CHAPTER 7

The schedule for an average school day is weird. I've never been to a boarding school, so I don't know if the way times are scheduled are structured the same way as they are here. First is breakfast where we get our weekly schedules. We spend the next four hours in classes until lunch rolls around, and then spend another four hours in classes. Dinner follows and after dinner we're free to go to our common rooms. Students taking Astronomy meet at the Astronomy Tower at midnight and proceed with their class. Luckily Draco didn't give me that class, because I was not going to stay up at midnight just to attend a class. That's what university is for, anyway.

After lunch, I have an hour of Transfiguration. Unfortunately, Rose and Rowena have the class with me, but I've got Duncan and Albus with me too. And, apparently the Slytherins have the same class too.

Rowena, as usual, is running her mouth, explaining to me what we do in Transfiguration. I figured the most part of it—the act of transforming something, as that is what transfiguring is. She explains to me that they've transfigured objects to animals, and vice versa. They've studied multiplying individual objects. I asked about clones and she looked at me like I was crazy. I guess they hadn't studied that.

We walk inside the classroom. Cages full of animals circle the room and I wonder if we'll already start transfiguring animals. I look around the classroom. Slytherins and Gryffindors have already taken some seats, and I spot Kira and her friends are already seated with her Housemates. As my eyes linger longer, one of the voluptuous blondes, the longer-haired one, turns her head and her eyes lock onto mine. My eyes widen and I'm shocked to suddenly see her plump lips curl into a grin. Is she trying to flirt? I arch an eyebrow and I can't help but grin back. A bloody gorgeous girl grinning seductively at me? Hell, I'll take that any day.

Rowena pulls me along and plops me into the seat next to her. Dread fills my body and I'm wondering, annoyed, why she isn't sitting with Rose. Rose finds another companion to sit with at the table next to us, and Albus and Duncan take the desk behind us.

"You'll like this class," Rowena assures. "Professor Lingley is a brilliant teacher."

Class starts and I still don't see this brilliant teacher. I perch my elbow on the desk, placing my chin in my hand, a bored expression taking place on my face. My eyes linger back the long-haired blonde girl, Tatiana Higgs, and I remain staring at her, that is, until the doors from behind suddenly burst open. Everyone turns towards the back and my eyebrows narrow in confusion when I don't see anyone there. I wait and wait, but nobody arrives. And then I notice everyone's gaze as dropped to the floor, and they're tracing it until the return to the front of the room. I'm completely baffled and really annoyed. I follow everyone's gaze and then I suddenly meet the bright green eyes of a silky black cat, perched on a table in the front.

And then, the cat suddenly morphs into a woman. Shaking my head, I know I'm delusional.

"What the—?" I mutter. Rowena flashes a grin.

"Told you she was brilliant. She's an Animagus, a wizard that can transform into a single animal."

"But it takes rigorous training," the woman pipes, overhearing our conversation. I look back at her I suddenly realize how beautiful she really is. Rowena was right—I would like her. Her face is youthful with almond-shaped emerald eyes, black hair parted down the middle pulled over one shoulder. Her skin is pallid and she tall and thin, her figured draped in loose robes that float around her majestically. She glances at me before a smile takes the place of her red lips. "You will learn many wonders of the magic world, Mr. Cooper, and what we wizards and witches are capable of. Welcome to Hogwarts."

She turns from me and begins to introduce sixth year Transfiguration, her smile disappearing and returning the firm expression she sported earlier. Rowena is leaning over the desk, so in tuned to Professor Lingley's introduction. It's hard for me to focus on what she's saying when I'm too busy staring at her lovely features. Her lashes are long and brush the tops of her cheeks and her figure is curvy, unfortunately draped with the loose robes, but not completely concealing her model form. She waltzes across the room, talking with her hands and making wide gestures, and sleek brown wand secured in one of them.

"Now, with my babbling aside," she says, pulling me from my studying of her, "I find it necessary to start the class with a bit of a review. Let's say an animal transfiguration into a goblet?"

"We learned this in second year, Professor!" Rowena reminds her. Professor Lingley taps her own head lightly with the tip of her wand, arching an eyebrow.

"That's why it's called a review, Miss Vane," she says. I smirk lightly before withdrawing my own wand. "The reviews will soon get harder, don't you worry."

I'm especially excited because this is the first time I've been able to use my wand all day. Most of the stuff I've done today really involved no magic at all. History of Magic was a total bore, only reading and writing (but the professor is a ghost, which was kind of fascinating yet eerie at the same time); Divination was just staring into a crystal ball and deciphering the fog inside it to uncover the future of my partner (apparently Albus is going to come across dark times but will overcome them triumphantly when he reaches his Auror status … whatever that means); and loads of other non-wand-using work. Now I get to experience some real magic. I was getting more and more excited for this class to proceed already.

"Instead of busying ourselves with retrieving our animal companions," Professor Lingley says, "I will provide you with your source of transfiguring. Just be sure to return my little friends to their original forms, as I will need to return them to Hagrid after class is over."

So that is why they asked us to bring either an owl, a cat, or a toad to school. I didn't quite like the idea of turning Bursty into a goblet, but maybe I could make him bigger and stronger and make him into a frog god. He could definitely stomp on all of the other animals at the school … and on Rowena's annoying curly head.

Professor Lingley waves her wands at selective cages and makes them levitate, much like how Professor McGonagall made the schedules fly out this morning. Cages of all types of animals—not just cats or owls or toads, although they are included in the variety—are slowly lifted into the air and settled on occupied desks. Kira, Tatiana, and Giselle get their animals before I do, and I notice the animals that they get. Kira receives a Gila monster, Tatiana next to her gets a white rabbit, and Giselle receives a falcon. To my side, Rose and her desk partner (who I don't know, but don't care to because she looks just as annoying as Rowena) both receive falcons as well. Duncan receives a monitor lizard while Albus gets a small tortoise. Finally, Rowena and I get our animals. Rowena is ecstatic when she sees the wired ferret in her cage. The cage that lands in front of me is a long golden-colored serpent, and it blinks at me, raising its head. I'm pretty pleased that I was honored with such a cool animal. It's better than a silly little ferret or a rabbit.

"Alright," Lingley calls the attention of the class, who are all buzzing over their new animals. "Let's review the spell for our new friend, Mr. Cooper. Now, Mr. Cooper, I assume you've been taught to hold your wand, am I correct?" she asks. I don't want to look like a complete moron but even though I haven't really been told—just a few tips from Draco, but they're slipping my mind at the moment—I nod my head yes. She smiles briefly with a nod of her own before proceeding. "Excellent. Now, when performing the spell, merely flick her wand gently and gracefully at your animal and enunciate the incantation, Fera Verto. Go on, class. Show him how it's done."

The class begins to buzz with the same words being echoed off the high walls of the classroom and I watch them flick their wands gently, just as Professor Lingley said. Baffled, I watch as all of the animals in the room are turned into glass goblets or medieval cups. The screeching and cooing of animals has been silenced. There's nothing else living other than the humans in the room and my brilliant snake.

"Very well done," Professor Lingley says to her old students. Everyone's gaze suddenly turns on me. "Now it's your turn, Mr. Cooper."

Rowena turns to me, her eyes wide with excitement. I roll my own, suppressing a snarl at her and focusing on my animal. I take a deep breath and position my wand like everybody else had. The snake's eyes suddenly lock on mine.

"Malfoy," a hiss echoes through my ears, and, for some reason, I know for sure it's coming from the snake, but I also know that it's obviously impossible for snakes to talk. However, this was the fairy tale I was living now.

I scoff. "Huh. So even the animals can talk," I say. Rowena's eyebrows knit together. "What?" I ask her. "I mean, this is the 'magic world.' How could I be surprised that the animals talk as well?" I shake my head, chuckling.

"Malfoy," the snake says again, and this time, I realize what it is saying. It's blowing my cover! Now everyone I will know I'm related to Draco and the secret will be leaked. Everything will be ruined. I glare at the snake.

"Shut up!" I hiss softly at it, scolding it. Rowena gasps at my side and, when I look up, I realize everyone's eyes are widened and they're murmuring amongst themselves. Professor Lingley's eyes narrow.

"What?" I asked, annoyed. I look back at Duncan and Albus; they're eyes are wide too. I'm wondering what the heck all of the commotion is about. So I talked to an animal. Couldn't everyone do that here, considering the animals could talk in the first place? I mean, my Transfiguration professor was a bloody cat for crying out loud.

"You … you …" Rowena stammers, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion as she shakes her head. "I don't understand."

"How is this possible?" Rose wonders beside me, caressing her bottom lip as her eyebrows narrow.

"How is what possible?" I snap.

"Malfoy … Aiden Malfoy!" the snake exclaims. I glare at it.

"I said, shut up! Stop saying that!" I shout. Everyone immediately gasps and I'm suddenly taken aback. "What is going on?"

"Mr. Cooper," Professor Lingley says, appearing at my desk. Her eyes are shining with worry, and her firm expression is still extremely beautiful on her face. "Perhaps it would be best for you to come with me."

"Why? Did I do something wrong?" I ask. She smiles sadly at me, again very brief, before her face returns to its firm expression.

"The rest of you, return your animals to their original forms. Hold tight until I come back. I won't be long," she announces to her class before escorting me out of the classroom.


I return to Professor McGonagall's office. Professor Lingley still hasn't told me why I'm coming here, or what the heck happened in class. Why did everyone gasp when I told the snake to shut up? Was it some violation of peace with the animals or something? I am seriously so lost, I don't even feel like admiring Professor Lingley's attractive appearance.

"Professor Lingley," Professor McGonagall says with surprise. Her beady eyes immediately drift towards me and they slightly widen. "Mr. Cooper. What is the meaning of this?"

"Headmistress," Professor Lingley begins, "Mr. Cooper was talking to a serpent." Her voice is firm and cold, and she addresses the subject like it's such a terrible thing. I still have no idea what's so wrong about talking to a snake. It talked to me. That is what she should be concerning over; not the other way around. Besides, people talk to animals all the time.

Professor McGonagall's eyes widen to the size of dinner plates and she silently gasps. She shakes her head, puzzled. "No," she says softly, looking at me. "This cannot be. There is no … genetic trait in the Malfoy blood for that language."

Language? Now what the heck is she talking about? I didn't speak a different language … I spoke bloody English!

And what is she babbling about some genetic trait? God I'm so lost, I can't stand it.

"Somebody—please!" I shout, my patience breaking. "Tell me what the bloody hell is going on! What did I do that was so wrong?"

Professors Lingley and McGonagall exchange glances before turning to me. Professor McGonagall takes a deep breath.

"Aiden, my dear," she says gently, her wrinkled hands moving over each other. "The ability to talk to snakes is not a common one."

My eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean?"

"Not everyone can talk to snakes," Professor Lingley says. "In fact the only known living person who can speak the language is Harry Potter."

"To speak snake is called a Parselmouth. Parseltongue is the language," McGonagall explains. "To speak it you must be in relation to the Dark Lord."

"The Dark Lord?" I repeat, remembering the conversation this morning about some dictator who went by the odd name of Voldemort. Rowena said something about fearing he'd return, and the others thought that was ridiculous. Now I wondered if this superpower could possibly "come back" like she thought he would.

"The Dark Lord was an heir to the first Parselmouth in the world," Professor Lingley explains. "A Founder of Hogwarts—Salazar Slytherin."

My eyes widen. "Slytherin was a person?" The two professors nod.

"If you have the ability to speak to snakes, it means that you are also a descendant of Salazar Slytherin," says Lingley. "But, that's just it—another descendant of Slytherin is … well it's just impossible. The Dark Lord was the only heir, and he's gone. He had no children. Parseltongue should be an extinct language now."

"What about that Harry Potter?" I remind her. "Apparently he spoke it too."

"Harry Potter is a completely different case," McGonagall inputs. "He is of no relation to the Dark Lord or Slytherin. His ability to speak Parseltongue is merely because of exchange."

"Then maybe that's how I got my ability," I suggest. McGonagall shakes her head.

"No, no. This is exchange was far too complicated … and really shouldn't have happened at all. The thought of it is implausible. Such an exchange has not been bestowed on you. You would have remembered," she says.

"Well, what if I don't? What if I was told yet another lie by my family and that some weird bloke came strolling along and granted me the power to speak to snakes?"

"It doesn't work like that, Aiden," Lingley snaps impatiently. "Fact is, you are a descendant of Salazar Slytherin, but we are trying to figure out how the bloody hell this has happened." She places her face in her hand and sighs.

"Landon," McGonagall says gently. "Perhaps you should return to your class. They need you, after all. I will handle this situation myself."

Professor Lingley reluctantly nods. "Very well, Headmistress." She turns on her heel and walks out of the door.

"We'll figure this out, Aiden," McGonagall says comfortingly, but her words do anything but comfort me. If this Parselmouth thing really is a gene that is passed down genetically, then that only means my family has lied to me again. The gene had to come from Draco—it just had to. Mum isn't from the magic world. She would flip at the thought of speaking to a snake. It couldn't be from her. It just couldn't be.