As the light cleared, Albus and Pomona found themselves in the Great Hall, surprisingly little different than it was in the present day. The same large four tables for students, the same grand table for the teachers, the same enchantments on the ceiling that made it resemble the sky outside. The only real difference was the absence of banners and other modern decorations. Instead, the heads of various dangerous beasts hung around the hall, turning to glower at some of those present, and paintings looked down upon the chamber. Each person in the paintings held a tankard...as did everyone in the Hall. What looked like a massive pile of...something...rested before a roaring fire, and many figures were scattered about drinking. Near the center of the chamber sat two women and a man. The two women looked relaxed, one having a sharply pointed nose that defined her features and a sharp-eyed gaze despite her inebriation, the other a short woman barely taller than Professor Flitwick with a surprisingly voluptuous figure for her size and a pleasantly rounded face that seemed to have a permanent smile under rosy cheeks. The first woman held a silver mug full of frothy beverage, the other sat before a massive keg with what looked like a large swirly-straw leading to her mouth. The man sat nearby, mug in hand, his surprisingly handsome face in a fierce scowl as he leaned against a chair.
"Helga Hufflepuff, Rowana Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin," the Hat explained, pointing first to the hawk-eyed woman, then the small woman, and then the angry man. "The others around here are the teachers they hired to handle subjects as they got more specialized."
"And Godric?" Albus asked uncertainly as Pomona tried not to stare at the tiny founder of her House. The Hat merely chuckled. Albus frowned uncertainly. If this was the memory of the famous duel between Godric and Salazar over whether or not to teach Muggleborns - or so the History stated - then shouldn't Godric be here as well?
At that moment, a House Elf appeared next to Salazar. "Master wanted to know as soon as Blink heard..." the House Elf offered uncertainly.
Salazar spun to face the House Elf, his face still angry but quickly calming itself. "Blink, I don't shoot the messenger," Salazar pointed out calmly, his voice surprisingly cultured and urbane. "It's bad news?"
Blink nodded. "The pure-blood rights laws...they passed."
Salazar's face twisted into absolute fury as he shot to his feet, kicking the chair he'd been leaning against across the room as he flung his mug into the fireplace. "Those power-mongering, moronic, filthy rats! They think they can dictate who gets to learn at our school! Not a chance!" Picking a staff up from the ground, he brought it down against a table causing silver-green serpents of light to erupt from the knob at the end of the staff. "I'll kill the lot of them before I let them dictate that nonsense...and feed their skulls to my serpent!"
Helga suddenly let out a drunken giggle. "The one in your pants?" she asked impishly, causing a cascade of laughter to ring out from everyone around.
"Do you not understand what this means, Puff?" Salazar demanded angrily as Pomona struggled not to faint from hearing her Founding Head of House speak like that. "You can't be that far gone in drink to be blind to-"
"Oh quit yer whinging, Sally!" a deep, heavily accented voice bellowed from near the fire.
As everyone turned to look, the 'pile' before the fireplace slowly rose up...and up...and up... As the figure turned, it could be seen he was easily three times the size of anyone else in the Great Hall, and massive piles of crimson locks spilled from his face and over his head. Rather than robes as Salazar and Rowana wore, he was garbed in armor that gleamed with the inlaid enchantments, and the metal skirt around his thighs was painted in a unique plaid pattern. His left leg had apparently been lost, as in its place was a staff like the one Salazar had swung around, though massive by comparison to match his size. He slowly clumped over to the group.
"We all know what this means, not just ye," the figure growled out, raising one massive hand to poke Salazar in the chest. "We founded this school together, we're in this together! Just cause Rowy's the brains of our group don't mean any of us are stupid!"
"That...that's Godric Gryffindor?" Pomona breathed in awe.
"Indeed," the Hat confirmed smugly.
"Was...was he half-giant?" Albus asked uncertainly. The man certainly would have dwarfed Rubeus Hagrid if they met nowadays.
"Nah," the Hat corrected with a chuckle. "Just Scottish."
"You know what those bills will mean, Godric!" Salazar snapped out. "They're going to try and tell us who we can and can't teach next-"
"Doesn't mean we gotta listen," Godric pressed relentlessly. "Our job is ta teach, ta make sure magic is still around a hundred, thousand, million years from now! It ain't our job ta stick our noses in what magic people decide ta do. That ain't our oath, and ye know it!"
"Oath?" Albus asked the Hat curiously.
"Can't say," the Hat responded immediately.
"Now coll yer cockles and calm down, Sally," Godric pressed more gently, "before ye rupture something...again..."
Salazar's eyes narrowed, and he hissed out something that plainly wasn't English as it sounded like the sounds of a snake.
Without warning, Godric's arm swung around and his closed fist slammed into Salazar's face, sending him flying across the room. "Just cause ah don't speak yer snake tongue don't mean I ain't been around ya long enough ta know what ye just said," Godric growled darkly.
Salazar clambered to his feet. "Is that so?" he demanded as a crazed gleam lit his eyes. "How's this for your language, then?" Seizing a nearby chair, Salazar vanished from his spot only to appear on the table behind Godric to smash the chair over his head.
Godric staggered forward a few steps before catching himself...then turned back to Salazar with a wide grin on his face. "If that's how yer gonna be, Sally..." Reaching up, he thumbed something at his neck and his armor came crashing off of him, leaving him in a leather jerkin and trousers. "...then let's dance!" He promptly leapt at Salazar, tackling him off the table he stood on and through the next table over.
Everyone watching immediately began cheering with shouts of "Fight! Fight! Fight!" as the pair proceeded to wrestle, trade punches, and pop back and forth across the Great Hall as they tried to beat each other into unconsciousness, their expressions somewhere between enraged and excited, plainly both enjoying themselves immensely and eager to bash each others' heads in if they could manage it.
"Go for the shirt!" Rowana suddenly called out.
"Rowy?" Godric yelled out in anger. "For shame!"
"Nah, I'm out of that tonight!" Rowana called back as Salazar's next tackle ripped Godric's leather jerkin off, revealing a chest absolutely covered in crimson hair as thick as a bear's fur coat.
"Is that so?" Godric bellowed as he grabbed Salazar by his robes and swung him over his head, the robes tearing as Salazar went flying without them.
Salazar landed on his feet in silk trousers, his bare chest nowhere near as defined as Godric's or as large, but definitely the torso of someone who knew their way around non-magical fighting in addition to the magical. "Keep your eyes on the fight, Goldilocks!" Salazar roared out as he lunged, managing to tackle Godric to the floor.
Giggling like mad, Helga hefted her keg and poured it out over the brawling pair as they wrestled and everyone else in the chamber proceeded to cheer. As the cheers echoed, the room began to fade...
Albus and Pomona found themselves back in Dumbledore's office, the Hat chortling from his place on the shelf. "It's amazing how much History gets wrong," the Hat observed in amusement.
"That's...really what the Founders were like?" Albus asked, more than a little stunned. "I always envisioned them being more...dignified."
"It was a thousand years ago!" the Hat pointed out with a laugh. "Look into some real History sometime."
Pomona shuddered as she struggled to rationalize what she'd just seen. "Next you're going to tell us the fight ended in a drunken orgy," she drawled as she rubbed her forehead.
The Hat grinned cheekily. "I'm enchanted not to discuss the Founders' sex lives," it pointed out smugly, much to Pomona's dismay.
Albus slowly calmed himself, managing to find the humor in the situation. "Returning to the original subject of this meeting," he began drolly, "I think it would be fine to allow things to continue as they are. Plainly, the Founders wanted the Houses to be more united...so what's a bit of innocent inter-house fraternization?"
Pomona gave Albus a look, but did not comment beyond that.
As Penny once more sat in Harry's lap to cuddle him over breakfast, they and Harry's housemates were surprised as the first year Hufflepuffs approached the Gryffindor table. "Yes?" Harry asked uncertainly.
"Can we join you?" Susan Bones asked curiously. "We wanted a chance to get to know Penny, since we didn't get the chance at the Sorting Feast last night..."
"Is that okay?" Penny asked the others. As she only got nods from those gathered, she happily beckoned her Housemates to join them as conversation flourished over food. This would be quite the enjoyable meal; it was a good thing she'd started early.