Harry Potter and the Diggory Deception
A Harry Potter Messfic by
Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)

Chapter 2: When Harry Met Alejandro

It was all very strange. He'd turned down a chance to go to Brazil. But he did not regret it.

The boa constricter had dreamed of going to Brazil one day, and would have given nearly anything to do so. All because it seemed like a place he belonged to and was meant to be in. Or at least a place where his family had come from. And he'd never had a chance to go home before.

Then, he'd looked up one day and seen the Boy.

The boa constrictor never had a problem identifying the few humans who understood the language of snakes. No matter how they appeared, those humans always had a certain taste in the air about them, something any and every snake recognized at once, whether they cared to acknowledge it or not. The boa constrictor did, because he had only met two other such humans in his lifetime, and he had learned a great deal from both encounters. Those humans had both been adult males.

The Boy was different, obviously. Because in addition to being younger, the boa constrictor could see at once that he also knew the pain of being alone in the world, of questioning whether never being born at all might have been preferable to their current existence as prisoners. They were the same, and somehow, that made all the difference in the world.

When the boa constrictor saw how miserably the Boy was treated by his companions, he knew his choice had been the right one. The moment the glass imprisoning him vanished, he surged forward toward freedom. But instead of escaping and pursuing his dream of finally going home, the boa constrictor wound his long, powerful body around the Boy in a rippling embrace. The Boy was clearly startled, so the boa constrictor told him something that he knew would be reassuring.

"You are my Brazil now, amigo."

The Boy smiled at him and replied, "It's Harry, actually. But I bet Brazil is loads better than Privet Drive."

Harry could not stop grinning, despite how much trouble he was supposedly in. Even better, nobody actually seemed capable of punishing him, now that he was lugging around a fairly irritable boa constrictor. The snake was surprisingly heavy and awkward to carry, but after a few minutes, Harry barely even noticed or cared about the weight: he finally had a friend that could not be taken away from him.

The snake angrily resisted any attempts to remove it from Harry. The Dursleys seemed greatly disappointed when they realized this was not because the snake intended Harry to be its next meal.

The zoo director explained to the Dursleys that there was no real way to separate the snake from Harry: its current behavior was unlike anything he'd seen before, and he had no idea how further attempts would cause it to react. He was greatly concerned that the snake might harm Harry if provoked, although he could not seem to grasp why this did not appear to bother the Dursleys. He finally suggested the wildly unpopular idea of letting Harry keep the snake: it was rather attached to him, and it wasn't as if the zoo could keep Harry instead. To pacify the Dursleys somewhat, the zoo director offered them free season passes to the zoo. For Harry, he agreed to provide a large tank for the snake, a book on taking proper care of a boa constrictor, and regular visits from the reptile house keeper to ensure the snake remained in good health. He even offered to send Harry and the snake home in one of the zoo's trucks, so that the Dursleys did not have to ride home with the snake in the car.

Even then, Uncle Vernon refused. So Harry had reminded him of something very important. "You've been horrible to me my entire life. I've basically been good, or at least I haven't been trying to be bad. If you don't agree to this, I'll start trying. Dudley has already ruined any chance of me having a human friend at school, and I'm not about to let you take away the first real friend I've ever had."

Harry suspected it was the visual reminder that he hadn't been trying to misbehave when the snake attached itself to him that finally made Uncle Vernon cave in. It was made very clear that Harry was solely responsible for the snake, and that he would receive no help in its upkeep. This was fine was Harry, because he figured any help from his relatives would drastically shorten the snake's lifespan.

The reptile house keeper drove Harry and the snake home, and helped him carry the tank inside. There was absolutely no way to set the tank up in the tiny cupboard under the stairs where Harry had been living, so Uncle Vernon reluctantly gave Harry permission to move into Dudley's spare bedroom. Uncle Vernon didn't like this at all, but he was determined to keep any visitors from spotting a live snake in the house, and it wasn't as if he ever intended to show anyone a room where Harry was sleeping.

Although Harry had known exactly how spoiled Dudley was, and how unfairly the Dursleys treated Harry himself, moving into a bedroom full of Dudley's broken and discarded belongings was a rather painful reminder. What was worse, people outside of the family rarely witnessed such mistreatment, as Harry barely went anywhere other than school. But Harry was now keenly aware that the reptile house keeper was seeing firsthand the conditions he lived in, and felt downright embarrassed to be himself.

But the reptile house keeper, whose name-tag identified him as Doug Liss, said nothing until they had pushed aside a pile of broken toys and set up the tank on a desk that still had three sturdy legs, with the other propped up on a dictionary.

"Dead useful, snakes are," Doug noted. "Lots of people are scared witless of 'em. Bigger the snake, bigger the scare. And of course, smaller the peabrain, smaller the wits. Just something to keep in mind."

"I'll do that, Mr. Liss," Harry promised with a smile.

"You take good care of our mutual friend here," Doug said, gesturing to the snake, "and you can call me Doug." He handed over a business card, so that Harry could call if he had any questions that the book didn't answer. This assumed, of course, that Harry would be allowed to use the telephone, which had never happened before. But then, Harry suspected a lot of things would be easier to manage around the house, now that he had a boa constrictor.

Curiously, among the discarded things in the bedroom that Dudley had lost interest in (or never had any interest in at all) was a long forgotten book on Brazil. Harry could not ever recall having seen Dudley read a book, so the dust-covered state in which Harry found it was not really surprising. In the book was a short list of popular names in Brazil, and feeling this was a sign, Harry went through them until he found one that he liked.

"What if I call you Alejandro?" he asked the boa constrictor. "Al for short?"

"Sounds good," the snake replied. "By the way, I'll probably be hungry in about a week."

For some time, Harry was under the somewhat mistaken impression that Al was simply an oddly intelligent snake. He could not exactly be blamed for this, because having Al for a friend had certainly changed his own life for the better. While it was not strictly necessary, Harry spent a great deal of time handling Al, as his coils at least simulated an embrace, and had the added benefit of keeping the Dursleys at a far more preferable distance. Additionally, Harry was no longer expected to even see Aunt Marge when she visited, and spent a great deal more time confined to his room with only Al for company. This did not bother either of them, as neither was a fan of the Dursleys to begin with, and it drastically shortened the list of chores Harry could be forced to perform.

Of course, Harry thought it was odd that he and Al could communicate so easily, but he assumed that Al had somehow learned English, being raised around people for so long. More than once the Dursleys demanded that Harry stop hissing to the snake, but he also assumed that they were just exaggerating, rather than being perfectly serious. In any case, Harry spent most of his time talking to Al, who seemed to enjoy intelligent conversation almost as much as he enjoyed peaceful silence.

Harry also tried to follow the guidelines in his book on snakes exactly at first, but Al advised him to treat them more as suggestions than anything else. For example, he spent very little time in his tank, and preferred to be draped around Harry, or merely allowed to explore the crowded bedroom on his own.

Food was another concern that was quickly brushed aside: despite almost never being allowed outside, Al somehow managed to obtain meals from an unknown source. Each time Harry asked, Al would happily say what his last meal had been, usually mice or birds. He never explained how he got them, however, and Harry initially figured that so long as Al was happy and healthy, nothing else mattered.

But after some time, Harry could not ignore his own concerns. Al was his only friend, and he would hate to endanger the snake by not taking proper care of him. If nothing else, Harry was sure that he had personally not fed Al since bringing him home from the zoo, even though Al was clearly eating. So Harry finally decided to ask Al flat out how he was getting outside. The answer was not one he'd been expecting.

"Magic," Al told him, both sounding and looking quite sincere.

Harry stared at the snake curled up on his bed, certain that he'd misheard. "What?"

"Magic," Al repeated patiently. "That's how I go outside."

"You're joking."

"Of course not. There's very little I find funny about living here."

On that much, Harry had to agree. "So, when you say magic-"

"Your magic," Al corrected. "Sorry, thought it would be obvious."

Harry stared at him. "I'm sorry? What do you mean, my magic?"

"Well, you're a wizard," Al replied, as if it should have been obvious.

"There's no such thing," Harry answered at once. "Not really."

Al laughed, or at least hissed in a way that Harry was quite sure was laughing for a snake. "Fine, then. Look at it this way. You're either a wizard with untapped potential and a world of options open to him, or a normal human that's going to spend the rest of his life living here. With them."

"I'm a wizard," Harry said two seconds later.

"Right," Al said approvingly, "now let's talk magic."

A man stood outside of number four, Privet Drive. His name was Severus Snape, and he was unhappy. This was nothing new, as Snape had not been truly happy in years. Currently, he was distinctly unhappy for several reasons.

He had hoped he would never have the enormous displeasure of laying eyes on Petunia Evans, now Dursley, again. She was, quite simply, a miserable woman, having been a particularly miserable girl as well.

Snape was also unhappy about the duties that had been thrust upon him. It was one of those duties that had brought him to Privet Drive. He was to introduce himself to a prospective student. As a teacher himself, this should not have been too unusual. Except that it was, because the student in question was Petunia's nephew, Harry Potter, and if not for an unfortunate twist of fate, the boy could have easily been born Severus Snape, Jr.

He had agreed to the duty only because Harry was the son of the woman Snape had loved, dearly and desperately. Snape would never forget Lily Evans, and though she had ultimately found love with another man, she would always be dear to him. The same could not be said for Harry, who, according to all reports, greatly resembled his father, James Potter. Snape had hated James for a number of reasons, but James was dead, and so was Lily. Harry was alive and needed to be dealt with, and Snape was to do the dealing.

Snape knocked on the door three times, and waited. After a moment, the door slowly opened. There was no person on the other side of it.

As Snape attempted to make sense of this curious development, he noticed a flash of movement near the floor, and froze as what could only be the tip of a very large snake's tail waved lazily at him.

"You can come in, he won't bite," called a young, male voice from within the house.

Snape swept into the house and shut the door. He could now see that it was indeed a very large snake that had answered the door somehow. It was brown with a black diamond pattern along its body, and moved with an ease that suggested it was quite accustomed to having the run of the house. Snape could not imagine that Petunia would allow such a creature in her home, unless she had changed dramatically over the years, which he doubted. The only reasonanble explanation was that the Dursleys had gone out for the night.

Snape followed the snake into the kitchen, where a young boy sat at the table, eating a bowl of cereal. He appeared entirely unconcerned with the stranger before him, and for no reason that Snape could explain, he found the boy's ease unacceptable. The boy was obviously Harry Potter, as he looked like his father in miniature, save for one striking exception: he had his mother's eyes. Snape focused on them as best he could, as it would make this meeting... well, better for Harry, anyway.

"Do you always have your snake answer the door?" Snape asked curtly.

"No, but I figure anyone coming to visit the Dursleys is going to hate me almost as much as they do," Harry replied. "So I don't really care if they don't like being greeted by a snake."

Snape frowned at him. "As it happens, I am here to see you, not them."

Harry eyed him with obvious doubt, but said nothing.

"I take it you received a Hogwarts letter?"

Harry's eyes widened. "Oh, you're here about that! I thought it was a joke, I'd never gotten any mail before. It even had my bedroom on it."

Snape cleared his throat. "It is most certainly not a joke. You are a wizard, and you require proper training, unless you wish to be a danger to yourself and those around you." To his amazement, Harry looked as if he were visualizing what that might be like. But then, considering that included Petunia and her family, Snape could hardly blame the boy.

"So do you work at the school?" Harry asked.

Snape nodded. "I am the Potions Master, among other things."

"Is there a class on animals?"

"That would be Care of Magical Creatures."

Harry hesitated, then glanced at his snake, which had slowly curled itself around him during the conversation. "Would I be able to bring my snake to school with me?"

"Snakes are not on the list of approved pets," Snape replied at once. This was largely an automatic reply.

"I saw that," Harry admitted. "But leaving Al here isn't an option. I wouldn't trust the Dursleys to take decent care of anything I value. So unless I can bring my snake, I'm not going anywhere."

Snape stared at Harry, unprepared for an ultimatum. He had not predicted this, and surely the Headmaster had not, either. "I see. I will speak to the Headmaster, to see if an exception can be made. Either way, you should receive notification shortly." He paused, and then added in a half-hearted attempt to be polite, "Al is the snake's proper name?"

"Alejandro. I named him that because it's popular in Brazil."

Snape arched an eyebrow in silent question.

"He wanted to go to Brazil, but changed his mind when he met me," Harry explained.

"You know this how?"

"He told me."

Snape blinked slowly. "Surely, you mean the snake... indicated that he wanted to go to Brazil?"

"Yes. But later on he told me. It's supposed to be really nice there." Harry paused as the snaked hissed at him. "He says it is nice there. He's seen nature documentaries on it."

"You... just talked to the snake," Snape said slowly, his eyes wide.

"No, he talked to me," Harry corrected him.

"But you understood him," Snape insisted. "And can talk back to him?"

"Sure. But I'm a wizard. We can do that, right?"

"Very few of us," Snape murmured. "The Headmaster will need to be informed. And this may actually improve the likelihood of your request being approved."

"Why is that?" Harry asked.

"Because the last thing anyone wants is a young, untrained Parselmouth that grew up in this house not learning how best to use his talents." Snape did not explain further, but somehow the thought of Petunia Dursley potentially having raised the next Dark Lord did not surprise him one bit.

Less than an hour later, Snape returned, but he was not alone. Instead, he was in the company of four other adults, all of whom seemed to be quite old in Harry's opinion. There was a thin, stern-faced woman; a tiny, friendly man who was even shorter than Harry; a plump woman who wore dusty green gloves and kept tutting at the state of Aunt Petunia's houseplants; and finally, a tall, thin man with a very prominent silver beard and twinkling blue eyes. There was no question that the last was the Headmaster, as he had a commanding air about him that made Harry sit up straight at once.

Snape cleared his throat. "May I present Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout, and our Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore?"

Harry looked at each of them in mild alarm, and finally asked, "All this because I wanted to bring my snake to school?"

Dumbledore chuckled kindly. "No, Harry. But the issue is no longer as simple as you may think. While I am perfectly happy to allow Al into the school, precautions must be taken. As I am sure you have guessed, we must consider the safety of the other students' animals as well. I myself have a rather splendid pet that I would prefer not to see eaten. But rather than inconvenience all the other animals, I am afraid I will have to inconvenience you just a little. I have no choice but to pre-Sort you."

Harry blinked and stared at him. "Sorry, what?"

McGonagall stepped forward and began to speak. "Upon first arriving at Hogwarts, each student is Sorted into one of four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. Accomplishments earn house points, misbehaving loses house points. The house with the most points at the end of the year wins the coveted House Cup. As we are the collective Heads of House, we must all witness you being Sorted, Potter. One of us, after all, will be responsible for you over the next seven years." With that, she produced a very old, slightly dirty witch's hat.

Harry thought perhaps maybe she had gotten it mixed up with the actual hat that was needed, and had just opened his mouth to say so when the hat suddenly opened its own mouth, and began to sing.

"Harry Potter, bright and true,
I know just what to do with you!
Pop me on your head, my boy,
For I am not a joke or toy!

I'll show you where you ought to be,
And send you there, just wait and see!
I'm a Hogwarts Sorting Hat.
My rhyme is true, my words exact!

You might be one for Gryffindor,
Where courage dwells forevermore.
Or Hufflepuff could be your home

If you stay true and never roam.

You'll rest your head in Ravenclaw

If your big brain inspires awe.
But Slytherin is where you'll find

The ever so ingenious mind.

So, quick, my boy, sit up straight

And let this hat reveal your fate!
I swear to find where you belong

Just put me on after my song!"

At once, the hat fell silent, and looked perfectly old and ordinary again. McGonagall handed it to Harry. "Place this on your head, please. It will do the rest."

Hesitantly, Harry put the hat on his head. It instantly fell down over his eyes, and he could see nothing but the dark inside of the hat. After a few seconds, he heard a voice that he instantly recognized as the hat's.

"Mmm, what have we here? A good, sharp mind, yes. Tons of courage, lots of potential. Difficult, you are, dear boy. Now, where to put you, I wonder?"

Harry thought carefully before answering. "I just want a place where I'll be accepted. I just want to belong somewhere for once."

"A place to belong, eh? That could be anywhere. You could be great in Gryffindor, you know. But if what you really want is somewhere just for someone like you, then it had better be SLYTHERIN!" The hat positively shouted the last word, and Harry jerked it off of his head with a wince, his ears still ringing. The hat landed in Dumbledore's waiting hands, and he quickly passed it to McGonagall so he could applaud.

He was the only one who did so. The rest of the teachers were gaping at Harry in stunned silence. Harry feared he might have disrespected the hat, but then realized that what had really shocked them was the house he'd been placed in. It hadn't sounded so bad to him, although he wasn't crazy about the name. But it did sound like somewhere that a snake would be welcome.

"Congratulations, Harry!" Dumblendore said, beaming at him. "You are the first new student this year to call Slytherin home. You see, the pre-Sorting was necessary because each house has an assigned dormitory. I must therefore designate an area where your snake is free to roam, but I could not do that until knew exactly where you would be spending the bulk of your time at school. Now that I know, I will begin preparing the Slytherin common room at once."

"Thank you, Headmaster, but... is there something wrong with Slytherin?" Harry wondered.

"No," Dumbledore replied firmly. "But I fear Slytherin has gained a certain reputation. You see, there have been some very notable Dark wizards in recent years, and several of them once called Slytherin home. But I do not want you to worry, Harry: the house does not make the wizards. Rather, the wizards make the house. If you truly want Slytherin to be a home, I assure you it will be."

"Okay," Harry said softly, not entirely reassured. "So which of you is my Head of House?"

"That would be Professor Snape," Dumbledore said.

Harry looked at Snape without a bit of surprise. He'd suspected as much. "Professor, do you think the other Slytherins will have a problem with me bringing a snake?"

Snape smirked. "They should rather enjoy it, Potter. The Slytherin mascot is a snake."

"Is that why I was Sorted there?"

"I cannot ignore that it may have been a contributing factor," Snape admitted. "But I must admit that I was still rather surprised. Slytherin is the last house I would have expected you to end up in."

"Really? Why?"

Snape glanced at Dumbledore, who nodded for him to continue. "Your parents were both Gryffindors, and strictly speaking, your greatest enemy to date is a rather infamous Slytherin."

"You knew my parents?" Harry asked at once.

"Yes. You will find there are many people who knew and loved Lily Evans and James Potter. Which is why their murders at the hands of the aforementioned Slytherin made him all the more infamous."

With obvious reluctance, Snape proceeded to explain to Harry how Voldemort had killed the Potters, and how Voldemort had then tried and failed to do the same to Harry.

While Harry was glad to finally know the truth, he wondered if he hadn't preferred Aunt Petunia's lie about his parents dying in a car crash. But then, he decided it was best he knew the truth, especially if Voldemort or his followers might still be active. Training to become a proper wizard suddenly took on a new importance: Harry had no intention of being killed when he'd only lived long enough to say he'd been a very unwelcome houseguest. Equally important, since Harry was going to be in the same house that Voldemort had been in, maybe there would be some clues as to how Voldemort had grown so powerful, and how Harry could do the same, although without all the evil and murder. If nothing else, he intended to find out everything he could about Voldemort, in hopes of finding a weakness to exploit. Even if avenging his parents was not possible, his staying alive would no doubt be nearly as good a way to honor them.

"I know this is a great deal to take in at once, Harry," Dumbledore said softly.

"What were they like? My parents, I mean," Harry murmured, looking at Snape.

He swallowed hard. "Your mother was a witch blessed with kindness, beauty, and brilliance, but she had astoundingly bad luck." Then his face and voice turned hard and cold. "Your father was her opposite in nearly every way imaginable."

Although that earned some disapproving looks from the other teachers, Harry managed a half-hearted smile, realizing for the first time that he was not the only one who had suffered a loss the night his parents died. "Thank you, Professor."

Snape jerked back as if struck, various emotions playing across his face in the space of a few seconds. Then he turned and swiftly walked out of the room. At a nod from Dumbledore, McGonagall followed Snape, apparently to ensure that he would not get too far or do something rash.

"As you can clearly see, Harry, your parents were a truly beloved pair, and their sacrifice will not be soon forgotten," Dumbledore sighed. "I personally feel it would be a great disservice to their memory if I failed to give you a quality Hogwarts education. I hope you will allow me to do so?"

"I think they would have wanted that, sir," Harry said softly. "But, what's a Parselmouth? Professor Snape called me that before."

Dumbledore frowned. "A Parselmouth is a wizard who can understand and speak to snakes. It is a most uncommon ability, and one that Voldemort is especially known for."

"Oh." Harry looked at Al uncertainly, and the snake hissed at him. Harry grinned.

"Your friend has an opinion on the matter?" Dumbledore asked.

"He's not worried about us anymore," Harry explained. "He figures if we've been living with the Dursleys this long and haven't turned evil, it's never going to happen."

Next Chapter: The Riddleless Sphinx

Amos Diggory brings a bit of his work home with him. Edward meets his future sister-in-law. Harry meets his future classmates.