When Priscilla and I left the Room of Requirement, I suddenly noticed my wand glowing yellow. Swirling yellow.

A swirling colour meant someone was calling the way to me, and without asking me first! Also, I had no idea whose colour that could be... that is, until Antonius found me.

"Where have you been?"he asked.

"How do you know that spell?"I asked, indignantly.

"I've known it for ages,"he said,"Dominic taught me."

"Well, he taught you the wrong one!"I said, angrily.

"How is it the wrong one?"Antonius asked.

"That's the one we reserve for emergencies,"I answered.

"He told me that was a different one,"Antonius said.

I looked at him for a moment, confused, then I explained,"the proper one, if we want to go to someone, is 'Veniam Ad Vos', not 'Vocare Viam'!"

"Veniam Ad Vos, Catherine,"Antonius said.

My wand began to flash yellow.

"It doesn't do anything,"Antonius remarked, looking at his wand,"it's not leading the way."

"That's because it's a polite way of asking,'can I come to you?',"I said,"the difference with 'Vocare Viam' is you're not asking permission, you're just finding the way to someone whether they like it or not. That's why we reserve it for emergencies only."

"But what happens next?"Antonius asked.

"I see my wand flashing your colour,"I answered,"and I respond by either deciding to go to you, or summoning you to me. If I want to go to you, your wand will start flashing in my colour, and you'll respond with 'I Vocare Te', and this will lead me to you. If I want you to come to me, I will respond with 'I Vocare Te', and this will lead you to me."

Antonius paused for a moment, in thought, then he said,"so 'Veniam Ad Vos' just means the other person's wand flashes your colour?"

"Yes,"I responded,"it's politely asking."

"Does it work if the other person doesn't have their wand?"Antonius went on.

"No,"I said,"it will just lead you to their wand."

"So it depends on the wand, not the person,"Antonius said,"got it."

"Anyway, why were you so urgently searching for me?"I asked.

"I wasn't urgently searching for you,"Antonius said,"I didn't know that was an emergency spell. I thought the other one was. The one you haven't mentioned."

"And what one is that?"I asked.

"'Omnem Familiam',"Antonius responded.

"I'd forgotten about that one,"I said,"that one summons every single Carrow, or, at least, every Carrow's wand. The entire family. If you were to say that spell with 'Carrow' on the end, with the intention of summoning us. I daren't say the whole thing now, just in case I accidentally do it. Well, if you were to say that, it would summon everyone; my parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents - you get the idea."

"Sounds quite serious,"Antonius said.

"None of us have ever used it,"I said,"not even all Carrows know about it. I don't think it's been used in over a century, maybe even longer than that. I'm surprised Dominic knew about it. When my parents first taught me that, they just said that if I were ever to receive that summons, our family coat of arms will appear and our wands will glow with light, pointing the way to whoever has summoned us. It only works among Carrows, though. If you tried that spell, it wouldn't work for you, unless you had one of our wands."

"Why is that, do you suppose?"Antonius asked.

"The spell was created for use within families only,"I explained,"I believe the reason for it, is because if other people knew about that spell, they could use it against us. To prank us, or trick us and try to lure us into a trap. It's only ever to be used in time of dire circumstances. Life or death. If it was misused, we might start to ignore it, and then it wouldn't mean anything any more."

"So it's a very serious thing,"Antonius said.

"Absolutely,"I said,"now why were you looking for me?"

"I was worried about you,"Antonius said,"and I made a mistake. There's no need to be angry. I would have summoned you the polite way if I'd known. Where were you, anyway?"

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"I was with Priscilla,"I said,"you can ask her, if you want!"

"Calm down, then,"Antonius said,"like I said, there's no reason to be angry, Catherine."

"Oh - isn't there?"I said,"well, then there's no reason for you to be so mistrustful! I can't just BE around you every time I'm not in class! What about Dominic? Why aren't you hanging out with him?"

"I was,"Antonius replied,"but every time you disappear, and I don't know where you are, I start worrying about you. I start to think something might have happened."

"Well, stop worrying about me, then!"I insisted.

"You've been acting different, lately,"Antonius said.

"That's because you keep annoying me!"I said,"following me around! Trying to tell me what to do! Constantly wanting to know what I'm doing all the time!"

"Well, if you didn't have something to hide, then maybe you wouldn't be so annoyed,"Antonius said, starting to sound angry.

"What makes you think I have something to hide?"I asked.

"The way you've been behaving,"Antonius said,"and you've been doing some awfully weird things lately."

I certainly wasn't going to share the secret of the Foxhole Chamber (I literally couldn't, anyway), but in the heat of the moment, I felt like I needed to have an explanation, and it had to be an honest one.

"You want to know why I've been doing those 'awfully weird things'?"I said.

"If you tell me, then yes,"Antonius responded,"but you don't have to."

"I've discovered I might be able to speak Parceltongue,"I said,"either that, or I'm going mad."

Antonius gave me a very disbelieving look.

"That's why I was thinking about mice,"I went on,"and that's why I was looking for frogs."

Antonius gave me a very bewildered look.

"And if you've been spying on me,"I continued,"which, for all I know, you probably have, you'll have seen me catching a newt and going into a certain woodland..."

"I haven't been spying on you,"Antonius interrupted me,"though I have noticed you searching around the shores of the Black Lake, quite often; but do you honestly expect me to believe this nonsense about Parceltongue? Only descendants of Salazar Slytherin can do that."

"Well,"I said,"if you don't believe me, there's a way I can prove it to you."

"What do you mean by that?"Antonius asked.

"Follow me,"I instructed him.

I took him to the green grass snake's oak, and cast the Revealing Spell which told me the snake was in its hole, probably asleep.

"Hello!"I shouted down the hole,"wake up, I want to speak to you!"

"Go away!"the snake hissed,"I was having a nice nap!"

"Come on out and talk to me for a bit,"I asked.

The snake reluctantly slithered out to me.

"Do you have any food for me? Waking me up like this!"he said.

"Well, that depends,"I said,"have you found out anything about the King Serpent yet?"

"Of course not!"said the snake,"I need TIME to do that sort of thing! I need to go on long travels, asking other snakes. You can't have expected me to have done all that in less than one day! I was napping in preparation for my journey!"

"Don't worry, I'll bring you a mouse tomorrow, to make up for it,"I said.

"You'd better!"the snake answered,"now leave me sleep in peace! Come back to me in a week! Apart from the mouse, you can leave the mouse when you want."

As it slithered back into its hole, I turned to look at Antonius. He was looking at me with an expression that I can only describe as awe and horror at the same time.

"You can speak Parceltongue,"Antonius said, as we left the hilltop woodland,"that's... amazing..."

"I'm not going mad then?"I asked.

"You certainly aren't,"Antonius said,"unless I am too. What were you saying to the snake?"

"I was asking him to come out and talk to me,"I said,"he was annoyed because I woke him up. I said I'd bring him a mouse to make up for it."

"So those frogs, and the mice you were talking about,"Antonius said,"you were finding them and feeding them to that snake. And there was me thinking that it might have been something else..."

"Well, now you know,"I said,"what else did you think I might be doing?"

"I don't know,"Antonius said,"coming up with plans on your own to defeat Silas' gang. Maybe something like that."

"I already told you I would tell you if I was going to do something,"I said.

"I still can't help worrying about you,"Antonius said,"but I'll try not to annoy you from now on."

"Please do,"I said.

"Annoy you?"Antonius said.

"No, please try not to annoy me!"I said.

We returned to the castle.

-----------------

Night 8, OM Day 7

....

A week later:

The green grass snake told me to come back in a week, so I did.

"So, found out anything about the King Serpent yet?"I asked.

"Yes, I have,"the snake answered.

"Where might I find the King Serpent?"I asked.

"There is indeed a King Serpent that lives in the Forbidden Forest,"the snake said,"but I have heard that he already has a wizard master."

"Already has a wizard master?"I asked.

"Yes,"the snake answered,"he has already given his trust to a wizard, so you will have to win over his allegiance. It will be more difficult."

"You're sure about that?"I persisted,"that would mean someone else around here can speak Parceltongue."

"There's a boy in your school that can,"the snake responded.

I was shocked!

"Who?"I asked,"is he the master of the King Serpent?"

"Yes,"the green grass snake responded,"but I can't tell you who."

"What about the boy who was with me when I spoke to you?"I asked, for purpose of process of elimination.

"No need to worry about him,"said the snake,"he isn't the one. The one I speak of, he can change into an animal."

"An Animagus,"I thought.

"Which animal?"I asked.

"A fox,"the snake responded,"I've seen him myself."

I was about to ask something more, but the snake interrupted me.

"There is more I need to tell you,"he went on,"the King Serpent is a very dangerous creature. You must be warned. It is a giant, and if you look it in the eyes, you will die."

I considered this for a moment, then I asked,"is the King Serpent a Basilisk?"

"Yes, some call it that,"the snake answered,"now that I've told you all this, I expect a newt soon."

"I'll bring it to you as soon as I can!"I said,"thanks, you've told me a lot!"

I went straight to the Black Lake, a deal is a deal.

My mind was reeling, though. There was a boy at Hogwarts that, not only could he speak Parceltongue, but he also had control of a Basilisk in the Forbidden Forest, and he was an Animagus! That is - if the snake was telling the truth. He might be tricking me again. I was just wondering whether or not Verita Serum works on snakes, when I found a newt.

I'm not sure how I would be able to obtain Verita Serum, but if I did know, I'd like to serve it up with this newt! I went back to the snake.

"I really hope you told me the truth,"I said,"you tricked me before, remember?"

"This time I told you the truth,"the snake said,"you'll find out in time that what I said was true."

"Well, here's your newt,"I said.

Maybe there's a way I can find out for myself...