Occlumency

Harry put his Invisibility Cloak away and, just like the night before, the four Founders appeared in front of him. Helga seemed pleasantly surprised while Godric had an unusual stern look. Rowena was politely smiling and though Salazar looked unmoved, Harry noticed his eyes were sparkling.

'You knew I would come back didn't you?' Asked Harry when he crossed Salazar's gaze.

'You were clearly not in the mood of hearing what we had to say last night,' answered the Founder with a calm voice. 'But I reckon that you are now.'

It wasn't a question but Harry still nodded.

'I have a few questions though,' he added.

'Naturally,' replied Rowena. 'And we will answer them to the best of our abilities.'

'This… destruction you talked about, does it have something to do with me?'

'It has everything to do with you,' answered Helga. 'But it is also about another student which attended this very school decades ago.'

'Then why didn't you act when this student was here?' Asked Harry who had perfectly guessed the identity of the student.

'Fate is one of the most mysterious aspect of magic,' said Godric. 'This student could have had many futures and only a few could have lead to the situation we are currently in.'

'We have always tried to limit our impact on the Wizarding World,' said Helga, 'if there was a chance to avoid what we had predicted without the need of our intervention, we would take it.'

'Because meddling with the past can drastically change the future,' muttered Harry remembering his third year.

'Exactly!' Exclaimed Rowena pleased with the boy's remark. 'Each decision can change the future, and at this point there was still hope.'

'Which means that there is none today,' concluded Harry.

'No matter the decisions that will be taken,' said Salazar, 'the school will be destroyed.'

'Unless,' completed Rowena, 'we influence them.'

Harry took a few seconds to process what he had just learnt. He understood their wish to minimize their impact on the Wizardling World, thus the reason why they hadn't prevented the rise of Dark Lords such as Voldemort. But one of the interesting points was that Tom may have had a different future. A future where he didn't become Voldemort.

'You are talking about Tom Riddle, arent' you?' Asked Harry with a low voice.

'And today he should be known under the name of Lord Voldemort,' replied Godric. 'Actually only a few should remember his real name.'

Harry nodded and glanced quickly at Salazar. Did they know that Tom was the descendant of Slytherin?

'So what's going to happen?' Asked Harry after a brief silence.

'We can't know the details,' replied patiently Rowena. 'We have different possible outcomes and we know what lies beyond each of them. From now on, the outcome depends on you.'

'But we are going to do eveything we can to secure the best outcome!' Added Godric with a strong voice.

'Which is to save the school, isn't it?' Said Harry frowning.

'It's a bit more difficult than that,' replied softly Helga. 'But we'll get to it in time.'

'What do you mean that it is a bit more difficult than saving the school?' Asked Harry with a cold voice.

'Well don't you want to make it out alive?' Replied casually Godric.

'Ok, he has a point,' said the voice in Harry's head.

The boy sighed and nodded.

'So what do I have to do?' He finally asked.

'First things first,' smiled Helga, 'we need to get you ready. As Rowena said, we don't know the details of what is to come, but we know the strength of the forces that threaten Hogwarts. As I always say, plan for the worst, work for the best!'

Rowena opened her mouth like she wanted to say something but remained silent, her eyebrows furrowed. Salazar turned to face the right side of the room and raised his hand. Until then, Harry had never noticed that, except the area in which the Founders were standing, the place was dark. Slytherin snapped his fingers and bookshelves seemed to appear out of nowhere. In front of them stood a small wooden desk with a chair. Curious, Harry approached the books to see what they were about.

"Practical Approach to Regenerative Magic " by V. Drake Hul

"Dark Forces Through the Ages - Vol 1" by E. J. Rockwood

"A Pact with Dark Magic" by J. G. Faust

"The Origin of Evil" by Ian Tolk

'So you expect me to fight?' He asked after a few minutes.

'There are many ways for you reach your goal,' said Rowena, 'but I am afraid that danger will be part of each of them.'

'We are going to train you on what you'll need,' said Helga. 'Of course since we aren't our physical selves this training will be limited, but given your capabilities you should manage.'

'My capabilities?' Repeated Harry with an amused tone. Hadn't the Founders predicted his grades? He was a fair student, but he was far from extraordinary.

'Grades aren't everything, young man,' smiled Salazar who seemed to have guessed his thought. 'Surely you've come to understand this by now.'

'Well they might not be everything,' replied Rowena with an acid tone, 'but they generally give a good estimation of a wizard or witch ability.'

'I disagree,' said Godric. 'Only in adversity can we know what we are truly worth!'

While the three of them were engaging in a passionate discussion, Helga approached Harry.

'You've come here tonight because you have chosen to stand up for Hogwarts,' she said in a soft voice. 'No matter what you think, you are willing to protect your school. And I can assure you that it is more than enough.'

Harry looked at her kind smile, feeling his nervousness dropping. Hogwarts was Home and he wouldn't abandon her without a fierce fight. He nodded and she turned towards the other Founders.

'All right that's enough,' she said with an unusual strong voice. 'We have work to do and I don't think that quarelling about the way to grade a student will help much.'

Harry was very surprised to see them obey her immediately. He had never imagined Helga could have had so much authorities on them.

'Right!' Exclaimed Godric. 'So it's settled! We have many subjects to cover and time is running out. I suggest we start now. Salazar if you will?'

'Wait... now as in tonight?' Asked Harry while quickly putting the book he was holding away.

'Do you have anything more important to do?' Asked Godric a bit puzzled.

Harry thought about the pile of homework he still had to do and the fact that it was only the beginning of the week. But then, another picture of Hogwarts in flames appeared in his mind and he shook his head.

Godric nodded and after waving at Rowena and Helga, they disappeared letting Harry alone with Salazar.

'Finally,' sighed the wizard.

Harry put his bag on the desk and got closer to Salazar while drawing his wand.

'You can put it away,' instructed Salazar while looking at Harry. 'You won't need here.'

'I thought you wanted to teach me how to fight?' Replied Harry while putting his wand back in his pocket.

'The forces you'll have to stand against aren't little students who are going to take the time to formulate their spells. Some of them might even not require them,' answered patiently Salazar. 'Tell me, what do you know about wandless nonverbal magic?'

Harry had never heard of such magic but he could guess what it meant. He had seen many adults in his life performing minor spells with just a wave of hand. And now that he was thinking about it, he realised that all his accidental magic while he was living at the Dursleys had been wandless nonverbal magic.

'When I was young,' said Harry after a small silence, 'I would often use it to protect myself. When I was angry, my bullies would often stumble on invisible obstacles. If I was scared, I would often teleport…'

'Apparate,' corrected Salazar.

'Huh ok. I would often Apparate at random places. When I arrived at Hogwarts I was told those episodes had been accidental magic and that was quite normal for a kid.'

'You didn't have an adult to explain it before Hogwarts?' Asked Salazar while frowning.

Harry quickly explained that he had been raised among Muggles and that his magic hadn't really been welcome. Salazar looked at him with a strange gaze.

'So, I guess this accidental magic could be wandless nonverbal magic,' finally said Harry a bit embarassed by Salazar's stare.

'Wands are a way to help us channel our magic,' replied Salazar. 'Did you know that in the early ages they didn't exist? Wizards and witches had to rely on their affinity with magic to interact with their environment. Wands helped us yield potent and effective magic which allowed us to grow in the shadow, invisible to non-magical people. But I am afraid that this made us forget the gift we were born with.' He paused to let the boy absorb what he had just said. 'We elaborated spells, enchantment and jinxes to ease our way with magic but in time you will find that they are, in fact, limitations to the powers with can truly unleash.'

'Affinity with magic?' Repeated Harry curious. 'What do you mean by that?'

'Magic surrounds us,' answered Salazar. 'It is inherent to our World. Our affinity with magic determines our ability to use it properly. For anyone able to visualize precisely what they want to achieve, the wand becomes trivial.'

'Aren't you the defender of the principle that our ability to yield magic comes from the purity of our blood?' Asked Harry mischievously.

Salazar blinked but didn't look away. He considered the boy a few seconds.

'One of the many branches of this kind of magic,' finally said Salazar in a blank voice, 'is about the mind. How you can defend it and how you can unravel its secrets. The magic I am going to teach you is called Occlumency.'

Harry had no idea about what the Founder was talking about, but his tone made him shiver. He realised that poking Salazar Slytherin might have been one of his worst ideas.