~*~I was gonna split this up a bit, but I figure I might as well just post
it as all one chapter. Anyway, the time's a bit messed up (a lot has to
happen in his summer!) so please excuse this. Please remember, this is Fifth-year, thus A) Sirius is live and well and B) Harry doesn't hate Snape
quite so much (or for quite so stupid a reason-can anyoue say
"Scapegoat?")~*~
By the time the duo arrived back at Blaze's apartment, it was nearing to midnight. Glancing at Harry, she said, "You hungry? You didn't have lunch, and I could whip something up really quickly, if you want."
He smiled slightly and nodded. "Sure, that'd be great." He trailed her to the kitchen and sat at the bar, watching her move around the small room expertly. "So you know Professor Snape? How'd that happen?" he asked, looking for something to say.
She glanced up at him for a few seconds before grinning. "Not too fond of him, are you?" He blushed slightly and she shrugged. "To each his own, I guess, although he really is a great guy. We met years ago. I think I was about six. He wasn't in my father's Inner Circle yet, and while the other Death Eaters went out with Voldemort, Snape was left in charge of me. He was livid at being left behind. For the first hour or so he just paced the room and glared at me. Father kept doing that to him, though, even after he made Inner Circle. We became friends, and he actually told me when he was going to defect.
"Anyway," she continued after a short pause, "I started to reject my father and what he stood for about the same time, and the original plan was for us to leave together. He was going to finish my education and take care of me until I was old enough. But 'the best laid plans of mice and men.'" Sighing softly, she glanced over at the boy at her counter.
"Let's just say things didn't go as planned. We had to split up. Snape went to Dumbledore, and I was forced to stay with Voldemort. I knew something was up when Snape came back, but Father kept us apart, so I had no idea why he'd returned. Eventually, though, one of the Death Eaters figured it out and told me. I convinced him not to tell Voldemort and twisted things around, planted evidences that showed that I was the turncoat. Snape stuck his neck out for me caused a distraction so I could get away, and paid dearly for it." She stopped.
"Then, shortly after Voldemort fell, he contacted me again. Told me about a little boy who'd somehow not only survived an attack from my father, but also destroyed him. He asked me to keep an eye out for you. Neither of us was stupid enough to think that he was gone for good. So we waited, biding our time. Snape didn't go to Azkaban, so I had no reason to even reveal my existence to the world. I used my given name, Kali Riddle, to get around in the Muggle and wizard worlds. Until today, no one other than Snape and Dumbledore has even known I exist."
Harry sat gaping at her for a moment. "Wow," he finally mumbled. "But why would Snape care what happens to me? He hates me."
"Does he though? Seems he went through an awful lot of trouble for someone he hates," she said, setting a plate of spaghetti in front of him.
Harry frowned at her. "But he's always insulting me and my parents and glaring at me and punishing me for the slightest things. Dumbledore told me that he hated my dad, and that's why he's so mean to me. But," he continued, staring very hard at his plate, "the headmaster did tell me once that Snape owed my father a life-debt. But he already saved me once, back when I was a first year and Quirrell tried to kill me. It doesn't make sense."
Blaze smiled mysteriously at him. "Maybe you should ask him next time you meet up." Grabbing her own plate of food, she started to walk into the living room. "C'mon, we'll have a movie marathon to celebrate your first night here. Your pick."
Harry blinked slightly, unused to the idea of having food in the living room, but then hastily followed her, trying not to spill anything. "What do you have?"
"Uh, let's see." she said, glancing at her shelf of DVD cases. "All the Batman movies, the special addition of The Fellowship of the Rings and The Two Towers, the Back to the Future trilogy, Star Wars. Basically everything good. Which reminds me, when we go to Hogwarts, remind me to bring The Faculty. Promised Snape I would. We always watch it over Christmas break."
Harry paused in his search of DVDs. "So you're really coming to Hogwarts?"
She nodded. "Just as extra protection, for you and the rest of the students. You probably won't see much of me once we get there. I mean, I show up every Christmas to watch the movie and no one's noticed me yet."
"I thought electronic devices don't work on Hogwarts property. There's too much magical interference," Harry said, thinking of Hermione and Hogwarts, A History.
She grinned. "They don't. But if you put up a spell around a certain spot and make it powerful enough, you can block the spells from one area. Of course, we only do it about an inch around the TV, so there's no chance of anyone Apparating in or anything."
Harry nodded. It made sense. He'd have to mention it to Hermione next time she started talking about that book. His eyes landed on a particular movie and he quickly pulled it out. "Can we watch this?"
Glancing at the title, she nodded and took it from him. "This is one of my favorites," she told him, sticking Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade into the DVD player. "I've got the rest of the trilogy. We can make a night of it and watch them all, if you like."
He smiled hesitantly. "I think I'd like that." ~*~*~*~*~*~
Time passed by relatively quickly. Harry was delighted to hear that there were silence wards around his room, so he could play his music as loud as he wanted to and not bother anyone. In fact, Blaze told him that the only noises that could come from his room were ones of distress, like screams or cries for help. He'd forgotten to warn her about his nightmares, however, and the first night he woke screaming she'd barged into his room, wand held dangerously in front of her. He'd quickly explained, and now when he had the dreams she'd simply come in and wake him.
About a week into his stay with her he realized that he would probably never know everything about the mysterious girl. He was sitting at the bar by the kitchen working on his homework one day when he heard an unfamiliar voice coming down the hall.
"'Oh, didn't I tell you?' she says," the voice grumbled. "'He's staying with us until we go to Hogwarts in the fall.' How she expects me to take care of her when she never tells me these things, I have no idea."
Slightly startled, Harry glanced up as a rather long, dark green snake slid into the room. The snake rose up off of the floor when it saw him, then quickly darted up the stool next to him and sat coiled on the top, staring at him. "Well, I don't see what's so special about you," it hissed. "You're barely old enough to be shedding your skin, let alone living with anyone. Especially her."
Harry blushed at what was obviously meant by the comment. "We're not living together," he replied. "She's just letting me stay here."
The snake recoiled in obvious surprise, and then narrowed it's eyes suspiciously. "You're a Parselmouth. Rather unusual. Well, this won't do at all! First of all she doesn't even tell me you're here and then she forgets to mention you can actually understand what I'm saying. I could've been blurting off valuable secrets and never even known. Simply unbelievable. I'm going to give her a piece of my mind." As quickly as it had arrived, it slid back down to the floor and down the hall to Blaze's room. A moment later, she emerged from it with the snake around her shoulders, a frown fixed on her face.
"Why didn't you tell me you speak Parseltongue?" she asked him. "It's a rather valuable piece of information."
Harry blinked at her. "It never really occurred to me to mention it. I didn't think it was that important."
Sighing softly, she sat down next to him. "For an ordinary wizard, maybe it's not. For a fellow Parselmouth, it's an amazing advantage."
A startled expression flew to his face. "You're one, too?"
She nodded. "As is my father, if you don't know already. How fluent are you?"
He frowned. "What do you mean, 'fluent'? I've never found something I can't say, if that's what you mean."
She shook her head slightly. "You can speak to a snake if you're looking at it, correct?" He nodded. "Can you speak snake-language when one's not directly in front of you?"
"No," he replied. "I can't even do it with a snake that's not alive, or at least one that doesn't seem alive. Why, can you?"
Blaze nodded at him, frowning in thought. "When I was a kid I had to say everything in Parseltongue or I wouldn't get meals. That was actually something else Snape helped me with. You get pretty good at it after a while." She sighed. "You didn't even catch that, did you? I just spoke to you in Parseltongue and you didn't notice. You really aren't fluent, are you?" She paused, looking at him. "Oh well. Guess we'll just have to work on that. From now on, I'm only speaking to you in Parseltongue. No doubt Ryo will be around constantly now that he knows, so you can talk to him and work out how to say things."
Harry nodded, eyes wide. "You can really speak it whenever you want? But how often do you need to talk to snakes?"
She smiled. "You'd be surprised. When you get older you'll probably want to get one as a pet of sorts. They're amazingly intelligent and loyal, despite what humans think about them. Plus, Parseltongue can be used as a primitive form of dragon-language, if the dragon's patient enough, which is enormously helpful."
"I can talk to dragons?" he asked a dazed look on his face. "Hagrid and Charlie would go nuts."
She smiled at him. "But it'll be a while before that happens. Right then. So from now on, you say everything you can in Parsel and maybe, if you're lucky, by the end of the summer we'll have you at least relatively articulate." ~*~*~*~*~*~
The work was long and hard, but by the end of the month Harry could say almost anything in Parseltongue without Ryo being around to help. It was difficult, but Blaze assured him that it would become easier with time.
September first was fast approaching, and Harry still needed to get all of his things for school, so he owled Ron and Hermione to set a date for them to meet up at Diagon Alley.
Blaze seemed to understand his hesitation for portkeys, so she instead arranged to Floo into one of the rooms at the Three Broomsticks. After arriving and dusting off and a quick detour to Gringotts, they headed over to Flourish and Blotts, the predestined meeting place. Hermione and Ron were already waiting, along with their families.
Blaze hung back slightly as Harry was reunited with his friends. Her sunglasses and teen Muggle clothing set her apart from everyone else on the crowded street and she felt slightly out of place. Harry made quick introductions, and she nodded towards the Grangers.
It took a while, but eventually all of the children had their school supplies for the year. They agreed to meet up in one of the back compartments of the Hogwarts Express on the first before saying their goodbyes and heading back to their own homes.
Blaze couldn't help sighing slightly in relief as she stepped back into her library. The Weasleys had questioned her endlessly while they were in Diagon Alley, and she was slightly worn out and annoyed. Ryo, who had been offended at being left behind, was waiting.
With one glance at his master, he said, "Well, I'm ever so glad to see it went well. You look like you had a wonderful time."
Blaze shot him a glare. "Snakes were never meant to be sarcastic," she snapped at him, raking a hand through her hair. "If I never do that again, it'll be too soon."
Harry frowned, glancing at her. "Did you have that bad of a time?"
She waved his concern off. "I've had worse. Don't worry about it; I'll buy myself the new Daredevil soundtrack tomorrow and be happy. Why don't you go put your stuff away and I'll make dinner?"
Hesitantly, Harry nodded, retreating into his room. Ryo, on the other hand, followed Blaze into the kitchen. "So?" he hissed. "What were they like? Do you trust them?"
She shrugged. "They were just like every other non-evil people I've ever met. Polite, and terrified of me. You know I hate Diagon Alley, so why are you asking me how it went?"
He slid up onto the counter and fixed her with an unblinking stare. "Because you'll probably be seeing a lot of those children this year, which means so will I. I'd like to know your opinion of them."
Blaze sighed in a tired sort of way. "It doesn't matter. They're not even supposed to know we're there, so I'm sure they'll never meet you." ~*~*~*~*~*~
The rest of the week was spent speaking strictly in Parseltongue. Blaze had been right about it getting easier, and Harry could speak without quite as much effort by the time they reached Platform 9 and ¾. They were evidently the first of the small group to arrive and found an empty compartment to settle into before long.
After a few minutes, the door slid open and Hermione entered. "Oh, here you are! Ron, they're over here," she said, calling out into the hallway.
Harry brightened instantly. "Hi, Hermione. What's up?"
Blaze choked on the sudden laugh that came from seeing Hermione's face. The girl looked puzzled, scared, and highly curious all at the same time. Her laughter was a foreign sound to Harry, and he glanced at her, surprised.
"What?"
Unable to answer, Blaze gestured to Ryo, who had settled onto one of the chairs across from her. "It might help," he hissed, "if you spoke in English. I don't think she's a Parselmouth, too."
"What do you mean?"
Blaze laughed even harder at the mix of languages that came out of his mouth that time. Hermione looked startled. "Harry? What's going on?" she asked. "Why are you hissing at me?"
Ron appeared in the door, uneasy at the sight that met him. "Hissing? Who's hissing?" He spotted Ryo and said, "Oh, he's talking to the snake. We knew he could do that ages ago."
Harry concentrated and managed to say fully in English, "Sorry, 'Mione. I've been speaking like that for a while, and I guess I just got used to it."
The intrigued look on her face grew more prominent. "So you can speak Parseltongue at will now?" she asked eagerly.
Nodding, Harry proudly replied, "Yep. It took a while, but I'm pretty good at it now."
Having gotten control of herself, Blaze shook her head slightly, pulling out her Discman and putting in a CD. She might as well give the kids a semblance of privacy; Ryo would tell her if anything important happened later. Slipping the headphones on, she closed her eyes and let the music overwhelm her. ~*~*~*~*~*~
Blaze didn't realize she had fallen asleep until Harry woke her. The grin on his face betrayed just how much he'd missed Hogwarts over the summer. "We're here," he said happily.
Gently putting her Discman-now unusable, since they'd entered the protective wards around the school-into her backpack, she glanced over at Ryo. He was smirking a little snake smirk at her.
"Have a nice nap?" he hissed. "You should be glad you don't talk in your sleep."
The raven-haired girl smiled sweetly at him. "Why, no, Ryo, I don't mind if you make your way up to the castle on your own. Of course I won't carry you if you don't want me to." With that, she spun and walked out of the compartment, watching the students as they hastily exited the train. She followed Harry and his friends into a carriage that brought them up to the school, unfazed by the ritual.
When they reached the Great Hall, Harry glanced over at her, unsure of what was going to happen. She smiled slightly at him. "Go sit down with your friends. I'll talk to Dumbledore later, in private, and they drop you a line as to what's going on."
He hesitated. "Promise you'll tell me?"
"Of course," she replied. "Ryo'd kill me if I didn't."
The boy raised an eyebrow. "And he won't be mad after what you did to him on the train?"
She grinned. "Well, he deserved it. Don't worry, he'll get over it eventually. He's never met a Pareselmouth outside of my family before, so don't be surprised if he shows up at odd times during the year to talk to you."
"Tell him to drop by whenever he wants, my dormmates'll love him." Casting her one last smile and a small wave, he headed over to the Gryffindor table. When he glanced back a few seconds later, she was gone. ~*~*~*~*~*~
The Great Hall fell silent as Dumbledore stood. The Sorting had just finished, and he was going to make his ritualistic announcements before letting them eat. Spreading his hands in a hospitable way, he began, "Welcome, welcome to Warthog's school for Witches and Wizards." If he'd noticed the slip up in the name, he ignored it. "As I'm sure you're all already aware, the Forbidden Forest is forbidden for all students under pains of death. I'm sure you'll be glad to know that we're quite prepared to fill your empty heads again, especially with our newest staff addition. I'd like to introduce you all to your Defense against the Dark Arts instructor, Professor Riddle." He turned to a very dark corner. "If you'd just step forward a bit, my dear, the students could get a good look at you."
Every person in the Hall turned to look at the mysterious new teacher, perplexed as to why they weren't with the others at the Staff Table. There was the slightest shift of a shadow, and a moment later, Blaze stepped out, an exhausted-looking Ryo wrapped around her shoulders. She stalked quickly over to the Headmaster and began whispering furiously to him. He replied very calmly. She shot back a reply, to which he smiled and gestured to an empty chair by Professor Snape. Glaring evilly at him, she shot a dark look around the Hall before reluctantly taking the empty place.
Harry stared at the girl in shock for a moment. She hadn't mentioned being one of the teachers before, and it certainly didn't seem as though she'd been expecting Dumbledore to introduce her like that. She looked rather angry, actually, an emotion that Harry wasn't familiar with, at least not from her.
The next thing he noticed was that she was talking to Snape. And he was smiling at her. Blaze had said something about them being friends, but he'd never seen the man interact with another human being without the oh-so- familiar scowl on his face. In fact, he looked rather pleased that she would be teaching there, even if she did have the position he'd supposedly wanted for years.
Rumors started to spread the instant Dumbledore said, "Alberolingarn," and the food appeared on the table. Everyone seemed to think she had been a Slytherin years before, judging by the snake around her shoulders and the way she and Snape were getting on. Some people were saying she'd been expelled, while others said she was a famous Auror.
Hermione and Ron were staring at their best friend. "Harry?" Hermione said, her tone surprised, "Did you have any idea?"
He shook his head. "And somehow I don't think she did, either." ~*~*~*~*~*~
True to her word, Blaze showed up later on that night when Harry was on his way to the Gryffindor dorms with Ron and Hermione. Ryo hissed a greeting, apparently having gotten over the earlier incident. Quickly excusing himself, Harry followed Blaze to a nearby, deserted corridor where they'd have at least the semblance of privacy.
"So you're teaching?" Harry blurted out. "You never told me."
"She didn't know," Ryo hissed happily. "Dumbledore didn't tell her, and neither did Snape. It's absolutely hilarious, don't you think?"
"It is not funny," Blaze snapped at him. "I'm not a teacher, I have no idea what I'm going to tell them."
Harry grinned. "I'm sure you'll do fine. I've got your class first thing tomorrow morning, so I guess I'll be the first to know, won't I? 'Night, Blaze, Ryo. Pleasant dreams," he said, his face shifting into a smirk as he disappeared, headed to his dorm. Ryo continued smiling after him.
"Beginning to take after us, don't you think?" ~*~*~*~*~*~
The following morning found Harry and the rest of the Gryffindors seated in the usual Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Everyone was anxiously awaiting the arrival of the new professor, curious to see who she was and find out what had taken place the previous night in the Great Hall. The bell that signified the start of class rang, and everyone went silent in their seats, wondering where she was. An instant later the door opened to emit the black haired young woman. Harry was amused to notice Ryo slither in behind her and make his way over to the teacher's desk. Halfway there, he paused, turned, and instead slithered up onto Harry's.
Blaze shot the snake a look that clearly meant "be good" before turning to the class. "Right. Call me Blaze; none of that Professor junk. I'm gonna explain this to you right off. I'm not a teacher. I never wanted to be a teacher. In fact, I didn't even know that I would be teaching until Dumbledore made the announcement last night." A slight murmur went up, but was quickly silenced. "So here's the deal. I obviously have no lesson plan whatsoever, so I want you all to pull out some paper-scrap, whatever- and write down a few things you want to learn about in here. Think about it, talk if you must, but don't just write down what everyone else is. You'll turn it in at the end of class." With that, she sat down at her desk and proceeded to ignore the students
Ron and Hermione instantly turned to Harry. "Is she for real?" Ron asked, eyes wide.
Harry shrugged. "Must be. Hello, Ryo," he said, grinning at the snake. "Causing a lot of trouble?"
The serpent smiled a snaky smile at him. "Of course. I'm fully enjoying the situation she's gotten herself into. I've never laughed this much over the course of a day before."
Harry grinned. "Just wait until she gets her first batch of first years, or worse, Slytherins. That'll really have you in stitches."
"Uh, Harry?" Hermione said softly, "I don't mean to be rude, but people are staring."
Harry glanced up. Sure enough, nearly every eye was on him, including those belonging to Blaze. She had an amused grin on her face as she lightly flicked her wand in Ryo's direction. She said a word that no one in the room could understand, and an instant later the snake had flown across the room and landed on her desk.
"No distracting the students," she said in Parseltongue.
A cumulative gasp went up from the students as they all stared at her in awe. Neville let out a small squeak of fear, stuttering, "She's a-a-"
"A what, Mr. Longbottom, is it?" Blaze asked, glancing at him. "A girl? A professor? A witch?"
"A Parselmouth!" he exclaimed.
She raised an eyebrow, shrugging. "Your point being?"
Dean frowned, shifting slightly. "It's just that it's such a rare.gift."
She tilted her head slightly, surveying the students. "Does the fact that I can talk to snakes intimidate you?" Ryo hissed at her, and she glanced back at him quickly. With a soft sigh of annoyance, she scooped him up and held him in view of all the students. "This is Ryo. He's rather annoying, but harmless. Expect to see him around the castle, now that we'll be staying here. Now get back to your work."
They quickly complied, and the rest of the class passed uneventfully. When the bell rang for them to go to their next class, Harry approached Blaze's desk and handed her his scroll along with the other students. He hung back for a moment with Ron and Hermione to talk to her.
"So, how'd it go?"
She shrugged. "You tell me," she replied, glancing at the others to include them.
Hermione shifted her bag slightly. "Well, we didn't really cover anything. I suppose we'll have to wait until next week to see how good of a teacher you are."
Blaze looked up at her, an expression on her face that came close to respect. "Good answer."
"Hey," Ron said suddenly, frowning at her. "Weren't your eyes red before?"
She nodded at him. "It's a simple illusion spell that I use sometimes to hide my appearance. They're still red, but your brain's effected by the spell to think that they're really blue-green."
Ron grinned. "Cool. You'll have to teach me how to do that, 'Mione."
Hermione frowned at him, but didn't comment. "Anyway, we'd best be going, or we'll be late for class."
Harry made a face. "Double Potions with Snape. Joy of all joys," he said darkly. Blaze smiled at him, shaking her head slightly.
"Go ahead. If you're late, just tell him that I held you back and that you'll get a pass from me later."
After a quick goodbye, the three Gryffindors hurried through the twisted hallways of Hogwarts. Even with the promise of a pass hanging overhead, they knew better than to be late for Potions. Taking several shortcuts through passages off-limits to fifth years, they somehow managed to get there before the bell rang again. As they sat, slightly panting in the room full of Gryffindors and Slytherins alike, they overheard several of their yearmates talking about their previous class.
"A Parselmouth!" Neville was saying. "I can't believe it! I mean, who'd have thought?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "I don't get what the big deal is," he said. "I'm a Parslemouth, too, and no one seems to care."
"Well, yeah," Ron said, frowning slightly. "But remember how everyone reacted in our second year, when we first found out? It wasn't just because of the whole Heir of Slytherin thing, Harry. Parselmouths are notorious for being dark wizards."
Harry snorted. "That's ridiculous."
"What's ridiculous, Mr. Potter?" the cold voice of Professor Snape said from the front of the classroom. The students went silent, staring anxiously at him. "Well? I asked you a question."
Harry resisted the urge to frown at the man. "Just the fact that people think that Blaze is dark because of the fact that she speaks to snakes."
Something flickered through the Potion Master's eyes at the mention of the girl's name, but he merely said, "Five points from Gryffindor for disrespectfully addressing a professor."
"I'm sorry, sir, but that's what she's asked us to call her," Harry replied.
He glared at the boy in front of him. "Then the five points are for talking back, Mr. Potter. I suggest you hold your tongue before I subtract more."
Harry nearly grinned out of sheer relief. With everything else that was going on in his life, it was nice to know that some things were constant. The sky was blue, Professor Snape was mean. It gave his world a sense of stability. However, he quickly glanced down at his cauldron, keeping his face carefully blank.
happen in his summer!) so please excuse this. Please remember, this is Fifth-year, thus A) Sirius is live and well and B) Harry doesn't hate Snape
quite so much (or for quite so stupid a reason-can anyoue say
"Scapegoat?")~*~
By the time the duo arrived back at Blaze's apartment, it was nearing to midnight. Glancing at Harry, she said, "You hungry? You didn't have lunch, and I could whip something up really quickly, if you want."
He smiled slightly and nodded. "Sure, that'd be great." He trailed her to the kitchen and sat at the bar, watching her move around the small room expertly. "So you know Professor Snape? How'd that happen?" he asked, looking for something to say.
She glanced up at him for a few seconds before grinning. "Not too fond of him, are you?" He blushed slightly and she shrugged. "To each his own, I guess, although he really is a great guy. We met years ago. I think I was about six. He wasn't in my father's Inner Circle yet, and while the other Death Eaters went out with Voldemort, Snape was left in charge of me. He was livid at being left behind. For the first hour or so he just paced the room and glared at me. Father kept doing that to him, though, even after he made Inner Circle. We became friends, and he actually told me when he was going to defect.
"Anyway," she continued after a short pause, "I started to reject my father and what he stood for about the same time, and the original plan was for us to leave together. He was going to finish my education and take care of me until I was old enough. But 'the best laid plans of mice and men.'" Sighing softly, she glanced over at the boy at her counter.
"Let's just say things didn't go as planned. We had to split up. Snape went to Dumbledore, and I was forced to stay with Voldemort. I knew something was up when Snape came back, but Father kept us apart, so I had no idea why he'd returned. Eventually, though, one of the Death Eaters figured it out and told me. I convinced him not to tell Voldemort and twisted things around, planted evidences that showed that I was the turncoat. Snape stuck his neck out for me caused a distraction so I could get away, and paid dearly for it." She stopped.
"Then, shortly after Voldemort fell, he contacted me again. Told me about a little boy who'd somehow not only survived an attack from my father, but also destroyed him. He asked me to keep an eye out for you. Neither of us was stupid enough to think that he was gone for good. So we waited, biding our time. Snape didn't go to Azkaban, so I had no reason to even reveal my existence to the world. I used my given name, Kali Riddle, to get around in the Muggle and wizard worlds. Until today, no one other than Snape and Dumbledore has even known I exist."
Harry sat gaping at her for a moment. "Wow," he finally mumbled. "But why would Snape care what happens to me? He hates me."
"Does he though? Seems he went through an awful lot of trouble for someone he hates," she said, setting a plate of spaghetti in front of him.
Harry frowned at her. "But he's always insulting me and my parents and glaring at me and punishing me for the slightest things. Dumbledore told me that he hated my dad, and that's why he's so mean to me. But," he continued, staring very hard at his plate, "the headmaster did tell me once that Snape owed my father a life-debt. But he already saved me once, back when I was a first year and Quirrell tried to kill me. It doesn't make sense."
Blaze smiled mysteriously at him. "Maybe you should ask him next time you meet up." Grabbing her own plate of food, she started to walk into the living room. "C'mon, we'll have a movie marathon to celebrate your first night here. Your pick."
Harry blinked slightly, unused to the idea of having food in the living room, but then hastily followed her, trying not to spill anything. "What do you have?"
"Uh, let's see." she said, glancing at her shelf of DVD cases. "All the Batman movies, the special addition of The Fellowship of the Rings and The Two Towers, the Back to the Future trilogy, Star Wars. Basically everything good. Which reminds me, when we go to Hogwarts, remind me to bring The Faculty. Promised Snape I would. We always watch it over Christmas break."
Harry paused in his search of DVDs. "So you're really coming to Hogwarts?"
She nodded. "Just as extra protection, for you and the rest of the students. You probably won't see much of me once we get there. I mean, I show up every Christmas to watch the movie and no one's noticed me yet."
"I thought electronic devices don't work on Hogwarts property. There's too much magical interference," Harry said, thinking of Hermione and Hogwarts, A History.
She grinned. "They don't. But if you put up a spell around a certain spot and make it powerful enough, you can block the spells from one area. Of course, we only do it about an inch around the TV, so there's no chance of anyone Apparating in or anything."
Harry nodded. It made sense. He'd have to mention it to Hermione next time she started talking about that book. His eyes landed on a particular movie and he quickly pulled it out. "Can we watch this?"
Glancing at the title, she nodded and took it from him. "This is one of my favorites," she told him, sticking Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade into the DVD player. "I've got the rest of the trilogy. We can make a night of it and watch them all, if you like."
He smiled hesitantly. "I think I'd like that." ~*~*~*~*~*~
Time passed by relatively quickly. Harry was delighted to hear that there were silence wards around his room, so he could play his music as loud as he wanted to and not bother anyone. In fact, Blaze told him that the only noises that could come from his room were ones of distress, like screams or cries for help. He'd forgotten to warn her about his nightmares, however, and the first night he woke screaming she'd barged into his room, wand held dangerously in front of her. He'd quickly explained, and now when he had the dreams she'd simply come in and wake him.
About a week into his stay with her he realized that he would probably never know everything about the mysterious girl. He was sitting at the bar by the kitchen working on his homework one day when he heard an unfamiliar voice coming down the hall.
"'Oh, didn't I tell you?' she says," the voice grumbled. "'He's staying with us until we go to Hogwarts in the fall.' How she expects me to take care of her when she never tells me these things, I have no idea."
Slightly startled, Harry glanced up as a rather long, dark green snake slid into the room. The snake rose up off of the floor when it saw him, then quickly darted up the stool next to him and sat coiled on the top, staring at him. "Well, I don't see what's so special about you," it hissed. "You're barely old enough to be shedding your skin, let alone living with anyone. Especially her."
Harry blushed at what was obviously meant by the comment. "We're not living together," he replied. "She's just letting me stay here."
The snake recoiled in obvious surprise, and then narrowed it's eyes suspiciously. "You're a Parselmouth. Rather unusual. Well, this won't do at all! First of all she doesn't even tell me you're here and then she forgets to mention you can actually understand what I'm saying. I could've been blurting off valuable secrets and never even known. Simply unbelievable. I'm going to give her a piece of my mind." As quickly as it had arrived, it slid back down to the floor and down the hall to Blaze's room. A moment later, she emerged from it with the snake around her shoulders, a frown fixed on her face.
"Why didn't you tell me you speak Parseltongue?" she asked him. "It's a rather valuable piece of information."
Harry blinked at her. "It never really occurred to me to mention it. I didn't think it was that important."
Sighing softly, she sat down next to him. "For an ordinary wizard, maybe it's not. For a fellow Parselmouth, it's an amazing advantage."
A startled expression flew to his face. "You're one, too?"
She nodded. "As is my father, if you don't know already. How fluent are you?"
He frowned. "What do you mean, 'fluent'? I've never found something I can't say, if that's what you mean."
She shook her head slightly. "You can speak to a snake if you're looking at it, correct?" He nodded. "Can you speak snake-language when one's not directly in front of you?"
"No," he replied. "I can't even do it with a snake that's not alive, or at least one that doesn't seem alive. Why, can you?"
Blaze nodded at him, frowning in thought. "When I was a kid I had to say everything in Parseltongue or I wouldn't get meals. That was actually something else Snape helped me with. You get pretty good at it after a while." She sighed. "You didn't even catch that, did you? I just spoke to you in Parseltongue and you didn't notice. You really aren't fluent, are you?" She paused, looking at him. "Oh well. Guess we'll just have to work on that. From now on, I'm only speaking to you in Parseltongue. No doubt Ryo will be around constantly now that he knows, so you can talk to him and work out how to say things."
Harry nodded, eyes wide. "You can really speak it whenever you want? But how often do you need to talk to snakes?"
She smiled. "You'd be surprised. When you get older you'll probably want to get one as a pet of sorts. They're amazingly intelligent and loyal, despite what humans think about them. Plus, Parseltongue can be used as a primitive form of dragon-language, if the dragon's patient enough, which is enormously helpful."
"I can talk to dragons?" he asked a dazed look on his face. "Hagrid and Charlie would go nuts."
She smiled at him. "But it'll be a while before that happens. Right then. So from now on, you say everything you can in Parsel and maybe, if you're lucky, by the end of the summer we'll have you at least relatively articulate." ~*~*~*~*~*~
The work was long and hard, but by the end of the month Harry could say almost anything in Parseltongue without Ryo being around to help. It was difficult, but Blaze assured him that it would become easier with time.
September first was fast approaching, and Harry still needed to get all of his things for school, so he owled Ron and Hermione to set a date for them to meet up at Diagon Alley.
Blaze seemed to understand his hesitation for portkeys, so she instead arranged to Floo into one of the rooms at the Three Broomsticks. After arriving and dusting off and a quick detour to Gringotts, they headed over to Flourish and Blotts, the predestined meeting place. Hermione and Ron were already waiting, along with their families.
Blaze hung back slightly as Harry was reunited with his friends. Her sunglasses and teen Muggle clothing set her apart from everyone else on the crowded street and she felt slightly out of place. Harry made quick introductions, and she nodded towards the Grangers.
It took a while, but eventually all of the children had their school supplies for the year. They agreed to meet up in one of the back compartments of the Hogwarts Express on the first before saying their goodbyes and heading back to their own homes.
Blaze couldn't help sighing slightly in relief as she stepped back into her library. The Weasleys had questioned her endlessly while they were in Diagon Alley, and she was slightly worn out and annoyed. Ryo, who had been offended at being left behind, was waiting.
With one glance at his master, he said, "Well, I'm ever so glad to see it went well. You look like you had a wonderful time."
Blaze shot him a glare. "Snakes were never meant to be sarcastic," she snapped at him, raking a hand through her hair. "If I never do that again, it'll be too soon."
Harry frowned, glancing at her. "Did you have that bad of a time?"
She waved his concern off. "I've had worse. Don't worry about it; I'll buy myself the new Daredevil soundtrack tomorrow and be happy. Why don't you go put your stuff away and I'll make dinner?"
Hesitantly, Harry nodded, retreating into his room. Ryo, on the other hand, followed Blaze into the kitchen. "So?" he hissed. "What were they like? Do you trust them?"
She shrugged. "They were just like every other non-evil people I've ever met. Polite, and terrified of me. You know I hate Diagon Alley, so why are you asking me how it went?"
He slid up onto the counter and fixed her with an unblinking stare. "Because you'll probably be seeing a lot of those children this year, which means so will I. I'd like to know your opinion of them."
Blaze sighed in a tired sort of way. "It doesn't matter. They're not even supposed to know we're there, so I'm sure they'll never meet you." ~*~*~*~*~*~
The rest of the week was spent speaking strictly in Parseltongue. Blaze had been right about it getting easier, and Harry could speak without quite as much effort by the time they reached Platform 9 and ¾. They were evidently the first of the small group to arrive and found an empty compartment to settle into before long.
After a few minutes, the door slid open and Hermione entered. "Oh, here you are! Ron, they're over here," she said, calling out into the hallway.
Harry brightened instantly. "Hi, Hermione. What's up?"
Blaze choked on the sudden laugh that came from seeing Hermione's face. The girl looked puzzled, scared, and highly curious all at the same time. Her laughter was a foreign sound to Harry, and he glanced at her, surprised.
"What?"
Unable to answer, Blaze gestured to Ryo, who had settled onto one of the chairs across from her. "It might help," he hissed, "if you spoke in English. I don't think she's a Parselmouth, too."
"What do you mean?"
Blaze laughed even harder at the mix of languages that came out of his mouth that time. Hermione looked startled. "Harry? What's going on?" she asked. "Why are you hissing at me?"
Ron appeared in the door, uneasy at the sight that met him. "Hissing? Who's hissing?" He spotted Ryo and said, "Oh, he's talking to the snake. We knew he could do that ages ago."
Harry concentrated and managed to say fully in English, "Sorry, 'Mione. I've been speaking like that for a while, and I guess I just got used to it."
The intrigued look on her face grew more prominent. "So you can speak Parseltongue at will now?" she asked eagerly.
Nodding, Harry proudly replied, "Yep. It took a while, but I'm pretty good at it now."
Having gotten control of herself, Blaze shook her head slightly, pulling out her Discman and putting in a CD. She might as well give the kids a semblance of privacy; Ryo would tell her if anything important happened later. Slipping the headphones on, she closed her eyes and let the music overwhelm her. ~*~*~*~*~*~
Blaze didn't realize she had fallen asleep until Harry woke her. The grin on his face betrayed just how much he'd missed Hogwarts over the summer. "We're here," he said happily.
Gently putting her Discman-now unusable, since they'd entered the protective wards around the school-into her backpack, she glanced over at Ryo. He was smirking a little snake smirk at her.
"Have a nice nap?" he hissed. "You should be glad you don't talk in your sleep."
The raven-haired girl smiled sweetly at him. "Why, no, Ryo, I don't mind if you make your way up to the castle on your own. Of course I won't carry you if you don't want me to." With that, she spun and walked out of the compartment, watching the students as they hastily exited the train. She followed Harry and his friends into a carriage that brought them up to the school, unfazed by the ritual.
When they reached the Great Hall, Harry glanced over at her, unsure of what was going to happen. She smiled slightly at him. "Go sit down with your friends. I'll talk to Dumbledore later, in private, and they drop you a line as to what's going on."
He hesitated. "Promise you'll tell me?"
"Of course," she replied. "Ryo'd kill me if I didn't."
The boy raised an eyebrow. "And he won't be mad after what you did to him on the train?"
She grinned. "Well, he deserved it. Don't worry, he'll get over it eventually. He's never met a Pareselmouth outside of my family before, so don't be surprised if he shows up at odd times during the year to talk to you."
"Tell him to drop by whenever he wants, my dormmates'll love him." Casting her one last smile and a small wave, he headed over to the Gryffindor table. When he glanced back a few seconds later, she was gone. ~*~*~*~*~*~
The Great Hall fell silent as Dumbledore stood. The Sorting had just finished, and he was going to make his ritualistic announcements before letting them eat. Spreading his hands in a hospitable way, he began, "Welcome, welcome to Warthog's school for Witches and Wizards." If he'd noticed the slip up in the name, he ignored it. "As I'm sure you're all already aware, the Forbidden Forest is forbidden for all students under pains of death. I'm sure you'll be glad to know that we're quite prepared to fill your empty heads again, especially with our newest staff addition. I'd like to introduce you all to your Defense against the Dark Arts instructor, Professor Riddle." He turned to a very dark corner. "If you'd just step forward a bit, my dear, the students could get a good look at you."
Every person in the Hall turned to look at the mysterious new teacher, perplexed as to why they weren't with the others at the Staff Table. There was the slightest shift of a shadow, and a moment later, Blaze stepped out, an exhausted-looking Ryo wrapped around her shoulders. She stalked quickly over to the Headmaster and began whispering furiously to him. He replied very calmly. She shot back a reply, to which he smiled and gestured to an empty chair by Professor Snape. Glaring evilly at him, she shot a dark look around the Hall before reluctantly taking the empty place.
Harry stared at the girl in shock for a moment. She hadn't mentioned being one of the teachers before, and it certainly didn't seem as though she'd been expecting Dumbledore to introduce her like that. She looked rather angry, actually, an emotion that Harry wasn't familiar with, at least not from her.
The next thing he noticed was that she was talking to Snape. And he was smiling at her. Blaze had said something about them being friends, but he'd never seen the man interact with another human being without the oh-so- familiar scowl on his face. In fact, he looked rather pleased that she would be teaching there, even if she did have the position he'd supposedly wanted for years.
Rumors started to spread the instant Dumbledore said, "Alberolingarn," and the food appeared on the table. Everyone seemed to think she had been a Slytherin years before, judging by the snake around her shoulders and the way she and Snape were getting on. Some people were saying she'd been expelled, while others said she was a famous Auror.
Hermione and Ron were staring at their best friend. "Harry?" Hermione said, her tone surprised, "Did you have any idea?"
He shook his head. "And somehow I don't think she did, either." ~*~*~*~*~*~
True to her word, Blaze showed up later on that night when Harry was on his way to the Gryffindor dorms with Ron and Hermione. Ryo hissed a greeting, apparently having gotten over the earlier incident. Quickly excusing himself, Harry followed Blaze to a nearby, deserted corridor where they'd have at least the semblance of privacy.
"So you're teaching?" Harry blurted out. "You never told me."
"She didn't know," Ryo hissed happily. "Dumbledore didn't tell her, and neither did Snape. It's absolutely hilarious, don't you think?"
"It is not funny," Blaze snapped at him. "I'm not a teacher, I have no idea what I'm going to tell them."
Harry grinned. "I'm sure you'll do fine. I've got your class first thing tomorrow morning, so I guess I'll be the first to know, won't I? 'Night, Blaze, Ryo. Pleasant dreams," he said, his face shifting into a smirk as he disappeared, headed to his dorm. Ryo continued smiling after him.
"Beginning to take after us, don't you think?" ~*~*~*~*~*~
The following morning found Harry and the rest of the Gryffindors seated in the usual Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Everyone was anxiously awaiting the arrival of the new professor, curious to see who she was and find out what had taken place the previous night in the Great Hall. The bell that signified the start of class rang, and everyone went silent in their seats, wondering where she was. An instant later the door opened to emit the black haired young woman. Harry was amused to notice Ryo slither in behind her and make his way over to the teacher's desk. Halfway there, he paused, turned, and instead slithered up onto Harry's.
Blaze shot the snake a look that clearly meant "be good" before turning to the class. "Right. Call me Blaze; none of that Professor junk. I'm gonna explain this to you right off. I'm not a teacher. I never wanted to be a teacher. In fact, I didn't even know that I would be teaching until Dumbledore made the announcement last night." A slight murmur went up, but was quickly silenced. "So here's the deal. I obviously have no lesson plan whatsoever, so I want you all to pull out some paper-scrap, whatever- and write down a few things you want to learn about in here. Think about it, talk if you must, but don't just write down what everyone else is. You'll turn it in at the end of class." With that, she sat down at her desk and proceeded to ignore the students
Ron and Hermione instantly turned to Harry. "Is she for real?" Ron asked, eyes wide.
Harry shrugged. "Must be. Hello, Ryo," he said, grinning at the snake. "Causing a lot of trouble?"
The serpent smiled a snaky smile at him. "Of course. I'm fully enjoying the situation she's gotten herself into. I've never laughed this much over the course of a day before."
Harry grinned. "Just wait until she gets her first batch of first years, or worse, Slytherins. That'll really have you in stitches."
"Uh, Harry?" Hermione said softly, "I don't mean to be rude, but people are staring."
Harry glanced up. Sure enough, nearly every eye was on him, including those belonging to Blaze. She had an amused grin on her face as she lightly flicked her wand in Ryo's direction. She said a word that no one in the room could understand, and an instant later the snake had flown across the room and landed on her desk.
"No distracting the students," she said in Parseltongue.
A cumulative gasp went up from the students as they all stared at her in awe. Neville let out a small squeak of fear, stuttering, "She's a-a-"
"A what, Mr. Longbottom, is it?" Blaze asked, glancing at him. "A girl? A professor? A witch?"
"A Parselmouth!" he exclaimed.
She raised an eyebrow, shrugging. "Your point being?"
Dean frowned, shifting slightly. "It's just that it's such a rare.gift."
She tilted her head slightly, surveying the students. "Does the fact that I can talk to snakes intimidate you?" Ryo hissed at her, and she glanced back at him quickly. With a soft sigh of annoyance, she scooped him up and held him in view of all the students. "This is Ryo. He's rather annoying, but harmless. Expect to see him around the castle, now that we'll be staying here. Now get back to your work."
They quickly complied, and the rest of the class passed uneventfully. When the bell rang for them to go to their next class, Harry approached Blaze's desk and handed her his scroll along with the other students. He hung back for a moment with Ron and Hermione to talk to her.
"So, how'd it go?"
She shrugged. "You tell me," she replied, glancing at the others to include them.
Hermione shifted her bag slightly. "Well, we didn't really cover anything. I suppose we'll have to wait until next week to see how good of a teacher you are."
Blaze looked up at her, an expression on her face that came close to respect. "Good answer."
"Hey," Ron said suddenly, frowning at her. "Weren't your eyes red before?"
She nodded at him. "It's a simple illusion spell that I use sometimes to hide my appearance. They're still red, but your brain's effected by the spell to think that they're really blue-green."
Ron grinned. "Cool. You'll have to teach me how to do that, 'Mione."
Hermione frowned at him, but didn't comment. "Anyway, we'd best be going, or we'll be late for class."
Harry made a face. "Double Potions with Snape. Joy of all joys," he said darkly. Blaze smiled at him, shaking her head slightly.
"Go ahead. If you're late, just tell him that I held you back and that you'll get a pass from me later."
After a quick goodbye, the three Gryffindors hurried through the twisted hallways of Hogwarts. Even with the promise of a pass hanging overhead, they knew better than to be late for Potions. Taking several shortcuts through passages off-limits to fifth years, they somehow managed to get there before the bell rang again. As they sat, slightly panting in the room full of Gryffindors and Slytherins alike, they overheard several of their yearmates talking about their previous class.
"A Parselmouth!" Neville was saying. "I can't believe it! I mean, who'd have thought?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "I don't get what the big deal is," he said. "I'm a Parslemouth, too, and no one seems to care."
"Well, yeah," Ron said, frowning slightly. "But remember how everyone reacted in our second year, when we first found out? It wasn't just because of the whole Heir of Slytherin thing, Harry. Parselmouths are notorious for being dark wizards."
Harry snorted. "That's ridiculous."
"What's ridiculous, Mr. Potter?" the cold voice of Professor Snape said from the front of the classroom. The students went silent, staring anxiously at him. "Well? I asked you a question."
Harry resisted the urge to frown at the man. "Just the fact that people think that Blaze is dark because of the fact that she speaks to snakes."
Something flickered through the Potion Master's eyes at the mention of the girl's name, but he merely said, "Five points from Gryffindor for disrespectfully addressing a professor."
"I'm sorry, sir, but that's what she's asked us to call her," Harry replied.
He glared at the boy in front of him. "Then the five points are for talking back, Mr. Potter. I suggest you hold your tongue before I subtract more."
Harry nearly grinned out of sheer relief. With everything else that was going on in his life, it was nice to know that some things were constant. The sky was blue, Professor Snape was mean. It gave his world a sense of stability. However, he quickly glanced down at his cauldron, keeping his face carefully blank.