The Baba Yaga Guild

Chapter Two: Parseltongue fo Russky

Any and all mistakes are mine and Google Translate's. Inspiration for this came from reading the amazing Araceil's "Fairy Tail".


September 1st 2009

One of the curious things about gardening, is that every once in a while, a small garden snake will find itself into the geraniums.

Harry had finished with the mower and had joined Terry in the garden bed, and the first that Terry knew that there was a snake in the bed with them was when Harry had suddenly started hissing.

Looking up, Terry's eyes had bugged in their sockets and she'd given a sharp gasp. Temnaya, who had previously been gambolling amongst the left over clippings, rushed over to protect her mistress and mistress' new friend, spitting at the small reptile with all the ferociousness of a lamb with gastro.

"It's fine, Temnaya," Harry soothed. "He's friendly."

"It's a snake," Terry said slowly, wondering if her new friend hadn't taken leave of his senses.

"Yeah, but it's ok," Harry told them. "He said he was just curious."

Terry squinted at him, head cocked to one side. "Teach me?" She finally asked. "I'll swap you, Russian for Parseltongue."

"Parseltongue?"

"You know, snake language. I feel like it's the kind of name that would catch."

Harry felt that his friend wasn't all there, but agreed to try and teach her how to talk to the snake.

Hello was swapped for Srsh and Zdravstvuyte, Mr Snake for rrrsssh and g- zmeya, green for hrsh and zelenyy.

The snake, who was dubbed Zeke, thought that Terry's attempts at Parseltongue were hilarious, and Terry found Harry's attempts at Russian pitiful at best, but it made for a fun afternoon. Once they were finished in the garden and Zeke had gone on his way, Petunia had them both wash and peel potatoes, and then after that, she sent them on their way – it wouldn't do for the neighbours to find out just how much housework Harry did.


Over the rest of the week, Terry and Harry continued to make fast friends. They would sit together in class, sneak into the library at break time, and walk home from school, and all the while, Terry was showing Harry the magic that was Fairy Tail, and attempting to teach him the language of her father's country. After two weeks, Harry had managed to read all six of the Volumes that Terry had in her room, and she had even introduced him to MangaPanda, a website that posted translations of the chapters weekly, which they would read at lunch time or after school at the town library. They agreed that Erza and Gray were their favourite characters – Terry loved their snark and prowess, Harry Gray's ability to overcome his past and Erza's pure awesomeness – and that the country of Fiore seemed really cool.

The two friends had fallen into something of a routine – go to school together, walk home together, go to Terry's place to pick up Temnaya and for Terry to change out of her uniform, and then rush over to Number Four, where they would do Harry's chores for the day, and then duck back to Number Ten to tidy up whatever messes Temnaya may have made that day, and have dinner. In fact, it wasn't uncommon for Doctor Petrovy to come home and find his daughter and the neighbours' nephew either sprawled on the living room floor doing their homework or lounging in the cubbyhouse in the backyard, always laughing over a manga volume with a bowl of fruit and sweets between them.

On the second Sunday of their friendship, Kazimir awoke late to find his daughter and her friend giggling in the kitchen over a pre-made bottle of pancakes, batter smeared over their faces and in some of the curls that had fallen out of Terry's haphazard ponytail.

"Ssh!" Terry giggled – and wasn't that a sound Kazimir hadn't heard in a while. "You'll wake Papochka!"

"Then stop getting batter everywhere!" Harry grinned back. "Look at Temnaya – she's practically yellow!"

Indeed, the part-Kneazle kitten that Arabella had given Terry appeared to be doused in pancake batter, and was attempting to regally lick the mess from her black and grey fur.

"What on earth are you two doing?" Kazimir asked tiredly – he'd been pulling long shifts at the surgery, this fortnight.

"Papochka!" Terry exclaimed. "We didn't mean to wake you!"

"Sorry Doctor Petrovya!" Harry added quickly.

Terry elbowed him. "It's Petrovy, Petrovya is because I'm a girl."

"Vasi, you know you're not allowed to use the stove without an adult to supervise," Kazimir scolded softly.

"I know," His daughter said stiffly. "But Harry's allowed to, and you've been really busy at work, so we wanted to make you something nice."

Kazimir took in the two children – Harry, squirming in place and obviously expecting some type of punishment, and Terry, stiff and proud – and sighed. "You are too like your mother, tsvetok. Come, let's clean you both up."

In the process of cleaning the kitchen, Kazimir found that his daughter and her friend had also prepared orange juice – twice, Terry said, because the first batch had been knocked over by Temnaya, who had left sticky footprints all around the kitchen. There was also whipped cream in a can (which they had hidden from him in the vegetable drawer – oh, she was so like Lilian!), and golden syrup, as well.

Much to the doctor's surprise, though, Terry had taken to pointing things out to Harry in Russian, in an attempt to have someone other than her father and cat to speak the language with. Unfortunately, the children had a long way to go, as Harry constantly managed to butcher the words. Still, Kazimir had to admit a great deal of pride in his daughter for making such a fine friend, and for trying to make such a breakfast for him, too.


Translations:

Pozhaluysta - you're welcome

Papochka - Papa

Ded - Grandfather