Chapter- 50 : Fraudulence Part - 8

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The mutant snake twitched a few times before laying still, unmistakably dead.

"Vipera Evanesca."

Harry suppressed a hysterical giggle. Here he was, not fifty yards away from a piece of Voldemort's very soul and he was repeating the events of Lockhart's disastrous attempt at a Duelling Club.

He shook his head to clear his mind and this time applied some mental focus. He recalled one of the few memorable snakes he had met, and the only one he had spent a length of time observing.

"Serpentsortia."

A nine feet long boa constrictor, a perfect replica of the one he had freed in the zoo when he was ten, raised its head and hissed as it tasted the air with its tongue.

Parseltongue flowed easily from his lips. "A little over ten lengths behind you is an abandoned human dwelling. Hidden inside is a small metal ring bound to a pebble. Fetch it and bring it here." He'd never consciously spoken complete sentences in the language before and it was odd how his mind automatically chose different words to translate human concepts.

The snake nodded and slithered away, unhindered by the ward. Harry sat back down against the tree and was prepared to settle in for a long wait but it came back a minute later at high speed.

"Speaker, the others won't let me," it hissed petulantly.

"Others?" he wondered before he saw something move on the ground behind.

Five sleek forms slithered in pursuit of the boa constrictor. They were smaller and darker, though they had brightly coloured stripes in places that stood out like a lit candle in a dark room. Their tiny fangs were dripping with venom.

Harry stared at the strange snake chase.

"Speaker?" the boa asked, sounding a little worried now.

Harry shook his head and cast the first spell that came to mind. "Vipera Evanesca!"

One of the little snakes vanished on the spot and he cast it four more times on the others before they could bite either his summoned friend or him. Merlin, never in a million years would he have guessed he'd get such mileage out of that one Duelling Club meeting.

"What happened?" he asked.

"They would not let me close to the dwelling. They said I was an interloper in their nestand moved to attack me."

Harry scratched his head. "Do you think you can bring one out here to talk to me?"

"I will ask."

While watching the boa disappear in the undergrowth again he realised that his impulsive decision to do something was quickly growing out of hand.

He shook his head. Really, why had he expected anything different.

To prevent even more difficulties when someone inevitably came by and saw him hissing to a snake he cast a few of the charms that had kept their tent hidden during the horcrux hunt. At least that would buy him a little time at this spot without anybody interfering.

A rustle of leaves alerted him to the reappearance of the large boa constrictor. The foot long snake slithering after it looked tiny in comparison. Its bright colouring made it stand out from its surroundings, however, and when it lifted the front of its body off the ground a webbed membrane like moth's wings detached itself from its sides.

He'd never heard of such a creature before; it looked rather impressive. Maybe it was magical?

A tiny forked tongue shot out of its mouth, tasting the air before it recoiled.

"You are not Speaker!" it hissed accusingly as it reared up and flared its wings and its hissing turned louder, somehow. "Nest-mates! Guard the treasure under our nest from the false Speaker! His flesh will feed us for many moons."

"Oh, crap," Harry said as everywhere around him leaves rustled. "Diffindo!"

The cutting curse was aimed right at the irritating guard-creature but Harry's eyes widened as it bounced off and instead nicked a small tree branch that came tumbling down.

"Reducto! Vipera Evanesca!"

The Blasting Hex bounced off as well, but as soon as the last syllable of the snake vanishing charm left his lips the snake disappeared.

For one heartbeat Harry felt like pumping his fist in triumph, until hundreds of other snakes came pouring out of the woods, all headed in his direction.

"Incendio!" he snapped and bright gouts of flame left his wand, setting brush and branch alight. The incoming snakes hesitated, cringing away from the fire as they madly hissed insults in his direction.

"Vipera Evanesca! Vipera Evanesca!" Harry started vanishing any and every snake in sight.

"Speaker!" came an urgent cry from behind him. Over his shoulder Harry saw 'his' boa constrictor pointing upwards with its tail.

With wings fluttering so quickly they were practically invisible four more of the brightly coloured foul-mouthed reptiles came flying at him. Harry was so surprised he forgot to cast and had to duck as one buzzed over his head, ruffling his hair.

"Vipera Evanesca! Vipera Evanesca! Hold still, you annoying little- Vipera Evanesca!"

They were amazingly agile in the air, making for very difficult targets. Fortunately they were hell bent on attacking him and therefore just predictable enough to dodge as they dove at him. Warding them off with gouts of flame he tried to keep a circle of safe ground around himself while the boa alerted him to any snakes that made it past.

The few other curses he tried all bounced off their scales no matter what snake he cast at so he stuck with the one spell he'd found that worked. If it weren't Snape who had inadvertently taught it to him he could have kissed the man. As it was they were going to have a long conversation later on why the guardians for Voldemort's soul piece were susceptible only to a charm he couldn't remember anyone but Snape ever using.

One by one he started picking off the snakes. His wand-arm grew tired from the repeated motions and his voice hoarse from the yelled incantations but he didn't dare let up.

A surprise attack by one of the flying critters that he just- couldn't- seem to- hit- forced him to jump aside and he stumbled to the ground. An opportunistic venomous little bugger tried to take advantage, but 'his' boa was there in a flash, crushing it in its coils. He scrambled to his feet and returned to casting

"Vipera Evanesca!" he called for what felt like the thousandth time, a little breathless now. The viper he had aimed for vanished and his eyes roamed the area around him, looking for his next target.

"Do you see any more?" he asked, not trusting his own senses and eyes darting everywhere.

"No, Speaker. I can taste many snakes but I see none."

Breathing heavily Harry sought out a large fallen branch and levitated it over. With quick, harsh movements he tapped it thrice and painstakingly transfigured it into a waist-high wooden wall. Three more branches and transfigurations later had him standing in a ten by ten foot square made by the things. He vanished every leaf and branch and blade of grass on the ground, not taking any chances.

Finally, when he looked around and could be certain that he was safe and that there were no more snakes nearby about to bite him he lowered his wand and promptly slumped to the ground.

"Are you all right, Speaker?" the boa asked.

"I've been better," he muttered before he realised sarcasm didn't translate into Parseltongue. He quickly took an inventory of the bruises and scratches he'd collected. "I am not hurt badly."

"That is good." It paused and stared at him. "You have slain many snakes this day."

Harry eyed it warily. "Are you upset about that?"

It hissed in agitation. "They attacked a Speaker. This is wrong. Yet they did so on orders of a Speaker. That is right."

Harry watched as the boa slithered to and fro on the ground along one of the walls, almost like it was pacing.

"It is confusing," it complained eventually.

Harry opened his mouth to say something but thought better of it and stood instead. "Why not get me the ring and the pebble now?"

It nodded as if glad to have something to distract it from its moral dilemma. "Yes, Speaker."

He watched it disappear in whatever remained of the undergrowth and absently put out a little fire that still smouldered before it could grow worse.

For the millionth time he wondered what the hell he had been thinking. Messing with Dumbledore while he reluctantly saved the man's life was a nice idea, but not at the expense of his own hide!

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If you're eager to delve deeper into the story, consider joining my Patreon for exclusive content and early access to new chapters

50+Advanced Chapters there.

(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)

patreon.com/Kun_Blig

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