Fan Fiction ❯ Rebirth ❯ Pets ( Chapter 3 )

Rebirth by AW Universal

Don't own so don't sue.

CH 3: Pets

Harry didn't want to think about the mage, Elf, and Order right then. He'd deal with that later. He wanted to look at those books. To do that, he'd have to move the cage. His hand hovered over the cage for a split second before grasping the handle and jerking it out of the box. Instead of hearing animal noises, Harry heard…words.

"~Stupid human! Can't even be woken up nicely, noooo, I HAVE to be woken up rudely. Not even an apology. These humans have no manners whatsoever….~"

"~Sorry about that.~" Harry interrupted, glad to have someone to talk with. "~I haven't had much luck with evil. It always wants to kill me.~" Apparently, the Mandoushi was a kind of snake.

"~You speak my …wait! You smell like…Explain!~" The snake spoke harshly.

"~Um…what exactly do you want me to explain?~" Harry answered, automatically nervous. He was caught off guard by the harsh tone, which was so similar to his uncle's tone.

"~You smell like the one who captured me, yet you speak my tongue. Why?~" It said icily.

"~Well…the man who caught you was reborn as…um…me.~" Harry answered hesitantly, and slowly became more confident as his initial reaction faded. "~And the reason I can talk to you is because I gained some abilities from a dark wizard when I was a year old. One of them just so happens to be parseltongue.~"

"~Who is the one that captured me?~" It asked.

"~Merlin.~"

"~I could tell this Merlin was a spoiled brat. He wouldn't accept the idea that different is not evil. You don't have those prejudge.~"

"~Would killing because of a hatred be evil?~"

"~Not evil, simply stupid and prejudice. Why do you ask?~"

"~My parents were killed by Voldmort, who thought they were inferior. He…~"

"~Then tried to kill you, correct?~" The snake heaved a sigh. "~If we are to continue this conversation, could we please be face to face?~"

"~Oh! I'm sorry.~" Harry apologized, as he opened the box. The snake was a dull black with flecks of dark green and dark gray. Its head was 7 and one half in (19cm) long and about a half in (little more than one cm) in depth. It was about 9 ft (around 3 meters), including the head. After the snake was stretched along the cluttered floor, something came up off its back. With one flap, the snake was in the air.

"~You have wings.~" Harry breathed dazed.

"~Yes Master, I do.~" The snake agreed.

"~Don't call me Master, I prefer Harry. What's your name?" Harry shifted the conversation to the snake. The snake smelt the panic coming from Harry, although it didn't know the reason or the cause.

"~My name is Kishounaku, Harry.~" The snake stated as he settled on the bed.

"~Is that a boy's or a girl's name? Why do you have wings? What's the closest snake species to yours?~"

Laughing, Kishounaku answered, "~It doesn't matter to my kind as we are genderless. We create eggs alone and place them among a bird's clutch to hatch. I'd say the closest species is the basilisk, as we were created by the same man.~"

At that Harry paled. Kishounaku noticed and asked, "~What's wrong Harry?~"

"~If a human killed one, how would you feel?~" Harry replied shakily.

"~A basilisk? They aren't the smartest snake around. They rely on someone else and were made to be killers. We Mandoushi are intelligent creatures while basilisks are basically mindless and need a master. Brothers we may be, but there is no lost love between us. Why do you ask?~"

"~Well, during my second year at school, a basilisk was petrifying students. I killed the basilisk and the memory behind it.~"

"~Memory?~"

"~Yeah, Voldie's sixteen year old self that was preserved in his diary. He took over my best friend's little sister to open the chamber the basilisk was in.~"

"~It wasn't even alive?!~" Kishounaku seemed impressed.

"~It was trying to get a body by taking Ginny's life.~" Harry snapped.

"~Was I wrong to think you weren't prejudice?~" Kishounaku asked coldly.

"~No! But is taking one's life through a diary when the guy's not even dead, right? Is killing and torturing muggles, muggle-borns, and even his followers? Is trying to actually bloody rule the world? Is killing parents? Is trying to kill a baby that's not even a year old? Is enjoying murdering people right? Is it right to make a baby live in the cupboard under the stairs for ten years? To make him feel like he's lower than the dirt under one's feet? Is beating him right? Is making him cook and clean when he's only three years old? Is treating him worse than Malfoy's house elves? Is `forgetting' his birthday for ten years? Is lying to him about his parents' deaths and himself? Is taking him to a world were he's only `The Boy Who Lived?' Is it right that he's expected to defeat, no, kill Voldie? Is making him watch Voldie's evil every night? Is it fair that evil follows him around every year? That Voldie is back all because of me? That I fear for my life? That I'm always different?~" Then Harry fell back on the bed, choking back tears, hands covering his face. Kishounaku stilled during Harry's rant and now slithered beside him.

"~Is this your life? What you just described?~" Kishounaku gently inquired. Harry could only nod. "~How old are you?~"

"~Fifteen today.~"

"~I would have thought you were eleven.~" Kishounaku paused then continued, "~When was the last time you slept?~"

Harry thought a minute. "~Three, no, four days ago, but I've gone longer.~"

"~How long?~"

"~Ten days, I think.~"

"~You need more sleep, Master.~"

"~I told you, don't call me Master!~" Harry said with a bite to his voice.

"~May I kindly ask why?~"

"~Voldie's followers, Death Eaters, call him Master. It reminds me of him and I need to be reminded of him like I need to be branded with a cast iron.~"

"~Very well then. Harry, could you please do something about that chick before I eat it.~" Kishounaku neatly changed the conversation.

It was then, Harry realized the chick had been cheeping though the entire conversation. He picked up the phoenix chick.

"~How do I get it quiet?~" Harry wondered allowed.

"~Give the noisy thing some food and water then it will fall asleep.~" Kishounaku told him. Harry did as suggested and the chick promptly fell asleep.

"~It should actually have feathers tomorrow and have some resemblance to a bird. In a few days, it could hatch an egg.~"

"~What do you mean?~" Harry asked.

"~Phoenixes tend to know if an egg isn't theirs and respond by destroying said egg. No Mandoushi has even been able to have a phoenix, normal or royal, hatch its egg. If you told it to, it would hatch my egg.~" Kishounaku heaved a sigh and continued. "~I'm the last of my kind, I'm sure.~"

"~How's that? I thought your kind couldn't die.~" Harry voiced.

Kishounaku laughed. "~We die alright, but we're immune to magic.~"

"~Then why'd the sleeping spell work?~" Harry asked, puzzled.

"~The spell hit a cut I had. That's how he managed to catch me in the first place.~"

"~Oh.~"

Kishounaku stretched out across the bed and slithered into the air. "~Sorry to end this, Master Harry, but I'd like to catch a meal. You want me to bring you some?~"

Harry shook his head and replied, "~I'm not into raw food. Just be back before sunrise though. And don't eat any owls.~"

Kishounaku shrugged. "~Yes Master Harry.~"

Harry watched Kishounaku fly into the distance. `Well, the rest of the summer won't be as bad.'

#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$

Kishounaku is Japanese and means scarce air. Actually, I combined the words for scarce, kishouna, and air, ku.

Sorry it has been so long but school's a bitch and so is life for that matter. Thanks for all reviewers. Question: What's a "beta?"