A Late Night Meeting (Helga/Alfie/Salazar)

[Helga Artemis Hufflepuff]

Amunet could feel Rowena's eyes on her and chose to ignore it. The staff room door opened and the priestess heaved a sigh of relief - she hoped now that there was a newcomer, she would no longer be the focus of the woman's attention. Amunet looked up and stared at Alphard as if she was seeing him for the first time. She hoped no one would notice that. Her gaze followed after him as he sat down. Her shoulders relaxed and a broad smile appeared on her face when Alfie complimented her cooking.

"It pleases me to hear that Headmaster," she replied.

Shifting so that her body faced him Amunet added, "Rest assured you will. I plan on trying other new recipes."

She paused her eyes shifting from Alphard to Rowena and back.

Gulping she said sounding much like shy innocent Helga, "I... I uhh would like to ask you some questions... about, about Egypt... when you have some time."

The door opened for the second time and Amunet turned to see the newcomer. Ah. This must be Salazar, she thought. Quite handsome. You have good taste in men. Helga huffed and continued to concentrate on closing her mind to Amunet. Salazar was looking at her funny, as if he sensed the change that had occurred. Amunet would have to try harder. She could not help but notice the negative energy in the room. Amunet admired Rowena's leadership qualities and listened intently to what she had to say.

[Melkor 'Alfie' Valenceus]

Alfie pulled a flask from his pocket even as Salazar entered the room. He gave Helga occassional glances and nods as she spoke to him. He took a sip from the flask then returned it as Salazar spoke up. Alfie turned to Salazar as he made the remark on his tardiness, "Indeed. The intrigue. Perhaps something should be done about that?" Alfie then promptly turned his back to Salazar.

He grinned at Rowena, "Splendid evening indeed, Madame Ravenclaw. It would be a pity if a basilisk brought ruin to it." Turning to Helga quickly he grinned politely. "I am terribly busy at the moment. Perhaps in a few weeks or so, dear." He hoped she didn't find his lack of interest in Egypt particularly rude, but he honestly didn't think any significance could come of the topic.

Alfie listened to Rowena patiently. He had expressed displeasure with this event before. He did not think either of the other two headmasters were particularly stable people. "You know I don't like this idea. Olaf is a bold charlatan; all too similar to his counterparts here at Hogwarts." Alfie gave Salazar a wary eye. But turned back to Rowena after a short moment. "I know considerably less about Mitrevska but what I have heard is most disturbing." Alfie leaned back in his chair as he spoke and pulled a pipe from his jacket. He put the pipe in his mouth and lit it with his wand before tucking the wand away as quickly as he had retrieved it. "Both possibly blood thirsty and almost certainly a danger to us all."

[Salazar Slytherin]

At the mention of Basilisk even though meant has a joke he swiftly looked away. Oh if you only knew...you little fool. he thought as he looked at them, giving them a smile he listened to Rowena and sighed calmly, her thinking she was a leader did annoy him a lot, specially the admission of mudbloods, he sighed calmly. "Do we really need to be on good terms with everyone?" Salazar finally said, he already wasn't in good term with the other founders. Salazar then looked over at Helga, something she said started confirming his suspicions of course he wouldn't say anything about his suspicions, he just looked at Helga and gave her a smile.

"My dear Helga, I thought your french fiancee would know about Egypt, isn't he after all a treasure hunter, wasting his time in Egypt for treasures, his ancestors were famous for wasting their lives that way and visiting other countries of course. At least that's what you used to tell us and him when he opens his mouth too much." He said calmly still looking at Helga, he'd keep a watchful eye on her, something wasn't right. His attention then went to Rowena and Alfie. "I will nominate the champion of Slytherin eventually." He said getting up, he cast a glance at Godric's empty seat, deep down hoping that everything was fine, he then made his way toward the door.

[Rowena Ravenclaw]

The strange look Helga sent to Alfie didn't go unnoticed by Rowena. Frowning slightly, she spoke to her friend under her breath. "Helga, is everything alright?" However, Rowena could easily understand if her friend was troubled by Salazar's presence. She certainly was.

The moment they had all been anticipating for quite a while had come. Salazar and Alfie - together in the same room. Well, they will have to find a way to deal with each other, or they'll burn the school down. Rowena thought, worried that the latter would be more likely to happen. Rowena answered to Alfie's joke about a basilisk with a small smile, knowing that he was referring to Salazar. Rowena had wondered if the meeting was such a good idea and as moments passed by, the feeling that she had made a mistake was rising inside her.

Rowena sighed impatiently, looking at Alfie. They had already discussed the matter and she knew exactly what he was about to say. "Yes, I know." she answered. Unfortunately, Alfie was too far for her to step on his foot and warn him about his behaviour. They had to be polite, to both Salazar and their guests. "To be completely honest with you, as we all should be..." then she glanced at Salazar, doing exactly what she'd wanted to prevent Alfie from doing. "... I don't like him too much, myself. However, the cooperation with our foreign colleagues is essential for achieving efficient goals. We can learn as much from them as they can learn from us." Rowena's hunger for knowledge was immense and well-known. She knew of course that all of them had different interests and plans, but it only made everything more interesting to her.

"I have exchanged letters with Madame Mitrevska, but we have never met in person." Rowena admitted, remaining self-confident. "I do not wish to judge anyone without evidence and without even meeting them." she concluded, letting everyone know that she would stick to her ideas and wasn't willing to discuss the issue further. "We are more than capable of protecting ourselves from any kind of danger." she whispered, looking directly at Alfie. Then she turned to Salazar. "It is not about being on good terms with everyone!" Rowena looked at him sadly. "It's not that simple! Just think of everything we can learn from them!" Rowena remained silent for a moment and continued: "I know that they probably see us as a threat, but I hope you all realise that I would never let someone into our school without taking every possible precaution to guard the castle and our students."

"Salazar, please..." Rowena said in a dangerously low voice when he started insulting Helga's fiance. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw him rising from his seat and starting to leave. "So, you're leaving us already? Lovely! Salazar, come back here, the meeting isn't over yet!"

[Helga Artemis Hufflepuff]

Forcing a smile on her face Amunet said, "Of course Monsieur. I understand."

For some odd reason the fact that Alphard was affiliated with Egypt drew her to him. In fact she trusted him more than she trusted Helga's best friend. Amunet believed him when he said that Olaf and Mitrevska were dangerous people - she would have sided with him if it weren't for annoying Lady Hufflepuff. The High Priestess knew that Helga would stick with Rowena through thick and thin, as such, Amunet was forced to take her side (by means of nodding her agreement.

Salazar was still watching her and that disturbed Amunet greatly. He knows, Helga's spirit taunted. Amunet would have loved to slap the blonde for saying that but in their current situation, it was not a smart idea to slap herself... especially not in front of Alphard, Rowena and Salazar. When the Slytherin Founder spoke, Amunet paid him no attention until deep inside her body Helga started heating up from rage - Salazar had always been a friend to her and she could not understand why he would say that.

Knowing that she owed it to Helga Amunet replied, "How dare you imply such a despicable thing. I may feel distressed when he is away but not because I deem his expeditions as a waste of time..."

Her voice trailed away when Salazar stood up. Turing to Rowena she replied weakly to her earlier question, "I feel faint..."

[Melkor 'Alfie' Valenceus]

Alfie bowed his head. He gave a sigh of defeat and put his pipe on his knee. He seemed to be in deep thought. As though pondering a way to get Rowena to see his paranoid delusions. He was of course not going to waste time trying to oppose Rowena on the tournament; preparations were already in place. He was not going to be able to stop the tournament now on his own.

Alfie leaned forward and scratched the back of his head. The meeting was deteriorating fast and as Headmaster, he felt it was his duty to bring fluidity back. "It seems unlikely that I will dissaude you. I did not mean to question your resolve or ability in defending our students. I merely wanted to stress the importance of doing such."

Alfie looked up at Salazar as he pulled a letter from his pocket with a broken seal. "This arrived today by a Muggle hawk. I opened the letter, though it was addressed to the Founders, as a pre-cautionary measure. It was sent by a Muggle. His son has died within the Forbidden Forest. He has refused to let me send him the body, and insists on visiting the castle himself." Alfie hoped the news would put Salazar back in his chair as it involved a non-magical man visiting his precious Hogwarts. "I do believe we owe him our hospitality." Alfie remarked as though it were expected.

[Salazar Slytherin]

Salazar saw all he needed as he glanced back to Helga when he was right at the door, her eyes, he could noticed differences in them, like two individuals sharing the same body, he could notice the angry and hurt gaze that Helga was casting at him but he could also see that indifferent gaze, he opened the door, set a foot outside but stood in his tracks when he heard Alfie. His foot and leg going back inside as he slammed the door, he turned around slowly looking at Alfie.

"What?" He shouted as he looked at Alfie. "Are you insane, who cares if that kid died, it makes one filth of less in this world and you want his father to come over and see the castle?" He said, was he insane, it should be a secret from such muggles, they shouldn't show them the place, he looked at the other two, knowing already what their decisions would be, the majority would win this. "An ordinary mudblood has no right to come visit the castle, are we going to invite all of them if one of the champions end up being a mudblood?" he said eventually spitting on the floor.

[Rowena Ravenclaw]

Rowena looked at Helga, with a worried expression on her face. She took the other woman's hand and squeezed it gently. "Perhaps you should drink something?" she whispered a suggestion. Helga looked quite pale and generally very strange. The two men, however, didn't give Rowena the time to worry about her best friend.

Rowena turned to face Alfie. She knew him very well and she could tell that she had won this time. He still seemed quite distressed and seeing him like that only made Rowena want to cross the room and hug him. However, they had to keep the meeting formal. Her voice was soft and gentle when she spoke to Alfie "I know, darl... Headmaster." Rowena quickly corrected herself, hoping that the others didn't notice her mistake. "I know that you do not question me and I understand very well the importance of adequate defense. I've merely been trying to emphasise the importance of international cooperation."

Rowena's dark eyes flew to the letter in Alfie's hands. She took a deep breath, genuinely surprised. "Was his son one of our students?" she inquired, the shock and sympathy written all over her pretty face. "He might be a Muggle, but he deserves to see his son's body..." Rowena remained silent for a while, thinking about the man and his son. "I agree with you, Headmaster. Losing one's child is..." Rowena broke off and just stared at Alfie for a while. Then she continued, her voice still shaking. "We should allow him to visit us. The anti-Muggle spells can be lifted for one day. And even if he brought hundreds of other Muggles with him, they wouldn't be able to find it, once we raise the protection charms again." Rowena allowed herself a discreet and somewhat smug smile. She did feel sorry for the man, but she also knew how powerful her magic was.

"Salazar!" she yelled, looking at Slytherin dangerously. "How dare you say such a thing?! You disgust me, Salazar." she sighed, looking away from him. "If his son died in our forest and he was indeed our student, then the least we can do for his father is to allow him to take his son's body."

[Helga Artemis Hufflepuff]

Rowena's genuine concern and kindness took Amunet by surprise. She was aware of the friendship between the brunette beside her and Helga, however, Amunet had not been able to understand it until now. When she lived in Egypt, she had never had the luxury of friends because her days were devoted to turning her into a priestess. Shaking the thought out of her head, Amunet offered Rowena a weak smile.

"I am sure that is what I need. It's been such a hectic day that I put my health on a backseat," she replied before standing up to pour herself some water.

Like Helga, Amunet did not give much importance to blood status - mainly because it was not something that worried the people of her time. The more she listened to Salazar, the more she could not understand how Helga even liked him. He was an obnoxious silly man, obviously arrogant and self-centered. Amunet agreed with Helga's colleagues. The decent thing to do was allow the muggle man in the castle.

Folding her arms over her chest Amunet addressed Salazar, "You need to get off your high horse. You are no longer the man I... we knew..."

Technically that was true. From Helga's memories Amunet had encountered a different man.

[Melkor 'Alfie' Valenceus]

Alfie put his pipe back into his mouth. He lit it with the end of his wand. He pretended nothing was going awry as he did so. Seemingly not in the same room as the others. His mind recoiled in horror at the response Salazar had given him. Though it was not wholly unexpected, Alfie was surprised that Salazar would insult a deceased student's memory. The only tell of his emotions to the other three members of the meeting was a raised eyebrow in Salazar's direction. Almost as though he hadn't just yelled at him, Alfie absently placed the letter onto the table and slid it over toward Salazar calmly.

Alfie turned to Rowena, seeing that Salazar was beyond reasoning at this point. "Indeed he was. A boy from Helga's house. It appears as though he went on a murderous rampage. Killed a girl and brutalized another. The Wizard's Council has refused to let me in on the details. That was all they would tell me. They're personally trying to bar the man from the country. Doubtful they'll be successful though; they're a useless, archaic institution." Alfie had been targeted by the Wizard's Council previously, he had experienced their lack of tact and inability to effect their goals in the least first hand. "They're much too diverse in their politcal ideas, can't agree on a single thing." He remembered how it was only their chief that had problems with Alfie's research into Horcruxes while the others had actually made significant contributions to his work.

Alfie had no care for Helga's problems, he had too many complications of his own. That is why he hadn't noticed her plight. He looked to her now. Then back to Salazar. He didn't want to seem too severe but he coughed politely, "I would appreciate if we didn't waste time with our own personal problems. These meetings should be for the school. And the school should be for the kids, not our egos." Alfie looked at Salazar with his head cocked to one side. "Please, sit. We must be prepared for when our friends from the other schools arrive. We wouldn't want to embarass ourselves."

[Salazar Slytherin]

Salazar looked at Helga, not caring about the way she thought, she couldn't understand, none of them could. He looked in Helga's nice noticing the two looks were similar, though one of them felt more hurt then the other, which was again another indication something was definitively wrong. He didn't care about Rowena's yelling either she was too arrogant to understand his reasons, arrogant enough to let a mudblood venture in their castle, it annoyed him, this wasn't why they build the school for.

Salazar looked at Alfie, annoyed by the man as well, it annoyed him that he would let a mudblood get inside the castle when he himself didn't approve of them as much or did that change? Did he let himself be brainwashed by Rowena, he gave them a few looks disgusted by their own attitude. As he listened to Alfie, even more annoyed by him giving him orders, he didn't sit he just stood up calmly. "After this tournament is over, I resign, my letter of resignation is already prepared." He said, he wouldn't put up with them and their love of mudbloods anymore, he had enough of them.

He turned around once more this time opening the door, leaving the room and slamming it, he had no wish to stay in a meeting that didn't concern him anymore, the other founders and headmaster can go to hell he doesn't care about them, he is not obliged to present himself to them. He shook his head making his way toward his usual place.