Amaranth (Harry Potter Fan Fiction)

Chapter 8: Selena Slytherin

“Let me show you around.” she says.

Selena shows me the door that goes out to the Forbidden Forest and tells me that this chamber used to be her living quarters and she used to go out in the Forbidden Forest to explore.

Selena shows me the stable where I get to meet her horse, an Abraxan called Snowfall. He is a pale white and seems very friendly. He nuzzles me and as Seleba tells me about her falcon, Siren, I feel something slide around my neck. It has scales and is cool on my neck. Is it a snake?

“Oh dear, that would be Noir, my snake,” she says while gently taking a very long black snake off of me, “I am very sorry, he is normally very gentle. I will tell him to not harm you, one minute please.”

Selena kneels next to the snake and speaks to it in what must be Parseltongue because the snake starts hissing back to her.

She stands back up and says, “Noir understands that he will not harm you and he will be gentle towards you.”

I nod and slowly slide my fingers over his scales. He hisses in a way that reminds me of a cat’s purr. Selena laughs.

“He seems to like you. And you are correct, that is his hiss when he is happy,” she says smiling, “It is very much like a cat’s purr.”

Can she hear what I think?

“Oh yes, darling,” she says, “I am sorry I didn’t tell you, I can hear all thought. Normally I don’t listen to it, but if someone is as close to me as you, I automatically here it and it is normal for me to listen and react to it. I am sorry; I will try to not listen to your thoughts.”

“No, no, it’s all right. I just thought it was weird that you knew what I was thinking. It’s all right, now that I know.” I say to her.

“Good. Now how is school going for you?” she asks me.

“We haven’t started yet, but I have some good friends and I am sure I will do well. I have already read my school books more than twice.” I tell her smiling.

“That is wonderful. I never had the real Hogwarts experience because of whom my parents were,” Selena says, “I already knew first year lessons when I was 5 and when I was 11, I was as advanced as a 17 year old.

She sighs, “I wasn’t as perfect of a child as my parents wanted me to be. My brother and sister, Gideon and Helena, who is the ghost of Ravenclaw, were the perfect children. I skipped classes so that I could go out into the woods and explore. Classes were boring and although I tried to sit through them, I could not.

“But, I am sure you will have a wonderful time here at Hogwarts, it is an extraordinary place and even I, who have explored the castle for thousands of years, do not know all of its secrets.”

She smiles at me and I smile at her. I will be glad to have Selena as my friend this year.

“I wish to introduce you to someone.” she says.

“Who?” I ask her.

“You’ll see.” she answers mysteriously.

She holds out her hand and I take it. We again spin and appear in a different place.

The chamber is filled with ghosts. They float around eerily and it makes me shiver. The air is cold and the room is dreary. Why would anyone ever want to be in such a place?

“Attention!” Selena calls as we float towards a large table.

We stand on it and all of the ghosts in the chamber, which I assume are most of the ghosts of Hogwarts, stare up at her in respect.