Chapter 4

The day seemed to dissolve quickly, and before he knew what was happening, it was the morning of the day he would have the Defence lesson with the Headmaster. Harry did not feel quite ready for it…it was a daunting prospect, being taught by one of the most powerful wizards in the world. The night before, Harry had received a note from Dumbledore, saying that he wanted to change the lesson times to 8 o'clock in the morning, rather than the evening…and Harry knew better than to question this.

Believing he had time for a shower, Harry tried to wash away his nerves, and stayed in it for longer than he had intended. Thoughts of what Dumbledore would dream up for him caused an irritating, nervous bubbling in his stomach.

After washing, grabbing his wand from his bed and putting it in its holder, Harry checked the time.

7:58

He had less than two minutes to get all the way to the other side of the castle. After swearing loudly, Harry threw open the door, making it bang noisily against the wall. He ran down the stairs two at a time, through the portrait hole and towards the DADA classroom.

By the time he reached the door to the classroom, his lungs were stinging painfully and he gulped air into his lungs. Once recovered, he turned to face the door.

As his fingers brushed against the cold brass doorknob, he felt a faint tingle shoot up his arm.

He noticed there was no light coming from inside, although it was a bright morning and the windows in the classroom were high and wide. He came to the conclusion that he was unlikely to receive a warm welcome when he entered.

Harry sighed, not thrilled at the possibility he was about to be cursed by a wizard as powerful, if not more so, than his enemy.

He moved away from the door, and pressed his back against the wall next to it, moving his foot and kicking the door open gently with his heel.

Nothing.

He quietly cast a Character Detecting spell, to see if there was a presence in the room.

Nothing.

He stood in the doorway…the room was, as he had thought, pitch black.

Harry thought better of using lumos…he knew, even though the Character Detecting spell had told him otherwise, that Dumbledore was in there, waiting for him. If he were to use lumos he would immediately fail whatever test Dumbledore was setting for him.

Walking into the room slowly, he pressed his back against the wall and shut the door behind him, allowing himself to sink into the darkness. He side-stepped along the wall, following it carefully. Thinking quickly, he cast a minor protective shield around him to prevent mild hexes hitting him.Still nothing…it was complete silence; there was not even the usual, strange wave in the air that could be felt when there was someone nearby that you could not see.

Suddenly, a flash of light, Harry ducked and the curse missed his head by a few inches.

He remained in a crouched position with his wand in front of him, remaining as still as he could. He let the silence engulf him and dropped to his knees slowly, putting his hands out in front of him. He hardly knew what he was doing, but in the darkness, it was all he could think of. He closed his eyes, blocked off his sight, smell and touch…allowing every nerve in him to be sensitive to sound.

If he hadn't of been holding his breath, he would have missed the soft sound of robes brushing the floor on his far left.

With his eyes still shut, he pointed his wand in the direction of the sound.

"Expelliarmus!" he shouted.

His eyes only opened when the sound of an object hissing through the air towards him reached his ears, he stretched out his hand, and the wand lay neatly in his grasp.

Next came two sharp claps, and the room sprung into light as the windows became visible. Shadows and objects leapt into his vision as the room came to life, and he jumped when he realised he was standing a few inches from a tank full of Nogboggers. He refrained from checking he still had a nose left, but realised the creatures were too busy sleeping to worry about removing it.

Professor Dumbledore was standing a few meters to his left, a satisfied smile brightening his features

"Well done, Harry, glad we got that bit over with quickly. I must say these robes have a knack of getting in the way…I'm afraid they can be rather noisy."

Harry raised an eyebrow.

He gave Dumbledore's wand back to him with a small smile, still trying to get his heart to slow down after the adrenaline rush.

"Now, let us not waste any time. Each second is as precious as the next," he lifted his wand in front of his face and gazed at it, "tell me, Harry; wands are our source of magic, are they not?"

Harry blinked and paused to muse over the answer…silently thanking Hermione for drilling this into his and Ron's heads.

"No sir, they're just what we channel the energy through."

"Good. The source and potential of our magic comes from here," he put his hand on his chest, "from inside. It lies in our skin…the wands are only used to divide the unconscious magic from the conscious, to keep it under control. When we are very young, we do not know how to keep control, just as a newborn does not know how to control various muscles. When we eventually become joined with our wands, we are able to harness the power. It could be said to be the 'lazy' way of performing magic, though it is still based on our ability to use it. Most wizards and witches would find it impossible to live easily in the magical world without their wand, they just could not be wandless."

Harry thought he had a good ides what the Headmaster was leading up to, these thoughts were confirmed when he plucked Harry's wand out of his hand and lay it down on the desk with his own.He continued, ""The magic in your blood is not the only thing needed to perform wandless magic. Of course it is the main component, but you also need your sight, hearing, touch and, most of all: instinct. This is how some muggles are able to perform 'strange' feats; they are able to manipulate their senses and concentrate extremely hard on moving or changing the shape of an object. Of course it is not nearly as powerful as wandless magic that a wizard performs, as they have only a minuscule amount of natural magic in their blood, but it is a form of it. Tell me; what did your instincts tell you to make you enter the room the way you did?"

Harry paused, "I went to open the door, but…I'm not sure how to explain it….it was kind of like a tingle inside."

"Yes, that was your intuition; your body was telling you that something inside this room was not as it should be; your gut feeling is a very important part of magic, and survival. During a fight, magic or non-magic, you have to go by what your heart tells you what to do; you can't just assume you know what the opponent is going to do next by conscious thought alone. That is where many people slip up; they ignore their own instinct and end up loosing the battle, possibly their lives."

Dumbledore stopped and started walking around the room, seemingly looking for something; he looked at a chair for a few moments before waving his hand over it, in an instant it had turned into a small rock.

Picking up the rock, he placed it on the desk next to him, nearest to where Harry was standing.

He then stood a few metres away from it and it flew into his hand without a word being uttered. He put it back on the desk and looked at Harry.

"Your turn."

Harry stared at him blankly for a few seconds.

He must be joking, he thought to himself.

No more instruction came, so Harry stood where Dumbledore had and lifted his hands towards the rock, just as the Headmaster had done.

He stared at the rock, concentrating on the position of it, imagining it was moving off the desk and into his hands.

"Accio!" he called.

It didn't move.

"Not to worry," said Dumbledore, cheerfully, "that was your first time, you should not expect to get it straight away with no practice. We need to work on how you are controlling your magic, how to channel it. But first it is important you ignore your head and start listening to your senses, I do not think you trust them completely. You need to use the feeling to draw what you want out of your body and onto the force you want to manipulate. This time, let your body, not your mind, tell you what you need to do. Try doing what you did earlier when you first entered the room…close your eyes."

Harry wondered at the back of his mind whether Dumbledore had night vision as well as everything else…how did he know his eyes had been shut?

He did what he was told, and closed them. He tried to create a mental image of the position and distance that the rock was from him, once he had done that, he concentrated on his senses. Harry dimly noticed that his arm was moving: his fingers stretched so his palm was facing where he presumed the rock was. He tried to imagine that there was a connection, a cord, between his hand and the rock, his fingers bent, and his hand drew back a few centimetres, he repeated this again and again, until he felt a slight tugging on his finger tips, like string had wrapped around each one of them and an object was tied to each piece. Once again, he drew his hand back. He was about to shout the summoning spell, but when he felt the invisible cord snap, he opened his eyes.

Still nothing had happened.

"Well done Harry," Dumbledore smiled widely, Harry raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"For what?"

"Casting wandless magic…the air around your rock shuddered," his smile widened.

Harry looked again, and decided to take the Headmaster's word for it.

He turned as Dumbledore placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Very good, Harry. There are some wizards who can do that easily if they are given the proper instruction and guided on what they should feel…but I am sure we can take you beyond that, given time."

Three and a half hours later, Harry had managed to make contact with the rock, and it had moved towards him about an inch…which, according to the Headmaster, was good.

He felt exhausted when he returned to his dorms; even though the work had not been physical…it had still been tiring. Dumbledore had told him that training to perform wandless magic was no different to getting physically fit…his body would have to adapt to channelling its own magic.

He fell onto his bed with a satisfied grunt. An irritating emptiness filled his stomach, informing him he needed food. Harry was not happy about it, because the Dark Art's classroom was much closer to the kitchens than the common room was, more walking was not what he wanted. Harry was even more irritated because his legs were like dead weights, he thought it was strange that he had been using his arm all lesson and his legs hadn't even come into it, but nonetheless, they were determined to make the long trek down to the kitchens that much harder. Before he rose from his bed, the snake at the end of it looked up at him.

"You need to hunt," it hissed at him.

Harry shook his head, "Humans do not hunt for food," he thought about the snake's remark, "…some hunt…but not for food, just because they find pleasure in killing."

The snake seemed curious about this, "I thought food was the only pleasure brought by killing."

Harry gave a wry smile, "I wish others thought like that."

There was a short silence, in which the snake stared hard at Harry, before voicing its thoughts, "Humans confuse me…it seems they break many moral laws. In the kingdom of other creatures, there should be an appropriate reason to kill. This is what made me curious about the Calling; it seemed to be calling for assistance that was bound with death. I trust there was an appropriate reason for this."

Harry stared at the snake, his eyes dark. He blinked and looked away.

"There is no good reason for the deaths He wants to cause. Just evil and greed. The wizard calling you wants snakes to help Him do whatever it is He intends to."

"Tell me about the wizard."

Harry frowned when he felt the cold hand grip his gut as he thought about speaking out loud about the past. Much like Sirius had with Bella, Harry spoke as though in a trance…explaining to the snake about who the Dark Lord was, and what he had done to the Wizarding World.

It felt strange, but oddly liberating to talk to the creature…he knew he would not be judged or misguided about the snake's feelings. It was not sympathetic as a human would be…but rational and belied Voldemort's views and actions. It was also blunt, and after hours of talking and explaining nearly Harry's entire life story, the snake seemed to frown in curiosity.

"Are you afraid you will die?" it asked.

Harry looked at it sharply, never in his time in the wizarding world had he been asked such a…direct question.

"I…I'm not sure," he whispered in a low hiss, barely moving his lips, "…I don't think I'm afraid to actually die…" he trailed off, lost in his own thoughts.

"Then what do you fear?"

"I was told in my third year that I'm most afraid of actual fear…but things have changed since then and I think now I'm terrified of failure," Harry hissed darkly.

The snake nodded, understanding, and the two fell into silence…Harry noticed that it was dark outside, and the hunger pangs had turned into painful cramps.

"Time for me to hunt," he said aloud to himself.

The snake wished to see more of the castle, so Harry allowed it to slip into his robe pocket until he got down into the kitchens. Once he was ready, he knelt in front of his trunk.

He lifted the cool, shimmering material out if it gently, allowing the fabric to run through his fingers like water.

Harry threw the Invisibility Cloak around him and vanished the moment it came into contact with his body.

The trip down to the kitchens was far easier than it had ever been during term time…he brushed past Mrs. Norris once, and a short sharp hiss from the snake inside his pocket soon sorted her out. Harry had only just managed to stop himself laughing aloud at the mangy cat's expression.

The House Elves were almost wild with delight when they saw him, Dobby threw himself at Harry, and even though he was small, the elf almost knocked him over. Tears ran down the little creature's face in sheer happiness.

"Oh! It's so good seeing Harry Potter back to be safe in Hoggiewarts again! I only says to Winky the other day, I says 'I hope we be seeing Harry Potter here with Dumblydore again'!"

Harry smiled, "Thanks, Dobby. I was wondering if you had any dead mice, or insects…and maybe some left over food for me?"

The House Elf froze and seemed slightly taken aback by his strange request, but nonetheless brought his order after no more than a few seconds.

He sat at a table directly under where the Gryffindor table would be, marked with red and gold, and lifted the snake out of his pocket, allowing it to gorge the dead mice.

The bustling sounds in the kitchen came to an abrupt halt…and Harry looked up in time to see every last House Elf completely frozen in the middle of whatever they were doing. Then, came one loud screech.

All the Elves shrunk away in terror at the sight if the snake, and tried to pull Harry away from the offending creature, screaming that it was dangerous and would do much harm.

After what seemed like a lifetime, they eventually calmed down after an explanation and reassurances from Harry.

The look the snake was giving the Elves reminded Harry instantly of Draco Malfoy…he scoffed, and thought a moment about naming the creature that, but decided the snake was far too good for such a dirty name. At that point he realised he should probably give it name, not wanting to be calling it 'snake' forever.

After their meal, Harry thanked the House Elves again, whose eyes began to feel up in gratitude at his praise….Harry darted out of the kitchens quickly before they all jumped on him again.

He made it to the bottom of the stairs in the Great Hall without incident, but just as he arrived at them he felt a strange tug. He made to take another step but froze when he realised Filch was entering the Great Hall from the grounds. He felt the strange feeling again and remained completely still as Filch passed, who was calling for his cat. The cool breeze from outside caressed his face, and he felt better for it as the kitchens had been unbearably hot. He sighed and walked to the doors that were open slightly, stepping out onto the top stone step.

The night air hit him instantly, and he breathed it in deeply. He then looked across at the grounds, which were set alight as the moon was particularly bright and in the perfect position to allow him to see reasonably well. The lake was still, but reflected the light, and the tree tops were swaying gently in the breeze. Much was still.

The silence was broken by a distant howl…Harry did not recognise it as being the howl of a werewolf, there was less pain and anger in the sound.

A sudden warm sensation hit him, contrasting heavily with the cold. He felt the same tug and found his eyes drawn to the forest. He made sure he was completely covered as the fine hairs on the back of his neck stood on end…he was being watched.

His eyes adjusted to the dark shadows of the forest, but they did not have to work hard to pick out the pair of crystal blue eyes shining at him from the brush.

...x...

He jumped as he caught the gaze, and froze for a few seconds. The eyes were cool and calm, and moved slowly. As they moved closer, a form appeared as a silhouette against the dark surroundings, and it stepped into the moonlight.

It was a huge wolf. Immediately images of werewolves raced through his minds eye, pictures from textbooks, and the memory of what Remus had looked like when he changed. None of these images, however, matched what he was seeing…the animal seemed to be entirely wolf…if not very large and intimidating.

The animal was jet black, which contrasted with its big, bright eyes. Harry saw more of it as it stalked through the undergrowth, each paw being placed with precision and touching the ground lightly and soundlessly. The movements and pose of the animal reminded Harry more of a big cat than a canine…the weight was being absorbed through its paws and its shoulders stuck out as it stalked in a half crouched position.

The peculiar eyes did not once break contact with Harry's own…which he found oddly unnerving as he was supposed to be invisible. As the animal moved closer Harry became torn between what to do…he was sure the wolf was not regarding him as prey, because as it got closer it stopped stalking and stood tall, wagging its tail gently and pulling its ears back much like Harry had often seen Padfoot do. He considered whether this was some sort of sick hunting tactic…but abandoned that thought as he did not feel at all threatened…just anxious.

A few meters from the bottom stone step, the wolf stopped and lowered its body to the ground graciously…resting its large head on its front paws. The tail continued to wag slowly.

Harry was jolted from his trance-link, frozen state, when he felt the pressure of the snake stirring in his pocket. He believed the snake was wise enough to know about much of the animal kingdom. and had much heightened senses than him. Careful not to disturb his invisibly cloak, Harry lifted the snake out of his pocket and turned its head so it faced the wolf below.

"Tell me…am I to fear this creature?"

The snake responded nearly instantly, "There is nothing to fear…he wishes to help."

Harry frowned at the strange response, but nonetheless put the snake back in his pocket.

There was no reason to distrust the snake, so he slowly forced his legs to move and descended the steps hesitantly. A voice in the back of his head was telling him he was crazy, he'd finally lost it…he should have turned and gone back inside instead of getting himself into deeper trouble…but Harry thought about Dumbledore's words and told his mind to shut it.

He kept the cloak tightly wrapped around him, and allowed his hand to slip into his under-cloak and grip his wand tightly. Once he reached the bottom of the stone steps, he silently stepped onto the grass and crouched into a squatted position, lowering himself to the wolf's level. For a few agonizing moments, in which Harry got painful cramp in both legs, the wolf regard him with a steady, intelligent, almost curious gaze. Harry blinked and nearly fell back when the animal lifted his huge form off the ground. His tail wagged, and Harry thought it was a good time to allow his legs to function again, so stood too.

He became bemused when the wolf turned away from him and trotted off, paused and looked back, walked away again, and looked back. Harry stared at the animal, completely torn with what he should do. When the animal repeated the behaviour, he stepped forward and followed the wolf into the forest, throwing caution to the wind and trusting his instincts. After all, it was what Dumbledore kept telling him to do.

A few steps into the forest, however, and Harry was not nearly so confident. It was as if his rational side had finally got to him, and he evaluated the situation again.

This is insane, he thought to himself, keep this sort of stuff up, and I will get myself killed.

Harry paused…the wolf sensed his unease, and walked straight up to him, growling low. A strange surge jolted Harry in the stomach, his unease fell away, and he was suddenly ten times more confident than he had been. This did not tempt him though, and he nearly gave into the urge to turn and run back.

"Do not fear it," a hiss came from his pocket, "he is the light's ally."

Harry pulled out his wand and sighed; the wolf wagged his tail and turned away, walking deeper into the forest. Harry followed close behind him, reminding himself how mad he was with each step.

It was practically impossible, trying to climb through the undergrowth, stop his cloak getting snagged, follow a dark wolf in a dark forest and watch for anything that might want to kill him, but Harry kept at it as best he could, suppressing his grunts and grumbles.

As the foliage thickened, Harry became weary at how deep they were going into the forest, but this train of thought stopped when they came to a small clearing. A huge fallen tree was lying across the clearing, it was hollow inside, and was covered in moss and mud…leaves were scattered everywhere, and there was a skull of a small animal lying nearby, which Harry tried to ignore.

The trees only circled the area, so there was nothing covering the sky, which could be seen clearly…the moon shone on them as bright as it had done out of the forest. Feeling satisfied that he was able to, he slid off the invisibility cloak…the black wolf stared at him in that curious, intelligent way.

Harry heard a scuffle and scratching, and he raised his wand. He lowered it, however, when three wolf pups scrambled out of the fallen tree. They were small and brown, with black tipped ears and one had a white belly…they ignored Harry completely, and greeted the black male wolf at his side, then ran to the other side of the clearing. Harry's eye's widened slightly as he realised the pups had run to greet four other wolves that had just stepped into the clearing.

One was undoubtedly female, she was smaller and slighter then the males. She was a beautiful mixture of slate and light greys, browns and whites, with small black patches around her yellow eyes and a long, elegant body, with black tipped ears like the pups. The other three near to her had a similar colouring, but were mainly grey.

After the greeting, the she-wolf growled and nipped one of the pups, sending them back inside the tree. The four adults looked at him wearily, and one growled in warning. The she-wolf caught the eyes of the male standing next to Harry, seeking his guidance. She seemed to get what she wanted from him, and walked over to Harry with another male, sniffing the air around him.

Seeming satisfied with what they had found, the two turned away and lay silent nearby.

For the second time since he had left the castle, Harry felt the snake stirring in his pocket. He pulled it out slowly, not wanting to alarm the wolves, but the two that were lying down stood up immediately with their haunches raised…they fell silent though, after the black male growled at them.

"I have heard tales of this forest," the snake hissed, flicking its tongue curiously, "…many of the creatures here live in fear of the Dark Lord you have spoken of…they feel his poison strikes too close… but there is another presence. The Lord of the Forest, known as Silvanus…or The Black Wolf. He has brought you here for a reason unknown to me, but he is worthy of your utmost respect."

Harry raised his eyebrows at the snake's words. He looked up at the wolf standing near him, and saw him in a new light…he inclined his head in acknowledged respect, feeling much more secure about the situation than he had previously. He knew snakes could be wise, and from what Harry had been told by the one he was holding, wizards and witches were not the only ones being directly affected by Voldemort's possible oncoming reign…it seemed Silvanus, Lord of the Forest as the snake had put it, was feeling this as much as Harry was…and he knew at that moment he had found an ally in the animal.

After a moments pause, in which Harry collected his thoughts, he stared directly at Silvanus and licked his dry lips in nervousness….there was a powerful air about the wolf in front if him that demanded attention and complete deference.

Silvanus trotted over to him, stopped very close and stared.

Harry blinked and fought the urge to look away from the piercing gaze….the blue eyes were regarding him in a manner that reminded him eerily of Dumbledore. The same knowingness, wisdom…likeability shone through them. The wolf let out a small, quiet whimper and pushed his nose towards Harry, who got the hint and stretched his hand out towards him.

"I'm trusting you…" he murmured softly,"…not to rip my hand off."

Harry closed the gap and his fingers brushed against Silvanus' head. As soon as skin made contact with fur, Harry felt a prickling sensation at the tips of his fingers, which disconcerted him slightly.

He moved his hand across to the wolf's ears and rubbed gently, Silvanus lifted his head and rested it on Harry's outstretched arm…who noted how huge his head was compared to his Aunt Marge's psychotic bulldog, Ripper.

The forest was more silent than Harry had expected, from outside all sorts of noises could usually be heard…but the night seemed to be frozen in a quiet stupor.

As if responding to his thoughts, a loud howl sounded in the distance…from what Harry could tell the sound could have come from a hundred metres or a hundred yards, the loudness was the same all around. The two wolves that had been lying down nearby shot up onto their feet at the first murmur of the howl…their ears pricked up, their tails rose and they raised their muzzles into the air as though trying to sense where the sound was coming from. Seconds later it came again, but it was louder, seemingly nearer…and deeper. The two wolves shot their heads to Silvanus and growled at him.

The latter wolf turned his back to Harry and his body was also standing to attention. He made Harry jump when he let out a half-bark, half-howl sound….the two listened for a response from the distant wolf…and when none came, they sprung into action and pelted into the bush, disappearing instantly.

Silvanus turned back to Harry and his eyes shot to his quickly…he then manoeuvred so he was standing at Harry's side, just reaching his hip in height. the sound of branches colliding with things reached Harry's ears, and as the sound of the howling wolves became clearer as they got closer, Silvanus' head lowered as he crouched…his body prepared like a coiled spring, ready to strike.

By now Harry had thrown the invisibility cloak around him, feeling the tension, and reminding himself how much of an idiot he was for following Silvanus into the forest. He pulled out his wand and held it in front of him, his eyes and ears searching for the howling wolves that were approaching.

It suddenly became silent again….but more so than it had before…there was no rustling of the trees or stirring of the wind.

The icy hand gripped at Harry's heart before he could think about the scene. The iron grip was choking, and his stomach churned…he breathed out and his breath became steam as it hit the air.

Whispers…all around him, he was drowning in them. He became desperate, he could not see the Dementor through all the trees and foliage, he had nowhere to aim his patronus.

He tried hard to clear his mind, fighting against every word screamed at him. Six wolves bounded into the clearing, turning instantly as they entered. The she-wolf and other male were amongst them, they were all snarling and snapping aggressively.

The Dementor floated into the clearing opposite to where Harry was standing. Silvanus tore from his side and joined his wolves, barking at them and snarling at the Dementor.

"No, not Harry, please – take me instead…"

"Stand aside"

"Kill the spare."

"Lily – take Harry"

The whispers in his head clashed with the softer, reassuring murmur that had always helped him produce his patronus. It told him to be strong, fight back…the tall robed figure floated closer, and a white scaly hand appeared from under the cloak…its fingers curling as they stretched to reach Harry.

The wolves had retreated with the Dementor back to where Harry was standing, and had formed a semi-circle around him, warning and threatening the Dementor as it got closer.

There was nothing the animals could do to harm the Dementor, so with this in mind, Harry shut his eyes tight and forced himself to fight against the emotional agony ripping through his head.

The dementor would not give up, it tried to push pass the protective circle to get to him, but Harry fought harder, and readied his wand.

"Expecto Patronum!" he shouted, pouring the whispers into the spell.

A great stag materialized out of the end of his wand, it gracefully landed on the ground in front of the robed creature. It reared up, kicking its front legs and thrusting its antlers, the dementor turned and let out a horrible sound of what could be described as rage, before it disappeared into the forest. The stag tore after it….and returned moments later, it looked at Harry, before vanishing.

Harry fell to his knees onto the cold grass…each time he performed that spell he forgot how much it took out of him. He was suddenly exhausted.

Where the hell did that thing come from? He thought furiously.

A nose pressed against his cheek, and Harry turned to see Silvanus standing next to him, his eyes filled with question. Harry smiled slightly and stroked the wolf in thanks.

Silvanus stepped back from him suddenly, and tilted his head so his muzzle rose as high as it could. The wolf let out a deep breath through a long and powerful howl. Harry could feel the sound moving in his chest, and he thought for a few seconds that he could actually feel his ear drums vibrating.

He listened in wonder as the howl started low and deep, then rose in frequency and force. The others in the clearing joined in…each note of their song looped together by each wolf. The forest vibrated with the sound, Harry's skin tingled and he smiled.

The moon sat on its bed of rippled clouds and shone down onto the clearing, praising and drawing the song out of them.

It lasted for longer than Harry knew, and by the time he returned to his dorms…he fell asleep before he fell on his bed.

. . . . . . . . x. . . . . . . . .

It was about 12 o'clock when Harry finally decided to make his presence known to the world; he crawled out of bed, struggled into the shower and left it to the cold burst of water on his skin to wake him up.

He had had no control over falling asleep the night before, it seemed that the last few day's activities had caught up with him, and he was in such a deep sleep that even the hands of nightmares and visions would not have been able to get hold of him.

Harry had spent much of the night with the pack. After the dementor he had wanted to leave, but the rest of the pack had returned and started to show a particular interest in him, and after taking note of the size of most of them, Harry was not about to disappoint them by leaving. There were ten other adults and four pups. The youngsters had tried to escape from their den in the fallen tree, but they had been frequently reprimanded by their mother and relatives that they eventually gave up. The older members of the pack had surrounded Harry and spent most of the time sniffing around him and prodding him with their noses.

Harry heaved a great yawn, and threw on some clean clothes. He decided to go to the library to get some work done, as their was little else to do.

The snake had remained coiled up at the bottom of his bed all night, reminding Harry of a strange, legless lapdog. He put the serpent into its usual place inside his pocket and made his way down to the kitchens.

He encountered Professor McGonagall for the first time since his arrival at Hogwarts, in the Entrance Hall. She smiled at Harry, one of her tight-lipped, rigid smiles. She asked how he was, to which Harry replied that he was fine; she, like Dumbledore, seemed older and more strained than before. Harry wondered why he hadn't seen the rest of the teachers yet; he had expected to see them wandering the halls just as frequently as they would during term. Not that he was complaining: he had no overwhelming desire to see Snape.

Once again the House Elves greeted Harry warmly; Dobby was insanely happy that he was visiting twice in two days and they forced all the food they could down him…he tried numerous times to make a quick escape.

The sight of the library reminded him of Hermione and Ron, the times they had been in there trying to solve some dark, most of the time deadly, mystery; it brought an odd feeling of comforting familiarity.

Making his way past shelf after shelf of books, one section caught his eye; Magical Creatures.

He ran his finger over each book, looking for the ones he wanted; and eventually pulled out, "What to make of your snake"," Slippery serpents"," What snake are YOU keeping?" and, "Poisonous and Exquisite snakes."

Sitting down at table at the back of the library, Harry began to read.

He read through two books, not finding anything that remotely resembled his snake.

He came to "Poisonous and Exquisite Snakes", and paused at a page.

"……………The Medeor Sanatio snake is related to the common Corn snake (Elaphe guttata guttata). Despite the fact that they are distinctly similar looking, the Corn Snake and the Medeor Sanatio Snake are very different in character. The Corn Snake has no magical ability, whereas the Medeor Sanatio has few, but efficient powers. They are rarely kept as pets as they are very scarce in the wild - their blood is used in healing potions.

When the snake is injured or ill, It will use the magic in it's blood to heal itself, this magic will prove effective for minor and some larger injuries; but is not strong enough to save its own, or anyone else's life.

They have an extremely short temper, another reason for their rarity as houses pets; they are not afraid to use their long fangs and powerful constriction if it will work to their advantage. However, there have been cases where the Medeor Sanatio and people have lived quite harmoniously, if the snake has a close relationship with it's owner, it will help them in time of need; during illnesses or injury…

Hatchlings range in size from 5 to 8 inches. Adults range in size from 12 to 16 inches at maturity. Adult snakes feed on mice, rats, birds, and lizards by suffocating the prey with their strong coils. Food items are swallowed whole and digested efficiently. Medeor Sanatio's are accomplished climbers as well as adept burrowers, so most small mammals or birds are possible meals for them. They have a Jacobsan organ that helps them pick up smells and chemical particles………"

There was a picture of a small snake, bigger than his own, but with a more striking pattern. It was bright orange, with yellow stripes: the yellow stripes were lined with a light green colour.

Harry looked around to make sure no teachers or anyone was around, and pulled out the snake that was nestled in his inside pocket. Putting it on the desk in front of him, Harry compared the one in the picture, and the real snake that was in front of him; their shape was exactly the same, and even the colouring had some kind of similarity. Both had orange, green and yellow markings.

Harry was pretty convinced that the snake he had bought was a Medeor Sanatio; the book said what happened when the snake healed itself or others, and it described exactly what had happened when it wrapped itself around Harry, the light glow that had emitted from the body and the feeling that had crawled up Harry's own body.

Glad to have finally found out what snake he was keeping, Harry put the books back on the shelf. The short temper part reminded Harry of what he had seen in the shop…an incident which he had forgotten about. The snake had been anything but moody and aggressive towards him.

As he was walking back to his table, he glanced at a few titles…and one caught his eye, "Coluber – king of serpents"

At that instant, Harry knew what to call his snake. It did not, apparently, have a name…so he had decided to find one, seeing as he couldn't keep calling it 'snake'.

Harry caught the snake's attention with a hiss.

"I have a name for you," the snake looked up in interest, "Col…short for Coluber."

"That is a worthy name," it replied simply.

Harry nodded, satisfied at last.

Hours later, after he had completed nearly all of his homework, save Potions and Divination, he sat back in the uncomfortable wooden chair, and massaged his temples; he had a dire headache.

He folded his arms in front of him and rested his aching head on them; the throbbing in his head had nothing to do with his scar, he knew it was just fatigue. Harry had not realised how tired he was until he lay his head down, his eyelids became instantly heavy, and they fluttered until they eventually closed.

The patter of a spiders feet crawling across the stone wall, the howl of the wind outside the castle and the birds flying outside the window were the only sounds Harry could hear. Each sound moulded into one, until they all whirled inside his head.

Tiredness over took him, and he fell into a restless sleep.

He began to dream.