Lesson 2 - Choose your own Snake

[Prof. Will Lestrange]

Here is where you get to choose a snake of your own from the ophidiarium! As per Assignment 2, your prompt is as follows:

Choose a snake from the class ophidiarium and post in this thread with the following three things:

1. A link to a picture of the snake you chose. (If you find a picture on the Muggle "internet" of a snake that looks like your chosen snake, that is perfectly fine.)
2. At least 50 words in English about your snake. Some questions you might want to think about are: What type of snake is it? What is its personality like? How willing is it to answer your questions? How does its dialect of Parseltongue compare to the dialect I am teaching you?
3. Two descriptive words in Parseltongue​ about your snake.

[February Fortescue]

Meet Desa! Desa is a Ribbon Snake, which is a common species of Garter Snake. Ribbon Snakes are a bit longer and thinner than the average Garter Snake, though, averaging between 16 to 35 inches in length. They are commonly found in the Eastern part of the United States and Canada, and Desa herself originally came from Canada. Despite her lineage, Desa's dialect tends to be more from the south eastern part of the United States, and she has a sing-songy, southern sound. While this snake is non-venomous and shy in nature, Desa seems to be very outgoing and talkative and will enjoy sharing everything she knows about the word of snakes! One thing she does want to make clear is that she's as wonderful and interesting as any other species of snake alive on the planet, and as you can tell from her open-mouthed expression, she wants the world to know!

Two descriptive words I'd use to describe Desa would be “peina” - she's a thin snake, and not particularly large; and “gara” - her body is brown, with lots of lovely stripes and markings, although her color may not be easy to tell from the photo.

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

Meet Sunny.



She was sunning herself in the relatively rare sunshine one day in my driveway. I asked her to move and she didn't want to move, because, hey! sunshine! And warm! But she agreed to get out of the way of large wheels which might squish her flat. (Rather, she moved when I was very bossy about it, and pushed her, because really, I've seen enough squished snakes!) She's a Northwestern Garter Snake (Thamnophis ordinoides). She's non-venomous. Solid-toothed and rear fanged, when it's time for a family, she has live babies (up to 9 of them).
She didn't talk much with me when we encountered each other; I think she was still sleepy from dozing in the sun. However, she let me pet her and slithered off (finally) when I explained (for the fourth time and started to push her along) that where she was was very dangerous and she could get crushed. I didn't pick her up because that was one of the things she was clear about -- she doesn't like heights and being lifted up was clearly taking her away from the comfort of contact with the ground. Dialect of Parseltongue that she used? My ear wasn't trained enough to hear words (and even now I don't know I'd be able to make out what she's saying) but from my vague memories of our communication, it is likely that this dialect of Parseltongue we are learning was very close to what she was using.

I don't know why I felt this way, but at the time I felt that Sunny is snart (smart). (It might be that one of the words she kept repeating was Vuʃ.) She's tina (small) and quite lovely.

[Amy Darvill]

I was visiting a friend who lives near the Citadel in South Carolina and happened to be sitting under a tree. As some of you might know, I struggle with this class, so I happened to be practicing when all of sudden Major here practically dropped down in front of me. And he didn't react well to my screaming, practically freezing in place until I calmed down, and I swear to you, he rolled his eyes. Don't ask me how flicking his tongue translated to rolling his eyes, but he did. Between that incident and the incident a few hours later where I dangled a rat too long and he bit me on my hand, he got the name of Major. Or Naʃur if we're going to be proper about it. I can't quote the line properly here, but there's a line from a movie that has often been quoted in my house about not...making the major mad. (See Taps the film).

So as you can gather, he can be a bit aggressive, but most of the time, he's just critical. Not in a bad way, but you can tell he's spent a lot of time on the citadel base with their military training, so he's not chatty and he's quick to point out what's wrong. And what's right. And he's done a marvelous job since I brought him to the school of clearing out rats near the kitchens, so he's fitting in rather well in Hufflepuff actually. Surprisingly.

Anyhow, his dialect...Merlin but please don't ask. I can't tell dialects properly with people! But I'm guessing from what I've heard from the class snakes is he has much more of a hissing drawl. I swear, he drags every 's'or 'sh' sound possible for like 3 seconds minimum.

Two words to describe him? Bira, since he's quite clearly yellowed colored (and also loves yellow things, he thinks my Hufflepuff scarf is his blanket). And ʃana (changing the ending of the adverb ʃane to make it an adjective) meaning quiet, because as I said, he's not a very chatty snake, even if he doesn't mind helping me.

[Emily Spencer]

Meet Blaze, or as he prefers to be called, Bslas. He is a coral snake and has the dubious distinction of having the second most powerful venom known, coming in only slightly behind the Black Mamba. His venom is slow-acting but deadly. In a few hours' time, the neurotoxins released by his bite can totally paralyze a victim's breathing muscles. I would strongly suggest wearing a strong material (such as leather) if you plan on visiting me unannounced, as his short fangs make it difficult for him to bite through tough fabric. Not that you really need to worry overly much; like most of his kind Blaze is a rather skittish creature, and will only attack when provoked. Comforting, right?!

Blaze is a good ol' southern snake that happened to wander a bit too far north and ended up with me in Kentucky. He has relatives in Texas, Louisiana, and even Oklahoma. His people have a gypsy soul and aren't too picky when it comes to habitats, either. Anything from desert-scrub, woodlands, grasses, to farms can be called 'home'. I think that's one thing that drew us together; I like exploring new places, too.

Another thing that really drew me to Blaze was his penchant for subterfuge. His kind has the uncanny knack of looking eerily similar to other non-poisonous snakes like some kingsnakes and milk snakes. Additionally, while Blaze himself is banded, not all coral snakes are. So basically, they are like the ninjas of the snake world. This description of mine provides Blaze with much amusement; it is one of the few things that can actually make him snicker (hiss actually) with amusement.

For such a dangerous creature, Blaze is also deceptively small. Coral snakes are only between 18-20 inches long and Blaze is no exception. I like that about him; it reminds me of myself. Small and seemingly unthreatening until you make the mistake of messing with us. He keeps this part of himself well hidden until it's needed; another quality we share. If snakes had Houses, he would definitely be a Slytherin!

I am pretty sure he likes me well enough; though with Blaze sometimes it's rather hard to tell. He is a reticent teacher and has been known to slither away when I get too chatty or inquisitive. He did, however, grudgingly admit that the fact that I am taking the time to master Parsletongue (poorly, in his opinion) was rather admirable. That's not to say he won't talk, of course. It's just on his terms. His dialect seems very similar to what I am learning, so that's a definite plus. We understand each other-even when he is pretending he can't understand what I'm saying. Silly, Blaze!

Two words I would use to describe him are skini (skinny) and kaslifasl (colorful). Like many of his kind, he is pencil-thin; which only adds to the illusion of 'look at me how delicate and harmless I am"! His vibrant banding is his main source of pride and joy; he actually preens when I mention it. Lastly, if you're wondering why I named him Blaze, it is because of his coloring. It reminds me of fire, specifically a volcano eruption.

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

Oh my.

I was reading all these posts and admiring the beauty of the snakes then saw this last one. SO GORGEOUS. The ninja of the snake world?



Not that the others aren't beautiful, too. It's just that Bslas is so striking. (Oh, a really bad pun, there. Ooops. )

[Emily Spencer]

Blaze sends his thanks

[Prof. Alexander Brighton]

This snake looks very, very similar to the snake I chose. I love this snake because of the color of him and he is also friendly and can be helpful, just don't get on his bad side. His name is Neptune which I think suits it. Its nickname is Blue Lightning. Neptune wouldn't tell me exactly what kind of snake it is (although that could have been my parseltongue translation). But I did some research and I think it's a Blue Viper snake.

Two descriptive words in Parseltogue that i would use to describe Neptune would be Vera because he is blue in color and kapi because he loves trees and spends a lot of his time in a tree or even a bush if there are no trees around.

[Tessa Pavlov]

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=ht ... egUIARDWAQ

My snake is Corn snake.The corn snake is a North American species of rat snake that subdues its small prey by constriction. It is found throughout the southeastern and central United States. Their docile nature, reluctance to bite, moderate adult size, attractive pattern, and comparatively simple care make them commonly kept pet snakes. Though superficially resembling the venomous copperhead and often killed as a result of this mistaken identity, corn snakes are harmless and beneficial to humans.Corn snakes lack functional venom and help control populations of wild rodent pests that damage crops and spread disease.My typle of Corn snake is white.

She:ʃira,peina

[Mia Granger]

https://images.app.goo.gl/8jz6xhk3N3hkVmrh9

This is Fire, (what an unusual name for a snake!) Yet, she has a vibrant, beautiful colour! She is an extremely rare kind coming from the Maldives. This snake chose me!
I was taking a walk in the forest when she slithered over to me. Firstly, I was frightened of her as her vicious eye caught mine. It was rather awkward for a while since we weren’t engaging with each other. Fire than said something to me in Parseltongue, eventually we started communicating with each other. I bent down to stroke her cautiously, but she slithered away from me. She then said a sentence in Parseltongue, although I didn’t understand since I’m not fluent. Fire mostly attracted me by her bright snakeskin.
To sum it up, Fire is ʃena (large) and Peina (thin.) She’s lovely and she can be shy, but also vicious!

[Lucia Dinapoli]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EC-eMSrXUAEtrjn.jpg

This is Loki, or should I say Sloci and he is a Firefly Clown Ball Python. He isn’t a fully grown adult yet, yet he is 2 feet in length and is a beautiful faded yellow colour with lots of beautiful black patterns. Loki is a very friendly snake, although very shy at first, but is ultimately very willing to interact with people. This is most likely due to his first few years in captivity - the fact some humans are learning to speak to snakes still fascinates him as he had no past experience of this until Hogwarts! This could also be because Loki is still young in his life.

I think the dialect is very similar to what we learn in class, although listening to a snake speak is very different from reading how it should sound. Often the words are pronounced much closer together, almost like one elongated word which I am still getting used to. Loki’s dialect sounds very prim and proper, almost like Southern England in accent, Queen’s english perhaps. I hope Loki can help me improve and have the patience to answer my questions as I am sure my enthusiasm can be quite exhausting.

Two descriptive words I'd use to describe Loki would be “bira” - for his yellow colour; and “ʃena” - although large now, Loki will grow up to 3-5 feet when he becomes an adult.

[Brianna Caedmon]

This is Maya, or Nai’a. She is an adder, the only venomous snake native to my home country, the UK. She comes across as rather shy but in truth she is simply wary of possible danger and, I found, she is very talkative and intelligent once you get to know her. She comes from a forest not far from where I live, and slithered into my garden one day and was quite surprised when she discovered I am trying to learn parseltongue. She was very excited to meet a human who she could speak too and is always eager to answer my questions. Her dialect of parseltongue sounds a little different from the one we’ve been learning in class- she pronounces her vowels a little more audibly than most snakes and sometimes ‘ʃ’ becomes ‘s’ when she’s excited and speaking very quickly- she tells me this is normal for snakes from her forest, but tries to play it down around me because it’s so hard for me (and snakes from other places!) to understand. In parseltongue I would describe her as tina, as she is actually fairly small- the picture is quite close up- and snart.

[Carrie Warts]

Hi everyone, meet 'Fisli' (short for Philodryas)

Her full name is Philodryas Chamissonis, she can grow to be 1,40mts long. She is poisonous and comes from the Dipsadidae family.
She is a desert snake from South America and was the only one I found on the ophidiarium that came from that part of the continent so of course, I had to choose her.
She is feisty and lazy at the same time, kinda like me so we got along pretty well although she hates it when I ask too many questions.
She has a very interesting dialect since she is not from around but she learned the one that is used by Basl.
The two words I have to describe her in Parseltongue are: ʃina and ʃena - quick and long

[Prof. Sindor Aloyarc]

This beautiful yellow princess is Boʃ, who absolutely lives up to the name. Obsessed with boxes, you can usually find her racing around a container du jour after she's moved on from slythering inside for a more than comfortable length of exploration time. Inevitably pulling out any and all stops toward destroying the thing, culminating in a perfectly smug and adorably satisfied ball python!

Boʃ can be pretty hit-or-miss when it comes to her desire for open communication. Rarely aggressive (unless you disturb her mid squeezing and tearing a box to smithereens), she mostly prefers not to be bothered during this previously mentioned routine. The further along she gets in the process, the less likely a response can be expected, then you might as well leave her alone once she's in the final stage. Beyond that, she's often actually relatively chatty, with a dialect quite similar to what's been outlined. When she isn't, it's usually because she's eating. Or lost in reflective thought, which is common enough.

Two words that come to mind when thinking about Boʃ are skagan (meaning "square") given it's her favorite shape, and vindovth (meaning "window") for the same obvious reason and because she looooves to sit and stare into the outside world. While she'll take rectangular options without much complaint, if you set her up with her own big square box next to a big square window, she's bound to be hissing playfully with excitement!!

[Mia Fountain]

This Ginger or ʃinʃer, she is a Red-bellied snake. She belongs to one of the smallest snake species found in my country, they only grow to 40 cm long. She likes to roam around the garden looking for worms and slugs to eat. She is friendly enough, but she prefers to be left alone unless she is in the mood for attention. She refuses to answer my questions unless she has already finished roaming in the garden for the day. Her favourite time to answer my questions is when she is sunning on a rock. Her dialect is similar to the dialect we are learning in class. If I were to describe her, I would say she is "Tina" for her small size, and "Ara" for the red colouring on her belly.

[Gail Allen]

This is a green treepython and as the name suggests, it lives in trees which means that it can often be found hanging from a branch the way it's also seen in this picture. It grows to be up to two meters long and up to close to 2 kilos. It's rather shockingly green – to not be too visible among the foliage where it spends most of its time. This one is very kind and likes to answer questions, but has an unfortunate tendency to fall asleep if you're not being interesting enough with your questions; So don't be boring around this snake. Also its dialect is a little difficult. At least it was until I realized it was just speaking parseltongue with a typically Australian accent, which makes sense since Northern Australia is one of its natural habitats.

Tira, ʃina
It is both very green and it is quick in terms of being quick-minded. It doesn't have time for boring and it is very intelligent.

[Hina Green]

Meet Sully! My pet snake!
It is a Taipan snake, one of the most poisonous in the world, of the Oxyuranus family.
It is a very touchy snake, it loves attention and caresses in the head. He is not normally very talkative, especially with strangers, but there are days when it talks a lot! It is also very jealous when I talk to someone else and I don't give him attention momentarily! In fact, after it "avenges" by ignoring me a little ahahah. Although it is very poisonous, it is harmless, unless someone hurts me or it.
He can understand me very well with the Serpentese I am learning in these lessons, even if he has a slightly different dialect, in fact he often changes the "o" to "u".
Tasi aʃe Sully, snek tina bira/gara (it looks both yellow and brown!)

[Aurelia West]

My chosen companion is a red milk snake called Slesne. She enjoys resting in a little coil and is usually pretty responsive to my questions. Maybe it's because she's a bit older, but she doesn't seem to mind when I pester her and likes telling me when I am pronouncing things incorrectly. I don't know too much about different Parseltongue dialects, but she really likes to draw out her syllables when we speak to each other. If I am confused about something, the explanation is certainly a drawn out one!

I would say two words to describe her are ara and tina because she is pretty small for her age and is of course a red snake.

[Ivonne Zwei]

I chose to speak with a snake local to my area, the Cottonmouth, sometimes called a Water Moccasin. I have been warned about these my whole life because they are one of the most dangerous snakes where I live, a pit viper with potentially deadly venom if not treated quickly. They are also quite misunderstood, as they are not aggressive, and like most snakes will only attack when threatened.

He was quite surprised when I tried speaking with him rather than killing him, as most humans do. He told me he does not have a name and expressed great disdain when I asked if I could give him one, which is understandable. Although I couldn't understand everything he said, I did get the impression that he dislikes humans very strongly, also understandable, but he was willing enough to talk to me. I am the first human to speak to him and he seemed amused by the novelty.

Two words I would use to describe him are asuna, meaning wet, because he is a semi-aquatic snake, and praughs, meaning proud, because he did not want to take a name from a human.

[Caius Magnusson]

Meet I'oʃin.



To be honest, I'oʃin is so distinctive that I really do not know what kind of snake he is. I have tried to ask him about his species, but he refuses to answer this specific line of inquiry. For him, "snek snek" (snakes are snakes), and the concept of species makes little sense to him.

My association with I'oʃin was instantaneous for two reasons. First and foremost, those who have seen some of my written content or art likely noticed that I love the colour red. In fact, red and black is my favourite colour scheme, and I'oʃin was an eyecatcher from the get-go! Furthermore, it looks like I'oʃin has visited Japan somehow in the past, as he mentions some Japanese cultural elements that I know to be true in our conversations. I do not know if he lived there for a while or simply passed through the country somehow, but I am intent on figuring that out as soon as our connection deepens.

I'oʃin is not particularly talkative, which I appreciate - I like to discuss interesting ideas in-depth for a brief while, but not chatter all day long about senseless topics. However, I can notice that he has a distinctive accent and he uses some words that slightly differ from standard Parseltongue from time to time - yet another reason why I decided to take him as a partner, as this will give me further practice on different aspects of the language.

His name, which was proposed by me and accepted by him, comes from the Japanese word 余燼 ('yojin'), meaning 'smoulder' or 'ember'. This is naturally a direct reference to his appearance, which resembles some flecks of fire amidst black coal. It's probably not a surprise, then, that I would describe him as 'firna' - he not only looks hot, but has a fierce temperament if provoked. I'oʃin can also be described as 'sigana', or 'straight' - not in appearance, but based on the fact he is very direct and says things like he sees them.