A Stolen Past

Hessseth and Hedwig Part 1

For the next two months, Harry's routine didn't change. He attended his classes, put the smallest possible amount of effort into his homework, and practiced magic every night after curfew. By mid-March he was able to fire spells with equal ease from both hands, and he was learning to launch them from his feet as well.

After so many months of sleeping in a room by himself, Harry nearly jumped through the low ceiling when he awoke to the sound of a soft voice in his ear whispering, "Good morning, Harry Potter." Once the initial panic had passed, he looked around and saw a small, rusty brown snake with a crossed pattern running down its back.

"Good morning, Hassseth," Harry said with a smile. "It's been a while, hasn't it? How was hibernation?"

"Better than being out in the cold," the snake replied. "How have things gone for you?" She looked at him inquiringly, and Harry wondered if she already knew the answer to her question.

"Not long after you started hibernating, Big Tom and his gang came after Tyler and me again. I was able to hold them off for a while, but one of them snuck up behind me and caught me by surprise. Luckily, Tyler escaped and got help before they were able to kill me, but I had to spend a long time in the infirmary."

Hassseth nodded her head sympathetically. "You should have let me bite him when I had the chance," she hissed. "It wouldn't have done any permanent damage, but it would have been a while before he was able to sit normally."

"He's gone now anyway," said Harry. "He and Hodges both got sent to a regular youth prison. That's not the exciting thing, though. I found out something about myself while you were snoozing inside the walls." He leaned down closer to the small snake and whispered, as though afraid someone else might hear, "I'm a witch."

For a moment, there was silence. Then Hassseth broke into a fit of coughing and wheezing the likes of which Harry had never seen. He was just becoming alarmed when he realized with a jolt that she wasn't coughing at all - the strange sounds he was hearing were the snake's laughter.

"What's so funny?" he demanded. The ability to do magic had become an important part of his life over the past months, and the idea that one of his very few friends found it amusing irritated him.

Hassseth spent a moment getting her laughter under control before using the tip of her tail to wipe away an imaginary tear and answering, "If you're a witch, dear, then you'd better run before someone catches you in an all boys' school." Then, in a somewhat gentler tone, she added, "Witches are girls, Harry. You're a wizard."

"A wizard?" Harry asked blankly. Then, as the idea sank in, he grinned. "I'm a wizard." It had a nice ring to it.

Hassseth smiled at him, showing her brilliantly white fangs, but Harry saw it for what it was and didn't feel the slightest bit threatened.

"Can you talk to other kinds of animals, or just other snakes?" he asked suddenly.

"All animals can communicate, although we might not always be able to speak to one another directly. It's complicated, but we can usually get our point across," answered Hassseth. "Is there another animal you want me to speak with for you?"

"Yeah." Harry was relieved that she didn't seem offended by the idea. "You see, I have this other animal friend, Snowy. Actually, I'm sure that's not her real name, but since I can't talk to her, I don't know what her real name is. She's a snowy owl-"

Harry was cut off abruptly by a sharp hiss from Hassseth.

"What is it?" he asked immediately, concerned that he had said something wrong.

"Adders and birds of prey are enemies," hissed the snake, her black eyes suddenly glittering in the dim light of the room. "If I give your owl friend half a chance, I'll be her supper."