Sands of Time

Chapter 12

Dear Ron and Hermione,

I can't tell you what is happening now, but I was right about Dumbledore. If Professor Snape and I are not here tomorrow, please tell McGonagall and anyone else you think is safe about what has been happening.

Harry

Ps. Hermione - I have your book.

Harry looked up from his note and frowned at Snape.

"I don't see why I can't just tell them about Dumbledore," he complained.

Snape looked up from where he was storing away a variety of potions in various places about his body. (Harry had to admit that the ankle potion holder was impressive, if rather paranoid.) Snape sighed in frustration before answering. The professor seemed to have decided that explaining everything to Harry was his best option, but it didn't stop him from nearly biting Harry's head off every time he asked a question.

"Slytherin is good at hiding, but we can't be the first to have figured out his identity. He wanted us to know about him, but what do you think happened to anyone else who discovered his secret?" He paused a moment to let the idea sink in. "Not to mention I don't have time for the resulting idiocy, excuse me, heroics, once your Gryffindor friends find out."

Harry bristled at the mention of his friends, but clamped down on his annoyance. If Snape was half as nervous and frightened as Harry was about their upcoming meeting, then the insults were probably his way of settling his nerves.

There was a flaw in his logic of course. Snape would have had to be pretty nervous for the past four years in order to insult Harry nearly every time he saw him. Harry reluctantly decided that maybe Snape just enjoyed insulting people, and he would have to put up with it for as long as they were working together.

Snape finished with his preparations. Harry placed the letter in a box that Snape directed him to. The house-elves would collect and send it later.

"You understand the plan, Potter?" Professor Snape asked suddenly.

"Yes. I understood it the first two times as well." Snape wasn't the only one in a bad mood. The professor smiled humourlessly.

"Then you won't mind repeating it again," said Snape smoothly. Harry glared at him.

"I hand Dumbledore the book when we go in, making sure he takes it, then I ask all the questions, including the ones you told me to." He had been surprised that Snape wanted him to lead the conversation, but after a moments reflection he had realized that it gave Snape the chance to observe Dumbledore without the trouble of contributing to the conversation, though there was no doubt that Snape would find the time for a few sarcastic remarks.

"And if things go wrong?" asked Snape impatiently.

"We run," said Harry quietly because he knew it wouldn't happen that way. It would be him running, if he chose to. But Snape would stay, maybe because he thought he owed Harry something, maybe because he thought he owed his house's founder something. There was a determined glint in Snape's eye, and Harry briefly thought that perhaps it was Salazar Slytherin who should be worried.

Snape seemed satisfied. He shoved the book into Harry's hands and headed out the door. The castle was strangely deserted, but then Harry realized it was well past midnight. The gargoyle that led to Dumbledore's office rolled open at their approach.

"Into the serpent's den," Snape muttered to himself.

Harry looked at him in surprise, but Snape was already climbing the spiral steps. Harry took a deep breath. He could feel the fear building in the pit of his stomach, but he had to follow Snape and play his part.

The griffin knocker on the door seemed strangely incongruous. Snape ignored it, pushing the door open and nearly letting it slam shut in Harry's face.

Dumbledore was still behind his desk, humming softly as he read through an old book, but when he looked up it was like facing the eyes of a stranger. Every look Harry had ever seen in Dumbledore's eyes needed to be reinterpreted, and he was struck with the feeling that their time down in the dungeons hadn't been nearly enough. Especially in light of that amused twinkle that was again gracing those light blue eyes.

Harry nearly forgot what he was supposed to be doing, but then his thoughts kicked into motion once more. He walked as quickly as he dared across the office. Snape had already taken a seat and was taping his wand against his leg in impatience. Harry held the book out in front of him, thrusting it over the desk at Dumbledore.

"Here, Sir. I believe you wanted this." Dumbledore made no move to take it, and instead glanced at Snape, as if he knew that this was all the Potion Master's idea. Harry went to his contingency plan, pleased that he had taken the time to think of one, though there had been little else to do while Snape planned. He took another step forward, turning his foot as it hit the carpet. Off balance, he let the book go flying towards the Headmaster and used his now free hands to stop himself against the desk. Dumbledore held up his hands to protect himself, and automatically caught the book.

The book turned purple in his hands, and Harry was reminded of Snape's little joke earlier. Dumbledore stared at the book for a moment, then chuckled to himself.

"Well played, Harry," he said.

Harry coloured at the strange praise. "Sorry, Sir."

Dumbledore waved the apology away and met Snape's eyes instead.

"Touché, Severus," he said, and this time there was no humour in his tone. Snape inclined his head in acknowledgement.

Harry wondered what spell Snape had put on the book. He hadn't understood any of the words Snape had used to bespell it. The tension in the room began to grow as Slytherin and Snape stared at each other. Harry belatedly remembered his role.

"How?" he asked into the silence, repeating his earlier question. "How are you Salazar Slytherin?"

Dumbledore broke off the staring contest and tapped gently on the Founder's book. "You read the book. You have all the clues." He smiled. "Even Godric left you a clue."

Harry was confused. Did Dumbledore mean Godric's diary entries or something else?

"What do you mean?" he asked. Dumbledore shook his head in a gently mocking way. He turned to a page at the front of the Founder's book and gazed down at it for a moment, before flipping it aroun and pushing it across the desk for Harry and Snape to see.

Taking up the two pages were the Slytherin and Gryffindor coat of arms portrayed in a detail Harry had never seen before, outside of the crests over the common room fireplaces. He wanted to study the Slytherin one in more detail since he had hardly seen it in second-year when he and Ron had snuck in, but remembering the reason he was looking, he turned his attention to the Gryffindor arms.

A beautiful tawny griffin reared in the centre of the arms. A smaller version of Hogwarts floated above the griffin's head and Harry could see a tiny badger, eagle, lion and snake surrounding the castle, surmounted by the blazing sun. There was a crossed wand and a sword below the griffin, and below that an old style banner bearing Gryffindor's motto.

"Omnis viva est seriem," Harry read out loud, wondering why it sounded so familiar. Beside him, Snape snorted in disgust.

"All life is a cycle. He certainly was determined for someone to solve his mystery," said Snape in a sour voice.

Harry jumped as Dumbledore chuckled in delight.

"And just think how dismayed he would be that it was solved by a Gryffindor and a Slytherin working together," Slytherin said, smiling at the idea. Harry glanced at Snape and saw that he was scowling furiously at the insinuation.

"You did something with the butterflies," Harry said before Snape could express his 'opinion' about them working together. It had to be that. The butterflies were the only things that were mentioned in both Salazar's and Godric's diaries, not to mention their featuring in his own dream.

Dumbledore nodded sagely. "Ah, yes, now that you mention it. They were such beautiful creatures. I was happy to devote some attention to them."

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see Snape rolling his eyes at the comment.

"Can we just have the story without the manipulation?" Harry asked wearily. Dumbledore smiled again. He nodded.

"Of course. No manipulation," he said in an amused tone. He was making fun of Harry, but Harry didn't really care if it got him some answers. Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"Our intentions when we created Hogwarts were both altruistic and selfish. None of us, for various reasons, were happy with the wizarding world. I believe it was Helga who suggested that if we wanted to change the world we should start with the children. And so Hogwarts was built. We were lauded as great innovators by parents as we used all our skills to mould their children into what we thought they should be." There was an ironic smile on Slytherin's lips. "But teaching is slow work, and the wizarding world changes slower than most. Godric was the first to despair about our work continuing. He spent over a decade creating the Sorting Hat, and I still don't think he realized what a masterpiece it truly is -- not that I ever told him. Helga invested her powers in her tapestries. You have no idea how much of the power of this castle still lies in Hufflepuff hands."

"What did Ravenclaw do?" Harry asked eagerly. He was enthralled by the story.

Dumbledore gave him a self-depreciating smile. "Even after a thousand years, I still only have hints at her actions. She didn't make any arrangements until late in her life, and by then I was gone."

Harry frowned.

"You tried to survive as well, but not through objects like the other Founders did," he accused. Dumbledore gave him a nod of acknowledgement.

"I suppose you could say that immortality has always fascinated the Slytherin line. I didn't think Hogwarts could survive without a guiding force, and I wanted that force to be me. The others would not have made the necessary decisions I have been faced with since then. Optimists." The sneer on Dumbledore's lips was startling, but it was gone as soon as it appeared.

"Other than a certain affinity for snakes, Potions and Transfiguration were always my strong points. I started there, but soon my research branched into other disciplines. Arithmancy. Magical Creatures and especially Alchemy. I suppose I had some idea about creating the Philosopher's stone even then, but I left it until later years when I met a young man named Nicolas Flamel. But in 990, my search went in other directions." Dumbledore began talking faster then, the ideas exciting some long buried passion.

"Much like Einstein in this century, my thoughts turned towards the nature of matter and energy. A continuous cycle of energy being reborn as matter and vice versa. Energy itself was immortal! And we ourselves are made up of energy! The key to immortality was keeping one's energy coherent despite its form. I based my model on the butterflies, though later I refined it to include certain phoenix properties. I remodelled my workroom to include what I needed, than set everything into motion. That storm Godric complained about was the final moment. Others had attempted what I tried but they forgot certain intrinsic points. Where they failed, I succeeded!"

There was an arrogance in Dumbledore's face that Harry had never seen before. He was inexplicably reminded of the mad scientists he could sometimes hear when Dudley had his TV turned up too loud while watching horror movies. But he still didn't understand what Dumbledore had done.

Slytherin smiled.

"Surely you understood that," he said in a faintly mocking tone. Beside Harry, Snape bristled.

"We understood it," he bit out. "Continue." Harry stared at Snape in dismay as Dumbledore continued. And Snape had been worried about Harry being manipulated.

"I do not always serve as Headmaster here, but I am always near to help the school," said Dumbledore. Harry thought he was skipping over a lot of things.

"But what about the Heir of Slytherin? What about the Chamber of Secrets? Do you hate Muggle-borns?" Harry asked. Those had been some of Snape's questions. Dumbledore shook his head.

"I admit I did have a tendency to mock them in my younger years. I didn't choose them for my house because it took them longer to assimilate into Hogwarts than a pure-blood wizard. It was just another way to give my house a slight advantage. But when I discovered my spell had worked. It was necessary for me to distance myself from Hogwarts. The Muggle-born cause was an easy topic to choose, especially when Godric's favourite niece married a Muggle. And there were so few of them around back then..." He trailed off, and stared down at the desk. "I never intended for it to get out of hand."

"Voldemort took you seriously!" Harry was practically yelling. How had a simple plan from over a thousand years ago caused so much trouble? That simple plan had killed his parents. Dumbledore shook his head sadly again.

"Voldemort is my heir. He was mentioned in a prophecy given to me on my sixteenth birthday. Had I died back then, he would still be here, but I would not be here to protect against him." Harry noticed that Dumbledore did not say he was going to stop Voldemort. "As for the Chamber of Secrets, I knew who was opening it, and he knew that I knew. Nowhere did I leave instructions to use the basilisk for the purpose he put it to. I protected those I could, but that foolish girl...Myrtle evaded my web and met her doom."

"And when it was opened again?" Snape asked. He appeared to have forgotten his own admonitions to Harry.

"I knew who it was. You were there Harry when I told Minerva the same, but I did not see how it was possible until too late."

"You could have just gone down into the Chamber and killed the basilisk at any time. Why was it still alive?" demanded Harry.

"Ah, an old man's foolishness," said Dumbledore. He sounded ancient. "The basilisk was my last friend from that time, and I promised to guard him as he guarded me." And yet he had let Harry kill the basilisk as well. That cold feeling of fear was again present in Harry's stomach.

Snape opened his mouth to ask something, then clenched his teeth together. He looked like he was in pain, and his hand jerked towards his left arm before he forced it down again. Harry's eyes widened in horror. He looked towards Dumbledore, and saw him watching Snape with a calculating expression.

Voldemort was summoning Professor Snape, and somehow Slytherin knew about it.

"You need to go, Severus," said Dumbledore mildly. "You know the restrictions he has you under these days." Snape fixed Dumbledore with pain-filled glare.

"You asked me to go back," he grated out.

"Which is why you should go. No sense suffering pain on my account."

Snape stared at the man, and it was obvious he was going through all his options. Finally, he stood.

"Come on, Potter!" he commanded, heading for the door. Harry got up to follow.

"I think not!" called out Dumbledore. Both Snape and Harry froze.

"He is coming with me," growled Snape.

"Honestly, Severus, Hogwarts is mine. Do you think that removing him from my office will protect him? Unless you are planning on taking him with you? Didn't you say they'll be recruiting this weekend?"

Snape didn't bother hiding his frustrated growl.

Harry watched with a sinking feeling. Slytherin had been ahead of them all along and all Snape's planning was coming to nothing. Harry found himself pinned by the fiercest stare from Snape he had ever received. He understood the message. Run, but only when you can. Without another word, Snape stalked out the door, leaving Harry standing alone in the middle of Dumbledore's office.

"Sit down, Harry," said Dumbledore pleasantly. "Lemon drop?"