2. Best friends, or something more?

A week later, a woman rapped on the hard brown door of Number 4 Privet Drive. Harry looked through the peephole to see a wrinkly old woman dressed in a black witch's hat with bright green emerald robes to match her eyes. She seemed strict and stern.

"I'm the staff member of Hogwarts here to explain more," she said in a curt voice.

Harry regarded her suspiciously.

"How do I know if she's not just some random stranger?"

"She's magic. I can feel it."

"Alright. I trust you Shadow."

Shadow slithered away, as he felt it wouldn't make a great first impression to have a snake out.

"Come on in," Harry said respectfully, unlocking the door.

The woman's skin was shriveled, but she stood strong. She stepped through the door.

"Please, sit."

"Thank you," she responded, sitting on the couch.

"Where are your relatives?"

"They're gone to a party," Harry said.

The Dursleys had indeed gone to their cousin's birthday party, which was fine by Harry.

"Alright, so let's get started then. My name is Professor McGonagall, and I will be your teacher for Transfiguration. I warn you, it's an extremely complex subject.

McGonagall began explaining all Harry needed to know, before, Shadow slithered into the room.

"Ah!" McGonagall gasped in surprise. She froze for a second, before raising a stick, which Harry presumed was her wand.

"Wait! Don't do anything! He's with me!"

Harry stepped between McGonagall and Shadow.

"Come up my arm. I promise she won't hurt you."

"You sure Harry, cause if she blasts me with that voodoo shit, I will haunt you forever."

"I'm sure."

Shadow slithered up Harry's arm, and loosely coiled around his neck. McGonagall was looking at them with astonishment.

"You speak Parseltongue!"

"Yeah," Harry replied offhandedly.

"AND YOU HAVE A SNAKE!"

"Yeah. Actually that was one of the things I wanted to ask you about. The Hogwarts letter says that I can only bring a toad, owl, or cat. But I'm not going without Shadow, so I was wondering what I could do about that."

"Shadow being your snake?" McGonagall asked

Harry nodded.

"One moment," she said, raising her wand.

Just before Harry thought that he shouldn't have invited her in, an ethereal light blue wisp of magic shot out of her wand and washed over Harry and Shadow. Harry felt his connection to Shadow burn brighter than ever before, and vice versa. Then it went away. McGonagall gasped again.

She seems to do that a lot.

"It seems Shadow is your familiar. A familiar is a connection much stronger than a pet. It's your confidant, your companion. Familiar's are extremely rare, so the fact that you have one is quite spectacular. Since Shadow is your familiar, you shall definitely be able to bring him. Any other questions?"

Harry's head started hurting again as he processed the information.

"Uhh, how do I get my stuff?" Harry asked. "And how do I get on to Platform 9 and 3/4. Because as far as I'm concerned, that's not a thing."

"Well, getting on Diagon Alley is a bit complicated. I'll accompany you if you want."

"That's fine, Professor. I'll do it by myself."

Nodding, McGonagall explained the correct way to get onto Diagon Alley and Platform 9 and 3/4, before stopping.

"I do have something important to tell you," Mcgonagall admitted.

"You're Harry Potter, and that name means nothing to you, but it means so much to everyone in the wizarding world. Wizards are bad and good, and there used to be a really bad one called…Voldemort. We try not to speak his name. One night, he tried to kill you and your parents. He killed your parents, and then went to you, a one year old. He used the Killing Curse, a curse that instantly kills, and can't be blocked. Somehow, it rebounded off you and hit him. To date, you're the only known survivor of the Killing Curse, and the savior of wizards everywhere for having killed…You-Know-Who. However, Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster and a very wise wizard, believes that You-Know-Who isn't gone forever, but rather still barely alive, biding his time. You got all that?"

"Uhh, yeah?"

Harry's brain was hurting again.

"Right, well I'll be off then. I sure do look forward to seeing you in my class this year."

"Thank you, Professor."

McGonagall left, and Harry fell down on the couch, making sure not to hurt Shadow.

"Well, that was a lot, huh," Harry asked.

"I always knew we had something special."

"Bro what? Don't make it weird Shadow."

"Not like that. You know what I'm talking about. We've always been closer than master and pet. You're my best friend Harry."

"You too Shadow… You too."

A.N: Hey guys, thanks so much for reading my first ever fanfiction. Please Follow/Favorite, Share, and Review, it means a lot to me.

I'm not sure how I want this story to go, but im leaning toward a Ron, Hermione, and Dumbledore Bashing, with more if I feel like it. Lemme know how I can do better, because again its my first fic.

Thanks for reading!

Also special thanks to UrsulaNolMistiora for being the first person to favorite and follow. I appreciate it. I can't believe it, I posted my first fic like a few minutes ago, and there are already 13 views. THANK YOU SO MUCHH!