Harry had squeezed his eyes closed as he walked through the wall. Opening his eyes, he was met with a lot of hustle and bustle on the other side.

While Hedwig was on good terms with the snakes, Bob was not impressed by how many other owls were present, albeit thankfully caged. "Smells like bird dust. Not good. Let us move quickly."

Harry's ability to discern scents had improved to the point that he could taste particularly strong odours, and bird dust was not very pleasant. He quickly lugged his trunk toward the train, and after briefly but intently focusing on being as strong as Charybdis in her big form, easily lifted it up the steps. Several of the carriages were full already, but he found an empty one after a bit of wandering. After lifting the luggage to the storage rack, Harry settled down on the slightly bouncy train seat, pulling out his copy of Serpent in the Sky: The High Wisdom of Ancient Egypt. He had bought it because there was a snake on the cover and title, but it was mostly about Egyptology. Even so, he found it interesting, and Egyptians did like snakes, so they were alright in his book.

Harry was sitting with his feet propped on the other seat, slouching rather a lot and extremely absorbed by his book, when suddenly, the carriage door opened. In his surprise, he lost his footing, falling to the floor with an awkward flail of his arms and accidentally throwing his book out the window.

"Bollocks!", Harry mumbled, lying on the floor and staring at the window.

"Ffffuuuuuckkkk", Bob spat in his strangled almost-English, rising from Harry's collar after the uncomfortable jolt.

"Bloody hell", the newcomer whimpered, holding a trunk and rat.

Still on the floor, Harry peered over at the boy. He had red hair and very pale skin, but Harry thought some of that paleness was due to fear. Ignoring it, Harry waved at the new boy.

"Hello, then. I'm Harry, and this is Bob."

As if slapped from a stupor, the boy gasped, fear forgotten. "Blimey, are you… are you Harry Potter?"

Harry helped himself up from the floor. "Yep. And Bob." Harry pointed at Bob, who had resettled in the collar of his shirt. "Not Bob Potter though – snakes don't have surnames."

The new boy nodded in a dazed way, before straightening up. "Right…I'm Ron, Ron Weasley, and this is Scabbers. Just Scabbers. Scabbers Weasley sounds weird."

Ron thrust his hand out as if to shake hands before realising he was still holding Scabbers, and the pair squeaked in odd synchrony as Ron realised that he'd just shoved his rat very close to a snake. Stuffing Scabbers into his shirt pocket, he wiped his hand on his trousers before trying again.

Bemused, Harry accepted the handshake and sat down. He was a bit bothered by having lost his book. He had only packed the one, as it was a fairly difficult read.

"So erm, what were you reading?"

"It was about society and stuff in Egypt. I thought it would be more about snakes, but it wasn't. It was still good though."

Ron perked up at this. "One of my brothers really likes Egypt! He's just got a job as a curse-breaker there. I reckon we're gonna visit him someday."

Harry had spent some time thinking about curses after watching Sleeping Beauty for a Friends of Bob commission from one of the older boys at school. The boy, Hank, had wanted a cursed needle. It was a bit difficult, as he wanted it to be a needle like the doctors give your jabs in, and he wanted it to be cursed so that trying to do drugs makes you throw up. Harry had given him a bit of a look at that, and he'd gone on to explain that his dad wouldn't quit drugs otherwise. Harry thought that there was probably an easier way to use his powers to stop that, but he had enjoyed the challenge and had successfully made the cursed needle.

Harry was about to explain this to Ron when Bob piped up. "If he's not going to eat it, can I?"

"He wouldn't eat it anyway – it's a pet."

"Stupid pet…"

Harry privately agreed. It was like keeping a hamburger on a leash.

Ron had gone pale again. Harry tried to think of something to say, then realised he'd forgotten to introduce Charybdis. Holding his wrist out, he pointed at her and said "This is Charybdis. She likes changing colours, and normally she's bigger than this."

"H-hello." Ron managed a weak wave at what he had originally thought was an odd pink bracelet but was in face a small pink snake.

"Are you afraid of snakes, then? They're not like normal snakes – they're way smarter and wouldn't bite you or anything."

"Well, no – it's – no, I'm not afraid of snakes! We get adders around the fields at home… I just – you're a Parselmouth!"

"Oh, yeah. So is my cousin. My aunt is kind of as well. We're teaching some of the kids at my old school too."

Ron gaped. "…You can do that?! I thought it was only for dark wizards!"

Harry frowned, unsure of where that came from. "Erm, no. None of them have magic. Well, maybe my aunt and cousin have a bit, but I dunno. They didn't get Hogwarts letters."

"Blimey… We have one of them in my family too, I think. He's an accountant but we don't really talk to him."

"Oh yeah, accounting sounds boring."

While Ron and Harry chatted and got to know each other, Bob kept up a steady stream of begging to eat Scabbers, until finally, Harry caved.

"Right, Ron… Can I buy Scabbers?"

In the hour or so that Harry and Ron had been talking, Ron had already gleaned enough to know that he was a bit odd. "Erm, for what, mate?"

"Well, Bob's hungry. And actually, so am I."

"Wha - No!", Ron exclaimed, holding Scabbers to his chest.

Ugh, sentiment… "But I'll give you ten galleons and then you can buy an owl – or a snake!"

"I – well – still no!", Ron replied, though not as strongly.

Maybe it was a matter of price. Harry was about to start haggling when the food trolley came by. "Serendipitous", hissed Charybdis, not liking the hassle of interpersonal conflict.

Harry ended up buying a lot of snacks but was thoroughly disappointed when the chocolate frogs didn't taste froggy at all.

"Mate…they're just chocolate."

"False advertising…" Bob grumbled.

After another few minutes of chatting, the carriage door opened again, and a girl with very large hair stepped in asking about a toad. Harry had been wanting to stretch his legs, so he offered to find it.

Sticking out his tongue, he scented the air. As it was the only toad, he quickly found it, handing it to the shy looking boy who had introduced himself as Neville.

On the walk back to his carriage, Hermione had asked him all sorts of questions about his snake powers. He loved that someone was so interested in snakes and didn't realise until several minutes later that she had moved all her things to his and Ron's carriage in order to keep chatting.

She asked a lot of questions.

"So, what are you?"

"Well, I'm a snake obviously."

"But you don't look like a snake."

"I'm a magical snake."

Ron, who had been a bit annoyed at first by Hermione joining the carriage, but was slowly warming up to her, cut in with "He could be part creature. There's a lot of magical creatures with powers… like, erm. Veela! They're wicked hot."

Harry thought that sounded cool. "Can they melt things?"

"Wha – no, mate, they're fit girls!"

Frowning, Hermione asked "Do you mean vila? The Slavic fairies who turn into swans?"

Baffled, Ron shrugged. Huffing, Hermione turned back to Harry, further interrogating him about his powers.

"So, what's the weirdest thing you can do?"

"I don't know what you think is weird…"

"Okay, what's the coolest thing you can do in your opinion?"

"Erm, well you saw me scenting the air… That's cool. I guess my teeth are cool. I grew fangs when my baby teeth fell out." He pushed his lip up to show backwards-curving fangs in place of canines. They were curved so sharply that unless you were looking at him from an odd angle right as he yawned, he just appeared to have rather slim teeth.

Hermione was fascinated by this and began telling him everything she knew about teeth, which was quite a lot, given that both her parents were dentists.

"But what do they dent?", Ron asked, thoroughly confused, leading to a pause and then hysterical laughter.

After another few hours, the train finally started slowing down. Hermione excused herself to change into her robes, and suggested the boys do the same. Harry shuffled his robes on, then reached into his pocket to get Charybdis and Bob's uniforms. They were very soft and looked like miniature versions of the Hogwarts uniforms that had been turned into toeless socks.

"That's wicked… I wonder if Scabbers would like a uniform…"

Scabbers seemed to be a magically intelligent rat, as he had been staunchly avoiding Harry since he had tried to buy and eat him. It gave Harry pause, as he realised that he would have to be a bit more careful around the animals at Hogwarts. It wouldn't do to accidentally eat someone's pet.

Once the train pulled into the station, it was impossible to miss Hagrid towering over the mass of students. Harry waved, with Bob doing a little head nod from his place around Harry's neck. Hagrid shuffled over, looking a bit like a farmer trying not to step on baby chicks.

"Blimey Harry, that's a smart uniform yeh've got Bob in. Madam Malkin did tha' for yeh?"

"Yep! Charybdis has got one as well, only it's got special charms so that it'll stretch out when she gets bigger."

Hagrid scratched his beard, thinking. "A mighty fine bit o' work, tha'. I might pop in to see Madam Malkin for my next bit o' clothes. Bit difficult getting things that fit, what with me being big an' all."

"Charybdis thinks being big is the best thing ever."

Hagrid chuckled, gently patting Charybis' back, before hollering "FIRS' YEARS, THIS WAY" and leading everyone toward the lake.

The lake was cool. Harry shouted and almost climbed out of the boat when he thought he saw snakes in it but was a bit disappointed when Hagrid explained it was just a squid. That sparked another conversation on magical creatures, with Harry and Hermione interrogating Ron on what creatures were real or made up. Ron was secretly chuffed that they were asking him all these questions.

"So, are dragons real?", Harry asked.

"Yep! My brother Charlie works with dragons." Ron thought Charlie was super cool. Everyone did, to be honest.

If Charlie could work with dragons, Harry thought he could probably work with snakes when he was older. "If dragons are real, how about dinosaurs?"

Hermione frowned and patiently explained, "Harry, dinosaurs were real, just extinct."

"Okay but what if they were actually dragons though? Maybe the bones were actually dragon bones."

Ron was confused. "What are dinosaurs?"

Hermione was about to explain when Harry shrieked. "TITANOBOA! Are they – I mean – BIG SNAKES! Are really big snakes a thing?"

Ron and Hermione had jumped and clung to the edge of the boat when Harry shouted. Wide-eyed, Ron mumbled "I mean, probably, mate! There're all sorts of creatures…"

Harry was starry-eyed for the rest of the boat ride, chatting excitedly to Bob and Charybdis about the possibility of meeting a Titanoboa or similarly big snake.

When Hogwarts came into view, all conversations stopped as they took in the sight.

"Big. Very nice.", Charybdis noted. Harry agreed. Very nice indeed.

After exiting the boats, the students made their way up steps in the cliffside. On his way up, Harry said hello to Neville, who was holding Trevor above the crowd like a periscope so that he could see Hogwarts as well. Harry thought that was a good idea, so he did the same with Charybdis.

Draco saw this and thought it was very odd. "What are you doing with that worm?"

"Oh, hi Draco. This is Charybdis. She only looks like a worm." He held her out to say hello.

Charybdis bumped Draco's hand with her snout. "He is beautiful like his father."

"What do you mean?"

"Bright, lustrous, golden silk upon his head."

Looking at Draco's hair, he silently agreed. He also liked Ron and Hermione's hair. Maybe magic gave people interesting hair. It would explain why his own hair resembled a nest most days.

Harry told Draco, "She says you and your dad are beautiful. She likes your hair."

Ron barked out a laugh. "Mate, you can't tell people their dads are beautiful."

Draco was too shocked to say anything to Ron, instead asking Harry, "You can speak to snakes?!"

"Yeah, I can teach you a bit if you want."

This had Draco, Ron, and Hermione all shouting 'yes' in synchrony.

At the top of the steps were two massive wooden doors. Hagrid explained that they would enter the castle, walk right up the stairs, and be greeted by Professor McGonagall before they entered the Great Hall to be sorted. With what was a gentle push for a man his size, Hagrid opened the doors…