"Care to enlighten this peasssant of your thoughtsss?" Harry asked, no demanded.
"Sigh. Pardon my brazennesss, heir. I didn't answer to your earlier question as to why I laughed did I?" he asked rhetorically.
"Let me start by saying that there is a difference between a phoenix crying for their master's injuries and crying in a container made to store their tears. Notice how I said that they shed tears 'for their masters**'**? It's common knowledge, at least for those who read about them, that phoenixes never shed tears for any living being other than their soul bonded and that the stored tears, even though they are incredibly valuable, can't compare to the real deal," Salazar patiently explained.
"Woah. How did Fawkes save me then?" asked Harry, momentarily forgetting his annoyance.
"Honestly? I don't know… I've not heard about a phoenix shedding tears for someone besides its master, even when begged at the brink of death. I can only speculate and assume that you have somehow formed a bond with the majestic creature and considering that it's not your own familiar, the bond must not be a strong one," he mused out loud while going back and forth.
With a shake of his head, the man in the painting stopped moving back and forth and turned to look at Harry.
"I ask you to bear with me a little more, as everything will fall in place when I finish," he stated, not waiting for Harry's reply before opening his mouth again to resume his explanation.
"The basilisk venom is known as the most poisonous and corrosive substance there ever was and is. Any quantity of the said venom inside a living being will unquestionably send them to the afterlife, at the worst case in little more than a minute. Once inside an organism, it is synonymous with an excruciating death sentence. You see, the venom not only enters the bloodstream and multiplies at a truly astonishing rate, for the beings that do have veins, but it also forces a connection with their soul that's slowly breaking it apart. Once inside an organism, it can't get out and I doubt that your case was an exception," Salazar announced, making Harry pale.
However, before Harry could start babbling in fear, the snake speaker cut him off yet again.
"And that is where the phoenix tears come in. In my time it was jokingly said between magizoologists that a phoenix's master could be considered quasi-immortal. There have never been any instances of a person bonded to a phoenix dying outside battle or when close to living three centuries, the life span of wizards and witches. In the case of battles, they are exceedingly hard to kill as their phoenixes can tear apart any quickly placed transportation wards and take on at least one lethal spell for them… There's nothing known that can overpower a phoenix's tears that are shed for its bonder, not even the darkest curses, leading me to believe that they are the reason for your continuous existence. Now as I mentioned before, the basilisk venom is impossible to get out once inside someone which leads me to believe that as we are currently talking, inside your very body and soul, Asmodeus' venom and Fawkes tears are having a never-ending battle for dominance," he finished.
That was definitely a lot to take in and Harry suddenly felt a growing affection towards a certain fiery avian.
After a little while of quiet, a question popped into the young man's head.
"What does this mean for me and Fawkes?" he voiced with unmistakable resentfulness in his tone.
The sudden show of hostility didn't surprise Salazar at all. He had of course noticed that in Harry's narrative, the boy would stop and take a deep breath before any mention of his headmaster. The headmaster condemned him to an abusive and illiterate childhood and continued to try so every summer.
'If only I were alive, I would have given that old scoundrel a piece of my mind,' he thought with contempt.
"Sigh. I assume that the phoenix, Fawkes, had two soul connections at the time of the incident… If that is still the case, I cannot say. Provided that it is still the case, Fawkes is bonded with two wizards that he chose and will try to help both. Albeit, the original bond will most assuredly outshine the new one," he provided.
While Harry was trying to consume the new piece of information, Salazar's thoughts turned elsewhere, to a long-forgotten past.
FLASHBACK
"SALAZARRR," came a familiar voice outside the room, before a strong slam sounded from the door.
With a lazy flick of his hand, Salazar unlocked his personal office's door, making the person fall headfirst into the room's floor.
With practised ease and another wave of his hand, the woman's movements stopped mid-air, allowing her to regain her footing.
The round and plump woman with brown hair and blue eyes that often sported a wide smile, was currently in tears…
"What has happened?" Salazar asked softly.
"Stoutpaws left me!!" she sobbed and Salazar almost dismissed her words.
"Imposssible. Familiarss never leave their masterss out of their own volition," he quickly replied in denial, almost slipping to his own tongue.
It couldn't be true. He knew how strong was the bond a familiar shared with its master. He had Asmodeus after all.
"It is true… No more than a few moments ago, I found a student from my older batches bullying one of yours. After entering his mind and learning of the petty reasons that drove him to such acts, I kicked him out of the school without hesitation," she said with no remorse, before freezing.
Noticing how uncomfortable his friend felt, Salazar stood from his chair and moved to hug his fellow founder.
She melted in his arms.
"Stoutpaws came not long after and confronted me for my actions. He couldn't accept that I did the right thing and threw hurtful words at me before storming off. Shortly after, I felt the bond break," she whispered.
"That ungrateful groundhog," he hissed.
Salazar held Helga for a long time, comforting her with both back rubs and words.
When the other founders finally found them to provide Helga with their own comfort, they were still hugging.
END OF FLASHBACK
"Heir, what do you sssay of getting a phoenix?" he asked oh so sssslyly.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, noticing the gleeful gleam in the familiar pair of eyes.
"I imagine Fawkes knowss about some of Dumbledore'sss actions, that'ss why he allowed a second bond to form. However, I assume that your manipulative headmaster hidesss a lot of his actionss from the loyal creature as it would have no doubt left him by now," he answered.
After a moment of considering Salazar's words, he got it.
"Do you think that if I confront Dumbledore about his actions in front of Fawkes, there's a chance that he will choose to side with me?" he asked with vengefulness.
"I'm almost sssure of it my heir," the man confirmed.
'It will be a good way to start the payback. It's not a family vault but it will be a start. I bet Scumbledore's reaction will be fucking glorious,' Harry thought with perverse pleasure.
"Evil plans aside, I've not told you about the Horcrux situation yet. I'm surprised you let me ignore it for so long," he remarked, breaking Harry from daydreaming an aghast Dumbledore.
"You said that everything will be revealed by the end, so I thought I'd wait until you finished," he actually said, surprising not only Salazar but Asmodeus as well.
"Circe! I wasn't expecting that from you. I assumed that you've forgotten about it," he muttered.
"No matter. You can undergo a number of rituals that will successfully purge the foreign soul in your body. Even so, we won't do that," he announced as carefree as ever.
Harry was very close to starting spewing insults at the man. He only managed to hold back, knowing that Salazar wouldn't condemn his heir if he could help it.
"After we make sure that you have both the venom and the tears inside your body, I'm going to devise a ritual that will take advantage of both of them. I can barely stop myself from thinking of all the boons that a thousand-year-old basilisk venom and actual phoenix tears can grant you. In any case, as undergoing a single ritual is always the best option, we will also have to include the Horcrux in there," he noted, pointing at Harry's forehead.
"Can you do that?" Harry asked amazed.
"Of course. I'm Salazar Peverell Slytherin after all," he said as if that should have explained everything.
Ignoring Harry's exasperated expression like a pro, Salazar continued.
"You should finish your story. Having learnt of your luck my descendant, I don't doubt that I'll learn of something else to use for the ritual," he commented darkly.
[BREAK]
"And you know the rest," Harry finished.
"Indeed. There may be something with the dementors. I'll have to do some research," he mused aloud, making Harry snicker.
"Yes of course, because you can go ahead and get any book from your numerous bookshelves." Harry snarked, pointing at a humongous bookcase not far away.
To Harry's surprise, Salazar waved his hand and a book started accelerating towards them.
Bang.
It connected with his head, getting out some obscenities from his mouth.
"I believe that your second class of the day is about to start," Salazar remarked.
It was a very grumpy Harry who left the chamber, his earlier plans of skipping most of his classes on hold.
"I bet that the guy who'sss hair getss in the way when he wipess his asss won't be pleased with you," Ash hissed from behind.
"Which one?" Harry asked, half bewildered and half amused.
(Last edit: 16/07/2024)