The place was a treasure vault, plain and simple. We found many manuals of ancient rituals and spells, books about potions, runes, and other obscure fields that Salazar himself dabbled in. Our biggest hurdle was translating the texts that could take who knows how long… And looking at the quantity of books? This may even take decades.

"What now?" She asked as we stood in the middle watching the antique desk, the magically preserved ink and parchment, and the previous' office' of one of the founding fathers of Hogwarts.

"We can't take everything away. It's too much, and it would be too dangerous. It gets discovered, and we would be dragged away and questioned where we got it!"

"We truly can't tell this to anyone…"

"Not even my Father!" I warned her, "He always told me to be careful… and if I find something beneficial, he won't ask me for details."

"Still… I think… well, okay. I won't argue. I like him, and I believe your family." She shrugged, giving up on it in the end.

"I say we take this!" I continued, holding up the codex with the three main curses. "We won't be taught them until we are in the 5th year! I say, let's go ahead and do it! If the Malfoys are a danger, I don't think Lucius wouldn't teach it to Draco!"

"I agree! Let's take this too!" She held up another codex, a potion maker's wet dream, detailing many lost recipes.

"Um! Let's find our way out first and get an idea of how to come back! When we finish with one book, we can move on to another! I think… I have an idea of what I want to become when I grow old!"

"Oh? And that is?" Quincy asked, watching me with a curious look.

"A Professor here, then become the Headmaster! Then I can come and go any time!"

"Ahahaha! Nice idea! I think I will copy it!" She giggled, sticking out her tongue as we headed to the only door present.

The moment we got close, it opened up without question, and when we stepped out, it slammed close with a loud thud, making both of us jump. Looking back, we saw a cold and dark door with a quote written in old English that took a little time to translate.

"What makes us crave power? Pain. Getting strong means conquering that pain… and what is power in reality? Knowledge. Everything is decided in the mind! We have to train it to withstand the pain. Only a strong mind is capable of wielding my knowledge. My power." Quincy read it out after finally piecing it together.

"Crucio," I murmured, looking at the book in my hand. "To open the door, you must perform the Cruciatus Curse."

"Very much so…"

It was easy to see the way we could open the door. Which meant the way we got in was the easy way! Wait… no… it was probably a hidden entrance and one that wasn't considered to be used. For that, you would have to fight, defeat, or control a basilisk! It's a way more complicated feat than someone casting a curse on you.

"So if you come alone… You can't even get in?" I asked, which made Quincy flinch.

"Probably not… In theory, the Cruciatus Curse won't work if you use it on yourself. You can't torture your own mind and body as it instinctively stops you."

"Then you have to learn it!" I shrugged, "I ain't casting that spell on you!"

"Conrad!"

"I am not arguing about it!" I waved a hand, turning around, "When we come again, you will cast it on me, and that is it! I already have experience; I can take it!"

"But-!" She rushed after me, panicked, but there was no way on this earth that I would cast that spell on her. The last thing I want to hear is her screams. Her steps stopped right when mine did. We came across a dead end. A smooth, hard stone wall. Looking at it, it was clearly something that had to be opened. Without that, we were stuck.

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"Open," I spoke in parseltounge by reflex, and luckily, it had an effect this time. The stone blocks parted, revealing an archway through which we entered a maze-like chamber. "It looks like Slytherin himself expected his own to get this far."

"Probably. I bet he wanted to keep his knowledge in his bloodline. Ah, look!"

She didn't have to point it out as I saw the braziers on the walls lit up and the maze's walls slowly sink down, revealing a road for us, directly to a big, stone door. Because we were coming from the other way around, we won't have to solve it… lucky! Walking through, I wondered what type of test it may have been… was it deadly? Or only dangerous? Will we have to solve it the next time we come? Or will it remember us?

"Haaah…"

"What?" She asked, holding onto my arm, hearing me sight loudly.

"Nothing! We will face whatever comes the next time! Together!"

"Yep! Together!"

Touching the wall, the 'door' shimmered in a blue light, and the next moment, we were in the dungeons, right in the corridor connecting the common room and the stairs leading towards the potion classroom. We passed here many times in the past and noticed nothing… Were we teleported away? Or was it some kind of magic that hides it? I was about to touch the wall when we heard steps coming, and it was Professor Slughorn who was coming down the stairs.

"Professor!" We both said, flinching, looking a bit panicked, and I think he misunderstood the situation.

"Relax, kids, it's the Christmas break! Enjoy yourselves!" He chuckled, going or, in his case, wobbling towards his office like a penguin.

"Shit, we missed dinner!" I moaned, realizing why he looked like he had eaten a horse along with its rider.

"Let's go; we may still find a few plates!" She moaned, her stomach giving an angry rumble, and we sprinted up the stairs with books in hand.

Our luck kept holding out as when getting to the Great Hall, we could find empty plates that when we put down and tapped on the tables, food appeared on it, and we could enjoy a feast like never before.

"Haah… nothing can beat the food here!" I moaned, patting my belly, which looked twice its standard size.

"Of course!" Quincy copied me, just as bloated and sleepy. "I read it in the book; all the recipes are coming from Helga Hufflepuff!"

"Really? Now that explains a lot… geez, now we will have to walk all the way back?"

"Seems like it!" She shrugged, looking around, and besides some ghosts and the Headmaster sitting at the teachers' table, nobody else was around. It was… silent, calm… magical. A somewhat different magical.

"What do you think…" I asked, looking up at the enchanted ceiling, "What was it like in the old days? Or just in our parents' days?"

"I don't know what it was like back in the four founders' time." She answered while following my gaze, "But I do know that in my own parents' days, it was… more colorful. That is what I get from the diaries of my father and uncle."

"You have diaries?" I asked, astonished, and she smiled so sadly that I quickly hugged her to me.

"I only have done. Our house elf, Kreacher, had it, and he was the one who borrowed it from me once. Of course, I never told my grandmother… and those were the only ways I could read about who they were… and what this school was. In their descriptions, this place was different. More lively, welcoming, and… kind."

"Hmmm… I don't find it that different."

"Not even my father wrote about wanting to kill a teacher." She chuckled, saying it whisperingly while leaning against me, continuing to watch the ceiling that started snowing; only the white, twinkling flakes never reached us.

"Touché. Well… I'm not complaining!"

“Hehe… me neither…”

"Khm."

It was the Headmaster's voice that made us flinch and separate very quickly as he stood close to us.

"Leave. It's late." He said, crossing his arms. "Indecent behavior in public. 5 points from Slytherin."

"S-sorry…" We said, lowering our heads, turning bright red as we left, feeling his gaze on our backs right until we stepped into the common room.

"Huh?!" I heard a loud snort, and it came from Draco as he was waking up in his chair. "What?"

"His vocabulary is deficient, ain't it?" I said softly but loud enough for him to hear it.

"Yeah… it is. Probably the head damage… You know how it is… kids getting dropped when they are born, and their parents have clumsy fingers…"

"Yeah, yeah, totally!" I nodded profoundly while walking past him. "The shape of his head is starting to make sense if you think about it!"

"Where…" He rubbed his eyes, wiping the saliva from his mouth, trying to reorientate himself.

"He is improving! How cute!"

"Conrad!" He snapped at my latest chime, making me raise an eyebrow and stop. "Where were you?!"

"Why should I tell you?" I shrugged but then raised my codex, covering it enough that he only saw the empty sides, "In the library if you want to know."

"And we ate dinner!" Quincy added pityingly, "If you rush, you may still have something!"

"What?!" He flinched, feeling extremely hungry and weak, and rushed out, almost tripping while we laughed without holding back.

"Haaah… that felt good!"

"It did!" Quincy agreed, but then she asked me, tilting her head, "Did you see that?"

"Hm? What?"

"Fear. There was fear in his eyes when he realized he slipped up."

"Sorry, I won't start feeling pity towards him!" I waved my hand before she could say more, "I lost any sympathy for him and his family! Let's go! We have books to translate, and it won't do itself!"

"I was just saying!" She turned around, no longer bothering with him either, "And you are right! If I can get a good recipe from mine… You bet that Professor Slughorn will do anything I ask him to do!"

"Scary!" I whistled, elbowing her, "But having an ally who can brew up some of the best potions of today… Don't hold back!"

"I'm not intending to!"