Chapter Four: Arrival at Hogwarts

Harry sat alone in his cabin on the way to Hogwarts, staring out the window. The serpent was coiled up in the shoulder bag beside him—she didn't want to draw attention to Harry or cause any accidental trouble. Once they'd boarded the train, Nym had run off somewhere to find her friends, whom she promised to introduce Harry to. Nym, he'd decided, instead of Dora, because he simply liked it better.

He was just glad that Nym hadn't tried to convince him to sit with a bunch of people in a small space. He wasn't that comfortable around strangers yet.

A book on simple spells was in his lap, which he planned on reading at some point during this trip. He'd been told the ride would be several hours long, so doing some early studying wouldn't hurt. The reason why Harry hadn't started reading right off the bat was due to his anxiety over the conversation he'd had with Kingsley at Grimmauld Place earlier that morning.

"After you are sorted into a house at Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore will be meeting with you to discuss your friend," Kingsley had told him. "You'll have to work something out with him. Housing a Basilisk can't be done without special precautions."

He couldn't help but worry about what those "special precautions" might be. Harry knew that the danger lay mostly in his friend accidentally meeting the eyes of a person—if she did so once her magic gaze had matured, the consequences would be lethal. Were they going to do something to her eyes? What if they had to blind her?

Harry was distracted by someone knocking on the glass door, which was slightly ajar. It was a girl with brown, bushy hair and a ginger guy who looked a little annoyed. Both looked to be about his age, though Harry had no idea what they'd want with him.

The girl opened the door to his compartment when Harry nodded from the inside. She offered him an apologetic smile, and Harry noticed that she was already wearing her Hogwarts' robes. "Sorry for bothering you, but have you seen a toad by any chance? A boy named Neville's lost his."

"I'm afraid not," Harry replied, jerking his thumb at the bag beside him. "I'm pretty sure my familiar would've gone wild if she smelled a toad here."

Understatement of the century. Harry remembered quite well how much the Basilisk had enjoyed ravenously eating the toad they used to hatch her.

He frowned suddenly and opened the bag up fully to peer at the serpent coiled up inside. "You haven't eaten a toad, have you?"

"Yes," she replied smugly.

Harry clarified and hoped that she hadn't. "Today?"

"Unfortunately, no."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief and looked back at the other two kids. "Nope, we're good."

The ginger looked a bit pale, (Harry had recently been told that when he spoke Parseltongue, he made snake-like hissing sounds) but the girl appeared to be fascinated. "What language was that?"

"Parseltongue," Harry replied. "I don't know much about it—I'm figuring it out as I go along. Sorry, this whole wizard thing is still new to me."

"Well, it's not a good idea to use it around people," the ginger muttered nervously.

Harry shrugged. He'd use it whenever he so pleased. "I need to use it to talk with my familiar."

"And your familiar is…?" The girl asked curiously.

He decided to tell part of the truth. "A snake."

"Gross," the ginger made a face.

"I beg your pardon?!" The Basilisk hissed dangerously as she slithered out of the bag to find her place in Harry's lap. Although she refrained from meeting the ginger's eyes, she made sure to flick her tongue out at him. "He smells of rat!"

"You can't eat him," Harry pointed out. She didn't seem particularly disappointed by that.

Yet again, the ginger's face became terrified while the girl became eager. "You can understand it?"

"And she can understand you too, so watch it," Harry warned the ginger, who bobbed his head up and down quickly.

"How interesting!" The girl slowly came into the compartment and only sat down when Harry didn't say otherwise. The ginger boy remained in the doorway—unwilling to get closer to the snake. "I'm Hermione Granger. What's your name?"

"Oh, I'm Harry. Harry Potter."

The Basilisk shot him a dry look when she realized he was amused by the sudden shock on the faces of the two kids. Harry was by no means vain, but he did find it funny how stunned even adults would become when he introduced himself.

"You're Harry Potter? Really?" Hermione gasped. "I didn't know you were attending Hogwarts!"

"This is too cool!" Exclaimed the ginger. "I'm Ron Weasley, mate. Pleasure to meet you!"

"The pleasure's mine," Harry replied, though he'd be lying if he said their exuberance towards him wasn't a little much. "Anyways, I'm not sure I can help you much with finding the toad. She'll probably try to eat it."

He jabbed his finger towards the Basilisk, who only puffed up proudly. She most certainly would try to eat it if she could fit it in her mouth.

Hermione was unperturbed. "No problem. It can't have gone far—we'll find it in a bit. Erm…do you mind if we join you?"

Harry didn't want a lot of people in the cabin, but he figured it might be nice to get to know some kids from his year. He gestured to the seats across from him. "Sure. Close the door behind you."

They were plenty eager to do so. Hermione sat across from Harry and Ron ended up sitting across from his bag—and the Basilisk inside. The bushy-haired girl focused on the snake for a moment, her curiosity barely containable. "What's her name?"

"She hasn't picked one yet," Harry explained. "She wanted to choose one for herself, but she hasn't found one that she really likes."

"I see," Hermione murmured. "Have you thought about looking up the names of famous witches? She might like one of the names belonging to Slytherin witches—their crest is a snake."

"Why would you want to have anything to do with Slytherin?" Ron asked, frowning. "They're all foul and bonkers in the head. There isn't a wizard that didn't go bad in Slytherin. Gryffindor is where it's at!"

Harry raised an eyebrow, but Hermione merely rolled her eyes. "You know some pretty great wizards and witches have come out of Slytherin. Their founder based the house on the principles of resourcefulness, cleverness, and determination—those are pretty good qualities if you use them right."

Ron looked unconvinced, but Harry didn't care. "Do you know the names of any witches that might interest her? I'd be grateful for any suggestion."

Hermione looked more than happy to take advantage of her apparent surplus of knowledge. She was definitely someone who did their research before making a decision- Harry got that impression from her and he could certainly appreciate it.

The Basilisk slithered out of the bag and settled into Harry's lap, studying Hermione while the girl began to talk about famous witches in the hope that she might pick a name the serpent would like. Ron didn't say much, but he seemed plenty happy to just be in the same cabin as Harry Potter—so long as he didn't have to look at the emerald snake with whom they were sharing said cabin.

"Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff were two of the founders of Hogwarts," Hermione chatted away. "Rowena had a daughter named Helena as well. I read that she's a ghost in Hogwarts, now. There's an American witch named Porpentina Scamander who was a really amazing Auror seventy years ago. She married Newt Scamander later and now she works with him to study magical creatures. Oh, there was also a witch in ancient Greece who used a petrifying spell. I don't know what her real name was, but they called her Medusa in the old legends."

Harry glanced at his familiar. "That might suit you."

The Basilisk's tail flicked. "I will not be named because of the things someone else has already done. I will make my name mine in my own way."

He wasn't actually that surprised by her turning Medusa's name down. He knew that the Basilisk was a fiercely independent creature and did not want to be known for anything but who she was.

Hermione hadn't stopped even when the pair had stopped for a moment to speak with each other. She carried on endlessly, naming witches that she'd read about apparently by her own view of importance or relevance to the current situation. "What else…oh, there was the daughter of Salazar Slytherin. They say that she was known for her ability to speak Parseltongue just like her father. But she died so young that she never finished her time at Hogwarts. I think her name was Selena Slytherin?"

The Basilisk's eyes seemed to glow a little at that. "Yes."

"Yes, what?"

"Selena," she fixed her gaze on Harry. "That is my name."

He smiled and stroked the scales under her chin. "If that's what you want."

"It is."

Harry told the others of her decision, prompting Hermione to stop her tirade of names. Selena's head began to sway slowly from side to side to some unknown rhythm, expressing her happiness after claiming a name as her own.

The train ride took a while, but by nightfall, they'd arrived at Hogwarts. All of the students disembarked the train at Hogsmeade station and while most of them made for the carriages that would take them to the school, Harry and the other first-years gathered around Hagrid, who was waiting. Most of the new kids were in awe of the half-giant and some were even frightened, but Harry was only amused by Hagrid's merry attitude which provided some source of humor.

They took a large number of boats to the massive castle, which lay on the other side of a vast black lake. Harry stared at the huge stone construct with his fellow first-years and Selena, who lay hidden in the sleeve of his cloak. She had wrapped herself tightly around his arm, but hid herself so that she didn't startle anyone—with the exception of Ron and Hermione who were sharing the boat with him and two other students.

Once they had all arrived at the docks, they were ushered into the castle by Hagrid and met up with McGonagall. The witch led them to the entrance of the Great Hall, where she stopped and faced the group of children. "Now when you go into the Great Hall for the first time, you will be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. While you are here at Hogwarts, these houses will be like your families. Success will earn your house points, failure or disregard for the rules will have points taken away from you. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will win the House Cup. Now wait here—I must go inform the other Professors that you have arrived."

McGonagall strode away into the Great Hall, leaving the collection of first-years to wait. Harry was content with waiting quietly at the head of the other students, but apparently the others weren't.

"So the rumors on the train were true."

He glanced to his right, where a boy with bleach-blonde hair was standing in front of two larger boys who almost looked like bodyguards. The blonde, who was clearly the leader of their little group, smirked with no small amount of confidence. "Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts."

That started a rush of urgent whispers amongst the children. Harry only blinked back, trying not to look uneasy now that he was the center of attention. The blonde kept talking. "I'm Draco Malfoy. This is Crabbe and Goyle."

Ron snorted from Harry's other side. "Draco? Really?"

The blonde sneered at the ginger instantly. "Think my name's funny, do you? No need to introduce yourself—red hair, hand-me-down robe, and a secondhand wand? You're obviously a Weasley."

Hermione rolled her eyes, evidently unimpressed by the squabbling. "You know, 'Draco' means 'dragon'. I don't see what's so funny about that."

Ron scowled at that. Draco merely regarded Hermione closely. "Good to know there are some smart witches in our class, Miss…?"

"Granger," she replied. "Hermione Granger."

He seemed to think about it for a moment before shrugging and looking back at Harry. "Well, whatever. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."

He held out a hand to shake, only to yelp when Selena, none too pleased already by the crowding, hissed threateningly from within Harry's robes. She had just enough room to see Draco and was by no means impressed by him.

While Draco tried to figure out what the heck had just hissed at him, Harry let out a sigh. "Sorry, that was my familiar. She gets edgy with lots of people around."

Draco raised an eyebrow at that, but Selena did not show herself. By the time he opened his mouth to question Harry, McGonagall had returned, regaining their attention. "We are ready for you all now."

Selena slithered into the back of Harry's hood, where she was pretty much hidden from view, as the students entered the Great Hall. Harry's eyes widened as he took it all in- the room was titanic, with four long tables that seated every student in the school. At the back of the room, another long table lining the wall held the teachers, including Hagrid on the far left. The half-giant offered Harry a friendly wave, but he only smiled back nervously. There was too much attention on him already to return the wave.

Four huge banners trailed down the high ceiling above the table with the professors, lining up perfectly with the four other tables. Harry recognized the symbols for Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin from his books. He assumed that the students in said houses sat at the table which lined up with their specific banner.

McGonagall led them to the very front of the hall, where a single stool was placed dead-center for all to see. Atop it was a single, worn-out hat with a pointy tip that was now drooping from age.

The witch turned to look at the first-years as a piece of parchment was suddenly conjured into her hand. "When I call your name, you will come up here and the Sorting Hat will place you in your houses. First is…Hannah Abbott!"

A girl with dirty blonde hair hesitantly approached the stool as McGonagall lifted the hat up. As soon as she sat down, the hat was placed on her ahead and to Harry's astonishment, she wrinkles and folds on the fabric creased to become a face.

If that wasn't odd enough, the face on the hat scowled and even began to talk. "Yes…right…ah, right! Hufflepuff!"

A loud cheer erupted from the Hufflepuff table as Hannah grinned. McGonagall took the hat off of her and gestured for the girl to join her new house.

Harry chewed his lip thoughtfully. So that was how it worked. Did the Sorting Hat read their minds or something? He froze at that thought. He wasn't sure if he really wanted that hat in his head. What would it think if it saw what he'd been through?

Harry felt something flick his ear the same time as a soft voice whispered to him. "Do not be afraid. I am here."

He smiled and nodded slightly. Right…he wasn't alone anymore.

The Sorting Hat was pretty quick with the students. It took a fair amount of time with Hermione though, mulling over whether she should be in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. In the end, she was placed in Gryffindor.

Others took less than a second. The hat barely touched Draco's head before it snapped loudly. "Slytherin!"

Then it was his turn at last.

"Harry Potter!"

He was all-too aware of how the hall fell into a hush, as if everyone had stopped breathing. Harry really wished in that moment that he wasn't such a big deal in the wizarding world, because as he sat on the stool and faced the students, he was fully conscious of how some of them looked…hungry, for lack of a better word.

They'd give anything for Harry Potter to be in their house.

The Sorting Hat was placed on his head. Harry waited uncomfortably for it to say something, but it remained silent.

The longest three minutes of his life passed before McGonagall approached the hat with a frown. As she opened her mouth, the hat snapped at her viciously. "Quiet!"

She looked a little miffed, but retreated. Harry closed his eyes and clenched the stool with sweaty hands. Only the slight shuffling of Selena in his hood allowed him to retain even a little bit of calm.

"Hmm…" the hat grumbled. It sounded irritated or…enthusiastic? He couldn't tell—all Harry knew was that the hat had something on its mind. "Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see…not a bad mind, either. There's talent, oh yes…and a lust to prove yourself. And power! I've not felt such power in a child since…that one."

It almost growled and Harry had a bad feeling that he really didn't want to know who "that one" was.

The Sorting Hat trailed off. When it spoke again, it sounded frustrated. "But where should I put you? You make be a fine asset to any house, yet I sense you would thrive best in Gryffindor or Slytherin. You have a natural cunning and resourcefulness about you—your jailbreak is evidence enough of that. You'd be the spitting image of what a Slytherin was meant to become. But your loyalty and courage would make for a fine Gryffindor as well."

"You remind me of something I had nearly forgotten…power is neither light nor dark, but how the wizard who wields it makes it so. What will you be, I wonder? History shapes us, you know, as it has shaped you. Yes…I believe I've seen enough. You are without doubt one of the most difficult students I've ever had the pleasure of Sorting. Your house is without doubt…Gryffindor!"

There was a moment of silence as every soul in the Great Hall processed that before the Gryffindor House leapt up as one and cheered with delight. Harry got up on unsteady feet as the hat was taken from his head by Professor McGonagall. He approached the table with with his new house, uncertain where to sit until Ron had one of his brothers move down a seat to make room for him.

Selena whispered in his ear as he walked over to the Gryffindor table. "No matter where you go, I shall always protect you."

He believed her.

By the time the Sorting was over and the students had finished the massive banquet that appeared quite literally out of nowhere, Harry was ready to go to bed. Selena was getting edgy with all the people around them and she was not impressed with the degree of noise being generated, either.

Fortunately, the Headmaster Professor Dumbledore—a man Harry had only heard of until now—walked up to the podium at the front of the room and called for silence to make some announcements.

"I've a few words now that we've all satisfied our hunger and thirst. First years should take note that the Dark Forest is out of bounds to all pupils. A few of our older students should probably remember that as well, now that I think of it. Quidditch trials will be held during the second week of term. If you're interested in playing, get in touch with Madam Hooch."

"Last but not least, I must tell you all that the third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death."

Selena hissed dangerously in Harry's ear. "I'll give whatever's on that floor a painful death if they want one."

"Easy," he whispered back to her. "He's not calling for volunteers."

Dumbledore smiled at them and clapped his hands. "Now then, off to bed! Oh, and Misters Weasley! Whatever havoc you cause tonight, keep it in the Gryffindor common room!"

"The rest of the year is fair game though, right?!" Fred and George shouted back in disturbing sync, grinning madly.

The Headmaster's eyes twinkled in amusement and his tone became slightly sarcastic. "I daresay we couldn't hope to stop you."

That got a number of laughs and groans around the room. Harry snorted dryly. It seemed as though the twins were notorious around Hogwarts, such that even Dumbledore was resorting to damage control rather than snuffing their pranks out altogether. Or, more likely, he realized after a moment, perhaps Dumbledore was simply fond of them.

And now they were restrained to the Gryffindor common room. Lovely.

Harry followed the other Gryffindors as Percy—one of Ron's older brothers and a School Prefect—led them to the Common Room. On his way out, he heard someone call his name and glanced over to the Hufflepuffs, where he spotted Nym walking along. She gave him a wink and a wave before disappearing with the rest of her house and Harry, despite himself, found that he was going to miss her in Gryffindor. She had become someone familiar to him the last couple of weeks.

Well, at least he'd see her in class. He hoped.

Upon arriving at the common room, Harry snuck straight off to bed once Percy had given them a run down of the dorms and where everything was. He felt incredibly tired and frankly, he didn't want to socialize for the rest of the night, since apparently that wasn't on the list of things to do as far as Gryffindors were concerned.

He slipped upstairs to his room before the rest of his house could turn their attention on him and sighed in relief when he found that the room was empty. Empty and quiet.

"About time," Selena hissed, slithering down his arm and onto the bed when he made to open his suitcase and find his pajamas. "For the love of bats and rats, will they ever shut up?"

Harry smiled wryly. "They're excited, you can't blame them. I'm pretty excited, too."

"You're quiet about it," she retorted, sliding across the sheets to his pillow and curling up there until she was satisfied with her comfort. "Could use some extra warmth."

"I'll be there in a moment," Harry told her as he shrugged his robes off.

Selena's tongue flickered out at him. "You humans are so odd—shedding your skins multiple times a day and then saving them for later. I would look ridiculous if I did such a thing."

"Well, we don't look as good as you do," he grinned at her. Selena held her head up high, pleased by the compliment. She was certainly vain enough for such things to stoke her pride and Harry wasn't at all above letting her believe she was as beautiful as she thought.

She was, after all, a wonderful little creature.

Once Harry had changed and settled into his nightwear, he slid the curtains around his bed so he'd be given the privacy he wanted and slipped under the covers. Selena slithered from the pillow and onto his stomach, much more comfortable with the warmth of Harry's body than the cool fabric of the pillow.

"Don't you dare roll over," she hissed to him from under the covers, amber eyes shining brightly.

Harry smirked. "Wouldn't dream of it."

When they woke up the next morning, they had an unexpected guest. Classes wouldn't start until the day after so that the first years could take a day to just explore the castle and the rest of the students could settle in, so Harry hadn't actually been expecting anything out of the ordinary to occur. His plans had been to do a little exploring and maybe find Hagrid- the half-giant had expressed an interest at Grimmauld Place in teaching Harry some things about magical creature care, things he felt would likely be necessary to keep Selena happy.

Apparently, those plans were going to wait.

Harry was woken to someone tapping on his bed post rather loudly and jerked awake, momentarily believing it was Uncle Vernon smacking his cupboard door. He realized rather quickly that this wasn't the case (mostly by the ridiculous comfort the bed provided) and reached for his glasses on the side table. "Y-yes?"

"Harry, it's Ron," he heard the ginger boy say, somewhat nervously. "Erm…sorry to wake you up, mate, but uh…Professor McGonagall is asking for you in the common room. She sent me up here to get you up. Oh, and she wants you to bring your snake familiar, too."

Harry frowned and stretched, causing Selena to wake up from the straining of the body beneath her. "Yeah, I'll be right there."

"Right where?" Selena hissed sleepily.

"McGonagall wants us," he replied, carefully sitting up.

Selena was sleepy, but she was comfortably warm from dozing on Harry's stomach all night, so she wasn't as sluggish as most other reptiles would be. "She can have you. I'm going to keep napping for as long as possible. See if she can find me something to eat, too."

"I will," Harry replied, moving the snake to the bed so he could change. As soon as he was in his robes, he picked her back up and slid her onto his neck and shoulders. Selena, feeling lazy as she was, simply flopped into his hood as soon as he was on his way to the common room. Harry only rolled his eyes and smiled at the familiar weight settling at his shoulder blades.

McGonagall was waiting patiently in the common room as Harry came down the stairs, his familiar hidden in his hood. She smiled at him as he approached. "Mr. Potter."

"Good morning, Professor."

"Come with me," she said. "Professor Dumbledore needs to have a few words with you."

Harry frowned. "Is something wrong?"

"Not necessarily," she told him, leading the boy out of the common room. "We just need to address your friend and her place at Hogwarts. It's nothing to be worried about."

Harry nodded. McGonagall was a mysterious person to him, but she wasn't one for lying. Although he hadn't known her for long, Harry trusted her. Well, as far as he was willing to trust anyone, at this point.

He'd expected to be taken to the Headmaster's office, but to his surprise, McGonagall led him out of the castle to a small hut on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. The witch rapped her knuckles against he door to announce them. "Hagrid, let us in!"

"I'll be righ' there!" Harry heard chairs being moved aside followed by heavy footsteps and smiled. Even for a half-giant, Hagrid couldn't move very quietly.

Hagrid opened the door for them and beamed at Harry. "There's our young lad! How're ya feeling?"

"Little tired from the trip," Harry replied. "But better now."

"Good, good! Come on in, got some folks who'd like to meet ya!"

Folks? Plural?

Harry followed Hagrid inside and found that the small cabin's interior was being occupied by a pair of elderly men. One of which was Professor Dumbledore, whom he recognized from the night before, but the second man was unknown to him.

He was tall, albeit still short next to the towering figures of Dumbledore and Hagrid, and had a mess of curly silver hair atop his head. An ever-present smile seemed to linger on his face given the wrinkles on his cheeks and his robes, though worn and with their fair share of tears, seemed to suit a man who preferred a life in the outdoors. His skin, or from what Harry could see of it, was dark from countless hours under the sun and marred with a number of old scars and some fresh ones. On the round table before him, he lay a worn brown suitcase, which, if Harry's eyes didn't deceive him, seemed to shake in response.

"'Arry, may I introduce to ya Professor Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts," Hagrid began. "An' my old teacher, Sir Newt Scamander."

Harry's eyes widened in surprise. This was the man who wrote "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them!" The same Newt Scamander who was considered to be a genius and one of the most renowned magi-zoologists in the world!

If Harry hadn't been awake before, he certainly was now.

"Harry," Professor Dumbledore greeted him first and shook the boy's hand. "I've been looking forward to meeting you for a while now. There's much I have to tell you. But for now, let's take things one step at a time and address your friend, shall we?"

"Y-yes sir," Harry stammered.

Newt approached next and shook Harry's hand with a firm grip and a warm smile. "Newt Scamander. Pleasure to meet you, young man. I didn't realize you were already at Hogwarts until Dumbledore called me—age is starting to get to me, I suppose."

Dumbledore chuckled. "Say that in another fifty years, Newt."

"Unfair, by then you'll be two-hundred!" Newt joked, laughing with the Headmaster. Harry wasn't actually sure if they were kidding or not.

Dumbledore was a hundred and fifty years old? Like…actually that old, or were they messing with him? Harry decided to investigate that later.

Newt looked back at Harry and cleared his throat. "Right. Well, Harry, I was called in because rumor has it you've a very interesting friend with you. May I see her?"

Harry glanced over his shoulder and murmured softly. "Selena? Are you awake?"

The snake let out an irritated hiss and slowly crawled out of his hood and onto his shoulder, shooting the boy an annoyed look. "Unwillingly."

"Sorry," he smiled at her and lifted one hand to gently scratch her chin. "This is Selena."

"You can speak to her?" Newt asked with some surprise.

"Yeah. I'm not really sure how, though," Harry replied sheepishly. "I know it's called Parseltongue, but I don't know how I can speak it. I've just…always been able to."

"Fascinating," Newt remarked, snapping his fingers a moment later. A notebook and a quill flew out of his bag and hovered in the air next to him, sketching something into the paper as Newt began to study Selena. "How did you…create her, I suppose is the best word for it?"

Harry went into an explanation of how he created Selena and where he learned how, though none of that knowledge told the older wizards and witch much that they didn't already know.

Newt nodded and inspected what the quill was sketching. "It's been known how to create a Basilisk with that particular method for centuries now, but I was intrigued as to who taught you. It's amazing to think that those little snakes spread their whispers as far as they did and…heard from someone how to create a Basilisk. That being said, there's no way of know who exactly told them. As it is, I'm amazed that knowledge of the creation ritual made it all the way back to you intact. These snakes must have been truly devoted to you."

"Can you help me take care her?" Harry asked. "I read your book…do you know how to care for a Basilisk?"

"I do not," Newt admitting, scratching the back of his head. "No one has seen a live Basilisk in over a century. The breeding of them was banned—they're simply too dangerous and intelligent to house safely. However…this is a unique case. That you're able to speak with her and given how loyal she is to you, I think with some proper housing you could keep her as easily as I keep Runespoors."

"Is he comparing me to those three-headed worms?" Selena hissed.

Harry smiled at her when Newt gave him a questioning look. "She's very proud of herself."

"I can't imagine why," Newt smiled back. "She's beautiful."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, old man," Selena murmured, unimpressed. She slithered around Harry's neck and set her head down on his shoulder, tongue flicking as she lazily inspected Hagrid's house. Her tail vibrated a few times as she became a little more alert and her gaze fixed on Newt's suitcase."What's in that thing?"

The suitcase suddenly rattled violently and Harry jumped as something roared from within it. McGonagall gave it a wary eye, Dumbledore looked bemused, and Hagrid seemed like he really wanted to look inside, but knew better. Curious and slightly nervous of the suitcase, Harry repeated Selena's question so Newt could understand.

Newt approached the suitcase and lifted it from the table only to set it on the floor. The old man looked up at Harry as he flipped the locks. "Shall I show you?"