Slithering Serpents (Ch 2)

I hum to myself while trying to decide on what dress I want to wear for my first excursion into the magical side of the world. Well, Britain’s side of the magical world, at least. According to Kettleburn the magical side of the world has just as many different cultures as the non-magical - so-called ‘muggle’ - side, and that not all muggle sensibilities transfer over to the magical side either. So it will be best for me to keep an open mind while I get my school supplies. Which also means that I don’t have to care whatsoever about what magical people will think about my outfit! Not that I care what people think about myself in general, but this time I have an excuse so they won’t know that I couldn’t care less about them or their opinions! Of course, that excuse isn’t going to last any longer than this shopping trip, but I don’t think it particularly matters. What I decide to wear is my business and my business alone. If anyone has a problem with that then either I could light them on fire or one of my friends can bite them.

Then again, it’s not as if I ever wear anything other than dresses in the first place. Never any that cling to my body though, Monty needs his space! As such, I decide to go with a black and fluffy trimmed gothic-styled dress today, without the matching parasol since the weather is cold and the sky is cloudy. A quick sort of twisting/stretching feeling has me standing in front of my chosen dress, naked. It immediately becomes harder to breathe, my lungs struggling to pull in more air before Monty slithers his way up to his usual position and wraps himself tightly around my torso. I take a deep breath to reassure myself that I can do so without any pain, Monty’s body contracting with the motion to help, before giving my friend a thankful pet on the head that he ignores with the same aplomb he usually does.

After I’m dressed and Addy and Kay slither their way into my hair I make my way through the dry dark tunnels, eventually reaching the entrance and coming out under the shadowed recess of the bridge allowing people to travel over the river. As well as keeping the entrance to the sewers, where I live, out of sight.

It’s much more pleasant to live here instead of the orphanage, but letting people know that I live in a discontinued part of the city’s sewer system is a bad idea since some of them will make a big deal out of it because I’m young. Thankfully I learned fast not to tell people that, which is why I usually just let people think I live at the orphanage that sits a bit further up the river. Well, I do spend at least part of my day there, every day, if only to prevent cases of people seeing me around town and wondering why they never see me there. Plus I get free food from the orphanage, even if the matron would rather let me starve. The rest of the staff are too scared of me to not put food in front of me when I show up.

Speaking of, it would be best for me to get a meal before the wixen arrive at nine. I can only assume that the school will be paying for the things I’ll need for learning since I’m an orphan, and I have no clue if the pounds I’ve collected are able to be converted to whatever the wixen currency is, so it would be better to eat while I can.

The orphanage is a sprawling single story building with an iron fence surrounding the large property, with plenty of grass for the kids to play on and a few trees for them to climb while adding some variety to the view

The reaction to my appearance in the dining area is the same as usual; that being a sudden silence, the children closest to the door rushing out of their seats and to a different table, and one of the younger kids that Addy scared a few days ago bursting into tears. I ignore them all as I sit in one of the recently vacated seats and reach up to let Kay slither her way around my arm to be promptly pet behind the head.

§You’re always so demanding in the mornings,§ I hiss at her in amusement, causing the caretaker bringing me breakfast to startle and almost drop the plate of boiled oats and sliced fruit. She manages to save it after a few moments of panicked balancing, after which she carefully places it in front of me and quickly walks away. Some would call it a run, but I think it’s too slow for that.

§Says the one who wakes before the sun.§ Kay hisses back, making me giggle and roll my eyes.

§That’s only because of all the fog the river causes. Besides, waking up early means that I don’t have any trouble falling asleep when I find a nice warm spot to lounge at!§

Monty shifts so he can poke his head out of my sleeve - which causes a few screams since he doesn’t show himself often and so not a lot of the orphans actually know about him - and hisses his own opinion into the conversation. §She’s right, you know. While we’re enjoying our sunny spots you and the little one always wander off to try and find ways to entertain yourselves.§

Addy pokes her head out of my hair to send a lazy flick of her tongue towards Monty and give him a withering look. §Hey now, there’s no reason to poke at me! I wasn’t even part of this conversation!§

§Because you were trying to go back to sleep,§ the python says blandly. §I honestly didn’t expect you to be awake enough to listen to us yet.§

Addy doesn’t have any retort to that and simply grumbles quietly as she retreats back into the mess that makes up my hair to curl herself into a ball to indeed go back to sleep. She probably won’t bother properly waking up until it’s time for us to go wixen shopping.

I take my time eating, enjoying the wary glances everyone else sends towards me. It’s nice, knowing that they’re so scared of me. It means that they’re less likely to try anything to hurt me. Well, less likely now. Deterrents work best when you have people to use as examples, after all. Really, it’s best to treat the kids at the orphanage the same as just another one of the many gangs dotting the city. Show them enough power to make them fear you and they fall in line.

I sit there calmly eating until the last of the children scrambles from the room, literally tripping over themselves in their haste to get away. It probably has something to do with how I stared at them while refusing to blink while I fed Kay some sausage. Not that she was all that hungry with the recent meals that the three of my friends had, but she finds people being scared of her just as amusing as I do.

Evidently though, breakfast has taken longer than I thought. Or maybe they decided to come early, because the orphanages’ matron comes into the room with her typical hostile look and stares at me suspiciously before announcing, “There are a pair of adults looking for you, Snake. What did you do this time?”

I blink slowly at her, one eye closing while the other opens in a slightly out of sync motion that I’ve practiced to give off an unnerving dichotomy before slowly tilting my head to the side. “I do not believe anyone caught me doing anything that would constitute people looking for me, Matron. But given I had been expecting to attend to some guests, I would propose that these are the people I was expecting to arrive.”

She maintains her glare, determined as ever to try and out stare me in an effort to establish even a smidge of dominance. It doesn’t work, of course, and she blinks first before scowling at me and jerking her chin towards the door in an obvious gesture telling me to get out. I smirk at her as I casually get to my feet, holding my hand out so Kay can slither back into my hair. She leaves her head poking out though, giving the woman a threatening glare and tongue flick as we walk past her.

Outside the orphanage gates are a tall, black haired woman in an emerald green dress and an equally tall man with greasy hair somehow darker than hers, with a hooked nose and sallow skin. You would think the man to be the more off-putting of the two, but the woman looks stern like the matron, which immediately makes me more wary of her even if I do like the color of her dress. On the other side, while the man’s physical appearance is a bit off-putting, the black dress he’s wearing somehow makes him look less… well, less like a clean drug addict who dumpster dives outside of fast food joints and more like a mad scientist if you replace the white lab coat for his black dress.

The stern-looking woman blinks at me for a moment before asking in a hesitant voice, “Miss Potter?”

I tilt my head and raise an eyebrow questioningly at her. “Kettleburn did mention that my name is Belladonna Potter, so I would say that I am, in fact, ‘Miss Potter’.”

The woman looks taken aback by how I said that and the man makes some sort of strangled noise in his throat, but looks completely unaffected when I glance back at him, his face carefully blank. “Your family name is indeed ‘Potter’,” he explains with a droll voice. “As unfortunate as that is, the fact remains true.”

“Huh, that’s interesting.” I say before immediately moving on to more important things. “So, how are we going to get to the wixen shopping district, and who are the two of you?” The woman draws in a sharp breath while the man raises an eyebrow, but I have no idea why. I don’t think I said anything particularly noteworthy when I asked my question.

Whatever it was, they don’t say anything about it after exchanging a look with each other. “It would be best for us to apparate to our destination, but it is rather stressful the first time. We can also take the… Knight Bus,” the woman frowns as she names the second way to get where we’re going. Seems like she doesn’t like the bus for whatever reason.

“Apparition is most closely resembled by the concept of ‘teleportation’ common among muggle literature,” the man explains before I can ask. He pauses a moment before introducing himself. “My name is Severus Snape, but you shall refer to me as Professor Snape at all times.”

The woman gives the now named man a disapproving look before giving me a small smile. “I am Minerva McGonagall, though you may forgo the honorific while we are outside of the school.”

I nod, not bothering to introduce myself since both of them already know my name. “What’s teleporting like for wixen? How do you do it if some people don’t know how?” I ask curiously. It seems interesting, and I don’t really think it being ‘stressful’ is much of an issue considering-.

“For those who are unable to apparate on their own, the one with the capability must hold on to them-”

“The Night Bus,” I cut Professor Snape off the moment he mentions that I need to be in physical contact with someone in order to apparate. There is literally no possibility of that happening.

A minute of silence passes during which the two look at each other and seem to communicate without words before McGonagall finally speaks. “If that is what you are more comfortable with…” She says before trailing off, and I give a firm nod. I do not like to be touched. Period. “Very well then,” she acknowledges while giving me a strange look and pulling out her ‘wand’, as Kettleburn explained the sticks to be, but she’s stopped by Professor Snape’s raised arm.

“Ah, one moment, Minerva.” I watch as his hand reaches into the coat he has over his dress and slowly withdraws an envelope that looks exactly the same as the one Kettleburn gave to me. “This is a copy of the envelope that contained your Hogwarts letter.” He says as if I couldn’t figure that out for myself. “Before Professor Sprout came to deliver your letter personally, three owls had been dispatched to deliver their own copies to you.” He raises an eyebrow and looks down his hooked nose to make eye contact with me. “Do you know what happened to them?”

Oh, is that why those owls showed up? I thought it was weird that they would just be hanging around under a bridge! Wait a minute, if they belong to the school… “I don’t have to pay for those, right? Because how was I supposed to know they belonged to someone?”

His second eyebrow joins the first in trying to climb into his hair, and McGonagall is looking suspicious now too. “Judging by your sudden need to defend yourself, am I right to assume that you did something to the owls?”

I shrug, deciding that even if they do try to make me pay for them, I won’t do it since I did nothing wrong. It’s not my fault they didn’t think about what could happen to their owls! “My friends ate them.”

“…Pardon?” McGonagall asks with a confused expression. “Your friends… ate the owls?”

I nod in confirmation. §Come on out,§ I hiss, and Kay and Addy poke their heads out of my hair and immediately give the two adults warning glares.

§If you hurt the snakeling, I will kill you.§

§I will bit your arse!§

I cover my mouth to muffle my laughter at Addy’s threat. Back when she realized that Kay’s venom is more potent than hers she asked me where the most alarming places to be bitten are, and has since exclusively targeted those areas. It helps that we have a volunteer that doesn’t really have a say in the matter for Addy to test herself on.

McGonagall visibly startles her wand twitching but thankfully stays pointed away from me. Monty is already uneasy about us going someplace where wands are commonplace, it wouldn’t end well if someone were to point something that can be so dangerous at me while he’s like this. Not that I would be ok with someone pointing their wand at me, but I’d at least wait until they seem like an actual threat before stabbing them in the face.

“You- Your snakes-” McGonagall swallows, looking decidedly uneasy while Professor Snape just seems faintly amused even though his expression doesn’t change much. “You fed the school’s owls to your snakes?”

I shrug unabashedly. “They were hungry, and the owls were there, so…” Well, Addy had already eaten a few days ago and wasn’t hungry, so I ate one of them myself, but a snake’s a snake so her statement still isn’t wrong.

“I believe it would be advisable to bring this ‘incident’ to the Headmaster’s attention if you wish to avoid similar situations in the future, Minerva.” Professor Snape says acerbically with the slightest curl of his lips directed at his fellow wixen before schooling his expression back to normal when he turns back to me. “However, that is not what I wished to discuss. Direct your attention to the address on the envelope, Miss Potter.”

I do so and frown at what it says. 

Ms B. Potter

The Third Left and Second Right Room

The sewers under Serpentine Bridge,

West End

London

“Well that’s rather unsettling,” I say frankly. “I consider my home safe precisely because I can often lose anyone who wishes me harm in the various tunnel branches before one of my friends can ambush them.” To have the directions to my home clearly written out is very concerning. Though at least it’s only the part that I sleep in. It would be a problem if it directed them to my permanent ‘guest’. Then again, who’s to say that someone won’t go looking around? I let out an internal sigh at knowing that I’ll have to get rid of them after I get back from this trip.

The two adults exchange another silent glance at my words before apparently deciding to ignore them, Professor Snape continuing what he was saying. “Please explain why you live in a sewer rather than this building, which we have just witnessed you departing.”

I tilt my head as I look at them. “Like I said, I feel safe there.” I pause before lightly raising my shoulders in a shrug. “Also I don’t get on well with the matron. Or the other orphans. Or people in general.” I tilt my head to the other side and narrow my eyes suspiciously at them. “If the letter has my home written directly on it, how did you know that I would be at the orphanage instead of there?”

McGonagall opens her mouth to answer but Professor Snape beats her to it. “Magic,” he says with no hint of emotion, causing McGonagall to give him an exasperated look.

I nod though. “Makes sense. So where do we go for the Night Bus?”

`~`

I stumble out of the Knight Bus and barely manage to catch myself with a hand on the wall in front of me instead of my face. My friends aren’t all that much better, except for Monty who is still firm around my body, though he did tighten up a few times during the extremely wild ride we just experienced. Now, I am no expert given that I’ve never been in a vehicle before, but I am fairly certain that they are not supposed to go that fast! Or be able to squeeze between two cars that are right next to each other! Or drive across the bottom of a river! Still…

After ensuring that I’m not about to throw up my breakfast I look back at the much better off wixen who appear to only be slightly off balance with a shaky smile. “Can we go again after we’re done?”

McGonagall gives a startled but quickly aborted chuckle, clearing her throat with slightly colored cheeks and a raised eyebrow directed at me. “Generally, those who experience the Knight Bus for the first time are reluctant to do so a second.”

I tilt my head while staring at her. “Is that a no?”

“That is a consideration for after the day is done, is it not?” Professor Snape points out, making a good point. Who knows, maybe there’s another way to get back home in the wixen shopping district.

Seeing me nod in agreement he walks towards the door of a tiny, comforting-looking bar a dozen meters away from me. He stops a bit to the side of the door to avoid getting hit by either it or anyone coming out before gesturing towards it. “This is the Leaky Cauldron, the main entrance for Diagon Alley for those raised among muggles.” He pauses and McGonagall takes up the rest of the explanation.

“There are other ways to enter, of course, but it is both tradition and the most convenient way for new individuals to be introduced to the magical world.”

“Ok,” I say, because what else am I supposed to say? ‘Why do wixen think that an eleven year old’s first introduction to their world should be through a pub?’ Actually, yes, that is probably something I should ask. “Why is it tradition to walk children into a pub in order to discover the wixen world?”

McGonagall sighs and Professor Snape’s lips twitch before the woman answers. “That is the second time that I’ve been asked such a thing from a new student,” she says under her breath before turning her attention back to me. “Diagon Alley has been established for a far longer time than this building, which was constructed in the 1500’s. While I shall admit that the atmosphere is not what muggleborn children are expected to be around when they are introduced to magic, there are a number of differences between magical culture and muggle culture that you are not yet aware of.”

She pauses for a moment before adding on, “Additionally, should a muggle somehow stumble into the building despite the muggle repelling charms, they would not immediately be able to see anything that would make them think of magic, which helps to prevent the need for them to be obliviated.”

Well then. I don’t know what that means, but being ‘obliviated’ certainly sounds unpleasant. “Understandable, do we simply walk in?”

“Indeed,” Professor Snape says before opening the door and sweeping inside with his dress flaring dramatically. I’ll admit that I found it odd for him to be wearing a dress since on the muggle side it’s widely considered something only females wear, but wears it well. Maybe it’s one of those cultural differences McGonagall mentioned. I wonder if I’ll be able to make my dress flare dramatically?

I dismiss the thought after a moment and follow closely behind McGonagall into the building before brightening up at the sight inside. Dark, a haze of smoke hanging in the air, and candles scattered around the room competing with the single large window on the second for the privilege of providing light.

It’s just like the sewers!

`~`

Severus Snape will admit that he was uncertain as to why he decided to accompany Minerva on introducing the Potter Girl to the magical world, at least within the security of his own mind. Perhaps it was because he caught sight of her letter, which stated that she lives in a sewer, of all places. Maybe it was because he wished to get an idea of her personality, after having the beliefs he’d been silently building in his mind brutally torn down by discovering the truth of her living situation. Maybe he grew curious as to why Filius felt the need to put a tracker on the girl while she conversed with Silvanus. Certainly his decision grew firm when Dumbledore wished to send Hagrid with the Transfiguration Professor on her introduction!

Silvanus made it quite clear that the girl seemed to have an aversion to contact with others, and while the half-giant is the kindest person Severus has ever met - not that he would admit as such even if subjected to the Cruciatus curse by the Dark Lord himself - he would certainly try to give the girl a hug after meeting her.

Thus he has found himself in the unique position of seeing how Belladonna Potter, The Girl Who Lived, ‘Savior of Magical Britain’, reacts upon seeing the magical world for the first time.

He is curious when the tracking charm leads them to an orphanage rather than the sewers she is supposedly living at and begins the questions soon after introductions are made. It certainly wouldn’t do for the girl to get into the habit of addressing him improperly before the school year even starts. He is darkly amused at how little she seems to care for the Potter name, though it is tempered by the knowledge that it is due to her not having previously known it. Another thing that amuses him is the fact that, given her complete lack of knowledge regarding anything having to do with magic, she fed the school’s owls to her pets. Perhaps this will finally convince Albus to use more muggle ways of delivering the letters to muggleborns.

His amusement is very abruptly slammed to a stop when her snakes make their appearance. Not because he finds them unsettling of course, but because he can immediately tell that they are no mere pets. No, the snakes that reside in her hair are familiars! It is only the fact that he is a natural oclumens that allows him to stop himself from showing his shock. Familiars are animals that are connected to a wizard or witch’s magic. They are able to gain benefits from feeding off the excess magic the individual gives off in exchange for such a variety of benefits that attempting to catalogue them all is a fool’s errand! Especially given that the benefits gained vary wildly between familiars.

The problem is that it takes a large amount of magic being channeled into the animal over an incredible amount of time. It is not something that a prepubescent witch should be able to do! It is enough of a shock that he almost fails to note how she emphasizes that the sewers in which she resides are safe for her. He will have to attempt to look into why she feels she needs to prioritize safety over convenience or comfort at a later date, but for now he must simply ensure that there are no complications in obtaining what she requires for her first year at Hogwarts.

It is something that he does not feel will be particularly difficult, even considering his lack of experience in guiding children through Diagon Alley. Or guiding them for any reason while outside of Hogwarts. Still, he has Minerva with him, and she has more than enough experience to ensure nothing complicates the day. Indeed, with any luck they should be done with the required shopping by noon and they can discuss alternative living arrangements until Potter begins at Hogwarts.

Even if he has no desire to take the girl into his own home even over his dead body, they certainly cannot allow her to continue living in a sewer. Not only would the population of Magical Britain tear itself apart if that knowledge were to become public, but not even the Dark Lord would subject a child to such a thing. Admittedly he would simply kill the child if such a situation became relevant, but the point still stands.

Severus’ belief that they would be finished with everything by lunch held firm up to the point where the three of them were halfway through the Leaky Cauldron to the back area where the hidden entrance to Diagon Alley lay. They avoid being swarmed by people eager to meet ‘the famous Bella Potter’ by simple virtue of the fact he and Minerva have the tact necessary to not announce her presence. It is also helped by how the girl herself does not seem interested in gaining attention.

Unfortunately, it is at this point that the irritating nitwit that the Headmaster has chosen to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor this year catches sight of them and makes his way over for some unfathomable reason. Honestly, Severus is utterly baffled by the man’s desire to converse with them given that he has made it very clear that he detests the man. His presence has only gotten worse ever since he came back from his trip to Albania with the most utterly abysmal attempt at maintaining a stutter that he has ever heard. He is vastly overplaying his attempts at appearing harmless. Nobody stutters that badly!

Regardless of his views of the man and his desire to avoid interacting with him, he is not eager to make a scene by pushing past the man to depart from the pub. Not to mention that Minerva will certainly wish to speak with him regardless of his own intentions. So he is resigned to suffering the man’s presence for the bare minimum amount of time until he can direct the Head of Gryffindor to their main task of the day. At least, that is what he intends.

Things take a rather sudden and dramatic turn for the unexpected when Quirrell raises a hand in greeting and brushes against Potter’s arm as he walks past her. He barely has time to open his mouth in what Severus presumes would be a greeting before she jumps away and shoves her hand towards him, launching a wave of flames that quickly engulfs the Defense professor.

There’s a moment of stillness in the pub as everyone stares at the suddenly flaming man, not even Quirrell himself reacting despite being aflame, as if the world itself is unsure how to react. Then there’s screaming,shouting, panicking, a dozen spells flying through the air to various effects, and an eleven year old child with her arms aflame and snakes in her hair baring her teeth and scowling at anyone who gets near her.

Severus immediately regrets his decision to accompany Minerva for Potter’s introduction. He is quite certain that they will not be done by noon as he previously thought.

...Yeah, Belladonna does not like to be touched. For any reason. Sprout got off lucky.