Sirius Black daughter - Athena Black (Book 2)

Eleven

Harry then looked up at Athena and grinned. Athena forced a smile on her. It was clear now that Harry didn't know he was a parselmouth. 

"What do you think you're playing at?" Justin shouted.

Snape stepped forward, waved his wand, and the snake vanished in a small puff of black smoke. Snape, too, was looking at Harry in an unexpected way: It was a shrewd and calculating look.

Athena went and grabbed Harry wrist and dragged him out of the hall followed by Ron and Hermione.

Athena dragged him to the Gryffindor common room and pushed Harry into an armchair 

"You're a Parselmouth. Why didn't you tell us?" Ron shrieked.

"I'm a what?" said Harry. 

"A Parselmouth!" said Ron. "You can talk to snakes!" 

"I know," said Harry. "I mean, that's only the second time I've ever done it. I accidentally set a boa constrictor on my cousin Dudley at the zoo once —long story — but it was telling me it had never seen Brazil and I sort of set it free without meaning to — that was before I knew I was a wizard —" 

"A boa constrictor told you it had never seen Brazil?" Athena repeated faintly. 

"So?" said Harry. "I bet loads of people here can do it." 

"Oh, no they can't," said Athena. "It's not a very common gift. Harry, this is bad." 

"What's bad?" said Harry, starting to feel quite angry. "What's wrong with everyone? Listen, if I hadn't told that snake not to attack Athena or Justin—" 

"Oh, that's what you said to it?" 

"What d'you mean? You were there — you heard me—" 

"I heard you speaking Parseltongue," said Ron. 

"Snake language. You could have been saying anything — no wonder Justin panicked, you sounded like you were egging the snake on or something — it was creepy, you know —" 

Harry gaped at him."I spoke a different language? But — I didn't realize — how can I speak a language without knowing I can speak it?" 

Athena looked at Harry with a very concern look. 

"D'you want to tell me what's wrong with stopping a massive snake biting off Athena's head?" he said. "What does it matter how I did it as long as Justin or Athena doesn't have to join the Headless Hunt?" 

"It matters," said Hermione, speaking at last in a hushed voice, "because being able to talk to snakes was what Salazar Slytherin was famous for. That's why the symbol of Slytherin House is a serpent." 

Harry's mouth fell open. 

"Exactly," said Ron. "And now the whole school's going to think you're his great-great-great-great grandson or something —" 

"But I'm not," said Harry, with a panic. 

"You'll find that hard to prove," said Athena. "He lived about a thousand years ago; for all we know, you could be."

By next morning, however, the snow that had begun in the night had turned into a blizzard so thick that the last Herbology lesson of the term was canceled: Professor Sprout wanted to fit socks and scarves on the Mandrakes, a tricky operation she would entrust to no one else, now that it was so important for the Mandrakes to grow quickly and revive Mrs. Norris and Colin Creevey. Harry fretted about this next to the fire in the Gryffindor common room, while Ron and Athena used their time off to play a game of wizard chess and Hermione spent hers reading a book.