FicWad

Hogwarts; A History

Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, JKR does.

“Oh, isn’t he cute

“Oh, isn’t he cute!” The saucy voice rang out of the big red lips above him, which soon locked the boy in a massive kiss. “I could just eat him!” she looked up at the child’s parents, smiling. “How old is he again?” The boy shifted his feet, his face burning with humiliation.

“I’m nine…” he muttered. His aunt got a surprised look on her face, making it look twice as wide as usual.

“Oh, that old already? My, aren’t you becoming quite the little gentleman!” The boy, anger boiling up inside him and trying to restrain from cursing his fat aunt, decided to use the classic excuse to get away from uncomfortable situations;

“I need to use the potty,” he said quickly, hurrying out of the room, bounding up the stairs and collapsing on his bed. He wished she would just go away…nasty relatives, always getting in the way. He had been hoping to bug his parents about buying him a new pet snake since his old one had jumped off the roof three weeks ago, but with Aunt Alda around, his parents would never let him bring a poisonous snake into the house (for only poisonous ones would do!) Just a few more days and then he could get his wish. His parents would never turn him down on such a matter, always wanting someway to occupy him, even if it was a poisonous animal.

Salazar Slytherin was slightly tall for his age with shoulder length black hair. He had very light skin and dark green eyes, with a small nose positioned in the center of his face. He loved the color black and had very good night vision, compared to normal humans. He also had one special gift that he prized above all others. He had discovered it a few years ago, when he got Chuckles, his first pet snake. She was very energetic and liked to eat. She was great help in getting rid of the gnome population outside of their two-story house and in making yucky or leftover meals disappear.

One day, when Salazar was playing with Chuckles, she had accidentally got her body smashed beneath the large dragon doll in his room. It wasn’t too heavy, but Chuckles was young, and it had upset her greatly. After rampaging around the room, she had gone after Salazar, trying to poison him (one of the risks of owning a poisonous snake). Not wanting to die, he had shouted at the top of his lungs, Get away from me! A simple request, most unlikely to work against a snake. Strangely, though, the snake had retreated, staring young Slytherin in the eye, and hissing in reply the words As you wish, masssster…Salazar, in complete shock of hearing his pet talking to him, asked his mother, who laughed and sent him to his room. Looking in a book from the library, Snake Mysteries, he realized his new gift; he could speak and understand Parseltongue, the snake language. He was a Parselmouth! He never told his parents, though, hoping one day to find the skill to his advantage…

Salazar lay on his bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling. Aunt Alda had already been here three days, and he had had just about enough of her. Well, it was time for dinner. He left his room and hurried down the stairs. When he reached the dining room, he slid quietly into a seat. As the meat started, Aunt Alda chattered on endlessly about her husband.

“And do you know what he did then? He kissed me! The rascal! So, of course, I kissed him back, but can you guess what he did next? Come on, guess! He stopped! So, of course, I smacked him upside the head, causing him to storm out of the house! And, of course, that really upset me. And the next day, can you guess,…”

Salazar was almost asleep in his chair when his mother said his name.

“Hm?” he mumbled.

“I was just saying how you would be thrilled at her idea!”

“Idea, what idea?”

“Oh Salazar, don’t you ever pay attention? I’m telling you, Alda, I don’t know what’s gotten into him lately! He’s usually much more attentive than this! She had just said that she could stay for an extra week! She was saying how she hasn’t been able to bond with you in such a short time, and, frankly, I agree. Now, Alda, what were you saying about your strawberry pudding?”

Salazar’s jaw dropped open. Another week?! She was suppose to leave tomorrow morning!

“Can I be excused?” he asked and, without waiting for an answer, got up and went to his room.

How could this be happening? Not only did he want to get rid of Aunt Alda as soon as possible, but he also didn’t want to wait that long to get a new snake. He made up his mind almost instantly. He would ask him mother for a new snake this evening. Surely she would let him have one!

“Another snake?!” his mother asked incredulously.

“Mom, Chuckles died a whole three weeks ago! Don’t you think I’ve waited long enough?”

“Oh Salazar, I’m just not sure…”

“Please?”

“Oh, alright.” His mother sighed. “We’ll go to the store tomorrow morning.”

“Yes! Thanks mom! You’re the greatest!” he shouted happily.

“And what kind of pet would you be wanting?” the salesman asked, leaning over the counter to look at Salazar. He had a thick black mustached and was balding on the top of his head.

“Um, I want a snake,” he replied. The salesman looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

“A snake? Don’t you think another pet would be better for a boy your age?”

“No, I want a snake,” he said firmly. “A boa constrictor.”

“Um, well,” the salesman mumbled, looking at Salazar’s mother. “Is this alright?”

“Yes. Show my son your boas.” She stated. The salesman nodded slowly and led Salazar to a far corner of the store. There, a large bowl of boa constrictors stood. Salazar examined the snakes carefully, finally picking a dark red one. The salesman, putting on very thick gloves, carefully pulled the snake of the bowl and put it into a small wooden box with air holes. After paying him, Salazar left the store, holding the box with a smile on his face. As he and his mother walked home, Salazar began to get impatient.

“Do you think my snake will be alright in that box?” he asked.

“I’m sure it will be fine,” she replied quickly and kept walking.

“I’m not so sure,” Salazar said, a worried expression on his face. “I better check.” Salazar pulled the lid of the box off and reached inside. “Snake, oh snake, where are you? Ah, there you are.” Salazar pulled the boa out of the box, to the great alarm of his mother.

“Salazar, put that thing away right now!” she shouted angrily. Salazar shook his head.

“He might suffocate in there,” he replied. “Wanna pet him?” He handed Chuckles to his mother with a smile. She recoiled as the snake started to crawl onto her arm.

“Salazar, get him off right now!” she screamed. The snake slithered up to her shoulder. Its eyes glinted and chomp! It caught her necklace in its jaw and yanked. Beads flew everywhere, scattering the street. “Salazar…” his mother growled as Salazar hurried around, picking up all the beads.

Why was his mom being so unfair? Salazar punched his pillow angrily. His mom had demanded that the snake be returned to the store immediately after she found out that it had eaten part of her necklace. It’s not fair. It was an accident! Now he would never get a snake again!

“SALAZAR!” Salazar was jerked violently out of his thoughts, and he jumped to his feet at this sudden noise. “COME DOWN HERE THIS MINUTE!” Oh no, what had he done this time? Not wanting to keep his mother waiting (like a howler, the longer you wait, the worse it gets), he hurried down the stairs where his mom was waiting in the kitchen, glaring at him. “Salazar, come here!” He took a few cautious steps forward. “Open the food box.” He reached out one shaking hand towards the handle. He grasped it and slowly pulled it open. A low hiss emitted from inside. Aunt Alda backed away, horrified. Salazar peeked inside, and he saw the reason behind his mom’s anger.

The food box, which used to be full of all kinds of food, was now nearly empty, although parts of containers and wrapping stuff were scattered everywhere. Other than that, it all looked perfectly normal. Salazar looked closer though and, to his horror, saw a small green plastic-like material on a case that once held beef. He picked it up. Yes, it was snakeskin. The hiss came again and Salazar looked and saw two green eyes peering up at him. His heart skipped a beat, and he reached down into the food box. Something wrapped around his arm, which he raised to eye level. It was Chuckles, his pet snake but, wasn’t she dead? Could snakes survive jumping off buildings? Your back… He hissed. Yes, massssster… she replied with what could have been a smile. His parents looked shocked, there eyes nearly popping out of their heads. Soon, Salazar realized his mistake. He gave his parents a weak smile.

“Oops?” he offered in reply to his parents’ horrified stares. His parents, like most witches and wizards, had not the slightest knowledge of the existence of Parselmouths, and they just thought their son was insane, or was turning into a snake. They believed the second option a good deal more, and soon locked their son in his room, not wanting him to poison the family.

Aunt Alda was just as horrified, if not more, by this sudden turn of events, for she had never even known that their son had any interest in snakes, let alone poisonous ones. She vowed never to visit their house again, which was a good thing, at least as far as young Salazar was concerned, because he would never have to deal with her ever again, although it would have given him something to take his mind off the fact that he was grounded for the rest of his life.

Salazar lay on the floor of his room, with Chuckles right beside him, looking at the door. He could here voices downstairs, talking in frantic, hushed voices, but he could hear them very well. They were contemplating putting him up for adoption. They seemed to be taking very drastic actions after just this one incident! Salazar shook his head. Like they’ll ever do that. Salazar thought.They’re just a little worked up now. That’s all. They’ll calm down sooner or later and everything will go back to normal. Chuckles hissed and slithered up Salazar’s arm. Her long thin tongue protruded out of her mouth, licking his face. Salazar gave a small laugh. Chuckles, that tickles! Chuckles gave a hissing laugh in return and curled up on Salazar’s lap, falling asleep.

Salazar looked at his snake and smiled. He had grown attached to her, more than he ever had to another human. The few kids that were in his small neighborhood seemed to shy away from him, thinking him an outsider and a freak. He moved in to this house a little over two year and he was still treated like the ‘new kid’. Overall, he didn’t go outside much or visit the other kids. He had learned to entertain himself quite well, mostly by playing with snakes or other reptiles. When Chuckles had jumped off the roof, he had been so sad and depressed, but now she was back, and absence only makes the heart grow fonder. He hoped nothing bad would ever happen to her again.

As Chuckles climbed onto the bed, his door opened a creak. A plate of meat and a glass of milk slid through and the door was slammed shut immediately. Salazar lunged hungrily towards it and quickly devoured the meat and chugged down the milk. Drat, he was still hungry. He looked outside. The sun was just sinking below the hills, painting the sky with dark hues of blue, purple, and red. With a sigh, he fell backwards onto his bed, falling into a deep sleep.

Many days had passed since he had let his Parseltongue slip and still, his parents weren’t letting him out of his room. The food had gotten steadily worse and, sometimes,

his parents even forgot to feed him at all!

Masssster, why are your parentssss being so annoying?”

Salazar looked at his snake and gave a small smile.

That’s just the way things are sometimes, Chuckles.

Have you thought of esssscaping?

Escaping? How?

The window?

Chuckles, it’s a three-story drop.

The door?

Don’t you think they’d notice? Besides, my parents never leave the house,(or they never tell me when they do) so there will never be an opportunity to leave!

Hsss...the chimney?

The chimney?! What? How do you climb up the chimney?

Hsss...levitation?
Isn’t that a little dangerous?

Hsss...

Yes, it is dangerous, but what else can I do? Might as well try...it my parents are ever far enough away so I can sneak down the stairs to the chimney unnoticed...

Salazar looked at Chuckles and shook his head in amazement. Snakes can be amazing creatures sometimes, although a bit dense. How was he going to get to the chimney AND levitate up it with all of his stuff?

Salazar sat on his bed, completely silent. His parents would leave the house eventually. He just needed to know when they did. A couple hours later, he heard the door slam shut and he quickly grabbed his luggage (already packed) and went towards the stairs. He grabbed the handle and…locked. Why had he been so stupid? He had completely forgotten that his door was locked. His mind raced, trying to think of what spells he knew that could help him:

Levitation: Obviously useless

Fire: Unless he wanted to burn down the house, no.

Color changing: Maybe, he could color his whole room pink and…no.

Enlarging: If he enlarged Chuckles and had her eat the door…

He didn’t know any good spells. He looked at Chuckles.

I guess we’re stuck. We’ll have to give up on the chimney.

Hssss...the window?

I told you, we’re on the third story!

Massster, levitate out the window.

Salazar hit himself on the head. Why didn’t he think of that?

Just one problem, Chuckles. How do we open the window?

Chuckles turned away from Salazar for a minute and slithered over towards the closet, which was left open. Salazar glanced curiously inside, wondering what on earth his snake was up to now! A few minutes later, Chuckles came out again, pulling a large ax behind her. Salazar wondered at first why he had an ax in his closet, but decided not to ask. Right now, he was in shock at what is snake was now suggesting!

Break down the window?! Chuckles, are you insane?

You did want to get out, massster?

Well, that was true…he walked over towards Chuckles and picked up the ax. He hoped desperately that his parents weren’t going to be home for a while, because he wanted to be far away when they found the window smashed to bits and their son missing. He shook his head and raised the ax. Here it goes… He thought nervously before he swung the ax at the window. The glass cracked a little.

Massster, hit the glasssss harder!

What if someone is watching? I don’t want them to think there’s a murderer in here when the window explodes!

He hit the glass again and again, each hit sending jagged lines through the ruined glass. Finally, the window burst outwards, sending a shower of glass shards down onto the lawn. Salazar grabbed his bags of luggage, brandished his wand, and jumped out the window. “Leviatiosa!” he shouted, pointing his wand at himself. Immediately, he felt himself jerk up and spin around a bit, and Salazar clung desperately to his luggage. He looked up to the window, where he saw Chuckles, staring down at him. How could he have forgotten her?

I’m coming, Chuckles! He hissed as he shot up towards the window. He grabbed at his snake, but missed as he went flying above the house. He desperately pushed himself downward, nearly crashing into the ground. Stopping just before crashing into a rose bush, Salazar tried again to reach the window, sending him twisting and tumbling upwards. His hand grasped onto the window sill, but his body flew up beyond it.

Chuckles, climb onto my arm! He cried. Chuckles nodded her head and slithered towards his arm. Salazar smiled, but the smile didn’t last long as the snake slithered up his sleeves and across his bare arm. Chuckles! Get out of my sleeve!

Hsss... Chuckles laughed, finding his way to Salazar’s chest and wrapping around his stomach.

Chuckles! Not so tight! He shouted back. Suddenly, Salazar shot up into the sky again, reaching the clouds. Salazar looked down and gulped, his hands full of bags of luggage, Chuckles pressing tight against his chest. His lungs were burning as the atmosphere grew thin. Now what was he going to do? He was flying forwards, wherever forwards was, hoping he would find some way out of this situation. Suddenly, he found himself hurtling towards the ground, trying vainly to pull upwards, at least a little, but nothing was working. His throat seemed to be glued shut as the ground got closer and closer and closer…