{Disclaimer}
This is Harriet's fourth year. And might be the shortest yet. So far it's just the highlights, I'm not sure how much more is necessary. Things were slated to get significantly more complex /next/ year, of course, after Tom graduates. But don't you know, sometimes our driving ambitions turn out to be so easy to achieve when gone about correctly, that there is nothing left but to relax and enjoy life. Sometimes it is a better fate, (and sometimes a much worse fate), than choosing an ambition that is on the very transition between possible and impossible, such an ambition can keep driving one until one archives more than anyone dreamed possible, or to work oneself into an early grave.
Summer Plans
As Deit suggested, they made plans to meet at Granddad's ranch. This time Ann could attend because she'd delegated her responsibilities for the summer, (and for the duration of the next school year).
"So," said Dietrich when he'd managed to get them away from the welcome banquet and together in an unused courtyard. "I figure we want to spend the summer together as far away as possible from the rigour of classwork. While also practising the languages we wish to become better at. I certainly want to catch up on my agility practice and endurance exercises with all my animals. And that's another thing. I figure that school is for learning all the knowledge about surviving as an adult, that adults can formalise into classwork, but there are other things that can't be taught that way, or are less about how to be an adult, and more about how to be a student, or even how to survive in a boarding school. That we might want to share with each other."
"That's not a bad plan," said Ann, "I presume you're thinking of mostly just telling stories about great adventures and overcoming obstacles."
"Yes," said Dietrich.
"This doesn't sound like what I signed up for," said Moit, "which is not to say it's a bad idea, just … we could do that sitting around a table at the circus, except for the part where everyone would think we were shirking and/or excluding them."
"Right," said Dietrich, "I wanted to avoid that sort of jealousy issue, but I also wanted to accomplish as many things as possible that we can't accomplish while at school, either because the schedule is too regimented, or because we're not permitted to leave, or because the texts we need just aren't available there."
"So … what sorts of things?" said Harriet.
"One of Tunde's life goals is to visit Italy, It's come to my attention that I should pick up ancient Greek and Egyptian, there was some discussion last Christmas of visiting Turkey, but I can't remember why."
"I think it was Persia/Iran that came up," said Harriet, "I can't remember now."
"I think I suggested that," said Moit, "but it wasn't about wanting to visit, it was about collecting intelligence about all possible schools, as if infiltrating schools and gaining their wisdom were somehow more important than merely learning how to be polite in the cultures which they represent, so that you can go there to buy books or whatever. I think everyone ignored me and signed me up for Magic School with Deit."
"Right," said Deit, "So no one is currently intent on visiting any Persian Gulf states?"
Silence.
"Fine, any suggestions beyond Italy and Egypt, or objections to them?"
"I hoped we were going to … do some animal shopping or hunting," said Moit.
"We might do some of that along the way," said Deit, "Actually we probably will, I'm kind of partial to the idea of adding a camel to my collection."
"Ah!" said Moit, "How about you Harriet, any suggestions?"
"I'd kind of like to bring Luna along, maybe her father also if he can get away."
"Is he going to be an uptight insurance conscious chaperone, or is he going to be adventurous with us?"
"Um, maybe a little of both," said Harriet, "he's plenty aware enough of the higher resilience and faster healing of magical children. I don't think Luna has ever had to worry about chaperonage so far as he's concerned, but I'm not certain if that's because she mostly played alone and he thinks he long since managed to childproof his grounds, or if it's because he trusts her sight to let her avoid dangerous scrapes."
"OK, then the better question might be," said Moit, "Given this sight of hers, does she show any annoying tendencies to avoid adventures, or only ones that end not in 'possible danger' but in actual pain."
Harriet's grin was answer enough.
"Awesome," said Moit, "I vote we bring her along if she wants to come."
"I vote," said Ann, "that if she doesn't wish to come, we ask why, and listen very carefully."
Harriet shivered, "That's probably best. In fact, do you want me to see if she's willing to come help us plan our summer."
"Sure," said Deit, "Why not."
Tunde's head snapped up and they all stared at her.
"You still know where she is?" said Dietrich
Tunde nodded and an instant later scampered for the door.
"What?" said Harriet.
"She said, she saw Luna around earlier exploring under one of the hawthorn hedges," explained Deit, "she's gone to find her."
Harriet blinked.
"She's mute, but you can listen to her by means of legilimency?" said Ann.
Deit blinked, "what makes you think she's mute?"
Ann turned to the others, "Have either of you ever heard her say anything?"
They shook their heads, "But don't look at me," said Harriet, "I'm not around her that much."
Dietrich stared at Moit, "all that time trying to teach her English from books, and you … and she never said anything?"
Moit shrugged, "she always nodded or shook her head or made some horse or dog gesture that I understood well enough. I didn't really notice."
"Constantine," said Dietrich, "How did I miss that?"
Silence.
"I mean, I've noticed being impressed often enough by the solidity of her poker face when she chose not to express what she was muttering to me. How did I miss that she only spoke to me and signed to others?"
"Actually, it's not that surprising to me," said Ann, "What percentage of your friends aren't people? Either of you?"
"Probably about a third," said Moit.
"Maybe as many as a quarter," said Dietrich, "At least before going to Brown."
"Right," said Ann.
Tunde returned with Luna in tow. Luna looked around, then stared fixedly at Dietrich for a long time.
"Do you know what we're here to discuss," said Dietrich.
Luna held up her hand to quiet him and kept glancing about in his general direction, finally she said, "You worry way too much. Second of all, Sicily this year, Egypt next year.
"Sicily," said Dietrich, "that's nicely more specific than all Italy."
Luna nodded, "I think all of us would have more fun investigating a place thoroughly rather than rushing here and there hoping we just randomly bump into pretty things to see and animals worth meeting and books worth reading and museums worth looking through." She frowned, "or maybe not more 'fun' but feel more satisfied afterwards about what we've learned and accomplished."
Everyone agreed to that.
It was decided that they'd start with an disillusioned trip around the island on dragon-back, to pick out highlights and compile a list of what they just had to see. After which turning the list into an itinerary would only require the use of a map and Luna's sight.
"That's another thing," said Harriet, "Is there anyone else we ought to invite along? Perhaps your Dad."
Luna stared at her for several seconds, "You should invite Tom and Draco, even though they will almost certainly decline. I'll invite my Dad, he'll visit now and again for a few hours when it suits his schedule."
"Alright," said Harriet.
"What about the Patils or my Dad," said Ann.
"Not your Dad," said Moit.
Luna sighed, "You can invite the Patils, but they both have other plans already, intermittent though they might be so far… No, better not, there's a chance they might come, they have other things that it is important that they accomplish this summer."
"Like what?" said Moit.
"That is not your business," said Luna.
Harriet frowned, "I should have asked you this sooner, is there something more important that I ought to be doing this summer?"
Luna shook her head, "Not that I've noticed, otherwise I'd have told you already."
"Ah," said Harriet, "Thank you for that."
"No problem," said Luna.
.
Soon everyone was properly notified that though they would be missed, the party would survive without them, and there was no need to feel guilty for not breaking previous plans. Meals were packed and money for more meals. A tent was purchased with eight beds and plenty of common area. It even came with a vestibule that was the exact size of the tent exterior to give the illusion to any visiting muggles that nothing odd was going on.
Soon they were filling out paperwork to acquire a portkey to Catania. Not because they knew anything about Catania, but because when they said 'tourist visa' the embassy clerk just naturally assumed they were looking for the biggest shopping district. Luna agreed before any of the rest of them could decide whether or not they had any objection.
.
It actually took them three days to circumnavigate the island on dragon back, and they didn't even wait for the first hour of flight to be over before starting to debate what they'd like to do next.
The mountains looked inviting to Moit. The Rivers and streams, and there were a surprising number, attracted Tunde's attention. Harriet found she was surprisingly content just to be in the air with Hedwig, and with her brothers, cousin, and betrothed. She still didn't know what to make of Tunde, but Tunde was so unobtrusive half the time she almost didn't notice, and when she did notice she was insanely jealous. And the very fact of the obvious insanity kept the emotion at arms length.
And for all of her rational analysis she couldn't decide if she were jealous of Tunde's simple good looks, her quiet closeness to her oldest brother, or the fact that she had the simple (but possibly exciting) life of a sworn arms-man ahead of her.
Luna was another matter, and Harriet was quite aware that if Moit decided to start noticing girls during this trip Luna might catch his eye. But that was paranoia, Moit was a month shy of eleven and there ought to be nothing to worry about.
Ann… Harriet wanted to make sure Ann was entertained enough to stay sharp, but the only thing Ann answered whenever anyone asked what part of the island she most wanted to see up close, "Three words: Magical Shopping District." Which was an obvious lie, since Ann had made no move to explore in Diagon Ally or Maultasch's Vale the last two times they were in either place.
When they were on the ground and Dietrich was back in human form, he'd admit he was very interested in exploring the mountains, and especially 'the big volcano', but perhaps that was only because he'd been observing through dragon eyes. By morning he'd usually be on Tunde's side that exploring the rivers or perhaps just one river might be a very nice accomplishment.
Ann agreed, but suggested that they might stock up on books before such a trip. But most of all she insisted they stop calling it 'that big volcano' and find it on the map and call it by it's real name, which turned out to be Mount Etna.
The plan soon became: finish off their trip by dragon where they started in Catania, and there buy or borrow books and rent a sailboat, perhaps one big enough to pitch the tent on, if it wasn't too expensive. Then circumnavigate the island again by sail, stopping more often to chat up the natives about which rivers were easiest sailing and which mountains or valleys or other routes, were most worth hiking. And mount Etna.
Mu
They ended up with a small boat rather than a huge one because the difference in price was just too startling. And there were only six of them after all, and while that was enough to run a bigger boat, it would have required concentration and work from more of them more of the time to really remain safe. And they all agreed that they'd rather land each night and sleep on firm ground than figure out how to work shifts or mess with anchors or any of that complexity.
The smaller boat turned out to be a good decision when they realised it gave them a lot more flexibility to explore small inlets, and come closer to the shore to talk to beach goers, either locals or tourists.
Everyone who would talk about that, recommended the Valley of Temples near Agrigento, for hiking and Trapani which sounded more like a harbour than a river. Another common recommendation was the Aeolian Isles, an island chain vaguely due north of Mount Etna. The possibility of going somewhere with less people was somewhat attractive at a few points on their journey, but all in all, sailing across a lot of water to test how well you could read a compass seemed a lot less fun, than sailing around in loops within sight of a land mass big enough you knew you weren't going to lose it. Especially if you came to look at that land, and only incidentally to sail around in loops.
They did a lot of swimming, especially to stop and talk to people. Several kids mocked their swimming abilities until Moit finally had enough and asked one such for lessons. The kid didn't exactly teach them anything, but did demonstrate enough grace and confidence in the water for them to begin to understand what exactly they lacked. 'Swimming practice' suddenly became a very respectable pastime, and soon they'd intentionally slow the boat several times a day so that they could get out and race it.
The only one who didn't seem to need practice was Tunde, who steadfastly refused to answer whether she'd had any practice before. Second to her, Harriet was proclaimed the 'most natural looking' in the water, which Harriet publicly associated with being able to find the muscles she needed when she needed them. Privately she thought swimming wasn't that different than flying, but she didn't say that out loud because they wouldn't understand what she meant about flying because all they knew about was trapeze, rope work, broom, and she sort of meant something else as well, but she'd never been able to put it into words, and whenever she tried Hedwig would caw at her and circle her as if daring her to take flight and play tag or something.
But it was Ann who knew the most 'real' strokes and didn't mind teaching them as she'd been taught, though she was quick to say, "This is as much as I understood when I was much younger. Experiment and see what helps you move faster or steer better, or not need to breath as often."
.
By the time they reached the Valley of Temples they'd mastered most of the strokes Ann could teach, as well as picked out favourites. Moit and Tunde caught fish sometimes, though Ann told them not to, because she wasn't sure how fishing licenses were handled in Italy. After that they mostly only 'played tag' with the fish and that only when there wasn't another party member in the water to play tag with. Though Moit did pester Dietrich about what kind of fish would make the best water-form to take as one's own.
Finally when Dietrich explained for about the third time, that no part of a fish body could be preserved well enough to add to a necklace, and besides there was no place in Brown, in winter, to exercise such a body, without which he'd be miserable indeed. Finally Moit got the point. Which might or might not have had something to do with the rain the previous night and Red not getting his customary evening and morning runs.
.
One morning they were tacking carefully through a rock strewn bay, with Ann at the tiller and Harriet straddling the bow for a better view through the surface. Harriet glanced farther ahead again to see the others darting farther and farther ahead. Moit, like Luna, was mostly watching fish at the moment. Tunde and Dietrich were cutting back and forth among the boulders. Tunde had always had a certain economy of motion about her, in the water or above, but generally she moved so quickly that it looked like impossible speed rather than grace. In fact when Dietrich tried to match her, such as now, he tended to need six limbs: hands, feet, and dragon wings. And with the shallows and obstacles everywhere he couldn't manifest his wings to full size. So she was winning, but not by much.
With both of them moving at similarly high speed, Harriet could adjust her perception of normal up to match their speed, and suddenly Tunde's natural grace was very evident. As was the awkwardness of Dietrich's use of his magical advantages. It reminded Harriet of broom riding when Hedwig would join her. Sometimes they would play follow the leader or fly in other formations, and sometimes they would take turns looping and circling around each other, like some kind of aerobatic dance. And she'd sometimes witnessed Mrs. Malfoy share similar joys with Bennu, her white owl that wasn't in fact albino, though no one could quite identify his breed.
"Big rock to the left," she said, and got ready to stick out a shoe if it became necessary to help deflect the boat more than the tiller would manage.
Ann started the turn to the right, then said, "Tell me when."
"That's … that's good," said Harriet when they'd swung around almost fifty degrees.
Luna popped up spewing water from her snorkel, (transfigured from driftwood, today), she yelled something unintelligible before climbing up on a boulder and removing her snorkel to try again, "Don't straighten out yet, keep going another … fourty feet or so, then you'll be in a bigger channel, and … that will be easier to follow."
"If you say so," said Ann, and straightened out a little anyway, or maybe that was the wind working against them. Or the current, there ought to be current in this bay, but Harriet hadn't seen much evidence of it yet.
"Luna," said Harriet.
"Yes," said Luna.
"Will I ever … um is it possible for a—"
"Yes," said Luna, "But you have to use the skin walker method, the animagus transfiguration is not compatible with metamorphmagic."
"How would I go about finding a—"
"By asking Hedwig, of course." Luna slipped from view with enough of a splash to indicate that it might not have been totally intentional.
"Hmm," said Harriet, "If you say so."
Ann snickered.
"It's a nice theory," said Harriet, "But how do I go about telling her to bring me a bird she'd like to be friends with, except she happens to hate it enough she wants me to kill it. She can do nuance if it's about air currents or whether I want her to kill or catch or merely chase an animal small enough for her to be interested in tangling with."
"If she understands chasing something to you, can you convince her to let a big bird chase her to you?"
"Maybe," said Harriet, "She's the type of bird that hunts by body slamming smaller animals into the ground, with a limited ability to finish things off with her talons later."
Ann snorted, "I seem to remember a few puncture wounds you had to recover from on wrists and shoulders."
"OK, a not so limited ability to wound, but that isn't really the same as really understanding which actions are fatal and which are merely lucky places to hold on while she starts to eat her possibly only very stunned capture."
"Hmm," said Ann.
"She understands 'chase it' instead of 'kill it' but I think it's just a silly trick to her, perhaps built on a 'teaching children to hunt' instinct, rather than on a sufficient theory of mind to allow her to understand the trick of chasing in a particular direction, let alone to me."
"Ah," said Ann.
"In fact if she has any theory of mind, I don't think it extends beyond me."
"Do you mean by 'theory of mind' what I mean by 'theory of mind'?" said Ann.
"I mean, she knows alive things move around and behave somewhat predictably. I'm fairly certain she doesn't understand for instance why a failure in stealth connects to a fear response in her prey, only that it does, so she learns more effective behaviour patterns by instinct and trial and error, not by contemplating the possible mental states and processes of small mammals, some with bigger brains than her own."
"Yes, I see," said Ann, "and you think without her modelling the prey, err, the target in real time, a method to fulfil 'chase to me' is not possible?"
"I think so," said Harriet.
"Ah. Here's that channel," said Ann and swung the boat out toward deeper water, and after a few seconds blew her whistle. When everyone's heads popped up, she called a warning to the effect that the boat was changing course and they might wish to take that into account. Moit changed course immediately, being the weakest swimmer, and twice as cautious as anyone else to not become separated. A minute later he found the current as well. Shortly after he pulling himself hand over hand along the gunwale until he reached Harriet's knee.
"Hi," they each said.
"Moit, you're being a drag," muttered Ann as she shifted the tiller to compensate, "and I mean that in the nicest possible way."
"On the other hand," said Harriet in a thoughtful tone, "if she just models prey as mildly obstinate soccer balls, her chase technique ought to be just as good as her follow technique."
"Good point," said Ann, "Now that you believe she's capable of learning the trick, are you going to try to teach it to her?"
"I don't know, Maybe." Said Harriet.
"What are you talking about," said Moit.
"Hedwig helping me acquiring a raptor form," said Harriet, "Can you teach me the runes and rituals?"
"Sure," said Moit, "Or I can just draw you the runes and teach you the rituals, if you have a big enough parchment."
"Probably," said Harriet, "or we can buy more next time we're in Catania."
"Can you have her lure one for me too?" said Moit.
"Assuming Hedwig is willing, I don't see why not," said Harriet.
"Cool," said Moit, "When Dietrich was flying us around I saw a large bird circling an up-draft below us and I contemplated jumping down on it and whether I could finish the ritual before hitting the ground."
"Merlin," said Harriet, "that sounds like a particularly bad idea."
"Nah," said Moit, "I could do the ritual fast enough, the problem is that I didn't think I could catch the bird on the way past without a net, and fighting with the net before starting the ritual didn't seem plausible."
Ann growled, "did it occur to you, there'd be a real chance of your new form ending up caught in the net you just used to hunt with?"
Moit laughed, "That would also be appropriately ironic."
"Karma's a bitch," agreed Ann, "and I'm supposed to get you all home in once piece."
Moit climbed up on the front deck and hunched in on himself. Ann grunted and adjusted again.
"Is that really why you didn't jump?" whispered Harriet so that Ann might not hear.
"Huh?" said Moit, "I guess I saw it, I realised the plan could work, I started untying my lanyard from my harness, that was the day we wore harnesses. By the time I was half way through untying I realised that it wasn't going to be underneath us long enough for me to finish, unless it circled the same updraft we were, a second time. Then I looked again and it figure-eight-ed instead of circled, and I realised that I could lead it, though I hadn't been planning on it at first, but I couldn't steer to catch up as it manoeuvred, nor could I predict which way it would turn."
"I think only Luna could predict something's movements well enough to lead it like that," said Harriet, "and she probably doesn't fly brooms often enough to jump as well as she'd need to for that."
"Wasn't she the one who transfigured harnesses and insisted we wear them that afternoon?" said Moit.
"Oh um," said Harriet, "do you think she saw a real possibility of you jumping to your death and took steps?"
Moit sighed, "remind me never to be obstinate to ridiculous advice from her again."
"Likewise, likewise," said Harriet.
Moit sighed again, "You want me to take over, so that you can go swimming for a while?"
"Oh. Sure, thanks," said Harriet, and slipped into the water.
Moit readjusted himself into her previous position, one foot trailing in the water on each side of the keel.
.
A bit later Luna approached from the stern and after swimming behind for several seconds darted ahead on the port side and found a rock to climb on and lunge aboard as the boat slid by.
"Hello, Luna, Have you finished talking to fish for the day?" said Ann.
Luna blinked, "Mu," she said, and began digging through the supplies for lunch materials.
Ann laughed.
"What?" said Moit.
Ann laughed again, "have you killed enough birds to satisfy your need for space travel?"
"That … I haven't … doesn't even make sense," said Moit.
"So the correct answer is, 'mu'," explained Ann, "Not yes, and not no, or perhaps both yes and no."
"Sometimes it's an answer to a question," said Luna, "Sometimes it is an answer about a question. Sometimes it is a separate statement to your questioner, that they aren't showing proficiency addressing their question to a universe where it could be answerable."
"Hmm," said Moit, "So, if I asked … if you … no… when are you going to start trying to save my life?"
Luna went rigid, and clenched her teeth, "What are you trying to ask?"
"How many times…? Have you already saved my life enough times to say 'mu,' about the previous question?"
"Oh," said Luna, "I've tried a few times, I suppose. Yes."
Moit nodded, "Thank you."
"No problem," said Luna.
"No, seriously," said Moit, "I'd get up and come hug you, instead of just saying the words, if I wasn't on lookout."
"I know," said Luna, "I could see you almost doing that."
"Really?" said Moit, "Oh, alright."
"And I still say, 'no problem'," said Luna.
"Are you ever going to start telling me about it, so that I can say, 'thank you' when I should instead of days afterwards?"
Luna shrugged, "I don't always know what … percentage of a chance things will go badly, so I usually don't talk about it."
"Are there any other examples as glaring as the flight harnesses last week?" said Moit.
Luna thought for several moments, "we'd all be dead, along with most of your circus, several different possible ways, if I'd introduced myself to Harriet differently, or to Padma, or to Neville."
"Oh," said Moit, "before you even met us?"
"Yes," said Luna.
"How is that even possible?" said Moit.
Ann cleared her throat.
Luna winced, "Do you really want to know?"
"Why wouldn't I?" said Moit.
"The same reason that I don't usually tell people when I've saved their lives: some dangers aren't possible to explain, and even those that are … might scare you out of a month's sleep without making you any more able to protect yourself from them. And even those dangers from which you can protect yourself with a little or a lot of preparation, it's not helpful in the long run, because you're worrying yourself sick over dangers that are improbable instead of more commonplace problems that are much more important if only because of how much more common they are."
"Can you give me an example? … that will be silly enough that I won't worry about it too much?"
"Hmm," said Luna, "If you spent more time in the muggle world rather than the magical… if I told you how many guns and drugs are smuggled through Sicily, you might become too worried about guns, and avoiding smugglers, that you forgot to worry about much more common dangers, like running into rocks."
Ann chuckled.
Moit blinked, "Right," he said and sat up and resumed to peer into the water ahead. Just in time to pull his foot out of the way of a piece of driftwood.
It made an ugly noise as the boat pushed it aside, but didn't slow them down any.
"Sorry!" said Moit, "Sorry, sorry."
Luna moved astern to fix lunch. When the meat came out Hedwig took notice and came down off her perch on the masthead. A minute later Harriet appeared along side and climbed aboard.
Ann grunted as she corrected for the changes to the boat's friction and mass.
Soon sandwiches were made, first for helms-woman and lookout.
"Thanks," said Moit when Harriet settled beside him on the prow. A little later Luna joined them from the starboard, then noting a grumble from Ann, scooted behind Moit so her weight was closer to the centre line.
.
"So, with you both here…" said Moit, when he'd finished his sandwich.
"She doesn't mind," said Luna.
"What don't I mind?" said Harriet.
"As Harry's betrothed," said Luna, "Am I family enough for all his cousins to hug?"
"Oh," said Harriet, "Yes, that's fine, here or at the circus or Granddad's ranch, it's a little bit more sticky in public within the wizarding world, after you turn thirteen or so…" Harriet shrugged, "by that time I think you'll have been around enough be able to judge what counts as normal, and well … the people that matter already know that Matirnis and Lovegoods hug a bit more than the average."
"Fair enough," said Moit, "Incoming swimmers!"
"Huh?" said Ann.
"Tunde and Deit," said Moit, "is it just me, or … does Tunde swim better in fresh water."
"Of course," said Luna.
"But why?" said Moit, "I swim better in salt water. I mean, I float better and … I suppose there is more mass there to push against or something."
"Perhaps she doesn't need to breathe," said Luna.
"Why wouldn't she need to breathe," said Moit.
"I've heard it takes more poison to kill a shape shifter," said Harriet, "but I thought that was odd, it seems like that would mean that they'd need to breathe and eat for all their bodies as well."
Moit shrugged, "It might depend on what kind of shape shifter they are. Something to ask Deit perhaps."
Tunde put her hand on the gunwale and pulled herself half out of the water before pausing to gasp for breath. Giving the lie to Luna's hypothetical. Dietrich swam up beside her and put a hand beside hers. "Curl up," he said.
She curled up so he could get an elbow hooked under her heels, "Up you go," he said, and lifted a little, while she stood up on his arm and stepped aboard, a second later she had a hand wrapped around the mast and was reaching back to lift him aboard.
It had become their normal routine several days before and by now they made it look easy. Harriet had to remind herself that Tunde wasn't very big, even if she regularly projected to horses that she could manhandle them if need be. And Deit actually massed much less than the 'aura of the dragon' he was usually wearing when he was in the water.
"Does Tunde ever climb aboard without help?" muttered Moit.
"I don't think so," said Harriet in a matching tone, "It's a good thing she swims so well. Otherwise I'd be worried about her falling overboard when no one is paying attention."
"She can make plenty of noise when she needs to," said Luna, "just not with her mouth."
It was true, the noise level on the boat was about three times louder with those two on board, not that it had been much above silent before.
Soon more sandwiches were made and Dietrich and Tunde found seats along the port side allowing Ann to make slightly better use of the wind.
"So what did we miss, I mean besides lunch?" said Dietrich.
"I learned what answering a question with 'mu' means," said Moit.
"The Greek letter or the Oriental meta-negation."
"The meta-negation," said Moit.
"Nice," said Dietrich.
"And I thanked Luna for saving my life last week when you were flying over the mountains and I almost jumped on a bird before I realised that if it dodged I wouldn't have a backup plan."
"OK, … but what did Luna do?"
"She insisted that we wear harnesses that afternoon, which kept me still long enough to come to my senses."
"Oh, that's right," said Dietrich, he turned to Luna, "Thank you, Luna."
"Da nada," said Luna.
Dietrich patted her ankle, it was the only thing within his reach.
"And then we wondered how strong Tunde is, because she … doesn't climb out by herself, but she'll do most everything else."
"Tunde's grip is a lot better than her lifting strength," said Dietrich, "If she's like me she'll get a lot stronger when she's thirteen or fourteen."
Ann cleared her throat, "probably twelve, actually, and probably not as dramatically stronger as you're thinking of. Female puberty doesn't work quite the same as male puberty."
"Oh, OK whatever," said Dietrich, and returned his attention to his food. And the conversation moved on to observations on the local geology.
A bit later he was overheard explaining to Tunde what 'mu' meant.
.
A couple days later they reached the Dirillo which was so wide and flat, (and their map showed it as one of the shortest of the big rivers) they had decided that they'd see if they could explore it with the boat they had. When they got to the mouth of the river and found how industrialised it actually looked they changed their minds after only half an hour. Geography so conducive to easy boat access that such could be predicted from a map as small as theirs, meant it had been easy boat access for thousands of years, and therefore it had been settled very very long ago. They turned around and resumed their eastward tack. Suddenly a lot more interested in getting into the promised 'wild mountain beauty' of the interior and a lot less concerned that the required hiking would be more work than sailing.
.
In spite of the less favourable wind they made the last quarter of their circumnavigation in less than the predicted time. Dietrich credited Ann and Luna's more aggressive steering. Ann credited a much more enthusiastic morning packing routine and all around increasing efficiency.
Back in Catania they returned the boat and tried to procure horses, gradually they figured out that 'proper' tourists rented brooms or busses instead and hired a local guide as well.
They went and found somewhere selling maps and asked about tour guides or just someone who could mark good places to land for picnics on their maps. He asked them questions like, "you know you can walk five minutes outside the bazaar get on a bus and ride all the way up, with stops at all the good places to take pictures?"
"But we don't want to just take pictures," said Dietrich, "we don't really want to be on a road, we'd … we'd prefer be riding Ural Dire mountain goats or something, I mean if we just wanted to go there and back in an hour or two we could just get back on the dragon we arrived on."
He stared at them for a while, "You then you don't really want to ride brooms either, you want to hike up on your own two feet."
"Now you're getting it," said Dietrich, "But perhaps we want to quickly pass all the city streets, and only walk when the streets and muggles are gone and there is just pretty wilderness."
"Ah," said the man, "You want Mr. Paterculo, I'll make you a portkey, tell him Martino sent you, if he's not home he's probably guiding another expedition already, just head uphill, he'll find you on his way back down. Watch out for snakes."
Martino also sold them a detailed topo map with areas highlighted where magic was permitted, since those valleys and crevasses were not visible from elsewhere.
He made the map into a portkey to Mr. Paterculo's place of business and back to his map shop, for use in cases of emergencies. Dietrich tipped him handsomely, which seemed to make him just a bit angry.
"It is a gift to help you be patient with all your customers, not just rich idiots like us."
"I did not call you that," said Martino, "It is nice to see young people who don't fear work. Even if you can't speak modern Italian."
"Thank you sir."
This time he waved them off with a smile.
They gathered round to all touch the map, "Where's Luna?"
"Constantine," said Moit, "She was right here."
"Hedwig, go find Luna and make sure she knows where we are."
Hedwig huffed, but adjusted his balance several times, then launched into the air.
While they were waiting Ann double checked their supplies and almost sent Moit off to collect another day's worth of cheese before she found where it had slipped behind the bread. "Alright," she said, "We're good, who wants to do the shrinking?"
Luna arrived a bit unsteadily, half from not being able to see, half from looking at what was in her hands instead of where she was going.
"Luna," said Moit, "What are you wearing?"
"Occhiali occoulte," said Luna, "Sorry, I was paying attention to them instead of when you'd be ready to leave."
"Does that mean, they … stop you from seeing?"
"They stop me from seeing the future part of people, instead I seem to see their magic. I need to read the instructions."
"Why do you have two pair?" said Moit.
"When I look through one pair at the other pair, I can see the magic of the second pair, I think I can figure out how they work and Dad can sell them, we ought to make them less ugly though."
"No doubt," said Moit, "Are you going to wear them on the hike?"
Luna took off her very odd glasses and looked around, "Alright," she said, "I'll wear them on a string around my neck, and put the other pair away for later."
"Good," said Ann, and slipped them in the last bag which was soon shrunk and pocketed, "Grab the map and let's get going."
.
Disappointingly, Mr. Paterculo was already on the mountain with another group, but his son Markus insisted on accompanying them until they could catch up to his father.
"So how old are you all?" he said after the first hour of listening to them talk in a mixture of Slovenian, English, and Latin.
"19, 17, 14, 13, 11, and 9," explained Ann indicating with pats or waves depending on distance.
"That's a good range," he said, "All related?"
"Those three are my cousins, she's my cousin-in-law, she's either a servant or a foster cousin, no one has bothered to let me know yet."
"Tunde is my servant, but training to be my bodyguard," said Dietrich.
"I thought you were English tourists coming from Greece, now, you try to make me think that you are Mafiosas."
Dietrich snorted, "No, but one of my tutors might have been. He thinks bodyguards are a very good idea."
"Ah," said Marcus, "so are you rich enough to hire mafiosas for tutors?"
"Let us say, we have relatives that are newly rich and insist on such things," said Dietrich, "Perhaps they don't really have enough to buy anything but tuition for all the grandchildren. And next summer we will all have to stay home and work."
"So how did you come to decide to complete the Wooing of the Mountain together?"
"What is that?"
"It is when you climb up to the highest three craters with your own strength, no magic, no technology, and many fewer switchbacks than usual. And return the same way, or climb down the far side and follow the Alcantara to the sea, or boat down it."
"No magic at all?" said Dietrich.
"Household magic or … camping magic is fine, but nothing to lift yourselves up but your own muscles."
"What about shape shifters?"
"They can use their own muscles in either shape, and their animal's magic, since many cannot help but do so. But that is not the same as letting muscles and feet that are not your own carry you."
"Hmm," said Dietrich, "That does sound like what we wish to do. But we've never heard the name."
"I heard it earlier," said Ann, "I didn't know what it meant, when we were still trying to rent a horse lorry in Catania."
"What did you want horses for?" said Marcus, sounding even more offended than the map seller had earlier.
"To come … about as far as your house or so."
"Lodge. Oh, yes, that would be alright," he relaxed.
"I take it that they cannot go up the mountain without the switchbacks?"
"There are places that they can't go up, and places that they can, Sicilian mountain ponies can climb much better than other horses, but that is not the point."
"Please explain, what is the point?" said Ann.
"It is said, that those who Woo the Mountain can apparate to wherever they wish on three quarters of the island, and all without touching each square meter with their feet as would otherwise be required, those who descend by way of the Alcantara, and also woo Salsu and Rocca Busambra similarly cannot die young, or cannot die in all of southern Italy, the legends vary. My father can explain better. Also Sicilian mountain ponies will not follow strangers off the road, it does not do to rent them out."
"Ah," said Moit, "Are the ponies magical?"
"Perhaps," said Marcus.
"Hmm."
"You're thinking to buy a horse, but only if it is magical?" said Marcus.
"Perhaps," said Moit.
"What can be magical about a horse beyond its strength and its intelligence?" said Marcus.
"It is said that some can fly."
"When they have an extra set of wings," said Marcus, "they are no longer horses, and merely using the wings that they have is not magic."
"Ah," said Moit, "I suppose I also wouldn't mind taking something home fr— Whoa!"
"Viper! stay back everyone," called Marcus, "but watch your feet there could be another."
"Gee, thanks," muttered Ann. As everyone glanced around their feet, then took a step farther away from Moit.
"Hello Mr. Snake," said Moit in English, "Are we going to go around each other like good neighbours, or must we fight like—" the snake leaped at his face and Moit's hands somehow not just interposed but caught the snake around the neck and middle. "Constantine!" he said, and began breathing very heavily.
"Quick throw it, before it wraps its tail around your hand," said Marcus. But it was already too late for that.
"Alright," said Moit with evident difficulty concentrating on using Latin rather than English, "what is their conservation status?"
"No one official will mind if you kill it," said Marcus, "But it is not part of the ritual to destroy what you find along the way."
"Harriet," said Moit, "Does it have children that it is caring for?"
Harriet made her way carefully over and began a conversation with the snake.
At which point Marcus took several steps away from them both, he seemed to be sweating harder now as well, "I thought you were English not Castilian?"
"Oh, we're from all over," said Ann, "But only Harriet can talk to snakes."
Dietrich cleared his throat but didn't speak.
"No," said Harriet, "It did reproduce last season, but those eggs are hatched and it … is no longer responsible for tending the young."
"Good," said Moit, and the thumb he'd been keeping on the snake's throat stabbed in and up, and he also brought his other hand around and pithed the skull.
Marcus sighed in mixed annoyance and relief.
Moit sat down right where he was and took out his knife and began to slit the skin from throat to tail.
"Must you do that here in the middle of the trail?" said Ann, "Some of us have a mountain to climb."
"I have my reasons," said Moit, "Damn, could someone sharpen this for me?"
Luna said something and sparks flew between the group to impact on the knife in Moit's hand.
"Thanks, much better," said Moit and a few strokes later he had the snake separated from its skin. "Are these at all edible?" said Moit.
"No!" said Marcus.
So most of the snake was tossed far over a nearby hill, just as Marcus had wished for earlier, but the skin was wrapped several times around Moit's left wrist.
"And I'd just been saying I wished have something to remember the mountain by."
Marcus was distinctly reticent for the better part of the next hour.
The others talked amongst themselves a bit, and tried to ask questions about the land and the rocks they were passing near, but his answers were minimal. Which didn't bother them much, as they'd become accustomed to exploring alone.
Finally at a lull he spoke, "Are any of the rest of you planning on killing souvenirs."
"Moit and I wouldn't mind hawks or falcons to keep Hedwig and Preckly company," said Harriet, "but I'd begun to think that Sicily doesn't really have the best selection … of non-endangered raptors anyway."
Marcus grunted.
"And I want a prairie jack rabbit," said Moit, "Something fast and powerful, perhaps also large, not like the little hares I see around here."
"You speak of the strength of the animal, not of the beauty of the fur you wish to take?" said Marcus, "If you want power, why aren't you speaking of bears or lions?"
"People panic when they see a bear," said Moit, "That is not what I had in mind. Perhaps some kind of small wildcat, preferably that is both hard to spot, but if it is seen, that people don't immediately realise it isn't tame."
Harriet cleared her throat, "And your striped viper thing?"
"Apparently kind of hard to spot," said Moit, "I'm OK with that."
"Your theory is a little flawed with camouflage needing to match its surroundings," said Dietrich, "but choosing medium creatures rather than ostentatiously large ones fits my idea of your not minding to be underestimated."
"Thanks," said Moit.
"But what is the point?" said Marcus.
"The point," said Moit, "Is feeding their magic to my magic, so that I have their powers after they die."
"So … the question earlier about shape shifters was not trivial?"
"No, it was not," said Dietrich.
"Are all of you shape shifters?"
"Just I and Moit currently, though perhaps Harriet, someday," said Dietrich.
Marcus grunted, and that was all for awhile.
.
Later as they hiked along the top of a ravine a bird startled them and Dietrich almost toppled over the edge, but Tunde saw what was happening and launched herself at him, bouncing hard against his back, flipping him back onto safe ground, but flinging herself out into space as a consequence. She kept her grace about her for most of the fall and landed mostly on her feet on the side of a pile of rock rubble. She slid to the bottom and lay still for a very long time. Harriet drew her wand and tried to cast diagnostic charms, but she couldn't tell what the results were from that distance.
"Tunde," said Dietrich, "Thank you, but … you knew I could get back out easier than you."
"I take it that a simple levitation charm would violate the spirit of the quest?" said Harriet.
"Yes," said Marcus, "But that … far be it from me to suggest that a ritual most people consider a mere superstition is more important than anyone's survival."
Dietrich leaned forward and looked down, and they realised that Tunde was sitting up and also was examining the cliff that separated them.
"It seems to have switchbacks," said Dietrich, "I'm coming down."
"How bad is she hurt," said Harriet.
"No broken bones, she thinks, possible sprains, definite scrapes and bruising. Almost certainly no concussion."
"The dragon can tell that?"
"Can tell no concussion and never lost consciousness, yes," said Dietrich, "The rest is her assessment."
"Alright," said Harriet and put her wand away.
Dietrich returned down the trail to find the switchback he thought he'd seen.
"Marcus, do you know this ravine?" said Ann, "Is there a better way down than what he's going toward?"
"I have never been down into this one," said Marcus, "the goats and deer go down to get water when they wish. From either side."
Soon a familiar looking lynx was padding down ledge after ledge until it reached a point that seemed within jumping distance of the bottom. Tunde had crawled to her feet and made her way back to the wall. Dietrich reappeared, "Tunde, I don't see anymore switchbacks."
They both looked again. "Do you want me to come down and try to lift you up, or do you want to hold on and try to climb out?"
She approached the wall and tried to scramble up to him, he changed form again, this time to the six horned goat. He crouched and offered her a hoof. She reached as far up his foreleg as she could and held on. He stood and she slipped. He crouched again and when she reached again he licked her hand, she froze and let him lick her whole hand. When he stopped she held on again. He stood and started trying to walk backward up the last switchback, dragging her up with him.
"Am I missing something?" said Moit.
"Her grip is magical," said Luna, "and works best wet, wet with water not blood or rock dust."
"That does not make sense," said Marcus, "blood is stickier than water."
"Human blood is stickier than water," said Luna, "but if her magic is blocked by salt water, blood should also interfere."
Moit spun to face her, "Did you see her fall?"
"No," sighed Luna looking up, "I was looking for bowtruckles." She was wearing her occulous occulte and looking even more spaced out than usual.
"No, I meant—" said Moit.
"Oh," said Luna, "Yeah, but there wasn't a lot of choices, one of them would fall, they'd climb back up, Harriet will tell their scrapes to heal fast, and we'll keep going."
"You couldn't just warn them to be more careful?"
"Wouldn't have helped," said Luna, "I warn people to save them trouble, not to say 'I told you so,' afterwards."
Moit blinked, "Oh, OK. Um, what are those like?"
Luna took off her glasses and passed them over. He tried them on and looked around.
"What do you see," said Ann.
"Nothing," said Moit.
Luna crossed her arms.
"No, I mean, I can't see anything that I couldn't see before, just the colours are all weird."
"Hmm," said Ann, "May I try?"
"Sure," Moit handed them over.
Ann put them on and looked around, first at the trees, then at the people, raising them and lowering them to make sure she was looking at who she thought she was, "Witch, witch, wizard, wizard, the dragon in goat's clothing is Dietrich, Tunde … Tunde is a seahorse? With something odd about her mane. Moit you're a squib with … extra colours?"
"Sounds right," said Moit.
"Luna, what does your toe ring do?"
"It's an emergency portkey," said Luna, "like Harriet's rings."
"Ah, OK."
"you … can't see all that all the time?" said Moit.
"No," said Ann, "is this what you see all the time?"
"I guess," said Moit, "except I can see regular light at the same time as magic. Those glasses make that very difficult."
"Yes, they do! Hmm, alright," said Ann and took them off and held them out, Luna took them and put them back on.
"So what do I look like?" said Ann.
"Regular witch, more powerful than the other two, not as powerful as your Dad or Great Aunt Liz," said Moit, "and your colouring gives away who your parents are a little bit."
"Interesting," said Ann.
"Moit!" called Dietrich, "could I borrow your knife?"
"Sure," said Moit and held it down but Dietrich didn't take it, only laid his finger against the blade until Tunde sighed and straightened up.
"Thanks," said Dietrich and turned back to Tunde, "Are you alright?"
She nodded and looked up at the rest.
"Up you come then," said Dietrich and they clambered over the lip of the gorge and back onto the path.
They moved on, looking for a wide spot in the path and eventually found a spot where the path crossed a rise and the ground angled away from the ravine. Dietrich called a halt and Harriet went over Tunde's scrapes and bruises with her wand and got most of them to heal or clear up significantly.
.
They climbed on until dusk then set up camp. Marcus tried to find a place where the soil wasn't too stony but their late start and all their adventures had not allowed them to make the time he'd expected. No one minded though because Harriet had an minor excavation spell she used to get the tent stakes in. When Marcus saw their tent he made a funny face, "Does that use expanded space or alternate space?"
"I don't know, expanded space I think," said Ann, "What difference does it make?"
"Alternate space is technically a form of portal, which counts as travel magic. If your tent uses it, while you are inside you are technically not on the mountain, possibly not even in this universe."
"Ah," said Ann, she looked over at the others, "does anyone care, or know?"
"Not really," said most of them.
"It's expanded space," said Moit, "I've seen alternate space trunks, you can't see what's inside them when they're closed, with the tent I can see everyone's magic, it just gets an odd perspective, like it's shrunk or far away."
"Good," said Marcus.
"How about you?" said Ann, "Where will you sleep? I think there's an extra room in our tent."
"I'll sleep out here if no one minds," he said, and he began setting up something that was more like a cot with a heavy cover over it. It had the advantage of not needing stakes driven in. It also appeared to have a permanent fireproofing charm over the whole thing.
.
They got on the trail again before full sunrise. Marcus seemed more than suitably impressed.
"We've been camping for a week and a half now," said Dietrich, "We're getting the hang of it."
"Where else did you camp?" said Marcus.
"Twice in the mountains then about nine nights all along the beach," said Dietrich, "We marked our best guesses where they were on our other map, if you want to see."
Marcus did want to see. So at the next break they found the old map and showed him.
"You circled the island in a boat?" said Marcus.
"Yes," said Dietrich, "only sail and swimming, no motor."
"You are wooing the whole island?" said Marcus.
"I guess," said Dietrich, "Though … we did use that portkey to get from Catania to your father's lodge."
"Yes," said Marcus, "You should have told Martino you were already avoiding portkeys… I don't know what he would have found for you to get to our lodge, maybe a canoe, there is a stream that is big enough to go most of the way. Is there … what did you ask him for?"
"What we asked everyone for," said Ann, "horses."
"Ah! That is why they didn't understand that you are trying to … I can't believe they … it is too bad."
"Don't worry about it," said Ann, "We came to explore the island not to do some fancy ritual the specially kosher way or something. We didn't even know there was such a ritual."
"Ah," said Marcus, "it relieves me that you do not mind, on the other hand, the fact that you were reinventing one of our own rituals … it is too bad that we did not notice soon enough to help. There is an old tale among the guides that someday a group of six species from six continents would woo the island together and find the path back to … Alexandria or Atlantis or somewhere old like that." He shrugged and waved his hand.
"And while a few of us are shape shifters," said Dietrich, "so we are of more than the average number of species, but we are all from Europe."
"True, true," said Marcus, "Still it is too bad, I would like to tell my children I was a guide to six children who wooed the whole island."
"I think that you can still say that," said Luna, "but only that we're doing it the best we could invent on our own, not the way you'd have recommended if we'd talked to you first."
"Yes, I suppose," said Marcus, "How did you get to your first two campsites, train and bus or just bus?"
"Flew on a dragon," said Dietrich.
"Where did you hire a dragon?" said Marcus, "How rich are you?"
"I inherited the dragon," said Dietrich.
"Um, What?"
Dietrich stood and walked a safe distance from the others before transforming.
For half a minute Marcus stared at him, and the makeshift tack he was still wearing. Then he got up and walked around, examining everything from a respectful distance. "So … even from the start you were exploring on your own power, though the others rode?"
Dietrich shifted back, "yes, I suppose."
"I really must speak with my father about all this," Marcus sighed.
"What is wrong?" said Dietrich.
"Nothing wrong. Just, he must tell Martino his mistake, and … there might ought to be a rule that specifically allows things like travel by the muscle power of mounts or familiars, if they are … easily identified as part of the party rather than merely hired."
"Which would also allow for things like helping to pull injured party members out of ravines?" said Ann.
"That is already allowed," said Marcus, "but only sort of. They say 'yes,' because no one wants to say 'no,' but they don't like it because it looks like riding. And now I will tell them, riding the guide is different than riding a familiar or a familiar riding," he pointed at Hedwig who, though she'd flown for long stretches of the trip was currently resting on Harriet's knee. "Or," he waved at Dietrich, "all his issues. But it is simple if we say, party members may carry other party members if they choose. There are easy ways to tell if a mount is a slave or a partner."
"Reigns," said Dietrich.
"Yes," said Marcus, "partnerships come in all degrees, some familiars … are equals, some are not, some are not equals, some are neither equals or non-equals because they are no longer separable. And then there are shape shifters."
"Yes," said Dietrich.
.
{End Chapter 1}
