Legal Stuff

--Disclaimer: JKR owns them, I don't. Also, I am indebted to Deirdre Riordan of the HPRndRobin for the 'Harry learning to cook' scene (Walking in His Shoes on great fic, you should go read it. After you read mine.)

--Warnings: this is (or will be anyway) Harry/Voldemort Slash with secondary pairings including, but not limited to, Hermione/Lucius. So if any aspect of that squicks you, please leave now or forever hold your peace.

-There will probably be no explicit smut in this story because I'm really bad at writing it. Sorry if that disappoints anyone.

-This includes Morally Ambiguous Voldemort and Manipulative Prick Dumbledore. If you have strong views on how those characters "should" be, you may be offended.

--Archive: Just let me know.

--Terms of Challenge: (I actually found this in another story)

-Harry was raised by a serpent (or any other anguiform being), so the only language he understood was Parseltongue.

-Harry had stayed with the Dursleys until he was 4 years old, and was abused by them, thus his distrust of humans.

-Harry learned to become an Animagus (by himself or from others, whatever), and he chose his Animagus form to be a silver (or black) serpent.

-Voldemort would think Harry was just an unknown poisonous snake and take him as his new pet (at first anyhow).

Denotes Parseltongue

"Denotes English"

Denotes telepathy

'Denotes thoughts'

Constructive criticism welcome, encouraged, begged for…etc. Flamers will be fed to Nagini.

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Of Snakes and Men

Prologue

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Everyone knows the story of Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, Savior of the Wizarding World, et cetera and of his guardians, the magic hating Dursleys. I don't like or agree with the Dursleys, but I can understand their outlook.

People hate what they fear and it is human nature to fear the unknown. So, in case there are any more Dursleys out there, I am going to attempt to explain magic as I understand it.

Magic is nothing more or less than the will needed to explore impossible possibilities. Anyone who's ever played "what if" knows it, at least on some level. Magic is the Great What If, the power to not just speculate on the impossible but to create it, to bring into existence what could never have been. The power, if you will, of faith in potential.

This story too is a What If, an exploration of possibilities and circumstances that never occurred in the "real" world of the canon. Like all fan fiction it speaks of might-have-beens, but indulge me, and remember this:

Anything is possible.

Enjoy.