Starry skies and Gardenias

Chapter 32

Harry was a parselmouth. He could speak to snakes. . .But Harry wasn't a direct descendant of Slytherin if James and Lily were indeed his parents, there was no way it was possible.

Only the direct descendants of Salazar Slytherin had the innate ability to speak parseltongue. It could be learnt, but then it took almost a lifetime to master it.

James wasn't a direct descendant of Slytherin, the Potters weren't. And Lily was a muggleborn. 

So how did Harry know Parseltongue? Was he some sort of genius, specially gifted? Is that why Voldemort went after him? 

Wait! 

Voldemort was Tom Riddle. And Tom Riddle was related to the Gaunts, who were direct descendants of Slytherin. Meaning they knew parseltongue.

Tom Riddle knew parseltongue. And he was the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets. 

So, Parseltongue must be the key. The key only the Heir of Slytherin would know. That's how the Chamber was open. 

And the basilisk was a huge snake! It was called the Serpent of Slytherin after all. So obviously the monster was controlled by parseltongue. 

But if Harry knows parseltongue, would that mean he could control the basilisk?
No, he couldn't do it. He wasn't the Heir of Slytherin. 

Isabella sat up in her bed as she came to a decision. She had been putting it off for so long, thinking it wouldn't matter and that she shouldn't involve herself in it. But she just couldn't hold her curiosity in anymore.

She had to talk to Myrtle. 

But little did she know that she would get the chance only after March. 

With their match against Hufflepuff getting closer and closer every day, and Hufflepuff being a strong team, McLaggen was training their butts off. 

And the teachers were hell-bent on teaching them and giving them piles of homework.

Slughorn wanted them to research Swelling solutions and the use of Wiggentree bark in potions. Flitwick had given them a huge essay on Shriking charms. McGonagall wanted two scrolls on turning birds into inanimate objects and vice versa. Sprout said that she would spring a surprise test any day now and that they ought to be prepared. Binns was on and on about the goblin revolutions. Sinistra wanted the mapped chart of the stars and planets for Astronomy, drawn by hand and any cheating would be detected immediately. And for Defence Against the Dark Arts, they had to read up on Imps and write answers for a set of questions that were assigned about hags and trolls. 

Isabella also wanted to make time for herself, by going to the Forbidden forest and working on her map and she wanted to read about the creatures she ran across so she would visit the Room of Requirement.

Isabella personally wanted to win the match against Hufflepuff too, so she trained hard and during those training sessions, Myrtle slipped her mind. 

March came in, and the snow had melted, and a cool spring breeze was flitting across the grounds. The windows of the castle were thrown open to let the sweet smell wafting in. 

Isabella took particular joy in going straight to the Forbidden Forest after her practices and just staying there in her spot, staring at the sky through the gaps in the green canopy overhead.

"McLaggen, shut up for a bit," Arthur yawned.