Lauralie Black and the Dragons of Yorkshire (YEAR 2)
Chapter 15: The Diary of Salvatore Slytherin
"Miss Black!"
It was Professor Lestrange. And here was Lauralie standing over three unconscious, curse-ridden Gryffindors with her wand in her hand.
Lauralie mouthed noiselessly for a moment. She felt, somehow, like she should be explaining herself, but everything that came to mind sounded feeble.
"Put that away," Lestrange hissed.
Lauralie complied without argument, slipping her wand back into the inside pocket of the Cloak of Destiny. She still had not come up with anything to say, so she stood, silently gazing at the older witch with wide green eyes.
Around them students were still arguing and yelling. Crabbe had a Gryffindor seventh year in a head lock. An older Slytherin boy that she didn't recognize had Duncan McConaugha by the collar of his shirt and seemed to be ready to pummel him into the snow.
"That is quite enough," a voice boomed over the pitch, echoing through the stands. Dumbledore had arrived. He gazed over the crowd of silent students, all of which were staring up at him. "Everyone is to return to their dormitories immediately. This behavior is unacceptable and I don't think I can impress upon you how disappointed I am in each and everyone of you."
"Lauralie, I need to speak with you in my office," Lestrange said. "I'll be three after I've cleared these three up." She gestured down at the jinxed Gryffindors.
Lucius and Narcissa had broken away from the crowd, coming to see why Lauralie hadn't turned to leave yet. She met them half way. Lucius' nose was bleeding slightly, but otherwise they both seemed unscathed.
"Did you do that?" Narcissa asked her, looking back over her shoulder at Lestrange who had began the counter curses to fix up the three boys.
"I lost my temper," Lauralie said. "I don't suppose either of you found Severus in that mess, did you?"
They both shook their heads no.
Lauralie walked to the dungeons with them. They hardly spoke the rest of the way there. Few of the Slytherins did, but when Lauralie turned into Lestrange's office she heard a flurry of whispers from the students walking behind them.
Great.
Waiting for Lestrange to come back felt like it took forever. Lauralie sat, spinning a lock of her hair around her pointer finger. She couldn't believe they'd actually lost against Hufflepuff. And now she was worried she was about to get in an awful lot of trouble.
She almost jumped out of her skin when the door opened and Professor Lestrange stepped through.
"Though I'm sure you don't really care, the three boys are fine," she said. "I've heard what they have to say on the situation, but I would like to hear your side."
"They were being asses," Lauralie said.
"I'm sure they were. Was this about what happened at dinner?"
Lauralie didn't say anything.
"They would have me believe that you are just bitter that someone finally shamed the Slytherin House, but I'm sure that there is more to it than that."
"They were... teasing me."
"As I suspected. Well, I'm not punishing you," she said. "I brought you here because I needed to tell you something."
"Oh." Lauralie shifted in her chair. Although she was relieved that she wasn't in trouble, she felt awkward sitting while her teacher stood over her.
"There will be no administrative punishment issued for the cruel prank that occurred at dinner," she began. "The Headmaster and I visited the kitchens, but the house elves seemed to have no memory of anyone out of the ordinary paying them a visit."
"So, you don't know who did it?" Lauralie asked.
"No, but you do, don't you?"
"I have my personal list of suspects."
Lestrange smiled. She began to walk around Lauralie's chair, her long black robes swishing gently with each step she made.
"Good. Because things are out of my hands now, and it looks like the only ones who can redeem the Slytherin house are the Slytherins themselves." She placed a hand on Lauralie's shoulder. "Do you understand what I'm saying, Miss Black?"
"Yes, I do."
The Gryffindor common room had turned into an all out party. Remus and James had fetched food and drinks from the kitchens. Max Jordan had set up a stereo system by magically connecting his Wizarding Wireless to a magical megaphone. And Sirius and Peter had cleared all the armchairs to create a dance floor that was now packed full of celebrating students.
Sirius was dancing flamboyantly with a surprised Magdalene. James was talking about Quidditch with Duncan and a gaggle of Quidditch fans in the corner. His twin sister, Lindsay was basking in post-prank glory, talking to a couple fourth year boys next to the food table.
Remus nodded to her as he poured pumpkin juice into two paper cups. He brought one back to Lily, who was sitting in an armchair near the fire.
"It sure has been an interesting day," she said, taking the cup from him. She sniffed it dubiously as he sat in the fluffy maroon armchair across from her. "I'm not going to do something ridiculous if I drink his, am I?"
"I would hope not," Remus said.
When Lauralie emerged from Professor Lestrange's office, she was surprised to find that the hallway wasn't empty as she had expected. Standing opposite the doorway with his head bent forward so that his hair fell into his eyes was Severus.
"Where were you?" The question burst from her lips. "I looked for you everywhere."
"I needed to check on something," he said as hey set off down the dark corridor towards the entrance to their common room. "I heard you jinxed a group of seventh years to within an inch of their lives, is that true?"
"That's a bit of an exaggeration," Lauralie answered. "They were knocked out but I don't think they were quite at death's door. Besides, they deserved it. As if I had any control over my behavior at dinner, I shouldn't have to deal with their taunts."
"You aren't in trouble are you?" Severus asked. He rounded on her, looking concerned. "Why'd Lestrange want to talk to you?"
"I'm not expelled, if that's what you are worried about," she said. "But I do have something to tell you, but we have to find Narcissa and Lucius first."
"One step ahead of you, come on." He clasped one of his thin hands around her wrist and led her deeper into the dungeons, well past the stone snake that guarded their dormitories, and into an empty room.
There weren't even desks. Lucius and Narcissa were sitting cross-legged on the hard stone floor, their faces illuminated only by the flickering light of a lantern that sat in front of them.
"Finally," Lucius said. "You were taking so long I was sure she'd expelled you."
"What happened?" Narcissa asked.
"She's not punishing me. In fact, she as good as gave me permission to seek revenge against whoever pranked us," Lauralie explained. "She said that Dumbledore wasn't going to be punishing anyone for it because they didn't have any proof of who did it. The elves in the kitchen wouldn't tell them anything."
"That's because they were told not to," Severus said.
"How do you know that?" she asked.
"I went to the kitchens and did a bit of investigation myself. You see the bloody elves view all of Hogwarts' tenants as masters, including us."
"So whoever did this told them to lie if a teacher asked?" Narcissa asked.
"Exactly. But they should have been more thorough and old them not to say anything to anyone," Severus said. "They told me that a boy and a girl came down there before dinner. The only name they caught was Duncan."
"The rotten McConaugha twins," Lucius said.
"So it was your brother's gang, Lauralie," Narcissa said.
"I suspected it was," she said. "Now all we need is a plan."
Although it was getting late, the Gryffindor common room had hardly began to clear out. Remus glanced at the clock, wondering how he would sneak out of the portrait hole without being spotted.
"I'm sure you will get an ear full about this the next time you talk to Lauralie," Lily said.
Remus' stomach did an uncomfortable somersault.
"That is if she's still talking to me."
"You think she'll blame you?"
"I don't know," he said. "We don't exactly have a good track record in this area."
"You'll be fine," she said. "You know, I'm kind of tired. Would it be rude if I just went to bed right now?"
"I wouldn't blame you," he said. "G'Night, Lily."
"Goodnight, Remus," she said. He watched her edge around the party and up the stairs.
He had half-considered ducking out the portrait hole right then. He didn't expect anyone would notice, but before he could even take a step forward he was blindsided by James.
"Looking a little lonely over here," James said. "You should mingle. Go talk to some pretty girls or something."
"That's okay," Remus said.
"What, none of them your type?" James asked. "What about Lindsay? She's pretty cool. She did an awesome job with the prank."
"Can I borrow your invisibility cloak?"
James' eyebrows shot up. "What for?"
"Maybe I need it to go talk to a pretty girl."
James grinned. "Oh, so that's your type. So she isn't mad at you then?"
"I don't know. We'll see if she shows up," Remus said
"Good luck, man. Take the cloak, it's under my mattress."
"Thanks," Remus said. "Do me a favor; don't mention it to Sirius if you don't have to."
"Don't mention what to Sirius?"
The voice cut into their conversation like a whip and both boys fell silent. They turned to find that Lindsay had turned up when they weren't paying attention. For a split second nothing happened with the exception of her staring at them as they stared right back at her.
Then, both boys seemed to restart at the same moment.
"Nothing important."
"Miniscule stuff."
"Right," she said. She gazed from one to the other as if waiting for them to give up the charade.
"Well, Bridget is waving me over, so since you're retiring soon I'll just say goodnight now." He punched Remus in the shoulder. "Good job today, Lindsay."
And then he trotted back off to the Quidditch corner before she cold even say a slightly embarrassed "thanks".
Remus was itching to get moving, so when Lindsay turned to him again he felt a lurch of annoyance.
"You're going to bed soon?"
"Actually, I was on my way up there when James caught me."
There was a pause.
"I'm sorry if I offended you earlier in the Library. I didn't really think you were hiding something," she said. "At least not something bad."
Remus became uncomfortably aware that Lindsay had shifted closer to him. She gazed up at him, waiting patiently for some sort of response. When he didn't deliver, she forged on.
"You are so mysterious. I'd love to get inside your head."
"There isn't anything particularly interesting in there, I assure you," he said.
"Somehow I doubt that."
He could not believe she was flirting with him.
"As much as I've always wanted to debate this point, I do need to go to sleep."
"Very well, go to bed."
The top of the Astronomy Tower was no more than a large oval with a hole where the spiral staircase came up through the cobble stones. The wall surrounding it came up nearly to Lauralie's waist.
She spent the time she had there alone to cast an insulating spell over the walls and a heating spell for good measure. By the time Remus' head appeared at her shoulder the area was warm enough that Lauralie had taken off her cloak.
"I didn't know you had an Invisibility Cloak," she said, for his head was all she could see.
"Actually, I borrowed it from James," he said, letting it fall into a silvery puddle at his feet. "You've had a long day I'm sure."
"Understatement," she said as he settled down next to her, propping his bag up against his knee.
"I knew they were up to something," he said. "I just didn't know what."
"We don't even need to discuss it," she said. "Don't worry about it. Just tell me you have good news about the Diary."
He smiled. "Actually, I have great news. I figured out what it is. And I think I may know how to work it. Sort of. I found a reference in The Encyclopedia of Enchanted Items about books that could be used to store information and could be locked so that it could only be unlocked by a blood relative of the person who made it."
"Really? How would that work?"
"That's where it gets hazy. I'm not sure, because I needed you to find out. But most of them you activate by using a drop of blood to confirm your heritage."
He pulled the Diary out of his bag along with a pocket knife. He let the small book fall open to a random page and balanced it on Lauralie's knee and then held the knife out for her.
"You do it," she said, holding her hand out to him. He took it, trying to ignore the fact that his heart was now racing. He pricked her index finger as gently as he could.
As soon as the blood hit the page the small cursive writing vanished to be replaced with an image. But it was dark, and hard to make out. She leaned closer to it, trying to focus her eyes.
Then, without warning, she felt herself falling forward. She seized Remus' shirt to steady herself, but all this did was bring him with her as they both tumbled forward into darkness.
When Lauralie opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the man now sitting across from them.
"He has your eyes," Remus said.
She jumped, releasing the sleeve of his robes. The man made no acknowledgement that they were there.
"Technically, I have his eyes. That's Salvatore Slytherin."
He wasn't quite what she had been expecting. In all of the portraits she'd seen of his father, the founder had been depicted with black hair and eyes to match.
Salvatore, on the other hand, had blond hair. It was even longer than Severus', reaching well past the young man's broad shoulders. His face was angular, with a well pronounced chin and a square jaw. And he had the same dark green eyes that she had. Both of which were focused on the Diary, which sat open in his lap.
He was wearing the Cloak of Destiny.
"Where d you suppose we are going?" Remus asked.
She finally tore her eyes away from Salvatore to look at their surroundings.
They were riding in a carriage furnished entirely in black. From the curtains around the windows to the cushions on the bench they were seated on. Lauralie could hear the steady beat of horses' hooves.
"I don't know," she said.
Trees blurred past the windows. They sat in silence for a while. After a few minutes the carriage came to a stop in front of a pair of enormous iron gates emblazoned with the letters G. G.
"Hang on, G. G.?" Remus said. "Godric Gryffindor?"
The gates creaked open and beyond them was a massive castle nearly the size of Hogwarts. The carriage pulled right up to the arched front door, which was guarded by two large stone lions.
A stuffy looking butler opened the door to the carriage.
"Hello, Young Master Slytherin," he said. "Lord Gryffindor is expecting you."
"We are going to see Godric Gryffindor," Remus said. "Excellent."
"Come on, will you," Lauralie said. Salvatore had already stepped out and she didn't want the butler to close the door on them. She took Remus' hand and pulled him out just before the carriage door, sporting an ornately carved Slytherin crest, swung shut.
They followed Salvatore and the butler through the heavy front doors and into a drawing room off of the front hall where the butler informed Salvatore that his master would be with him soon.
It was then that Lauralie realized she was still holding Remus' hand. Suddenly it felt as if her insides were trying to escape. She used her urge to explore as an excuse to let go, walking over to the massive stained glass window that depicted a beautiful Phoenix rising from smoldering ashes.
"I can't believe we're in Godric Gryffindor's house," she said. "Or a memory of his house, for that matter."
The door opened again and there was no doubt in Lauralie's mind that the man who walked through it was Godric. He had straight brown hair, pulled back a silver metal band. He was wearing what she could only assume was his Cloak of Destiny, which was a deep burgundy, with black velvet lining and gold trim. A sword jangled at his side.
Salvatore stood.
"Thank you for seeing me, Godric," he said, shaking the older man's hand.
"I'll always make time for my Godson," Godric replied.
"I'm concerned about my father's decision to leave his position at the school to Kyne," Salvatore said.
"As are we all. Unfortunately if Salazar has made up his mind I suspect we are powerless to change it."
"I refuse to accept that. My brother has become recklessly absorbed into the world of Dark Magic. I fear that he would only cause problems," Salvatore said. "And my father grows more ill with each passing day. Sometimes I suspect that my brother is helping his disease along in some way."
"Would he go so far?"
There was a moment of silence in which Remus and Lauralie exchanged surprised looks.
"You know that my brother has had some... progressive views on the direction Hogwarts is taking. Things he knows my father would never consent to, so he has never mentioned them to him. But he's been ready to take father's post for some time, and patience has never been one of Kyne's virtues."
"I would like to believe that he would not murder your father to keep Muggle born Wizards out of Hogwarts," Godric said.
Remus' mouth fell open at this, but he made no comment. He didn't want to miss a word of this.
"Kyne is power hungry. Father has power that he wants."
Godric fell silent.
"Salvatore, do you remember what I told you when you were studying under me at Hogwarts."
"You told me that I was destined for great things," Salvatore said.
"Your brother will become the head of Slytherin house at Hogwarts. He will take your father's seat at the Head Table. Perhaps he will go the wrong way, perhaps he won't. But if he does, you will be the one who repairs the damage. That is your destiny."
The room was beginning to dissolve around them. Lauralie had one last look at Salvatore, whose jaw seemed set with determination, before she felt herself tumbling through darkness once more.
They landed hard on the stone floor of the Astronomy Tower, the Diary lay opened in front of them.
"I don't believe it," Remus said. "It wasn't Salazar Slytherin who started the whole pureblood mess, it was his son."
"And Gryffindor was Godfather to Slytherin's sons?" Lauralie asked. "I guess inter-house relations were going much better then."
Remus closed the Diary and handed it to her, along with his pocket knife.
"Now, I'm sure there's another way to access the memories other than dripping blood on the book every time. I just haven't figured it out yet."
"I can't thank you enough, Rem," she said. "I'll keep you updated, of course."
"I appreciate that," he said.
She stood, slipping her cloak back on. "See you tomorrow," she said. And then she vanished.
Author's Notes:
Can you believe it? Another chapter so soon?
YES. I'm on a delightful roll and it's continuing on right into chapter fifteen, which I'm already working on.
I completely re did my profile since I realized I haven't changed it in YEARS, theres a nice link in there for all you fans. So check it out.