The Serpent that Devours Us

Chapter 11

It was a pity Tom was so old already. Harry was sure that if Tom had been around Harry’s age, give or take a decade, Harry would have proposed to him the second he turned back into a man. Harry didn’t even know what Tom looked like as a man, but that hardly mattered. Tom was clever and devious and had a wicked sense of humour and loved wandering the jungles of the world as much as Harry did.

Tom was damned near perfect as a potential romantic partner, save for the fact that Tom was well over 80 years old.

Well, Harry mused as he put his empty plate on the coffee table and leaned back in the couch. They could always remain friends. “Tom,” Harry said as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes, tired of breaking down spider bodies all day. “Once you’re back to yourself, I’d love it if you still joined me in my travels.”

“I’d be an old man,” Tom pointed out carefully.

“So? Old men can still travel. We’ll add a comfortable bed for you, make some adjustments in the bathroom if needed, and you’d be set.” Harry cracked an eye open and gave Tom a hopeful look.

“In that case, I’d love to see some more of the world through my human eyes.” Tom blinked his large, yellow eyes at Harry in emphasis.

Harry grinned. “So that’s a deal. We’ll be travel buddies.”

“It’s a deal,” Tom replied in a quiet voice. Yeah, Harry was sure something was bugging Tom but he obviously wasn’t ready yet to talk about it.

They travelled to Vietnam the following day and the day after that they arrived at the Acromantula colony. Harry dove down on his broom and Tom burst out of the suitcase, killing dozens of the beasts instantly. They had that little routine down perfectly nowadays.

“Tom!” Harry yelled just as all the remaining Acromantulas had fled while the dead ones dropped down around them. “Shield your eyes!”

There, halfway up the tree, was a bundle wrapped in spider silk that was moving faintly. Harry mounted his broom, flew up and carefully cut the bundle loose. He levitated it to the ground and used cutting charms to open the sticky spider silk. For a few long moments Harry thought it might be a human child, since it had about that shape and size, but when he finally opened up the top of the silk bundle he saw that it was a demiguise.

“Oh, you poor thing,” Harry muttered. The demiguise had its eyes closed and was hardly conscious, but it was breathing and occasionally twitching its body.

Tom remained at a safe distance, his third eyelids clouding his yellow eyes. “Is that a human?”

“Nah, a demiguise. It’s injured.” Harry aimed his wand at his backpack and summoned his potions bag. He rummaged through it and then sighed in frustration. “Tom, do you know what would work against Acromantula venom? I don’t have any antivenom in stock.” Which was a bit of an oversight seeing as Harry had been hunting the beasts over the last two weeks. Ugh, sometimes Harry really got tired of being an impulsive, reckless Gryffindor.

“Phoenix Tears,” Tom yelled back, still carefully keeping a distance.

“Don’t have any of those, either!”

Tom slithered a little closer, eyes still clouded. “I’m quite sure I know how to brew a quick and basic antivenom that would work. If I tell you what to do, can you brew it? I’m rather lacking in hands at the moment.”