Harry Leferts
As they walked into Gryffindor Tower, Harry let out a loud yawn and cracked his back a little. "Ugh..."
Hermione just looked up from the small notebook she carried around everywhere with a raised eyebrow. For some odd reason, her, Harry, Ron, and Neville had become something of a group of their own among the First Years. "Something wrong?"
A slight frown on his face, Harry let out a puff of air that ruffled his bangs a little bit. "Just a little bit bored I guess... I mean, knowing the basics are important but still."
Just nodding, Hermione turned back to her notebook. "Mmm, that's true. I want to learn some spells." She then flipped a page. "Though we do have potions tomorrow and I think that's a more physical class."
There was a look of disgust on Ron's face as he scoffed. "Yeah, right. According to Fred and George as well as Percy, Snape hates Gryffindors."
Sharing a look with Hermione and Neville, Harry raised an eyebrow. "Two of those told you that we would need to wrestle a troll though."
With a bigger scowl on his face, Ron ignored Seamus trudging past him and then up the stairs to the dorms. "Thanks for reminding me. But what about Percy?"
Both Hermione and Harry paused before the witch turned to Harry. "Well... he does have a point there. It doesn't seem like Percy to make up stories like that about any teachers..."
Frowning, Harry considered this and sighed. "Hopefully not, I like potions."
Eyebrow raising, Neville stared at him. "But I thought that you were raised in the Muggle world? How would you know how to brew a potion?"
Chuckling, the black haired boy rubbed the back of his neck. "Well... I was taught by Haru-San in both collecting ingrediants and a few potions." At their looks of confusion, Harry sighed. "Haru is a Miko in charge of a small shrine back in Yokosuka on the base."
Despite the confusion still on the other two boys' faces, Hermione nodded. "Oh, I see." Turning toward them, she waved a hand around. "A Miko is a sort of priestess I guess. They're supposed to be able to communicate between the spirit world and the physical if I remember correctly."
Simply furrowing his eyebrows, Neville blinked. "like... a druid?"
Yet again, Harry and Hermione shared a look before they shrugged. But before they could go any further though, a scream from upstairs caught their attention as well as those inside the Common Room. Everyone was already moving when Seamus practically leapt from the stairs only to be stopped by Percy. "What seems to be the problem?"
Panting, Seamus pointed up the stairs. "Sn-snake... in the First Year Dormatory... b-big snake!"
Almost as one, nearly all the older students turned and gave a glare to the Weasley twins who just blinked in confusion. "What?'
Beside them, a blonde haired girl punched Fred in the shoulder. "You know what, you arse! A snake in the bedroom!? Are you kidding me!?"
Rubbing his arm, Fred just scowled. "What's your problem, woman? Does that really sound like something that we would do?"
For several seconds there was quiet while the others in the Common Room looked at each other before speaking as one. "YES."
Just grumbling, Fred shook his head before George patted his twin on the shoulder. "They do have a point, dear brother of mine."
Theatrically sighing, Fred nodded. "I suppose so, Forge, I suppose so. But in this case, it has nothing to do with us, we swear!"
Light glinting off his glasses, Percy sighed as his tone became drier then the Antarctic deserts. "I'm sure.
Hand flying to his chest, George gasped. "Perce! You too, our own brother!"
Also with a shocked look, Fred made a fake sob. "Our very own flesh and blood!"
"Wounding us in such a way!"
"Indeed, indeed! Why, we might die of broken hearts, dropped by our own family!"
Both of them flung themselves onto Percy who scowled and tried to push them away. "Getoff!"
More then a little amused by the byplay, Harry turned to Seamus who seemed annoyed by the whole thing. "Just... one question." At the look, Harry continued. "What exactly does the snake look like?"
Still scowling, Seamus looked toward Harry. "Big with white scales and these red eyes." However, when Harry groaned and pinched his nose, Seamus blinked. "What?"
With a sigh, Harry pinched his nose some. "Sorry, Seamus, I think that's my snake, Shiromizu. She must have come through the owl box from Yokosuka."
There was utter silence which caused Harry to look up to see all the Gryffindors there staring at him. Before he could say anything, Percy cleared his throat. "You... have a pet snake, Harry?"
Just shrugging, Harry frowned. "Um, yeah? I mean, snakes are a pretty common pet in the non-magical world you know."
His eyebrows raising, Percy stared at him and wasn't alone as a number of Halfbloods and Purebloods did as well. "Wait, snakes are a common pet with muggles? Really?"
Slowly, Harry nodded though he was pretty confused about the reaction he was getting. "Yes...? They got reptile shows for them and everything. Shiromizu was a pretty big hit at the only one I took her to." Unknown to them as they muttered, Harry didn't finish the rest. 'And that was the only one because that eco-jerk tried to grab her so that she could be "Free"... which was when she bit her.'
It was then that one of the Gryffindor First Year witches, Sally-Ann Perks, spoke up. "He's right, my uncle owns all sort of snakes."
From where they sat, a Muggleborn Fifth Year spoke up. "And a friend of mine who's a muggle has this big boa constrictor his dad gave him.'
As more commented on how they've seen snakes as pets, Percy looked a bit lost but thoughtful. Then he noticed that Harry was climbing the stairs. "Where are you going now?"
Harry just raised an eyebrow and looked over his shoulder. "If it's Shiromizu, I'm going to go and get her."
Frowning, Hermione cleared her throat. "Harry? What sort of snake is Shiromizu?"
Slightly confused, Harry shrugged. "Shiromizu is a Japanese rat snake, she doesn't have any venom if that's what you're worried about. Besides, I saved her from being tormented and killed by some kids, which should tell you how dangerous she is."
Now that he's said his piece, Harry continued his way up the stairs while ignoring that most of Gryffindor was following him. Once he entered the Dorm though, he frowned and looked around. 'Now where are you...' It was then that he spotted a small, white tail behind a curtain and walked over. Flinging open the curtain, he narrowed his eyes down at Shiromizu who gave him the closest that she could to a sheepish grin. "{Dammit, Shiromizu!}"
Tongue flicking out, Shiromizu softly hissed. "{What?}"
Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Harry was about to say something when he heard an intake of breath and turned to see several of his Housemates staring at him. "Bloody hell, you're a parselmouth!"
Just blinking, Harry frowned for a moment before he remembered what McGonagall had told him that day she had taken them to Diagon. "You mean the whole speaking to snakes thing?"
Uncomfortable, Percy looked around. "Uh... you know that's a sign of a dark wizard, right?"
If anything, he grew more uncomfortable as Harry stared at him before the younger boy sighed. "In Britain, maybe. Not in Japan though." At the continuing looks, Harry rolled his eyes and walked over to his trunk. Then he opened it before pulling out a book and flipped through it before bringing it over to Percy. "Here."
Frowning, Percy took the book and glanced at the cover. "It's some sort of guide to Japanese mythology?"
Simple nodding, Harry tapped his finger on the page that it was opened on. "It explains all about snakes right here. Long story short? Snakes aren't really looked at as evil. Sure, some are such as the Yamata no Orochi, though I think that might be considered more like a hydra... Anyways, some of the Kami have snakes as messangers such as Benzaiten of the Seven Lucky Gods, one of her symbols is the white snake. Then you got Ryujin, the dragon kami of the seas who has snakes as representatives with one of his daughters being one... other kami are snakes."
The frown on Percy's face grew as he continued to read. "Huh... it does say that. And it also says that snakes represent money, prosperity and fertility?" Eyebrows raising, he looked up at Harry. "So in Japan being able to speak to snakes..."
Nodding, Harry smiled. "Is a good thing as it means that you can talk to some of the messangers of the Kami? Pretty much, yeah. I got told that before the Statute of Secrecy, Lords who's farmers had rat problems used to hire those able to speak with snakes to come and have the snakes eat the rats."
Eyebrows furrowing, Percy slowly nodded. "I see..." Looking down at the book, he frowned. 'Looks like I have something to read...'
Part of him realized that he wasn't the only one as other Gryffindors were looking intrigued or whispering among themselves. However, what caught his attention was the sight of Harry scolding the snake which looked like it was nearly as long as he was tall. Said snake of course, looking away almost petuantly between hisses. Beside him, Seamus had an odd look on his face. "That reminds me of me mum when she gets mad, it does." He then shuddered. "I did not need to think that."
For his part, Percy grimaced as he was also reminded of his own mother scolding her children for doing something. "Thank you, now I can't help but imagine mum scolding a snake..."
Meanwhile, Neville walked a bit closer though he stilled when Shiromizu looked toward him. "Um..."
Blinking, Harry turned toward him with a frown on his face. "Something wrong, Neville?"
Slowly swallowing, Neville just shook his head. "Just... wanted to take a closer look is all..."
Eyes widening, Harry smiled at him which caused Neville's stomach to drop. "Why didn't you just say so, Nev?" Then Harry gently picked up Shiromizu. "Here, want to hold her?"
Taking a step back, Neville looked between Harry and the snake which was watching him curiously. "I... uh...."
All Harry did though was shake his head. "She won't hurt you, promise."
However, all Neville did was look between Harry and Shiromizu who flicked out her tongue. "Wh-what's she doing?"
Glancing down, Harry shrugged. "She's tasting the air, it's how snakes smell after all." After a hiss from the snake, Harry raised an eyebrow. "She says that you don't need to be so terrified of her, she promises that she won't bite."
Still unsure, Neville took a deep breath and then held out his hand. "Um, okay then, i guess..."
A small smile on his face, Harry slowly held out placed Shiromizu close so that she could slither onto Neville's hand. "There we go, gently."
While Shiromizu moved onto his hand, Neville's expression became a frown. "She's... not slimy?"
Snorting, Harry shook his head. "Of course she's not, snakes' aren't slimy."
For her part, Shiromizu just let out a hiss. "{If you want slimy, then my Onee-Sama is the one to talk too.}'
That got her a look from harry, but as she didn't expand on that, he didn't bother saying anything. Instead, he looked over as Sally-Ann walked over to get a better look at her. Within an hour or so, while still not quite comfortable, none of the Gryffindors had an issue with Shiromizu. Especially after Harry communicated that she promised not to eat any pets. Granted, Harry still did not know why she had shown up. The only answer he got from Shiromizu was mutters about stupid, task master foxes which confused him.