Disclaimer: This story is 100% alternate universe and most, if not all, of the characters in this story are out of character as well. Also I don't own anything by J.K. Rowling and I am not trying to steal her characters, plots, or moments within the books that she has written. This is my own story and I also claim to not copy off of anyone else's work either in the process.
A/N: I had to make up some of the dates in this chapter, as I don't exactly remember, or know, when certain events take place. I tried my best to place the events in the right order as they happen in the stories, but if I didn't somehow, then I tried my best.
A/N 2: Also, yes, I am going to have to skip around in the timeline a lot. I will try to stop at important events in this part of the story that matter.
A/N 3: Sorry for the long delay. I have gone through a number of jobs, and then losing them for one reason or another, and have been working hard to earn income in the mean time. Naturally I haven't had that much time to write, but I definitely wanted to get another chapter out before the next Venom movie comes out in theaters. Anyone going to see that? Anyways, thanks for being patient, and now here's the next part of the story.
Chapter 3: Potential New Hosts
Previously in 1981:
October 31st, 1981 - After Voldemort's Attack At Potter Manor:
"I'll check it." Alastor volunteered as he grunted down to the basement. "You two look elsewhere."
Kingsley took to the opposite direction of the basement and moved his way into the kitchen, while Dumbledore headed to the living room area.
Alastor walked to the basement door and noticed immediately that it had the same black stains on the frame and the handle. His instincts told him not to touch anything, as it could very well be a trap, or worse that the creature was still down there. Perhaps even both. With the slam of his staff into the ground, the basement door blasted off the hinges and flew off into the other direction of the house.
The entrance to the basement appeared to be like any other set of stairs and walls, but the problem was the smears of black that almost covered the entire area. Alastor didn't like what he was seeing, but it was better to get to the bottom of this instead of just cowering away and saying nothing was there. He may not have been a Gryffindor, but his courage was not lacking that's for sure.
As the older man made his way down the steps, he noticed that the wooden stairs made a squishing kind of sound that would have normally caused weaker willed Aurors to flee in disgust, or in a few cases, just vomit. The smears of black seemed to flow into the center of the basement from the top of the stairs, and upon closer inspection it proved to be that exact case, but there was something else.
With wand in hand, Alastor Moody moved closer to the center of the room where a black like pod had emerged, and it seemed to be around half of his height. The pod was dripping with more of the black goo that seemed to be slightly flowing out like lava from a volcano.
"What the hell is this?" the Auror asked aloud.
With the flick of his wand, Moody started his full examination of the pod in order to try and figure out what this thing actually was. After performing over a dozen spells, he was left short of answers as nothing was able to give any hint as to what it was. The only thing he knew for sure was that this thing was nothing he had ever seen before. It seemed like this would take more magic than just himself to figure this pod out, so Alastor started to cast a message patronus to the Minister.
September 1st, 1991 - During the Welcoming Feast in the Great Hall
"Harry Potter."
As soon as Professor McGonagall spoke the boy's name, whispers and murmurs echoed throughout the room. Harry Potter had come to Hogwarts and everyone was either star struck or nervous. What they should have been feeling though was fear and dread.
Harry made his way through the crowd of first year students up to the stool for which he had to sit on. As he sat, McGonagall placed the ever so famous Sorting Hat on his head, and a voice whispered in his ear that no one else could hear.
"Hello Mr. Potter. And hello to .. erm .. your friend. I see."
"YOU KNOW ABOUT US?" Venom asked immediately. Harry didn't say anything and listened instead.
"Of course. I see all the secrets one hides in their head. It is necessary so I can determine which house the student shall go to."
"WE DO NOT LIKE REVEALING OUR SECRETS." The sorting hat took some offense to this statement, but there was nothing it could do. The student had to be sorted.
"I am sorry. I only do it to place the child where they belong." The hat tried to say as calmly as possible.
"NO. THESE SECRETS ARE FOR US TO KNOW, AND WE WILL KEEP THEM FOR OURSELVES. SORT OUR PERFECT HOST. WE HAVE THINGS WE MUST DO."
"Oh .. uh yes .. Harry?"
"Yes?" The boy finally responded.
"Is there any particular house you would like to be placed in?"
"No."
"Hmm. Well you do have an adapt mind for molding, but you're not focused on knowledge. You're also not keen on making too many friends. I don't see you in a house that promotes dire needs for success or being too cunning."
"SORT HIM!" Venom shouted. Harry was definitely grateful that no one else could hear the back and forth bickering in his head.
"You should listen to my friend. He doesn't like to be kept waiting." Harry added.
"Fine. I will place you somewhere that should keep you out of trouble. One word or wording however. Please be wary of your friend Mr. Potter. I feel it may not be as welcoming as you think."
"I don't need you to tell me who my friends are." Harry argued. "I suggest you get this over with now before it gets ugly."
The hat sighed in annoyance. It was clear that the boy was going to keep this entity with him, and the Sorting Hat was not going to interfere with matters that were out of its control.
"Better be … GRYFFINDOR!" the Sorting Hat yelled aloud.
As soon as the sorting ended for Harry, the Gryffindor table erupted in a loud ruckus. The boy was still not used to being a celebrity yet, so having a lot of people cheer for him was somewhat uncomfortable.
"THEY WON'T HURT YOU." Venom assured the boy in his mind.
"I know." Harry thought back.
As Harry made his way over to the table, he sat next to the kid he met on the train, Ron Weasley. Ron was a red head and came from a big family of 7 kids. All of his other siblings had been sorted into Gryffindor, and if things were to continue, his annoying little sister (as he calls her), would end up there too.
"Great job, mate!" Ron said as he patted Harry on the back. "I knew you'd end up in Gryffindor! It really is the best house!"
"Thanks."
"Hey you never told me if you like quidditch. Do you know what it is? It's a sport where .." it was at this point that the raven haired boy started to tune out Ron.
"Have you made up your mind about him yet?" Harry asked Venom in his mind. The boy was not able to get a good reading about Ron from the monster on the train.
"HE IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH BONDING."
"So .. does that mean you don't like him?"
"I DO NOT LIKE THOSE WHO ARE NOT COMPATIBLE."
"I thought so." Harry stated with a smile as he continued to nod his head when Ron was talking. Every once in a while Harry would say something to indicate he was listening, but Ron was the farthest thing from his mind.
"I don't want to get rid of him." Harry continued to think.
"WE DO NOT WANT HIM."
"He has only associated himself with a small amount of people on the train and here at school! If he were to be harmed, this could get back to us!" Harry said as he tried to plead his case with his inner voice.
"WE DO NOT WANT THAT."
"Good. I have to become his friend! It's the only way we can keep ourselves out of trouble."
"WHY? ARE WE NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE HOST?"
"I just explained WHY I need to associate with more people. You need to trust me."
"FINE. WE WILL LET THE HOST MAKE FRIENDS, FOR NOW."
Once Ron had taken a moment to slow down and eat, Harry turned his head towards the other person he met on the train. It was a girl by the name of Hermione Granger. She had bushy brown hair and teeth that were slightly too long, but the most distinguishing feature about her was how she boasted her intelligence. Harry was not sure how she had ended up in Gryffindor, but he wasn't going to dwell on it.
"She also talked to us on the train. She was looking for some kid's toad. What do you think about being friends with Hermione?"
"WE ARE UNSURE."
"What does that mean?"
"BONDING MAY BE POSSIBLE WITH THE GIRL." Harry's eyes widened at that.
"You can't be serious. I've only talked to her for a few minutes, and she seems to be really annoying and full of herself. Is that something you want in a host?"
"WE HAVE NO CHOICE. WE CAN SENSE BONDING POSSIBILITIES IN HUMANS. YOU ARE THE PERFECT HOST FOR US, BUT OTHERS ALSO MAY BE STRONG ENOUGH TO SURVIVE A BONDING."
"How exactly do you determine who is a good host or not?" Harry wondered.
"WE SEE MAGICAL AURAS. HUMANS WHO HAVE AURAS MUST HAVE SIMILAR STRANDS OF MAGICAL DNA TO BOND. THIS FEMALE HAS SOME STRANDS THAT MATCH US."
"I see. So that's why I'm a perfect host? It's because my magical DNA is exactly the same as your DNA?"
"YES."
Harry wanted to continue his conversation with Venom, but the other students were starting to get up from their tables, and were being led towards their common rooms. Ron seemed to gravitate towards Harry and began talking to him again. This time however, Harry was not going to be able to just nod and smile as he did at dinner. Talking to Venom and listening to Ron was going to be very hard, so talking to Ron was going to be the better option.
A few minutes later, the Gryffindor first years were in front of the Common Room door, and Percy Weasley, the Gryffindor prefect, wanted everyone to hear what he had to say.
"This is the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room. In order to enter, you must speak a password that changes weekly. You can find the password for the week on the board to your right as soon as you enter. If you do not remember what that phrase is, you will have to wait for another classmate to come by and let you in."
Percy turned to face the painting of the Fat Lady and spoke aloud the current pass phrase for the week. "Cabot Draconis". The children then filed in one by one in order to avoid a massive pileup at the entrance.
"This is the main area of the Common Room." Percy said with some irritation in his voice.
"Behind you are the stairs to the dorms. Boys are to the left and the girls are on the right. Each floor represents the year you are in. The bottom floor is for the first years, whereas the top is reserved for seventh years. You'll find that all of your belongings have already been moved to your dormitory. Now as first years …"
"HE IS ANNOYING." Harry had to do his best to not laugh.
"That's an understatement."
"CAN WE EAT HIM?"
"Wait … what?"
"Harry? Are you listening?" Percy asked as he directed the question in front of the entire group of first years.
"Oh um … yes … sorry. Please continue." The boy said whilst trying to not act embarrassed.
Percy seemed to have accepted his response, but just before the older student continued on, Harry saw that the Hermione girl gave him a sort of sneer as to scold him for not listening. Harry merely stared back. and wanted to show the girl that he wasn't going to take anything from her.
Once the meeting was over, Harry made his way up the stairs and headed straight for bed. He made sure to dodge Hermione, although that was pretty easy, and Ron, who seemed to stick like glue to his side, because he just wanted to be alone with his thoughts. Well … almost alone. After saying a quick "hello and goodnight" to the other dorm mates, the boy closed his curtains so he could get some privacy.
"Finally, I have time for myself."
"WE ARE ALWAYS WITH YOU. YOU ARE NOT ALONE."
"Yes, I know. You don't have to remind me." Harry sighed.
"I MUST FEED. YOU NEVER FED ME DURING DINNER." Harry made a face that looked like he was talking to someone who was insane.
"What was I supposed to do? Just get a separate plate, pile on food, and drop it on the floor? What if anyone else had seen you?!"
"FINE. WE WILL RETURN LATER." Venom grunted as he slithered out of Harry's scar, and jumped out of the window of the castle. Harry just turned over in his bed as he contemplated on what Venom said earlier.
"He wanted to eat Percy?" The boy thought. "Why would he want to eat other humans? Is this something he did before I was his host? Then again he did say something about not being able to bond with every human he came across. Does that mean the ones who are not compatible are eaten or just ignored? I'm going to have to ask Venom about this later."
September 2nd, 1991 - Headmaster Dumbledore's Office
The first day of classes went off smoothly for the staff at Hogwarts, with the exception of Professor Snape, who always had to find some way to take away points from the other houses besides Slytherin. After dinner had ended, Dumbledore gathered the professors and asked them to meet him in his office for a full report on how the students were faring on their first day. Even though the old wizard was interested about every child, his main goal was to focus on Harry Potter.
"Now we move on to Professor McGonagall." The Headmaster said. "How were your classes today, Minerva?"
"I had the first, third, and fifth year students today, Albus. There are some students in my fifth year class who are clearly not going to pass their O.W.L. exams this year, but I will save my judgements for later. My third years seem promising. I had a lot of the students remember their basic transfigurations over the summer holiday. Finally with the first years I am unsure on what to make of them."
"Oh? Was there a reason?"
"There was a … Miss Hermione Granger from Gryffindor in my class today. She seemed to know a lot about the basic information on how transfigurations work. I asked a lot of my students questions on the rules of basic magic as well, and most of them seemed to have some knowledge on the subject."
"But?"
"But Mr. Potter was different, Albus."
Severus Snape grunted in annoyance in the back of the room at the mention of Harry Potter. The man had Mr. Potter in his first year class today too, and the boy was clearly nothing special in his eyes. Harry showed no talent for the complex subject on potions like his mother did. It was going to be a griffin's chance in hell if that boy actually made it to 7th year.
Minerva and the rest of the staff looked towards Severus and expected him to launch into a fury on how Harry Potter had gotten on his nerves. Thankfully the man decided to not say anything, and the older witch continued on with her report.
"As I was saying .. Mr. Potter was a different case. The boy didn't know any of the answers to the questions I asked in class, and I had the feeling that he wasn't 100% attentive."
"Not knowing an answer doesn't raise any concerns for first years, Minerva." Professor Flitwick responded. "As for being attentive, that is something that can be fixed with the right know how."
"Yes, I know." McGonagall continued. "But there was something not right when I was around him. The boy was having trouble casting any kind of spells too. I can't explain it Albus, but I think we should keep an eye on him for just this week." Dumbledore pondered for a moment.
"You had Mr. Potter today as well, Severus?"
"Hmph. Potter was not worthy of my time. The little ponce didn't know anything that would have given him an ounce of intelligence in potions. I will be surprised if the boy even lasts one semester." The potions master drawled. Most of the staff rolled their eyes after hearing Severus Snape express his opinions about Harry Potter.
"Very well." Dumbledore said. "All of the staff should take a report on Mr. Potter's progress this week. Let me know if there is anything out of the ordinary that happens in his other classes."
It only took a few moments for the staff to leave his office, and once they were gone, Dumbledore immediately headed to his back room and looked for his pensive. The old man had a sneaking suspicion as to why the boy was having trouble with casting magic, but he needed to be sure before he went off doing anything. With his wand being pressed to his temple, the headmaster withdrew the memory he needed, and then promptly fell into the pensive.
September 3rd, 1991 - At Night in the Gryffindor Boy's Dorm
"The professors are starting to notice something! If I can't perform any magic, then we are going to seem suspicious! You need to separate from me in class! I need to be able to perform magic!" Harry shouted in his head as he closed the curtains around his bed and made it so he was completely alone.
Over the last two days Harry was having some trouble with casting spells in his classes, and it was starting to draw suspicion as to how powerful he really was. Ever since Harry was told that he was "The Boy Who Lived" from Hagrid, the boy was concerned as to how other wizards and witches looked at him. Would they judge him if his magic was weak? Would they brand him as a false celebrity and accuse him of being a fraud? Harry didn't want to know the answers to those questions, and yet the thought of not knowing was causing him to go insane.
Now to the other matter at hand. The boy knew why he was having problems with magic and it was entirely because of the bond he shared with Venom. The bond between Harry and the creature was so strong that it cut off the flow of magic in the boy's body. The first time this problem happened was when Harry finally found his wand. Mr. Olivander was in awe that the wand was a 100% match, but it concerned him when no bursts of magic blew out in the shop. It was as if the boy was completely in control of his magic and could prevent accidental magic from happening. Very few children had ever been able to achieve that kind of ability, and having something like that was super rare. Then again, Harry Potter was no ordinary child.
The bonded pair did figure out that the magic only disappears when the two are together. This left Harry with barely any magic at all. When the two are separated, the magic would flow once again inside the child's body. Harry would never admit this to his friend, but it felt extremely good whenever he would get his magic back. The rush of power and excitement that flew into him was an adrenaline rush every time.
Of course this feeling was different from when he was younger. Venom would need to separate from Harry in order to feed, and whenever he did, the boy had never felt a sensation with magic like he had recently. So why was it happening now? Harry had only started noticing this feeling when he came to Hogwarts, and it could have been because of the high amounts of magic that was present in the castle. He would have to test this theory whenever he left for the summer holiday at the end of the term.
There was only one question that remained that still needed answering. Why does the bond cut off the magic? Neither Harry nor Venom had an answer and this problem was starting to get on Harry's nerves.
"NO! WE MUST STAY BONDED TO OUR HOST. THE HOST'S MAGIC WILL KEEP US STRONG."
"You can't stay bonded with me throughout my classes! I need to perform magic, and as long as we are bonded, I can't use any magic!"
"WE HAVE MAGIC ALREADY. WHY DO WE NEED TO PERFORM MAGIC?"
"Professor Flitwick mentioned something about improving our magical core as we perform more magic over time. I know it will take some time, but I want to get better. I want to be better than the other students here."
"OUR MAGIC IS ALREADY STRONG. WE DO NOT NEED MORE MAGIC."
"So you're saying that you don't want more power?" Harry sniped back at "the voice" in his head.
"POWER? MAGIC IS POWER?" Venom wondered.
"You just said that magic makes you strong. If I had more magic in my body, then you'd be even stronger, right?"
"YOU WOULD BE STRONGER. IT WOULD MAKE US STRONGER TOO."
"So do you finally understand now? Do you get why we have to be separated during class?"
"FINE." Venom grunted silently as he slithered out of Harry's scar and made himself into a small puddle of black goo on the boy's bed.
"WE DO NOT LIKE THIS PLAN, BUT WE WILL DO IT FOR NOW." The creature said with all of his teeth showing menacingly.
"Good. Now go!" Harry ordered as he pointed to the open window of his dorm room. He made sure to keep his voice down because the rest of his dorm mates were already asleep.
"WE DO NOT LIKE THE HOST'S ATTITUDE."
"Fine then. Just go! I want to be alone!" Harry said a little louder than he should have.
The boy quickly covered his mouth in hopes that none of his dorm mates had heard him. Harry motioned for Venom to stay put and after 30 seconds, he felt the coast was clear. The creature slithered away from the bed and headed straight out of the nearby window.
Once Venom left, Harry tried his best to sleep, but it was proving to be quite a challenge. The boy's mind was so scattered it made his head hurt. It was so stupid that the two of them were fighting about this! Couldn't Venom understand that separation is a good thing? Harry couldn't understand why this was now a big problem. However it was always going to be necessary for the black goo to be nearby to hide. That would usually mean hiding out in Harry's book bag.
The last thing Harry needed in his life was people finding out about Venom, and to see him outside of Harry's body was also something out of a nightmare. Even though Harry was used to his friend's appearance, if someone else were to walk in and see a black like tendril with a viciously slimy head and razor sharp teeth, they may just die from a heart attack. If that weren't a bad enough scenario, there was always the chance that someone could report Venom to the professors, and who knows what they would do? No. Anyone else seeing the black creature would be a big mistake.
After ruffling around with his sheets and pillow some more, Harry got up from his bed and made his way down the steps to the common room. When he finally made it to the bottom, the boy went straight to the couch and stared into the flames. Harry never got to be around fire that much because Venom hated heat, and now that he was gone, the boy was relishing in the warmth in front of him. It only took a few minutes for Harry's eyes to grow heavy, and soon enough he was sound asleep in front of the fire.
Venom was angry. His perfect host was being a complete bitch (a word the monster picked up before killing the person who said it), and it was getting on his nerves too.
"STUPID HARRY. WE HAVE TO REMAIN BONDED TO BECOME ONE. OUR HOST DOES NOT UNDERSTAND US AND OUR NEEDS." The creature thought as he made his way to the school grounds.
"WE NEED A HOST WHO UNDERSTANDS US. IF HARRY WON'T LISTEN, WE WILL FIND SOMEONE ELSE TO BOND WITH." Venom thought with some smugness in voice at the end, but the feeling didn't last long.
The creature was going to have a difficult time finding someone else to replace Harry, and he knew it. It took such a long time for Venom to find his perfect match when he arrived on earth, and if he hadn't found the boy when he did, he would more than likely be dead by now. After being hungry for so long, Venom vowed to not go through that hell again. But how would the creature be able to find another host without leaving the perfect host? Simple. Have a small piece of himself break off and search the castle for other potential hosts. The idea was making Venom darkly laugh, however now was not the time. Best to wait and seize the opportunity when it presents itself.
Once the black goo finally made his way to the bottom of the castle, he slithered off towards his favorite hunting ground: the dark forest. A large supply of magical creatures lay deep inside, and it was a perfect way for Venom to satisfy his hunger quickly. During the first night at Hogwarts, Venom ran into something called a centaur and spent the next two hours devouring the horse human in order to savor the flavor. Centaurs became the creature's favorite meal from that point on. They were even more tasty than potatoes, which were Venom's favorite thing to eat.
After spending a good deal of time in the dark forest, Venom emerged and made his way back towards the castle. Or he would have if not for Hagrid's hut. Sometimes there would be creatures roaming the grounds around his house, but they were not very meaty. The giant also kept a few magical vegetables in the back, but Venom stayed away from them because "VEGETABLES ARE NOT TASTY!"
However tonight was different because Venom ran into a brand new animal he had never seen before. It was a strange beast with small feet, white wings, and was apparently very noisy as it would "coo" and "bawk". Little did he know that he was talking to just a little old chicken that paid Venom no mind.
"WHAT IS THIS THING?" Venom questioned as his head emerged from the black tendrils on the ground. "YOU! IDENTIFY YOURSELF!"
The chicken stared blankly at Venom as if nothing was wrong, and continued to look around in several different directions.
"DO NOT IGNORE US. WE DEMAND YOU IDENTIFY YOURSELF!"
Once again the chicken just stared into the dark forest abyss instead of focusing on Venom. This made the black goo even more intrigued than he was just a few moments ago.
"YOU DO NOT FEAR US? WE MUST BOND WITH YOU!" The creature exclaimed in joy.
Moments later, Venom lunged at the small animal and latched itself on to it. Surprisingly, the chicken still didn't even give a damn about what was happening. At first, Venom wanted to devour the chicken as some sort of dessert to go with his meal, but he fought down the urge and completely bonded with the animal. What he experienced was unbelievable.
The chicken changed into a sickening black veined creature with wings that resembled a bat, and now the eyes became white instead of black. Instead of going through the same process of saying that this animal was not compatible with bonding, Venom took the opportunity to experience this new feeling of taking over something entirely.
"WE ARE ONE. I HAVE THE MEMORIES OF THIS THING. WE ONLY WANT CORN. LOTS OF CORN." Venom said aloud.
"WE WILL NAME YOU! YOU ARE NOW JEFFREY. JEFFREY IS NOW OUR FRIEND. DO YOU KNOW ANY OTHER HOSTS, JEFFREY? WE NEED A NEW HOST. OUR HOST IS A LOSER." Once again the chicken creature hybrid said nothing but now it turned the other way and began walking to the back of the hut. It seems that the chicken still remained as mainly a chicken even though it has bonded with a black goo like creature.
"YOU ARE DIFFICULT, JEFFREY, BUT WE WILL BREAK YOU."
With that, Venom and "Jeffrey" flew off into the night sky. The chicken could fly now because the small pathetic wings it once had were gone, and it had become something out of a nightmare. With this new knowledge of bonding in hand, Venom wanted to experiment later on whether or not he could bond with other humans that may not be compatible.
October 20th, 1991 - At Night in the Gryffindor Common Room
"If you two don't mind, I'm off to bed before either one of you can come up with another idea as to how to kill us, or worse, get expelled!" Hermione Granger said to her other two friends Harry Potter, and by extension Venom, and finally Ron Weasley.
Over the past two months, Harry had decided to give Hermione a chance at being friends, and even though she was still getting on his nerves, it was getting easier to accept her personality with each passing day. After all, Venom said that the girl was a potential host for him, so Harry did as the creature wished and tried to be friends.
Ron was still acting the same as he had been on day one. The redheaded boy was his closest friend, except Venom of course, and the two had spent a lot of time together. Ron had told Harry of his life in the magical world, while Harry did explain some things about his life, but kept his home life, and Venom, out of the conversations. Venom was still not happy about Ron being friends with Harry, but the host was adamant about this friendship happening.
Earlier, the trio had been coming back from dinner when they darted off into a different floor they had never been. The stairs seemed to have taken them that way, so it seemed natural to explore what was around. The group made their way down the corridor and opened up the first door they saw, but this turned out to be a big mistake. Inside the room was a massive three headed dog that did not look very friendly.
"WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?" Ron Weasley screamed.
"AAAHHH!" Hermione shouted.
"OH SHIT. THAT IS BIG!" Venom said inside Harry's head. Harry rolled his eyes in annoyance.
The three then exited the room as quickly as possible, and thankfully, the three headed dog did not hurt them whatsoever. After sprinting back to the Common Room, the group began talking about what they saw, with it eventually ending in Hermione leaving to go off to bed.
"That girl needs to sort out her priorities." Ron muttered.
"WE AGREE."
"I agree, Ron. I don't want to deal with this now though, let's just let her be." Harry said in response. "I'm off to bed. Are you coming?" Ron nodded so quickly that Harry and Venom almost laughed out loud.
"You don't think Hermione is right do you?" Ron asked as they made their way to their dorm. "Do you think the dog was guarding something?"
"I don't know, Ron. Maybe it was, but I don't want to deal with that thing again."
"WE WANT TO EAT IT." Harry heard in his head. He did his best to try and not give off a confused face. The two then headed to bed right after that. It did not take long for Ron to fall asleep, and surprisingly it didn't for Harry as well.
Once Harry was sound asleep, Venom slithered out of his host's scar as carefully as he could, and made his way to the floor. Normally this would be the time the black goo would go hunting for his meal, but he had some more important matters to deal with. Venom carefully slid across the walls in order to avoid making noise on the stairs, and eventually made his way into the Common Room, whilst of course still avoiding the fireplace.
"THAT THING ALMOST KILLED OUR OTHER POTENTIAL HOST. WE MUST PROTECT HER." Venom muttered aloud as he made his way to the Gryffindor girls dorms. Thankfully the Hermione girl was only on the first floor, so it wouldn't be too hard to get to her.
Venom started climbing the walls on the other side of the boy's dorms, but was quickly blocked from moving.
"WHAT IS THIS?" Venom wondered. "WE CAN'T GET IN!"
The black goo then tried climbing up the stairs, but couldn't do that either because he was blocked again. It seemed that Venom couldn't go past the barrier because he was not a female symbiote. Hell he wasn't even human so it was even more of a reason to not be allowed up the stairs. This was going to be a challenge to get to Hermione if the barrier was always going to be up.
"WE WILL TRY LATER." Venom grunted as he made his way over to the nearby window instead and jumped to the grounds of the castle.
After a few minutes of slithering around the grounds, Venom finally made his way over to Hagrid's hut. He was hoping that his "pet" Jeffrey was in, as the two of them had become quite close over the past few weeks. Well as close as a symbiote and a chicken could be. Jeffrey didn't really do anything except look for corn, and Venom just tried to learn more on what being a chicken was like. It didn't take long for the symbiote and chicken to come together and the rest of the night consisted of running and flying around.
October 21st 1991 - In the Great Hall During Lunch
"WE NEED TO HUNT." Venom said in Harry's head. The boy had been eating his lunch and talking to Ron when Venom had chimed in.
"What? Why?" Harry said aloud without realizing what he had done.
"Exactly! I don't understand why the Chudley Cannons aren't going to be in the Quidditch World Cup either!" Ron responded back. Harry was grateful that Ron didn't catch on to what was happening.
"WE NEED TO HUNT. THE HOST NEEDS TO LET US HUNT."
"Why? Didn't you go out last night when I fell asleep?"
"WE SPENT THE NIGHT WITH JEFFREY."
"You mean the chicken?!" Harry asked. Yes the boy knew about this weird friendship between Venom and a chicken, but he kept his mouth shut about it when Venom got really angry and threatened Harry if he ever hurt his precious Jeffrey.
"Harry, are you paying attention?"
"Huh? Oh yes, Ron. Sorry go ahead."
"JEFFREY IS OUR FRIEND. WE HAVE FUN WITH JEFFREY."
"I don't think I'll ever understand why you're friends with a chicken."
"THE HOST WILL NOT HURT JEFFREY OR WE WILL HURT THE HOST!"
"I know! Jeez." Harry stressed. "Okay fine. How are you going to get out? You're literally in my head!"
"GO TO THE BATHROOM. WE WILL SLIDE OUT THERE." Harry then excused himself and darted quickly to the nearby boy's restroom. Thankfully no one was around. In a matter of seconds, Venom slithered out of Harry's head and fell on to the sink.
"Next time hunt at night! I can't have you running around in the open during the day!" Harry said aloud. Venom's head then morphed from the goo and faced Harry.
"WE WILL HUNT WHEN WE NEED TO. THE HOST MUST DEAL WITH THIS."
"No! I need you to do this at night! You can't be seen around here!"
"FINE." Venom grunted as he slid from out of view. Harry simply shook his head and walked back to the Great Hall so he could finish his meal before his next class started.
Venom quickly hid around the corner of the boy's restroom and waited for Harry to turn the corner. As soon as he saw his host, Venom jumped on his shoes and waited to be carried back into the Great Hall. As soon as Harry arrived and sat back down, Venom took the opportunity to slide off the shoes and made his way over to Hermione who was only a few seats away from Harry and Ron.
The creature did not want to alert Hermione of his presence right away, so he merely climbed up her shoes, whilst shrinking himself down to become little, then jumped on to her skirt, and then made his way on to her jacket and made his way into her front pocket. The girl then got a little freaked out because she thought that a bug was crawling all over her, but after checking herself out and not seeing a bug, she returned to her lunch. As Hermione ate, Venom carefully released a small tendril and formed it into a stinger. He then stabbed Hermione in the neck with the tendril, and retreated back into the pocket afterward.
Hermione had no idea what had just happened, but she felt as if a bug had just bit her on the neck and it really hurt. The bite then started to feel really itchy and the girl began to scratch at the mark. After a few moments of scratching, Hermione decided to head over to the girl's bathroom and see how bad the bug bite was.
Once inside the restroom, Hermione ran to the sink and checked herself out in the mirror. What she saw disturbed her, and caused her to scream. The "bug bite" that was on her neck was black and had some veins coming out from it that seemed to be growing by the second. The girl splashed some water on her neck, but it only seemed to have increased the veins forming. Hermione continued to panic as she did everything she could to get rid of the black infection, but failed to notice a small black goo jump out of her pocket and land on the sink. The goo then grew to its normal size, and grew its head out from the puddle.
"HELLO." The creature said.
The small girl's eyes grew to massive size at seeing Venom. She shrieked even louder than before and began crying, whilst running away to the back of the room. The sharp teeth from the creature seemed to be growing larger with each passing second, and the head began to slither incredibly fast over to Hermione. If the girl had time to think about it, she would say that it was the equivalent of a black slimy snake with a human-ish head, but that was the last thing on her mind at the moment.
"WE MUST BOND WITH YOU." Hermione only screamed more and cried for help at the top of her lungs.
As the monster got closer to her, Hermione began thinking that she would never see her parents again, and would surely die in the next few moments. She had no idea where this thing had come from, but clearly it was going to eat her, and that's all she focused on.
"HOLD STILL!" Venom shouted as he lunged at Hermione. The small girl watched as the black slimy snake leapt towards her, and opened its mouth incredibly wide. The last thing Hermione heard before everything went black, was the sounds of her continuous screams.
Back in the Great Hall, the students and teachers suddenly stopped eating and fell silent after hearing someone screaming at the top of their lungs. Without even thinking, the entire room of people rushed out of the hall, and made their way towards the screams. The professors pushed their way through the hoard of students, and ordered all of them to retreat back to the hall while they took care of the problem.
After hearing the sounds coming from the girl's restroom, Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout headed inside to see what was happening. Dumbledore, and the remaining professors, ushered the students back into the hall.
Once inside, the professors made their way over to where they sounds were coming from, near the back of the room, but now there was no screaming at all. A few moments later, McGonagall spotted Hermione Granger at the very back wing of the stalls, and rushed over to her. She seemed scared out of her mind and shaking in a fetal position.
"Oh my dear girl what happened?"
"It was a monster, Professor!" Hermione cried loudly. "A monster attacked me! It was right here!"
The professors checked the nearby stalls and the rest of the room to try and look for any kind of nefarious creatures, but they were not able to find anything.
"I'm sorry, Miss Granger, but we don't see any monsters in here."
"NO! It's here, Professor! I saw it there!" Hermione said as she pointed right where the two professors were.
"What did the monster look like?"
"It was big, had a lot of teeth, and looked like a giant tentacle! It lunged at me before you came and it disappeared! It was here I tell you!"
The pair of teachers looked at one another in astonishment. They hadn't seen any kind of monster that looked like that in the halls, but they could both tell that this girl wasn't lying, as the look on her face gave everything away.
"Come on, Miss Granger. Let's get you over to the hospital wing." Professor Sprout offered as she tried to get the girl up.
"NO! It's here! It's here, Professor! I can't find it! It's here! Please help me!"
"Don't worry, Miss Granger." Professor McGonagall assured her. "If there is any monster we will take care of it. Now let's get you to the hospital wing and get you checked out."
Hermione reluctantly agreed to get up and was escorted to the hospital wing of the castle. The girl was incredibly thankful that none of the other students had seen her. It was already bad enough that she was considered a "bossy know it all" to her peers, but to be seen as a hysterical lunatic would make things even more embarrassing.
After walking for what seemed like forever, Hermione was checked in by the healer Madam Pomfrey and sent to bed immediately. The girl was given a sleeping drought in order to calm her down, and when she had finally fallen asleep, the mediwitch and the other two professors tried to figure out what was going on with her.
"Do you see anything, Poppy?"
"I have done a few diagnostic spells on Miss Granger, and I found nothing. I then did an examination, and I found a small bite on the side of her neck. The bite was small but a little red. I don't think this bite is any concern, but it was the only thing I could find considering everything else was fine."
"I see." Professor McGonagall responded. "Do you have any idea as to why she would see a monster?"
"Are you suggesting that the monster was not real, Minerva?" Professor Sprout asked.
"I am not ruling out anything until we can determined exactly what happened. It is possible that Miss Granger actually saw something, but since we did not find anything, I am going to consider that it also could have been imaginative."
"Yes well .." Madam Pomfrey said as she tried to steer the conversation back on topic. ".. while I am not going to assume that she didn't see anything, I will not rule it out either. Unfortunately, I won't know any more information until she wakes up. I can perform a few more diagnostics then."
October 21st 1991 - Later That Same Night
"Did you have anything to do with this?!" Harry said as he shouted in his head at his friend. "Did you put Hermione in the hospital?!"
"WE DID NOT DO THAT." Venom responded back almost instantly.
Harry moved towards the bathroom and found the nearest mirror in order to look at his friend in the eye. Ever since he was young, Harry had found out that he could see Venom in the mirror even if he wasn't appearing on Harry's side. The creature explained it as a "REFLECTION OF OUR TRUE FORM".
"You sure about that? I find that incredibly hard to believe!" Harry shouted. He tried to keep his fighting down since everyone else was asleep in the dorm.
"ARE YOU QUESTIONING US?"
"Yes!"
"WE DID NOT HURT THE POTENTIAL HOST. ANY POTENTIAL HOST NEEDS TO BE PROTECTED!"
"So you really didn't hurt Hermione at all?"
"WE DID NOT HURT THE POTENTIAL HOST."
"Okay." Harry was a little unsure as to whether or not Venom was telling the truth, but it did make him feel a little better by getting this feeling off his chest.
"YOU STILL DOUBT US?"
"I can't help it!" Harry exclaimed. "It just doesn't make any sense to me. Why would Hermione suddenly start screaming in the girl's bathroom for no reason?"
"WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE POTENTIAL HOST. WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY SHE SCREAMED." Venom said.
"I .. I don't know what to believe."
"IF WE WERE PERMANENTLY BONDED, WE COULD SHOW YOU THE TRUTH."
Even though Harry was bonded with the symbiote, it didn't mean that the two of them were 100% synced and hadn't become one entity instead of instead being the host and the symbiote. This was something Harry hadn't wanted to do yet, as he was unsure about both of their personalities merging into one body.
"WHY DO YOU RESIST THE BOND? THERE IS SO MUCH WE COULD REVEAL IF WE BECOME ONE."
"I'm not going to start this conversation up again. I'm not ready to do something like that, and you should respect my decision!" The boy retaliated as he walked away from the mirror and headed back down to the Common Room.
The Common Room was thankfully empty so Harry sat in front of the fire in order to get some time alone.
"YOU KNOW WE DON'T LIKE FIRE." Venom thought.
"I know. I want to be by myself!" The boy thought back. Venom then slid out from the boy's head quickly and moved towards the entrance of the Common Room.
"Where are you going?"
"HUNTING."
"Don't get caught! You know what will happen!"
"THE HOST SHOULD MIND HIS OWN BUSINESS."
"FINE!" Harry said somewhat loudly. He realized that once again he had spoken louder than what he had intended. It was something he was going to have to work on that's for sure. As the boy saw the goo leave the tower, he once again spent his time contemplating the events that had recently happened.
"What is his problem? He's been acting more aggressive than normal, and I don't know what to do with him." Harry thought as he sighed.
"Maybe I'm looking into this too much. I mean he did say that he didn't go after Hermione. I guess I should believe him. We've been through so much together after all."
After a little more thought, Harry decided to apologize to his friend whenever he had returned from hunting. He assumed that Venom wouldn't come back until morning, so it would probably be best to go to bed, and wait until tomorrow. And so, he did.
Venom did not going hunting. He instead went over to the hospital wing of the castle in order to see his other "potential host" and check in on her. Along the way, the creature had to hug the walls, and become one with the shadows in order to avoid the prefects and other teachers walking around. Thankfully it was only a few minutes later when Venom reached the Hospital Wing, and the door was also not locked.
Only bed was being used in the Hospital Wing, so the black goo knew exactly where to go. After taking a moment to look around for any unwanted humans, Venom leapt on to Hermione's bed and made his way up to where her head was laying on a pillow. Now that he had the potential host all to himself, the time to bond with the girl was perfect.
"IS SHE READY?" Venom asked.
Seconds later, a small piece of the symbiote that was lodged inside of Hermione's ear appeared but it stayed inside of her body. As if to answer the question, the small piece nodded and then moved out from her ear and crawled over to her bite on the side of her neck. It appeared to be completely healed, but this tiny opening was more than enough for the symbiote piece to crawl inside and attempt to bond with this girl.
As the piece slithered inside of Hermione's neck, the girl's eyes opened wide but the colors had changed to a milky white. Venom spoke to her as if she was awake.
"WE ARE VENOM. WE WILL ATTEMPT TO BOND WITH YOU. IF IT IS SUCCESSFUL, WE WILL HAVE ANOTHER HOST TO BOND WITH. IF NOT, WE WILL EAT YOU."
Hermione, although in a sleep like state, nodded and closed her eyes once more. Satisfied, Venom left the hospital wing and slithered over to the front gates. Now was the time for hunting. The creature would check on the girl later, but for now, a piece of him was inside her, and that's all he needed at the moment.