Serpents, Quidditch and Dobby
“He can speak to snakes, Harry Potter is the heir of Slytherin.”
Severus froze as the panicked voice of Justin Finch Fletcherly rang through the silence. There was a moment of absolute silence before panic set in and all the students surged towards the single exit point, clamouring over each other as they tried to get as far from Harry as possible.
Severus scanned the place where he knew Harry and Draco had been practising. He saw Draco wave his wand to banish the snake and he watched as the blonde grabbed Harry’s hand and started to make his way to the door. It was difficult to move through the screaming students and Draco cast stinging hexes at several people who were in his way forcing them to jump aside. However, most students moved away quickly when they saw Harry headed towards them.
Severus kept his eyes on his Slytherins watching until Draco got Harry out then he fired three loud blasts from his wand causing most students to look at him though most did not stop talking.
“Silence,” he roared. The terrified students flinched as one but silence fell slowly as they turned to look at Snape.
“There is no reason to panic, Mr Potter does not pose any threat to any of you. You will cease this foolish nonsense and pull yourselves together. Mr Weasely stay here, you are not to leave the room with that wand. Prefects and seventh years are charged with seeing their younger housemates back to your common rooms. Heads of Houses will be with you shortly,” he ordered.
The prefects all moved to separate corners and called their housemates towards them. Students began to form orderly lines as Professors McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout appeared at the door.
Severus swept passed the stunned Lockhart who was still staring at the students looking rather gormless; he collected Ron Weasley and his broken wand and made his way over to his colleagues. He gave a succinct explanation of events, left Minerva to deal with Weasley's broken wand and left the room. Lockhart could explain the situation to the Headmaster, Severus needed to go to his Snakes.
Striding quickly through the castle Severus thought carefully about his response to this situation; as much as he wanted to rage at Harry for his carelessness he knew it was pointless. Harry would not understand what had just happened because he had not been raised with the fear of Voldemort. He did not understand that Parseltongue was only associated with dangerous Dark Wizards like Salazar Slytherin and the Dark Lord. There were no known light wizards with the gift, Severus had read somewhere that Newt Scamander had learned the language but he had not been born with the ability.
He was still undecided on how to address the situation when he found himself standing at the common room door. Sighing deeply he walked through the door projecting his usual stoic and unconcerned self.
To their credit, the Slytherins were all calm if not completely relaxed, and they had gathered together in the common room, finding seats on the sofas and chairs or the floor to wait for him. He stood on the steps leading down into the sunken lounge area and observed his students; they all understood what had happened in the duelling class and why it had happened. They all shared the same fear of the Dark Lord, yet they were all gathered protectively around Harry speaking quietly and reassuringly to each other, while Harry himself sat on a sofa squashed between Draco and Pansy he looked both stunned and confused.
Severus cleared his throat to attract their attention silence fell and every pair of eyes turned on him. He stood with his feet shoulder-width apart and his hands by his side and spoke in a low tone.
“Thank you all for behaving as I would have expected and following directions. I know you are all concerned about what has happened but Slytherin House takes care of its own and I expect you to all remain supportive and protective of each other,” he began.
“I want you all to stick together, no one is to be alone outside of the common room. You all know how sacred people are and frightened people can be unpredictable. Any altercations must be reported to me. Any questions?” he asked.
A third-year girl Harry only knew by sight raised her hand “I thought only the Dark Lord could speak to snakes,” she said softly.
“No, Parseltongue is an inherited family trait which has been vilified in Britain due to its association with the Dark Lord,” Severus answered succinctly.
“So is Harry related to the Dark Lord?” Lucian Bole asked nervously.
“There might be a connection if we looked back far enough, in the same way as most purebloods and half-bloods are related,” the teacher replied neutrally.
A collective sigh of relief went silently through the room “So what do we say to people? Astoria Greengrass asked determinedly.
“I would encourage each of you to do your own research, However, I will say that Parseltongue is considered to be a rare and valuable gift in magical communities beyond Britain,” Severus told them. “Now, I think you could all use something warm before bed, Stella,” he called.
A house elf appeared at Snape’s side “Yes Professor Snape, sir,” she said.
“I think hot chocolate and a light supper might be in order tonight,” he told the elf.
“Yes, Professor sir,” she replied and disappeared.
Snape moved down towards Harry and placed a hand on his shoulder “Are you alright?” he asked softly.
Harry looked up at him and shrugged “People calling me names and avoiding me - must be Wednesday,” he replied dryly.
Severus squeezed Harry shoulder lightly. “Stay with your friends outside this room and remember my door is always open,” he told him.
“I know, I will and thank you,” Harry replied.
Severus nodded and left the common room confident Harry would be safe amongst the snakes.
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Stories about the Chamber of Secrets had circulated among students for years and it seemed that the whole of Hogwarts was once again speculating about it and the rumour and gossip which had spread like wildfire since Halloween became ridiculous after the Duelling Club.
However, Slytherin House had taken Professor Snape’s words to heart and as a result, Harry had been largely protected. His fellow Slytherins rose to the challenge of protecting their housemate; they ensured he was not caught or cornered by anyone and that any exaggerated stories were derided with a random fact they had learned about Parseltongue.
Salazar Slytherin was a divisive historical figure it was widely believed that he left the school due to his belief that muggle-borns ought to be excluded from the school. Legend had it that Slytherin had created a secret chamber somewhere in the school which housed a beast which only Slytherin or his heirs could control.
The consensus was that the beast was likely some kind of snake and the fact that Harry could speak parseltongue meant that most people believed he was Slytherin's heir. This led to two distinct groups of people, those who refused to look at Harry and who hurried past him in the corridor and those who shouted at him accusing him of being dangerous.
Severus spent most of his nights searching for information on parseltongue hoping to find that it was not only connected with evil. He found that parseltongue was most often associated with evil because so few people could speak to snakes and those who could were generally considered to be dark wizards accomplished in practising the dark arts.
If only there were a positive aspect to the gift. The Goblins had said that Harry’s gift came from the Peverell family. The Peverell's as far as Severus could tell were not considered to be dark they were generally considered to be grey as were the Potter family.
There were a lot of questions. Severus needed more information, perhaps Filius would know more.
From Harry’s perspective school became simultaneously more difficult and much easier after the duelling class. Most people actively avoided him, moving out of his way in the corridors between classes, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws put their heads down and walked past him as fast as they could. Gryffindors regarded him with a certain amount of fear, and though they tried to cover it with rude comments most of their effort were fairly pathetic.
In class, Harry sat surrounded by his fellow Slytherin who kept him safe from sly spells sent by Gryffindors who seemed to think they were brave and living up to their house name by trying to curse the Heir of Slytherin.
Ron Weasley had been given a spare wand and told to write home to his father to request a new one. Ron was reluctant to do this as he knew his father could not afford to buy him a new wand. So he struggled with the borrowed wand.
The Headmaster had insisted on a meeting. Harry insisted on his head of house attending with him, Severus contacted Margarite and Lucius before the meeting and both advised Severus to just let Harry tell his story.
The meeting occurred a week after the incident, Severus accompanied Harry and did as he was advised to do and let Harry talk. Several times he had to forcibly restrain himself from rolling his eyes, as Harry wide-eyed and confused told Albus he had always been able to speak to snakes. He explained that had discovered this fact when he had been forced to spend all day outside doing the gardening over the summer. He told the Headmaster the snakes had asked him for water, so he would wet the ground for them so they could cool down.
He did not tell the Headmaster about the snake he released at the zoo or about Bindi. However, he took great pleasure in telling the Headmaster about all the snakes he had found on the grounds at school. Albus' eyes had gone wide at the mental picture of Harry Potter wandering around the Hogwarts grounds talking to snakes.
Albus had been gobsmacked and he had not seemed to know what to say so he blustered about Voldemort passing on some of his abilities to Harry in the failed attempt to kill him and that it was not Harry’s fault.
Harry pretended to consider that and then he asked the question Severus had known was coming. “Is it so bad that I can talk to snakes? He asked innocently.
The old man who had been thoughtfully sucking on his lemon drop when Harry asked his question almost choked as the lolly went down whole. “No, Harry,” he immediately reassured the boy, “...it is not a bad thing,” but he failed to elaborate on that thought. Albus had a suspicion about how Fudge had found out about Harry, the boy probably told him everything himself. Why could things not be simple and go the way he planned?
Severus decided the meeting was over and he ushered the boy out at that point after insisting Albus do something about the Gryffindors who were casting spells at Harry.
Severus managed to make it back to his office and cast the strongest privacy wards he knew before he let out the laugh he had been suppressing since Harry told the man about snakes in the school. Then he flooed Lucius offering to show him the memory.
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No matter the impression he tried to project Harry was far from unconcerned about the message on the wall about the Heir of Slytherin. Harry had not told Dumbledore the whole truth when the old man had asked him about the writing on the wall at Halloween. He had told him the truth in that he said he had followed the screaming to see what had happened and that he had been one of the last to arrive at the scene. He did not tell him that technically he was the heir of Slytherin by right of conquest, that was simply not something the Headmaster needed to know.
Bindi had finally been able to explain her anxiety she told Harry that something was waking in the bowels of the Castle and it was making all the creatures nervous. “He is the King of Snakes,” she told him. “He has been there for almost as long as the castle has existed. He is ancient and powerful and he has been sleeping for many years,” she confided. Harry asked if she could hear the creature and Bindi replied that sometimes she could.
Harry began to do exactly what Snape had told him not to do when he was given his father's cloak. He started sneaking out just before curfew and roaming the halls with Bindi listening; he had been doing this for several nights when he finally heard something. It was faint and weak but he could hear it the beast was likely a snake since both he and Bindi could understand it. Harry focused hard and he heard the breathy, sibilant tones of parseltongue.
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Hermione was really worried, Harry Potter could speak to snakes, Ginny was still losing time and waking up late in the mornings, Hagrid’s roosters had been killed and Filch's cat had been petrified. All of those things might have been unrelated but Hermione did not think so. She began spending hours in the library trying to find anything she could about the Chamber of Secrets and what might be in it but she could not find much at all.
Close to giving up she hefted the large dusty tomb back onto the shelf she found it on and she caught sight of Harry. He was sneaking into the section on reptiles and speaking in a very low tone despite being alone. Hermione shifted another book so she could look through the books at the boy on the other side of the shelf. What she saw caused her to drop the book she had shifted as she brought her hand to her mouth to stifle her gasp.
Harry Potter had a snake wrapped around his neck and he was talking to it. When the book crashed to the floor Harry turned towards the noise and met her eyes through the shelves and Hermione fled.
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Sleeping was something Harry had often struggled with. It was hard to sleep when you had nightmares every night but since making the reserve Quidditch team, Harry was at least getting a good night's sleep on Tuesday and Thursday. He and Draco had both made the reserve team Harry as a seeker and Draco as a chaser.
Flying high searching for the snitch diving, swooping and chasing the small golden ball. It made Harry feel alive, in the air he was free. He seemed to have a sixth sense as to where the snitch was and he caught it almost every time he got to chase it.
He and Terance Higgs the regular seeker had many fierce battles to catch the snitch during practice matches and they were fairly even on who caught it.
The team met out on the pitch when classes finished on Thursday afternoon, they had the pitch booked for two hours and Harry could not wait to be up in the air. They were planning on a friendly match between the reserve team and the regular team. Before they started Marcus had a lot to say about formations and strategy but Harry wasn't listening his mind was on flying.
The whistle sounded and the balls were released into the air, Harry took off immediately beginning to circle above the game. Harry watched Draco racing towards the goal with the quaffle for a moment before he returned to searching for the little gold snitch. Higgs the team seeker was in his peripheral vision he was circling too, Harry flew higher until he could scan the whole pitch. He was not sure how long he had been in the air when a commotion broke out below him.
Harry could see Marcus screaming at Draco and Adrian and waving frantically towards someone who was spiralling towards the ground. Madam Hooch was blowing her whistle and chasing after the falling player. Harry realised with horror it was Terrance Higgs, and he knew instinctively that he was not chasing the snitch something was very wrong. He took off towards the ground to see what had happened, as he flew movement in the Hufflepuff stand caught his eye and he saw three people in red and an elf…“Dobby?” he yelled, in surprise.
The small elf turned to look at Harry. “Master Harry, Dobby is keeping yous safe sir,” he said sounding very proud of himself.
Fortunately, Terrance was not badly hurt, Madam Hooch had broken his fall with a well-placed cushioning charm. He had a bruised shoulder and he had a bump on his head, so Madam Pomfroy insisted he spends the night in the hospital wing so she could observe him for signs of concussion.
Severus was less than pleased to hear about the Gryffindor students in the Hufflepuff stands. He arrived to find the scene just as Harry described, Dobby had stuck the sixth-year student's feet to the floor and was holding all three wands.
Harry told Severus he had been up too high to hear what was said but he had seen the team all trying to catch Terrance. He had been on his way down when he noticed Dobby in the Hufflepuff stand and stopped to see what the elf was doing.
Madam Hooch investigated the incident and she confirmed had Terrance had been the victim of a full-body bind curse, cast by a sixth-year Gryffindor student. Dobby had been following Ron Weasley when he heard the boys talking about attacking Harry during Quidditch practice and the elf had followed them instead. He had only attacked them once they cast the curse.
Dumbledore had not been pleased to discover that Harry’s personal elf was at Hogwarts. Severus had explained that Dobby was a young elf and he had been a bit over-excited at being assigned to take care of Harry. However, the Headmaster could not complain about the elf's actions even though it meant the Gryffindor students were caught red-handed.
The worst news was that Terrance would not be able to play in the match against Ravenclaw on Saturday and Harry would have to take his place.
Harry did not sleep well that night.
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Running into Hermione in the library had put the brakes on Harry’s investigations. He had no idea why the girl had been spying on him but he could probably make a few good guesses. Hermione was annoyingly observant and she was smart, if Harry could put clues together so could Hermione.
Harry stuck to the common room and dormitories for the next few days he had taken a few books on snakes so he spent time reading them. No one in Slytherin found this strange or comment-worthy.
Draco had told Harry there were a few Slytherins who were convinced Harry was the Heir of Slytherin and they were ready to support him no matter what happened. Harry did not remind his brother that he was indeed the Heir of Slytherin it was bad enough that Harry could not get that fact out of his head.
Finally, after several days of searching, Harry found what he was looking for: the snake was a basilisk. ‘The King of the Serpents, basilisks were thought to be extinct as breeding them had been banned since Medieval times. They were solely bred by Dark Wizards and were created by hatching a chicken egg under a toad. (Harry’s mind was blown whoever would have thought of putting a chicken egg under a toad?) Basilisks were completely uncontrollable once they were fully grown except by parselmouths, the rooster crow was fatal to it and spiders fled before it.’ Well, fleeing was probably sensible Harry thought. He sighed sat back on his bed and continued reading, ‘Looking the Basilik in the eyes resulted in instant death for the unfortunate person or animal’ Mrs Norris had only been petrified so she must not have looked it in the eyes. Harry closed his eyes and pictured the scene the words on the wall, the frozen cat, Filch and Dumbledore, the three Gryffindor and the puddle on the floor. Harry’s eyes sprang open he needed to talk to Hermione.
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Severus sat in Lucius' study listening to Lucius recount his evening with the Dark Lord. He managed to control his emotions right up until the end when Lucius said the Dark Lord was coming back at Christmas and he wanted his diary out of Harry’s vault. Lucius went on that they might have to convene at Harry’s property in Kent as there had still been no raid on his Manor and he was unsure why.
“Severus, are you listening to me?” Lucius asked suddenly.
Severus snapped out of his reverie about how he and Harry could get the diary back before Christmas and thought quickly to form a suitable answer. “I am sorry Lucius, things have been interesting at school and well I have been distracted. You are right meeting in Kent would be a wise idea,” he said sounding weary.
“Harry is still having a difficult time then? Lucius asked, “What has the Headmaster done about the petrified cat?”
“You mean other than calling Harry to his office for a pointless, if somewhat amusing meeting? Nothing, he is ignoring it,” Snape said with a sigh. “...and yes, Harry is still having a difficult time of it, the trouble of course is that until Our Lord returns, Harry is the rightful Heir of Slytherin,” Severus finished.
Lucius hummed “We must try to ensure that does not get out,” he said firmly.
“I don’t think it’s likely, only we know. Someone would have to know Our Lord was the heir and that heirships can pass by conquest. It is very unlikely anyone will put that together,” Severus replied.
“We must hope,” Lucius replied. “In other news, Essie and Margarite were at the Ministry yesterday and Essie gave her statement to Amelia. Unfortunately, we won't have enough to charge Albus but I think people will start to question his actions and if we are lucky they might also question his motives. I am thinking about giving the Prophet a story,” Lucius told him.
“What sort of story?” Severus asked with a frown.
“Well, I need to consult with Margarite but I was thinking about the way Harry was left on the doorstep or possibly Petunia's visit to Gringotts,” Lucius replied.
“How would either of those be leaked? No one knows about them,” the teacher asked.
“They are both a matter of record. The Goblins keep very good records and they have provided certain documents to the DMLE. Sometimes files go missing…” Lucius said casually.
Severus considered Luicus' suggestion “I have a copy of the letter that was left with Harry and I happen to know Petunia was very upset to learn of her sister's death via an anonymous note, ” he said slowly.
Lucius smiled.
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Harry sat in the corner of the library under his cloak waiting for Hermione to turn up. She was always there after dinner, Harry had checked and she had not stopped going to the library after he caught her watching him. Tonight however she did not show. It was almost time for the library to close and Harry snuck out among a group of Ravenclaws Madam Pince had just evicted.
He was heading back to his Common Room when suddenly he heard a commotion just down the corridor towards the Grand Staircase and he hurried towards it. He found the group of Ravenclaws who had just left the library surrounding someone lying on the floor. Harry snuck up silently and walked around the edge of the group and then he saw her, Hermione Granger sprawled on the floor petrified. She had a small round pocket mirror clasped in her right hand and a blue leather notebook in her left hand.
The Ravenclaws immediately ran to find a teacher and Harry took the opportunity to approach the girl on the floor, he needed that notebook. He tried to pry her fingers open to release the book, but it was not easy. Listening for the return of the girls Harry lifted Hermione’s fingers one by one and eased the book out of her grip, he almost had it when he heard voices approaching. Harry panicked and yanked the book; it came free just as the Severus and Minerva rounded the corner with a group of Ravenclaws. Harry landed hard on his backside and for just a minute his foot was uncovered. Severus, of course, saw the disembodied foot and sent a glare in the direction of his sneaky snake. Harry flushed even though he knew Severus could not see him, the man knew he was there. Harry crept away as the Headmaster arrived but as he left he heard one of the girls saying. “I thought she was holding a book, but it's gone.”
Harry hurried away he decided to skip the common room and went straight to Severus’ room.