Edit: Thanks Smirking Menace, sorry about that, completely missed it.

iSaint, it's not every snake; it's Harry's presence that makes the difference. Some snakes are just special and he attracts them.

Right, after a LONG hiatus that I can only apologise for; I am, indeed back.

TTTTTTTTTTT

All of the characters except for my own handful of originals, as well as locations, names, titles etc. are and remain the property of JKR and I hope you like it.

Principles such as Splicing are mine as well as all unique books, histories, titles, traditions and spells. I give users permission to use them, but only if you reference me in your work.

Review please whether you like it or not. Tell me what you do and do not like and why! I do love having my ego stroked with 'Wow, great!' etc. but it's not as useful for my process as having some real examples and effects. If any of you would like to PM me a review or opinions or just talk about my story, please do so.

TTTTTTTTTTT

Chapter 19: Shedding Scales and Pre-Emptive Flying.

The first weeks of Harry's time at Hogwarts flew by in a blur of weird smells, explosions and strangely applicable laws of mathematical theory with the occasional few feet of essays and homework.

Harry had never thought it was possible to hate someone as much as he hated Vernon and Dudley, but that was before he had met Draco Malfoy.

Gryffindor and Slytherin spent several lessons together and the serpents were generally more intent on disrupting the learning of the lions than their own education. Draco was constantly flanked by his mountainous cronies, Crabbe and Goyle and they spent their time picking on everyone smaller than them, irrelevant of which house they were from.

At breakfast on the first day of October which was dull and overcast, they were told that flying lessons would begin the following day and that Gryffindor's first lesson would be with Slytherin and would take place once every week in addition to their lessons of physical education. An audible groan went up from the lions at the fact that their learning would be delayed again by whichever teacher struggling to control the raucous snakes.

'Damn it.' Harry said, spearing a sausage with his fork.

'What's the matter?' Hermione said, looking up from a huge book written in a language Harry had never seen before.

'Flying lessons, with Slytherin.' Ron and Dean muttered together.

No one had been spared the cruel remarks and jibes of the Slytherins, but it seemed that muggleborns were treated worse than most. Hermione, with her huge cloud of fuzzy hair, buckteeth and know-it-all all attitude had received the standard insults and cat-calls, but her undeniable intelligence had shielded her along with her friendship with Harry. He himself had created an immediate reputation for himself thanks to his confrontations with Malfoy, Longbottom and Professor Snape, all on the first day.

But Dean had suffered mercilessly at the hands of every pureblood who decided that muggleborns were somehow innately inferior to themselves. It wasn't just Slytherins, but a few Ravenclaws and older Gryffindors that had their own insults and private pureblood only clubs. He had taken to being quieter and more reserved than Harry knew his nature to be and rarely leaving Harry alone.

'Have you ever ridden a broom before?' Ron asked as he cuffed at tomato sauce on his chin.

Dean shook his head, eyes downcast.

'I've read all about it, but obviously never tried.' Hermione said, slicing a mushroom.

Harry shrugged, 'Probably not.'

'Right.' Ron said, chewing his lip. He stood after a few moments and walked out without another word.

'Weird.' Dean said.

'What's new?' Said Seamus returning from talking to the first year Hufflepuffs.

TTTTTTTTTTTT

Ron reappeared during a transfiguration lesson which had them practicing enlarging mice to the size of hedgehogs, a practice that Harry was interested to try on Nidhogg in time.

When McGonagall divided them into pairs to practice the spell, Ron jumped at the opportunity and pulled Harry to one side.

'What is it?' Harry asked testily.

'I've been thinking that with all the trouble the Slytherins give you, the last thing you, Hermione and Dean need is to be laughed at trying to fly.'

'And your point is?'

'Well I went to talk to Fred and George and they've spoke to the rest of the quidditch team and they're prepared to,' Ron dropped his voice conspirationally, 'to give us all a lesson tonight at midnight in secret on the pitch.'

Harry raised an eyebrow. Everything he had seen of Ron Weasley had been so utterly negative to that moment that he found himself reconsidering his entire perception of him. 'Why are you doing this?'

Ron twitched, paused and frowned. 'What do you mean?'

'Why are you suddenly being helpful? You've not had any of the name-calling, the cruelty or anything.'

'I'm always helpful.' Ron looked genuinely hurt.

'Right, well I appreciate the help and I'm sure others will too.' Harry said. 'Now shall we make some fat mice?'

Ron laughed and drew his wand.

TTTTTTTTTTTT

George and Fred Weasley were waiting, as promised, on the quidditch pitch. They were hovering a few feet off the ground as Harry, Ron, Dean, Hermione, Tina-Marie and Parvati all approached wearing thick cloaks. Hermione and Lavender had declined the offer of the unofficial lesson due to it being unofficial and Seamus had taken private lessons from his father for years in preparation for school.

There was a small pile of tired-looking brooms on the edge of the pitch.

'Evening.' Fred or George said.

'Hi guys, thanks for this.' Harry said.

'No problem.' Said the other Fred or George. 'Now a little bird has told us that you're all a bit concerned with getting airborne.'

'You could say that. We've had a lot of trouble from some of the Slytherins.' Said Dean as he inspected one of the brooms.

'Yeah, that's nothing new,' said one of the twins, 'they're all so proud of their pure blood.'

'Even the half-bloods get picked on in that dungeon of theirs.' Said the other.

'Dungeon?' Tina-Marie asked, sheepishly.

'Yeah, their common room and dorm is under the lake.' Fred or George said, like one of Slytherin's best kept secrets was inconsequential.

'Everyone gets bullied, except for the old families.' Said a voice on the outskirts, making everyone jump.

Harry spun around down to one knee, wand out in a heartbeat.

A figure emerged from the darkness. 'Easy, easy.' It was Longbottom, the toadless boy.

'What're you doing here, Slytherin?' Dean asked with poison in his voice.

'I was following you. I don't like my dorm very much.'

Neville's time in Slytherin had clearly been intense. He was thinner now, with the naivety in his eyes eroded along with a lot of his puppy fat. Harry had learned a lot about the Longbottoms since arriving at Hogwarts, including how Neville's parents had been magically tortured somehow by some of Lord Voldemort's followers and left catatonic, their minds broken. He had been raised by his father's mother who was apparently quite domineering.

'What do you want?' Harry asked.

'I can't fly, I've never managed it before and I don't want to appear… weak in front of the others in my house. Just because I'm pureblood doesn't mean that'll protect me. I'm surrounded by former friends of You-Know-Who and they hate me.'

Harry stood and put his wand away. There was something about Longbottom that he understood. Their stories were so close it was alarming.

'Okay.'

TTTTTTTTTTTT

They spent an hour practicing. Harry appeared to be a natural on a broom, whereas Neville took a few tries. Ron, who had been flying for years, helped the twins with the lesson during which everyone became at least stable in the air.

Pavarti struggled at first, improved quickly upon realising that her problem was clenching her eyes tight closed as soon as her feet left the ground. Tina-Marie was a natural and Dean, after a few balance issues, did very well. Neville left alone a few minutes before the others, thanking the twins and nodding to the rest before striding into the darkness toward the castle.

'He's a weird fella, isn't he?' Ron said, wiping sweat from his brow.

Fred or George clapped his little brother on the shoulder. 'Yeah, but imagine your parents had been destroyed by You-Know-Who and you'd been raised by people who hate you. How messed up would you be?'

Harry felt like he was going to be sick. 'Alarming,' He said under his breath. No one seemed to hear him.

'I suppose you've got a point there.' Ron muttered, handing one of the practice brooms to Dean to carry.

Harry walked alone back to the school, a few feet away from the rest of the group, lost in his own thoughts. Fred and George left them early to return the borrowed brooms to storage leaving the first years to themselves.

'Thanks for this, Ron.' Harry said as they followed the instructions given by the twins on how to renter the school without being seen.

'No problem, least I could do.' The redhead smiled as the tips of his ears turned pink.

'Still, you didn't have to help any of us.' Dean said, punching Ron on the shoulder.

They followed the directions up the staircases back to the Gryffindor Common room where they found Fred and George playing a game of exploding snap with their friend Lee Jordan.

'Evenin' all,' the twins said together, 'been out for a little stroll?'

'Come on, Fred,' laughed Ron, 'you've been with us for more than an hour.'

'No,' said Lee with a frown, 'they've been in here with me all night.'

'Yep, that's us: six butterbeers and exploding snap since about… nine o'clock I'd say.' Said the other Fred or George.

Harry, catching on, nodded and pulled Dean and Ron up toward the dormitory. 'Goodnight all!' he shouted as the door closed.

TTTTTTTTTTTT

Nidhogg woke Harry the following morning by licking his face with a rough, dry tongue.

'Nidhogg, where've you been?' Harry asked, sitting up and yawning hugely.

'Eating with a big two-legs that doesn't smell like normal two-legs.' The tiny snake said.

'I thought you'd be able to learn people's names by now.' Harry said frustrated.

'You look the same; smell the same, difference hard.'

'Try.'

Nidhogg shook his head. 'Tired now. Full of tiny four-legs, growing fast.'

Harry put his glasses on. He hadn't seen Nidhogg for several days and he was noticeably longer and thicker. His scales were stretched taught across his body and appeared to be cracking in places. 'I think you're growing too fast.' He said, nervously.'

'Magic makes changes. Understand more now, grow fast. Lose skin soon, hurts.'

Harry checked, Nidhogg's growth had been explosive, but it had never occurred to him that it might be causing the little snake pain. He remembered Nidhogg was only around six inches long when they had met during the summer but now, less than two months later, he was closer to nine inches long. He could only imagine how uncomfortable increasing in size by half in such a short space of time must be.

'I'm sorry; it hadn't crossed my mind that you might be in pain. Can I help?'

Nidhogg made the strange head-twitch that Harry interpreted as a shrug. 'Don't know. Not supposed to grow like this.'

Harry's heart felt clenched and hard in his chest. The idea of Nidhogg in pain was terrible to him. 'I'll ask one of the teachers as soon as I get chance. 'I'm going to have a shower now. Do you think that warm water will help? You can go straight to sleep as soon as we're done.'

Nidhogg nodded. Harry deposited him into his pyjama pocket and pulled the drapes open as Seamus entered the dorm.

'G'mornin',' Seamus said, ever the early riser, 'are you ready for the flying lesson t'day Harry?'

'I think so,' Harry said, picking up his toiletry bag.

'Did y'have a good lesson last night?'

Dean's drapes slashed open. 'Don't know what you're talking about Seamus. You must be imagining things.' He said, his fuzzy hair awry in clumps.

'But I thought that the-'

'No, you must be imagining it.' Harry said, winking at Dean and leaving for the bathroom.

TTTTTTTTTTTT

At breakfast, Harry scribbled a note for Silvanus Kettleburn, the Care of Magical Creatures Professor, requesting that he speak with him after dinner that day and sent it out with one of the post owls.

Draco Malfoy had been there before any of the Gryffindors, describing in great detail his many broom-based escapades and how flying lessons for him were pointless.

'I'm already signed up for a spot as chaser for the Wimbourne Wasps when I'm old enough. The owner of the team himself is a good friend of my father, you know?' He said, loud enough for the whole hall to hear him.

'Dad says the whole family are half arrogance and half ignorance.' Ron said between mouthfuls of bacon and scrambled egg.

'Sounds about right from what I've seen,' said Hermione, 'he's vile, isn't he?'

Harry nodded. 'Like a more posh version of my aunt and uncle really, sounds like your dad has it right.' He said to Ron.

They quietened to listen as Malfoy started shouting about how backward it was that first years weren't allowed to have their own brooms at school as it prevented 'genuine talent' like his from shining through.

'How ridiculous.' Hermione sneered.

Disgusted, Harry turned to Hermione. 'What're you reading?' She had even more quiet than normal at breakfast, but the book she was engrossed in was much smaller than normal.

She lifted the cover for him to see without looking up. It read Quidditch Through the Ages in wildly elaborate script that was hard for Harry to read.

'Nervous?'

She shrugged, 'There's nothing in life that can't be learned from books and I'm going to prove it.'

'You didn't answer my question.'

She slammed the book shut in the way that only Hermione seemed capable and stormed out of the hall without another word.

'Mental that one, I'm telling you.' Ron said.

'Leave it alone, she's just worried.' Harry said warningly.

'Well I know that, but she did have the offer of a free lesson from some of the best flyers in the whole school.'

Harry looked around the others at the table and nodded.

TTTTTTTTTTTT

Read and review please, don't pull any punches.

CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK IS ALWAYS WELCOME