Shadow of the Past

Part One: Worthless

The Boy who Lived with Snakes

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of Number Four Privet Drive were never happy to find snakes in their house. Unfortunately for their peace of mind, it occurred with alarming regularity.

The first time it happened was a few months after their horrid nephew Harry had appeared on their doorstep. The tiny boy sat in his corner, playing with his toes and muttering in baby talk, when a small green garden snake slipped out from under the baseboard and approached him. Harry's eyes went wide. While the baby part of him wanted to grab the snake and probably put it in his mouth, another part of him felt afraid. He stopped talking, hands frozen on his tiny toes, and watched the snake as it slithered closer.

The snake raised its head from the ground, hissing quietly as it watched the boy. Harry whimpered and pulled his legs up in front of his chest, watching back.

Petunia Dursley saw the snake and screamed. She grabbed a broom and, shrieking loudly the whole while, chased the snake out the back door and into the garden. She shivered, dusted her hands off, and glared at the boy. She knew it was his fault, it couldn't be anything else.

Over the years, the Dursleys grew used to the invasion, though never pleased. Vernon tried to seal every potential inlet, caulking every seam, insulating every pipe, blocking every tiniest crack. Still they found their way in, slithering in whenever the door opened, coming through the garage drains. . . one even managed to slip down the chimney, though none of the Dursleys could imagine how a snake had climbed onto the roof.

Petunia still screamed every time she caught a snake in the house, swatting them out the door or flinging them out the window. Vernon grumbled and complained, gave them a disgruntled kick and mainly ignored them despite his wife's protestations.

Their son Dudley on the other hand rather enjoyed chasing them around, swinging them by their tails, and keeping them secretly in glass jars for as long as he could. Dudley knew his mother would shriek and throw them out into the garden the moment she discovered them.

And he suspected that his worthless cousin Harry enjoyed ratting him out, as his snakes had an astonishing tendency of vanishing whenever Dudley left. One more reason to beat the slippery little snot. But he knew as a matter of course that new snakes would always find their way into the house, so if he wanted to play with one it would only require a little looking around.

For Harry's own part, he had overcome his initial instincts for fear long ago and felt very sorry for the small creatures. He understood what it was like to be tormented and chased for no reason. The snakes did seem to like it in his cupboard, and since it was the one place in the house none of the Dursleys cared about he was pleased to be able to provide a safe haven.

He did not know how unusual this state of affairs truly was, having grown up with it. Dudley always chased him, Uncle Vernon always complained about him, Aunt Petunia always glared at him, and snakes always found their way into the house. That's just how life was.

Harry made hiding spots for them, warned them in quiet whispers that they should stay out of sight when anyone else was around. They hissed quietly back and always seemed to follow his instructions, so he liked to imagine that they could understand him.

He would call his snake friends out from their cracks and corners, stroke their smooth scaly backs, and whisper his troubles to them. When he was locked in his cupboard for being too loud or not finishing his chores quickly enough, or hiding because Dudley had caught him and hit him, they always listened attentively. Though he got the distinct impression that human affairs went well over their heads.

Even if he wasn't allowed any real pets, wasn't allowed to play with other children, and his only acquaintance outside the house was the strange old Mrs. Figg, the gentle companionship of the ever-present reptiles provided him someone to talk to who would never hurt him. It was enough.

—=====—

It was on Dudley's birthday, a bit over a month before Harry would be turning eleven, that he finally held a proper conversation with his scaly friends.

Due to a string of fortuitous coincidences, Harry was permitted to accompany his relatives on Dudley's birthday trip to the zoo instead of being left in Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling house. Harry was even given a cheap lemon ice and managed several delicious bites before Dudley stole it away.

Harry didn't protest, knowing that if he caused a scene it would only get him slapped or punished worse when they returned home. The chance to see the world outside the Dursley's house and Dudley's school was too good to risk losing.

Harry had never seen many animals beside the ever-present snakes and the occasional stray cat peering in the window at him. Even though he knew it would give Dudley an excuse to hit him, he couldn't hide his grin. It was a beautiful day, made all the more glorious by the fact that he was out somewhere new.

Dodging his cousin was easier than usual, as even Dudley couldn't resist the multitude of distractions that presented themselves in every direction - far more diverting than a mundane game of Harry-hunting.

They toured about the different sections before finally coming to what Harry knew would be his favourite place - the reptile house. He had seen small garden snakes of every sort, but here they had massive foreign serpents in unbelievable variety.

Dudley promptly found the largest snake in the place and strode up to its window.

"You're a big fellow," he said to the snake behind the glass, his grin bordering on a smirk. "I could make a proper lasso with you. Wouldn't that be fun?"

The snake, being fast asleep, did not reply.

Dudley banged on the glass. "Wake up, you stupid thing!" he shouted.

The snake woke, Harry could tell by the way its breathing changed just the slightest bit, but it didn't move.

Dudley took advantage of his cousin's distraction to smack Harry upside the head. "Make it move!"

Harry tapped the glass half-heartedly. The snake opened one eye, watching him.

Dudley smacked Harry again, then stormed off to find something more entertaining.

"Your servant is quite uncouth, master," the snake hissed quietly.

Harry blinked, a faint burning pain building in his forehead. He heard hisses, and understood words.

"Are you talking to me?" he asked quietly.

"Of course," the snake replied. "I had heard rumors that you were in the city, but it is often hard to believe street gossip."

It stretched, bunched its muscles, relaxed into its casual drape over the rock. It extended its head, so it was facing Harry properly. "We have been waiting a long time for you to grow into your birthright, master."

"Why do you call me master?" Harry asked. His headache at the effort of translation was starting to fade now, as though his mind had begun to adapt to the new method of communication.

"Because it is the truth," the snake said. "We are small, short-lived, and quite impotent without the protection and guidance of a master. You sliizashisa have been our rightful leaders since we were awakened generations ago. This we all know instinctively."

The word 'Sliizashisa' was almost direct transliteration, as Harry's mind couldn't quite grasp its actual meaning. It almost made him think 'status as heir' but there were at least two concepts missing from that translation that just didn't exist in his vocabulary.

It made his head hurt to think about it, so he decided to mentally treat it as akin to a noble title among snakes and leave it at that.

"You made it move, about time." Dudley shoved Harry roughly aside, sending the smaller boy sprawling to the ground.

The snake hissed indignantly and raised its head to glare at Dudley. "Your servant is most impertinent," it hissed, somehow conveying disdain and threat. "May I be permitted to punish him?"

"He's not my servant, he's my cousin," Harry said. "And I'll only get in trouble if you hurt or scare him, so better not to."

The snake lowered itself to the rocks, slithering in a way that Harry translated as a submissive shrug. "As you wish, master."

"Hey, why'd you tell it to go back to sleep?" Dudley demanded, smacking the glass and turning on Harry. Harry, having forgotten to get to his feet, skittered backwards and scrambled to jump up. Unfortunately, Dudley was too close. His larger cousin wrapped his arms around him, picked him up off the ground, and pressed him against the glass. "Wake it back up, Dudley growled in Harry's ear.

Harry sighed. "Could you wave your head around a bit, my cousin wants you to move and I don't really want to be beaten up this early in the day. If you don't mind, of course."

The snake nodded, rearranged itself, swayed back and forth. "I do not understand your insistence on allowing this fool to command you, master," the snake hissed. "He is not even wizshis."

Another term he couldn't translate, this one more directly related to whatever (power-motion-action) concept Harry just didn't have.

"I don't understand," he said.

Dudley finally let him go, and he sat down hard with the sudden drop. Rage flashed through him. He normally suppressed such emotions, as lashing out was best done with words and angry words were rarely clever or biting enough, but just then he wanted Dudley to respect him for once.

Perhaps the snake had gotten him worked up with all this 'master' business, but something in him snapped. Something he didn't understand, the wizshis part of him.

Dudley leered down at the snake, his face pressed against glass that suddenly vanished. Off balance, the pudgy boy toppled into the cage face-first, splashing into the water that filled the bottom of the tank.

Harry couldn't help it, he laughed. It was a quiet, vindictive laugh, the laugh of one satisfied at justice being done, but also a somewhat frightened laugh of a normal boy whose world suddenly included talking snakes and, more unexpected still, glass that simply stopped existing for a few minutes before returning to its normal status.

His aunt and uncle found them by Dudley's angry screams from within the cage. Though their quiet glares promised retribution, Harry couldn't bring himself to care.

The look of terror on Dudley's face upon realizing he was trapped in a cage with the largest snake in the zoo was worth every moment of whatever punishment they decided upon.

—=====—

Following that incident, weeks passed without Harry being released from his cupboard for longer than the time it took for him to attend school and do his more unpleasant chores under the stern eye of Aunt Petunia.

Once school ended, partway through his punishment period, he was no longer allowed to leave the house at all. His meals were limited and the near-constant inactivity eroded what strength he had. He took ill and spent several days in acute discomfort which went completely untreated, earning him nothing but Dudley's constant scorn for his 'weakness.'

If he hadn't had the ever-changing array of snakes to talk to, he probably would have lost his mind.

As it was, by the time Harry was finally allowed out-of-doors again he had lost much of his former speed and stamina. Dodging Dudley and his gang of thuggish friends became near impossible. The few times he managed it were always accompanied by inexplicable happenings; a hedge suddenly changing its location, Harry leaping clear over a ten-foot stone wall.

Once he even found himself wedged securely in the chimney with no idea how he'd managed to climb in, but they couldn't find him and eventually gave up. He dropped to the ground, dusted himself off, and went walking in the yard on the opposite side of the house from the sound of their voices.

He had something to consider, something puzzling and important.

For several days now, he'd been hearing rumors about a 'master-not-master' from visiting snakes, one in London and searching for him. At least that was the nearest translation he could discern, communication was never quite precise between species.

"Why does he want me?" he asked a small speckled snake who lived under the hedge. "No one can tell me."

"Master-not-master has not said his reasons," the snake hissed in reply. "He cannot find master Harry, cannot visit the house, wants to meet you."

Harry leaned closer. "He wants to meet me?" he asked quietly. He'd heard that the stranger wanted to find him, but never before mention of a meeting.

"He waits at the park every night for two hours after sunset," the snake replied. "He has told us all to convey this message to you."

Harry tapped a finger on his lips thoughtfully. He was locked in his cupboard each night, to 'prevent the brat from destroying the house while we sleep', but he could probably figure out a way to slip the bolt from inside. It wasn't a very secure lock, but he'd never before had reason enough to risk punishment and discovery just to roam the house at night.

The chance to meet another person who talked with snakes, though, that was an opportunity he could hardly ignore.

The park was a good half-hour away from Privet Drive. Two hours after sunset, his aunt and uncle might still be awake. He would have to be very quiet and very lucky if he was to evade notice. And he was sure he would only have one chance at it; Uncle Vernon would replace the simple slide-bolt with something more secure once he realized Harry could escape his cupboard.

"I would like to meet him," Harry said. "But I don't know how soon I will be able to get away. Send word to him that I will try my best to come see him."

The snake hissed agreement. "It will be conveyed."

"Thank you," Harry whispered.

He heard the voices of his cousin's gang coming toward this side of the house, and quickly scurried away to hide. He didn't want to be caught by Dudley after one of his miraculous escapes had given him such a window of opportunity.

Dudley always seemed furious at being cheated, whenever Harry escaped because of inexplicable happenings, in a different sort of way than when he simply failed to catch the faster and more agile boy.

So Harry slipped away and hid, extra careful to make good his escape. For another afternoon, at least, he would be free of his cousin's cruel games.

—=====—

~ Updated 7-9-17 to fix formatting errors.