Parseltongue? It's just a foreign language

"Let me handle it, Professor Snape." Lockhart wasn't about to pass up this opportunity. He raised his wand high. "ALARTE ASCENDARE!"

But Lockhart had only managed to send the snake flying into the air. When it landed, it was thoroughly enraged. It slithered straight toward Justin, baring its fangs as it prepared to attack.

"Sa-yah-ha-sa-shi!" Harry instinctively stepped forward to stop it, not even realizing that he wasn't speaking human language anymore. The snake, which had been about to attack, paused for a moment, then grew angry again and turned back toward Justin.

"Sa-yah-ha-shi-hai!" Harry cried out more urgently. This time, the snake understood him. It abandoned its attack and looked at Harry instead. The danger had passed, but no one breathed a sigh of relief. They stared at Harry with grave expressions, whispering among themselves.

"VIPERA EVANESCA!"

Snape destroyed the black snake. Harry raised his eyebrows at Justin, about to say something, but then he saw the anger and terror on Justin's face—and realized they were directed at him. "What kind of trick do you think you're playing?" Justin shouted angrily as he stormed out of the Great Hall.

Ron and Draco hurriedly pulled Harry away, and the five of them went to an empty room.

Ron asked, "You're a Parselmouth. Why didn't you tell us?"

Harry and Bing Huan both said, "What?"

The two of them, who weren't interested in History of Magic, still didn't know what it meant.

"You can talk to snakes!"

"So what?" Harry went on to tell them how he'd communicated with a python at the zoo. "I'd bet lots of people here can do that."

"Potter, that's not an ordinary talent. Even I don't have it." Draco looked at Harry seriously. "This could be bad for you!"

"Bad?" Harry was puzzled. "Is something wrong with you lot? If I hadn't told that snake not to attack him—"

"Is that what you said to the snake?"

"Weren't you all there? Didn't you hear?"

"You spoke the language of snakes, Harry." Hermione opened the book she carried with her. "Being able to communicate with snakes was Salazar Slytherin's most famous ability. It was also why Slytherin used a snake as its emblem. Now everyone will think you're his heir."

"But I'm not. And even if I were, so what?"

"Did you forget the writing on the wall that day?" After laying out the implications, Bing Huan waved a hand. "All right, don't worry too much. Harry's just learned another foreign language. He's still the same reckless idiot we know, isn't he?"

"That's true. Potter's brain could never come up with that many devious schemes. That's a narrow-minded way of looking at it."

"Exactly." Draco and Ron nodded solemnly, then looked at Harry.

"Sorry. We shouldn't have overestimated your intelligence." x2

Harry: (ʘдʘ╬)

"You two!" The three boys ran off, bickering and shoving each other.

Hermione sighed. "That may be true, but other people... At most, Draco and Cedric's friends, along with a handful of others, will believe Harry. Especially now, when everyone's so on edge. Even Harry's reputation as the Chosen One might not help."

"Like you said, Harry is recognized throughout the Wizarding World as the Chosen One. I still think it's irresponsible to saddle him with that burden, but the title has already taken root in people's minds. He'll have to learn to face the rumors. That's what those old foxes up top think, too."

"Up top?"

Bing Huan moved closer to Hermione. "Whether it's the title of Chosen One, or the fact that Harry and Voldemort have a blood feud, he can't live like an ordinary wizard until Voldemort is dead for good. But everything has its limits. When the time comes, I'll step in and clear up the rumors."

Hermione looked at him curiously. "You have a way to do that?"

Bing Huan raised his eyebrows. "No matter how ridiculous the rumors get, they'll all stem from the fact that Harry can speak Parseltongue, and that people who can speak Parseltongue are likely to be Slytherin's heirs. The root of it is people's fear of the unknown. They desperately need something definite, a target, to ease their panic.

"Even if the idea that Harry is Slytherin's heir is absurd, it's what they desperately need right now. So they'll try to prove it's true. In that situation, more than eighty percent of their arguments will be sophistry. It won't be hard to refute them.

"Besides, this kind of gift is usually hereditary and exclusive. Once they realize that Parseltongue isn't something only an heir can learn, they'll stop suspecting Harry, even if they can't learn it themselves. Are you afraid of a street full of food stalls?"

"Then, Mr. Bing Huan, where do you plan to find someone else who can speak Parseltongue?"

"Sa-yah-ha-shi-hai~ I told you, it's just a foreign language."

Hermione: (-_・)?

"If Dumbledore's an old fox, then you're a little fox. You had this all planned out, didn't you?"

"Oh, so you're calling me a fox. Then don't blame me for biting you." Bing Huan pretended he was about to nip the young witch for her unkind remark.

Soon, it was another ordinary day. Harry paced back and forth in the common room. Ron and Draco were playing Wizard's Chess, while Hermione helped Bing Huan clean out his ears.

"Harry, if you really feel that way, go find Justin. But I should warn you that if you go and explain right now, they might not believe you."

"Lie still!" Hermione smacked Bing Huan's head back down.

"...Ow."

Winter in England always brought plenty of snow, and today was no exception. Herbology had been canceled for the day. The Hufflepuffs were probably studying on their own, Harry thought as he headed to the library.

He hadn't even stepped inside when he heard the Hufflepuff students talking. "So anyway, I told Justin to hide in our dormitory. I mean, if Potter's set on killing him, he'd better stay out of sight for a while. Of course, after he let slip that he was Muggle-born, he'd been expecting something like this to happen." The speaker was Ernie, a tall, broad Hufflepuff student.

"So, Ernie, are you sure it was Potter?" Hannah asked anxiously.

"Hannah." Ernie looked serious. "He's a Parselmouth. Everyone knows that's a sign of a Dark Wizard. Have you ever seen a decent wizard talk to snakes?

"Potter and his friends don't get along with Filch. So Filch's cat was attacked. That first-year Creevey must have made Potter angry, too, which is why he was petrified."

"But Potter always seems so friendly. And he was the one who made You-Know-Who disappear. He can't be that bad, can he?" Hannah sounded uncertain.

"No one knows how he survived You-Know-Who's attack. He was only a baby at the time. Only a truly powerful Dark Wizard could have escaped a curse like that. Maybe that's why You-Know-Who wanted him dead. He didn't want another Dark Lord challenging him. Potter's definitely hiding some other kind of power from everyone." Ernie decided to heap another accusation on Harry.

Ever since the Troll incident, Bing Huan and Hermione had been telling Harry and Ron to think things through and stay calm when trouble arose. Harry was willing to follow the first half of that advice.

When it was time to act, act.

"Sorry to interrupt your slander. I don't know how you came up with such ridiculous claims, but if you have a moment, I'd like you to tell Justin something for me. I want to explain what happened with that snake the other day. If he doesn't feel safe, we can do it with a professor present. He can choose who."

In the shadows, Dumbledore nodded. "He still rushed in, but being falsely accused hasn't made Harry lose his head. What he said was quite reasonable. Nothing wrong with that."

Grindelwald took a sip of tea. "Looks like those extra lessons that brat's been giving them haven't been a waste after all~"

Back in the library, all the color drained from Ernie's face when Harry arrived. He looked as though he'd seen some terrible monster. "We were all there. We know exactly what happened."

"If you really knew, you'd know I stopped the snake." Harry was furious, but to his surprise, his mind felt clearer than ever. He'd never managed to win an argument with words before.

"I saw you use Parseltongue to urge the snake to attack Justin," Ernie insisted stubbornly. Harry stepped forward to continue the argument, but Ernie, frightened, took it as a sign that Harry was losing his temper. Trembling, he said, "Don't try anything with me. I'm telling you, my family's been Pure-blood wizards for nine generations."

"I don't care what your blood status is. Why would I attack a Muggle?" Harry suddenly understood how Bing Huan and the others must have felt last year, when Harry had been convinced that Snape was up to no good. It was impossible to reason with someone who'd already made up their mind. Now it was his turn.

"I heard you hate the Muggles you live with."

"Then why don't you go live with them for a while? Believe me, you'll hate them more than I do." It was clear they weren't going to have a proper conversation. Harry wasn't going to waste any more time there. He nodded to Hannah, the only person who'd spoken up for him, and left the library.

Harry wandered aimlessly into the corridor and nearly collided with Hagrid, who was carrying a chicken. "Hagrid, what are you doing?"

The big man held up the chicken. "Second one killed this term. I reckon it was a fox or a vampire, so I asked Professor Dumbledore to let me put a spell around the chicken coop. Are you all right, Harry?" The observant Hagrid had noticed Harry's mood.

Harry shook his head and continued upstairs. When he reached the corner, the sight before him startled him. Justin lay on the ground, cold and stiff, his face frozen in an expression of utter terror. Nearly Headless Nick was no longer milky white and transparent. He was pitch-black, surrounded by smoke, and floating motionless in midair.

Harry frowned as he studied the scene. There were almost no other traces, apart from a line of spiders scurrying away in panic. But then he realized he should flee just like the spiders. People already suspected him, and he was at the scene of the attack. It would make them certain he was the Heir.

As if to prove Harry's point, the voices of students and teachers rang out around him, just as they had after Mrs. Norris was petrified.

"Caught in the act!" Ernie cried, his face deathly pale as he pointed at Harry.

"Do you only know how to use your eyes, and not your brain?" Professor McGonagall was about to stop him, but Harry spoke first. "I was just with you in the library, arguing over Justin. If I really were the culprit, would I attack him now, when I knew you'd suspect me?

"And Hagrid can vouch for me. I met him three minutes ago. It takes less than a minute to walk here. Do you think I couldn't get back to the Gryffindor common room in two minutes?"

"That's right!" Hagrid rumbled.

Ernie clearly wasn't convinced by the explanation. He was about to say more.

"Enough, Macmillan!" Professor McGonagall said sternly. Professor Pan and the other professor carried Justin to the Hospital Wing, then dispersed the students who had gathered around.