does have his - er - less distinguished aspects."
There were a few moments of silence before Chris got tired of waiting.
"So, go on...Slytherin left..."
"Oh. Right. Anyway, I already told you that Slytherin was extremely secretive. While he left the matter of the Chamber of Secrets, which we will not discuss now, to his family line only, he was a little more inclined to share some of his other secrets. You see, while Slytherin was perhaps prejudiced and arrogant, he was also extremely powerful like the other members of the Founding Four. Slytherin didn't trust them with his secrets as they did with him and each other, however, giving him one advantage against them. However, he knew he couldn't win in a fight against all three of them - nor did he have much inclination, in fact, to kill them - so he simply shared his most powerful findings with his closest and most powerful friends, which were then passed down among the friends families throughout time, and occasionally an outer member who seemed to be apt for the organization - which was labeled Slytherin's Artists."
"What were the secrets?"
Seamus rolled his eyes. "Do we look like incredibly powerful Dark Wizards to you, Chris?"
"Er...yes, that would be the problem," said Remus. "These secrets are very well kept. And in any case, they're not spread very far among the family tree - only to the most powerful members. I personally doubt that the secrets could even be performed by somebody who didn't have very considerable stores of power at his or her disposal."
"So these Slytherin Artists are followers of Salazar Slytherin, who has passed on through time various secrets of untold power? And most of these men support You-Know-Who?"
"Basically," Seamus said. "Cheery little thing, isn't it?"
"Clearly, though, not all of them do support Voldemort," Remus pointed out. "Most significantly, the man who seems to have been the former Head of the Slytherin Artists Council...this Dart...I wonder..." Lupin drifted into silence.
"I wonder where he is now," said Chris.
"He doesn't need to hide," said Remus. "There are only a few people he will ever need to fear..."