Ophion knew he was a elegant, beautiful snake. If he wasn't so small and still had his venom, he would be star under his kin. But as it was he lived in captivity, too small and weak to fend for himself in the wilderness. Not that he complained. He had been a true prisoner, a test subject in the hands of a – in his eyes – mad wizard. He had been freed with a lot of other animals. But as they slowly found their homes, he was left alone in a brown box on the desk of a Ministry employee. He had begun to grow depressed, when life came into his little world and he was transported away. There was this human, smelling strangely of different herbs and flowers and fungi. It was not pleasant to smell all this in one person. It confused Ophion and he hissed, annoyed and disturbed. Where was this strange man bringing him. Soon after he felt the cold air penetrating the thin box and curled tighter around himself, he felt a most peculiar sensation. It was like being squeezed... He guessed this was the way his food must feel, when he swallowed it. It was done after a moment and he had hoped to never feel it again. The air was still bitter cold – even colder than before, if that made sense – and the man was walking swiftly. After a few minutes they entered an area that felt warmer and soon the lid of the box was opened. A man, with dark long hair and a prominent nose looked closely at him, frowning. He had never understood this horrible thing human called 'nose'. Long and crooked was this one and looked like it could suck him in whole. Humans were ugly beasts... The man closed the lid, but returned soon and let a worm drop into it.

"Do you like that? Try it.", he said but the snake did not understand. He licked the dead worm and sniffed. It seemed alright, even though it smelled like nothing he had smelled before, so he swallowed it.

And alright it was! Marvellous, really. What a juicy, delicious treat. He hissed in appreciation and raised his head.

"More? Yes?", the man said and Ophion hissed a bit in response. He was treated to more of what the man called "Flubberworms" and swallowed them excitedly. Yummy!

Ophion had thought he had found his home with the strange, hooked-nosed man but that seemed to be a misconception. He was soon picked up, transferred into a different, more comfortable box and then transported into the air. It was the next day that excited chattering woke him up. Who was making that noise? With the dark man, there was never so much noise!

Soon a smaller man opened his box, he had messy curls and green eyes that widened, when he saw him.

"Its beautiful.", he breathed and talked to another little man with hair so red, it hurt the snake to look at it too long. Suddenly the black haired human prodded him – how rude!

"What's your name?"

The snake blinked, the child human was a parsel! Well that was interesting "Name?"

"What do I call you?"

"Snake"

"Urgh... I'm Harry."

"No, you're human."

"Yes, but... See I am human, and this friend of mine is human too. But if you want to call me, you say 'Harry' and if you want to call him, you say 'Ron'. That's a name."

"I don't have a name."

"Can I give you one?", Harry asked politely, Ophion nodded. He had heard of speakers before and all his kin knew that snakes were bound to them. So this Harry would be his new master. He kind of liked the funny human with his funny name and green eyes behind round contraptions. He seemed like a fine master, a kind master... At that moment another human came in, a female. Her hair looked alarmingly like Willow. They talked a bit and seemed to be deciding on a name for him.

"Snake! How about I call you 'Ophion', it means snake in... our language.", Harry offered and Ophion answered "Yes, that is acceptable."

His master then proceeded to wrap him around his wrist where he wound himself tightly. Yes, this was definitely nice and warm. The soft, warm skin, the pulse of the human blood underneath it. He could smell Harry's scent and warm himself at his wrist and underneath his sleeve. This was wonderful, he could get used to it.

This was how Ophion met his master, Harry. The time he spent with Harry made it clear that he had been right. Harry was a kind and fine master. He cared for Ophion, fed him regularly and took time to talk to him. He stroked his scales and helped him shed skin if he needed to. His master was a fine master indeed. Soon the snake realized that the Dark Man was his master's father. He did not like his smell, but tolerated him as an extension of Harry, the way he tolerated Ron and Hermione. But he was rather glad to be left alone by them mostly. Life in the boy's dormitory was boring, especially when they were gone or asleep. Harry liked to take him out after classes and had him around his wrist whenever he left. That felt nice and new. He had been trapped almost all his life, so he liked outings exceedingly. Especially if he wasn't in a box but wrapped around a soft source of warmth.

Living in the dormitory and travelling with Harry meant that he saw other pets as well. There was the toad that tried to escape almost everyday. There was a very bushy, ugly cat, that he tried to stay away from as much as possible and a rat. A really strange smelling rat. When Ophion lay curled in his terrarium one day, he thought about that strange rat. It slept a lot too and it seemed like no other rat Ophion had ever seen. It was not like the other test subjects in the laboratory where Ophion had been held captive. Something about him was distinctly... human. With these thought running wild in his imagination the snake fell asleep.

Ophion blinked lazily into the green light that shined into Harry's room. He slowly uncurled himself and came out of the moss covered little cave Harry had bought for him. He slithered onto the highest point of his hills and then saw to his great surprise that the lid wasn't fully closed. As Ophion always only travelled on his human, he missed experiencing different textures on his skin and slithered out. Slithering out of his terrarium he made his way down the table and left Harry's room. He silently crept through the living room, where his master's father was reading a journal in an arm chair. Unnoticed, Ophion slipped under the next door and left the rooms. Here, outside of the carpet covered living area, Ophion felt much colder. He quickly tried to reach warmed quarters when he slithered up the stairs. It was difficult, but he managed. No one noticed the small, colourful snake making his escape as he followed the rays of sunshine outside onto the grounds.

Ah! Finally, grass. That felt much better, disguising and soft and smelling faintly of rain. He loved grass. Content with his little exploration he slithered up to the wooden cabin to which his master always brought him. The giant man and giant wolfish dog weren't there. He slithered inside coming closer to the still warm grate. Ah, there had been a fire lit here and he felt warm and comfortable, curling up beside it. If snakes could sigh, he would give a sigh of contentment now. But he only lazily rested his head on the curls of his tiny body and blinked, taking in the cabin. It smelled of wood and rain and the creatures and plants of the forest. It felt and smelled homey. A Flubberworm now and his life would be perfect. Just as Ophion wanted to fall asleep, he saw a movement.

He opened his eyes again, his predatory instincts awakening. He sharpened his senses and heard scurrying footsteps. There was another, rather clumsy creature in here with him. Ophion slowly uncurled himself, coming closer to the source of the vibrations on the wooden floor. His other senses slowly caught up, bringing in the smell of wet rat and strangely - human. He slid forward and when he had reached the corner in which the rat was shivering, his eyes roamed its figure. Ah, a toe missing, it was the redheads pet rat. Ophion would have given a feral smile if he could, but as it was he hissed a satisfied tone. He had found his snack. Sneaking up on the miserable creature he opened his mouth wide, wondering as he did so, why he was suddenly a lot bigger than the rat. The old rat gave a terrified squeaky sound before his teeth sank into its middle. While blood gushed into Ophion's mouth – warm, fresh and tasty – the rat still struggled, kicking its hind legs in the air, slashing its tail. Inside Ophion's mouth he could feel Wormtail's last helpless movements. It did not take long until Ophion was slowly but gradually swallowing the fainter and fainter fighting Wormtail. When the snake closed its mouth around his prey, the animagus was already dead. Slithering back contently, he lay by the grate, warming in its dying flames and feeling content all around. What a successful day!

It was a loud bang that rattled Ophion awake. His master rushed into his room and retrieved a long package that was lying on his bed. He gave an excited squeal when he unpacked it and rushed out with the high class broom. Ophion gave an annoyed hiss at his master's antics. He was having such a nice dream!