Chapter 11

Parselmouth

After dinner, the first years were led by an older student called a prefect down to the Slytherin Common room. He led the first years into the entrance hall and instead of going along with the other students up a marble staircase, or to the left down a long corridor, the Slytherins went to the right where stairs led down towards the dungeon. Harry felt worried, even a little scared, about the prospects of sleeping in the dungeons for seven years. He took a step close to his brother and reached out for his hand, which Draco took instantly.

They were led by the rest of the Slytherins into the stoned walls and floor of the dungeons, their paths only lit by torches. It was a little cold, and Harry hoped that wherever they were going, it would be immensely warmer. The Prefect led them towards a dead end that was to the left of the stairs and turned towards them. "This is the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room," he announced. "In order to come in, you need to face the end and speak the password. The password changes every month and is posted on the bulletin board. You are under no circumstances allowed to tell any Non-Slytherin either the entrance or password to our common room." He turned and faced the wall, "Half-blood," he said.

The wall shook as bricks moved away one by one until an arch appeared that the Prefect led the first years through.

The common room was a long, low underground room with rough walls and ceiling, from which round green lamps hung from golden chains. A fire was crackling under an elaborately carved mantelpiece ahead of them, and already there were several fellow Slytherins sitting by it in curved chairs. On the opposite side was a wide window showing the watery atmosphere of the underside of the lake, fish swimming by occasionally. Harry and Draco stayed together with the other first years as the Prefect continued listing off rules that Harry honestly found boring. After that, they were dismissed.

Crabbe and Goyle went to bed immediately, along with Daphne and Theo, however Harry, Draco, and Blaise stayed up a little more, able to get three seats for themselves by the wide window. Neither of them talked. They just sat and grinned at each other before Harry heard something. There was a small shriek followed by laughter above which a teenage girl's voice screamed, "You monster! What do you think you're doing scaring me with a snake like that?"

"Come on babe, you have to think it was funny," a boy laughed. However, underneath that, a third voice spoke, much quieter than the other two.

"My Master is such a stupid boy."

Harry perked up at that. The voice sounded extremely familiar. He only heard it once before in his bedroom. Harry stood from his chair and turned around slowly, looking for the hissing noise. It was awesome! To meet with two talking snakes so close to each other! Harry wanted to go and say hi to it and show Draco that he wasn't lying.

He found the snake in a basket in a corner, its head just hanging over the edge lazily. Harry made a straight line towards it and smiled, kneeling slightly to look eye to eye. The snake looked at Harry for a moment and hissed. "Great, another human to gawk at me. If only I was not defanged…"

"Did it hurt? When you got your fangs out?" Harry asked, smiling. "And hello! My name is Harry Malfoy, what's yours?"

"Oh? A child who speaks instead of gawks? Finally," the snake hissed, "I suppose I can use a conversation. My Master is useless for that."

"Who is your master?" Harry asked.

The snake looked up and stared around before looking out at a tall lanky teenager. "Him," the snake said. "My rude master who is too idiotic to even look at me. Though he does give me nice big juicy rats."

"That's nice, but why does he not even look at you?" Harry asked.

The snake turned to stare at Harry for a moment and stood up, as though puffing out its body proudly. "Look at me Harry Malfoy, what do you see? A boy or a girl?"

Harry stared at the snake for a moment, frowning. "Um you look and sound like a girl," he said.

"Exactly! I am a beautiful woman! A lady who deserves a name of grace and sophistication that matches my beauty! I was brought by my master's family before my mother could even give me a name to match my beauty. I was named by my master, my horrible, disgusting of a pig master who could not see true beauty if it strikes at him. He obviously wanted a male snake, an aggressive killer whom he can tame. And so he gave me a ridiculous name, a hideous name—a boy's name which does not even begin to represent my grace! Viper." The snake shuttered with disgust. She shook her head and looked between Harry and her owner.

"That's horrible!" Harry exclaimed. "Have you tried telling him?"

"Of course I did, but the boy is an idiot, all of them are. You are the first who actually heard me," the snake said.

"Oh, that's bad," Harry frowned. He looked at the snake and gasped, "What if I help you think of a new name? A very beautiful name!"

"That would be lovely," the snake said, nodding. Harry smiled at that and thought for a long moment, putting his hand to his chin as he did so. He racked over names in his brain, throwing them out one after another as he stared at the snake, who waited patiently. Finally, he gave a small gasp and grinned, "How about Sophia? I remember seeing it in one of my mum's books and it sounds pretty."

"Sophia… Sophia, yes, I like that," the snake now christened Sophia said. She nodded then looked at her owner and then asked Harry, "If you would be a dear, tell my idiot owner about my new name. Perhaps it'll help him grow a brain cell."

"Okay!" Harry smiled. He stood up and then walked up to the teen who was sitting with his girlfriend, who still looked annoyed. "Um, excuse me, but is the snake yours?" he asked.

The Slytherin looked at Harry for a moment then smirked, "First year?" he asked, and Harry nodded. "He's cool, right? He's a deadly snake, raised and tamed him myself," he said. "I call him Viper because of how murderous he is."

"I think she's rather pretty," Harry said, "and she told me that you're really rude to her! She's a girl, not a boy and she wants to be called Sophia."

"The fu—hell are you talking about, kid?" the teen said angrily, getting a sharp jab in his stomach from his girlfriend mid-sentence.

"You have a talking snake! She talks very well," Harry said. "Though she says that you're too idiotic to listen to her."

"Listen, kid, you are this close to wishing you were born a Squib," the teen warned, his anger showing quickly. They were starting to get onlookers which caused Harry to take half a step back before shaking his head.

"No, you listen," he said. "You have a talking snake, and her name is Sophia. She is a girl, not a boy, and you really need to start treating her better!"

"That's it!" The teen yelled, standing up. "You're not even supposed to be here, Potter so don't even think of lecturing me about my male snake Viper! He is my pet, not yours, so shut up before I hex you!"

Harry stood his ground, glaring at him. He then glanced to see that Sophia was moving. She was out of her basket and now was sitting on a table to their right. She shook her head, "I told you my master is an idiot."

"Viper! Bite this stupid boy," the teen commanded.

"See?"

"I'm sorry, I tried telling him," Harry told Sophia, turning completely to her. The snake shook her head once more as both were oblivious to the gasps around them. "He just didn't believe me and then he got really angry."

"It is fine Harry Malfoy, perhaps he will grow a brain cell and see my beauty, or I can choke him and go live on my own," Sophia chuckled, "however then I wouldn't get those fat juicy mice."

"I don't think you should do that," Harry said. He looked at the teen, "Right?" he said, "You always feed her the best fat juicy mice."

The teen just stared, opened mouth. His skin looked sickly pale as he stared at Harry. The eleven-year-old frowned, "Hello? Can you hear me?"

"You—you were hissing at my snake," the teen said.

"No we were talking," Harry said. "Sophia said that she thought of choking you and running away but then she couldn't get those big juicy mice that you give her."

"M-Mice—yeah, yeah I give him mice," the teen nodded. "Err—I mean her! I give her mice!" He glanced at the two, "She's not going to choke me, is she?"

Harry looked at Sophia who laughed in a long hiss. "No, how else will I get my mice?"

"She says how else will she get her mice?" Harry translated. "Why can't you understand her? She's speaking clear English."

"Harry."

Harry turned at Draco's voice. He, like everyone else, was staring at him. Harry smiled when he saw his brother and jumped towards him. "Draco! Look! I told you about the talking snake and look here's another one. Her name is Sophia, but her owner thought she was a boy! Can you believe that?" he grinned. He turned to Sophia and said, "This is my big brother, Draco!"

"You two look different," Sophia noted.

"I'm adopted," Harry explained, "But our parents love me just the same, just as Draco and I love each other!" he turned to Draco, "Right Draco," he said.

"What?"

Harry frowned. "Weren't you listening? I told Sophia that we love each other," he said.

"Harry, I heard you hissing," Draco said, with a small quiver in his voice. "Don't you remember Harry? The tales Father told us about Slytherin's founder?"

Harry frowned in confusion as he thought. "You mean about how he could speak Parseltongue?" he asked. Draco nodded. "But Draco, this snake was talking English just like us."

"No it wasn't kid," the girlfriend said. "Both of you were hissing." Harry stared at her before looking at Draco and Sophia. His mind worked on overload as he tried to comprehend the conclusion.

"Wait—was I really hissing Draco?" he asked hesitantly in a small voice. Draco just nodded. "Hissing," Harry repeated. "But we were talking, I understood everything she told me!"

"I believe that you were talking Harry, but it wasn't in English," Draco said.

"I know a different language?" Harry said, "How can I know a different language without knowing it?" He asked.

"I don't know, but mother and father need to know this immediately," Draco said. "You're a Parselmouth, Harry! But that can't be."

"Why not?" Harry asked, honestly confused as his sleepy mind tried to process all of this. Draco took a step towards Harry and whispered, "Because only Slytherin's family can speak to snakes. It's the one thing that makes them different. You could be his great-great-something grandson!"

Harry stared at Draco, his brain refusing to make sense of this. Shock went through him, naturally, however, he couldn't really comprehend it or the weird looks everyone was giving him. He wanted to be alone, or at least alone with Draco. He reached out for his brother's hand and squeezed it. "I want to go to bed, please," he said.

His brother nodded and the two walked towards the stairway that led to the dormitory, the others moving out of the way to clear the path. Harry went to his trunk and grabbed his pajamas and diary as Blaise came up a moment later. The three dressed silently and Harry opened his diary, but only had energy to write down one sentence.

I can speak to snakes.

Harry closed his diary and dropped it in his trunk. Instead of going to his bed, he instead went to Draco's, which was on the other side of Blaise's who stood between the two brothers' beds. Harry did not even need to ask, the two just shared a look and Draco opened his covers, his brother climbing in. The two fell asleep staring at each other.

Rumors spread throughout the castle the next day. Harry woke up to whispers about him that followed wherever he went.

"Look there! Next to the blond!"

'That small boy?"

"Yeah!"

"He's kind of cute."

"That's Potter?"

"Yeah!"

"Why is he a Slytherin?"

"I heard he talks to snakes."

"Really?"

"How!? This makes no sense!"

"Dirty traitor."

Harry shrank away from the whispers, keeping close to Blaise and Draco as the first years walked around the school. During breakfast on the first day their Head of House, a man dressed in black with greasy hair and a hooked nose that reminded Harry of a walking bat named Professor Snape, handed out their class schedules. When he reached Harry, the boy had a good indication that he did not like Harry very much as he scowled at him as he silently gave Harry his schedule.

"He doesn't like me," Harry frowned.

"Snape? Why?" Draco asked, Harry just shrugged, and they looked at their schedule. They were both excited to start their lessons but finding them in the first place proved to be a challenge. Hogwarts was bigger than either boy expected. There were about one hundred and forty-two stairways in the castle that, depending on the time of day, led you to where you expected it to go, disappear entirely, or only worked correctly on a Friday afternoon, and even then you have to ask politely. It was a chore getting to the classes, but then the boys had to deal with the classes themselves.

Through Mr. Willow's tutoring, both Harry and Draco knew that there was much more to magic than waving their wands around and saying the correct incantation. However, neither of them was ready for the amount of notes they needed to take before they were even allowed to pick up their wands in class.

Three times a week, they went out to the greenhouses to learn Herbology from a dumpy witch named Professor Sprout who wore patched robes and hat. She taught them all how to take care of strange plants and fungi that Harry never saw at home. Every Wednesday night, they went out onto the Astronomy Tower to study the stars and planets.

The most boring class at all was History of Magic, which was taught by the only ghost professor named Professor Binns. He spoke in a slow monotone voice that droned on as they had to scribble notes about names and dates.

Professor Flitwick was their Charms teacher. He was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. At the start of their first class, he almost fell off the pile when he called out Harry's name.

Professor McGonagall, by contrast, was a teacher whom Harry knew immediately not to cross. Strict and clever, the very second the last of the students sat down, she gave them a talking to. "Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

She then turned her desk into a pig and back again. They were all very impressed and couldn't wait to get started, but soon realized they weren't going to be changing furniture into animals for a long time. After taking notes, they were given a match to turn into a sewing needle. By the end of the class, the only person whose match had any difference was Hermione Granger's, a Gryffindor girl. Harry recognized her as the girl from the train.

That was also the day that both Harry and Draco were formally introduced to Ron Weasley. He was a tall boy, even taller than Blaise and Draco, with ginger red hair and a freckled nose. He wore his Gryffindor robes proudly and whenever the Gryffindors and Slytherins had class together, Harry could always feel Ron Weasley's eyes staring at him. So, between Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts, Harry stepped away from his brother and friends to talk with the Gryffindors.

"Hello," he said politely, smiling at them. "I'm Harry Malfoy."

"We know," one boy said, "Is it true? That you talk to snakes or something?" Harry looked at the boy. He had dark skin and short hair with brown eyes. Harry made sure to give his most innocent smile as he nodded, tugging at his robes a little to hide his hands.

"Yeah," he said. "I can talk to snakes, but I only learned that recently! And that it is only a skill that Slytherin's family have, is that true?" he asked, looking up at the boy.

"Uh y-yeah," the boy said, quickly looking away as a blush developed.

"You, you all don't hate me because of that, do you?" he asked.

"N-No," the boy said.

"But aren't you supposed to be with us?" Ron Weasley demanded. "We all grew up on stories like yours! Then you went up and got adopted by those slimy Malfoys!"

Harry frowned at that. He turned to Ron and mentally sized him up. He kept his cute smile on as he stared at the redhead. "My family aren't slimy," he said. "We take baths every single day, I'll let you know."

"Not what I meant, and you know it," Ron muttered.

Harry sighed then looked at the three boys. "I'm sorry, it's very rude of me, but what was your name again?" he asked the first one.

"I'm Dean Thomas," he answered. "And I'm a half-blood, dad's a wizard and mum's a witch."

"Does that matter?" Harry asked. Dean looked at him, shocked, before shrugging. "Did you grow up with stories about me?" Harry asked.

"Uh, a bit?" Dean said. "I know that you're the reason You-Know-Who's gone."

Harry nodded. "What else?"

"Your parents fought against You-Know-Who," Ron said, "and now you're being raised by a Death Eater! My uncles were in the same group that your parents were in that fought against You-Know-Who! My parents told me all about them and you!"

Harry's smile faltered. He looked at Ron for a moment, "My dad is not a Death Eater," he said, doing his best to keep his temper. "Yeah he's a bit mean at times—especially to Sirius and Remus—but he did not follow You-Know-Who."

"Oh really? How are you so sure?" Ron asked, crossing his arms.

"Because he and mum told me so," Harry said easily.

"They're lying," Ron scoffed.

"No, they're not!" Harry huffed. He turned to Dean, "Dean, do you think that my dad's a Death Eater?" he asked innocently.

"Um—well…"

"Do you think I'm a bad guy? Do you Dean?" Harry insisted. "Or how about you?" he turned to the third boy. "I'm sorry for ignoring you."

The third boy was a stocky Irish boy with dark brown hair. "Seamus," he said. "And uhm, you are a Slytherin," he began.

"Yes but we hardly know each other," Harry said.

"And you talk to snakes!" Ron said. "And you being in Slytherin is bad enough! There's not a witch or wizard who was in Slytherin that didn't go bad."

Harry's smile was completely gone. He turned to Ron to reply when they were interrupted.

"Harry, what's taking so long?" Draco walked up to them, followed by Theo. He looked at Ron and immediately stepped between them. "What did you say to my little brother, Weasley?"

"Nothing, Malfoy," Ron said. "What's it matter to you?"

"Because you made my brother sad, Weasley!" Draco said a bit louder. Harry frowned and looked at Theo for help. They both gently took one of Draco's arms and Harry looked at Dean and Seamus, "I'm so sorry," he said, "but we have to go before we're late, we have Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Ravenclaws. It was nice meeting you two."

The two just nodded awkwardly while Ron still looked angrily at the two, but mostly at Draco. Harry has been really looking forward to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Sirius and Remus told the boys countless stories of how they used spells they've learned to fend off Dark Wizards and even dueled each other whenever the boys, mainly Harry, begged them. So, it was an utter disappointment for both boys to see that Professor Quirrell's class was a bit of a joke. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would come back for him one day. He wore a turban, which he told them was a gift from an African prince for helping him with a zombie, however, the students did not believe that backstory, for it had a very funny smell that wafted from it. Another thing that Harry noticed, something he blamed the smell, was that his head hurts in Professor Quirrell's classroom. It was hard to concentrate at times because of it, so much so that during the second class he interrupted class to ask if he could change seats and sit by the window.

The one class that Harry was worried about was Potions, which was taught by his Head of House, Professor Snape. "Ugh, we have Double Potions with Weasley," Draco said, looking at his schedule. "Well at least it'll be fun, Snape loves us Slytherins, and hate Gryffindor. Which he should, they have Ron Weasley!"

"Sounds like you're in love, Draco," Blaise teased. "All week it's been 'Ron Weasley' this and 'Ron Weasley' that."

"No, I haven't!"

"Yes, you have," Harry laughed, "I've written it down in my diary."

"Harry," Daphne interrupted, "How are you handling the uhh snake thing?"

Harry looked at her, "We've written to our parents but didn't get anything back," he said.

"Most likely the Potters are distantly descendant of Salazar Slytherin," Theo said, everyone, looking at him. "We all know that because of our family's fixation on keeping things 'pure' the Families all mix together. Some die out; however, their blood still flows through all of us. I'm guessing that Slytherin's blood ran quite strongly in the Potter line. A bit ironic considering they were all mostly sorted into Gryffindor here."

"But does House placement really have anything to do with family and personality?" Blaise asked. He smiled at Harry, "I don't think you should worry at all about this, Harry. You can talk to snakes! It's just a funny quirk of you, like how I can whistle songs all in one breath!" He grinned and Harry did feel a little better. He smiled at Blaise; whose cheeks blushed lightly.

"Thank you," Harry said, "I feel better now."

"Good, little brother. Now we can focus on Potions," Draco smiled. "You were excellent for Mr. Willow, why shouldn't you be excellent here?' Harry nodded, feeling more confident. He took a breath and nodded at Draco and their friends, feeling more ready to face Potions with Snape. After all, Harry's a Slytherin. Maybe that sneer at the beginning of the week meant nothing.

A/N: Not even a week and things are happening... oh Harry.

Retired10:Glad you're enjoying!

Padfootette: Yep, everyone's in Slytherin! And Ron Weasley is now in the mix. Cannot wait to see how he and Draco get along... or don't.

Noir kumo: Thanks, I'm happy you are drowning in the cuteness. And now they all believe.

Angelbear1: Thanks.

Marvynthephoenix: I AM SO HAPPY THAT YOU'RE HAPPY THAT HARRY IS IN SLYTHERIN