"You're a Parselmouth? You can talk to snakes?"
It took a long time, but Neville finally confirmed it again, as if he couldn't believe what he'd heard.
After revealing his secret, Harry felt a sense of relief. Hearing Neville, he explained in detail:
"Once, at the zoo, I let a boa constrictor out of its glass enclosure. I don't know how I did it; I didn't even know I was a wizard then…"
"Anyway, as it was leaving, I heard it thank me and say goodbye."
"A snake… thanked you?" Ryan asked incredulously. "Did you hear it speak English, or…?"
Harry thought back. "It was English, but with an accent, I guess? Like someone talking through clenched teeth."
"Why don't we try it?" Wade said, pointing his wand at the quill on the table.
The greenish quill twisted and soon transformed into a small green snake. It slithered across the table, its triangular head occasionally rising.
"Say something to it, Harry?" Wade said. "Give it a command."
Harry saw everyone looking at him curiously. Padma and Hermione unconsciously leaned back, wanting to get further away from the snake.
He looked at the magically transformed snake, thought for a moment, and said, "Hello? Uh… can you coil up?"
The snake looked at him and obediently coiled up, raising its head and flicking its pointed tongue, as if waiting for the next command.
Harry relaxed. He even felt a strange kinship with the snake. He looked up at the others, unable to tell what expressions they wore.
A faint sense of panic bubbled up inside Harry.
Wade spoke.
"It seems you didn't realize that you were just making hissing sounds, like a snake talking."
He mused, "How marvelous… For a human to learn a language requires persistent memory and practice. But Parselmouths are born with Parseltongue, as if their brains come with a built-in translation system…"
Harry felt a little more at ease and deliberately asked in a casual tone, "Does Parseltongue sound strange?"
"It's a bit creepy… things you don't understand always seem more sophisticated," Wade said, imitating Harry's hiss, then asked, "What did that mean?"
Harry replied with a hiss.
Wade sighed, "Harry, please speak English, alright?"
"Oh!" Harry then realized he had spoken Parseltongue again. He thought to himself for a moment before saying, "It meant, 'Hello, please coil up.'"
"And how do you say 'thank you'?" Wade continued to learn.
Harry taught him that too.
"So… 'don't move'?"
"'Open'?"
"'Attack'?"
"'Play dead'?"
Wade took notes as he learned. Harry was delighted that what he knew could be useful to others and enthusiastically offered guidance.
So everyone listened as they exchanged bizarre hissing and huffing sounds, and the chilling feeling quickly dissipated.
The few of them exchanged glances, then Hermione, with her studious nature, was the first to pull out a notebook.
"What are we learning this for?" Fred asked.
George shrugged. "Don't you think it's cool?"
Wade tapped the quill-snake coiled next to Harry with the tip of his pen and said,
"The most incredible thing about Parselmouths is that they can even control snakes created by magic. Logically, this snake should obey my will, but it listened to Harry's command."
"So Parseltongue isn't just about talking to snakes…"
Wade mused, "Serpentine creatures seem to naturally obey Parselmouths, almost like a subordinate-superior relationship…"
"So… Harry, are you a descendant of Slytherin?" Michael asked.
"It's very possible," Neville hesitated, then said, "But I've looked at pure-blood family trees… the Potter family doesn't seem to have intermarried with the Slytherin family!"
"Don't be so sure, Neville."
Fred put an arm around his shoulder.
"Slytherin lived over a thousand years ago. Who knows how many families his descendants intermarried with? You have to remember, those disowned by pure-blood families aren't recorded in the family tree, and their descendants even less so."
"The Potter family hasn't produced any Parselmouths, it seems." Theo also speculated, "Perhaps it's Harry's mother's bloodline…"
"Then why is Harry in Gryffindor?" Michael couldn't help but ask. "The Sorting Hat should have sorted you into Slytherin."
"Uh… that's also a secret…"
Harry hesitated, saying, "Actually, the Sorting Hat originally wanted to put me in Slytherin, but I refused."
Everyone nodded, all agreeing that his refusal had been the right decision.
...
The professors' inspection of the maze lasted a week, but they found no other clues besides some residual Khat in the stables.
The other animals in the maze hadn't eaten anything they shouldn't have; they continued to eat and sleep as always, without a care in the world.
So, due to strong protests from the students, it was decided that the maze would reopen on Saturday afternoon.
However, there was another major event that day: the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin.
In fact, this match had already been postponed for two weeks.
Previously, Sirius's case had been reopened for retrial, and the Ministry of Magic had sent people to Hogwarts several times to investigate. Among them, several of the Weasley Family brothers and Harry, who shared a dormitory with them, were frequently called in for questioning. The match was thus postponed until the end of November.
This week was Gryffindor vs. Slytherin, and next week would be Ravenclaw vs. Hufflepuff.
As the first Quidditch match of the semester approached, the atmosphere in the school grew heated once again, with frequent conflicts between Gryffindor and Slytherin.
At eleven o'clock, teachers and students began to head to the Quidditch Pitch. Wade arrived at the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor, opened the Vanishing Cabinet, and a large, sleek black dog bounded out.
It excitedly ran two laps around the room, then transformed into a tall, thin man with black hair and gray eyes.
He was wearing dark gray Wizard robes, his hair was cut short and neatly combed, his cheeks had filled out a bit, and his eyes were bright, giving him a unique handsomeness.
"You're Wade? Wade Gray?"
Sirius spoke quickly, and without waiting for Wade to answer, he bowed and extended a hand: "Thank you so much for your help, Mr. Gray. You've given me a new life."
"Hello, Mr. Black." Wade shook his hand and said, "I admire your loyalty and courage very much."
The two looked at each other and smiled.
They both had black hair and gray eyes. However, Sirius's eyes drooped at the corners, somewhat resembling a canine's, while Wade's eyes were rounder, with a slight upward tilt at the corners.
Lupin also emerged from the Vanishing Cabinet.
"Remus, you're so slow." Sirius said eagerly, "The match is about to start, isn't it? I need to go to the stadium to watch Harry play! Let's hurry!"
Before he finished speaking, he dropped to the ground, transforming back into a large black dog.
The dog's body seemed to influence Sirius's thoughts; he spun around twice, wagging his tail vigorously, then lunged towards the door.
"Wait, Sirius."
Lupin quickly grabbed him, catching hold of the black dog's tail. Sirius let out a yelp, nearly jumping three feet high, and glared angrily at Lupin.
"Sorry." Lupin quickly let go and explained, "Your Animagus form is now registered with the Ministry of Magic, and you're too conspicuous when you transform. The students will definitely recognize you instantly."
Sirius thought... thought... He shook his head resentfully, his ears drooping, but still sidled up to Lupin.
Lupin tapped his head with his Wand and cast a Disillusionment Charm; the black dog vanished into thin air.
Then, it impatiently used its paws to open the door and rushed out like a gust of wind.
"Sirius actually hoped Harry would see him in the stands," Lupin explained to Wade. "It's a good thing he didn't insist on his idea."
Wade was silent for a moment, then asked, "If you're going to use a Disillusionment Charm... then what's the point of turning into a black dog?"
Lupin seemed to just remember: "Ah... I forgot to remind him..."
Wade: ...You were doing that on purpose, weren't you?
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