Okay! Sorry for the wait, guys; school and tests and laziness…
Anywho, Harry Potter does not belong to me at all. -sobs-
X
Like all basilisks, Dominic was hatched beneath ka hessesha, a toad. Apparently, it doesn't matter if both parents are female, because he was mothered by both a hen and a toad. The hen died before he was hatched, from old age, Salazar told him. "Just as well," he admitted. "If not from simple old age, illness. This filthy dungeon will probably do me in as well." His toad mother, however, lived for forty years. She was quite attached to him and his human father. Except to eat, she stayed with either himself or Salazar at all times. The wizard often used her for experiments, and Dominic supposed his human used one too many experimental potions on the poor amphibian and that would explain her curious behavior.
Veeseenthea, Mother in Parseltongue, was earthy-toned in both the physical sense and the magical. She was the average size and weight of her species-he knew this because on his outings with Salazar, they would study all the wildlife his father could capture without the aid of magic. Once, he even saw a horse. He was small then, hardly taller than Salazar even when he reared, so he was more "spooked" by the mammal than it of him.
When she died, it was like a part of Dominic went with her, just as a part went with Salazar.
X
When he wakes, there is a brown she-toad sleeping on his chest.
Dominic blinks at her. She doesn't wake. He blinks again. Her magic feels familiar, but he is not completely sure why. Huffing, he goes back to sleep.
She is still there when Madam Pomfrey wakes him, only this time she is also awake. They stare at each other blankly (his magic stirs behind his eyes, but can do nothing else, which, of course, only makes it angry). He doesn't look away as Filius shuffles to his bedside.
"Good morning," the little man squeaks.
Dominic tries to repeat the greeting, but has trouble pronouncing the words. Filius patiently and thoroughly assists him until Dominic can say it and be understood (which is quite a feat). The toad croaks. He squints at her, and she looks him in the eye in what he swears is a challenging manner. Eyes widening, he hisses, "Veeseenthea?" Her eyes slant and her minuscule magic warms.
X
Weeks pass and suddenly it is time for him to be sorted, to meet the other young humans. Dominic follows Professor McGonagall to the entrance, where the other first years will be. Veeseenthea is in his grasp because he'd rather hold her than have other first years step on her. He hears the excited murmurs and whispers of the new students and does his best to ignore the nervous twisting in his gut. The stern witch leads him around a corner, and then down the stairs, where he finally sees the little humans. Nearly all chatter stops when they catch sight of Professor McGonagall. She gestures for Dominic to join the others.
Holding Veeseenthea more securely against him, he schools his features carefully, hoping none of his nerves are showing on his face. He strides confidently to the side of the group that has calmer magic. They look at him curiously, no doubt wondering why he was with the teacher, but make no move to ask.
"Good evening," Professor McGonagall greets tersely. "Follow me to be sorted, please." And, with that, she turns with a magnificent swish of her cloak and strides away, the others following nervously.
"Hello," says a boy to Dominic's right. He is paler than the ex-basilisk, but he notices that not many people have Dominic's dark skin. His eyes are an odd shade of blue, one he can't place, and his hair is shaggy and an almost-blonde. He is the same size of Dominic, too, which he can't help but find disappointing. He misses being bigger than everything.
"Hi," Dominic carefully responds, being sure to pronounce the greeting as thoroughly he can. Even so, it comes out breathy and a bit (as Professor Flitwick tells him) creepy.
"Were you on the train?" the boy asks.
The ex-basilisk shakes his head.
"Oh." For a moment, his magic shifts uncomfortably. Then it abruptly becomes excited yet again. "Well, there were these things there. I didn't see them, but I could feel them. They felt, I dunno, cold, you know?"
Honestly, Dominic is rather proud he understands half of that. English is still tricky for him to understand and this boy spoke so quickly, Dominic was unprepared. As it is, the ex-basilisk only nods and pretends he knows exactly what his new year mate said. Which he didn't.
At the top of the stairs, the human child changes the subject. "My name's Aden. Aden Jolask."
Ah, something he knows! "Dominic Evans." Very heavily accented and probably sounds more like "Omehk E'aannssss," but oh well.
"Well, Dominic, it is a pleasure to meet you."
Aden talks the entire walk to the Great Hall, but Dominic doesn't really mind. The human doesn't seem to notice that his companion never contributes to the conversation. When they got to the Great Hall, the first years ooh and aahhh at the floating candles and the enchanted ceiling. Professor Flitwick catches Dominic's eye and waves excitedly to him. The ex-basilisk returns the gesture. In front of the staff table, sitting on a wooden stool, is a hat with a peculiar tear across its front. The hat itself is not remarkable, but its magic is. Not even considering that ordinary objects do not typically have magic, this one has four different magical signatures. Those signatures feel very familiar as well. Quite like four long-dead wizards…
Dominic looks for Harry, stretching his senses for his unique two-colored magic and completely ignoring the other, very quiet source waiting patiently on the stool. But he is nowhere in the Hall.
"Dominic?" The ex-basilisk hums to show he's listening. "What house do you want to be put in?"
"Slytherin," he answers once he comprehends the question. Definitely not Gryffindor, no matter if Harry's there.
Aden blinks at him. "Hm. I'm not really partial to anything, but my brother's Ravenclaw. He's a fifth-year."
Aden wishes to be a Ravenclaw? Dominic is fairly sure he mistranslated. His mother croaks at him and he realizes he is holding her a bit too tight. He relaxes his grip, petting her apologetically. She quiets.
McGonagall explains about the Sorting Hat and calls names to be sorted.
X
"Well, well, what do we have here?"
Immediately, Dominic's magic reaches to rip apart its soul for daring to penetrate its snake. Hogwarts is expecting this, however, and she stops it before the situation gets out of hand, reprimanding Dominic for not doing the same. He gets the distinct feeling the hat is mentally raising its eyebrows.
"No need for that," it grumbles, "I'm only to determine where you'll be placed. However, to do that, I'll need a peek at your mind."
Dominic hisses irately. The hat chuckles and begins to creep into his mind, being sure to avoid most of his memories. Even so, it knows instantly what Dominic really is.
"Merlin's great hairy balls!" It exclaims. "Salazar'd sooner come back from the grave and burn my every, individual seam than see you in another's House! SLYTHERIN!" The sudden audible screech nearly made Dominic fall off the stool. Before it was pulled away, it mumbles in his head, "A shame-you'd make an excellent Ravenclaw."
Professor McGonagall points him to the table with the green banner and silver snake. He decides to sit next to another first year (he knows because he remembers his magical signature) whose magic is calm, if a bit untrained. The boy has a round face, and his skin is darker than Aden's but lighter than Dominic's. When he glances over at the ex-basilisk, Dominic notices his eyes are a very light shade of brown. It contrasts quite a bit with his tan face and dark hair, which brushes his eyebrows and flows over his ears. This strange boy reminds Dominic of Salazar, with his calm, collected magic and sly, cool eyes, even if their color is drastically different.
Deciding to try out his mediocre English, he says, "Good evening," once again pronouncing it slowly and carefully.
The dark-haired boy blinks at him, and he seems to consider Dominic's slim frame and halting, slow English. "Hello." He says, politely. "Are you foreign?"
Commence blank stare.
Hogwarts literally sighs and helps to translate. Dominic blinks in understanding. "Ah, yes." Then, the ex-basilisk places his elbow on the table (hitting it hard first; the plates and goblets clink from the force) and smartly puts his chin in the palm of his hand (Hah! He doesn't miss!). He watches the rest of the sorting and when Aden is called, he goes to the Hufflepuff table. There is no sign of Harry. Dominic hopes the boy isn't dead, because then this would be an incredibly boring year.
X
Phew! Seventh chapter done. It'll probably be a while until the next post. If anyone has any flames to spew at me, go ahead, just make sure they are also informative because I want to know what you didn't like about the story besides its general existence. And thanks to:
Katkuh
TheNarglesAreAfterMeCheerio's
ShinigamiRae
Smithback
Ae3qe27u
Thank you so much for your information, it was incredibly helpful. Or, I mean, it will be helpful once I actually start writing dialogue for Nic. xD I'll ask again, in case any newcomers didn't feel like looking at the author's note last chapter:
It would be absolutely wonderful if someone could help me with the language part of this. What do you think Dominic would have the most trouble getting the hang of? Nouns? Past, present, future tenses, et cetera? I need some help with this; I'm only one person!
Thanks,
~Phooy
