The Founders

Chapter 61

The school was completely deserted as they hurried up the dungeon steps. Apart from their echoed footsteps, there wasn't a single sound, since every single teacher and student was watching the quidditch match.

The pitch was much too far away to get help immediately, but Alex sent a patronus as they were running towards the kitchens. Kyra briefly watched the silver leopard soar out of a window as they were crossing the entrance hall.

Then they were in the corridor to the kitchens, and standing in front of the portrait of pears, Kyra felt sick to the stomach. Before she could even place her hand against the portrait, it swung open, the room in complete darkness. Alex pushed her behind him and walked in first.

Lights blazed up, bracket by bracket from the far end of the room, gradually illuminating a new layer of darkness. The door behind them shut and clicked.

Kyra was rooted to the spot in horror. As she looked up at the ceiling, Kyra realised that she was wrong; not every single student was at the quidditch match. Not by a long shot.

Dozens of first years were hanging from the ceilings, knotted nooses around their necks and wooden platforms suspended beneath their feet, just a spell away from being released. She could see the rope digging into their soft skin and leaving red necklaces.

They were in some kind of magical stupor and their eyelids looked blue from this angle. Kyra let out a whimper from her throat, but gripped her wand more tightly, feeling the warmth of Alex's body beside hers. She couldn't lose it here, and she wouldn't.

Someone laughed, obscured by the shadows beside the fireplace, the only place in the room to not have immediately lit up. Walking casually out of the darkness, red hair swinging and a wand and sword held in each hand, was Kat.

The breath caught in Kyra's chest and for a moment she couldn't breathe. Alex shifted closer to her and she refocused.

"Kat?" she breathed in disbelief. "What are you doing here?" she asked, voice shaking.

Kat sauntered closer, a small smile playing on her lips. "You're pretty damn gullible, Kyra. And even your boyfriend here. You've both been so stupid."

Kyra was trembling slightly. "You're the one trying to raise Gryffindor?"

Kat raised her eyebrows. "So, you figured out that white lie of our great founders then? Good for you."

Kyra said nothing, her eyes just fixed on her friend in horror at how could she be so blasé, so casual while dozens of lives were at stake above their heads, and all around them.

"Don't you even want to know why?" Kat asked, her voice shaking slightly with restrained anger.

"Want to know why you want to raise an ancient wizard to kill muggleborns?" Kyra breathed. "I'd love to."

Kat let out a sharp breath that turned into a hysterical laugh. "Muggleborns?" she choked out through her laughter. "I don't want to kill muggleborns. Purebloods," she spat. "I want to raise an ancient wizard to kill purebloods." Behind Kyra, Alex stilled in shock.

"What?"

"Haven't you been looking at my display?" Kat asked, gesturing up at the ceiling in pride. Kyra looked at the faces more closely and went cold. They were all children from pureblood families, a few of which she recognised.

Kat was watching her reaction closely and smiled in satisfaction. "Yes, they're all purebloods. And they all deserve it."

Alex spoke from behind Kyra, his voice low and shaking. "How could they possibly deserve it? They're children."

Kat fixed her eyes on him, her expression sneering and cold. "They're purebloods. Do you want to know what purebloods did to my family?" She advanced a step closer, her hand shaking where it held up her wand. "They attacked my little sister, who was a child, because she was autistic. They said that it was obviously the dirty blood in her, and that they were only doing us a favour."

Kat's face was white as a sheet. "When my dad attacked them back, he was the one sent to Azkaban. Not those monsters. When my mum had a breakdown and was sent to St. Mungos, nothing happened to them. Because they were purebloods."

Kyra was shaking her head slowly, her eyes full of the pain that she could see in Kat's face. "They got away with it." Kat whispered, her voice throbbing with hatred and pain. Her voice changed and her stance straightened. "Then, Godric's diary appeared to me. And do you know what it said?"

Kyra nodded slowly in understanding. "Evelyn," she began haltingly. "Salazar killed her. Because of her blood."

Kat made a harsh noise of disbelief. "Killed her? He didn't just kill her. He tied them all up: Godric, Evelyn and their child. He tortured them to death and he made Godric watch it all.

"They were innocent, but because of their blood, their dirty blood, they were murdered. And do you know what that told me?" She looked up at them, her eyes radiating red hatred. "It told me that, in a thousand years, nothing has changed. Nothing. Purebloods still kill mudbloods, and they still get away with it. Purebloods are the real blight of the magical world. And they all deserve to die."

Kyra started to raise her hand to Kat, realising her own cheeks were wet, but then dropped it back to her side. "Kat, I...I'm so sorry for what you've been through. I can't even say how sorry, and I know that nothing that anyone can say will help." Kyra's voice throbbed with grief for her friend.

"But these children are innocent." She gestured to the small figures hanging suspended from the ceiling. "They have done nothing to deserve this, except inherit the blood from their parents. You can't kill them for something that they can't even help."

Kat raised her eyes to Kyra's. "It does make them guilty, Kyra. They do deserve it. And I'm just enacting justice." Turning on her heel, she faced the fireplace behind which was Hufflepuff's chamber. "Open it," she commanded Kyra.

Kyra raised her wand and Kat laughed, flicking up her wand and aiming it at the ceiling. "Open it or they die," she amended.

Kyra swallowed and felt Alex's warmth behind her back. She walked slowly to the wall, feeling sick.

"You know, you were the one that told me about this chamber in the first place," Kat said. "Do you remember?" she asked in a matter-of-fact way. "It basically confirmed my suspicions that you were the Hufflepuff heir. Although, by that point, I did already have your necklace." Kyra stiffened but said nothing, carefully lifting up the painting. "I thought I could use the necklace to fool this place into letting me in," Kat continued. "I tried to get Oscar to open it, but of course he was useless."

"And Nina?" Kyra asked in a choked voice. "Why her? She always looked up to you."

Kat gave Kyra a sour look. "She saw me in the kitchens, trying to break through this entrance. She was a liability, nothing more."

Kyra willed herself to stop feeling and stood back, the badger etching now revealed. Alex had moved with her and was still standing directly behind her. Kat came to stand beside her, and Kyra leaned forward and placed a palm squarely on the stone.