Salazar and Godric had been planning 'The Moody Prank' for the past six months. They came to the unfortunate conclusion that they were going to need help pulling it off.
The Purpose: Have the man embarrass himself publicly, prove he wasn't untouchable / Constant Vigilance!
The Prank: Switch flask with decoy filled with a potion
The Plan: Create a decoy flask, decide on potion, work out a diversion so flask can be switched
Godric groaned while scrubbing his face with his palms. "If we had a pensieve I could get a closer look at the flask."
"Have you tried the Room of Requirement?" Salazar suggested. "If one can be found in the castle, that could be an excellent place to look."
"The only one in the castle is in the headmaster's office…" Godric tapped his chin in thought. "I could use his. It wouldn't take long. I just need a better look at it."
Salazar hated thinking too long about Moody. Whenever he did those painful flashes of memories would haunt him. A shiver ran down his spine. Salazar took a steadying breath and closed his eyes. He adjusted his occlumency shields and conjured up the mental image of his current bane of existence, Professor Alastor Moody. From there, Salazar brought up a memory of the man sipping from the flask and focused on the item in his hand. With the mental image imprinted in his mind, Salazar opened his eyes. With another calming breath, Salazar reached over and gently stroked the Hungarian Horntail toy that Godric had gifted him. He had yet to name the thing. With his emotions in check, Salazar went to work.
He summoned his bag to him, pulled out his charcoal and a piece of parchment and drew. Salazar's memory was very sharp, and he could remember minute details even years later. An unfortunate side-effect of being a natural legilimens and practiced occlumens.
Godric came around the worktable and watched what the man was drawing. He didn't speak until Salazar stopped what he was doing and flexed his fingers. Godric noted, "I didn't know you were an artist."
"I'm not. What I do is basic drawings from memory. I can't create something from nothing like you can. What you do is art." Salazar handed the parchment to Godric asking, "Will this do?"
"Whatever you call it, it's impressive," Godric said and grinned. "This will work."
"Excellent," Salazar said and went back to his potion.
They worked in silence until Helga came to visit with Ismanna. She watched the two and finally had to ask, "What are you two working on? You've been secretive for nearly a month."
"Six months, actually," Salazar corrected. Helga stood waiting for a moment, she had an expectant expression, but Salazar did not elaborate. Finally, she shrugged and moved towards the alcove she shared with her little girl. Salazar's words stopped her and she turned to look at him, "We'll be recruiting you and Rowena for this one."
"This sounds promising," Helga admitted, grinning with anticipation.
"I'm hoping so." Salazar left the potion to simmer and looked at his friend. "We're going to need some volunteers. Preferably one or two from each house. I need people you can trust to be discreet and keep this quiet. After the prank is complete, they can brag about being a part of this, if they choose to, but no naming names of other conspirators."
"I can do that," Helga said.
"I know," Salazar smiled at his friend, "that's why I'm counting on you."
"You'll have to tell me what these volunteers are volunteering for..."
"A prank on Moody."
"And you're involving our students?"
"There are safeguards, elves watching for potential hazards, and distractions to hide all culprits."
"We're in."
- - - - Founders - - - -
They had an approaching deadline. They had to get all the kinks in their prank on Moody worked out before the first of April and ensure all volunteers knew their role, had their props, and were prepared for any consequences.
Salazar felt idiotic sniggering, giggling, and laughing at his potions, but the first batch worked, so he soldiered on. Had his laughter become more cynical while brewing the last batch? Perhaps... but that one was for Moody and he didn't rightly care.
Godric had come through with his decoy flasks. There were eleven in all, each ready to be filled and distributed. There were twenty vials of potions, each brewed to perfection, toppered and labeled. Ready to be used with abandonment.
Salazar stood just inside classroom eleven and waited as the volunteers filed into the room. They came by twos and threes. Some looked excited, others wary. The twins were seated on the couch with Lee, Luna, Helga, and Rowena. Harry and Hermione were leaning on a desk. Godric stood, as always, at the perfect spot for full control of the room. Salazar didn't recognize all of the volunteers, but wasn't surprised when Gregory and Lily came in last.
He closed the door softly with a snick and brushed his fingertips along the stone with a flare of his magic. Hermione jerked in surprise and Luna grinned at Salazar. She was getting more and more sensitive to their magic and it appeared Hermione was getting more attuned, too.
Once the door was closed, Helga stood and moved to the center of the room. She looked at everyone gathered. "Thank you all for coming. It's nearly curfew so I will make this brief." Helga smiled at the small gathering. "We're here for the final preparations of the prank on Moody."
"Aren't you worried he's going to know about this?" A Hufflepuff asked, then leaned forward and 'whispered', "He's got that eye!"
"That's why there are so many of us," Helga admitted, "and so many of those." She gestured at the table filled with the decoys. "Before the feast tomorrow night you come here, take a flask, and discreetly bring it into the Great Hall. That's it." Helga continued, "When it's time for dessert, slip it onto the table and leave it in plain sight. Any sooner and it's spotted, the entire plan is for naught."
Gregory frowned at the flasks. "What's in them?"
"Right now," Salazar answered, "nothing." He pushed away from the wall and walked over to the potions. "Tomorrow evening..." He picked up a vial, showed it to the occupants of the room and opened it, then he took a small sip. He grinned, and giggled. "Laughing potion." And laughed when he received incredulous looks.
"You're going to give Moody a laughing potion?" Lily asked as she moved forward to inspect the vials. "You're insane." She gave Helga a nod. "This is going to be fun."
Twin One stood then and spoke over the muttering that began once the prank was revealed. "There will be a distraction. That will be your cue that the main prank is about to begin."
"Distraction?" A Ravenclaw boy asked. "What sort?"
Lee held out a sweet. The Ravenclaw recoiled in suspicion. Luna squealed happily and bounced forward, snatched up the sweet then bit into it. "It's tasty!" And she promptly turned into a very large canary.
The twins smiled widely and exclaimed in unison, "Brilliant!"
Lee nodded in agreement. "Excellent."
Salazar was still giggling from the potion and a few had come over to inspect the flasks, but refrained from asking for any of the potion. Luna was back to normal after she molted leaving a pile of yellow feathers on the floor, but those too disappeared after a moment. The small Ravenclaw clapped her hands and beamed at the twins. "That was fun. You do excellent work."
Twin One walked over to Salazar and Godric, followed by his brother, and asked, "You're sure the house elves will distribute these to the head table?"
Godric smirked. "Of course."
"They haven't wanted to prank the staff before... we've asked," admitted Twin Two.
Salazar giggled. "That's why we're the better pranksters."
"How potent is that potion?" Godric asked with concern.
Laughing, Salazar shrugged. "More than I realized apparently. Everything is just... hilarious, right now."
Harry peered at a giggling Salazar. "You're okay?"
"Yup." Salazar said with a huge grin, popping the 'P' as he said it.
Harry grinned back. "It's weird seeing you like this… but it's nice."
His smile dimmed. "I laugh…"
"At home, sure," Harry agreed. "But here, you're always so serious."
"Oh." Salazar's grin was back in full force, and he shrugged. "I'm a serious person. There's a lot of work to be done here. So, not much time for fun." Harry went to touch one of the flasks and Salazar put a hand on his wrist. "I don't want you involved in this."
Harry looked hurt. "Why not?"
"You can eat the sweets and have fun that way, but I don't want you mixed up with this Moody business." Salazar gestured to Hermione and Luna. "Them either. I don't know how the man's going to react if he thinks he's in danger."
For a moment, Harry looked offended, but he stopped himself from speaking. He looked at his adopted sister and asked, "You're serious?"
"Yes," Salazar admitted with a laugh.
"You'll tell me why some day?"
"Yes."
"Okay," Harry sighed. "I don't like it… but okay."
- - - - Founders - - - -
Salazar's last class on Mondays was Charms. Unfortunately, that was on the third floor in the South Tower while the DADA class was on the first floor in the North Tower. Salazar needed to get from his Charms class to the DADA classroom before Moody left for dinner so he could switch the flasks. But Salazar wasn't too worried. Moody was teaching sixth year Gryffindor and Slytherin for his last class which translated to the twins keeping the man busy for a few extra minutes.
To be on the safe side, Salazar was ready to move the moment class was released. With his bag hitched on his shoulder, Salazar took one of the known shortcuts from the third floor to the first, skirted around students milling about or making their way out of their own classes. Salazar was making good time and slowed his pace when he drew nearer a few minutes later. He began recognizing some of the students leaving the DADA class and was stopped by a couple of idiots.
Two of the Slytherin chasers managed to wrangle Salazar's back to the wall. Montague stood at Salazar's left; his hand pressed against the stone wall. Pucey stood to Salazar's right. The two had somewhat cornered him, but Salazar wasn't worried. Montague peered down at Salazar and asked, "What are you doing over here, Davis?"
"She came here to see me," Pucey claimed. "No other reason to be here."
Salazar smirked. "Don't flatter yourselves."
"There you are," Lee said. Salazar ducked under Montague's arm and made his way to the Twins' cohort and partner in pranks.
Montague huffed. "Almost forgot about her and them Gryffs."
Salazar looked at the two buffoons and shook his head in disappointment. "Allies can come from all houses. You should consider that before you look down your nose at someone. You'd be surprised by what can be accomplished if you stop being so closed minded."
Lee had positioned himself in front of the open classroom door, his back to the remaining occupants. Salazar edged closer and nodded at him as he glanced inside. How the twins maneuvered the man, Salazar didn't know but he was so pleased he'd almost agree to working for them pro-bono… but he wouldn't. Salazar nodded at Lee. "Well done."
Montague scoffed and walked away, pulling Pucey by the arm. Pucey waved him off. "Yeah. I'll see you in the Great Hall."
Salazar could feel the teen come closer while Lee watched him carefully. Salazar didn't care what the other teen did, because he had one chance to get the switching spell done. Pucey didn't get in the way of Salazar's view and kept his voice low. "You're up to something…"
"Perhaps," Salazar agreed, and his magic flared with the spell. With a soft exhale, his eyes left Moody and went back to Lee. He nodded once and Lee grinned hugely. Salazar brushed his hand against his pocket to ward and seal it in a protective privacy bubble.
"The question is," Pucey asked, "what are you going to offer to keep my silence?"
Lee glared at the other teen and Salazar chuckled softly. "Don't believe me a fool, Pucey. If you really intended on blackmailing me, you'd have kept quiet and walked away to use any information you believed you had against me at a later time, which is what your friend intends to do." Salazar noted the twins walking their way and gestured to the two standing with him to move. "On the other hand, you are smarter than he is and see potential… potential allies, potential resources. That is why you stayed behind, not for any perceived instant gratification of monetary value."
The five began walking towards the Great Hall together and Pucey smirked. "I told them not to underestimate you. They've written you off because you're a girl and a halfblood."
"And you?" Twin One asked, "What do you think?"
Pucey snorted in amusement. "Davis is more Slytherin than they are."
Twin Two nodded in agreement. "Brilliant is what she is."
"Walking beside you, is what I am." Salazar was highly amused by the boys, and elbowed the Twin when he laughed.
They walked in silence for a short while, but it was not going to last. They were soon speaking about their second favorite subject… quidditch. Salazar sent a pulse of magic through his ring to let the other three know the switch was made.
When they drew near classroom eleven, Twin One held Salazar's upper arm to slow his pace, then they stopped walking altogether. The other three eventually slowed as well, but on the other side of the classroom door. Salazar peered up at the boy and did his best not to laugh at the odd looks he received from Pucey. Twin One nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure he's going to think I fancy you, but I wasn't sure how else to get you away from him without being obvious. Figured you'd need to get in that classroom without an audience."
"Kind of you to offer that chance." Salazar shook his head and took half a step back for propriety's sake, trying desperately not to laugh at Pucey. The silly Slytherin was trying not to be obvious about looking down the hall at them. Salazar took a half step to his left when Lee said something to Pucey. Twin One quickly disillusioned Salazar, catching the man by surprise. Looking down at himself, he gave a nod of approval. The boy had done it nonverbally and quite well, too. "Thank you."
Twin One gave him a huge grin and admitted, "We haven't given up trying to recruit you for the store."
"Now is not the time," Salazar stated and gave the boy's sleeve a tug when he walked around him. Twin One took the hint and walked over to his brother and friend. They had Pucey arguing about some silly quidditch fact, giving Salazar the opportunity to slip into the classroom unnoticed.
"Oh good, you're finally here," Godric said with a sigh of relief.
"Yes." Salazar agreed, dropped the disillusionment charm and summoned, "Culley?"
The house elf popped in and she looked at her master with a critical eye. She must have been pleased with what she saw, because Culley refrained from lecturing him again. "How can Culley serve?"
Salazar held out the original flask stating, "I'd like you to take this down to the laboratory immediately. Place it on an empty worktable, please. I don't want it to be contaminated by any of my projects. I need it to be safe."
Culley instantly raised her hands to accept the item. "Of course, Mistress-sir."
"Thank you, Culley," Salazar said with sincerity.
"Culley is pleased to be a help." The house elf beamed at him before popping away.
Rowena stopped fussing with a decoy flask and looked oddly at Salazar. Salazar ignored the questioning look she sent him and asked, "Were all of the others picked up already?"
"Yes. Ro and I didn't have a sixth period, so we came and filled the decoys. Everyone has come by for theirs already. Harry picked up two." Salazar grimaced when he heard that, but Godric wasn't done explaining, "He said they were for the twins since they said they probably wouldn't have a chance to grab theirs."
"I see." Salazar took the last flask and asked, "Where's Helga?"
"She's already gone to the Great Hall," Rowena said as she watched Salazar closely. "Why didn't you want Harry to have one?"
"He's already too involved with the prophecy. I don't know what is going on with this Moody character, but it is not good. If the timing is not right and he's spotted with a decoy..." Salazar closed his eyes and let out a slow breath. He leveled his gaze at Rowena. "I couldn't tell him this. I didn't want Snape or Dumbledore to catch wind of anything we're doing. Harry needs to work on his occlumency. His mind screams out most every thought in his head, especially when he's angry. Once he learns… then I will tell him more… then I can let him in on some things."
Neither Rowena or Godric argued with Salazar, nor did they agree. They simply left the subject alone and followed him out of the room. The hallway was busy with students heading to the Great Hall and the three seamlessly slipped into the moving masses.
At the door they went their separate ways and sat with their housemates. There were the usual announcements, the usual eating of the meal, and then came the desserts. It was nearly time for the big reveal, but his timing was off, or Moody was impatient. He pulled out his flask while bickering with Snape, his tongue flicked out with his usual tick. Salazar shuddered upon seeing it and looked away.
Instead of watching the man drink the potion, Salazar discreetly set his own decoy upon his House table. He looked across the Great Hall and saw others following suit. The tables filled with the evening's offerings for a treat and a few things happened, but Salazar couldn't say which happened first.
The entire room was giggling and laughing, fully enjoying themselves. Harry turned into a yellow canary. Luna did the same a moment later and began singing. There were at least three canaries per table at any given time. Others were eating some sort of wafer biscuit that caused them to shiver and 'hop' in their seats. Salazar noted there were various wafers: red swirled, green swirled, and even brown swirled. He tried one of the green out of curiosity, and found the mint flavor favorable. Salazar shivered at the sudden cold and the 'hop' was courtesy of a burst of flavor.
Salazar looked up when Moody began laughing maniacally. The man was standing at his seat, his flask in hand, a strange mix of anger and fear on his face. His magical eye began spinning in his head, most likely spying each and every copy of his flask sitting carelessly on the tables. Salazar noticed someone was clever enough to do another switching spell, so a copy was even on the head table.
Moody looked his way, his laughter not abating, but Salazar refused to meet the man's gaze again. Instead he looked over at Godric who had opened one of the decoys and was sharing the contents with others at his table. Salazar shook his head at the silly man. Harry took a small sip and handed off the decoy flask as he broke into a fit of giggles. Harry smiled across the room at Salazar and he couldn't help but smile back at his risk-taking little brother. Harry truly was a lion.
Unfortunately, Salazar lost track of Moody. He was no longer at the head table. Most of the staff, along with the students, and some of the guest Ministry officials were enjoying the surprise treats.
As the feast was drawing to a close, there came a loud bang. Several witches and wizards stood with their wands at the ready. Salazar wasn't surprised to see both Harry and Godric fighting their giggles as they looked around for danger, and was pleased to see Snape standing ready. Soon came a whizzing sound and there were miniature fireworks exploding along the ceiling, dancing between the candles.
The room erupted in cheers as the fireworks burst behind the head table to read:
TONIGHT'S ENTERTAINMENT COURTESY OF WEASLEYS' WIZARD WHEEZES!
- - - - Founders - - - -
The prank they had pulled off was a huge hit. While Salazar was concerned that Moody would lash out once he realized his flask was gone, he hadn't expected how well the entire evening was received by the student body, including those from Beauxbaton and Durmstrang. The Headmasters, Headmistress, and Ministry officials on the other hand… Salazar left that mess for Dumbledore to deal with because the true purpose of the prank had been fulfilled. Moody knew, without a doubt, that he was not inaccessible. They could get to him and they would. The threat Salazar had made his first day of classes was not idle ramblings of a child. It was a full-fledged promise with the weight of a founder behind it.
Unfortunately, there was still a price to pay for the extensive magic he used. First to silently and wandlessly switch the two flasks without exposure. Then there was the localized magical barrier he was holding to keep the original flask from being detected before he could hand it off. All of that, plus keeping his mental barriers in place during a stressful event without a respite.
Salazar was exhausted: mentally and physically. He shuffled to bed and barely laid his head on the pillow before he was fast asleep. He was so magically drained that his occlumency failed.
They came swiftly. Memories upon memories followed by more. They started out fine, pleasant, wonderful, then turned ugly and painful. First were his old memories of his first life: life as a young boy playing with Godric, life as a teen meeting Helga and Rowena, his wedding day when he met his wife for the first time, his sons, the school, the students, the invasions, the fears, the ambush, his murder… That opened the door to Moody's memories: casting the cruciatus over and over again, the pleasure he had for causing so much pain, the pride in casting it, the thrill of the screams, and the anguish of the curse when it was cast upon him for failing his master.
"Please." Salazar croaked out, "Stop, please."
What it truely sounded like... he wasn't entirely certain. His throat hurt from screaming, his face was wet from the tears. Salazar tried to wake himself from the memories, but they kept pulling him back in. Soon the softness of a cooling cloth was placed on his forehead and Salazar flinched from the sensation, thrashing in fear and pain.
"Calm, yourself."
The voice wasn't unfamiliar. It was deep, soothing, and Salazar begged him, "Make it stop, please."
"I need you to relax," He said, but Salazar shook his head and groaned in pain. The coolness was once more applied to his forehead and Salazar tried desperately to focus on the words being said around him. Willing himself to stop feeling, stop hearing, just stop. "Focus, Miss Davis."
Salazar stilled. His body tensed and he listened. Truly listened to the words being spoken around him. Snape was there. Salazar clenched his teeth, his jaw stiffened and once more, he focused. Slowly, the occlumency shields came. Slowly, painfully they slipped into position. Someone raised his head, helping him sip water.
Struggling to open his eyes, he met Snape's gaze. He could see the concern, and, surprisingly, he saw understanding. Salazar asked him, "Can you take it away?"
"Are you certain?"
"Yes." Salazar closed his eyes and took a shuddering breath. "It's almost over. I don't need it anymore."
- - - - Bonus Scene - Helga- - - -
It was the last weekend of April and had been a few weeks since the prank. Salazar had asked them all to meet in the lab as he had news on the potion in Moody's flask. Helga had gone down immediately and spent the following minutes with Ismanna.
Rowena came next, the woman coming over to stand near Helga. "What do you suppose it is?"
Helga smiled at her best friend as her fingers stroked Ismanna's snout. "Out of the four of us, I am the least equipped to give an opinion."
"That's a fair assessment." Rowena giggled. "If I remember correctly, Diarmid had to call Salazar for help when you created a few explosions."
"Yes, yes." Helga waved a hand even as she blushed slightly. "I can grow and prepare the ingredients, but creating potions is Sal's expertise, not mine."
"What did you explode?" Godric's voice had Helga looking once more to the entrance. Beside him, grinning slightly, was Salazar.
And it was Salazar who answered, "Our dear Helga managed to melt a cauldron while the potion splattered everywhere: including the walls and on her. Somehow, the effects turned everything an interesting shade of purple, including her hair and skin. It took me days to figure out how to reverse it."
Godric smiled softly as the other three laughed. "It must have happened on one of my longer trips from the school."
Helga nodded. "The vikings had begun raiding anew and they were nearing where Northumbria and Scotland met."
Godric hummed. "I was away for nearly a year." He shook his head and grinned. "Purple, how did you manage that?"
"Pure happenstance, I'm afraid." Pressing her hands together, Helga gestured to their seats. "Shall we?"
The four gathered together and once everyone was settled, she, Rowena, and Godric looked to Salazar. The man didn't hesitate to report, "Moody's flask contains polyjuice potion."
Helga closed her eyes, but she heard Godric growl, "The headmaster and Moody are supposedly friends and the man can't tell the difference."
"That's one way to look at it. Perhaps he does notice, but has his own agenda. You said it yourself, none have visited the headmaster's office but the heads of house. Is that perchance, or by design?"
Godric nodded at Salazar's words. He leaned forward and clasped his hands between his legs and began to think aloud. "The man was drastically late the first day of term. The job was probably given to the actual Moody before term and whoever this imposter is must have attacked before he managed to get to Hogwarts."
Helga hummed, absently patting Ismanna's snout when her girl rested against her legs. Ismanna hissed something quietly, but Salazar quickly shook his head. "No, we are not getting rid of him right now. We must come up with a plan."
Leaning down, Helga pressed a kiss on Ismanna's head. "We won't allow him to hurt the children, but we must be careful."
Rowena stated, "The potion takes a month to brew and requires something of the person that the drinker wishes to turn into. Thankfully, the person must be alive or the potion does not work."
"Which means that the imposter has easy access to Moody," Salazar concluded.
"But that begs the question, what does this imposter want?" Helga asked.
"Harry didn't put his name into the goblet." When Helga, Rowena, and Salazar looked over at Godric, the man was looking at the far wall, face drawn in concentration as he thought. "I believe it is safe to assume that the imposter was sent by Tom, or for Tom. Someone had to enter the boy's name into the cup, and as Harry is tied to Tom through the prophecy, of course they would want the boy dead, and what better way than a competition he would be ill prepared for. That would also explain why an auror, who has worked with artifacts before, didn't immediately explain how to get Harry out of the contract, and instead insisted that the boy had no other option but to compete. Who would argue with someone who had the most experience with these objects?"
Helga shook her head. "But Harry was taken out of the competition. So if the plan revolved around Harry and the competition, why would he still be here? Why not just kill Harry and leave? It would be simple enough."
Godric looked at her and answered, "Because the plan is still in place."
Salazar nodded. "And while his plan may have revolved around Harry and the competition, it may not necessarily be both simultaneously."
"So which one?"
"Looking at this logically, I'd say the task," Rowena piped up. "Moody hasn't been fixated on Harry. Ever since Sal and Ric stood up to him that first day in class, the man has been focused primarily on those two. Harry, in theory, should be safe in the school as long as he is not alone with the imposter. However, the task itself leaves many openings for the competitors to be harmed, if not outright killed."
"We can't remove him yet," Helga reiterated. "We don't know where the real Moody is. We don't know what exactly this imposter wants. And we can't take this proof to the headmaster as it could easily be dismissed as something we created to make the professor look guilty. As Rowena already pointed out, you two have an unfavorable history with him." She glanced at the other three and sighed. "We need someone else to bring the proof forward."
"Yes, but who?" Rowena asked.
"That is important," Godric agreed, but countered, "but first we will also need our elves to follow the imposter. See if they can learn anything about where the real Moody is being kept, how often the Moody makes Polyjuice Potion or if he orders it, and what their plan is. We need information first before we can act. They will need to set up a rotation so we have eyes on the imposter at all times." He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Though that magical eye of his can prove problematic."
Helga shook her head. "That will easily be addressed. Each professor has a house elf that provides for them. Kara has been tending to the Defense Against the Dark Arts professors for years. She's also who added the flask on the Head Table. I'll speak with her and see if I can find an answer about his eye."
"Excellent," Salazar responded. "As for who will bring the proof to light in our stead, it will have to be someone we trust. There is no feasible way that I can think of where we could ask someone to give us such a large boon without providing them with answers... answers we may not want to give. Are we ready for someone to know who we truly are? And if so, who can we trust with this knowledge? The person will have to be willing to take a vow to keep our secrets. Someone cunning enough to carry out the plan we put together, clever enough to think on their feet since plans have a tendency to go awry, and will understand why we cannot move too quickly against the imposter."
Helga nodded along to Salazar's words. "I agree. I can come up with only two people who would work."
Godric leaned back while Rowena narrowed her eyes in thought. "Who did you have in mind?" Salazar asked.
"Professor Flitwick or Professor Snape."
"I agree. Professor McGonagall would immediately go to Dumbledore. Professor Sprout isn't the sort to allow the imposter around her students longer than what she deems necessary... which is not at all," Rowena mused. "Flitwick could keep a cool head and Snape has practice in keeping secrets. Yes, either will do nicely."
"We would need to be wary of Snape," Godric pointed out. "He has spied for Dumbledore and tricked Tom. While he would be a valuable ally, he is also the most dangerous. None of the other professors would be able to help us quite like he could. However, is he worth the risk?" He looked over at Salazar. "What are your thoughts?"
"Professor Snape is our only option," Salazar stated. "While Professor Flitwick is an excellent professor, patient and - from what I've heard - an excellent duelist, a spy is what we need." He held up a hand when Rowena looked as if she were going to interrupt. "Hear me out. Who better to keep our secret than a person with secrets of his own? He is the perfect fit for my house. Cunning, clever, sly, hated by other students, so why would they ever suspect him of doing anything good? He's clever enough to carry out any scheme we concoct and think on his feet if things go pear shaped."
"You said he'd have to be willing to take a vow to keep our secrets." Rowena asked, "Will he take a vow?"
Salazar frowned. "I will get him to give us the vow we need. Then, and only then, will I trust him with our secrets. I refuse to put any of you at risk before then."
"But-"
"He will," Salazar interrupted Rowena. She pursed her lips, but nodded.
Godric gave a firm nod. "Snape it is. Until then, we need to speak to our elves. Helga, when can you get an answer from Kara?"
Helga took a deep breath. Leaving the imposter alone until they had more information didn't sit well with her, and she knew it didn't sit well with the others. She wanted him gone. Still, Helga understood why they couldn't just handle it at once. "Within the week."
"Excellent." Godric tapped his foot against the floor. "Now, onto the next couple of topics: how to bring Snape in and how we are going to prove that the imposter is an imposter without a shadow of a doubt."
And so, for the rest of the evening, the four plotted.