Harry ate all the food he had on his plate, going so far as to eat every last crumb. He had gone hungry for too long and he hated wasting food, even if it was just the littlest bit.
When he finished he stood up to go pay, thanking all the Gods that he always kept some money in his trunk, be it wizarding or muggle. He walked up to the counter, paying for his order, before exiting the pub.
The decided to take a walk down Diagon Alley, taking a look at the shop windows that were lit up. Almost without noticing he came to the end on Diagon Alley, going into Nocturn for the second time in his life.
You could easily see the differences between the two magical streets. If in Diagon the shop windows were lit up, in Nocturn almost all the shops had black windows that didn't let you see what was inside; whereas Diagon Alley was, even this hour, was crouded by people chattering and laughing, Nocturn Alley only had some street whores and a couple of sporadic black cats.
Harry didn't know why but he felt a connection to that place. He was walking around in what was communly seen as a dangerous street, but all he could feel was excitement and curiosity, stopping in front of every window to admire what to everyone else only looked like dark glass.
He could feel the power of every single artifact on display inside those shops, and some of them were so powerful that he felt like he had to stop in front of a shop and try to get a better feel of it. He could also feel the heavy wards that were set all around the Alley and that, even if a bit disorienting, was perhaps the most fascinating thing about the whole street.
Contrary to popular belief, Hermione was not the only one who knew how to read: he could read books as well. It was how he came to know that sensing magic was highly uncommon, even in the Wizarding World and that, along with the fact that he didn't want to be a freak even among his first friends, was what made him take the decision to keep that little fact to himself.
In the month between his birthday and the start of the school year, Harry had taken his time to read as many books as he could find. He had wanted to be as prepared as possible for his new subjects and did his very best to read ahead. Once at Hogwarts, however, under the guidance or professor Dumbledore and with his best friends' influence, he had thought it best to follow the role that the others had put him in.
The boy's thoughts were interrupted when he felt something softly pulling at his magical core. A soft tugging that was just meant to catch his attention and lead him towards a specific shop; like a child getting excited in front of the window of a toys' shop and tugging in his mother's shirt to be noticed.
Harry froze mid step at the feeling, stopping just for a few seconds before deciding to follow the pull towards a shop located a bit further down the road.
The shop window was, like most of the others, dark, with no name to identify it with. The teen could see many different magical cores and that intrigued him even more. They looked like little lights dancing and moving slowly inside the room.
Harry walked up to the door and pushed it open, feeling the cold wave of magic from the wards as soon as he stepped foot into the room.
Shivering, he looked around, realizing that he had entered in some kind of pet shop. Looking at the animals on display, tho, the shop wasn't anything like the Managerie in Diagon Alley. The pet shop in Diagon sold owls, cats and dogs; the one in Nocturn sold ravens, eagles and snakes.
Looking past the first few cages he could see animals that, he knew, were very rare. He saw a baby hippogriff and he could clearly hear the screaching of a thunderbird coming from the back of the shop.
Following the small tug once again, Harry came to stand in front of a big tank. At first glance it seemed pretty much empty, with nothing but plants on the inside, but when the boy looked more closely he saw something that made his breath catch.
Right in the corner of said tank, hiding under one of the biggest bushes, he could see one of the most beautiful snakes he'd ever set eyes on. It was majestic, not for it's size but for the color of it's scales. The snake was the color of obsidian, it's scales shiny and bright like the most beautiful gem.
Harry, wanting to get a better look at the reptile, walked forward and placed one of his hands on the tank, too awed to notice the faint jolt of magic that went through him. The snake, having felt the magic itself, turned around and looked at Harry with eyes that were the exact same shade of his. Emerald green met emerald green and, just like that, a bond deeper than any other was born.
The teen could feel it to his very core; that snake would come to mean more to him than any other creature, even more than his beloved Hedwig.
"And who might you be, young one?" came the now recognizable hiss of Parseltoungue.
Harry, who had been broken from his daze by the soft hissing, looked at the snake once more and replied. "My name is Harry, Harry Potter." the boy said. The snake froze for a second, looking as shocked as a snake could look, though the teen didn't know if it was for his name or for the fact that he had spoken Parseltongue. The creature slithered closer to the glass where Harry's hand rested, curious to know more about the boy. "You are beautiful." said the teen in an almost breathy voice. He could see the snake better in the faint light of the shop and, looking closely, he notice the midnight blue hue that covered the creature's entire body.
"You flatter me, young hatchling. What takes you here in this shop?" the snake, which Harry could now say was male, asked again. He seemed interested enough to come stand right behind the glass, close enough that, if there hadn't been a barrier between them, Harry could have easily stretched his arm to pet his scaly head.
"I felt a pull at my magical core. It took me inside this shop, and to your tank." Harry explained. He had the strange urge to open the tank's cover and take the beautiful snake in his hands.
The snake looked as if he was about to reply, but a voice from beind the teen stopped their conversation. "It's unusual to have costumbers in my shop at this hour." said the person behind him. The voice was gruff and low, almost like the person speaking hadn't talked in a long time.
Harry turned around sharply, looking at the man that stood behing him with this arms crossed. He was tall, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, had long red hair gathered in a ponytail that reached, from what the boy could see, the middle of his back, and piercing baby blue eyes that stared right back at him. He didn't look angry or annoyed, just surprised to see someone at that hour, which, Harry could guess, was pretty late into the night.
The boy froze at the sight of the man, before taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, nerves that were still on edge because of the new unnamed bond with the snake in the tank. "I uhm... I felt, like, a pull at my magical core and it took me here. To the snake, I mean." Harry stuttered slightly pointing at said creature. The man's eyes widened just a fraction and, before Harry could say anything more, he took the boy by his shoulders, spun him around to face the snake once more and pulled open the tank's cover.
"Take him." was all the man said.
"Uhm... sorry, what?" asked Harry confused. He looked at the snake again, seeing that he was looking back blankly, flicking his tongue out once every few seconds in an almost lazy motion.
"Take him out of the tank. Pick him up." the man said again, giving the boy a little push towards the said tank.
Reluctantly, Harry closed the distance between him and the snake, lifting him from inside the tank and letting him curl his body around his neck, basking in the warm feeling of the new connection between the two of them.
Letting out a content hiss, the snake spoke once more. "You're warm, hatchling. And confortable." the creature closed his eyes, flicking his tongue against Harry's cheek to taste his scent.
The teen chuckled at the ticklish feeling and, without much thought, replied to his new friend. "Thank you, beautiful" Harry hissed back quietly, stroking the snake's triangular head.
Hearing a soft gasp from the man behind him, Harry realized that speaking in Parseltongue in front of someone he didn't know hadn't been such a good idea, considering the stigma of said language. The boy turned around, still stroking the snake, and was met with the man's wide eyes.
"It's you. But... how? You're too young, too inexperienced. You can't be. But then again... you can pick him up, you're not affected like everyone else." the man began rambling, almost as if he had forgotten that Harry was inside the shop. "You... who are you?" he suddenly said, looking the boy in the eyes.
Harry, not having expected the question, stuttered slightly. "I-I'm Harry Potter." he said quietly, half expecting the man to shoot a stunner at him and take him directly to the Dark Lord.
The man's eyes widened even more. "That explains something at least." he said slowly, bringing a hand to his face and running it trough his red hair. "Well, I guess you'd like to bring him home with you, right? Free of charge, of course; you'll only have to pay for the supplies. You'd need a tank. But then again, I suppose you'd like to let him roam free..." Harry watched, stunned, as the man began rambling again, walking around the shop and picking up supplies from the shelves.
"Uhm... sorry, sir. But... why did you say that he's free of charge? Don't I have to pay something for him, at least?" Harry asked in a small voice, afraid of angering or annoying the man.
Said man stopped in his tracks, turning around and looking at the teen with a raised eyebrow. "Why did you say you came into my shop?" he asked slowly, as if talking to a baby.
Harry, confused by the question but also slightly angered by the tone of voice, replied with confidence. "I felt a tug at my core and it took me here."
"Well, that's your answer." the man said, turning around again and continuing with what he was doing before.
Harry, now frustrated, followed him around, the black snake still on his shoulders. "Yeah, but what did the tugging mean?!"
This time, the man completely froze. "You don't know?" he asked after some time, still facing the other way from Harry.
"That's what I've been trying to tell you! What did it mean and why are you giving me the snake without asking for money?" the teen cried out loudly, sure that, if it hadn't been for the wards, the entire alley would have been able to hear him.
The man brought both hands to his head, massaging his temples as if trying to keep a massive headache at bay. "Did no one ever tell you about wizarding culture, lad? It's something you should have been taught by your magical guardian." he sounded frustrated while he said this.
The teen tilted his head to the side, trying not to hurt his new friend. "What's a magical guardian? Do I have one?"
At this, the man whirled around so fast Harry almost thought he was about to lose his balance. "What?!" he almost shouted, making the teen winch at the loud voice. "Do you even know what I'm talking about? Did no one teach you about lordships? Heirships? Something about wizarding culture? Nothing at all?" the questions came so fast one after the other that Harry almost lost track of them.
"Uhm... no..?" he answered hesitantly, not really knowing what the man was talking about. He had never heard of any of that, at all.
The man pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering something about bloody mudbloods polluting their culture. "Alright, listen to me kid. I'm going to explain why I'm not making you pay money for that snake but I can't stay up all night explaining the rest." when Harry opened his mouth to speak, the man lifted his hand to stop him. "We're going to take care of the things that concern my shop. But. You have to promise me that the first thing you'll do tomorrow morning will be going to Gringrotts and requesting an inheritance test. The Goblins will explain the rest." he finished, looking at the teen expectantly. When Harry nodded he made a sound of approval, before starting his explanation.
"The reason why I'm saying that the snake is free of charge is the pull you felt towards him, as well as some other things. The first thing you have to know is that every magical being, creature or wizard, has a magical core that varies from person to person; some people have a larger magical core, others have smaller ones. People with a large magical core are more subjected to accidental magic when they're young and have a more unstable magic when they grow up. These people need someone or something to help them stabilize their magic, to help them keep in under control so that they don't hurt themselves or others. Do you follow me so far?" he asked.
Harry nodded his head, slightly dazed from all the information he was receiving, and gestured the man to keep going.
"That's why people have Familiars. Those are animals, mostly magical, that help a witch or wizard stabilize his or her magic. They will remain with their human, or being, for all their lives, living as long as their bonded will. That's what you felt. You felt your core pulling you towards your own Familiar, towards the creature that will help you stabilize your magical core in the best way possible. You may find other Familiars as you grow up, seeing as you are young and your magical core is not fully developed yet." the man finished with a thoughtful look on his face.
Harry, meanwhile, didn't know what to think anymore. Why didn't they teach this at Hogwarts? And why hadn't he heard anyone talking about it? Surely there were people who had Familiars in the school. Some of the professors maybe.
"And this is one reason, we don't make people pay if they find their Familiar. The second reason is that the snake you're currently holding has killed more people than I could ever count." at Harry's incredulous look, the man explained. "You see, his scales are venomous. His whole body is, in fact. Everyone who has ever tried to touch him has died almost instantly and always because of poisoning. So I've been wanting to get rid of him for a while. Not that I don't like him, he's extremely well behaved, but he's bringing a bad reputation to my shop." the redhead said with amusement before resuming with collecting supplies for Harry to buy.
The following half an hour passed in a blur for Harry, his mind still trying to process all the information the man had given him.
He walked to the Leaky Cauldron in a daze, not noticing the curious glances some of the people in Diagon Alley gave him as soon as they noticed the snake lying across his shoulders.
The last thing he heard before falling asleep was a hissed "Goodnight, hatchling." coming from the snake who was now curled on his pillow beside his head.
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Woooooo! Hello, my little dark creatures! I'm so, so sorry for not being able to update sooner but school has been crazy and I haven't really had the time to fo much apart from studying. Apart from that: LONGEST CHAPTER YET! I'm so very proud of this chapter. It took me a lot of work to finish because I hadn't had the inspiration to continue for a while but it's finally here! I'm so excited to see what you thought of this. I really am. So, without further ado, I'm gonna start the next chapter. Hopefully I'll be able to update sooner this time🤞🏽.
Kisses - Miss Macabre🖤