Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Surprise?
.:Parseltongue:.
Chapter 1
It was a nice morning in the summer at 4 Private Drive and the sun had been up for a couple of hours. The grass was still a bit wet from the nightly rain, but it was starting to dry up. A scrawny six year old Harry Potter, with unruly hair, had just finished making breakfast for his relatives and was sent out to work in the garden. Mornings like these were quite enjoyable according to Harry because of the quiet wind blowing in his face and the nice smell of wet grass.
Working in the garden was one of his most agreeable chores as he could hide behind some of hedges or in the flowerbed and not really work. His aunt and uncle would not check on him until lunch and were more interested in getting him out of sight then for him to actually work.
The only negative thing about the morning was that he had failed breakfast and managed to burn the bacon. That meant he had to go without food that morning. Usually he could eat some berries or fruits from the garden but it was late in the summer and he had already eaten everything available. He felt his stomach rumble as he lied down by the flowerbeds, but tried to dream himself away from the hunger. His favourite day dream was about his parents jumping in and telling him they were not dead and had now come to take him away, but unfortunately it never happened.
He was suddenly awakened from his thoughts by a movement to his side. He looked to the side and saw a four foot long snake with a line flowing over the top of its body. He was a little afraid but decided that if it wanted to attack he would be helpless to stop the snake should it choose to attack, so he desperately spoke up:
.:Please don't hurt me:.
The snake looked at him sharply and Harry was starting to imagine what his relatives would say if they found him dead out here. Luckily the snake had not attacked yet. It blinked and to Harry's surprise also said:
.:Hurt you?:.
Harry blinked. This was unreal.
.:Can you speak?:. He asked the snake.
.:Apparently I can:. The snake answered a little bewildered.
.:You've never spoken before?:. He asked the snake.
.:No, and I've never really had too many thoughts either, beside of food and warmth:. The snake answered uncertainly.
.:Well now you can!:. Harry happily stated.
.:It appears so:. The snake said confusedly.
.:Wow, does everyone learn to speak English as fast as you? I'll have to ask my aunt when i get back inside:. Harry said.
.:I'm pretty sure we're not speaking English, if that's the language other humans speak:. The snake said with conviction.
.:We're not? I swear it sounds like English when you talk. But now that I think of it, I do kind of hiss all my words. Maybe it's I who has suddenly learnt a new language! I'll call it snakespeak!:. Harry exclaimed merrily.
.:Ok, that's… :. The snake started, but was interrupted by Harry's rumbling stomach. .:Are you hungry?:.
.:Yes, I missed breakfast this morning:. Harry replied.
.:Why don't you go hunt?:. The snake asked perplexed.
.:I'm not allowed to leave the garden and even if I were I don't know how to hunt:. He said sadly.
.:Well I could help you as a thanks for this conversation:. The snake said and meandered away.
Harry took a moment before he understood that the snake had left. "Wait!" He yelled and heard a distinct "Quiet boy!" from inside the house. He did not dare shout again in fear of his uncle. He was a bit sad that his friend had left him though.
After a while, he wondered if he had not imagined the situation. Talking to snakes! Hah! As if that could have happened. He must have fallen asleep and dreamt it all. He started picking the weeds while he thought about his weird dream.
.:Hello again:. He suddenly heard and jumped.
.:You scared me!:. Harry exclaimed when he saw the snake. Maybe it had not been a dream after all.
.:Sorry, here:. The snake said and laid a dead mouse he'd been holding in his mouth beside Harry.
.:Oh…:. Harry suddenly understood what the snake had done. .:I don't know if humans can eat dead mice if we don't cook it, and I can't go inside when my relatives are there:. Harry explained.
.:I'm sorry:. The snake said dejectedly.
Harry did not want to make the snake unhappy so he grabbed the mouse and started to take a bite out of it. It did not taste as bad as he had imagined. It tasted a bit like raw chicken, at least what he imagined raw chicken would taste like. He took a bit of time to pick all the meat of the mouse and then buried all the bones.
When he was finished he looked up and saw that the snake had disappeared. He heard his aunt saying it was time for lunch. It was his job to cook breakfast, but his aunt made lunch and dinner as she said he would have to get better at cooking before he could do that.
They all sat down and started eating and his relatives started discussing things loudly with each other. While Harry ate in silence he started to feel a bit sick. So he had to excuse himself:
"I'm not feeling very well in my stomach"
His uncle inspected Harry's, now noticeably pale, face.
"You may stay in your cupboard for the rest of the day and rest," He decided.
"Thanks"
Harry hurried to his bed, lied down and tried not vomit. He gagged many times but succeeded to keep the contents of his stomach where they were.
—
The next day started the same as the last, and Harry felt much better. He should probably not eat any more raw mice. Even if the last meeting did not end very well he hoped he would see his friend today again. He rushed out to the garden after breakfast, which he actually succeeded with, so his uncle reluctantly gave him some food. His rushing drew some funny looks, but no one commented on it.
He quickly went where he had been yesterday and looked around. Fortunately, his friend lied there, sunbathing.
.:Good morning!:. Harry said happily.
.:Good morning:. The snake hissed. It was easier to make out when someone spoke snakespeak today after having spoken English with his relatives the same morning.
.:I don't think I introduced myself yesterday:. Harry said .:Hi, my name is Harry:.
.:My name is Ariadnae, I am a garter snake:. Ariadnae said.
.:Huh, are you a girl?:. Harry asked.
.:Yes:. Ariadnae answered somewhat affronted.
.:I didn't know:. Harry said quickly .:How do you if a snake is a boy or a girl?:.
.:You smell it:. She answered as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.
Harry did not really know how to answer that, so he started pulling the weeds instead. Suddenly he hurt his finger on thorn, and started to cry because it hurt.
.:Stop crying:. Ariadnae ordered. .:It will not make it better, and you only waste energy feeling sorry for yourself. Do something about it instead. Maybe licking your fingers like some dogs I've seen helps?:.
Harry still looked a little sad but managed to bite back his tears. He started to lick his finger and it definitely hurt less when all the dirt had gone.
.:Thanks:. He said.
.:It is something every snake knows. Every action has a cost, therefore you should not waste more energy than needed so that when you need it, you can use it to continue living:. Ariadnae explained and Harry thought it was a sound advice, a bit morbid, but good. .:That's why I lie still here in the sun. I can't make my own body temperature rise so I let the sun do it for me, and save energy. Therefore I have lots of energy saved for when I go hunting:.
.:So I shouldn't do anything else other than eat?:. Harry asked bewildered.
.:No that's not what I meant. I just meant that if you waste energy on unnecessary things, you might not have enough when you need it:. She explained, but he still looked a little uncertain. .:Look, it translates to other situations beside energy as well:. she continued .:When I hunt I have to hide so I don't alert my pray that I exist, and creep up beside them. But if I want to catch something, I have to leave the safety of hiding and jump out. If I don't wait in the safety of my den long enough I will have wasted the the opportunity. But the same applies if I do wait too long. I just mean that you should not cry if it doesn't have any meaning. If it were to attract help from someone it would be okay, but crying for crying's sake should not be done:.
By this time she had completely lost the six year old Harry, but she decided she would continue to help him understand later. It was, after all, one of the most important lessons to know as a snake. The fact that Harry was not a snake escaped her.
Harry continued working while they chatted away the time. Soon the day had ended, but Harry knew he had a friend waiting for him in the garden the next day, so he was not very sad to leave. The last days of the summer continued on in the same manner. Ariadnae tried to teach Harry everything a snake needed to know to survive, and Harry tried to tell Ariadnae every exciting thing he would do once he started first year in school. Ariadnae decided that it was best if Harry did not take her with him to school at first, but if it was safe they could discuss it again.
—
When the first school day had ended, Harry came home stone-faced and quiet. He quickly made his way to the garden in seek of Ariadnae's comfort. Once there, he couldn't stop a single tear from escaping his eye. He quickly wiped it away because he knew you should not waste energy to cry if it was not needed. He quickly started telling his new friend what had happened during the day to his friend, after some prompting from her.
.:Well it started out really well and I sat beside this nice boy. We talked a lot, but when the brake came Dudley started telling everyone that I was a freak, and then nobody wanted to be friends with me anymore:. He told her and let out a sob even though he did not want to. .:After that, everything went bad. They started calling me names and I even tried crying to see if it would help, but it just made everything worse:.
Ariadnae did not know what she was supposed to do, but she settled on slithering up and resting on his lap.
.:At least I have you:. He said and started petting her.
She felt a bit warm at that even though the sun was not shining. In an attempt to make Harry feel better, she started telling him about how she had met another snake. She explained how she could talk to him, and that he could understand her, but he could not speak back to her. This made her feel kind of special, and the other snake was awed by her ability. She told Harry that she would definitely have many consorts next spring and she would be able to choose the most strongest snakes to be fathers to her children. Harry was surprised by the odd fact, and she explained that female snakes usually took several mates when they wanted to reproduce, and the eggs she laid would probably come from different fathers. Harry just filed it away as things that were different between humans and snakes.
—
Harry learned fast that Ariadnae was right about crying. You should just save your energy because it did not help either way, and he did not want to show that the other kid's harsh words actually hurt. He mostly kept a neutral expression on his face and pretended he did not hear when someone said something mean. This made it boring for most kids to tease him so they chose a different target instead. Harry wanted to help the poor girl who had taken his place but he did not dare for fear they would choose him again.
The only ones who did not stop calling Harry names were Dudley and his friends. Their favourite word was freak which they used on him daily. This was picked up from Petunia when she was mad with Harry.
The only place he could let out his feelings were in the garden where he would sit and talk for hours with Ariadnae. He soon learnt how to choose between talking english and snakespeak. He spent so much time there that it sort of became Harry's part of the house. His relatives learnt that if they did not want to see Harry they just had to block the windows with the curtains and stay inside. This Harry was grateful for as he did not have to hide as well when he talked to Ariadnae. He knew it would be disaster if they knew he was outside with a snake, talking or not.
—
It was the day of Halloween, when Dudley and his friends had been extra mean, that something happened. Just when Dudley had said freak for the 10th time that day, Harry had enough. He did not want to hear Dudley anymore, so he hissed quietly but angrily:
.:Shut up:. He was surprised when he noticed it had come out as snakespeak, but even more surprised when Dudley actually shut up. He was looking quite funny as if he tried to speak, but could not make any sound. His friends started laughing at his antics, but when Dudley ran away crying, shock blew through the boys.
"Uhmm, what happened?" Harry asked baffled.
"I have no idea, but did you see him cry?! He's was such a crybaby!" Piers started laughing. Harry did not think it was as funny, but kept a neutral mask and said nothing.
—
Hell awaited Harry at home that day. When Dudley told his parents (His silence had somehow been broken) what had happened they automatically assumed it was something harry had done. Why, harry did not know, but the result was that he was locked in his cupboard without dinner and did not get any breakfast for the next day either.
It did not matter though, as it was already too late. Scary Dudley had cried, and now he was not so scary anymore. His old friends were like sharks in bloody water. They were on him from the first minute, and called him a crybaby. It did not take long for Dudley to start crying again, and then it was official. The bullies had a new target. Harry both felt relieved that he was out of sight, and sorry for his cousin; he did not wish upon Dudley what he had done to him.
When he returned and told Ariadnae what had transpired during the day, she too felt sorry for Dudley. They both agreed Harry should teach him to not show any weakness the next day. It was only fair, he was family after all, even if he had been mean to Harry.
.:I wonder why he became quiet all of a sudden:. Harry asked thoughtfully .:It was like he wanted to talk but couldn't. If my uncle is to be believed, than it was my fault. Though I did hiss 'shut up' at him before he went quiet:.
.:Maybe it was you?:. Ariadnae thought out loud.
.:What? No! I swear I didn't do anything!:. He yelled, feeling falsely accused. A shout of something undistinguishable was heard from inside the house, but was ignored. They both knew Vernon would not come out if they did not shout anymore.
.:No, I mean, you can talk to me and made me be able to both think and speak. It wouldn't be that much of a stretch to think that you could make him quiet by saying something, if you wanted to:. She said, still deep in thought.
.:Oh, I didn't really think of it that way:. He said. .:If I have this…power… how do you think it works?:.
.:I don't know, try hissing 'shut up' to me and see if it works?:. She proposed.
.:Shut up:. He said .:Did it work?:.
.:No, it does not appear so:. She said dejectedly .:Did anything else happen when you said it?:.
.:Well I was really angry with Dudley but otherwise nothing special. I could try and feel really angry again maybe?:. He said but did not really believe it.
.:Okay:.
He tried really hard to feel the same anger at his cousin as he did the day before. It was not that hard when he imagined all the times he had called Harry a freak.
.:Shut up:. He hissed and suddenly felt kind of tired. .:Did it work now?:.
Ariadnae seemed to move her mouth but no sound came out of it. Then she suddenly stopped and nodded. Harry felt almost giddy when he understood he had a special power. "Am I a superhero now?" He wondered. Then he looked at Ariadnae who was now bobbing her head from side to side. It looked kind of funny but then he realised it was because she could not speak.
.:Uhmm speak again:. He said but it did not work. He became a little afraid and thought about what he had done the first time he had spoken to her. .:Hello:. He tried but even that did not work. Now he was really afraid .:please speak again!:. He said a little louder and suddenly felt the same tiredness as he felt when she was quieted.
.:Hello? Oh, good, I can speak again:. She exclaimed, satisfied.
Harry felt very relieved and threw himself at Ariadnae and hugged her. He sobbed a little while she tried to comfort him. Then he gathered himself and took a deep breath.
.:I thought I lost you:. He said wistfully.
.:I'm here now:. She said and for some reason feeling a little happy .:What happened when you released me?:.
.:Well, I felt really afraid that I would lose you, maybe you have to feel strong emotions for this power to work? Do you think it matters which emotion I feel? I'd rather feel love than hate. Then there was this feeling like I became really tired when it worked:. He explained.
.:Aha! Even your power must obey the rule! To get something you must lose another. To work this power of yours you must use up your energy! This power of yours thinks like a snake. I like it:. She said while wagging from side to side. Harry could not help but smile at her antics. She stopped suddenly and narrowed her eyes. .:maybe it even can eat like a snake:. She wondered and dashed away.
Harry felt a sudden déjà vu and had to hold it together to not shout 'wait' after her. He knew she would come back and probably with a mouse in her mouth. He did not want to eat a mouse but would if he had to; it was not that bad last time. Right? It did not take long for her to show up again with, predictably, a mouse.
.:So, how do you suppose my power eats?:. He asked, resigned to his fate.
.:Well everything else has happened with words in snakespeak, so you should say something with it:. She explained her thoughts on the matter. .:And you should maybe feel a strong emotion too:.
.:Okay, I'm not really hungry so that feeling is out:. He threw a look at Ariadnae and felt his love for her so he decided to use that. He looked at the mouse, but thought of the wonderful time he had had with Ariadnae and what a wonderful friend she was. Then he burst out. .:Power, eat this mouse!:.
Nothing happened.
.:Well that was anticlimactic:. Ariadnae said .:maybe we need to think about it more:. Harry did not think it would work, but decided to humour his friend.
.:If we think about you said earlier:. He started .:Maybe I need to phrase it so there is an exchange?:.
.:Yes!:. she exclaimed .:Something like 'I offer this rat to my power':. She said the last part in a deep voice for some reason.
.:Oh! Like sacrifice!:. He flushed .:They told me in school they used to do that to the gods a long time ago:.
.:I suppose you could say sacrifice if you want to:. She said with a sigh.
.:Yay! I feel like that ancient shepherd sacrificing my lamb to god!:. Ariadnae just rolled her eyes. .:Okay here I go:. Again he thought of all his love for Ariadnae .:I sacrifice this rat to my power!:.
Again he felt something happen, but this time he did not feel tired, rather really invigorated, as if he could move mountains with his strength alone. He saw that the rat was burning by some strange black fire, but there was no smoke. When the entire rat had burned, the feeling of strength had disappeared, but he still felt more awake than before. He also felt like something within him had changed, but he could not pinpoint what. It was Ariadnae who broke the silence.
.:I seriously like this power of yours. What happened?:. Harry explained what he had felt like during the event, but skipped the part about what he thought of before it.
.:We should try some more!:. Was her only reply, but before she slithered away his aunt yelled that dinner was ready. He promised Ariadnae that they would try some more tomorrow after school and went inside.
—
The next day he went to school he remembered that he should explain to Dudley how to hide his emotions just like he did himself. Before they went in to class Harry dragged his cousin to the side and explained. His cousin just snorted but in class he kept throwing glances towards Harry and when break came he kept his face neutral just as had seen Harry do. It worked somewhat and the bullies, led by Piers, tired soon. It was not until after school Dudley said a quick thanks to Harry and hurried along.
At home the strangest thing happened. Dudley had offered some of his sweets to Harry. It felt like the world had stopped in its tracks. Vernon, Petunia and Harry stared. Petunia recovered first.
"You don't have to give the freak your sweets. It was very nice of you, but it could become contaminated"
"But I…" Dudley started.
"No it's okay, you should keep your sweets Dudley", Harry said, clearly moved. "We can talk more in school" He whispered so only Dudley could hear.
"What are you whispering about boy?" Asked Vernon distrustingly.
"Nothing important, just that only nice boys may eat sweets", Harry lied quickly.
Dudley gave him an odd look, but said nothing.
—
When he made it outside to his and Ariadnae's usual meeting place he had to stop short. Before him lay what looked like a dozen or more rats.
.:Hello:. Said Ariadnae happily.
.:Hello, I see you've been busy:. Said Harry which made Ariadnae look a little sheepish. .:Well then:. He said, resigned .:shall I begin?:.
.:Yes!:. She exclaimed, many times more excited than he.
.:Okay:. He thought about Ariadnae "I sacrifice these mice to my power".
Nothing happened, again.
.:You spoke in human language:. she explained.
.:I guess I slipped when I tried to hold on to my feelings:. he said.
.:What feelings did you use?:. she asked, wanting to know more about this power.
.:Uhmm, I kind of… like I used… I thought of my love for you and our friendship. You're my best friend:. he said and hastily added .:Well let's get on with the mice:. Ariadnae did not say anything but you could tell that she was very pleased. He did as he did the last time, but said the phrase in snakespeak instead. This time it worked and all the mice started burning with those black flames. He felt even more invigorated than the last time but the feeling of being able to move mountains was not as big. Suddenly he felt something happen around his body and he shook off his big jumper he had inherited from Dudley. There he saw rather than feel changes appear. His scrawny body started to fill out and now he looked more like a slightly thin normal six year old rather than a scrawny one. When it was done he once again felt something change within him as it did last time but it was not as pronounced as last time.
.:Wow, I feel great:. Harry blurted out. He also saw that while the black flame had scorched all the mice, nothing around them seemed to have been effected by it.
.:Hmm, we need more mice for you to start to fill out, but we have to careful so you don't start looking like your uncle:. Ariadnae said while inspecting the changes. .:I'll leave now so I have a lot of mice tomorrow:.
.:Okay, good bye!:. Harry said, still touching all over his torso and looking quite pleased with the changes. That day was the easiest ever to pick the weeds and he had trouble sleeping in the evening as he was still full of energy.
—
When Vernon and Petunia left the boys at school Dudley went straight to Harry. He gave Harry a bag with a few sweets. "You can still have the rest". Harry almost felt tears fill his eyes but he squashed them mercilessly and gave Dudley a big grin.
"Do you want to play together during break?" Harry asked his cousin.
"Yes very much", Was his only answer. Their classmates were quite bewildered when the two cousins played happily together during break. That was the start of an odd sort of friendship.
—
When they got back home they continued playing even in the presence of Dudley's parents. The two adults were quite shocked to say the least. Then Vernon got enraged, and they were not allowed to play under any circumstances and that Harry had work to do in the garden. Dudley looked dejected at that, but Harry only smiled mischievously at that, and said:
"Only nice boys may play"
Dudley looked puzzled at that. Then he understood the message.
—
When Harry got out to his meeting place he expected maybe a few more rats then the last day. Instead he was greeted by almost 20 mice in a heap. He looked at Ariadnae who looked quite smug.
.:How did you manage this?:. He asked, stunned.
.:There are advantages with having several males who are looking to please me:. She said, no less smug then before.
.:Should I meet with them and thank them?:. He asked when he realised what she meant.
.:And give up my advantage of being the only snake who can speak, no thanks. I think I'm aiming for queen in the neighbourhood:. She stated with conviction.
.:I can only wish you luck:. He chuckled at her. Then he prepared himself and thought of his love for Ariadnae. .:I sacrifice these mice for my power:.
This time he only slightly had the feeling of feeling invincible but it was quickly overruled by the feeling of energy and change within his body. He suddenly realised how big the heap was and how big he might end up. He suddenly wanted to stop it, but realised he had no idea how. He would just have to take of his shirt and see what the results would be.
He did fill out, but only to a point. Then he started to grow muscles until looked like a very athletic six year old. Then suddenly the bodily changes stopped and he only felt like something expanded inside his chest. He felt a great alarm at that, because he did not want to pop like a balloon. Though the expanding thing in his chest felt very odd; it was like it was expanding but at the same time was not. Like it was filled with more but did not get any bigger. He noted that this was not the same change he had felt the last two times he had done it and wondered what both of the changes meant.
And he felt great! He could move! He just knew he could outrun everyone his age and lift really heavy stuff. He tried stretching as they had learned in P.E. He was way more flexible than before. Overall, he felt really great.
.:Someone's looking good:. Ariadnae teased.
.:Thanks, I feel good too:. He said. .:I even think I am a little bit taller:. He observed.
.:Put on your jumper again and we can see if changes are noticeable:. She said, and he did so.
His jumper was still too big, so he guessed no one would notice.
.:No I don't see anything if I don't look for it:. She said contently.
.:Great!:. He exclaimed and the friends simply enjoyed the rest of the day. None of his relatives seemed to notice any of the changes he had done to himself, not that they were looking for anything anyway.
—
The next day both Harry and Dudley acted like they did not see each other until Dudley's parents were gone, then smiled and started a day full of fun and playing. Dudley even commented on the end that hanging out and playing was much more fun than teasing others. Harry only smiled at the changes in his cousin. They also decided they would only play when they were at school, as both knew how Vernon and Petunia would react otherwise.
—
Harry and Ariadnae stopped sacrificing as many mice as they had in the beginning, because the only change Harry could make out were the expanding feeling in his chest, but it did not do anything for him. Ariadnae had a theory that the feeling was his power expanding, but neither of them knew what to do with the power yet so they did not feel as great a need.
Ariadnae's plan on taking over the neighbourhood seemed to be going well, at least according to her; Harry never actually met any other snakes. As the autumn flew by, Harry's glasses were getting more and more tighter, and that led to Harry's plan for trying to fix his eyesight with his power.
Ariadnae had again come through by providing a lot of dead mice. Harry did not think it would take so many, but he did not want to take any chances. Maybe he would be blind if the power was not satisfied with the sacrifice. So once again he stood and thought of all the love he felt for Ariadnae and said clearly:
.:I sacrifice these mice to fix my eyesight:. He crossed his fingers and hoped it would work. Then he saw the black flames start licking the mice and let out a sigh of relief. Now he only had to hope he would not go blind. He took of his glasses and felt as everything started to get clearer. Not just as clear as they had been when he saw through his glasses, but even more clear. He could see far. Much further than he had ever seen before. He could also see everything in much more detail.
What surprised him though was that not all of the mice were gone by the time the flames were gone. Only their eyes had been burnt, but he was too tired from the first sacrifice to do anything special so he just sacrificed the rest to strengthen his powers.
He knew this change would be more noticeable, nevertheless he thought his relatives, except Dudley of course, would blame his freakish way and that would be it. He hoped he was right.
He was. For some reason they even looked a bit afraid, even Dudley commented on that in school. Dudley did not know enough about eyes to think that it was strange that he did not wear glasses anymore and the teachers did not comment. Maybe they thought he wore contacts. The only reason Harry knew eyes did not work that way was because Ariadnae had told him so.
He understood that he may have overdone his eyesight sacrifice when he noticed that he could read something from a paper that was on the opposite side of the classroom when his classmates hardly could read something 2-3 meters away. Well, nothing to do about that now.
He and Dudley had become great friends over the months and they even protected the girl who was bullied after Harry and befriended her. Her name was Elisabeth. Now all three of them were great friends and made sure no one else were bullied by Piers's group. It was a tough job, but someone had got to do it, and the teachers were not.
—
It was at this point a certain bearded man took notice of one of his many instrument and smiled. He had been worried by Arabella's report this summer but now he knew he had made the right choice in placing young Harry at his relatives. Not that it has been a choice really. Both his godmother and godfather was unable to take care of him and anywhere else would likely see him dead within the week. Good thing purebloods had such a problem with navigating in the muggle world as he could live in obscurity until his hogwarts letter.
—
When winter came Ariadnae told harry she was going to have to hibernate. That led to a discussion on what hibernation was and a very sad Harry Potter. He still had Dudley and Elisabeth as friends though. They were always at Elisabeth's place when they were playing outside of school as neither of the boys wanted to explain to Elisabeth the way Harry was treated. When winter break came, Harry was often very bored. He had taken to writing a list on things he wanted to get through his power instead of making a list to Santa.
One day during winter break, Harry felt his power stir a bit with joy. It felt really weird and Harry definitely thought his power was alive at that moment. He later learned that the day was called winter solstice and had been celebrated by many different cultures during history. Nothing happened during Christmas though, which Harry thought was weird. He decided that if his power thought winter solstice was more important than Christmas then so would he. Santa had never really come through for Harry after all, but his power had.
Though this Christmas had gone decisively well for Harry, he and Dudley had gotten a Christmas card from Elisabeth and had decided to make one to her as well. Vernon and Petunia did not really like the fact that Harry's name was on the card they sent to her, but it would be too suspicious if she only got a card from Dudley.
Winter went away and soon came spring with a very happy Harry and Ariadnae, who were reunited. Harry told her what had happened during the winter, and was very interested in what had happened to his power during winter solstice. She also told him there was a summer solstice as well and that Harry should ask his teachers how old cultures used to celebrate both occasions. Maybe there had been others with his power in the past that had showed the normal people how to properly celebrate them.
They both thought the reason his power had not felt the dates before was because his power had not been strong enough. This made a reason why they should step up the power enhancing sacrifices. He then showed her his list he had been making about what he wanted to do with his power. The list contained four topics. A way to give Ariadnae the power as well, a way to be smarter and a way to remember things better.
He did not want to enhance more of his senses; it was sometimes more of a burden seeing everything so clear. He had found that out when his uncle had opened his door to the cupboard one day when he had overslept. His eyes had really hurt in the sudden sharp light. What if he enhanced his skin's feeling and he hit himself? That would hurt so much more.
The forth topic was not something to enhance. It was simply to maybe tell Dudley and Elisabeth about his powers. Ariadnae smiled at the last. Of course she would show herself to them if Harry wanted to. He just had to make they did not tell Vernon or Petunia or anyone else because then she and Harry may be separated.
The good thing about it being spring was that many male snakes in the vicinity wanted to impress Ariadnae and that made it easy to gather mice for sacrifice. One even brought a rat once. These numbers though made it very hard to hide in the garden for their sacrifices. They decided to relocate to a nearby park, where there were trees that could block the sight. They also had to quickly use up all the mice so they would not rot and start to smell so people would find them. Most people would probably think it would be strange if they found a large pile of mice. They would definitely have to find a better way to do all these sacrifices or they would soon be found out. Lucky for Harry, it was Ariadnae who coordinated everything. Otherwise they would have been found out a long time ago.
They decided that the rat along with almost forty mice would be good enough to give Ariadnae the power as well. Ariadnae had told harry that she thought it would not work, but that they should try it anyway.
.:I sacrifice these mice and this rat to give Ariadnae the power:. Harry said out loud, but unfortunately nothing happened. .:I sacrifice these mice and this rat to make me smarter:. He said, but even then nothing happened. He felt a bit down as none of the two sacrifices had worked, but he decided to try the last one. Third time's the charm he thought hopefully. .:I sacrifice these mice and this rat to make me remember easier:.
That time it actually worked, and all the mice's and the rat's heads started to burn with the now familiar black flame, but none of them seemed to burn. He guessed it was rather their brains that burned, rather than their heads. Then he suddenly seemed to remember a lot. It was like all of his life was playing before his eyes. He thought with morbid humour that this was supposed to happen before you die, not when you're six years old.
Even though he remembered so much, his memories from when he was very little were kind of strange. He saw everything differently and, at some points, his senses were all jumbled together. His sight, for example, did not become as good as he had when he had glasses until he was almost two years old and he did not get glasses until he was almost four. To say that was frustrating was an understatement. After all, here he could remember almost all of his life and then realising he could only see anything clearly in little more than a third of his life. The one thing he was sure of though was that his mother had red hair and his father had black. He was also somewhat sure of that his mother had had green eyes too, like his own.
When he asked Ariadnae about all this later on she chuckled and told him that obviously it was because his senses were still developing when he was a baby. That was a rather big letdown if you asked Harry.
For example, everything tasted rather bland for the first one and a half year of his life. His smell was quite good from the beginning, but it was weird having memories of only smelling things sometimes. It made him rather fond of having all of his senses intact.
His hearing though was quite good after his first half of a year, and it was through this he learned some startling truths. His parents were wizards and a wizard, called Voldemort, had killed them. Voldemort had tried to kill him to but as soon as he had uttered those killing words, Avada Kedavra, Harry had blacked out, when he came to again his godfather Sirius, or Padfoot as he was also known as, had come charging through the door crying and saying he would kill Voldemort. He came in and saw Harry's mother and started screaming and crying again, which made Harry cry as well. Sirius had immediately stopped and been overjoyed when he found Harry alive and proceeded to pick him up and run out of the house, where someone called Hagrid had arrived. Sirius told Hagrid to take Harry to safety on his motorbike while he would go rescue Peter from wherever Voldemort held him. Sirius' motorbike combined with Hagrid's warm coat made Harry quickly fall asleep. Next time he woke up was in his cupboard.
He told Ariadnae all important parts of his memory, which was not much. He told her of hearing his parents' voices and all the odd words which he thought sounded like spells. He also knew that all non wizards were called muggles and that it was forbidden to tell them about the wizarding world. Good thing he had not told Elisabeth and Dudley about his 'power' which he now knew was magic. He also realised that both Vernon and Petunia knew about magic which was why they told him he was a freak. Suddenly it did not feel as bad being called a freak anymore, as that seemed to be synonymous with wizard, or witch if the person was a girl.
There was so much to think about that he almost could not sleep that night but in the morning he had reached some conclusions. Padfoot could turn into something dog-like and Wormtail could turn into something mouse-like. He understood that this was why they were given their nicknames. His father was called Prongs. Harry did not know what kind of animal his father was supposed to be but if you followed the logic of the nicknames he would be an animal with horns or simply a pronghorn. Harry thought the last was the most likely. Moony was not that hard though. He must be a wolf as they were the only animals Harry knew that had any connection to the moon.
Harry also wanted to find the animal he could turn into, because really; if you could choose which animal to turn into, who would choose to become a wolf when you already had a dog in your gang or the other way around. And why choose a rat? Okay maybe for spying, but there were so many better animals you could into if you wanted to do that. No, Harry was sure you could not choose. He wanted to find his own. That went straight to his list. He supposed he would have to do the memory sacrifice a couple of more times to make sure he had not missed anything in his memories but after that it was free game for anything. While he thought about his sacrifices he supposed they were more rituals than sacrifices as it was magic so maybe he should start calling them that instead.
His parents often talked about wards on their house too. They said they protected them in the house and keep the muggles away. He should try and make his own that made those without magic, or muggles he figured they should be called, walk away without noticing anything was amiss. If he could make one of those wards he could hide the heap of mice which he now had to hide in the woods beside the park and hope nobody happened across. That was not really safe. If he could make it he could return the heap to his backyard again and no one would notice a thing! The wizarding world must have lots of those or similar things if they could have managed to stay hidden for so long. That went above the animal thing on the list.
He also needed to know what language all the spells were cast in so he could learn it. He hoped the non-wiz…muggles, he reminded himself, knew the language because if they did not there was not much he could do about it. But if he did learn the language he could maybe guess what all the spells his parents and their friends did so he could at the very least get ideas for his rituals if nothing else. If he was lucky he might be able to do some of the spells himself he thought hopefully. But every time they did do a spell they had something pointy in their hands. If he focused really hard on those memories they seemed to be made of something brown, which might be sticks. He suddenly felt stupid. Of course wizards had wands. Maybe some had staffs as well?
He thought of all the really crazy stuff he knew about magic. Did witches ride brooms with talking cats and have a cauldron hanging on the side? No, that was ridiculous. But he guessed he would have to search for legends on magic and read some fantasy books in the library. That also went on the rituals-turned-to-do-list.
Now that he thought about it, he was not really this 'smart' before right? He had always been kind of logical about things but not at this level. Six years old should not think things through this much. It must be connected to the memory ritual somehow. Did you get smarter by remembering stuff? No, at least Harry did not think so. But now that he thought about it, older people were generally smarter, and they had more memories. Maybe it was connected? Or maybe he just got an information dump in his head and now was forced to make sense of it. That was probably it he thought wryly. Well, he should probably keep making sense of the information first before thinking about things like this.
His parents had talked about a magic school called Hogwarts. He had never heard anything about such a school. So, he thought this could be another point for the existence of something similar to his wizard-hiding-wards. His parents had mentioned that he would go there when he was older, if the war was over by then. How much older was 'older'? Did it cost money? He probably had no way of making money fast enough to enrol. His relatives would never pay for him going to a magic school. Maybe he had already missed his chance when he turned six and started a muggle school. That would just be bloody fantastic would it not?
Wait a moment and rewind, they said if the war was over. The war might not be over. There might be a hidden magical war going on in the midst of England and nobody would know. That was a scary thought. Or even worse, the wrong guys had already won? What had his parents called them? Voldemort and his death eaters, and they fought for pureblood ideals. That sounded a lot like that Hitler and his gang, which he remembered hearing a TV program about when he was eating dinner once. Had this war been going on since then? Did they not say that the war ended in 1945? Maybe only the muggle side of the war ended.
And what really happened that night when Voldemort came knocking on the door? It sounded like he used the same spell that killed his parents to kill Harry. Did he miss a baby just lying there waiting for him? No, that could not be it. Now that he thought about it, his mother did hastily murmur when she came up to him. Maybe she did some kind of counterspell on him which made him survive, but that does not explain why Voldemort did not try again. Maybe she did something which made the spell rebound? He hoped so. If that were the case, maybe the war was over?
They said the place they were staying at was called Godric's hollow. Was it a wizarding village? Or muggle? If it was a muggle village he should be able to search for it. If it was, how would he be able to go there? He could not go by himself; his relatives would know he was gone in a couple of hours at best. Wait a moment, his parents might have graves there! Maybe he could play the sympathy card to go see his parents' graves. Not bloody likely that it would work but it was worth a try. He put that on the to-do-list as well.
While thinking about all of this he completely forgot to make breakfast which made him stay hungry all the way until lunch. He could not wait for school to end so could talk to Ariadnae about everything. This was not what he had planned when doing the memory ritual. His plan was only to breeze through his exams by easily remembering everything from the classes.
—
The bearded man looked at the monitor concerning Harry Potter's accidental magic. He had not planned on having it; it was just a spur of the moment thing really. Though, he must have done something wrong, as it would not be silenced. Anyway, Arabella had not noticed any magic happening and he would rather trust her judgment than this thing. Because really, daily accidental magic? He waved his wand and it vanished from existence.
—
It was a huffing Harry who met Ariadnae outside the park after school. He told her everything he had thought of during the time he had been away from her and she could only stay silent as he continued telling her. He was rather proud of his reasoning about everything.
.:Well if your memories are correct it would probably be best to find some way to this magical world:. Ariadnae started after he was finished. .:Though I think you're forgetting the present by knowing all of this:. Harry was about to object, but she continued. .:You are living in the middle of nowhere, with guardians who have no inclination of having anything to do with magic. There must be a reason why someone want you to keep magic away from you, or rather, as I think of it, you away from magic:.
That thought was a sad one. It made it definitely seem as though the war was still going on and somebody wanted to protect him. If that was the case then that someone wanted him to live in blissful oblivion. Harry did not want the same and it must have shown on his face because Ariadnae chuckled.
.:I'm not going to sit on the sidelines if a war is still going on!:. He said with conviction.
.:So you want to fight?:. She asked with a small hint of mockery. .:A six year old, who have just found his magic. Do you really think you're going to make a change? It's like sending a newly hatched non-poisonous snake to fight against a fully grown, venomous, Inland Taipan. Besides, do you really know anything about the war? I certainly don't. We don't even know which side your parents were fighting for or if there are more than two sides:.
Harry seemed to deflate at that. .:So you think that I should just stay where I am and be safe?:. He asked a little sadly.
.:No, why not go on as we have done before, but try to stay clear of other magicians so we don't get killed?:. She proposed.
.:That does seem to be the best way:. He said dejectedly .:I guess I just wanted to be part of my parents world:.
.:I understand, but I'll always be there for you:. She said lovingly. Harry smiled a little at that and started petting her. .:When you're fully grown and know lots of magic we can seek out the wizards:. She suggested knowing he needed a goal.
.:I'd like that:. Was his answer.
.:I really like the idea of having this ward thing and not have to worry about being caught:. She said to change the conversation.
.:Then we'll do that tomorrow!:. He said excitedly. .:Today we should do the memory ritual again to see if more turns up:.
It did, but nothing of real importance. He could not wait until next day and make his own secret hideout. He really hoped it worked.
Classes that day were actually very boring. He had already memorised everything the teachers said so nothing new was learned. He had hoped he would enjoy his classes after remembering better. Instead he tried to think of how he should formulate his ritual.
He enjoyed playing with his friends though, playing without a care eased his worries about the future. He was sure it would all turn out okay.
—
Standing in the backyard with all the mice made him worry as it had been some weeks since they had gathered. He had thought really hard about what he wanted his ward to do. He was not really sure about the word muggle so he would use 'humans without magic' instead. It felt safer. He specified humans because he wanted the snakes to be able to enter. In the end he stood before the gathered mice. The male snakes seemed to try to up each other by bringing more and more mice. It was quite the great heap. He wanted this done quickly because it would only take a single glance from inside the house to see the pile. He gathered his feelings and said:
.:I sacrifice these mice to make a four meters big ward, which makes humans without magic not notice anything strange inside:. As he said those words he felt a surge in his magic and all the mice burnt up. When everything was finished he did not see anything amiss. Not that he should, but it was hard to know if anything had happened if nothing changed. He walked inside where he assumed the ward to be.
When he went inside it felt like something tickled his brain and then stopped. That must be the ward he was feeling. He tried awfully hard to feel it again, but every time he felt close it escaped him. He explained this to his friend who seemed understanding. She did not notice any barrier anywhere. As he focused on the feeling again he actually seemed to grasp it again, but then he lost it. This was how he spent the rest of the day until he could feel it if he searched for it and always felt it when he entered. It was much harder to notice the barrier when he stepped out of it than stepped in. Suddenly he was brought back to reality when he felt a hand touch his shoulder. He let out an 'eep'.
"I just wanted to ask for some help with our homework. I can't understand it", Dudley, who the hand belonged to, said.
Dudley was standing inside his ward! He had not done anything strange right? He hoped not. Luckily Dudley did not comment on his pacing back and forth Harry had done. Then Ariadnae slithered up on Harry's leg and let out a high hiss. Harry felt his insides turn to ice. Now he was doomed. Strangely though, Dudley still did not say anything about it. Understanding he had not answered Dudley he quickly said:
"Uhmm yeah sure, I'll be up in a minute". When Dudley went back inside he danced happily. The barrier had worked! Dudley had not noticed anything. His mind was reeling with possibilities.
.:Now we're properly introduced:. Ariadnae said smugly. Harry chuckled at that and went inside to help his cousin with the homework.
—
The barrier was wonderful, he could do anything inside and nobody noticed anything! He had taken to expand it the next day so it compassed the entire garden. Now it was, literary, his part of the house as he could do anything there. He was also getting better at feeling his ward. He could feel the ward without trying when he was inside it and he lost the feeling when he went out. The ward felt disorienting, which was what it should do so he felt quite proud of his creation.
When he came home after school the following day he went through the gate and stopped short. His uncle almost walked over him.
"Out of the way boy", He shot out, but Harry did not listen. He had felt a tickle on his brain. That meant a ward. A ward on the entire house. Vernon pushed him aside and muttered something about wasted money.
He quickly told Ariadnae out in the garden about it and then went to his cupboard to get a feel for this new interesting thing. This ward was much harder to get a feel for, but it felt protective. Of and from whom or what he did not know. He still had not understood it by bedtime.
—
Next day at school he saw Piers and his friends pushing Elisabeth on the school ground. He felt angry and ran to her rescue. He placed himself between them and threw an icy glare in Piers's direction. He completely missed Gordon, who took the chance to push Harry as hard as he could. Harry fell and scraped his arm really bad. He felt pathetic. Just the other day he had thought about joining a war, and here he could not even protect his friend from some bullies.
When he tried to get up Piers pushed him down again, this made his, already scraped, arm start bleeding badly. He heard a gasp from what he thought was Elisabeth. Harry's mind was far away and he started to feel afraid of what would happen. Sure he had been called some very bad names, but nobody had ever hurt him this much.
His thoughts were flying a mile a minute, he wanted to flee but he did not want to leave Elisabeth. But it hurt so much. He almost started crying but knew that would not help the least. He never wanted to be hurt. Yes, he would have to do a ritual. Damn the consequences. The only problem was what to sacrifice. He saw the small pool of red which had gathered under his arm. It was not much, but it would have to do. He hissed quietly:
.:I sacrifice this blood so I never will be hurt again:. As soon as he said it he winced. That was not a very good sacrifice. What would it even do? Before he could think more he felt the largest drain he had ever felt and collapsed.
A/N
Here comes the boring part which I always skip when I read fictions, so you have my sympathies if you do.
I have an outline of how I want the story to go but if you have any tips or want something in it I'm willing to listen.
And lastly. I tried to do some research (on google) about things (especially snakes), but I'm sure someone out there can tell me that all I've written is wrong. All I'm asking is to please inform me of these wrongs so I can change it.
Thank you for reading!