"That's because you're nicer than me," Veronica teased, rolling her eyes at him. "Giant evil snake, Mathias. If it's between you and the boy wonder, well." Just knowing that thing was down there gave her the creeps, irrational though it was. It wasn't like there weren't other snakes in the jungle, even, possibly, out in the stream winding its way across the island. Then again, JK Rowling hadn't written about any of those ones.