Salazar was stalling.

He was good at that; always had been, especially whenever he had other matters to attend to. For example, he was very busy since he came back to the land of the living. After all, he had to make sure his existence was acknowledged and Lordship restored to its full rights – done. There was also the matter of having his inheritances from Rowena, Helga and Godric recognized and put to effect – the ministry was giving him trouble over that, apparently one could not own Hogwarts, which had him itching to run a few people through with his sword but unfortunately it was not considered appropriate to this time. Of course, he was still working on adapting to this new time – it's not appropriate to carry weapons but it is common to kiss in public and have relations before marriage, he could not understand what went on these people's brains.

Overall, it was a bit of a hurry, so of course he had little time to discuss with his friends what had happened once he had been imprisoned besides what he knew from the enormous amount of gloating the Dark Lord of their time had done.

"I told you he would come around" Helga's kind voice sounded behind him while he stirred his latest work in the silver caldron.

He almost regretted having found a way for them to move around in his den, as Godric called and he had taken a liking to. The three insisted on him not simply putting three frames on a wall of each room, awful decoration Godric had insisted. Instead, he and Rowena had devised a way for their original frames – no, the ones in the Great Hall were not in fact the original – to carry them on command to one part or the other of his rooms.

He just tried to avoid being struck by Godric's floating painting every now and then, the man seemed intent on hitting him for some reason, maybe making up for lost time. Well, he was his usual annoying and childish self so Salazar was not too worried.

"Yes, you do have a sense for these things, I wonder why it is Rowena and not you that has a seer gift" He answers without turning to the floating portrait.

"Because she knows better how to act on it" The woman answered easily "Or else we would have tried to bring you back and gotten ourselves killed"

"Good thing then" Salazar mutters

"We will need to speak of it sooner or later," Helga said softly

"I would rather it be later" The living founder rebutted coldly "I have many things to do"

A sigh is heard and a moment later, he knows he is alone again.

•••

"He still refuses to speak of it" Helga and the two other portraits were on the small library at the end of Slytherin's den, which had almost four times the amount of books the main room held.

"It is understandable," Rowena says while floating near an open book. Her own library inside the painting not being updated in some time "It was his apprentice to take his place, after all. He might feel responsible for it all the same"

"It wasn't him" Godric insisted, "He is not allowed to take the guilt from that traitorous man, it's not his fault greed got the better of him"

"I beg to differ" Salazar's voice interrupted the conversation and the portraits slowly floated to face the living founder as he walked into the room "I was the one that led him into the Dark Arts"

"He was the one that let it go to his head!" Godric exclaims, "You can't carry the world on your shoulders, it's not your place to"

A low laugh leaving the man's lips startles the three founders.

"Apologies, I just find it ironic that I delivered a similar speech only yesterday to Harry" Salazar says after his laughter dies, sitting in a comfortable looking couch by the wall.

The paintings, as default, float right after him.

"You must learn to heed your own words, then. They are usually good advice" Rowena is the first to speak.

Salazar sighs.

"I take it that if I refuse to take part in this discussion, you will continue to whisper like young maidens behind my back?"

"In our defense, two of us are maidens" Helga jokes with a smile "Maybe not so young anymore"

"Speak for yourself" Rowena throws in indignantly

"Very well" Salazar sighs, "Tell me of what happened after that night"

The request was enough to sober up the other three founders.

"To my shame, I must admit we did not notice any difference" Godric sighs "As you know, our disagreement regarding magical children born to non-magical families – I mean, muggleborns" he corrects, not yet used to the term "had escalated quite badly and I was not inclined to acknowledge my wrongdoings. When you finally returned from your den, I avoided conversation and in consequence did not see any change. It took Rowe and Helga pulling me aside to finally open my eyes"

"I was too blinded, my focus on the diadem and imbuing it with knowledge made me susceptible to not notice details, and he was unfortunately good in mimicking your mannerisms for a long time" Rowena lowers her head in shame.

"We did spend much time together, I do not blame you for not noticing" Salazar dismisses the subject, even if it does anger him. Now was not time for this; it was in the past "What did Aeron do to alert you that I was not myself?"

"Nothing" Rowena admits "When you - he began treating us differently, I attributed it to your fight with Godric; and Helga…"

Salazar's suddenly hard look snaps to the blond woman's portrait.

"Did he do something to you?"

"Calm yourself, Salazar" she reprimands "No, he did not succeed in his advances, and you must remember that this is all in the past now"

"It surprisingly does not diminish my wish to kill him," Salazar notes sarcastically.

Helga was his, not in a romantic way, but more in his uncommon possessive sense. She had come to him for aid, not his boastful cousin, when the children of her village began to be hunted and burned. She put her faith on him when he promised to find a place where magical children would be able to have the freedom they deserved. She was the one to take care of him when he sickened after a quest and chastise him when no one else found the courage to, for she was not afraid.

She was his, and his betrayer apprentice had no right.

With a deep breath, he closed his eyes and reigned in the wild feelings threatening to overwhelm his will over his magic.

This was not the time.

"It was months until I had the vision, and even then it was unclear" Rowena continued "I saw your discussion with Basil and how you made yourself bigger to clarify that she had no power over you because of her size, and how she froze you with her eyes, but that was it"

"She told us about it, but we figured you must have found a way to break free of it with Aeron's help. We had no reason to suspect you were not yourself," Godric continues

"Except for the fact that he kept drinking something, we could never tell what it was" Helga noted.

"It was a potion I had recently invented while in one of my experiments" Salazar explains, "I believe it is now called Polyjuice, although it has been modified to a lesser effect. My version transforms your body on a cellular level to the one you add the blood to the potion. I should have suspected Aeron was too enthusiastic in learning how to brew it to perfection, but alas, I did not. Once he found me frozen by Basil's eyes, he took the opportunity to lock her away and collect great part of my blood for the potion, then use a spell to made me appear to be of stone"

"All that time, and we never noticed" Helga laments

"Whenever did you notice? You would not have given your vaults to my name had you not done it," Salazar asks impatiently

The three hesitated, unsure of how to proceed.

"You – he began attacking villages" Godric answers in a whisper "It was terrible, he said the non – the muggles would pay for killing our kind. Terribly dark spells, not the ones you normally use. Undying fires, deadly curses on those who survived… We tried to talk sense into him, but it did not work"

"And still, we did not wish to fight one that was our closest friend" Rowena added "At first we told ourselves that they might deserve it, for the evils they did, but –"

"He started killing their children," Helga said, covering her mouth to prevent a sob. Her eyes watered at the memory "non-magical children, with no means to defend themselves"

"I went after him," Godric continues after throwing Helga a sympathetic look "He attacked me, tried to kill me. I got away; he was not nearly as good as you were dueling. Too slow, failing aim, and never threw one knife. Still, my anger did not let me notice it"

"It was while Godric was out that I had another vision" Rowena takes the cue "Of him turning back into himself and then drinking a potion that made him change into you. He was boasting about his recent deeds. About –" she paused, controlling her breath "About having killed Godric"

Salazar stood as if in a reflex, the paintings snapping to the sides and away from him.

"We were so relieved when he came back to us," She continued, trying to calm him down "I told Helga, whom had already noticed you had not been yourself, and we both approached Godric with the vision"

"He killed you. I killed you" He turned to Godric, ignoring the other two portraits.

"Did you not hear? I came back to them" Godric tries

"Her visions always came true. You may not have died then, but he – I –" Salazar took a moment to regain control, his magic pulsing under his skin eager to lash out. It would not take much "He killed you"

Godric's pained look did nothing to help his control.

"He did" The red haired man admitted "Much later, yes, but he did. Not you. Him."

In the spam of a second, Salazar was nowhere to be seen.

A few minutes later, the whole wizarding community felt a strange, faint wave of power wash over them, but dismissed it. Somewhere far away in the middle of desert sand, no living creature visible for miles, the fourth founder had fallen to the ground, arms wrapped around himself as his wild magic cursed through him, the force promising to leave him exhausted once his anger rescinded.

•••

Harry felt it during a History of Magic lesson.

"Did you feel that?" He wondered aloud to his two best friends.

"What?" Ron blinked himself awake.

"Yes, you did too?" Hermione frowned.

"Yeah, it felt like when Salazar –" he shut himself up, but suddenly found himself worried "I need to do something, I'll be back to Charms class. Maybe" he got up and ran out of the room, a few eyes of the students that were not asleep following his path.

"Wait, what?" Ron got up, being dragged by Hermione.

"Come on, Harry's doing something" Hermione dragged the boy out of the room.

"Is he being weird again?" Ron asked once she let go of him and he could walk on his own pace "Like on the beginning of the year? Oh, we weren't…"

"Yes, we weren't talking, but I did notice it" She glares at him "Come on, he went that way"

Harry was too busy with trying not to be seen by any teacher or prefect to notice the two students following him. He entered Myrtle's bathroom a few minutes later, the ghost nowhere to be seen, and stood in front of the sink.

"Open. Give me steps." He hissed, the command working not a moment later and revealing the passage, forming stairs to the ground.

"Harry!" Hermione called once he had started to go down, making him lose his balance and trip, rolling all the way down the stairs and falling on a heap at the bottom with a groan of pain.

"Mate, you alright?" Ron asked from the top, while Hermione was already halfway down the stairs herself.

"Come on, Ronald" She prompted, and the redhead hesitated for a second before following, muttering about bad teachers and traumatic experiences under his breath. The entrance closed behind him "Harry? I'm so sorry"

The boy had already started to get up from the floor, glaring at Hermione.

"I'm fine" he sighed, straightening his back and holding back a moan of pain at the reaction his right side had "I told you not to come after me"

"No, you didn't" Hermione answers.

"Blimey, who cleaned this place?" Ron had already passed them and was looking around the much different chamber "Is this where you've been sneaking into all year?"

"I didn't think you'd noticed" Harry admits

"Of course we did, we're your best friends," Hermione says in a calm voice "We just thought you needed space, and… well, I was busy. And then you stopped talking to me so"

"Sorry ´bout that" Harry mutters "Look, I don't have time to explain now, just please don't tell anyone. Salazar would kill me"

Ron widens his eyes, but soon both nod, choosing to leave any questions for later.

"Open" Harry hisses again after reaching the other door, walking right into the main room.

He snorts at hearing Hermione gasp.

"Oh, there you are" Godric's voice sounds, making the three jump as the portrait floats near an empty wall.

"Where's Salazar? I felt… his magic?" Harry asked

"Oh dear, we should not have told him everything like that" Helga's voice came from another part of the room and they turned to see her floating over the pool.

"He had to know sooner or later" Rowena disagreed, her portrait floating over the table.

"What –" Ron seemed to have difficulty finding his voice.

"Harry James Potter, how could you not tell me about this place?!" Hermione chastised, apparently not having the same problem anymore "Look at those books!"

"Sorry. Look, Mione, can we discuss this later? I think there's something wrong with Salazar" Harry leaves his friend's side to approach the three paintings that had regrouped over the round table on the center of the room.

"He's Slytherin, of course there's something wrong with him," Ron mutters, but apparently not low enough.

"Don't you dare speak that way about him!" Godric snaps, "Salazar has suffered more than you know and I will not stand for seeing his name slandered any longer"

"Godric, Sir" Harry calls his attention back from Ron, who looked like he might pee his pants "Is there something wrong? What was that magic… thing?"

Helga sighs.

"There was a reason he was painted as the villain since our time" They all decided to ignore Ron's 'aha!' "But it is a long story, and the reason for what you felt. We were telling Salazar of what occurred after he was cursed"

"Please ma'am" Hermione approached respectfully "If there's something we can do to help…"

"Please" Harry insists

"Very well" It is Rowena who answers, "Take a seat, the three of you"

Harry, Ron and Hermione are soon in three of the chairs surrounding the table.

"Are you sure we should tell them?" Godric asks.

"Trust me" Rowena smiled slightly, a familiar glint in her eyes.

Helga and Godric nod, and the founders begin their story.

So... I'm a bit anxious about this chapter. Opinions?