Albus stopped just before sending his patronus, "Where do I ask Minerva to meet us?"
"Seventh floor in the south corridor." Harry instructed.
"Near the portrait of Barnabus the barmy?" he asked.
"Who?" Harry chuckled at the name.
"I guess he was after your time." Albus grinned, "He tried to teach trolls to dance the ballet."
"You must be joking." Harry looked at him incredulously.
"I am not." Albus offered, "It is why they called him barmy."
"I would say so." Harry shook his head, "And I bet he died painfully."
"Very." Albus agreed.
"Here we are." Harry stopped him and looked at the portrait, "It does look quite painful."
"It does." Ablus agreed again, "Now where is this room?"
Over the next week Harry was tested by all the teachers except Snape. Neither of them thought he would be able to keep the secret. They would test him with Snape when they wanted Voldemort to know he was in the castle.
"Well I'm surprised." Albus stated, "I thought some of these were more recent finds. I suppose they were lost and then found again."
"I suppose." Harry agreed, he was pleased he didn't have a lot to learn, "Do you have any idea why I would de-age each time I traveled?"
"When you went back in time I can understand it I suppose." Albus sighed, "The only reason I can see that you would lose it coming forward is you arrived after what should have been your seventeenth birthday so magic altered you to be the age you should be in this time."
"Do you know of any other time travel?" Harry asked.
"Actually in this age we have time turners and can go back a few hours, no more than twenty four." Albus offered, "No one else has been as far as you."
Breakfast the next morning was very interesting. Harry was prepared and was sitting behind the teachers table next to Albus. Most everyone was surprised to see him in attendance though they all knew he was the man that appeared more than a week ago thanks to their watched stroll to Albus' office.
"Attention." Albus called, "I would like to introduce you all to a very special guest that has made a very long trip to come visit with us."
Harry chuckled and sat back in his chair to watch the response. He had a good view of most everyone but he kept a close eye on the Slytherin table and Snape.
"He arrived with the help of some special magic and will be staying." Albus smiled, "Classes for today are cancelled since I doubt any student or teacher will be able to concentrate. We will have time for questions after breakfast. Please welcome Mr. Salazar Slytherin."
Harry stood amongst complete silence and glanced around the room, "I suppose we should have expected shock Albus."
"I suppose we should have." Albus agreed as Harry sat, "The ministry and Gringotts will be coming this morning perform a proof of identity."
"You look far too young." Snape argued, "We have pictures of Salazar as an old man."
"I would like to see that." Harry grinned, "I want to see who they used as a model."
"Are you here to get rid of the mudbloods?" Pansy stood grinning widely.
"I believe you are living under a misconception my dear." Harry looked at her with a frown, "That is an offensive word even for the violent muggleborns of my time. We punished the use of that word by sealing the offender's mouth shut for a day that means no eating or drinking. Second offence was two days if that didn't teach the oaf then expulsion and breaking their wand was final punishment."
"So you don't hate muggleborns?" she asked.
"I was not fond of many of them but I do not know any here." Harry frowned, "The alleged fight was because we couldn't say I was going on a time travel journey. Godric is, to this day, my adopted brother."
"You adopted him?" a Ravenclaw asked.
"Heavens no." Harry grinned, "Lord Gryffindor adopted me when my father was murdered by bandits. They were best friends from the time Sanazar saved his life with a curing potion. Richard wasn't even the Lord yet when the group of ten bandits attacked him while out hunting."
"What happened to the bandits?" The Gryffindor boy who asked had to be a Weasley and that meant Ron had asked the question.
"There was no potion to cure them Richard had done his job well." Harry shook his head, "The Gryffindor clan is well known for their legendary skills as warriors."
"It is said you taught potions for years." Draco frowned, "But you don't look any older that I am."
"I have always looked younger than I am." Harry answered, "I left before my twenty first birthday however I began teaching when I was thirteen. I taught potions, creatures, part of the herbology and I did the healing."
"How did you meet the other founders?" Harry thought he recognized the boy but he wasn't sure if it was during his first year or if he had seen the boy around the school in the last few days.
"I was living in Gryffindor castle at the time." Harry grinned, "It wasn't very long after I'd been moved to the dungeons. Lord Ravenclaw and Lord Hufflepuff lived a hard ten days ride south of us. They were being attacked. They both sent their new daughter in laws to stay safe at the castle. Row had invented a new magical device that cut their journey short by at least four or five days. Ric got on her bad side when he tried to get her to tell him how to make her portkey."
"Portkeys were invented in the fourteen hundreds." Minerva pursed her lips.
"The modern ones were." Albus corrected, "Madam Ravenclaw's were the predecessors."
"The soldiers that rode on Row's said it wasn't pleasant." Harry chuckled, "Which I believe translated into they were horrendously sick for about three hours after the short ride."
"Why were you in the dungeons?" a Hufflepuff finally asked a question.
"I was between ten and eleven when I accidentally invented a potion Ric and I named one thousand dung heaps." Harry chuckled sheepishly, "Uncle Richard wasn't happy that the entire first floor of his castle smelled that way. We decided that the dungeons were a much better place for brewing especially when they went bad. Potion ingredients also keep better."
Chuckles spread across the room. Before anyone else could speak Harry turned to Ablus, "Company has arrived. I believe your Hagrid opened the gates."
"He was on watch." Albus agreed.
"There are thirty individuals with him. Seven Goblins I assume they'll be from your bank." Harry had closed his eyes and reached out a hand, he whispered, "Some of the wizards seem to bear the same mark as Snape."
"Then he will know by nightfall." Albus whispered back, "He'll need to inform him first."
"Perhaps I should plan a day in town." Harry opened his eyes, "So he can access me without attacking or sneaking into the school."'
"If I may ask, how did you learn potions?" Snape leaned forward.
"My father Sanazar was a potions master and he taught me as soon as he felt I was ready." It wasn't a lie he had waited until Harry had healed from his injuries and then decided he was ready to learn, "I wasn't his only child but his first son died."
By this time the ministry and goblins arrived to verify his identity. Introductions occurred before the Goblins brought out some papers that were normally stored in the school vault. Harry signed a bit of parchment and they verified that he was the same person who had signed the original documents. He was Salazar Slytherin.
"Why have you come here?" one auror asked.
"I have a destiny to fill." He answered, "I have no more choice in this than you had to be born here. I didn't even come on my own I was brought by magic."
"What side are you taking in the war?" the man introduced as Minister Fudge demanded.
"I don't know much about your war." He replied truthfully, "I only know what I need to do."
"What are you going to do?" he asked.
"That which is required of me by magic." He replied, "I cannot accomplish it if I tell you what it is."
"Are you going to kill muggleborns?" another auror asked.
"No." Harry grinned, "As I told these here before you arrived the fight with Godric was staged because we couldn't say I was going on a time travel journey. I was very unhappy with a muggleborn that had just blown up my classroom and knocked me out for three days so it seemed as good an excuse as any."
"You know that has led to generations of muggleborns being hated." Another Auror stated with a frown.
"Is it my fault that no one did anything to oppose the view?" Harry questioned, "What have you done to combat the hatred? Have you proven in some way that muggleborns are equal? Have you taken in hand those who demean others?"
"What can I do to fix it? Why should I be the one?" the auror asked.
"If not you then who?" Harry asked, "When Helga told us she wanted to open a school we had to convince the larger families to share their magical knowledge. We worked for three years to get them to join our cause. If we hadn't tried to do that where would your magical abilities be?"
"I want you to come to the ministry and attend a press conference." Fudge stated, "The people need to see you are behind the ministry."
"You sound as if I don't have a choice." Harry lifted one eyebrow at him.
"If you don't support the ministry then you must be supporting You Know Who." Fudge stammered.
"Who?" Harry asked though he was well aware of who.
"Voldemort." Albus supplied.
"Things are rarely us or them." Harry glared and several aurors started to shuffle, "I think I could probably form an entire faction of people who don't wish to side with neither the dark wizard nor the government."
"You will come along or I'll have you arrested." Fudge stated angrily.
"For what?" Harry asked with a sneer, "Existing? Making you look like an idiot? Are there laws against that I didn't know about?" he turned to Albus as he asked the last question.
"Not that I am aware of." Albus struggled to keep the laughter in.
"Arrest him." Fudge ordered the aurors.
"On what charge?" Kingsley asked, "So far he has done nothing illegal."
"Hem, hem." A hideous woman in pink gained attention and then giggled, "For a moment Mr. Shacklebolt it looked like you weren't going to follow orders."
Harry noticed many students turn to glare at the woman who spoke, "Who brought the talking toad? Quite a feat of magic, how do you get it to stay in the dress?"
Many students and teachers alike were trying to stifle the laughter that his words caused. However there were some that didn't even try to hide it, and Harry noticed even a few of the aurors were struggling.
"I am the Delores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary for the Minister of Magic." She stated hotly, "I will not be spoken to in such a manner."
"Wow that is two completely new sentences. You have a large vocabulary for a toad." More laughter occurred as the woman turned redder.
"How dare you." She hissed.
"I dare quite well thank you." Harry grinned, "Not do shut up and let the important people talk. Now minister what are you charging me with?"
"What can we charge him with?" Fudge turned to Shacklebolt.
"Nothing, he has broken no laws." Kingsley offered.
"What about unlawful time travel?" the other auror suggested.
"I didn't travel on my own." He answered, "Magic brought me I didn't have a choice. So you'll have to arrest magic for unlawful time travel."
"I'm sorry sir but I don't think we can arrest him." The second auror grimaced.
"Just a hint here but if you had actually asked rather than demanded and allowed me the luxury to say what I wanted instead of telling me what I should say, I may have actually gone with you." Harry offered, "Godric found out early on that I tend to buck up when someone of no consequence tries to demand something of me. Do yourself a favor and learn that now."
"No consequence." The toad spoke in outrage again, "He is the Minister of Magic."
"Minister, you and your pet talking toad should leave before I evict you from my home." Harry waved them off and turned to Severus, "You are the resident potion expert are you not?"
"I am." Severus answered and watched the minister stomp away, "You are aware you've made a dangerous enemy."
"That man poses no danger to me." Harry chuckled, "No magical talent and few enough brains that I worry what is helping his head stay in the correct shape."
"The toad… woman has the ear of many." Severus added.
"I believe I have a few powerful backers of my own." He waved off the concern, "What new advancements have there been in potions?"
"Well the wolfsbane potion was created a few decades ago." He offered and they began an in depth discussion of potions, ingredients and moon phases.
Harry stopped mid-sentence and turned to Albus, "Another guest at the gates and they are rather irate at the moment."
"Really?" Albus looked intrigued, "How can you tell?"
"Beating at the gates and curses being yelled." Harry squinted, "Oh, I've not heard that one before. Hm he doesn't like your mother Albus or yours Mr. Snape. That one is down-right foul. Ah, Hagrid has him now."
"Can you hear them at the gate?" Severus asked.
"Yes permanent listening spell." Harry offered, "We put it there to inform us if we had a guest. But only the four of us were connected to it."
A few minutes later the doors of the Great Hall were thrown open again. A blond man stormed in, "Where is he?"
"Who are you looking for Lucius?" Albus asked.
"Slytherin." He yelled, "Who else?"
"I thought perhaps Draco had done something." He shrugged and indicated Harry, "However Mr. Slytherin is right here."
"You can't be." He thundered, "You aren't nearly old enough."
"I'm older than I look." Harry offered, "What can I do for you."
"He is Slytherin." Severus added, "I saw the Goblins verify it."
"Well then." Lucius stood straight, "I am Lucius Malfoy and I am here to invite you to my home, a place where a true Slytherin can feel at home. Many of my associates are most anxious to meet with you and discuss the political situation. I think that you would be much more comfortable there rather than being cooped up in this drafty old castle."
"This drafty old castle has been my home for years." Harry lifted one eyebrow, "I have no wish to leave at this time as I have important business here that cannot wait. When that is finished I will consider your offer.
"Of course." Lucius bowed his head though Harry could still see the pink on his cheeks, "Forgive me if I seem so pushy, I was just very excited that you have come. I was in your house after all."
"Of course." Harry hid the grin he wanted to sport, "I will contact you by owl when I have finished if that is agreeable with you?"
"It is quite agreeable." Lucius backed out of the room and left.
"I've never seen him back down that quickly." Snape observed quietly.
"Albus, how do you sort into the houses?" Harry asked, "We hadn't decided on a path when I left."
"A sorting hat." Albus wondered where he was going with this, "It's sentient and peruses your thoughts before sorting you."
"Would I be able to speak with it?" he asked.
"Certainly, if you'll come with me." Breakfast was long over but most of the school was still in the Great Hall and watched the two men leave.
Harry sat in the office and put the hat on his head, "Hello?"
"Salazar is that you?" he heard Godric's voice in his head.
"It's me." He answered, "It's so good to hear your voice Ric. It seems like months since I last saw you all."
"Been longer for us." It replied, "How are you? Did you de-age again?"
"I did." He huffed, "I have to repeat my last three teen years again."
"That part would suck." The hat chuckled.
"How much of your mind is in here?" He asked.
"About as much as in a magical portrait." He replied.
"How did Uncle Richard take it?" Harry asked worriedly.
"He wasn't that surprised." He sighed, "Seems that Sanazar had some idea after all and told father. Still hurt but he knew you didn't have a choice. We missed you so much. Have you figured out why you had to go back?"
"Yes and you'll love it, there is a dark wizard that is claiming to be my descendant." Harry snickered, "But he's got the Slytherin locket."
"Oh he's a descendant of Sinitar the fat lazy slob." The hat chuckled again, "Can't believe his line produced a magical being."
"Albus wants to see his face when I tell him." Harry added with a grin.
"Who is it, did they go to Hogwarts?" the hat asked.
"Tom Riddle." Harry answered and grew concerned when the hat paused.
"Watch out for that one." The hat said, "I didn't even want to let him into the school but I didn't have a choice. He is evil. He didn't have a good early life, not as bad as what I saw in yours when you were sorted, but he made a lot of bad or rather dark decisions."
"I'll be careful." He nodded, "Did you know when you sorted me?"
"Yes." The hat sighed again, "I was glad you came to us when I saw what your youth had been like. I knew you'd have the heartbreak of losing Sanazar to go through but there was a lot of good in your time there."
"There was." He agreed, "I need to get going. I'll stop by and talk more later."
"Not too much." He heard the grimace in the voice, "I'm not really Godric and you need to have a life here, meet friends and get married, all that."
"Albus and I have agreed that Salazar will kill off the dark wizard and then live a life of a hermit." Harry explained, "Then Harry Potter can live a normal life without all the celebrity."
"Good luck." With that Harry put the hat back on the shelf and took a deep breath and left the office.