When I was called a mad scientist for that last cliffhanger I decided it was time I updated…thank you, she-who-waits-in-darkness, for brightening my day! :p
Sorry for the wait, but I have this longer than usual chapter to make up for it! XD
…
"Mr. Black – " Hermione started after removing the silencing ward, but Sirius only had eyes for his godson and didn't seem to notice that she was there.
"Harry," he said again, still stunned as he took a step forward. "Er – Silas. You – you're an Animagus! A snake!"
"Mr. Black," Hermione said again, stepping in front of Silas as her friend took another step back. "Will you please calm down before you come any closer."
Sirius' gaze wandered to hers, and he looked startled, as though he'd forgotten she was there. "What?"
"Step back," she said in a tone that brooked no argument. "You're scaring him."
Sirius looked at Harry and saw that the girl was right. He was practically cowering behind Hermione, staring at him with large fearful eyes while he held Sadi protectively close to his chest. Sirius hadn't even noticed him pick her up. He obediently took a step back, but now he was stunned and hurt, if not a little confused.
"Silas, I'm not going to hurt you," Sirius tried assuring him. Silas peered at him carefully before speaking.
"Y-you – ww-on-t?" He asked, stuttering more to do with fear than trying to remember how to say the English words.
"Of course not!" Sirius exclaimed. "In fact, I think it's amazing that you're an Animagus – and this explains so much now, too! That must've been how you lived with the other snakes then, wasn't it? Bloody amazing, is what it is!"
Silas might have doubted him if not for the honest, open grin adorning the older man's face. He straightened a little, still cautious but not fearful any longer.
"Ha – Silas – your dad was an Animagus too, and so am I; really it should've been inevitable you'd follow in our footsteps! I'm proud, is what I am!"
Sirius seemed like he was about to say more, but Silas cut him off. "Sssnakess – don' – haff – ffoot-sstepss," he corrected, uncertain. "Nno – ffeeet."
Sirius waved a hand. "Of course, Silas, it was metaphorical – a human expression. Bloody hell, you must've changed really young, didn't you? That's why no one could find you after that night – you just walked off yourself." He muttered the last bit to himself, but Silas still heard perfectly clearly, despite inferior human ears.
"Mr. Black," Hermione interrupted his shocked rambling. "My parents don't know about it and Silas would like to keep it a secret from as many people as possible, and if we don't go down to lunch they'll know something is up. So if we could keep quiet about it around them and go down to eat now, that would really be best."
"Right – yes, of course," Sirius straightened abruptly, snapping out of his shock, though he still gazed at Silas in unmistakable pride. "Let's get down, then!" And he trotted merrily from the room, expecting the two (and a half, counting Sadi) to follow him down the stairs.
"Silas," Hermione stopped him before he could leave. "You're alright, aren't you? Because you know Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin love you more than anything, and they're not going to hurt you, right?"
Silas looked at her with a somewhat resigned, though still vulnerable expression in his eyes. "I – am – o-kay," he assured her. "I – ddid – nnot – ecksss-bpect – hhim – to – ffin-d – outt – yyet."
Hermione nodded guiltily. "I'm sorry, Silas – he only found out because I told you to try out the rock and didn't even bother closing the door. I didn't expect us to be fetched for lunch so soon, so I thought it would be alright and didn't even think."
She might have gone on, but Silas reached up and put the tips of his fingers over her mouth to silence her. "Nnot – your – fffaault," he said firmly, or as firmly as he could with his halting words. "I – shhan-ge – to – ssnake. Mmy – fffaault."
"Alright, Silas," Hermione relented, though it was clear she didn't agree with him. "Let's go see about that lunch."
...
Silas had a marvelous time all afternoon and evening with Zuri. While she did most of the talking, he was glad to finally be able to contribute – he hadn't been able to send her his own of the 'Howlers' because he didn't know the charms to make it so only Zuri could hear, and didn't want to risk so many people hearing him at this Hogwarts – or worse, embarrassing his friend. She had said Howlers at breakfast were embarrassing to other students after all, and he didn't want to put her through that.
He didn't think that Sirius had told Salim anything about his snake form, but he could tell that Salim knew that something was being hidden from him. He had already planned that Salim would know after Sirius had found out anyway though, so he wasn't too worried. He was certainly grateful that Sirius had proclaimed his pride in him – though what he had to be proud about, he didn't know. The snake was just who he was, anyway. It wasn't really anything particularly spectacular that he'd done.
Luckily the Grangers didn't suspect anything out of the ordinary, having nothing to base their normal behavior on, and they had a marvelous time in the several hours of their visit. Silas even learned how to play a couple of Muggle card games that they had brought over, and after a couple of hours of fun he could even ignore Salim's inquisitive looks with little to no problem.
Finally however, after the Grangers had left much later than expected, having stayed for dinner and chatting afterwards as well, Salim could finally question what Silas and Sirius knew that he was unaware of.
"Alright, out with it," Remus told Sirius bluntly. "You've never been good at keeping secrets from me and you've been acting oddly since lunchtime. Silas, too. So spill it."
"We were going to tell you," Sirius protested his innocence while Silas quietly pondered what 'spill it' was supposed to mean if not in the literal sense. "But Silas didn't want the Grangers to know, and, well...it may take a while to get all of our questions answered. I don't know all of it either, but..." He turned to look at Silas. "Why don't you just show him?"
Silas gazed at him nervously, and then set Sadi down on top of the couch next to him. Then with no fanfare, his form blurred and shrank and in a second a snake sat coiled where a boy once stood.
Remus choked in shock and gazed at the snake before him. Mind racing with possibilities, he sank to his knees and reached out a hand to touch him. Silas shrank back and issued a warning in the form of a slight hiss.
"Amazing," Remus breathed after pulling his hand back. "To be an Animagus so young...it must have been accidental, since I doubt the snakes – of course! That's how you could live with them so long – you were a snake!"
"I only found out accidentally," Sirius explained. "Hermione brought him a rock that would heat him in his snake form, so she's clearly known for a while. So, I was telling him how proud I am that he's managed such an amazing feat of magic." He gave Remus a look filled with meaning at the last sentence, and Remus understood perfectly.
"Yes, it is amazing," he affirmed, looking at Silas and not revealing at all that a silent conversation had just taken place between him and his best mate. "Let me just say, Silas, that I am indeed also very proud that you have managed this transformation – and so fluently as well! I predict that you will be simply amazing in Transfiguration when you go to school."
Silas transformed back, and both men noted that he looked significantly calmer than he had all day – all week, even. They realized that he must have been trying to keep this ability a secret since he had arrived, probably out of fear. Both were grateful that his fears had been at least somewhat alleviated.
Letting Sadi slither her way back up around his neck, Silas gazed a bit warily back at the other two men. He was certainly relieved that they had taken the news rather well, but he wasn't going to be foolish enough to let his guard down so soon. While it was unlikely of them, he knew that humans could lull a snake into a false sense of security to better and more easily catch them later. He remembered the horror stories that Sueva had told him when he was little more than a hatchling.
"I wonder if this ability has anything to do with your magical depletion," Remus wondered aloud.
"What do you mean, Moony?" Sirius questioned with a lost expression.
"I'm not sure, to be honest. It's just that if you've been living as a snake your whole life, perhaps your magic is simply unused to changing to a human, and is trying to adjust." Remus addressed his theory to Silas.
"That doesn't make sense though," Sirius argued. "If anything his magic would struggle to keep him in snake form without dropping, because his magic had already grown to accommodate a human child when he would have changed."
Remus thought a moment more before shrugging and looking at Silas. "Well, it was a thought, anyway. But we also thought that perhaps because you weren't used to using magic that it was harder for you to channel your magic through Sirius' wand, so it put more strain on it and tired you out much faster than others' might in the same situation. So this week, after the other Hogwarts students have gone back to school, we'll take you to Ollivander's in Diagon Alley to get you your own wand. Hopefully that will help with your magical exhaustion."
Silas nodded, slightly stunned. Even after finding out he was a snake, the two still planned to help him with his magic, and with what seemed to be genuine worry and care over his wellbeing. If that didn't show that they wouldn't hurt him for his snake abilities, he didn't know what would.
...
"Now, there will be many people there – much more than you're used to," Remus instructed, fastening Harry's cloak at the neck as the boy had yet to learn how to tie a bow. "So if you feel overwhelmed, we'll have to figure out another time when we can go – perhaps when it's less crowded. I don't know of another time that would be less crowded than now, but we'll see."
"Moony, you must've told him a gazillion times by now – I think he understands." Sirius said from where he leaned against the fireplace, waiting for them to be done so that they could all Floo to the Leaky Cauldron.
"Besides," he continued, pushing himself up to stand upright and grab the pot of Floo powder from where it sat on the mantle, "I'm sure Silas will be perfectly fine in the Alley – he's a tough lad." He winked playfully at Silas, and Silas found some of his nervousness decreasing.
Remus saw how Harry loosened just slightly at Sirius' words and held back his retort. Clearly Sirius' joviality set the eleven-year-old at ease much better than Remus' own reassurances that he could come back if it became too much. He supposed he was being a bit overbearing – and by his words he implied that Harry had something to be concerned about. Still, he himself was nervous that Harry might not be able to handle it all – he had never been around so many people at once in all his memories.
Luckily he had Sadi with him to put him more at ease, though Sirius had suggested that she go about his arm this time so that people wouldn't see it around his neck and either, a.) immediately assume that he was a Parselmouth and therefore a Dark wizard, or b.) see it and because of its oddity look to his face and realize that it was Harry Potter, and immediately make suspicious assumptions, or c.) see it around his neck and think she was hurting the boy and do something brave (read: stupid). They were trying to keep as low-profile as possible, and a snake around his neck would just open a can of worms they weren't ready to deal with.
Silas had luckily understood the need for secrecy, though he didn't know why they would think him bad just because he could speak Parseltongue. He had grown up with stories about people thinking snakes bad – but thinking that talking to snakes was a sign of being evil? That was new and completely foreign.
"Alright, you remember how to Floo?" Remus said to Harry. "Just like we practiced from the living room to Sirius' room, alright?" Harry nodded, noticeably impatient.
"Alright, alright," Sirius said. "I'll go first, so I can catch you on the other side. The Floo tends to pick out who's new to it, and as we've witnessed, it just loves tossing you like a potato sack out of the fireplace." He winked teasingly and grabbed a handful of powder, stepping into the fireplace.
"The Leaky Cauldron!" He said loudly and clearly, and in a puff of green smoke, he was gone.
"Remember to say it clearly," Remus reminded him as the boy took a handful of the powder for himself. "Just like we practiced."
Silas nodded and paused, focusing for a moment and scrunching his eyebrows in thought. He mouthed the words a couple of times to himself to be sure he got it right, and then stepped into the fireplace.
"The – Leaky – Caul-dron," he announced with only a slight stutter, and in a moment he was gone as well.
When Remus stepped out the other end of the fireplace, he was pleasantly surprised to see that Harry had made it through with no difficulties, though he did have a spot of soot on his nose. He supposed that Sirius must have cast a scourgify on his clothes, as there were no other specks of black to be seen.
They avoided the curious though small crowd at the Leaky Cauldron with no difficulties, luckily no one caring to recognize the trio as they made their way through to Diagon Alley.
When the brick gateway opened up, the two older men had to chuckle at the amazed though slightly apprehensive look that appeared on Harry's face when he gazed upon the colorful and spacious shopping center. Remus produced a camera he'd brought for the occasion and snapped a picture of Harry with Sirius standing beside him. Harry didn't even notice as he gazed out, and Remus was gratified to see that there were indeed fewer shoppers than normal, while Sirius chuckled again and prodded Harry gently to get him moving.
"Come on, pup," Sirius said quietly. "Ollivander's is near the end – let's go."
Silas followed along willingly, though as they walked he swerved his head back and forth to try and take in as much of it as possible. He had never seen anything so huge, and the humans were – well, some were a bit nerve-wracking, but he figured Sirius and Salim would get rid of any of them that looked like they might hurt him before they could, so he wasn't as concerned as he might have been.
And the things the humans had...they were simply amazing. He wasn't even sure what half of it did – though when he passed a place that Remus identified as the apothecary when he saw his wrinkled nose, he wondered if the things in there went into potions. A couple of things he could pick out with his nose that he recognized, but most of the smells were unfamiliar to him.
They passed another place that was identified as a book shop – Silas recognized the letters on the books in the front window, though some of the words were completely unfamiliar. Parts of the words made sense, but he still needed to work on sounding out the longer words. He wondered how many of the books in there Zuri owned or had read.
He was fascinated by the colors in the ice cream shop, having never seen such a vibrant range in his time in the forest. The smells were off-putting, though – he could practically taste the sweetness of the ice cream just on the sidewalk outside. So, while it was fun to look at, he had no intention or desire of stepping inside.
Finally they arrived at Ollivander's, and Silas was surprised when the door closed behind him and the sound outside in the Alley seemed to mute instantly.
The shop had the smell of dust and wood, and as Silas gazed upon the rows extending far beyond what seemed possible from the outside, he mused that there must be magic involved to make it bigger on the inside. There appeared to be no "Ollivander" in sight, though he could faintly hear rustling a couple of shelves over.
Before he could think to say anything, an old man with wispy white hair that flew out from the sides of his head appeared from behind one of the shelves.
"Well, well," he said in a reedy voice, while the three stepped up to the counter, "It's not usual for me to get someone coming in for their first wand in January. But then"—he suddenly leaned closer to Silas, and the boy leaned back a bit uneasily—"You are unusual, Harry Potter."
The use of the human name caused Silas' indignant anger to rear its head and suddenly he was no longer creeped out by the old man.
"My name – is Silas," he said with surprising clarity, though with that same hissing undertone that Remus had previously compared to an accent.
"Of course, of course," the man said unperturbedly, leaning back and looking up at the two men who looked very protective of their young charge. "Ah, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Wands still working well for you both, I hope?"
"Yes," Sirius answered for the both of them. "But we're here to see about Silas getting a new wand – he's been using mine, but we believe it is causing his magic to be pushed to exhaustion – therefore the need for one that works according to his own magic."
Ollivander's nearly colorless eyes snapped to Sirius as he narrowed his gaze. "I have never heard of that being the fault of a wand being unsuited to its user, Mr. Black. Are you quite certain your wand is the cause?"
"Well, you yourself said that Silas was unusual," Remus said neutrally, though there was a note of steel in his eyes. He didn't really answer the question, which Ollivander had the sense not to comment on. "Now, can we see about matching him to a wand?"
"Of course, of course," Ollivander mumbled a bit to himself and stepped back, and suddenly a tape measure appeared from nowhere and began taking Silas' measurements. "Let's see...dragon heartstring and hawthorne?" He had moved to his shelves of wand boxes and now pulled one down from a shelf at eye level.
"Now – which is your wand arm?" Ollivander asked the boy while snapping his fingers to get the tape measure to stop from where it had been measuring the distance between his nostrils.
"Sometimes he's right-handed," Sirius put in. "But sometimes also left-handed." He didn't bother explaining that Harry simply hadn't decided which hand he preferred to write with yet, and seemed to fare equally well with both hands. But then he still had the handwriting of a five-year-old, so scribbles couldn't be too different from one hand to another.
"Ambidextrous, hm?" Ollivander seemed to quiver with excitement at the very notion. "I've noticed that most ambidextrous witches and wizards who come in seem to fare better with two wands – works differently than with the one, though it is much more difficult to place a wand, as they have to be compatible not only with the witch or wizard but also with the other wand. Are you interested in buying two today?"
Remus and Sirius exchanged looks, and Sirius answered, "We'll see how this goes."
Silas obligingly went through the motions of waving several wands, which Ollivander snatched up and replaced so many times there was a pile growing on the counter. But rather than get impatient, it only seemed to make the odd old man quiver all the more in ecstasy.
When Ollivander muttered something to himself and pulled down another wand, Silas' eyes were immediately drawn to it. He felt a pull to the wand in a way none of the others had done. He reached out much more willingly to take the wand the man proffered, who now didn't bother to name the wand's qualities as there were so many on the counter.
As soon as his fingers wrapped around the wand made of beautiful black wood, he felt a warmth tingle over him in a way that made him vaguely wonder if someone had opened a shade to let the sun in. It felt the same as the warmth he would feel on a warm summer's day sprawled out on a large rock.
He brought the wand swishing down, and golden sparks shot out from the end. He couldn't help the smile that came over his face as a slight breeze moved the hair off his forehead.
"This – one," he proclaimed after the amazing feeling had faded, and he realized that Sirius and Salim were clapping ecstatically for him.
"Well, it seems that Mr. Potter here has a wand particularly suited to Parselmagic," Ollivander proclaimed. "They used to be much more common previous to the eighteenth century, as most require a basilisk heartstring for its core – very hard to find, that. A basilisk hasn't been sighted in Europe for over two hundred years, and I personally have never made such a wand. That one has been sitting in the back for a good two hundred and fifty years – I believe my grandfather made it just before he passed on. It appears that wand was waiting just for you." He gave Silas a knowing look. "This particular one is made of African Blackwood, and the core is, of course, a basilisk heartstring. You will do great Parselmagic with this."
"Don't you dare tell anyone," Sirius practically growled. "If it gets out..."
"I would never!" Ollivander looked offended at the very implication. "Customer confidentiality and all," he winked at Silas. "Now, from what I understand, wands for Parselmagic do very well in that area, but are rather a struggle in others where the spells are in Latin, so I do believe that that, compounded with having ambidextrous abilities, should be a reason to acquire a second wand."
"Alright," Sirius acquiesced, waving him to go find another wand.
Finally they found a match with a wand made of holly and Phoenix feather, though it didn't have nearly the same amazing effect on Silas' magic as the one with basilisk heartstring did. Ollivander explained that it was the brother of the wand that had killed his human parents, but Silas wasn't nearly as interested in that fact as Sirius and Salim were, if their white faces were anything to go by. Wondering what a basilisk was, he figured he'd find out in books at home after leaving Diagon Alley.
After leaving the shop, they crossed the street to make their way to the bookstore on the other side. Remus had commented that Silas could pick out some books that he wanted to read at home – something that he might enjoy more than the ones he had picked out weeks ago in preparation for his teaching – and Silas, feeling comfortable enough in the shopping center, decided he wasn't too opposed to the idea.
But before they had walked twenty feet down the sidewalk, Silas' ears picked up familiar hissing sounds, and his nose smelled predator and prey alike.
He tensed and slowed his walking, not knowing where the smells and sounds were coming from immediately, but then he saw a shop a few feet ahead that he hadn't sensed when first walking to the wand shop because he had been on the other side of the street. Stupid, weak human senses.
The shop had letters on the window – he could see "W-I-Z-A-R-D-I-N-G P-E-T-S: O-W-L-S, T-O-A-D-S, F-E-L-I-N-E-S, A-N-D M-O-R-E" in block writing; all he recognized were "pets", "owls", "and", and "more". But now he knew what it was that was assaulting his senses.
But there was something wrong. He heard…snakes. And there was the faint scent of them too, right into the store. But that didn't seem right. Snakes couldn't be pets, after all, so why would they be in a pet store?
Sirius and Salim had stopped when Silas did, and now looked between him and the pet shop.
"Do you want to go inside?" Salim asked, waving his hand to the open doorway. "There are owls right inside the door that are used for mail."
Silas appreciated his discretion when he casually warned him about the owls – now that Salim knew that Silas had grown up as a snake, he rightfully assumed that he would be naturally wary of them and wanted to prepare him for what lay inside. It hardly mattered that Silas already knew, could already sense them – Salim didn't know that.
He nodded anyway, and was reminded to use words, so he said "Yes" a bit impatiently and went inside, not bothering to wait for the other two.
As soon as he walked through the door, Sadi tightened around his wrist, and Silas himself had to take a calming breath when more than a dozen owls turned their heads in their cages to look at him piercingly. Several went back to hooting to their companions, but still more continued to stare at him, as though they knew he was prey.
They don't know – they can't, he reminded himself, hurrying past their cages. They're just a bunch of stupid owls. And they're in cages. They can't hurt Sadi or me.
After passing the most immediate threat, he came upon still more snake predators – fluffy kneazles in a large group cage; several of what appeared to be normal dogs, barring the fact that they had forked tails; a giant, vulture-like bird hiding in a tear-shaped nest against the wall (it let out a throbbing cry when he passed and he jumped, causing a salesgirl to laugh and tell him it's just because it's going to rain soon); and then a long row of brightly colored birds letting out pleasant tunes, only for another salesgirl to silence them all immediately with a wave of her wand.
There were also some harmless – or at least harmless-looking – creatures scattered in pens and cages throughout the store. He encountered several of what appeared to be something like miniature anteaters particularly fascinated with the shiny coins on the floor of their area – the sign said it was a niffler, and while he didn't recognize the word, it was simple enough to sound out. He saw what looked like large tortoises with jeweled shells, as well as two giant snails, one of which changed from a deep blue to a flowery purple as he passed. Beyond those was a very large pen, which was full of what looked like fluffy pink and purple balls. A few young children were gathered around it, pointing to them and exclaiming to their parents their desire to have one. He supposed they must be very popular. He even saw several mice and rats that he decided could be tasty meals.
He wasn't sure where Salim and Sirius had gotten to, but at the moment he didn't particularly care. He was simply following his senses, which led him to the very back of the store, in a corner that seemed completely separate from the rest.
In the corner, where the sound of the rest of the store seemed to diminish greatly, it was much warmer, and Silas soon realized why, to his great horror.
In front of him were glass tanks of various sizes stacked on top of each other, and a larger tank beside all of them – and inside each of the tanks were snakes.
They were all different kinds of snakes, some he'd never seen before, but several species he recognized. The largest tank had several common adders inside – perhaps twelve or thirteen of them, all different colors and patterns. In the next largest tank were perhaps eight rattlesnakes with curious patterns on their backs. In another tank there were five pythons; two yellow, two red-orange, and one white with pinkish markings. Another tank had three brown cobras, and another one held a single grey serpent that had just laid eggs that immediately caught fire (though it seemed the tank was fire-proofed, as the fire burned out in moments, but this time a different snake had replaced the other one, which had disappeared for some reason). Two other tanks had an orange and black-striped serpent in each that had three heads that were bickering with each other – the heads between themselves, not the two snakes.
And – oh – there was another tank with a familiar-looking brown snake with black eyes that sat curled around her clutch of eggs, and another with green scales and black eyes that looked so eerily similar to him it could've been his twin. They were boomslangs.
:What – what are you all doing here?: he choked out over all of the snakes' idle chattering amongst themselves. Sadi peered out from his sleeve at the sound of the various Parseltongue around them, and let out a hiss of shock when she discovered the same atrocities that he had.
:A Speaker!: one of the cobras hissed in delight, and as one, all of the snakes moved to be closer to the glass separating him from them.
:Hello, Speaker!: Various voices chimed. :Welcome, Speaker!:
:Why are you all in those…those enclosures?: Silas demanded in a horrified hiss. :Why are you being treated like…like pets?!:
:Because the humans have taken us to be sold as such,: One of the three-headed snakes said, in a way that made it clear she wanted to be the one to talk to him, though still disgusted with the humans. :We have tried to escape before, but our enclosures are firm.:
:Although some of us don't seem to care that we've been confined to slavery here,: the head on the right spat bitterly, glaring over to the largest tank. :They have only ever known life inside of their tanks, because their parents bred like rabbits in the tank and were born there.:
:It's not that bad!: One of the adders insisted, a brown one with black and white spots. :We're given food and warmth and we have enough room and lots of humans stay away from us!:
:I think they're scared of serpents,: A rust-colored adder chimed in.
:But they try to force us to mate!: The female yellow python spat, glaring at the other yellow python. He glared back while she continued. :As though they could ever force me to mate with this worm!:
:Right back at you, Cilla,: the male retorted scathingly.
Cilla ignored him. :Sometimes I wish I was like Sapra over there,: she hissed, nodding to the lone grey serpent surrounded by ashes. :Then I could be left all to myself and not be left with this moron.: She slapped the end of her tail against the male yellow python. He slapped her right back, more aggressively.
:I wish you were like Sapra, too, because then you would explode to ashes every hour and one of your eggs would replace you instead,: he ridiculed.
:You idiot – how could I disappear every hour; I would only disappear once,: she scorned.
:I can make you disappear once right now and be done with you!: he threatened.
As the two pythons continued to bicker, the first cobra told Silas, :Don't mind them – we all know they'll mate eventually. This is just tension of the sexual variety.:
Silas nodded vaguely, already having figured that out before the conversation had been halfway through. :Why do they keep you here?: he said in a sad, upset voice. :Don't the humans know that serpents thrive in the forest, and not in a glass cage?:
The cobra observed him for a long moment. :You seem to know much about serpents,: he said. :How? The boomslang on your hand can't have told you much – she is too young to have lived in the forest and with you long enough.:
:Excuse me!: Sadi said in an offended voice, speaking for the first time since Ollivander's. :I have lived three seasons, I'll have you know! I am not a mere hatchling!:
:I thought I was a snake most of my life,: Silas explained before either of the two serpents could say anything more. :I only recently discovered I am a human, and…: he swallowed and blinked away the frustrated tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. :It's a long story. Sadi is my sister; I've raised her for three seasons but now we live with humans.:
:It sounds difficult,: the white python said sympathetically, and he realized that she was coiled around eggs of her own, a safe distance away from the squabbling yellow cobras. :But at least you are not kept in a glass cage the entire time.:
Sometimes I feel like I am, he thought vaguely, but then said, :Do you know how to get out from the cages? How they open?:
:There's a latch at the top of all of them,: Another cobra chimed in. This one couldn't have been more than two seasons old. :But even if we could undo it, the wizards put charms on the tanks to keep us in. We can't even reach to get to the latch.:
Silas stepped forward and peered at the latch. It appeared very simple – a simple squeezing two metal pieces between his thumb and forefinger, and it could be undone.
He reached out to the latch, and immediately pulled his hand away when something that looked like lightning struck his fingers. It hurt, but it wasn't too bad. But it prevented him from opening the cages all the same.
:Do you know how I would be able to get you all out without the latch stinging me?: he hissed hopefully.
All of the snakes, including the bickering pythons, silenced and stared at him disbelievingly.
:You…wish to free us?: The male red python hissed after a moment in the silence.
Silas nodded firmly. :Serpents belong in the forest!: he said insistently. :Not trapped by the humans! If I can open the enclosures, you could all go out the door and find your homes!:
:Will you get in trouble with the humans?: a yellow and black adder said tentatively.
:Of course not!: Silas declared with a certainty he didn't actually feel. :I am only righting their wrong – it's not hurting anybody.:
:The humans who take us out for the other humans to take home use some sort of magic,: The female boomslang spoke up for the first time. :I don't know what it is – it is not Parseltongue.:
Silas was discouraged for a moment when the others didn't know the words the other humans used either, but then he had an idea. He pulled out his black wand – the one Ollivander had said was for Parselmagic. He wondered if freeing snakes from their cages counted as Parselmagic – if so, then this should be easy.
He wondered what to say, and finally decided to guess. Pointing his wand at the tank housing the cobras, he hissed, :Open.:
He was delighted when the door clicked open on his first try, and in moments a brave cobra decided to test her freedom and moved to the top of the cage. Seconds later she dropped to the floor, and the other cobras quickly followed her lead.
As the cobras continued to slither out, Silas pointed his wand at each tank, freeing the pythons, the boomslangs, the three-headed serpents, the rattlesnakes, and the adders. The females with their clutches wondered if Silas had some way of keeping their eggs warm, so he gathered all fifty-seven eggs of different species and put them carefully in his now empty wand box. After closing it, he pointed his wand at the box and hissed, :Warm,: and a moment later a dull heat radiated from the precious box. The six mothers, now assured that he would care for their eggs until they hatched and then set them loose in the forest he told them was close to his dwelling, followed the rest of the serpents going free. The cobras slithered quickly past his feet and toward the rest of the shop, the other snakes following closely behind.
As he lifted his wand to free the fire snake, there was a sudden scream from the front of the shop, followed closely by other shrieks and yells. He dropped his wand, startled, and bent down to retrieve it while the snakes still in this section froze, wondering if the snakes that had left first had been disposed of after the bright flashes of light that they recognized from their time around wizards had shone against the wall. Silas was just glad he had kept a good grip on the wand box full of the precious eggs.
As Silas rose to his feet, he became aware of the fact that Salim and Sirius now stood at the end of the snake's section, staring in shock at the snakes littering the floor and slithering from their cages. They raised their wands as one, and Silas took an involuntary step back in fear, believing the wands to be pointed at him rather than the rest of the serpents. Another young shop worker stood behind the two men, and she gave a shriek when she saw all of the snakes leaving or already out of their enclosures.
Before Silas knew what was happening, the serpents still in the area shot over to him and began slithering up his legs and arms. In moments there were no fewer than twenty-one serpents slung about his arms and torso, raising their heads threateningly to the wands they saw as a danger to the human-snake boy who had saved them. Silas supposed they must have sensed his fear when he took a step back after seeing his guardians and their wands. Even the bickering yellow pythons rose as one against the humans, coiled right next to each other on each hip. The three remaining cobras flared their hoods threateningly, and even the three-headed snakes that didn't get along with their respective heads were of one mind in their protectiveness to Silas.
A long, low, hiss emanated from every single snake in the area – even the fire serpent, still in its enclosure, felt deep loyalty for the boy who simply understood and tried to help them. The hissing caused chills to go up the spines of the three adults in front of them, and even several patrons still in the shop heard it by the Fwoopers and promptly ran from the store, screaming to the people of Diagon Alley to get away from the pet shop, that there was something Evil inside. This only caused a certain woman by the name of Rita to get a sparkle in her eye and run all the way from Madam Malkin's to what would certainly turn out to be a juicy story.
"Silas," Sirius said carefully, "What were you trying to do?"
Rather than scared, Silas only got angry at these words. "Ssn-akess – not – in – trapss!" he said, surprisingly clearly. "Go – to – foh-rest!"
"Silas, the snakes are here because people buy them – to be pets," Salim tried to say. "They…"
:Serpents are not PETS!: Silas hissed angrily, too furious to even bother trying to speak English.
At the sound of the Parseltongue spoken by the child covered in snakes, the shop keeper promptly fainted in terror. Sirius and Salim didn't even notice as she dropped to the ground behind them.
"Some wizards wish for company," Salim tried explaining, not showing how Silas' angry Parseltongue affected him. "And serpents are very smart, so conversing with one who can understand is sometimes preferable to a kneazle."
"Ssnakess – go – free," Silas insisted. "They – do – not – want – to – be – tuh-rapt! Not – petss!"
"Silas," Sirius started, taking a step forward.
But that was all the opening the young boy needed. As Sirius stepped forward, he cleared enough space for Silas to get through, so without a second thought, he ran forward, closing the distance between them and making the two step aside in shock and surprise.
Silas darted through to the rest of the shop, knowing that if he could just make it back to the Leaky Cauldron, he could Floo home and set the snakes around him free in the forest behind the house before Sirius and Salim caught up to him.
Clutching the wand box protectively to his chest, he hardly noticed the shop workers cry out in shock, more than a few fainting at the sight of the child wrapped in snakes of all species and colors running through the shop.
He ran through the narrow paths consisting of animals and pet supplies on both sides, and even the vulture-bird and crups fell silent in instinct to the many poisonous snakes so close by, never mind that they were predators. He heard Sirius and Salim call out behind him for him to stop, but he paid them no mind as his foot caught a shelf full of cans of kneazle food, causing the whole thing to come crashing down behind him.
The front door burst open when he was just yards away from it, and a woman resembling a bulldog dressed all in green and holding a long green quill entered, a camera floating in the air behind her. A cold gust of wind blew through the open door, and every snake attached to him tightened their coils instinctively to get warmth from his warm-blooded body while his hair blew about in his face and in front of his eyes. He, along with the other snakes still around him, hissed in warning at the woman, causing her eyes to widen in true shock and perhaps a bit of fear even as the camera flashed behind her.
Sirius and Salim finally made their way through the maze of a store to see him, and he took another step back, feeling trapped by the woman in front of him and the men behind him. He felt his heart pound fearfully as his eyes darted every which way, searching for another escape.
"Harry!" Sirius shouted, not noticing the woman in the doorway.
"Silas!" Remus called more strictly.
Silas ran down another aisle, pulling him away from view of the three pursuers, and he looked back and forth, searching for another out.
He came out of the aisle to the main center of the store, and now he saw that he was right by the balls of fluff that the children had been gathered around not too long ago. He saw another aisle and moved across the center so that he could get to it, while the serpents continued their long, continuous hissing, feeling threatened.
:Silas!: he heard Sadi call out fearfully from her usual spot around his neck, and he immediately, instinctively whirled around to see a brave shop keeper pointing his wand at him from across the opposite aisle.
"-upefy!" he heard the tail end of the spell, and had no time to react to the beam of red light before it struck him right in the forehead, causing him to instantly drop to the ground, unconscious.
…
Sapra – snake
Cilla – old, ancient (this wasn't her actual name – he was using it as an insult)
I'm particularly proud of the name of this chapter, because Harry was liberated in that his secrets are revealed but he's still alright, and then the snakes being liberated from their cages.
Also, sorry (not sorry) for another somewhat of a cliffhanger, haha…I like to keep you guys on your toes! The next chapter won't have one though, so you don't have to worry. Working on it right now!
Thanks for reading!