xi. snake thief
All in all, the life and future of Harriet Potter looked brighter than they ever had before.
Others may have thought her birthday a miserable event. Other little girls received presents or had parties to which their friends were all invited, cards were sent by relatives who lived too far away, and they would blow out the candles atop their cake before the wax could melt. While Harriet had none of that, she did have cake flavored ice-cream at Florean Fortescue's, chatted with a magical snake, and even met another girl who was about her age. She wasn't smacked for burning breakfast, wasn't given an extra long list of chores, and wasn't shoved in a spidery cupboard under a set of stairs.
It was, in Harriet's opinion, the best birthday ever.
She returned to her room after having a hearty dinner down in the pub—and was almost instantly assaulted by a shrieking ball of feathers. "Ouch! Alright—ouch!" Harriet snapped as she caught the owl. It beat its gray wings against her head as she tried to untangle the crinkled letter from about its leg and, when the string finally came loose, the barmy bird rocketed away with a final shriek, clipping the sill as it sailed out the open window and into the encroaching night.
"What was that for?!" Harriet demanded of the retreating owl, rubbing her cuffed ear as she scowled at the feathers scattered on the floor. Shutting the door and adjusting her glasses, Harriet examined the letter—then let out a soft sound of exclamation when she recognized the swirling green script. It was a letter from Hogwarts, not that she expected anyone else to write to her. She tore through the seal and pulled out the missive, something heavier than parchment slipping through her fingers to fall like the owl's lost feathers on the floor.
"'Dear Miss Potter,'" she read aloud. "'Thank you for your reply. We look forward to having you join us here at Hogwarts. Enclosed is your ticket for the train that departs from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, King's Cross Station, at precisely eleven on September first.' Three-quarters?" Harriet muttered under her breath, brow furrowed. What did she mean by that? "'Wishing you many happy returns on your birthday, Deputy Headmistress McGonagall.'" Harriet blinked. "Hey, she knows it's my birthday!"
Of course, no one answered her, but Harriet was pleased nonetheless. Harriet couldn't remember ever being wished a happy birthday sincerely. Dudley would sometimes shout "Happy birthday!" before punching her in the arm or pulling her hair, but Harriet didn't count that. She tucked the letter back into its envelope and knelt to pick up the ticket, testing the thick edges of the cardstock as she saw for certain that she was expected to board the Hogwarts Express from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on the first.
"Well that's helpful." Rolling her eyes, she tucked the ticket into the new Galleon register she'd gotten from Gringotts earlier that day, setting it aside on the wobbly table. Harriet heaved a sigh and peered out the window toward the lights of London—Muggle London, that is. She saw how the air appeared to ripple and warp with color, like sunshine on an opal, and how it seemed to redirect and turn the train tracks away from the magic alley behind the crooked pub. Everything in her view was spotty because of magic and how it came into contact with the mundane. Harriet couldn't help but stare at those odd anomalies. She thought they were pretty.
"Sss…Missstressss…."
Startled, Harriet spun in place, expecting to find someone behind her, but there was no one. The room remained empty aside from herself and her shadow, though she didn't know if Set was still there. Movement from the hearth caught Harriet's eye and, breath held, she watched as a familiar head poked up from the side of the armchair.
"Missstresss."
"W-what are you doing here?!" Harriet sputtered as the Horned Serpent uncoiled himself and came nearer. His black scales flashed and sparkled in the gas lamps when he moved.
"You are my Missstresss, little Ssspeaker."
"Yes, I bloody well heard you," Harriet swore as the snake rose and swayed at her eye level. At least she knew why the owl had been panicking. "How did you get out of your cage?!"
"They cannot keep me from you." If snakes could shrug, Harriet bet her very last quid—or, well, Knut—that the snake in front of her would have done so. "Humansss are easssily fooled."
"They're also going to think I stole you!" Harriet threw her hands into the air, irked and more than a little unsettled. Did the store owner know the 'highly venomous' snake in his collection could slip his containment whenever he fancied? "We have to go back!"
Livius let out a long stream of nonsensical hisses and Harriet yelped when she felt cool, dry scales flowing over her legs. She jumped, aiming to free herself, but the serpent wound his tail around her ankles and Harriet toppled onto her backside with a loud "Oof!" Her head narrowly missed the edge of the table.
"We will not go back," Livius said as he came face to face with Harriet again and his violet tongue flicked in and out. "Foolisssh Ssspeaker."
"Oh, that's nice," Harriet said, voice testy. She gave his coils a shove but they only tightened. "Calling me foolish when all I want to do is get to school without being bloody arrested first!"
"What isss arresssted?" Livius asked. Harriet paused in her mounting tirade to study the serpent. Can snakes lie? Harriet didn't think so—at least, not before she met Livius, who was much smarter than the little mundane snakes who hung around Privet Drive. Really, it would figure even the snakes were dumb in Little Whinging.
"It's where they put you in a cage and don't let you out," Harriet explained. Livius hissed.
"No cagesss. No cagesss for you, no cagesss for me."
Suddenly, the sapphire on Livius' brow sparked—and the serpent vanished. Harriet yelped and Livius gave his coils another squeeze so she could feel them still looped about her ankles and calves. He hadn't vanished; was invisible!
The serpent returned, blinking into view without a sound, gone and then not, quick as could be. Like magic. "Bloody hell," Harriet whispered as she raised a tentative hand and brought it out to touch his head. Livius butted his nose against her fingertips in approval. Honestly, she had no clue how to go about returning a rather large snake to the Menagerie, especially if he didn't want to go. The mustachioed wizard at the counter hadn't been very nice, and Harriet had no doubt she'd be blamed for the Horner Serpent's escape if she came skipping in with him slung about her neck. Did wizards have the equivalent of a lost and found?
Something Livius had said earlier in the day stuck with Harriet; "I wouldn't know. I was hatched in this place. The sun is beyond me."
Sometimes, Harriet felt like she had been born in that stupid boot cupboard, hatched just like Livius and stuffed into the dark like a scaly, terrifying Thing the Dursleys didn't understand and didn't want ruining their furniture—but at least she knew what the sun was like, knew enough to love and miss it.
She touched his nose, then the gem atop his head, marveling at the heat of it beneath her touch. "I'm going to call you Livi," Harriet decided with a nod. She had no clue what he ate, but she surmised Livi would make sure she knew.
His tongue flicked at faster speeds. "Do not likesss," he hissed, displeasure plain in the harsh rasp of his tone.
"Livius is too snooty."
"What isss sssnooty?"
"You. You're snooty."
The serpent unwound his tail with a huff of air and slithered over to the bed, which he promptly hid beneath for a good sulking. Harriet saw Set swirl beneath her feet, amused.
Sitting on the floor with a sore backside, watching a serpent pout while her shadow laughed, Harriet decided that though she may never be normal, she was more than okay with being odd. She couldn't wait for September to begin.
A/N: Apparently, the gem on the Horned Serpents has invisibility and flying properties which make it highly sought after. I imagine they use these skills for hunting in the wild.
Phew, on to Hogwarts now! The exposition took much longer than I thought D: Kept having to split chapters up with my long-winded rambling.
Thanks Ventari SylerFox and annavale23 for the reviews! 3