After the first week, everything at St. Brutus’s seemed to settle into a regular routine. Harry, to his surprise, discovered that he was woefully behind most of his classmates, and was immediately determined to catch up. However, before long, the apathy that everyone else seemed to feel toward school began to rub off on him, and soon he was sliding by with the least possible amount of work. At times, this apathy seemed to extend even to the staff, and soon it was widely known that late-night patrolling of the corridors had virtually ceased.
After the insanity of the first week, classes began slowing down as well. From the second week onward, they were allowed a few free hours outdoors each day, with the condition that they not cause any trouble. Harry enjoyed the free time immensely, especially since it gave him and Tyler a chance to play with Snowy, the owl.
It was October before Harry found himself in trouble again. He had snuck out after hours to have a quick visit with Snowy, when he heard snickering voices from back inside the building, along with whispered pleas for mercy. Harry silently made his way back to the front door and listened.
“It wasn’t me, I swear!” The pleading voice was nearly frantic, but that only made the others laugh more. “Please!”
Unable to stand it any longer, Harry shoved open the front door. He had expected to find a couple of large boys picking on a smaller one, perhaps an eleven or twelve-year-old. What he did not expect to find was Tyler Stevens backed into a corner, his eye swollen and his lip bloody, and no less than five boys who were much larger than him standing around, making sure he didn’t escape. Everyone turned to stare at Harry, but he didn’t care. He ran to his friend, glaring at the larger boys, and he was standing next to Tyler before he realized that now he was cornered too.
“Looks like we’ve got a bonus, boys,” sneered the closest and largest of the bullies. “Welcome to the party, Potter.”
Harry glared at him. This was the boy known simply as Big Tom, the ringleader of this little gang. Harry couldn’t recall ever having heard his last name, but the name Big Tom seemed a perfect match for the hulking young man in front of him. As always, looking at Big Tom reminded Harry irresistibly of a hardened-criminal version of his cousin, Dudley.
As he looked around at the other faces, Harry’s unease deepened. To his left stood Robert Lyon, a tall, sinewy boy with very short brown hair. Lyon didn’t say much, but he carried himself with such arrogance that it really didn’t matter. As Harry remembered Tyler telling him that Lyon was rumored to have killed two people in knife fights, his stomach clenched.
Next to Lyon stood the stocky Todd Wilkins. Wilkins had grown up on the street, much like Tyler, but his natural ability as a fighter had turned him to violence at an early age. Lloyd Hodges and Leland Nash were also present, meaning that Big Tom’s entire gang was in attendance. Hodges was about average size, making him the smallest in the gang, but what he lacked in size, he made up for with his expert kickboxing. He liked to maintain a lazy appearance, letting his black hair grow so long that it fell into his eyes, but it was all an act; he was always on alert, as Harry had learned when he’d watched Hodges mop the floor with a twelve-year-old who had been foolish enough to try picking his pocket in the third week of school. The fifth member of the gang, Nash, was almost as large as Big Tom himself, and his shaved head gave him a sinister sort of look. Harry quickly found himself wishing that he could trade this group for Dudley, Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon.
Something in Big Tom’s hand moved slightly, and Harry instantly knew what Tyler had been pleading for the others not to do. Tom was holding a snake just behind the head, and every now and again, it twisted and snapped its jaws, revealing long white fangs. It wasn’t a very big snake - it couldn’t have been much more than two feet long - but there was no mistaking that it was venomous. Harry froze, mesmerized by the lidless black eyes, and the pattern of black crosses running the length of its rusty brown back.
Big Tom seemed to be enjoying Harry’s reaction. “We caught it out by the wall earlier today,” he said. “Now it looks like it’ll get two victims tonight.”
“They think I overheard something I shouldn’t have,” Tyler said, his voice full of panic. “But I didn’t! I swear!”
Big Tom clicked his tongue like a parent might do when chiding a small child. “Now, now, Stevens, you should know better than to lie to me.” His voice was quiet and deadly calm.
“At least let Harry go, then,” Tyler said. “He’s not involved in any of this.”
Big Tom laughed. “Let the witness go? You really don’t understand the meaning of ‘incurably criminal,’ do you Stevens? No, Lightning Bolt Potter isn’t going anywhere.”
At the reference to his lightning bolt-shaped scar, Harry’s hand unconsciously went to his forehead. Tom’s gang laughed.
“Alright now,” Tom whispered, looking down at the snake and almost lovingly stroking the scales on its belly, “go have your fun!” He tossed the snake forward onto the stone floor in front of Harry and Tyler, and then quickly backed away. The snake looked at the two boys in the corner and began slithering toward them with a menacing gleam in its unblinking eyes.
“What are you coming after us for?” Harry demanded. He knew it was no use, but there was nothing else he could do. “We haven’t done anything to you.”
“Oy, Potter!” called Wilkins. “Trying to talk to it’s not going to help!” Tom’s gang snickered, and the snake continued its deliberate approach.
Ignoring the taunt, Harry shouted at the snake, “If you’re so keen to bite someone, why don’t you go bite the person that caught you?” He pointed at Big Tom.
The snake stopped. Slowly, it twisted around and glared directly at Tom. Then it began slithering rapidly toward him. After only a moment’s hesitation, Big Tom turned and ran, followed closely by his friends.
“Wait!” Harry called. The snake stopped again and turned to look at him. Could it be possible that the snake understood him? “I didn’t really mean for you to bite him. Please,” he continued in a somewhat calmer voice, “we haven’t done anything to you. Please don’t attack us.”
The snake hissed at him, but within the hissing sound, he heard words. “I wouldn’t dream of biting you,” said the snake. “It’s not often that one meets a decent Parselmouth.”
“A Parselmouth?” Harry asked. The strange word echoed in his mind - he was sure he had heard it before, but he couldn’t place when or where.
“A human who can speak in the language of serpents,” the snake explained. “They’re not very common, as I’m sure you know, and to meet one who looks out for his friends as you just did.... It’s practically unheard of.”
“Er, right,” said Harry. Now that the danger seemed to have passed, he was keen to get Tyler back to the dormitory before any more trouble found them. “Would you mind promising not to bite my friend here, either?” he asked.
“Whatever you like,” said the snake. “Humans are much too large for an adder like me, anyway. I eat mostly rats; there are plenty of them around, you know.”
Harry nodded; he had seen and heard a large number of rats roaming the school at night, and sometimes even during the day. “Well, we’ll just be going then,” he said at last.
The snake nodded its head, and Harry began leading Tyler back toward the dormitories. As they passed the snake, Harry looked down and asked, “By the way, what’s your name?”
“Hassseth,” the snake replied.
“I’m Harry,” said Harry. “Harry Potter.”
“Pleased to meet you, Harry Potter,” hissed Hassseth.
As they rounded a corner and headed for the staircase, Harry realized for the first time that Tyler was staring straight ahead without blinking, and his hands were shaking violently.
“Tyler!” he whispered, gently shaking his friend. “Tyler, what’s wrong?”
Tyler blinked and shook himself as if awaking from a daydream. He looked sideways at Harry before asking, “What was all that hissing about?”
“What hissing?” Harry asked. “You mean the snake?”
“I mean you! What was with all those hissing and spitting noises you were making? At first it just seemed ridiculous, but then it looked like you were actually talking to the snake and it was obeying you.”
“But I was speaking English,” Harry insisted. “You must have heard me. I just told the snake that if he wanted to bite somebody, he should bite Big Tom since he was the one who caught him. Then-”
“Her,” interrupted Tyler.
“What?” Harry asked.
“The one who caught her. That snake was female, you can tell by the markings. She’s a European adder, the only venomous snake that’s native to England.”
“Yeah,” Harry said, “She called herself an adder, but I didn’t know what it meant. Are adders very dangerous?”
“Not to most people,” Tyler answered. “Their poison is about as strong as a rattlesnake’s, but they don’t inject very much when they bite. It’s usually sort of like a bad bee sting.”
“A bee sting?” Harry asked doubtfully. “Then why were you acting so terrified?”
“I’m allergic,” Tyler said with a shrug. “I can’t believe we’re having this conversation, though. I mean, you were talking to that snake. In its own language!”
Harry gave an exasperated sigh. “I told you, I was speaking English. She was too, for that matter.”
“All I heard was hissing and spitting,” Tyler insisted. “So, what else did you tell her?”
“Well, when she went after Tom, I told her to stop, that I hadn’t really meant she should bite him. Then she called me a Parselmouth, which is apparently what snakes call people who can speak their language, and promised not to bite us. As we were leaving, I asked her name, and she told me it was Hassseth.”
“There!” Tyler exclaimed.
“What?” asked Harry, confused.
“That name. When you said the snake’s name, you did it in that hissing sort of voice from before.”
“I did?” Harry was amazed.
“Say it again, only listen to yourself when you say it this time,” Tyler instructed.
“Hassseth,” said Harry. This time, as he said the name, he heard a strange hissing sound along with his own voice - that must have been all Tyler was able to hear!”
“You called?” came a small hissing voice from near Harry’s right slipper. He looked down and was not surprised to find Hassseth coiled near his foot.
“Sorry,” Harry said. “I didn’t mean to call you, I was just trying to tell Tyler your name, but every time I tried, it came out in your language instead of mine.”
Hassseth nodded her small head. “The names of serpents can only be spoken in the tongue of serpents,” she said sagely.
“Where are you headed?” Harry asked. “It’s dangerous for you to be here inside the school.”
“I live inside the school,” Hassseth replied. “There is a small cavity in the wall of the room where you sleep. I bother no one, and they don’t know I’m there. Anyway, it’s nearly winter, and I need to catch a nice, fat rat so I can hibernate for a few months.”
“Would you like a ride?” Harry found himself asking. He couldn’t believe it, but he was actually offering to pick up a venomous snake. Hassseth nodded her assent, and Harry gently lifted her in his right hand. As she wound her body around his arm for balance, Tyler shrank back a few steps.
“It’s all right, Tyler,” Harry said with a reassuring smile. “She lives inside the wall of the dormitory, and she’s never bothered us before. Besides, she promised not to bite either one of us.”
Tyler nodded, but he still kept his distance as they returned to the dormitory. After Hassseth had disappeared into a crack in the wall, he turned to Harry and whispered, “I’ll never be able to sleep in here again, knowing that snake’s inside the wall.”
“Why not?” Harry asked. “I thought she was kind of nice. And anyway, at least now you don’t have to worry about her biting you, do you? Besides, she’ll be hibernating soon; I’ll bet you won’t ever see her again.”
Tyler shook his head in a way that Harry understood to mean that no amount of reassuring was going to change his mind.
A Stolen Past by nuw255
Chapter Notes: Harry makes one friend and several enemies.