(no subject)
Who: Theodore and Salazar
What: A discussion of the virus, marriage and murder.
Where: The Chamber of Secrets
When: Right after everyone was forwarded to Hogwarts.
Rating: PG-13
The thought of the shackles of marriage had Theodore fleeing - this mass evacuation had forestalled his wedding, and the thought of having it happen in the Great Hall in front of the entire Wizarding population of Britain wasn’t something he was looking forward to. On his way to the dungeons [and most of his handy hidey holes] Theodore spotted Salazar Slytherin, gazing at everyone milling around in the great hall. He approached his mentor, stopping a few steps away from his brooding form. “Sir.”
"Theodore." Salazar inclined his head just so, and if someone looked carefully at his face, they would be also to see the tiniest twisted smirk on his lips.
"Fancy meeting you here," Theo murmured, "along with half of the wizarding population it seems." He turned his head to the crowd, and spotted someone who looked a lot like his soon-to-be Father-in-law. "I was just heading to the dungeons."
"What an excellent idea," Salazar said, "I think I'll join you." Salazar held his arm out to him, waiting for him to take it so the two of them could Disapparate out of this madness.
Theodore took Salazar's arm without thought, and was a bit surprised when he felt the disorientating feeling of side-along disapparation. Once the feeling had subsided, he opened his eyes. “What portion of the dungeons is this?”
"The deepest part," Salazar told him, openly smirking now. He took his arm back and stepped to a stone circle on the wall with snakes carved around it. He spoke in Parseltongue, the stone serpents moved, and the stone door opened to reveal a large corridor behind it.
"Deep?" He inclined his head, taking in the eerie light and sounds. "Under the lake?" He paused to admire the carvings before following Salazar.
"Yes." As they walked along the corridor, torches lit to cast eerie green light on the damp walkway, and the large serpent statues lining it.
Theodore walked as close to Salazar as decorum would allow - only four or five paces behind him - though there was a small smile on his lips. "Your chamber.. I had heard.. But you never trust Potter.." He trailed off, looking at the alarmingly lifelike statues.
"Lovely, isn't it?" Salazar's voice was remarkably like a proud father, and he smiled until they entered the main room of the chamber and he set eyes on the lifeless body of his precious basilisk.
The scent of rotting flesh hit Theodore like a brick, though he managed to keep the small smile plastered to his face. "Remarkable," he agreed. "Private."
Salazar didn't even hear Theodore, he was too busy starting at his dead serpent to notice. He sighed, and walked to one end of the room to sit down on a hidden bench.
Theodore skirted around the dead snake, looking at the various memorabilia. After a short exploration, he went back to where Salazar was sitting. "What is happening?" he asked, voice quiet and calm.
"A virus," Salazar told him. "Do you remember a few months ago when Rowena was taken hostage by Voldemort?"
"Of course," he replied. The entire school had been in an uproar. "It was developed then?"
Salazar nodded. "It is designed to wipe out all of those of unworthy blood in Britain."
"We are safe, then?" His first thought, typical to Slytherin doctrine, was for his own safety.
Salazar nodded, and it looked as though he was going to break into loud, maniacal laughter.
Theodore raised an eyebrow at the expression on Salazar's face, his own lips twitching into a more realistic smile. "Yes?"
"I can trust you, can't I, Theodore?"
"As much as you can any individual."
Salazar removed his suit jacket, and then rolled up the left sleeve of his shirt to show a large bandage taking over his entire forearm. "Just know that if I am putting more faith into you than I should, I will kill you."
"I think that is rather implied." Theodore replied, eyes glued to the bandages on his mentor's left arm. He licked his lips nervously, "Is that..?" He made a motion when words seemed to fail him.
"The Dark Mark? Unfortunately." Salazar pulled the bandages back to reveal the skull with the serpent coming out of it's mouth, red, bloody and pussing. "Though this honestly means nothing, I am not sorry about the virus."
The bloody, pussing tattoo seemed to be completely different from the civilized, healed one his Father sported. "Professor Ravenclaw has done what she can to help heal it?" It was technically a question, but Theodore was almost certain of the answer anyway. "The world is too full of mudbloods and muggles," Theodore agreed, "The virus is simply population control."
Salazar shook his head at Theodore's question. "I haven't told her yet. And yes, I quite agree. The were merely a bother in my time, with the population so sparse... but now they're everywhere."
"In the wild disease takes care of the unwanted. Now they have built defenses against it; we're only following nature's course."
"Exactly." Salazar smirked. "It's good to see someone actually has some sense."
"I learnt at my Father's knee." He said, inclining his head. 'And later yours,' was left unsaid.
Salazar arched an eyebrow. "What would you say if I asked you to tell me, honestly, about your father?"
Theodore sat next to Salazar, choosing his words carefully. "Father was a... an envisioned man. He did not take into account reality when pursuing what he believed in. That hurt many people." Me, especially. "If you had any specific questions, I would try and answer as fully as I could."
"Did your life with him affect your decision to begin working for for?" Salazar left the question intentionally vague.
"My life with him affected everything I have ever done." Theodore raised his eyebrow. "Working for you? Yes. Working for the Ministry? Yes." Theodore shook his head, laughing bitterly. "Father had expectations, and began his brainwashing early. You were rebellion, the Ministry his plans."
"He wanted you to be a puppet to Voldemort just as he was." It was more of a statement than a question.
"Trained me from birth," Theodore agreed.
"You made the right decision," Salazar said. "And I'm not only saying it because your decision was me. Voldemort's biggest flaw is that he doesn't know how to treat the people who work for him."
"I realized that." Theodore kicked at the ground, determinately not thinking about his Father nor their rocky relationship.
"And yet sometimes..." Salazar said quietly, "we must adhere to the wishes of our fathers, if only for the sake of ourselves..." Discussing Theodore's father was making Salazar think of his own, and their so called "relationship". How he forced Salazar to work for the man who made him the violent person he is after killing his own daughter. "What about your mother?"
"I don't have many solid memories of my Mother." He paused for a second, trying not to feel regret. "I have many memories of my governesses, though. And I do remember my Father pushing me into Mother's stuffy bedroom to watch her last breaths. Looking back now, I see her symptoms point to mercury poisoning."
"Do you think it was accidental, or murder?"
"Knowing my Father, it was likely accidental. He wouldn't have done something so nauseatingly muggle. Unless he told her caregiver to get rid of her."
"I see." Salazar looked back over to the dead basilisk. "Why haven't you asked me anything?"
"I haven't decided how to word my questions, and I don't want to sound like a fool."
"I assure you, in the mood I'm in right now, I won't think you a fool, though I reserve the right to either not answer or heavily mask the whole truth."
"All right." Theo paused, compiling a list. "You don't have to acknowledge any of these however: How long will the sickness last? Who developed it? what are the symptoms? What stance would be prudent to take on in? Did you have a good relationship with your Father? Could one possibly kill off Mr. MacDougal and blame the sickness? What will happen once everyone's in Hogwarts?"
Salazar was slightly over-whelmed by all of Theodore's questions, but took it gracefully. "At the moment there is no antidote, so it will last indefinitely, unless of course the person in question is a Muggleborn, and they will die, though I do not know how long that will take. Rowena developed it. I do not know the symptoms either. When it comes to stance, do whatever people would expect of you. My father was a baby-killing bastard with no respect for his dead wife. What is Mr MacDougal blood status? And the last is yet to be decided."
Theodore centered on the answer that was most relevant to his immediate life - since he was safe from getting sick - his marriage. "I don't know. He claims to be Pureblooded, but that could be a farce. Everyone pushes the skeletons to the back of their closets." He shrugged. "If he can't be killed, is there a way to get out of my marriage?"
"How many know about the arrangement?"
"All of Morag's family, a few from my year at school. Morag and I rallied against an elaborate affair and Prophet columns."
Salazar thought for a moment. "I say you simply have him killed. A Muggle method would most likely work best. With the right poison, no one would ever know you were involved."
"That makes sense." Theodore grinned, thinking of how to use the circumstances to his best advantage. "As long as we get to him, before he decides to have the nuptials in the Great Hall."
"We as in you and Miss MacDougal or we as in you an I?
"Whichever would be more effective."
"Although I think it would be simplest if it was you and I, how does Miss MacDougal feel about all of this?"
"She was the first to mention patricide. However, my trust in her isn't as much as I'd hope it to be."
Salazar clasped his hands together and looked to the ceiling of the chamber, deep in thought. "I have a poison that would be suitable in my laboratory. You could have a house elf slip it into his drink once everything relatively calms. It works similarly to the Killing curse, expect for that fact that is completely untraceable."
Theodore startled at Salazar's answer, though he regained his footing very well. "I would be most appreciative." He leaned against the wall, thinking. "Morag could be so overcome by her Father’s death that she couldn’t bear to wed without him by her side. At least, to her dysfunctional relatives."
"Remind me to get it for you tomorrow. I would tonight, but as you know I have a newborn son and his mother needs to go off and be heroic."
"Congratulations, by the way."
Salazar hid his smile very well. "Oh. Thank you."
What: A discussion of the virus, marriage and murder.
Where: The Chamber of Secrets
When: Right after everyone was forwarded to Hogwarts.
Rating: PG-13
The thought of the shackles of marriage had Theodore fleeing - this mass evacuation had forestalled his wedding, and the thought of having it happen in the Great Hall in front of the entire Wizarding population of Britain wasn’t something he was looking forward to. On his way to the dungeons [and most of his handy hidey holes] Theodore spotted Salazar Slytherin, gazing at everyone milling around in the great hall. He approached his mentor, stopping a few steps away from his brooding form. “Sir.”
"Theodore." Salazar inclined his head just so, and if someone looked carefully at his face, they would be also to see the tiniest twisted smirk on his lips.
"Fancy meeting you here," Theo murmured, "along with half of the wizarding population it seems." He turned his head to the crowd, and spotted someone who looked a lot like his soon-to-be Father-in-law. "I was just heading to the dungeons."
"What an excellent idea," Salazar said, "I think I'll join you." Salazar held his arm out to him, waiting for him to take it so the two of them could Disapparate out of this madness.
Theodore took Salazar's arm without thought, and was a bit surprised when he felt the disorientating feeling of side-along disapparation. Once the feeling had subsided, he opened his eyes. “What portion of the dungeons is this?”
"The deepest part," Salazar told him, openly smirking now. He took his arm back and stepped to a stone circle on the wall with snakes carved around it. He spoke in Parseltongue, the stone serpents moved, and the stone door opened to reveal a large corridor behind it.
"Deep?" He inclined his head, taking in the eerie light and sounds. "Under the lake?" He paused to admire the carvings before following Salazar.
"Yes." As they walked along the corridor, torches lit to cast eerie green light on the damp walkway, and the large serpent statues lining it.
Theodore walked as close to Salazar as decorum would allow - only four or five paces behind him - though there was a small smile on his lips. "Your chamber.. I had heard.. But you never trust Potter.." He trailed off, looking at the alarmingly lifelike statues.
"Lovely, isn't it?" Salazar's voice was remarkably like a proud father, and he smiled until they entered the main room of the chamber and he set eyes on the lifeless body of his precious basilisk.
The scent of rotting flesh hit Theodore like a brick, though he managed to keep the small smile plastered to his face. "Remarkable," he agreed. "Private."
Salazar didn't even hear Theodore, he was too busy starting at his dead serpent to notice. He sighed, and walked to one end of the room to sit down on a hidden bench.
Theodore skirted around the dead snake, looking at the various memorabilia. After a short exploration, he went back to where Salazar was sitting. "What is happening?" he asked, voice quiet and calm.
"A virus," Salazar told him. "Do you remember a few months ago when Rowena was taken hostage by Voldemort?"
"Of course," he replied. The entire school had been in an uproar. "It was developed then?"
Salazar nodded. "It is designed to wipe out all of those of unworthy blood in Britain."
"We are safe, then?" His first thought, typical to Slytherin doctrine, was for his own safety.
Salazar nodded, and it looked as though he was going to break into loud, maniacal laughter.
Theodore raised an eyebrow at the expression on Salazar's face, his own lips twitching into a more realistic smile. "Yes?"
"I can trust you, can't I, Theodore?"
"As much as you can any individual."
Salazar removed his suit jacket, and then rolled up the left sleeve of his shirt to show a large bandage taking over his entire forearm. "Just know that if I am putting more faith into you than I should, I will kill you."
"I think that is rather implied." Theodore replied, eyes glued to the bandages on his mentor's left arm. He licked his lips nervously, "Is that..?" He made a motion when words seemed to fail him.
"The Dark Mark? Unfortunately." Salazar pulled the bandages back to reveal the skull with the serpent coming out of it's mouth, red, bloody and pussing. "Though this honestly means nothing, I am not sorry about the virus."
The bloody, pussing tattoo seemed to be completely different from the civilized, healed one his Father sported. "Professor Ravenclaw has done what she can to help heal it?" It was technically a question, but Theodore was almost certain of the answer anyway. "The world is too full of mudbloods and muggles," Theodore agreed, "The virus is simply population control."
Salazar shook his head at Theodore's question. "I haven't told her yet. And yes, I quite agree. The were merely a bother in my time, with the population so sparse... but now they're everywhere."
"In the wild disease takes care of the unwanted. Now they have built defenses against it; we're only following nature's course."
"Exactly." Salazar smirked. "It's good to see someone actually has some sense."
"I learnt at my Father's knee." He said, inclining his head. 'And later yours,' was left unsaid.
Salazar arched an eyebrow. "What would you say if I asked you to tell me, honestly, about your father?"
Theodore sat next to Salazar, choosing his words carefully. "Father was a... an envisioned man. He did not take into account reality when pursuing what he believed in. That hurt many people." Me, especially. "If you had any specific questions, I would try and answer as fully as I could."
"Did your life with him affect your decision to begin working for for?" Salazar left the question intentionally vague.
"My life with him affected everything I have ever done." Theodore raised his eyebrow. "Working for you? Yes. Working for the Ministry? Yes." Theodore shook his head, laughing bitterly. "Father had expectations, and began his brainwashing early. You were rebellion, the Ministry his plans."
"He wanted you to be a puppet to Voldemort just as he was." It was more of a statement than a question.
"Trained me from birth," Theodore agreed.
"You made the right decision," Salazar said. "And I'm not only saying it because your decision was me. Voldemort's biggest flaw is that he doesn't know how to treat the people who work for him."
"I realized that." Theodore kicked at the ground, determinately not thinking about his Father nor their rocky relationship.
"And yet sometimes..." Salazar said quietly, "we must adhere to the wishes of our fathers, if only for the sake of ourselves..." Discussing Theodore's father was making Salazar think of his own, and their so called "relationship". How he forced Salazar to work for the man who made him the violent person he is after killing his own daughter. "What about your mother?"
"I don't have many solid memories of my Mother." He paused for a second, trying not to feel regret. "I have many memories of my governesses, though. And I do remember my Father pushing me into Mother's stuffy bedroom to watch her last breaths. Looking back now, I see her symptoms point to mercury poisoning."
"Do you think it was accidental, or murder?"
"Knowing my Father, it was likely accidental. He wouldn't have done something so nauseatingly muggle. Unless he told her caregiver to get rid of her."
"I see." Salazar looked back over to the dead basilisk. "Why haven't you asked me anything?"
"I haven't decided how to word my questions, and I don't want to sound like a fool."
"I assure you, in the mood I'm in right now, I won't think you a fool, though I reserve the right to either not answer or heavily mask the whole truth."
"All right." Theo paused, compiling a list. "You don't have to acknowledge any of these however: How long will the sickness last? Who developed it? what are the symptoms? What stance would be prudent to take on in? Did you have a good relationship with your Father? Could one possibly kill off Mr. MacDougal and blame the sickness? What will happen once everyone's in Hogwarts?"
Salazar was slightly over-whelmed by all of Theodore's questions, but took it gracefully. "At the moment there is no antidote, so it will last indefinitely, unless of course the person in question is a Muggleborn, and they will die, though I do not know how long that will take. Rowena developed it. I do not know the symptoms either. When it comes to stance, do whatever people would expect of you. My father was a baby-killing bastard with no respect for his dead wife. What is Mr MacDougal blood status? And the last is yet to be decided."
Theodore centered on the answer that was most relevant to his immediate life - since he was safe from getting sick - his marriage. "I don't know. He claims to be Pureblooded, but that could be a farce. Everyone pushes the skeletons to the back of their closets." He shrugged. "If he can't be killed, is there a way to get out of my marriage?"
"How many know about the arrangement?"
"All of Morag's family, a few from my year at school. Morag and I rallied against an elaborate affair and Prophet columns."
Salazar thought for a moment. "I say you simply have him killed. A Muggle method would most likely work best. With the right poison, no one would ever know you were involved."
"That makes sense." Theodore grinned, thinking of how to use the circumstances to his best advantage. "As long as we get to him, before he decides to have the nuptials in the Great Hall."
"We as in you and Miss MacDougal or we as in you an I?
"Whichever would be more effective."
"Although I think it would be simplest if it was you and I, how does Miss MacDougal feel about all of this?"
"She was the first to mention patricide. However, my trust in her isn't as much as I'd hope it to be."
Salazar clasped his hands together and looked to the ceiling of the chamber, deep in thought. "I have a poison that would be suitable in my laboratory. You could have a house elf slip it into his drink once everything relatively calms. It works similarly to the Killing curse, expect for that fact that is completely untraceable."
Theodore startled at Salazar's answer, though he regained his footing very well. "I would be most appreciative." He leaned against the wall, thinking. "Morag could be so overcome by her Father’s death that she couldn’t bear to wed without him by her side. At least, to her dysfunctional relatives."
"Remind me to get it for you tomorrow. I would tonight, but as you know I have a newborn son and his mother needs to go off and be heroic."
"Congratulations, by the way."
Salazar hid his smile very well. "Oh. Thank you."