Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter since my name is not up in lights. This is a fan based piece of fiction and is meant to be enjoyed by avid readers of the fandom. I know Founder fics have been done before, but I hope originality will shine through in this piece. (If you want a characteristic Founder fic, check out Amulet of Time series or my own Training in the Past work in progress on my other account.) Now, on with the story, I think.

Chamber of Secrets: Secrets Unveiled

Lonely Nights and Perilous Fights

His legs ached from the running, his muscles sore and tired. He couldn’t go on, but he had to for he had not yet reached safety. There was a forest up ahead, he could get lost in it and shake off the angry mob following him. An image of fiery torches and pick axes held by strange natives flashed into his mind, but he ignored it in favor of concentrating on the movement of his legs. Left, right, left, right, left – his foot caught in tangle of weeds and he went crashing to the ground with a soft ‘ow!’ escaping him.

Harry Potter was not a happy camper; far from it, actually. He turned over on the ground and glared up at the darkened sky sprinkled with bright stars of the night. They twinkled down at him, and he had a feeling them were mocking him. The whole world was patronizing him. Slamming a fist angrily against the ground, he started to stand back up and continue his journey to the nearby forest. The only problem: his foot was twisted at an odd angle and he knew he had sprained his ankle at the very least. Cursing the heavens and fate herself, he pushed himself off the ground slowly and limped halfway to his intended destination before he collapsed once again on the ground.

“What the hell did I do to deserve this?” he muttered to the night air, breath fogging in the air as the temperature began to drop. He took out his wand once more and waved it sharply over the injury, quietly saying the incantation to splint his ankle. It was the best he could do for now. After all, he wasn’t a qualified healer or anything. Cautiously he got to his feet and trekked the path to the forest at long last, cursing his luck all the while.

There was a brook halfway into the darkened woods and Harry thought it a reasonable place to bunk for the night as any other. At least this way he had a fresh stream of water to go on for awhile. Well, that was if the village people didn’t come after him and force him to run on his hurt leg. It didn’t take him long to conjure a sleeping bag, place a warmth charm on it, and snuggle in for the night, though sleep did not come easy to the distress teen. His mind drifted to the events of the evening, wondering where he was. He couldn’t be in Britain that was for sure: when had everyone learned to speak Latin? His best guess was Rome – hadn’t the Roman wizards kept the language alive, even after their own people gave up on it?

The musings slowly slipped into dreams of war and strife, of hate and love. It was the most fitful sleep he had ever had, especially being in a strange new place with no one there to comfort him. His friends were far away, he knew, but he wanted to see their smiling faces badly, praying that he was just in a terrifying nightmare that would dissolve away sooner or later. He woke up hours later in a cold sweat, gasping for air as if he had had the wind knocked out of him, the sensation of falling awakening in the pit of his stomach.

“Can’t even sleep!” shouted Harry in anger and pushed off the top portion of his sleeping bag, allowing him to sit up more comfortably as he hang his head in his hands.

“Stupid humans, always moaning about something or other.”

He snapped his head in the direction of the voice, a glimmer of hope in his heart – only to find the culprit to be a snake. A dark blue snake with shimmering gold scales inlaid in different places. It was a beautiful creature, but Harry was in no mood to entertain company. Turning his gaze away from the snake, he said, “Go away.”

“Prepare to meet your maker, puny human,” the strange snake hissed, rising up into a striking position. “You’re all the same. Complain, complain, and complain! Sheesh, can’t you give it a rest already. But I suppose I can do that for you, you incompetent fool.” And the snake made to bite Harry, who moved quickly to avoid the motion. “Oh, so this one isn’t as stupid as it looks.”

“Go away,” he repeated, waving the beast away, refusing to acknowledge the snake in its own language.

“Who do you think you are, son of Adam, to command me? Ha! I’d like to see you try, idiot.”

“Why won’t you just leave me alone?” Harry said with a hint of impatience. “I’m just going to complain some more, do you really want to sit here and listen to me? Because trust me, snake, I will not allow you to kill me. You may try, but I won’t concede.”

“What is this?” The snake rose up again, fiery red eyes glowering into the young man’s own. “Speak to me again, human, and I will kill you. The foul tongue of a mortal is not fit to address one so grand as I, don’t forget your place on the food chain! The language of the snake is the most sacred of all time and since you do not speak it my kind deem you unworthy and will kill you on the spot.”

Despite himself, Harry snorted at the proud snake. Oh, great, he thought bitterly, that’s just what I need: some psycho snake that’s out for my blood. “Shoo. Go on now before I do something drastic.” Like cast a silencing spell on your smart ass mouth.

“And still it speaks to me as if it were an equal! I shall show you your place, infidel.”

“Wound against my pride, I assure you,” mumbled Harry, glaring at the ground as he saw the snake inch closer out of the corner of his eye.

“Die, you obtuse being, die!”

Does this snake take pleasure in insulting me? More than a little tired and irritated, he stood up with speed as the snake struck at his arm. He batted the enraged snake away and swayed on his still injured ankle. He promptly banished his sleeping bag and then turned his full attention to the snake, trying to ignore its continued barbs and the fact his ankle was throbbing in pain. “Fine, you annoying pest,” said Harry softly, “if that’s the way you want to play it.” He swished his wand in a downward angle and watched in amazement as the spell just bounced off the hard scales of the snake.

“Care to dance with the devil?” commented the snake lazily, and he could have sworn he saw a flash of amusement in its blood shaded eyes. “So you’re one of those wizards’ folk? Well, I think I’ll take even greater pleasure in killing you.”

His patience was wearing thin now. Couldn’t this snake just leave him alone? Didn’t have any where else to be but here? He raised his wand high once more and brought it swishing down in an arc. A bright red light shot out from the tip and hit the snake, lifting it into the air and only infuriating it more. It hissed loudly, anger coursing through its lithe body. “I shall kill you now, boy. Prepare to die, I say!”

“If you’re going to kill someone, it would be best not to warn them,” Harry finally hissed to his unwanted guest, shocking the creature. He glared at the snake one last time and then abruptly turned. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must be on my way. Don’t follow and there will be no need to bother each other further. It’s a win-win situation.”

Quickening his pace, he headed deeper into the forest, hoping the snake had left him alone at last. He ran, and continued his running. The pain in his ankle was mild at best, though, so it wasn’t too hard for him to put a good distance between him and the creature he really didn’t want to be near. It wasn’t that he feared snakes, it was just that they reminded him too much of why exactly he had the gift to speak with them. And that truly wasn’t really a happy-go-lucky reason at all.

The brook had been lost, but as he went further into the forest he heard the sound of rushing water. The image of a river popped into his head and he sighed gratefully. After all the running he had done, he rather thought he deserved a long gulp of ice-cold water. Forgoing any caution, he sank to his knees on the bank of the steady river and cupped his hands in the stream, bringing a mouthful of refreshing liquid to his parted lips and drinking readily. It felt good against his raw throat, and even better when he splashed some on his tired face to wake himself up a bit better.

“Thought I’d find you here, human.”

“Go away. I warned you. If I have to I’ll conjure a sword to slay you. Don’t cause problems and no harm need befall you,” Harry bit out, closing his eyes to relieve his sight of the aggravating snake.

The dark blue and gold flecked creature only seemed amused at the forewarning, its tone conveying it fully. “Aye, but it be you that needs the caution, dear speaker of tongues.”

“I said go away. Now, if you don’t mind.”

“Where are you from?”

“That’s neither here nor there. Why does it matter?”

“Because you are not like most wizards of this place. You … smell different.”

Harry let a bark of a laugh slip through his blank façade and opened his eyes to stare the snake down. “And what is that supposed to mean? That I need a bath?”

“No, imbecile, it means that you’re an oddball. Most of the people here do not smell as sweet and clean as your own skin. Not to mention your hair is strange.”

He tugged at the messy strands and shook his head. “How can my hair be strange? I just had it cut recently.”

“That’s just it, boy. Men usually wear their hair long. Are you slow or something?”

“Do you take pleasure in insulting me?”

“Actually, I greatly do.”

“Why thanks.”

“Your welcome.”

Sighing, he brought his legs up to his chest and rested his chin on the top of his knees as his arms encircled them. “I’m confused. So very, very confused. Everything’s so different. I – I am in England, aren’t I?”

“Britannia, if you will,” corrected the snake. It studied him curiously, taking in his wrinkled shirt and ripped jeans underneath the black robes he wore. “Are you a student from that school?”

Hope washed over him. “Hogwarts? Please tell me you mean Hogwarts?”

“Yes. That hog with warts place. You go there?”

Harry nodded eagerly, eyes bright. “At last, some familiarity. Could you – could you show me the way?”

“You speak to fast. I do not go near that school under the orders of the Deputy Headmaster. The Headmistress, I’m afraid, is scared of snakes. Plus, why do you expect me to help you? Just because my respect for you went up a notch when I discovered you spoke in the divine tongue, does not mean I will obey you in any way.”

The hope curdled and disappeared with haste. Stupid snake, getting my hopes up. Stupid, stupid, stupid snake. Deciding he couldn’t call the creature ‘stupid snake’ forever, he asked tired, “Do you have a name, you maddening snake?”

“Silas, one of the last Spectrum Snakes.”

“Interesting. Do you always introduce yourself with such obvious pride?”

“Of course.”

“Hmph. Thought so. That is, if you don’t kill the person first, right?”

“Exactly. I think you’re catching on.”

“Well, Silas, I still need your help. All I’m going to ask is if you could point me in the right direction of the school. After that, you’ll never have to see me again.”

“Parting so soon. Just when I was starting to warm-up to you.”

“Get on with it.”

“All right, silly human. It just so happens that you’re in the Dark Forest, as we creatures call it. It’s pretty close to your school. That’s why I wondered if you went there.”

“Do you know anything of the village outside the forest?”

“Hogsmeade, you mean? Completely overrun with mortals at the moment; they’re searching for something. Witches and wizards fled to the school through the forest. It’s probably crowded as hell.”

“Yes, hell would be crowded with all the souls you send there, eh?”

“Don’t mock me, puny human.”

“Good heaven, no.”

“Could you be any less manly?”

“Why would you care?”

“I’m leaving.”

“Thank the high heavens!”

“I was kidding, nitwit.”

“Bloody hell, why won’t you just leave me alone?” Harry questioned the snake, standing slowly. Somewhere in the forest a twig snapped, causing two head to swing in the direction of the noise. “It’s just a bird.” He glanced away from the eagle and looked back to his companion. “Look, I’m going to need a guide. Why don’t you just come with me? I promise to be civil if you do as well.”

“It’s a deal.”