HARRY POTTER :Dark Kingdom

The two wandered off to make mayhem for a cluster of Gryffindor girls gossiping at the end of the table. No sooner had the boys gotten them to start screaming at the sight of their wart infested hands, then real screams started over at the Hufflepuff table. The Hufflepuffs students all clambered from their seats and a way from their table. This was followed by the Ravenclawns shouting in surprise and scrambling from theirs.

Through the din of panicked voices, Harry could hear another softer voice.

"Where is my little mousey? Bring it to me, now, now, now!"

"Oh, bloody hell, not her again," he moaned.

"Harry, what's going on?" Hermione asked. But there was no time for explanations. The crowds had parted to reveal Nagini, who had spotted him in an instant.

"You!"

"Geh."

The serpent rushed for him, and Harry made a split second decision. Leaping from his chair he sprinted towards Nagini as well. She reared up, expected an attack and prepared to face it with one of her own, but Harry turned sharply and just barely avoided her fangs. He ran for a side door, keeping Nagini as far from the other students as he could manage. She followed, slipping under tables and benches, brushing ankles as she slithered towards her intended prey.

He led her into a corridor. He could see students flooding out of the Great Hall further down and turned in the opposite direction. He jogged along, keeping Nagini in sight and just out of range. Once the other students were out of sight, he tried to lose her, but soon found himself out done.

Stairs and doors did nothing to keep her at bay. She followed him at a steady pace singing along the way 'Run, run, run, little man-child. Nagini knows every tunnel. Nagini knows every hole. Run, run, run, little man-child, because you can not hide'.

It didn't take long for Harry to become utterly lost. He had gotten stuck at the dead end of a corridor, and somehow managed to find a secret passageway. It had wound up and down narrow staircases, lefts, rights, forks and crossroads. When he had finally stumbled out of the dusty space he found himself in an empty classroom and no idea where he was. At least it appeared he had lost Nagini.

"Hello?!" he called, as he entered the hallway. "I'm really, really lost and could use some help"

It was dark here, with no torches lit. Harry wished he hadn't left his wand in his trunk. He didn't know if he could perform any spells, but a few sparks might have gone a long way helping him find his way back to the Great Hall.

He kept calling for help, staying close to the wall so he didn't get disoriented. He wasn't certain how long he groped blindly in the darkness, but he was starting to lose hope in a rescue. Frankly, he wasn't sure he wantedto be rescued. He was already in enough trouble as it was. Just as he had resolved to spend a long, uncomfortable night curled on the floor, he saw a pale white glow.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" he called, a bit nervously.

"Hello?" came a reply. "What have we here? Oh, my, you're that Potter boy. Everyone is looking for you. What are you doing all the way over here?"

Harry couldn't reply. As the white glow got closer, he could see that what he thought was a wand light was a man... or had been a man. Wearing a collar and tights, and literally transparent, he suddenly realized he was meeting his first ghost.

"You alright there, lad? Nagini didn't get a bite out of you, did she? While we ghosts wouldn't mind some new blood, it would put a bit of a damper on the festivities for the rest of the students."

"I-I'm sorry, yes, I'm fine. But...um... who are you?"

"How terribly rude of me! I am Sir Nicholas de Mimsy, at your service! Just follow me! I'll get you back to civilization!" he chuckled.

Relieved, Harry did follow Sir Nicholas. But they did not return to the Great Hall. Instead, he was led up several sets of staircases and through many corridors, until at last they stopped at a statue of a gargoyle.

"Er... where am I now, Sir Nicholas?"

"The headmistress's office, of course. Have to sort all of this nonsense out, don't we? Oh, don't look so green. You'll survive! Now up you go! Cecrops!"

A winding staircase appeared behind the gargoyle. Taking a deep breath, he lifted his head, and made his way up. He stepped off the stairs and found himself in a rather crowded circular office. All the Heads of House were present, McGonagal, Snape (Hermione later told him her godfather taught potions and was head of Slytherin), Flitwick, a dumpy looking woman he didn't know, one he recognized from a chocolate frog card as Headmistress Bellatrix Lestrange, and of course to make his day complete- Lord Voldemort with Nagini curled quite happily around his armchair. The giant serpent looked at him, and Harry got the impression she was smirking.

The headmistress, staring over her locked fingers at him, was not looking pleased.

"I should expel you, Mr. Potter," was the first thing out of her lips.

Harry felt his heart drop into is stomach.

"Couldn't you just expel Nagini?" he said, and then slapped his hand over his mouth.

"Mr. Potter! This is not a joke! This is the first time in centuries the Welcoming Feast has been disturbed. Perhaps the very first time that it has been disturbed twice by the very same person!"

"Hey, I had nothing to do with the second one! They weren't running and screaming from me!"

"Just keep talking, silly man-child. It will only make your punishment that much more amusing to watch," hissed Nagini.

"Go choke on your rat!" he snarled back at her.

Suddenly, everyone was looking at him with even more interest. Even Voldemort, who had been ignoring him in favor of stroking the portion of Nagini's tail resting in his lap, looked straight at him.

"What did you say?"

Harry froze. Oh, Bloody hell, he was such an idiot! As if he wasn't in enough trouble with the most dangerous man in the entirety of Wizarding Britain, he had to go off an insult his familiar too!

"Er..."

"What you said, Mr. Potter, was most definitely not 'er'."

"Um..."

"Mr. Potter!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!"

A dead silence followed. And Harry who had been cringing, expecting to be cursed at any moment, opened his eyes to peek at what had stopped the man. The most dangerous man in all of Britain was regarding him with a clearly perplexed and -dare he even think it?- awed expression. He glanced around at the other Hogwart's staff. They too looked completely stunned.

"Um... what did I say?"

Snape let out an amused huff of air, and muttered 'idiot boy'. This seemed to snap everyone else out of their surprise as well.

"Mr. Potter... Harry, are you telling me it has never come to your attention that you are a Parselmouth?" Voldemort asked.

Harry just blinked at him and then frowned. "That's impossible. Only a descendant of Slytherin can speak Parseltongue. You're the only one in known existence right now."

"It would seem I am the second one in existence now. You silly child. Don't tell me you didn't think it odd when my familiar began talking to you?"

Harry shrugged. "Until this spring a talking bathroom mirror was oddFrankly, I just thought she was a talking snake, which was odd, and why I got distracted and separated from the other first years."

"Hn."

They held each other's gaze, and Harry felt the other man searching him for the truth of the matter. It was an almost physical sensation and he abruptly turned away from the man on sheer instinct.

"Perhaps he should be sent to Slytherin, after all," the headmistress suggested. "He must, as he pointed out, have descended from Salazar Slytherin."

"And he just as likely has ancestry rooted with Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff. No, we will hold to tradition, and allow the sorting hat to determine the House he belongs to. If we do not uphold tradition, who will?"

"Of course, you're right," the headmistress conceded, and Harry realized despite her title it was Lord Voldemort who ran the school.

"Speaking of Houses, perhaps it is time for Harry to return to his? It has been a very trying evening, and classes start tomorrow," said McGonagall.

"Yes, I suppose we can forego any further punishment, given the circumstances. Harry, one last word of advice?"

"Yes, sir-er, I mean, My Lord?"

"Break this bad habit of misplacing yourself?"