The Other Potter

The Beginning and the End

When Harry begins speaking parseltongue in the dueling club people not only turn on him, but me as well as his twin sister.

"But what did you do? You weren't up there hissing in front of everyone." Harry asks.

"No, but we're twins, Harry. If you're the heir of Slytherin then it's only logical to say that I am as well."

"But we're not."

"I know we're not, but parseltongue is a Slytherin trait."

"Then how did I end up with it?" Harry demands. I just shrug.

"Obviously not from mom and dad, but somehow."

"Thanks for the help." He says bitterly. I roll my eyes.

"How am I supposed to know any better than you?"

"I'm sorry." He says, looking abashed.

"Apology accepted."

"I just hate this."

"I know you do, but there's nothing we can do but wait it out."

"Jacob, Brooks, and Talia are helping you?"

"Of course. They think it's a big joke. Cedric Diggory too. All four are angry that Theodore Nott turned on me so quickly though."

"Who is Cedric Diggory?"

"The Hufflepuff Seeker. You played against him for roughly five minutes last year before catching the snitch. He's a good friend of mine." I say and he nods his head.

"Speaking of Quidditch, how is being Keeper going?"

"Cedric and Talia are the only two people who will talk to me. Isaac talks to me because he has to as captain, but everyone else is just happy I stay in one spot; easier to avoid me." I say and he shakes his head. He puts his arm around me and I put my head on his shoulder. "People suck."

"At least we have our friends, the Weasley twins, and Diggory to help us through it." He says and I laugh, remembering the twins' antics.

Things eventually go mostly back to normal until Hermione gets petrified cancelling the Hufflepuff vs. Gryffindor match.

"Okay, so what all do we know?" Talia asks of Brooks, Jacob, and myself as she sits at our table, dumping a load of books that look to be delicate and ages old onto the table with little care of their condition. We've been sent to our common rooms seeing as the youngest Weasley was kidnapped and are now attempting to help the poor professors.

"All the spiders have disappeared." Jacob says, grabbing a book.

"Good riddance." I say bitterly, grabbing a book off the bottom.

"All of Hagrid's chickens have been killed." Brooks says.

"Roosters." Jacob corrects.

"People are being frozen." Talia says, ignoring Jacob's correction.

"It's Slytherin's monster, and what animal did Slytherin love the most?" I ask. They nod, grab a book and begin the search.

An hour later Brooks is visibly frustrated, Talia is turning the pages with a little too much force, Jacob is surrounded by notes, and I'm desperately trying to keep my eyes open.

"A Basilisk." I finally say sleepily, rubbing my face. They all jerk to look at me. "The sound of a rooster's crow is deadly to it, spiders flee before it, and one look in its eyes kills."

"Explains Potter hearing voices." Jacob says. I shoot him a dirty look. "What? If he can talk to snakes then of course he'll be the only one who can hear it."