Harry Potter:blood legacy

Half an hour later, they arrived at the reptile house, and Dudley was practically bouncing with excitement. Harry had overheard once that some snakes could swallow a whole cow, and for a fleeting moment, he wondered if one of the bigger ones might find Dudley to be an appetizing substitute. The air inside the terrarium was thick and smelled sharply different from the rest of the zoo, and the reptiles sat quietly in glass enclosures designed to mimic their wild habitats.

Harry wandered around, pausing briefly to watch the turtles, which, while interesting, didn't do much. A few lizards caught his eye, but most of the enclosures housed snakes. He didn't mind them, really. In fact, he liked watching how they moved, even if some were nearly impossible to spot, blending perfectly into their surroundings.

Eventually, the family stopped at a particularly impressive snake exhibit. Behind the glass was a black snake, about three or four meters long, with striking blue eyes. It was sprawled lazily on a rock, seemingly asleep. Dudley, naturally, pressed his pudgy face to the glass, smudging it. Harry couldn't help but hope the snake wouldn't wake up—seeing any of the Dursleys upon waking was never a pleasant experience, even for a reptile.

The little plaque beside the exhibit said the snake was born in captivity and listed a few interesting facts, like its length and the curious detail that snakes have eyelids—but they're transparent, so they never blink.

"Make it move," Dudley demanded.

"Move," Vernon echoed, tapping on the glass with one finger.

"Move!" Dudley shouted, pounding on the glass with his fist instead. Harry sighed. This was bound to end badly. Better to intervene now before they all got kicked out for being, well, the Dursleys.

"It's asleep," Harry said, trying to sound matter-of-fact. He wasn't entirely sure it was true, but it didn't really matter. "Snakes have really thin eyelids, so it just looks like they don't have any," he added, mostly for his own amusement.

"Boring," Dudley grumbled and stomped off to another exhibit. Vernon and Petunia followed him, leaving Harry alone in front of the snake.

"Sorry about them," Harry muttered to the snake, which, to his surprise, seemed to perk up. It shifted slightly, and its blue eyes fixed on him. "He doesn't understand what it's like," Harry continued, almost to himself. "Sitting in the same place every day, watching people stare at you."

Harry didn't expect a reaction, which is why he froze when the snake nodded. "Wait—you can hear me?" he whispered, his heart skipping a beat. The snake nodded again. "Wow. I've never talked to a snake before. Do you talk to people often?" The snake shook its head. "Can't say I blame you…"

"Mum! Dad! Come here!" Dudley's obnoxious voice rang out, and Harry barely had time to register what was happening before he was shoved to the floor. Looking up, he saw Dudley plastered against the glass, his fat hands and face squished against it. "You won't believe what this snake is doing!" Dudley yelled.

Harry wasn't amused. Less by Dudley's antics and more by the fact that the idiot had pushed him for no reason.

What happened next, though, Harry would never forget. The glass vanished. One second, it was there; the next, Dudley toppled headfirst into the enclosure with a loud splash. Harry stared, wide-eyed, as the snake slithered out of the exhibit and glided toward Dudley. It moved closer, pausing briefly to fix Harry with an unblinking gaze. Up close, it was even more impressive—and far more terrifying.

The snake lowered its head toward him, and Harry squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for a bite. Instead, he felt something wet and flickering brush against his cheek. The snake's tongue.

"I'll find you later, two-legged one," a soft, hissing voice whispered. Then the weight disappeared, and Harry opened his eyes just in time to see the snake vanish into the crowd. Around him, people screamed and ran.

"Mum! Mummy!" Dudley's panicked cries brought Harry's attention back to the enclosure. The glass had somehow reappeared, trapping Dudley inside. Petunia and Vernon arrived moments later. Petunia took one look at her son and let out an ear-piercing shriek.

"My poor boy!" she wailed, throwing herself against the glass. Dudley, inside, was wailing just as loudly. The scene was so ridiculous Harry couldn't help but laugh. But he stopped quickly when Vernon turned and fixed him with a glare that promised trouble later.

That night, Harry lay on his mattress in the cupboard under the stairs, his back still stinging from the punishment Vernon had delivered when they got home. It hadn't been Harry's fault, of course, but logic never mattered to the Dursleys. They blamed him for everything. His back ached, but he knew the bruises wouldn't last. Nothing ever did, much to their frustration.

Half an hour after Harry fell asleep, an unexpected guest slithered into the house. A guest with fangs, no legs, and something carefully held in its mouth.

The next morning, Harry woke up to find an egg in his cupboard. It wasn't like the eggs Aunt Petunia used for cooking—it was three times the size and felt oddly warm to the touch. Harry stared at it, wondering if this was some sort of elaborate prank.

"Get up!" Petunia's sharp voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He quickly tucked the egg under his pillow and scrambled out of the cupboard.

After a long day of chores, Harry finally collapsed back onto his mattress. Exhaustion weighed heavily on him as he buried his face in the pillow—only to hear a loud crack. His heart sank. The egg.

"Oh no," Harry whispered, sitting up and pulling the pillow aside. Bits of broken eggshell scattered across the mattress. There was no sign of whatever had been inside.

A soft hissing sound froze him in place. Slowly, Harry turned his head—and came face-to-face with a tiny snake perched on his shoulder. Its jet-black body gleamed faintly in the dim light, and its emerald-green eyes, startlingly like his own, stared at him unblinking.

Harry let out a startled yelp and backed into the wall, bumping his head on a shelf.

"Quiet, boy!" Vernon's shout came from the other side of the door, but Harry barely noticed. His eyes were fixed on the snake, which slithered onto his arm and rested its head in his palm.

It was no bigger than his forearm, but it looked up at him with an almost intelligent gaze. Harry gulped.

"Um… hi?" he whispered.

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