"Hohoho, it seems like I have finally surfaced again after a thousand years." He then zeroed in on Auden standing in front of him. "Auden, isn't it? Even though it was extremely difficult to see what the world would be like during the time you awakened in the future, we managed to obtain a glimpse of your identity in the past. And seeing you healthy and smart enough to awaken me fills me with pride."
Gryffindor said with a smile but was suddenly interrupted by a pissed-off comment from the side.
"Yes, yes, like always, dear father. Are you still ignoring me even after making me wait for almost a thousand years?" Helena commented from the side with a smile, but her icy glare told a different story about her current mood.
Auden swore that he saw a few drops of perspiration forming on Godric's brow, which was considered an impossibility for spiritual beings.
Godric immediately turned around and started talking to Helena.
"Oh, of course not, dear daughter. I am extre—"
"Save it. I know you better than anyone, old man. I'm pretty sure you didn't even remember my existence before I spoke up," Helena interrupted in a scathingly cold tone that made Gryffindor flinch and adopt a depressive expression and body language, which interested Auden.
'He looks exactly like Hashirama getting scolded by Tobirama in the anime. I wonder how Salazar looks in real life. Are their dynamics similar to Madara and Hashirama?' he wondered as he watched Godric attain a basic level of forgiveness from Helena while kowtowing in the air.
"Alright, stop embarrassing yourself. Right now, the kid needs your help with something. See if you can do that for now," Helena decided to rush, as she knew precious time was being used up. Plus, right now they could act because Dumbledore was not in the castle. But the risk of being discovered would increase as dawn approached.
Even with all the faults that Dumbledore had, he was still currently the strongest wizard in the world. A weakened Deathly Hallow was not enough to escape his eyes at the level Auden was in right now.
Auden immediately explained his plan to Godric. It was actually quite simple. Instead of breaking the Horcrux with the fang or the sword, Auden wanted to completely submerge the artifact within the bucket filled with basilisk poison to kill the soul trapped within it. The only concern he had was the damage to the souls already present within these artifacts.
"Oh, you don't need to worry about that bit at all, my boy. The artifacts of us founders are actually just catalysts. The real soul is within the chess pieces that you have in your hands. Even if the artifacts are not freed and are destroyed, there's no need to worry. As a failsafe, all the founders had informed each other how to make the other artifacts if something happened to one of them.
So even if your plan does not work, it's better to destroy such an artifact tainted by a madman willing to split his soul by killing innocent lives. If my friends were still here right now, they would spit upon their own artifacts knowing that the soul of an incompetent person exists within them." There was a slight edge to Godric's last words. Even though he was trying his best to look calm in front of Auden, he was actually pissed at the way the artifacts belonging to his friends had been perverted like this by a nobody who was so afraid of his own mortality that he used the forbidden method of creating a Horcrux.
As Auden began preparing the tiara to remove the Horcrux, Godric silently moved towards Helena. Seeing this, Helena realized he wanted to have a discussion with her away from Auden's eyes. She could see the same seriousness in his eyes that was present when he faced the most dangerous hunters of the ancient era.
"Helena, don't you have a spell to share memories between ghosts? Can you give me an idea of the recent history of the wizarding world—at least what happened in the last century?" Godric asked, as he had no idea what he would face in the current world.
"Not now. I'll give it to you later when we have time. Right now, we need to make sure Auden reaches his room before everyone awakens," Helena replied, but Godric frowned at that answer.
"So the condition of the wizarding world is that bad, huh?" Godric muttered, knowing that if it weren't so problematic, Helena wouldn't have hesitated to give him the memories right now.
He decided to put it in the back of his mind for the moment and watched as Auden slowly dropped the tiara into the poison. He knew that even a single drop could kill Auden if he came into direct contact with it.
After Auden let go of the tiara completely, he watched as it sank quickly into the dark liquid.
The human, the serpent, and the two ghosts watched closely to see any reaction happening within the bucket.
For a moment, there was no reaction, making them believe that it had failed. But suddenly, the bucket began shaking, its intensity increasing with each passing moment.
Helena and Godric immediately stepped in front of Auden, making him take a few steps backward. He immediately took out his wand to prepare for whatever he was about to face. It also made him curse a bit, as he had no spells that dealt with spirits if Voldemort's soul managed to escape unscathed from being dropped into the poison.
Helena had a serious look in her eyes, while Godric had a more leisurely one—but a person well-versed in his behavior could easily identify that Godric was not underestimating his opponent. This was simply the look he had when dealing with those he considered pests in his old days.
As they watched, a dark shadow jumped out from the bucket.
A/N: Hope you liked it.