Thank you for the well-wishes and those who were able I greatly appreciated the donations. It's been a long and harrowing process but I will be moving into a new apartment in less than two weeks. Things still haven't quite calmed down for me or my family, but I'm hoping they will soon. Thanks to everyone for your support.
The same bus driver who dropped them off near the centaur community had returned to pick them up to go to Márcia's family on the south side of the country. Hermione boarded and the driver waved her down.
"You're that girl that everyone is talking about?" she asked. "The activist?"
"Sure am," said Hermione. "We're always looking for volunteers."
"I can't exactly volunteer."
The driver lifted her trouser leg to show scales like a dragon. Hermione nodded in understanding, sat down as close as she could, and got out her packet so she could make notes. The woman didn't want to give her real name, only going by Senhora Santos, especially since she wasn't out as an M.B., but she had plenty to say.
As they drew closer to the cihuacoatl community, Márcia started getting more and more excited, she moved around the bus pointing out landmarks with interesting anecdotes that she didn't elaborate on beyond a sentence or two no matter how many follow up questions it gained. This might have been due to the bus moving so fast with the aid of magic. At least this bus had seatbelts for the rougher terrain.
Like with the centaur community, they were dropped off probably a mile or two away from where Márcia actually lived. Her community was near the Iguazu falls; instead of a forest trail, they hiked along the river, which had tourist and fishing boats. Márcia declared that they would take the scenic route so her friends could really get the full effect of the falls and was more than happy to describe it all to Cássia. This included walking over a bridge over what was known as the Devil's Throat.
"Oh, wow!" Hermione breathed, moving her camera across the landscape.
"Welcome to Argentina," Bernice read on a sign once they made it on the other side.
Márcia froze and looked around in confusion.
"Márcia, are we lost?" asked Quripuma.
"What? No! No! I mean… I usually take a different route, but that way is boring!"
"We're lost," Bernice stated.
Márcia bit her lip and looked ready to cry.
"Well, let's just turn back across the bridge," said Hermione. "And then we'll use a point me spell."
"What's a point me spell?"
"Point me to the nearest snack bar," said Hermione and her hand shot out on its own accord, making her smack Alejandro in the face with her elbow. "Oh! Sorry, mate!"
He blinked and shook his head. "No problem." He looked over to find a gap in the crowd and indeed there was a place where a man was selling brightly packaged crisps and expensive bottled drinks. "Cool spell."
"Thanks."
Their group was attracting some attention from tourists and it occurred to Hermione that they probably looked very odd. She was so used to hanging around her friends now that she didn't really think about what would be strange about them anymore. Of course, she herself was strange with her mismatched eyes and numerous scars.
"Dude, that is a cool costume!" said an American, approaching Alejandro. "Can I get a picture?"
"Uh…" He looked at Hermione for help.
"Sure," she said. "For five bucks."
Two hours and a hundred dollars in various currencies later, they managed to get back over to Brazil and were walking along the river. Márcia still looked vaguely upset, and though they had the point me spell, she kept wandering off to find snakes to converse with to make sure they were on the right track.
"I need to sit," Hermione sighed. "If I walk any further my feet are going to fall…" she trailed off. "Cássia don't translate that."
"They're going to what?" asked Quripuma, staring her down, though the corner of her mouth twitched in amusement. "Finish the phrase, Nia."
"No, I don't think I will."
Their friends broke into raucous laughter.
"I recognize this spot!" said Márcia. "We're almost there! Yes, the hidden river is this way."
"Great. Someone carry me," said Hermione, shrinking down to her otter form. "I can't take another step."
"I'm not gonna carry you," said Bernice.
Hermione smushed her little otter face and chirped, making her eyes as big and pleading as possible.
"Aww, I'll carry you," said Alejandro, scooping her up. He smushed his cheek against hers. "So cute!"
"Just change back when we reach home," said Márcia, grinning back at her. "We eat otters."
Hermione raspberried and she laughed. It was harder to hold a video camera with her otter paws but she managed. Their little group followed Márcia around a bend where the river diverged. It was, in fact, hidden, coursing beneath stone shelves and covered with lush foliage that seemed to have been grown with magic. Quripuma and Cássia had a constant conversation going and Hermione wondered if Quripuma was giving her girlfriend an audio description of their surroundings.
"Don't step into the river," Márcia warned. "It's deeper than it looks, the current is fast, and there are a lot of underground passageways that it cuts through."
"Good to know," said Cássia.
Hermione did end up needing to return to her human form as part of the path became steep and Alejandro needed both hands to climb down. They all helped Cássia down after she asked for aid.
"Not much farther," said Márcia. She looked back at them all and frowned. "Well… a fifteen minute break probably wouldn't hurt."
The rest of them collapsed on a flat rock with a collective sigh of relief. They conjured and drank fresh water, also pouring some over their heads. The sun was setting, so they couldn't rest too long, but it was welcome. Hermione dug around her bag for a protein bar and frowned when her hand got caught around a necklace. She yanked her arm out and Slytherin's locket swung around.
"I thought I put you away," she said and sighed, slipping it over her head. "Fine. Guess I'll wear it."
"What's that?" asked Cássia.
"Just talking to inanimate objects causing me trouble."
"As one does," she agreed and took another gulp of water. "I'm a little bit early, but I'm going to pray while we're on break."
"Go for it. Do you need us to be quiet?"
"No, you'll be fine."
Quripuma took out Cássia's prayer rug and helped her sit in the right direction.
"Anything we need to know before meeting your family, Márcia?" asked Bernice.
Márcia swayed side-to-side, thinking. "I don't know. I mean… I've lived with them all my life and I've never really had friends before you guys, so how would I know what others find odd? I mean… we're not like Óliver's family. We're snakes. I hatched from an egg. We have pet basilisks."
"I was almost killed by a basilisk," Hermione mused while Bernice squawked, "Basilisks?!"
"Yeah, there are more basilisks here than anywhere else in the world."
"Won't that be dangerous?" asked Cássia. "Not for me, but for them."
"No. They won't kill unless they need to." Márcia scratched her scales and frowned. "I think I'm molting soon. Anyway, um, our basilisks turn people to stone and if someone is accidentally turned we have a spring that reverses that. It's only Western European basilisks that kill instantly, everywhere else they turn their victims to stone and it's usually reversible if you get to them within three days. But the stone thing is where the Medusa myth comes from."
"So there aren't women with snakes for hair?"
"Of course not. Don't be ridiculous."
Hermione panned down to her friend's snake tail and then back to her face and said nothing.
They finally reached a stone path, the mouth of which looked at if it had been broken by a sledgehammer. The path was set with seashells and flecks of stone and they came upon a rope bridge overlooking a deep chasm that made a natural moat of sorts around the cihuacoatl city. It was massive and Hermione almost thought they had circled back around to school.
"Wow," she breathed.
A cliff with many natural waterfalls hung over the city covering it with a fine mist. The sun cast a never-ending rainbow over the buildings and pyramids, which were set up around the canals the waterfall made. The canals then spilled over the sides of the chasms keeping a constant roar. There must've been hundreds of cihuacoatls, some swimming against the strong currents of the canals and others slithering along the streets to go about their business.
"We just have to cross this bridge and we're home!" said Márcia.
Hermione took a tentative step and quickly backed up when the bridge creaked and groaned.
"Erm… is there no other way?" she asked.
"Nope."
"We've got these rope bridges all over Peru, Nia," said Quripuma reassuringly. "People knew what they were doing when they built them."
"Don't be afraid," added Cássia, walking confidently across while her girlfriend walked behind her.
"Just keep your eyes on the other side," said Alejandro. "I'll be right behind you."
Hermione took a deep breath and stared at the back of Cássia's head, putting one foot in front of the other. She passed off her camera to Bernice so she could hold onto the rope with both hands.
"Are you afraid of heights, Nia?" asked Quripuma.
"I'm perfectly alright with heights," she said. "I just don't like being up on a rickety rope bridge over a chasm with absolutely no support system if I fall! I fell from a tree once and broke my arm and, yes, wixen tend to be sturdier than the average no-maj, but I wouldn't be able to survive a drop like this and I don't like feeling every shift in the bridge even if it is the best possible design for the region!" A plank snapped under her weight and her foot went through. She screamed, "OH, MY GOD I'M GONNA DIE!"
"You're not gonna die!" yelled Márcia, turning around to help.
"I am! My foot is stuck, I'm gonna die on the bridge! There's so much I haven't done! I've never eaten tabbouleh!"
"It's overrated!" Bernice called back.
Márcia got her foot unstuck and Alejandro lifted her off her feet, carrying her the remaining three meters. Hermione leaned against the stone arch and exhaled shakily.
"My life flashed before my eyes," she said and looked at her friends. "It was very boring."
They fell into fits of laughter knowing that was very untrue.
"Márcia!"
A man ran over and embraced her. Several cihuacoatl followed close behind. One had a baby in a sash across her chest. Each cihuacoatl had a long tail colored with brilliant scales. Most of them green, though one had a black diamond pattern along her back.
"Hi, Papai!" said Márcia. "These are my friends I was telling you about. Nia, Alejandro, Bernice, Cássia, and Quripuma. Everyone this is my Papai, Mamae, Cousin Aline, Aunt Esther, and Aunt Nívea. And that little bundle of trouble is Miriam."
The baby hissed and cooed all at once.
"Ravi Luscombe," said Márcia's father, shaking their hands. "Nice to meet you all."
"Ivete," said Márcia's mother. "I bet you're all exhausted."
"We are!" said Hermione. "But we're also very excited to meet you and see more of your home."
"But tomorrow, please," said Quripuma.
"Of course, of course," said Ravi. "Our home is this way."
Hermione took back her camera and filmed the streets. Up close, she could see that the pyramids were partially made with sea shells and bones of some very large creatures along with clay. Some of the shells aided in creating light in what might be a chilly and misty place. There were also buildings made just of clay that seemed to be workshops or just domestic residences. The pyramids looked to mainly be for religious centers and, according to Márcia when she asked, a school.
"Hi Bright Eyes!" one cihuacoatl called, her arms laden with shopping baskets. "Back from school already?"
"Just for a few days!" Márcia replied. "I wanted to show my friends around."
The cihuacoatls in the city all wore beautiful jewelry, and while most had scales of a beautiful shade of green, some varied like one who was a vibrant orange or another who was a startling blue.
"We were worried," said Ivete. "Márcia has such a bad sense of direction we didn't think you'd get here until tomorrow, but Nívea said you would arrive today around this time."
"We took the scenic route," said Hermione. "Márcia wanted to make sure we saw the sights."
"Which really means she got lost," said Aline.
"She's always getting lost," said Esther.
Márcia scowled and Hermione squeezed her arm comfortingly.
"Very few people have a natural sense of direction," she said. "It takes practice."
"I didn't know you understood parseltongue," said Márcia.
Hermione blinked, confused. "I don't." She looked at the others.
"I heard hissing," said Alejandro with a shrug.
"Hm…" Hermione rubbed her temple. "I think we might be better off solving this mystery tomorrow. I'm too hungry to think."
"Well, here we are," said Ravi pushing open. "Home sweet home."
The house was pretty big, most of them were, but Hermione figured that was to account for the long bodies of the cihuacoatls. Márcia pushed her way in.
"Hi, granny!"
"There's my little Márcia."
Hermione stepped inside out of the mist and gasped. The first room inside the house was also the kitchen. There was a fire pit in the middle of the room and the smoke drifted up out of some slats near the cylindrical ceiling. The house itself was beautiful with paintings on the walls. It made sense, considering it was so wet outside. But that wasn't what made Hermione gasp.
Márcia's grandmother was huge. Her tail was as thick as a tree trunk and wrapped around the entire room. The human portion of her was bigger than Hagrid and her long, dark hair was plaited and decorated with shiny objects. She didn't quite look like a grandmother, but Márcia did say that cihuacoatls didn't really age; they just kept shedding and getting bigger and died when they felt their presence was preventing others from thriving. Her scales were a rich shade of black with intermittent white specks.
"Wow," said Hermione. "You're beautiful!"
She leaned down to get a closer look at their crew; her lidless yellow eyes studying them.
"Hm… we don't get guests very often," she said. "Have a seat."
"Thank you, ma'am. Will it disturb the fire if I cast a drying spell?"
She waved at her to go ahead. Hermione cast the spell and her and her friends' clothes instantly dried. The breeze made the fire flicker, but other than that it was alright.
"Er, what do I call you, ma'am?" asked Hermione.
"I didn't take a human name like my children or a lot of my friends did," she said. "My name in parseltongue is "Obsidian Flower," but it's too difficult for non-parselmouths to pronounce. So I suppose you can call me… Granny."
"Thank you for inviting us into your home, Granny," said Bernice. "Dinner smells wonderful."
Hermione zoomed in on what was cooking while everyone took their seats. She made sure she captured as much of the room as she could.
"Will you be eating, Granny?" asked Márcia.
"Oh, no, I ate last month," she said. "But I couldn't resist making my granddaughter's favorite meal." Granny frowned at Hermione. "Do you eat through that thing stuck to your face?"
Hermione paused and looked up from her camera. "Er, no, Granny."
"Put it away. I like to look at everyone during meal time."
"Yes, ma'am." Hermione put her camera away and sat down next to Cássia.
Márcia and Ravi passed out plates and placed the food out. They had shrimp and cactus salad. Hermione discovered a new love for jicama and learned that the recipes were based off traditional Nahua recipes back from when they lived in Central America, but also that cihuacoatls often transitioned from cooking meals to just swallowing food whole and raw once they reached a certain age/size, but there was also importance in having cooked meals during special ceremonies and holidays. Like when a clutch of eggs have hatched or for the summer solstice festival. Hermione planned to write everything down in a journal once they were settled in their sleep space, but it was also nice to just be in the moment. Talking to everyone, laughing, sharing jokes and stories.
"So, can I just ask the age-old question of how did you two meet?" Hermione asked Ravi and Ivete.
"Well… it's not that interesting of a story," he said. "I mean… how does anyone meet their significant other?"
"Well, I met the boy who would eventually become my boyfriend after his father rescued me from a car accident."
Ravi lowered his spoon. "Ah…"
"It's okay, Papai, Nia's backstory is just really weird."
"Márcia, be nice," Ivete chided.
"No, she's right," said Hermione. "My life is weird-city. We could be here for days if we talked about my past. What I'm really interested in is learning about you. So how do a wizard and a cihuacoatl meet?"
"It's really not that interesting," said Ivete. "He was lost on his way to the village a couple miles over and I found him by the river. I thought he was dead at first, but he's just a heavy sleeper. I was just happy he wasn't afraid of me."
"As she was showing me the right way we got to talking and I asked if I could see her again," Ravi finished. "Five years and a lot of dates later, she agreed to marry me."
"That's sweet."
"It was a bit of a pain, because most magical governments don't recognize inter-species marriages."
Hermione hummed and brought out her notebook.
"Is that still a prevalent issue?" she asked.
Ravi nodded. "If I don't keep my will updated and safe, then when I die, my next of kin, which would be my brother, would get control over everything I have including my burial. Unless things are worded specifically, then my daughters wouldn't even be able to access my bank vaults despite being my blood. I don't have much to begin with, but it's the principle of the matter, saco? If I can't get my rights recognized as a Romani in the No-Maj world, I should at least get them recognized as a wizard in the Magical world."
"Trading one prejudice for another," Bernice sighed.
That was something everyone in this group knew very well. There was no winning.
"Recognize inter-being unions and products of," Hermione murmured, writing it down. "Looks like to get this fixed I'll need to look into interracial marriage laws and how those got ratified. Maybe even be able to look into the laws regarding the marriage to No-Majs and argue an amendment to include all Magical Beings."
Márcia's family looked surprised by that declaration.
"So you're serious," said Nivea. "You actually plan on making things better for us?"
"Well, yeah. What did you think?"
"Sometimes we get wizards who come in thinking that they're going to change things," said Aline. "But all they do is want to change our culture and try to make us more like them."
"Mm… the colonizer approach," said Hermione. "They come in with their manifest destiny delusions, think they know what's best, and end up making things worse for you while boosting their own egos and then leave to bask in the praise of people just like them."
"Exactly," said Granny. "Have some chocolate."
Hermione took the cup, sipped it, and gagged, spitting the mix back. "AGH! That's not sweet as all!"
Márcia giggled. "I should have mentioned that we don't use cane sugar."
"Oh, good," said Alejandro, taking Hermione's cup from her. "More for me. I can't eat sugar cane. It does something weird to me. If I want something sweetened I have to use honey."
"I can't watch that," said Bernice, taking the cup from him before he could take a sip. "Get a fresh cup."
"Sorry," said Hermione, getting her cup back. "It wasn't bad, I just wasn't expecting it. I'm a fan of spicy chocolate as much as the next person and I'll try anything. Though, will it bother you if I add sugar?"
"We have one food rule in this house," said Ivete. "Try it before you fix it."
Hermione brought out a basket, removed a tin full of sugar and scooped some into her chocolate.
Miriam, unhappy with being ignored, started crying as babies often did. Ravi picked her up and shushed her gently.
"She cries so much," he said, almost apologetically. "I worry that something is wrong."
"Is there a way to get her to stop?" asked Márcia, looking upset that her little sister was upset.
"I only know how to stop British babies from crying," said Hermione, taking a tea bag out of the tin from the basket. "Mirita what's this? Ooh! Tea!"
Miriam instantly stopped, transfixed by the new object. She took it in her chubby baby hand and opened her mouth to smell it before calming down completely.
"Oh! She likes the smell!" said Ravi. "What is it?"
"A mix of earl grey and lavender," Hermione replied, handing over the tea tin. "I like having tea most mornings, so I came prepared."
"You brought an entire tea set?" asked Bernice incredulously.
"I'm not an animal, Bernice."
"Otter."
"Irrelevant."
Granny patted Hermione on the head and handed cups of chocolate to everyone before settling down with her arms crossed over her tail.
"It's not often we get people who want to make changes and actually involve us in the process," she said. "How do we know you won't give up when it gets difficult?"
"Because I know change doesn't happen overnight." Hermione handed her journal to Ivete so she and the others could take a look. "I have notes on grievances and potential solutions. I can't promise things will be better immediately, but the least I can do is raise awareness and maybe people will want to help too."
"Hm… well, I can't guarantee you will get many of us who will actually talk to you," said Granny. "Not until they know you better."
"Well, I'll just have to keep coming back until they trust me." Hermione yawned and rubbed her eye. "I understand their suspicion. I would be, too, but I won't let it stop me."
"Then we'll help anyway we can," said Ivete. "However, it's getting late and all of you should be getting some sleep. We don't have any spare rooms, I'm sorry to say."
"That's alright, we've got sleeping bags," said Hermione.
"I'll show you my room!" said Márcia, perking up.
She led them out a door through a covered courtyard. In the middle of it was what looked like the house itself only on a smaller scale. Chickens pecked at the ground, unbothered by the mist and the roar of the falls.
"What's that small, round, house made of adobe bricks in the middle of the courtyard?" asked Bernice, being specific for Cássia's benefit.
"A steam bath?" Cássia guessed.
"It's exactly a steam bath!" said Márcia. "It's really good for the scales. We do have a shower as well, but I would only recommend using it in the morning so the sun can heat up the water."
Her room was on the opposite side of the small yard and it was made of the same material as the rest of the houses. Except, while the main room was shaped more like a smoke stack, this one and the other rooms were domed and raised off the ground. The mist gathered and slid off the buildings, gathering into tiny streams that rolled down and into the canals that made up the other falls. Márcia's room, though windowless, was decorated with beautiful scenery. She had a hammock on one wall. There was also an easel and a cart meant to hold her art supplies, though she kept most of it at school. There was also a pottery wheel and shelves filled with materials. The whole room smelled just like the art department at school.
Márcia moved things around so everyone would have a place on the floor. It was stone, so everyone worked together to conjure carpet and mats to lay on before rolling out their sleeping bags.
"I can sleep on the ground if anyone wants my bed," said Márcia.
"No, this is your room," Hermione replied. "You should be able to sleep in your own bed. I'm perfectly fine on the floor."
"I wish for a cot," said Cássia, snapping her fingers.
A baby crib appeared and Cássia patted it with her hands. She sighed in frustration. "I thought I was specific with this wish!"
"In England, a cot is a baby crib," said Hermione.
Her friend huffed and got her sleeping bag out.
"Can't you wish yourself an actual bed?" asked Alejandro.
"Not until tomorrow," she said and burrowed into it before reaching back for Quripuma's hand. "Wishes take energy and I don't have any more. My sleep sack is fine."
Márcia moved the crib to the corner and hauled herself into her hammock. Her long tail spilled onto the floor and within seconds she was asleep.
Hermione rolled out her own sleeping bag and climbed inside. Unlike the Centaur Camp, this area was much colder. Either from the altitude or the constant mist from the falls. Perhaps a mixture of both. She removed her necklaces and bracelets and placed them in her purse before burrowing down. The dull roar outside overpowered any sounds that might keep her awake. Everyone was much too tired to chitchat anyway.
"Goodnight," said Quripuma aloud.
Hermione sat up so she could sign the sentiment to her friend before settling down and covering her face with her hands to block out any remaining light. Everyone else murmured their goodnights as they, too, settled down for sleep.
~o0o~
The cihuacoatls didn't want to talk about their grievances. At least, not right off the bat. Unlike the centaur camp, they only knew that they were getting visitors, not the purpose of the visit. So, Hermione interviewed anyone and everyone they came across. Asked them about their lives and their work. It was actually Quripuma's idea to do that, as Hermione was keen on just asking around until they found someone willing to talk about their hardships outside of Márcia's family.
So, instead, they learned all about how the cihuacoatls adapted to living under the constant spray of a waterfall. The good news was that the constant motion kept the water clean enough to drink directly. It also swept away any waste, but also made it difficult to grow things as the flow would wash away soil, and living on a plateau didn't grow all that much to begin with. So, similar to chinampas, or floating gardens, from Xochimilco, they had carved pools into the stone for water to flow through and had little dams that would let water out at a slower pace in order to prevent flooding. During the rainy season, cihuacoatls would take turns dumping the excess water out with buckets. After the pools were carved, they had bound together reeds to hold in the soil, which they brought in from the rainforest. The chinampas were set up in the sunniest part of the city as far out of the spray of the falls as they could be. From there, they had mats erected to protect the gardens from the mist while still exposing them to the sun. The roots received plenty of water from the pools.
Hermione knew Ron would hate their all-natural pest control the most. Hidden in little holes were tarantulas with, of all things, pet frogs. The frogs protected the tarantula eggs from the smaller insects while the tarantulas went after the bigger pests. Rats that were brave, or stupid enough, to take their chances were usually captured by the basilisks living around the city.
Their little group was helping gather some of the peppers that were ready to be picked. One of the ways that Ravi made money was that they grew and jarred a particularly spicy brand of pepper. These were supposedly hotter than the California ghost pepper, which led to a steady stream of orders by both daredevils and pranksters alike. Everyone would be getting a jar of their own as a souvenir.
"Márcia?" said Hermione.
"Yes?"
"This is going to sound like a weird request," said Hermione. "But given that you know my hobbies, I'm guessing it won't be too weird of one."
"Get on with it," said Cássia.
"Can I have some basilisk venom?"
Márcia looked like she was going to ask why then seemed to remember what they did just a few weeks ago.
"Um… I mean, if it were up to me, then yes, but you'd have to ask Yoli," she said. "She's the basilisk wrangler and breeder. We're actually meeting her after we bring these peppers back to my house."
"I know why you wanted us to come," said Cássia. "You just wanted someone to help with your chores."
"You caught me." Márcia laughed and paused. "No, I didn't actually invite you here to do that."
"We know," said Alejandro, giving her a side hug.
"I can and will, with no shame, put you to work if you visit," said Hermione. "That's what it means to treat everyone like family."
Her joke didn't get a laugh, but it did end Márcia's fretting. Nívea and Aline came by for their baskets so they could go ahead and meet Yoli at the basilisk pit. They would learn how to jar the peppers later.
The basilisk pit wasn't really a pit. It was also on a plateau that was separate from the main one, connected by yet another rope bridge. While the cihuacoatls usually kept some basilisks as pets in their homes, the others were raised and farmed like chicken or sheep. Their crew reached the rope bridge and Hermione froze. Once again, Cássia went first, using her cane to feel for the next planks so she wouldn't trip.
"If you want to turn into an otter, I'll carry you," said Alejandro.
"And you won't do anything mean or tease me, right?" Hermione asked apprehensively. "I know too many people who would."
"No! Of course not."
"Just make sure you turn back right away," Márcia warned.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm a carnivore not an apex predator," she said. "At least my animagus form isn't a bird. Could you imagine the irony of that?"
Hermione shrank down and Alejandro picked her up. As he started walking across the bridge, she covered her eyes with her paws and tried not to focus on the creaks and sways of the bridge. She knew it was safe. She knew it was tried and true after millennia, but she just couldn't walk across it.
"We're across," said Alejandro.
He set her down and she returned to her normal size. The hissing that she heard as they approached quickly turned to whispers.
"I'm hungry."
"I'm bored."
"What's that?"
"New smell. New smell. New smell."
"Shh!" Hermione pressed her hands over her ears. "I don't understand! Why can I only sometimes understand parseltongue?"
Alejandro tipped his head and glanced down at her chest. Before she could get offended, he gasped and pointed. "The locket!"
"Hm?" She looked down at Slytherin's locket. She hadn't realized she put it on today.
"That's right," said Bernice. "You mentioned last week that it carried magic, but you didn't know what."
"That's that thing that belonged to a Hogwarts founder, right?" said Cássia. "One of them is an infamous parselmouth. I can't remember the name."
"S-L-Y-T-H-E-R-I-N!" said Quripuma.
"That makes so much sense and I feel silly for not thinking of it," said Hermione. She took off the locket and the talking returned to hissing. She put it on and took it off again, then passed it around to her friends so they could try it themselves. Even Quripuma had been able to experience it, much like Esperanza had been able to, and Hermione wondered if it expanded to all magical languages or just parseltongue. Or… perhaps the locket's magic simply allowed anyone no matter how hard of hearing they were to understand the language.
"¡Vaya!" said Cássia, passing it back to her.
"Another mystery solved!" said Alejandro.
"I'll probably just edit this bit out," said Hermione. "If word got around that I had an ancient powerful artifact that granted the wearer the ability to understand parseltongue…"
"You'd be robbed in a dark alley," Bernice agreed.
Moving on from that subject, Hermione agreed to let everyone have a turn with the locket during the remaining days they were with Márcia's family. For now, she would get to wear it since she was planning on asking Yoli for Basilisk venom.
"Hold it, hold it!"
A cihuacoatl who was bigger than Márcia, but smaller than Granny, hurried over. She wore a wide straw hat and thick gloves. Hanging on her belt were long grabby things.
"Hi, Yoli!" said Márcia. "These are my friends from Castelobruxo. I think Mamãe told you we were visiting today.
"Yes, yes, but your friends are susceptible to getting petrified and our stock of potions is limited after Blue Eyes got drunk and fell asleep in the mandrake crop and I really don't want to make the trip to the spring after that rockslide blocked the direct path." She reached into the pouch around her neck and brought out pairs of specs. "Everyone, please put these on, they will prevent you from getting petrified by any basilisk of any breed as the blue light filters out the yellow of their eyes."
"Oh, these would have been nice when a basilisk was attacking people at school," said Hermione, putting on a pair.
Getting an idea, she found saran wrap in her purse and charmed it blue before slapping it over the lens of her video camera. She knew what happened to Colin Creevey's camera and would have a meltdown if hers got blown up. Really, she was just hoping that the basilisks would be too tiny to cause too much damage, but with the blue filter then she wouldn't have to worry about it.
"When did a Basilisk attack Castelobruxo?" asked Yoli.
"Not Castelobruxo. Hogwarts. My friend Ginny killed it." Hermione pursed her lips. "Er… sorry."
"What for? We use these basilisks for meat and skin."
"Isn't that cannibalism?" asked Quripuma.
"The laws of nature are different," said Yoli, looking like she'd heard this a million times before. "Mermaids eat fish, you know. Dragons will eat smaller dragons. When we die, our bodies are eaten by the earth. Basilisks are used in potions, for clothes, we eat their meat. No part goes to waste. Only humans see eating other humanoids as taboo. Of course, that varies by tribe."
"Well, humans get sick from constantly eating other humans," said Bernice. "So that's probably why."
"Makes sense," said Hermione, training her camera on the pit. "Not just the getting sick thing, but the circle of life, too. Though, if I'm being served Soylent Green Snake I'd prefer not to know."
The area was a pit in a way. The ground was lowered, almost like the pools for the gardens. There were dozens of nests filled with eggs upon which fat toads the size of dinner plates were sitting. In another section were baby basilisks barely the size of Hermione's arm. Each basilisk was a greenish-blue color and had a ridge of brightly colored feathers.
"We have a section of land sanctioned off for older Basilisks," said Yoli, pointing to another plateau. "Basilisks aren't very territorial and don't need a lot of area to grow and thrive. However, with deforestation and tourists who think they can go anywhere, it's becoming more difficult to maintain the reserve."
"How do the Basilisks affect the local No-Maj population?" Hermione asked.
"For the native tribes, we have a trading system with them," she said. "I won't lie and say it's completely harmonious, but we all do the best we can with what we're given. I do worry that if too much more is washed away then we might have to…" She trailed off and shook her head. "But that's why you're here, yes? We've been living here for three centuries, it would be awful to have to uproot again."
"Yes," said Hermione. "I'm here to raise awareness and make some changes. Tell me what some of the benefits are to basilisk raising."
"Well, Basilisk skin is more durable and longer lasting than dragon hide," said Yoli. "Feed them well and they have some very good meat. Their bones and organs can be used for a variety of potions. And, of course, their venom is potent at any age. You do not want to touch it because it will eat through your skin in a matter of seconds."
Hermione paused the filming and lowered her camera. "I've been meaning to ask… could I… that is… have some? Basilisk venom, I mean."
Yoli tipped her head and narrowed her eyes. "What for?"
"I need to imbue a goblin made weapon with it so I can destroy horcruxes and save my foster brother."
The cihuacoatl stared at her. "Are you a chosen one?"
"No, just nosy."
"Hm… I can't just give it away. I can either sell you a vial or you can milk it yourself."
"Milk it…"
Yoli nodded.
"How much is a vial worth?"
"Basilisks have a limited amount of venom, it takes them weeks to replenish it, at this size and with the way we've bred them, a couple months. Had to because they kept poisoning the water supply with their excess. So a vial would be about a hundred galleons."
Hermione pursed her lips. She didn't have a hundred galleons and there was no way she could ask anyone for that kind of cash without drawing suspicion and questions. She groaned and stomped her foot.
"Will you teach me to milk a basilisk?" she sighed.
"Of course."
"We have to film this," said Quripuma before grabbing the camera.
Hermione stuck out her tongue and jogged over to Yoli's side. The cihuacoatl brought her over to a shed where she was outfitted with basilisk skin waders, as their hide was too thick for their fangs to penetrate; she was also given gloves that went up to her elbows, a pair of safety goggles, and a mask so she wouldn't inhale the fumes of the pit. Yoli didn't need anything but the gloves as cihuacoatls had a natural immunity to basilisk venom, but the bites still hurt. Márcia wasn't immune, but a bite would knock her out for a few days. Hermione would be dead within minutes.
Why couldn't this have been a forest of coincidence? 'Oh, no, we have too much basilisk venomn would you like a vial?' Hell, she'd happily trade the locket for a vial of venom. But then what would a snerson (snake person) have to gain from something that translated a language they already knew? Still, she wouldn't use S.A.M.B. as leverage for something like this. They wanted her to prove she'd do the work, then she would.
"Lookin' good, Nia!" said Bernice.
Hermione rolled her eyes, knowing she looked ridiculous. She followed Yoli over to the basilisk pit, pushing a trolley along. The waders were a bit big and she felt like she was dragging a very loose second skin around. They parked the trolley next to the pit. Yoli removed one of the grabbers from her belt and reached right into the pit, grabbing one of the snakes.
"Is this really necessary?" it asked.
"I want your venom," said Yoli.
"Over my dead body!"
"I feed you. You don't even need your venom."
"Doesn't matter!"
"If they hate it then should we be taking it?" asked Hermione.
"It doesn't hurt them, it just annoys them," said Yoli. "Just think of it… like a No-Maj dentist appointment. Except instead of stealing all of their teeth, we're extracting the venom."
"Er, dentists only remove teeth if it's causing a problem," said Hermione. "Their main job is to clean them. Who told you they steal teeth?"
"Potato, tomato. Grab a glass, hold it very still."
Hermione cringed and plucked a glass off the tray. She held it out as far away from her as she could and squeaked when Yoli pressed the basilisk's face into the rubber film covering the top. Though she seriously considered dropping it and running away as far as she could, Hermione studied how she held the creature with its head pressed between her fore and middle fingers. It opened its mouth to show six sharp, serrated fangs, which punctured and stuck into the film. Yoli pressed her thumb on its head and venom squirted out into the glass.
"Thith thucks!" the basilisk muttered.
"Shh!" Yoli unstuck it from the glass, brought it over to an empty pit and looked at the others. "Make yourselves useful. In the shed we've got dead rats, bring them over and feed the snakes in that pit."
"Yeah, uh, I'm not touching a dead rat," said Alejandro, shuddering.
"I will," said Bernice. "Quripuma?"
"Sure."
Cássia found a place to sit down with Alejandro and tipped her face up to the sun.
"Why don't you tell us a little more about basilisk farming?" Hermione suggested. "If you're comfortable talking and working at the same time."
"Yeah, sure. I've been doing this for over a hundred years," said Yoli, snatching up another snake. "I could do it in my sleep, but it is easier with an assistant holding the jars.
Hermione looked into the glass and frowned. "There's hardly any in there."
"Yes, this will take a while," said Yoli. "If you kids want to go explore elsewhere while we work you can."
"Yeah, this is my mission," said Hermione. "Go on, explore. It's not like I'll never visit this place again."
"Aww, Nia!" Marcia jumped on her and hugged her.
"WHOA BRIGHT EYES!" Yoli yelled. "Deadly basilisk? Fragile human?"
"Oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry."
"No harm done," said Hermione. "Just my life flashing before my eyes again. At least, I think it was my life. Did I ever dance with a girl named Lupe?"
Márcia chuckled sheepishly and backed away. "Um, I'll just bring anyone who doesn't want to stay back to my house and we can jar the peppers. And then tomorrow we can spend all day visiting my favorite painting spots and hanging out!"
"Absolutely," said Hermione, turning back to watch the basilisks.
The sun set lower and lower. Hermione helped Yoli with snake after snake. They filled up all the jars on top of the trolley and the snake pit was mostly empty by sunset. The remaining basilisks were just moving around too fast for her to grab and they didn't want to listen to any bribing or reassurances.
"I think this is a good stopping point," said Yoli, picking up the bucket of dead rats and feeding the stragglers. "I'll take care of these tomorrow while they're full and sleepy."
"So when do I milk the snake?" asked Hermione.
Yoli laughed and shook her head. "Snake wrangling takes years of work and training. I wasn't actually going to make you do it yourself, but I appreciate your tenacity, and with you helping me out it didn't take as long as it normally does."
They took the trolley back to the shed and transferred the venom to special vials that wouldn't shatter or corrode.
"You're a trooper Nia. I could appreciate your help again next time you visit."
"I'll think about it." She laughed and shook the nervous energy out of her hands. That was one of the top ten most terrifying things she had ever experienced. She could still feel the basilisks slithering all over her feet and legs. "Agh! Something's on my back!"
"Nothing is on your back," said Yoli.
"There is, I can feel it! Something is on my back!"
"It's okay, Nia, it's all in your head. You're not used to working with snakes, so your brain is making something up to deal with it. I think you just need to go back to your friends and eat a good dinner."
"Yeah… yeah, I guess you're right." She turned around and took a deep breath. She heard Yoli inhale sharply and the feeling went away. She looked back and Yoli smiled, holding her hands behind her back.
"Go on and take three vials," she said. "From what you've told me, horcruxes sound like nasty business and you never know what else you might come across."
"Oh, thank you so much! Are you sure I can take three?"
"Absolutely. You're my favorite helper."
"Well, thanks." Hermione did a double-take and frowned. "Was that scorpion always here?"
"Yes. It's my snack." Yoli quickly stuffed it in her mouth. "Go on. Go, go."
Hermione took out the chest that contained her research and list on how to hunt the horcruxes and placed the small vials securely inside.
"Thanks a lot, Yoli," she said. "And thanks for telling me all about basilisks. It was really fascinating."
"Anytime!" She waved her along.
Hermione slung her bag across her chest and went over to the bridge.
Ah… that's right.
Her friends had gone back to Marcia's house to jar peppers.
"Do you want to stay here all day and risk getting bitten?" she asked herself. "Of course you don't. You're Hermione-freaking-Granger. You can handle an ickle bridge!" She took one step and then another and another. Halfway across the bridge a gust of wind carrying a front came through rocking it violently.
"I can't!" Hermione crouched down and clung onto the rope for dear life. "I can't! I can't! I can't!"
She hyperventilated and dug her mirror out of her purse.
"Sh-show me: Cedric!" She got a good view of the inside of his backpack. "CEDRIC!"
Her scream echoed throughout the chasm.
The items moved and Cedric's face appeared. He looked awful. Two black eyes this time, though healing, and a new scar on his cheek. She was about to say something and the bridge lurched and swung again. She shrieked and squeezed her eyes shut.
"Mimi? What's going on?"
"I'm stuck on a bridge hanging over a deep chasm!"
"Oh, my God, are you okay?" he asked.
"Nooo! I like sitting on rickety bridges a hundred feet in the air!"
"Wow, I didn't know you were stuck over a sar-chasm."
Hermione forgot all of her fear and gave him a withering scowl. Off-screen she heard Roger laugh.
"What are you doing on a bridge anyway?" he asked.
"Well, I was milking snakes, but now I'm going to pickle peppers."
"I'm sorry, milking what?"
"Anyway, I encouraged my friends to go on without me and sort of forgot that I need help getting across bridges. I thought I could do it, but I can't and I'm terrified and I called you. How the hell do you like flying?"
"You fly just fine in planes."
"Yes, but I have a Xanax before the flight so I'm too calm to be afraid."
He hummed. "Well, I like being high up. When you're in the air, nothing can touch you and you're free."
"Mm… I don't exactly feel the same," she said. "I'm highly aware of how easy it is to fall."
"Then do what you do best. Take that airspace and make it your bitch!"
"Cedric, the baby!" Beatrice hissed and he blushed.
"Sorry, Beatrice." The image shook as he went to a different room.
"Nia!"
Hermione looked up and saw Alejandro making his way over to her.
"Sorry I'm late," he said. "I thought you were going to be done later."
"Better late than never," she said. "Get me off this bridge. Hurry! Hurry!"
She shrank down to otter form, still holding her mirror; Alejandro picked her up and she sighed with relief.
"Okay," she said, turning back to Cedric. "You were saying something profound about the defiance of gravity?"
"I gotta go," he said.
"Cedric…"
"I've got to go!"
Her reflection looked back at her. She pouted and stuffed the mirror in the pouch on her chest next to her rock. It would appear in her pocket when she turned human again. This was the longest conversation they've had since Umbridge took over Hogwarts. Why couldn't he just tell her things anymore?
"Everything okay?" asked Alejandro.
"My boyfriend is just… being stubborn!" she crossed her arms and raspberried. "What's his deal?"
"Well, maybe he just didn't want an audience," said Alejandro. "I know I wouldn't if, if I was talking sweet things with my girl."
"I guess that's fair, but he's been avoiding me lately. I think he's worried that if he reveals too much then I'll show up at Hogwarts guns blazing."
"Would you?"
"No. He made a good point about me being seen as a threat and harmed or even imprisoned for interfering if I'm not careful. I made the Minister too scared of me."
"My God, is it really that bad over there?"
"Yes."
"Well, in other news, while we were jarring those peppers, Bernice accidentally touched her face. It was funny. She had to rinse her eyes with milk."
"Where'd they get milk?"
"A goat."
Alejandro set her down once he was off the bridge and she returned to her normal form to walk the rest of the way. For dinner at Márcia's they had tlahcos, which were a lot like tacos but not as greasy since the meat and veg wasn't fried in oil.
"People are talking around town," said Ravi. "I think maybe by your next visit, they'll be ready to talk about their problems."
"What's stopping them?" Bernice asked.
"Results," he said. "Wolfsbane potions are nice and all, but I think until you actually start making changes they're not going to open up much."
"Well, I guess when we get back to school we'll get started on petitions," said Hermione. "It'll take time, but I'm a very persistent person."
"Until then, we're on holiday!" said Alejandro. "It's great learning about everyone's culture and all, but we should have some fun, too! And you're guaranteed to have fun when you come to my house."
"Oh, really?" said Bernice. "And why is that?"
"Cause we're hosting the biggest festival in trolldom next week."