*Gobbledygook*
$Parseltongue$
-March 25th, 1992-
{Alex's POV}
"Chamber of Secrets?" Padma asked.
"A legend about a chamber that Salazar built under the school that only his heir can open. And apparently, he had a monster of some sort in there. It's a story passed down in Slytherin and once every few years someone tries to find it," Draco explained.
"I read about the myth of it in Hogwarts: A History. Was it really a secret from the other three founders?" Hermione said.
"Yes, it was. We only found out that he had built it this year when Alex performed the Samhain ritual in there," Godric grumbled.
"What? Celestine didn't fit anywhere else," Salazar protested.
"Yes, and you didn't tell us about Celestine either," Helga said.
"Anyway, yeah, I can take you down there sometime if you want. Celestine likes meeting new people."
"What does you being Guardian of Magic mean?" Lisa asked.
"I was wondering that. You mentioned conducting your role of Guardian of Magic in secret," Anthony added.
"Well, it's my role to bring a balance back to the world of magic. At the moment all dark magic is being repressed and undoing the balance of the world. It's my role to stop the fighting and restore the magical world to its former glory without all the repression," they explained.
"Stop the fighting? Isn't Harry the Boy-Who-Lived? The only one who can vanquish the Dark Lord?" Neville asked.
"Well, I'm actually the one that the curse hit that night. I have an eidetic memory and remember everything that happened that night, and everything else that's happened in my life. But yeah, I need to stop the fighting. I was wondering if you guys wanted to help me. It's ok if you don't but I won't be able to do it all on my own," they said.
"How would we need to help? I wouldn't go against my father. I definitely won't join Dumbledore," Draco said.
"We wouldn't be joining either side of the war. We would be our own side. We would be working to stop the Dark Lord, but we wouldn't be working with the Light side. With the war, we would be working to bring down both sides with the least amount of casualties possible."
"And what about after the war?" Blaise asked.
"We would change how the ministry works. It's corrupt and wrong and the main source of the repression. Everything we do would be either behind the scenes, or in cover names and appearances," Alex explained.
"Why are you so certain there is going to be a war?" Michael asked.
"We are in the calm before the storm, the eye of the cyclone. The Dark Lord isn't gone for good and he will do his best to rise again."
"I'll everything I can to help you Alex," Neville said.
"Same here," Hermione agreed.
"I would be happy to help," Padma said.
"I'll help as much as I can," Terry told them.
"I'll do my best to help," Blaise added.
"I will help as much as I am able to," Draco said.
"Same here," Michael agreed.
"I'll help," Lisa said.
"I'd be happy to help my friend," Anthony said.
"Me too," Mandy agreed. Alex smiled, glad that their friends all wanted to help them.
"So, what would you call our side of the war?" Michael asked.
"It wouldn't be the Dark side or the Light side," Mandy said decisively.
"No, it wouldn't. I'm completely grey. We would be a neutral side, grey or something like that," Alex said.
"You could name the side neutral or grey in another language," Padma suggested.
"It could be gris, grise or neuter," Draco suggested.
"I didn't know you spoke French," Alex commented.
"All Malfoys learn French at a young age as we have French heritage," he explained.
"I was thinking maybe having a mix of languages. French and another language?" Terry suggested.
"Gardiens de griseo," Alex said. It had come to them during the discussion. It meant Guardians of Grey in French and Latin.
"That's French and another language," Blaise said. "I learnt French at a young age too," he explained.
"Gardiens is guardians in French and griseo is grey in Latin. De is of in both French and Latin," Alex supplied.
"You speak Latin?" Mandy asked.
"I actually speak a lot of languages. Helga taught me French, Latin, Spanish, Romanian, Mandarin, German and Greek along with Mermish and Gobbledygook," Alex explained.
"Gardiens de griseo sounds good. But it could be Griseo Gardiens as well. Drop the de and just make it Grey Guardians," Neville suggested. A quick vote between both names had Griseo Gardiens as the favourite of the two names.
"I feel that we should do something to make it official. That we are all agreeing to help Alex in their Guardian of Magic role and we will be the Griseo Gardiens," Hermione said. Everyone nodded.
"What about an oath?" Merlin suggested.
"What would that encompass?" Lisa asked.
"It depends on what you say in the oath. It can simply be an oath saying you will aid Alex if they need it and not oppose the Griseo Gardiens or it could be more, such as promising to keep all the secrets and everything of everyone in the Griseo Gardiens. It can be a simple oath, or it can be as deep as swearing on your magic," Rowena explained.
"And you would all have to agree on the oath before you start it," Helga added.
"So, what about this to start? Guardian of Magic we will stand with united, aiding them as much as we can," Neville suggested.
"I like that start. Then we could add something like this. Griseo Gardiens we will be and secrets we will keep, trust in each other unmoving," Padma added.
"What about this as well? Together we stand united, against both the light and the dark, uniting the world again," Terry added.
"I think it will work. What should we swear on? I would be happy to swear on my magic if you all are. I feel that this is something serious that we need to be certain about," Draco said. Everyone agreed to swear on their magic.
"I'll go first?" Alex suggested. At everyone's nods, they drew their wand, holding it up in front of them.
"Guardian of Magic we will stand with united, aiding them as much as possible. Griseo Gardiens we will be and secrets we will keep, trust in each other unmoving. Together we stand united against both the light and the dark, uniting the world again. So I swear on my magic, so mote be it," they said. Bright silver sparks erupted from their wand. Then came a large burst of a mix of gold and black sparks.
Each of their friends performed the oath in turn, the same coloured spark coming from their wands, but in different orders. The sparks that came from Neville and Draco's wand were the same as Alex's, first silver and then a mix of gold and black.
Terry, Mandy, Michael and Blaise all had brilliant black sparks erupt from their wand first, followed by a mix of silver and gold. On the other hand, Hermione, Lisa, Padma and Anthony had an eruption of gold sparks from their wands, before silver and black appeared together. Alex thought they might know why but would need some help working out if they were right.
"Now that that's done, any idea why the sparks came out in different orders?" Anthony asked after he finished his oath, having gone last.
"I have a theory. But I want to prove if it's true or not first," Alex said. They turned to Akira, who was still resting along their shoulder.
$You can tell different auras, right?$ they asked. Akira nodded.
$Does our group have a mix of all three auras? Dark, Light and Neutral?$
$Yes. I cannot tell you exactly who has what, but there is a pretty even mix,$ Akira replied. Salazar had been watching them in interest.
$There is a spell that can show someone's magical core, or aura,$ he supplied.
$Would I be able to perform it now?$ Alex asked, turning to the portrait.
$Yes. It will cause everyone's aura to flare in a way that is different than most. That flare will cause their aura to glow for a minute. The incantation is virtutem revelare.$ Alex nodded, raising their wand slightly to perform the spell.
"It works better without a wand. Just allow your magic to flare as you say the incantation," Salazar added, this time in English, thoroughly confusing everyone who had no clue what had been said earlier. Alex nodded, pocketing their wand.
"Mind filling us in. We don't speak Parseltongue," Blaise reminded them dryly.
"Sal was just telling me a spell that will confirm my theory." They raised their hands slightly before saying the incantation. "Virtutem revelare." They flared their magic and watched as the rest of the group's magic was forced to flare as well. A glow surrounded all their friends and they noticed one surrounding themselves too.
They were glowing silver, as were Neville and Draco. Blaise, Mandy, Terry and Michael were surrounded by a black light, while Hermione, Anthony, Lisa and Padma were surrounded by gold. Alex grinned; they knew their theory had been right.
"So, the sparks that came out of our wands were an indication of our group's magic as a whole. Together, we are a mix of black gold and silver. Or dark magic, light magic and grey magic. The first lot of sparks were the sparks that related to your magic core, while the others were a mix of the rest of the group," Alex explained.
"So, what does that mean?" Hermione asked.
"If you have a grey magical core, like Neville, Draco and I, we are able to cast both light and dark spells without too much difficulty. Having a dark magical core means that darker spells are easier for you to cast. It doesn't mean that you can't cast light spells, but they are harder than the dark oriented ones. Having a light magical core is the opposite. Light spells are easier to cast, while dark spells take more effort. This means that those with a dark core are at a large disadvantage in school, as only light and neutral spells are part of the curriculum, and the neutral spells are quite low in number as well. Dark and Light cores are normally found in relatively similar numbers, while grey cores are rarer," Alex explained.
Their friends all nodded, seeming to understand. Alex was glad that their friends were able to pick these types of things up quickly.