spells

:parseltongue:

Billy Stubb's rabbit slowly passed through Nagini's digestive tract. The snake herself was resting on the speaker's mattress, positioned in such a way that she caught the last scraps of sunlight streaming through the window. She lazily craned her head up to observe the speaker, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor, head bowed and fiddling with a stick.

:Are you sure this will work?: He sneered, jabbing the stick as he spoke so as to emphasise his point.

Nagini sighed. How many times had she explained this to the speaker?

:Yes. You need to twirl the twig around in the circle and say coniarcesso.:

The boy glanced up at her, grey eyes peeking out between black tresses of hair. :Last time you said to flick the stick upwards.:

:No I didn't. Anyway, I don't believe it matters. My master doesn't use a twig half the time.:

:Well, your master isn't here. And that word sounds made up.:

Nagini slumped back down onto the bed.

:Why I bother. Speaker is probably a squib.: Nagini muttered. It was just her luck today. She almost regretted stowing away to the ministry by sneaking into her master's robes. It wasn't difficult, her master couldn't tell where his snake-ness ended and hers began.

:What's a squib?: The speaker had now given up with waving the twig and was focused on her.

:Oh, you heard that? A squib is wizard who is so dumb that they can't do magic.:

:I'm not dumb.: The speaker protested indignantly. He tried to glare at her with narrowed eyes, but Nagini thought that it just made him look like a miffed rabbit.

:Of course not.: Nagini slowly placated him, before turning away. She wished her master would come for her soon. She wanted another rabbit.

:This is nonsense! I know I can do: the speaker's voice dropped to a whisper, :magic, but waving a twig and shouting conarcessi won't do anything.:

:Coniarcesso.: Nagini corrected.

The speaker flung the stick to the other side of the room, where it hit the wall and promptly broke into two separate pieces.

:That was silly. Go and get another twig.: Nagini had been trying to teach the speaker magic, first by getting him to find a twig in the garden to perform the spells, but the speaker just didn't seem to be capable. Nagini tried to find it within her to pity him, but that sharp feeling in her belly was only hunger. She wanted another rabbit.

:No. This isn't working.:

The boy was clenching his hands so hard into fists that they were noticeably more pale than the rest of his body – which was unusual, considering that he was already quite fair. Nagini noted with curiosity that his legs were slightly trembling, as if he was holding himself back from breaking out into a sprint.

:It's not working because you're not trying properly.: She said gently. Or at least, she tried to be gentle but it probably came out snobby. Nagini didn't pretend to be a nice snake.

The boy let loose a long and shaky breath, and relaxed his fists, the fingers coming away to reveal purple crescent marks on his palms. He was silent for a moment and Nagini wondered if he was having a breakdown. It wasn't fun when wizards did that – they no longer noticed her enough to be scared by her.

:Why do I need a stick anyway to do magic? I've done it enough times without one.:

:I don't know. You wizards are just silly like that. If you don't want my help, then I'll just leave.: She wouldn't but the boy didn't need to know that. She'd rather spend the night sleeping on the threadbare mattress than go back outside. She wasn't a wild, uncultured snake – she was accustomed to an indoor lifestyle.

:How many...wizards...are there, Nagini?: His voice was oddly quiet, yet overpowering at the same time. Nagini felt compelled to be honest with the speaker.

:My master is a wizard. I think his shadows are wizards, too, but I didn't always believe it. I've attacked many wizards too.:

A pause. :I see.:

The boy went silent again, and sat so still that Nagini thought he was asleep. Then he swiftly stood up and strode over to the two pieces of wood lying on the floor and surrounded by fine splinters. The speaker picked the longer of the two pieces up, which was roughly the same length as his hand. He turned it over, and rolled it across his palm in a see-saw motion, before letting it drop onto the floor.

:Tell me that spell again.:

:Hmm? You'll need another twig, but it's coniarcesso. Con-ee-arr-kesso.: Poor speaker. He would need to learn to memorise these spells – especially that one. It was a very useful spell.

The speaker began to mutter in that harsh language again, and Nagini realised that he was incanting the spell, but without the parseltongue inflection. Nagini closed her eyes, resigned to the fact that nothing would happen – for the silly speaker wasn't using a twig.

She had almost drifted off to sleep when she suddenly smelt something delicious. Prey! Immediately alert, her eyes locked on a sniffling rabbit, which was hopping carelessly around the room. Poor little bunny didn't know that it's days were numbered, and that number was...well, Nagini couldn't do math. The point was that the next second Nagini struck, jaws enclosing the rabbit's neck and venom diffusing into the animal's veins.

After the animal stopped squirming, she glanced up at the speaker. His head was shining lightly with sweat, shoulders slumped and he was breathing heavily. When she caught his eye, she was surprised by how annoyed he looked. Why was he upset? They now had a rabbit.

:That spell...was for summoning a rabbit?:

Nagini didn't know why he was asking that, because the end result of the incantation was about to be devoured by herself. Nagini thought that made it reasonably obvious what the spell was for, but then, she had to remind herself, this speaker was rather slow.

:I should have known.: The speaker muttered, a bitter tang lacing his words.

Nagini would have tried to console the boy, but she was too busy devouring the rabbit. Suddenly, the boy was captured by a thought and he rounded on her.

:Teach me another spell, Nagini.:

Nagini slowly retracted her jaw from around the rabbit's head, small drops of blood clinging to the underside of her chin and softly dropping to the floor. She forcibly clicked her jaw back into place before appraising the speaker.

:I don't know the words for any other spells.:

The speaker begun to protest, but she shushed him.

:However, I can tell about some of the spells I do know of, and you might be able to replicate the effects.: Nagini hated to admit it, but she might have been a bit hasty in judging the boy. He had, after all, summoned her a rabbit without a twig. She only knew of one other who could that.

The speaker nodded curtly. A question occurred to Nagini.

:Do you have a name, speaker?: The boy's eyes narrowed.

:Tom. Tom Riddle.: He uttered, lips curling in distaste, as if the words were sour to his tongue.

:That's an odd name for a human. I would have called you something more fitting, like mudblood.: she teased, and was surprised when the speaker – Tom – almost smiled at that unfortunate moniker. She took back her earlier thoughts back. The boy was dim.

:So. Those spells?:

Nagini tried to recall any spells she had seen. :There's a red one that makes humans scream a lot. Master says it's very painful, especially when he casts it. Master's the best at spells:

:I already know how to make people hurt. One time, after I caught Eric Whalley pinching my sweets, I made him hurt so bad that he was in bed for a week. Cole thought he had the flu. He didn't steal my sweets again, though.: Tom had an odd, fevered glint to his eyes as he retold the story, and a grin stretched across his pale, concave cheeks. It didn't startle Nagini, however. She was all too used to this behaviour.

:I'm not sure I'll be able to help much then. Master and his shadows only ever seem to be hurting things.:

:What are these shadows? You've mentioned them before.:

Nagini hummed. :Master is very odd. He has shadows with white faces that obey his every word. Sometimes, I'm allowed to bite them. Never eaten one yet, but I will some day.:

:Oh. Do you know any other spells?:

:There's one that causes guts to fall out. I'm not sure how useful that is – guts are very slimy and not tasty – and there's another that causes burns...:

Tom woke up to a log on his chest. He brought the arm that had tumbled off the side of the bed in the night back up to his face and he wiped the sleep out of his eyes, blinking owlishly at the ceiling. He tried to crane his neck upwards so he could spot just what was on his chest but the rumpled blankets were blocking his view. Carefully, so as to not manoeuvre himself into a more awkward position, he slipped his hands down by his hips and pushed, managing to slide his body out under the dead weight. The anchor currently lying across his legs was none other than Nagini herself, albeit a very big Nagini.

Tom took a second to review his senses. He concluded that yes, he was pretty certain that Nagini hadn't been this big before – he certainly wouldn't have been able to hide this snake under his shirt. He and Nagini had talked long into the night yesterday, and they eventually settled into the comfortable position of Nagini lying across his stomach as he settled into bed. No – Nagini had grown significantly in the night. Her previous slender body had swelled almost ten-fold in size, the widest part now the width of his head, and she had also elongated to a monstrous 12 feet. She had been big before – a modest 4 feet at most, and even then she had been the biggest snake he'd seen, but now...

Nagini gave a irritable hiss as Tom shifted his hips to try and release one of his legs from beneath her bulk. He made to poke her but then hesitated. It was easy enough to annoy Nagini before, but now looking as if she could do him some serious damage...he gulped. Shaking his head, he fought to bury those feelings. He was being silly, there was no reason to treat Nagini any differently than he had yesterday. Now, to get her off his legs...

Something was prodding her. She tensed, but forced herself to relax so as not to alert her soon-to-be prey to her awakened state. She lightly flicked out her tongue, and caught the scent of human. Human? She'd only let down her guard around one wizard and her master did not smell like a – oh. It was the boy – Tom. She turned her head to glare at him – couldn't he see that she was sleeping?

:Would you get off my legs?: Tom hissed, the slight snarl and creased forehead indicating that he was irritated. Oh well. She was annoyed too – he woke her up. Her response was to lie back down, deliberately making sure to shift most of her weight onto his body as she did so.

The speaker hissed again, but this time in a way that suggested pain. Nagini smirked to herself.

:Nagini, don't make me try out those spells on you...: Hmmm. The boy was trying to threaten her. How cute.

:Master placed several protective charms on me. None of those spells would work:

The speaker growled and she let out a hissy laugh.

:Nagini. You have grown to an absolutely ginormous size which is currently causing me to lose all feeling in my legs. Shift!:

Oh. Had the shrinking charm worn off? Nagini quickly did a mental check up of her body – the charm had worn off. She sighed, it was fun being a small snake – so many more places to hide.

:I didn't grow this much in one night, silly speaker, the shrinking charm placed by my master has faded.:

:Does this mean those protections have faded as well?: Tom was smiling. Nagini was almost positive that he was about to hex her. The protective charms shouldn't have gone – her master said it was a special type of magic or something but she had been too distracted by all the blood involved in the ritual to have concentrated on his words at the time. Either way, she wasn't sticking around to find out.

Nagini dropped down onto the floor with a thud, sorely missing the warmth of the bed already. The boy was very mean to do this to her, she who was used to being revered by all. And to think she had been spending all her valuable time teaching the boy last night! Well, she was not going to do that again. Almost as if sensing her thoughts, Tom quickly sought to bring the snake to being back on amicable terms with him.

:I'll summon you a rabbit after breakfast.:

Ok. She'd let him off just this once. Next time it'd be different...but now she had a rabbit to look forward to.

A slow rumbling suddenly caught her attention, the oscillating vibrations awakening her instincts – prey. She slowly slithered over to the door, body low to the floor – the light creeping under the door irregularly pulsing black with shadows as her prey stampeded past.

A violent swear in that ugly language gnawed on her attention, and she flicked her gaze back to the speaker who was stripping off his clothes and shimmying on some new ones in an apparent rush. Nagini didn't understand quite why humans felt the need to change their clothes so often – she only shed her skin twice a year. She fixed her attention back on the door. Nagini was never truly jealous of the magic her master could use, seeing no need for it for herself, but now she wished she had some so she could open this door and –

The door swept open. A beat passed and Nagini was just coming to terms with this new revelation when she spied the speaker looking down at her, unimpressed, with one hand on the door handle. Nagini huffed.

:Stay here. I'll be back soon.:

And then the speaker left and shut the door behind him, taking with him all the wonderful prey she had briefly spied hurtling past. She now realised that they had been children, but – semantics.

Nagini clambered back onto the bed in a non-stroppy way, definitely not bitter that the speaker had left her. Not at all.

She decided to mess up his room a bit in revenge for him leaving her; she threw his blanket onto the floor (that had taken some time), attacked his pillow and subsequently ripped it into ribbons, and she was just about to make a start on the sole chair in the corner when the speaker in question stormed back into the room, hair sopping wet and dripping an orange liquid that streaked down his face and dampened the collar of his shirt. Nagini quietly hid herself under the chair (as best as a 12 foot snake can), intimately aware that the boy was angry and certainly wouldn't appreciate her actions.

The speaker sat down on the bed with a startling level of grace, reminding Nagini of - well, herself. She resolved to not make a sound. Suddenly his head whipped up to her, and she definitely did not flinch.

:Nagini. It seems that we have more spells to practice.:

She'd be lying if she said she wasn't excited.

A/N I took the liberty of creating a new spell for this chapter, 'coniarcesso'. I have no shame in doing so, as I decided to follow JK Rowling by using Latin (see, it's not a dead language!). I spliced together 'coniculum arcesso', which means 'I summon a rabbit', and I used the 'arcesso' instead of the 'sortia' from 'serpensortia' as it sounds nicer.

Please review!