The Love Story of Harriet Potter and Tom Riddle

Chapter 10 - In Defence of the Heir

Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
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Tom charged towards his mother and her assailant.

The laws of the magical world vanished from his mind as he raised his wand to defend Merope, but his dark eyes widened as Asherah knocked him to the side in her haste to protect Slytherin's heir.

Tom saw everything as he stumbled into the living room.

The man assaulting Merope gasped in horror when he saw the huge snake coming straight towards him......

He screamed in pure terror as Asherah struck with her body outstretched and her mouth wide open.....

Merope shrieked as the formidable anaconda's sharp fangs extended.........

In his surprised horror, the man growled, raised the muggle gun that he held, and fired blindly into the dark, hoping that his bullets found the snake.

His ammunition missed Asherah as she slithered towards him in intricate, incomprehensible patterns, but the gunfire headed straight down the hallway.

As soon as Tom saw the man point his weapon in Harriet's direction, he raised his wand and shouted, "PROTEGO MAXIMA!"

Harriet screeched in surprise as the bullets hurtled towards her but were mercifully blocked by the enchanted shield that her quick-thinking lover threw into place.

The gunshots ended as quickly as they had begun.

Tom, Merope, and Harriet watched the weapon fall from the man's grasp as Asherah's fangs pierced through his throat before the sheer weight of her corpulent body knocked him to the floor.

An anguished cry left his lips, "AAAAGGGHHH!"

His shouting didn't last long as the wound on his throat turned his cries into strangled gurgles.

Between the loss of air and blood, Merope's assailant weakened quickly.

Asherah noticed that the man failed to put up much of a struggle against her as she wrapped around him and used her enormous muscles to constrict what bit of life he had left.

Tom stumbled back and watched with a wicked smirk as his new friend slowly swallowed the imbecile who had dared to attack his mother.

Merope and Harriet's eyes were wide.

A part of Harriet wanted to return to Hogwarts right then.

Merope was too startled to speak.

She raised her hand with a defensive whimper as Asherah looked over at her.

"Mother, this is Asherah." Tom introduced the anaconda with a nod, "Isn't she lovely? Harriet and I freed her from the zoo today."

"Tom......." Merope gasped as she laid a hand over her chest while the massive anaconda slithered towards her, "Oh, Tom! What have you done?! Why have you brought this thing into our home?!"

"This thing saved your life." Tom glowered at Merope. He narrowed his eyes while he went on, "What should I have done, Mother? Let the stupid blighter kill us all?"

Harriet raised a hand to her head as Merope spoke to Tom in hushed whispers until an owl appeared at the living room windowsill.

Asherah's tongue flickered while she watched Tom walk over, open the window, and take the letter from the bird.

Harriet crept from her place on the bed when she realized that Tom's conversation with his mother had quieted.

Merope felt too bewildered to ask why Harriet Potter had been in her son's room.