"Well, I never could see that he had all that much reason to," said Nott in a lower voice than before. "I know, he put her in St. Mungo's... but then when Christmas rolled around, he sent her this really fancy locket. She showed it off until we all just basically wanted to puke. Anyway though, there were pictures of the two of them inside it, so I knew that Draco must have gotten over the snake thing." Nott pulled his wand and cast Lumos, pointing the light so he could see the tiny developing hydra inside the egg.
As far as Harry was concerned, they'd somehow strayed from the subject he was trying to pursue. "So what is Bella's problem, then? Did she give any reason about why the announcement in the paper upset her?"
"Oh, sure." Nott rotated his hydra egg and kept peering at it. "She said it was because Draco had murdered Pansy and she was probably next on his list, something like that. But since I never did think Draco had killed Pansy, that just didn't add up. I figure she's afraid because she knows that Draco's not too likely to just put up with what she did. He'll want revenge, and what's more, he'll know how to take it."
Harry turned that over in his mind. "But why would she take that risk, if she's so afraid of Draco?"
Nott cast him an incredulous look. "You're kidding, right? Or, maybe not. You still do have a lion on your crest as well, so I guess you just don't think quite like we do. Bella thought Draco was going to be expelled, obviously. In fact, if you ask me, she must have had assurances to that effect or she'd never have spoken out against him. When she saw his new name and realised it must mean he was still living here... then she started to worry."
"Makes sense." Harry kept his voice casual. "But Draco won't do anything to hurt her, I don't think."
"Look, it seems pretty clear you two get on all right these days, but if you tell me he doesn't have a violent bone in his body I'll laugh, Potter. I really will."
Harry couldn't help but think of Dubby, of Draco hurling him against a hard stone wall and taking vicious pleasure in the poor elf's pain. Even Draco's casual acceptance of his new vault... blood money, as far as Harry was concerned, said loud and clear that for all Draco had aligned himself with the side of Light, he didn't share all their values. "No, I wouldn't say that."
Nott nodded as though in approval, then glanced down at Harry's egg. "Don't you want to see your hydra?"
"Yeah." Harry had been putting off incanting his own Lumos, mostly because the Parseltongue version he'd finally devised really didn't bear any resemblance to the normal spell. It couldn't, or he'd end up either with glowing fingers or a wand blasting out enough power to take apart walls. He'd figured out a way around that problem though. "Firefly," he said as he stared straight at the ring his father had transfigured. "Stuck to my stick."
A tiny spark of light appeared at the end of his wand. It wasn't coming from his wand, but it looked more or less like it was. Harry smiled, realising he really shouldn't have hesitated. It wasn't like Nott could understand Parseltongue and know he'd asked for the magical equivalent of a firefly. Actually, as Harry peered through the now-translucent shell, it struck him that Nott didn't seem disturbed at all by the Parseltongue. The Slytherin boy even wondered out loud if it would work on hydras. Harry said that he expected not. After that, the boys weighed and measured their eggs as directed, not talking too much more until their work was through.
It was almost time for class to end when Nott asked, "So what's up with you in Defence this year?"
Harry shrugged. "Well, you heard... oh, you were out sick, right. It's just that Aran doesn't like Parseltongue. Said I can't use it."
"But..." The other boy looked away as if embarrassed. "Look, it's none of my business and it's probably a stupid question besides. But the talk going around is you can't cast in anything but. Is that true?"
Another shrug, this one carefully careless. Strange phrase, Harry thought, but it was accurate. "Well, I don't expect it's any secret that my magic was gone for a while and it's come back wonky."
"In that case, Aran's a jerk."
"Yeah," Harry agreed. It unnerved him to be in agreement with Theodore Nott over anything, but he tried not to let that bother him.
"Snape would take care of him in two seconds' flat, you know."
"Look, just because my father works here doesn't mean I'm going to go running to him with every little thing... what?"
Nott shook his head. "It's nothing to do with that, Potter," he said in slightly scornful tones. "You don't understand. No wonder, we've always thought McGonagall was a bit of an odd duck, so maybe you don't know what a Head of House is supposed to do. They way we hear it, she hardly ever even sets foot in your common room! Anyway, though, Snape looks out for us with the other teachers. You tell him about Aran and he'll set it right."
"I don't want special treatment."
"It's not special in the least, Potter. Snape would do it for any one of us. Well, except maybe Bella and Erik."
"Erik Vanvelzeer?" Harry furrowed his forehead. "You know, Snape mentioned wanting to talk to both of them. Do you know if he's had a chance?"
Nott frowned. "No idea. But back to your problem. You shouldn't just put up with Aran's shite. Snape told us way back that you were in Slytherin too, on account of the adoption. And Slytherins just don't lie down and let themselves get stepped on, Potter."
"Look, I'll handle Aran myself," snapped Harry, a little unnerved by the advice. Ron and Hermione had thought he should go to his father, and now here was Nott thinking the same, though he cast it more as a case of going to one's Head of House. Of course there was no telling what Nott's true motive was. Maybe he just wanted to see if he had any influence over Harry, which in itself was a good argument for letting the Aran situation alone.
Besides, he didn't want Draco to get the idea that Harry was competing with him for Snape's time or attention. Best to handle things on his own for the time being. And if Aran got even more unreasonable, Harry decided, he'd tell McGonagall about it. After all, he had been a Gryffindor for a lot longer, and if McGonagall stepped in, it wouldn't look like Harry had run crying to his father.
He hated that thought.
When class was winding down, Harry handed his egg to Nott to put away, then walked over to where Hagrid stood watching them. Fishing Sals out of his pocket, he passed her over into the half-giant's hands.
"Ach, she is summat beautiful, 'Arry, she surely is," Hagrid said, holding the little snake up high and reaching out a huge finger to gently stroke the top of her head. "And 'ow do yeh like yer charmed box, eh? Nice and warm, isn't it?"
Sals hissed that she liked the big man very much.
Harry smiled at that, but made sure he looked away from his snake before he started speaking. "Actually she loved that box but Draco... um, broke it. So now I have her in the wooden box she first came in, but Sals is afraid she'll get eaten by one of the other animals in the Tower. She is pretty small. I wondered if you had any ideas?"
"A repellin' charm might be jus' the thing." Hagrid lowered his large hands and passed Sals back over to Harry. "Yeh can look one up in the library. Don't remember the incantation, but if yeh find one with critters in mind, yeh'll be able to tell yer snake that she'll be the only thing can go in 'er box."
Harry smiled. "That sounds perfect. Um, as long as I'm at it, do you think I should look for a warming charm too?"
"Now fer that, I'd ask yer father," Hagrid said, his beard jiggling as he shook his head. "Too strong a charm there and yer snake won't exactly thank yeh."
Right, that one did sound trickier. Harry put it on his list of things to talk to Snape about once it seemed like Draco felt a bit more able to share him. "Thanks, Hagrid. Oh... you said once you might be able to tell if Sals is a little bit magical?"