Harry Potter and the Time Fluke

Snake Charmer

Diagon Alley was vastly different from when he was last there in 1997 and he somehow managed to find his way lost in Knockturn Alley. After avoiding his fair share of unusual brooding blokes he decided to go into a shop and ask for directions. He came across LaVaughn's Beasts, a magical pet shop which was his best bet of being the least shady. and no one was at the front desk to help him so he wondered around the store looking for the shop keeper.

Inside the huge, magically expanded room were many creatures Harry had never seen before. Insides buzzing with excitement, he started his self-guided tour of the zoo-like setup. Beside each cage was a small placard he surmised carried information about the beast inside. All the animals in the cages he could see looked as though they had some sort of magical property.

The first cage he came across had a miniature golden bird with ruby red eyes, pruning itself. Reading the provided information, Harry frowned at the lack thereof.

Snidget: Class 4

Well this isn't very helpful, he thought indignantly, moving on. If he wanted to find out any more on the creatures, he would probably have to actually read his Monster Book of Monsters; but he wasn't in the mood to have his fingered chomped on anytime soon. Still, he had expected there to be more than just a single word explaining the beast to him

Tebo: Class 4; Invisibility

Harry raised a skeptical eyebrow at the empty tank. And if no one can see your invisible creature, how are they supposed to know if it's there? He was becoming less deluded with this circus as his tour continued.

Shrugging away his minute concern, he peered into the next tank.

"Nagini?" he asked, surprised and unable to help himself from feeling a stir of curiosity. The snake in question was identical aesthetically, but much smaller than the Horcrux he'd seen in the future–only about three feet in length and no bigger around than his wrist–and was lounging on a flat rock heated by an overhanging light fixture in her own glass cage.

The green snake looked at him with only mild interest and blinked slowly. "You call me 'Nagini' as if you know me, yet I have no recollection of ever having met you before."

"Well..." Harry hesitated. "I do... sort of... It's more like you resemble a snake I once knew a-a long time ago..."

Nagini hissed softly in understanding. "I have never met another snake like me; neither has the smelly human who owns this store. But that does not mean there aren't others out there. The world is big." Nagini raised her head and inch and tilted it to the side. "What does it mean, 'Nagini'? If I'm not mistaken, the names humans give usually have some sort of meaning accompanying them."

"In my language, Nagini means God or Goddess. The name changes based on gender, I would assume."

"Nagini," Nagini said slowly, tasting the name. "I like it. I permit you to call me by that name, so long as it does not stir up painful memories of the serpent you once knew."

"It doesn't," Harry firmly reassured.

"Good." Nagini slithered up to the front of the glass and raised herself up to be eye-level with Harry. "And your name?"

"Harry Evans."

"Well then, Harry, now that we have made each other's acquaintance, I feel the best course of action to be taken would be you helping me escape from this prison. It is only proper that I should become the familiar of the one who bestowed upon me my name."