History learned
“I know that the house of my family has gained bad name recently but don’t forget it was the house of Merlin when he was at Hogwarts.”
They all nodded, not disagreeing but still a little stunned, before Sirius finally spoke.
"You know, you're not what we'd expect from a member of your family..." A pause. "In a good way." Remus snorted at Sirius' comment as he gave him a sharp nudge with his elbow.
“It’s expected. No one really explained to you why my ancestor didn’t want half-blood and muggle borns in Hogwarts.”
Sirius seemed a little baffled by this as he responded, shooting a glance to Remus which made him roll his eyes in a 'you're so stubborn' manner.
"What do you mean? How many people really know the real reason why the founder didn't let muggle-bloods in?" He asked hoping she had knowledge he didn't.
“Some pureblood family but not all, and I am unsure of how many remember all the story. However I do.”
This seemed to excite the boys even more, and at this point they were all on the edge of their seats as they hung onto her every word. James was the first to speak up again, his tone hopeful that he'd receive the answer he was looking for.
"Then please, enlighten us on your knowledge."
“Okay. So when my ancestor, Salazar Slytherin was alive, it was the period of the Witch Hunts. At first he believed that every child should be raised to control and learn about their magic. However, his wife was killed by a Witch Hunter.”
James and Sirius went stiff, their faces hardening a little as they listened. Remus seemed to react to this information too, as they all glanced up at her with more serious looks.
"He lost someone...?" James asked, his tone a little softer than usual as he thought of his own parents.
“Mhm. He decided to turn the page and focus on the children they had together. Later on, he learned that the Witch Hunter had been warned by a Muggle born.”
This silenced the boys, they all took a second while she spoke to gather their thoughts. This had obviously piqued their interest even more, so Remus slowly spoke up.
"What happened...after that?” He was hesitant to ask, hoping that the story wasn't as it sounded. However, deep down he had a feeling he already knew the next part of the story.
“He got really angry and said something that he would later regret. He called the muggle born a Mudblood as he believed that only mud could do something as low as to rat someone out.” Said Melania
That confirmed exactly what the boys expected. Remus gave Sirius a cold glare, who quickly shut his mouth as Remus continued to speak in a calmer tone.
"So he wanted to stop muggle-borns from attending Hogwarts. But why half-bloods?" He asked curiously, tilting his head to the side as he thought of some possible explanations.
“The story only get sadder from then on…”
The boys waited in anticipation to hear her explanation to this, and it took everything in Sirius not to speak up first, as Remus had already glared at him once before.
"Do tell, how could it possibly get sadder?" He asked slowly, looking at her with a mixture of curiosity and confusion.
“You see, the children he had were twins, a boy and a girl and they were everything for him. The boy would grow up to be the Prince family’s ancestor. One day, the girl was taken by someone and given to the Witch Hunters. They managed to burn half of her face before Lord Salazar Slytherin arrived to save her.
Now they all looked sad, the tension in their shoulders easing slightly. Remus sighed a little, scratching the back of his neck as he spoke.
"Damn...poor guy." Sirius spoke up again as he looked up and down the hallway, looking for a place to sit as he spoke again.
"So you’re telling us this girl survived...?" He paused, before adding. "If so, what happened to her?”
“She survived. He found out that the people who had given her to the Witch Hunters were Half-bloods. He then gave for the first time, the title Blood traitor to a family. She died a little after that, from her burns”
Remus nodded, his face scrunching up a little as he spoke up again.
"You said this tale gets sadder, I'm afraid to ask how...how can it possibly go worse than burning a young girls face and giving her away to witch hunters?"
“Salazar tried to warn the other Founders that either they refused the arrival of all the Muggle raised wizard or watched as the Magic World disappear. None of them believed him and he was forced to live Hogwarts, which many forgot that it was his castle. He was even forced to leave his children behind without telling them where he was.” Explained Melania
The boys listened intently, frowns crossing each of their faces. While Sirius and James looked outraged, Remus seemed much more sympathetic to Salazar.
"That's...awful." Remus said quietly, his expression showing his disgust at Salazar's situation. This was all obviously new information to them. They all continued to listen intently, wanting to hear the whole story.
“However, as Godric Gryffindor found that the punishment was too harsh, found a loophole, his children were informed of the location of Salazar and Salazar’s portait is indeed in Hogwarts now, thanks to Lord Gryffindor.”
This news surprised the boys, Sirius even raising a brow as he spoke again.
"Wow...that was very kind of Gryffindor." He mumbled, his tone a little softer than usual. The same could be said for Remus and James.
"So he just had his portrait left in the castle to watch future generations?" James asked, curiosity still piqued.
Sirius seemed amused as he spoke, a smirk crossing his face at the thought.
"So let me guess, whenever he got annoyed with stupid students he'd start screaming at them?" As Sirius spoke, Remus rolled his eyes, as if he was silently asking did you really have to say that?
"What do you think, do you think he got the chance?" James asked, a slight teasing to his voice as he asked her for an answer.
“No, Lord Slytherin is always very calm and never raises his voice against children”
Remus looked glad to hear that and asked : “Hey, what about the other two founders? What happened to them? Did they die before all of this?" He sounded genuinely curious.
“Lady Ravenclaw died a bit after this incident. She was poisoned by a muggle born Hufflepuff while her daughter, which is the ghost known as the Grey Lady, was murdered by the ghost which you may know as the Bloody Baron. He killed himself after he killed her.”
That seemed to surprise the boys again, Sirius' face scrunching up in distaste.
"Damn, the founders got a lot of tragedies in their life, huh?" Sirius commented before sighing and rubbing his temple with his fingers.