"Hey, where's Duncan?" Dudley asked when the boys came out of their room for lunch.

"He needed some time. He'll be back later. Look, during lunch we need to have a serious talk." Adam told the boys.

"Are you and Duncan fighting?" Dudley asked.

"Duncan is upset with me, but we will work it out on our own. Don't worry about it. Come on, pizza's getting cold."

After sitting at the table and making sure that Dudley knew his portion size and that they both had to eat their side salads, Adam began to explain.

"This is going to make more sense to Harry at the moment, although you're going to have some vague idea of what I am talking about, Dudley. I've told you stories of my time in ancient Egypt when I was a boy, and I've told you about the time I spent as Death on a Pale Horse. You both understand that I am thousands of years old, the oldest Immortal alive."

Adam waited for both boys to nod their heads in acknowledgement of the information before he went on. "There are other Immortals that are very old. Two of them are coming here tomorrow. They are both over a thousand years old. Their names are Connor Macleod and Amanda Raven. But a thousand years ago they were known as Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw." Adam paused and took a sip of beer.

"You were Salazar Slytherin" Harry exclaimed. "But you were evil!"

"I wasn't evil, Harry. Connor and I had a lot of disagreements about the children that would be taught at Hogwarts. Muggles were burning witches and wizards at the stake, stoning them to death. The Ministry of Magic had just finished the process of hiding our world from them. I felt that bringing Muggleborns to Hogwarts meant jeopardizing us all," Adam explained.

"But the basilisk, Voldemort?" Harry questioned.

"Voldemort is not a blood descendent of mine. His mother was adopted because Melia couldn't conceive. How or why he is a parselmouth I couldn't tell you. But being a parselmouth does not automatically make you a Slytherin, Harry; yes, you are a parselmouth because it is a trait that follows my bloodline, but it isn't ours exclusively. As for the basilisk, the chamber was built to house her. All of the other founders knew she was there. She was to be a last defense of the school; if the school ever falls to hostile forces, Hogwarts will unleash her."

"Well, that's kinda out the window, 'cause I had to kill her when that maniac set her on me in second year!" Harry shouted.

"Harry, calm down," Duncan commanded from the doorway.

"I'm sorry that he figured out how to get down there. I am sorry that my snake listened to him simply because he was a parselmouth. But you must understand that, a thousand years ago, it was a good idea. I should have gone back long ago and gotten rid of her when there were new and better ways to protect the castle, but I just let sleeping dogs lie. I'm sorry that you had to pay for that mistake."

"So if you and Godric didn't fight about the snake, and you didn't fight about being evil, why did you leave the school?" Dudley asked.

When Adam and Harry looked at him questioningly, Dudley informed them that he had read Hogwarts: A History.

"Connor and I fought about a lot of things; mostly, however, it was about Muggleborn students. Connor and I had just had a huge fight and we were not speaking to each other when the children came back from winter break. One of my Slytherins had been invited to a Muggleborn's home for the holidays and rather than stay at the castle, he went. When they didn't return, I went to find them. The parents had tortured the boy, demanding that he 'undo the evil' that had been done to their good, God-fearing child. They wanted him to take away their son's magic." Adam paused. After taking a deep breath he continued. "I took my sword and I cut an arm off of each parent, I made sure that they would live. And I took both the students back to the school. I didn't know that the Muggleborn had known, that he had brought a boy who had only wanted to be his friend to them, knowing what his parents intended. When this was learned, the Muggleborn ran away into the Forbidden Forest before he could be punished. I don't know what happened to him, but I do know that he never made it home. Two days after the boy ran, my student killed himself. Connor told me that if I took my revenge that I could not return to the school or he would take my head. I packed my personal belongings and left that night." Adam finished.

"So tomorrow, three of the four founders of Hogwarts will be here? Why not all four?" Harry asked in a subdued tone.

"Helga's head was taken three years after she left Hogwarts. She was the youngest of us, barely one hundred years when the school was founded. I am telling you this because Hogwarts is not what it should be. There is a basic foundation that every child should be taught. And yet, Harry, you've been there for five years and haven't even been taught the basic theory of that foundation. Connor and Amanda will be here tomorrow and we will decide what is to be done. This is our school; even if we have not been there for hundreds of years, it is still our responsibility. It is quite likely that you will see the return of the founders to Hogwarts, at least until we are satisfied that it meets our standards."

"WOW!" 'Moine and Ron will go ape!" Harry said excitedly.

"Yeah, well, they are gonna go ape on you. You haven't written them once since we've been here, ya know." Dudley Interrupted.

"Oh shit!" Harry jumped up and ran for his room, intent on sending a letter to his best friends.

"I'm gonna go finish my nutrition assignment." Dudley said as he stood and followed Harry out of the room.

"Classes are cancelled for the rest of the day, Dudley. We'll pick it up again tomorrow." Duncan called after the boy as he took a seat at the table. "We need to talk, Adam."