A few days later, the four of them were gathered in their usual spot, the place they had been meeting since the start of the term. Godric was the first to arrive this time. He had gone through the kitchens beforehand to grab enough food for the four of them to spend hours together. They had several things to discuss, among them the golden egg containing Salazar's riddle. The four had considered pulling Salazar out of the tournament so the Goblet of Fire wouldn't choose him, even at the risk of damaging the artifact—which would be very difficult to explain. They could also have used the oath, which would have exposed them all before their time. Since the tournament rules didn't say the champion had to act alone, they had decided that even if he had to compete, they would help him.
"What a banquet, Godric. Do you still enjoy eating so much?"
"Yes, but I don't commit such excesses anymore, Helga."
"It feels like we're back in the old days," Rowena commented, grabbing a biscuit from the table.
"Well, let's begin," Salazar said.
"My friend, I sense you're tense. You did well in the task, but Karkaroff's shamelessness with the scores was bad. It was obvious he was trying to favour his school." Godric clenched his fists; if he disliked anything, it was cheating, and that had been blatant.
"It wouldn't have been so noticeable if Krum had decided to use his natural abilities instead of following his headmaster's advice," Salazar said with a shrug, Godric knowing that he didn't really care. What his friend wanted was to get to the bottom of the matter and find the proof. "Now that we have some time to relax, it's time to start figuring out why Moody has acted the way he has. Helga?"
"I have no idea what his intentions might be... but," Helga frowned, "I was able to talk to him briefly the other day at the Three Broomsticks. He seemed different. It was as if he didn't truly know who he was. Alastor has a security code for each person, something that must be done whenever those two people meet. He didn't."
"That's strange," Godric said. "Possession, perhaps?"
"He can't be possessed. If he were, he would still know who he is, although he would have blank periods. I would have noticed his reaction," Salazar analysed.
"What if he were Moody but not Moody?" Rowena proposed.
"I don't think Alastor would be easily replaced, but that's what it all seems to be," Helga said. "At one point, I thought of the Imperius Curse, but he showed no sign of being under it when I was with him." Godric thought she looked a little sorry. "Salazar was right to say there was something wrong with him. Now all that remains is to know what it is and if we can help him."
"You want to help him?" Godric asked. At that moment, he saw Moody as someone who was betraying what it meant to be noble and to be an Auror.
"He is your teacher," Salazar said. "We can't investigate directly because it would be too obvious. We just have to pay attention."
"Have they told you about the dance yet?" Rowena asked, changing the subject.
"What dance?" Salazar asked.
"The Yule Ball of the Triwizard Tournament. Chang is over the moon; apparently, Diggory asked her a few days ago."
"What else do you know about that dance?" Godric urged.
"That it's on the twenty-fourth of December at night, that only those in fourth year and up can go, and that third years can go if they are invited... Krum has already asked Hermione, and she accepted..."
"What!" Godric burst out. "What's that stupid Quidditch player doing with the most beautiful and brilliant girl in all of Hogwarts!"
"Someone's in love," Salazar muttered, amused, earning him a strange look from Godric.
"...and that the champions must open the dance."
Godric was upset because he had wanted to ask Hermione to the dance for a long time and had missed his opportunity since no one had been kind enough to mention there was a dance at all. As he calmed down, he could see Salazar and Helga exchange an anxious look.
"You can't take me, dear. It would raise too many questions."
"But we can see each other just the same," Salazar said. "Rowena, is it just the opening of the bloody ball that I have to do?"
"And to have dinner with the judges before the ball."
"Well, that's not much. I'm sure I can sneak away and dedicate that night to the one I really love." Salazar glanced at Helga, taking her hand and squeezing it gently.
"I won't trust anyone but Rowena for that dance," Helga said. "I don't know the rest, and you're a very handsome boy."
"Okay, so I have the opportunity to go and see if the boy I like will ask me to dance."
"I'll ask Ginny," Godric resolved. "I'm sure she'll want to go to the ball."
While they had been talking, they were eating little by little. It was the same thing they did when they were building the castle and with many of the important meetings they had had between the four of them. They had already finished with half of what Godric had brought. Godric looked at his friend.
"Well, Salazar. What about the egg? What is the clue?"
"A few howls, as if they were torturing a baby."
"That comment is not pleasant, Salga," Helga said.
"I know, but that's what it sounds like. In fact, it's a rather unpleasant sound. I'll show you."
Godric watched as Salazar opened the rucksack he had brought. He saw him take out the golden egg he had obtained in the dragon task. The egg had a safety lock on top. Salazar opened it, and the room was immediately filled with a shrill sound that seemed capable of destroying their eardrums. His friend soon closed the egg again. It had been a rather enlightening demonstration.
"It must be a magical language, probably of a creature," Rowena theorised.
"Magical languages usually have some articulation."
"When you talk to me, I only hear you hiss," Helga said. "It wouldn't be unreasonable that there were magical creatures with a language of their own that only a few people can hear and understand, or that can only be heard under certain circumstances."
"Of course, one of the judges must know what the clue says," Godric said. "It wouldn't make much sense to put a task that they can't control. Of course, many times they don't do anything that makes sense."
"Open the clue again, Salazar," Rowena requested.
"No, please," Godric wasn't happy to hear it again.
"Open it."
Godric covered his ears when he heard the noise again, while he saw Rowena looking at the clue analytically, as if she could get something out of it. The egg remained open this time for several minutes until Rowena decided she had had enough. The fact was that, by her expression, it seemed that she had managed to capture something that escaped the others.
"It has a rhythm. Ascents, descents, and intervals that are repeated. It's a pattern often found in music."
"Well, it sounds worse than the orchestra at Nearly Headless Nick's deathday party," Salazar said with a frown.
"An audio clue then," Helga resolved. "Now all that remains is to find a way to decipher its contents."
"I'll investigate magical languages and how to listen to them. It has to be something that can be translated in certain circumstances."
Salazar looked at himself in the mirror of the Gryffindor common room. The dress robes he had chosen for the occasion were elegant and sober at the same time. He had also helped Ron find a suitable suit because what his mother had sent him was completely tacky. Mrs. Weasley didn't seem to care if her son was humiliated by going to the ball in that manner. Much less had he been invited by the poshest girl in all of Gryffindor Tower, Lavender Brown.
Twenty minutes before the celebration began, Salazar collected Rowena from Ravenclaw Tower, offering her his arm and laughing at her personalised touch on her clothes. It was going to be fun to see the expression of some of the most conservative in society, some of the most stuffy and stupid people. Something really fun. The four had been groundbreakers in the past, each in their own way. So it was going to be an interesting statement of intent.
They stood alongside the rest of the champions and their partners. They waited until Professor McGonagall looked up at Rowena. The members of the jury and teachers entered the Great Hall, followed by the four couples, and then all the other guests of the evening. The entire hall was arranged with round tables for several diners. The largest of all was precisely the one in which the members of the jury and the champions were with their respective partners. Companions, as Salazar preferred to say. During the evening, he didn't eat much; he only tasted a couple of dishes, just what was necessary so as not to break with any tradition. His real Christmas party was with Helga, for whom he had a surprise prepared and whom he would meet later, as soon as he could slip away. And that would only have to be in the middle of dancing.
The time came to open the ball. Salazar held Rowena firmly and waited for the music to begin. Both of them began to glide masterfully with that initial waltz. Apparently, now at all parties, the opening was a waltz. The piece lasted a long time; you could tell that it was an inaugural piece. As soon as it finished, a second piece began, in which the rest of the guests joined, little by little. The dance floor was filled with dancing couples. Salazar planned to stop dancing after finishing that piece and go to the Shrieking Shack, but it wasn't necessary. A light tap on the shoulder made him turn. It was Nott, and he asked to dance with Rowena.
"Of course."
Salazar stepped aside, allowing the young Slytherin student to take his place. He took advantage of that moment to disappear from the dance and go to the Shrieking Shack where he had prepared everything hours before. After all, as a champion, he had already fulfilled his promise. Now it was time to do something more pleasant.
When Helga arrived at the Shrieking Shack, she found a dining room very different from what it usually was every time they met there. It was true that there were no large decorations, but she found a table covered with a white tablecloth and red candles. Also, several dishes and plates to fill with delicacies. She heard the door open behind her and turned to see Salazar entering.
"I'm sorry for the delay, I couldn't get here sooner."
"It doesn't matter," Helga said.
Helga walked up to Salazar and kissed him. She hadn't had to wait long, and even if she had, she wouldn't have minded at all. She would wait for him as long as it took, and she knew he felt the same way. They had always been very close, even if circumstances in the past had not allowed them to go beyond a close friendship.
"I have reserved the best for you, my dear."
She felt his touch as he took her hand and led her to the table, pulling one of the chairs aside for her to sit on, then sat down on the opposite one. When Salazar had told her that he had a surprise in store for her, she didn't expect anything of that magnitude. It was clear that Salazar had put everything into making her that romantic dinner. He assured her that he would spend that whole night with her, as he would have had if he had been able to take her to the dance. It was a shame not to have been able to do it. She acknowledged that she would like to be able to show their relationship in public and not only to their closest friends.
After dinner, she saw him go to a gramophone and put on a record; after that, he went to her and with a gesture that is only seen in gentlemen from the movies, he asked her to dance. That night was on its way to being the perfect night.
Theo couldn't be happier that Potter had left his dance partner in his hands. When Professor Snape had told them about the ball, he had only thought of Luna Lovegood to ask; she was an intelligent, funny, and witty girl, with whom he could talk about any subject. A girl of the few in the castle; but he soon saw that there was a catch—she was going to the ball with Potter. A year ago, this would have made him angry; now, not so much, since in a way that boy had helped both Draco and him a lot. So he was happy to be able to spend the whole dance with the girl he liked if Luna Lovegood liked him. And he was surprised that Potter had not returned to claim his dance partner.
"Don't worry, he won't come back. If it were up to him, I would have passed on this dance, but I couldn't avoid it."
With those words, Theo understood. Potter had not abandoned his dance partner because his dance partner knew he was going to do it and was happy with it. Potter had come to the ball out of commitment, the obligatory commitment that came with his position as a forced champion, he had fulfilled the minimum and then he had disappeared. The truth is that by putting himself in his shoes and having to do something he didn't want to do, he would have acted in the same way. Theo had been in a similar position for years.
While dancing one of the pieces, he could see that Draco was dancing with Ginny Weasley while Neville Longbottom was dancing with Hermione Granger and Viktor Krum with Fleur Delacour. As that happened, it seemed that the youngest of the Weasley boys wanted to glare Draco away. Luckily, she had a very insistent partner who didn't let him get away from her and go and throw himself at Draco. A fight would ruin anyone's night. Well, not him, because for him the night was perfect.
When that dance piece was over, he could feel the fatigue in his companion. It was no wonder; they had been dancing for hours. He gave her a sweet smile, leading her off the dance floor, where they couldn't get in the way of others by standing still.
"Are you all right?"
"A little tired. I would like to retire."
"In that case, let me accompany you. It is not good for a lady to return alone."
"With pleasure."
They left the Great Hall arm in arm. Theo had offered it to her, although she was the one who led the way. Theo knew that Ravenclaw's common room was on the seventh floor, but he didn't know exactly where. So he allowed her to guide him. It didn't take long for them to reach the stairs that gave access to the tower. Theo would have liked the walk to last longer, but it couldn't be, although he was sure Luna had taken the long way.
"Here I leave you, my beautiful companion. It has been a pleasure to share the night with you."
"I've had a good time too, Theo."
"Will you come with me on the next outing to Hogsmeade?"
"Of course, nothing would make me happier."
"Good night, Luna," he said goodbye to her, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips to give her a faint kiss on the back of it.
The next morning, as soon as dawn had broken, a elated Salazar approached the common room, still dressed in his full formal robes. He had spent the whole night with his beloved, and he wouldn't trade that for anything in the world. He knew that no teacher had noticed his absence because otherwise, Godric would have warned him. When he reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, he found her with a look of disgust.
"What's going on?"
"Please make them shut up; they're giving me a headache," the portrait replied.
Surprised, Salazar pronounced the password and entered the common room. Inside, there was an argument, a shouting match. That almost made him wish he had stayed longer with Helga, but since the two of them had agreed, it would attract too much attention. The arguing ones, Ron and Ginny Weasley. He couldn't catch what they were shouting at each other because they were both doing it at the same time.
"What happened?" he asked Hermione; he couldn't see Godric anywhere.
"Oh, hello, Harry. Where have you been? Well, that doesn't matter now. They're arguing because Ginny was dancing with Draco Malfoy."
"Is that all the problem?"
"Well, Malfoy is Malfoy, although he seems to be behaving a little better since the middle of last term. He no longer goes around insulting people for sport."
"He may have matured." Of course, Salazar wasn't going to reveal anything he knew about Draco. "And Neville?"
"He went to look for McGonagall as soon as the fight broke out, and they both tried to attack him for trying to stop them. It's a good thing you came back before he came back with her. In addition, Ron has blamed him for taking his sister to the ball and allowing her to dance with Malfoy."
Salazar nodded; he knew Hermione was right. He would have a lot of trouble being dressed up and appearing at that time in the common room. Which reminded him that he probably only had a few minutes. With a wave of a wand, he transfigured his formal clothes into some jeans and a thick shirt.
"That's thinking fast. You've just been with a girl, right?"
"I will not give any information about that." Hermione's gaze shifted to the pair of siblings who shouted insults at each other and aired their dirty laundry. He could also see a few housemates watching the fight as if it were entertainment. "Look at them, they need popcorn. And it's better to intervene."
"I wouldn't."
Salazar ignored what Hermione was saying and took out his wand, pointing at both of them. He first launched a Protego powerful enough to separate them and not let them advance towards each other. Then he cast a Silencing Charm on each of them, ending the noise of the screams and, thirdly, before they remembered that they had a wand, he disarmed them.
"Enough," Salazar said in a serious tone, a tone very similar to the one he used in the past when he was in charge of the students. "He knew that Professor McGonagall had just entered through the portrait hole, so for a moment, he hesitated between withdrawing and letting her go on or 'not knowing and going.' He saw the second as more feasible. "You're siblings, dammit, and you are humiliating each other over something that is surely a trifle. Now I will nullify the enchantments with which I have immobilised you, and we will talk about whatever this is as civilised people. Are you going to behave?" From the face they made, he knew that it achieved the same effect that it once achieved on his students. They both nodded. "As for the rest, don't you have anything better to do? The show is over." Salazar cancelled the spells. Neither Ginny nor Ron said anything; they looked at him with respect, with the respect you have for a mentor, but they also looked unsure at Professor McGonagall.
"Mr. Potter, twenty points to Gryffindor for stopping a fight between his housemates," the teacher announced. Now she turned to look at her, pretending to be surprised. "And another ten for mastery in the use of spells of a higher level than yours."
"I've been studying and practising ever since that stupid goblet spat out my name."
"As for the two of you, you lose ten points each for behaving more like a pack of dogs than like people." The teacher addressed the two siblings. "Both of you to my office to do what Potter has suggested: to calmly talk about your differences. And I'll make sure you don't get out of there until you do."
"Harry, what you've done has been impressive," Hermione said when Professor McGonagall had left.
"If I had found out, I wouldn't have looked for her," Godric said.
"Well, guys, I'm going to change and have breakfast. Are you waiting for me?"