Legal Disclaimer: I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.

Warning: This work may be offensive to some readers. There are also references to canon-typical Dursley behavior and two incidents of injury to a child from an animal. Feel free to back out if need be.

Author's Note: Happy St. Patrick's Day. Have a snake as proof that he failed.

Submitting Info:
Stacked with: Quidditch League (Season 10); RAVEN (2023); MC4A (Spring Year 6)
Individual Challenges: Sandbox (Y); Reader (Y); Cinematic (Y); Gamer (Y); Bucket Listing (Y); Two Cakes (Y); Eating Cake (Y); Short Jog; Dreamers; Nonhuman MC; Shifter MC; Ethnic & Present; Neurodivergent; Rian-Russo Inversion; Greatest Gift; Outer; Lunar Era; Changed; Rainbow Connection (Y); Gender Bender; Hold the Mayo
Team (Position): Wigtown Wanderers (Seeker)
Round (Prompt): Round 10-04 (Gaining Super Powers)
RAVEN Challenges: Settings [155](Zoo); Items [31](Cinnamon); Colors [48](Fern)
Other MC4A Challenges: SpB [2A](Yelling/Shouting); TrB [3A](Delayed Explosion); Chim [Ivy]("God Help the Outcasts" – Hunchback of Notre; Outside; Race Bend); Hunt [Sp Items (Spicy Ice Cream; Mirror); Sp Con (Water)]
Representation(s): Desi & Fem Harry Potter & the Dursleys; Transformation; Chim Song Prompt
Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenges: Wabi Sabi; Pear-Shaped; Ladylike; Not a Lamp; Persistence Still; Demo 1 (Spinning Plates; Unwanted Advice; Lovely Coconuts; Trickster's Union; Muck & Slime; Corvid Brain; Where Angels Fear; Esbat); Demo 2 (Tomorrow's Shade; Creature Feature; Hot Stuff; Misshapen Pods); Demo P2 (No Touchy)
Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenges: Once (Santa Fe; Inchworm); T3 (Terrarium)
Word Count: 1381 words

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Snake of Surrey
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Harini did not consider herself lucky that Mrs. Figg had to go on an emergency trip out of town on the very day that her aunt and uncle had arranged to take her cousin Dudley and his best friend Piers to the zoo. There was no way that her relatives would leave her at the house by herself, not even if they locked her in her cupboard for the duration. Maybe they would let her just sit in the car while they enjoyed the trip, but Harini had her doubts about that as well.

Her doubts proved to be well-founded as usual. After a barely hushed argument between Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, it was decided that Harini would just have to go with them. Not even Dudley's whining about how Harini always ruined things could dissuade them. Neither did the concerned look on the face of Piers' mother when she saw that Harini would be going along on the excursion, no doubt worried about the negative influence that Harini would have on her precious son.

Still, it wasn't as terrible as Harini had thought it might be. She even got to finish off Dudley's first knickerbocker glory when he decided that it didn't have enough ice cream and Uncle Vernon demanded the worker make another one. It was the best thing she had ever tasted despite it being half gone and mostly melted. It also went surprisingly well with the single scoop of cinnamon ice cream that Uncle Vernon had reluctantly purchased for Harini when placing the group's first orders because of how the worker had looked expectantly at him.

Dudley and Piers were riding on the merry-go-round in the center of the zoo's main plaza under Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon's dutiful gaze when Harini slipped away to the nearby restrooms. She took a few extra minutes to cool down in the dim interior.

She also slashed water on her face and arms before carefully examining herself in the mirror. Her tan skin had just a hint of red to it, a natural consequence of being out in the June sun for hours without the sunblock that Aunt Petunia had slathered on both the boys. It was worse right under her eyes where her glasses magnified the light.

Slipping back outside, Harini stopped at the water fountain to drink her fill. Just as she was about to turn in order to walk back to her relatives, she spotted something moving near the corner of the building. She hesitated only a moment before going to investigate. (She could practically hear her aunt bemoaning Harini's unladylike curiosity.)

It was a dark green snake with similar markers as an adder. At the place where each diamond met was a spot of fern green. She crouched down to get a better look, moving carefully to avoid scaring the poor creature. Something that unusually colored must have escaped an enclosure somewhere. She really should be trying to find a zookeeper but first she wanted to see if she could catch it so that she could take it with her. No chance of the zoo staff thinking she was lying if she had the snake with her.

The snake seemed to freeze in place, as if it was aware of her presence. Then it shifted so that it could watch Harini with one dark eye. Harini had never seen a snake before and was fascinated by its beauty. She was about to reach out to touch it when it suddenly struck out at her.

Startled, she flailed backwards onto her back. There was a flash of pain from multiple spots on her body from the impact. She didn't even really notice the feel of fangs grazing her arm. The throbbing on the back of her head felt worse, almost like when Aunt Petunia managed to get a solid blow with her frying pan. In the commotion that followed, the little snake slithered away into the landscaping near the restrooms.

The zoo staff denied the escape of any snakes, let alone one so strangely colored. Harini was banished to her cupboard except for school and chores for the next week as punishment for lying.

In the days that followed, Harini was thankful for her punishment. She felt off, even after the bump on the back of her head had gone completely away. She would alternatively feel flushed and feverish before being wracked by chills. She also felt a strange sensation within her, like her bones and muscles were rearranging themselves. Once when she looked in the mirror during a bathroom break, she could swear she saw scales growing across her skin.

One afternoon nearly two weeks after Dudley's birthday, she was outside weeding around the rose bushes when she saw the snake from the zoo. She got the feeling that it had come to find her. The little thing seemed to recognize her and moved closer still, until it was coiled like a rope just out of arm's reach. It seemed to be looking into her eyes, and Harini felt a connection that was deeper than any she had ever known before.

Then it opened its mouth and released a spray of liquid that left a burning sensation everywhere it touched Harini's skin. Unable to help herself, she let out a shriek of pain before darkness overtook her.

Thankfully, she was still alone when she regained consciousness. No one was around to witness what was freakish enough to have earned her a long stay in her cupboard, especially since school was out for summer. Punishments during the summer were always worse than during the school year. At least this way, she had a chance to hide that she was not the same as she had been before the snake had attacked her for a second time.

And there was no denying that she had been transformed in some way. She now had patches of black and emerald scales over large stretches of her body such as her back and down her arms. She also moved differently, more graceful and fluid, more serpentine.

In the weeks that followed, Harini realized that she had taken on other traits, too. Her already well-developed knack for moving quietly so as to not draw undesired attention from her relatives had grown even more advanced. She had always had a decent sense of smell, better than Dudley in any case, but now she could parse out information that she would never had thought could be learned from scent such as intense emotions. Her vision seemed to have improved as well, with the colors of the world seeming brighter and more vibrant even if she still needed her glasses to see definition.

Then one night, she woke up from a dead sleep with the feeling that her bones were breaking and moving. It was agony but she couldn't get the breath to make any sort of sound. Thankfully, it only lasted a moment before it disappeared like a bursting bubble. Unfortunately, in its wake, the cupboard suddenly seemed to be much larger than it had been.

It took a moment for Harini to orient herself enough to realize that it wasn't the cupboard that had transformed. It was her. She was now a snake of the same size as the snake from the zoo, maybe smaller. She wiggled around, trying to get a better look at herself.

Yeah, she was definitely smaller.

In fact, Harini was small enough to fit into the little hole near the cupboard's door that a mouse had created before it had been caught by Ripper. The hole led into the dusty interior of the walls. It took a while, but eventually Harini found the equally tiny hole that led to the back garden.

Harini gave the backside of Number Four a single look before heading away to the relative freedom of the nearest field or strand of trees.

As the months went on, Harini found that she was happier and more content than ever before. She was getting to know who she truly was. Harini learned more and more about her newfound gifts, and she embraced them with open arms. The snake had given her a new perspective on life, and she wouldn't have it any other way.