Harry Potter and the Green Snake of Slytherin

8.

The Letters

On the next morning, Harry awoke in his bed with a strong headache and a sensation of numbness. Looking at the big magical clock above the beds whose hands were pointing at "Breakfast Time", he reckoned that his Gryffindor housemates were probably already in the Great Hall, delighting themselves with Pumpkin cakes and swallowing huge spoonfuls of Gooseberry Porridge.

Beyond the milky veil that covered his eyes, he could make out the silhouette of a girl he knew : Avara was sitting next to him, reading what seemed to be a lesson book.

"Hmm...Avara? Is that you?" he asked, not quire sure whether he was dreaming or not

"Yes, Harry, good morning! Are you alright?" she asked smoothly.

"Er...I don't know...What happened? How did you manage to get here?" As he was putting his brains together, he could see Avara's shape was getting clearer into sight. She seemed extraordinarily calm and her glooming green eyes were looking down to Harry with compassion.

"Just relax, Harry. It will be okay..." she muttered, trying not to speak too loud

"You fell off your broomstick yesterday during the Quidditch match, which was splendid by the way. You were brought to the nursery, but Mrs Pomfrey could not manage to give you your strengths back. I told Professor McGonagall that I could brew a rare potion that could wake you up and heal you. That's why she said the password in front of the Fat Lady and let me into Gryffindor Tower so that I could stand by your side"

"Ah..." said Harry, still feeling confused about the recent happenings.

"What about Ron and Hermione? Do you know where they are?"

"Of course! I saw them having breakfast with the other Gryffindors... They have been taking care of you all night. When they heard that I would be staying by your side, Hermione suddenly got angry and told Professor McGonagall she would have to choose between me and her to look after you. Apparently there was not enough room for the three of us..."

"The only difference is...", she took a deep breath, passing her hand through her long, raven-black hair "that Hermione did not know any useful remedy that could help you...And thus, I'm here" she smiled, her glimmering emerald eyes sparkling in an unusual, beautiful fashion.

"Well...Thanks, Avara, I really owe you something" said Harry, still feeling weak.

"Shh...Harry, keep your strength. Take this and drink it all until there is no drop remaining. It will do you good" she said, handing a goblet filled with a translucent, purple potion. The draught was smoking faintly as if it was still boiling in the cauldron.

"What...what is it?" asked Harry shyly.

"I'm not supposed to tell you about it... It's a very powerful potion some of the 7th years do not even know. Just drink it, trust me" She placed a hand behind Harry's back for him to straighten up. A bit frightened, Harry reached out for the smoking goblet and dipped his lips into the potion.

He started shivering and felt cold as ice within a few seconds, he was crying "Avara! Why?" but she kept soothing him, saying "It'll be ok, Harry, be strong". Slowly, the world around him was getting crisp and clear and that strange feeling of numbness seemed to leave him. He knew he was safe now.

"Wow!", he said "Your draught worked wonders! Aaand, it tastes good!"

"See Harry, no need to worry! I had to milk Malachius yesterday to brew this potion. I knew it could help."

***

Later in the morning, Hagrid was discussing important matters with Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape in the Headmaster's office. After Gryffindor had lost the match - their first defeat against another house in five years - he had asked Dumbledore for an audition.

"Er...Professors, I must tell yeh somethin' really important. Yeh may think I'm crazy but I've got ter tell yeh dat. I've been thinkin' bout it fer months now"

"What is it, Hagrid?" asked Dumbledore calmly.

"Well...er...remember when I spent dat two weeks in Azkaban? I the cell next ter mine, there was them bloody Death Eaters, they call themselves. Dark people they was, yes. And they kept talkin' the same litany over and over. But I, Hagrid, could hear them talk. I could not hear every word they was sayin' but dat was what I heard:"

"The heir will come soon... Black hair, green eyes... Very powerful wizard... Nemesis of the light... The Reign of V... er, You-Know-Who", he said, his forehead sweating as if he were still in Azkaban "I told Harry Potter I had a strange feelin' about dat Avara girl. But I get it. Them Death Eaters, they was talk'in bout HER! She's so weird, look at what's happenin' at Hogwarts. She surely is a Dark wizard, a devotee to You-Know-Who!"

"Come on Hagrid," said the Hogwarts Headmaster "Thanks for alerting us but I seriously doubt Ms. Von Argentum belongs to the Dark Side. Actually she does lots of good things here and helps a lot of students"

"Get yourself together, Hagrid," said Severus Snape, draping in his black satin cloak as if hiding something. He looked down to the gamekeeper with great contempt "Maybe your Azkaban fellows were simply talking about...Harry Potter...and some other Dark wizard. You did not mention any girl, did you?"

Hagrid was starting to think that Snape was right.

Finally, Minerva McGonagall added "And I've learned a few minutes that Ms. Von Argentum just healed Mr. Potter with a single Potion. Thank you Hagrid, we really don't think that we need to worry about her"

Hagrid blushed "Er...sorry Professors, it was silly from me. I shouldn't have bothered you". He left Dumbledore's office ashamed, and headed back to his hut in the grounds of Hogwarts. There he could play for a while with the Giant Golden Snails he had found in the forest. They would surely help him forget it all.

***

Harry was now quite fine. Avara had left him to attend her Arithmancy class. Thinking about her, he reckoned that she had saved him with a forbidden potion: she was a really good friend and the living proof that Slytherins were not necessarily evil. He dressed up in his black cloak embroidered with red and golden threads, put his sweater on and his Gryffindor tie, and stepped down the gigantic marble staircase on the way to the Great Hall. There, he found remainders from the breakfast, along with a copy of both daily newspapers. The Daily Prophet's headline gave him a shock :

Harry Potter in Love lets Gryffindor lose

The bare truth by DP special reporter Rita Skeeter

He kept on reading:

"...According to our sources, who wished to remain anonymous, Harry Potter, the until now always victorious Gryffindor Seeker is dating Hogwarts' latest recruit, fifth-year Avara von Argentum from Slytherin. His housemates suggest that his relationship diverted him from concentrating on yesterday's match. Already voices arise wishing Harry Potter to resign..."

It was more than Harry could bear "Nonsense! That old Skeeter pest!" he mumbled. Flicking his wand at the newspaper, he muttered "Incendio!" and burnt it to ashes.

Out of sheer curiosity, he picked up the Wizard Times. It could not be worse than the Daily Prophet anyway. It related yesterday's match in a tiny column under the Wizard Sports section.

Slytherin wins first match of the season at Hogwarts

The headline sounded nicer...

"After two hours of intense but fair play between both teams, the Seekers finally came close to the Golden Snitch. Draco Malfoy, mounting his new Thunderbolt XP, seemed to be more in control of his path and caught the walnut-sized ball in a split second before Gryffindor's favourite player Harry Potter, who played a very good game too. Unfortunately, he fell of his broom just after Madam Hooch ended the game..."

Harry folded the Wizard Times into his trunk and lay down on his bed for a short nap. After all, he had been ill so he had well deserved a little more rest.

But something came haunting his sleep, a voice he knew only too well "Stay off Avara, Potter! She does not dessserve you. You'll die sssoon" hissed the voice. He then saw the silhouette of a man, the same unknown man he had seen in Avara's eyes, who could very well be the human form of Lord Voldemort reborn...

"Harry! Wake up!" shouted Ron's voice inside his left ear.

"Umm...Ron? Is that you?" asked Harry, half awake. "Harry, are you alright?" asked his friend "I was afraid Avara would poison you..."

"Stop speaking nonsense Ron, she brewed a rare potion that saved me!"

"Oh, did she? Er...well, I'm sorry... You know, I've talked to Hagrid yesterday evening after you fell off your broom, and he did not seem to trust her. Do you want to come and attend Herbology with me? It's about time!"

"Not yet, Ron! I still have something important to do. See you at the break then! Oh, by the ways, where's Hermione?" asked Harry.

"At the library of course! She's trying to catch up Avara on Potions"

"She should give it up, if you want my humble opinion. She does not bear a single chance!" said Harry, remembering the raspberry flavoured potion that saved his life.

After Ron left the room, Harry took a piece of noble parchment and his best quill from the drawer where he stored his writing material. He sat down to write a letter to Sirius; he wanted to know his godfather's opinion about all this. Maybe Sirius could better understand what was going on.

"Dear Sirius,

I'm writing you this letter in a sense of deepest confusion. Strange things have been happening here at Hogwarts. I thought you could help me..."

He told him about Avara, the Sorting Hat's revelation in Dumbledore's office, the strange voice and Gryffindor's defeat yesterday. His letter ended with the following words:

"Oh...and Sirius, could you please tell me how to know if it's love that I'm feeling? I reckon that I'm strongly bound to Avara, but I'm not sure about my emotions. I think it's like a brother/sister bond. Please let me hear from you very soon,

Harry"

He asked his snowy owl Hedwig to carry out the letter, feeling already relieved that Sirius would know very soon what is going on.

Meanwhile, in the Slytherin Common Room down in the dungeons, Avara had been writing a letter too:

"Dear Mother, Dear Father,

My first weeks at Hogwarts were really enlightening. As you can imagine, I've been sorted into Slytherin house - what else? - and I've been able to make true friends here : cousin Draco of course, a first year Slytherin called Steven Packard and... Harry Potter from Gryffindor.

Thanks to my request, we finally have mixed classes like in Durmstrang. There may be positions open for Renatus quite soon, if he's still interested; I'll let you know when he can apply. And I kept the best for the end: Slytherin won their first Quidditch match in five years. Malachius and I are delighted.

Cheers,

Avara"

When the letter reached them in Silberberg, Arsenius and Vinea von Argentum felt very proud of their daughter. She was following the path that had been built up for her; they knew she would be good at it. Renatus Troomveld, who had been staying at Argentum Manor for the past few months was also thrilled by the news and wondered when he could come to Hogwarts.