Snape responded quickly, his eyes still on the larger boy. "Is he? Different from what, Mr. Potter? What, precisely, do you believe you know about the members of Mr. Deedle's house? Or, dare I ask, Mr. Deedle himself?"

        "I know what the tree sprite told us," James said rounding on the portrait, his voice rising in anger. "I know that there is a bloodline of Voldemort alive in these halls even now. His blood beats in a different heart. The heir of Voldemort is alive and he walks among us."

        "And what makes you so certain," Snape said sharply, "that this heir is a Slytherin? Or a male?"

James opened his mouth to answer, and then closed it again. He realized that the dryad had never actually said either of those things. "Well, it just… makes sense."

        Snape nodded, the sneer creeping back into his face. "Does it? Perhaps you haven't learned anything after all, then." Snape sighed, and he seemed genuinely disappointed. "What did you come to ask, Potter? I see you are determined in your course regardless of what I say, so let's get this over with."

        James felt small in front of the portrait of the former headmaster. Zane and Ralph stood further back, and James knew it was his question to ask. This was his battle more than it was theirs. His battle against the Merlin conspiracy, yes, but more importantly, his battle against himself and the shadow of his father.

        He raised his eyes to Snape's black gaze. "If we can't get the Merlin staff, I need to go to the Hall of Elder's Crossing. I need to stop them there, before they can hide the staff and the throne forever."

        James heard the movement of Zane and Ralph behind him. He turned back to them. "I won't ask you two to come, but I'm committed. I have to try to stop them."

        Snape sighed hugely. "Potter, you really are just as foolish and preposterously self-absorbed as your father. Turn the robe over. Give it to your father or the Headmistress. They will know what to do. I will advise them. You cannot possibly hope to manage this on your own. You've impressed me once. Do try and accomplish that again."

        "No," James said with conviction. "If I tell them, Jackson and Delacroix and whoever else will get away. You know it just like I do. Then two of the relics will be lost forever."

        "Without all three together, the power of the relics is broken."

        "But not destroyed," James insisted. "They are still powerful on their own. We can't let them be used by those who'd try to continue Voldemort's work. We can't risk them falling into the hands of Voldemort's heir."

        Snape scowled. "If such a person exists."

        "That's not a risk worth taking," James countered. "Where is the Hall of Elder's Crossing?"

        "You do not know what you're asking, Potter," Snape said dismissively.

        "We'll find out somehow, James," Zane said, stepping forward again. "We don't need this old pile of paint to tell us. We've worked everything out so far. We'll figure this out, too."

        "You've survived on suspicious good fortune and the interference of myself alone," Snape growled. "Do not forget your place, boy."

"It's true," Ralph said. James and Zane turned to look at him, surprised to hear him speak. Ralph swallowed and went on, "We have done pretty well so far. I don't really know who you are, Mr. Snape, but as grateful as we are for you helping us when James put on the robe, I think James is right. We need to try to stop them and get the rest of the relics. You were a Slytherin, and you said that the things they say about Slytherins aren't always right. Well, one of the things they say about Slytherins is that we always just look out for ourselves. I don't want that to be true. I'm with James and Zane, even if we fail. No matter what."

        Snape had listened to this sudden speech from Ralph with a steely eye and a tight frown. When Ralph finished, he glanced at all three of the boys in succession, and then heaved another sigh. "You're all completely daft," he said flatly. "This is a pointless and destructive fantasy."

        "Where's the Hall of Elder's Crossing?" James asked again.

        Snape regarded him, shaking his head minutely. "As I said, Potter, you do not know what you're asking."

        Zane spoke up. "Why not?"

        "Because the Hall of Elders' Crossing is not a place, Mr. Walker. You, of all people, should have recognized that. If any of you had been paying even a shred of attention for the last several months, you'd know it. The Hall of Elders' Crossing is an event. Think about it for a moment, Mr. Walker. Elders' Crossing."

        Zane blinked. "Elders," he said thoughtfully. "Wait a minute. That's what the astronomers of the Middle Ages called the astrological signs. The planets. They called them 'the Elder Ones'."

        "So the Hall of Elder's Crossing…" James concentrated, and then widened his eyes in revelation. "The alignment of the planets! The Hall of Elders' Crossing is when all the planets cross each other in their paths. When they… make a hall!"

        "The alignment of the planets," Ralph agreed in an awed voice. "It's not a place, but a time."

        Snape stared hard at all three boys. "It's both," he said resignedly. "It's the moment the planets align, and it's the place that all three of the relics of Merlinus Ambrosius are brought together. That's when and where the return of Merlin can only be accomplished. That is his requirement. And unless I am greatly mistaken, if you mean to go through with this foolhardy plan of yours, you have less than one week."

        Zane snapped his fingers. "That's why the voodoo queen's been drilling us to work out the exact moment of the alignment! She said it would be a night we'd never forget, and she meant it! That's when they mean to bring the relics together."

        "The Grotto Keep," James whispered. "They'll do it there. The throne is already there." The other two boys nodded. James felt flushed with fear and excitement. He looked at the portrait of Severus Snape. "Thanks."

        "Don't thank me. Take my advice. If you plan to go through with this, I will not be able to help you. No one will. Don't be a fool."

        James backed away, extinguishing his wand and pocketing it. "Come on, you two. Let's get back."

        Snape watched as James consulted the Marauder's Map. It wasn't Snape's first encounter with the map. On one occasion, the map had insulted him fairly cheekily. Having assured themselves that Filch was still in his office, the three crowded back under the Invisibility Cloak and shuffled back through the door of the Headmistress' office and into the hall. Snape considered waking Filch, who he knew was sleeping in his office with a half empty bottle of fire whiskey on his desk. One of Snape's self portraits resided in a hunting painting in Filch's office, and Snape could easily use that painting to alert Filch to the three boys' sneaking. Reluctantly, he decided not to. Like it or not, such petty tricks gave him little pleasure anymore. The ghost of Cedric Diggory, who Snape had come to recognize before anyone else, closed the door behind the boys and shot the bolt.