Summary: What if Snape had threatened Harry with Basilisk venom instead of veritaserum? How could that change events?
Warning: Snape will be a bit OOC, if you don't like it then don't read it. I do not appreciate comments that are unnecessarily critical of my story. You can make suggestions and say what you don't like politely but I will not tolerate unneeded swearing and/or degrading comments. Like I said previously if you don't like it then why are you reading it?
Disclaimer: I am not earning any money out of this and I do not own Harry Potter (but I can always dream). The first bit is from the goblet of fire (page 448 – Padfoot returns). There will be a line to show where my story begins.
AN/: At the moment I'm doing my GCSE's so updating may be slow. Sorry if anyone finds that unacceptable but if I want to get the job I want, education will have to come before Fan fiction.
'Hello' – Thoughts
"Hello" – Speech
"Hello" – Parseltongue
-HP- - Shows whose point of view it is
*Chapter 1*
"I don't know what you are talking about," Harry lied coldly.
"You were out of bed on the night my office was broken into!" Snape hissed. "I know it, Potter! Now, Mad-Eye Moody may have joined your fan club, but I will not tolerate your behaviour! One more night time stroll into my office, Potter, and you will pay!"
"Right," said Harry coolly, turning back to his ginger roots, "I will bare that in mind if I ever get the urge to go in there."
Snape's eyes flashed. He plunged a hand into the inside of his black robes. For one wild moment, Harry thought Snape was about to pull out his wand and curse him – then he saw that Snape had drawn out a small crystal bottle of a completely clear liquid. Harry stared at it.
(On with the alternate universe I have thought to create!)
"Do you know what this is, Potter?" Snape said, his eye glittering dangerously again. Harry looked again and thought it looked vaguely familiar, but he didn't know.
"No" said Harry, completely honestly this time.
-SS-
"It is Basilisk Venom" Snape's eyes narrowed slightly, when he saw Harry's face flicker with understanding, shock and a hint of fear. 'So the boy has heard about it, probably from Granger. And he's afraid, of the threat! Ha, I doubt he even knows how strong it is!' When Snape looked again the emotions were gone and he continued with his speech. "It is venom so powerful that it has been said it will kill a human in seconds. Unfortunately we do not know the effects of the venom on humans as there is no willing volunteer, but unless you watch your step, you might just find that my hand slips –" he shook the crystal bottle slightly "- right over your evening pumpkin juice. I hear that there is no cure. I would think that this venom would kill you so quickly, you would, unfortunately, not even feel any pain."
-Hp-
Harry, who had felt a brief flicker of understanding and shock when he had heard that it was Basilisk Venom, was slightly afraid. He shoved the emotions down quickly before Snape could see them. He knew of the effects, how could he not? He had experienced them first hand in his second year, when he got bit by the Basilisk. He remembered thinking of how painful his death was going to be, how fast the venom was burning through his veins. He also recalled thinking how bad his life had been up until that point. Two years at Hogwarts had still not countered the years at the Dursley's. His attention was caught by Snape's last sentence and he couldn't help but contradict him.
"It doesn't" Harry muttered, quietly but loud enough for Snape to hear. He then realised what he had said and looked up, eyes wide with shock. "Ooops"
-SS-
As he was talking, he noticed that Potter had a slightly sad, distant look in his eyes, like he was remembering something, something painful. He was very good at reading Potter's emotions though those eyes that looked so much like Lily's. He dismissed that thought when he heard Potter's muttered sentence.
"It doesn't"
That brought him up short. 'Why would Potter say something like that, unless he is lying? That is it, he's lying'. But the look of shock on the boy in front of him told him that the brat was being truthful.
"What do you mean it doesn't?" He was so curious that he didn't have as much bite in his tone or coldness in his eyes.
-HP-
"Shit" Harry thought to himself, "Now you've done it!" He was noticing that the more he thought about the Basilisk's Venom, the more the circular scar on his arm twitched. It was as though thinking about it was making it stronger. Harry shook his head, ignoring that stupid idea. He realised that Snape was still waiting for an answer.
"I meant that it doesn't kill you quick enough to be painless." Harry said, thinking there was no point lying, as by the looks of it, Snape already thought that what he said before was not a lie.
"And how do you know that, might I enquire?" Snape said with a small sneer.
Harry sighed, "From first hand experience. I got bitten by the Basilisk, the one that was attacking all the students, in my second year. There is also a cur-"
"What Basilisk? And why were you near a Basilisk in the first place?" Snape asked slightly annoyed that the Potter brat knew more than him and also bewildered.
"Did the Headmaster not tell you what was hurting all the students?" Harry asked, slightly stunned.
Snape growled "he did not see fit to inform any of the staff, care to enlighten me?"
Harry was amazed at how polite Snape was being, well polite for Snape. He had not once called him a brat or insulted his father. "Can we go somewhere more private for this conversation?". He did not want anyone to hear this. Snape gestured to a door, which Harry knew to be Snape's office. He followed the Head of Slytherin into his office and sat down on one of the chairs, he was surprised at how inviting the office was.
"Continue"
"Well, Tom Marvolo Riddle, otherwise know as you-know-who, created a diary that possessed Ginny Weasley and made her open the entrance of the Chamber of Secrets, and-"
"You know where the entrance is?" Snape interrupted.
-SS-
'Potter knows where the entrance is? Of course, how else would he get bitten by a bloody basilisk! It also means that he knows how to open it. That basilisk would still be down there! Hmm, I wonder how you would kill a basilisk'. His thoughts of killing a giant snake were discontinued as Harry answered his question.
"Yes, it's in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, under the sinks. There is a sort of password to get in," Harry explained.
"What is the password?" Snape enquired, wondering how on earth Potter knew it.
"It is 'open' in Parseltongue, although you could probably say anything, because all Salazar needed was anyone not of his blood to not be able to get in. Any Parselmouths would be his descendant." Harry wondered out loud.
"You are not a descendant of Slytherin, Potter," Snape pointed out, with a sneer. "Any of Slytherin's blood would be in his house."
Potter muttered something that sounded like "I was supposed to be" but Snape decided he was hearing things. Harry Potter could never be in his house, he was too Gryffindor. He decided he would ask later because he wanted to ask something else.
-HP-
"Will you take me to the chamber?" Snape asked. Harry looked up, shocked that Snape had asked a question of him, instead of a demand. His brain caught up soon enough though and he realised what Snape had requested. His eyes widened in shock and to his dismay he started trembling slightly. He hoped Snape would not call him up on it but if he did he had a perfect excuse. 'After all, I was attacked and I was also nearly eaten, poisoned and crushed by a snake. Oh, and don't forget nearly falling off that giant Salazar statue and getting a mild concussion from when the hat dropped a sword on my head'. But Snape didn't seem to notice and Harry swallowed down the nervous lump in his throat and answered his question.
"Um… Okay…Why?" Harry wondered what Snape wanted to down there. Surely the snake had rotted after two years, so he couldn't get any potion ingredients out of it?
"Basilisks are extremely rare and so any that are found will fetch a lot of money" Snape looked thoughtful for a moment before he sighed, "Of course we will have to find a way to kill the thing, magic doesn't work on it very well because of its hide."
Harry looked down, a bit embarrassed. He didn't even try to use magic on the thing. 'Well that explains why Fawkes only gave me a sword'
"Why are you looking suspiciously embarrassed, Potter?" Snape said with a small smirk, "Did you try to use magic on it?"
"No, it didn't occur to me to use magic, as I was slightly worried about dying at the time" Harry said sarcastically, "I was embarrassed because I have already killed the thing by ramming a sword through the roof of it's mouth and out the other side." Harry's left hand had moved sneakily to rest where the scar was, it's stinging was starting to get annoying.
Harry had never seen Snape splutter before, and he was tempted to laugh but he thought that would cause Snape to believe that it was a joke.
-SS-
He had listened to Potter's speech about killing the Basilisk and although he would not like to believe it, he knew it was true. Potter spoke with to much emotion to be lying. He was very much like his mother in that regard. When she lied you could see it a mile away and she always spoke with feelings, whether they were anger or happiness.
"You've killed a basilisk?" Snape choked out, he then decided on get on the main point of the conversation "Never mind, can you take me there?"
"What, now?" Potter asked, with a slight confused tone to his voice. Snape also detected a bit of fear but the brat looked like he didn't want to talk about it.
"Yes, now!" he snapped.
(Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom)
-HP-
Harry was slightly hesitant about going back to the chamber. There were a lot of bad memories associated with that place, a place where once again his life was threatened to end. "That seems to happen to me a lot in the magical world" Harry thought. "Makes me wonder what is going to happen this year". At the moment he was waiting for Snape, who had said to go on ahead to the entrance. Harry was staring at said entrance now, trying to get his mouth to form words in the language of the snake. He was sure it had not been this hard last time, but he gathered that it was probably through lack of use. In his second year, unlike this year, he had heard and spoken Parseltongue a few times throughout the year. He had just decided to try the technique he had done last time by imagining the snake on the tap was real, when the door to the girls' bathroom opened and the head of Slytherin glided in. Harry watched as Snape flicked his wand at the door to lock it and walked over to him.
"Why haven't you opened it yet?" Snape asked, rudely.
Harry growled slightly, "I was trying, I haven't used Parseltongue in a while and it takes a bit to get into it. It isn't my ability, so it doesn't come as naturally as it would to someone who was meant to have it. I need quiet." Harry was hinting at the Professor to shut up and was glad when Snape didn't question him on his rudeness or the fact that he said he wasn't meant to be a Parselmouth.
Harry turned to the snake on the tap, shut his eyes and concentrated. He tried to imagine the snake twisting and turning, but it wasn't working. A proverbial light bulb lit up in his head and he got his wand out. He could see Snape wondering what he was doing, but he ignored him in favour of casting the spell Malfoy had in his second year.
"Serpensortia" Snape raised an eyebrow at the summoned snake but kept quiet. Harry listened to the snake before saying "Open". Harry dispelled the snake and turned to the now opening entrance. Another light bulb later and Harry was saying "Stairs".
-SS-
Snape walked down the school hallways towards Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. He had gotten a trunk full of phials to hold the ingredients he would collect from the basilisk. He opened the door to the bathroom and saw Potter standing near the sinks. He commented on the lack of an open entrance and was surprised at the rude response. He saw that Potter was trying to hide his fear from him even if he didn't realise it. He wondered what had happened down there that the boy was so afraid of. Sure, he knew that he had been bitten by a basilisk and nearly killed but that had happened to the boy before. Well, the nearly dying bit had anyway.
He had thought summoning a snake had been quiet a good idea but had wondered how Potter had learned that spell so quickly. It had taken Draco three years to learn that spell and he suspected that was the first time Potter had attempted that spell. It was difficult to summon animals because for them to come they needed to respect you. He wondered if being a Parselmouth instantly got you that respect.
He decided it was strange hearing hissing sounds coming out of a human. Last time Potter had done it he was too shocked to really listen to what he was saying.
He was taken out of his thoughts by the chamber opening to reveal…. a hole. The head of Slytherin hoped he would not have to jump down it as it looked extremely disgusting and was therefore glad when Potter hissed again and a set of spiral stairs appeared.
Harry turned and shrugged at him before starting on the journey down the long staircase.
-HP-
Harry shivered as he stepped down into the cavern, the bones that littered the floor cracking under his feet. He really hated this bit. Last time he was here, he was with Ron and that idiot of a defence teacher. He shivered again as the bones crunched signifying that Snape had also arrived. If Snape noticed him shivering he didn't mention it. He called out to Snape, he didn't want to stay here for long, asking him to follow and turned down the pipe that led to the chamber.
Harry froze; he could see the giant outline of a snake. For one terrifying second he thought the basilisk had come alive again but he then remembered that it was only the skin they had found the last time they were there. His arm stung again and he raised his other to clutch at the throbbing scar. He heard Snape gasp slightly behind him and he turned to face the potions teacher.
"What's wrong?"
-SS-
Snape wondered what the brat had seen to make him freeze up like he had. He saw the boy tremble slightly before he let out a sigh of relief. Snape walked around him to get a look at whatever Potter had seen and he gasped when he saw it. Potter never said it was that big! And this was only a skin! He saw Potter turn towards him and ask a question,
"What's wrong?"
"I didn't expect the thing to be this big, that is all" Snape answered, still in awe. How had the brat managed to kill something this big? He saw Potter look at it with a calculating gaze.
"I think this skin is a few sheds old, it is only about forty feet. The snake I saw was at least sixty maybe more"
Snape's eyes grew wide and he coughed a bit before going blank. He could just imagine how much money he could make from selling the parts from a basilisk that big. He wondered about the eyes, were they intact or were they destroyed? He asked his question aloud to the Gryffindor in front of him.
"Hmm? Oh, they were destroyed, Fawkes scratched them out." Potter replied sounding slightly distracted.
"Were they just scratched or were they taken out completely? If they were just scratched then they would have grown back even if the beast was dead" Snape asked, it would be troublesome if they had to be careful around the head but the eyes go for a lot more money because they were so rare. There was only two eyes for every snake after all.
Potter's eyes widened this time and he replied incredulously "They can grow back?" At Snape's withering glare he answered his question "…Um… I think they were just scratched but I not really sure, I… err…was a little busy at the time."
Snape sighed at how annoying the brat was, as he once again started moving to where the main chamber must be. "We will have to be careful around the front of the snake and get the eyes out as soon as possible"
Potter just hummed and then hissed at another door and Snape watched as the metal snake slithered around the door, making dull thuds as the lock mechanism moved. He saw Potter take a deep breath as the door swung open to reveal the Chamber of Secrets
AN/: Right I'm gonna leave it there for now. Finally finished this chapter, it took me ages. I give you a clue how long it took, I've now finished my GCSE's. YAY! So hopefully I'll be able to right lots more of this story, that is, if you want me to anyway. I think I'm going to put my other story on standby or maybe discontinue it because I can't think of a good story to go with the prologue that would seem fun to write. So if any one wants the prologue then you're welcome to it. Sayonnara