Merlin has never been scared of snakes. Even before learning to transform into one just a few weeks ago, he'd read a lot about them and he'd handled his fair share in the wild, always approaching them with deep fascination and reasonable caution. Now that he's one of them (...sort of) and because he's still curious to find out for himself whether or not a serpentine Animagus can learn Parseltongue, though, the creatures are especially quick to grab his attention at the party.

Who cares about pretend space and drinking games when there are boxes of snakes?

Sitting cross-legged on the ground a distance away, he observes the creatures thoughtfully and turns his wand around in his hand idly. He doesn't expect that Pocket would leave anything venomous or even particularly dangerous in here with them, but still. One should never be careless. He tries to listen for words in their hisses and furrows his brow, just waiting for a moment of epiphany.