I didn't see the mamba again until after my first potions class. It was held on Friday in the morning together with the Gryffindors. Whoever had the bright idea to put those two houses together in the most practical subject with the most biased teacher had to have been high on sugar.

Like Flitwick Professor Snape too began his class with the reading of all names and stopping at Harrys and mine. We had chosen our places in the middle of the classroom. I shared a cauldron with Draco, he with Ron but only the way between the tables separated us.

After his little introduction speech he gave us his best glare. I knew what would happen next.

"Potter!", he snapped suddenly.

"Yes?", Harry and I replied synchronous. A few students chuckled.

"What would I get if I added powered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Harry looked at him blankly. As did I.

"Sir", I finally said, "are you asking my brother Harry or me?"

His sharp gaze met mine. "Do you know the answer?"

"Yes", I replied simply.

The faintest trace of a smirk tucked at the corners of his mouth.

"What about you, Potter?", this time looking directly at Harry.

"I don't know, sir", Harry said.

"Tut, tut – fame clearly isn't everything. Potter!"

Silence.

He sighed. "Potter, Charles", he clarified. "Give him the answer."
"Asphodel and wormwood are ingredients for a powerful sleeping potion known as the Draught of Living Death", I replied. Somehow you never forgot those three question when you read the books.

"Correct. Five points to Slytherin", Snape said. "Let's try again, Potter! Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

Draco snickered silently next to me.

"I don't know, sir."

"Though you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter? Now you answer the question."

Harry looked at him confused. "But if I don't know..."
"Not you! You, there!"
I pointed at myself. "Me?"

"Yes, you, Charles!"

"Oh. Well, a bezoar is a good all-around antivenom. So if you told me to find one I would have to think there's an emergency and I would probably break into the upper year's potion supply cupboard to get one as fast as possible. I mean, it's not like we always have a goat around that we can cut open and dissect to get one from its stomach."

Snape blinked at me, probably trying to decide if I was being cheeky or serious. In the end he came to the conclusion that in order for me to earn more points he had to give me the benefit of a doubt.

"Again correct. Another five points. At least one of your bred got the brains to get himself into a proper house", he sneered.

"Last chance for you, Potter. What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"
"I don't know", Harry said, now slightly angry. "But I'm sure Charles does so why don't you just ask him?"

Snape was not pleased. "Monskhood and wolfbane are the same plant, which also goes by the name of...?" He looked at me.

"Aconite."

"Correct. That are fifteen points your brother earned for his house today, Potter. I propose you start catching up to him. Although I'm not sure if that will even be possible since that dusty little place between your ears may already be too stuffed with sports and pranks and girls to make room for something intelligent. Five points from Gryffindor." He looked around. "Now? Why aren't you copying that down?"

Harry was fuming for the rest of the class while Draco was laughing his ass of. Inwardly I did the same but had the decency to not to show it to my brother.

Originally I had though that Snape would do everything to make Harrys life miserable but that he would give me bad marks and detentions as well since he never ever took points from his own house. However I seemed to have made enough of an impression on him that he had changed his tactic. Instead now he was using me to humiliate my brother. For everything I did I was praised just as high as Draco (his godson) was while Harry was used as the bad example even if people like Neville were worse at the subject. At the end of the class the Gryffindors practically fled the room but Snape called me back.

"Charles Potter", he said, "I can see that you were trying to be different from your brother. Also you have a certain talent for potions. Was this your first time brewing the boil cure?"
"Yes it was, sir."
"Very well. I would like to offer you some private lessons to improve your skills. I think that you could have potential. You mother certainly did."
That was a flat out lie of course. I was nothing but average in his class. However if he wanted to continue to use me to humiliate Harry then I had to be at least decent. He had to make sure the questions today were not just lucky guessing.

"Why me, though? Draco is just as good."
"Draco Malfoy is already receiving private lessons and has been for a little over two years now. That's why you would have a lot to catch up on in, let's say, the next three years. During holidays you are free to chose to join Malfoy in his studies. I'm sure his family would have nothing against that."

I held back a snort. Of course the Malfoys would be delighted to have at least a moderate amount of control over one of the boys who lived.

"If that is the case then that would be an opportunity I can't possibly decline", I answered smiling innocently.


After potions I went to lunch. I had a free period that I had planned spending in the library. On my way out of the Great Hall I met up with Hermione again. We had only seen each other in passing or during a few classes but now I took the time to greet her.

"Hey, Hermin! Herminny-dinni... Oh what the... That it was! Hey Harleyne, over here!"

Hermione turned towards me, clearly annoyed. "How many times do I have to tell you my name?!"
"Oh come on, it's been a week", I complained. "I still don't know all my dorm mates names either."
"You should really train your memory."
"Can you tell Crabbe and Goyle apart? I've been working hard but I think that secret will forever stay hidden from me. I swear, not even Draco knows which one is which half of the time."

The girl gave me a small smile.

"There!" I pointed at her, drawing attention from passing students towards me.

"What?", she asked worried. "Do I have something on my face?"
"Yes you do! That's the first smile I saw on your face since we left the train. It's like watching a flower bloom. I didn't think you could do that."

She blushed a little and the smile returned. "Thank you."

"I was just heading for the library for some research on our astronomy homework. Care to join me?"

"Sure", she said happily.

Hah. It seemed I could get away with ignoring her for a full week. A few nice words and she was at my feet again. Let's see how long that limit could be stretched.

"Hey Charles! Wait a second!", I heard someone call and turned around. Harry came running up the stairs with Ron in his tow.

"This... this note came this morning. I forget to tell you about it. It's from Hagrid!", he said, showing me a letter. It was an invitation for tea as well as an apology for how he treated our relatives. He wanted to make it up to us and told Harry to invite me too.

"Rubeus Hagrid", I read aloud. "You really shouldn't accept this invitation. I most certainly won't. His cookies taste like rocks. And you wanna know something else?

"Uh, what?"
"He's gonna set a dragon on you. Yeah. That's right. A dragon."

Harrys eyes got really big. "Wha – but why would he do that?"

"Well, those with giant blood have a nasty aggression problem. You wanna hear stories, just ask ginger."

"Don't call me that, you... you snake!", Ron replied angrily.

Wow. Was that supposed to be offensive? I ignored him and put forth my hand.

Harry blinked at me. "Huh?"
"What are you waiting for? Don't I get a something in return for my awesome life-saving info?", I mocked him.

"Err... What do you want?"
"Oh, I don't know, how about your history homework?"

"Harry", Ron said appalled, "you won't let yourself be blackmailed like that, will you?"

A look of determination crossed Harrys face.

"Well, guess not", I said and lowered my hand. "In Slytherin house you never get something for free. I think I just thought it would be like that with the other houses too. My mistake." I turned towards Hermione, who was scowling. "Let's go, Herman."

"Wait!", Harry called. "That... That about a dragon... What exactly did you see? And when does it happen?"

"Hm... It will try to eat you. I think it will be before Christmas, but I'm not sure. Definitely this school year, though. You should try to lean some spells against dragons. Tell you what, if you promise to make my homework for the next week and deliver them to me three days before they're due, I'll tell you which race the dragon is. That knowledge is essential if you want to have a chance to escape."

Harry looked at Ron searching for advice. Ginger shrugged. "I guess he's right. One of my brothers works with dragons and each race he tends to has unique defenses and weaknesses. But you don't really believe him, do you? There's no way a dragon could find his way on the school grounds."

"Yeah", I said sneering. "Just as it is impossible for a hell hound to enter, right? After all, this is the school the great Albus Dumbledork is headmaster of."

"Yeah, right!"

"Wrong. You should talk to your brothers some day, they will tell you the opposite." I was pretty sure that the Weasley twins had already tried and succeeded getting into the third corridor, even if they fled at the sight of Fluffy.

"Alright, I'll do your stupid homework, just tell me!", Harry said finally.

"Charles, I really do not think this is right", Hermione murmured.

"Too late." I grinned at my brother. "It's a Norwegian Ridgeback. Female."

Ron paled. "Those are nasty!"

"I read about those!" Hermione called. "They're normally less hostile then other species but the female ones are still more ferocious. They can get up to 35 feet of length and their fire is really hot to the point where it can melt stone. Not to mention their bite is-"

"Poisonous", I said with pleasure. "Yes. Really nasty. Well then, have a nice afternoon with the giant. Come on Hadria." With a last smirk I dragged Hermione with me leaving Harry alone to decide whenever or not he wanted to visit the first person to ever write him a letter and put his life on the line for it.

"I still don't believe you're a seer", Hermione said snobbish when we reached the library. "But I'm not sure if you don't believe it yourself. So why didn't you try harder to convince him to stay away from that half giant if you believe he could be in real danger?"

"Because the dragon I was talking about is not being born yet. Hagrid will try to hatch a dragons egg and if they befriend him he will drag them into that mess. That will get them into a lot of trouble but it's not life threatening. He could only learn a lesson out of it."

"Trying to hatch a dragon! That's illegal. We should report it to the headmaster."
"You can't report something that hasn't happened yet", I answered. "And as I said, I'm not sure exactly when it will happen."

"But then how do you know? You must have heard him talking about it or something."

I sighed. "Can't you just believe that I'm a seer?"
"No", she huffed. "That's nonsense. I've researched seers, you know. There are two kinds. The first one only have a couple of visions in their life but those are usually about great stuff. But when they tell a so called prophecy they can't remember it later on. The second are seers who make lots of small predictions like when something is going to break or the weather changes. They can't see very far into the future and they only see small things. What you described does fit neither. You claim to see things that are far into the future but you can also guess little things like that boy on the train losing his toad."

I let out another long sigh. "Alright, you got me... I'm not a seer. But I can't tell you the truth. It's a really big secret and if people found out it would be bad for me."

Her gaze softened a bit. "I won't tell anyone", she promised.

"Really? 'Cause I know you have a rather nasty authority complex, Hilary."

"It's Hermione! And I don't have an authority complex."
"Yes you do. You would want to report me to a teacher."
Hermione went unusually silent at that. Finally she said.

"You... You know, Charles... Hogwarts isn't what I imagined it to be. I always felt different then other children. When I learned about having magic I though that was because but... But it was really me just being more intelligent then others. At first I though the Ravenclaws would be just like me but they aren't. All they talk about is homework and classes. That was okay at first but all they want is good marks and they're not really interested in researching anything else. There's only so much you can talk about classes. I like studying but I also like seeing my knowledge being of use. You're the only person I've met so far that I could hold a conversation with without feeling like I'm forced into a set way. Does that... Does that make any sense? I mean, students from the other houses usually see me as nothing but a know-it-all. Even if I just want to help them they won't listen. That's why... That's why I'd like to be your friend. I'd like you to trust me so I won't ever tell on you. I promise!"

Whoa. When the hell did she grow up like that?

"Well... if it's that important to you, I guess I can tell you", I said quietly. "But you do realize if we're friends that I will shamelessly take advantage of you and your knowledge to the point where I just lay around being my usual lazy bastard self while you do all the work for me?"

She smiled weakly. "Well, it's better to be used then being useless. I won't ever do your homework, though. I can help you with it but you have to lean by yourself."

"Deal. I want to become skillful out of my own doing, after all."
"So... So then what's the secret? How do you know about Hagrids dragon if it's not even born yet?"
"Well", I said, "That's a rather long story. Let's see... What do you know about time travel?"

Her eyes got wide. "Time travel? Are you telling me you're from the future?"

I shook my head. "No, it's not that easy. What do you know about it?"
"Well", she said, "I'm relived. Because I wouldn't have believed you if you said you were. I don't know much but common sense tells us that it is impossible to use time travel in order to change the past. Because if you traveled to change the past and you succeed then your future self wouldn't have a reason to travel back. That's a paradox."

"Exactly. Of course people have tried it anyway..."
"Does that mean time travel is really possible?"

"It ministry is strictly controlling them of course. They have a monopole of all the time turners. Anyway, people have tried before to go back further then a couple of hours and change things but they all failed. Do you know what happened to them?"
"No..."

"They never showed up again. Everything was the way they left it but they just vanished."
"But you know what happened to them."
"I know, yes. Whenever someone travels far enough back in time to change something that would result in them not having a reason to go back, an alternate universe is created. In that universe the traveler would basically exist twice. He would change what he came to change and when he's going back into the future he's traveling into the new worlds future while his old one goes on without the change and of course without him. An example. If I were to travel back to the night my parents died and I somehow succeeded in saving them then when I came back to 'my' time there would be another Charles present. One who grew up with his loving parents. I wouldn't just replace him or something, there would be two of us. That way I would still be unable to claim my family. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I think so", she said. "It makes sense. But how do you know it for sure?"

"Well, I told you that people tried to travel before. Even considering time travel is a relatively new invention, just imagine that in every newly created universe one or two other people travel, creating four more and so on... There are an awful lot of universes out there." Now I was really getting into it. I always had a certain fancifulness but what I now made up could very well be my masterpiece.

"Now the thing is", I continued, "that time is supposed to be linear. Whenever magic has a conscience or not is a question of religion but you can safely assume that magic does it's best to always bring everything back into it's natural order. It would try to stabilize that sudden explosion of universes that came to be with the invention of time turners. Now Helen, tell me what do you know about the Ouroboros?"

"The Ouroboros? Well, it's a symbol I think... The snakes that bites its own tail. It means a lot of things, rebirth, return, eternity and nature itself, the circle of life. What does it have to do with it?"
"The Ouroboros is more then just a symbol", I told her seriously. "It actually exists. The Ouroboros winds itself through all the existing universes. It's the one might that connects them all and holds them together. Without it the universes would all fall into each other. Best case they would mix together. Then every person who is not exactly as in all the other universes would come to be a separate person. The world population would skyrocket and we'd all die from lack of resources such as food. Or air. Worst case the universes would explode on each other killing not only the human race but every other as well."

"Alright... But what does the Ouroboros have to do with everything?"

"The Ouroboros is like a giant spirit. I suppose you could even call it a god. However it does have a physical appearance too. Only the greatest magical entities are able to connect with the spirit of the Ouroboros and to host it's energy. The Ouroboros is using those hosts as anchors. You can imagine each of them being one fang that holds onto the world. Of course those hosts are always some kind of magical snake. Now it just so happens that there is a magical snake that's hidden deep under the foundations of Hogwarts. It had build it's nest there because Hogwarts was being build on top of a place where several highly magical ley lines connected." Now that was risky. I didn't even know if ley lines existed in the potteruniverse. But Hermione seemed to buy it.

"The day the Ouroboros had taken possession of that snake it sent it to sleep right here at this magical place because here the anchor can draw the most energy to feed the spirit. It doesn't have to do anything, just exist. It must be a really long living snake too. If the spirit is forced to change hosts because it dies there can sometimes be complications, causing one or two universe to explode..."

"Alright...", she said warily. "I still don't get where you're going."
"Well you see, just because it hosts the spirit of the Ouroboros doesn't mean the thing itself doesn't have a conscience. You have to realize that the host gets all kind of pictures from the other universes it is connected to. That way it slowly develops an intellect that is similar to a humans. The host forms a character, even a personality of it's own. Being imprisoned down there, unable to move, hunting only rats and stuff occasionally, well that can get boring. However the host has one very special means of communicating."
"Which one?", Hermione wanted to know, now totally drawn into the story.

"Since it is a being strongly influenced by time itself... it can connect to the Prophesied Ones. Prophecies are very important, you know. Imagine the universe as a long rope as time goes by. Then they are like little strings of energy that connect the point of time when they were made with the one they're about. That way the rope is being pulled together making it more condensed and easier for the Ouroboros to grab." Even I didn't know what kind of shit I was talking about anymore... It sounded like the molecular structure of DNA... Hermione too began to look doubtful. Time to get to an end. "Prophesied Ones are people prophecies are made about. Eleven years ago there was a prophecy made about my brother, me and You-know-who Moldyshorts. I won't tell you what it said since I don't know the exact wording myself. Moldyshorts heard part of it and decided to hunt down my family. You know the rest."
"So that is the reason he was after you!", Hermione exclaimed. "That must be a great burden. You're a very brave person that you can cope so well with it."
"Thank you, Hemilia. That means a lot."

"It's Hermione", she said unconcerned. "But that's alright. Now I understand why you always act so careless. If You-know-who really targeted you specifically then..."

"Then one day when he comes back I'm as good as dead. That's right. That's why I want to live my life as happy as possible as long as it lasts."
"Oh Charles!", she exclaimed and threw herself into my arms. I caught her on reflex, making a show out of patting her back and acting all depressed.

"There, there. It's alright." I got her totally in the bag.

At first I was surprised that she actually believed that crap. But come to think of it, out of all my cover stories so far it might be the one most far fetched. However it was also the one that held the most truth in regards of secrets. Learning about the basilisk in second year and even the prophecy in fifth would ease any doubts she would inevitable come up with when getting older. Geez, I was such a genius.

"So this... This Ouroboros thing has been in contact with you?"
"That's right. You'd think it to be a huge coincidence but the three of us are really the only persons currently anywhere near Hogwarts that a prophecy was made about. Moldyshorts isn't exactly great company as you can imagine. The Ouroboros, or better its host contacted me first when I was six years old through some kind of telepathy link. It tried to contact Harry too, but you see, we were raised by magic hated muggles. Harry always wanted to gain their love but they hated us for being 'freaks'. That's why he did everything to please them and deny everything obviously magical around him. Especially the voice talking to him. Eventually the Ouroboros stopped trying but it kept talking to me. I didn't know what it was talking about most of the time but it was content watching through my eyes or listen to my thoughts anyway. It has been showing me pictures and visions too. Since the Ouroboros itself is timeless it could tell me things that had happened in my world. They were like bedtime stories for me. It also showed me things of the future. That's how I know so much. It's not actually this worlds future but what already happened in another universe."
"I see", Hermoine said. "For example when there's a wizard in, lets say China who travels back in time in order to prevent a death in his country then things would still go exactly the way they would normally here in England. So that's a future the Ouroboros could show you, one that is sure to happen."

"Exactly. It can't predict what will happen once I change something to prevent that future because strictly speaking I haven't been time traveling so I don't create another universe. It has no idea how my future will go in that case since this is the only universe in which it told me about it."

"So basically you just have a huge head start of knowledge on what could happen."

"Yes but that's not always a good thing. For example if I knew there lived a great beast in the Forbidden Forest that would eat a student in two years. I could alert the teachers who would call the ministry who would sent some officials to hunt it down. The beast would then maybe kill four or five of them. The student I originally wanted to safe would be alive but at what cost? Furthermore that students could again change things in a way that would make me unable to predict other dangers. It would be far better to keep silent and only prevent that students from entering the forest shortly before he's about to do so."

"So today what you told your brother..."
"I really got informed about Hagrid having a dragon. However I still scared Harry and made him learn how to defend himself against dragons because odds are he will have to fight the real thing in a few years. I couldn't tell him that because if he trains really hard and he's known as some kind of dragon professional that could change things so he never has to fight a dragon but another dangerous beast. But if in a few years he get's to know what he will be up against he will thank me for getting a head start, even if it was only a small one because of some stupid prank his brother pulled on him in his first year."

She smiled at me softly. "You really do care about your brother, don't you?"
I shrugged. "In my own way, yeah." Not at all. But I'd like to see his face when he found out Norbert was a two inches long baby dragon.

"You know, I don't care what people say about your house. You're a really nice person and I'm glad I met you on the train to get to know you."

"I'm glad I got to know you too, Helena."
"It's Hermione..."