Chapter 23: Baalsam

Harry makes another friend

The little black snake tried to take in everything with his two green eyes. There was so much to see! The grass was soft here and tickled his underbelly. The sand and rocks were good to rub against and smelled wonderful. He tasted the air one more time before taking off at top speed: his brothers and sisters were ahead of him again. His black coils bore him over tree trunks and through the shade of many hedges before he caught up with the rest of his siblings. Ahead he could see his sire's thin hood.

The voices of his brothers and sisters mocked him in turn as he finally caught up.

"Slow-worm," one snickered, "Nearly left behind. Did you get caught on your egg shell?"

"Lost among twigs, small, like him."

"One day you will be eaten."

"Your grass-eyes make you slow, make you slow."

The black snake ignored the voices of his siblings for he had caught up to his sire. The older Krait had brought them to a wide hole in the wall of rocks, a tunnel. Here he was speaking to his brothers and sisters.

"You will mind your tails and tuck your hoods," the larger snake said, leading his clutch into the tunnel. "Here is a place of peace. You will not bite, you will not even nibble. Do you hear me?"

"We hear you," answered the siblings all at once.

They came out of the tunnel and were amazed at the sight before them. They had seen wood and rock and sand before, but never with so many snakes! Their eyes moved everywhere, trying to catch sight of all the snakes there were. "Come." The big Krait was moving forward and they followed. The littlest, with green eyes and his hood quivering in excitement, was nearly left at the entrance. He moved best he could to join his siblings. Their sire was taking them somewhere special.

Near the far wall of the clearing were two huge snakes, one green and brown, the other blue with a tuft of bright red feathers on its head. The Krait froze at once.

"Look away!" he hissed, his clutch closing their eyes at once. "Never meet the stare of the Basilisk! It will put you to sleep, for-ever. Hide your eyes. Quickly!"

The smallest did not hide its curious gaze. It moved around its nervous brothers and sisters, and slipped closer and closer to the huge snake's great coils. This was the biggest snake it had ever seen! Its great body was thicker than tree trunks! It scales were broad and coarse! There was a crop of vibrant red feathers growing from its skull. It was so different, so big, so...

"Hello!"

A strange thing scooped him up. He cried out in surprise and delight, so warm! His black body looped once, twice around the odd shape holding him above the ground. He could feel his hood stretching open in fear. He did not like being so high off the ground. A beautiful sound filled the air, and the little snake looked up. The thing holding him was bigger than him or his siblings or even his sire. It had wild red hair like the Basilisk's but bright green eyes. Like him!

The little snake sat up in Harry's palm. Harry smiled.

"My name's Harry. Who are you?"

"I am Nothing!" the little snake answered. "Harry! Are you a Basilisk?"

"I am not," the Emperor laughed. "My hair may be red but my stare cannot kill."

"You're not a snake. What are you?"

"I'm a human," Harry said, "Why are you called Nothing?"

From his feet, a snake answered. "Emperor! Forgive me. That one has no manners. That one is the last egg to hatch. He is smaller than the others of his clutch; he is Nameless." Little voices came from the other Kraits, the young ones still hiding their eyes from the sight of the Basilisk.

"Last-hatched, Nameless. He is Nothing, Nothing."

"He will be eaten."

"He is slow! He is too slow."

"We were all slow, once," Harry said, "Why will he be eaten? I don't like the sound of that."

"Sometimes, an egg will hatch late," Nagini said from behind the group, causing surprise at her sudden appearance. Likely, the little Kraits had never seen a snake of her color and pattern so large before. "Most do not live, Emperor; these are not given a Name."

Harry looked at the snake in his hands. The little figure was poking his thumb with a tiny snout smaller than his nail. He couldn't have been more than a couple weeks old. Didn't all parents name their children?

Memories stirred in Harry's mind: a cool tile floor, a small cramped cupboard he had to tap twice to open. Mr. Dursley's back, Mrs. Dursley's back, his cousin's back. And silence. He couldn't think of one time he had heard them ever saying his name.

"I remember what it's like," he said quietly. "To not be wanted."

The other snakes in the clearing had stopped moving, hearing the tone of the Emperor's voice. Somehow the big Krait had the distinct impression that it had done something wrong.

"If your sire has no Name for you, he has no need for you," Harry decided. "I will give you your Name."

The green-eyed snake's jaw fell open in disbelief.

"I will not be Nothing?" the little snake asked, trying to wrap his head around the idea. Below, the other Kraits were writhing with jealously. A Name from the Emperor! An honor worthy of any First-Hatched or Second-Hatched. What was the Emperor thinking, naming a Last-Hatched? They hissed plaintively, wrought with envy and jealousy.

"Are there proper words for this?" Harry asked. Nagini shook her head.

"You are the Emperor," she replied. "Your words are the proper words."

That was all the encouragement Harry needed. "Right. Your Name is not Nothing," he said, addressing the little snake in his hands. "From now on, your Name is Baalsam."

There was nothing special about the tone or wording of Harry's announcement, yet all around snakes looked up to see. The Emperor's very voice seemed to cause the air to taste different. Every eye was fixed upon him. Harry couldn't know, for he was busy looking at the newly named snake, but as he spoke his deep emerald eyes shone with a brilliant ring of gold.

The black snake shuddered.

"I am not Nothing," it repeated. "I am Baalsam."

"This is your Name."

"This is my Name. Baalsam." The little black snake repeated it several times. The golden circle melted away from the Emperor's eyes.

Baalsam dipped his nose in a bow. "Thank you, Emperor."

"You're welcome, Baalsam," Harry said. He lifted the snake onto his shoulders. The green-eyed Krait made a contented noise. Harry knew his skin was warm and all snakes liked being warm. That's why Indiis so often coiled around his neck.

"When I was younger," Harry said, "I dreamed of going on an adventure, with a snake with green scales and eyes like fire caught in a stone." He reached out to run a hand over Nagini's crest scales. She hissed happily and dipped her snout to him. Harry's eyes seemed to sparkle like a gem in the sunlight as he spoke. "She rescued me from a place I did not belong. She took me away on an adventure. I think I will take you on an adventure, Baalsam. Would you like to come with me?"

The little snake, still enamored over receiving his Name, couldn't stop himself from squeaking.

Harry laughed.

"Is that a good squeak, or a bad squeak?"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Baalsam was vibrating with excitement around Harry's shoulders.

The Krait clutch at Harry's feet gave noises of surprise as the ground began to shift under them. Harry was drawing in the air with a hand; beneath his feet, the rocks rose up out of the earth, and began to rise up through the air towards the tree tops. Baalsam held fast to Harry's body. Harry rose his hands palm-up toward the sky. The rocks under his feet came apart from the ground and bore them towards the canopy overhead. They came up and up and were at last among the highest branches.

Harry stepped off the floating rocks and hooked his legs over a tree branch. Baalsam looked around, greedy to see everything he could.

"I have never been so high up, Emperor," the black snake said. Harry believed him. He remembered gifting Sahensha back his eyes, and the Basilisk's delight at seeing everything again. Baalsam was tasting the air with his tongue when Harry reached up to move a branch above their heads. Baalsam was astonished to see clouds nearly next to him.

"Emperor! Are we in the sky?" he asked in disbelief. "There's so much blue!"

"Not really," Harry assured his new friend. "We're just up in the tree tops. I bet you haven't been here before."

"Not yet," Baalsam agreed. "There are so many new smells up here!"

"There are new smells everywhere." Harry held the branch for a minute longer so they could look out over the tree tops. Baalsam asked about the shapes in the sky, which Harry named Clouds, and the shapes in the distance that stood unmoving, which Harry named Mountains. He asked about the way the branches wove together, and about the smell of the air.

Together they found a bird's nest.

"There are no eggs," Baalsam observed. "When will there be eggs to eat?" Harry smiled.

"I don't know, but I know who may know. Let's go back to our own Nest and ask Indiis."

Baalsam wrapped tighter around his branch.

"Maybe I can wait here, Emperor? It is far. I do not want to fall."

"Oh?" Harry gave the small snake's nose a gentle tap. "Let me guess: you want to stay here so no one else takes the eggs? It may be a long time yet until this nest is full. Or are you afraid that your Sire will tell you to go with him when he leaves?" Baalsam ducked his head; Harry had guessed correctly. The Emperor's laugh echoed in the treetops.

"Don't be silly! Come with me, Baalsam." He held out his warm palm, emerald eyes shining in the close sunlight. "Our adventure is far from over."

The little black snake came at once.

End Chapter