3,435**A/N** I know it's been nearly six years since I updated, but I hope you all can forgive me. Life has not been easy. This chapter has been a long time coming, and I hope you all enjoy it. Im a little nervous about how you all react to it because this was always the plan from the beginning. Now without further ado...
Chapter 66
Highs and Lows
Severus stared at the students as they all filed into the potion's classroom and took their seats, but he couldn't shake the underlying nervousness that plagued him. His eyes flicked once to Hermione, who showed absolutely no signs of what was to take place. He didn't even know what she was actually going to do to warrant her upcoming 'detention.' He turned and leveled his stare at Godric, who was sitting off to the side watching as Hermione, Blaise, Neville, Draco, and Ron got themselves situated and ready for the lesson.
"Roffin!" He barked, causing an unconcerned Godric to give him his undivided attention. "Do you wish to take part in today's lesson?"
"Not really." Godric replied dryly, causing Severus to bristle slightly. "Salazar and I have talked and decided that since we are who we are and since everyone now knows it, we will no longer be taking up Professor's time by having them mark our papers and try to teach us stuff we already know. Now I will just sit and observe classes because there are many at this school I wish to keep my eyes on. Especially since Salazar himself is teaching. It'll give me freer reign. I know I'm a prefect though, and I will continue those duties."
"Ah, so you are here to babysit." Severus said with a sneer, causing all the Slytherins to giggle. "And we will see about you retaining your Prefect status."
"Yes, in a manner of speaking." Godric said with a smirk. "Though not all we have to babysit are students."
This caused several Gryffindors to giggle, but Severus paid them no mind as he glared at Godric.
"Pity, apparently you could use instructions in the art of potion making, according to Potter's story last night in the great hall."
Godric went to reply, but Severus promptly turned his back. He smiled slightly to himself as he heard Godric scoff loudly.
After that, class went so smoothly that Severus was beginning to think Hermione had forgotten about acting out. It wasn't until the last few minutes of class that it happened. They had been studying moonstones, and as he went around to gather everyone's essays he did a double take at hers. His eyes narrowed at the parchment, as Hermione went about packing up her cauldron.
"Miss Granger," he said with a sneering tone. "May I ask you what class this is?"
Hermione glanced at him in confusion. "It's potions, sir." She replied, as Godric stood up from his place across the room.
"And what have we been studying?" Severus asked.
"Moonstones, sir." She said, as she glanced at her essay he was now holding. "Oh no!" she suddenly cried, and made to snatch it out of his hand.
"No, no Miss Granger," he said gleefully, jerking his hand away from her. "I'm keeping this one."
"Please sir!" She cried. "I must have mixed it up with my Care of Magical Creatures essay. We are studying Moon Calves! Please can I have that back! It's the one I need for Creatures! My potions essay is probably in my Magical Creatures book!"
"That is not my problem," he replied with a smirk. "You will receive zero marks for not turning it in."
"Don't be unreasonable Snape." Godric said, as he stood beside Hermione, who was about to hyperventilate. "You know she has never made a mistake like this before. She's never been late with her assignments. Give her a break. She will have it to you by lunchtime."
"No." Severus replied, but he did, albeit roughly, thrust the Creatures essay at her. "I'll be gracious and let you have this one back. I have no time or patience for it."
"Thank you," Hermione said tearfully. "But sir, please can I turn my potion's essay in at lunch. It is complete, I swear—"
"I said no Granger!"
Hermione, who had her head bowed, slowly look up at him with anger etched into her face. "Why do you have to be such a TOSSER!?" She suddenly yelled, shocking everyone, especially Severus, into stunned silence. "You think that just because you're a filthy Death Eater that you can get away with treating people like this? Where is your Master, Snape? Huh? Hiding in a hole because he's to scared of Harry and Gordy? Can't even do his own dirty work. He's got to send his useless Death Eaters and use a bunch of children to do it all for him last night? Voldemort is weak." She finished with a hiss.
No sound was heard in the classroom. It seemed that no one was even breathing, and it took more than a few seconds for Severus to gather his own wits and process what she had actually said. When he did, he simply stared at her with cool indifference.
"In case you haven't heard, Miss Granger," he said icily. "I was pardoned after the war. The Headmaster himself vouched on my behalf. So it seems that you are misinformed. I am no longer living that life."
"You may have some people fooled, but not me." She said, matching his icy tone.
Severus glared at her. "Detention, Granger." He said with barely controlled anger. "With me, tonight after dinner. You will be scrubbing cauldrons, and no, Roffin," he went on as he glared at Godric. "You will not be accompanying her."
"Hogwarts will watch over her while she is with you."
Severus scoffed. "Get out of my classroom." He snarled, causing everyone to flee, though it took Draco, Neville, Blaise, and Ron to push Hermione and Godric out the door, as Severus watched them all with a glare.
Later that night, shortly after dinner, Hermione stepped into the Headmaster's office for last minute preparations for her 'detention'. She giggled to herself as she spied Molly, who had unofficially taken over parental duties, and Perenelle, who must have been there to keep Molly calm should something go wrong.
Dumbledore smiled at her. "Are you ready Miss Granger?"
"I think so." She replied. "Even though I still one-hundred percent trust Professor Snape with my life, I really thought he was going to kill me today." She added with a chuckle.
Salazar laughed. "We saw Godric's memory of the entire thing. Good job." He said, causing her to grin at him.
"Has Professor Snape said anything?"
"No, he hasn't." Dumbledore answered. "I think he just wants to get this all over with, so as soon as you hand him Excalibur, he will likely take it straight to Voldemort."
"I agree." Salazar said. "But he also doesn't want to jeopardize his memory or anything else, so that's why he's not talking."
Hermione nodded. "I understand."
"You can still back out." Minerva suddenly said, causing everyone to glance at her. "You don't have to do this."
"I know Professor, but we have come this far and I want to see it through." She replied with a smile, before she turned to Molly. "Thank you for being here Mrs. Weasley. It means a lot to me."
Molly smiled and took the girl into her arms and hugged her. "Just know that I will not rest easy until both your feet are planted firmly back in this room tonight. I mean that."
"I know." Hermione whispered to her, as Molly placed a kiss on her forehead. "Thank you."
She hugged Perenelle, then turned back to Salazar and Albus.
"I'm ready." She said, causing them to nod.
"Since Severus said Mr. Roffin can't accompany you," Minerva said with a smirk as she stepped forward, "I will walk with you down to his office."
Salazar grinned. "Yeah cause if I were to do it, I'd make it all worse."
Hermione laughed as she and Minerva left the office.
"Good evening Minerva." Severus said cordially, as he let them in after they had knocked.
"Good evening Severus." She replied. "I hope it is alright that I escorted Miss Granger here. She asked if I could, citing the hostilities within the dungeons as of late. We did pass several older Slytherins lurking around as we made our way here."
Severus glared at Hermione, who was smirking at him from behind Minerva.
"That is fine, and quite understandable. I will be speaking with my house about their lurking after dinner."
"Very well," she said with a smile. "May I ask a favor of you Professor Snape? When Miss Granger is done with her detention, will you allow her to use your floo in order to floo into my office? I wouldn't want her to run into anyone still lurking in the dungeons." She added with a slight smile.
"As you wish, Deputy Headmistress."
"Thank you," she replied. Then she turned to Hermione. "I will be waiting for you, Miss Granger."
"Thank you, Professor." Hermione said with a bright smile.
Minerva nodded before making her way out of Snape's office, but then silence descended as the two of them glared at each other.
"Well played Miss Granger." He snarled. "Now, follow me into the first year's lab. You can scrub all those cauldrons."
Hermione said nothing as she followed him and immediately spotted the huge stack of cauldrons with horrible smelling potions that had gone bad. She wrinkled her nose, but headed for the sink and got to work. Her anxiety started to spike after ten minutes of scrubbing. She was tense, waiting for Severus to finally do whatever it was he was going to do, but as she scrubbed, she had a fleeting thought that maybe he was punishing her slightly for what she had said earlier. She let her mind wander somewhat as she continued to scrub, but then she was suddenly startled out of her musings.
Something had made her mouth taste foul, her body was sore all over, and she was exhausted like she had just ran the London Marathon.
Her eyes grew very wide as the memories of her imperiused actions suddenly hit her.
Well, at least I know why I'm hurting so much. She thought to herself, as she tried to remain calm and not inspect the various parts of her body that were injured. He obliviated me too. I remember him doing it, but I remember everything about getting the sword. What did he make me forget? It must be something trivial.
Then she heard Severus's voice behind her. "You are done for the night Miss Granger," he said silkily. "You may now floo to Professor McGonagall's office like she requested."
"Yes sir." She said somewhat dully, as she made her way back into his office. Then she flooed out.
Voldemort stared at Severus as the man bowed down and presented Excalibur to him. He could not believe what he was seeing. Aside from its gleaming gold hilt, it didn't look very impressive. He expected it to look much fancier for a sword with this much fame.
"It does not look like much." Voldemort said, as he took the sword from Severus. "But I can feel the ancient magic humming through it." He added, as he held it up to the light.
Severus said nothing as he continued to kneel before him, but Voldemort finally looked down and smiled.
"Rise, Severus." He said.
He got to his feet and took a quick look at his surroundings. The Lestrange manor was looking less dilapidated than the last time he seen it, but it was still somewhat shabby. It was obvious that Bellatrix and Tiny Voldemort were still going at it, but it seemed she was less inclined to blast major holes in the walls of her own house. Then he caught sign of the tiny menace flying through the air, due to Bella kicking him away from Voldemort.
"And just like that, you bring me what I have been asking for." Voldemort remarked as he looked toward Severus.
"Yes, My Lord." He replied. "I was able to goad the girl into an argument today in class, and I was able to give her detention because of it. During her detention, I was able to force her to drink veritaserum to find out some answers about the sword. Then I was able to imperius her to go get it."
"Explain to me, in detail, how you did that." Voldemort said nonchalantly, as he placed Excalibur across his lap.
Severus's eyes flicked to the sword, then to Bellatrix, who was now standing slightly in the shadows grinning at him. He swallowed slightly, but took the next fifteen minutes explaining to his Master what had happened.
When he was done, Bella giggled.
Not a good sign. He thought to himself as he glanced in her direction.
His eyes bounced back to Voldemort, who took two phials out of his robe pocket and held them up.
"Severus, I do not doubt you, but something of this magnitude cannot be left to chance. I need proof that you are not lying to me." Voldemort said. "Please take your wand and draw out your memories of the incident in class, and the girl's detention."
He had a funny suspicion of where this was headed. He didn't know where Voldemort had gotten one, or why he was using it now, but he was so thankful Salazar and Dumbledore had insisted on being mindful of this scenario ever since the Dark Lord had returned.
Once he drew the memories from his mind and placed one in each phial, Voldemort stared at them for several seconds as he swirled them around.
"They are not tampered with. These memories are genuine. You were wrong, Bella." Voldemort remarked, causing her to let out a disappointed sigh, but then she giggled again as the Dark Lord continued. "Bring it to me."
With a slight sing-song hum, Bella skipped over to the fireplace, cut her hand, muttered an incantation, and stepped back from the wall as it slid to the side. She disappeared for a second, but quickly reappeared with a somewhat familiar looking flat bowl with silver liquid in it.
"Do you know what a pensieve is Severus?" Bella asked with a girlish giggle.
"I've read about them." He replied quickly. "They replay memories, if I recall correctly."
"That's right." She said smugly.
Voldemort chuckled. It was clear to Severus that he was letting her have this bit of fun.
"We have It to thank for us finding it. Did you know that?" She asked rhetorically, as Tiny Voldemort waved merrily at him from the nearby table. "I may have lost my temper last week and blasted a hole in the front room's wall, and there it was, just sitting on a dusty table in a secret room. Rodolphus and Rabastan had no idea it was there. Unlucky for you, Snape." She grinned, as she set it down in front of Voldemort. "I just hope I get to see the Dark Lord kill you today."
Severus raised an eyebrow at her and smirked. "I guess this is my lucky day, Bella, because now I get to see you eat those words."
Voldemort chuckled as Bella growled at Severus.
"I'm glad to hear you say that Severus." He said, as he titled the memories into the pensive. "Try not to kill each other." He added, as he put his face into the pensive.
Once he was inside and the memory started, he stood back to view the confrontation in class.
"Weak?" Voldemort said with scoff as he stared at Hermione. "I'll show you weak when you face my wand, girl."
He was pleased that Severus had told him exactly what happened, but he wasn't worried about how the detention came to be. All he cared about was how Severus made her get the sword. He folded his arms across his chest and stood straight as that memory began to play.
"It's a pity that I can't use legilimency, or even hear your thoughts Severus, but at least I can see if you are telling me the truth." He said to himself as he watched as Severus opened his office door and let Minerva and Hermione in.
"Hmm." Voldemort said under his breath as he watched Minerva leave. "It's a shame the girl will not meet some of those lurking Slytherins. They may have been able to teach her some manners, but I do have to agree with Severus. I enjoy a good bit of cunning when I see it. Well played indeed, Miss Granger. He cannot refuse the Deputy Headmistress's request."
Voldemort was starting to get a little impatient as he spent the ten minutes in silence watching Hermione scrub the cauldrons, but he smiled when Severus stood up and silently approached the girl from behind.
"Imperio." He whispered, but then froze for several minutes. Hermione had stopped scrubbing the cauldrons and was simply standing there swaying a bit as she waited for instructions.
Severus scoffed loudly. "So much for Hogwarts's war wards." He sneered, after realizing that the castle had not alerted anyone to his actions.
"My thoughts exactly." Voldemort mumbled.
"Granger, you will come over to stand in front of my desk and you will drink this veritaserum." Severus said, and watched as the girl complied easily to the command.
Once he had placed the required three drops on her tongue, he waited a few seconds for it to take effect.
"What do you know about the sword called Excalibur?" He asked.
In a dull tone Hermione replied, "Roughly fifteen hundred years ago, Merlin asked a local blacksmith to commission him a sword fit for a king. When the sword was finally finished, Merlin took the sword to the Great Dragon of the day and asked him to breathe fire on it. The spells and runes Merlin had placed on it were then sealed by the dragon's fire. They can never be broken. Merlin then enchanted a stone, in which he placed…"
"Stop." Severus commanded. "I do not care about an ancient history lesson. What do you know about the sword in the last few months?"
"Merlin took me to Avalon, or Glastonbury Tor as it is known today, and let me pull it out of the ground. He then took it and placed it in his house."
"And where is his house?"
"Somewhere in Ireland."
"Where did he put the sword inside his house?"
"It is hidden behind a spell."
"Can you get to it?"
"Yes, I can. Merlin lets me study the runes and magic on it when I'm not in school, because he knows I am so fascinated by anything to do with King Arthur."
Voldemort watched as Severus stared at the girl for several minutes. He was a little angry. This mudblood girl had no right studying anything so powerful.
"Drink this antidote for the veritaserum." He commanded as he held up another potion, then watched her down the contents. "Now, you will go and get Excalibur. You will be quick about it. You will not be caught by any human, animal, or house elf. Then you will bring it straight back to me here, in my office."
"Yes sir." Hermione replied dully, as she turned, applied the disillusionment charm, and headed for the door.
Voldemort sighed heavily and resigned himself to the fact that he would be watching Severus grade essays for however long it took before the girl returned. He was suddenly shocked speechless, although very pleased, because when the girl disappeared out the door he was transported into her mind.
"Well, this is a unique development." He said, as he watched Severus's fully conscious 'shade' prowl around while Hermione's fully conscious 'shade' was shackled to the walls of her own mind.
Voldemort obviously knew this is what took place when someone was under the imperious curse, but he was not expecting to see it while viewing the memory of the spellcaster when the cursed person was out of eyesight.
"You are not going to get away with this!" Hermione yelled, as Severus sneered at her. "You can't do this!"
"Yes, I will, and yes I can!" Severus yelled back. "Stupid girl, you have no say in the outcome of this. The Dark Lord will have the sword and I will watch with GLEE as he rams it into the heart of your precious Potter!"
"Your Master is an idiot!" Hermione shouted. "Excalibur will kill Harry only if Riddle can get close enough to stab him with it, but it won't kill him for good, you stupid twat! The reincarnation magic Merlin cast over him will simply allow Harry to be born again! Then eleven years later when he gets his knowledge and power back, guess what, Salazar Slytherin returns to Hogwarts, only this time no one knows who he is. Merlin, I'm surrounded by morons!" She scoffed, but then she smiled. "Then again, that could be a good thing. Voldemort won't know who he is, and Salazar can still work to finish him off. Nevermind, carry on." She added nonchalantly with a wave of her hand. Then she smiled to herself while humming cheerfully.
Voldemort blinked rapidly as he watched Severus stop in his tracks and face the girl with his mouth hanging open in shock.
"Well," Voldemort muttered with a defeated heavy sigh. "Even I have to admit that is a very well thought out logical argument."
The silence droned on as Voldemort listened as the shackled girl hummed merrily to herself, while Severus glowered in a corner. It was with a sudden jolt that the memory shifted and Voldemort watched as Hermione reentered the potion's lab and laid the sword, which was wrapped in cloth, down on Severus's desk.
Severus glared at the docile girl in front of him, but then he raised his wand to her head.
"Obliviate," he said. "Now, return to scrubbing the cauldrons." He added, then moved behind her, lifted his wand again, and canceled the imperious curse.
Voldemort watched as Severus gave the girl instructions to floo into Minerva's office, then he felt himself being gently ejected from the pensieve.
Severus eyed Voldemort as he sighed heavily and sat back down on his throne. His stomach did a little flip when Voldemort rested his hand against his temple and began gazing at him. Bella started to giggle loudly, but Voldemort—with his other hand—simply waved for her to be quiet.
"Severus, how is it that the mudblood girl is so logical? Despite her lack of manners and her lack of fear of me, she is right. This sword," he said, as he motioned to Excalibur in his lap, "is completely useless to me."
"My…My Lord?" Bellatrix asked in a shocked tone.
"A happy side effect of watching an imperiused person is you get to see the conversations being held inside their mind, but I'll explain what I mean later." He said, causing her to simply nod.
"I don't know what to say, My Lord." Severus said. "If you say it is useless, do you want me to have the girl put it back before its noticed to be missing?" He asked, trying not to sound hopeful.
"Perhaps later. I do want to study it first because it is a one-of-a-kind ancient magical object."
"Yes, My Lord." Severus said with an understanding nod.
"I have to rethink my plans." Voldemort said, as he retrieved the memories, put them back into the phials, and handed them back to Severus. "Killing my ancestor and his immortal friends will not be as smart of a move as I had thought, but you have done very well Severus. You have served me to the best of your ability, you continue to follow my instructions, and I will no longer tolerate anyone saying how they think you are disloyal. Those memories prove your loyalty to me." He went on as he glared specifically at Bellatrix.
"Well done Sevie-Poo!" Tiny Voldemort said, as he hopped up and down while clapping. "I'm so proud of you!"
Bella let out a frustrated yell, and promptly backhanded him across the room.
Voldemort shook his head. "You may go Severus."
"Yes My Lord, and thank you." He said, as he bent down to kiss his robes before leaving.
When Severus finally got back to Hogwarts, he found Sirius waiting for him in the entrance hall.
"Where is Miss Granger?" Severus asked with a large grin. "I need to talk to her."
"She's being held hostage in the hospital wing, but don't worry," Sirius replied with a snort. "She is fine. Just some surface bruises and scrapes on her hands and arms."
"What happened?" Severus immediately asked, as he quickened his pace. "I didn't notice anything wrong with her when she got back."
"Well," Sirius said as they made their way to the hospital wing. "Hagrid, Remus, and I were making our way up the path from Hogsmeade because we had been at The Three Broomsticks all night. We were almost to the front gate when we heard an awful racket on the path ahead. Hagrid thought it could be a hurt animal, but when we got to it, we couldn't see anything except bits of rocks and leaves being disturbed on the path. It was almost like something was flailing around and grunting heavily. We were staying in the shadows, but I changed into Padfoot to see if I could see or sense anything else. I caught her scent immediately, so I changed back and whispered to Hagrid that it was Hermione. We put two and two together and let her go about her business, especially when she stopped thrashing around on the ground and began humming softly. Then we heard her apparate. It was almost like she had stopped fighting the imperious curse. When she got to Merlin's, he was there waiting on her under a disillusionment charm. He could see she was disheveled through her own disillusionment charm, so he cleaned her up."
"I supposed since he was actively looking for her, he'd be able to spot her when she came in. The Dark Lord has a pensieve though, and I have to tell them."
"Oh damn." Sirius muttered. "That's not good. That's not good at all."
"At least we know about it now, so we can stop speculating."
"Yeah, that is true." Sirius replied as they stepped into the hospital wing.
"Please don't kill me for calling you a tosser and a twat!" Hermione immediately cried, once she spotted Severus. This outburst caused several people to start sputtering loudly, but Hermione continued. "I swear I'll scrub the rest of the cauldrons if you promise not to kill me."
Severus reached her bed, but couldn't contain himself and laughed, due to everyone currently resembling fish because of their mouths opening and closing.
"You're lucky I'm in a good mood, Granger." He said with a grin. "You truly are the brightest witch of your age." Then he looked around to Albus. "The Dark Lord does have a pensieve, but I'll explain everything in just a minute." He said, before turning back to Hermione. "Miss Granger, if I didn't know for a fact that Madam Pomfrey would murder me for removing you from that bed, I'd snatch you out of it and began dancing with you."
Perenelle giggled heavily. "Have you been hit with a cheering charm, Severus?"
"That explains it." Sirius said matter-of-factly, as if that confirmed his suspicions about Severus's current mood.
"I have not." He replied. "But I have never seen the Dark Lord look so defeated by mere words before, and it is all because of our resident know-it-all." He added fondly.
He took a few minutes to explain everything that happened, but when he was done everyone was sharing his good mood and Hermione was beaming.
"I didn't make it up on the spot though. Neville and I have practiced every scenario we could think of ever since you agreed to this ploy." She said with a grin.
"Well, I'm glad this night was a success." Molly said, as she kissed Severus's cheek. "And I want to thank you for making it so easy for her."
Severus smiled. "You're welcome Molly."
It was late when everyone started to leave, but before he walked out, Severus turned to look at Hermione with an evil grin.
"Oh, and Miss Granger, what is one plus one?"
Hermione gave him a confused blank stare. "I…I don't know Professor."
"A pity." He replied with a smirk. "One point from Gryffindor for not knowing simple addition, and also for calling me a tosser and a twat."
Salazar burst out laughing. "That's what he obliviated." He said, as Hermione began mock pouting from her place on the bed.
As January continued, Godric had finally given up all pretenses of being a student. None of the Professors protested, but Flitwick did ask why it took him so long to quit. After all, it's not like he needed to take the O.W.L. exams. So, while Salazar was busy teaching during the day, Godric spent his time just helping out where he could, but was mindful about his Prefect duties which he still carried out.
He liked hanging out with Hagrid and helping with the creatures while Hagrid taught the class. Sirius had completely taken over the Gamekeeper duties—so Hagrid could spend more time prepping for classes—and Godric enjoyed helping him too. He aided other professors with demonstrations and even substituted if needed. The only class he 'attended' was potions, and it was simply to keep up appearances. Salazar also noted that Godric spent an awful lot of time in the hospital wing with Poppy. He asked Minerva about it, but she only giggled like a school girl each time he did, so Salazar had some suspicions about that.
Despite everyone's busy day though, Salazar and Godric could be found in the Snake Pit every evening helping the children with studying and homework. Or in the twins' case, just trying to keep them from blowing something up, due to Fred and George testing joke products on everyone.
The children really didn't need an escort to and from classes anymore. They felt they were more than capable of taking care of themselves. Especially now that Salazar was teaching again, and the fact that they were still doing extra-circular defense practice because of the Student Lead Defense Association. The adults had all agreed with them, but that was mainly due to the fact that, out of all twenty of the imperiused students that attacked the train, only two came back. Slytherin house lost the most members due to this, while Gryffindor and Ravenclaw lost two each. The two that came back were third and fourth year Slytherins, so Severus and Salazar were happy about that, because Slytherin house had lost nearly half its members. Some just hadn't returned after the holiday, and the rest were those that had attacked the train. Merlin mentioned he had only broken the imperius curse on three students before Voldemort had simply released the rest.
Severus told them that the Dark Lord was very unhappy with his studies of Excalibur, because—while he could study the magic on the sword—he could not add or remove any of the spells and enchantments on it. Merlin laughed when this was mentioned, and told them it was because of the dragon's fire sealing them within it. Voldemort also told Severus he didn't want Snape's position within the Order to become compromised if someone realized Excalibur was missing, since he'd be the first suspect. So, Voldemort said he'd have Severus return it by the end of the school year. That was good news to everyone, and they all sighed with relief.
February brought even more good news for The Order, and the war against Voldemort in particular. Salazar and Godric were finally able to sit down with Albus and talk to him about their suspicions concerning Voldemort being related to Cadmus Peverell. They talked about the resurrection stone and how Voldemort could possibly have it. This triggered some old memories for Albus, and they were able to use his pensieve to confirm that during his school days, Tom Riddle had been in possession of the resurrection stone, which had been turned into a ring. When Albus saw the ring, it triggered another memory he had once obtained from a friend of his named Bob Ogden. It confirmed to all three wizards that the Gaunts had possession of the ring as well. It was Albus who suggested that the ring could be a horcrux, and if it was, it was likely in the old Gaunt shack. Plans were quickly made to find out.
Albus, Salazar, and Godric decided to ask Moody to accompany them. Severus offered to go with them, but was asked to sit this out just in case the dark mark triggered something. When they got to the small, dilapidated shack, Moody was able to scan it rather easily. After a few minutes, he finally found the tiny ring inside a small box hidden under the floorboards. Godric had kept a lookout, and between Albus and Salazar, they were able to dismantle all the wards and protections from around the shack. Moody had been closest to the Headmaster when they finally had gotten to the ring, and Moody—suddenly noticing it had a withering curse on it—smacked the box it was in away from Albus's hand. Godric was the one to destroy it after it was scanned to confirm it was a horcrux. He used his silver goblin-made dagger, which had Emeralda's venom on it, to destroy the ring.
When the tired group finally arrived back in Albus's office, and once Moody left, the three old wizards sat quietly as they stared at the stone Albus had laid on his desk. It was Godric who finally who broke the silence.
"I wonder if it still works." He said in a quiet voice.
"I don't know." Salazar replied, as Albus looked at the two wizards intently.
"Well, there is only one way to find out." Godric said, as he gently picked up the stone.
He sat forward in his seat, just holding onto the stone in his left hand. Salazar and Albus could see that he was shaking, with tears beginning to fall from his eyes, but Godric managed to turn the stone three times without dropping it. Albus gasped loudly, but Salazar was not surprised when two semi-solid female ghosts appeared almost immediately.
"Did you not think that we wouldn't be proud of the two of you?" Rowena asked with a smile, as she looked between the two living founders.
"We have missed you both." Helga added, as she reached out to touch Godric's shoulder. Her hand went through him, but he did not shiver as he finally raised his head to look at her.
Salazar could see he was nearly on the verge of a breakdown.
"Do you know of my sins?" He asked with fear in his eyes.
"We do." They answered in unison.
Godric completely broke down then. Salazar bent down to comfort him, while Albus just watched and listened in awe.
"We know how you treated Salazar's good name." Rowena went on. "And we know of all the evil you committed. We know of your fall into the dark arts, but also your rise from them, Godric." She said gently.
"And we still love you." Helga added softly, trying to reach down to comfort the sobbing man.
"And we forgive you." Rowena added.
The headmaster's office was dead silent. Even the portraits didn't dare to move or make any noise as they all watched.
"Godric," Rowena said gently, as he tried to compose himself. "Salazar has forgiven you, we have forgiven you, and now it's time for you to finally forgive yourself."
"We have watched the two of you these last few years, and we are so thrilled that you have finally reunited. You are brothers in all but blood, and you have made such a great impact on the school these last few years." Helga said with a smile.
"Especially the chaos." Rowena added dryly, causing Godric to finally chuckle. "Really Godric, stealing a student's broom, flying it out of the Slytherin common room window, and into the black lake in the middle of winter?"
"I laughed for a good long while after you pulled that stunt." Helga said brightly.
"I may have snickered a bit." Rowena admitted with a chuckle, causing Godric to finally laugh out loud.
Albus chuckled a bit too, as Salazar rolled his eyes.
"He nearly killed me—in case you didn't know."
"But you had fun." Helga said, with a twinkle in her eye.
Salazar folded his arms across his chest and scoffed a bit, causing Godric to grin at him.
"Let's do it again." He said cheerfully.
"No!" Salazar and Rowena exclaimed at the same time, causing Helga and Albus to burst out laughing.
The mood seemed to lighten at that moment, but the air still held on to a bit of sadness.
"Theo wants you both to know that he doesn't blame you." Helga said with a smile. "He has been reunited with his mother, and he is happy to finally get to know her."
Salazar nodded. "Please tell him that we are so sorry." He said, causing Godric to sniffle a bit as he raised his head.
"I hope his father isn't anywhere near him."
"Oh don't worry about that." Rowena said with a scowl. "That man is somewhere else."
"Good." Albus, Salazar, and Godric said at the same time.
"I don't want to keep you here for long." Godric said, looking at them with a smile. "But at the same time, I never want to let you go."
"We know." Rowena replied gently.
"One of my greatest fears has always been that you both wouldn't forgive me, but now I think I can truly forgive myself and move on." Godric said, as he took a deep breath and wiped his nose on his robe sleeve.
"I know you can do it, Godric. You are so strong and so brave, but it will take time. Don't rush yourself." Helga said reassuringly, but then she turned to Salazar. "Before we go, we have something important to say, so please take heed. The Headmaster deserves to know the truth. Tell him everything."
Rowena nodded. "Yes, I agree." She said, before looking towards Albus, who looked startled. "You had a rough time at the beginning and made some very bad decisions, but Salazar also didn't make it easy for you. I believe you both could have done some things differently, but what has been done is now finished. Albus, you have come along way this last year, and I know you will continue to improve. You have always been a great Headmaster, and we have always been happy with how you have run this school, before Salazar arrived of course. You truly are the greatest Headmaster Hogwarts has ever seen, but now you all need to listen to me closely. Bad times are coming. The dead can feel it. Stay strong, stay resilient, but learn to adapt. It is crucial."
"You were right about the copy of my cup, Salazar." Helga chimed in. "It is a horcrux. You can find it at Gringotts inside Bellatrix Lestrange's vault, and it is Riddle's last one. I don't know of a way to retrieve it, but I'm sure you will destroy it in the end."
"Godric will think of the way." Rowena said with a grin, as she looked at him. "I have faith in you."
"That's more than I have in myself." He replied sadly.
"What's coming?" Salazar asked, as he glanced at Rowena.
"I don't know exactly, but I know it is bad. Just do as I ask, please."
"Some things never change." Salazar replied fondly. "I love you both, and I miss you so much."
"And we you." Helga whispered tenderly.
"I guess the same thing goes for Godric." Rowena said, cracking a smile and causing Godric to laugh.
"I love you both and I also miss you, but this is all I've ever wanted. Just hearing that you forgive me. It will stay with me forever. Goodbye, my dears." Godric replied, as soft tears began leaking from his eyes.
Helga and Rowena smiled and began to fade from view as Godric laid the stone on the table, but a sudden shout from behind startled them all.
"Mother! Don't go! I love you! Please! I'm so sorry for everything!"
"I know Helena. I love you too, and I forgive you." Rowena said, before she and Helga faded from view completely.
Helena let out great sob of relief before fleeing through the wall she had burst through. Silence reigned for several minutes as both Salazar and Godric tried to process everything that just happened. After finally gathering themselves together, they looked at Albus—who was patiently waiting for answers to questions they know he had—and began to tell him everything.
To say that Albus was shocked was putting it mildly. They first began to explain Godric's fall into the dark arts—though not the whole Jack the Ripper part because they felt it was currently irrelevant—and his trashing of Salazar's name. Albus was extremely happy that Godric was able to return to the light, but he had also remarked that most who fell into the dark arts didn't have literal forever to find their way back. Godric agreed with that.
Albus thought they were joking at first when they explained that the reincarnation bit was rubbish. Salazar and Godric had to take out their rocks and return to their rightful adult forms. Albus had been shocked to find out Salazar's 'Robillard costume' was actually his real form. They described how Nicolas made them and then put the rocks back in right there in his office.
And Albus still didn't believe them.
It finally took Salazar using his mirror to contact James and Lily for it to finally sink in for the Headmaster. Surprisingly, he wasn't angry when he learned of the Potters' survival, in fact, he wept heavily and said a great amount of guilt had been lifted off his shoulders. The only thing that somewhat spiked his ire was the fact Minerva, Poppy, and Severus had known the truth from the very beginning, but it still took him a few days to properly process this whole new set of information.
As the first day of March dawned, it brought a dreary heavy fog that blanketed the entire grounds. It had rained the night before, so the inside of the castle felt very damp. Salazar vowed to refresh his knowledge of weather spells, saying he was going to try and see if an overpowered drying spell would work to get rid of the humidity, but Godric teased him and said the bleak weather was simply making him grumpy.
Classes went on as normal that day, but mid-afternoon brought the rain once more, and by evening it became a full-fledged storm. This made for an interesting light show during dinner, as the ceiling in the great hall silently reflected what was happening outside. It was mid-way through dinner when something happened that not even Merlin could have foreseen.
The great hall's doors suddenly flew open causing everyone to jump in surprise. A wild-eyed, hysterical, rain drenched, slightly injured red-haired woman ran up to the head table, causing Salazar's heart to suddenly stop.
"Salazar! Salazar!" She cried frantically, as frightened tears streamed down her face. "I'm so sorry! Death Eaters in Rio! Bellatrix—James—fighting—Rio Way! Please help!"
Then Lily Potter collapsed onto the floor in a dead faint.
**A/N** I know what you all are thinking and no, it wasn't Albus's fault. Remember, Bellatrix as been given a special assignment and we are fixing to find out what that was. I hope you all enjoyed it and I hope you stay tuned!