The Hiss of Darkness Within a Heart of Gold

by Tubbataha

Disclaimer: They aren't mine, I didn't steal them, I swear!

Summary: Harry leaves the Dursley's in the summer after 5th year after Hedwig is killed by Vernon. Harry life is changed after a shopping trip to get a new owl. Not HBP complaint. Salazar will make an appearance (sort of)

AN: Thank you very much to all the reviewers! I was really suprised by the response that I got but you convinced me to battle through this chapter which was desided mulish to write so this one is for you guys!

Oh and someone asked about pairs and such to be honest I really don't know I hadn't at this point for this to be romance but lets just say you gave me a couple of ideas but at the moment their is no pairs.

It was getting late as Harry wound his way back through the thinning crowds in the Alley towards the Leaky Cauldron.

"One room please Tom. Somewhere quiet as well please, if it isn't too much trouble." Harry called to the inn keeper Tom once he had managed to squeeze inside the door of the small pub.

"Right oh" Tom called making his way across the main room towards the rather rickety staircase. "Fraid there is too many quiet rooms around at the moment; we're rather busy ya see." Harry nodded as he followed Tom thinking about the crowds of people he had seen in the pubs common room.

"Here you go room 68" Tom unlocked the door and let Harry in to the small room. "It's not much but I'll try n' see to it so that no one bothers you."

"Thank you Tom that will be fine" Harry nodded smiling at the friendly inn keeper he always did his best to help Harry out when he could.

"Right you are then, you get settled in and I best be getting back down stairs" Tom shuffled out the door closing it firmly behind him. Harry moved to sit on the bed removing his outer robe. Before laying down he let the snake slither down safely down his arm and curl itself up on the covers.

It had been a long day starting when he had once again run away from the Dursely's, but Harry didn't want to dwell on that right now. He was fairly certain he would have to deal with the events leading up to his departure and the ramifications of his actions all too soon. He hoped however that he might just have some small amount of time to himself and some peace before it all came to a head though.

Deciding his best course of action was to find a suitable distraction he rolled on to his side to face the snake, maybe he could find some more out about his new companion.

"Sorry I just realised I never asked your name before, anyway I'm Harry."

The snake opened one eye to look at him disdainfully. "My name, well I suppose you could say I don't have a name as such at present but I was once called Salazar."

"Salazar! As in Salazar Slytherin the Hogwarts founder?" Harry asked completely gob smacked, he wasn't really sure why any thing about this snake should surprise him any more.

"Would there be any other Salazar? The snake queried in reply. Harry could have sworn that if snake had eyes brows it would have been arched at him right now. In fact the look was similar to the one he saw regularly on Professor Snape's face he wondered if Snape.

"I suppose it isn't a very common name is it?" answered Harry.

"No" the snake replied simply. They both just sat looking at each other in the awkward silence that followed, until the snake finally spoke up again out of irritation.

"Now didn't anyone teach you how to introduce yourself properly Harry? I'm sure your parents didn't just name you Harry and leave it at that. I expect you have some second name and even a third one perhaps." Harry flushed red with embarrassment he couldn't believe he was getting a lecture on proper manners from a snake.

"My name is Harry James Potter"

"That's better," the snake bobbed its head in recognition.

The snake continued to speak but Harry no longer listened to what it was saying his mind preoccupied with an earlier part of their conversation, which caught his attention. The snake had said that Salazar had once been his name, but who in their right mind would call a snake Salazar, well except perhaps Voldie but he hadn't been able to get the snake to even wake up let alone name it. It couldn't mean? No, even in the wizarding world that would just be to outrageous, there was probably another fanatic who had named their snake after their beloved founder, right?

"Umm… when you said you were once named Salazar, you meant that a former owner had called you that, correct?" Harry enquired carefully. However he was obviously not careful enough as the snake was now staring angrily at him its black eyes boring into Harry's emerald ones.

"Owner!" No one has ever owned me and nobody will ever own me, most certainly not you" It hissed venomously. "However, whilst I do owe you a debt for aiding my departure from that shop, don't be getting into that pretty little head of yours that this gives you any rights over me."

"No, No. I didn't mean it like that, sorry I didn't mean to offend you" Harry babbled trying to placate the seething creature. "I was just trying to find out where you got your name from" Harry finished meekly.

Harry wasn't sure what to do about the snake, was it really normal for snakes to act this way? Harry didn't think so; whilst he had spoken to other snakes of course he hadn't really had a chance to hold any in depth discussions with the others. So he therefore didn't really have any other experiences to compare it to. The thing was really rather touchy, Harry was already losing count of the number of times and different ways he seemed to have up set the thing.

"You are not very bright are you?" the snake asked mockingly "You do go to Hogwarts correct?" Harry just nodded in answer unsure were the snake was going with this. "Well then you are almost certainly a Gryffindor then."

"How?" Harry just gaped at the snake.

"How what? Not very eloquent either, definitely one of Godric's then. Rarely speaking before think, not particularly quick witted and always, always irritating" the snake sighed.

"What is it that you would like to know? How do many days of the week begin with T? How seconds are there in a year? No I think not; perhaps you wish to know how I it is I have knowledge of Hogwarts, as I am merely a snake."

Harry continued to just stare blankly at the snake, he felt like he had been doing that a lot but every thing this snake did just seemed to throw him off balance. Harry had come to the very definite conclusion now that this was no ordinary snake.

"Well by now boy even you must have come to see that I am not exactly your average snake. That's not exactly true though as far as snakes I am a perfectly normal snake, a bamboo pit viper to be precise. As unmagical and ordinary as let us say, a pet rat might be. However when I wasn't a snake, I was a rather exceptional person if I do say so myself." At this point the snake paused to preen and to catch its breath.

"You were a man" Harry murmured "but you are now a snake, an animagus. Wait no if you were an animagus you would have transformed back long before now, you wouldn't have needed my help to get out of the pet shop."

"Very clever boy" the snake sneered. "Never the less your thinking is flawed for several reasons. the first of which being that you have not considered the fact that not wanting to reveal my form would be a very probable explanation for not transforming in the middle of that pet shop". Harry thought on this and found that he had to agree it was a good argument, especially if someone was unregistered like Sirius and his father had been.

"Further more there is also the possibility that I could still be an animagus yet be prevented from transforming to my original form, due to a curse or suchlike cast on me." Once again Harry considered this argument weighing up the positives and negatives before pointing out that it would be impossible to curse someone into remaining in their animagus form. This being due to the fact that the transformation it self was really a form of wandless magic, relying on the innate magic within the individual and said individuals strength of character to succeed. That said it meant that to bind a wizard to his animagus form would be far beyond the power of a mere curse and would require the binding of the wizards magic itself.

Harry and the snake continued on in this fashion bouncing possible theories and explanations backwards and forwards, each time the other find the flaws in their counterparts suggestion. Slowly their conversation wound down and they found themselves briefly sitting in silence, both seemed to have run out of ideas.

"Well that what really happened then?" Harry queried disrupting the quiet.

"To be perfectly honest with you I don't exactly know?" the snake replied somewhat sheepishly.

"After all that you don't actually know how this happened?" Harry laughed.

AN: Little cliffie here, he he evil I know but I hope this answered a few questions and created a lot more, after all what else keeps you reading. I hope to have the next chapter up by the end of the week but no promises hey.