A New Snake

Chapter 26

The first thing the snake said was, "Young Speaker?" Harry held the back of his hand in front of the baby's searching tongue. It relaxed when it recognized Harry. "Thank you for saving me, Young Speaker!"

"Please," Harry replied, "call me Harry. I'm glad I noticed you in time."

The snake let out a little laugh, how that was possible, none of them knew, "As am I, Harry." He—for Hagrid had been telling the others while they talked that the baby snake was a he—tasted the air, "Who are your friends? And the half-giant?"

"The half-giant is Hagrid and he helped heal and bandage you because I didn't know how. Hermione is beside me, Ron is beside her, and then there's Cedric, Luna, Neville, Ginny, and Lily—or Lilith—on my other side. And you know my name. What's yours?"

"I don't have one yet. When I was hatched, my parents were dead. I don't know how, but they and my siblings were all dead when I hatched. It was late at night and as I travelled to find something to eat and someone to care for me, I was grabbed by an owl that tried to feed me to its hatchlings. I got away with no more than a nip, but the fall stunned me and had I not fallen into a pile of leaves and sunk through, I might have been eaten. I was unconscious until almost 15 minutes before you found me. Then I made my way towards where I could feel your energy as best as I could."

"That sounds horrible! I'm so glad you're okay. And, please, accept my condolences for your family."

"Thank you."

Their conversation was interrupted by Cedric, "What's going to happen with the snake?"

Harry looked down at the little thing in his hands, "Would you want to stay with me? Even if only while you recover?"

The snake looked up, "I would like that very much thank you. But I would be more than happy to become your familiar. I have nothing else in the wild and it's nice to have someone to talk to."

Harry smiled and returned his gaze to his friends, "He would like to stay." Hermione smiled at him but hoped Hedwig wouldn't mind another companion.

~ ~ ~ ~

The news of Quidditch tryouts came at dinner. Lily along with 2 prior Chasers—one being the Captain—are part of this year's team, two seventh years were the Beaters, and a Second Year—surprisingly enough—became Keeper. They also got a schedule for practices with the promise that the team would know well before if anything on the schedule needed to change. On top of that, they were given the date and the House they were going against for their first match. It would be October 7th, against Gryffindor. Harry hadn't even thought about the fact that he would be Seeker against his former team. And Angelina was Captain this year, which meant unless Slytherin could get their act together and play fair, they would likely lose. Whatever the rest of the team did, Harry would just do what he was used to doing. Wait for the team to get up in points enough and then when he caught sight of the Snitch, race for it. And viola. Win for Slytherin. At least, that's what he hoped would happen.

For now, he would concentrate on his friends and what their plans for the Defense Club. Hermione suggested that Harry and Cedric Co-Teach while Hermione and Lily be occasional assistants. Cedric was more than happy to help in any way he could and it would give him some teaching experience, but Harry refused.

"I'm no teacher, Hermione. I don't know anything about teaching Defense."

"But, Harry. You have the most real-world experience with it. None of the rest of us can say that. We need someone to teach us who knows what it's like."

"But that wasn't because of any skill in Defense! I've only ever practically used one or two spells in Defense. Every other time I had help from other people. I really have little to no skill, myself. What do you expect me to be able to do?"

"Don't think I haven't seen you help First Years with their homework for years now. You're a wonderful teacher! Don't underestimate yourself so much."

Harry sighed and, just to get her to stop talking about it, said, "I'll think about it."

She didn't seem totally satisfied, but she could take a hint and she was willing to let it go for that moment. And Harry was able to continue his meal in peace. He enjoyed talking with Theseus—which he had named the snake after the Wise and Strong, Greek Demi-God—and feeding him. The House-Elves had been considerate enough to leave a small container of dead insects and worms by Harry's usual seat for Theseus to eat. So they were all full and happy.

Despite thoughts of the new Defense Club and Umbridge and everything else that could possibly go wrong, Harry slept well that night with Theseus curled up on his chest.

~ ~ ~ ~

It had been a trying morning for Theseus at Breakfast. Hedwig had stopped by with a letter from Sirius and Remus with well-wishes for the school year. But when Hedwig saw Theseus curled up beside Harry's plate, she dove for him. It was quite the fiasco. Theseus had quickly slithered up Harry's arm and hid under his robes in order to hide. Harry had to hold his owl back from trying to follow the snake, scolding her. Feathers, food, and tableware filled the air as she struggled. He took her outside where she wouldn't make as much of a scene to try to calm her down. Eventually, he did, and though she still looked suspiciously—and sometimes hungrily—at Theseus, she made no more moves for him.

In Charms, Theseus was tired and full, so he slept through the class without disturbing anyone. He woke briefly in transfiguration to cool down a bit by coming out from under Harry's robes. Some students tried to make a fuss, but McGonagall said she knew the reason Harry had the snake and had no problem with it as long as it could behave itself and as long as Harry wasn't distracted—everyone else could just mind their own business (though she didn't say it that way).

Potions was amusing as well. Because the Potions' Professor didn't take meals in the Great Hall on a regular basis, he hadn't yet heard about Harry's new companion. So when Harry walked into his lab with a rare, young snake coiled around the boy's arm, he was nearly shocked out of his composure, but stored away the information to ask his charge about later.

Defense was far more amusing. When Umbridge saw Theseus, she proper shrieked and nearly jumped atop her desk. With a fearful stutter, she informed Harry of the tiny reptile coiled around his neck. He informed her that he knew Theseus was there and that he preferred being there to being in a pocket or bag. She regained her composure and calmly as she could, continued her lesson. But she kept a wary eye on the snakelet the entirety of the class.

Professor Vector didn't particularly like the idea of a snake in her classroom, but didn't mind as long as everyone did their work. And Theseus simply stayed in the dorm so Professor Sinistra didn't see him.

So it was a pleasant day, more or less.

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