Chapter Forty-Seven
The Black Cauldron
A steady rain outside went a long way to coax students into doing their homework; or, in the case of the students who had just finished their testing, a reason to sleep later or to relax in the common room with games and hot cocoa.
Pete, Pippa, and Libby sat on a beat up old sofa on the lower level of the Guard Wing, one of many tattered sofas and chairs that had been raided and brought down from other storage rooms. All of the students participating in the research had been brought up to speed on all of the events so far, and many of them decided to come down to watch the next part of the memory dive from this side of the Pocket Mirror. Anna and Ambrose were already there, while Sirius and Jack came down a few minutes later levitating down the last of the beat up sofas, sitting down on it themselves. Since the Dewhurst Painting was much larger than any of the other items, Jennifer and Truman worked together to extend the arm and made certain that it not only held the painting tightly in place, but still maintained its connection to the charm on the Pocket Mirror itself.
"I think we've got it at last," Jennifer reported, peering at the Mirror critically. "Now, we all can't go in on this one. We've had to extend the reach on Truman's device and I don't want to overload it. Quintin, it's your project; you may take four with you, and at least one needs to be a supervisor. The rest of us will watch from out here," Jennifer said. "My only request is that when we view Janus Craw's journal later, I will be going as the supervisor. I need to take responsibility for the fact that Janus isn't keen on us viewing his memories. Also, I would prefer it if we pushed to get the memory portion of your research done today. You are going to need lots of time to write out the rest of your research, as well as to work with Ambrose as far as what changes will need to be made to bring your research up to a professional standard."
"Sure, that'll be fun," Ambrose said with a grin.
"Does anyone who hasn't gone yet want to come along?" Quintin asked.
"Me! I'm in," Danny volunteered, from where she had been leaning on the sofa behind Jack. "I'll even stand in for the escort if you want."
"That's Professor Ravenclaw's memories, right?" Curt asked, and Quintin nodded. "In that case, I think it's safer out here." Pete didn't have to think about it long.
"Pass," he replied. "But I'm up for some safe viewing, behind the couch if necessary."
Quintin glanced around to make certain no one else was interested.
"Alright, then it's Professor Brittle, Jeremy, Jack, and the Hat again," Quintin decided when nobody else spoke up.
"Does the Hat even count as a person?" Pete asked.
"I beg your pardon?" the Sorting Hat huffed, and Quintin put him on his head.
"Any clues to what this one is about?" Sirius asked Jennifer, knowing if memory had been in her guard painting, she would have checked.
"Yes," Jennifer said with a uncharacteristic frown. "This one is about why the Cauldron was stolen."
"That's the question that made Ravenclaw break down during the interview," Jack noted solemnly.
"Yes," Jennifer agreed solemnly, tapping the painting with her wand.
With a curious flap of Dewhurst's wing, the Mirror began to grow hazy. Quintin saw that Icarus had his familiar Dewhurst on his shoulder and was walking down one of the giant pipes leading to the outer Chamber of Secrets.
When Quintin and the others stepped in, they noticed Janus Craw standing next to one of the snake statues, putting some details on its hood pattern and scales to distinguish it slightly from the others. Icarus walked up, looking rather thin and tired in his black wizard's robes with the Ravenclaw crest.
"What are you doing here so early?" Janus asked when he noticed him.
"One of the other apprentices found me by the bird bath and told me that my father wanted to see me this morning," Icarus replied.
"He hasn't been down yet. From what I understand, he stayed up late working on some formula of his," Janus said, then glanced over at Icarus. "But I suppose if he summoned you here, he won't be long in coming. Do you want me to stay with you until he gets here?"
"Why, do you have somewhere you need to go?" Icarus asked.
"To mass, of course. Lasair is completely convinced that the only thing that is going to save me from hell is to beg forgiveness from God every week of my life. Personally, I think it's a damned waste of time... Sashassin, go open the door," he added. The snake statue he had been working on slithered across the floor and hissed at the snake on the other side. The snake's jaw dropped down lower and lower until it formed a long doorway.
"You go on. Perhaps if this doesn't take all day, I can confess my sins as well. I wonder if I would save time by asking in forgiveness for things I've yet to do?" Icarus wondered. Janus pondered it, gazing at his friend.
"What a brilliant idea," Janus replied. "I think I'll try it myself."
"But you don't know what you're going to do next," Icarus pointed out.
"Damned if I don't," Janus said as he walked out of the Chamber. Smiling in mild amusement at that, Icarus shook his head. After getting Dewhurst to perch on one of the other snake statues, Icarus stepped inside.
Their viewpoint changed almost immediately, and Quintin and the other observers collectively began looking around the room they had transported to with open interest. Most of the chamber was roughly wand-chiseled stone, and the stone floors under them were only finished to the point that it was a smooth enough surface to walk on.
Near the wall bubbled Dagda's Cauldron, but its contents currently looked strangely grey. Along the back wall was a shelf filled with rare ingredients and instruments, and next to it was long desk with nothing but a book pedestal on it, displaying a large open book.
"I've been in here... back when I was a student," Danny said with awe.
"Was it just as creepy as it is now?" Jeremy asked, watching Icarus light the candelabras.
"Creepier," Danny admitted, but decided not to elaborate.
Icarus let out a long drawn out sigh, and Quintin could tell that he was debating if he should meditate to get ready for whatever memories his father would ask him to bring up. But then he must have noticed the strange color and walked up to the Cauldron with a frown, sniffing the air.
"What's he doing?" Jeremy asked.
"He's trying to figure out what's in it," Quintin said, and they watched as Icarus walked over to look inside Slytherin's journal suspiciously. He stared at the formula, growing more alarmed by the moment.
"Dear God... is this for them, or the school?" Icarus murmured out loud worriedly. There was a a soft caw and he jumped slightly, stepping away from the desk and over to a small stool. He sat down quickly, closing his eyes and attempting to clear his thoughts. Danny walked over to the book and gazed at the page it was turned to with a frown.
Darkness loomed in the doorway, blocking some of the outside light. Salazar Slytherin stepped in, glancing around to see nothing disturbed except for where his illegitimate son was sitting.
"I see you're here. I thought we might get some work done while the lowlifes are in the chapel, but I've a headache just now," Slytherin said, going towards his shelf for a potion.
"Well, I wouldn't recommend trying any porridge to try to cure it. It is a bit off color," Icarus commented.
"I have been conducting an experiment to see how long it can retain different potions," Salazar said, downing the headache potion.
"Apparently poisons hold up better than healing potions," Icarus observed. "Considering it lasted overnight."
"It has only been a few hours, but that is not your concern. I need to know what you see," Salazar said. "Tell me what you remember."
"How long ahead?" Icarus asked.
"A fortnight," Salazar said. Icarus blinked in surprise.
"A mere fortnight, Father?" Icarus asked in confusion.
"Yes, I want to see the results of my experiment. Tell me what you remember form a fortnight ahead," Salazar commanded insistently.
Icarus closed his eyes for a moment. Then he gazed fixedly at the Cauldron with a frown.
"Well?" Salazar said impatiently.
"The Cauldron is gone," Icarus replied. Salazar blinked.
"What!" Salazar exclaimed in shock.
"I remember that the Cauldron isn't here in this room," Icarus said.
"Impossible! No one can get in here but my loyal assistants and you! How could it be missing?" he demanded. "How could anyone else get in here, let alone know where it is?"
"I don't know," Icarus replied distantly, still staring at the Cauldron.
"How can you not know? Why do you not remember? What has changed?" Salazar asked himself in a panic. Icarus came out of his daze and frowned at him in confusion.
"I'm sorry, Father. Memories can't be changed," Icarus dutifully informed him.
"No, no, of course not," Salazar said. "We simply hadn't been concentrating on any concerns about the Cauldron... or perhaps we're focusing on too close of a time... when do you see it next? Can you remember seeing Dagda's Cauldron again in the future?" he demanded.
There was a strange, confusing hiccup in Icarus' memory itself that made Quintin put his hands on his head...it was a momentary blip, but it was strange as if a whole lot of memories were flashing by at lightning speed.
"Yes, after the time of your heir's return to the castle," Icarus replied after it receeded, his voice becoming even stranger. "It won't be found until a new Sentinel of Dark Magic emerges after the heir's return."
"Something is wrong. That Cauldron shouldn't ever leave my hands!" Salazar snapped at him. "But the heir still returns... my influence will keep strong over this school for centuries to come," Salazar said. "Is that not so?"
"Yes, of course he will, Father, as I have told you many times before," Icarus replied miserably. "You have little reason to worry."
"You're right, I don't... because memories can't be changed," Salazar said firmly.
There was another disorienting flash that was so quick that it was impossible to process, and yet Quintin was left with an uneasy, disturbing feeling.
"No, Father, I'm afraid not," Icarus replied.
As the Mirror began to fog, Danny led the students and the Hat back out into the research room.
"That sick bastard!" Danny exclaimed in disgust.
"True, but don't forget who you are and whose house you represent," Sirius pointed out.
"Yes, I know, but Ick is my friend. Salazar intentionally kept reinforcing the idea that his son's memories couldn't be changed... even though Salazar was using Icarus to manipulate the future!" Danny growled. "That's the real reason he kept asking Icarus back in there day after day to account his memories of Voldemort... Salazar was testing different actions he himself was taking, to see how far he could push his power and influence in his present time as well as the future. He was using Icarus as if Icarus was Hufflepuff's Obol!"
"Yes, I'm afraid he was," Jennifer confirmed quietly.
"Not only that, but did you see that formula?" Danny asked Jennifer, still fuming.
"Yes... and it was on his mind while he was in the room," Jennifer replied evenly.
"Why, what was the formula in the book?" Anna asked. Jennifer glanced over at her son.
"He was working on a poison to feed into the cistern," Quintin replied quietly. "He was working on a formula that killed everyone who didn't belong to specific wizard bloodlines, using hair and blood samples to negate the families he wanted to save."
"So it's like the Queen's Ladle, where it killed everyone but Craws... but in potion form," Anna said.
"Yes," Jennifer replied. "Salazar realized that since Dagda's Cauldron never runs out of material that once he had the poison formula perfected, he could pour as much as he needed into the cistern to get the desired result. He had already worked out the basic poison at that point, but was having trouble working out how to make it concentrated enough so it wasn't diluted and how much to use based on the water table, which must have been increasing due to the spring thaw. Salazar's plan was probably to wait a week or two until the flooding receded so that the amount of water in the cistern was easier to calculate. The reason he questioned Icarus about the time frame was to gauge whether or not he had gone ahead with his plan. I'm certain the next question would have been to see what the long term results were if he went through with it, since he knew such an action would cause a dramatic change in Icarus' future memories. Considering that he could put in whichever family lines he liked and leave out any that he didn't like, he knew that he could not only poison all of the first generation students, but also any teachers in the castle that may have turned against him once his plan was carried out."
"Why, that sick bastard!" the Sorting Hat exclaimed.
Danny nodded to him firmly in support.
"So... that's the answer, then..." Jeremy put in. "That's the answer to the question that made Professor Ravenclaw break down last night. The real reason Ick Ravenclaw stole the Cauldron was to prevent Salazar from carrying out this plan."
"You alright, Jack?" Sirius asked after watching the boy grow paler during the entire discussion.
"I think I need to sit down," Jack said. Sirius offered him up his chair, putting a comforting arm on his shoulder.
"And to think, I actually touched that book once..." Danny said, shaking her hands as if trying to get something slimy off of it.
"What? How is that possible?" Sirius wanted to know.
"It was still there when my friends and I rediscovered that hidden room as kids," Danny explained. "Wanna see what happened? Jennifer, can this thing do regular memory strands?"
"If it's attached to an item, sure," Jennifer replied. "Simple enough, hand me that mug over there."
"I want the memory back," Danny warned.
"It's no trouble," Jennifer replied, casting a spell to turn the mug into a charmed vessel and then getting Danny to add the strand to it. The mug swirled and glowed like a very rudimentary Pensieve. Then she had Danny hold it and helped Truman move the Dewhurst painting, handing it off to Sirius so that they could bring the plate arm into place.
"Man, I wish I could convert things that fast," Truman said wistfully.
"Time and practice... you might even be faster than me one day," Jennifer replied helping him put the plate back on the arm. She set the mug down on it, adjusting the arm slightly until the fog came back in the Mirror.
"There you are, Danny... more can go with you if you like, this is a much safer setup," Jennifer reported.
"It's going to contain a memory in a memory though... I triggered the memory in Slytherin's journal while I was in there," Danny warned.
"Don't worry, I'll monitor. In fact, I'm very intrigued to see it, after pulling Corey and Cheshire out of the rubble that day..." Jennifer said.
"That's not til the end," Danny said, then turned around. "Quintin, Jeremy, Jack, let's go. Anyone else who wants to join is invited."
"Actually, I was thinking of sitting this one out," Jack admitted.
"Maybe he needs a break from it," Sirius agreed concernedly.
"I already cleared this with his father," Danny informed Sirius as she stepped up next to Jack, then leaned over so she could talk to Jack more quietly.
"I understand how you feel, Jack. As you're about to see, I went through it myself. But as the only Slytherin student here, I think it's important that you represent. Not only that, I think you owe it to yourself to understand that who we are now is different than where we came from, and that our house is constantly reinventing itself to be its best self, not its worst self," Danny said firmly. "As far as we have come, it's also important to face the truth of how this house began, instead of the lies that we were told in the past. Do you understand what I mean?"
"Yes," Jack said evenly, then finally nodded. "Okay, let's go." Danny smiled proudly at him and nodded.
"If he's going, I'm going," Sirius said firmly.
"Allons-y," Danny said, glancing at Jennifer.
Jennifer nodded to Truman, who started the charm and caused the Mirror to reactivate, and Danny led them inside.
They were standing in front of the Slytherin statue in the Chamber of Secrets, watching as Corey, Doug, Taylor, and Danny joined hands and cast the Synchronious spell and then began to chant, focused on the ward in front of them. But as the energy from their magic blended and burst towards the seal, the spell suddenly dissipated. The four students sank to their knees. A smaller Rasputin, a striped orange cat, and two owls gazed at them expectantly.
"It's no use, Corey, we didn't even make a dent in it," Young Danny said.
"Maybe the first one tired us out too much," Taylor suggested.
"No, I think Mom might have helped him with this one. We might be able to get passed one of them, but there's no way we're going to get passed it when they team up like that," Corey said, slowly standing up. "We still have that other route to try."
"Where's the other way, Rasputin?" Danny asked.
The monitor basilisk turned and lumbered up the center of the chamber and into the open jaw of one of the snake statues. Suddenly there was a trembling sound as the jaw of the snake dropped all the way to the floor, leaving a gaping passage behind it. No one said anything for a long moment.
"I don't remember Harry or Mom saying anything about that happening," Corey admitted.
"I'm sure they didn't mention everything," Danny replied, standing and helping Taylor up as well.
"I don't think we should go in there," Doug decided, getting up. "Maybe we should go back up."
"Then everything we've done so far would be totally pointless," Corey said. "I didn't come this far to turn back right when it's starting to get interesting."
"Me either," Danny agreed, rummaging out another bottle and drinking it. "Stay behind if you like, but I'm going on at least. I have to," she added with determination. The other three gave her an odd look.
"If you go, I'm going," Taylor said. Doug finally got up.
"Well, I'm not staying out here by myself. Lead on then," he said, gripping his wand tightly.
Danny hissed softly, pausing to listen. She nodded to the rest, and they all followed her inside. Torches burst into flames, lighting up the chamber around him.
It was undeniably the same room that they had been in before; the same desk and bookcase, covered with dust, were on the far end of the room. But a dark symbol had been painted on the floor in red, and there was a startling skeletal figure shackled against the far right wall, dead for over a thousand years. Inscribed upon the wall beside the crumpled form were the words, "Death awaits all who defy the will of Slytherin and his heirs!"
"I don't think that was written by Salazar," Danny whispered.
"Voldemort was here, or rather, Tom was," Corey agreed. "Don't touch anything," he said, enunciating each word for emphasis.
"Who do you think he was? Or she?" Doug asked, carefully stepping around the symbol to get a better look.
"He," Taylor said with certainty after studying the skeleton a moment. "I say, I knew Salazar wasn't a likable chap, but I didn't think he'd stoop to this and in the school no less."
"Does anyone recognize the symbol?" Danny asked.
"No, but look, the outside edge has an item protection on it. It's meant to contain a powerful item of some sort," Corey pointed out.
"Like the cauldron?" Doug asked.
"Perhaps, it's hard to say," Taylor shrugged. "You don't suppose this man could be Janus Craw and he's been dead here all along?"
"No, Janus didn't leave until after Salazar was buried, remember? It was Janus that helped build his tomb," Corey reminded them. "Doug, be careful."
"Don't worry, I have every intention of being careful," Doug assured him as he looked over the items on the desk. "There's a book laying out."
"Don't read it," Danny warned. "Here, let me do that. You can cover me."
"Why you?" Doug challenged her.
"Because I'm a Slytherin," Danny retorted, "now get out of the way."
Muttering her identify spells she cautiously sat down, chanting spells to reveal to her any hidden powers the book might have. The book began to glow as the spell started to work, but suddenly the pages started flipping on its own. As Doug tried to contain the book, Corey dove towards Danny to knock her away, inadvertently hitting the desk and knocking off one of the instruments into the symbol. There was a sudden flash, and they found themselves standing in a strange mist.
"Is the memory over already?" Jack wondered.
"No, this is what I really went through," Professor Brittle said, pointing them over where the student version of herself stood, glancing around. Suddenly, a voice rang out in the air from all directions, but after the last memory, they recognized it as Salazar Slytherin's voice.
"Awakened again…how long has it been? And he is gone now, isn't he? I should have known, in fact I did know, that although my blood ran through his veins it had been too muddied to be of any true use. And what of you? No, no. Your blood is pure but you are too weak to serve. Pity."
The girl frowned, taking a moment to process the voice and what he had just said.
"Do you remember Dagda's Cauldron?" Danny asked carefully.
The mist suddenly began to lift, and they found themselves standing in the room as they had first seen it, with the Cauldron still in the room, as well as Salazar Slytherin. He sifted a powder through his fingers and into the Cauldron, the mixture turning an unhealthy shade of green as he picked up a book, making a notation within it before ladling out a sample to test.
Just then, Icarus entered, followed by a rather large serpent basilisk perhaps six feet in length. The bedraggled man seemed calm despite obviously not wanting to be there at all.
"What is it now, father?" Icarus asked tiredly.
"Tell me what you see," Salazar commanded.
"Concerning what?" Icarus asked.
"The Cauldron, boy, the Cauldron," Salazar said impatiently to the other wizard, looking back at the mixture. Icarus concentrated on it with a frown, then looked back at his father.
"I see many innocent people dying from the famine," Icarus said, "because you chose not to follow Gryffindor's advice on how to use it."
"Please, I hear enough of that dribble upstairs, I won't hear it in here. If the Muggles want to ruin their farmland with war, it's not our concern. Feeding our protégés are one thing, but I did not risk life and limb to bring this Cauldron here to feed undeserving mud eaters."
"If they eat mud, it's because they can't find anything else," his son said.
"I asked you here to See, not to preach," Salazar snarled at him. "Do you not realize that the Cauldron is more than just an endless food source? It is substance without matter… an endless supply of a workable, versatile material without costing one ounce of outside resource. With minimal effort and ingredients, it can be temporarily altered to make the entire array of potions needed for the school. Consider, within seconds with just a small amount of sleep sand, I am able to create enough Sleeping Potion to put the entire school to sleep."
"And with another ingredient, you could make enough poison to kill them," he said.
"So is that what you believe me capable of?" Salazar asked, frowning at him in exaggerated disappointment. "I think the only poisoning here is the kind done by that adopted mother of yours. The students are our future, Icarus, and our blood must carry on. It is pointless to gain control of the present if it can't continue into the future, and I very much intend to make sure it does continue. With your help, we can be certain of it."
"Well, I'm afraid you won't hear like I have to say, because keeping the Cauldron here isn't going to protect it. It'll still be gone within a week to a location beyond my ability to see," Icarus said.
"Impossible," Salazar said. "No one can get in here without my help, no one. Not even my most faithful of apprentices can get in without Sssagawrath's assistance."
"If you wish to believe that, I cannot stop you," Icarus said evenly. "You asked me what I saw and I told you."
"Do you still see my influence extending on this school for generations?" Salazar squinted at him.
"Yes, I still see that," Icarus said quietly.
"Good, then there is still hope," Salazar said.
The basilisk suddenly slithered out the door, coming back a moment later with Janus Craw. He nodded respectfully to Icarus before turning his attention to Salazar.
"Here are the test results on the potions we made last week, m'Lord. I'm happy to say you won't be disappointed. In all cases, they retained the properties and strength of whatever ingredient we added to them," the man said.
"Well done. I think I'll take this to Gryffindor himself," Salazar said, his look betraying a deep satisfaction at being able to rebut another of his arguments.
"He'll probably ask you where it is again," Janus said knowingly.
"Let him ask, he'll never find it," Salazar said evenly. "And even if he did, with his mixed blood, he would never get out of this room alive. The best part is, I wouldn't even have to lift a finger," he said with a sneer.
The scene changed abruptly, and all of the sudden they found themselves in the dusty version of the room with young Danny on the floor and he friends leaning over her, along with Rasputin, who helpfully licked her face with his long tongue. Danny made a disgusted noise and sat up to the exclamations of the three boys around her.
"Thank God you're all right! You are all right, aren't you?" Taylor asked in a panic.
"What happened?" Corey asked.
"The room, it spoke to me," Danny said, rubbing her head. The other three stared at her. "This room, it's charmed with a memory charm of Salazar's making, and everything that happens in here gets added to the memory," Danny explained, feeling more alert. "I think I might have found out some of what we needed to know. Anything in the books?"
"We haven't dared looking at them, we've been more concerned about you," Doug said. "The book on the table seems to have potion formulas in it, but it's cursed."
"I think I figured that part out," Danny said dryly, standing up. "It's going to take us forever to try and countercurse this room to go through it, and this room's memory seal is probably chock-full of all sorts of useful things. We're just going to have to come back some other time. It'll probably be morning soon, if it isn't already."
"Come back?" Taylor echoed, not too thrilled with the idea.
"If we have to, we have to," Corey said, helping Taylor get Danny back on her feet. "But first I want to make sure nothing else got attached to you during that memory transfer, Danny. Those charms have lingering effects sometimes, you know."
"All right, but let's not do that here," Danny said. "If you don't mind, I'd really like to get out of this room. I think I've had enough secrets for one night."
"I couldn't agree more. Besides, I feel like I'm going to drop of exhaustion," Doug said, stepping out of the chamber, followed by Danny and Taylor.
But as the observers stepped out of the room, Professor Brittle turned around and the others followed her lead, looking just in time to notice the jaw of the snake statue had snapped shut with a terrible tremble before Corey could get through. The three students began to shout his name, wondering about the strange green mist behind the statue's eyes, helpless to do anything, while Cheshire meowed loudly, clawing at its base. It was only after Rasputin charged with a hiss that the statue finally opened again.
The three students charged in after the basilisk and quickly dragged the paralyzed figure of Corey back out of the gas-filled room, stony and grey.
"Hurry! We've got to get him out of here!" Danny said in a panic, picking up his shoulders as Doug grabbed his legs.
"Wait, where's Rasputin? And Cheshire?"
"Don't look, you idiot, the basilisk has its eye patch off!" Danny snapped over the roar of the shaking cavern. "RUN!" she ordered as they awkwardly tried to get Corey to the door.
Taylor didn't waste another instant, taking off after them towards the door just as the larger two snake statues began to wobble. As they scurried through, the statues came crashing down followed by a heavy cloud of rubble, covering them all in a thick layer of dust. Danny, Taylor, and Doug, all huddled over Corey's paralyzed form, slowly sat up as the dust finally settled and the trembling came to a stop, all of them turning their attention to Corey's grey face.
"He's dead, isn't he," Doug said. "This is all my fault. I never should have let him in there alone."
"No, it's my fault, I forgot something that I heard the room say about no one of pure blood getting out alive," Danny said. "How could I have been so stupid?"
"Come on, stop this. He's not dead yet, okay? We need to get him back upstairs."
"How? You know what those pipes are like," Doug asked.
"Well, one thing's for sure, it doesn't look like we're going back in there," Danny said, gazing up at a doorway entirely blocked with rubble.
"No, Danyelle Nelson, you are most decidedly not going back in there," said a stern voice.
Everyone looked over to see Dumbledore, Snape, and Craw hurrying in from the other entrance. Danny looked somewhat relieved; but Doug and Taylor wore expressions of their impending doom as the fog began to draw in again.
"Don't worry. I spared you the reaming we got for that," Professor Brittle said, leading them back out of the Mirror again.
"What an absolute mess!" Jack exclaimed.
"I can assume Corey got out all right, considering he runs the Alchemist shop and has half a dozen kids, but it sure looked bad at the time," Jeremy commented.
"We were absolutely terrified... we didn't know if he was even alive or not in that moment," Danny admitted.
"What happened? What caused that green mist anyway?" Jack asked.
"The statues were booby-trapped so that if any first generation or mixed blood wizard other than an Heir of Slytherin tried to leave that room, the gas would trigger and kill them," Danny explained, then pondered that. "You know, I wouldn't be surprised if the whole reason Slytherin had that condition put on the entrance was to try to stop the Cauldron from being stolen, thinking that Gryffindor might send someone down there."
"Or Gryffindor himself," the Sorting Hat snarled.
"His mother was a Muggle," Quintin explained. "But it didn't stop anything, because Icarus stole the Cauldron."
"Yes, Icarus gave it to Rowena," Jennifer confirmed, going over to the table to get herself and Truman a cup of coffee before they walked over to sit with the rest of them. "In fact, I believe that Icarus had probably gone straight to his mother after that first encounter we saw, and alerted her to what Slytherin was planning. She asked Icarus to fetch it, and then had Cuthbert Wuscfrea whisk it away from the castle. That's when he brought it to the Westernmost Isle, with the intention of taking it through the legendary portal and back into Tir Na Nog where they believed it would be safer."
"Only that door had been sealed," Anna said. Jennifer nodded to her.
"Yes, but Wuscfrea realized after the problems he had just getting it there that trying to move it again was too risky," Jennifer replied. "He decided that it was probably quite safe on the island since it wasn't on any maps and the violent storms kept most away who tried to approach it; the only reason he got through at all was because he was an Aethermage. So, he hid it on the island, burying it under the trees without even realizing that was a city of Fomorians just below the water... the real reason that island was so well guarded.
"Once his task was done, Wuscfrea tried to return to Hogwarts, but unfortunately, Slytherin had someone waiting to intercept him. Very few people knew he had gotten as far as the school border. Even Rowena herself didn't what happened to him. She had assumed that he had been lost at sea."
"That's really sad," Libby said with a sigh.
"Yes, it's quite tragic indeed," Jennifer agreed, separating the mug and the memory strand so that Danny could retrieve it.
"I wonder what happened to Salazar's journal, though. Did Dumbledore destroy it?" Danny asked.
"I'm not sure, really. Severus would know," Jennifer said. "Even if it does still exist, I'm certainly not allowing anyone to touch it if it has Salazar's memories attached. I wouldn't even want a professional to handle it, let alone students."
"No, me either, that wasn't what I was thinking," Danny said. "I was just thinking if it still exists and that formula hinted at what he was planning to do, written in his own handwriting, it could serve as evidence to back up Ick's memory."
"We'd need more proof than that... proof that he'd actually do it, and not just write it down," Anna replied. "But I like your way of thinking. It'd be an important thing to include if I was attempting to establish a pattern of behavior."
Sirius let out an exasperated sigh and went over lean on his wife's chair.
"Let's not psychoanalyze Slytherin, okay? There are just some cans of worms that just aren't worth opening," he pleaded with Anna sincerely. "Especially considering that you can't really press charges on someone who has been dead for a thousand years."
"It's not that," Anna replied. "From everything you've told me and what we've learned so far, it's really starting to sound like that Slytherin pushed Icarus to a level of insanity that caused him to poison everyone... and if that's true, Slytherin is at least partially if not fully responsible for what happened to all of them."
"Perhaps you ought to see the last few memories I have," Jennifer suggested solemnly. Anna turned to see Jennifer standing there with Janus Craw's last journal folded in her hands.
"Alright, I'm in," Anna agreed.
"Just so everyone is aware, I'm showing you these against my security assistant's wishes, so if anyone feels uncomfortable with that, you needn't go in. Even so, I think the rest of you should stay and watch," Jennifer advised.
"Why are you going against his wishes?" Quintin asked with a frown.
"Because it's important to understand the whole story," Jennifer explained solemnly. "But I want everyone to keep something in mind...
"I know that we have several ghosts in this castle that were alive during the events that your research team has been exploring, and I know that makes things a bit complicated; our society is dramatically different than it was at the founding of this school. Our level of magic, technology, government, ideology, and yes, our ideas on what is right and wrong have dramatically changed and have evolved over time, as is proper. While not always true, typically younger generations learn from the mistakes of older generations, and improve on what came before them. That is why it's so very important for us to understand the historical facts, regardless of how terrible it may seem to us now. So I leave you this thought when we consider how we view the history of those who came before us," Jennifer began, pausing to make sure that all of the students were paying attention.
"Any time we take into consideration historical figures and events and their impact on our current day society, we should not do so in a futile attempt to hold the past accountable," she warned. "Rather, we should do so to hold ourselves accountable; how honest we are about the facts in question, how we interpret them, and how much we let that history influence our lives in the present."
Glancing one last time at her students, Jennifer placed the journal on the tray and tapped it with her wand, watching as the book quickly flipped over several pages before the end.
"Popcorn?" Oscar offered to Pete as they waited for the Mirror to fog over. Pete gazed at the big bowl on Oscar's lap.
"Where did you get that?" Pete asked flatly.
"I convinced the kitchen staff that popcorn was a vegetable," Oscar explained, and Pete shrugged and helped himself.
"I'll deal with you later," Anna warned Oscar, who simply grinned unabashedly, then watched with interest as Anna and the others stepped inside the Mirror.