The man was living out here like an animal! Should he be surprised, though? Salazar had seen enough of this school to know that there were many, many problems that needed to be taken care of. Trent was running this school into the ground, and while he would deal with THAT man in ample time - he had other plans for this evening.

He marched right up to the hut that the Slytherin Head of House occupied and pounded on the door. "Fuller! Come out here at once! We have very important things to discuss!" he shouted. Luckily for him, he didn't feel cold - being a portrait and all - so he could stand out here all night if he needed to, waiting for the man to open the door.

Returning back to Hogwarts after his suspension was weird to Curtis. Weird as in, he didn't know what to expect. He didn't expect to be missed really, but it was not knowing what went on while he was away was the weird thing. Back home things had been quite cold, almost as cold as the temperature out here. He stayed mostly with big brother Tobes outside those group sessions with his parents.. But that was a different matter.

So here was Curtis, walking along bundled up in the temperature, he was going to see Professor Fuller. He wished there was a better meeting place than outside, but here he was. Only to see an old man. Who looked familiar to Curtis, but he couldn't quite place where he was from.. Should he ask? Curtis blinked though at the angry tone in his voice. Did daddy do something wrong? Curtis stood at a distance, not trying to hide at all, it was curiosity that was planting him on the spot.

Piers was in the middle of relaxing, decompressing from a day of teaching and handling dramatic teenagers when a loud pounding jolted him from enjoying his bowl of soup. He nearly spilled it down the front of him, too, which didn't really put him in a nice mood to answer the door. With a huff, Piers got out of his seat and went to open the door. There he saw... a super old dude... and his kid.

Interesting and confusing combo.

"Err... hello." He looked from his son to the man, whom he recognized to be Salazar Slytherin. He had heard rumors of the Founders breaking free of their portraits and roaming the castle. "Curtis, come on in, I've got some soup on the stove." And if he hadn't eaten yet, he could help himself to it.

As for Mr. Slytherin here... "What can I do for you?" he asked, because honestly he had no idea.

.... Oh, wait. "Sir." He wanted to at least be respectful.

At least this one had the right mind to be respectful towards him. All the other professors he had encountered, Trent included, seemed to have forgotten their manners. Ignoring the child entirely - he didn't even bother to wonder why he was being invited in for dinner - he stepped up to Fuller, standing up at his full height to try and seem intimidating.

"Well, for starters - we need to discuss the state of our house," he said. Truly it was HIS house, but this man WAS the one that they had put in charge of it. And honestly? He'd done an awful job in the post. Absolutely awful! Now it was up to Salazar to fix it, obviously, but there was a lot to be done to get them to where they need to be. And he wasn't the only one in such a distressing situation.

"Slytherin was founded on the grounds that we accept only the BEST pureblood witches and wizards and clearly, this has not been the case as of late," he told him as he pushed aside and entered the cabin uninvited. "A complete purge of the house is in order."

He paused and looked around the hut, taking it in. Hmm. This could work. This could definitely work. "I will need you to vacate this cabin at once. I'll be using it as lodging while I figure out how to get my house back on track," he informed him. This was, truthfully, the LAST office he wanted to occupy. He would much rather have something with a view - and in the castle. However, this man was the supposed Head of his house...it was basically in his job description to do what was best for the house. Right now, it was leaving this dingy place to him so he could have a place to rest and think about how he was going to do this.

Besides, no one would miss having to visit Fuller in this disgusting hut. Salazar was sure of it.

Our house? OUR house. Hah. And - what, sorry, was he trying to stand TALLER than him? He was trying to look intimidating, wasn't he? This old guy? Please. Piers could probably just punch the old fart in the throat and win. But anyway, he wasn't really there to fight Salazar Slytherin.

He was going to negotiate. Play the game. The Slytherin game of self preservation.

"Ah, yes... a purge," Piers said coolly, going along with the man's ideas. He wasn't about to disagree because he didn't really want to be on the receiving end of said purge. "And what do you say we do with those who are considered... unworthy?" Right? Was he speaking the same language as the old guy here?

The cabin, though... aside from his actual baby, the cabin was his baby. It was his home away from home. His sanctuary. His little tiny resort on the grounds so he didn't have to feel entrapped inside a little office within the castle. "Oh, no, sir, you deserve much better living quarters. Take the office on the third floor. It's actually much nicer than this dump, I have just have to live out here because of my Groundskeeping duties. Besides, I wouldn't want to subject you to looking after the dogs." Piers gestured to the dog pen beside the cabin where all five dogs sat at the fence, staring at the two men conversing. "That's a lot of poop to pick up." And Salazar Slytherin didn't pick up POOP, did he?

So Curtis didn't waste any time on heading inside when his dad summoned him inside. He didn't want to stand next to the old man any longer... who was actually Salazar Slytherin himself. Huh. Guess that explains why he looks familiar... did he come from the portrait? Curtis had thoughts about this while sitting down and enjoying some soup. It was delicious, by the way.

Curtis stared at the two, seeing them negotiate on where his dad was going to reside. Couldn't he just make a room of his own in the castle? It seems more fitting instead of outside by the dangerous forest and a longer walk. Maybe the old man needs exercise. He wanted to say things, but his dad was doing just fine and the soup was too good to put down.

Salazar shook his head, making himself comfortable in a chair by the door and straightening out his robes as he crossed his legs. "That isn't anything you need to concern yourself with," he assured him in regards to his question about the OTHER children. "They won't be a loss, really - as they never should have been allowed in the house to begin with!" he exclaimed.

At the next thing that came out of his mouth...Salazar raised an eyebrow. "You have ANOTHER office?" he asked in shock. How did this man get not one, but TWO quarters all to himself? Merlins beard. This place had gone to the dogs. Speaking of...

Salazar JUMPED right up on to his feet, eyes wide and an absolutely disgusted look upon his face. "Poop? POOP?!" he exclaimed. How DARE he even suggest that he would be picking up dog excrement?! He was obviously not taking this seriously at all!

"I see now that this is an absolute WASTE of my time. I don't know why I even bothered," he grumbled, rolling his eyes and strolling back to the door. "Things are about to change around here - mark my words!" he gave one last vague threat to the man before turning on his heel and marching out of the door and back into the night.

Well, it.. all went downhill from there.

It wasn't really the way he expected it to go down, but it really could have been quite worse, so Piers was taking it as a win. It wasn't like FAKE portrait Godric Gryffindor could actually do anything.

Right?

"Consider your words marked!" he shouted after the man before heading back inside to the warmth of his hut. Piers shut the door with a sigh and looked at Curtis before taking a seat at the table. "Never a dull moment," he said, stealing his son's bowl of soup to claim as his own.

That didn't last long. It was moments like this that Curtis always had a deep respect for his fathers. They knew how to handle stuff like this. He felt like he was on his way to being like that and not needing them. Though, obviously that didn't pan out well for him.

Curtis raised his brows over the old man's overreaction. Talk about senile. And why was he offended by poop? Didn't he teach the wizards how to clean up their own poop from the lack of plumping? Or was that just the ramblings of a out-of-touch author? "Byeeeee!" Curtis waved bye-bye to the founder. This wasn't a good look for Slytherin, to be honest. He probably needed a nap.

"Heeeeeey." Curtis fake whined at his soup being taken. He didn't make a move to snatch it back though. He just watched for a moment, as if looking for the words to say other than, "Dad.." He didn't think it necessary to refer to him as dad around other students. He didn't have any regrets with some of his actions, but that first night though. Thinking about it made Curtis get up from his chair and wrap his arms around his dad.

As soon as Piers stole the bowl of soup from his kid, he shoveled in a few bites of it, glancing up at Curtis when he called him "dad". It wasn't like it was the first time he called him dad, but the way he said it was... different. And then he was hugging him and suddenly Piers was a little worried.

He knew Curtis was having a hard time with everything, especially after being suspended and he probably, definitely thought that his dad was the enemy because he was being so hard on him. But he was just trying to help him.

Piers wrapped his arms around Curtis and hugged him. "Hey. What's up?" he asked, gently, hoping he'd share his thoughts with him.

What could Curtis say to his dad? That he was sorry for everything. From embarrassing him and then deciding not to stay with him during the suspension? There were other things for him to be sorry for but... could he say it now? His hug grew a little tighter before he moved to sit in his lap like when he was very ickle. "Are you.. mad with me?". He asked softly.

That was one of the questions Curtis had. While he could see how everything started out wrong, he couldn't help wondering if it was too late to mend it. His parents were everything to him as much as his big brother Tobes. It didn't matter to him if others didn't like him, he wasn't a people pleaser by nature. Plus, his parents always encouraged him to not worry about others and to be himself. They were also strict with him growing up, but weren't so strict to the point of never having fun. He admired all those pranks they'd do together as a family... But now with everything coming to a head when he was sent back home... this was a whole different matter.

"I.. am sorry." There. He hadn't said this to his dad in a long time and actually meant it.

Curtis always wanted to be treated like an adult, but he really did still act like a child sometimes. Of course, Piers wasn't going to voice that in that moment because he could tell Curtis was struggling with something. He patted his son's back when he sat on his lap and sighed a bit at his question. "No... I'm not mad at you."

He paused.

"I get frustrated sometimes, you know that... but I'm not mad. I'm always here for you, bud." He should also know that. Sometimes the way Curtis acted was... well, very bad and extremely frustrating. And after everything that had happened, he SHOULD understand that now.

And it did seem like he understood, because he apologized and it actually sounded sincere. He gave his son a small smile. "Thank you for saying that." Then he reached up to ruffle Curtis' hair.