Viktor had already dove into the lake, giving them a wave as he swam off.
Two days had barely passed since the Second Task when the Durmstrang boy had come up to Godric, asking to be taught the spells. Godric had taken the time to go over all the spells with him, went with him the first time Viktor went diving to keep an eye on him, and made sure that Viktor knew the signs of when he needed to surface.
Ever since then, Helga had seen Viktor go out into the lake at least twice a week.
She smiled, knowing that Ismanna would be ecstatic. Her girl enjoyed playing with the boy and going racing with him on her back.
At the moment, Helga stood along the shore, staring out into the water. Harry, Godric, and Salazar stood in a tight group as Godric once more lectured Harry on keeping aware of his magic, the man's hands on his hips. Thankfully, the child bared with Godric's fretting with as much patience as he could: fidgeting.
The three would dive the deepest Harry had ever gone: the merpeople's home or even the Giant Squid's abode. They'd watch Ismanna play with her friend; Viktor clinging on and laughing as she swam.
That boy would have been in Godric's house, no doubt, if he had attended Hogwarts.
Helga had declined to go swimming with them, and Rowena had decided to pass as well. Luna and Hermione, both of whom had gone with the group the last few ventures into the lake, had deigned to pass as the end of year exams were coming and the two wanted to prepare for them as best they could. How Harry convinced Hermione to let him out of studying was a mystery to all.
As the three waded into the water, Helga waved to them before they disappeared underneath the water. She turned back to the castle, finger tapping against her chin as she made her way to the cliffside - away from prying eyes.
Once there, she sat on a rock, crossed her legs, set a privacy ward so no one could see or hear her, and called out, "Tinki."
The old house elf appeared before Helga in a curtsey, "Mistress Helgy is calling Tinki. What can Tinki be doing?"
"Hello, Tinki. Do you remember what we discussed last week?"
The elf put her hands on her hips and nodded. "Yes. Imposter. Mistress Helgy wanting Tinki, Bob, Culley, Moppsy to watch. Wait for Kara first. Did Kara find answer?"
Helga nodded, tucking a stray bit of hair out of her face when the wind blew the strand around. Tinki snapped her fingers and the hair tucked itself into her ponytail. "Thank you. And yes, Kara did have an answer for us. His eye seems unable to detect when elves enter his room. She is given a specific time she is allowed in his personal quarters to clean and he has never noticed her appearance. Otherwise she is not to enter any area without his express permission beforehand. However, I want you all to proceed carefully."
"Yes, Mistress Helgy. I haves schedule of whens we each watch. All will be careful."
"Keep us -" a shout of joy distracted her and she glanced back over to the lake. There, in the air, was Viktor. The tip of Ismanna's tail was slipping back under the rippling waves. The boy cannonballed into the water, causing a splash she could not quite hear, but saw. She smiled and finished her thought, Tinki waiting patiently for her, "Keep us informed of any pertinent information. You can come to any of us who are free."
Tinki curtseyed. "Tink will lets others know. We will begin in hour."
Before Helga could thank her again, Tinki was gone. She let out a breath and nodded, sending a message to the other three: the watch begins.
- - - - Bonus Scene - Godric - - - -
Godric reclined in the large, overstuffed chair by the fire, contemplating their plans. So far there had been no new information, but it had only been a few days since the elves had begun their watch.
He had one leg thrown over one armrest with his other foot lying flat on the curve. His back curled over the opposite arm rest and he was staring up at the ceiling, his arms thrown back, over his head, fingers reaching for the ground. Godric heard the entrance open up and he frowned, twisting so he could see the exit. No one had come down from the dorms and students in class wouldn't have been dismissed yet.
Harry stood there looking around wildly, hand on his forehead, which looked inflamed.
"Harry?"
"Ric!" Harry's attention turned to him in relief. "Do you know what class Tracey's in?"
"Transfiguration," Godric answered immediately, moving into a standing position. He glanced down at the watch and pursed his lips before grabbing Harry's arm and dragging him back out of the Common Room. "Come on, we'll go somewhere Sal can find us."
Harry followed easily and Godric released his grip on the boy, brushing his hand over the ring and sending a pulse of magic through it:
Sal class 11 Harry.
"How do you know she'll find us?"
"We have our ways." Godric grinned over his shoulder at the boy as they moved towards the Grand Staircase. "Now, I know that you were asked to call Sal, Sal, not Tracey," he said, trying to distract the boy from the pain.
"It's just... habit?" Harry said as they started down.
"Alright, but I'll be bugging you to stop."
"Why?"
Godric paused on a landing and turned to Harry, cocking his head, "Because Sal is Sal, what more is there?"
Harry blinked, stared, and opened his mouth, but then he snapped his teeth together. "Tracey is really important to you, isn't she?"
Godric smiled. "Sal has been with me for as long as I can remember. I'm annoying, brash, say what I believe even if people won't appreciate it, and hotheaded. Sal is not... well, most of the time. And more often than not I drive everyone who cares about me crazy. People have a tendency to leave once they've been around me for too long." Which was true in both of his lives, and he didn't mind. Those who were important were the ones who stayed. "Besides, I know what would happen if Sal ever left my life and it would not be pretty. So, yes, Sal is important to me. Always has been, and always will be. No matter what happens."
"How do you know what would happen? No one knows."
"Trust me, Harry. I know. Now, come on, let's get going."
His finger warmed, but he didn't look down to read it. They finally made it to the classroom and Harry looked around and asked, "Should I just come here next time? Is there a notification charm?"
"Nope, coming to find me, or even Helga and Ro, is the best bet to find Sal if you don't know anyone's class schedule but know where one of us is."
Godric rested against the wall, keeping the door in his sights as he brought up his hand and acted as if he were checking his nails.
Coming stay with him.
He snorted and sent a message back.
Of course.
They waited, Harry pacing and Godric watching over him. He wanted to ask, but even though Godric cared for the boy, Harry was still slow to trust anyone. Salazar, out of all of them, had earned it. Harry deserved Godric respecting his wishes.
He had to repeat that mantra quite a few times.
Minutes passed and finally the door opened, Harry's head snapping to see who entered, and Godric pushed off the wall before walking towards his friend. Salazar looked as put together as ever, though his attention moved automatically from Godric to Harry.
Godric touched Salazar's shoulder briefly before moving to leave.
"Wait, you're leaving? You don't even know why I asked for Tracey," Harry called out as Godric stepped outside the room.
Godric glanced back at Harry, who stood near Salazar and was rubbing at his forehead fiercely. "Do you want me to stay?"
Harry clenched his eyes shut tightly before shaking his head furiously.
"Then you have my answer. You needed Sal, not me. If you give Sal permission to tell me, I'll learn that way." He paused and narrowed his eyes, meeting Harry's gaze and said sternly, "Though if it's harmful to your health, I better find out in case I can do something. Got it?"
Harry looked at him again. "Yeah. Thanks, Ric. Really."
"Sure thing." Godric grinned at the two and left, shutting the door firmly behind him.
- - - - End Bonus Scene - Godric - - - -
Helga, Godric, and Ismanna moved about the laboratory.
Godric with his sword, his movements fluid and graceful, though he had a scowl on his face. He wore comfortable jeans that moved with him and a tank shirt that clung to his curves due to the sweat that coated him. The man kept muttering about how he couldn't quite make the forms just right. He ran through them, and through them, and through them some more. When Helga asked him how often he practiced he had grinned and said, "At least four hours. Two in the morning, two at night. If I can, I make it more."
Ismanna's body stretched the length of the laboratory, weaving around the workstations, benches, and ingredients, with ease. Her head rested on Helga's lap with the help of the armrests of the sturdy armchair Helga had taken as her own. She continually stroked down Ismanna's snout.
The glint of the ring on her finger had Helga smiling at Rowena's ingenuity. The woman had finalized the last bit of spellcraft she wished to weave into the jewelry. At Godric's insistence, they could use the ring to pinpoint one singular person instead of all at once. Though the impressive portion rested in the ring's ability to act as a portkey to the others, and, if wards were erected around where they were heading, deposit them a safe amount of distance away from the wards so they could still get as close as they possibly could.
Shaking her head, she looked back up at her friend and waited until the man had finished one of his many sets before calling out, "Ric?"
He wiped the sweat off his forehead with his arm and lowered his sword. Godric grabbed the water he kept near the wall, and gulped some down before answering Helga, "Yes?"
"You mentioned on Wednesday that a maze is being grown which will be the terrain for the last task."
"I did." He set the glass down, sheathed his sword, and jogged over to the pair, having to vault over part of Ismanna's curl which he did with enviable ease.
"Are you taking your sword?"
Godric's easy going smile vanished, and he ran his hand through his slick hair. "I am. I have a feeling that I'll need it and I want it in case anything happens. The judges mentioned we can only bring our wands in. My plan is to use the switching spell on something I can get away with having in my pocket. If not, I'll transfigure a piece of grass into something I can switch it with."
Which would explain why Godric was constantly checking that the sword was still exactly where he left it as the Switching Spell wouldn't work if he didn't know the exact location of the object he wanted.
"Though I'll have to transfigure it to look like something else so if anyone with keen eyes sees it they won't immediately know that it really is my sword." He shook his head. "Why do you ask?"
"Your sword is goblin made."
"You know it is."
"If Ismanna is willing, why don't you put Basilisk venom on it?"
She watched as a thin shudder ran down his spine. "If I do that, I will have to be sure no one else can handle this sword. Ever." Godric glanced down at the sheathed weapon. "If we do that, even a knick would kill someone. Basilisk venom has no easily accessible cure. So, if anyone handles it and hurts themselves on the blade..." He paused and tilted his head. "If Samuel decides to stay, I can ask him to hold it for me again and give it to none but me. I'll think on it. I will let you know before the task."
"Alright." Ismanna hissed, gently rubbing her snout against Helga's chest in contentment. She scratched a bit harder and changed the subject. "Do you have a plan for the maze?"
"I do. And I'd like to enlist your help."
"Oh, what happened to figuring it out on your own?"
"I won't be asking for your thoughts on how to get through it or how to pass whatever blocks they throw in my way. I simply need a lift."
"A lift?"
"Once the hedge starts growing, I'd like you to levitate me into the air so I can map the entirety of the maze." He paused and grinned. "I'll even place the map with my sword and switch them both to me and I'll make my way through quickly enough."
She smiled at her friend. "I'll gladly help you. When would you like to begin?"
"The maze will grow quickly, so I was thinking Sunday evening once everyone is inside and it would be dark enough that most won't see us. With any luck there will be some cloud cover as well."
"Very well. I will stop disrupting your practice."
Godric blew a raspberry at her. "Hogwash, you and the others will ever be the only ones I do not mind disrupting me. Sometimes it is needed."
She giggled. "Hogwash, Ric?"
"Bollocks."
- - - - Founders - - - -
Walking the grounds, Helga wrapped her jacket a bit tighter around herself. It was a warm evening, but she didn't feel the warmth. Everything around her felt as if they held their breath. The trees, the land, the plants, the animals that walked the earth.
Waiting.
It had started the day that the maze had been planted. The hedges tangled and wove around each other as they grew.
She had walked what she could of Hogwarts' perimeter, and now stood on the path to the front gates, staring at the Quidditch Field to her left with a frown on her face. She tapped a finger against her chin as she quietly stepped off the path, and walked in the opposite direction of the pitch and towards the whomping willow.
The grass shifted under her feet and the smell of dirt and earth wafted up and tickled her nose. They had just finished the yearly exams and all that was left were the extra topics the professors wished to preview for their following year.
They had little homework, as that would be handed out for the summer holiday, which meant there was little distraction for the students. Most of the time, a large gaggle of chattering students could be seen mingling at the edge of the lake, on the side closest to Hogwarts' walls. Once the sun began setting, however, most went back inside as the warmth of the day dwindled with the sun's light.
The day had begun to fall asleep, just enough light for Helga to make her way comfortably to the whomping willow near the forest. She passed the dementor statue, keeping a distance from it. She could still feel the cold emanating from the creature. The thing probably helped keep a vast amount of children from this side of the castle.
Helga shuddered, but didn't falter. Soon, she couldn't see the petrified creature and the tree she aimed for rose into view. She stopped a good ten meters away, out of range from its limbs.
Rearranging her robes, Helga sat on the damp ground. She let her fingers press against the soil and sent her magic out, and smiled at what she found.
She remembered inscribing stone after stone with care and precision. She remembered walking the fields around the castle, casting them onto the grounds as she went. She had made the earth open and swallow them, to hold them, protect them. So they, in turn, could protect the students and professors and children and families after she left.
Helga's smile dimmed, her fingers digging into the dirt.
She had taught others how to imbue the stones through the earth with a specific weaving of magic, so that the earth would protect everyone who lived on it's lands. And those few taught others, and so on, but eventually the practice stopped. When they didn't completely understand the texts about using the earth, the practice became something that was only used in gardening. The thought disturbed her.
Still, Helga carefully let a bit of her magic seep into the stones. They took in the stores nearly greedly, but they stayed dormant, needing much more than she could give at the moment to activate.
Hopefully by next year she'd have enough to feed them a few at a time throughout the year. She could ask the earth to move in ways around her, but tuning the stones into fueling the earth to protect was a bit out of reach for the moment.
She pulsed her magic out, reaching for the whomping willow, but flinched from the harsh reaction the plant had to her.
The tree started flailing its limbs around and shrieking against Helga's magic. It raged as yet another touched it, cursing it, causing it pain. Those that came to it with magic had made it so it could not feel, time frozen, blank, black. It did not want that to happen again.
Helga bit her lip and searched for another source of magic, trying to soothe the willow as it fought her. She tried to convey that she wanted to help, but it didn't listen.
The last time someone had touched the tree with their magic, they bound it, tore its roots from its home, and twisted them in ways they did not grow naturally. It felt pain. Pain, pain, pain. It did not want that again. Never again.
Helga withdrew quickly, tears on her face.
- - - - Founders - - - -
"Really, Helga?"
"You said I needed to levitate you."
"Yes... with a spell."
"This has more control."
"Does it?"
"Are you doubting me?"
"I wouldn't do that."
"Then come here."
"Will it hold both of us?"
"Just fine. You're quite a bit shorter than -"
"It's not that much of a difference!"
"Yes, there is. Now hush and come here."
"I really dislike brooms."
"I'm aware. I won't let you fall and I won't tell the others you're scared of the objects."
"Blackmail, Helga? I am not afraid of a broom! Let's go."
"There's no need for blackmail with you. What are you doing with that?"
"I brought some parchment and pencil to sketch a quick outline as we go. I'll make a more detailed drawing later. I'd like to look again the following weeks to make sure it doesn't change or move positions. If you're willing to come out here with me so often."
"Of course I am, Ric."
"Helga..."
"Yes?"
"Let's ask Ismanna if she'll share some of her venom."
- - - - Bonus Scene - Salazar - - - -
"At this time, your potion should have a pearly sheen of pale blue. Nonetheless, bottle your feeble attempts, bring them to the front, and clean your stations before you go."
It was double potions, the last class of the day, and usually Salazar's favorite subject. Unfortunately, Salazar was falling too far into his own thoughts. Godric was excellent at inane chattering and distractions, but nothing was working today. Today's potion was a light sheen of not so pale blue. It was passable, but not his best work.
The pair worked in their usual harmony, Godric did most of the clean up while Salazar did what he could to salvage the remaining ingredients. Salazar stiffened when Snape stopped at their table. "Miss Davis."
Salazar did his best not to flinch before he answered, "Yes, sir?"
"Stay after class," Snape said in a surprisingly monotone voice. The man was usually quite expressive with his tone, if one knew what to listen for. Snape walked back to his desk and took a seat. He began sorting through parchment when he continued with, "As for the rest of you. Finish cleaning up your stations and get out."
Godric finished cleaning up their station, Salazar put away the unused potions ingredients and set their labeled potion on the professor's desk. Snape didn't look up from the parchment he was grading when he spoke to the class, "Why are you all still here? I do not believe your name is Miss Davis..."
Godric and Harry hesitated at their workstations, Hermione was still hovering at the door. Godric twirled his ring on his thumb, Harry gave Snape a look, and Hermione bit her bottom lip looking torn between waiting for her friends and doing as she was told. Salazar made it back to his workstation and gave a small nod towards the door. Harry hesitated before he grabbed his things and walked out of the classroom. Godric simply stared at his friend with concern in his eyes. Salazar shook his head minutely. "Go. I'm fine."
When the door finally closed behind the last student, Snape asked, "Do they know?"
Salazar's heart skipped a beat, his stomach clenched and he did his best to pull on his occlumency skills not to outwardly react. He held onto the table and sent his magic out, willing it to reach the castle and block anyone listening at the door. Salazar wasn't positive if it worked, but he couldn't delay his response further. "Does who know what, sir?"
Snape put down his quill and folded his hands on his desktop. "Do Miss Dunbar and Mr. Potter know about the nightmares?"
"No, sir." Salazar sighed softly, "This is new. Started last term."
"Whose memory is it?" He asked as he set a small vial on his desk. The contents looked like a light gray mist swirling lazily within. That innocent looking vial held a most vile memory. Or more accurately a memory of a broken series of memories.
"Sir?" Salazar was taken aback by the question. There was only one way that Snape could know that memory wasn't Salazar's. Snape must have watched it. Inside, Salazar was seething, outwardly he kept up the calm façade of youth.
Snape sat back and met Salazar's gaze. "You are skilled in occlumency, Miss Davis. I'd wager you're a natural legilimens."
Salazar didn't bother to lie. "Yes, sir."
"Then it stands to reason, the memory that had been haunting your dreams was something picked up from someone else." When Salazar didn't comment, Snape continued, "Who was it?" Salazar still didn't speak and Snape let out his breath in a controlled stream. "Miss Davis, are you aware of what this memory contains?"
"Are you?" Salazar asked before he could stop himself and took a much needed calming breath. At first he didn't believe his professor would answer him, but he eventually did.
"Yes," Snape admitted.
Salazar's eyebrow twitched in surprise that the man admitted such a thing, but soon narrowed with accusation. Salazar leaned against his workstation and leveled his gaze with Snape's, his arms instinctively crossed before him as he asked, "And how, exactly, is it that you know what is in that vial?"
Snape didn't falter, he freely admitted, "I watched it, naturally." His eyebrows furrowed when he asked, "You can't honestly believe I wouldn't have done so at the first opportunity." When Salazar's jaw tightened, Snape rephrased, "If Miss Dunbar or Mr. Potter begged you to take something from them." Salazar scoffed. "Yes, Miss Davis, begged." When Salazar didn't say anything, Snape continued, "If you were in my situation, would you not have looked? If there was a chance, even a remote one, that you could help them, would you not have looked?" Salazar shifted his weight and Snape nodded. "Something affected one of my most level headed students to that degree of pain. So yes, I viewed the memory."
He was right, and Salazar knew it, but he didn't have to like it. There was only one pensieve in the school and Salazar's gaze dropped to the vial on the table. "Does he know?"
"No," Snape said. He didn't pretend not to understand who Salazar was referring to. "I don't tell the Headmaster everything, Miss Davis. I will only approach him about this if someone is in danger and I cannot handle the situation myself." Sitting forward once again, Snape leaned against his forearms. "Which brings the subject back around to this." He gestured to the vial. "That is a dangerous memory to have - even as fragmented as it is - considering who is featured. If any of my students are in danger, I need to know."
"We're all in danger," Salazar blurted out before he thought better of what he had just said and bit back an expletive before continuing, "Life is full of dangers, sir. We live in a society where people carry weapons at all times. I don't understand why you'd think living in this castle is any safer; especially when Slytherins and Gryffindors are constantly fighting each other. Then there's the upcoming Third Task. You can't possibly sit there and tell me that there won't be dangers within that maze out there? What if something gets loose from within those hedges?"
Snape was not moved, nor deterred from getting an answer. "Whose memory is it, Miss Davis?"
"I don't know," Salazar said with a sigh still staring at the vial on Snape's desk. It was a half-truth, the best he could manage. 'Moody' was drinking a polyjuice potion. He could be anyone.
He wasn't sure if Snape believed him, but he knew he didn't care. Godric was waiting for him out in the hall. He didn't have to see him, to know. It was what he would do if their roles were reversed. Salazar hitched his bag onto his shoulder and asked, "Are you keeping that?"
"Did you want it back?"
Salazar frowned and admitted, "I'd like to say no, but that wouldn't be the truth."
"For what purpose do you want this returned?"
"Is that relevant?"
"Perhaps." Snape stared at his student for a moment before he nodded at the vial. "The vial belongs to you, even if the memory does not."
"Thank you, sir," Salazar said as he took the vial in hand. The feel of the glass in his palm brought a shiver to his spine and he added, "For everything you've done for us."
Snape gave the man a surprised look and a small smile before he nodded. "I always look out for my students, Miss Davis. Even when they don't want me to."
"I'll remember that," Salazar said as he left the classroom. The door closed with a snick behind him and he leaned against it.
Godric stood across the hall from the door. There was no mistaking the look on the man's face and Salazar did his best not to flinch with the guilt that curled within his stomach. Salazar hadn't told anyone about his nightmares. Only Culley knew about them. She was with him each time they came and would nurse him back from the edge of insanity.
Without a word, the two walked silently to classroom eleven and sealed the door to keep others out. Even now Salazar would have liked to have kept his secret, but he knew Godric had questions and would demand answers. With a resigned sigh, Salazar showed him the vial, "Nightmares."
That response took the man by surprise. "What?" Godric peered at the vial. "What is that?"
"This is the memory that was causing the nightmares," Salazar admitted, then walked over to the couch and, uncharacteristically, flopped onto the cushion with a sigh. He allowed his bag to drop to the floor as he held onto the vial and turned it in his palm. "I had been having recurring nightmares. Snape found out because I was too exhausted to close my curtains one evening. One of the girls in my dorm called for him." Salazar shrugged and held the vial up at eye level. "He helped me by removing this."
"So, you're okay now?" Godric kept staring at the mist floating in the glass.
"Yes." Salazar took a steadying breath and elaborated when Godric didn't look convinced. "Removing a memory is different from copying it. If you copy a memory, it is still there and as vivid as always. By removing this," Salazar gestured with the vial, "it is now a distant memory and will only be accessed if I were to go purposefully looking for it."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"You have enough to think about with the tournament." Salazar shrugged. "I didn't want to worry you."
"You're an idiot," Godric said with a huff that was part relief, part annoyance, part exasperation. "You tell me. I don't care what is going on. You're my best friend. You. Tell. Me."
- - - - End Bonus Scene - Salazar - - - -
The evening was drawing late and it was nearly curfew, but she and her three friends were in room eleven. Three of the four house elves in front of them. Even though Tinki had already informed Helga of what she and the others found out that afternoon, Helga wanted the elves to pass on the news themselves.
Once the wards were up, Tinki began, "We was watching imposter and everything normal. Kept schedule of when he drank potion. We has seen his face. Real face. Duke Salysar," Helga kept her amusement to herself at Salazar's expression of his name, "has seen face." Tinki tapped her head with a long finger. "Moppsy was watching when change happened today.
"When finished with brew, imposter bottled entirety. He stole potion parts from dungeon. Went to office and open trunk. Last key. Seven." Tinki looked at Moppsy who nodded. "Moppsy followed man down and found not imposter Moody there. Very sick. Now know where, Moppsy show us and we feed. Bad cough. Awake when intruder went down. Said intruder failed since he was still alive. Intruder said his master will be returned cause of him by tasks end." Tinki looked at the four of them, her hands wringing in front of her. "That all."
Helga looked at her three friends. "We know his timeline and we know what he wants. We know when he takes his polyjuice, he is methodical. We have a plan. Do we start?"
"Yes," Salazar agreed. "Godric and I will pay Snape a visit." He then looked to his elf. "Culley, I need to see the real Moody as soon as possible. I'll have potions for him once he's been diagnosed."
A/N-Elipsa: I am so, so sorry for the very extended delay. Family emergencies and life just popped up and I've had very little time. I'll try to post as often as I can instead of sticking to a set schedule - I'm aiming for every day to help make up the delay, but I can't promise I'll be able to stick to it. Again, sorry for the delay!