I don't own Harry Potter, Hogwarts, etc, blah blah, but I do own the original characters (now isn't that funny?) Don't flame, because flaming is immature and will just make me think you're not worth listening to. Do review, because it will make me happy, and hopefully will be useful in improving the story. And yes, I really do use this blurb at the beginning of every chapter! Wow…isn't that weird?
Harry shuddered as he walked out of Sinavre's rooms. That…thing…Sinavre kept as a pet was just plain eerie. And it was a snake, which was not something Harry tended to associate with happy thoughts. Not only that, his meager excuses at why he was in Sinavre's rooms were so bad that he didn't even want to think about them. Sinavre's eyes were kind of like Dumbledore's, they saw more than you said. Only Sinavre's were worse, Harry still felt like he was completely transparent under that gaze. Harry already dreaded what he thought would be the ordeal of class the next day with Sinavre suspicious of him.
The early class-members murmured curiously to themselves as it waited for the lesson to start. The commotion was caused by the presence of Sinavre's pet, Aya. The snake like creature's head was resting on the top Sinavre's head sleepily, and managing to look obscenely cute in the process. Kiora could feel the weight of Aya's head, and shook his head gently. Her ability to weigh just as much or as little as she pleased was still a mystery to him. Kiora glanced up to survey the classroom. Most of the students were present, and the last stragglers were coming in the door. He stood gracefully, taking extra care not to dislodge his serpentine friend. Once the last of the students were seated, Kiora spoke.
"For those of you who were wondering, this," Kiora pointed to Aya, who blinked in confusion at the finger looming in her face, "is Aya, my pet. Now that you know, discussion about her is no longer necessary." Kiora smiled gently and pointedly at the few students who were still talking. "Today's class will not be on magecraft itself, but rather on the range of magical 'gifts' one can be fortunate to be born with.
"The most basic of these is the ability to work with mana, this gift has no real name, since it is the most common and essential of them all. It is what allows you," Kiora's hand swept across the students, "to be wizards, or mages. Like all gifts, it comes in varying degrees, some people are simply able to handle more mana, or some able to shape it more precisely to their will, resulting in a wide range of skill. This range is what defines what particular branch of wizardry of magecraft someone will be best at. For example, a wizard who is very good at using large amounts of mana at once would likely be good at large-scale magic, perhaps battle magic. A person born with a gift for very fine manipulation of mana would be better at intricate set-spells, making enchanted maps or books for example. As I said, there is of course, a wide range of different combinations of these two aspects of mana handling skill, focus and power.
"There are other, less common gifts as well. There are quite a number, so I will only list a few, there are: empaths, parseltongues, mensentires (mind-readers), healers, elemeloquis and finally, those gifted with true-sight. Empaths feel emotions from those around them, they are usually very good with animals, as well as higly sociable. You all know about parseltongues. Mensentires can sometimes sense surface thoughts of people nearby, as well as the thoughts of the more intelligent animals, but are incapable of deeply probing into someone's mind without extremely complicated spells. Healers are very good at healing magics, and elemeloquis can speak to elementals, creatures composed of basic substances like stone. The last of the gifts, true sight, is the rarest that I have mentioned. It is the ability of the person to see through illusions or disguises, and in extreme cases, can allow a glimpse of a physical representation of someone's soul."
Murmurs again sprung up in the classroom at Kiora's description of True Sight; apparently he succeeded in conveying the power that such a gift carried. The ability to glimpse someone's soul was not to be taken lightly, and could provide a wealth of information, especially to a well-trained person with True Sight. Kiora spent the rest of the class talking to any students who wanted to know if perhaps they had a special gift. A few did, Neville, not surprisingly, had a way with plants, another gift with no real name. There were two empaths, and an elemeloquis as well. The end of the class soon came, and the Kiora dismissed the students cheerily, and they began their progression out the door. Most of them were already out the door, save Harry, Hermione and Draco, when Aya decided that she would go and explore the rest of the school. She slithered through the air towards the door happily.
Harry was just walking under the doorframe when Sinavre's eerie pet moved lazily overhead. Harry heard something vaguely akin to the harsh sibilants of parseltongue (the basic message of which seemed to be to return) and whirled around just in time to see Sinavre with his mouth wide open, glaring at his pet as he spoke. Harry could feel the blood draining out of his face. Sinavre had two very effective (though not overly large) looking fangs among his upper teeth where his canines should have been. Harry stayed conscious just long enough to see Aya slink back to Sinavre and the professor rush towards him as he sank to the floor. Sinavre sighed, and then hoisted Harry over his shoulder before heading for the infirmary.
"What happened to him?!"
"He passed out. Randomly, as far as I can tell." Kiora answered. Truth be told, Kiora really had no idea why Harry passed out. The only thing he'd done was speak to Aya. Kiora didn't think that would terribly upset anyone.
He's a parseltongue dear.
Shit.
Oh yes. Just imagine what he must think? He knows you speak something similar to, but not, parseltongue. And he's not a trusting one. But then, I wouldn't be either if I'd been through what he has.
Ha. You never trusted anyone other than me anyhow. So, oh wise one, what would you recommend?
You say nothing. And if he asks……we reconsider. But I doubt he will.
Harry's eyes opened slowly, and blinked in confusion. Kiora smiled, happy that he hadn't put another person into a coma. "Well then. Now that I know you're not going to be unconscious for a week," Kiora glanced in Snape's direction, "I'll be off." Kiora rose from the bedside stool and glided out of the room.
Harry walked back to the Gryffindor commons in a dazed state after the nurse pronounced him fit to leave, but not to attend further classes. Sinavre had fangs! And he spoke something that was not…quite…parseltongue, but very similar. The aura of mystery that surrounded the magecraft professor continued to grow. The man could appear out of nowhere inside Hogwarts, which was theoretically impossible. He had fangs. Something Snape had seen inside of Sinavre's head had sent the potions master into a coma. He had the most unusual creature Harry had ever seen for a pet. He apparently cried crystal tears. And he always wore that one piece of jewelry on his right hand, which seemed harmless enough, but given everything else Harry had learned about Sinavre, he was certain that thing had a story behind it. Harry let himself fall into a chair by the fire. He soon lost himself in thought, trying to join the pieces of the puzzle into a sensible whole.
"Harry? Hellloooo? Wake up!" Ron shook Harry lightly. Harry blinked and tried to focus on his attacker. He pushed his glasses back up into position.
"Oh, hi Ron. Aren't you supposed to be in class?"
"No…." Ron replied, as if it was obvious. "You must have slept through most of the day. What happened by the way?"
"Sinavre."
"What about?" Hermione asked.
"Fangs."
"What?!" Ron and Hermione exclaimed in unison.
"Sinavre has fangs." Harry's two friends looked at each other and burst out laughing.
"You sure you didn't hit your head a little hard on the way down?" Ron asked jokingly betweens bouts of laughter. Harry's face began to take on that particular sulking look he had become so perfect at.
"Are you trying to say," Hermione said, gasping for breath, "that one of our teachers is a vampire?"
"No," Harry said defensively, "He just has fangs. I saw them."
"Harry," Ron said, dead serious, "Sinavre does not have fangs."
"I'm afraid I have to agree with Ron. I certainly haven't noticed any fangs, and Sinavre smiles often enough that they'd be hard to miss."
"No Snape though, you might never know!" Ron joked. The corners of Harry's mouth began to tug upwards, but he resolutely forced his lips into neutrality. He sighed. His friends obviously weren't going to believe him, despite is being correct about other odd occurrences that had taken place previous years.
"If Sinavre had fangs, don't you think everyone would know Harry?" Hermione asked reassuringly, clearly concerned for Harry's sanity. Hermione's face took on a pensive look, and all traces of mirth disappeared from her face. "Suppose he did have fangs for a moment. I suppose he could hide them with an illusion. But why would you be able to see them Harry? You know Sinavre said True Sight is extremely rare, and you're already an extraordinarily gifted wizard. What are the chances of you having True Sight Harry? Its much more likely that you just imagined it for some reason." Harry sank deeper into his sulky mood. He had seen those fangs. He was sure of it.
Ooooh! More mysterious and you-not-knowing-ness! Haha! That's why you'll just have to review and read the next chapter when its done. So yeah. R&R people!!