Closed The Silver Snake of Hogwarts Part One

[Luxen Silverback II]

Luxen opened the door to the abandoned classroom and looked around, it smelled of dust and mothballs. Looking up at the ceiling he could see a few pixies fluttering about. He had heard that the classroom could be dangerous at times due to something called a boggart, however one of the classes had recently cleared out this room during lessons. He slowly walked around the room and looked around noticing the bit of dust that laid on the floor. Housekeeping was obviously not doing their job very well [OOC: Bad Tinny!] and Luxen did not enjoy it.

He would endure it for as long as needed if it meant finding what he had dreamt about the night before. He had been asleep in his bed when something made of Silver and Rust had awoken him and brought him to the Abandoned Classroom. They had spoken about something and as Luxen thought hard he remembered that the creature had taken the form of snake. It's voice was that of a woman but it could barely speak as every time it opened it's mouth a sound like metal being crunched could be heard. It had been late and as soon as the creature had finished speaking to Luxen, there had been a loud CRACK! and he'd awaken in his bed.

The room looked the same as it had in his dream but no matter where he looked there were no signs of the Silver Snake. He became annoyed with himself that he'd actually came to the Second Floor and entered the old classroom because of a silly dream. Anger flared up inside as he pulled out his wand and pointed it at some random object "Stupefy!" he shouted as a jet of red light shot from the tip of his wand. It hit something that Luxen didn't bother looking at but winced as it crashed to the ground making a loud noise that seemed to echo throughout the school. He didn't want to get caught by a Prefect or Professor vandalizing the school even if he was angry with himself.

 

[Theia Carnahan]

Theia, feeling frustrated over leaving her family behind for another semester, was determined to escape the darkness of the dungeons for a little while and clear her head. To stroll aimlessly around anywhere that didn’t have the menacing atmosphere and damp air of the dungeons that felt as if it were metaphorically suffocating her. Searching for a calm change of pace, her stroll led her upwards through the castle, the repeated echo of her footsteps eventually allowing her to fully recede into her own mind and process her thoughts. That was until she reached the second floor and a sudden, loud crashing sound startled her, causing her to stop dead in her tracks and instinctively glance in the direction it came from. Loud pops, crackles, bangs, and crashes were normal in Theia’s home and equally normal at Hogwarts with so many young witches and wizards learning to control and use their magic. But a crashing emanating from the room Theia knew as the abandoned classroom, in the middle of the day and echoing loud through an otherwise empty corridor? That was cause for concern, a sign she needed to investigate. If the chaos at Hogwarts was an equivalent to the chaos of her home, she needed to get to the bottom of it and make sure no one was hurt.​

​

Approaching the door, Theia opened it a crack, enough to poke her head through and gather her bearings. There stood a boy, alone, holding his wand, with old furniture sporadically scattered around the room. It wasn’t anything to cause her alarm however Theia did recognize the boy being one of her housemates, and thought if anything, maybe that day during her self imposed task to investigate the source of the crashing sound, she could strike up a conversation with him and figure out what happened. Opening the door and walking in, before softly closing it behind her as to not attract more attention, Theia walked a little closer to the fellow Slytherin, before looking in the direction he had been facing. “Target practice?” She soon asked to break the silence, wondering if this was the cause for the crash.​

 

[Luxen Silverback II]

Luxen turned quickly so that his wand was pointing directly at the girl who had spoken, his mouth had even opened to fire off another stunning spell but he stopped himself before any words came out. He lowered his wand slowly but was ready to raise it again if needed. He had learned that you really couldn't trust anyone and that was especially true for anyone that would sneak up behind you. "Perhaps, depends on if your going to tattle on me or not" Luxen said simply to the girl.

He had learned that most of the students in the school tried to be as goody two shoes as possible when it came to snitching on other students. Perhaps it was just how they treated him, however it made no difference in how they all should be treated. "Why are you here?" Luxen asked quickly since he wasn't quite sure why anyone else would have came to an old second floor classroom. Perhaps she had been following him for some reason.

 

[Theia Carnahan]

Theia looked between the boy and the other side of the room again, crossing her arms over her torso and trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together and understand what caused such a loud and resonating noise. A moment later she shook her head at his comment. “If I don’t know what happened I can’t ‘tattle’ on anyone.” She answered honestly, brows furrowing slightly for a moment before she answered his question. “I’m here because I heard a loud sound and I wanted to investigate. If it is indeed some kind of target practice and no one is hurt then that’s the only explanation I need.” She answered with a shrug, content that no one nearby did seem to be hurt by whatever spell had caused the sound, if that was truly what happened. “I don’t think a spell cast on a pile of old furniture is enough to tattle on.” She added. And really, it wasn’t. It wasn’t in Theia’s power to tell someone what to do in an old, dusty classroom filled with unused furniture. No one seemed to be hurt, there did not seem to be any conflict, if anything Theia was relieved it didn’t involve anyone else and she didn’t have to jump to action and help someone in trouble when she already had enough on her mind.​

 

[Luxen Silverback II]

"Good" was all Luxen said in response as he looked around the room some more. He was sure the creature would be in the room somewhere if he just looked though he was still worried that he was being stupid for coming to the room in the first place. "I wasn't doing target practice, I was looking for something" Luxen confessed. "I don't even know why I'm looking for it" he snapped more to himself than to the girl that had appeared. He felt the desire to break something else but knew that it wouldn't actually solved anything.

"Don't we have lessons together? Your Theia something right?" Luxen said casually. He hadn't bothered to remember every student he had lessons with but did recognize most of the Slytherins that were also in his year. He also wanted to relieve some of his frustration by talking rather than by destroying as he kept darting his eyes around the room in case something had slithered along the floor.

 

[Theia Carnahan]

Theia tilted her head when she heard the boy was looking for something. An entirely new set of questions followed up in her mind of whether moving the furniture with charms was more productive, of why the abandoned classroom was the place to look in the first place, of what he was even looking for. But Theia ignored these thoughts as quickly as they appeared because it was none of her business. What was her business was making sure no one was hurt and clearly no one else was involved in the situation. Theia was pleased when he changed the subject, mentioning the fact they shared lessons as it kept her from wondering too much or prying into a situation she didn’t belong even if her thoughts would ultimately return. She nodded her head at his question. “We do have lessons together, I’m Theia Carnahan.” Theia confirmed. “and you’re Luxen?” She asked, following his gaze as he looked around the floor.​

​

She sighed quietly when she noticed his motions in between his sentences. It was clear whatever he was searching for seemed to be bothering him, or urgent, or both. No one’s attention darted around so rapidly if it wasn’t important to them. “Look, I know it’s none of my business what you’re looking for or what you’re doing in here, but did you need help with it? I can keep a secret.” Theia said, unsure if he wanted help or wanted to talk but she was there regardless, it would also get her mind away from her own worries so she wasn’t against spending time being an extra pair of eyes for the fellow Slytherin if he asked for it.​

 

[Luxen Silverback II]

Luxen thought about it for a moment and then considered his family's history or at least what he had known of it. "Along time ago my grandfather opened a shop in Bleak Street, it sold some of his inventions" Luxen began figuring it was the only way to confirm whether or not he was wasting his time. "One of his inventions was called 'the Silver Snake' it was like having a magical mechanical snake that you could control even if you weren't a parseltongue" Luxen continued.

He looked around the room slowly as he spoke trying to find it. "When my father was born a very special one of these was created, one that apparently had a will of it's own. He would have brought it here to Hogwarts when he attended and I believe it might still be in the school" Luxen said simply. The creature would be decades old and without proper care, Luxen was unsure if it could have survived all that time. There were other questions of course, such as why had the snake been left behind and had it really tried to reach out to him. The letter he had only described the snake as a sort of protector for Luthor Silverback, so when the boy had grown up had he simply left it behind?

 

[Theia Carnahan]

Theia had expected Luxen to be searching for something small, a trinket or charm or anything really that wasn’t a silver mechanical snake. A silver snake of all things, was so far out of the realm of Theia’s imagination, that if Luxen didn’t have some background information and family history behind his description she would have thought he was playing some sort of prank on her, it was so specific. However his expression remained serious as he continued to look around, and if Luxen’s reputation preceded him Theia had enough information to assume he was telling the truth. Even if she couldn’t envision what a silver mechanical snake would look like to begin with, nevertheless after spending Merlin knows how much time at Hogwarts without being found by someone else, she could tell this was important to Luxen and began to look around with him automatically. Her eyes weren’t briefed on what the snake looked like so she began by searching for anything out of the ordinary amongst the dust and old furniture, walking over to some kind of cabinet and opening it, coughing at the dust cloud that broke out at her movement. Looking to the dark shelves, and realizing it was empty, Theia moved to a different piece of furniture as she tried to make conversation. “Why is it a silver snake specifically? Are they a symbol of your family?” Theia asked, brushing some dust off an old table with the sleeve of her robes.​

 

[Luxen Silverback II]

Luxen thought about the question for a moment, he honestly didn't know what his family crest was or why his grandfather had chosen to create the silver snakes. Thinking about how his father's family was described in the letter, Luxen had his suspicions. "My family have been in Slytherin House for generations, my grandfather likely admired Salazar Slytherin's ability to speak to snakes since it's a pretty rare ability. It seems likely he was trying to copy the ability" Luxen explained out loud as his own brain seemed to come to the conclusion.

He didn't want to admit out loud to this girl that the only things he knew about his own family were due to a letter he'd received. Before that he'd been forced to live with Muggles believing himself to be one until his Hogwarts Letter had arrived. Every time he thought about what was suppose to be his, he felt anger flare up. This unique Silver Snake had belonged to his father and therefore belonged to him, more importantly it would have the information that he needed to know about his family.

Looking at the floor, Luxen noticed something odd. It was covered in dust like almost everything else in the room except for a spot near the back wall. "Look at this" Luxen said as he walked over towards the wall. There was a line of dust parted about an inch and a half wide as though something had slid a crossed it recently. The line lead to a small hole in one of the walls, Luxen felt his heart pounding in his chest as without a second's thought he reached into the hole to feel around, hoping to find something.

 

[Theia Carnahan]

Theia brushed more dust from the table she was inspecting, then turned to lean back against it when she still couldn’t see anything unusual nearby. She crossed her arms again as she listened to Luxen explain his family’s history with Slytherin, and the origin of the mechanical snakes to possibly recreate Salazar Slytherin's Parselmouth ability. Theia’s own family had no history in Slytherin that she knew of, her late mother being in Ravenclaw and her Father attending Ilvermorny giving her no sense of the prestige of the house she was sorted in until well into her first semester. It was a slow process, but Theia was understanding the legacy of Slytherin with every passing day, and she pursed her lips in thought as she considered what it must have been like for Luxen to grow up with the implications and expectations of being sorted into the right house being passed down to him, with his family seemingly so dedicated to the history of it and the founder specifically. She considered asking him what it was like to have those expectations, what he thought might have happened if the hat sorted him anywhere else, but before Theia could speak again Luxen spoke first.​

​

His words captured her attention and she followed his instruction to look as he walked towards one of the walls. Theia stepped closer to the wall herself, brow furrowing as she saw what Luxen was referring to; a small line of dust leading into a hole in the wall. As much as Theia wanted to believe it was this mechanical snake for Luxen’s sake, she couldn’t help but think the trace in the dust could be left by a mouse or rat running along the floor, startled by the crash from earlier. Though she kept her mouth shut as he reached into the wall. “Is there anything there?” She finally asked after a moment, anticipating what his answer would be as she couldn't tell from where she was standing.​

 

[Luxen Silverback II]

Luxen found his hand instantly caked in dust as he reached into the hole. He reached his arm further into the hole. He ignored her question as he tried to will something to appear within the hole. Luxen had to believe that he was in that room for a reason, that he wasn't simply acting a fool. Finally after moving his fingers through another layer of dust, Luxen felt something that was not the hard floor. It was thin and he was able to tell that it was a piece of parchment. Luxen carefully pulled the old piece of parchment from the hole noticing that it was crinkled and torn in several places.

Luxen looked at the piece of parchment carefully, it was covered in dust and needed to be cleaned off in order to be read properly. The bottom piece of the parchment ripped away from the rest but Luxen was able to make the pieces legible. Luxen noticed that the writing that appeared on it was familiar. It was the same writing that had appeared on the letter that was currently in his pocket. Luxen focused even harder on the piece of parchment. "It's a family tree I think, but it's not right" Luxen said out loud remembering that she was in the room. He had received a family tree with his letter that showed his paternal line only though it had never stated who his mother was.

The names on this family tree were unfamiliar except for two that had also been on the family tree he'd received. All of the names were written in black and had a line crossed through them. Then on the bottom piece, in red ink was something that had obviously been written at a different time than the rest. Luxen looked over the parchment closer before allowing the girl to look at it. "Luxen Silverback was married to Maeve Silverback, they had a son, my father Luthor Silverback. I don't know who these people are" Luxen explained in an agitated tone.

Spoiler: Old Parchment

Luxen Silverback-------Morganna Le'Creigh
+
+
Alexander Silverback-------Eden Silverback
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+
Luxen Silverback II

Spoiler: Old Parchment

Sigourney is at Hogwarts

 

[Theia Carnahan]

Thinking about how much dust and dirt, and possible rodent droppings must have been inside the hole in the wall, and how gross it was for Luxen to reach inside it, Theia cringed a little to herself as she waited for a reaction, a response to her question, anything to tell her whether Luxen had found something in the wall or it was void of anything he was hoping to find. Assuming how gross it was, she at least respected Luxen’s resolve in finding silver snake he was searching for, it clearly must have meant at lot to him and he was willing to do what was needed if it gave him answers. It was a sign of how ambitious he was, and a testament to their house, Theia couldn’t help but realize as she watched him. This thought wasn’t one she could linger on for much longer however when Luxen finally pulled his hand out of the wall, taking out an old and dusty looking piece of parchment.​

​

Theia raised her eyebrows curiously as Luxen looked at the parchment. She looked between the writing she could barely decipher from a distance and Luxen’s face as he eventually explained it was a family tree, but an incorrect one. Theia’s brows then furrowed slightly in concern and worry she was experiencing some kind of family secret of Luxen’s being revealed to him, as if she were standing in on a moment she shouldn’t, even if she didn’t understand who any of Luxen’s family members were or knew anything other than what Luxen had told her that day. Nevertheless she looked over the parchment herself when Luxen showed it to her, and finally was able to read the names crossed out with blank ink, and then the red writing on the bottom piece, finding that none of it made sense. Not surprising given she knew nothing of what Luxen’s family tree was like. “If this ‘Sigourney’ person is at Hogwarts, should we try and find them?” Theia then suggested, not sure how else to react to the information Luxen had shown her, but knowing suggesting they find the person that had the name in red was at least productive in some way.​

 

[Luxen Silverback II]

Luxen thought about both family trees for a moment. Even if one of them was a false tree, one thing was the same on both of them. All of the names had connected to another name in some way. The only name that had suddenly appeared unconnected was the name 'Sigourney'. "We do need to find her" Luxen responded slowly as he thought about who Sigourney would've been to his family. "I think she has answers but I also don't think she's a person" Luxen said as his eyes darted back down at the trail of dust that had lead towards the hole and the paper.

He wasn't sure how a snake would've been able to write on paper but knew that the snake was decades older than himself and probably could've found a way if she had wanted to. He thought again of his dream that lead him here but was now sure it had not been a dream. "I think Sigourney is the Silver Snake that was made for my father. She can speak to me, she can explain this" Luxen said with renewed energy in his voice. After months of nothing but boring classes and annoying students, Luxen finally had something he could work with. He didn't enjoy the fact that this new clue had came with more questions but it had provided him a chance to do something more than simply wait around and read.

"She's been here at the school and has been hiding from me" Luxen added coldly. "If she think's she's going to play games with me, she's wrong. I'm going to find her" Luxen said defiantly. It would be an easier thing to announce than to actually do however, the school was incredibly large and the snake would obviously have access to places Luxen could never go. He needed to figure out what she'd been doing all these years, why had she stayed at Hogwarts when Luthor Silverback had left?

 

[Theia Carnahan]

As Luxen responded to the suggestion to find this ‘Sigourney’, the idea of them not being a person after all and instead the snake itself began to settle in Theia’s mind. Having walked into Luxen’s situation and being ignorant to the fact silver mechanical snakes existed until that day she had naturally assumed Sigourney was another person, a student, or a school professor that hadn’t taught them yet or even a groundskeeper, not the snake Luxen was looking for all that time. It suddenly made sense and Theia nodded her head when Luxen mentioned that even if the snake would play games he would find her. “That makes sense.” She said quietly, not sure what else to contribute to his words. She pursed her lips in thought for a moment, looking around the room again in case there were more traces in the dust left by the snake, but when she couldn’t immediately see anything Theia looked back to Luxen, an idea hitting her. “Speaking to snakes is rare, but what if we could find someone to help us find Sigourney by talking to her, or listening to her, or something?” Theia then suggested, unsure whether there would be someone at Hogwarts with the same ability as Salazar Slytherin, but thinking it couldn’t hurt to try and find someone if it was a possibility. For all Theia knew the snake could have already been trying to communicate but wasn’t able to be heard.​

 

[Luxen Silverback II]

"I heard the Prefect Baros can talk to snakes" Luxen said out loud though even as he said it he shook his head. "He won't help us though" Luxen added. Even if the older boy could speak to snakes, he was a Prefect and Luxen knew that even the Prefects in Slytherin House were nothing more than sheep begging to be consumed. "If there's one though, there's a chance that another one is around" Luxen concluded. He didn't know how rare the ability was but had to suspect someone else might have it besides the Prefect.

Worse case scenario, Luxen could try getting to know the Prefect better in case he really was the only option. He looked around the classroom for more clues but could already feel in his bones that they were be nothing else for him to find. Trying to find another Parseltongue among the people of Hogwarts would be a daunting task that Luxen didn't have time to spend. "Would you mind helping me ask around?" Luxen asked with a smile. She already knew what he knew for the most part so it only made sense to at least try to enlist her help though he wouldn't have been surprised if she wanted something or simply said 'no'.

 

[Theia Carnahan]

Theia’s eyebrows raised a little at the news one of their house’s prefects could speak to snakes. She almost wouldn’t have believed it but with how serious Luxen was and how sure he seemed as he spoke, she assumed it must have been true, and then moved to chew the inside of her cheek when Luxen then added the prefect wouldn’t help them. It went against the point of being a prefect, at least Theia thought so, understanding that prefects had a responsibility to help younger students. But she figured after a moment of thought this silver snake situation must have been too personal to Luxen and too out of the ordinary, possibly against some kind of school rule Theia didn’t know about that meant it was silly to find a prefect if it would disrupt Luxen’s search and get the pair of them in trouble. Theia nodded her head when Luxen asked if she would help him ask around, agreeing with him that there surely must have been someone else with the ability to speak to snakes somewhere in the castle that could help them. Hopefully it would be someone that wasn’t a prefect nor inclined to tell a professor what they were doing so Luxen could find the answers he wanted. “Sure, I’ll help.” Theia said with a shrug. Helping Luxen thus far was interesting to say the least, and it had definitely distracted Theia from her own family troubles so she was willing to continue helping him even with the possibility of getting in trouble. “Since it’s a trait associated with Slytherin, should we start with our own house? Or do you think it would be better to start somewhere else?” She asked shortly afterwards, wanting to follow Luxen’s lead.​

 

[Luxen Silverback II]

Luxen thought about it, the Slytherin Prefect didn't exactly make it hidden that 'he' could speak to snakes. He literally had a badge that stated so near his Prefect badge. It would make sense that a Slytherin known ability would only be within his own house. There was a tugging in the back of Luxen's brain, however that made him question why Baros would wear a badge basically announcing that he was a Parseltongue. "We should skip Slytherin house for now" Luxen said decisively as he felt his brain processing different details of information rapidly. "Baros wears a badge announcing he's a Parseltongue yet seems to be alone in that regard, if there was another one even a younger one within Slytherin house, would they want to stick close to him?" Luxen concluded out loud.

Obviously, there were many reasons that people who were alike didn't speak to each other. Luxen didn't feel as though this was the case. If another existed within their own house than Luxen was sure they would have made themselves known either the same way that Baros did or in another way that would have been noticeable to him. "Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff are the houses to start inquiring about" Luxen concluded again out loud. It was possible for one to be within Gryffindor, however Luxen didn't like any of the Gryffindors. Like the Prefect, the Gryffindors would like not be willing to assist in any event and therefore would be a waste of time to inquire about. "What do you think?" Luxen asked.

 

[Theia Carnahan]

Theia realised she was a little out of the loop from the rest of her house when Luxen mentioned the prefect that could speak Parseltongue had a badge on his uniform to announce it, definitely not keeping the ability a secret from the rest of the school. It wasn’t something she had noticed herself, but she also did not pay much attention to the prefects in her house or any of the houses, as she had no real use for them thus far in her time at Hogwarts. Though now that she knew about it her instincts told her it was better to avoid this prefect and her and Luxen’s house entirely as they searched for a different student that could speak to snakes, hopefully one that wouldn’t announce it to the world or expect some kind of glory in return. Theia nodded her head in agreement with Luxen as he spoke, given all he had explained, Theia definitely also believed searching in different houses seemed a better idea than only focusing on Slytherin like she first suggested. “I agree, should we start with hufflepuff? Since they seem the easiest house to ask around in, and might be more lowkey than Ravenclaw.” Theia responded with another shrug, still leaving the option up to Luxen to decide. She was purely relying on her assumptions about Hufflepuff being the nicest and most helpful house but she figured it was better than starting with nothing.​