HEY ALL SORRY I'VE RUN INTO SOME AMAZING STORIES AND IVE BEEN READING NOT WRITING
CHECK OUT MY FAVORITE STORIES ON MY PROFILE BUT I MUST WARN YOU THEY ARE ALL MATURE RATED ...WELL MOSTLY.
Harry sat on the exam table, waiting. The other adults in the room waited as well as Andromeda read through the optic results and organized them in her head. It seemed odd to him that his aunt seemed concerned about the results—most likely - because they might very well list the outcome of how his aunt and uncle had raised (abused) him. Although the effects of his Quidditch injuries had been cured by Madam Pomfrey's healing, Harry felt that the test might also list any concussions he had sustained.
Finally, Andromeda spoke. "Hmm, yes, Harry. Whoever got ahold of you tried to tie your noodle into a knot.
No less than 16 compulsions: to obey authority, to not seek advice, to not trust all but a few indiscernible adults, to slack off and to ignore your studies. There were more, but you get the picture—to make sure you learn as little as possible and not trust those around you unless you're told to trust them. These were cast by at least three different people—one was a ranked amateur, most likely a student like yourself, but one of them was professional and knew quite well what to do and how to apply the compulsions. I need to turn this into the WCPO and let them do an investigation. You need warrants to sample a person's magical signature and have it be admissible as evidence before the Wizengamot. Most of these had been overpowered by your magic and were dormant and ineffective but still present. They would have been a first instinct that you had to ignore rather than an ongoing drive to force your actions; this is because of your magical strength.
"Let's see where… ah!" Andromeda said, skimming the parchment until she found her target.
You had six potions lingering in your system. Four of them could be medicinal if you had any extreme or traumatic events happen in the last weeks of school?" Harry quickly nods. "A calming draught, dreamless sleep, memory suppression potion, and... DEAR ME! The phoenix revival elixir!"
She stares incredulously at Harry.
"Harry, what happened at that school?"
"Err... Professor Quirrell, who was possessed by the wraith of Voldemort, was trying to steal something from Dumbledore. To make a long story short, I stopped him and killed him due to some magical protection my mother left on me before she died."
"..."
"..."
"..."
All three adults stared at him, open-mouthed, shocked, and appalled by how Harry so casually mentioned that he had killed someone.
"...Okay... okay, well. We'll circle back to that in a minute when my head processes that. Umm... right. So. Compulsion potions... okay, so four medicinal, definitely. There was one fire suppression potion?" That was linked to the whole Quirrell thing," Harry quickly interjected.
"And a long-term loyalty potion, judging by the sheer presence of this position, is being dosed to you regularly. Which, for anyone outside your family, dosing such a potion is illegal, and especially to a minor, so I'm going to have to report that as well to the WCPO. Other than that, there are a few minor spell effects, but nothing I can see as possibly malicious. All of those compulsions, whether effective, active, or dormant, are illegal and will go to build the case my husband is working on for you."
Now that that is out of the way, Harry and I finally know each other. Why don't you come to dinner with my family one day this weekend? You have a cousin, Nymphadora Tonks. She graduated two years ago, but I bet she'd absolutely love meeting you.
her only other cousin is a stuck-up snobb ..he's about your age, come to think of it. all well it we haven't seen him since he was born, so it doesn't matter.
What do you say to dinner on Saturday at six?"
"That sounds amazing! It will be good to actually meet relatives, even distant ones." Harry smiles brightly at this plan.
"Excellent! You can tell me all about this unpleasant event at Hogwarts. However, I suggest you tell Ted first tomorrow.
"Why didn't you bring this up to him before?"
"I don't know. I guess it didn't seem important."
"Humph! I thought so, one of your compulsions to downplay or keep silent about your troubles. This would affect everything from not understanding coursework and not asking for clarification to downplaying an extremely dramatic event as disinterested and unimportant."
"Oh..." Harry replied sadly.
"Why would Dumbledore or whoever did this do this?"
Secrets, power, lies—a mix, or all three—the motivations of those who do wrong are sometimes unclear. Sometimes people are just broken and can't tell that their actions hurt people, and sometimes people simply don't care that their actions hurt people because they get what they want out of the equation." Andromeda leans against the small desk in the room.
For example, my sisters. Both my sisters joined the dark side. Bella, my older sister, joined because she could do what she wanted. It just so happened that what she wanted to do was hurt people.
My younger sister, Narcissa, joined because she and her husband got what they wanted: power, influence, and wealth.
Both joined an evil organization for their own benefit, and I'm sure they both thought they were doing good all the while."
"Well, Harry, it was lovely to finally meet you. I'll see you on Saturday. I'll not keep you any longer, nor can I. I have many patients to see, and your appointment took much longer than expected, so I must go attend to the others. Goodbye for now." And with that, she walked out.
"Well said, Ted. Come on, then. I'll escort you out and take you home, Petunia. Then, Harry and I will go back to my office so he can tell me about anything he can remember that might singe Dumbledore's whiskers."
With that, they set out and left the hospital. After a short and harrowing squeeze through a garden hose that left his aunt gagging again but just left him winded, they were back at Privet Drive just as Vernon pulled up from work. Before another altercation could ensue, however, Mr. Tonks grabbed Harry, twisted him on the spot, and off, they were again, coming into existence in Ted's office.
"WHAT IS THAT!" Harry gasped out, sick of the sudden teleportation. He stared at the older man in exasperation.
"Apparition," Ted said simply. "It's a highly advanced magical skill. Simply put, it's the ability to dematerialize from one place and materialize instantly in another. It's incredibly difficult; only about 12 out of every 30 wizards can apparate, and only 7 of those 12 can do so with regular success. Most people really only learn to apparate to and from work and home. You have to visualize perfectly the place you want to go. You have to not only be insanely competent but also confident. One second guess during the event might result in what's known as splinching—leaving a part of yourself behind.
I defended a case just last month where a kid who was in the process of going to apparition classes was doing the mental exercises recommended and then sneezed and accidentally released his magic and apparated clear to the middle of a muggle street full of people and he splinched himself as well. He left his nose, an ear, and four fingers behind. He was charged with apparition without a license and muggle baiting, but I was able to clear him of all charges. He was a muggle-born, so it's a harder concept for us starting out. I understood not only what happened but why it happened, and I was able to persuade the Wizengamot to see my way of things.
Ted said all this, smiling reminiscently.
"Well," said Harry, "I can't say I'm much of a fan myself."
"No, you wouldn't be alone. Many capable people don't bother with it. They prefer the Floo or broomsticks. (They're) slower but safer."
"How old do you have to be to Apparate or get a license?" asked Harry.
"Seventeen when magicals come of age."
Ted used air quotes.
"So, all that aside, tell me, Harry, about these mysterious events at Hogwarts this year that were, oh, so not important."
And so Harry spent the next hour detailing the events of his first year, from killing a troll to save a girl and then befriending her, about breaking school rules and accidentally finding Fluffy, about how Hermione and his imaginations were captured trying to figure out what the giant dog was guarding. Harry explained about Norbert, about his detention in the forest and coming across the thing that fed on unicorns. He explained, still in quiet reverence, the Mirror and how Dumbledore explained its powers to him. He told Ted about his scar and how it started to hurt him at odd times and his suspicions of Snape, of the countless hours spent trying to find Nicholas Flamel after Hagrid had let the name slip, and the discovery of the Sorcerer's Stone, about a choking plant, flying keys, a concussed troll, a chess match and a friend's sacrifice, and the cleverness of a girl and her defeat of logic, and then about that final confrontation, the words, the desperation, the pain, and waking up in the hospital wing and Dumbledore explaining how he had nearly died as a result of the confrontation.
"But wait a minute. You left out your snake friend? Come now, where does she fit in?" Ted asks egregiously.
"Smara? That's really not as interesting a story as you're probably thinking it is. I met her by chance a few nights after Christmas, the night after Dumbledore told me how to use the mirror. I was wandering around under the invisibility cloak, and I could hear her slithering around the pipes, complaining about the cold and not getting enough to eat. Although she had just eaten someone's cat, she was complaining that it hardly registered as a snack. No idea whose—no one ever put up a notice about a missing cat that I know of. Anyway, I was... I don't know, fascinated? Enthralled? I couldn't help but follow the voice, and when I followed it, I came to this bathroom and then to a sink in the bathroom. She caught on that I was following her. At that point, I was shouting, trying to get her attention, but I think she had tuned out the rest of the school after nearly a millennium of having no one to talk to. Anyway, she told me how to open the hidden passage that the sink concealed, and when I did, she came out with a truly massive head and the upper portion of a snake."
"Morsel! Can you hear my voice?"
"Y-y-yes, ma'am."
"Manners!" the massive snake made a noise akin to smooth rock sliding across ice.
"You are a ssspeaker. It has been many yearsss since I last met one of your kind."
Harry meant to ask what the snakesname was, but it came out, "W-what a-are y-you?" Another round of the skittering sound followed the question.
"I? Morsels? Have the standards fallen so low in my father's absssenccce that my ssspeciesss is unknown?"
Harry, realizing he was being chastised by the enormous serpent, stammered out his own defense. "Well, I-I wasn't raised magical. I was brought up by my aunt and uncle, and they're both Muggles. The Muggle world doesn't have snakes your size."
"Hmm, a Muggle-born. My father would not like you. How is it you have his gift, this ssserpent'sss tongue of yoursss?"
Harry, relaxing somewhat, sensed that he wasn't in immediate danger, other than this snake having the same domineering presence as Professor McGonagall.
"I'm not Muggle-born? My father was from an old wizarding family. My name is Harry Potter."
"Potter? My father had a cousssin whosse name was Potter. How he hated him."
"why are you doing that? hissing on any s in a word. he smiles trying to put on a friendly demeanor you sound ridiculous."
the huge snake hissed at him opening her jaws to show huge teeth the size as sabers.
" DO NOT THINK TO INSSSULT ME MORSEL!!! I AM THE QUEEN OF ALL SSSERPENTSSS." she snapped her jaws together near inches from his face and cuased harry to fall back on his rear end."Once, there was a time when wizards of all ages and backgrounds were smart enough not to anger the basilisk."
"I apologize, great queen. I meant no offense. It's just that I have talked to three snakes before you, and none of them spoke like that."
" DO NOT THINK TO INSSSULT ME MORSEL!!! I AM THE QUEEN OF ALL SSSERPENTSSS." she snapped her jaws together near inches from his face and cuased harry to fall back on his rear end."Once, there was a time when wizards of all ages and backgrounds were smart enough not to anger the basilisk."
She sat silently for a minute.
"Would you help me, SSSpeaker? The fractured bond with the broken one tearsss at my mind, and I dissslike being as I am."
"Of course. What do you need?"
"My name is SSSmaragain SSSlytherin, firssst daughter and firssst bonded of SSSalazar SSSlytherin. And I wissshhh to bond with you, SSSpeaker. It would free me from the Broken Ones' pale influence."
"How do I do that? How do we bond?"
"Do you have a flasssk, young one?"
Harry quickly feels the pockets of his school robes but can find nothing; his pockets, for once, are empty.
"No Smaragdine. I am only a first-year, so I don't carry potion equipment with me."
The snake, still looking at the floor, deep in thought for a minute, before she raises herself completely from the pipe she resided in, as her head disappeared down the pipe, she called to Harry.
"SSStay hereeee."
She retreats down the hole in the floor, revealing a long, deep, and dark tunnel.
She went away for several minutes but then returned and deposited a small, bronze goblet covered in thick saliva into his hands.
"Here carefull with thissss it wasssss my fathersssss. you need to drink my sssaliva mixxxed within my vvvenom."
She places a fang in the cup and seems to scrunch her face as a thick, green liquid shoots from her fang.
"Dont worry it sssshould not harm a sssssspeaker. though ide wait till you are enssscccconccccced in your bed for it will most likely knock you out for sssseveral daysssss."
Harry went on to explain how he drank the horrid concoction and simply slept for two days afterward. "Didn't anyone ask questions as to where you were or come looking for you?" Ted asked, puzzled.
"McGonagall did, but I was the only one in Gryffindor Tower who stayed at Christmas. I just told her I wasn't feeling well when she managed to wake me up, and that when I'm sick, I just sleep a lot; which is true, a product of not having adults care for me when I was sick growing up. She had some house-elves bring me some meals." Harry explained this in a tired and withdrawn voice.
"Alright, Mr. Potter. I believe it's time we got you home. I have all I need from you today."
Later that day, after a short apparition to Privet Drive, Harry sat at the desk in his room, penning a letter to Hermione Granger, his best friend and academic rival.
"Hey, Hermione,
It's been very hectic since my last letter. How are you doing? I bet France would be a blast to visit one day. Though I'll have to bring you along when I go. I don't doubt that you know all the best places to be and see.
Anyway, my lawyer, an interesting older man by the name of Ted Tonks, is actually related to me, it turns out. His wife was my dad's cousin, and apparently, aside from my aunt, he is my closest living blood relative. I'm having dinner with them this Saturday.
Mr. Tonks has set a date for my emancipation hearing with the Wizengamot. I hope you can make it there, at least for moral support. I'd ask for a testimony on my behalf, but I don't think the word of an underage witch is going to sway any hearts or minds in either direction.
Have you started that essay for Snape yet? I finished my first outline, and I still need to add half a foot of length to reach the requirement. I suppose I'll need to go to Diagon Alley for more reference material. Knowing you, it won't be a problem for you, but how he can expect eleven-year-olds to know enough about nightshade to write a two-foot essay about it, I don't know. Still, I suppose we do have all summer to add to it and research. Have you heard from Ron this summer yet? I'm sorry to say I haven't really thought much about him since school let out. He's a fine bloke and all, but I can't really see our friendship going much further unless he matures and gets more serious about his learning. I have a feeling that with Voldemort out there, I'll have to know as much as possible just to stay alive, and even more if I want to actually beat him.
Hoping to hear from you soon,
Harry Potter
It was Friday before he knew it. Not much had gone on. The Dursleys had locked him in his room when he was in the house, but yesterday he had woken up close to 5 a.m. and had simply dressed and left, bringing Smara with him. He roamed around Little Whinging, telling Smara about growing up there. He had returned to number 4 shortly before dark and ate the meager meal his aunt gave him, though it seemed he got a larger portion than usual.
He wasn't sure what today had in store for him. The last note he had received from Mr. Tonks had spoken about a development, but they'd discuss it after dinner on Saturday. He wished that Hermione was back in the country; he could go see her. It would be a nice break. He'd almost finished all his summer work. The information on nightshade was actually found on a broader read-through of 1000 Magical Herbs and Fungi, not just the poison section. He'd blown through the Transfiguration essay just on memory, and the Charms assignment took seemingly no time at all. It had been a very busy but dull Wednesday. All in all, he was two weeks into his summer holiday and couldn't wait for the next week to pass. He was anxious to be rid of Privet Drive.
"So, Your Highness, what shall we do today?"
"We should find you some real food instead of the pittance these filthy Muggles give you. I can feel your hunger, morsel. You cannot hide it from our bond. I do not understand why you will not let me grow to my proper size so that I may eat the fat one, he will keep me full for a year."
"NO! Smara,uncle vernon is way to muchgristle for you he'd Give you indigestion, besides as much as I HATE them all I don't want them dead, we should find you a meal."
Harry sits and thinks for a minute, deciding on a course of action.
"Well, well, we need to go to London to go to Gringotts so I can change out some galleons for pounds. We should get going now; the Knight Bus is always busy in the morning.according to ted"
A few minutes later, Harry is dressed and out the door. He's standing on the edge of the car park when his aunt steps out.
"Boy, where are you going?" Petunia asked curtly.
"We're going to London, to the bank, and to get something for Smara to eat. The serpent raised her head off Harry's shoulder and hissed at the older woman, unwilling not to show his aunt her distain."
"EEEP! EHH. er ummm yes well do becareful.
and bring milk ill need it for tonights dinner."
Yes, Aunt Petunia.
"How are you getting to London? You can't "appatate," can you?"
"oh were going on the knight bus." explained harry pointing to a purple brochure on the table next to her.
Fifteen minutes later, the Knight Bus dropped Harry off at the Leaky Cauldron. As he stepped out, people shouted his name and were about to approach him, but the first patrons saw Samra wrapped tightly around his arm and shoulders, and that seemed to dissuade most people, though not all. Tom, the barman, would never be deterred from greeting a customer, especially Harry, at least in his limited experience.
"Good day, Mr. Potter. Good day. Heading through?" Tom asked, looking rather happy to help him in any way he could.
"Not right now, no. I was going to go get some galleons changed to pounds so I could eat, but I forgot about this place." Harry smiles at the toothless old man.
"So, what are you serving today? I haven't had a good meal in days."
" ahh, excellent Mr.potter most excellent I can whip you up most anything in a jiffy what would you like?"
"How about a full English?"
"Easy enough, Mr. Potter. I'll have it out soon. What about your friend there?" he said, still pointing at Smara.
Tom doesn't even blink at the brief exchange in Parslemouth as Harry asks her.
"She said unless you have a guinea pig or other large rodent, she'll wait until she can get her something fresher than bar food."
A short hiss followed, causing Harry to quirk an eyebrow at the snake.
"No offense, of course," Harry translated again.
"No rodents, miss. I apologize; no offense taken, none at all."
Tom scurries off, probably to make or carry food, leaving Harry to find a seat, which he does in a lonesome corner, half-removed from the other patrons around him. It was a short while later, as Harry sat discussing practical uses for Transfiguration with Dedalus Diggle after the man got over the shock of seeing the snake wrapped around Harry, that the man approached and began a conversation with Harry as he ate and just continued afterward. For the first time, Harry felt like he belonged to the wider Wizarding community and not just a spectacle.
After his lunch, he decided to indeed go to Diagon Alley and so first stopped at Gringotts and pulled out several hundred galleons as well as converted 100 galleons to 1000 pounds, all kept in his brand-new magically expanded bag. Harry first stopped by the Magical Menagerie to inquire what he should buy for Smara as a feeder animal. That was a stunningly awkward conversation as he had never attempted to be so bla-sé about intentionally killing something before.
The shop clerk nearly ran out of the shop when she noticed Smara, as she instantly recognized what the seemingly small serpent was.
"Please wait." Harry held out his hand to stop the store clerk.
"Please, she won't hurt you. I promise. My name is Harry Potter."
This seemed to get the woman's attention, so she stopped.
"Young man, do you have any idea what that thing is that you have wrapped around your neck like a scarf?" she asked incredulously.
"Of course I do. Why?"
"My boy, that is a basilisk, not some garden snake you show off to your friends. My word! How are you—we are not dead?"
"Smara is not some mindless beast intent on killing and destruction." Her eyes don't kill because she has her inner eyelids covering them.
"Amazing, inner eyelids, you say? Young man, would you permit me to study your basilisk? Not much is known of the species. It seems the creation of this animal is highly, highly illegal. noone has the proper permissions on the British Isles, I don't think."
"Well, that's not a problem. Smara is around 1,000 years old. She was created by Salazar Slytherin. You know, that reminds me, I need to have Smara registered with the Ministry."
The shop owner seems to steady herself. "Okay, well, what do you need for your friend there?"
"I just need to know what would be best to feed her. Everything I ask her, she says she can hunt for herself or 'your enemies.'"
"You said she's 1,000 years old? She seems no larger than the hatchlings are, as reported."
"That's because of our bond. She's my familiar and used my magic to shrink down. She's about 60 feet long."
"Well, for her current size, will eating this size sustain her?" The owner throws Smara a curious look and branches off somewhat when Smara nods back at her. "Then I'd recommend guinea pigs or something of a similar size, just the garden variety. No need for magical animals, I'd say... You know, lad, it might behoove you to sell her venom, and if she's lost any fangs, sell those as well. Basilisk ingredients are some of the most expensive. For the venom, you'd probably receive 100 galleons per ounce."
"I'll consider it, but it's ultimately Smaras' decision."
"Do you sell guinea pigs, or do I need to go to a muggle shop?
"Oh yes, dear, I do not worry. Keep them in the back with the rest of the feeder animals. Would she like one or two?"
After a short exchange, Harry indicates that two would be sufficient, and the poor things never make it out of the shop. Smara said says she will need to nap for a while afterward, and the shop owner is kind enough to volunteer an out-of-the-way window sill with plenty of sunlight. Harry says goodbye to Smara so she can nap while the shop owner starts to draw her and take measurements and scans (all with Smara's consent). He walks out and goes to other shops nearby: Ilop's Owl Emporium, Frank's Curiosity (A magical equipment and antique shop, Stem and Stow, a large shop that sold stationary and other writing supplies, and of course, Flourish and Blots. Harry needed to buy a collection of good reference books for the coming years as well as a few in-depth how-to books on potion things from his grade level to above master class and a handy book on advanced ingredient preparation and potion brewing. (Apparently, a simple thing like an anticlockwise stir in between a group of clockwise stirs could speed up the brewing and mixing processes without damaging the potions, who knew?) And finally, to Tapping's Trappings, an amazing store that sold every type of luggage known to wizards, there Harry bought two magically expanded and Featherlight trunks that boasted of being mobile libraries, each monogrammed, one with HP, the other with HG. As a birthday gift for Hermione, who no doubt had more books than space, he only had a small collection of books, and even he had been running low and had often wondered where to put these massive tomes.
With all his purchases in his trunk, he went back to retrieve Smara. Within an hour, he was back in his room at Privet Drive, satisfied with the day's activities. Smara (still sleeping) was curled up under his blankets as he himself drifted off for a nap.