Piers Polkiss sits in the back of Mr. Dursley's car, heart pounding wildly, barely listening to his best friend's shouted story.

"-tried to bite my leg off!" Dudley screams, grinning widely and looking as if this was his best birthday yet. His mother, on the other hand, moans quietly and sags further into the passenger seat.

"Oh, yeah?" Piers shouts, just as amped as Dudley. "Did you see how it tried to squeeze me to death?!"

"Its gigantic fangs-"

"Just kept squeezing-"

"-swallow me whole!"

"-could've crushed me like a tin can!"

Piers and Dudley are happily shouting over each other, and Piers feels ready to burst into ecstatic laughter, or to crow with happiness like Peter Pan.

"Piers," Mrs. Dursley says tremulously into the momentary silence, "please don't tell your mother that that snake tried to strangle you." She is fidgeting with her dress, looking worried and motherly, and Piers resists the urge to roll his eyes. Tell his mother? This is a story he will tell his grandkids, he knows. He grins over at Dudley, who is looking equally elated about their horrifying experience. Piers can't wait to tell the rest of the gang. Drumming his hands on his lap restlessly, he looks out the window at the passing cars, and tries to remember exactly how it happened…

…

Piers is leaning his head on his hand, elbow propped casually on the edge of a venomous snake's enclosure. But said snake isn't looking very venomous, and in fact looks as disappointingly lethargic as the rest of the immobile reptiles. Dudley and his parents have already moved a couple of displays down, but Piers watches the brightly-patterned snake a little longer, hoping for something, anything. But the snake does not even twitch, and eventually, Piers sighs and turns away, looking off into the darkness of the reptile house. His wandering gaze lands on Harry, Dudley's strange, scrawny cousin, and it is that precise moment when Piers hears it.

A faint murmur, barely audible, words indecipherable. It's Harry's voice, low and quiet, polite and conversational. Curious, Piers takes several silent steps nearer to Harry, who is bent close to the glass of an enclosure. As Piers moves closer, the snake comes into his view as well. It is a boa constrictor, and it is no longer sleeping. Piers freezes, his heart in his throat, his own pulse thrumming loudly in his ears. With a thrill, Piers watches the snake, its head raised to Harry's height, its reptilian eyes fixed on Harry as if listening to the boy. And then, to Piers' amazement, the snake jabs its tail at the informational plaque next to its enclosure.

Boa Constrictor, Brazil.

Bred in captivity.

Harry nods at the snake in sympathetic understanding, and then responds; the sound is, impossibly, even more frightening than the snake's piercing stare. It's a harsh, abrasive whisper, hissing rather than words, and a sudden chill brings goosebumps across Piers' forearms. The sound is distinctly inhuman, unnatural, wrong. Freak, Piers thinks savagely. But then - the snake shakes its head. There is no denying it; the Brazilian boa constrictor is having a full-on conversation with Dudley's cousin. Piers' tongue suddenly unsticks, and he tears his gaze away from the snake to look for Dudley and his parents, who are still a couple of enclosures away.

"DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY!" he yells at the top of his voice. His hysterical shouts echo through the quiet stone hallway. "COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!" Dudley comes running immediately, and he and Piers rush over to the boa constrictor.

"Out of the way, you," Dudley snaps at Harry. He punches him in the ribs, sending him toppling onto the concrete floor. Piers and Dudley crowd eagerly into the space Harry had previously occupied, staring in awe at the upright boa constrictor, excited breaths fogging up the glass of its enclosure.

And then, quite suddenly, there is no enclosure. The glass that had separated them is inexplicably gone, leaving only empty space between the two boys and the monstrous reptile. Shouting in horror, Piers and Dudley fling themselves backwards, sprawling onto the cold hard floor. The snake spills out after them, its thick, muscular body sliding to the floor and slithering away with frightening speed and strength. The boa constrictor snaps at the two boys as it passes, an obvious warning to keep their distance. Piers sees the gleaming white edges of its nightmarish fangs.

Throughout the reptile house, visitors are screaming and shouting, and the hall echoes with the sound of running footsteps. Mrs. Dursley has reached them, and is kneeling next to Dudley, frantic. She is running her hands through Dudley's hair, holding him close, whispering hysterical, nonsense words of comfort. But Dudley is ignoring her outright, mouth slack and eyes wide, watching the snake make its determined way towards the reptile house exit.

Piers, too, watches the boa as it slides powerfully in Harry's direction. It doesn't snap at him as it does with all the other people. It doesn't hiss at him, or threaten him in any way. The snake simply continues on by, as if it isn't bothered by Harry at all. Piers glances up to see Harry's reaction, and it strikes him that Harry is clearly surprised - his lips are parted in a quiet gasp, his bright green eyes watching the snake incredulously. But Harry, Piers sees, is not afraid. He is not scared in the slightest. He only watches the snake move swiftly by, and as it passes him, Harry blinks in surprise. And then the corners of his lips curve ever so slightly, a small, secret smile.

Mrs. Dursley is crying hysterically, and Mr. Dursley is shouting at the keeper of the reptile house, who is rendered immobile with shock, and only repeats his murmured question - the glass, where did the glass go? The zoo visitors are fleeing in terror, thundering footsteps echoing off the cave-like walls of the reptile house. But Harry Potter stays sprawled on the stone floor, one hand absent-mindedly cradling his side. He is smiling.

…

Piers turns away from the window and looks at Harry, sitting quietly between him and Dudley. The boy is curled in on himself slightly, as if trying to make himself invisible. But Piers watches him steadily. After a moment, Harry notices and looks over, meeting Piers' eyes. Harry swallows, uneasy. Piers grins.

"Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?" And as Mr. Dursley roars 'What?!' and nearly crashes the car for the second time that day, Harry Potter, who does not even flinch in the face of an escaped boa constrictor, looks frightened.