Duel Enrollment

Basking with a Basilisk

Persephone saw the slightest hint of nervousness in her hatchling and zeroed in on the newcomer, 'Who are you?' She asked, though despite her protective nature she kept herself from snapping. After all, the newcomer was just a young hatchling too and she wanted to tread carefully before marking the boy as a danger to Tom.

'I'm Julian. It's nice to meet you!' Julian smiled as he looked at Tom. "Sorry it took so long. Tanzanite had to be scanned before being let in."

'Foolishness! I'd never taint my human. Those spells were unnecessary.' A tiny Tanzanite muttered sulkily as he perched on Julian's ear.

Since no one else heard the tiny occamy Julian decided to respond through his mental link with his familiar, (It wasn't me they were worried about. They were being careful to protect the other creatures here. Now we have to go to the meeting soon so go grab details from Gloria while Tom's talking.) Julian commented mentally getting a little nuzzle for an affirmative. The occamy used his tiny size to his advantage and slipped away to have a secret chat with the crocodile.

"It's ok." Tom smiled almost shyly.

The healer chuckled, "I'll leave you boys to chat." He glanced at Persephone. 'Behave.' The healer ordered before going back inside to give them some privacy.

Persephone snorted in annoyance, 'The nerve of these supposed healers.'

Tom sighed in amusement, 'They're trying to take care of you so I'm on their side.'

'My hatchling has betrayed me! Where did I go wrong?' The basilisk hissed dramatically, getting the two boys to chuckle. 'Now tell me, how do you both know each other?' She asked, taking note of the cute way Tom kept glancing at Julian.

'We live together!' Julian said with a cheeky smile as Tom blushed at the blunt statement.

'Oh thank the scaled gods! Not all my lessons have gone to waste!' Persephone snickered.

'He's eleven! That's not what he meant!' A very red faced Tom yelped.

The basilisk hissed in amusement as she leaned her massive, yet graceful, form closer to gently nuzzle him, 'A little teasing, Tom, it's just some teasing. Really, you can't take a joke sometimes. It reminds me of my old master. The crocodile told me one named Brian became your guardian and that man has a son.' She looked over at Julian. 'That's you, correct?'

'Yes! I'm Julian River White, Brian White's son. He's here too, but they only allow two visitors out here at one time.' Julian said happily subtly glancing at Gloria who was seemingly silently chatting with a bug, but it was actually the tiny occamy.

Persephone's whole body seemed to soften at that and nuzzled the boy, 'Thank your father for me then. Tom has always needed a family. I always wished it'd happen and it did ... a little late, but I'm happy nonetheless. Now tell me everything!' She hissed happily no longer suspicious about the blonde boy with Tom.

For the next hour the boys told the giant basilisk about school and their home life. Tom did most of the talking since he was so excited to see his old friend. There was so much to tell and the old serpent waited patiently absorbing every word.

'Wandless Magic ... oh that brings back memories. I feared it would become a forgotten art. It's also nice to see more snake speakers again even if they are rude.' Persephone hissed with a hint of longing brought about by the nostalgia.

'Again?' Tom glanced at an equally confused Julian before looking at his serpent friend. 'You knew there were others before? Everyone in magical Britain seems to think Salazar Slytherin was the only one and you had to be related to him to have that skill. How did that happen?'