Chapter 1
On a freezing November morning, in 1981, on the step of Number 4 Privet Drive Little Whinging Surrey, sat a very special sleeping baby boy. Perhaps, in a different world, the inhabitants of the house would have found the boy when the sun began to rise. Perhaps they would have brought him in and raised him, maybe he would have lived the life others had planned for him. In this world however, he is found by a snake. The snake, she called herself Nyoka, was human at some point she remembers that much. A powerful witch in fact, but she's been a snake so long she has no other memory of it. How she got to Little Whinging is anyone's guess, all she had been doing was hunting and came upon the town, and somehow found herself in a suburban garden.
Now, Nyoka wouldn't say she was the smartest being on the planet, she was however smart enough to know a dying hatchling when she smelled one. Human or not. Usually she couldn't care less about a dying human, though she had been one, they tended to be cruel and ignorant. But this child called to her. His smell was one of a mighty serpent but also of innocence and of magic, it made the maternal instincts she's never had before rise violently within her. He very obviously held magic, she could smell that, and his chubby face was bright red from the cold wind. A red and angry scar reached down from his hairline on the right side of his face, branching off like lightning through his right eye and tapering off around his jaw and the edge of his nose. Nyoka never once stopped to think, she just decided to take the child and raise it on her own. She was glad she was a rather large and strong snake, roughly 17 feet long, as she gingerly bit the cloth the child was swaddled in and picked him up.She lifted the top half of her body as if she was about to strike to keep the baby from dragging on the ground as she slithered away.
Nyoka had made a temporary home in the forest not too far from the human settlements so that is where she went. It was a good sized burrow under a tree, around 5 feet wide and 3 feet deep, the perfect size to fit him and her perfectly while still allowing her to curl up tight around him. She considered herself lucky that the small fox she ate had such a nice den. She knew they would have to leave soon, but her hatchling needed to warm up before they did anything. She, as gently as possible, curled up around the young one with him situated in the middle of the nest. Nyoka nuzzled the hatchlings' chubby cheek, attempting to gauge his reactivity. Slowly large, striking, green eyes, the right one milky but still alert, fluttered open to look at the large snake. The child yawned widely before giggling as he studied Nyoka, trying with all his might to wiggle his hand out of his cloth confinements. Nyoka hissed to him softly, no words, just soothing sounds. She had no idea human hatchlings could be so cute. “What shall I call you?” she hissed to herself, nuzzling the hatchlings cheek again just to hear him giggle. She studied his bright eyes, so green it was unnatural, a sign of strong venom she was sure. A good thing, very good she decided. She had once met a very kind but powerful man, she doesn't remember when, but his name was Harrison. That is what she shall name this snakelet, for she wished for him to be kind, yet strong. The sweet toddler had now got his small hands free and was curiously, yet surprisingly, gently gripping her face in them. She allowed him to explore, simply laying her head on his tiny chest.
Dumbledore woke November 1st, 1981, feeling good. Voldimort was defeated, for now, and Harry Potter was safely stashed away at his muggle relatives house. Yes, James Potter and his wife, Lily Potter nee Evens, had died at the young age of 21. Betrayed by their friend Peter Pedigrew, and yes Sirius Black had been sent to Askaban for a murder he didn't commit, but it was war, and people die and suffer in war for the greater good. Really, what could he have done?
He walked out of his bedroom into his office with a spring in his step only to freeze in his spot.The dreidel that had been enchanted to spin as soon as Harry crossed the Dursley’s threshold wasn't spinning. It should have started hours ago. His heart began to race as he hurried to the toy, casting a spell to make sure the enchantments he had cast were still on it, they remained unchanged. He went to his desk chair and fell down into it, running his hand down his beard. This was bad, very bad. He needed to find him, but he couldn't have just anyone know the boy was gone, lest the wrong people find him first, that could not happen. The plan must continue, everything needs to be put back on track. But he needed some kind of help, someone who could keep it a secret no matter what. First however, he needed to speak to Harry's relatives, the Dursley’s, to see if they had even seen the boy.
Nyoka was beginning to realize that maybe impulsively taking in a human hatchling was a bad idea. The poor thing’s stomach had been growling for what felt like eternity. He had been wailing just as long, and he refused to eat anything she brought it, not even the jack rabbit. Nyoka was about to give up when she smelled and heard grown humans walking nearby. She immediately headed towards the noise, hoping they would have something she could work with. Even if they didn't she needed to scare them off, lest they hear Harrison and take him from her. Quickly she found herself next to a trail with a family out for a morning stroll through the trees. Nyoka could smell fruit and milk coming from one of the bags they carried, and she went right for it. She coiled up, and just as they passed she struck out at the hand holding the bag.The woman carrying it immediately dropped it before scooping her small children up and running for her life, screaming all the way. Nyoka paid her no mind, she simply stuffed her head into the bag, letting her nose lead her to a plastic sack full of some kind of fruit covered biscuits and a bottle full of what she assumed was the milk. She had seen humans and certain creatures eat things like this before and decided that was good enough. She tried to pick up the bottle but it kept slipping from her fangs. After many tries she gave up and went for the biscuits. She bit the plastic and wrestled it out of the bag before quickly slithering away.
The hatchlings' cries had become desperate and she worried it may attract predators. Nyoka ducked into the den, seeing the child had wiggled his way out of his cloth and was crawling around. He was picking things up and shoving it into his mouth, spitting it back out and crying harder when it became obvious to him that it was not food. Nyoka dropped the plastic bag and bit at it, ripping the thin material apart. Harrison saw her immediately and began to crawl towards her. She watched as the boy slowly stopped crying, shoving biscuit after biscuit into his mouth. She knew he would not survive long this way. She needed to figure out how to care for him somehow. Perhaps she could watch humans care for their own young and learn what she could from that, she had smelt a human den with young not too far away. She could watch them once Harrison falls asleep, they may even have some more human food she could take. Yes, that is what she shall do, once the boy is slumbering. After a long moment those bright green eyes began to droop, sleep slowly creeping upon the eating toddler. Nyoka watched as his eyes slowly closed but he kept trying to eat, it wasn't very successful. She gently pushed his chest with her head until he laid down, a biscuit still gripped in his small chubby hand.
Severus Snape was about 3 firewhiskey bottles deep, mourning the death of his childhood best friend and love of his life, when Dumbledore sent a patronus, telling him to come to Hogwarts immediately. Severus would have loved to tell Dumbledore to shove it, until the patronus stated that it was about none other than Harry Potter, son of said dead best friend. That simple detail got him off his floor and over to his potions cabinet, downing two strong pepper-up potions. He had vowed to protect the boy, and he will keep that promise, even if it kills him from pepper-up overdose. He arrived just minutes after he received Dumbledore's message, flooing right into his office. Dumbledore sat at his desk, staring at a dreidel that sat atop it. He looked up at the sound of the floo, smiling with that ever present twinkle in his eyes.
“Ah! Severus, I thank you for coming so quickly. Please have a seat.” he said, holding out a bowl of bright yellow candies. “Lemon drop?” Severus ignored both offers and stood in the middle of the room.
“You said this was about the potter boy.” He said pointedly, never one for beating around the bush.
“Yes, indeed it is. It appears he is missing.” Dumbledore sighed, threading his fingers together in front of him.
“He's missing?” Severus looked at Dumbledore incredulously, certain he had heard wrong
“It seems that his relatives never even knew what had happened to the potters or that their nephew had been on their doorstep.” Dumbledore said solemnly. Rage rose inside of Severus. Did this man really just say he left a one year old on someone's doorstep, in the early hours of the morning, in the winter, and didn't even stick around long enough to make sure they took him in? He kept his emotions securely behind his occlumency shields, knowing from being Dumbledore’s spy, not to let him see any kind of reaction.
“What do you plan to do about this? We must find him.”
“Indeed, but we cant let anyone know he is missing.”
“I would think the more people looking would be exactly what we want.”
“If any free death eaters found out, we would have even less of a chance at finding him before they did. This must stay between us and us alone.” Dumbledore said, grabbing another lemon drop from his candy bowl. Severus glared, he didn't believe that excuse for a second, but he knew he couldn't object. Not if he wanted to find the boy.
“Very well,” Severus conceded.
“I need you to go searching around Surrey, possibly the woods nearby. See if you can find him, use any spell you can think of.” Dumbledore said, leaning forward to look over his crescent shaped spectacles. Severus suppressed a sigh and the urge to run his hands down his face.
“I'm guessing you mean right now?”
“I'm afraid so.”
Severus just nodded and spun around, going back to the floo and stepping in. If he was going to do this, he needed to take something stronger than some pepper-up, and those potions were in his private lab.
Nyoka found that while watching the humans interact with each other was somewhat helpful in the sense that she now knew a how human hatchlings act and how they communicate, it was an overall fruitless endeavor. She could hear Harrison moving around the den as she approached and was surprised when she entered the burrow and saw that the lower half of the boy was that of a serpent. He was wiggling around cooing and hissing at things happily, it was obvious that just like his legs he had little control of his tail, just enough to wiggle forward. Nyoka was frozen for a long moment as she watched in confusion, yes, he smelled like a great serpent but she didn't actually think he was one. She eventually slithered into the den, hissing out a low greeting. She herself was not a full snake, who was she to react in any other way but acceptance. Harrison turned to her, his luminescent eyes filled with excitement as he smiled goofily at her. He started towards her, trying to use his tail with all his might, it was very slow going. She met him in the middle and inspected his tail. It was quite long but not exactly thin and had a checkered black and gray pattern with little green accents down the spine. The boy reached out and picked Nyoka up, causing her to hiss in surprise, and hugged her to his chest. Harrison nuzzled his chubby cheek, covered in dirt and biscuit crumbs, against her scaly side. This was uncomfortable for the large python but she was strong, this was nothing but a minor irritant, and so she chose to allow him his fun. He was so gentle it confused her, almost every human she has met was rough, especially the young. But Harrison never squeezed too hard or pinched, he simply seemed to want to hold her.
After a while she slowly began to smell something, it smelled of herbs and alcohol, of coffee and magic, of human. It was that, that made her pull herself from the toddler's grip and head for the mouth of the burrow. Nyoka knew the smell of a wizard and whoever was around definitely was one, just like the child behind her. She slowly poked her head out, surveying the woods around them. She knew they needed to leave, before the wizard got too close. While Nyoka was sure could fight a regular human off, she is not so sure about a wizard, she's seen what those wands could do. When she saw nothing she pulled her head back in to look at the boy behind her, she had no idea how to get him out of here, let alone quickly enough to not be caught. She snapped her head back toward the opening when she heard the snap of a twig and the mutterance of some kind of spell, one that had something in her instincts screaming danger. Something in her mind knew it was a tracking spell for the small human behind her. Nyoka was on the brink of panic, she had claimed this hatchling as her own, she would not allow him to be taken from her, and that's exactly what they would do. She reared up, ready to strike at anything that reached in, when she felt a wriggling by her tail and turned to look just in time to see her hatchling transform from a half serpent to a full one. One with the same striking green eyes, the right still duller, and a green almost lightning shaped marking on his triangular head, the branches fading off right under his chin. He seemed to be able to move better in this form, wiggling towards her much faster than before, as she watched incredulously. He was still rather big for a normal snake hatchling, around a foot long, but was still quite small compared to her. She looked at him, an idea coming to her, but it all hinged on one thing.
“Can you understand me?” she hissed in parseltongue. When the smaller snake hissed, he said no actual words, but it was confirmation enough for Nyoka. She poked her head out of the den and saw a tall wizard in dark clothing distantly in front of them. She could work with this, she ducked back into the burrow, “follow me. Closely.” She hissed before slowly creeping out of the den, her hatchling right beside her, to her relief. They went the opposite of the wizard, speeding up as much as the smaller serpent could the further away they got.
Severus sighed for the hundredth time it seemed, as he sat down on a stump. He had hit a dead end about an hour ago when he caught Harry's magical signature, and was led to a small abandoned fox den before the trail dissipated. He thought he had seen movement, but upon inspection he didn't find anything. He didn't know what Dumbledore thought this would do. Who in their right mind thinks a one year old would just be hiding out in the woods? The only thing that came from this pointless endeavor is that, from the trail he found of Harry's magic, he knew someone had in fact taken him into the woods. Most likely apperating away the first chance they could. He ran his hands part way through his hair before gripping it tightly, rocking back and forth. He had a migraine and all he wanted to do was drink and cry. He was 21 and he had lost everything. He sold his soul to the devil and got nothing but misery in return. Merlin how he wanted to go back. Never follow Lucius Malfoy of all people into the waiting arms of a mad man. Now here he was, the day after the love of his life and her husband were murdered by said mad man; searching for their son because everyone had trusted an old, crazy wizard to take care of him. Severus should have known this was how it was going to go, that the problems wouldn’t just stop, that he would never be free. Severus took a deep breath and ran his hands down his face before shoving his feelings to the side and getting up. He can wallow in his own self pity later, he has a job to do, pointless or not.
The advantage of being an ancient snake that used to be a witch, is you know where to go when you need magic to be done. Nyoka knew that simply running away wouldn't work in the long term. Wizards could chase anything, anywhere, unless one is warded heavily and while she didnt know for sure that the wizard was after Harrison, she felt she needed the protection. Fortunately, living as long as Nyoka has, means she has met many creatures, magical or otherwise. She simply hoped that this particular one still held fondness for her.
Most didn't know that not all goblins work for gringotts, no, many still live underground all over the world. Living off what things they can hunt and forage, and Nyoka just so happened to know the entrance to a goblin home. The home of a goblin that coincidentally owed her a favor. Magic snake blood is quite powerful when used correctly, and costs a pretty penny. It took quite a bit of time, as the hatchling often had to rest and Nyoka made sure to stop at every creek or puddle so that her hatchling could drink. On the bright side, he was much more willing to eat the mouse Nyoka caught him in this form. Once night broke over the sky they made it to an inconspicuous hole under a rock ledge, Nyoka began to slip into it when she noticed Harrison stop short. She looked at him in confusion, he seemed too scared to even look into the ditch.
“Do not fear, hatchling. It is not a steep drop.” Nyoka comforted, “watch me, then follow.” She slipped into the pit, slowly to show Harrison he wouldn't fall. He followed her after a moment of hesitation. It was dark in the tunnel as they moved, before a light began to seep through the air. They followed into a large cavern lit by many ornate, golden sconces that lined the walls.
“vgu fuir sgiqui?” a gravelly voice called out in Gobbledygook, an old goblin hobbled out of a tunnel on the other side of the cavern.
“It is Nyoka, Ragtor. I come seeking a favor.” Nyoka hissed, happy that goblins could speak at least basic parseltongue.
“Come in.” Ragtor responded, walking over to a chair to sit down. Nyoka went to move farther in, but Harrison had had enough. He was just a baby and he had moved so much and so much has happened. He began to hiss in what could only be described as a snake screaming as he wiggled around angrily. Ragtor laughed, the sound like a rusty musical saw, scratchy and harsh tones. “My! What a unique hatchling!” He exclaimed, standing and hobbling over to the tantrum throwing ophidian, crouching in front of him. “You must be very tired.” he hissed softly, reaching out slowly and picking the smaller snake up gently. Ragtor chuckled as he held the hatchling gently, letting him throw his tantrum.
“We have traveled far.” Nyoka explained, watching Ragtor closely, lest he hurt her little one.
“Indeed you have. I must inquire why?” Ragtor asked, quietly shushing the snakelet to calm him, as he sat back down. Before Nyoka could answer, Harrison shifted into a half human once again, his hisses turning into wailing. Ragtor scrambled to keep his grip on the now much larger creature in his lap, cursing in Gobbledygook the whole time. Once he had his grip back he shifted to keep the toddler comfortable and just stared at Nyoka for an answer, rocking the child gently.
“As you can see my Harrison is not a normal hatchling. I fear wizards search for him.” Nyoka stated, moving closer so she could bump her snout gently against Harrison's cheek, making him giggle.
“Ah. A Naga child.” Ragtor whispered as he looked down at the boy in his arms, Harrison was finally calming, his little eyes slowly closing in exhaustion. “Stay for the night. No wizard shall find you, you became untraceable the second you decided to come here. I will ward you both when morning comes. I shall also give the hatchling a translation ward, though he is serpent, he is also human. He will need to understand them even if he can not speak it himself, though I suggest you find a way to teach him Humans speak. However that shall be my repayment to you, no more free favors.” Ragtor said, standing up slowly so he wouldn't disturb the now dozing snakelet.
“I thank you.” Nyoka hissed as she followed the old goblin down a tunnel and deeper into the caves.
Ragtor led Nyoka to a moderately sized cave with a small fire that made the walls sparkle. On the far wall stood a beautiful hand carved cradle, the head and footboards held depictions of lilies, and the bars had small carvings of magical creatures all around them. The bedding looked as though it was the night sky. On the walls hung balls of light in jars, they bounced slowly off one side of the glass to the other, it was mesmerizing to watch. Next to the fireplace there was a rocking chair that matched the cradle. Ragtor set the now sleeping Harrison into it and tucked the blanket around him.
“I carved this for my own hatchlings when I was young, though it was never used.” Ragtor said quietly, “it shall protect yours.” He stated before turning and going down another tunnel.
Nyoka nodded, as much as a snake can, and went to curl up around it. She lifted her head and pushed it between the bars so she could lay her head on Harrison's chest. She felt it rise and lift with his breathing, his little breaths blowing against her snout, and she relaxed. She didn't know why she wanted this hatchling, and she didn't really question it. She followed her instincts as she always does, it's never led her astray so far. So she shall raise Harrison as her own, teach him how to be a strong serpent.