Capítulo 2: Thought's and Hunches
After that quite unusual meeting the following days and weeks were even stranger. Sure, still no helpful letters from his friends - though Hermione seemed to have understood that he didn't like being purposefully left out of the loop and had started writing about other stuff - and no news about Voldemort anywhere.
But at least he was beginning to form some sort of friendship with the little snake. Since there wasn't much to do these days he spent a lot of time upstairs inside of his room, where he began to simply talk with his new found companion, so that they could get to know each other.
The snake was a female one and though she couldn't tell him her species she knew that she was quite poisonous and that her mother was a really big snake. She also knew that she had no name - since snakes normally didn't need one - so Harry spent quite a bit of his time reading to find something suitable. And for once he was glad that there was a bookshelf with a few unused muggle books in his room, which had originally been Dudleys room for broken toys.
In the end they decided on 'Shiva', a name he had found in an old book about different religions. He had no idea why the hell the Dursleys had something like this but at least he knew why it stood here, unused, instead of in the living room, where his relatives tended to place everything of value to impress their visitors.
Anyway, since he had a surprising amount of free-time, Shiva convinced him to do some reading and start his schoolwork early. Normally he tended to forget about it during the summer, having to rush through everything the last few days before school started again, but the snake was quite insistent that he could work now as he was bored anyway.
She seemed to have an unusual amount of knowledge about human stuff too, like which of his schoolbooks he should consult if he didn't understand something. It was really quite easy to forget that she was just a snake.
What surprised him even more was the fact that, after a few hours of moaning about it, he found his schoolwork actually not very hard at all and kind of interesting, if he took his time instead of hurrying through it like he had done all the years before.
Since Ron had been his first friend he had always tried to be like him, he had been his role model. But now, without the redhead to distract him with games or talks of Quidditch, he found the wonders of magic so much more appealing! Sure, he was only able to do theoretical work, since he was still underage, but before, he had seen schoolwork as a burden. Right now it seemed more like a chance. Not only helped it ceasing his boredom and took his mind off of Voldemort and whatever he was doing right now, he also began to understand some of the theory behind his classes, like Charms or Transfiguration. When once he had struggled with the spellwork itself, memorising the theory only for the exams and forgetting about it soon afterwards, he now understood what McGonagall and Flitwick had tried to teach them. It was quite strange, but at the same time he felt like he had finally accomplished something on his own. No one had been telling him that he had to learn that - well, except for Shiva, maybe, but she was mostly suggesting things, not ordering him around - or talked about it being great until Harry himself had believed it.
No, it was his own little achievement and he would keep it to himself for now. Let his so called best friends be surprised that even at his personal hellhole and without their help he could achieve something.
Many more days came and went as he concentrated on studying, wanting to prove himself. Including his birthday. He had almost forgotten, since there were so many books to read - starting with his first year books, he had been such a lazy student! - but as he heard the owls he remembered.
He was still a bit miffed about his best friends, even though their letters were friendly and Hermione even hinted that they might meet up soon, but he hid their boxes of Honeydukes chocolate under the floor just like last summer anyway, since he knew Dudley - and with him, everyone else in this household - was still on his so called diet.
He knew that if he hadn't been able to vent his frustration while studying, or sometimes even voicing them to Shiva, he probably would have been really angry at them by now, but... that way, he was only frustrated, remembering the last time they left, at the beginning of last years triwizard tournament. Of course, he had forgiven Ron his ignorance long ago, but if they continued like that... he wasn't sure. But for now, he put that thought out of his head and went through the other letters he got.
One was from Hagrid - Harry recognised his messy scrawl before he even read the card - and had a box full of rock cakes attached to it. He put them aside, knowing he'd not eat a single one of them, but cherishing the thought.
Another one was from Sirius and was delivered together with a small cake that was self-made if he could believe his godfather and quite good if he could believe his taste buds. He had also gotten a copy of Kennilworthy Whisps He Flew Like a Madman, which was a biography of some known Quidditch player called Dai Llewellyn. Harry decided he'd add it to his mental list of books he wanted to read before the end of the holidays.
The last letter was the most confusing though. He didn't recognise the bird, which was a dark brown eagle owl that flew off the second he took it's letter, and the writing was only vaguely familiar.
Harry,
Happy Birthday.
Take care.
No signature or anything. Frowning confused, he stroke Shivas head, since she rested next to him right now, lying comfortably on his bed. Was that some kind of warning? But who had sent it? He knew that Dumbledore liked to leave his messages unsigned, but that didn't seem likely here, he was pretty sure the handwriting of his headmaster looked different.
Actually, he kind of hoped that this wasn't Dumbledores doing, because the man should know all too well that he was not having a happy birthday being cooped up at his relatives home while his friends were doing whatever... wherever!
He sighed slightly, before writing clipped thank you notes for Ron and Hermione and slightly longer ones for Hagrid and Sirius.
After all of the owls were finally out again, he continued reading, while carefully trying to simultaneously eat some more of Sirius' cake. It may not have been his best birthday, but it also wasn't the worst by far.
He continued his little reading marathon for another day and a half, before he finally decided that he needed to get out again. Sure, he went out every few days to let Shiva hunt for food, but most of that time was spent waiting near the Dursleys front garden since the snake was quite fast. Which actually was great, because he really didn't want to imagine what his aunt would say if she knew that he kept a living snake near her 'ickle Diddykins'.
But that wasn't important right now. Shiva was hidden beneath his clothes - for once he was glad that he had to wear Dudleys old clothes where three Harrys would've fitted in fine - and he began walking aimlessly around, away from Privet Drive, across Magnolia Crescent and down Magnolia Road. He had no destination in mind, but he didn't care very much. It was only evening, more than enough time for a little walk.
After a while he arrived at a small park where he made a beeline for the nearest bench and plopped down on it. Almost instantly Shiva wriggled out of his shirt and placed herself next to him, on the warm wood of the bench. It had cooled down now compared to the midday heat, but it was still pretty warm outside. Warm enough that the snake hissed contently the second she stopped moving.
For a while, no one said anything. Harry found that he actually liked the peace out here, where the only noise came from the wind that blew through the nearby trees. He had no idea why no one else seemed to think that this park was a great place to be at this time of the day, but he didn't care all that much. At least he wasn't stared at and called freak behind his back, as most of Little Whinging seemed to think he was some kind of insane brute who went to St Brutus's Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys.
He guessed that the Dursleys were the ones that started spreading this rumour, for them it probably seemed to be the better alternative to anyone finding out that Harry actually went to a magical school.
Oh well, twenty-nine days and he'd sit in the Hogwarts Express again. He'd live.
A few more minutes came and went in silence, before Shiva started speaking up for the first time since they had left the house.
"Say, master..." she began and Harry grimaced slightly at the display of her newest nickname. He had tried to get her to call him Harry, but she never did. At first it had been 'speaker' and now she had begun with that 'master' thing... "Why do you still trust that Dumbledore man?"
"Huh?" He blinked, confused. Where had that come from? Sure, after the initial distrust and quite a few times where he had followed her while she went hunting - to make sure she really wasn't spying on him and using her need for food as an excuse to report back - he had begun telling her bits and pieces from his life, about his adventures while at Hogwarts and the people he had met. It was mostly for himself, to get some of his worries off his chest, but she always listened patiently. He just hadn't expected her to comment on it.
"Well... after all you told me, he does not seem like a trustworthy man."
Harry frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I have been thinking... you said this Voldemort human lived at the back of a teachers head in your first year?" He nodded. "How could no one notice that? And the chamber of secrets? You said it had been opened before, fifty years ago. And Dumbledore had still no clue at all how to find it? And don't get me started on that Tournament thing. I cannot believe they let you participate even though you were still a fledgling!" She was getting quite irate now, seeing that her hisses got more and more aggressive.
Stroking her scaly body, he tried to calm her down, even though he was not only surprised at her way of expressing what had happened - he had never thought of it that way - but also touched that she seemed to get angry on his behalf.
"But Dumbledore wants to protect me," he tried convincing her half-heartedly. Honestly? He was still quite angry with his headmaster himself, seeing that there seemed to be no problem in getting Ron and Hermione to spend their holidays together but he was still... well, here.
"I do not think that sending you back to your relatives is a suitable form of protection. It might be safe against the Dark, but you told me Hogwarts is the safest building, so why aren't you allowed to stay there? I have seen the humans you stay with. They reek of disgust when you are near."
His eyes widened. She was right! Everyone always told him that Hogwarts was the safest place in the world, but he still wasn't allowed to stay, even if the darkest wizard alive seemed to be after him...
He sat very still for a while, mulling over the conversation. If he looked at the situation this way what did that mean for the headmasters motives? Why keep him miserable when there were other, safer possibilities?
He was pulled out of his musings as Shivas head shot up.
"What's wrong?" he asked, worried about the sudden movement.
"I sense something... we need to go!" Without losing a second, she slipped back under his top while he stood up, slightly confused. "Uh... what? Why?"
"I'll tell you later, now go!"
Still confused, but also on alert, he hurried back to his relatives house. And he was quite glad that he did. The second he turned into Privet Drive he felt something too. He couldn't really place it, but it seemed dangerous... and the fact that the night suddenly became a whole lot darker and colder didn't make it better.
He walked even faster, almost running the last feet to number four, but the second he stepped into the house, everything stopped. The presence vanished completely, leaving him warm again as if nothing had ever happened. But as he turned around he could still see the unnatural darkness.
What the hell was going on...?
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sorry for any mistakes
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