All Eyes Elsewhere

She reached one hand toward him beseechingly, her mind racing. “Salazar! Our worst fears have been realized! I happened upon...”

“Happened upon?” Slytherin demanded. He looked back at the filthy cage to where two students now lay comatose, two were either transformed or partially transformed into ghastly otherworldly creatures, and the servant girl Marie was curled in a tight ball, no longer screaming, but whimpering softly. Helga glanced over to see the partially transformed girl leaning over Marie.

“Rachel!” Slytherin shouted.

Helga dimly recognized the girl’s forgotten name as she took the opportunity of Slytherin’s distraction to aim her wand at him. Slytherin, his attention on his creature in the cage, did not immediately notice.

“Expelliarmus,” Helga said almost lazily. His wand flew out of his hand and he jerked in surprise as his wand clattered to the floor.

To her dismay, Slytherin did not even attempt to retrieve his wand; he only spared her the briefest of glances before he immediately dodged back out the door. She cursed under her breath and grabbed Slytherin’s wand off the floor, hastily shoving it in her pocket, then followed him outside.

Stepping outside the cottage felt like stepping into another world. The sounds of the creatures’ horrible breathing and Marie’s whimpers grew fainter behind her, replaced with the natural sounds of the forest.

Helga kept her back to the cottage wall as she cautiously edged around the cottage, peering out into the darkness for any glimpse of Slytherin. Twigs and dead leaves crunched softly under her feet, and she paused occasionally to listen for footsteps. All she could hear was the loud drone of crickets and soft rustles through the dry autumn underbrush that were both too gentle and too steady to belong to a human.

A slight movement caught her eye and she looked at the ground. Something, insects perhaps, wriggled through the leaves on the ground. She scowled and turned her attention back to the trees, straining to see in the moonlight.

The crack of a snapping twig in the trees ahead of her broke the eerie quiet, and she pointed her wand ahead of her and slowly crept toward the source of the sound.

Something cold brushed against her ankle and she kicked it away, then looked down as she felt something else slide against her foot.

All around her, the leaves on the ground moved as though something was writhing beneath them. She stepped backwards in alarm, but nearly tripped over something solid that she was sure hadn’t been there before. She pointed her wand toward the ground, but since the leaves were being disturbed all around her, she didn’t know where to aim her wand. It was only then that she heard a soft, sibilant voice coming from where she had heard the twig snap.

“Show yourself, Slytherin!” she demanded, all of her feigned womanly deference gone as she pointed her wand into the trees.

Something cold and solid moved over her foot and up to wrap around her leg, and she looked back down.

At least two dozen snakes had reared up out of the dead leaves around her feet, and most of them were slithering closer to her. She felt another one wrap around her other leg, and several began to hiss at her from the ground while others moved over her feet or began to wind their way up her legs with the first two.

She let out a fierce bellow of rage and reached down to pluck the snakes off of her legs, fumbling with her dress hem before grabbing one and flinging it away. As she had her arm down, one of the snakes on the ground quickly wound around her wrist, and she yanked back up fiercely and nearly overbalanced.

She cursed herself for having forgotten Slytherin’s unusual talent of Parseltongue, which he was clearly quite capable of using to his advantage even without his wand. She knew better than to let any possible advantage, no matter how seemingly slight, slip her mind. She pointed her wand down into the snakes at her feet.

Several more had wrapped around her calves and ankles by the time she got the first killing curse off.

More of the serpents slithered to her, the one she killed quickly disappearing beneath the others as they made their way up her body, sliding through her clothing and hugging her skin as she flailed wildly. She’d fired off a half dozen more killing curses before one of the snakes wound around her neck. She reached up to pull it away, but it reared its head back and hissed, opening its mouth wide to display its fangs. With what little breath she had left she let out a muffled cry and instinctively tried to jerk away from the snake, but this time with the weight of at least a dozen snakes, she overbalanced and fell backwards.

Almost immediately the snakes surged over her, and she would have howled in disgust at the loathsome feel of cold, heavy reptilian bodies writhing over her had her mouth not been covered by one of the serpents. She struggled against the creatures to little avail; as long as they kept moving beneath her she could not get firm footing to stand up again, and she was unable to cast any spells with her mouth covered and her neck squeezed almost to the point of choking.

She could still see, though, and she watched as Slytherin stepped calmly out of the trees, looking down at her.

“Lady Helga,” he said gravely, “I believe that you and I need to have a discussion.”

Helga fought to twist her wand, still tightly gripped in her right hand, so that it pointed at the dark-haired man. The movement of the snakes made it practically impossible, because the more she struggled the more tightly they held her down, but she found that if she moved subtly she could very slowly change her position.

He crouched in front of her, seemingly unconcerned about any possible retaliation. Her own arrogance had cost her the moment, but Slytherin’s would cost him the battle, she decided as he regarded her suspiciously.

“I followed you into the forest, Helga. That you knew of this place was quite clear. Tell me what became of the missing students,” he said.

He made a series of hissing noise, and the snake over her mouth slid down to her chin, just far enough for her to speak.

“You were correct,” she said, her harmless, demure mask sliding seamlessly back into place. She had to stall him; if he wised up and took both his and her wands away from her before she could aim her wand and curse him, there would be little chance of escape.

Slytherin frowned. “Correct about what?”

“Only the wealthy, pureblood children pose any real threat to us. The Muggleborns and the poor are irrelevant,” she said.

“They are not irrelevant,” he snapped. She’d distracted him by bringing up an old argument--he, Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw really were too easy. “They do pose a threat to us by risking the exposure of the wizarding world when they return home, and...” he trailed off and his eyes widened with horror.

“The reason that no purebloods have disappeared is that you have targeted only the poorer children. The ones that you knew would cause the least trouble if they died,” he said slowly. “Helga...”

“Your very own philosophy, Salazar,” she said smugly. “I do appreciate your giving me the idea.”

“My philosophy?” he demanded. “I want only what is best for this school! That does not include the murder of innocents!”

“Innocence is a construct of the weak,” she snarled.

He gaped at her for a moment.

“I should have listened when William Olafson tried to tell me that you were run out of your village for dark witchcraft and suspicion of murder,” he said slowly. “I did not believe him, but it would seem that my estimation of you was dangerously inaccurate.”

She raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Her hand was almost in the right position. Just a little further...

With a short hiss from Slytherin, the snake on her chin slithered back over her mouth. She let out a muffled protest, but he ignored it. He let out a long stream of sibilant noises, and the snakes hissed back, and one of them wound its way into her pocket and coaxed Slytherin’s wand out. He narrowed his eyes at her and reached down.

She viciously bit down on the snake over her mouth. It recoiled away from her in pain, and she shouted, “Crucio!”

Slytherin dropped, his face twisted in agony and a stream of hisses sputtering from his mouth. The snakes all around her hissed and scattered in confusion.

She scrambled among the writhing snakes and staggered to her feet, shaking several of the reptiles off of her.

She turned back to Slytherin to find his wand pointed directly between her eyes.

Slytherin was stooped over, panting heavily. His eyes were wide and bloodshot, and his hands trembled. He hissed sharply and the snakes immediately formed a circle around her, rearing up and baring their fangs. Taking advantage of her momentary surprise, Slytherin reached forward and easily snatched her wand out of her hand.

“Stupe--” he began hoarsely, but he trailed off as something behind her caught his eye.

A sudden rush of cold despair gripped her and she gasped. A rattly breath echoed her, and she turned to see the most heavily transformed creature approaching, gliding quickly over the ground toward her. Distant memories began to replay in her mind once more. She covered her ears and closed her eyes, barely noticing as the snakes scattered once more, slithering rapidly into the forest. She stepped backwards into Slytherin.

She barely felt when Slytherin shoved her to the ground out of his way. Dimly, over the roar of voices in her head, she heard him casting a steady stream of protective spells and curses, but the creature was undeterred. His efforts only caused the creature to focus on him as he backpedaled into the trees, and as the creature followed him away from Helga, her senses returned to her. She blinked and looked back at the creature, then dashed into the cottage.

The cage now held three motionless bodies as well as the partially transformed girl Slytherin had identified as Rachel. Marie and the two boys all lay limp in the floor, their vacant eyes staring out at nothing. Helga noted with surprise that the cage was intact; the creature should not have been able to escape. The parchments on which the older boy had kept her records had been abandoned, and lay halfway between the bars where they had been dropped. Helga briskly walked to the cage and snatched the parchments off of the floor before backing away again.

The ghastly thing that had once been Rachel turned to Helga and began to slowly drift toward her. It hovered alongside the bars until it reached the archway. Helga watched, scientific curiosity overriding her alarm as she folded the parchments and tucked them into the bodice of her dress. Passing through the archway should banish the creature back to where it had come from.

It passed through the archway, and to Helga’s amazement, nothing happened. The creature continued toward her, free of the cage.

The feeling of terror and despair rose within her once more, but with this creature it was much weaker and not nearly as debilitating. She grabbed the table that held the still squirming but silent infant and shoved it between herself and the creature, then hurried back to the door. The creature paused to bend over the child, and Helga ran back outside.

“Relashio!” a voice from her right shouted. A beam of silver light shot past her, just missing her, and she instinctively pressed close to the outside wall of the cottage and dashed around the corner away from Slytherin.

She didn’t dare peek back around the corner. Instead she scanned the ground, intent on finding something to aid her before Slytherin found her. A few palm-sized rocks were the only possibly useful things, and she picked up one in each hand.

Though it was clear that Slytherin was trying to make a stealthy approach, the autumn leaves worked against him, crunching softly under his feet. Helga listened closely, and when she heard him step just around the corner from her she tossed one of the rocks into the underbrush away from her. There was a soft swish as Slytherin whipped his wand toward the noise, and Helga leaped around the corner with a fierce war cry and brought the other rock down swiftly against Slytherin’s skull.

Slytherin grunted and collapsed onto the ground, and the forest was silent again.

Helga wasted no time plucking both her wand and his back out of Slytherin’s grip. She listened for a moment for any sign of either of the creatures, but apparently Slytherin had lost or killed the first one and the second one was sufficiently diverted with the infant. She quickly bound him, then cast the charm to hide the cottage before levitating Slytherin and making her way back towards Hogwarts.

She could not kill Slytherin, she knew. He was wealthy and what little family he had was quite powerful; his death would bring too much attention to Hogwarts, and with all the attention, her work would be delayed and there was a greater chance that her name would be recognized for her crimes in God’s Hope.

When she reached the tree line, she lowered Slytherin to the ground. He began to stir as a cloud drifted out from in front of the moon. Helga glanced up.

The full moon. Of course. She nodded to herself and quickly dispelled Slytherin’s bonds.

He opened his eyes and immediately locked gazes with her. “You,” he spat, before he froze at the sight of her wand pointed directly at his face.

“Obfuscate,” she said evenly.

Slytherin blinked and looked around, clearly disoriented. “Helga? What...”

“Confundus,” she said, and with this spell his eyes glazed slightly and his face went slack. She leaned in next to him and began ripping at her own dress as she spoke. “A werewolf was loose in the forest. You were out for a walk and saw it dragging me into the forest, and you followed us to the monster’s lair. Slivers of bone and scraps of clothing were all that was left of the poor students. You were able to free me and we fled, but it chased us through the forest. Fortunately, you managed to kill the beast.”

Slytherin blinked slowly. She shoved his wand back into his hand.

She placed both hands on his shoulders and assumed her most earnest expression of concern. “Salazar! Salazar, are you all right?”

Slytherin looked up at her with a baffled expression, blinking and shaking his head.

“Oh my. When the werewolf jumped at you and knocked you into that tree you must have hit it harder than I thought,” she said, gingerly touching the spot on his head that she had slammed the rock into. Slytherin winced and she continued, “We need to get you back to the castle.”

“Ye... yes,” Slytherin said hesitantly. He narrowed his eyes and cocked his head at her.

“I was so lucky that you were there, Salazar!” she said quickly. “Of course, I am most grateful to you for saving me from the beast.”

“Yes... yes, of course,” Slytherin said, still clearly disoriented.

She helped him stand and they walked back to the castle. She could feel his suspicious eyes on her the entire way, but with the two spells she had used he would be unable to remember anything specific enough to implicate her. She would have preferred a spell that completely erased memory, but since such a spell did not exist in any usable form, confusion spells would have to suffice. She briefly entertained the notion of suggesting the idea of improving memory charms to Ravenclaw; the woman would doubtless enjoy the opportunity to further distinguish herself.

Once back inside, Helga summoned Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. They met at the same table over which they had argued earlier in the evening, and Slytherin haltingly repeated Helga’s story, nearly word-for-word, as she added in details whenever he cast a confused look in her direction. To her amusement, Gryffindor hovered protectively over his friend even though they had fought only hours earlier. Ravenclaw stood behind Helga with one white-knuckled hand gripping her shoulder.

“We’ll need to go to the lair tomorrow and collect the remains of the students,” Ravenclaw said when Helga and Slytherin finished.

“I...” Slytherin began. “I am not sure I could find it again.”

Gryffindor blinked. “You followed Helga there, and you found your way back. For what possible reason would you be unable to find it again?”

Slytherin shook his head helplessly, and Helga felt Ravenclaw’s fingers tighten around her shoulder.

“I find it quite interesting that a beast spirited away several Muggleborn children, but the one pureblood wizard who claims to have followed it was able to defeat it and conveniently can present no evidence to prove it even existed,” Ravenclaw stated coldly.

Slytherin’s gaze snapped up to her. “What are you saying?”

“I think Salazar bears no responsibility here, Rowena.” Gryffindor began. “Also, Helga backs up what he says...”

“He could have confunded her,” Ravenclaw snapped, her other hand coming down on Helga’s free shoulder protectively.

Helga fought back a gleeful grin. This was far better than she had hoped for.

“That is absurd,” Gryffindor retorted, but Helga could see the doubt in his eyes.

Slytherin said nothing. He only stared at Helga bearing an expression like he was trying to remember something. She gave him a small, reassuring smile, and he blinked and looked away.

“We shall search for the remains of the students and the werewolf tomorrow,” Gryffindor said. “Perhaps after a night’s rest Salazar will be able to collect his thoughts.”

“Indeed,” Rowena said, still eying Slytherin.

The next day they searched the forest, but of course they found no werewolf, and no sign of the lost children. The creatures that had emerged from the archway had to be somewhere in the forest still, but there was no trace of their existence.

Slytherin kept both a close eye on her and a healthy distance from her that day and many after. While she knew that his sense of unease was justified, it only served to cause Ravenclaw to suspect him more, and she knew that Gryffindor already had seeds of doubt in his mind as well.

Neither of them questioned her.

She read over her notes by night, trying to determine what had happened. There were many spells to create portals, and she wondered if they were all the same. Further investigation was required, and she was determined to continue her work. She would simply have to find another source for test subjects now that the culprit had allegedly been killed.

She could take more students, but while she liked the fact that Slytherin was under suspicion, further disappearances would increase the likelihood of action being taken against him. If that happened, there would be no one diverting attention away from the real cause.

Of course, once the disappearances stopped, there was nothing to divert attention from Slytherin’s insistence that only pureblooded wizard children should be permitted to attend Hogwarts. His enthusiasm for the idea had increased, but he couldn’t seem to articulate why, much to Helga’s amusement.

As long as everyone was watching Slytherin, she would easily be able to sneak away. Slytherin, however, would probably not be able to follow her again without alarming his fellow teachers.

She smiled to herself and began to plan.