Chapter 17 Don't Play with Snakes

Chapter 17.

The Christmas break had concluded, and the wizards returned to Hogwarts one by one.

Daphne sported the silver-blue bow that Brian had gifted her and genuinely acknowledged his good taste.

Simultaneously, Daphne made amends with Pansy again since Pansy had given her a large red bow for Christmas. Although it was rather outdated and unattractive, Daphne graciously forgave her. This is what Daphne stated.

Malfoy was very pleased with the Christmas present Brian had given him, placing it next to his bed. It was a rare limited-edition model, which he mentioned he hadn't been able to purchase earlier because his father always disapproved of him engaging with such items.

Brian smiled faintly; it was a gift from one of his father's acquaintances, and there were several more sets at home.

He actually intended to give Malfoy a Harry Potter figurine, but he thought that might be excessive for Malfoy— even though Malfoy consistently provoked Harry, he felt that was undoubtedly a deep-rooted affection.

Malfoy brought a book titled "Curses and Counter-Curses" from home, which documented many unpleasant curses. He shifted from his usual indifferent approach to studying and became focused on exploring the curses within it.

At times, he would even seek Brian's advice, which was unprecedented; Brian had never witnessed him so committed to his studies.

Brian also examined his book, which contained many intriguing curses, such as the baldness curse, the leg-breaking curse, and the tongue-tying curse. He provided Malfoy with guidance on some of the curses like the leg-locking curse, and even Crabbe picked up a bit as well.

As for Goyle, he was still more inclined to use his fists to fight.

Malfoy always appeared to have a natural knack for pranking others.

Of course, he soon abandoned that book. Brian didn't pay much attention until he heard that Malfoy had used those minor curses to play a nasty trick on Neville Longbottom outside the library.

Hermione mentioned in her letter that the book Brian had given her for Christmas was very useful, but at the end of the letter, she expressed a hint of dissatisfaction because Malfoy claimed it was all taught to him by Brian and asked him to demonstrate the effects.

"Well, I did teach him a little, but it's not like I instructed him to do that..." Brian wrote in his response, "Though I believe classmates should get along, it's not something I can control alone."

Brian said helplessly, "Anyway, I'll have a conversation with him."

Naturally, Malfoy took pride in this matter, which left Brian feeling somewhat exasperated. In his previous life, the way to handle such unruly, bullying classmates was generally to give them a beating, but he clearly did not want to resort to such a drastic method.

Brian did not worry about this issue; after all, Malfoy was much more familiar with him.

"Draco, if you keep acting like this, you'll have to watch your back too; since those two brutes won't be able to protect you," Brian said.

"I just had a fair wizard duel with Longbottom," Malfoy said proudly.

Life at Hogwarts, while tranquil, was certainly not static.

A Slytherin wizard named Blaise Zabini, who was in the same year as Brian, managed to sneak a nest of wild Scottish silver serpents into the boys' dormitory without the professors' knowledge upon returning from the Christmas holiday. He aimed to awaken the hidden powers in his bloodline by living with them day and night.

The ability to speak Parseltongue had long been lost among the Slytherins, but Zabini firmly believed that every pure-blood wizard had that ability concealed deep within their lineage.

However, this was a very perilous undertaking and brought a lot of trouble.

Scottish silver serpents had always been a favored magical creature among Slytherins because their appearance closely resembled the snake on the Slytherin crest, attracting many wizards to tame and raise them.

Snakes were always willing to obey the commands of wizards who spoke Parseltongue, while others could only tame them through magical means.

But the wild silver-scaled snakes are extremely dangerous; they are highly aggressive, very swift, possess a strong territorial instinct, are adept at hiding, and have considerable intelligence. More importantly, they hold grudges. Their venom is potent enough to cause a person to die in excruciating pain within an hour.

When Zabini brought the silver-scaled snakes to the lounge, many people eagerly gathered to watch. Malfoy even expressed a desire to raise one and boldly tugged at the tail of the largest silver-scaled snake.

Zabini, who usually didn't fit in, relished the attention at that moment.

Brian also approached to take a look; they were indeed beautiful, their neatly arranged smooth scales shimmering with a brilliant silver light, definitely high in appearance among slippery serpents.

Zabini was quite proud, but he refused to use magic to tame them. He believed he needed their wildness to awaken his hidden power, ultimately subduing them through awakening Parseltongue.

Brian shook his head helplessly; he didn't want to witness a day when Zabini was bitten to death in bed.

Looking at the four houses of Hogwarts, their symbolic animals are not ones that can be easily raised or provoked. The Gryffindor lion goes without saying; they are brave and proud, embodying indomitable wildness.

The Ravenclaw eagle is even more proud and tenacious. In ancient times, Muggles attempted to tame them through falconry, but most chose death over surrender, refusing to relinquish their freedom and the blue sky.

The Hufflepuff badger seems clumsy, but actually has a stubborn character, vowing not to rest until it achieves its goals.

As for the Slytherin snake, they are the most ruthless hunters, always waiting for the right moment to strike, delivering a lethal blow swiftly and decisively, and are mysterious and hard to fathom. Snakes do not recognize their owners; even if raised from a young age, one can never be sure when they might suddenly bite their keeper.

Sure enough, as winter passed and the weather warmed up, the nest of snakes regained their vigorous energy and soon broke free from Zabini's glass tank. They hid in various corners of the boys' dormitory, creating a complete mess.

When Malfoy woke up in the middle of the night, he found a silver-scaled snake as thick as his arm coiled around him. He couldn't break free and, upon opening his eyes, saw the glimmering snake head eyeing him maliciously, seemingly contemplating where to strike.

That day, Malfoy's piercing scream seemed to shake the roof, waking up most of the students in the boys' dormitory.

Brian jumped out of bed in fright, thinking Voldemort had broken in or that Hogwarts had exploded.

Crabbe and Goyle merely shivered in fear, then turned over and went back to sleep.

The snake on Malfoy was startled; it bit him on the chin and then quickly slithered down from the bed and escaped through a hole by the door.

Malfoy's sharp chin quickly swelled up and turned an ominous purplish-red, making him look like he had developed a double chin of the same color, and his entire face appeared larger. He struggled to pull back the curtains of his four-poster bed, crying out in pain, tears welling up as he looked at Brian, but he couldn't utter a word.

Suddenly, Brian thought of something; he disregarded Malfoy and hurriedly ran out of the dormitory. In the corridor, several young wizards were wearing pajamas, looking confused and displeased.

Ignoring them, Brian saw the familiar hole by Zabini's dormitory door and cast an unlocking spell on the door.

With a loud click, the door opened, revealing a dire situation inside. Three people had been bitten, with only two fortunate ones escaping unharmed, sleeping like dead pigs.

Especially Zabini, who had several wounds on him, clearly bitten multiple times by several vengeful silver-scaled snakes. His body had swollen all around, turning him into a purplish-red fat figure, and he had fallen into a deep coma, breathing weakly, as if he might depart from this world at any moment.

The other two were also in bad shape, having fallen into a coma and struggling to breathe.

Brian found the only piece of bezoar he had and stuffed it into Zabini's throat, temporarily stabilizing his condition, then called for the awakened crowd to help take Zabini and Malfoy to the hospital wing.

Filch stopped them during his rounds, but when he saw the condition of the poisoned individuals, he hesitantly let them pass.

Madam Pomfrey was awakened in the middle of the night by a commotion in the school hospital, where a large group of people were making a racket. She was furious, but upon seeing the terrible state of the four individuals, she was too shocked to speak.

"Oh, poor thing, what have you all done?" She looked at Zabini's condition, wiping the corners of her eyes with a sad expression.

"Is he beyond saving?" the male prefect swallowed hard and asked in a hoarse voice.

"No, if it were any later, he would indeed be beyond saving." Madam Pomfrey murmured a long string of spells over Zabini, administering various potions to him, and amidst her busy work, she said, "Fortunately, someone performed emergency detoxification. What was used? I need to know so I can use the antidote accordingly."

"I used bezoar, Madam Pomfrey," Brian said softly.

"Oh, what a clever choice; you've saved his life, child," Madam Pomfrey replied gently. "Bezoar has a very strong detoxifying effect; the poison he ingested is basically no longer a problem, though there might still be some residual toxins... it's just that his body is too severely damaged."

Brian shrugged. He had a few pieces of bezoar, but he had used them up while studying potion materials. This piece was just a precaution.

Madam Pomfrey quickly retrieved several bottles of antidote and administered them to Malfoy and the others. At this point, Malfoy's entire face was swollen and purple, round and resembling a ghostly ball. Madam Pomfrey struggled to pry open his jaw.

Under Madam Pomfrey's skilled medical care, everyone was no longer in life-threatening danger and would soon be able to leave the hospital. However, Zabini would obviously need to stay in the school hospital for a few more days.

That night, there was no sleep.