I do not own Harry Potter. Chances are that if I did I would be able to think of a more creative disclaimer!
...
The next morning, Bill and Charlie announced that they were staying another two days. Both had managed to take off a few days from their occupations, and so decided to stay with their family. Harry was pleased with this arrangement. With two extra people around, Mrs. Weasley didn't fuss over him quite as much; a relief. Harry loved Mrs. Weasley like a mother, but he didn't want to be set apart from everyone else because of her extra concern.
He wished he could tell her that, quickly, like he used to be able to if he wanted.
He could write his feelings, of course, but the downside of words was that only a very good writer could imbue their writings with emotion. Harry could not accomplish this. That was probably what he missed most about speaking. It was so easy to communicate quickly and with feeling, but now his communication had been limited to the time it took to write and ink was emotionless.
Sign language helped, of course, but that was also limited to the select few who also knew the language. There were few muggles who knew it, and next to no wizards. Writing would be his primary method of communication with most people from now on.
But the two eldest Weasley brothers also helped to keep Harry in high spirits. They, like their other brothers, loved a good joke. Most of the time they preferred to just stand back and laugh at the twins' antics, but they occasionally made their own jokes. Charlie liked dry humor, which was refreshing. With the two of them combined with Fred and George, Harry was never in a glum mood for long.
...
For lunch that day, Mrs. Weasley declared that everyone needed some fresh air and they would therefore eat outside. The boys, including Harry, set up a table out in the front yard, complete with a tablecloth. Then they all hung out outside while Mrs. Weasley and the girls prepared lunch, just talking and laughing.
Harry wandered away from the conversation, looking at Mrs. Weasley's flower beds. With a little cleaning, they would be quite nice. She had a wide variety of flowering plants set off with non-blooming plants. Harry noticed that the different plants bloomed at different times of the season, ensuring that the garden would always posses some color.
The only problem was the weeds. The ground was nearly covered in long grass and a few thistles. Harry thought what a shame it was to let all those weeds take over such a lovely garden. Then he had an idea.
For months he had wondered how he could pay back the Weasleys for their years of kindness. Now he knew how.
Harry knelt beside the flower bed and began to systematically pull the unwanted grasses from the soil, putting them in a pile beside him. The thistles he left; he would need gloves to remove those.
Five minutes' work and he had cleared an area about two feet square of the weeds, letting a small primrose plant have access to the sun. Harry sat back on his heels and smiled; despite what some people thought there was good in the world. You just had to look for it in the little things, most of the time.
The others had now noticed his absence and had wandered over to stand behind him.
"What are you doing, Harry?" Ron asked.
"Garden."
"Yeah mate, we saw that. But how did you do that?" Ron pointed to the patch Harry had cleared, and Harry frowned up at him. He honestly didn't know how to weed?
Harry reached out and pulled another fistful of grass up. Then he placed it on top of his weeding pile and looked pointedly at Ron. There. You get that? It's quite simple, he thought.
"Oh, yeah. I guess that would work. It's just that when Mum weeds she uses this spell that she found in her housecleaning spell book. It never seems to work that well, but Mum usually doesn't have the time to do it how you are." Ron explained.
Harry nodded, showing his understanding. He gestured to the garden, inviting them to help.
"It's a good idea Harry. We can all help; it'll be a good surprise for Mum." Bill said. His brothers nodded in agreement and soon they were all intently weeding.
Harry accomplished the most, having cared for the Dursley's garden since he was four. It was nearly second nature to him so he could do it relatively mindlessly. So, instead of focusing on which clump of weeds he would pull next, he paid attention to what his efforts revealed, just like opening a wrapped gift. Every new pull showed something new and previously hidden. He saw a caterpillar, caught a glimpse of a field mouse, accidentally disturbed a nest of ants, and discovered a large female praying mantis.
He also found a few spiders, and knew that Ron was having the same problems. His friend kept leaping to his feet and stumbling backward a few paces, waiting for the dreaded spider to pass. Every time he did this the twins burst out laughing, remembering their prank that had caused Ron to be arachnophobic.
Ron just glared at them and went back to weeding, cautiously.
After fifteen minutes of their combined efforts, the garden was half-done. Everyone was pleased with their work by the time Mrs. Weasley declared that lunch was ready and vanished the prepared food to the table outside. As the others made their way outside, Charlie performed the aquamenti spell and they all rinsed the dirt off their hands.
"Good idea, Harry. Mum's going to be thrilled." Charlie congratulated as Harry rubbed the soil from the creases in his palm. Harry grinned up at him.
Mrs. Weasley was indeed "thrilled." She was actually ecstatic, even though the work was only half-done. She went around hugging the boys, giving them kisses on the cheek and saying how blessed she was to have "six such wonderful, thoughtful sons."
Harry did a mental tally. She couldn't be counting Percy, since he had distanced himself from his family and wasn't even at the Burrow. So why had she said "six" instead of "five?"
Then Harry understood as George mentioned that weeding had been Harry's idea, and Mrs. Weasley rushed over to Harry once more and gave him another peck on the cheek.
"Harry, you're such a thoughtful boy. Thank you so much." Harry grinned at her and did something he rarely did: he gave her a hug.
She stilled for a moment, knowing that Harry had never really been comfortable with hugs and almost never gave them. Then she returned it, and Harry knew that no matter what his surname was, he was a member of the Weasley family.
After lunch Harry and the others set to finishing the garden while Hermione and Ginny helped Mrs. Weasley clean up after the meal. They all took the places they had assumed before, putting Harry at the end of the flower bed with a cleared seven foot gap of garden between himself and Ron. Thus he was working in relative private, undisturbed. He sank back into his gardening mood. Pull weeds, discover new things.
Five minutes into their work Harry found something, or rather in his perspective, someone, quite interesting.
He had just yanked out a large clump of long, tough grass. He caught a glimpse of a sinuous body disappearing into the surrounding grass and realized that he had found a snake. On an impulse he "spoke" as he was prone to do if he was acting on instinct.
Except this time, sounds were produced.
"Don't leave!" Harry hissed, surprising himself. The snake's movement abruptly stopped and then a scaly head poked from the grass.
"You are a speaker." The snake hissed, its eyes narrowed.
It took Harry a moment to get over his shock to reply.
"I am. I apologize for my shock; I had not thought I was able to speak the Naga language anymore, as I am not able to speak to humans anymore. I have not made any sound whatsoever in more than a week." The snake appeared interested, and slithered from his grassy refuge to speak properly with Harry.
"You are what humans call a mute?" Harry nodded. "How was your speaking ability damaged?"
"My vocal chords were burned completely away by a rogue curse."
"Humans have a certain type of vocal chords, which differ from the Naga vocal chords. This is why most humans are unable to speak the language of the Naga, as Naga are unable to speak the languages of the humans. But the speakers are able to speak the Naga language because they posses two sets of vocal chords. Their 'default' vocal chords are the ones that produce human sounds. But they have a second, smaller set which allows them to speak Naga.
"Essentially you have three passages in your throat instead of two: one for air, one for human sound, and one for Naga sound. This third passage is protected much how the passage into your lungs is. Muscles - placed where both passages containing you vocal chords connect - control which set of vocal chords has air passing over them, allowing them to produce sounds. These muscles are very thick. They have apparently protected your Naga vocal chords, leaving you still able to speak the Naga language but not your human one." When the snake had finished his lesson, Harry sat back, stunned, not even noticing the Weasleys gathered around and watching his conversation with a sort of horrified fascination.
"Thank you for explaining this to me. If I may, have wizards discovered this? I was never told that my anatomy differs from that of other humans."
"I only know of one wizard who knows what I have told you. He, like you, is a speaker, and a powerful wielder of magic. He did a study on the reason for a speaker's ability and discovered what I have just explained. He passed on his discoveries to his familiar, my mother, who told me." It was then that Harry realized that he was not speaking to an ordinary garden snake. The snake in front of him was a juvenile Ball Python.
Just like Nagini.
Voldemort's familiar.
"Is your mother's name 'Nagini'?"
"Yes, that is correct. You have heard of her?"
"Her human is feared amongst humans. Everyone knows of both him and his terrifying familiar, the giant Python, Nagini."
"She would be pleased to know this. Unfortunately I have not seen her since shortly after I hatched from my egg, and I probably never will again. I wish you well, speaker. Maybe we shall meet again." Then the snake slithered back into the grass and was gone from sight.
Harry sat there, stunned. He had made his first sound in over a week, and felt a little more normal. He had once again felt the welcoming vibrations in his neck. He brought his hand up and felt his throat, remembering the sensation as he stared at nothing, wondering.
"Harry…what just happened?" It was Bill. Harry snapped out of his wondrous mood and remembered that none of the Weasleys, excluding Ron and Ginny, had known that he was a Parselmouth. He had made Ginny and Ron swear they wouldn't tell anyone, and they hadn't.
Dumbledore had also kindly cast a charm at the end of second year on the school and its students, preventing any student from knowing of Harry's ability outside of Hogwarts. No one had known except Dumbledore, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny.
But now he had just given the best display of Parseltongue the entire family would ever see. And yes, the entire family, excluding the absent Percy, had seen. The girls had been outside, clearing dishes with Mrs. Weasley. Mr. Weasley had been helping with the garden, just like all his sons.
And now all of them were clustered around Harry, morbidly fascinated. Harry gulped as he slowly stood and dusted off his knees, not meeting any of their eyes.
"What were you doing, Harry? You were making noises…" George said, completely confused.
Harry sighed and scratched the back of his head. This was going to be difficult to explain.
"Harry, I thought you were completely mute? You never said you could still use Parseltongue." Ginny said.
"Whoa! Harry, you're a Parselmouth?" Fred demanded.
Harry nodded, closing his eyes. Many wizards considered Parselmouths to be "dark." He didn't think that any of the Weasleys were that bigoted, but Harry was rarely sure about anything.
"So…have you always known?" Mr. Weasley asked.
Pulling out his little notebook and a pen, he began to explain.
"I first discovered I could talk to snakes over the summer before first year. I accidentally broke a boa out of a zoo habitat and put Dudley in the boa's place. I was so shocked when I realized that, when I spoke to the boa, he understood me and I could understand him. I didn't realize that it was a rare ability and it was called Parseltongue until second year. I could only get into the Chamber of Secrets because I'm a Parselmouth, you know.""
"There's no need to defend your ability, Harry." Mrs. Weasley said, recognizing his mention of the Chamber of Secrets as a defense mechanism. "We don't hold it against you, and anyone who does shouldn't. It isn't dark; it is simply a magical trait. You can't help having it."
"But, Ginny, you just mentioned it. You knew?" Charlie asked.
Ginny nodded, lowering her eyes.
"After he had gotten me out of the chamber he felt I deserved a full explanation. Not to mention that the whole school was talking about it anyway…I don't know how it never made the press."
"Dumbledore put a spell on the castle's occupants so that they would forget about it outside of Hogwarts. I didn't want more gossip about me than there already is." Harry explained on his notepad, showing it to Ginny.
"We know, too. We were at the dueling club in second year when Draco cast a snake at Harry in a duel. It was about to attack Justin Finch-Fletchley, but Harry told it to stop. He didn't even realize he was speaking Parseltongue, so when everyone reacted in the obvious way, Harry didn''t even know what was going on. We had to drag him aside and explain everything to him. His being a Parselmouth was the primary reason why all the students thought he was the Heir of Slytherin." Hermione added.
"Wicked!" the twins exclaimed together, finger-spelling it too.
"Harry, that is all interesting, but how did you do it just now? I thought your vocal chords were gone. No sound, at all. That is what you yourself said." Ron asked. Harry glanced around at everyone before writing his answer. He didn't want to focus on the fact that he had understood every hiss that snake had uttered, but that was the only way to tell them exactly why he could still speak Parseltongue. Everyone seemed a little awed, but no one seemed hostile. Harry felt it was safe to touch on his conversation with the snake after all.
"When I first saw the snake – I didn't get his name – I acted on impulse and asked it not to leave. But the thing is, whenever I'm speaking and seeing a snake, I tend to unconsciously switch to Parseltongue. So the snake understood what I said, and recognized me as a 'speaker.' I told it I was mute, so the snake explained that instead of having one set of vocal chords capable of producing both human and snake sounds, I have two sets. The only set that got destroyed was the human one, because the Parseltongue set is in a completely different passage in my throat. I am still able to use Parseltongue because that passage didn''t take any damage."
"Wow. That's amazing Harry! That proves that Parselmouths are genetically different from ordinary wizards, because their entire throat structure is different! That is a major breakthrough! I wonder why it was never mentioned in any books." Hermione wondered.
"The snake I talked to was the son of Nagini, Voldemort's familiar. Voldemort is apparently the one who did the research and discovered why Parselmouths are Parselmouths. He obviously never published his research."
"Harry, that is fascinating. Do you know what this means? It's a whole new breakthrough in magical genetics!" Hermione exclaimed. Harry frowned. He didn't want the world to know that he was mute when it came to human languages, but was perfectly fine talking to snakes. His life would be ten times harder.
"I don't want anyone to know I'm a Parselmouth. That is that."
"But Harry! You can't keep this from the magical geneticists!" Hermione protested.
"Why do you want to keep it a secret, Harry? It's wicked cool." George asked.
"Don't you guys know how the world treats Parselmouths? We are shunned at best, down right prosecuted at the worst. The reason that Parselmouths are so rare is that the old wizarding government hunted Parselmouths until they were almost extinct. What if something like that happened again? Goodness knows the ministry is prejudiced enough."
"Alright, I get it." Hermione said, admitting defeat. Her shoulders slumped noticeably.
Harry let out a sigh of relief.
"Harry, can you say my name in Parseltongue?" Fred asked, excited. Harry did another scan of the Weasleys' faces. They didn't judge him. Good.
"Fred." Again, those comforting vibrations rippled through his neck. He grinned and placed his hand on his neck to feel them even better, and said a whole sentence just for the pleasure of it.
"Thank you all for not judging me on this."
He knew that, unlike sign language, no one would ever understand this unless they happened to be a snake or Voldemort. But he could use it just to make him feel like he could speak, in a language people would understand.
"Wicked! That was really his name? You sounded like, 'sss hathr,' at first, but then you hissed a bunch of other sounds." Harry raised an eyebrow.
"When I speak it, it sounds just like English. Well, not quite, I can tell the difference. But what you just said was just a load of sound and what I said actually had meaning. And, I did say your name at first, but then I spoke a whole sentence." He scribbled on his pad, and then smirked at Fred.
He noticed Charlie was looking as if he was deciding whether or not to say something, but then he just said it.
"You know your face scrunches up strangely and your head moves around when you speak it, right?"
