Dumbledore looked more than slightly surprised when Severus and Harry came into his office. Though the enormous venomous snake Harry was wearing probably had something to do with that.
"Headmaster, we've got news." Severus said.
"Do tell, my boy. Lemon Drop?" Dumbledore offered.
Harry rather thought the Headmaster knew his offer would be rejected, but offered anyway just to annoy Severus, or something of that sort.
"No thank you, Headmaster. As I predicted, Lockhart's ... ego show ... was a disaster. It's going to take Poppy the best part of the day to deal with all the bumps and bruises, and any curses or hexes that escaped my notice. Flint and Wood in particular were rather vindictive with each other."
"I see. It's too bad, really." Dumbledore said with a sigh.
"As Filius pointed out when the idea came up, would not a Dueling Master be a better choice for the project?" Severus pointed out. "At any rate, Flint decided to up the ante and cast Serpensortia."
"Which would explain the rather large snake adorning young Harry here, though I fail to see how either of you are so sanguine about the situation." Dumbledore pointed out. It wasn't until then that Harry realized Dumbledore was fingering his wand as he eyed Hissesh, apparently ready to blast the snake into next week if it moved wrong. Fortunately, Hissesh seemed content to drape his head in the crook of Harry's neck and watch the proceedings.
"That would be the other bit of news. Harry is a parselmouth." Severus said.
Dumbledore's eyebrows merged with his hairline. "Is that so? That's ... quite an interesting and rare ability, Harry."
"Yeah. I ... kind of scared pretty much everybody with it, I think. I was just trying to keep Hissesh from doing anything rash. He was kind of not happy about getting yanked away from wherever he had been."
"I doubt anyone would be happy about being summoned like that." Dumbledore admitted.
"We also came to the conclusion that whatever creature is in the Chamber, it is probably some breed of snake." Severus said. "Harry heard the creature speak when no one else did, though they were present at the same time. Given that legend says the creature is something only the 'heir of Slytherin' is able to control ... "
"That would presuppose some sort of snake, given the rarity of the parselmouth ability." Dumbledore agreed. "Well done, both of you."
"If I hear it again, I'll try to talk it down. Now I know what's going on." Harry said. "And maybe Hissesh can help. I mean, he can get places we can't, and he's a snake too. Whatever's running around now might be more ... friendly ... with him."
"That might be possible, but ... Hissesh, did you say ... happens to be a very poisonous snake, Harry. I'm worried he might bite someone." Dumbledore said.
"What if I keep him with me, or in our quarters, to keep the danger to a minimum? As long as I'm with him, I can keep people off him and calm him down if someone pisses him off, and if I can't haul him around, our quarters are nice and quiet and no one goes in there but Severus and I, and Severus wouldn't pester Hissesh."
Dumbledore considered that for several long moments before finally nodding. "We will attempt it on a trial basis, Harry. Hissesh is either to be contained in your quarters or within shouting range of you when out and about, unless you send him into the forest to hunt, and I would much rather you supply him his meals, rather than have him hunt for them."
Harry nodded. "That shouldn't be a problem, sir. And thank you."
Dumbledore smiled at Harry. "You're welcome, Harry, though you may rethink the thanks after a few days. Most of your classmates will be less than sanguine about this."
"Yeah, I kind of figured that one out, but if they see me talking to Hissesh, maybe it will make them a bit less afraid."
"We can but hope, Harry."
HPHPHP
Harry's first big test came when he walked into Gryffindor Tower after the meeting with Dumbledore. There were quite a few students in the common room, and to say Harry and Hissesh caused a stir would be to vastly understate the case. Most of the girls screamed, and everyone backed off. Harry rolled his eyes.
"Guys, chill. This is Hissesh. He's not going to hurt anyone." He said.
"Says you!" Someone called.
"Yes, says me. I managed to get him away from Flint and Wood, didn't I? Didn't let him bite anyone, did I? Well, he won't now, either."
Hermione, bless her, was the first to overcome her hesitance and approach. Harry smiled at her in relief and pleasure.
/Hissesh, this is my friend, Hermione./ He told Hissesh. Then, when everyone except Hermione jerked and jumped backwards, he rolled his eyes. "I was just telling Hissesh who Hermione was, guys. She's one of my two best friends. I'm hardly going to sic a venomous snake on her!"
That, more than anything, seemed to calm everyone down. Hermione glanced at Harry, her expression asking how to approach Hissesh.
"Just hold your hand out, let him get your scent, and take the lead from there."
Hissesh flicked his tongue at the outstretched (and slightly trembly) hand. /She is afraid/
/You're a big, poisonous snake, Hissesh. I think there's only one or two people around here, other than me, that won't be alarmed./ Severus hadn't *seemed* to be afraid, but with him, it was hard to tell. Hagrid, at least, would latch onto Hissesh like a long-lost pal, given his taste in pets.
/True/ Hissesh admitted. He slid forward to rest his head briefly on Hermione's hand, tickling the back of it with his tongue, before returning to Harry.
Seeing Hermione pass muster encouraged the boldest of the Gryffindors to approach, and soon Harry was surrounded by his Housemates, who alternated between stroking a smugly pleased Hissesh and firing questions at Harry. They flinched every time he spoke to Hissesh for about the first fifteen minutes, but after that they seemed to get used to it. Harry didn't think they'd lost their fear of it, but at least they weren't openly freaking out about it, either.
They caused quite the stir next morning at breakfast. Harry got a lot of funny looks, but the fact he'd been hanging out with all four Houses for weeks now, and had been friendly or at least tolerant of pretty much everyone seemed to be blunting the worst of the reaction. That didn't stop some of the more reactionary students from accusing him of being Slytherin's Heir. When word of that got to Harry, he laughed.
"Guys." He told the Hufflepuffs. "Pretty much every pureblood and halfblood in the school has some degree of relation to the Founders, but there's no Heirs anymore, at least not the way you're meaning. If Parseltongue is hereditary, then practically every pureblood has a chance at being born with it, but that doesn't make them Slytherin's Heir anymore than I'm a monkey's uncle."
That at least made people think, but it didn't stop them from eyeballing him like they thought he was the Heir over the next few days. Fortunately or unfortunately, Harry couldn't decide which, there was no sign of the Chamber snake. It lulled them all into a (false, Harry knew) sense of security.
Four days after the aborted attempt at a dueling club, Harry (carrying Hissesh), Hermione, Neville and Ron were heading from the library to the dorm after working on their homework when they stumbled across something rather horrifying on the third floor ... Nearly Headless Nick, looking blackened and blasted, hanging motionless midair, expression frozen in alarm. Beside him stood a student, frozen solid, expression also terrified. It took Harry a few moments to recognize Justin Finch-Fletchley.
"Oh, shit. Here we go again." Harry grumbled. /Hissesh, can you detect anything?/
Hissesh flicked his tongue rapidly. /Big./ He said after a few moments. /Very old. Very powerful. Very hungry. Female, and very magical. Other than that, nothing./
"Damn. Well, now we know it's a girl. That's about the only new thing Hissesh could tell me. We gotta get the teachers." He eyed their surroundings nervously. "Really not good. To hell with it. Toker!"
Toker popped in. "Master Harry is needing Toker?"
"Yeah, Toker, would you go find Severus? Tell him the snake struck again, third floor by the girl's loo. We didn't see or hear it this time, but it can't have been gone long, so we're not real keen on wandering around." Well, he wasn't, and from the looks on everyone else's faces, they were right there with him.
Toker nodded once and popped out.
"Harry ... maybe try calling to it? Like you said, it can't have been gone long." Ron asked.
"Ron, mate. It's big and it's hungry. Parselmouth or not, I don't fancy risking becoming its next meal. Or worse." He waved to the petrified Nick and Justin.
Ron grimaced. "Good point, mate."
Fortunately, Toker popped back in, Severus in tow. He glared at the petrified ghost and student. "Professor McGonagall and the Headmaster are on their way." He said. "You didn't hear anything?"
Harry shook his head. "No. Not a thing, so it's been a minute or two." Harry frowned around. "Same place as last time."
"I had noticed that." Severus agreed. "There might be significance to that."
Dumbledore and McGonagall hustled into view a minute later, looking less than pleased. Dumbledore must have warned Flitwick, because the Charms professor skidded around the corner from another direction a few seconds later.
"Minerva, if you would assist me in getting these two to the Infirmary." Flitwick said.
Minerva gave a tight, unhappy nod, and the two petrified figures floated off, carefully guided by the two professors.
"Headmaster, where did the attacks take place the last time?" Severus wanted to know.
"The student that was killed died in this ... bathroom." Dumbledore hesitated for a second mid-sentence, as if something had suddenly clicked. "Of course! I had forgotten. The year after you graduated, Severus, the Ministry came to me asking for assistance in relocating a ghost that had been causing a great deal of grief. To keep her from returning to the person she was antagonizing, we had to tie her to the place she died ... but I didn't realize the significance at the time, as it had been quite a few years since the Chamber attacks. I shall have to talk to Myrtle. She may be able to shed some light on the subject. You will have to pardon me, as she is ... rather touchy, and if we want to get anything sensible out of her, the questioning must be carefully done."
Dumbledore disappeared into the bathroom. Harry could hear his voice, and the rather whiny, high-pitched, whiny voice of 'Myrtle', whoever she was. After a few minutes, a grim-faced Dumbledore walked out of the bathroom.
"There is an entrance, perhaps to the Chamber itself, but certainly an egress point for the snake, somewhere by the sinks in there." He told them. "When Minerva and Filius return, Severus, we shall have to seal this area off."
Severus immediately shook his head. "Not totally, Headmaster. If we do that, whoever is responsible will simply fade into the shadows, and this will happen again. I would recommend, instead, setting a trap. This might be our only chance to ensure this never happens again."
Dumbledore considered that. "You have a point, Severus. The four of us shall talk it over. In the meantime, Harry, I think you should have Toker take all of you to Gryffindor Tower, just to be on the safe side."
Harry nodded obediently. "Yessir. I don't much fancy the idea of getting frozen into rock because I walked around the wrong corner. Toker, if you would?"
"Toker will, Master Harry!" Toker agreed, and soon the lot of them were back in the Tower.
Unfortunately their oddball method of arrival attracted attention, and they soon had half the Tower around them, wanting to know what was going on. The four of them spent fully half the night talking to their Housemates. Harry noticed that more than one person was giving him strained looks, but chose to ignore it. Anyone that thought he was siccing a bloody great snake on people was barking mad. Especially if they believed he was 'Slytherin's Heir' and siccing said snake on Muggleborns (one of whom just happened to be his friend!).
By morning word had spread, and the twitchiness and odd looks Harry had been getting the last few days increased tenfold, at least from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. The Slytherins, thanks be, were mostly staying out of it, though a few of the older ones were giving Harry pointed looks.
Author's Chapter Notes:
/Parseltongue/
Great Snakes!
To be continued...