A Snake Named Voldemort

Chapter 3

Voldemort puffed up in indignation. :Potter! You may be an idiot Gryffindor, but I'm not:

:Oh-kay, no going under the door.: Harry propped his chin up with his hand, noticing that Voldemort seemed to be contemplating something.

:Get us to the dungeons, and I can get you into the charlatan's office.:

After thinking a moment before finally shrugging, Harry told him, :Fine by me.:

:...You better hope I actually have a way to get in. Stupid Gryffindor.:

:What if Snape wasn't the one to dose you?: Harry asked, ignoring Voldemort's comment. :What then? Should I approach him for help if that was the case?:

:It was him,: Voldemort said confidently.

Harry shot him an exasperated look. :You're just biased because he deceived you.:

:It was him, Potter. If I could not identify the potion, then it must be a vary rare or newly invented one. Only someone of his caliber, both in potions and in my ranks, could have gotten that potion into my tea.:

"I still can't believe you drink tea..." Harry murmured to himself, earning an aggravated hiss from Voldemort in response.

Finally, at eleven-thirty, the dot on the map labeled "Severus Snape" trailed down to the dungeons and into his private quarters. So, donning his Invisibility Cloak and silencing his footsteps, Harry snuck down and out of the Common Room and into the school corridors. He made faster progress than he normally would, as Voldemort kept his eyes on the Map ("'Piece of junk' my arse," Harry muttered) while Harry merely focused on walking. As a result, getting down into the dungeons to Snape's office was easy; the hard part was still to come. Thankfully, so far Snape seemed inclined to remain within his quarters. Harry didn't care to know what he was doing.

Invisible, the young man stood in front of the door of a chamber which held a rather large amount of unpleasant memories for him.

:Alohamora isn't going to work, is it?:

:Of course not. You're going to have to use Parselmagic.:

:...Excuse me?:

Voldemort hissed in annoyance. :You are a bloody Parselmouth, Potter. I've gotten word, and partially seen in your mind what happened your Second year. You got into the Chamber. Thanks, by the way, for killing me, again, and a thousand year old Basilisk.: Voldemort was clearly being sarcastic, and Harry did not appreciate it.

:You and your bloody Basilisk were trying to kill me! I'm the bloody Boy-Who-Won't-Die, what did you expect me to do? And get out of my mind, you bastard!:

:Are you finished?: Voldemort sounded really put-upon. Harry sighed in equal exasperation.

:As I was saying, you were able to get into the Chamber; you can get into here.:

:Um, I'm pretty sure Snape didn't place a Parseltongue password on the door to his office...:

:And that's where Parselmagic comes into play. Saying the word "open" in Parseltongue can be just that, a word, but if you put magic behind it, it becomes Parselmagic. Because it is so rare, and a different kind of magic all together—some would call it creature-like—most normal spells can't protect against it. Severus Snape is a smart and capable wizard: —this was said reluctantly— :but there are some things he cannot account or prepare for.:

Harry carefully absorbed what he was told. :So, I used Parselmagic to get into the Chamber of Secrets? How did I do that without knowing what I was doing in the first place?: