Harry Potter: Reunion with the Enemy

"Why should I help you?" The man in the portrait asked Draco slowly while stroking the locket hanging around his neck. His hands were covered with rings, and the glowing gems flickered faintly on his bony hands.

Salazar Slytherin, one of the four founders of Hogwarts School, one of the most well-known Parseltongues among wizards, a prestigious master of Legilimency, and also the infamous proponent of the pure-blood theory.

After the battle, his portrait was moved to the wall of the secret passage.

During Voldemort's occupation of Hogwarts, Salazar Slytherin's portrait was placed on the wall in the middle of the hall, overlooking all the students in the hall. However, Voldemort chose to cancel the sorting ceremony, believing that "Salazar Slytherin's badge, shield and flag are enough for everyone." Only Slytherin's representative silver and green remained in the hall.

Salazar Slytherin enjoyed supreme treatment during that time. In addition to being forced to receive greetings and gazes from all students every day, he could also constantly reiterate the correctness of the pure-blood theory at the highest point in the hall every day.

Until the war broke out, he watched as the Hogwarts School that he and three other friends had built with their own hands was mostly reduced to ruins. He was still high up in the hall, watching everything, the blood, the screams, the flying spells, and the space cleared on the floor of the hall just to arrange the bodies of those who died in the war.

There were times when Godric Gryffindor ran from the portrait in the headmaster's office to visit the portrait of his old friend: "This is a bit too much. I don't think this is the result you want to see. Watching them kill each other?"

"I don't understand why these Muggles burned wizards and witches in our time and regarded us as heretics, but we still open the door to them and teach them knowledge selflessly." Salazar Slytherin saw some wizards carrying the remains raised their heads and glared at him, and quickly turned his head to look the other way. "Muggles are not as innocent as you think."

"Fusion always comes at a price, but the Great Purge may cause even greater losses to the wizarding world. Don't go against the tide." Godric Gryffindor patted Salazar Slytherin on the shoulder.

"The way they implemented it made my pure-blood theory look like a joke. What I originally wanted was a clean and tidy solution to protect the interests of existing wizards."

"Although this is not the time to joke, it is a joke that you set up the entrance to the secret room reserved for the heir in the women's bathroom, Sal."

Salazar said nothing more, waved his robes and left the portrait. He never appeared in the portrait hanging in the Hogwarts Great Hall again.

After the post-war settlement, the current headmaster McGonagall decided to move the portrait to a more hidden place. "Dear founder of Hogwarts, in order to prevent these students from continuing to take extreme actions against the portrait, please allow me to temporarily move your portrait to the secret passage near the Slytherin common room, and make other arrangements when both sides have completely regained their sanity."

After Hogwarts returned to normal order, students from the other three houses would always try to throw evil curses at the portrait of Salazar Slytherin when the teachers were not paying attention. Several times, the incendiary curse almost burned the frame. Fortunately, Flitwick arrived in time to put out the fire and repair the portrait in time. Fortunately, so far only a small corner of the portrait was damaged, and there was a small burnt mark there.

"What does this boy named Harry Potter have to do with me? The Chamber of Secrets has been destroyed, the last of my bloodline has died out, and the mudbloods have spread all over Hogwarts..."

Salazar Slytherin stroked his nails and complained half-seriously that after the war, not many students were willing to stay in front of the portrait and communicate with him. The blond boy standing in front of him made him unable to help but start chattering.

"How long can the glory of the pure-bloods last? You come from a pure-blood family, yet now you are begging me to help save a person who has ruined my great cause twice. You didn't even wipe away the tears from your eyes."

Draco held the picture frame with both hands, feeling the time passing by every second. Facing the lonely and mocking expression of the founder of the academy whom he most respected, he was speechless.

As if noticing the snake-shaped decoration wrapped around Salazar Slytherin in the portrait, the snake on Draco's shoulder suddenly spoke tentatively.

"Hiss." The snake interrupted Salazar's long speech.

"California Kingsnake? I have to say your little friend looks pretty cute." Salazar said to Draco, and then continued to communicate in Parseltongue.

Seeing that Salazar responded to what it said like Harry did, the California King Snake immediately perked up, climbed onto Draco's shoulder and stood up so that it was the same height as the person in the portrait.

For a moment, the hissing sound of Parseltongue echoed in the secret passage. Draco quietly waited for the conversation between the two to end, hoping to get some news that he was concerned about.

Salazar's originally nonchalant expression gradually turned into solemnity, then contempt, and finally rage.

"Okay... okay..." Salazar stroked his beard vigorously, his shrewd and deep eyes revealing only anger at this moment.

"Excuse me, where is he?" Draco asked, trying to be polite.

"I didn't expect that goblins and Muggles could unite to frame wizards. A gentle and weak attitude will only make them go too far. I don't know where the line is." Salazar frowned and said, "The boy who can speak Parseltongue was taken to the dungeon on that island. That's where goblins privately raise dragons. Of course, the Muggle leaders are in collusion with them."

"The dungeon opens once a month to facilitate the transportation and sale of materials taken from dragons. The boy was unable to escape before the dungeon closed. He was trapped inside. The goblins set up a protective spell inside, and he could not leave by Apparating." Salazar rolled his eyes and added a few words, "He is not dead."

"Locked in there, in a dungeon with a dragon?" Draco felt his throat tighten, and his hands clenched around the frame of the portrait.

"Yes, because he was eavesdropping on a conversation between a goblin and a tall Muggle and forgot to escape in time. Look, he is not as cautious as a snake." Salazar raised his eyebrows.

"How can I find him?" Draco felt the deep scar on Harry's back reappear in front of him.

"A month later, the entrance to the seabed will be open again? I'm afraid that by then he will have been eaten up by the fire dragons underground." Salazar observed Draco's expression with interest. "But according to my inference, the goblins will not leave only one way in. Look at the crooked and deep tunnels dug by Gringotts, and the way they use Ding Dang pieces to tame fire dragons."

"You need a goblin, or someone who is familiar with goblin mechanisms. The California King Snake knows the exact location." Salazar pointed out, "These are just repetitions of tricks that the goblins have played for hundreds of years."

A fairy, or someone who is very familiar with fairy mechanisms...

Draco quickly came up with a candidate in mind.

"Thank you, respected founder." Draco prepared to leave.

"Stop." Salazar obviously had something else to say.

"What's wrong?" Draco stopped suddenly.

"If you fall in love with this green-eyed boy, what will happen to the issue of your family's offspring?" Salazar asked this question out of the blue.

This sudden question seemed to hit Draco hard, and his pale face turned red. "This-this you know so much, and we haven't even-"

"It told me." Salazar nodded at the California King Snake, "I feel I need to ask about the continuation of the pure-blood family."

"Really? Did he tell you that I was his lover?" Draco asked with some surprise.

But the California king snake couldn't understand him.

Salazar, with an unfathomable expression on his face, refused to translate.

Draco gritted his teeth and said, "Parseltongue can be learned later in life."

Salazar seemed amused by the idea. "Sure, memorize all the syllables. Without the advantage of superior bloodline, you will have a hard time learning."

"No problem." Draco turned and walked towards the end of the secret passage.

"Do you need me to teach you how to say "I love you" in Parseltongue?" Salazar's voice came from behind. "Listen carefully, I will only teach you once--"