"He'sss blind."
"I'll jussst have to take your word Bob, I can't exactly look at him."
If a snake could snort, then Bob the Snake snorted at that, and Corvus refrained from rolling his eyes. Looking into the eyes of a Basilisk was a death sentence, and Corvus didn't really want to end this timeline this early, so he was staring at the ground instead. Even if said Basilisk was blind due to hundreds of years in darkness, Corvus wasn't taking any chances.
Slytherin's Monster hissed at them in what was almost laughter and wasn't that just so very odd. This was the first time he had encountered the beast and actually seen it not immediately try to kill him. In fact, he hardly moved from his spot in the middle of the Chamber of Secrets.
"You try ssspending a thousssand yearsss trapped here in the darknesss." The Basilisk hissed.
"Fair." Corvus hissed. "Ssso, Dave, we're here to help."
"We are?" Bob hissed.
"My name isss not Dave." Dave the Basilisk hissed.
"Well, to sssimplify matter, we're gonna call you Dave." Corvus explained. "Now if you could clossse your eyesss in a way that I don't immediately die when I look at you, that would be great."
"I'm blind! I haven't usssed my eyesss in yearsss!"
"That dosssen't mean I can't ssstil be killed by your gaze." Corvus countered.
"What makesss you think I won't jussst eat you right now?"
"Maybe becaussse you can't even sssee me."
"I can ssstill hear you."
"Jussst clossse your eyesss already."
There was some grumbling, but soon enough Dave's eyes were closed, and Corvus looked upon the Basilisk for the first time. Dave the Basilisk looked like a normal thousand-year-old basilisk would. He was way longer than both Corvus and Bob, he had green scales the size of Corvus' hand, his eyes were closed in a way that he wouldn't kill everyone who looked at him, and he had his large, forked tongue flicking this way and that. It would have been an intimidating sight if not for the fact that the guy was blind, his eyes milky white, and that Corvus could understand everything he was saying.
"Great! Your looking good for sssomeone a thousssand yearsss old!" Corvus hissed.
"He'sss blind though." Bob hissed.
"I know, but he'sss ssstill alive, and that'sss what countsss."
"How are you going to help me?" Dave demanded.
"Well, that'sss the thing, I didn't really have a plan after thisss ssstep." Corvus hissed.
"What?! You had no plan, ssspeaker?!" Bob hissed.
"I ssshould have known." Dave hissed. "None of you humansss have any good plansss."
"Oi! Don't compare me to Riddle." Corvus hissed.
"Riddle? The former ssspeaker?" Bob asked.
"He left me!" Dave hissed angrily. "He left when he promisssed to ssstay!"
Oh, Merlin help him, was Dave some clingy type of snake? That was interesting and frightening in of itself.
"Well, me and Bob won't leave you." Corvus hissed.
"Really?" Bob and Dave asked as one.
"Yep! We'll be the bessst of budsss. Riddle can go fuck himssself for all I care."
"I don't know what, fuck, isss. But yesss, he can go do that to himssself!" Dave hissed back.
"Alright! Now, firssst thingsss firssst, we have to clean thisss place up. It'sss filthy."
"I can ssshow you where the Ssslytherin kept hisss thingsss. He alwaysss kept hisss little hidey hole to himssself." Dave hissed.
Oh, that sounded nice indeed, and maybe old Slytherin kept some books about parselmagic in there as well.
"I think thisss isss going to be the ssstart of a great and mutually beneficial freindssship!"
"Oh, thank Merlin, we have double period of Binns today." Corvus said as he slumped into his seat.
Staying up all night cleaning and exploring the Chamber of Secrets whilst also making conversation with Dave the Blind Basilisk wasn't good on his eleven-year-old body.
"Are you actually excited for this class?" Ernie asked as he took a seat next to him.
"Of course I am. This is prime napping time." Corvus said and took out his wand. Showing too much wordless and wandless magic would scare everyone, and honestly Corvus didn't want that, so using the wand and words it was.
He transfigured his wooden chair into a mattress and promptly laid down on it. The last thing he heard before drifting off to sleep was some chuckles from his fellow Hufflepuffs, Binns and his droning voice, and one Hermione Granger sputtering in outraged shock about his sleeping in class.
Hermione Granger couldn't believe what her eyes were seeing. The Hufflepuff students were all going to sleep in Professor Binns' class! They were at their first History of Magic class, and they were all sleeping! This was Hogwarts! They were all magical, and yet they chose to sleep!
The most egregious one was Corvus Gaunt, the Hufflepuff student who transfigured his chair into a mattress. She didn't know if she should be angry or impressed by that feat of magic. What she did know was that she was angry that he was sleeping through the class!
Even some of her fellow Gryffindors were nodding off. Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, was even struggling to stay awake. How ere none of them interested in learning about magic and its history?! Hermione just didn't understand and simply went back to her notes, writing down everything that Professor Binns was going on about.
"How did he manage to do that?"
Susan Bones simply shrugged at Hannah's question. They all knew that Corvus was good at magic, and if the rumors were to be believed, he was very good. Everyone else in their year was still struggling with needles and matchsticks, but here Corvus was turning chairs into mattresses. It was impressive, and she had to remind herself to ask him about it when he woke up.
"You think he could do it to my chair next time?" Megan asked in a whisper as Professor Binns carried on with his lecture out the Goblin Wars.
"Maybe." Susan replied.
"How is he so far ahead on the material?" Hannah asked. "He doesn't even read the textbook."
"Or participate in class." Justin mentioned as he vainly tried to pay attention. He was clearly failing if he was adding to this conversation.
"Its Corvus." Ernie said with a shrug. "Its just something we should have expected at this point. He's weird."
"Yeah, weird." Susan said, and her gaze inadvertently moved onto one Daphne Greengrass.
The other girl was methodically writing something on parchment with her quill, the faint scratching being something that was almost soothing amidst the forms of students trying to stay awake. Greengrass was weird in the way that she didn't show any emotions and rarely talked to them, even when they were all in the dorms together. They had tried to start up some conversations with her and had gotten a simple blank look in response. How Corvus got her to talk, or how the Sorting Hat thought that Hufflepuff was a good house for her, was a mystery.
"Ya know, he wasn't in the dorms last night." Ernie added.
"Then where did he go?" Hannah asked.
"No idea." Ernie said and shrugged.
Susan looked over at the sleeping form of Corvus Gaunt and wondered just what was going on in that kid's mind. His entire existence seemed to defy expectations. He was a Gaunt and yet he was a Hufflepuff. He didn't study or participate in class and yet he was good at everything they did. He seemed to know where everything in Hogwarts was even though he hadn't been here until he arrived with the rest of them.
He was just someone that Susan didn't understand.
"Isn't it beautiful?"
Corvus lounged on one of the many quidditch stands as the Hufflepuff team went about practice. Everyone was in the air at this point and drills were being run to see who would make it and who would be sent away with a hug and an offer of maybe next year. It was Saturday now and the sun was shining in the way that it would for the next couple of weeks before Scottish Winter set in.
It was warm enough that he could forgo robes and vest, have his sleeves rolled up, and the top buttons of his shirt undone.
"I believe so." Daphne replied. Corvus had been partially joking when he invited her to watch practice with him, but she agreed to come along, and now here they were. Corvus leaning back with his feet put up on the seat in front of him while Daphne sat in the same position that she always did.
"Cedric's gonna make captain." Corvus said as he watched the Hufflepuff Seeker go through his drills, which mainly consisted of finding the Snitch whilst everyone else went through actual drills.
"Is it the same in every reincarnation?"
There was a buzzing sound, and the Snitch came into Corvus' view. He swatted it away with the wave of a hand.
"Yeah, every single one so far and he's made it." Corvus replied.
"Interesting."
The Snitch was being rather persistent in its desire to remain by Corvus. The damn thing was buzzing this way and that, but always remining in front of him, not leaving his side and heading towards the actual Hufflepuff Seeker. Daphne watched it with her eyes for a second before returning to watching the others during practice. She didn't seem overly interested in quidditch as a sport, but watched the players go through the motions same as he did.
Eventually Cedric spotted the Snitch from where he was over in the distance and came flying over. The Snitch decided that its running days were over and remained hovering in front of Corvus, much to the Gaunt heir's consternation, and soon enough Diggory was here.
"Weird, it didn't even try to fly away." Cedric said as he snatched the Snitch out of the air.
"Yeah, tell me about it." Corvus said as he gave Cedric a two fingered salute. The Hufflepuff Seeker gave him a grin in return and took another look at the Snitch in his hand.
"Did you do something to get it to fly to you?"
"Nope, it just likes me."
"Weird, but also interesting. Hey, have you thought about trying out for the team?"
"Nah, quidditch isn't really my sport."
"Well, the Snitch really liked you. Maybe it's a sign?"
"I don't believe in that sort of thing."
Daphne cleared her throat in a way that was polite and pointed at the same time, her eyes never leaving the other players in their practice, and Corvus narrowed his eyes at her for a second before turning back to Cedric.
"No offence, but I'd rather not."
"Oh, come on! The Snitch basically begged you to catch it! And since Potter got into the Gryffindor team, that means there's now an exception to the rule, one that we can take advantage of."
"Eh…" Corvus shrugged again.
"Diggory! What are you doing!" The Captain of the Hufflepuff team yelled out. Corvus tried to recall the guy's name and came up with Henderson, or was It Ericson?
"I've got us another Potter!" Cedric yelled back. Corvus didn't know if he should be offended or not at being compared to Harry Potter. The kid was a good quidditch player sure, but he was a dumb as a brick and magically inept at this age, and Corvus was definitely not that.
"What?!" The Captain said as he swooped over. Cedric started to retell the tale of how the Snitch came to a stop in front of Corvus and how it didn't leave even when Cedric himself had come over, just staying in the air so and waiting to be snatched.
"He's overexaggerating Henderson." Corvus said.
"Henderson? I'm Richardson, Gary Richardson." Gary said.
"Got it, and I don't want to be another Potter." Corvus continued.
"If you're as good as Cedric here claims then you just have to be on the team!"
"He hasn't even seen me on a broom."
"You should put him on the team." Daphne said and the other three of them jolted in shock. They had momentarily forgotten that she was present, sitting so still and all.
"See? Even your best friend seems to think it's a good idea." Cedric said with a smile.
Corvus would have noticed the twitch of Daphne's lip if he had been looking at her. At the current moment, he was not, and instead was looking at Cedric and Gary like they were both insane.
"Are you actually serious. You haven't even seen me fly yet and if I was put on the team, I would be taking your position." Corvus pointed out to Cedric, the Hufflepuff Seeker.
"If it means winning the cup, I'd happily joined the reserve team." Cedric said.
"And I want to win the cup before I graduate." Gary said.
"You both know that it really doesn't matter who wins? Its just a game." Corvus said.
"Its quidditch though." Cedric said.
By this point several other members of the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team had made their way over and soon the tale of Corvus Gaunt and the Friendly Golden Snitch was making the rounds. There were knowing smiles going around at natural seekers as well as comments about if Gryffindor could have firsties on the team, why not Hufflepuff as well? Corvus watched it all go on with a sigh and Daphne simply gave him a single pat on the arm.
As if that was any consolation to being pressganged into playing quidditch.
"I'm telling you professor, he's a natural!"
"I understand Mr. Richardson, but Mr. Gaunt has said he doesn't want to play."
"No, he said he isn't interested, which isn't the same as not wanting to play. That means he can still play."
"That's not the same as saying yes."
"But the Snitch went right up to him and didn't leave! You should have seen it professor! The thing didn't even flinch away when Cedric went to grab it, just remained in place and let itself be taken."
"That doesn't mean Corvus wants to play. If he doesn't want to then he doesn't have to."
"But this is our shot at the cup! The Gryffindors have Potter. Its only fair that we get Gaunt!"
"Mr. Richardson, there is more to life than quidditch."
"But he's a natural. I swear it to be true."
"If you can convince him to join the team, then I'll give permission for it. McGonagall isn't the only one that can bend the rules."
"Thank you, Professor Sprout, you won't regret this!"
"It seems rather fun." Flora said as she stirred her potion.
"And you would be up there with the likes of Harry Potter." Hestia added.
"Eh… Potter's overrated." Corvus said as he watched Daphne work on their potion. He had finished dicing up their latest needed ingredients and was waiting for her to finish the current step. Potions was simple when one actually followed the instructions.
"Quidditch is important though. It would help out with the opinions of the rest of the house." Flora said.
"And who wouldn't want to win the House Cup?" Hestia said.
"Everyone wants you on the team as well." Ernie added from his spot on the table to their right. Just moments later his cauldron started to send off sparks of light that it wasn't meant to.
"You'd be great." Flora said.
"And Hufflepuff's youngest seeker in two hundred years, so even more record breaking than Harry Potter." Justin said.
"You are all completely obsessed with the game, aren't you?" Corvus said.
All he got were some laughs in return, which were quickly brushed away by Snape's snide comments. Corvus didn't nearly flinch away from the Potions Master like everyone else did, and that might have irritated Snape more than he was letting on, if not for the fact that Daphne too didn't flinch away.
Though that might be because Daphne didn't even hear the man's words, so engrossed in her potion making, and Corvus simply handed her the next ingredient, and she didn't even look up at him as she grabbed it.
When he really thought about it, he didn't really have a reason to not join the team. Sure, he had gone down that route before, and won before, but there was always some adrenaline induced excitement that came with quidditch. He was no adrenaline junkie, but it was still a damn good feeling at times, to just get the blood roaring through his veins. To feel as if he was going over a hundred miles an hour on a god damned broom stick of all things.
Yeah, he'd already made his decision.
He'd be joining up again.
"You got him on the team?"
"I did. The boy's a natural."
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore smiled to himself as the rest of the heads of house conversed in their weekly meeting together. Minerva and Pomona were having a friendly conversation about the two new quidditch seekers that had recruited to their respective teams.
Young Harry Potter and Young Corvus Gaunt.
Dumbledore was a little shocked to see both of them in truth. Harry because he didn't quite believe that the boy's relatives had treated him in such a fashion. It saddened him somewhat, but needs must be, and the blood wards around that house had to remain if Harry was to be safe. The boy would have magic, and that would have to do for now, prophecy notwithstanding.
Young Corvus was another matter. The story o the murder of the Gaunts wasn't truly well known, but it was a significant one. It was Voldemort's doing, no doubt about that, but no one had bene able to stop the man from doing the act until it was too late. It was good to learn that there were still Gaunts around and that the family was still present.
And it seemed that Young Corvus Gaunt was someone to look out for.
"The boy excels in charms!" Filius said excitedly. "I've never seen such control from a first year."
"Transfiguration also seems to be a strong point with him as well." Minerva said, slightly begrudgingly. "He always gets them right on the first try."
Though, not everyone had nice things to say about the boy.
"He is inadequate at potions." Severus said. "Does not have any respect for the art. He acts as if it were merely a mundane activity, leaving all of the actual brewing to Ms. Greengrass."
"But they're the best of friends." Pomona said. "I'm sure you all have noticed that young Daphne is rather closed off. Corvus is the only one who gets her to open up."
"Indeed." Filius added. "She has remarkable talent and I do see much potential in her, especially when Corvus is at her side."
"I hear that she is also the one who convinced Mr. Richardson to put Mr. Gaunt onto the team as well." Dumbledore said.
"Indeed. No need to criticize the boy so much Severus." Pomona said. "He's smart and capable, an almost perfect student I dare say."
Severus frowned at that but offered no comments. Dumbledore was simply happy that they had all come to an agreement about the boy. Gifted was indeed a word to describe him, and Albus Dumbledore would keep a close eye on him in the coming years.
He also did have an eye for potential.
"Ssso, he hasss gone and joined the human sssportsss team?" Dave the Blind Basilisk asked.
"Yesss." Bob the Adder replied. "And he sssays that he doesssn't like it, but he clearly doesss."
"Mmm, thisss ssspeaker isss very much in denial. Jussst like the firssst ssspeaker wass."
"Isss he?"
"Isss what?"
"Much like the firssst ssspeaker."
"I don't know yet. Maybe. He hasss the feel to him. Might be the Heir to Ssslytherin, might not."
"Are you alwaysss thisss cryptic?"
"Hey! How do you even know what that meansss?"
"The ssspeaker talksss to me."
"You're a pet, that'sss your purpossse."
Bob simply hissed at that, and Dave hissed back.
"Tracey, we shouldn't be doing this."
"Why not? Its not like Malfoy is king of the world."
"But what if we get caught?"
Tracey Davis just waved a hand at Lily Moon as the two of them made their way through the hallways of Hogwarts. Hufflepuff and Slytherin both had their common rooms in the dungeons, and even though neither house knew where the other one was, there were bound to stumble upon them eventually.
Even if they didn't, Tracey had to try. She wanted to see her friend again and she couldn't very well do so when Malfoy disliked any and all contact with Hufflepuff after the sorting. Just because Corvus Gaunt hadn't gone into Slytherin didn't mean that all Hufflepuffs were bad people. They were Hufflepuffs after all! The house of hugs and kisses!
They didn't even have that many classes together, and the few that they did have together were always missed opportunities to Tracey. Daphne didn't talk to many people, Tracey being on that very short list next to Daphne's family and Corvus, and since Daphne always sat with Corvus there wasn't any opportunity to talk to her.
But she hadn't spoken to her friend in a week, and she was fed up with Malfoy's threats of telling his father. She just wanted to talk to her friend again, and Lily had tagged along because what she was doing was technically against the rules. Curfew was coming up and losing Slytherin points was almost as bad as meeting with Hufflepuffs.
"You don't even know where we're going." Lily said as they continued to walk.
"I've got a feeling." Tracey said.
"That doesn't make any sense."
"Don't worry, I know-AH!" Tracey leapt into the air as a snake came into view, slithering its way across the hallway. Lily also jumped back when she saw it and the two girls both fumbled for their wands before noticing that the snake wasn't doing anything other than looking at them.
It hissed at them and both Tracey and Lily didn't know what to do other than point their wands at it.
It hissed again and this time they screamed again as a section of the wall just… opened up. Moments later, Corvus Gaunt came strolling out as if it was completely normal for the stone walls of the dungeons to act as doors. He hissed something at the snake and Tracey could have sworn the snake rolled its eyes, if that was at all possible. Then he turned his attention to the two of them and quirked and eyebrow.
"Ladies?"
"Gaunt." Tracey said and took a moment to compose herself after screaming in shock twice in the span of a minute.
"Just call me Corvus."
"Okay then, Corvus. Could you get a message to Daphne for me?"
"Sure." Corvus said with a shrug. The snake hissed something at him and Corvus bent down to pick it up, the snake wrapping itself around his forearm.
"You're a parselmouth." Lily said as she watched the snake on Corvus' forearm.
"I am. What's the message Tracey?" Corvus asked.
Tracey ignored the way that Lily Moon looked at the Hufflepuff in shock and told the message. She simply wanted to talk with Daphne someplace that wasn't surrounded with other students, and she knew for a fact that Daphne never went anywhere that she wasn't expressly told to go by her parents or was not on the class schedule or was where Corvus wasn't. She just wanted to talk and hang out together like they used to.
"I can pass that along, in fact, we could do that right now." Corvus waved for them to follow him.
"But curfew's almost here." Lily said.
"I know, but we can simply hide in the kitchens."
"You know where the kitchens are?" Tracey asked.
"Yep."
Soon enough they were at the entrance of the Hufflepuff Common Room, which turned out to be a stack of barrels. Tracey and Lily watched as Corvus didn't say a password but tapped out a tune on a barrel and soon enough the entrance revealed itself. It was quite different from the passwords that changed weekly for Slytherin's own common room, but Hufflepuff was always different, so this wasn't that much of a shock.
"Wait right here, I'll get Daphne, then we can all head to the kitchens."
"But what about curfew?" Lily asked, but Corvus had already gone in, and the entrance had sealed itself.
It only took a couple moments, but soon enough, the entrance opened up again and Corvus walked out with Daphne Greengrass at his side.
"Hello Tracey." Daphne said in that same almost emotionless voice.
"Hello Daphne." Tracey smiled a bright smile and went to hug her friend. Daphne stiffened for a moment before relaxing again. She didn't wrap her arms around Tracey, but she did pat her on the back once, and that was better than nothing.
"Oh, you're breaking my heart, Daphne." Corvus said and wiped away some nonexistent tears.
Daphne didn't react, but she did give Corvus a look, and that made the boy snort.
"Come along ladies, we've a kitchen to investigate." Corvus said and started to lead their way.
She felt confident that breaking curfew wouldn't be bad. Corvus was smart after all, and he seemed to know what he was doing, so if Daphne trusted him then Tracey decided to trust him as well.