The Phoenix and the Serpent
"Even if it was for Najash, I can't believe Snape was so helpful." Neville said to Harry after hearing about his encounter with the potions master last night. Neville's Gran had decided to take him back to Longbottom Manor for dinner after getting his wand and he'd returned to the castle rather late, so he was being filled in on what he missed over breakfast.
"Professor Snape." Hermione said reflexively, causing those around her to roll their eyes.
"I'm just glad he's going to be okay. Though I'm still worried about this whole 'unnatural growth' thing." Harry concluded.
"Twins alert." Hermione muttered under her breath as he saw the redheads approach.
They'd been sort-of shadowing her and Harry since Friday morning, and had somehow known that Harry was meeting with Professor Snape last night without anyone telling them. Hermione really wanted to know how they seemed to know so much, it might be a risk to Harry and Najash. Or it might be against the rules.
"Can we ask you a question, Potter?" The nearer twin asked once they'd sat down across from the first years.
"Just did." Harry responded, unconsciously rubbing his arm where Najash was wrapped around him.
"Yeah, um. That letter you got on Friday," Harry's eyebrow rose, at least it wasn't about Najash, "the one that came from 'Mister Moony'."
"What about it?" Harry asked, "Mister Moony was one of my dad's friends in school. They played pranks and studied together, which is basically all the letter said, too. Do you know him or something? Unlikely since its a nickname and he's been out of the country for a while."
The twins stared at him, dumbstruck, for a full thirty seconds before responding, "Harry, Harry," they began together before one took over, "We need you to send him another letter, ask him a question for us."
"Yeah mate," the other twin continued, "we think we do know him, or ofhim, possibly. If we're right, then we have something that belongs to him."
The first brother picked up again, "Right, if it's really The Mister Moony then we need to know if he wants it back."
"Well, what is it? I can ask him I guess." Harry replied, totally confused.
The twins shared a look before pulling out a piece of parchment and taking turns composing a short two-sentence note between them. When they finished they handed it to Harry, "Would you send him this?" they asked in unison.
Harry read the note, shaking his head in further confusion, before putting it in his jeans pocket:
"Messrs Weasley and Weasley, pranksters extraordinaire, find themselves in possession of a certain enchanted artefact belonging to Mister Moony.
If Mister Moony, of the Illustrious Marauders, were to prove that he was aware of what Misters Weasley and Weasley refer to, they would be pleased to return said artefact, upon request."
"I'll send this after breakfast if Hedwig doesn't bring something with this morning's mail." Harry said as he went back to eating.
"She will, I signed up for the Sunday Prophet the last time we were in Diagon Alley." Hermione said, "I figured we could get a copy of the regular Prophet from someone after they were done with it, no problem."
"Yeah, but that's not really how the Prophet works." Neville added, puzzled, "They use their own owls to make deliveries."
"Tell that to Hedwig." Dudley said, laughing as he sat down, having caught the end of that exchange, "The only day she didn't deliver it for us back home was the first day we had her, when we didn't let her out of her cage that night."
As if to prove he was telling the truth, the beautiful white owl swooped into the Great Hall ahead of the flurry of other owls and landed gently in front of Hermione with her newspaper.
"Why thank you Hedwig," Hermione said cheerfully as she handed the bird a strip of bacon, pet her head, and took the paper from where Hedwig had dropped it out of her claws onto the table, "Harry has something for you to send to Mister Lupin too. If that's alright."
Hedwig hooted at her and hopped one space over to Harry after she was done. Harry grinned and rubbed her head and back for a while before pulling out the letter and writing a quick, 'Moony, my friends asked me to send this', onto the outside and attaching it to the bird's leg. Hedwig hopped over to stand before Dudley last, who lavished pets onto the snowy owl and slipped her one more piece of her favorite breakfast treat.
"I hope she didn't hurt the news owl that was originally going to deliver that paper." Neville said as Hedwig flew away.
"I'm sure it's fine." Dudley replied, not totally convinced, as he observed the twins both still awestruck that Hedwig had actually delivered the Prophet. He resolved to check on that later. Heck, maybe Hedwig would be honest if he asked her directly.
"Mister Potter, the Headmaster has requested to meet with you this morning." Professor Mcgonagall said to him five minutes later after she had come down from the head table.
Harry looked at her nervously for a moment before she leaned in and continued in a quieter voice, "Do not worry. I shall be there the whole time, just as your guardian requested, and I shall be sending her a report immediately afterwards."
Harry nodded and looked to Hermione, "If I'm not back in time for tea with Hagrid come check on me, alright?" He gave her a thumbs up as he stood to follow his Head of House.
"Uh oh, we've never been called to the headmaster's office in two years of pranking, what did you do?" One of the twins asked as Harry walked away, causing him to smile a little.
"If I may, Mister Potter, why specifically do you feel such distrust and animosity towards the headmaster?" Mcgonagall asked to break the silence after they had walked about halfway to the Headmaster's office.
"You know he left me out on the front porch that night, don't you?" Harry asked without facing her.
"Yes, I was there, along with Hagrid." She replied, "We were all under the impression that your Aunt's family hated magic, and I allowed him to convince me that leaving you under a warming charm until they stepped out to turn off the porch light would be better than basically invading their home with the worst possible news."
"Lights can have multiple switches, there was one inside." Harry deadpanned.
Mcgonagall covered her mouth with her hand as her eyes widened in shock, "I apologize, Mister Potter… I… I did not know that." She cleared her throat, obviously she needed to better familiarize herself with muggle technology, "Is there anything else in particular?"
"A lot of personal stuff to do with my family and Gringotts. I'm not supposed to talk about it without my aunt present." Harry responded quickly.
"Well then, how are you enjoying Hogwarts so far?" Mcgonagall sighed internally, this was going to be an interesting visit if the headmaster asked the questions she suspected.
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
"He actually spoke parseltongue in your office?" Dumbledore asked his potions master while they waited for Mcgonagall to bring young Harry. The very first thing Snape had said upon entering was that Harry Potter was a parselmouth, and had come to him because his snake was ill.
"Indeed, the serpent became defensive when I cast a diagnostic spell at the boy, he didn't hesitate to speak to it to calm it down." Snape replied, "Sprout knows as well, he took the snake out behind the greenhouses yesterday and she saw him speaking to it then."
Dumbledore frowned, "Why did he take it there?"
"It was beginning to shed, most snakes need to moisten their skin to ease that process, so he went to the stream back there."
"Then what exactly was wrong with the snake? Why did you cast a spell at young Harry?" Dumbledore asked, catching up to the incongruity.
Snape frowned himself, unsure how the headmaster would take this news, "While examining the serpent, I found a magical core," the Headmaster's eyebrows rose, "and then cast a spell to verify that the serpent was bound to Potter. It is. Najash is a real familiar."
"Who? How?" Dumbledore wasn't sure what question he wanted answered first.
"He said no one helped, he didn't even seem to know what a familiar was until I explained it." Snape replied, "The Dark Lord sometimes indicated that the snakes he spoke to know an instinctive sort of magic. Perhaps the snake itself initiated the bond?"
"We will have to ask when he gets here then." Dumbledore said matter-of-factly.
They didn't have to wait much longer before Professor Mcgonagall opened the door, allowing Harry to enter before closing it behind her.
"Is there a reason Professor Snape is present for this meeting, headmaster?" Mcgonagall questioned, eyeing the Head of Slytherin as he sat on a stool in the corner.
"Severus was just informing me of what has happened while I've been gone." The Headmaster responded, "Regardless, you needn't worry about him, Minerva, he has my utmost confidence."
Dumbledore turned his grandfatherly gaze towards Harry now, his eyes twinkling merrily, "Harry my boy," He hesitated when Harry frowned at the casual mode of address, "Mister Potter then. I must apologize for this being the first time we've met, at least when you could remember, but circumstances led to my believing a standoffish approach was the correct choice. For that, I am sorry."
"That's alright," Harry said, "my aunt made sure I understood why I was raised with them and couldn't try and find the magical world. That it was dangerous and all. When we did go back to Diagon Alley the first time, we found out a lot of the bad guys got away after my parents died. So I can't hold that against you."
Albus sighed, "That is rather good of you, to forgive that easily."
"No sir." Harry said simply.
"I'm sorry, what?" Dumbledore looked up sharply. Behind Harry, Mcgonagall and Snape were staring at him with interest.
"I haven't forgiven you yet, sir. What you just apologized for was nothing, not even worth mentioning. Nothing to forgive there."
The headmaster's eyes widened slightly before calming again, "Then let us begin to work things out, if you will, though not today I think. I know that I have made other choices that you and your… magical guardian… might not approve of. When they deem to meet with me, I will endeavor to defend my decisions to both of you." He paused a moment, hoping that Harry would divulge some information about the woman, "Leaving that for the moment, as I'm sure you have been instructed not to speak of 'Ms. Acacia', I've been told you have a rather… non standard familiar?"
Harry wrapped his hand protectively over the arm Najash was coiled around, "Why do you ask, sir?"
"I'm not here to judge you in any way, I promise. I also will not be asking you to send the snake home, necessarily." Harry released the breath he didn't realize he was holding, "I simply want to speak with you, and assess any potential risk your familiar may bring. To others or even to yourself."
As Harry mulled over the headmaster's words a soft, soothing birdsong filled the room. Harry looked over to the corner behind the headmaster and saw a beautiful red bird, larger than an owl, perched on a golden stand. The song washed over him and he felt his stress and worry flee from him.
"That was amazing." Harry said when the bird stopped singing.
"This is Fawkes, my own familiar." The headmaster responded as he stood and offered the bird a piece of hard candy, "He is a phoenix."
"He's beautiful." Harry said, still watching the red and gold bird as it stared back at him, sucking on a lemon drop.
~The fire-bird is right, Harry. You should not worry, he would not allow his wizard to be dark.~ Harry heard Najash say from under his sleeve.
Harry's thoughts were elsewhere, though. Phoenix were real! In mythology a phoenix's tears were capable of healing someone of almost anything!
"Perhaps he wishes to see your wand again, it is Fawkes' own feather that serves as its core, after all." At Harry's questioning look he continued, "I asked Mister Ollivander to inform me when that wand sold, and to whom, due to its potential connection to its brother."
"Well," Harry said after nodding to the headmaster and turning back to Fawkes, "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I can't show it to you today. I don't normally carry that wand around."
"What?" Dumbledore asked hastily, leaning forward, "You have another wand then? Where did you get it?"
Harry backed up, accidentally bumping into Professor Mcgonagall, who put a steadying hand on his shoulder.
"Please watch your tone with my student, Albus." Mcgonagall said as she glared at the old man, "If he asks for it, you won't be allowed in the same room as him at all."
"Typical Potter, always needing to have things their way." Snape muttered from his corner. Harry scrunched his face in confusion at that, he hadn't given what Hagrid said yesterday much though, but had Professor Snape known his family before the war or something?
"That's enough of that, Severus." Mcgonagall hissed.
"I use my wand, headmaster." Harry finally said, his confidence bolstered by Professor Mcgonagall standing up for him. He pulled his redwood wand out of his bag and showed it to the old wizard, "This wand. The one with Fawkes' feather in it isn't really mine, but Mister Ollivander said it wanted me to take it anyway, so he sold me both. I keep the other one in a box in the bottom of my trunk."
Dumbledore stared at the redwood wand in front of him, why hadn't Ollivander mentioned that?
"Most interesting, would you tell me about your wand?" The headmaster finally asked.
Harry smiled as he looked at the magical instrument in his hand, "It's redwood and horned serpent horn, sir. It has a 'step-brother' wand, or something like that, my cousin Dudley's. Mister Ollivander said they were made in North America by the same maker, and at the same time, and didn't like being separated."
Dumbledore chuckled and nodded, the explanation providing an easy segway into his next line of questioning, "That is a rather interesting history for a wand you've had barely a month, most impressive. Though now I feel we can return to the matter of your familiar."
"Albus, I don't see what the problem is, after Miss Granger told me what species Mister Potter's pet was I looked it up. They identified it correctly, and it's harmless." Mcgonagall said, her hand still protectively resting on Harry's shoulder, though not the one she knew was attached to the arm Najash was wrapped around.
"That is one of the things we need to discuss." Dumbledore replied sagely, "It is not a simple pet anymore, not for a year or so. Is that correct?" He locked eyes with Harry as he spoke.
"That's why Professor Snape is here, isn't it?" Harry asked, "Last night when I took Najash for him to look at, he said that Najash and I were 'bonded' or something. He said Najash was going to begin growing again, which kind of has me freaked out since he's supposed to be about fully grown now, but he didn't say much else."
"That would be because, though he has plenty of experience with snakes, he does not have as much with familiar bonds, like the one you apparently share with your serpent." Dumbledore explained.
"A familiar bond?" Mcgonagall queried, "How is that possible? Who could have taught him?"
"I believe the easiest way to answer that would be for young Harry to tell us about when he believes it happened." The headmaster popped another candy in his mouth as he answered, "Forgive me, I'm sitting here indulging myself and offering nothing, would any of you like a lemon drop?"
Harry reached for a candy before noticing that neither of the teachers were and took his hand back. The headmaster frowned and moved the dish to the edge of his desk where Harry could reach it if he changed his mind.
"Well, would you tell us that particular tale? Professor Snape indicated that you weren't surprised when he told you the time frame of your bond, so I suspect you have an idea of when it happened, yes?" The aged wizard leaned back in his chair to wait for Harry to begin his story.
Before beginning, Harry glanced back at Professor Snape, looking for some sign that the Headmaster already knew. The potions master inclined his head minutely and Harry hissed out an invitation to Najash, who slithered out from under Harry's shirt and draped himself over his wizard's shoulders.
Mcgonagall jumped back when Harry Spoke, before remembering herself and stepping forward again, embarrassed, "I'm sorry, Mister Potter. I was not prepared for… that…"
How is that possible? She thought to herself, Parseltongue doesn't run in the Potter line.
"It's alright, Professor, I think I'll have to get used to those reactions at some point." Harry said, "Headmaster, I'd like to get Najash to help me with the story so I don't forget anything, since I wasn't there for the beginning, and don't really remember that night very well after what I think is the 'bonding' started." Dumbledore nodded as he watched the snake and boy, who then began to slowly recount the story of their bonding on a Saturday evening in July of last year.
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
Petunia sighed contentedly as she pruned her prized pink roses, gardening was easily the most relaxing part of her day, even better than afternoon tea. For the last couple years Harry had been helping her as well, they knew that herbology was a core class in Hogwarts, and it never hurts to be used to getting your hands dirty. But, she still insisted that she take care of the roses herself.
They had been a parting gift from her sister when they had been forced to pretend to dislike each other. The roses were a magical strain that Lily had altered slightly with some magic Petunia didn't have a clue about, but the result was that they worked for her and Vernon just like they were supposed to for magicals. Tea from the roses helped whenever she and her husband were having a rough patch in their relationship. It caused you to remember all the reasons you love the people you love, even when you're angry or frustrated with them. Petunia knew that Harry would be tempted to try and find out what the rose petals did if he ever worked with the plant and she was worried that it would make him think of his parents, which would probably have the opposite of the intended effect.
So caught up was she in her gardening and musing about Harry, Petunia didn't notice how the slithering form near the base of the nearby fig bush wasn't the right colours. She had actually begun to grow used to having her nephew's friend in her garden with her. A violent hiss was all the warning she received as a black and green adder struck at her, only to be intercepted in mid air by a streak of red and gold.
Petunia screamed for Harry as she stumbled backwards, terrified and shrieking while she watched her nephew's pet wrap the adder up and slowly crush it, even as the slightly larger, venomous snake struck at the constrictor repeatedly. She hadn't seen a dangerous snake, nor rodent of any kind, in her garden in two years now; and she wasn't prepared in the least. By the time Harry had made it outside, the struggle was over and Najash hesitantly slithered away from the dead adder.
~Little friend, are you okay? Did he bite you?~ Harry frantically reached for his pet, who hissed at him to stop him.
~Sssstill toooo closssse. Death reflexsssss, do… not get bit-t-ten Harry.~ Harry began to panic at how weak his friend's voice sounded, and how shaky and unsure his motions were in the grass.
Once Najash was far enough from his foe, which took far longer than Harry would have liked, he picked up his little friend and turned to make sure his aunt was alright. She was standing about ten feet away, her hand clutching her chest over her heart as she gulped in gigantic breaths of air.
"He saved me." Petunia managed to get out between hysterical gulps, "It had already struck at me, and he caught it."
"I need to take him upstairs! He's hurt, I think he's been bit!" Harry shouted as he ran back inside and upstairs. Petunia stayed outside just long enough to look back at the unmoving adder, Vernon would have to take a shovel to it when he got back from his neighborhood poker game in a few hours.
As he was running up the stairs Harry felt Najash tighten painfully around his hand and almost stumbled back down, ~That hurts, please stop.~ he hissed out.
~Put me down-n-n quickly. It hurtssss Harry. Can-nn-not control.~ The snake's muscles were spasming from the venom, and he was accidentally crushing Harry's hand.
Once in his room, Harry pried Najash off his hand and grabbed a book on animal venoms, desperately hoping there would be something he could do to help with the few nonperishable magical ingredients they had. It was too late in the day to try and take him to a vet on a weekend, even if they could help a foreign snake being bitten by an adder. After a few fruitless minutes of searching Harry returned to his friend on the bed, begging him to tell him what he could do to help.
~The poisssson isss ssstrange… Harry. It burnsssss~ Najash spasmed and wrapped himself up as he spoke, Harry was worried his friend would somehow tie himself in a knot!
~What can I do? I'll do anything I can to save you Najash! Isn't there any magic I can do? I know I haven't been taught, but I can still try.~ Harry tentatively reached out to his friend, praying that he would be alright.
~If you sssh-sh-share your magic… with me, if… you tr-tr-truly have a… healersss… sssoullll…~
~What do I have to do?~ Harry responded with a lot more confidence than he felt.
The snake shivered as he examined Harry, flicking his tongue out to taste his wizard's emotional state. Harry's worry was apparent, as was his care for his snake.
~It cannot be undonnnnne~ Najash hissed out through the pain.
~What do I have to do?~ Harry repeated, more sure of himself this time, ~I am a wizard, if I can use that, my magic, to heal you then I want to do it.~
~Give me your h-hand, and I'm s-sssorry if it… hurtsss.~
Petunia stepped up to Harry's door, left cracked open, as Najash hissed the last words to Harry. She covered her mouth to fight her instinct to scream again when she saw the snake latch onto the space between Harry's thumb and fingers with its teeth. Harry winced, but didn't fight as the spasming snake curled around his hand, jaws still locked onto him.
Harry continued speaking the snake language as his blood dripped onto the floor from where Najash was chewing on his hand. Just before Petunia decided to interfere, worried that Harry's fingers might get broken by the snake's powerful muscles, his hand began to glow a soft gold and silver light. The light pulsed slowly and worked its way from Harry into the snake from where they were connected. After a full minute, the snake was glowing and Harry's hand was back to normal except for the places where Najash's teeth were still buried in him, which still shimmered.
Harry sighed when Najash finally released his hand once he'd stopped glowing as well, and Petunia entered the room to ask what had happened and whether the snake would be okay. Harry turned to acknowledge her and promptly passed out, his aunt managed to catch him before he hit his head on the wall and she put him to bed.
After tucking Harry in, Petunia looked down to find Najash climbing up onto the foot of the bed as well.
"Is he going to be okay?" Petunia asked aloud while holding her nephew's hand once the serpent had finished climbing and relaxed beside Harry's leg.
Look at me, Petunia thought to herself, trying to talk to a snake.
Najash looked up at her and bobbed his head, once, before laying back down. Petunia forced a smile and managed to leave the room before her composure broke and she began hyperventilating.
What did I just witness? She asked herself as she finally went to prepare a warm towel for Harry.
Harry didn't wake up until the evening after next. Refreshed but starving, he found Najash curled beside his head, sleeping peacefully, and grinned. They would become healers, he was sure of it now.
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
"Truly astounding." Dumbledore said a half-hour later, once Harry had sat back down after finishing his story.
"What's astounding is that nothing went wrong. Without a runic array to keep your magic focused you could have given too much magic and injured yourself." Professor Mcgonagall said from her seat, "At least you can put aside your worries about the thing being dangerous to other students, Albus."
"Indeed," He responded, "though it brings up the new question of exactly how much magic went into the bonding. It can't have been too much, as Mister Potter here is still young, but it will let us know approximately how much larger the snake will become over time."
"How do we tell that?" Harry asked, clearly worried that the Headmaster was going to imply he was the one to do it.
"Madam Pomfrey can perform that examination, I believe." Dumbledore responded, "And if anything else comes up concerning your bond that causes you worry you may feel free to come to me for advice." He smirked from behind his beard and gestured towards Fawkes the phoenix, "I have a passable knowledge of familiar bonds, particularly those with magical creatures."
Harry looked like he wasn't sure about that, but Professor Mcgonagall was quick to offer to be present for any such meeting as well.
"Professor, there was actually something I wanted to ask about while I had the chance, I should have asked while we were walking here but it wasn't on my mind at the time." Harry added after Mcgonagall's offer, "Najash shed his skin last night, but I couldn't find it this morning when I was looking." He glanced down at the snake on his shoulder, "I collect the skins… I have three years worth. Is there some kind of magic housekeeping that took the shed skin after he was done?"
Professor Mcgonagall took a moment to process that, "Yes, I suppose a house elf would have assumed it was simply waste to be removed."
"Uhm, would it be possible to ask them to bring it back? If it's not too late?" Harry asked tentatively.
"I don't see why that would be a problem," Dumbledore said as he turned to the space beside his desk and called, "Lonny!"
Instantly the empty space was occupied by a diminutive, wrinkly little creature, maybe two-and-a-half feet tall, with gigantic eyes and ears wearing a simple tea cozy emblazoned with the Hogwarts crest.
"Headmaster Dumby-door calls?" The creature, Lonny, Harry assumed, asked as it, he, bowed deeply.
"Mister Potter here was wondering if the elf in charge of cleaning the Gryffindor first year boy's dorms might be able to retrieve the shed snake skin that was taken from his room this morning. He has a collection of them, it would seem." The headmaster smiled at the creature as it turned to regard Harry with a look of awe.
"Of course! Lonny be telling the Gryffy elfs to bring it backs today, Mister Potter Sir!" The elf yelped excitedly before he noticed Najash resting on Harry's shoulder.
"You's have a Gryffy serpent!" He continued, "Elfs was worried cause the great Harry Potter has a serpent familiar in Lion's Tower! But they never see it in light! It be Gryffy coloured! Harry Potter beat bad-snake-man and snakes bow to him now!"
Harry wasn't sure how to respond to the creatures adoration and excitability, but decided to let Najash return to his hand and hold him where the elf could get a better look.
"This is Najash, he'll be in the dorm a lot when the elves are cleaning it. Could you make sure they don't bother him somehow while they do?" Harry was quick to continue when he saw the devastated look on the elf's face, "I don't think the elves will bother him at all, they haven't yet! I just wanted to make sure, you know? I don't know much about magic and nothing about elves."
The elf nodded vigorously as he stared at the snake in front of him, "Gryffy elfs being told to care for the Great Harry Potter's familiar. Be making sure he comfys."
With that declaration, the elf disappeared with an almost silent pop.
"That was… weird." Harry admitted once the creature was gone, "I'll never understand all the nonsense about me being a hero."
"Whatever do you mean?" Mcgonagall asked, "Surely you know the story of the end of the war and the defeat of You-Know-Who?"
"You mean how Voldemort attacked my family in their own home after their best friend betrayed them?" Harry asked, ignoring Mcgonagall's reflexive flinch at the name, "How they still managed to trick him somehow with magic and beat him? But they died doing it so everyone gives me the credit?"
"You think it was your parents that defeated Voldemort?" Dumbledore asked.
"Obviously," Snape drawled from his corner in the back, "at least the boy has enough sense to understand reality. I have said for ten years that there was no way a baby defeated the Dark Lord."
"Thank you." Harry said, despite the venom the Professor seemed to have in his tone.
"Yes, well, it is the nature of people to want heros more than martyrs." Dumbledore said, drawing the conversation back to the front of the room, "You will always be famous, because you lived. Though it is truly a shame that your parents do tend to be forgotten as a consequence."
"Is there anything else, sir?" Harry asked after a moment of silence, "My friends and I were going to have tea with Hagrid around noon, but I need to take Najash back to Gryffindor tower first. Fang doesn't like snakes."
"I suppose, before you go, I must hazard to ask: Is there some way that I might be able to contact your magical guardian, Ms. Peony Acacia?" Dumbledore asked, his face totally neutral, "The only contact information I have is Gringotts, and any letter I send is returned, unopened."
"No sir, Ms. Acacia says you shouldn't need to meet her, or talk with her, so I'm not to say anything." Harry responded with practiced clarity.
"Then, would you happen to know anything about a representative from the Brazilian Ministry of Magic being near your home this week?" The headmaster continued.
"No sir, I don't know anyone in Brazil or anything." Harry answered, extremely perplexed.
Dumbledore simply nodded, he'd have to ask Arabella Figg for more details since his trip to South America turned up nothing. Then he looked back up with his grandfatherly twinkle back, "One last thing, just a curiosity. How was that incident, after two years, the first time Najash was bitten by an adder? I assumed from the context that he would have been chasing them away or killing them since you met him."
"Most snakes I just told to go away. He only ever killed one other snake, and that one he surprised in the garden before it bit one of the neighbor's cats, but that one was also a lot smaller too." Harry replied, "We didn't want to kill a bunch of snakes just for being attracted to the wards." The headmaster's eyebrows rose at that, "Yeah, Najash told me the day we met that the wards on the house were what drew him there."
"I had no idea that that would happen," Dumbledore confided, "The attraction for snakes is likely tied in some way to the particular ward that attacks those who bear the Dark Mark, though a very unintentional, and counterintuitive, effect if that is so."
"That's another thing that probably caused the Dursley family some headaches." Mcgonagall spoke up again causing the headmaster to sigh once more.
"Don't take the wards away though, please." Harry was quick to add.
"Do not worry, Mister Potter." Dumbledore smiled at Harry's obvious concern for his family, "So long as you call Privet Drive your home, the wards will last until you turn seventeen. Now, am I to assume that this one snake didn't speak parseltongue or something?"
"Oh, he did." Harry frowned remembering the snake and Najash bumped his cheek, Harry hadn't realized Najash had climbed back to his shoulder. He smiled and pet his friend's head with a finger before continuing, "He was just a jerk. He wanted me to throw out Najash and take him in. He kept coming back when I'd tell him to leave, too. We'd already decided I'd get my uncle and a shovel for the next time he came around. Najash was sure he would be fine fighting him, but I never wanted to risk it."
"I see," Dumbledore chuckled, "I never imagined there could be such drama in the world of snakes."
Fawkes made a chirping noise that sounded reminiscent of laughter, which set off Harry and then Mcgonagall to chuckle at the headmaster's lame description as well. After being dismissed, Harry said goodbye to the headmaster and the two Heads of House and headed back down the staircase to rejoin his friends.
"A truly incredible story, isn't it?" Dumbledore said once Harry had closed the door behind him, "Minerva, is there anything else you'd like to add that you didn't want to bring up with young Mister Potter here?"
"Yes, actually." She replied, which drew the headmaster's gaze from his candy dish, "It has come to my attention that many students come to Hogwarts without the knowledge of certain, important, skills. Chief among these being how to write with a quill on parchment in a legible and consistent manner. I have already spoken with Filius and Pomona, we would like to hold a once a week seminar where we help those students who need additional tutelage in using common school tools. Filius added that we should offer assistance on basic essay writing, since that is a major aspect of many classes. We expect to run for about a month."
"Ridiculous, there is no need to pander so much to muggleborn whiners!" Snape said angrily.
"Your house has exactly zero muggleborn students in it, Severus, which is why you weren't even asked about this. Your input is neither warranted, nor asked for." Mcgonagall replied pointedly.
"I see no reason not to, so as long as the teachers involved arrange things there is no reason for me to interfere. But, I must insist that it be open to all students, not merely muggleborn." Dumbledore said after a moment's thought. This wasn't really what he meant when he'd asked.
"Of course," Mcgonagall huffed, "not all magical raised children get the same amount of experience in writing-and-such as others, so it shall be open for anyone who wants to get some practice and advice. I have it on good authority that Mister Longbottom would be going, which should keep the less open-minded from complaining."
When the gargoyle silently stepped out of Harry's way at the bottom of the stairwell he saw Hermione and Neville talking to a painting on the other side of the hallway, something he still wasn't sure he was totally okay with. Moving pictures were one thing, but were these paintings just copies, or what? Something more?
Seeing a chance for a laugh, he crept up on his friends while putting his finger to his lips to beg the painting they were talking to not give him away. The person in the painting, a woman in a ball gown, smirked, but luckily his friends didn't notice. Coming up behind them while Hermione was berating the painting for not telling her where the headmaster's office was hidden, Harry clapped his hands together between their heads.
"Gah!" Neville shouted as he stumbled to the side and almost fell.
"Harry! That was rude!" Hermione chastised as she clutched her rapidly beating heart.
"Sorry," Harry got out between laughs, which the woman in the painting was mirroring, "that was just too easy to pass up. By the way, the headmaster's office is behind that gargoyle."
"Indeed," The woman in the portrait said, "it is not school policy to let students into the headmaster's office unless invited. If you need faculty assistance that is what the Heads of House are for."
"Oh," Hermione said, realizing that she might have become rather pushy when the portrait wouldn't answer her question despite clearly knowing the answer, "I'm sorry. I didn't think about that."
"That's alright, young lady, but please be more considerate in the future. Not all questions can be answered simply, even if the answer is known." The portrait-woman responded.
"Hey Hermione," Harry offered as a way to change her mood, "did you know that the Headmaster's familiar is a phoenix?"
"Everyone knows that." Neville said.
"Wait, is it a real phoenix like from mythology?" Hermione asked their pureblood friend.
"I don't know about muggle mythology," Neville answered, "but a phoenix is a magic bird of fire that bursts into flame when it dies and comes back from the ashes. Its tears are supposed to cure any ailment or injury too."
Harry and Hermione smiled broadly at that confirmation.
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
Harry was in good spirits as the group headed towards Hagrid's hut, when he'd returned to the tower he found that the missing snake skin had already been returned. It was now pinned to his headboard to dry out and Najash was curled around a stone with some magic mark on it that the elves had apparently left under his pillow. The little serpent had happily informed his wizard that the stone was enchanted to give off a light warmth, and would be quite comfortable when the weather got colder.
As they approached, Fang perked up on the porch and eyed Harry warrily. Harry frowned as he looked at the dog, but Dudley had no reservations whatsoever. As soon as he saw the pooch on the porch he sped up to be the first to grab the boar hound in a giant hug and laugh giddily as the big mutt licked his face repeatedly.
"Fang, what's goin' on out there?" Hagrid called from inside the cabin before he opened the door to check, "Who's that?" He took a quick look across the faces outside his door, "Harry and Hermione again!" He looked down to see what Fang was doing, "And Dudley too!"
Hagrid stopped as he came to the last two faces, "Not sure o' your names, though. Where're the other girls that were with ya yesterday, Harry?"
"This is Neville Longbottom and Justin Finch-Fletchley." Harry replied, indicating each boy in turn, "Parvati and Padma are doing homework together, I think."
"Nice ta' meet'cha Neville, Justin." Hagrid said, smiling and nodding at each of the boys. Both of whom were amazed at the man's incredible size. It just wasn't the same seeing him outside.
Dudley and Justin hit it off with Hagrid almost instantly. The giant man loved to talk about strange and amazing magical creatures, the bigger the better, and the boys couldn't get enough. Harry laughed as his cousin grilled Hagrid on what species from his 'list' were real and which were fake.
While they were talking, Hermione pulled out the Sunday Prophet she had gotten that morning to show Harry an article in it. Apparently Gringotts had suffered its first successful break in in the bank's history. Though the article was quick to point out that nothing was stolen, merely that the culprit had escaped without being identified.
"Harry," Hermione asked as he read the article, "isn't that the vault that you and Hagrid went to just after your birthday?"
Harry looked again at the number, "You're right! Hey Hagrid," He held up the paper and showed off the headline, "This was the vault we went to last month, right? Were you or the headmaster worried someone was going to try and break into it or something?"
Hagrid looked up from his tea, he had just finished telling Dudley everything he could think of about Griffons and was still a little scattered.
"You don' need ta be worryin' about that, Harry." He answered, "That's business between the headmaster an' Nicholas Flamel."
"Who's Nicholas Flamel?" Hermione asked excitedly as Hagrid's complexion paled considerably.
"Is he a goblin?" Dudley asked.
"What's so special about a bank robbery? Aren't they pretty common?" Justin added.
Harry's response was quite different, and drew the attention of the whole room, "Nicholas Flamel is REAL?" he almost shouted that last word as he stood up, wide-eyed.
Hagrid had reached a pasty-white colour by the time he muttered, "I should not have said that."
"Hagrid," Harry reiterated less loudly, punctuating every word, "Nicholas. Flamel. Is. Real?"
"Aye, Dumbledore trained under him! One o' the smartest wizards out there!" Hagrid replied before covering his mouth with his hand.
"Who is he, Harry?" Hermione asked, it was totally unlike Harry to get worked up over something like this.
"Don' be worryin' no more about it!" Hagrid impressed upon them before he could answer, "It's dangerous business, you kids'll get hurt!"
Dudley recognized the look on Harry's face, he wasn't going to just ignore it, "Hey Hagrid," he said to change the subject, "what's the most dangerous creature you've ever raised?"
It worked, and Hagrid happily launched into an explanation of acromantula. Anything to break the conversation away from Flamel, Dumbledore was going to be so angry with him.
On the way back to the castle that afternoon Hermione finally asked, again, the question that had been eating at her, "Who is Nicholas Flamel, Harry?"
Neville was the one to answer though, "I think I remember his name, actually. I'm pretty sure he's an alchemist or something. Weren't he and Dumbledore together the ones that discovered all the uses for dragon's blood."
"That's not all," Harry said, grinning, "he's so famous as an alchemist that he's even known in the muggle world."
"But wouldn't that break the Statute of Secrecy?" Neville asked.
Hermione was thinking the same thing, how could he be famous for magic in the non magical world?
"It wouldn't if he was already famous before the Statute was even created." Harry replied.
Now Hermione was beginning to get suspicious. Harry hated history, why would he know so much about this person if he's that old.
"Wait," Hermione's brain finally caught up with the problem, "He can't be over four hundred years old and also have trained Dumbledore and still be alive!"
"Unless he can." Dudley supplied knowingly, which caused everyone except Harry to look at him like he'd grown a second head.
"What?" Justin articulated.
"Nicholas Flamel is the famous 'mythical'," Harry said this with air quotes, "alchemist who invented…" He paused a moment for dramatic tension.
"The Philosopher's Stone." He finished when no one could supply the answer.
Dudley nodded, Justin was mystified, and Neville smacked his forehead for forgetting something so commonly known and important. Hermione however, immediately grabbed Harry by the shoulders.
"Harry Potter!" She shouted, "If I so much as think that you're going to try to find that stone I'll… I'll…" She paused, in her anger she couldn't decide if hexing him, kicking him, or telling a teacher was worst at the moment.
She was deprived of her chance to pick when Dudley spoke up, "What makes you think it's here for Harry to even find?"
"Its obvious, Dudley." Hermione said while holding eye contact with Harry, "Think about how Harry described that vault. A whole vault for something in a brown bag and nothing else, and its secret business between the headmaster and Mister Flamel? Obviously the stone."
"Yeah, okay," Dudley nodded along, "but why here?"
"Gringotts is the safest place in all of Britain, except for maybe Hogwarts." Harry recited as Hermione finally released him, "That's what Hagrid said when we were on the way down to the vaults."
"But what's a 'Philosopher's Stone'?" Justin asked, "What made Hermione go mental like that?"
"It's a magic stone created with alchemy." Hermione supplied.
"And it either cures people of disease or makes them live longer?" Dudley asked, smiling.
"Almost," Harry laughed, "it contains the Elixir of Eternal Life."
"It also turns metals permanently into gold," Neville added, "I remember that now."
"You're joking with me!" Justin exclaimed, "Is that why wizards use real gold for everything? It was made with a magic stone?"
"Is that what you think is on the forbidden corridor?" Dudley asked Hermione.
"I think so, the timing fits." She said, glancing at Harry who nodded thoughtfully, great.
"I'm not going to mess with the third floor, Hermione, I promise." Harry said as he put a hand on her shoulder, "Besides, the headmaster wouldn't leave it in the school with nothing to protect it. There's no way I would be able to get by whatever security he put around it. That makes more sense than anything else why students are barred from there."
Hermione held Harry's gaze for a moment, judging his sincerity, before smiling and pulling him into a hug.
"I'm sorry for shouting Harry, I just know how much finding something like the stone would mean to you. I was worried." Her voice cracked as he returned the hug.
"It's alright, Hermione. Let's head on inside and finish checking our transfiguration homework." The girl brightened at the prospect and the group resumed their walk.
It's possible, Harry thought to himself as they walked. He didn't really care about immortality so much as what it meant. To be immortal you had to be able to cure or prevent every disease there was, if only for yourself; and if it could be done for yourself then it could be done for others. That was way more important to Harry than living forever.
AN: I'm not sure how much I like my own version of Dumbledore TBH, I'm trying for the "good but manipulative" Dumbledore. Next chapter we'll check back in with Vernon, Petunia, and Remus.
