The Potions Master
Harry pushed his eggs around on his plate. He was both excited and nervous for today, his first day of Potions class. Harry had been ready for this class ever since he was old enough to understand what having magic really meant.
As long as you were careful, potions were one of the only aspects of magic that could be used to help non magicals without violating any laws, and that was what Harry wanted to do more than anything. He was sure that if the magical world introduced itself to the non magical one through something wonderful like medicine, then it would let the two interact more. Then he wouldn't be pushed to choose his mother's world or his aunt's. A future problem he had recently become aware of after overhearing several older students in the common room talking to each other about how disappointed they were that Harry was so 'muggle'.
How 'disappointed' will they be when they found out I'm a Speaker? He wondered absently, bringing his thoughts back to this morning with Najash. His little friend had been slow and sleepy for the last three days, but this morning he had woken Harry to inform him that he was hungry. A couple lizards from a container with a stasis charm sated him, but grossed out Dean and Finnigan when they woke up to the snake devouring his second treat.
The two boys were sitting on the other side of the Gryffindor table this morning after that, neither seemed to have too much of an appetite.
"I wonder where the Headmaster is?" Hermione asked, breaking Harry out of his musing.
"Huh?" He muttered, looking up at the Head table to find the Headmaster's golden 'throne' empty, "Weird, no idea."
"What'd I miss?" Dudley asked, sitting down at the same time, his face still flushed from his late shower. He and Justin had run a couple rings around the lake that morning to start keeping in-shape. Justin overestimated himself though, and was still recovering downstairs in the dorm. Good thing there was no flying this week so they had first period free that day.
At eight the mail delivery came as it did every morning, this time with a large Gringotts eagle owl delivering a trio of letters to Harry. He recognized one by the Gringotts seal as being some kind of official document and set it aside. Aunt Petunia had sent one from 'Ms. Acacia' with the note 'Me First!' under the address so he went ahead and opened that one to read.
"Harry,
I have some wonderful news for you. The friend of your father's that I was attempting to track down ended up having a rather understandable reason for not being in your life until now, though he is back in England now and excited to meet you. Without saying anything sensitive, the man turned out to also be 'Mister Moony', the one from your mother's journal. I'm sure you will remember what that means and keep it between Hermione and yourself.
He has enlightened me further concerning some of the things that were done with your family's money, and I have asked him to take up a position where he is effectively working for you that will let him start to fix things. In addition, this should let you have access to some family heirlooms, as well as begin to restore your family's various(yes Harry, multiple) homes. The paperwork from Gringotts needs to be signed to give him authority to access your estates, please do so with the quill they sent in the envelope, AFTER finishing breakfast, then go to the infirmary to get your hand looked at. You'll understand.
With Love from your Aunt and Uncle at home,
Ms. Acacia"
"That's awesome!" Harry said, smiling as he finished reading the letter.
"What's that?" Hermione asked from beside him, it was taking all of her willpower not to read the letter over his shoulder, but she knew it could have been Gringotts business, so she restrained herself.
"My father ran with three other guys when he was at school, but two of them are gone," Harry frowned, remembering what had happened to his father's other two friends: one dead, the other in prison for betrayal and murder, "Well, Aunt Petunia found the last friend and convinced him to come home. Get this Hermione, he turned out to also be 'Mister Moony', that one."
Harry grinned as realization flashed over his friend's face, the story of a werewolf who made it all the way through seven years of school was very central to the pair's desire to discover new cures and ways of healing people. His mother's journal had a few chapters dedicated to her friend and how unfair the world would treat him if they knew of his affliction, and neither student felt that was right at all.
A few seats over, twin redheads whispered to themselves as they observed the exchange. There's no way that Harry Potter was talking about that Mister Moony, was there?
"Uh oh," One of the Weasley twins sang out a minute later as an old, feeble owl flew into the Great Hall a few minutes late.
"Mum sent a howler!" The other twin said as the bird circled the hall before finally coming to a stop at the Slytherin table.
"I'm surprised it took her this long, Errol must have been delivering something for dad." The first mused.
"What's a howler?" Dudley asked the twins, though he need not have as the red envelope answered his question itself when it opened itself and began shouting in a woman's voice.
"RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY! I HEARD FROM YOUR BROTHER WHAT HAPPENED AT THE SORTING! HOW DARE YOU DISGRACE OUR FAMILY LIKE THIS? I WON'T HAVE A SNAKE IN MY HOUSE-"
The tirade of abuse was cut short as the letter burst into flames in front of a crying Ronald, Professor Snape had stood and incinerated it with a gesture from his wand.
"Two nights of detention with me, Weasley, for broadcasting family business in such a shameful way." The dour man growled as he sat back down. The redhead in question merely nodded as he stared blankly at the ashes of the howler.
"That… was terrible." Dudley said, shocked, "I'm glad Snape burned it-"
"Professor Snape." Hermione corrected, to eye rolls from the others.
"Yeah," Dudley pressed over her, "I'm glad he burned it, but why would he give detentions for that. His mother should be in trouble, not him. That was horrible!"
"That was pretty tame," Fred, or possible George, spoke up.
"Yeah," the other continued, "we put a timed switching spell on all the girls toilet seats on the third floor right before spring term ended."
"Switched them with 'enchanted' amulets we'd sold to some Slytherins earlier." The first picked up seamlessly, "We set it to go off in the middle of lunch. Wouldn't have been caught but one of the amulets triggered and failed and the teachers examined it."
"Mum went ballistic, three howlers sent about ten minutes apart, she actually rented the owls to do it too!. No one's ears were working by first period."
"So this year we're planning to look at ways of pranking that don't leave a magic signature." His brother finished.
"You should look into potions." Harry offered, to Hermione's horror, as he examined the third envelope, "Something like a colour changing potion for skin could be funny, as long as it's reversible you know."
"Thats."
"Actually pretty good."
"Not thinking big enough though." The twins ping-ponged.
Harry thought about opening the letter from Moony, Remus Lupin, but decided to wait until after class. It wouldn't do for his mind to be on other things in his first ever official potions class. Instead, he ate a few more bites of eggs and another piece of bacon before opening the letter from Gringotts, careful about the quill his aunt had told him would be in the envelope as well.
Harry read through the papers from Gringotts as best he could, Hermione and Dudley running interference on each side as the nearby people became interested in his official-looking mail. There was a lot of legal jargon that he wasn't totally sure on, but he recognized the names. Apparently the title his aunt wanted to give Mister Lupin was 'Steward of the House of Potter', with it he'd be responsible for maintaining the physical and financial properties of the House. All Harry had to do was sign on the bottom line with the quill that Gringotts had sent and return the paperwork with the owl, which was still standing on the table waiting.
Harry took the quill, puzzled by the little message tied to it, 'No ink required', and set it to the page, dry. As soon as he began writing he winced in pain, but quickly finished signing his name to the line before dropping the quill as it dissolved into mist. Turning his hand over, he saw his own signature scratched lightly into his hand, bleeding.
"Now I see why she said to go to the infirmary." Harry mumbled as he quickly sent off the signed paperwork and gathered his things, Hermione with him.
"Are you gonna open the last letter?" One of the twins asked hopefully, having not noticed the small line of blood on Harry's hand.
"It's from one of my parents' friends," Harry responded, "I'm planning to read it tonight when I have time, you know?" The twins nodded, Harry was puzzled to find them looking somehow let-down.
"Harry, let's hurry and get you to the infirmary so it won't make us late for class." Hermione said as she pulled him up and guided him out.
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
The potions classroom separated the students into pairs for each workstation. This would have been fine except that both Slytherin and Gryffindor had an odd number of students. After Harry paired with Hermione, and the other Gryffindor girls paired together, Neville ended up odd-man-out. His partner, by default, became the Slytherin outcast, Ronald Weasley.
At least they'll be nearby, Harry thought as the two sat next to Hermione and he. Neville had already told them that he wasn't very good as brewing potions, he'd apparently tried back home and melted several cauldrons, a problem that Harry figured probably came down to inattentiveness most of the time, he'd only known Neville for less than a week and he'd already proven to be slightly forgetful and scattered.
The doors whipped open as Professor Snape entered the classroom, his robes billowing around him in a rather intimidating fashion, and slammed shut behind him. He scanned the room as he got to the front, doing a double take when he saw red and green at the same station, before locking onto Harry and fixing a scowl on his face.
"Ah, Mister Potter," He drawled as he took roll, "out newest celebrity." Several of the Slytherins snickered and the Professor continued calling roll.
"Tell me, Mister Potter." Professor Snape suddenly asked after giving a rather insulting speech about how they were all dunderheads once he'd confirmed they were all there, "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
As Harry looked the Professor in the eye, it seemed like he was staring at black, empty pits, "I'm not sure, sir. It's probably some form of poison considering it has asphodel root in it."
Snape frowned, "Thought you wouldn't pick up a book before coming to class, Potter? Try again, where would I look if I needed to find a bezoar?
Harry grinned internally, "Since there are poisons, as well as toxic ingredients, on the curriculum I would assume you could find one in one of those cabinets," he gestured to the ingredient cabinets at the back of the room, "but in the wild you can find one in the stomach of a goat."
Harry immediately regretted that, how was he supposed to convince Professor Snape to let him bring Najash to class like that?
"A point from Gryffindor for your cheek, Mister Potter. One more try, what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?" The Professor hissed.
"Uhm. I'm not sure I understand sir." Harry answered with a puzzled look, "They're the same plant."
Snape scowled once more, "Indeed, they are in fact the same plant, which is also known as 'aconite'. Asphodel and wormwood are components of 'The Draught of Living Death', a potion which puts the imbiber into a sleep from which they cannot awaken. A bezoar is a stone that can cleanse most poisons or toxins and, as Potter said, can be found in the stomach of a goat." He looked out at the rest of the class, "Well? Why aren't you writing this down?"
Professor Snape didn't get any better as the class moved on. His method of 'teaching' was to simply swipe his wand at the blackboard, revealing written instructions for the potion they were making. Afterwards he prowled the classroom, criticizing even the slightest mistake in preparing the ingredients.
He hovered over Harry and Hermione intermittently, trying to find something to dock a point for, but the pair had made the Boil-Cure potion from scratch several times before and knew what they were doing. The same could not be said for the table beside them, as Neville seemed to lose points for both his partner's and his own mistakes left and right.
"Neville, wait!" Harry shouted, too late to stop his friend from adding porcupine quills while their cauldron was still over the flame.
Knowing what was about to happen from experience back home Harry reached out as he stood up and yanked Neville away from the workstation right as the cauldron bubbled over and began dissolving into a heap of slag, spilling its unfinished contents over Neville's lower legs. Weasley, who had jumped away the moment Harry shouted, got away clean.
"Idiot boy! You didn't take the cauldron off the flames!" Snape shouted as he ran over, "Potter! You obviously knew what was going to happen! Why didn't you say something sooner? Ten points from Gryffindor!"
"Sorry Neville, I wasn't fast enough." Harry said, ignoring Snape as he made sure that his friend wasn't in serious danger.
Neville was beginning to silently cry as his shoes and the lower part of his robes dissolved in the potion, causing his feet and legs to break out in painful looking blisters.
Snape groaned at the sight of it, "Weasley, you're excused for today, we'll make up this class in one of your detentions. Take Longbottom to the Hospital Ward."
Ronald Weasley went to help Neville up from where Harry had him, but hesitated when Harry glared at him.
"Don't worry Harry, I'll see you at lunch yeah?" Neville said as he fought to stand up and walk out with the redhead supporting him, "My fault anyways."
The rest of the class went by relatively without incident. Though Harry lost a total of five
points, one at a time, for scowling at the teacher. Something he couldn't help after the careless way the man had dealt with Neville's accident. 'Take the potion off the flames' wasn't even a proper step in the instructions on the blackboard, it was an addendum to the step right before adding the quills.
When Harry and Hermione presented their potion at the end of the double period the Professor studied it for a full minute, over twice as long as anyone else, before scowling once more and giving it an 'Exceeds Expectations' grade. Malfoy's potion, which was the wrong consistency and too clear, somehow received the arbitrarily higher grade of 'Outstanding' and Harry no longer doubted what the others had been telling him.
This teacher was the worst.
In the end, Harry decided to wait at least one more class before asking Snape if he could bring Najash. He already had permission from Professors Sprout and Flitwick. Professor Mcgonagall had advised against it for her class; and Harry agreed, as animal transfiguration was on the syllabus and a misfired transfiguration could injure the snake more readily than a human. He didn't even need to ask Professor Quirrell, part of that class involved the students casting spells at each other. Harry wasn't going to risk his littlest friend getting struck by something that could hurt him.
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
"It's a bit soon to be seeing you back here, Mister Potter." Madame Pomfrey, the matron of the hospital ward, said with a stern voice but a wry smile, as he and Hermione entered the ward, "I already composed a report for your guardian about this morning. I'm not going to need to send another am I."
"No ma'am," Harry replied, "I'm just here to check on Neville this time, thank you though."
At that point he noticed Neville lying on a bed with his legs covered in a boil paste. He squinted at the paste through his glasses.
"Madame Pomfrey, isn't that boil paste the wrong colour?" He asked turning back to the elderly witch. He hadn't expected the school to use subpar supplies here of all places, he'd heard rumours about the school's flying broomsticks though.
"You like potions, do you?" She asked, carefully studying his face, "That's a faster acting version; but it can't be used repeatedly over a short time, it starts to mess with the skin's natural colour quite permanently. It's why each first year class only has one double session of potions each week, incidentally."
"What's it called? How do you make it?" Harry asked her excitedly.
"How long do you have to wait between applications?" Hermione added.
"Oh my!" Madame Pomfrey exclaimed, "I'm not used to students taking such an interest in the intricacies like that. Most students just want to be set right and forget about it."
"Well, I wanted to be a doctor until I learned about magic. Then I wanted to be a healer too." Harry said as he walked over to check on Neville, "You alright buddy?"
Madame Pomfrey looked over to Hermione, her question clearly visible on her shocked face.
The first year nodded and said, "Me too, both of my parents are dentists. That's a kind of muggle healer that focuses on teeth. Since I was old enough to think about things like that I wanted to be like my parents. I thought being a witch meant I'd have to change that until I met Harry."
Meanwhile, Neville was telling Harry how his legs and feet didn't hurt anymore and that he would be able to leave in time for the end of lunch.
"Where's Weasley?" Harry asked, finally realizing the annoying redhead was absent.
"He left after he got me here. He wanted to see if he could start eating early if he showed up to lunch before time." Neville answered.
"That jerk. He couldn't stay and at least make sure you were alright?" Harry muttered.
Harry and Hermione waited for Neville to be able to walk before heading down to lunch, where the entire Hufflepuff first year was sitting at the Gryffindor table. Apparently that was within the rules.
"Told you he was terrible." Dudley said after the three late Gryffindors had related what happened in their Potions class to him.
"Yeah," Harry reluctantly agreed, "It was hard to imagine that there could be a class worse than Binns'."
Everyone glanced at Hermione, waiting for her to correct him, "What?" She asked, "He's dead, and all he does is read random passages from the book. He didn't even call roll from this year."
She huffed, frustrated, "Not even I would call him a professor."
Harry and Dudley laughed, then stopped when she continued, "But you two know that Hogwarts: A History is an assigned book right? Now you HAVE to read it. If you really can't pay attention next period, read that instead of sleeping."
This elicited groans from the table, she never turned off.
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
Neville's Grandma had written him Friday morning, rather cross, and informed him that she would be in the castle on Saturday. She wanted to meet Harry Potter, who would dare to suggest Neville wasn't worthy of her son's wand, which Harry had no problem with if it meant helping his new friend and estranged godbrother.
This led to Harry playing chess with Neville in Professor Mcgonagall's office immediately after breakfast on Saturday while they waited. When the fireplace flared up bright and green, unexpectedly, Harry yelped and tumbled backwards out of the chair he had been resting on two feet.
The regal woman who emerged from the floo brushed a bit of ash off her shoulder as she looked down at Harry, struggling to calm his breathing, "Is everything alright in here?" She asked imperiously.
Harry took two more deep breaths while Neville watched him, worried, before responding, "Yes, ma'am. The fireplace surprised me." He paused and looked down, embarrassed, "I don't do well with flashing green lights sometimes. No idea why." He admitted, "I'd seen people use the floo but… I've never been surprised by it before, you know?"
The ancient witch's eyes grew wide as she took in his scarred forehead and realized what he probably meant. Neville, meanwhile had bent down to help Harry to his feet.
"You alright now?" Neville asked as Harry took his hand and steadied himself. Harry nodded shakily.
"Yeah, thanks."
"Mister Potter, Madame Longbottom, I shall step into the other room there in case you need me." Professor Mcgonagall said, her gaze carefully taking in Harry's emotional state as she took the stack of homework she was grading with her out of the room.
"Er," Neville seemed awkward now that Mcgonagall wasn't in the room, "Grandmother, this is Harry Potter. Harry, My Grandmother, Madame Augusta Longbottom."
Harry bowed slightly to the imposing woman, it somehow just seemed right. She nodded back, clearly pleased.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mister Potter. Neville has told me a little about you."
They spoke for a while about how the last week had gone, carefully dodging the issue of Neville's wand. She tried asking Harry about the place he grew up, but Harry wasn't willing to say anything other than that he was raised in the muggle world with his cousin Dudley.
"So, you think that my grandson can't use his father's wand?" She finally asked, raising an eyebrow in condescension.
"That's right ma'am, we can prove it too." Harry offered.
"Young man, I will not lie. The only reason I agreed to come here and discuss this when Neville asked is because he said you, the Boy-Who-Lived," Harry winced at the title, "told him to do it."
She paused, puzzling over Harry's reaction, "In that same letter," she continued, "he said that you were capable of wandless magic on your first day. Would you show that to me?"
Harry sighed as he thought about that, "Alright ma'am."
He reached his hand out to the table beside Madame Longbottom's chair, gripped his magic tightly, and gestured with two fingers for the table to rise. It wobbled as it did, but rose about three feet into the air before Harry put it back down unsteadily.
"That was remarkable young man." Madame Longbottom finally said, I wonder if he realizes that he forgot the incantation too, "Now. Tell me about Neville. Your personal talent does not excuse the insult you seem to have made against my grandson."
"It's not like that, Gran." Neville said.
"He's right, ma'am. I never said he wasn't 'worthy of' or 'up to' using his father's wand." Harry agreed, "But when I was in Ollivanders and got my wand he said 'the wand chooses the wizard'. He said it a few times, and when we were looking for my wand it over half an hour of trying them to find one that worked and it still wasn't my wand. My cousin took over an hour!"
Harry leaned over and reached into his bookbag, coming back up with the wand box that contained his holly wand, as Neville pulled out his father's wand from his robes. Madame Longbottom patiently watched as her grandson attempted to light his wand, then to conjure water into a cup that was on Mcgonagall's desk. Both attempts ended in abject failure.
"Now watch this." Harry said as he handed Neville his spare wand.
The difference was undeniable. Neville wasn't incanting the spells differently, and he wasn't getting any of his wand movements wrong before. But his magic was much stronger and more focused when he used the second wand. After demonstrating, Neville put the wand back in the case and Harry stowed it away.
"I've been using Harry's extra wand since lunch on the first day of class, Gran. Without it I would probably already have flunked out or something. I couldn't get even a single spell to work with dad's wand." Neville confessed once he was finished.
"Some other time I would love to hear the story of how and why you have two wands, Mister Potter." Madame Longbottom said as she watched him put the box back in his book bag, "I must confess that I did not take this as seriously as I should have. For a long time the family wasn't sure if Neville was magical at all… I suppose I wanted him to be able to draw on his father's strength to help him, since he seemed to have such a rocky start.."
They spoke for a short while longer about school, and Harry and Neville's parents. But before long Madame Longbottom took her son through the floo to Diagon Alley, leaving Harry to head back to Gryffindor and meet with his other friends.
Najash wanted to go outside.
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
That morning when Harry woke up, Najash had had his head stuck out from under his pillow and resting on top of it, watching his wizard sleep. After saying he didn't need more food yet, the red and gold serpent had asked Harry to take him outside at some point today. After telling them at breakfast, Parvati had been excited for the chance to finally meet the kingsnake and Hermione was looking forward to spending some time outside, reading.
Parvati had also invited her sister Padma, who wanted to meet Najash and hear Harry Speak as well. Just outside the front gates they found Dudley and Justin kicking a football back and forth, after Dudley promised to show Justin something cool the two followed the Gryffindors towards the Black Lake.
As they approached the lake Harry noticed a small stream that went by the greenhouses and Hagrid's cabin that wasn't too deep and moved slowly. He led the group that way, to a spot behind the greenhouses where the ground was low and moist from the nearby water, but not swampy at all.
"What are we looking at then?" Justin said, realizing that he seemed to be the only one who didn't know why they were headed to a spot behind the greenhouses where no one else could see them.
Harry looked at the boy before glancing back at Dudley.
"Don't worry, Harry." Dudley looked at Justin, "You aren't afraid of snakes are you? It's not poisonous."
"Venomous." Hermione corrected. Dudley rolled his eyes while his back was to her.
"Eh, actually I'm not the biggest fan." Justin confessed, backing up, "Does your cousin have one or something?"
"Yeah, he's pretty great honestly." Dudley said, "He's killed or ran off a few other snakes that slithered into my mum's garden."
"Uh, maybe some other time?" He said shakily.
"Don't worry," Dudley repeated, "Stay behind me and just check it out. It's not even a magical snake or anything, he's just really smart."
Justin stood behind Dudley and watched as Harry let Najash slither out from under his jumper sleeve and wrap around the outside of it. The Patil twins both cooed over the colourful little snake while Dudley helped Justin get used to it, which wasn't hard once he saw the girls petting it and making kissing noises at it without being bitten.
Then Harry Spoke, and Justin freaked out yet again. He had spent some time talking with Ernie about the magical world, and had been told already that parselmouth meant 'dark wizard'. The derisive glares he got from all three ladies present cooled him down enough to not go running away.
"After learning about your history I wouldn't have expected you to care much for snakes, Potter. What with that Voldemort character using them as his symbol." He finally said as Harry put the snake on the ground and watched it slither towards the stream.
"Yeah, but Najash was my first magical friend. He was the one that told me I was a wizard." Harry replied, "I might have been more wary of snakes, despite being a Speaker, had I been raised in the magical world. But I wasn't, and when I was growing up talking to snakes was just a thing another freaky thing I could do."
"What did he say by the way?" Padma asked, Parvati was bouncing in excitement at the question as well, "I wasn't sure if it was rude to ask…"
"Besides saying he was glad we've found 'humans with some common sense', he said he was going to shed soon," Harry replied, getting a chuckle from both girls, "which is weird, cause he ate two lizards yesterday morning."
Justin almost lost his breakfast at that statement, and Dudley suggested they head up to drier ground and kick the football around some more.
"I've never seen a snake like that before." Padma said after the two Hufflepuffs had walked away, "You called him a 'kingsnake'?"
Harry nodded as he scanned the ground for the telltale red bands and she continued, "Where are they from? In India there are a few snake species with red heads like that, but they are all extremely deadly."
"Kingsnakes are a New World snake," Hermione said, stepping into the conversation so that Harry could keep watching, "named for the same reason as King Cobras in India. They can prey on venomous snakes."
Hermione entered 'teacher mode' as she began recounting all of the facts she could about kingsnakes, particularly the scarlet kingsnake like Najash, to the surprisingly interested twins; her book completely forgotten in her school bag. The twins listened intently as she explained that they were venomless constrictors that were also highly resistant to the poison of snakes in the area they are native to. The scarlet kingsnake actually was coloured like a highly venomous snake that it normally shared a habitat with, but it wasn't affected by that snake's venom either.
"Again?" Harry exclaimed a few minutes later, interrupting Hermione right before she started comparing the different kinds of kingsnake she'd read about to Najash, as he began walking towards the stream.
"What happened?" Parvati asked, concern creeping into her voice. She'd found herself almost lulled to sleep listening to Hermione talk.
"Nothing's wrong," Harry consoled her, "But Najash just caught a lizard." he pointed to a spot twenty feet away, where the girls could see the red and gold stripes of the snake curled into a ball by a tree branch.
"He doesn't normally eat this much…" Harry worried, "I hope the magic here isn't doing anything bad to him."
"You said he ate two lizards yesterday?" Hermione queried, to which he nodded, "Doesn't he normally take a couple days to get moving again after he starts… er… digesting?"
Even Hermione got grossed out by the snake sometimes. Harry chuckled as he watched his friend struggle to talk about it.
"It's just, his metabolism seems way faster than it should be if he's eating again. Right?" She finished as they got to where the snake had just swallowed the last of the lizard's tail.
"Do you think I should take him to Madame Pomfrey?" Harry asked as the serpent in question slithered up onto the tree branch the lizard had been hiding under and began hissing to him.
~Harry? You are fearful. Is something wrong?~ The serpent asked.
~No. I'm a little worried for you though. Do you know how much you've eaten recently? That is your third lizard in two days, Najash. Are you going to be well?~ As he spoke he stooped down and picked up his familiar, the snake was too full at the moment to coil around his arm like before, so Harry let him slide into the front pocket on his pull-over jumper.
Najash stuck his head out of the pocket, ~This nest is filled with magic, with energy. I think I will be fine, Harry. Feeling the grass and the earth and the water has been good. Can we return here again?~
~Of course, little friend. Though we might have to go somewhere dry enough to sit down and study or do homework if we come out tomorrow.~
Harry frowned at his friend before looking up at the three girls watching the exchange intently, "Madame Pomfrey?" He repeated, "Or maybe Hagrid? Some older students said he takes care of the animals in the forest a lot. Najash doesn't know why he's like this besides the fact that there's a ton of magic here at Hogwarts."
"Maybe Mister Hagrid would be better. Maybe even Professor Kettleburn, the Care for Magical Creatures professor." Padma offered, "Either of them probably has more experience with animals than Madame Pomfrey, since she's a healer."
Harry smiled and nodded, "That makes sense. We were going to go see Hagrid tomorrow anyways, but this is important. Let's go see if he's available."
"I agree, Harry. Should we go get Dudley?" Hermione concurred.
"Maybe we should let he and Justin keep playing football?" Harry offered, "We're still not sure how big Hagrid's hut really is inside, and Justin didn't seem to be really enthused to be around Najash."
Harry and the three girls informed the Hufflepuff boys of where they were going and why and began following the stream towards Hagrid's home. Dudley agreed that they should take Najash to make sure he wasn't sick, and he and Justin headed back to the school to see if they could get anyone else to play ball with them. Along the way, Dudley impressed on his new friend how important it is not to mention that Harry could Speak, but that he wasn't actually trying to hide Najash himself.
Inside the nearest greenhouse, out of sight of the students, two professors watched with rapt attention, as they had since Mister Potter's outburst. Both could tell that the boy was talking to his pet snake, even from inside the greenhouse. Neither knew what to think of that.
"Do you think Albus knows?" Sprout asked her colleague, "Mister Potter asked if he could bring the snake with him to my class you know… I told him sure, especially after he offered to let it hunt the mice in the greenhouses…"
"We shall have to wait until he returns from his 'errand' before we find out. Though I'm sure he's aware of everything to do with the brat." Snape responded.
"I'm not so sure about that…" Sprout demurred, thinking of the letter Mister Dursley had given her after the Welcome Feast as she went back to harvesting the ingredients Snape needed for a special class he was putting on for N.E.W.T. students.
Severus still had no idea what the Headmaster was doing running off to South America with no warning like this. Dumbledore had received an important and 'private' floo call from Arabella Figg late Thursday evening while Severus was meeting with him and run out of the school no less than twenty minutes later with a trunk packed for at least a day or two with no explanation whatsoever.
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
Hagrid's hut was a lopsided wooden structure with a stone foundation that sat only a few dozen feet from the edge of the Forbidden Forest. The group had trouble almost immediately, as the big man kept an equally gigantic boar hound chained up on his front porch. As soon as the first years approached, the dog began barking and howling at them, straining against its chain to get at Harry. Najash curled up in his pocket, terrified of the huge dog that was so loud the little snake could feel it even through his jumper.
"Fang! Hush now! What'cha see out there boy?" Came a shout from inside the cabin. A few 'thuds' later, sounding like someone tripping on furniture, Hagrid emerged from the front door, all eleven feet of him.
"Harry? Hermione? Good teh see yeh." He said once he saw them standing a little out of the way. Harry was in the rather embarrassing position of hudling behind the three girls.
"You alright there, Harry?" Hagrid asked, alarmed at the boy's obvious fear, "You 'fraid of dogs? I can chain him up out back if you need.
"Sorry Hagrid," Harry said from behind Hermione, "It's not me, it's actually my pet here that's scared of him. He doesn't seem to be feeling right, I was hoping you could look at him? I heard you were good with all animals, not just magical ones?"
"Oh, aye, that won' be a problem Harry." The big man smiled, then frowned as he looked around, "I don' see the owl I got yeh for yer birthday, yeh mean somethin' else?"
"Er, yeah. I brought Hedwig to school too, obviously cause you sent us a letter with her. But technically Dudleybrought her, I had another pet already." Harry was careful not to say exactly what kind of pet Najash was just yet. If Hagrid freaked out like Harry thought he might it wouldn't be good for the dog to still be around where it could be riled up.
"Sorry if I offended yeh Harry. Didn' mean teh presume. I was jus' so excited to see ya again." Hagrid said.
"Its alright Hagrid." Harry replied, "Like Hermione said then, we did need an owl. Hedwig's great too, and my aunt and uncle like her as well."
"Well, glad it worked out." Hagrid said as he grabbed the chain holding Fang to the porch, "Don' know why he's actin' like this though. Usually only skittish 'round snakes unless there's some dark creature about. Smart like that, he is."
Harry frowned at that as Hagrid took Fang to the back, then returned to invite his guests inside.
"Who're yer friends here?" Hagrid asked as he held the door for the four first years.
"This is Padma and Parvati Patil." Hermione said as she introduced the twins. It was easy to tell them apart despite not wearing their school robes since Parvati seemed to prefer non magical clothing on her off days and Padma didn't.
"Blimey, two sets of twins in Hogwarts at once." Hagrid whistled, "Least you two don' take to dressing the same to confuse teachers. Those Weasleys drive Mcgonagall righ' mad, they do."
Once the four had found seats on the Hagrid-sized couch in his sitting room, the big man drug a chair across from them and asked to see Harry's sick friend.
He withdrew his hands when Harry took Najash out of his pocket, and his voice rose a few decibels as he exclaimed, "A snake! Harry! Careful lad, looks-"
"He's not!" Harry interrupted, all but shouting, "I've had this conversation a half-dozen times since coming to Hogwarts. He's not dangerous at all! I just think he's sick!"
Hermione put her hand on Harry's shoulder to calm him, Parvati did the same from his other side, as he cradled the snake close to him. In his hand, Najash squirmed, upset at whatever had upset Harry.
"Sorry Harry. Really." Hagrid said, realizing how much he'd upset the boy, "Can I take a look at him while yeh tell me what's wrong?"
Harry let Najash slither onto the table in front of them and began explaining about the snake's lethargy, followed by his much increased eating, while Hagrid gestured at the snake a few times with his umbrella before running his hand through his thick beard in frustration.
"I don' know what to tell ya, Harry," Hagrid said after he'd finished his strange examination, "All the magic I use says he's fine. But he sure don' sound like it."
Hagrid thought about what Harry had told him for a little while as the snake allowed the Patil twins to take turns holding and petting him. Hagrid couldn't help but frown at that, girls who were okay playing with a snake was certainly new to him.
"What I don' understand though, Harry," He asked, "is why you gave him so much food yesterday. Yeh said yeh've had him three years, why feed him so much now?"
"Well. He asked for it. He's never asked for more than he needed before." Harry answered absently as he watched the serpent play in Hermione's bushy, unruly hair to the delight of the other two girls. Maybe he really was okay?
"What do yeh mean?" Hagrid asked suspiciously, "Asked? Harry can you talk to yer pet here?"
Harry looked up at Hagrid, worried that the gentle giant would throw him out if he knew, he obviously had issues with snakes.
"Yeah." Harry said quietly, carefully gauging Hagrid's reaction.
The first emotion that played over the big man's face was fear, followed by suspicion. Harry held his breath.
It only took a second for all of that to go out the window as Hagrid smiled and said, "Well, yeh shouldn't go telling people about that. They'll be thinkin yer dark."
"You aren't worried about that?" Harry asked hopefully.
"Hogwash," Hagrid exclaimed, "yer Harry Potter, son o' James an' Lily Potter! There's not a dark bone in yer body!"
Harry smiled broadly at the big man's declaration of support, "Do you know someone else we could ask about Najash? Maybe Professor Kettleburn?" He asked.
"Kettleburn's great. Loves creatures, he does. But he don' much care for muggle animals. If it ain't magical somehow he don' do much with it."
Hagrid left the friends for a moment to put some water to boil for tea while he thought. Returning a few minutes later with the tea set he had an answer no one really wanted to hear.
"Have yeh thought about asking Professor Snape?" He asked as he set the pot and cups on the table in front of his guests.
"I'm not sure that's a good idea, Hagrid." Harry answered, "He seems to have it in for me. Dudley as well."
"Poppycock, why would he do that?" Hagrid asked unconvincingly.
"That sounded almost rhetorical, Mister Hagrid." Hermione said as she locked her gaze on him, Najash sitting on top of her head and also staring straight at the groundskeeper adding to the slightly menacing tone in her voice, "why would he do that? Because he definitely did. He hovered over Harry and I almost the whole class. Dudley said he did the same to him, except Dudley isn't as good at potions and lost several house points for simple failures."
"Not to mention 'breathing too loudly'." Harry added with air quotes. Even after the Neville incident, Harry hadn't really believed that one until the greasy git took points from Dean for exactly that fifteen minutes before the period let out.
Hagrid made a face at that like he didn't quite want to believe it, but knew it was probably true.
"Snape's troubles are his own." Hagrid finally said, "I can't be going 'bout telling people his business. He has a bit 'o reason to not like Potters, he won' be unfair about it though. But if he gets on ya too hard yeh should take it to Dumbledore."
Harry snorted at that and Hagrid glared at him for a moment, "I'm sorry I can't help more, Harry. Snape's the one mos' likely to know about snakes though. If there's somethin' wrong he'll be the one to know."
They continued talking for a while after that, during which time Hermione gave Hagrid a pared-down version of her kingsnake facts lesson that the Patils had received earlier. The groundskeeper was actually a little impressed with the snake afterwords. His initial opinions were coloured not only by Britain's cultural issues, but also by the fact that northern Scotland only had venomous adders for snakes. Knowing that this snake was not only safe, but actively hunted the dangerous kind, made him a star in Hagrid's book.
As the afternoon wore on the group realized that they needed to find time to get homework done, and excused themselves from Hagrid's Hut after promising to keep their tea engagement the next day and bring Dudley along.
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
That evening after dinner Harry found himself in the dungeons arguing with himself over whether he should knock on the door to Professor Snape's office. Najash was feeling more energetic but he definitely was beginning to shed, his eyes had glazed over in a span of merely hours to mark the beginning of the process. Something that normally took a day or two. After a minute standing in front of the door arguing with himself Harry finally knocked.
"Enter!" came the gruff answer from within.
Snape looked up as Harry closed the door behind him, "What do you want, Potter?" He demanded.
"Sir, I was hoping you could help me." Harry began tentatively.
"Unfortunately for you, Potter," Snape bit back, "I am not here to bow to your need for attention. If you want special lessons or some other privilege go ask your own Head of House."
"It's not that sir." Harry responded quietly.
"Then what boy? Out with it!"
"It's my pet, sir, I'm worried that he's sick." Harry started.
"Then take him to Kettleburn, or that bloody oaf Hagrid. I am not a vet." Snape hissed back.
"I did take him to Hagrid," Harry said, getting angry now at Snape's continued abuse, "he said that Professor Kettleburn didn't care much about non magical animals. He tried checking Najash himself, but didn't know what was wrong. He said you would be the specialist."
"So this is about your snake then?" The Professor asked matter-of-factly, to Harry's shock.
"Another teacher mentioned him?" Harry asked.
"Sprout informed me that you offered your familiar's service in keeping the greenhouses pest-free." He replied evenly before his expression softened a little, "So the serpent is ill?"
Harry nodded as relief swept over his face, the professor's tone made it clear he was going to help, "Yes sir, will you take a look at him?"
"I would be a disgrace to Slytherin if I did not know how to care for a snake. Merlin knows, there's at least one snake being kept as a pet in each year in my House. Some of them are even non-venomous." One side of Snape's mouth quirked at his joke and Harry smiled as the tension finished draining from him.
"Did you at least have the presence of mind to bring the creature here with you to save us all some time?" He asked, his dour tone returning so fast that Harry felt he'd get whiplash.
"Uhm, yes sir." Harry replied, mentally off balance again as he stepped forward and allowed Najash to slither from inside his sleeve onto the potions master's desk.
Snape eyed the snake warily as he slowly picked his wand up off the desk and pointed it, glancing at Harry as he did, and spoke a spell, "Finite Incantatem."
Nothing happened. The snake stared at the professor through milky eyes.
"What was that sir?" Harry asked, his voice riddled with curiosity.
Snape went on gesturing with his wand, periodically touching the tip to a parchment and allowing words to form on it before going back to casting.
As he cast, the professor answered, "It was the basic spell-cancelling spell," at Harry's confused expression he elaborated, "the Headmaster was adamant that you had cast, or had someone else cast, a spell to make your snake these colours. I told him no first year would be that skilled, and no Gryffindor would cast such a spell on a snake. But he was convinced that he was right. It's actually rare I have a chance to say 'I told you so' to Dumbledore."
He quizzed Harry about the symptoms that had been showing while he continued his diagnostics. The fourth time Snape pressed his wand to the parchment to show the results of his studies he gasped and almost dropped his wand.
"What's wrong sir? Is Najash going to be alright?" Harry asked in a panic as the professor's eyes widened to saucers.
Instead of immediately answering, Snape began casting diagnostic spells at Harry. Najash hissed in protest as Harry became agitated.
~What is wrong, Harry? What is the angry-man doing?~ He asked as he coiled to strike.
~I don't know, my friend. But he hasn't hurt me. Something is wrong! I think it's bad~ Harry's worry for his friend was eating him as he Spoke.
"Mister Potter, please calm your familiar." Snape said as he read out the results of his diagnostics on Harry, making no remark of Harry's Speaking.
That was easier said than done. Najash could tell as soon as Harry walked in that he was uncomfortable around Snape. In addition, Snape's dislike of Harry was so apparent that even the serpent could read the body language, and it made Najash upset. Harry ultimately picked up his familiar and held him on the other side of the room for a minute or two, hissing consolation to the angry serpent.
"Well," Snape began again once Najash was no longer tensed up and ready to attack, "Potter, I can say with certainty that your snake will be fine." Harry breathed a loud sigh of relief, "However, I must ask. Who helped you to bond your familiar to you?"
"What do you mean, sir?" Harry asked back.
"Potter, your… Najash… isn't merely a pet. He is a true familiar." Snape explained.
To no benefit, as Harry was obviously completely lost.
"Most witches and wizards never actually bond themselves to their pets like this." Snape said, "When they do it's almost always with a cat or an owl, as they are generally considered the most 'useful' kinds of familiars."
"What does that mean though?" Harry asked.
"Kneazles and Post Owls aren't just cats or owls with spells cast upon them. They are truly magical animals that are the result of familiars breeding together to produce a new, naturally magical, breed."
Harry was amazed. Magic could make animals evolve? Actually spawn new species from non magical ones?
"This started because of the nature of the familiar bond." The professor continued, "Part of the process involves opening up the wizard's magic to the potential familiar, both of whom must accept the bond without coercion. The end result is that the former pet now has a small magical core within them that permanently links them to their wizard."
Snape looked at the red-faced snake once more, "That is what is happening to this one here. You fully bonded him as your familiar a little more than one year ago, according to my diagnostics. Part of that process in snakes is unnatural growth and Najash here will likely grow quite a bit now that you have come to Hogwarts. It was always going to happen, but the high concentration of magic here triggered it to happen now. Since you have no idea what I'm speaking of, I can only assume you bonded to the snake without proper knowledge and without anyone to supervise. Which was extremely dangerous, it could have damaged your magic irreparably, but seems to have ended up being harmless. Typical Potter luck."
"How big do you think he'll get?" Harry asked as he looked at his 'little' friend.
"There is no telling, as that will ultimately depend on you. Though I imagine the high concentration of magic in Hogwarts is what started the process so suddenly, it will not affect the actual increase in size he will undergo." Snape replied.
"Go on, Potter, ask." Snape added after a moment, when it seemed Harry was simply going to thank him and leave, "I have spoken with Sprout and Flitwick earlier today."
"Would… would it be alright if I brought Najash to class with me sir?" Harry asked, once he realized what the professor was pushing for, "He and I have studied and brewed potions together for a long time, and I was teaching him about different ingredients. He won't be a bother in class, sir, I promise. He stays-"
"That's enough Potter," the professor snapped. Merlin, he thought to himself, when he gets like that his eyes remind me exactly of Lily's, "you can bring the serpent with you on one condition."
Harry waited while Snape paused for dramatic effect.
"Answer this question: Why are you walking around with your familiar under your sleeve everywhere you go, even mealtimes it seems, but going to such lengths to avoid letting knowledge of him get out?"
Harry thought about his answer for a moment, "I don't want to keep him hidden longer than I have to. He was my first magical friend." Snape's eyebrow rose at that admission, "So I figured if I had him with me in a bunch of classes and the teachers knew but the other students didn't, then when it did come out that he's there I can say 'but he's always been there, and nothing ever happens' and the teachers would back me up."
Harry paused for breath as he realized he'd been talking rather quickly, "I don't want to disrupt other people from studying. But I know I'm not the only one who brings a pet to class occasionally, I've seen Weasley's rat sticking out of his pocket sometimes.. I get that no one will be okay with me talking to him in class, but just having him there shouldn't be a problem."
Snape nodded at the answer, "Potter, how did you avoid being sorted into Slytherin?"
Harry grinned, "I think you said I only had to answer the one question, professor."
Snape smirked, "Get out then, Potter. You may bring Najash with you to class in the future. Understand though, that if we are brewing a potion whose fumes might be dangerous to the snake I will insist that you leave it on my desk for the duration of that class."
"I think that's fine, sir. As long as that won't happen next class I think it won't matter." Snape agreed and sent the Gryffindor on his way.
