Over the years Mark had learned when he could argue and protest one of Snape’s orders, and when it was wise to just keep his mouth shut. Now was the time to follow the second course of action, so he merely nodded before showing himself out. He walked back to the Common Room staring at the shadows moodily. He wasn’t sure if his visit had done any good or not, but it was the best he had to offer.
Even if Snape showed up just to yell at them the Slytherins would be relieved. No matter what the rest of the school thought they adored their Head of House and they couldn’t stand to see him in pain. Besides, they needed him to comfort them. They had lost even more of their number and more and more of them were now orphans, or at least as good as. Some of them had stopped all communication with their parents. He wondered if any of the Gryffindors were brave enough to do that.
Trying to shrug off all depressing thoughts he gave the password to the unmarked section of wall that was the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room, his hands thrust deep in his pockets. His eyebrows shot up in a habit he had picked up from Snape when he entered the Common Room. He had expected the entire House to be waiting eagerly for his report. They were the ones who had sent him to see their Housemaster after all. They were all present, what few there were left, but they weren’t waiting for him. They were all gathered around a tapestry…
“Hold it back. Not like that, like that!” Kay bossed the Bulstrode triplets, “there now, and the seventh stone from the bottom…”
“What do you think you are doing?!” Mark demanded. His tone and expression would have done Snape proud under other circumstances.
Kay smiled guiltily, “exploring… it’s not as though anyone has been to check on us lately,” she added in her own defense.
“But, those are Salazar’s personal rooms,” Mark pointed out.
Kay rolled her eyes, “well we know that, that’s why we decided to look around. It might be the only chance we ever get. And if Snape is too depressed and to keep an eye on us it’s really not our fault. We’ve all lost people we know, everyone of us here, and most of us have lost family of some sort or another.” She had stopped addressing the group and was now speaking solely for Mark’s benefit, “we all deal with grief in different ways, some of us can’t handle it at all. He’s only human Mark. He does have some flaws, no matter how much we worship him. Our good wishes and our love won’t make him perfect. You told him that we miss him, it’s up to him to take the next step.”
“I know, you’re right… as usual,” Mark took Kay’s hand in his and gave her a lingering kiss that lasted until the younger years started snickering. “But I can’t very well condone this!” He gestured to the now open passageway, a hole in the wall with dark, dripping stairs that led downward.
Kay shrugged, “if there is no one here to watch us, why not? As much as it pains me to say it, I would be absolutely thrilled if Snape were to walk in right now and catch us, even though it would mean that he’d queue us up and thrash the lot of us. But he’s not bloody likely to come visiting tonight, so I say we go exploring. Besides, it was their idea,” she tipped her head in the direction of the terrible trio who grinned unrepentantly at the accusation.
Mark was torn. On one hand he knew he should put a stop to this, no question about it. This most certainly had to go against any number of rules, both school and Snape imposed, and it could possibly be dangerous. Plus, as Head Boy he had certain responsibilities, which included making sure that rules weren’t broken, let alone the fact that he shouldn’t be participating in the breaking of said rules.
On the other hand… if they weren’t caught they couldn’t very well get in trouble. Besides, a little harmless exploring probably wouldn’t hurt anyone. And it would be a welcome distraction. The attack and the exodus of their classmates to the enemy’s side had left them all depressed and listless. A little bit of adventure that didn’t include Death Eaters would be nice for a change. The only two authority figures they worried about down here were Snape and the Baron. Snape wasn’t coming down here tonight, and the Baron was probably keeping an eye on Snape… “very well, but if we get caught I’m saying that I was only trying to stop the lot of you…”
Kay squealed in delight, “finally something fun to do! Now, who wants to go down first?” No one volunteered. They all looked at the dark descending steps and then back at Kay. When she only shrugged her shoulders they all looked to Mark.
“This is your idea, not mine. I’m not going down first,” he said, even as the triplets tried to thrust a lit torch into his hands.
“Sometimes, you are all worthless,” Sophia said in exasperation as she grabbed the torch from Agrippa and started down the stairs. It only took a few seconds for the rest of the Slytherins to find a couple more torches to help light the way and follow her down.
“It’s kind of spooky down here,” Kay shuddered with the combination of the thrill and chill of the spiraling stone stairway. She crowded right behind Sophia as they made their way down slowly. “The walls are damp,” she commented as she reached out to use them for balance as the stairs became slick. “I wonder how far down this goes...”
“I bet it’s a never ending staircase,” Marcus proposed, “it just keeps going down forever…”
“Or there could be a monster at the end of it,” Agrippa added.
“Don’t be daft!” Posthumous put in, “the Basilisk was killed years ago. Do you really think old Salazar hid more than one monster in the school?”
Sophia rolled her eyes at them, but joined in the game of wild guessing, “I bet it leads to the underworld, right into Tartarus where the souls of the damned are kept, forever wailing and trying to get out, envious of those who enjoy the sweet fields of Elysium.”
“You’ve all gone soft in the head,” Mark said elbowing his way through and taking the torch from Sophia, “this staircase leads directly into Salazar’s rooms. Snape told us so.”
“That doesn’t mean they really go there,” Posthumous defended.
Mark cuffed him with his free hand, “of course it does! Snape wouldn’t have given us instructions to come down here in case of an emergency unless he knew exactly what was down here. I’d wager he’s been down here a number of times.” Although he had put an end to the ridiculous guessing game there was still a sense of adventure as the stairs finally came to an end. It felt as though they had been going down for an eternity. In reality it had probably been close to ten minutes. He wasn’t sure if they were really that far under the ground or if it was an illusion. He guessed it was the later. They were probably not really that far under the Slytherin Common Room.
The more he thought about it he realized there must have been a number of wards in place at one time. They had probably been removed for the most part, except for the illusion of distance. It was rather brilliant really, the quarters underneath the Common Room… he’d wager there was a much shorter way out, one that Snape either hadn’t informed them of or that he didn’t no about. One that allowed quick access to the students’ rooms so that they could be checked on in a proficient manner. He’d have to do some poking around to find it. If they could locate it they could use the rooms down here as a sort of secret meeting area, or a snogging arena, and return quickly without being caught.
He put his hand against the dark wood of the door that they had finally arrived at. It was surprisingly warm to the touch and smoother than it looked. He traced a finger down the length of it until he came to the tarnished door handle. It was shaped like a serpent, twined about in a complicated pattern of coils, each scale intricately wrought. It was beautiful.
“Well don’t just stand there!” Sophia finally broke into his reverie, “we want to see what’s behind the door, not just stare at it!”
Mark rolled his eyes but did as she said and pushed the door open slowly. It creaked from lack of use, but still opened fairly smoothly. His Housemates crowded around him trying to look into the dark space. “Give me some room,” he growled at them. He raised his torch and used it to start lighting the sconces set in the wall. They sputtered a moment but flared into life valiantly.
“It’s beautiful…” Kay released the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding as her eyes widened.
Mark had to agree with her. The room was exquisite. Each piece of furniture was heavily carved, but not gaudy. All in a dark wood, that was so skillfully worked that they did not appear heavy. Thick tapestries lined the stone walls making them feel warm and fur rugs were scattered across the hard stone floor. Bookshelves lined one wall, filled with leather bound texts. Baskets of scrolls sat on the floor. The fireplace was enormous. Ten of the students could have easily stood within it.
The room was altogether warm and inviting. It wasn’t the type of room one expected to find in the deepest depths of the dungeon. It wasn’t the type of room most of the school would attribute to Salazar Slytherin. But his House descendants knew better. After the initial surprise of seeing what lay behind the door, they weren’t at all shocked. Mark was surer than ever that Snape must come down here on occasion. It looked like the sort of room their Housemaster would love. Besides, there were dead embers in the hearth, and he sincerely doubted that they were over a thousand years old.
“Is this it?” Marcus sounded disappointed.
“We came down here for a load of books?” Agrippa sounded disgusted.
“What a waste,” Posthumous kicked at one of the furs on the floor.
“There are other doors,” Sophia quietly observed. When no one moved she shrugged and stepped towards the nearest one and flung it open with a bit of effort. The doors inside the room were all heavy and had had less use than the entrance door.
“Bedroom,” Mark said as he looked over Sophia’s shoulder, “not bad.” Other than the bed it looked very similar to the main room, but smaller. After a brief yet thorough inspection they realized there wasn’t really anything of note to explore further. So far everything had been… ordinary. They retreated back to the main room a feeling of disappointment starting to settle in. There wild guesses as to the contents of the room hadn’t included the ordinary.
He found that he was straining to find something, anything, that didn’t belong. Something that marked the room of a genius, because that was what Slytherin undoubtedly was. Or something that perhaps marked him as the evil man that the rest of the school believed him to be. Something that proclaimed without doubt that this was the bedroom of the Salazar Slytherin. Something other than a lonely and long forgotten room deep beneath the rest of the school. He didn’t want to be disappointed by the fact that Salazar was in fact a man, a simple man. But he was. And that upset him.
He couldn’t help but think, hope, that his disappointment was misplaced. After all, Snape’s office was very nondescript in appearance, yet he idolized his Housemaster. Then again, he also knew that there were any number of secrets concealed within Snape’s office. Appearances weren’t everything, but there was something to be said for them. Sometimes they were important. Especially to a group of school children, slowly becoming orphaned, in a time of war. They needed at least the appearance of the fantastic if they were going to continue to be children. It seemed a simple enough request, but it was still being denied to them. They had their parents, and the parents of their schoolmates to thank for it. That was the most depressing thought of all.
Mark couldn’t help but think about how unfair life was. And he hated thoughts like that. They seemed so… Gryffindor. That made him feel even guiltier than he already did. By making characterizations like that his was being just as bad as them. He wanted to be better than that. He wanted to be like Snape. When he wasn’t being consumed by grief and hatred that is.
“I get the next door!” Kay raced to the next door over. But even her enthusiasm was starting to wane. “It’s empty,” her shoulders slumped slightly.
“One door to go,” Mark said, although he spoke more to himself than to anyone else. By this point their adventure had turned into a let down. He wondered if they might be better off just heading back upstairs at this point. Everyone was starting to look drained and more than a little depressed. Of course there was the lingering hope that whatever lay behind the last door would make up for any of the other disappointments they had faced beforehand.
“Can I open it?” Brandon Potter asked from the back of the crowd of Slytherins.
Mark craned his neck to look over the heads of his Housemates to see the younger boy. He couldn’t help but smile. Brandon still had a look of excited anticipation on his face, “sure kid, you can do the honors.”
Brandon elbowed his way through his Housemates and gripped the tarnished silver door handle with a small tremor of excitement. Wearing a grin filled with promises yet to be fulfilled he threw the door open and quickly stepped inside. “Cool… look at all these paintings…”
Mark had followed close on the younger Slytherin’s heels, “those aren’t paintings. At least not really… I think.” He put his hand up to one of the framed… whatever they were… on the wall. The surface rippled slightly from the slight pressure of his hand, “this is the Great Hall,” he murmured, “it’s the view from up on dais behind the teachers’ table.”
“This one is of the grounds, looking down towards the groundskeeper’s hut,” Kay said as she closely inspected another one of the framed areas. They did look like paintings, they even had the linen texture, but they were different. They moved, similarly to wizarding portraits, but it was still different. She couldn’t quite figure out why.
They traveled in a close group around the room, carefully looking at each of the scenes. Each one was a specific area either within the school or on the grounds. They were all perfect in their detail, each one just a bit more real than a portrait should look.
“Do you think that Salazar painted them himself?” Brandon asked as they reached the end of the first wall.
“I don’t think so…” Mark said carefully. The further they went the more he started to pick up on a trend. Something was very definite about all of the paintings, but he couldn’t quite place what it was. He glanced over at Kay, who had worked herself away from the group and had almost completed the circuit around the room. She was very carefully examining the last painting, which hung next to the door they had come in through. “What’s so exciting about that one?” he asked over the murmur of his Housemates.
“All the other ones are of rooms or prominent locations on the grounds,” Kay tilted her head to the side as she thought, “this one is of a corridor.”
“Which corridor? Can you tell?” Mark pushed a couple of First Years out of his way as he moved to join his girlfriend.
Kay grinned, “of course I can. It’s the hallway all of our rooms are off of. Look, you can see the tapestry of Galen. The one that is on the wall between the girls’ and the boys’ halves of the corridor.”
Mark stared at the slightly flickering image of the tapestry as though it held the answer he was looking for. He knew there must be a clue somewhere, one that he was overlooking. Finally he noticed it, but it was on the floor beneath the tapestry. “What is that?” He pointed at the object lying on the painted floor.
“I don’t know, it looks like broken pottery or something. Why?” Kay asked. By this point they were starting to attract an audience.
“It’s the jug of pumpkin juice that the triplets broke last night.” That’s what he had been missing. All the paintings, or whatever, were showing Hogwarts as it was now, right at this very moment, not sometime in the past. “They’re windows, or something like it… I bet that they…” he reached through the Second Year girls who had clustered around him and grabbed Marcus by the collar and dragged him over to the painting. “Let’s test my theory, shall we…”
“What theory are you talking about mate?” Marcus scrambled to get out of Mark’s grip.
“Oh, nothing…” Mark tightened his grip on Marcus’ collar and also grabbed him by the arm. With one mighty heave he threw him at the painting. He went right through it. The surface of the painting rippled like water, but quickly settled down again. “It’s one way,” Mark said with satisfaction. And indeed, it seemed to be. Marcus, after falling to the hard stone floor of the dormitory corridor had scrambled to his feet and was now looking with confusion at the wall in front of him. He couldn’t see his Housemates, he even pounded on the wall. Nothing. But they could see him.
“I wonder why there’s a painting of the corridor just there,” Brandon wondered allowed as the all watched Marcus trying to get back to them with amusement.
Kay and Mark shared a knowing smirk. They knew exactly why there was a hidden window like that looking at the exact spot of the dormitory hallway that separated the girls’ and the boys’ halves. No wonder the Slytherins never got away with anything. They also accounted for how Snape could sneak up on unsuspecting students with such ease. It was amazingly brilliant.
The more Mark saw the more he realized they would have to go back to the empty room they had come from just a short while before. It had been a severe disappointment, he was starting to realize that there was probably more to it than met the eye. But that would have to wait for another night. It was getting late and the Baron would likely be showing up to check on them shortly. “Come on, everyone back to the Common Room. It’s Christmas Eve, I suppose we should do something to get into the spirit.”
~~~~~~~~~~~
