Chapter 134: Uh-Oh
"So let's say that he is indeed Salazar, so how are we going to make him a nicer person?" Harry asked logically. "You've seen how he treats us just now." The eight of them were now gathered in the girls' room for discussion. Remus had cast additional soundproofing and privacy charm just in case of unnecessary eavesdroppers.
"Now, you guys are the smartest students in Hogwarts, any ideas?" Sirius asked Lily and James in particular.
"I'm trying to think." Lily muttered. James did not bother to even answer Sirius' redundant question.
"But first of all, it's just our hunch that he is Salazar. We've to make sure about that first." Arabella reminded. "I was wondering if we should get some information from Rowena."
"That's a great idea." Sirius agreed enthusiastically. "I always think we can just approach her and ask directly. You-"
"She will think we're all mad just like you." Arabella shook her head in disbelief.
"We told him the same thing earlier." Harry chuckled. Sirius decided to sit with his arms crossed and remained silent for the next few moments.
"Is there a potion that we can change personality?" Lily asked. "I think there was something about it in Advanced Potion Making."
"I don't remember studying that." James frowned slightly.
"I think there is such a potion in that book. But it's not an easy potion." Stefanie commented. "It's along the difficulty of the Felix Felicis."
"Felix Felicis!" Sirius jumped from his seat. "That's it. We can just use that." The rest of them just stared at him blankly. "We can take a little of that liquid luck and everything will just go our way. That means we can just make Salazar nicer? He's alright as long as he is not against muggleborns and half bloods."
"Did you remember it takes about six month to brew Felix Felicis?" Stefanie reminded him. "That's why we never had that for practical."
"Oh, right." Sirius sounded positively dejected. "Next idea please."
"Actually I think it's a good idea for us to get some information for the villagers first. At least I believe everyone knows everybody here." Arabella told them. "We can make it seems like some innocent questions."
"And those facts will definitely be better than us assuming who's who." Lily agreed wholeheartedly, nodding approvingly.
"Right, so we're going to split up and get some information quick." Sirius was ready to barge out of the room.
"Shouldn't we decide on whom we're going to ask or something? It will be strange if all of us take turns to ask Ro the same question." Lily pointed out. "And I think that it's better for us girls to approach Ro than you."
"Lily, you can't-" Sirius looked flabbergasted at Lily's comment.
"Padfoot, she's probably your maternal great-great-great-great-great grandmother." Remus reminded. "You never know."
"Eeewww."
"Let's not waste time." James took up the leader role once again. "Lily and Ginny, both of you will speak to Rowena and try to find Helga if possible." Lily and Ginny nodded. "Stef and Bell, both of you will hit the shops which sell clothes and cloth and seamstress and – you get my point?"
"Yes, I know you mean the female villagers in general." Stefanie laughed.
"Padfoot, Moony, I think you its best if both of you find out more about the school and Salazar if possible." Sirius looked a little disappointed that he was not going to get to know more girls out there but to find out more about the 'root of all evil'.
"Harry and I will go back to look for Godric again. Then we try to get some information. We'll probably check out the marketplace since we're around that area." Harry nodded in agreement. "Red sparks in emergency. How's the arrangement with everyone?"
"It's great." Lily beamed at James with pride.
"So we'll gather back in this room at six, no matter what happens." James told them in a more serious tone. "Padfoot, don't try anything foolish. Our names are not supposed to appear in history."
"Don't worry, I won't." Sirius shrugged. "I know what to do."
"That's the worrying part." Arabella muttered, but it was loud enough for most of them to hear.
X
"So Ro, can we work here too? It seems really fun." Lily and Ginny were chatting with Rowena at the inn counter since there were not much customers in the afternoon.
"Don't tell me you all have no money to pay for the rooms?" Rowena joked. James had paid a week rental for both rooms in advanced earlier, just to assure her that they were not intending to stay for free or any other motives.
"Of course not." Ginny smiled and continued talking smoothly. "I've never been a waitress before and you just seems so cool."
"Sometimes it's really so busy that even magic doesn't help." Rowena shook her head. "Anyway did you all conjure the dresses yourselves?" Both girls nodded.
"Is it that horrible?" Lily looked down at her outfit, adjusting it consciously.
"Don't worry; it looks great, just that it doesn't seem like something from our village. Let me help you." Rowena waved her wand and did some minor adjustments to their dresses. "I'm not a professional seamstress, ought to get her to make you all some dresses."
"Talking about that, do you have any recommendations for us about what we can do here to feel the culture?" Lily asked, pretending to be looking at the hems of her sleeves that Rowena had altered it magically.
"Hmm, you all should check out the restaurant at the other side of the village." Rowena told them in a lower voice. "They serve the nicest food in this village."
"Sounds delicious." Ginny replied in an equally low voice and the three girls giggled.
"It's called Mrs. Puff." Rowena told them. "Mrs. Hufflepuff is a great chef and her daughter, Helga is my best friend. But my dad isn't too fond of that restaurant because their food is nicer, you know what I mean." Both of them caught each other eye and nodded.
"Parent's generation. We'll never understand." Ginny laughed.
"By the way, we went to the blacksmith shop after lunch and met this guy Dric. He said he knows you – so are you two, well, dating?" Lily and Ginny giggled at the question.
"Don't talk nonsense." Rowena blushed. "He's my childhood friend. Our fathers were friends and we grew up together."
"That makes you two childhood sweethearts." Ginny whispered and then they burst into hysteric giggles. Several people turned and stared at them quizzically.
"Don't talk nonsense." Rowena busied herself with rearranging her desk.
"You're blushing, don't try to deny." Lily whispered. "Both of you will look cute together."
"That's not possible." Rowena sighed. "He treats me as a sister. Besides he has such big dreams that I don't think he will even have time for any woman in his life."
"Big dreams?" Ginny queried.
"Yeah, like build a blacksmith empire or setting up a school." Lily tried guessing.
"Something along that lines. I'm not too sure what he wants actually. He always says we women don't understand things. Sometimes he's just all egoistic and chauvinistic ideals." Rowena told them in a slightly annoyed tone. "Not forgetting to mention he's practically one of the most eligible man in this village."
"We noticed his rugged charm." They started giggling again. The way the three of them were chatting, you might think they were old friends.
"Not just that, he was the best wizard in our school, and probably in the history of this village." Rowena told them.
"What school?" Lily frowned. Ginny was thinking along the same frequency too.
"School of Zar." Rowena waved her wand and stacked the cups onto the shelves. "Not exactly a school. But every child used to attend it to refine our magical skills. As you all know, everyone in this village is magical."
"Oh, that school." Ginny wrinkled her nose. "We saw some guy there just now and were saying hi when he shooed us away so rudely."
"I supposed who you saw was Salazar. He's quite a nice guy actually despite his mean demeanor."
X
"Get out of here and don't come back again." The mean young man slammed the door at Sirius and Remus.
"Jeez, I haven't even started talking." Sirius rolled his eyes. "This guy has some serious attitude and etiquette problems."
"Don't be so rude-" Remus stared at him, trying to hint to him that they were here to source for information and not trying to be chummy with whoever that rude guy was.
"Who is the rude one here, bloody hell?" Sirius swore loudly under his breath.
"Sorry, we don't mean-" Remus started but was rudely cut of again.
"If you two don't leave now, I'm going to curse you out of here."
"Alright, sorry about that." Remus pulled Sirius along as they walked out of the gate, which slammed shut magically after that. "So now, we better ask the shops nearby." Remus pointed at the rows of shop houses at some distance away.
X
"I don't think I ever seen so many swords in my life." James was looking at the large display on swords and daggers at the blacksmith shop.
"Anyone caught your fancy?" Dric asked them from the back. He was taking a break from all the heavy metal work inside.
"All of them look so good; we don't know which one to choose." Harry moved on to the next rack.
"I don't think you two are here just to look at my collection, am I right?" Dric asked the question and caught them by surprise. "I'm a Legilimens."
"Right. So I supposed you've lots of questions to ask us." James turned around to face Dric.
"Yes, and I know both of you're here to ask me questions too." Dric smiled. "I'll tell you what I know."
"Can you tell me more about Salazar Slytherin?" James asked directly and straight to the point.
"Alright." They sat down, at the same table as earlier, all ready to hear about Slytherin.
"He's a good buddy of mine actually." James and Harry exchanged a dark look. "We grew up together, just like brothers. Ten years ago, his father passed away mysteriously, no one knows what the reason was. His mother was devastated. Then this man came along and somehow she fell in love with him and they got married shortly after a year. She died the following year, and this man, Laz's stepfather, inherited everything." Dric took a sip from his goblet before continuing. "Laz's decreased father, Zarius was one of the best wizards in this village. He invited every child to learn magic from him for a year once they turned eleven. The village prospered, and so did he, as you can see, the school had the biggest area in this village." Then he sighed. "This evil wizard took everything away from Laz, and even tried to brainwash him to believe in his evil ideals of usurping the throne of our country. That was what Laz told us when he escaped from his house several years ago. Come to think about it, I haven't really seen him in years."
"So it's all his evil stepfather's doing." Harry finally understood about some of his founder's history that was not recorded in Hogwarts: A History.
"That's not the Slytherin I know." James frowned. "His descendant is on a killing spree getting rid of muggleborns."
"I knew him for sixteen years, and evil is not the word I would describe him. Now he's definitely smart and cunning too, but I don't think he's the type who will start killing people randomly." Dric said in such tone that you would just know that he was not lying. "Then again, sometimes it's really hard to say."
"We met him earlier when we went to the School, and he was quite rude, I might say." James told him, Harry nodded in agreement.
"Well, Laz has an attitude problem since young. He doesn't have many friends, but prefer to keep to himself most of the time." Dric shrugged. "Then again, I don't like the way the future turns out."
"How much of our information do you know?" Harry asked out of curiosity.
"Just enough." Dric smiled knowingly. "Alright, you two have asked enough for today. Just for your information, your friend Arabella looks a lot like the princess." His face was slightly flushed at the mention of Arabella's name.
X
"What do you think of this dress?" Arabella pulled out a lavender colored dress from the hanger.
"Hmm.." Stefanie nodded approvingly. "It definitely looks nicer than ours."
"We really need to get some new clothes. For Lily and Ginny too." Arabella was getting a little excited.
"Would you like to give them a try?" The shopkeeper asked them politely. When she saw Arabella, she gave a gasp of surprise. "Would you like any assistance? The changing room is over here. This way place." Her voice suddenly sounded much sweeter than earlier.
"Oh, erm, thanks." Arabella was quite surprised at her sudden courteous bows. She went into the changing room while Stefanie waited patiently outside, browsing through some other dresses. "How does this look?" Arabella asked Stefanie for her opinion while eyeing her reflection.
"Really simple, but nice on you." Stefanie told her while she straightened her sleeves and adjusted the flare of her skirt.
"Miss, how much is this?" Arabella asked the lady, who was still standing patiently behind her.
"That would be one sickle, miss." She looked down as she spoke
"That's really cheap." Arabella told Stefanie in a whisper. "Found any nice clothes so far?" She spoke in the usual manner again.
"I think I'll give this dress a try." Stefanie pulled out an ivory colored dress with a similar cutting as Arabella's.
"Okay." Arabella continued looking at her dress while Stefanie was changing inside. "I'll take this dress." She told the shopkeeper who was beaming at her.
"Would you like any adjustments to be made?" The shopkeeper asked.
"I think it looks alright. What do you think?" Arabella eyed her reflection once again. The reflection was not exactly very clear.
"Let me help you if you like." The shopkeeper started tapping her wands at the different areas of her dress, loosening some parts and tightening the others. "Miss, is it more comfortable now?" Arabella started moving around a little, lifting her hands up a little and bending forward and backwards.
"It's better now. Thank you. Erm, what's your name?" Arabella asked, realizing she had nearly forgotten her real purpose for coming into this shop.
"Heather Tread, at your service." Heather bowed politely.
"Thanks Heather, it's really nice of you." Stefanie came out of her changing room before she could continue the conversation. "Stef, you look great!"
"I like it too. Maybe we should get Lily and Ginny to come here and try the dresses for themselves." Stefanie observed her dress at the various angles.
"Miss, do you need any adjustments?" Heather asked courteously.
"Yes please, that would be nice." Stefanie allowed Heather to tap the wand at the various parts of her dress.
"Is it better now?" Heather asked after she finished inspecting the whole dress, front and back.
"It's lovely, thank you so much." Stefanie told her appreciatively. "How much would these two dresses cost in total?"
"That would be two sickles, please." Heather replied.
"Sure." Stefanie took out her pouch and handed her two shinning sickles.
"Would you like me to pack your dresses for you?" Heather was providing them the perfect customer service.
"That would be so sweet of you. Thank you." Stefanie gushed. She was the nicest salesgirl, or shopkeeper they ever seen. "So Heather, how long have you been working in this shop?"
"As far as I can remember. My mum is making the dresses upstairs while I tend the shop down here." Heather folded their old transfigured dresses and packed it nicely in a paper bag.
"Hogsmeade is an awesome village, isn't it?" Arabella spoke in such high spirits.
"Yes, I love it here." Heather beamed. "Here are your clothes, miss." She handed Stefanie a neatly packed package. "Please visit us again."
"Definitely." They waved goodbye to Heather before disappearing out of the shop.
"She looks really young." Arabella commented once they walked out of the shop.
"Yeah, like thirteen or fourteen." Stefanie gave a soft sigh. "Ought to be in school and not tending a shop."
"That's true." Arabella returned with another sigh. "No information from there, let's try the shop in front."
X
"Let's go to my room." Rowena whispered to Lily and Ginny. They were confused and the sudden secretiveness of Rowena but nodded nevertheless. "Jace, I'll be out for awhile." She called out to another young waiter nearby who nodded in understanding. "Come on." Rowena led the way to her bedroom. "Please."
"What's so secretive suddenly?" Lily asked in surprised.
"I know who you all are. But I promise I won't tell anyone." Rowena ushered them to take a seat.
"Who?" Ginny and Lily exchanged a bewildered look.
"I recognize Arabella, she's Princess Elizabeth." Rowena told them. "All of you are from the palace, traveling incognito."
"What!" Lily and Ginny did not know they should be relieved or shocked at this news. "What are you talking about?" Lily spluttered in surprised but Rowena interpreted it otherwise.
"Everyone knew that Princess Elizabeth has the most unique eye color, purplish blue or bluish purple, whichever way you put it." Rowena said knowingly. "All of you exhibit a different aura; I've just figured all these out too." Lily and Ginny were pretty stunned to hear this.
"Alright, Ro, tell us what you know about us so far." Lily gave a sigh as if letting her know that she found their biggest secret.
"No one ever had seen Princess Elizabeth before. But everyone had heard of her beauty and princes all over the world came to seek her hand in marriage." Rowena started. "I promise I won't tell anyone, but the villagers are bound to figure it out sooner or later."
"Oh no." Lily gasped. Bell and Stef are out in the village right now. It seemed like the same things were going through both their minds.
"Both of you're looking awfully pale, are you okay?" Rowena noticed their faces paled tremendously as if realizing something of great significance.
"Ro, thanks for letting us know that you.. erm.. found out about us. Just remembered that we do something urgently." Lily said hastily.
"I understand." Rowena smiled kindly. "Your secret is safe with me."
"Thanks." With a quick dash, they left her room and sent out red sparks upwards.
X
"Shall we-" Arabella turned around and was about to ask Stefanie if they should enter the shop in front.
"Look." Stefanie pointed at the red sparks in the air. It seemed like no one else had noticed it except the both of them. "That's from the – inn."
"Let's go." The two girls tried to walk briskly back to the inn despite the large crowd in the streets on a late afternoon.
X
"Red sparks." Harry told James in a low voice.
"The inn!" James was suddenly very worried when he realized where the red sparks were coming from. Lily! "Let's go." He weaved through the crowd hurriedly; knocking several people in the process and not bothering to apologize. Harry, on the hand, apologized profusely to everyone his father had hit against.