Chapter Thirty-Seven

Madcap Research

Just as Quintin and his housemates had hoped, O'Laren and Dusthorn took a much lighter tone when it came to their stories about Icarus. Quintin sat listening with the Sorting Hat on his head, as casual as if he wore it every day.

"Icarus was a kind soul, who cared very much about others around him," Bedivere said. "I'm sure it was his mother's doing, teaching him how to be thoughtful and attentive from a very early age. He was good to his friends and really didn't like conflict of any kind... rather like you in some ways," he added, smiling at Quintin.

"That's a very different picture than what we got from Janus," Jeremy commented.

"Well, Janus saw a side of Ick the rest of us didn't see when our living selves were around," Caprica explained. "We knew Icarus had memories of the future, of course, and how hard it was to endure them. But for a long time, it wasn't anything he really talked about. He was more likely to talk about his family or his classes, potions, or his bird friends..."

"Mostly about his bird friends," O'Laren with a chuckle. "How he used to go on about them!"

"You mean like Oscar goes on about horses," Pete said.

"Hey!" Oscar said, scowling at him. "I just happen to like horses!"

"There's a difference here. You go on about them because you just don't know when it's time to change the subject," Jeremy said, Oscar making a face at him. "Being a full grown adult, I bet that Ick was probably doing it because it was something pleasant to talk about, so that he didn't have to talk about bad memories and such."

"Yes, there's probably some truth to that," Caprica said, growing solemn. "We knew from some of the comments he made on occasion that things were getting progressively harder for him, but we really didn't know the extent of his troubles until Janus came to us looking for help. Then we cornered Icarus and made him tell us all the things about the future that he'd been telling Slytherin," she explained, Quintin nodding at that. "That's when he first told us about Voldemort and all of the things that Slytherin was making him remember, and we convinced him to keep us updated on his encounters with Slytherin from then on."

"We heard something about that from Janus," Jeremy said. "Do you remember that happening as well, O'Laren, for the record?"

"I'm afraid I was painted before that meeting, so I only know of those events second hand," O'Laren admitted.

"Yes, that's why I recommended we were interviewed at the same time," Caprica said. "O'Laren has plenty of memories of Icarus as a boy and as a teacher, but his painting was a gift from Gryffindor after the Knight's Tower was completed... it's called the Gryffindor tower now. O'Laren's painting was originally made to accompany that large one of Gryffindor that's in the common room."

"Really? But I've seen that painting, and it's gigantic. It'd be a bit mismatched," Quintin said.

"Yes, well, the bigger the ego..."

"Now, Caprica, be fair! I was his apprentice and squire. By no means did he ever think of me as an equal. I was his worthy companion," O'Laren pointed out. "Besides, I've heard that the Slytherin statue in the Chamber of Secrets dwarves all of the others."

"And that just proves my point," Caprica said with amusement.

"Gryffindor's painting is no larger than the Rowena Ravenclaw painting," the Sorting Hat pointed out in annoyance. "And she had Janus make that silly statue of her to boot! The only humble painting in the bunch was Hufflepuff's, and it's the same size of yours, Caprica, and all of the other Headmaster Portraits."

"Of course it's the same. When my living self had this one made, she modeled it after Helga's... thinking it was just large enough and just small enough to make a good size for the headmaster portraits to follow," Caprica explained. "If she had made them the same as Gryffindor's or Rowena's, there wouldn't have been any space for any more in the Headmaster's Study, no matter how much we fudge that space," she smirked.

"Maybe we should get back to the subject," Quintin suggested desperately, trying to ignore the grumbling voice in his head. "O'Laren doesn't really have any memories of Icarus past his younger days, because that's when he was painted then, right? So your memories are all of how Icarus was before he started to break down?"

"Icarus always had his moments of non-clarity," O'Laren admitted. "But yes, I was painted just as things were truly coming together at the castle. At that point, everything on the surface seemed to be going well, with all four founders working towards their common goal. The amount of students being taught here were steadily increasing too. First, we added the children of higher class wizards, because they had parents willing to pay more for the privilege of being first. Then we slowly added lower classes of wizards once we could support them."

"O'Laren had no knowledge of anything being amiss at the time. He didn't know that Slytherin had been making alterations to the lower cistern or how bad things were with Icarus until after our intervention," Dusthorn reaffirmed. "Of course, Caprica talked to his painting about it after the fact..."

"True, but at that point it's hearsay," Jeremy interrupted, and Caprica nodded at that. "That means you can only use a limited amount of O'Laren's interview in your paper, Quintin."

"That's been true for all of the interviews," Quintin said with a sigh.

"So Caprica, the four of you had this secret intervention thing and persuaded Icarus Ravenclaw to keep you updated on what memories Slytherin had him bring out," Jeremy restated. "Did any of you suggest finding ways for him to make it so all those bad things he was seeing wouldn't happen in the first place?"

"Yes, of course! In fact, that was the whole point of it," Caprica agreed. "Icarus was completely convinced that all of his visions were going to come to pass, because everything that had happened in his life so far had happened just as he predicted. When he was alive, he was so accurate that some of the teachers didn't even like to be around him if they didn't have to be, because he had the tendency to answer questions before people asked them."

"Like Quintin and his mother do," Jeremy said. Quintin gave him a dirty look.

"Different talent, similar result," Caprica said with amusement, then grew more serious. "But as Slytherin pushed him farther and farther into the future, he was also pushing Icarus farther and farther into the darkest parts of that future, forcing Icarus to share Voldemort's own memories and all of the death and destruction as he carried it out."

"Hang on, Icarus has Voldemort's memories?" Jeremy asked with a frown.

"Yes, that's how Ick's talent is able to work past his own death," Quintin explained. "It taps into the memories of those born after you with the same bloodline. Because of that, he's able to remember the lives of others with similar blood... those who descended from Slytherin and those who descended from Ravenclaw. Icarus remembered Alicia before she was born, and Dawn as well."

"That was my real self's doing," O'Laren said with a proud smile.

"He's right, it was," Caprica agreed, and the students looked over curiously. "You see, while Bedivere and I believed that Ick had seen the coming of Voldemort, we were concerned about his mind was focused on a single dark individual in the Slytherin line. We were absolutely convinced that he was not seeing the whole picture, and it wasn't mentally healthy for him to go on thinking that the school we were building was doomed in the future."

"Nothin' lasts forever," Pete said sagely.

"Maybe, but my father told me that people can waste a lot of time worrying about the future at the expense of the present," Quintin explained.

"Not to mention that you're in danger of a self-fulfilling prophecy if you always believe things are going to turn out for the worse," the Sorting Hat added.

"Quite correct," O'Laren said in agreement.

"What the three of us wanted the most was to get our friend into a better mental state, even though we couldn't help but worrying about his visions about Voldemort, especially since we've never known Icarus to be wrong when it came to future events," Caprica said. "But I wasn't as convinced as Icarus was that we couldn't stop it, and neither was Bedivere. Anything could happen in a span of those thousand years that could throw that path off, no matter how much Icarus thought otherwise. But we convinced him to try and change things, and not leave it all up to Fate. We made a pact, a pact to do everything in our power to stop those events from ever happening by taking matters into our own hands," she explained.

"We also made plans just in case Icarus' memories came true despite our best efforts. We decided to aid Voldemort's enemies by providing our knowledge, magic items, and our memories to help defeat him," Caprica said. "Of course, we knew from the start that it would take us years to develop everything we needed to carry those plans out, and our friend needed immediate care to help him out of his mental crisis. So, Bedivere and I took on the responsibility of helping Icarus down a path that would lead him to good memories. We suggested to Icarus that it'd be helpful to see the memories of those who were fighting Voldemort so we knew what items to put in the box... in actuality, that was really just an excuse," Caprica admitted. "We were just attempting to get Icarus to look beyond the dark memories, so he could see that there was hope for the future. Bedivere, the eternal optimist, did most of the work getting him there. I helped out as best as I could, backing Bedivere up when he needed backup and using my humor to try to convince Ick that things weren't as hopeless as he thought they were."

"Didn't Janus help at all?" Quintin asked, since Jeremy was busy writing everything down.

"In many ways, Janus had the most dangerous job of all," Caprica said with a sigh. "He was Slytherin's first apprentice, one of the few people he trusted, with access to areas of the castle that few could access. Janus was Ick's lifeline, since he could get to him when no one else could," Caprica explained solemnly. "Janus was also in charge of creating a secret chamber of his own, behind the giant Slytherin statue."

"Secret chamber?" Jeremy repeated. "I'm having a very hard time visualizing all of this. You keep talking about all sorts of different chambers, and I can't keep them all straight."

"Well, the Slytherin statue she's talking about is a part of the Chamber of Secrets that Slytherin built," Quintin said. "I had a feeling there was another chamber back there, because there's a giant ward on the statue that my parents put on it, so I've never gone back there."

"That whole chamber used to be part of an Ancient Basilisk's nest," Caprica explained. "Janus sectioned it off and used part of it to create a special room filled with traps. He designed them so that only a descendant of one of us apprentices could actually get to the platform in the back of the room without getting trapped or killed. It's on that platform where we sealed our chosen items in a cursed box, designed not to open for a thousand years and only after a blood ritual to prove relationship."

"That was awful risky! Weren't you worried that some Hogwarts students would get nosy and accidentally find the place? They might have died in there!" Jeremy exclaimed.

"Nobody knew Slytherin's chamber was down there for centuries. Only Slytherin, his most loyal apprentices, and the three of us even knew it was there," Caprica replied. "Once Slytherin's chamber was sealed, it could only opened by a serpent or someone who spoke Parseltongue, so the chance of anyone getting in there before Voldemort were extremely low, and Icarus had already assured us that Voldemort would be the first to discover where Slytherin's chamber was hidden. As for the risk to students, you'll have to take that up with Janus, but I'm sure he'll tell you that he thought the risk was worth it."

Quintin pondered that, writing it down and then looking his notes over.

"You know, I don't think we asked you what item you added, Caprica, I have all the others written down," Quintin said, and she smiled.

"I added a scroll with three spells," Caprica said. "One to pass on, one to use, and one to keep secret. It was given to Minerva McGonagall, but I think she passed it to Hermione when she retired."

"So it contained spells to help the school defeat Voldemort?" Quintin asked for clarification.

"Sort of," Caprica said with a smile.

"Sort of is right, considering that one of those spells was used against the school when the Four Horseman found out about it," the Sorting Hat pointed out.

"Maybe, but that's not why I said, 'sort of," Caprica admitted. "And I'm not responsible for who they chose to pass the Synchronious Spell onto. I picked three spells I thought would ensure that Voldemort didn't win; the Sychronious Spell, the Familiars to Firebreathers Spell, and the one that's a secret."

"Which is?" Jeremy prompted.

"If anyone knew that, it wouldn't be a secret," Caprica laughed. "The point is, we gave the school items we thought would help defeat Voldemort, and from what I've heard, they did help," she added with a smile. "Not only that, but we were able to pull Icarus out of his depression and keep him stable for a while, by encouraging him to look for positive moments in the future instead of the destructive ones. Unfortunately, those measures were only temporary, because things began to deteriorate between Slytherin and the other founders, especially after Dagda's Cauldron was found. Slytherin and Gryffindor quickly took to arguing about whether or not to share its powers with the surrounding villages or not. Then the Cauldron disappeared, and things went from bad to worse. As Slytherin became more erratic, Icarus and Janus became more and more tight lipped about how bad things were getting on their end. O'Laren and I decided just to have faith that Janus could keep Ick's head above water. But things broke down so quickly... I'm not sure Janus had the time to do anything. When Slytherin was murdered, nobody was sure who did it until Icarus' corpse was found dead in his office, along with his incomprehensible, sobbing ghost. It wasn't long afterwards that we found his wife and his children dead from an altered sleeping potion," Caprica said somberly.

"Gryffindor was the one who found Icarus originally, just as we were getting back from Slytherin's funeral," she continued. "Slytherin had been discovered just two days before, dead from poisoned wine, apparently using one of his own potions. Janus suggested that he may have done it to himself, but his apprentices and loyal students were certain he was assassinated and swore vengeance on the killer and anyone close to him. After Icarus poisoned himself, Gryffindor came to the obvious conclusion that Icarus had done it, and poisoned his family so that too could escape vengeance for his ill deed.

"So, that's the end of the story of Icarus, unless you count his life after death," Caprica concluded, glancing at the somber expressions of the students. "In many ways, his 'condemned' spirit life has been kinder to him than his true life had been. Since he's been a ghost, he's gone from an insane, ever-sobbing spirit to the respected Divination professor you are now fortunate enough to have in this school today. And I think my real self and O'Laren's real self are probably as content with that resolution as we paintings are, because their friend was finally able to come to terms with himself."

"Yeah, that part is confusing," Jeremy admitted. "Ick got moved from Hogwarts because he was causing too much of a disruption, right?"

"He was a very loud sobber. Most of the staff despised the ghost for interrupting their classes," Caprica admitted.

"I have a note that says he was interned on remote that island for nearly a thousand years, but then the next note I have is that he became the Warden of Azkaban. From there, he went on to be interned at Hogwarts, taking over the Divination role after 'a teacher went mad.' I assume that means that Professor Ravenclaw must have been more sane than whoever it was he replaced," Jeremy said.

"Trewlawney," Quintin offered.

"Right," Jeremy said, writing the name down. "So what happened to Ravenclaw that turned him from a sobbing incomprehensible ghost to a nearly sane one?"

"I don't know," Caprica shrugged. "Really, there's probably only one person who can tell you that."

Jennifer listened to her son thoughtfully as she got her coffee the next morning. Then she shook her head.

"I know you're eager to speak to Icarus, Quintin, especially since I knew the two of you used to be close friends," Jennifer said. "But I really feel like it might be better to wait, just like Ambrose advised."

"Why?" Quintin asked with frustration. "If you're worried about me finding out about what he did to his family and Slytherin, I know that already."

"Knowing a fact in a detached way is very different from understanding it in a personal way," Jennifer said. "And I'd rather you continue this project in a detached way for as long as possible. Besides, doing his interview last will give me time to convince your father that it's necessary, and even then, I highly doubt he'll allow you to interview him without one of us present. In fact, we should probably invite Zack along as well."

"Zack? Is that really going to be necessary?" Quintin asked with exasperation.

"Most certainly, at least as a precaution... for Icarus' own safety," Jennifer explained. Apparently, she was rather afraid that an interview about the event might trigger him to fall into his old habits, Quintin realized from her thoughts. He sighed.

"Yes, alright," Quintin relented, grabbing a morning bun off the cart. "I don't suppose you have any idea as to what happened to him on that island that helped him become more sane?"

"On the island?" Jennifer repeated, turning around in confusion.

"They wouldn't have made him Warden of Azkban if he wasn't entirely sane, right?" Quintin asked.

"Quite the contrary, actually. He wasn't entirely sane," Jennifer informed him. "I know, because I met Icarus while he was still interned there, and he used to spent countless hours sobbing in the catacombs. He was hopelessly depressed even in his clearest of moments, bringing down just about any person he ever spoke to, except perhaps Thatcher."

"Thatcher Boltin? Grandfather's friend?" Quintin asked.

"Oh, yes, he was one of the very first guards hired when they reformed the prison, because of his gift with charms and enchantments," Jennifer said with a smile. "He is, one might say, an eternal optimist, an extreme extrovert that believes very strongly in the idea that everyone is redeemable as long as they want to be. He was chosen as Ick's aid for the very fact that he was the only guard that the Justice Department believed that Icarus couldn't bring down no matter how hard he tried," she explained with amusement.

"I don't suppose there's a way I might interview him?" Quintin asked. "I'd like to get a better idea of what Icarus was like back then."

"More than likely, yes," Jennifer replied. "Write to your grandfather and tell him what you want to speak with him about. Your grandfather may want to tell you a story or two about Ick as well. Come to think of it, your Father probably has a one or two from when he was in Azkaban..."

"Dad was in Azkaban?" Quintin gawked.

"I'll let him have the honors of explaining that one," Jennifer said with amusement.

"Do you know of anyone else who knew him back then?" Quintin asked.

"Sirius, perhaps... to be honest, I really don't know if he'd be willing to talk about it or not," Jennifer admitted. "If you do decide to ask him about it, don't be offended if he says no, since that was a terrible time for him."

"I understand," Quintin said. "He's going to be taking over for John for awhile, isn't he? Maybe I'll just hint to what I'm working on and he'll say something on his own."

"That's a good idea, be tactful," Jennifer agreed approvingly. "But you'd best be off to class, it's getting late, you know."

"I still have ten minutes and forty-seven – thanks, Mum," Quintin cut himself off quickly after a stern thought came his way, walking to his first class.