Tap. Tap. Tap.
Dudley’s fat finger lands harshly against the window. “Do something!” He yells, annoyed.
“He’s asleep.” Harry whispered.
“What was that dumbo?”
“He’s alseep.”
”He's boring is what he is. Come on Piers, let’s go look at the gorilla.”
Harry turn back around slowly to face the snake in front of him. It was a beautiful thing, with lovely green scales, a bright red tongue and ruby-like eyes. Wait, eyes!
“You’re awake! Sorry about him, he doesn’t know what it’s like.” Harry sighs and feels as if a weight is leaving him as he does. The snake raises it’s head. “Lying there, day by day, people expecting so much from you. It’s exhausting right.” A head tilt - who knew snakes could be so clever. “I wish that they would stop sometimes.” The snake nods. “Woah, you can understand me?” Another nod.
For a moment, Harry is frozen. A snake, a snake from the zoo, can understand humans? This is so cool!
“Do you have conversations with people often?” The snake says no. “What makes me special?” A wink.
“So where are you from?” The snake points it’s tail at the sign beside him. “Oh. I was bred in captivity too, one day, I hope you get to see Brazil.” Harry sighed. Just as he opened his mouth to speak again, a force banged into his side.
“Mum, Dad, come look at what this snake is doing!” Dudley yelled. Harry, having landed roughly on the ground, turned and glared at his older cousin. It was just so unfair how self-entered and spoilt he was. With a glare, Harry calls out to him. “Dudley!” But he is ignored. With a huff, Harry goes to stand up when, as he looks down at the ground, a shriek is heard. Snapping his head up, Harry sees the snake slither out of the cage. “Thankssss Amigo…”
“Anytime…”
“DUDLEY!” Aunt Petunia screamed. Chaos descended.
–
The first time Harry saw the boa constrictor after setting it free, he thought he was dreaming.
It was weeks after the zoo incident, and summer had properly settled over Privet Drive, making the air heavy and still. Harry had been weeding Aunt Petunia’s flower beds when a shadow moved at the edge of his vision. He turned sharply, expecting to see Dudley sneaking up on him, but instead, he found two gleaming eyes watching him from beneath the hydrangeas.
"Hello again, little speaker," the snake hissed softly.
Harry nearly fell backward into the flower bed. "You!" he whispered, glancing back at the house to make sure no one was watching. "What are you doing here?"
The boa constrictor slithered out from under the bush, its dark scales blending with the soil. "You freed me. I followed your scent."
Harry frowned. "But...you’re supposed to be in Brazil."
The snake’s tongue flicked out, tasting the air. "Brazil is far. Too far for me to travel alone. But you—your scent called to me. I do not know why, but I feel that I belong with you."
Harry had no idea how to respond to that. He barely understood what had happened at the zoo, much less why a giant snake had decided to follow him home. But the idea of having a secret friend sent a small thrill through him. No one had ever wanted to be with him before—not by choice.
"What? Why? What? Wait... You can’t stay out here," he said after a moment. "My aunt and uncle would go spare if they saw you."
The boa constrictor’s eyes gleamed. "I can hide. I am very good at that."
And so, Harry gained a secret companion. The snake—whom he called Sombra, after hearing that the name meant 'shadow'—lived in the gaps behind the shed and the undergrowth beyond the garden fence. He only came out at night or when he was certain no one else was looking. He helped Harry in small ways, scaring off Dudley when he tried to chase Harry around the yard, curling protectively around him when he shivered in his cupboard at night, even sneaking into the house to steal bits of food when the Dursleys starved him.
As summer turned to autumn, Harry found himself talking to Sombra more than he spoke to any human. "Do you think there's a place where I actually belong?" he asked one evening, sitting cross-legged beside the shed as Sombra coiled loosely around him.
The snake flicked its tongue. "There is. And you will find it. You are not meant for this place."
Harry sighed, doubting it. But still, the thought of Sombra staying with him—of having someone who truly listened—made everything just a little bit easier.
Then, one morning in late July, a letter arrived. An invitation. A revelation.
Sombra lifted his head as Harry read and reread the words, his hands shaking. "Magic," he whispered. "I knew it."
The boa constrictor regarded him thoughtfully. "Then it is time. I will go with you."
And so, when Harry left Privet Drive for the wizarding world, he did not go alone. Sombra slithered unseen into his trunk, a shadow at his side, his first and most loyal friend.
And later in that first year of adventure, when faced with his parents' murderer, Harry knew he was protected because Sombra was hidden in the shadows. Helping him by being another attacker, helping Harry when he killed Quirrel, hiding the stone.
And in future adventures he was there, constantly by our hero, keeping him sane.