Disclaimer: anything recognizable belongs to either J.K. Rowling or C.S. Lewis


Chapter 9

"Now, I must answer your other question before we are interrupted again. I can't tell you more about the Pevencies than you already know. It is not my place or my right to tell you anyones story but your own as I'm sure that Centaurs have told you before. There is no more I can say other than that I am as interested in this occurrence as you, if not more so and have spoken to centaurs about it myself, though I daresay they were more helpful to me than to you. I would ask that I be the one to introduce them to the magical world and speak to their parents, as I am interested in them for my work as well."


Peter

Our minds were in a whirl when we returned to the professor's house. The centaurs had told us so many things and we were anxious to share them with the professor and find out more information from him. The centaurs had said that he knew, but they felt we should discover it on our own and that the professor would only intervene if necessary. We rushed into the house, past an annoyed and startled looking Mrs. Macready, and called for the professor in Narnian. He came to the top of the stairs and peered over the banister.

"Please be quiet and do not make a nuisance of yourself or do anything to raise suspicions that you're anything other than normal. I have a guest with me who is of abnormal nature himself, the kind I believe that you have recently discovered. It will not go well for you if you meet him before the necessary time and before you have all the information you will need." I nodded to him, and we went away to our rooms.

We had learnt many things from the centaurs. The general, whose name we discovered was Esaius, is the one who deals most with the outside world and is seen by the human population who do not know about Narnia as the leader. Those who know of Narnia, however, also know that that wasn't the case.

We spoke to the leader of this particular herd of centaurs when we returned to their dwellings. He told us that the headmaster of the school had been there looking for us, that he had most likely gone to the professors and that we should be wary of him. Aslan had chosen to reveal to him our titles and thus he had been required to give him basic knowledge of Narnia and of us. He is probably the person who is with the professor in his study now.

Turning to my siblings, I notice that I've lagged behind somewhat during my musings. Lucy and Susan have been whispering to each other the whole way home, and I'm becoming curious as to what exactly it is they're planning. They are fully aware of this, as I've asked them about it several times, so they keep teasing me with it, letting me hear a word here and there, but not enough to piece together their conversation.

Giving up for now, I look for my brother. He's looking at me with a smirk on his face, and laughter in his eyes over the scene playing out between me and the girls. It is one he has seen many times, and it never fails to amuse him. As the girls disappear into their room, and Ed and I into ours, he speaks, "I don't understand why you get so worked up over the girls and their plans. They always end up telling us anyway."

"Habit from before, I suppose." I say with a shrug before kicking off my shoes and pulling my jersey over my head, tossing it into the corner with all the rest of my dirty clothes.

"Peter, Edmund, come see!" I hear Lucy call from the common room between their bedroom and ours. Ed stands up from where he'd been sitting on the bed as I open the door.

"Quickly! Before he goes away!"

"We're coming, Lu." I say with a roll of my eyes, walking over to the window she is peering out of.

I feel Edmund come up behind me and look past Susan's shoulder, it grieves him that he is shorter than her again, he used to be able to look over her shoulder.

We look down at the area just outside the professor's front door where he is saying his farewells to the man he had been talking to in his study.

Even to us, who are used to the different styles and cultures of Narnia and the weird and wonderful things which occur there because of magic, his appearance is strange. He is wearing robes of a bright teal color with peacocks and other brightly coloured birds on them. It takes me a moment to notice, but the birds are moving. They are all either hopping, walking or flying around, stopping here and there to ruffle their feathers or peck at something on the non-existent ground. Coupled with the tall pointy hat of the same colour perched on his head, he looks absolutely bizarre.

Edmund snorts, whether in disbelief, laughter, or both, I don't know, and Lucy and Susan are stifling giggles. "Do you think they all dress like that?" He asks, aghast. "Do you think we'll have to wear something like that?"

This sends Lucy over the edge, and she breaks down into peals of laughter. The look on Edmund's face goes from horrified, to a scowl a few seconds later and Lucy's laughter cuts off.

"Is that the same man you met in London, Lu?" He asks suddenly. "This man makes me think of your description of him."

"I think it might be, Ed. If he would just turn around so that I could see his face I would be able to tell you." Unfortunately he didn't turn around, and a moment later went striding away around the side of the house toward the forest.

"They don't all dress like that, you know." Lucy said. "The others that I saw in London were dressed in either robes or normal clothing, their robes weren't nearly as garish as that, they were mostly black or other dark colours like navy."

Edmund nodded, satisfied that we would not be forced into something so outrageous.

"We should go and find the professor." Said Susan, "He should be able to answer any questions we have, and it's almost dinner anyway."

"I think we all need to wash up a bit first before we do anything else, Su." I said. "Give it 10 minutes and we'll all meet down by the professors study, alright?"


Its been barely ten minutes, and we are all downstairs, so anxious are we to talk over the day's events with the professor. The door opened before Susan could knock, and the professor ushered us inside.

"Dinner will be ready very soon." He said, "We shall discuss all that has happened today then. Take this time now to think of what specifically you want to know. There is much to do, and little time to do it in. We must make arrangements in the next few days, and see to it that all will go well this coming year. I have done what I can to keep suspicion about you to a minimum, but information will have to be disclosed to both your mother and the man who was in my office earlier if you would like to maintain your privacy. "

I nodded, used to the professors cryptic remarks and sat in silence for the next quarter of an hour. By the time the dinner bell was rung, I had a short list of things in my head which I thought would be of most importance. Explanations could come at a later date for some things, but not for others. What we need is a fundamental knowledge of how this other side of our world works. Its rules, it's society, its politics, its infrastructure, its governance, the type and working of its magic and the magical creatures. Most of this we can learn as we go, some of it we already know, but if we're to successfully make our way in this other part of the world, we need all the help we can get.

Something I am wary about, is what the Centaurs called a trace. It apparently tracks the magic of under age wizards and witches. My concern is that it will also apply to us. We don't appear to have it at the moment, as no magic that we have ever done has been reported, and none of the magical creatures we met earlier today could sense it on us, I just worry that someone will notice we don't have it, and place one on us.

I sighed, thinking of the restrictions that would come of having a trace. Susan looks at me, brows raised in a silent question. I just shake my head, wave my hand, and she nods, turning to leave the room. It is unnerving at times how well we know each other, but 15 years will do that to you.


I live! My computer is still not working, so I have found an alternative. I managed to get all my plotlines, summaries and partly finished chapters off my hard drive and onto my iPad, so I'm using that.

I can't promise too update particularly quickly, as life is going to be hectic for the next year or so, but I will try.

I have big plans for this story, and don't intend to abandon it, even if it is on a go slow.

Lots-'O-Fluff

Caity