All character in this story belong to J.K.Rowling, and
I have no claim on them whatsoever (though I wish I had!)
***
It was a dark, cold night. Under the moon’s cool gaze, Hogwarts
slept.
In the stillness something moved and slithered towards the castle.
Where
to get in? Nagini considered the options. The front door? That would
be
closed. A window? Too high. She’d have to find a back way in.
She moved silently around the castle, judging every crack in the
wall,
but none were big enough. Finally, she found a door which was
closed,
but had a large enough hole at the bottom to admit her slim
form.
Which way now? Up. She moved gently along the cold floor, tasting
the
air constantly for the faintest whiff of her prey. This must be the
dungeon.
It was clammy, damp, and smelled of smoke. She passed the Potions
room,
so many smells came to her that there was no chance of detecting her
prey
here. She moved along to the foot of the stairs and crawled up them
slowly.
Finally, she reached an old, musty tapestry hanging over the
entrance.
She slid underneath, and out into the warmer corridor.
Over the smell of ink, paper and chalk, a hint, just a hint, of the
meat
she was after! She quickened her curving body, pushing it faster as
hunter
instincts came to her. Suddenly-footsteps! Open corridor, nowhere to
hide!
She turned, panic rising in her. Not now! She must not be
discovered.
That was what her lord and master had said.
‘You are hungry, Nagini’ he had said. ‘Go to the school, and find
him.
Eat him Nagini, we cannot let you starve’.
She could not let down her master. That would be too terrible.
She twisted to go back the way she came, urging her supple muscles
to
get her back before they saw her. A hole! Triumphant she slipped up
into
a suit of armour, and waited until the footsteps passed her by.
Safe.
For now. She slipped out of the armour, and flicked out her tongue
again,
tasting his scent. She must follow it; she must find him for her
master.
As she slipped along the corridor, the scent became stronger. I
will
find him! I will kill him! I will taste his blood for my master!
Closer
and soon her job would be done.
Another flight of stairs, another long climb. She moved in a supple
rhythm,
beautiful and deadly, very deadly to her pray. He would not have a
chance
to overthrow her master, she would show her power over all the
pitiful
Death Eaters that had failed to kill him. It would be easy.
She finally reached the top, and rested for a moment. Taste! She
could
almost taste his blood, he was so close. She moved along the
corridor,
slipping over the highly polished floor. All too easy. Here! The
smell
went into the wall here! But where? There was no door, only a
picture
above her. What now? She slumped back. There must be some way in!
I
will not fail my master! I will taste his blood! She ached to
sink
her deadly fangs into soft flesh. His flesh. A sound! It came from
the
other side of the picture, someone was calling.
The picture frame swung outwards and Neville stuck his head out;
‘Trevor!
Trevor, come here now’ This was impossible, he thought. Why does
he
keep running away? I’m never going to find him in the dark.
Neville closed the picture frame, went back to bed, and never
noticed
the dark shape that slipped away into the shadows of the common
room.
Very close! So very close, but yet another staircase. She smelled
her
prey up there! Once the boy had gone, Nagini slithered to the bottom
of
the staircase and looked up. Light was starting to touch her through
the
windows, she needed to hurry! I will taste his blood before the
nights
out. She started to climb. Light followed her slow progress,
lazily
flowing into the common room, and steeling up after the determined
snake.
At last, she rested at the foot of the door. It was open! Left ajar
so
a soft breeze blew in from behind her. She crawled in.
There! That was her prey! That was the one who threatened her
master,
who threatened the Dark Side! She would kill him now, and nothing
would
threaten her master ever again! He would be supreme over all wizards
and
Muggles, and it was she who would have made it all possible. Here.
Now.
She approached the bed following the track his smell made in the
air.
The smell of his blood made her own course through her veins as she
moved
gently towards the side of the bed. Finally, it would be over.
Finally,
she could show that her venom was more powerful than even the most
resilient
human. No Lethifold had a patch on her! She was the supreme killer
that
no one could dispute! As she raised herself to the edge of the bed,
poised
like a cobra, ready to strike, Harry woke.
Strange words. All about killing, blood, and honour passed through
Harry’s
ears as he sat up, slowly. Death. Something was outside the curtain
around
his bed moving slowly, barley moving at all.
I will taste his blood! He will die! I have done my masters
bidding!
Now I am the supreme killer!
Parseltongue, snake language, that no one else could hear. A snake,
after
him. Fear ran through Harry’s body. He couldn’t shout for help, for
then
the snake would know he was awake and kill him for sure. So what
could
he do? Harry almost panicked; no one could help him now. Suddenly,
an
idea came into his head, what if…?
Suddenly the voice stopped speaking. Silence fell. The death was
coming
at the speed of lightning, and there was only one thing Harry could
do
to stop it.
He swung himself out of bed, and kicked the snake lunging towards
him.
It fell to the floor, thrown off balance by Harry’s unexpected
attack.
She turned round, and swung herself forwards again to strike. Harry
jumped
back and fell onto his bedside table. As Nagini moved towards him,
and
readied herself for the kill, Harry fumbled behind him…and felt his
wand.
As Nagini struck for the last time, Harry pulled the wand from the
table,
and pointed it at her.
‘Avada Kedavra’ Harry shouted, and a blast of green light
erupted
from the wand end. Nagini fell back, dead.
‘Stop making such a racket’ said Ron sleepily, ‘do you know what
time
it is?’
