Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 55 Snake-like Voice

That evening, the group followed Loren to Snape's office. The basement was dimly lit and eerie at night.

"Mrs. Pomfrey must not have examined my wounds carefully enough. I should go back and check them again." Ron became more and more apprehensive as he got closer to the office.

Harry continued, "When you go to see Madam Pomfrey this afternoon, you should get me some antidote so I don't have to make another trip later."

Hermione, not wanting to listen to their nonsense, caught up with Loren, hoping to gain some experience from him. "What did Snape used to make you do?"

"Help me process some medicinal herbs and learn how to brew some potions." Loren spoke the truth without batting an eye...

That's true, but the medicinal materials are processed in a slightly different way.

The office door was open. Loren knocked and led the group inside.

Instead of sitting behind his desk grading papers as usual, Snape stood in front of the desk, watching as several people entered the office one after another.

His gaze swept over everyone, lingering longest on Harry.

The three who were visiting Snape's office for the first time dared not look around, but when they caught a glimpse of snakes, giant toads, and even something that looked like a baby in a glass jar, they turned pale with fright.

"Ha, warrior who vanquished the giant."

Snape scoffed. "If it were a different time, I would have made you realize how ridiculous and arrogant you are."

All four of them lowered their heads, none of them wanting to invite this bad luck.

Snape looked at Loren and Hermione, "I thought you two were a bit smarter, but you're just as reckless and ignorant as the rest of the Gryffindors. What's the difference between your brains and those of trolls?"

Silence filled the office.

No one saw Snape staring intently at Harry, at the scar on his forehead. It was Lily's mark; so close, so very close, that Lily would have been disappointed in him again.

"Come with me."

Without glancing at the four men who were still dressed as quails, Snape led them into the storeroom, where four boxes were placed, all covered with lids.

Loren vaguely guessed what was inside, and he silently thought to himself: It's a flower, not a snake; it's a flower, not a snake.

"I don't have time to play the detention game with you four warriors. The Galleons that Dumbledore promised you are on the table. Loren will tell you what to do. If I come back and find the materials not properly processed, then you will be in detention every Friday for the next month." With that, Snape strode out of the office and slammed the door shut.

The four people in the storage room looked at each other in bewilderment.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief and joked, "I thought I was going to be poisoned and end up in the infirmary tonight, but it turns out it's just dealing with potion ingredients."

Ron relaxed as well. "I only got scolded by Snape, which is much better than I expected."

Hermione looked at Loren. "What should we do?"

Don't get too excited yet.

Loren sighed, walked to the chest, and exclaimed, "Let's open the treasure chest!"

As he spoke, he lifted the lid.

"Hiss~ Hiss~" A green-striped viper coiled and twisted inside the box.

"Ah!" Ron and Hermione screamed, with Hermione taking several steps back in fright.

Harry stared blankly at the two boxes filled with snakes, looking somewhat dazed.

"Bingo! I've won the jackpot!"

Loren let out a sigh of relief. An old friend. He wouldn't be so terrified he couldn't sleep this time, like he had the first time. He walked over and took a row of test tubes from the shelf. "Take a look."

As he spoke, he reached into the box, pulled out a snake, pried open its mouth, and placed its fangs against the mouth of the test tube, patiently waiting for the venom to be secreted into the tube.

"These snakes are enchanted; they won't bite. They'll even stiffen up if they go above the gold line, so they're not dangerous."

Loren didn't explain the green-striped viper's venom, as that would only make the group more panicked.

After completing one set of procedures, Loren stepped aside and gestured for the others to get started.

Harry was still in a daze, Ron's legs were trembling, and he didn't dare to go forward. Hermione's eyes were already filled with tears, and she kept shaking her head.

"Do you want one night of solitary confinement, or a month of solitary confinement?" Ignoring the others, Loren began collecting snake venom on his own.

There was no way to persuade them; Loren was terrified the first time too, so they could only wait for the others to muster their courage on their own.

After watching Loren work for a while, Hermione clenched her fist, wiped her eyes, and walked over to him. "I... I'll try."

The girl's voice was tearful and she sounded timid.

Hermione reached out her hand, trembling slightly, and gently took a snake. The moment she touched the snake's scales, her shoulders visibly shuddered, but she mustered her courage, pulled the snake out, stretched her arm straight, and with her head tucked in, pressed the snake against the mouth of a test tube to extract the venom.

After extracting the venom, Hermione closed her eyes and tossed the snake into another empty box, panting heavily and making whimpering noises, but without shedding a tear.

Loren placed his hand on her shoulder, trying to offer her some comfort.

Seeing that Hermione, a girl, could do it, Ron was not to be outdone and pulled Harry to another box to start working on it.

Not long after, Harry began making strange noises, seemingly imitating the hissing of a snake.

"Hiss, hiss~"

Ron didn't pay much attention; he was trying to control his trembling hands.

"Hiss~"

"Hiss~ Hiss~"

This behavior was too bizarre; Ron couldn't stand it anymore. "Please! Harry, stop making those weird noises, okay?"

Harry snapped awake, and Loren and Hermione also looked over.

Harry looked at Ron questioningly. "Didn't you hear them talking?"

Loren slapped his forehead, realizing he'd forgotten Harry spoke Parsley.

Ron opened his mouth in surprise and began to stammer, "You, you, you have a Parsleyan voice?"

"What am I?" Harry asked.

"Parsleyan!" Ron exclaimed excitedly. "You can talk to snakes!"

"What's wrong with that?" Harry said. "This is the second time I've done this. I talked to a python before."

"It's a long story. I thought being able to talk to animals was a wizard's talent, something many people could do, right?" Harry looked at Loren and Hermione.

The two shook their heads in unison.

“They can’t do that,” Ron said. “It’s not an easy skill, Harry.”

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" Harry sensed something was wrong.

"All I heard was you making strange noises! This is terrible." Ron was very agitated at the beginning of his sentence, but then lowered his voice as if afraid that others would hear him.

Harry didn't understand what was so bad about it. "What does it have to do with anything?"

Hermione replied, "Parseltongue is Salazar Slytherin's famous ability, so the Slytherin symbol is a snake."

Ron added, "Now it's generally believed that Parsleyans are descendants of Salazar Slytherin, and many Parsleyans are dark wizards. Parsleyans have a terrible reputation."

"I...I'm not." Harry suddenly felt a sense of panic. He was neither a descendant of Slytherin nor a dark wizard.

Loren hadn't expected Harry to display his Parsley talent here; according to the plot, this should be part of the Chamber of Secrets. He considered for a moment how to phrase it, "We all know Harry isn't a bad person."

Loren looked at Hermione and Ron, "As friends, we should keep this secret."

The two met Loren's gaze and nodded.

Loren turned to Harry and said seriously, "Don't show your Parsley speech ability to others in the future."

Harry nodded somewhat blankly. He could sense that this was for his own good, and his friends' concern gradually eased his panic.

Thinking that speaking in a snake-like voice wasn't illegal, he relaxed.

The group then continued to collect snake venom.

"Hiss~"

The three of them, including Loren, immediately looked at Harry.

Harry looked up and grinned sheepishly. "They told you to be gentle and quick when you grab them, because it's very uncomfortable outside the gold thread."

Oh yes! We can communicate!

Loren's eyes lit up. "Ask them if they can spit the venom into the test tube themselves."

Hermione and Ron's eyes lit up as they looked at Harry with anticipation.

Harry lowered his head and hissed, and the snake in the box hissed back, as if they were having a question-and-answer dialogue.

Even though the three of them already knew about the snake talk, the eerie scene still gave them goosebumps.

After a brief exchange, Harry looked up and said happily, "They say it's okay, it's good for both sides. Let's just put the test tube in."

"Yay!" Ron cheered. If he continued to reach for the venom from each snake one by one, he would definitely dream of sleeping with snakes every night. Oh, that's even scarier than spiders.

Loren secured the test tubes to the shelf and placed the whole thing into the snake box.

The snakes in the snake box began to surge, one by one coiling around the test tube and spitting venom into it.

Harry stared at the snake box, hissing occasionally. Ron watched the scene with a mixture of fear and curiosity.

With the snake venom no longer needed, Hermione's tense shoulders relaxed, and she finally had the leisure to look around the entire storage room.

"A two-horned beast's horn."

"African tree snake skin".

Hermione counted the distinctive materials that were placed in prominent positions one by one.

"Professor Snape must be very rich," Hermione concluded.

Ron also started looking around, "How can you tell?" He didn't recognize any of the potion ingredients.

Hermione was a little disgusted, but still explained, "Every single ingredient here is very valuable. Some high-quality African tree snakeskin can cost hundreds of gallons per ounce."

Ron's eyes gleamed with the lure of money as he drooled as he looked around the storeroom. He quickly dismissed the dreaded thought, "If I weren't afraid Snape would turn me into potion ingredients, I..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but the people around him understood what he meant.

Harry took out a test tube filled with venom and said with a smile, "You may not have much medicinal value, but Snape might turn you into snake food."

Ron looked at the box teeming with snakes and shuddered at the thought of the scene. "I hope I'm not being fed to the snakes alive."

Harry put an empty test tube in, hissed for a moment, looked up and suppressed a laugh, saying, "These snakes say they have a specially prepared diet and won't eat something as smelly as you."

"Hahahaha..."

The gloomy storage room became cheerful.

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(End of this chapter)