the space beyond, and James guessed by the smells that it was the kitchen. He remembered hearing the kitchen from the rotunda and decided this entrance was probably his best option for getting back to the statue and the mirror. He sauntered toward the door, trying to look inconspicuous. It occurred to him that he'd look more appropriate if he was carrying something. Near the door, a stack of copper pots sat next to a huge cauldron boiling over a fire. James glanced around, assuring that no one was looking, and then grabbed the pot on top. As he turned, cradling the pot in his arms, he heard a rattling crash. He glanced back. The rest of the pots had fallen over, the topmost one spilling water onto the fire, which hissed and sputtered.
'What's this?' a woman's voice cried, stridently. 'Making off with the wares, are yeh? That's the coppersmith's lot! Thief!'
James dropped the pot and ran. He heard the ruckus behind him as the woman screamed and gave chase, but he didn't look back. He plunged into the darkness of the kitchen, weaving past a man in a leather vest and knocking over a woman carrying a platter. The kitchen was very dark but for the blaze of the brick oven. James aimed for it, and saw another doorway.
'Thief!' another voice called, joining the chorus from outside. 'Stop him!'
A burly man with no shirt and a stained apron hanging from his middle stepped in front of James, grinning wickedly under his huge black mustache. He held a butcher knife in his hand, fingering it like it was a cutlass.
James tried to stop, but he was moving too fast and the stone floor was wet. He slipped, fell on his behind, and slid right between the man's spread legs. The man looked down as James passed beneath him.
'Stand fast!' the man cried, spinning. James struck the wall on the opposite side of the corridor and scrambled up. Keeping as low as he could, he bolted down the corridor. The man roared and raised the knife, but someone else grabbed his wrist from behind.
'Calm yourself, Larkin! He's just a lad. Dropped the pot outside, even,' a voice admonished. 'Planning to split his skull for makin' you look a fool? If that was a killin' offense, you'd have to execute the entire kitchen.'
James sensed the pursuit had ended, but he couldn't make himself stop running. He came to an intersection in the corridor and was pounding straight through it when a hand snagged his wrist like a vice. James spun, momentum carrying him around, and tumbled to the floor, looking up at the figure that had stopped him.
'We do not approve of running in the halls,' Salazar Slytherin said, staring down his nose at James. His fingers were still clamped on James' wrist. They were very cold. 'What manner of revolt is this? A single boy?'
'I'm not part of a revolt,' James said, panting. 'I was just… er…'
'You are indeed revolting,' Slytherin growled, slitting his eyes, 'but only because of your dirty blood. How dare you cross into these halls, Muggle?'
James felt an angry response welling up in him, but with an effort of will, he quelled it. 'Sorry, sir. I was… lost.'
Slytherin leaned toward James, using the grip on his wrist to pull him close. 'You dare look me in the eye as if you believed me an equal?' Slytherin hissed. 'The soft hearts of my fellows have bred insolence in your kind, but I will not have it. You will address me as 'Master', and you will avert your eyes, or I will have them for my collection. Is that clear, son of dirt?'
James used Slytherin's grip as leverage, pulling himself to his feet. When he was upright, he yanked as hard as he could, wrenching his wrist from the wizard's grasp.
'Blimey,' James said angrily, 'the history books sure got it right about you.'
Slytherin's eyes blazed and his expression turned wary. He reached for his wand with one lightning quick movement. James scrambled to find his own, but it was too buried under the ridiculous robe.
'Salazar,' a voice suddenly called. Slytherin froze. James whirled around, thankful for the interruption. The woman James recognized as Rowena Ravenclaw had just walked around a bend in the hall. Her eyes were suspicious as she glared over James' head at Slytherin. 'We've been waiting for you. The audience with Lord Maarten is begun. How much longer do you intend to palaver with this, er, young cleric?'
Rowena dropped her eyes to James and winked, unsmiling.
James turned back to Slytherin, who glared at him furiously. Then, suddenly, his face changed. He smiled indulgently and patted James lightly on the head.
'Run along, lad,' he said in a singsong voice. 'I'm sure we'll have a chance to finish our 'palaver' soon enough.'
James stared up at Slytherin, thinking that the wizard might simply curse James in the back as soon as he turned away. Slytherin's expression didn't change, but his eyes hardened. Go now or face the consequences, the eyes seemed to say. James risked it. He turned and walked as quickly as he could, taking a corridor at right angles to the one Slytherin and Rowena Ravenclaw occupied. It curved to the right and met a short flight of stairs. When James reached them, he looked back. Slytherin was no longer visible. Breathing yet another sigh of relief, James took the stairs two at a time.
As he navigated the corridors, he could still hear the echoing clatter of the kitchens. He had to be very near the rotunda. Nothing looked familiar however. Torches flickered and sizzled in great iron wall brackets, making shadows leap on the walls, disorienting James. He passed more people, some of them no older than he was, and assumed he was encountering some of Hogwarts' original students. They turned as he passed, their eyes curious or outright suspicious. He began to panic. Finally, as James passed a pair of older boys in green tunics, he turned, meeting their stares.
'Sorry, I'm new here,' he ventured, trying to keep his voice even. 'Do either of you know where the rotunda is?'
'What might you need in the rotunda, boy?' the taller one replied, showing his teeth in a parody of a charming smile. 'You must know that it's time for Alchemy class.'
'Perchance he doesn't know,' the second boy said, his brow lowering. 'His garb tells me he is a Muggle interloper. Lost, are you?'
'Or perhaps not,' the darker boy suggested, advancing on James. 'Perhaps you are up to something a bit more nefarious? Methinks the Head of House shall be the judge.'
'No, no,' James cried, throwing up his hands. 'I think I've already met him! He, er, says hello!'
James spun on his heels, tripping over the oversized robe. The two boys advanced on him. One of them reached for the hood of the robe, but James finally got his footing. He lunged away, yanking away from the boy's grasp.
'Capture him!' the darker boy ordered, giving chase.
James bolted down the corridor, his heart pounding. He turned at random hallways, leaping up short stairways and ducking into doorways. After one turn, he encountered an alcove with a statue in it. To James' amazement, it was the statue of Lokimagus the Perpetually Productive. Without thinking, James shimmied into the alcove and hid behind the stooped statue.
His pursuers' footsteps echoed closer. They clattered to a halt directly in front of the statue.
'He can't have gotten far,' the darker boy barked. 'You go on ahead. I'll double back and make sure we didn't miss him. That Muggle brat will pay for crossing the path of Slytherin House.'
James held his breath until he was sure they were gone. Finally, he clambered out from behind the statue. He checked both directions, and then darted out into the corridor again. He hoped desperately that he wouldn't encounter any more students. If he got caught now, he might never make it back to the Magic Mirror; he'd be trapped in ancient Hogwarts forever.
James crept around a large archway and gasped. There, across a broad marble floor, were the gigantic statues of the founders. He'd made it back to the rotunda! He could see the glint of the silver-framed mirror behind the statues. James trotted across the floor as lightly as possible, determining to go back through the mirror now even if Merlin was still in his office. He'd have to take his chances with an angry Headmaster and hope he'd give
