Helga Hufflepuff was having a good day teaching one of her favourite subjects, Herbology with professor Sprout. They had three classes in the day and they were free after tea time. She was surprised when she did not find Salazar with Severus at lunch and had questioned Professor Snape about it. But Professor Snape told her that Salazar had left to inspect his chambers. She should have expected Salazar to run to his chamber and start restoring the wards and salvage all that he could. She always loved his chambers and used to go there to get some quiet time or to practise her elemental powers. She hoped that Salazar would restore the chambers to their former glory so that she could go there again and remember the halcyon days of her life as Helga Hufflepuff.
Once the tea time approached, Professor Sprout and Helga were walking towards the staff room when a Patronus suddenly landed in front of them and started taking the shape of half dragon and half phoenix. Professor Sprout screamed at the sight but relaxed when she felt Helga's hand on her shoulder.
Helga recognised the Patronus immediately as Salazar's and wondered what on earth had happened that would make Salazar send her a Patronus message. But before she could think anymore the Patronus started to speak in Salazar's voice.
"Hurry to the old extensive infirmary and bring along any Professors that are with you currently, as long as they do not have classes for another couple of hours."
With that the Patronus dissolved and Helga turned to Professor Sprout
"Professor you do not have any more classes to attend to today, do you?"
"No, Professor, I am done for the day, but who was that message from? I have never seen this method of communicating before."
"That was Salazar's message, I suppose we should hurry. By the way that was a way created by us to use as a safer method of communicating. But I suppose it was never passed over."
Whilst talking about that the two ladies moved quickly to the second floor, where they were met with Rowena Ravenclaw and Professor Flitwick.
"Row, I suppose you got Sal's message as well?"
"Yes, Helga I did, but I also received Ric's message not long after asking me to wait for Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall. Apparently they are on their way without Ric as I suppose Sal has asked him to do something before coming. Would you mind taking Professor Flitwick with you? I will join you as soon as Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall are here "
"Sure Row, come soon. Professor Flitwick, would you please come with us?"
"Of course Lady Hufflepuff, but where are we going? I thought we were going towards the infirmary?"
Helga had started walking towards Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, with Professors Sprout and Flitwick on her toes.
"Yes we are, but not the common school infirmary. We are going to Salazar's infirmary down in his Chambers."
"In the Chamber of Secrets? But why are we heading to Moaning Myrtles' bathroom? It is haunted and not used anymore."
"Yes we built this bathroom over Salazar's chambers' entrance to annoy him one day. And it is good that the toilets are not used as the entrance of Salazar's chambers is through these washrooms."
As they reached inside the bathroom, Helga gestured the Professors to stop and pressed her palm on a particular seemingly normal rock on the wall. As she did this the basins sank in the floor to give way to a staircase.
The staircase started moving as Helga approached the entrance. Giving a reassuring smile to the Professors, she motioned them to join her as she got onto the staircase.
The stairs carried them down deep within the bowels of Hogwarts. Reaching the bottom, Helga could see that Salazar had worked hard on his chambers during the day. The entrance hall looked almost the same as it did back in the day.
After the Professors joined her, she quickly led them through the welcoming main chambers into the infirmary.
Just as they entered the infirmary (which she could see was recently cleaned and sanitised) they saw Salazar entering with two stretchers and Remus, Molly, James and Lily on his heels. On the stretchers were Sirius and Arthur.
Everyone looked like they had just fought a battle and instantly the healer in her took charge of the situation.
Salazar had laid Sirius on the stone bed, which told her that Sirius needed some ritualistic healing but was under the static charm. After that Salazar moved her father in this life to another bed and started healing his injuries. This left her to go over to James, who seemed most injured from the remaining.
Just as she had finished healing James' legs and was starting to heal his other injuries by spells, Rowena entered the infirmary with the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall on her heels.
"Row, it's good that you are here, can you heal the minor injuries of the person here, I have already healed a deep gash on his chest and removed the static charm on him. But he needs some more healing. Meanwhile I will get some potions."
Rowena nodded and immediately took over casting the healing spells, but before Salazar could go and fetch the potions two things happened at the same time.
The Headmaster stopped him and asked what happened and the mirror buzzed. Hence Salazar turned the mirror on to see Godric's face in there.
"Sal, I am in the Hospital Wing right now and have Professor Snape and the school nurse, Madam Pomfrey here with me. What happened and what do you need?"
"Ric, there was an attack on few of the professors who were out in Hogsmeade. I will explain more later, but we need to get on the healing first. Madam Pomfrey, do you have about six vials of blood replenishing potion, a couple of calming draughts, a bowl full of normal healing salve and about five pain relieving potions?"
"Yes, Lord Slytherin, however, I am afraid I have run out of calming draughts." Replied Madam Pomfrey quickly. not bothering to wait for a reply, she dashed off to get the supplies.
"I have five phials of Calming Draught with me right now; I can bring them with me." Severus supplied
"Good, come down as quickly as possible," Salazar replied briskly.
"We are on our way, should be there in a couple of minutes." Godric replied after Severus had gone off to help gather the required supplies.
As soon as Godric cut the connection, Salazar rushed to his potions store room.
Helga had just finished healing James and Lily and had moved on to Remus. She made Remus lie on one of the beds and asked James not to move too much for a couple of minutes. Whilst healing Remus she realised that he would need a dose of counter-silvering potion to counter the effects of having silver near his throat for a while.
Making the werewolf lie down, she asked Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore to make sure none of her patients left their beds.
Just as she was about to enter the potions lab, Salazar came out with a variety of potions and gave one to her for Remus. She thanked him and quickly moved over to give the potions to Remus.
After drinking it he regained the colour on his face and looked much better, so she allowed him to get up and sit on a couch.
Just then Godric rushed in with Severus and Madam Pomfrey on his heels and she helped the nurse to administer the potions and salves. She gave some calming draught to Molly, Lily, James, Remus and Arthur (who had by now woken up after being healed but still looked pale).
She further gave four vials blood replenishing potion, a vial of pain relieving potions to Arthur and James.
She also added a vial of pain relieving potion for Remus.
After doing that, she looked around and saw that everyone else was free and was either resting or seating on one of the couches or chairs around the infirmary, watching Salazar work. So she quickly went over to help Salazar.
She casted a diagnosis charm on Sirius and found that there was a static charm on him. She also found a number of small injuries and the one curse which made her gasp.
As Professor McGonagall entered the chambers with Lady Ravenclaw she was not only amazed at the fact that all founders knew the location of the chambers, but she was also amazed at how welcoming the main chamber looked even if it was decorated with some stone snakes.
But she could not spend much time there and had rushed off to a room that was an infirmary. When she had heard the Patronus message from Lord Slytherin, she did not know what to think, but then had rushed here to find out what had happened.
However, after entering the infirmary she found four of her colleagues and two of her Griffins, lying in the hospital bed and being treated by either Lord Slytherin or Lady Hufflepuff.
She did not know what to think and seemed to have lost her power of speech as she watched Lady Ravenclaw take over healing Mr Weasley from Lord Slytherin.
As she heard about a deep gash on the chest she knew the curse that had caused that, it was the same curse that had killed one of their Order Members, Edgar Bones, a couple of months ago. But she was relieved when she heard that the gash was healed.
However just as Lord Slytherin was about to leave through another door, Albus asked the question that was ringing in his mind since she entered the infirmary. But along with Albus' question there was also a low ringing voice that seemed to come from an empty frame on the wall.
She watched as Lord Slytherin walked up to the frame and Lord Gryffindor's face was made visible.
As Lord Slytherin explained the events briefly, she felt the blood leave her face, her Griffins were attacked and she was not there to help them!
But when Lady Hufflepuff asked her to watch over Remus and Lily she knew she had to get a control on herself. So she pulled herself to her full height and stood in between Remus and Lily's beds, not letting them get up unless Lady Hufflepuff allowed them.
However, Lady Hufflepuff returned soon after taking a potion from Lord Slytherin and gave it to Remus. She had not seen the potion before but it made the colour come back to Remus' face so that was a good thing she supposed.
But within minutes Lord Gryffindor was in there and Madam Pomfrey and Severus were with him. So she let herself settle down on one of the comfortable chairs available in the room. She was followed by Albus, Pomona and Filius as they were not doing anything and wanted to get out of the way and allow the others to do their jobs.
After a few moments, they were joined by Lord Gryffindor, Lady Ravenclaw, Madam Pomfrey and Severus.
She took the moment to look around and found Lord Slytherin working on a desk beside a stone bed. With a bolt of shock she realised that the person on the stone bed was none other than Sirius Black.
Lady Hufflepuff soon joined Lord Slytherin and cast few diagnosis charms on Sirius. She could not understand what the different colours meant but when she heard Lady Hufflepuff gasp and look at Lord Slytherin with eyes and mouth wide; she knew that Sirius' condition was very bad.
But what she head next was not something she was expecting to hear.
"Sal, sicco curse? You are not doing what I think you are going to do, are you?"
This question of Lady Hufflepuff made Lord Gryffindor and Lady Ravenclaw get up from their seats while yelling "what".
This reaction and the name of the curse caused Minerva to lose what little colour was left on her face.
She knew that there was no cure for the sicco curse. That curse literally leaves the victim with only skin. Although that's the only thing that is known about the curse, as whatever causes this reaction, does not leave behind any symptom or evidence as to where the bones and other organs of the body disappeared. The only known way to identify the curse is the effects of the curse on the victim. The victim keeps screaming for about half an hour before he is left with only his skin and nothing else. It was one of the most painful ways of dying. But if Sirius was hit with that curse then why was he not screaming? And what was Lord Slytherin doing? And why were the other founders screaming at Lord Slytherin?
Salazar was so relieved to see Rowena take over healing of Arthur from him and after the quick explanation and instructions to Snape, Madam Pomfrey and Godric, he quickly left to collect some potions required for the ritual to heal Sirius. He also grabbed the potion for Remus to counter the effects of silver dagger and came back in the main infirmary. Where he handed Remus' potion to Helga and quickly conjured a stone work station and started working on starting the ritual.
After sometime Helga joined him and cast a diagnosis charm on Sirius and got the same result that he already knew. He knew that Helga would know what he was about to do and would not agree with it but he had to do it.
"Sal, the sicco curse? You are not doing what I think you are going to do are you?"
He heard Helga scream but did not look away from his work, and continued to mix the healing salve with burn calming paste. After that he added a few drops of Phoenix tears to a potion nearby and stirred it.
But before he could do anything else, Rowena and Godric joined Helga and started shouting his name loudly.
"SAL, YOU ARE NOT DOING THAT AGAIN, DO YOU HEAR ME, YOU ARE NOT DOING THAT"
"SAL BE REASONABLE"
He looked up from his work with pain filled eyes and looked straight into Rowena's eyes
"Be reasonable? I should be reasonable Row? He is dying over there"
He knew that others were watching so he opened the telepathic link with all founders and continued telepathically.
"I will not lose him again, Hermione. This time I can save Sirius and if it means that I have to bear that pain then so be it. I was willing to die for Sirius back in our fifth year and I will do it again. BUT I WILL NOT LOSE MY GODFATHER AGAIN."
He looked in to the eyes of each founder and continued out loud
"I am not going to sit there and watch him die when I know I can save him, I refuse to do that. I can and will heal him and do not try to stop me from doing that"
"I would do anything to save him." He finished telepathically, as he watched tears roll down the eyes of two females. Godric too had moisture in his eyes. But they nodded.
Salazar went back to filling the vials and then took the ritual dagger from the desk and sliced his palm and let his blood flow in the potion.
After the required amount of blood was in the potion he touched the cut with the blade again and the cut healed itself.
Rowena and Godric moved back to join the others but Helga refused to move from Salazar's side.
Rowena and Godric quietly explained about the "sicco curse" to the others present.
"The sicco curse does seem incurable but that is because the people that are hit with it cannot tell others how it feels exactly and thus it is not known how to counter that. The sicco curse is a kind of fire curse that increases the heat of the blood and thus melts the internal organs." Godric explained to the horror of the listening audience
"There is no way to detect it as well, so no Healer would be able to know if you are hit with the curse unless a static charm is placed on the victim to stop the curse from spreading. After half an hour the effect starts. But luckily Sal must have seen the curse being cast and was able to put the static charm. Thus he captured the curse in its place. We will now have to remove the curse before the static charm wears off. After that Sirius should be healthy as a horse." Rowena continued with the explanation
Everyone turned their attention back to Salazar. He was mixing his own blood with some water in a bowl. After doing that he ran a diagnosis charm on Sirius. Satisfied with the results, he handed the potion vials and the bowl filled with a paste to Helga.
"Two vials before and three after" Helga who by then had finished healing other injuries of Sirius, nodded and took the vials and salve from Salazar.
Then Salazar left his wand on the working station and went to stand by Sirius' bedside. He spread his hands to position them a few centimetres above Sirius' unconscious form. His palms were facing Sirius.
Salazar closed his eyes and started chanting, and Helga started putting drops of the blood replenishing potion in Sirius' mouth and making him swallow it.
After a few moments a bright orange ball of light came out from Sirius and started floating in the air.
Sal opened his eyes and watched the ball of light intently. Helga started applying the salve at the place on Sirius' chest from where the ball of light had come out.
Rowena went ahead and picked up the bowl that was filled with potion that was mixed with Salazar's blood and gave it to Salazar. After taking the bowl Salazar started to chase the ball of light. The ball had started moving ahead and had reached a empty space a little away from the people gathered in the room. The professors tried to go after Salazar but Godric stopped them and silently asked them to watch.
As they were watching this Sirius woke up and Helga had moved to stand by Godric and Rowena in front of the others. Sirius remembered having the sicco curse cast on him and was confused at how he was still alive. He looked around to find some answers but found everyone watching Slytherin and curiously watched what was happening.
Salazar on the other hand was focused solely on the ball of light and after a few moments. He threw the mixture in his hands on the ball. Once the mixture touched the ball it started expanding and moved towards Salazar threateningly. Salazar closed his eyes and welcomed the light with open arms. Slowly the light engulfed Salazar completely to the horror of the witnessing crowd. As the light of the curse faded everyone could see Salazar's skin had turned red. But before anyone could make a move Salazar's body caught fire and a terrible scream left Salazar's mouth.
The on looking crowd was frozen in horror. But after a few moments the fire subsidised and Salazar's unconscious form fell on the floor
Helga ran to Salazar and magically floated his unconscious form on another stone bed that was conjured by Rowena. She handed the potion Salazar gave her to Rowena and herself started applying the healing salve on Salazar's palms, toes and forehead. Godric joined her and helped her to apply the salve on his legs and his chest.
After a few minutes two vials of the potion and salve was finished and everyone waited for Salazar to wake up.
Meanwhile, the Professors of Hogwarts were hugging Sirius (or in case of Severus just nodding at him) and updating him on what happened.
After that everyone was watching Salazar with wide eyes, whilst the Headmaster sent a quick message via Fawkes to Professor Sinistra to inform the students that all the afternoon classes were cancelled except Astronomy.