The Serpent that Devours Us

Chapter 11

Tom was unexpectedly quiet after Harry showed him the scroll with the ritual. “You said there were a few more Acromantula colonies that we could hunt, correct?” Tom finally whispered as Harry looked at him in confusion.

“Sure.” Harry opened the scroll and read over the ritual again. It wasn’t even that complicated. It required a few ingredients he’d have to buy, but that wouldn’t take him more than an hour trip to Diagon Alley.

“Then let’s use this form as long as we still have it,” Tom suggested, some eagerness finally showing in his voice. “Let’s hunt a few more colonies while we still can. I’ve been a basilisk for so long it hardly matters if I turn back tomorrow or next week.”

Harry gave Tom a dubious look, very surprised Tom wasn’t jumping at the opportunity to turn back into himself right away. Then again, Tom did have a very good point about hunting Acromantulas. Without a convenient basilisk, it was impossible to hunt that many giant man-eating spiders at a time. Whenever Harry went hunting by himself he’d get one spider, perhaps two if he was very lucky and the wind wasn’t too strong. Getting a few dozen in a day was unheard of unless you went out with a huge team of experienced hunters.

“There’s a big colony on Bali,” Harry said, already calculating which portkeys they’d have to take. “And there’s an invasive one in Vietnam. During the war the wizards in North Vietnam released a few adult Acromantulas in the jungles there to help with the war effort. Those monsters grew fat on American soldiers and populated a huge stretch of jungle. Nowadays they’re contained, but the Vietnamese ministry welcomes hunters with open arms.”

“How fascinating,” Tom said and he did sound like he was genuinely interested in what Harry had to say. And yet Harry detected a certain tone in his voice that suggested Tom wasn’t quite as happy as he pretended to be. Harry decided to give it a few days, see if Tom’s mood improved. If not, Harry would ask him about it. He hated seeing Tom distraught in any way.

It took them a day to get to Bali and their hunt went much the same as the previous one, without a surprise attack of a lethifold this time.

“That’s a pity,” Harry said, standing beside his suitcase in which he’d just dumped over 40 spider corpses while darkness fell around them. “I’d have loved to add another lethifold to my collection.”

Tom was rooting around in the undergrowth. “There’s no sign of one. I can’t smell anything, alas.”

Harry swallowed his disappointment and climbed inside his suitcase for some dinner and a shower.

“I’ll keep watch tonight,” Tom announced as he also slid inside the suitcase and curled up in the holding area, head poking in Harry’s small apartment. “Just in case one slithers inside and tries to eat you alive.”

“That’s much appreciated.” Harry was sure his wards would keep out lethifolds. Well, mostly sure. He opened up a can of pork and beans and boiled some rice. Once his dinner was ready Harry sat down on his couch and ate in silence while Tom watched him quietly.

It was strange how comfortable Harry felt around Tom. How much he’d enjoyed having someone around all the time, even if that someone was currently stuck as an enormous murder serpent.

Not for the first time Harry regretted that part of his profession. Harry loved travelling, seeing all parts of the world, but he knew all too well that doing so was a lonely existence. None of Harry’s previous partners had felt any desire to join him on the road, unfortunately. But now that Harry had got to spend a few weeks with a companion, however strange that companion might be, Harry knew with certainty that any romantic partner would want to travel with him in the future.