Adrian returned to his room and locked the door behind him. He immediately approached the large mirror- something Theo transfigured, and removed his clothing.
He threw his cloak and shirt onto the bed with reckless abandon. Torchlight shimmered over his skin, reflecting off undulating scales of magic ink. The Nagini tattoo flexed accordingly, her head trailed over his ribs and stomach.
"Master?" Lutain slid out of the hole on the side of his heated crate, "You are back from being a bird?"
Adrian didn't he trailed his own fingers over the inked head of Nagini. Although there was no textural difference, she arched into his touch.
"Hello," Adrian hissed, considering the mirror directly to see the reptilian eyes, "What are you doing here Nagini?"
She flickered her tongue, "Message."
Its hiss was distorted and feminine, not at all like the serpent's real voice.
"From my father?" Adrian inquired with the barest traces of longing. He hadn't been in contact with the man, he hadn't spoken to it as often as he desired. He wanted to ask and learn so much, but not through these circumstances. There was something about using a messenger engraved into his own flesh, that felt somehow violating.
"Did Bellatrix get my owl?"
It paused in thought, hindered by its low intelligence. It was surreally like speaking to Lutain the first time he had met the serpent.
"Chamber of Secrets open before."
Adrian gasped audibly in surprise. Of course it had, it would have had to be in history at some point if it was making such a ruckus.
"When? I thought only the Heir of Slytherin could open it... Is there another heir? There's a monster I heard in the walls..." Adrian trailed off, growing more uncomfortable with the conversation the longer it was one sided.
"Open long ago." it whispered simply, "No open now."
Oh Merlin, it's intelligence was even worse than Lutain. It didn't seem to have trouble comprehending information, although Adrian couldn't be certain of how much was being recited.
"Why not now?" A different voice hissed curiously.
Lutain had slid over, able to comprehend the hisses of the mark and respond accordingly.
"Why can't the chamber open now?" Lutain ventured to ask, flicking his own tongue close enough to tickle Adrian's navel.
The tattoo peered at Lutain curiously from beneath Adrian's flesh.
"No speak. Speak open chamber."
Adrian furrowed his brow and chewed his lip thoughtfully.
"A speaker must open the chamber? There's another speaker in Hogwarts?"
The tattoo flicked its tongue as it took moments to register Adrian's word. It nodded politely, resulting in a perturbing sensation of movement pushing against his abdomen.
"The monster is a snake," Lutain hissed gleefully, enamored with the possibility of another beast.
"A large serpent of noble kind! Master!"
Things weren't matching up. Only the Heir of Slytherin could open the chamber… that required whoever it was to be a Parselmouth. If the ability to speak parseltongue was a direct lineage skill, which it seemed to be, it would imply that Adrian was now the Heir of Slytherin. Unless it was inherited as a title, where it could only be bestowed by another speaker already.
But Adrian had met Lutain before he was ever adopted by his father. Did that mean that there were more parseltongue speakers out there? Adrian was under the impression the gift was incredibly rare.
"Tell my father," Adrian paused hesitantly. What did he want to say to the man? What was there to say?
If parseltongue marked a distinct trait of the Heir of Slytherin, and the one who opened the Chamber had to be a speaker...
"Lutain," Adrian breathed excitedly, his mind whirred with the perfect way to ridicule Potter.
"I need you to do a favour."
The shipment of boomslang skin and powdered bicorn horn arrived in the grip of a ratty, tawny eagle. It snapped its beak twice at Goyle and stole some of Crabbe's egg.
The packaging was secure and within hours Hermione was handing over the money for the purchase. The ingredients weren't easy to find, but with this payment, Adrian finally had enough to purchase the animagus potion.
His Occlumency shields increased every day, proceeding along with his carefully timed plans.
He had already talked to Draco, who affirmed that if Snape (who was the assistant to Lockhart for the dueling club) chose a volunteer, it would almost certainly be Draco. The other "volunteer" would definitely be chosen by Lockhart: Skylar Potter, the celebrity.
The only uncertainty, Draco confessed, was if Snape was intending to see Skylar embarrassed; if that was the case, the potions professor would call on Adrian himself.
The idea was both flattering and unsettling.
In the days leading up to the Dueling Club's first meeting, Adrian spent his time in the library scouring through nearly every book he could on references to snakes or snake creatures.
....
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