AN: I have to admit, this chapter was pretty fun to write. The hardest bit was deciding which spells to use in the duel. I was going to make this chapter full of drama, action, family bonding, with a touch of humor. What do you guys think? Did I succeed?

Harry and the other students crowded the stage, excited to see what was in store for them. Their enthusiasm, however, diminished when Professor Lockhart jumped onto the stage, "Gather round, gather round! Can everyone here me? Can everyone see me?" Unseen by the students, Severus and Anna rolled their eyes and unison from their spot hidden from the crowd. She hadn't told Harry she would be here, to keep it a surprise.

Gilderoy threw off his cloak and Anna's head peeked out the entrance to the room in time to see several young girls (with obviously bad taste in men) swooning and fighting tooth and nail to get the phony wizard's cloak. She shuddered in disgust, but kept her head out. Nobody would see her unless they looked behind them.

Gilderoy put his arms out as he grinned idiotically, "Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little duelling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions - for full details, see my published works.

Now, let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape," Severus gave Anna one last look before making his way to the stage emotionlessly, "he tells me he knows a tiny little bit about dueling and has sportingly agreed to help us out with this demonstration. After our duel, the winner will duel a surprise guest dueler. Now, I don't want you youngsters to worry, you'll still have your potions master when I'm through with him!" Anna held back a laugh when she saw Severus roll his eyes.

The professors got into their positions and raised their wands, "As you can see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combat positions. On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. 1, 2, ....3!" Without hesitation, the potions master shot out his first spell with a swift flick of his wand, "Expelliarmus!" Anna had to bite her fist to prevent her laughter.

The look on Lockhart's face was hilarious. He bounced back quickly though, jumping back up with an uneasy grin, "Well there you have it! That was a disarming charm, as you can see, I've lost my wand- Ah! Thank you Miss Brown- yes an excellent idea to show them that Professor Snape, but if you don't mind me saying so, it was pretty obvious what you were about to do. If I had want to stop you, it would have only been too easy- however I felt it would be instructive to let them see... Anyhow, this means Severus will be dueling our lovely guest assistant! Please give a warm welcome to Professor Evans!"

The heads of several bored Gryffindors, snapped up and cheered, along with students from some of the other houses. Anna made her way to the stage, smiling as she went. When she got to the middle of the catwalk, she addressed the crowd, "Thank you Professor for that...er...adequate demonstration on disarming spells. Me and Professor Snape were talking and we thought it would be beneficial for you to see a full-on battle. Do not worry, we will not be aiming to kill and we are both heavily trained in these sorts of duels. I can also assure you that no students will be caught in the crossfire as long as no one puts their hands on the stage. You will not be doing these types of spells yet. You will be doing disarming spells. If you are ready Severus, I think we should go ahead and begin. In this particular duel we will be allowd to use any spell that comes to mind, as long as it does not kill the opponent. Please be aware that many if the spells we will be using will be dangerous and are not to be used unless a teacher tells you to."

Snape nodded and got into his position, readying his wand as Anna did the same. She nodded to Lockhart to start counting, "1, 2, 3!" Severus didn't dare go easy on Anna, knowing she would get angry if he did so he started with a fire spell, "Incendio!" Anna smirked and was quick to counter it with a water spell, "Aguamenti!" The students stood in awed silence as the blue beam met reddish orange in a spectacular display of clashing elements.

Snape's fire was put out and he furrowed his brow and opened his mouth to shout another spell, but the fox advanced forward and said her own, "Flipendo!" Snape was thrown back and many students gasped in horror, but Anna didn't move. She knew her friend could handle it. And he did; the Slytherin got up with incredible speed and flicked his wand back at her, "Incarcerous!" A rope appeared from nowhere and shot forward, ready to tie Anna up. The Gryffindor countered it, "Protego!"

As the rope flung back, Severus quickly did away with it, "Deletrius!" The rope disintegrated in midair. Anna didn't have time to cast another spell before the potion master opened his mouth again, "Stupefy!" She dodged it quickly and casted another spell, which was also dodged. Severus smirked, before using one of Anna's previous spells,"Flipendo!" This one, she wasn't able to dodge and she was immediately flipped backwards into the wall behind her.

Harry craned his neck to see if his aunt was okay, but he couldn't quite see over the crowd. Anna didn't get up. Severus strode over to her, standing above his friend. He was about to turn her over, when she suddenly turned rolled over to face him him with a sneaky grin, "Ducklifors!" The Slytheirn's eyes widened but before he could defend himself, he was turned into...a duck. She was beginning to think that turning people into birds was going to become a running gag. Lockhart grinned and stepped forward, "Anna is the winner!" The witch bowed and turned her friend into a human once more. He looked slightly irritated but shook her hand. They were pretty equally matched when it came to dueling. He was just glad that it didn't end with one of them in the infirmary. Again.

Ron turned to his best friend, "Why didn't you tell us your aunt was a dueling master! That was brilliant! Did you see Snape's face?" Harry nodded excitedly, feeling a sense of pride swelling in his chest and he had to bite his lip to keep from chuckling. The head of the Slytherin house's expression had been pretty funny. He looked at Hermione and, for the first time, he realized how much the young witch looked up to the Professor. It occurred to him that Anna was the only adult witch in her life. Her parents were muggles and she didn't hang around the other female teachers that much. It made sense that she would see his aunt as a role model. He could see Hermione becoming a Hogwarts professor or an Auror like his aunt, though maybe a little stricter. The girl could be fierce when she wanted to be and despite the amount if trouble she got in with him and Ron, she was a stickler for the rules.

Lockhart announced that he would be splitting the students into pairs and before Harry knew it, he was staring right into the glaring eyes of his least favorite Slytherin, whose face was morphed into an unbecoming sneer. His own face was probably his usual dumbfounded expression. He really didn't know why he was always put in these situations. He quickly turned his face into determination. If he was going to duel, he was going to win. It was his turn to make his aunt proud.

He readied his wand.

He realized he was lucky. He had helped his aunt when she had done the lesson on defense when Lockhart was absent. She had shown him a few defense spells. He could do this.

Draco shifted slightly. He didn't like how Harry seemed so...confident. Despite all the Gryffindor accomplished, the boy normally seemed so nervous, but now he had a gleam in his eye and it threw the Slytherin off. He knew he had to do something, "Scared Potter?" But still, his rival's expression didn't change; his determination didn't falter, "You wish." The blonde smirked, "You sure? Because if I had a mudblood as mother...."

Anna lunged from the side lines and Severus was just barely able to keep her from tackling the boy, "Detention, Mr. Malfoy! 30 points from Slytherin! If I hear that word one more time out of your mouth..." Draco glared at her and focused on his opponent, who, if anything, looked even more determined. Well, then, he would have to play dirty. No way was he going to stick to disarming spells and let Potter steal the lime light. Again. He wasn't going to give Potter a chance to win.

"1, 2, 3!" "Serpensortia!" Harry backed up as a long, black snake was plopped in front if him. Hermione gripped Ron's hand from the sidelines, though neither him or her noticed. Anna glared, "Fifty more points from Slytherin! Keep your distance Harry! That snake is poisonous." Snape put a hand on her shoulder to calm his friend, "Don't move, Potter. I'll take care if it." He really didn't care for the boy too much, but, once again, he couldn't stand seeing Anna so upset.
Lockhart, stupid as the day is long, stepped forward, "Allow me!" He waved his wand but instead of vanishing, the snake was launched several feet into the air. Now, the reptile was not only angrier, but also closer to Harry." Anna glared at Lockhart, "Ducklifors!" The man made a much better bird than a professor.

The snake, however, did not go for Harry. It turned and directed it's rage towards Justin Finch-Fletchy. Not knowing what to do, Harry shouted at the Snake, "Leave him alone!" But those were not the words that everyone else heard. In the place of English, they heard a series of hisses and harsh-sounding, ancient words that sent a shiver up their spines. Anna sucked in a breath.

The snake moved it's attention to 'the boy who lived' and looked at him with curiously in it's cold, black, soulless, eyes. You would think that Justin would've been grateful or relieved but when Harry looked at him, he was furious, "What do you think you're playing at?"

Anna, didn't really pay attention to it, she was too busy panicking. All of the sudden, she couldn't think of the spell. She needed the enchantment that made the snake disappear but she couldn't think. But then an idea struck her, "Ducklifors!" The snake was a duck. She had turned the snake into...a duck. Professor Snape shook his head slightly and let out a short bark of a laugh and waved his wand, and the duck was gone.

But now that the reptile was done with, all attention turned to Harry. Every student was, at that moment, judging him and he didn't feel a thing. All he could do was stare at the spot the snake (or duck) had been, still as a stone. His head was down, but if you could see his eyes, you would see the haunted look in them. His brain felt foggy and strange and tongue felt like a brick in his mouth, weighing him down, keeping his feet from moving an inch.

Anna motioned to Ron and Hermione and they came up to the stage and tugged his robes silently. He didn't notice until Ron spoke, "Come on, mate." His trance was broken and he walked away, following his friends. He tried not to pay attention to the whispers he heard as he passed. Anna slipped away from her friend, following the trio in the hallway. Once there she got on her knees, looking at her nephew, searching his wide, confused eyes with a hand on each shoulder. He felt better when he saw that Anna wasn't looking at him the same way his classmates were, like he was a monster or something.

She did the opposite, she was looking at him sympathetically and she stroked his hair, "Oh Harry." He looked down, "What's wrong with me?" Her eyes hardened and the grip on his shoulders tightened ever so slightly, "Nothing, you are wonderful. I don't care what power you have, I know you enough to know that you wouldn't hurt a fly. You're a Parselmouth." He swallowed, "What does that mean?" She sighed,"Tell me, Harry, have you ever talked to a snake before?"

A memory flashed before his eyes and he slowly told her about the encounter, "Last year, on Dudley's Birthday, before I went here, we went to the zoo. I talked to a boa constrictor. It told me it had never been to Brazil, I didn't really think anything of it. I thought I was crazy back then and when Hagrid came and told me accidental magic was why strange things were always happening around me, I thought maybe that was why." Ron's eyes were wide, "A boa constrictor told you it had never been to Brazil?"

Harry shrugged, "So? I bet loads of people here can do it." It suddenly occurred to Anna that he really had absolutely no idea what was going on. Anna shook her head, "Harry, that power is very rare and I'm sorry to say it comes with a very bad reputation." Harry glared at the room they had left, "But if I hadn't told the snake not to attack Justin-" Hermione cocked her head, "Is that what you said to it?" Now Harry was even more confused, "What do you mean? You were there- You heard me!"

Hermione shook her head calmly, knowing he was feeling distressed, "I heard you speaking Parseltongue, snake language. No wonder Justin panicked, you sounded like you were egging the snake on or something-" Harry gaped, now it was starting to make sense, "I spoke a different language? But- I didn't realize- how can I speak a different language if I don't know how to speak it?"

Harry still didn't see why everyone was making such a big deal about it, "D'you want to tell me what's so wrong about stopping a massive snake from biting Justin's head off? What does it matter how I did it, as long as Justin doesn't have to join the Headless hunt?" Anna nodded, "I know and you're right, but when I said it came with a bad reputation, Harry, I really wasn't kidding. Salazar Slytherin was well known for speaking Parseltongue, which is why snakes are the mascot for the Slytherin house." Harry's eyes widened, finally starting to see the severity of the situation. Ron nodded, "Now the whole school is going to think you're his great great great great grandson or something!"

Anna rolled her eyes, "That's absolutely ridiculous. James comes from a long line of Gryffindors, he told me about it a thousand times. He was very proud of that. He liked to think he was a descendent of Godric Gryffindor, himself. As for Lily, she's muggle born, so that's impossible. And there's no way Salazar Slytherin was involved with a muggle in anyway." Ron held up his hands on surrender, "Hey, I'm not saying it. I'm just telling you what the whole school is probably thinking right now." The ginger squirmed as if he was being examined under a magnifying glass.

Anna took a second to analyze Ron and Hermione. Hermione, as she suspected, didn't seem too bothered by this new ability her friend had discovered. The only reason she had known what Parseltongue was was all the time she spent reading and studying. She was raised by muggles, so she didn't have anyone to influence her opinions or fill her mind with fables and rumors.

However, it was clear that Ron was struggling, which was good. Ron had basically grown up learning to hate Slytherins. He was raised by particularly vocal parents with very strong opinions on the subject. It was like how Draco was raised to hate muggles and muggleborns. She found it admirable that, despite his strong views, he was still willing to believe in and trust Harry until he had reason to believe the rumors. She imagined that if it had been someone besides his best friend, he would not be so lenient. This proved to her, that he truly trusted Harry and had a strong bond with him.
As for the possible relation to Salazar, she really didn't think that was true and even if it was, did that didn't say anything about Harry, did it? He was kind and selfless and brave. Not once had she ever caught him using someone to their advantage or acting cruel.

Just the thought of someone accusing her nephew of being something so terrible lit a fire that raged inside her and engulfed her entirely. She had come to realize that, although their time together has been brief, she was incredibly protective of him. She felt like a mother bear looking after a cub. Looking at the innocent boy, the one who reminded her so much James and Lily, she felt like she would do anything in her power just to make sure he didn't skin his knee. It really was a mystery how Draco Malfoy was still alive, or Voldemort for that matter, if he was, in fact, back. She decided not to think anymore on it.

The professor looked to Ron and Hermione, "Thank you, but I think I should talk to Harry alone. If that is alright with you, Harry?" The corner of his mouth turned upwards, "Yeah, it's alright with me."

Anna ruffled his hair and his half smile turned into a full one and she pulled him into her side as they walked to her room.