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Chapter Text

Harry had always been told he had bad vision, as far as he can remember. He can remember years ago, that he thought his Aunt Petunia resembled a horse, and that his school teachers had made his Aunt get him glasses, they didn't help much, but they did make it a little easier. He doesn't know where she had gotten them.

It'd only been a short year after that when his vision worsened. He had been polishing his Aunt's display plates while she cooked breakfast, as he had burned the previous days breakfast and they had planned to leave for a vacation tomorrow so she wanted everything perfect.

He had a spray a glass polish and a rag. He's not sure how to happened but he had set down the plate he had been polishing to take his glasses off, as they had been splashed by grease and needed to be wiped. He could remember his Cousin Dudley appearing from around the corner, seeing him grab the spray bottle, then just pain in his eyes, the shattering of the plates he had stacked as he jerked to escape the sudden pain. His Aunt had shrieked at the sound, and then he doesn't remember what happened next.

He woke up to black, stuffed into his cupboard with no idea how long had passed, he could hear screaming, he's pretty sure it was his own as he had a splitting headache and it felt like his eyes were melting out of their sockets. He's still not sure how long he'd been in there undisturbed, as no sounds came from the house outside the cupboard, and he passed out enough times to throw off any idea of time he might've had.

He does know that when the pain finally stopped, that's when he felt the hunger. He was so hungry it felt like he had a monster in his stomach that was trying to eat him from the inside out, and no matter how much bile he threw up he couldn't get it out.

He knows that when his family did get home they had waited several hours, time they spent laughing and eating, before unlocking his cupboard. He hadn't been able to drag himself out of it, and the next few weeks he had been given more food then he would usually receive in a month, along with more anger and insults until he could stand on his own again.

He knows that he hasn't been able to see since then, and that no glasses helped ever again. He'd always imagined that being blind would just make everything black, like his cupboard, he'd thought that was all he would ever see again, but it wasn't. Everything was just a blurry mash of colors in indestinct shapes, with large asymmetrical blotches of green-yellow that wouldn't go away. He learned that his eyes looked as different as they felt. That his family had taken one look and audibly gagged at the sight.

He know that he would never see the same again, and that Dudley felt bad about it. He hadn't apologized, but he'd gone out of his way to redirect his friends away from Harry, and occasionally in the middle of the night Harry's cupboard would open and food would be shoved in on days that he did something freaky enough to not be fed. Harry thinks this was Dudley as when questioned about the missing food he would say he got a midnight snack to stop Harry from being punished.

Harry got used to doing his chores around the house again, relearning the layout and what not to do, everything felt different and scary now. He got used to his teachers thinking he'd done it to himself in a rebellious fit.

He hadn't quite gotten used to his new depth perception, unable to see people who wore similar colors to the backround without tilting his head, his Uncle Vernon had broken that instinct quickly, finding it freaky.

Chapter Text

Harry is woken up by the echoing shakes of Dudley thundering down the stairs, barely containing his excitement. Today was his birthday, and they were going to the zoo.

He could smell the breakfast Aunt Petunia was cooking in the kitchen, the wafting savory smells and sizzling of bacon and hear the dull thuds of eggshells falling into the trash can.

Blinking away the sleep he's greeted by the same familiar darkness of the cupboard he sleeps in, only the floating yellowish blurs distinguishable in the black. He stands slowly, stretching to the best of his ability in the small space. He hears the tell tale grumbles from his uncle as he eats, alongside the sharp tinking of his aunts silverware hitting the plate, and the disturbing slurping from his cousin.

Harry grabs his book he'd been given as a present from one of his teachers, a mythology book written in braille. His aunt and uncle didn't bother taking away any braille books he was given after the last time when his teacher had quizzed him on it a week later.

Harry smiled softly to himself as his fingers trailed the familiar story of Hodr, the idea of a blind god as interesting as it was appealing. Harry felt himself oddly drawn to Hodr despite not being the only blind god or prophet mentioned in the book.

Hodr was the blind god of winter, darkness, and warriors. Son of Odin and Frigg and twin to Baldr, the god of wisdom, light, and peace. He had been misguided by Loki, tricked into killing his twin Baldr and thus dooming himself to die soon after, though it does say that he returned after Ragnarok, the end of days, to rule the heavens with his brother.

Harry paused, him finger pausing on the word Baldr as he hears the tapping of his aunt coming to get him to wash the dishes, and closes the book before returning it to its stack. He stands as the several latches begin to be unlatched and brances his squinting eyes for the onslaught of light and color.

Petunia scowls in at the boy even as she avoids looking directly at him lest she be forced to see his eyes. The tiny cot in the cupboard takes up most pf the space, a small stack of school books pushed underneath one end. The rest of the meager floor space taken up by an ancient typewriter they'd been forced to get for him to do school work. The cot was covered with a single torn and moldy pillow and an old scratchy quilt, and the only shelf was directly above the cot, holding the paper for the typewriter jammed just out of the tiny boys reach between a heavy can of paint thinner and an old cleaning spray they never use anymore.

Harry stood with his hands behind his back politely, lest he be mistaken for being rude or having an attitude. He wore a massive gray shirt that was so large it only clung onto one of his tiny shoulders and the other side dangled freely, his pants were far too large, rolled at the top to make them stay up, sleeves of his shirt and pants rolled as to not cover his hands or drag on the floor behind him. He wasn't wearing shoes, not that anyone could see underneath the pants rolls.

On his face he'd placed a pair of dark sunglasses that were barely held together by scotch tape, serving the duel purposes of softening the sharp light and blinding mesh of colors as well as saving him the worry of his family catching sight of his eyes.

The horse-like face of his aunt scowled at him from the now open cupboard door. "Go on, get the dishes done, counters cleaned, scrub the sink and the cabinets, then take out the trash." She shut the cupboard behind him as he moved to start his chores of the day with a soft "Yes ma'am."

He wasn't allowed to touch the walls to find his way so he had learned to count the steps, ten steps from his cupboard and then a left to enter the kitchen, three steps then left the go around the table on Dudley's side so uncle Vernon can't trip him. Then two steps to the sink so he can begin washing the dishes, frowning softly to himself as he holds up the plate, aunt Petunia had used the white plates so it would be much easier to tell when they were clean. The vaguely circular mass of white showed no other colors so he scrubbed it for a few more seconds just to be sure, making certain the scrubpad covers the whole surface for any resistance before rinsing the plate once more and putting it in his steadily growing stack.

He ignored the conversation behind him as he focused on the task at hand, thinking about his babysitter and neighbor, Mrs. Figg, who would usually be the one to watch him while the family went out like they planned too today. She had a dozen or so cats and her house always stank, leaving Harry with the sensation of cat hair in his face and all over his skin for days afterwards, she had apparently tripped over one of her cats and broken a leg, so she couldn't watch him. He had been warned the day before that he would have to come with them to the zoo, and that they wouldn't tolerate any of his odd freakishness.

He heard the tell tale sound of one of Dudley's fake whines, his tone of voice belaying atleast to Harry that he didn't actually mind whatever he was whining about, but was just whining for appearences sake. Dudley had gotten a lot more tolerable since the accident that took Harry's sight. He still was a bit spoiled, but he didn't go out of his way to antagonize Harry anymore, and discouraged his friends and the bullies at school by saying picking on the blind kid wasn't much fun. He'd even given Harry a gift for his birthday this year, a small cube magnet he could keep in his pocket. Dudley had unlatched the door at midnight and handed Harry a handful of cold fries from his McDonald's earlier in the day, as well as the small magnet with a happy birthday muttered so quiet even the crickets in the garden were louder. It'd taken weeks of waiting for his aunt and uncles screams with bated breath for Harry to accept that it hadn't been a trick to get him in trouble.

As he sat the last plate down to dry his shoulder is yanked and he's tugged around to face his aunt, he can feel the force of her frown without needing to see it. "You will be coming to the zoo with us. You will not do anything freakish or odd. We will not be buying you lunch so don't you dare ask or do anything to draw attention. Go grab your stick so we won't have to answer any questions when you make a fool of yourself."

It only took Harry less than a minute to grab his cane and be shoved into a seat in the car, sitting on one side while Dudley claimed the middle and his friend Piers Polkiss sat on the other, Polkiss had started to say something taunting to Harry but had quickly been distracted by Dudley pulling out his Nintendo.

Harry didn't bother looking out the window, knowing the flashing colors would do nothing but give him a headache he instead closed his eyes and tried to remember what trees looked like.

When they'd arrived Harry was careful to not trip as he followed them through the public space, keeping what he had assumed was Dudley's bright orange shirt in his vision at all times while he ignored all the shouts of excitement from people and animals alike. They'd already wandered for a few hours by the time they'd moved into a dark room with a few lighter colored shapes on the walls that Harry assumed were enclosures.

Dudley had been staying uncharacteristically close to Harry, making sure to not cause him lose sight in the crowd without being obvious about it, several times having seen Harry begin to panic and steppe back into view with a loud shout about how cool whatever animal was conveniently placed at the time. Harry appreciated it even if he had to endure Polkiss's commentary about how he knows Harry wishes he could see how cool such and such was, and how bad he must feel being left out, and when he tried unsuccessfully to convince Dudley to split off and hide.

Polkiss was banging on something that echoes like glass, shouting about how whatever poor animal isn't doing anything inside when Dudley steps up close next to Harry to whisper. "It's a snake called a black mamba, its really long. The sign says it's the longest venomous snake in Africa and one of the deadliest in the world." Harry perks up hearing about the snake, a small smile on his face.

Dudley had discovered Harry could talk to snakes shortly after the incident when he'd stumbled upon the boy in the back garden doing yard work, talking to a garter snake who'd been visiting a few times a year. Harry had been scared his cousin would harm the snake when he'd realized he was there and had been surpised when Dudley just said "Snakes are cool." And left him be.

"It's just napping, i think, they don't close their eyes. Can you- I don't know- do something freakish, talk to it? See if it'll do something cool?" Dudley says this quieter, not wanting his parents to hear his question. Harry smiles and nods in the orange blobs direction as he steps up to the lighter blotch he was directed too.

"Hello, you are a deadly snake, yes?" He hisses under his breath, even as he knows the others won't hear him, as Dudley had directed them to the next enclosure to distract them.

"A speaker? I haven't met a speaker in a long time. You are a tiny hatchling, where are your parents? They must be speakers too." The snake hisses back in a feminine voice. She must lift her head or do something as he can hear Polkiss and Dudley back up by the glass, Polkiss is banging on it again, while Dudley stands conveniently between him and his parents so they can't see him talking to the snake.

"Your foolish nest mates are loud and uncouth little speaker. I wish to leave this terrible place and be back with my familiar." She hisses and moves closer for a second, her voice humored as she gains a gasp from Polkiss.

"I'm sorry about them, they aren't mine, maybe I can-" Harry cuts off as the glass vanishes and Polkiss shouts as he falls into the enclosure, the Mamba making pleased hisses as she darts out before the glass reappears.

She spares a grateful "much appreciated small hatchling." Before he can no longer hear her over the screams of fear from everyone and the cackles of delight from his cousin as he laughs at Polkiss for being trapped.

Harry can already hear his aunt and uncles fury as they storm over to him so he ducks below to escape his cousins hand that had rested on his shoulder in shared laughter and let out a quiet "Happy birthday Big D." Before he's yanked away by his aunt who's already screaming at him for his freakishness.

Later, he smiles to himself in the darkness of his cupboard as he rolls the magnet in his hand and thinks it was worth the punishment, and hopes the mamba got away.

Chapter Text

Harry habitually looked in the direction of the front door as the sound of letters hitting the floor reached him. Carefully setting down his homework, he stabilizes the glasses on his face and moves towards the blur of light of his cupboard door. The door was left cracked open while his family ate breakfast and he finished the schoolwork for when school starts again.

He will be expected to bring the mail before beginning his chores. Careful to keep his hands down from the wall where he nearly reaches for, beige walls clashing in a swirling mix with the dark hardwood floors, five steps from his cupboard to the front door. The letters were a sharp contrast of white that he carefully runs his fingers over the floor to gather them all into one neat stack. One letter was much larger and beige than the others so he puts it at the bottom of the stack.

Fifteen steps and straight to give the letters to his uncle, only pausing in the kitchen long enough for his uncle to acknowledge him with a bark of "Boy! Letters!" Before handing over the pile and moving towards the sink.

Harry hasn't even begun the process of cleaning the blue, brown, and white plates before he can hear his aunt and uncle begin arguing, then he is grabbed and spun around to face them. "Go. Do the gardening. You will not be allowed back in till every single weed is gone." Came the scowling voice of his aunt.

Harry was unsure how they expected him to do this task years ago when they'd shoved him out just like this, but they would not be pleased with how he did it either way.

Hearing the door lock click behind him Harry opened his clenched eyes slowly, adjusting to the sudden change of light outside. The yard was a green blur with the red and orange of the flowering poppies. He took slow steps towards the flowerbeds, careful to not step on the flowers as he listened for the distinct sound of scales on grass.

A year after the accident he'd befriended a garter snake that was a small blur of black and blue, who'd apparently been someone's pet, so was searching for more of his kind. He'd introduced himself as Taunts-unseen-foes, but said only snakes may know that name, so his previous keepers called him Klaus. Klaus said because Harry can speak snake, he must be a serpent. Apparently there was a difference, but because he was a serpent he may know Klaus's nestmother given name.

Nestling! Plants today? Klaus's voice calls from nearby, the blueblack mixing with the redgreenorange of the flowerbeds.

Klaus had never met a speaker before, so he wasn't great at articulating setences, but he claimed to have met serpents before, whatever that meant.

Hello Klaus, yes family was weird about it this time. Hunting going well? Harry smiled as the excited little garter snake climbed up his arm to sit on his shoulder while hissing his tall tales of probably over exaggerated hunts.

Harry was sure why Klaus chose to help him the first day, or why he continues to help him. When asked Klaus just says he's happy to help until Harry finds a serpent nestmother.

Harry felt much lighter and happier at the end of the day when Klaus split off to hunt, having been told his fill of the snakes adventures.

The next day there was screeches from his aunt that made him spin around from where he was doing the dishes, a small brown blob was on the back of one of the light brown blobs that Harry knew were dining chairs. His aunt and uncle were panicking and waving something around until his aunt succeeded in hitting the blob and it left through an open window. Harry was sent to his cupboard early and not let out until late the next day.

The next day three of the beige envelopes were delivered, and burned. Harry was sent back early. He knew it was late when he was woken by the clicks of the door unlocking, his stomach aching for food as only familiar darkness reached his vision from the open door. A small handful of chicken nuggets and some type of bread is pushed into his hands by large but careful hands, not letting the food fall from the smaller boys hands.

Harry eats slowly, knowing his cousin still stood on the doorframe, waiting to say something but not quite figuring out how to do so. He's through the nuggets and started on the bread when Dudley begins. "The letters, they're for you. They say your name on the front, and the cupboard under the stairs." He pauses again, his voice getting impossibly quieter. "Do you think there are more freaks? That they're trying to come get you?"

Harry has to stop as he thinks, he hadn't even thought that maybe his aunt and uncle were being weird because the letters were for him, and if they were, would he want to go and be with other freaks? Would it be better? "I hope so." Dudley's voice pulls him out of his thoughts again. "I hope there's a whole world of freaks, and they come and take you away."

The next day Harry listens silently as uncle Vernon smugly comments about it being a good day. How no mail comes on Sunday. Right as he says that beige blurs begin to shoot out of the fireplace and the mailslot and cover the house to the shrieks of his family. He's grabbed and thrown into the back of the car as they flee, clenching his eyes shut at all the light and colors trying to soothe his headache.

They'd driven all day, only stopping when it was dark, where they all got out and left Harry to sleep in the car. The next morning his uncle was raging as they all got back in and kept driving. Harry nervously tapping a silent rhythm into the side of his leg, knowing he would have no idea where they were or how to navigate if they chose to leave him.

The boat ride across the stormy waters had been terrifying, Harry had never been on a boat before and had desperately held on to whatever solid surface he could get his hands on as the boat threatened to throw him this way and that while the waves tried to pull them all below. Harry usually preferred darkness, as it was softer on his eyes, but the trip across the dark waters and subsequent dark and dirty shack had him reconsidering.

He tried to make out the colors of his family in the dark room as his aunts shrill voice washed over him as nothing more then backround noise. His aunt and uncle were arguing about something, Dudley had used the distraction to move over and drape an old throw blanket, he'd found on the moldy couch, over him before moving back to the kitchenette.

Harry shivered, soaked and cold in the dark room. His tiny body engulfed wholly in the ratty blanket, desperately trying to trap what little body heat he could. Later, as the night dragged on and the droning tone of his family died down Harry sat with his back to the wall, his thin arm trembling as he tried to draw a birthday cake in the dust.

A minute from midnight there was a great thump of something stepping onto the wrap around porch, followed by loud, heavy foot steps walking steadily towards the door. Harry hugged the blanket tighter to his tiny frame as he stared with unseeing eyes at the wall, following the noises on their journey with a tilted head, a feeble attempt to make up for his depth perception, one that would lose him meals for a few days if his uncle had been looking at him.

Thunk!

A shriek from his aunt as the door slams open, the vaguely different colored outline of a hulking creature. Harry tilting his head furthur as he takes in the massive brownred creature against the blackgrayblue background.

"I demand you leave!" Harry hears his uncle shout as the figure turns around.

"Oi calm down Dursely, ya prune." Comes a cheery voice that Harry doesn't recognize "'ello Arry! I haven't seen you since you was a baby!"

"I'm, I'm not Harry, he- he's Harry." Comes Dudley's voice from nearby, making Harry swivel to make out his light blue pajamas in thedark room.

"Hulloo." Harry raises his hand to wave shyly at the giant man, not sure what the man wanted.

"Appy birthday 'Arry! Here, I baked it meself! I mighta sat on it, but it'll still taste just fine I say." The figure was moving around, and then a white blur joined the brownred so Harry carefully reached out and smiled politely as a box in placed in his hands. "Thank you." He says quietly before handing the box to the blue blur that he knew now was his cousin.

"Not ev'ry day ya turn eleven, is it?" The man is chuckling as he moves towards the fireplace, sitting on the couch that'd been wiped down for Dudley to sleep.

"You know me?" Harry asked quietly, stepping towards the giant man as he speaks up "who are you?"

The man isn't so scary anymore, Harry can hear his smile in his joyful voice. "Rubeus Hagrid! Keeper of the keys and grounds at Hogwarts!" He paused, doing something Harry can't make out. "Course ya know all about Hogwarts."

"Sorry, no. Never heard of it." Harry answers, flinching back as the man jumps to his feet.

"What?-" Harry steps back a few more steps as the giant man whirls on his aunt and uncle. He doesn't pay attention to their argument as Dudley taps his shoulder and holds out the open box towards him.

"Its a birthday cake. It says Happy Birthday Harry, but spelled all wonky." Harry looks down at the whitepinkgreen mess with a small smile.

"You want to eat some with me?" Harry asked, the argument behind them getting louder.

"Heck yeah I do." Harry and Dudley break off pieces of the cake and close the box as they eat. "Mum and Da say he's a freak too, I think he's gonna take you." Dudley whispers as they finish the cake. "He's coming over again."

Harry turns back around to face the giant man. "Cannot believe they never bothered to tell ya Arry. You're a wizard. So were ya parents." Harry froze, taking in this new information.

"Oh."

"Mmhmm, here, yur Hogwarts letter. I can take ya to get ya supplies today." The brownred blur reaches towards Harry holding out a beige letter. "Go on, read it."

Harry takes it, but running his hands reveals no braille for him to follow. "I-I can't read this." Harry says nervously, holding the letter back out towards Hagrid.

"Ah! Yes, lemme just-" Hagrid turned back towards the fireplace and suddenly redorangeyellowwarm of fire lights up the, bathing every color in gold. "There ya go!"

"He's blind. He needs it written in braille." Dudley speaks up from behind him, making Harry feel grateful even when it's followed by a loud barking "What?"

"I'm sorry Mr. Hagrid, didn't mean to waste your time. Can't be a wizard if I'm blind." Harry quickly says, shoving the letter towards the giant man fearfully and taking a few steps back again.

There's silence after, just the sounds of crackling fire followed by the crshing if waves against the island as Hagrid observes the small boy in front of him. Now that he's looking for it he can see the odd white blur over his eyes, as well as how the boy's eyes flicker around him but not at him, like he's not sure where exactly he is.

"Ah yull be fine Arry, no problems at all! We can get braille books for ya and somethin to help ya navigate easily." Hagrid feels his heart make a tug as the tiny boy smiles up at him in response. "Come come, les go get your supplies."

Hagrid ignores the protests from the older Dursely's and nods at the younger as he takes Harry's hand to lead him outside. The eleven year old is small enough to fit in just one of Hagrid's hands and he's not sure how to feel about that. He doesn't remember exactly how big an eleven year old should be, so he'll just have to wait until he can compare him to the other first years.

Chapter Text

Harry hugs his arms close to his body as he tries to ignore the bright blurring colors that twist and meld as the crowd around him shout and surround him with excited voices.

Hagrid had led him to a place he called The Leaky Cauldron, and had introduced him to a man named Tom, Harry had been so focused on not losing Hagrid that he had missed the interaction that had excited the crowd.

He hugs himself tigher as many colors and voices wash over him, desperately trying to get away from the grabbing hands before a loud barking shout of "Enough!" From Hagrid causes the wix to scramble away from the tiny boy as to not earn the ire of the giant man.

Harry sticks close to Hagrid, holding his jacket as he rushes to keep up with the giant man, trying not to stumble as he's led through a brick wall. The world around him brightens considerably as they step back out into daylight, everywhere is a eye-straining mix of bright colors and the air smells strongly of ozone.

Harry keeps his gaze down as he tries to listen to Hagrid's commentary, but is distracted as they come upon a massive white building. The lack of other colors is such a relief on Harry's senses he almost misses the small blurry peachy form that Hagrid is talking too, Harry avoids looking in the direction of the short humanoid that Hagrid calls Goblins as he tries to ease his headache.

He follows silently as they're led into a dark tunnel, and Hagrid lifts him up into a cart of some kind where he sits with his eyes closed, the familiar darkness helping calm him.

Harry stays in the cart the whole trip, thanking the Goblin with a quiet voice as the Goblin hands him a small pouch of money he called galleons from whatever vault they'd stopped at the second stop.

"I'm gonna pop over to the Leaky for a topper up, if ya don' mind. Them Goblin carts always knock me out. You 'ead on over and get yer robes." Hagrid is already gone in the blur of colors when Harry turns to look for him.

Harry spins around again, looking out into the indistinguishable alley, when he tilts his head he can make out where the buildings are, and he knows the moving colors are other people so he should avoid running into the. Picking a direction that leads to a red building he starts carefully and slowly navigating the path over.

He thinks he does pretty good at avoiding running into anything until he smacks into something hard and falls down. At first he assumes the black and tan blur are a building, but as he tilts his head to get an idea of where it is he realizes it's a person- "I'm sorry! I didn't see you." He rushes to say, scrambling to stand up.

Marcus spins on his heel, a snarl on his face already, to glare at whoever dared to run into him but freezes as he stares down at the little boy who's rushing to stand up apologies already halfway out his mouth. "Calm down. I'm not mad at you." Marcus's voice is lower then usual, to calm the tiny child.

The little boy heaves a sigh of relief, his head tilted adorably as he stares up at Marcus with green eyes that have a strange milky layer over them, the skin around the boys eyes warped and stained with burns that had Marcus grimacing and recoiling.

"Where are your parents? You are too young to be hanging around in public. They should know better then to leave you too wander." Marcus questions, noticing the small flinch the boy gives as his eyes tick down to the ground.

"My parents are dead, I'm here with Mr. Hagrid from Hogwarts to get my school supplies." Came the boy's quiet answer. Marcus looks down at the boy in confusion, his eyes inspecting what looked like an eight year old at best.

"And where is he?" A glance around the alley didn't immediately reveal the half-giant, who was already failing at introducing this hard of sight boy to the magical world.

"He went to the Leaky Cauldron for a topper up because the carts hurt him." The tiny boy answered, sounding unsure as his eyes flicked back up and around as if hoping to see different. "He told me to get my robes."

"Incompetent fool." The boy flinched at Marcus's spat words making him reach out and take the little boy's hand. "Not you. I'm Marcus Flint. Escorts aren't supposed to leave their charges unaccompanied, especially not disabled ones." Marcus explained, pulling the boy closer to his body and safety, looking around to locate the walk-in clinic nearby.

"Oh. I'm Harry Potter. Nice to meet you." The boy, Harry, gives Marcus a bright if nervous, smile as his hands are wrapped around his bent elbow, reminding the tiny boy of how princes and knights escorted their ladies around.

Marcus's eyes flick to the famous scar, only barely hidden beneath his bangs. "No kidding. Come on I'll escort you to get your supplies. Let's go to the healers clinic first and see what we can do to make school easier for you."

It takes more effort to hold himself in a way that he can allow Harry to hold his elbow and be escorted without being stepped on then it would to just carry the tiny boy, and Marcus is debating with himself what damage it would do to his reputation to be seen carrying Harry through Daigon Ally when they reach the clinic.

It was a small clinic that Marcus knew was good at keeping patient privacy and had a deal with Gringotts for any accessibility tools they would need for muggleborn and muggle raised students. Marcus explained the purpose of his visit to the healer, a muggleborn man named Healer Tonks.

Healer Tonks sat Harry down and asked him lots of questions with a false cheer in his tone and a growing frown on his face as the examination went on. Marcus had assumed it wasn't going to be good and the kind man's angry scowl didn't bode well.

"Who is escorting you Mr. Potter? I have to get a prescription written up to give them that'll get you an enchanted set from Gringotts." At Harry's hesitant pause Marcus stepped in.

"I am. I'm a prefect and I helped a deaf student last year so I know what's needed. The school assigned escort already failed him once." Marcus accepted the small sheet of paper with numbers written on it, numbers that somehow translated to type of blindness and what changes would need to be made to his school supplies.

"Good. You know to give this to his account manager then." Healer Tonks nodded before crouching in front of the boy again. "Now tell me little man, can you talk to any animals?" At Harry's hesitant nod Healer Tonks smiled, excuding cheer. "That's good! You'll need to get an accessibility animal, which is kinda like a muggle service dog. They'll help you navigate, a lot of wix that have longterm disabilities will develop the ability to understand whatever animal they have the most exposure too. What animal can you talk to?"

Harry's face lights up with a relieved smile as he nods along, but the next words make Marcus's skin crawl unpleasantly. "I can talk to snakes! Does that mean I'll get a snake service animal?" Marcus can see how Healer Tonks freezes and speaks up to give him a moment to recover. "Of course. I'll take you to a snake keeper right after Gringotts."

And with that they're off, Marcus still leading Harry by the elbow towards the bank this time. Harry's asking soft voiced questions, delight on his face everytime Marcus answers as if he wasnt used to it.

The Goblins are surprisingly indulgent to the small blind boy, usually hard sneering faces and voices softened. They'd taken the note from Healer Tonks and brought the two into an office. Harry was currently being fitted for a small gold cuff on his ear that was connected to a small gold band on his finger, they were enchanted to not fall off or get lost, and contained the information for changes needed on his clothing and other supplies, as well as giving him a visible identifier for being disabled.

It wasn't the best method to advertise his disability with who he was, but it wasn't like he could hide it, and it would make less people question when he brings a snake to school instead of the usual familiars. Of which Harry was excited about, rambling to the lingering Goblins about snakes and what he knows about them.

"Will you be requiring use of a floo to contact an escort? The bank is also willing to lend one of its wix employees to escort you safely." Sharpclaw, the Flint account manager, asked.

"I'll use the floo to get ahold of my head of house first, he will want to know ahead of time anyway to get proper supplies." Marcus nodded his head in thanks as Sharpclaw waved him over to the fireplace in the office, already turning back to the young Potter.

Marcus throws a pinch of floo powder in, ignoring Harry's squeak of surprise as the redorangeyellow blurs suddenly flare bright green in the mostly white room. "Hogwarts, head of Slytherin office." Marcus announces before sticking his head into the floo.

He's met with the sight of a scowling Professor Snape. "Heir Flint. Due what do I owe the pleasure?" His voice is drawling, sarcastic with a hint of concern, his prefects never call this early.

"Well met, Professor Snape, I am with a blind muggle raised student who's assigned escort abandoned, I need a responsible adult to bring us to Knockturn Alley for his accessibility animal." Marcus follows up with an answer to the next question without needing to hear it. "He's a parselmouth." And ignoring the visible flinch from the potions master.

"Fine. I will be right through." Professor Snape acquiesces, summoning his bag before throwing a handful of floo powder into the fire and following it through.

Severus has to fight the surge of revulsion he feels upon stepping through and seeing a mini Potter. Annoyance rising up as he's convinced himself already that this was a waste of time and he opens his mouth to snarl at the boy when green eyes look at him.

They weren't Lily's eyes, though maybe they once were. Her eyes and the skin around them were burned and scarred, a thick ugly layer of white glazed over the green, small discolored lemon-lime patches spotted like mold.

Harry startles out of his conversation about parseltongue when a tall black form appears in the blur of green, followed by the green snapping back to the familiar redorangeyellow of fire. Harry tilts his head as he looks up at the new figure, eyes flicking over to where Marcus's black clothing stood out against the white stone walls.

"Professor Snape, thanks for coming so quickly. This is Harry Potter, he's blind." Marvus steps up to his head of house, not missing the anger that is replaced quickly by disgust before wiping away into nothing below his Slytherin mask. He holds out the prescription note from Healer Tonks for the potion master to read.

Marcus knows that the information will mean something to the professor. It isn't often a wix is disfigured so permanently in the muggle world, and it's almost never an accident. Judging by the tiny boy who is far too small for an eleven year old, Marcus is certain it wasn't an accident, he just needs Professor Snape to rid himself of any preconceived notions before-hand or else he would have to take a Gringotts escort after-all.

Judging by how Professor Snape's face paled considerably Marcus assumed he was correct, offering his arm to the tiny boy who came rushing over to cling to him.

"Professor Snape is the potions professor at Hogwarts, he's also Slytherin's head of house. The place we have to go to get your snake is shady, not a lot of good people so I want to make sure we have a trustworthy adult with us to keep you safe." Marcus explained, looking down at the curious boy. Ignoring how Snape's head snapped up to look at them again.

"Very well. We will go to the Serpentarium." Came Snape's drawling voice.

Marcus hummed along to the small Potter's rambling about his snake friend Klaus, finding it endearing how excited the boy was. He didn't miss the dark or expectant looks the Professor shot at Harry, but chose not to address it yet, as Harry fell silent after he had tripped over an uneven path stone and would've gotten hurt if Marcus hadn't caught him.

Marcus chose to now carry the 30-40 pound child as they were already in Knockturn and he didn't want any risks. He could more then prove his reputation if it's called into question in Knockturn anyway. Marcus didn't miss the way Snape's eyes traced the tiny boy outside the Serpentarium after Marcus had set him down, as if just realizing it shouldn't have been so easy to carry him.

The Serpentarium is a crowded building, that doesn't actually have a lot of snakes as it specializes in potion ingredients, but its the only place in magical Britain that has any live snakes so it's what they have. There's three terrariums set up with live snakes, the first housing a particularly sad looking Runespoor that was missing its left head, oddly enough but likely the store owners choice. The second cage held a dozen or so bright green Boomslangs, both species common for ingredients.

It was the third cage that immediately drew all of their attention. Inside was three two-foot long rattlesnakes. The label called them Batwing rattlesnakes, a hybrid between the magical canebrake rattlesnake and the non-magical diamondback rattlesnake. The sign had a toxin label that was bigger then the Runespoor and Boomslangs toxin symbols. Apparently these Batwings had inherited the specific nuerotoxin that was particularly bad for wix from the canebrake rattlesnake father.

Canebrake rattlesnakes were a contested species, almost identical to their non-magical variant the Timber rattlesnake, that when a breeder had lost a few litters they had dispersed into the muggle world and now muggles were aware of them and hybrids were popping up all over. Which isn't much of a big deal as muggles didnt seem to care beyond tracking their range it mattered because the specific toxin they had could temporarily cut a wix from their magic to stop them from escaping for help. Not being able to tell whether it was a canebrake or a timber wasn't great, especially when canebrakes could only be seen when they made themselves known.

Marcus stepped up next to Harry who was already conversing with the largest of the three, the smaller two seeming uninterested. The largest was white with little red batwing shaped saddles and bright pink eyes, an albino most likely. The smaller two, one was a tan color with red saddles and the other was also albino, but was more yellow-cream instead of white. Professor Snape didnt seem amused but had started a conversation with the shop clerk, who was all too reluctant to sell a dangerous snake to a child, regardless of parselmouth or not.

Harry stared down at the white blur with a smile as he greeted the stunning snake. Hello, you are so pretty!

The snake jerks up and Harry assumes she's looking at him as she responds. Why hello little nestling, you are so small. What is your name, little serpent?

Harry tilts his head curiously. My human name is Harry, but my snake friend told me I would get a serpent name from my future nest mother. His name is Taunts-unseen-foes. Do you have a name?

Of course, I am Lifeblood-on-cold, although the keeper calls me Benehime. Harry smiles as he repeats "Benehime" out loud, startling as he's reminded of Marcus beside him.

"That's her name, well atleast the one that can be pronounced in words." Harry explains, eyes flicking between the white blur and black blur.

"Good strong name. You like her?" Marcus asks as he looks down at the snake, inspecting her health.

Harry nods as he looks back down at Benehime This is Marcus, he's my friend. He says you have a strong name.

I understood him. I have been around wix for my whole life though you are the first wix-serpent I have met. What brings you here? Benehime bobs her head as she speaks, her body coiling closer.

I cannot see, we are here to find a serpent companion to help me navigate. Harry explained, feeling nervous.

Ah, well blind little nestling. I shall be your companion. I will make an excellent companion, and will bite any who dare get near you. Benehime declares proudly, climbing out of the enclosure and up Harry's arm to rest across his shoulders, her tail rattling to get the others attention.

Severus smirks at the shopkeepers unhappy face, the man having just been arguing no serpent would be willing to deal with a child.

"Benehime says you can have any excess venom or sheds that she has if it's of any use to you." Harry says quietly to the professor as they prepare to leave the store, the albino rattlesnake hissing descriptions near his ear from where Marcus stands holding his arm again.

"That is... acceptable." Professor Snape decides as they step back out into the alley to see a distraught half-giant looking around with a panicked expression and a snowy owl.

Chapter Text

Harry was holding onto Marcus's elbow as he listened to Benehime, he knew Marcus and Professor Snape were walking towards Mr. Hagrid.

Your troll and the one who smells of fumes seem agitated by the giants presence. Benehime says after a few moments, Marcus stopping in front of the brown mass Harry recognized as Hagrid.

Don't call Marcus a troll. He's very nice, the one who smells like fumes will be one of my professors at school, his name is Professor Snape Harry hissed in response, making Benehime rattle her tail in response.

Marcus is as much a troll as I am a serpent. We are the sums of all our parts, even the impure or undesirable. Just as this new one is a giant. I will endeavor to learn the names of your nestmates. Benehime sounds like she's indulging a particularly annoying toddler, but she does press closer to Harry to reassure him before he looks up at the giant man.

"Hello Mr. Hagrid! Are you feeling better?" Harry asks, flinching back slightly as the large brown shape spins in place to face them, Marcus's hand patting his arm calmly stopping him from flinching too hard.

"'Arry! What were ya doin' in knockturn? Terrible place that is, full o' dark wizards." Hagrid seems like he's going to keep talking but Professor Snape cuts him off with his sarcastic drawl.

"Well it's not lile he could've seen that for himself, could he?" your giant is changing facial colors, he smells embarrassed. Harry smiled at Benehime's commentary.

"Sorry 'bout that 'Arry, I got chu a presen' ta make up fer leavin' ya." Hagrid steps over and offers a white shape to Harry, and almost jerks back as the rattlesnake resting on his shoulders lifts her head up to look at the bird.

She is an owl. I believe wix use them to transport mail. I will accept her presence for now. Benehime hisses as the owl steps onto Harry's offered arm. "Can I really have her? I already have Benehime." Harry hasn't looked away from where the white shape of the owl sits on his arm.

"Naturally." Professor Snape drawls like it should've been obvious. "The snake is an service animal. Not a pet. The owl is a pet. Of which you are allowed to bring."

"I don' know h'w to feel 'bout yeh talkin' ta snakes 'Arry." Hagrid speaks with a weird emotion in his voice making him harder to understand. "'Er name is Hedwig. Yeh ready ta get yer supplies?"

Marcus touches Harry's arm lightly, offering Hedwig a perch on his own shoulder so she doesn't disturb Benehime and he can keep escorting the tiny boy. Scowling down at the far too large clothes on the far too small boy he turns back to where the two adults are arguing. "If you'll excuse us Professor Snape, I would like to escort Harry to get his robes first."

Professor Snape spun around and glared down at the tiny boy, having not noticed the terrible condition of them before, and feeling angry at being forced to look upon the mini Potter again. "Very well." Professor Snape takes the supply list from Hagrid, as well as the boy's vault key, ignoring Hagrid's spluttering, and hands them off to the prefect. "First official task of being a Prefect. I'll be picking him up to take him to the station on the first so I will evaluate how well you did then."

"Yes, sir." Marcus nods looking back down at the tiny boy who's smiling up at him shyly. "Alright, we'll be heading to Madam Malkin's, you actually almost made it there on your own earlier." He explained, pointing at red shop when the snake looked around, so she would recognize it. He smiled when he heard the quiet hissing between the two as he escorted them to the shop.

"Hogwarts, dears?" Comes the almost shrill voice of Malkin from where she's working on another boy.

"Yes, but he'll also be needing a full wardrobe, with custom additions." Marcus calls back, holding up the little note card when her head popped up to look at him, her eyes flick down to the boy and her face pales as she nods a bit frantically.

"Of course of course, you can bring him into the back room Heir Flint, we'll get him all sorted, we will!"

It's nearly an hour later before Madam Malkin lets them leave, Marcus carrying a shrunken package with all of Harry's new wardrobe inside, Harry wearing new smart robes. Every piece with a white label with braille tucked into one small part, along with warming charms set along the lapel and shoulder pads for Benehime's sake.

Harry was no longer drowning in his clothes, the fitting robes felt warm and comfortable in a way that seemed wrong, not meant for him. Marcus insisted that it was though, so Harry accepted when Marcus burned his old clothing.

They collect a trunk next, for easier storage. Marcus leads Harry though the shop explaining the different trunks, and he squires a seven charmed compartment trunk with braille on the lid he just needs to run his hand over to switch the open compartment.

By the time they collect everything including a dictaquill for class, a few parchment sheathes that convert the written word to braille, both the school books and muggleborn book list everything in the alley has calmed, the sky was darkening.

Harry ran his fingers along the wand holster on his arm, it could recall his wand when he needed it too. Harry decided he didn't like Ollivander, or his odd statements involving his parents murderer.

"Alright kid, it's time to head home." Makes Harry pause, he had forgotten he had to return to his families house.

"Don't worry. I will make sure nothing happens to you. Your family will not dare do anything to you when I'm through." Marcus explained, setting his hand back on Harry's arm in a comforting manor.

The Knight bus was a terrifying experience for both Harry and Benehime, though Marcus had held him steady while chuckling at them. He had sent Hedwig to his room at the Leaky Cauldron before they left, saying he'll send her by afterward with a secondary information packet.

Its only as they are stepping onto the path to the front door Harry realizes that they are actually there. He freezes as he stares at the red blur that he knows is his uncles car, debating whether it was worth coming back or not.

"Harry, come. You will not be harmed in this house again. I would take you with me if I could."

You are scared, nestling why are you afraid? This nest smells like you, are these not your family? Benehime hisses fall silent without response as they can all clearly hear his uncle making angry sounds as he opens the door.

The door opens and Harry's uncle starts whatever he was going to say with "You freaks-" before the dark blur Harry associates with Marcus was gone, and his uncle was no longer in the doorway, and there was a thud! Of something hitting the wall.

Harry stepped into the doorway and tilted his head trying to make sense of the giant blur of Vernon's blue suit and Marcus's black robes.

Your troll. Benehime pauses, her tone approving. Marcus. He is a good nestmate. You will be keeping him. Her tone one of amusement at whatever was happening in front of them.

"Harry go wait in your room. I'll come set up some protections before I leave." Marcus is facing away from Harry when he says this, but Harry still hears him and rushes to comply, going to stand outside his cupboard to escapsr his aunt's shrill shriek as she also steps into the hall.

Benehime lets out an unhappy hiss as Harry steps into the cupboard. Running his hands along the cot Harry nearly stumbles as his hands don't find his books, but the waddling appearence of his cousin stops him.

"Here. Hid them in my room when they started throwing stuff out." Dudley's voice is gruff as he hands over the small stack of braille books.

"I'll be here until the first." Harry explains as he pulls his trunk off the chain Marcus had it attached too, running his fingers over the enlarging rune so it grows back to its regular size, making Dudley gasp out an "awesome" under his breath.

Harry places the books in his trunk, switching it to the empty compartment to shove his typewriter into it, shrinking the trunk and reattaching it to his chain just in time for Marcus to call out "Harry, come here for a moment."

Marcus scowls at the two cowardly muggles as he sees their whale of a son step away from the cupboard Harry had entered. Harry ducks into view amd rushes over to Marcus who places a firm hand on his head. "Benehime be a dear and reveal yourself to these three muggles." Was followed by the rattle of the deadly serpents tail and the paling faces of the two adult muggles, and a wicked grin on the youngers.

"This is Benehime. She's a deadly rattlesnake. If you touch Harry outside of his room she has permission to kill you. We wix have ways of talking to animals, so she will also be reporting back about his treatment in this final month. Other muggles can't see her unless she lets them, so don't bother trying to report him for having her." Marcus spits, Harry has a small smile on his face as he responds to Benehime's hisses.

Marcus glares into the cupboard Harry showed him was his room, dropping a few drops of his own blood and smearing it on the inside of the door to draw a few runes he explains what he's doing to Harry, and inconsequentially the young muggle too, as he's watching with wide eyes.

"Harry. When Professor Snape comes to pick you up, you will pack all of your belongings you want to keep inside your trunk. With any luck next time I see you will be on the platform."

Just like that, Marcus is gone and Harry is readjusting to the odd changes at his families home. He still does chores to avoid being screamed at, but his aunt doesn't scream or throw things when she catches him stealing bites of food. His uncle stops most things, preferring to pretend he doesn't exist. Though Dudley has the most changes, wanting to hear all about everything in the magical world.

Petunia nearly has a heart attack when she steps outside to see her precious Dudley pulling weeds from the garden with Harry as Harry translates whatever tale Klaus is telling, Dudley hadn't really thought about pulling weeds, but had gotten caught up while watching how the garter snake would circle a weed and incorporate the spins and flourishes with his story and Harry would pull the circled weed and wave his hands as he translated the wild story for Dudley.

Klaus had been very excited to meet Benehime, who had indulged him every question and a few stories whenever he appeared.

Otherwise the last month went fine, and on the first Harry stood out on the curb, waiting for the Professor who was to come collect him. Benehime hissing quietly to Klaus who'd come down to the sidewalk to see them off.

The trip to the station was over in an instant with a crack, leaving Harry staggering and trying to stay on his feet and Benehime hissing curses at the sour Professor.

Harry is pushed and pulled along behind the dark cloaked man, Benehime rushing to explain all the colors as they bear a big red train.

Marcus is talking to the one who smell like fumes, the red is a massive train that is soaked in magic- a yellowwhite and black blur appears in front of Harry.

"I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy-" a snide voice says, from the yellowwhite blur

a whole nest of red haired wix, they remind me of Taunts-unseen-foes-

"Uh, I'm Harry Potter-" Harry is distracted as the large red and black horde of blurs move nearby and start to climb onto the train.

Marcus and the fumes wix are staring into each others eyes, there's a yellow furred wix nestling who smells angry walking away from us, Marcus is turning to look at us-

"Harry, come on, lets get you loaded up. Hedwig is already on her way to Hogwarts, I'll show you how to get there tomorrow as we'll have a free day. I want to introduce you to a few other first years." Marcus offers his elbow to Harry again, his voice softer than when he talked to the Professor. Harry accepts the escort with a bright smile.

Marcus leads the tiny boy into the Slytherin side of the train, getting a confused smile frome Terence as he tried to get a good look at whatever first year his Quidditch captain had procured, nearly dropping his tarot cards at seeing the rattlesnake and then the scar.

"Terence, this is Harry Potter, Harry this is Terence Higgs. He's a Diviner, so he'll probably want to read your fortune before letting you meet the others." Marcus introduces with an amysed voice, watching as Terence's eyes lit up with excitement when Marcus hands off the first year. Marcus ignores the quiet hissing and Terence's quick explanations as he turns to look at the group of scowling first years.

The older students already understand that Marcus brought the first year here to show they were to leave him alone, he just needed to make sure the younger students understood that.

"Heir Flint. I cannot be seen colluding with Potter! I'm going to be following in my parents footsteps!" One that could only be a Nott hisses, his eyes were clouded with the sight even when not accosted by visions.

"Theodore-" the dark skinned Zabini tries to get his friends attention but is cut off by an irritated hiss from the soothsayer. "No Blaise. Not right now."

Marcus stares down at the bold first year, deciding the best next move he called out, "Harry, this is Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini, they're also first years-" and a quiet but forceful "look at him" to Nott gets the seer to actually look at the small Potter.

Marcus doesn't have to look to know Harry has tilted his head to examine the other two first years, both of them have stiffened at the sight of the tiny boy, looking like doll dressed up. Harry chirps a "nice to meet you!" Before Terence pulls him back into the reading he was doing.

Marcus leans down to the stiff shoulder of Nott, who is still staring at the obviously way too small boy and snaps "They're sending him to war." Which gets an immediate response of "No!" From both boys and a much quieter "fuck." From Nott after a few seconds of silence

Marcus sneers at them as he turns back to the excited Harry who's already started rambling to the Flint heir about what cards he pulled. "Come Harry, I have some prefect duties to attend, but I'll hand you off to some trustable Gryffindors that would love to answer all of your questions."

Marcus can feel the tension in the Slytherin compartments as they wait for him to bring the Potter out of earshot so they can discuss him.

He sees the Weasley twins standing with Lee Jordan, looking at his tarantula, and barks out "Weasley!" Making them all jump.

"We haven't even had a chance to do anything worth trouble!" One of the twins calls in response, while the other fails to hide his snicker.

"I don't even want to know. I have prefect duties, will you help Potter here to a good compartment? His snake is a service animal, so pranking him or her is off-limits" Marcus snaps the last words as he offers the tiny boy to Jordan.

He doesn't have to worry about Harry getting pranked as the twins have a distinct protective spark in their eyes as they look at him, the same look Charlie Weasley had every time Percy got picked on.

Harry is already asking shy questions about the tarantula, and listening to the quiet hisses from Benehime she probably was too, as he walks away, feeling like he had succeeded in his goal.

Chapter Text

Harry was led by the twins, Fred and George Weasley and their friend Lee Jordan to a compartment with the twins baby brother, Ron Weasley.

"Ickle Ronnikins!" The twin on the left announces as they step into the compartment. "We bring another ickle firstie, a gift from the big bad snake!" The right twin calls, snickering as Lee leads Harry to sit in an empty seat.

There is another flame-hair, probably a nestmate of the two-that-are-one. Benehime rattles her tail in warning as the twins set Harry's owl cage in the storage area.

"He's got a snake!" Ron's voice is whiny and disbelieving. "He can't sit here!"

Harry doesn't get a chance to respond as a quiet thump echoes and one of the red blurs moves away from the smaller red blur and Benehime releases an amused laugh.

"Snakes are not evil!" One twin starts "And Benehime is a service snake!" The other snaps "A perfectly respectable seeing-eye-animal!" "You will not insult the ickle snakies" "or you'll be the first on the list for the year!" Harry gives up keeping track of the two, Benehime already written them off as the same person.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Harry Potter. This is my snake Benehime, she helps me see because I'm blind." Harry offers his hand in the general direction of the small red blur with a friendly smile. Ron gasps.

"Are you really? The Harry Potter? What do you mean you're blind? Harry Potter isn't blind." Harry lets his hand drop before pulling ut up to lift his bangs to show what he has been told is a lightning shaped scar.

"I'm pretty sure I'm blind. I don't know what would give you the idea I'm not."

"The stories! Talking about all your adventures fighting dragons and breaking curses, y'know?" Ron's voice is confused

"I forgot mum's been reading those to you two." "You're too right Forge, letting Ickle Ronniekins think they're true." "Such a shame." "Indeed, such a shame." The twins move towards the compartment door, the brown blur Harry associated with Lee standing to join them. "We have places to be." "Pranks to plan." "People to trick." "But Harrikins don't feel forced to hang" "with our Ickle Ronnie" "if he gets annoying." "Come find us, we'll set him straight for ya!" The red and dark blurs disappear to the sound on Ron's protests.

They sit in odd silence for a bit before Ron asks about Quidditch, getting excited to explain the sport to the smaller boy, who buys enough sweets off the cart to share with the red-head. Its not long before the door opens again and two kids step in.

"Have either of you seen a toad? Neville's lost his." The first, a girl, asks.

"His name's Trevor." The boy adds.

Harry and Ron both disagree but the girl is already starting again. "You can't have a snake. The list said an Owl, Cat, or Toad. How'd you even get that on the train? Is that a rattlesnake? Don't you know how dangerous those are? What if it bites someone?"

Harry tilts his head as he assesses which question to answer first. Ron decides for him. "The list is just a guide for muggleborns. The actual allowed familiar list is way longer. Scabbers here was my older brother Percy's until this year, and he's a prefect so he'd know." Ron holds up the small brown lump that Benehime has deemed Not-food-rat.

"Besides that, Benehime here is an accessibility animal, like a service animal. So she'd be allowed even with the restrictions." Harry adds helpfully.

"What kind of service could a snake provide? Why do you need a service animal?"

Harry scowled at the girl's general direction. "She's a seeing-eye snake. I'm blind. Not that it should matter to you."

"Oh. I'm Hermione Granger by the way. She's very interesting. Is she a magical snake or muggle? What type of venom does she have?"

"Harry Potter. She's a serpent, which is a magical snake. Nuerotoxic and Cytotoxic." Harry turns towards the boy who Benehime calls Plant nestling

"I'm Neville Longbottom, well met." The boy sounds shy but he accepts Harry's offered handshake.

Hermione is already going on about what books she's read his name in but Harry is now tuning her out, leaning against the compartment wall and letting the three's voices wash over him, hissing a conversation with Benehime every few minutes.

Harry nearly jumps when the compartment opens again and a red-headed blur pokes his head in. "Ah good, just who I was looking for. Mr. Potter come with me to see the head-boy. You three should get changed soon, we're not too far off." A second passes as Harry stands up and tries to navigate. "Ron wipe off your face." The newest boy snaps, stepping out of the compartment with Harry at his heels.

"The headboy and headgirl, Irving Cram and Badeea Ali want to meet you and your service animal so if you need anything it will be able to identify the prefects. I'm Percy Weasley, fifth year Prefect for Gryffindor. Well met."

"Nice to meet you Percy, I'm Harry, this is Benehime." Harry is rushing to follow the boy's long strides but nearly stumbles, still adjusting to Benehime's instructions.

When they step into the room there are a lot of people, but Benehime's excited hiss of Marcus! has Harry turning and hugging the Slytherin, who laughs and returns the hug. "Well hello little one. Have you been making friends?"

"Yeah! I met-" Harry trails on listing everyone he'd met so far but stops when two tall people step out of the crowd, tilting his head to look up at them.

"Ello, My name's Irving Cram. I'm a hufflepuff and the headboy this year. This is Badeea Ali, she's a Ravenclaw and the headgirl." The lighter blur says, crouching down to be at eye level with Harry, even though he is blind. He greets Benehime directly as well, earning a rattle of approval. "We're in charge of all the prefects, there's a new set for every year after third, Heir Flint here is the Fourth year Prefect for Slytherin. Don't worry about what house the Prefects are from though, all of us will help you if you need anything."

Harry has a pleasant rest of the ride, Percy escorts him back to his compartment to change, even though his trunk is still on his chain. The whole journey to the castle is a bit of a dark blur, really only scenic for people who can see but Harry atleast got to listen to Ron, Hermione, and Neville's excited sounds of awe at the sight.

The castle itself is a lot of gray and green, with some yellow from what Harry assumes is fire lighting up the room. He listens to the gasps as apparently Ghosts appear with half an ear, paying more attention to Benehime's descriptions. He completely misses the hat's song as Benehime tries to rush through describing the Great Hall.

Name's are being called.

Abbott, Hannah

Hufflepuff

Bones, Susan

Hufflepuff

Boot, Terry

Ravenclaw

Brocklehurst, Mandy

Ravenclaw

Harry closes his eyes against the bright blurs of colors to soothe his growing headache. It's just a hat you'll have to wear, don't worry little nestling. Benehime hisses softly, making two nearby first-years yelp and step away from him.

"She's okay, she's nice" Harry whispers to them, but only the red blur of Ron stays beside him, the boy whispering back. "She is quite scary, but I think she's okay."

Crabbe, Vincent

Slytherin

Davis, Tracey

Slytherin

Entwhistle, Kevin

Ravenclaw

Finch-Fletchley, Justin

Hufflepuff

"Which house do you think you'll get?" Harry whispers to Ron, leaning slightly into him so their arms are touching.

"I hope Gryffindor, my whole family's been in Gryffindor for generations. Yours too actually." Ron whispers back.

"I don't care which house I'm in, as long as Benehime is accepted." Harry responds.

"I reckon you'll get Slytherin."

"Will we still be friends? I know you don't like snakes." Harry asks in a quieter voice.

"Course, it won't change who you are. I'll still be your friend." Hermione's voice appears from Ron's other side "Ron he can't see you nodding you idiot."

"Right yeah, of course. I reckon snakes can't be so bad if you like them or if you're one of them." Ron's voice is amused. Harry smiles.

Granger, Hermione

Ravenclaw

Ron pats Harry arm, and lets out a breath. "Well I won't be a Ravenclaw I know, but she'll still be our friend, you'll be fine even if we're all in different houses."

Longbottom, Neville

Gryffindor

Macdougal, Morag

Ravenclaw

Macmillan, Ernie

Hufflepuff

Malfoy, Draconis

Benehime hisses that its the angry boy from the station.

Slytherin

"I hope he doesn't cause you a lot of problems, he's been glaring at you the whole time." Ron pauses, humming. "Not that you would realize that huh, I'll try to point that stuff out when I can. What'd you do to upset him?"

"No idea, he introduced himself when I first got to the platform, but then Marcus and Professor Snape rushed me off."

"Professor Snape? He's also staring at you, actually most of the Professors are."

"I wonder why?"

Potter, Hadrian

Harry carefully navigates to the hat, sits on the stool as Benehime directs and it's set on his head by an emerald blur.

Well hello little Potter. Aren't you brave? Ooh lots of ambition too, really strive to prove yourself don't you?

"I just want to be accepted." Harry whispers back to the hat, Benehime presses tighter to his skin in response.

I can see that, and already making friends too. Very loyal and you're a hard worker, better be-

Hufflepuff!

The hat is pulled off his head and the green blur directs him towards a large yellow blur Benehime describes as a table. The table is cheering loudly, he can make out the voices of Cedric Diggory and Heidi Macavoy, the fourth year prefects he'd met on the train, shouting louder than the others. He's met with pats and smiling voices as he's led to sit at the middle of the other first years.

The sorting has continued and Harry tries to listen.

Weasley, Ronald

Gryffindor

Harry stands up and cheers loudly for his friend, grinning as some of his tablemates follow his example.

Food appears in front of Harry, Benehime describing the dishes while the others around him try to help. "I'm okay guys don't worry, just forgive me if I spill something, Benehime will help me figure out where everything is." Harry says with a smile, Benehime's tail making a small sound. A few of the students lean back away from him at the snake's appearance but several lean furthur over the table to get a closer look.

"It's nice to meet you Harry! I'm Megan Jones, this is Wayne Hopkins. We grew up together." A girl sitting next to him introduces herself, Benehime explaining she pointed at the guy sitting next to her.

"I'm Justin!" Another boy across the table interjects.

"I'm Hannah Abbott, this is Susan Bones, Well met!" The girls sitting next to Justin jump in.

"Hey little firsties! We're second years, name's Micheal McManus!" A boy from furthur down the table introduces himself, and motions towards two boys across from him. "Damian Perriss and Edmund Spiers."

"You guys should focus on eating, you can introduce yourselves tomorrow or tonight. The firsties have had a long day." The voice of Cyril Meakin, the sixth year Prefect called from behind them, where he was walking writing names on a list.

Harry has a great dinner, listening to his new friends chatter, and answering the occasional question. He only knocks over his juice once, and one of the boys who'd leaned away when seeing Benehime had sneered and insulted him, but Susan had snapped back at him and he'd fallen quiet.

Cedric had taken his arm and led him while the other first years followed David Boorman and Peregrine Applebee the seventh year prefects to the common room in the dungeons. The method to open the door was to knock on barrels in a specific order to the tune of Helga Hufflepuff, but Cedric told him it would open to Benehime rattling the same tune so don't worry about finding the right barrels.

The common room was full of bright light and color, straining his eyes a bit Harry wished he had his sunglasses. He closes his eyes and barely listens to Pomona Sprout's introduction, apparently she's head of Hufflepuff and also the Herbolgy Professor.

The bed Harry is led to is soft and comfortable and he drops off quickly into sleep.

Chapter Text

Harry wakes up early, as he usually does, the next morning. He doesn't know what time it is but there's very little light in the room and Benehime is still waking up. The others in the room are still asleep, curtains pulled shut around their beds.

Benehime directs Harry into the bathroom where he showers and gets ready for the day, Benehime is fully awake and active by the time he finishes.

When he steps back into the room Benehime tells him that Justin is awake and looking at us so Harry waves in the boy's general direction. The other two boys bed curtains still pulled shut.

"You can navigate pretty easily?" Justin asks, his voice quiet as to not wake Ernie or Wayne.

"Yeah, I've been blind as long as I can remember and never had help before. Benehime helps a lot, but I could probably get by without her." Harry smiles at the boy, cocking his head to make out the boy's hair against the cream walls.

"I see." Harry adds "I'm glad one of us does." Making Justin bark out a loud laugh. "I meant that means you won't need to be followed around today." Justin's voice is amused.

Harry smiles at the boy as he moves to the bathrooms. Harry makes his way down to the common room. Listening to Benehime's descriptions of the room, its a cozy space with white painted walls with splatters and markings of colorful paint all over. There are soft couches and chairs set around the room, as well as two bookshelves set on either side of a large fireplace. Several plants are potted around and creeping up the walls, overall its very homey and very bright, with windows enchanted to see the forest providing natural light. Harry rubbed his eyes to dull the slight ache the bright light causes, grabbing his sunglasses out of his pocket and setting them on his face.

Harry only makes it halfway down the stairs before Benehime is rattling her tail to let him know seconds before Cedric has taken his arm to slow him down. "Careful! Here let me help you, stairs are dangerous."

Feeling slightly annoyed Harry smiled "Thank you Cedric, but I grew up in a house with stairs, I can navigate them on my own."

"It's okay! You don't have to! I'm happy to help." They've reached the bottom of the stairs and Cedric pulls him towards the fireplace where Benehime says the Hufflepuff prefects and Irving are sitting. "We're discussing the tour today, you'll probably want to come with. Me and Heidi will be leading you firsties around after breakfast."

"Heir Diggory. Give him a chance to breath." Comes Irving's voice as Harry resists the slight pressure Cedric has on his arm to encourage him to sit. "But-" Cedric is cut off "But nothing. If he needs help I'm sure he will ask for it. Don't baby him just because he has a disability, I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate being treated like a toddler." Harry smiled at the headboy gratefully.

Harry nods in agreement when Benehime says Cedric looks his way. "He's right. I'm okay." He turns back toward Irving, head tilted to make out the head boys outline. "Would it be possible I explore with my friends?"

Jake Flinton, the fifth year Prefect, speaks up "Plenty of firsties explore the castle on their own, so it's not unusual. Besides you saw the snakes, Heir Flint likes him well enough, surely he'll be left alone."

Cedric wants to say something, but holds off when Irving nods. "Of course, Heir Flint likes him, the other snakes will likely help if he asks, at the very least they'll leave him alone, nobody wants on Heir Flint's bad side. I'll ask the ghosts and portraits to keep on extra eye out on exploring first years so they'll be able to warn them about any trick steps or moving staircases." Irving is talking more to the prefects now than Harry so he leaves with a final smile and thanks at the group.

It takes Harry awhile to get to breakfast, having gotten lost in the dungeons on the way and getting directions from a kind portrait. By the time he gets there his dormmates are already eating. He asks Benehime where his friends are and she directs him to the large green blur that the Slytherin table made up.

He made it about halfway down the table that had fallen to silence before Marcus's amused voice calls from beside him. "Hello little badger, looking for someone?"

"Marcus!" Harry calls out excitedly as he's pulled into the seat beside his friend and a plate is set in front of him. The other Slytherin's around them are starting to talk again in low voices.

"Harry, Benehime, this is Heir Terence Higgs and Heir Cassius Warrington, two of my dormmates. Terence, Cas, this is Harry Potter and his snake Benehime." Benehime describes the two boys sitting next to and across from Harry as Marcus points them out. Harry offers them each a smile as he observes their brown and black blurs with a tilted head, Terence sitting beside him blending with the Slytherin on his other side and Cassius dissappearing into the black of the Ravenclaws behind him.

Harry waves at them, feeling shy to be meeting Marcus's friends. "We met on the train! You read cards for me!"

"Yes we did, I remember you. You pulled a nine of wands, seven of cups, and queen of coins." Marcus leaned forward as Terence listed the cards, interested in hearing the young Potter's fortune.

Harry is nodding along, a smile on his face. "Yeah! And you said that-" Marcus smiles to himself as Harry starts repeating the cards meaning, pushing the plate of eggs closer to the first year to remind him to eat. Cassius is staring down at the tiny badger with sparkling eyes, already likely planning some prank or another that he can drag the small boy into.

Marcus glances around the table, daring any of the other students to say anything, most duck their heads and turn away when he looks at them, the little Malfoy looks like he's just smelled hippogriff dung. Peregrine and Miles both meet his gaze with raised eyebrows, both being on the Quidditch team they're a bit more resistant to his glares.

Theodore Nott had just walked into the great hall with Blaise when his eyes jumped to the tiny boy with yellow robes- only that's not who he saw. His glossy brown eyes jump right over the crowd of people straight to the boy-who-lived. In place of the tiny boy was a man who exuded power. Eyes glowing bright green and dancing with mirth- reminiscent of his parents teaching him how to cast it years ago- his lightning scar black and cracking across his face. He had a wicked smirk and-

Blaise tugs on his shoulder. Theodore looks at him, he has a kind but knowing smile on his face. Theodore looks back and he sees just a tiny little blinded badger first-year sitting in a snake den looking right at home. Theodore looks back at Blaise and nods his thanks. They had only met at Diagon Alley this year but the widow son seemed to understand him better then his own father did.

Harry is listening to the older snakes describe a Quidditch match from a previous year when Benehime rattles a warning Smells-of-fumes and Mother-of-plants are approaching. making Harry turn around to face the approaching green and yellow blurs to offer them smiles.

"Mr. Potter, I have your schedule here." The kind sounding yellow blur was Professor Sprout, his head of house. "I'm glad to see you making friends! Mr. Cram has let me know you'll be exploring on your own today so feel free to stop by the greenhouses and say hello!"

Harry accepted the parchment that's pressed into his hands and a large grin appears on his face as he runs his fungers over the brail writing. "Thank you Professor Sprout!" He tilts his head towards the green blur and gives him a small smile as well. "Hello again Professor Snape, I hope you don't mind me sitting here, Marcus is my first friend and I wanted to spend time with him in case he was busy later."

There's silence down the whole Slytherin table as they held their breath waiting for the head of house to say something. "Sitting at other tables is not against the rules outside of feasts." Comes his drawling voice, making the fourth years around Harry release a sigh, and Professor Snape is walking away with Professor Sprout a step behind him, waving at the Slytherins as she goes.

Marcus pushes Harry's plate closer to him again prompting him to eat more as the conversation started back up.

"Your first friend, huh?" Cassius starts but Marcus cuts in "Enough Cas."

When breakfast finishes with light conversation Harry is escorted by the three to where Ron and Hermione are standing nervously.

"Harry?" Harry beams brightly at his Gryffindor friend.

"Ron! Hey this is Marcus, he's my friend i told you about who introduced me to magic!" Harry is jumping in place as he tugs on Marcus's arm and waves at his two fellow first years. Benehime hisses Nestling-who-sees and Nestling-of-hunters are approaching

"Greetings Scion Weasley, Granger. I am Heir Flint, Marcus. These two are Heir Higgs, Terence and Heir Warrington, Cassius. Well met. We're just dropping off our little badger, we have other responsibilities so we will not be joining you, but if you get lost don't hesitate to approach for directions." Marcus sounds all formal as he introduces them, ruffling Harry's hair before leaving.

"Blaise Zabini, this is Theodore Nott. We're Potter's friends. Well met." Comes Blaise's voice from one of the dark blurs that Benehime had wraned him were approaching.

"Hermione Granger, this is Ronald Weasley. We are also Harry's friends. Well met." Ron's face is red but he rushes to accept the handshake the two Slytherin's offered.

"Muggleborn?" Theodore asks

"Yes, but I'm reading all of the muggleborn introductory books and some that the prefects recommended me to catch up."

Harry is vibrating with excitement as his friends become friends. Benehime warns his that a Professor Smells-like-rot is approaching where they were in the corridor.

"W-what a-a-a c-curious g-g-group!"

"Professor Quirrel, I assume." Blaise's dark form turns, he's placed his arm on a pale-faced Theodore's shoulder as he adresses his fellow first years. "This is our Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor this year."

Harry tried to ignore the garlic smell as he smiled at the Professors shaking form. "Benehime thinks you smell like death, have you gone to a Healer recently?" Being blind, he completely misses everyone's faces paling and the shudder that ran through both Professor Quirrel and Theodore.

"I-I I sh-should be g-going now. You-you h-have f-f-fun." The man's dark blur rushes away from the group of first years.

Chapter Text

Sunday goes by in a blur of exploring the castle and getting to know his new friends.

Theodore prefers to be called Theo, and he tends to stop and stare off into space when they enter some rooms. Ron and Hermione don't get along great all the time, bickering and snipping at each other often, but Harry thinks Ron will calm down when he accepts the Slytherins aren't evil. Blaise doesn't help the situation, offering barbed comments that make Ron bristle and Hermione turn her annoyance on him instead.

"Don't worry Granger, Weasley here is the sixth son in his family, its no wonder he's jealous of you, you know how to read."

"Zabini! That's rude, I'm sure Ronald knows how to read."

Despite the contention they made it through the day and ended on a cordial note. Now the next hurdle, Monday and first day of classes. Harry is out and headed to breakfast long before his dormmates are ready to go, Benehime draped lazily across his shoulders, now describing the paintings she had overlooked the day before in favor of describing the walkways. Harry smiled and waved at every painting she directed him to, receiving plenty of loud greetings returned.

Defense Against the Dark Arts is their first class on Monday, which is passed in frustration, Professor Quirrel stutters so much Harry's dictaquill can't write it down, so he has to borrow notes from Hermione.

Herbology goes better, Professor Sprout is clear and concise in her introductory, and Harry meets up with Neville, who is far more enthusiastic about Herbology then Ron is so Harry pairs up with him for this class.

Harry spends lunch complaining about Professor Quirrel to Marcus until he distracts him by asking to be shown how to read braille.

After lunch Theo and Blaise escort him from the Great Hall to Transfiguration so they can sit beside him, when they get there the Professor is nowhere in sight, just a cat sitting on the desk. The trio are the first to arrive so they sit and go over their notes from previous lessons. Theo and Blaise having notes from an interesting Potions introductory and a incredibly boring History of Magic they'd been in before lunch.

Draco Malfoy scoffs and sneers at the trio when he arrives but doesn't say anything as he and his two followers sit and pull out their own books in the seats next to Blaise. Harry sat between his two Slytherin friends, offering a friendly wave in the direction Benehime directs him to Malfoy.

When the time ticks over for class to start most of the students were seated. Theo helps Harry put his parchments away when the last two hufflepuff students burst into the room. Ernie Macmillan and Justin Finch-Fletchley arriving a whole two minutes late.

"See! I told you! The professor isn't even here yet!" Harry smiles as his two dormmates yelp and Benehime describes the "not-food-cat" turning into a strict looking old woman.

"Macmillan, Finch-Fletchley! That'll be ten points each for tardiness. Next time perhaps I'll transfigure you into a pocket watch so you can track the time!"

Charms class is next, with a short and cheerful Professor Flitwick who Benehime has dubbed Goblin. with Theo next to him and Blaise on Theo's other side they have a pleasant introductory class.

After charms Blaise and Theo have to rush off for Astronomy so Harry meets up with Ron and Neville to hang out in the clocktower courtyard, Benehime's favorite place so far.

"Finally some time away from all those snakes! I don't know how you do it mate, they talk in riddles, y'know?" Ron has been monologing about Slytherin's for nearly an hour while trouncing both of them in a game of chess.

"They're not bad, I haven't had to solve any riddles to understand them?" Comes Harry's tired response, the same response that's been ignored the last few times he's spoken up.

"Weasel! I'm surprised you're still here. Would've expected you to be expelled by now." Harry turns to face the approaching blondeblackgreen blur as Benehime hisses about the two large blackgreen blurs behind him.

"Of course not! I'm already twice the wizard you'll ever be you snake!" Ron is up on his feet, Benehime describing him reaching for his wand as Harry and Neville stand up as well.

"Oh yeah? Prove it. Let's duel, midnight, in the trophy room. Crabbe will be my second." The blondeblackgreen blur moves slightly towards the blackgreen blur on his right as Ron's redblack blur steps next to Harry, a quiet rattle of Benehime's tail warning Harry right before he was touched. "Fine! Harry here will be my second. We'll send your back to your dead master with your tail between your legs."

Harry is still reeling from the aggressive exchange as Draco struts off.

"What was that mate? I don't want to duel anyone, I don't know any magic yet!" Harry takes a step away from Ron so they are no longer touching.

"It'll be fine, the twins taught me a few spells, and I doubt he knows any either,he's just a baby Death-eater." Ron is waving him off but Harry shakes his head again.

"No! I'm not going to be pulled into your feud with Malfoy." Harry leaves without listening to Ron or Neville's response.