Chapter Sixteen

Downfall

Slytherin responded to the knocks by opening the office door. On the other side were two students. One was stunned with the Full Body-Bind Curse. The other was bleeding significantly from the neck.

"My word," Slytherin said. "Hufflepuff, there's a student here in need of Healing."

Hufflepuff did not miss a beat upon hearing that. She ran over and inspected the bleeding child's neck. "Come, let's get you fixed up." She raised the child and brought her to another room.

"Now," Slytherin took out his wand. With a single nonverbal spell, the frozen student was freed. "What exactly happened that left you two in your conditions?"

"I- I don't know," he stammered.

Slytherin frowned at such transparent dishonesty and looked into the kid's eyes. His face turned angry. "You tried to slit a fellow student's throat?"

Courtney gasped. She couldn't help it.

The kid balled his fists. "She's a witch! She deserves nothing less; none of your kind do!"

"You're a wizard," Slytherin pointed out. "Even if you are Muggleborn, being a wizard is not something that will ever stop."

"I don't care if I have to die too." The kid crossed his arms. "I know my magic comes from the Devil, and I'll pay the price. But first I will make sure you all pay the price too."

Slytherin glared. "Petrificus Totalus." The child froze yet again.

"This is the third instant in a month," Slytherin said to the other founders. "If we don't get these Muggleborns out of here, one of them is bound to actually finish the job."

"Not all Muggleborn students are like that," Hufflepuff pointed out. "We have no right to throw all of them back to the Muggles for the actions of a few."

"Not all Muggleborns are like that?" Slytherin exclaimed. "All Muggles are like that, and that's what these children were raised to believe! We can't just change that in people, and we can't take the risk!"

"So what do you want, Salazar?" Ravenclaw demanded. "Should we send these children back to their Muggle families - the ones, I should remind you, who would try to kill them? This school was meant to be a castle of life, where they could be safe from persecution."

"Well, they are safe from Muggles, fine, but the majority are still persecuted by other students in what is supposed to be a haven!" He looked at Gryffindor. "Please, if we let this go on, students will wind up dead."

Gryffindor refused to meet Slytherin's gaze. "I'm sorry. We have to find another way. Prevent them from harming anyone…"

"It won't work!" Slytherin exclaimed. "We've tried running, we've tried building a safe place, we've tried punishing offenders, and nothing works! From this point onward, Slytherin House is not taking any more of those… Mudbloods under its wing, and I suggest you three do the same."

"We cannot," Hufflepuff said firmly.

Slytherin raised his hands. "Fine. Then you will be doing this without me. And when the bodies start piling up, do not expect to be able to come running to me." He stood up and walked away calmly.

From there, the scenes became pure chaos.

"Salazar," said the old Muggle, Daniel Holtz. "It's been quite some time. I know how fond you were of offering second chances to the witches. I'm sure you'll be happy to know that only eleven were killed in your absence-"

Slytherin made an angry strangled noise, and a viper rose from the ground and dug its fangs into Holtz's leg.

The scene changed again. A child rose to the stands at Hogwarts. "Ravenclaw!" the Hat lied.

Another change. Courtney was starting to feel disoriented. A boy who looked like an older version of Albus was pushing another boy to the ground, saying something that sounded like "Snivellus".

Now a boy who looked exactly like Albus, but with glasses, talking to… Professor Hagrid? "There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin."

"Not Slytherin, not Slytherin…"

The Great Hall, decorated with green banners. "Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin," an old bearded man said with a hint of a smile. "However, recent events must be taken into account."

A very familiar image showed up: Courtney and Lynne sitting on the Hogwarts Express.

The memory of Courtney shrugged. "I don't know yet. I always figured the Sorting Hat would just know best. But I'm not getting Slytherin."

The memory of Lynne winced. "Yeah, Slytherin's the worst."

The real Courtney and Lynne winced as well. "I can't believe we said those things…" Courtney whispered.

"What if I'm in Slytherin?" a memory of Albus asked his father.

"Albus Severus," Potter said quietly. "You were named for two Headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."

"But just say…"

"Then Slytherin House will have gained an excellent student, won't it? It doesn't matter to us, Al. But if it matters to you, you'll be able to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account."

That was almost heartwarming for Courtney to hear. Almost. But she knew what was coming next…

"GRYFFINDOR!" the Hat shouted from atop Albus's head.

"Why not?" James asked in Vector's office with a smile. "Is Slytherin House all that necessary?"

"Yes, it is," Professor Asmius said. "Right?" When neither Longbottom nor Vector said a word, Asmius started talking again. That was when Courtney, Lynne, and Albus had arrived.

"Well, it looks like I am no longer needed here," Asmius had said with a pointed glare at Vector and Longbottom. How had Courtney not noticed that before? "I must be off as well."

"Like we're going to trust a Slytherin over him?" Lynne's memory said.

"Slytherins are villains, Gryffindors are heroes, that's just the way it works."

"So Slytherin himself started that stupid blood purity thing?"

"He wanted to get rid of the Muggleborns? I can see why the other Founders kicked him out…"

Like a whirlwind, more and more images flashed, lasting only about half a second each. Every moment of Slytherin's downfall flew at them for what felt like hours until finally all three of them were forced out of the Pensieve.