Harry gulped as he walked over to the nearest cage, hoping to calm the snakes before they drew attention. "Quiet!" he hissed. "I don't want anyone knowing I speak Parseltounge."
The snakes' heads lifted in interest, tongues flickering out to taste the air.
"I thought the human speakers were extinct!"
"Finally, someone that's not mean and boring."
"Are you going to get us out of here or just stare like an idiot?"
Harry put his finger to his mouth in a shush gesture. "Okay, okay, one at a time."
Several boomslangs advanced to the edge of their cage, slithering back and forth by the glass edge. "We can be useful, you know, to the right person. Not something to gawk at in a zoo, or worse end up as part of some potion."
The snakes hissed and spat in unison.
"I can promise I won't use any snake I own as part of a potion," the boy who lived answered carefully, knowing that snakes were in fact frequently part of everyday potions. "But what's in it for me?" Harry demurred, allowing his Slytherin qualities to present themselves. "I have seven years of school supplies to cover, not to mention a rather high rent rate from my dear relatives, who'll probably hike it at some point. What's to stop me from walking out the door right now?"
"You do value your secret, correct?" a boomslang remarked. "Kind of hard to keep if we break the glass and move in your direction." The glass started humming softly, building up to a breaking point.
"All right, enough!" Harry whispered, glancing over his shoulder to make sure no one was looking. Except for an elderly witch smoking a pipe in the turtle section, all remained quiet. "What do you want?"
"Taking at least a few of us out of here would be a good start," a second boomslang stated, sliding across a nearby log.
"We can be your eyes and ears in unfriendly territory!" a third boomslang remarked, lowering itself off the cage's platform and artificial logs to glide silently across the soft dirt floor.
"And we're always ready for a good prank," a pale-yellow corn snake chimed in from the next cage, coils jerking with suppressed laughter.
"Consider me sold," Harry said dryly, tensing his jaw in thought. "Alright, I'll take thirteen of you, but space will be limited until we get to Hogwarts."
Harry selected a dozen boomslangs, and the yellow corn snakes, along with a month's supply of snake food, placing into a two-section miniature expanded container (one for the boomslangs and one for the corn snake). His watch now read 11:53 am. After making a quick dash to Gringotts for another few hundred pounds, Harry raced out of the alley and marched towards the nearest deserted street, hailing the Knight Bus for the next part of his journey.