Chapter 2. Stray Child Now Had A Home

Nagini had probably been holding it in for too long because, according to her, her master had always been busy with some kind of research and didn't have time to chat with her. This time she finally caught someone else to talk to, and she was so happy. These past few days, she had been coming to Harry, saying how beautiful the scenery was in the forest outside the castle, how tasty the small animals were, how warm the summer was and the sunset on the tower, and what the difference was between biting into human flesh and goat meat. Sometimes she would also talk about her past with her master, such as their first meeting.

It was only then that Harry realized that the person who looked so powerful had also experienced death when he was young, and he was also so lonely. Harry had experienced it himself, so he knew how sad those feelings were. He felt a little sorry for that person.

"He must have been very sad back then," Harry said to Nagini, "but fortunately he had you with him."

Today Nagini was in a good mood. She happily slithered into Harry's bedroom and announced, "The master says he figured it out. Parseltongue, the Imperius Curse's failure. He knows why."

"Ah?" Harry gasped. It had only been three or four days. He thought he had a few more days to live.

When Nagini stood up, she was a little taller than Harry. She leaned down and licked Harry's cheek with her forked tongue, saying, "You look delicious. Although you're too skinny. It would be better if you could fatten up a bit."

"Are you going to eat me?" Harry got along quite well with Nagini. They had chatted for a few days and had become friends.

"If I don't eat you, won't you go bad?" Nagini looked innocent, if she had a face.

Harry was still scared. Survival was instinctive, and he really didn't want to die. So he asked Nagini what he could do to survive.

Nagini thought for a moment and said, "Make him happy and satisfied? Maybe he won't want to kill you anymore. I think you're pretty cute~"

"Happy birthday!" Harry handed him a card he had drawn himself. The crooked drawing wasn't very good, but you could probably make out an adult in a robe, a child, and a snake. "You're supposed to give gifts on your birthday, right? I made it myself, it's a bit ugly..."

Harry wasn't sure. He only vaguely remembered that when his cousin Dudley had a birthday, he would be wished happiness and given gifts. Harry was envious. After all, no one had ever celebrated his birthday, and he didn't even know what day it was. But he could at least bring the happiness he had envied to others.

The Dark Lord, who was busy with his research, suddenly received a greeting card, raised an eyebrow, and then guessed, "Nagini, why didn't I remind you before? Keep your mouth shut and don't tell anyone anything." The two of them and the snake were speaking in Parseltongue, which made their communication seamless.

Nagini innocently replied, "It's rare to meet someone I can talk to, you know."

Oh, Harry is not just anyone, he's damn well a relative and a descendant of Slytherin, he can speak Parseltongue. Voldemort hates his unique bloodline being destroyed, he viciously thinks that there should only be one Slytherin descendant. But it would be alright to let him die knowing why.

"Do you know why that curse failed? Because of blood. We happen to have a common ancestor, who was wise enough to foresee that many dark wizards would emerge from our family in the future, but he did not want to see his descendants killing each other. He was a staunch believer in blood, so he cast a spell to protect the bloodline and prevent the killing curse within the family."

"There was once a squib in our family who was long since disowned, but who would have thought that after centuries of integrating into the Muggle world, the magical bloodline would awaken again. It was your mother, but as far as I know, Lily Evans couldn't speak Parseltongue. It was not until it came to you that the ability to speak Parseltongue was found again."

Parseltongue is the biggest clue, and Voldemort quickly looked up the Slytherin family tree and found Lily Evans' name on the tapestry of the serpent family tree. With this clue, it was too easy to find the blood protection spell, so he only took three days to unravel the mystery of the failing killing curse. And, if he wanted to preserve the uniqueness of the Slytherin descendant, it was also easy, just kill the child and then kill Lily. She had a sister, but she was actually half-sister, not related to Slytherin.

"So... are we actually related?" Harry obviously didn't know what the Dark Lord was planning, oh no, in fact, Harry had always known that Voldemort wanted to kill him. He should have died on the snowy Christmas night, and every second he lived now was like earning a fortune. And now, he really forgot about these life-and-death matters for a moment, and was completely drawn to the news that he had a relative. He had another family! "Really... that's great~ I thought no one wanted me anymore... I have a home!" Little Harry was really happy.

"Huh, is family something worth caring about?" Voldemort's tone was full of ridicule. He remembered his so-called father who abandoned him, the Gaunt family who despised him, and his mother who gave him up, his so-called family. He looked into the bright eyes of little Harry and wondered if he had ever harbored a glimmer of hope for those people? Then he killed his father's family with his own hands and blamed it on the Gaunts, how interesting. What value do these people have alive? The only value is to bring about his Lord Voldemort's birth.

"However..." Harry was rebutted and wanted to explain his reasoning, but didn't know how to say it. He thought for a moment, "It's not being alone anymore...I've always been alone before. We can be together, and I'll be there with you."

"Hmph." Voldemort sneered without confirming or denying.

"My uncle said my parents didn't want me because I'm a freak." Harry didn't know what Voldemort was thinking and continued with what he was saying.

"You're not a freak."

Young Harry looked up at the older man with perplexed green eyes, "Really? Everyone says I am..."

"That's because you have power, the kind of power they can't have. Mediocre people are envious of talent, fools don't understand greatness. They can only forcefully call it a monster and ugliness to hide their own insignificance and despicableness. Humans are always like this. Muggles and wizards are the same." Voldemort remembered when he was also called a monster in the orphanage, and later when he killed the orphans, he saw the fear in their eyes and heard their desperate pleas for mercy. "But you're not powerful enough, so they will frame you and persecute you. When you become truly powerful, they won't dare to say such things to you anymore."

Harry tilted his head, he didn't fully understand those words, but the smart and sensible child felt the emotions of the older man. In that moment, he felt that the other person regarded him as his own, and this feeling of empathy and support made Harry feel unprecedentedly happy. "Thank you...no one has ever told me these things before."

Young Harry gratefully said, "And there's food here, and it's warm. You're really the kindest person I've ever met!"

What a childish misunderstanding, Voldemort mocked, "I'm kind?"

The one with the power to complete the Dark Lord approaches… The Dark Lord will draw him in his side, thus deadly ambition will be achieved… Follower from family of thrice defiers, born as the seventh month dies... the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal… He will fulfill the Dark Lord's ambition, while either must be the downfall of the other, for he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… The Chosen One and the Dark Lord, neither can live while the other stands…

Lord Voldemort remembered the prophecy. He had decided to kill the boy himself, as his ambition could be fulfilled without anyone's help.

However, the prophecy stated that the boy would have a power that Voldemort did not understand, and would help him achieve his cunning and calculating Lord Voldemort weighed the pros and cons - he didn't need to fear a 5-year-old child. The child posed no threat and was under his surveillance, he could kill him at any time he wanted. Of course, he could also keep him alive, even teach him magic and figure out what power the boy possessed that he didn't understand.

His recent work...was indeed stuck and progress was slow. Perhaps this boy was also worth using?

Of course, Lord Voldemort always had a Plan secretly placed a curse on the scar on the boy's forehead, a curse that could extract his life force. The curse was buried deep in the boy's soul, and no distance or magic protection could withstand its effects, like a remote-controlled bomb. If he wanted, the boy would die immediently. With this plan, how could Harry possibly threaten him?

Fawless plan.

Meanwhile, Lily became increasingly anxious. It had been almost five years, and they had not gone to visit Harry at her sister's house. She wondered how the child was doing, whether he was happy or not. He was five years old now, her child was five years old, but she had not seen him since they parted.

It all started with a prophecy that the Order of the Phoenix had obtained before Harry was born: "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not."

One of James's friends stumbled upon the prophecy and hurriedly told them. Albus Dumbledore, Lily, and James were all concerned. They did not want the child to walk the path of evil, not just for the sake of the war, but also for the salvation of the child's soul.

When Harry was born, he was born with a congenital defect. St. Mungo's Healer said that one of his life pillars, his magical core, was malfunctioning and that he might be a squib. His life expectancy might be similar to that of a Muggle.

This gave them the best solution - they wanted to send Harry to the Muggle world, away from magic, to grow up as an ordinary person in peace and happiness. At least he would not fall into darkness and could maintain the purity of his soul. The headmaster said that the fulfillment of the prophecy always had conditions, and if he never came into contact with the magical world, he could probably change his fate...

Moreover, Harry was most likely a squib, and growing up in the Muggle world would allow him to better assimilate into it, which was a common way for wizarding families to raise squib children. Not to mention, the magical world was still at war, and Lily and James, as prominent members of the Order of the Phoenix, could be said to be in the heart of the war vortex. A child who couldn't use magic, a squib whom pureblood supporters detest, would only be more dangerous if he followed them. It was better to keep Harry's existence a secret and let him grow up safely in the Muggle world.

After discussing it with Lily, James, Dumbledore, and a few others, it seemed like a foolproof plan.

So one-year-old Harry was sent to Lily's only Muggle relative, her sister's house.

The Dursleys really didn't like wizards, but Harry happened to be a squib. They had also agreed to leave behind the child support and let Harry stay away from the wizarding world and grow up as a normal person. Lily and James also promised that they would never come to disturb the Dursleys' lives again. Mr. Dursley readily agreed.

Lily and James would also strictly adhere to the agreement and not disturb them, which was also good for Harry. They wanted to conceal Harry's existence, and if they went to see him all the time, they would only expose his existence and bring danger, as well as the danger of fulfilling the prophecy.

After all, it was her sister's home. Lily really didn't know that Harry would suffer abuse.

And Vernon...he quickly squandered the child support Lily had given him and divorced Petunia. Petunia took Dudley with her, and he took Harry alone. Harry became his cash cow.

Five years passed...perhaps the more she missed her child, the more her anxiety grew. She wanted to hear Harry's voice, see how much he had grown, and whether he was doing well. She wanted to see him. How many times had she wanted to go see Harry, but in view of the plan that had already been agreed upon, she suppressed these impulses very sensibly. However, this time...going once in five years wasn't too frequent, right? There wouldn't be any consequences, would there?

So Lily and James visited Aunt Petunia, and then found Vernon Dursley. Dursley insisted that Harry was naughty and had run away.

Lily and James anxiously sought Dumbledore's help, but despite using magic to locate him, they could not find Harry's whereabouts. The only explanation for this... was the one that nobody wanted to hear. "The child... may no longer be alive."

Lily buried her face in her hands, unable to suppress the sound of her weeping. James held his wife tightly in his arms, equally unable to contain his own pain.

Meanwhile, little Harry turned a page in a book in the Dark Lord's castle. He needed to complete the homework his father had left for him. If his father wasn't satisfied, he might be punished again.

This castle was the property of the Slytherin family. After Salazar left Hogwarts in a fit of pique, he began constructing this castle, perhaps with a mentality of "I don't like yours, I have my own." The early construction of this castle was somewhat similar to Hogwarts.

However, over time, the Slytherin family's academic tradition and the talent of dark wizards had transformed the castle beyond recognition, with traces of dark magic everywhere, arbitrary reconstruction and design, and becoming the masterpiece of many outstanding dark wizards. It had also been hidden in space magic and could be said to be in an independent space. That is to say, it was indeed on earth, but it could not be found anywhere on earth. The only way in and out was for the owner to open the portal. So it's no wonder that Dumbledore's search magic couldn't find it.

Later, the Slytherin family fell into decline and by the time it reached the Gaunts, they had already lost their ancestral property and had no idea of the existence of this castle. Instead, they were complacent about their small dilapidated house on Little Hangleton Mountain. Until young Tom Riddle discovered that he was a descendant of the Slytherin family, he found his way back to this place from the clues in the history of dark wizards. He was indeed very good at finding ancestral legacies. The Chamber of Secrets was the first one, and this was the second.

Now, Lord Voldemort is the owner. The Snake Castle listens to his commands.