Madness- T.M.R.

Chapter 4

Seeing as it would be unwise to bring books on the darkest arts and parselmagic up into the castle, Seraya had been spending most of her time down in Slytherin's study, conversing with the basilisk before entering and leaving. Slytherin had given the beast the Latin name 'Rex' which was rather fitting for the king of all serpents. It was amusing to admit that the most intellectual conversations Seraya had held while at Hogwarts had all been with a very old giant snake. It just showed how utterly pathetic most of the other students were. Only worrying about their grades or Quidditch, a total waste of time if anyone were to ask her, with no perspective for higher aims and ambitions. 

Weeks had passed since Seraya Cassedy had first visited the study and she had managed to work through many of the books on parselmagic. She had tried some of the things she had learned on that branch of magic on little rodents down in the chamber, under constant surveillance of Rex, and was delighted to find that parselmagic came to her as easily as breathing, for parselmagic was not about complicated wand movements and silly incantations but all about intent. 

The weather had taken a rather drastic change since the start of term. The autumn in Scotland had brought thick clouds, an array of thunderstorms and cold winds and people no longer lingered in the icy corridors between classes. It was obvious that more students than usual were spending their time in the large expanses of the library, which had the perks of being shrouded in several warming charms. 

Seraya found herself in a far corner of the library, seated in a comfortable chair in an aisle of books on advanced transfiguration. Sprawled across the floor by her feet were several books on animagi transformations, in her lap a nearly finished essay on said topic. The possibility of changing from a human to an animalistic anatomy was truly fascinating and Seraya certainly would have attempted an animagus transformation had it not been for the far more intriguing book in Slytherin's study. Wizards and witches with the gift of parseltongue could gain the ability to focus their parselmagic on changing into a snake. 

The specifics of the snake body depended on the person in question; much like the animagus transformation the species of snake adapted to the character and power of the witch or wizard. The young witch was determined to attempt the transformation soon. At the moment her visits to the Chamber and the study were rather scarce, as the amount of homework had increased immensely. The teachers were now actively starting to thoroughly prepare them for their O.W.Ls that were coming up near the end of second term. 

Occasionally she would meet up with Timothy and some other Ravenclaws to help them with their studies as it had become public knowledge within their house that Seraya knew a lot more about magic than she led on. Whenever she spent time in the common room, other Ravenclaw students would come up to her with questions on all kinds of subjects. It was becoming increasingly challenging to contain her annoyance at having people disturb her every other minute. However, gaining the trust and favor of her housemates would be crucial for her survival at Hogwarts; that she was certain of. 

The peace of her ponderings was interrupted by the chair next to her being pulled to face her. Seraya looked up from her transfiguration essay, noticing that she had added another half a foot to the length that Professor Dumbledore had assigned to them. A handsome boy had taken a seat and was now watching her intently. How annoying. Although the both of them had never officially spoken, Seraya knew him from several of her classes, for they were in the same year. Abraxas Malfoy, fifth year Slytherin, heir to one of Britain's wealthiest pureblood families and most importantly Tom Riddle's closest companion. 

"Malfoy,"Seraya greeted the boy politely though highly suspicious of his objectives, "What brings you here?" Malfoy stayed silent for another moment, still not tearing his eyes away from her. Seraya was well aware that young Mr. Malfoy was quite infatuated with her appearance, she had sifted through his mind briefly while in potions class. "I was looking for a rather rare book on advanced transformations of magical artifacts and I saw you and thought why not converse with you for a little since we haven't had the proper opportunity yet," Malfoy's tone of voice was soft and seemingly honest, yet Seraya wasn't one to be fooled easily.