Unspoken
by Teddylonglong
Please refer to chapter 1 for my disclaimer and warnings. Thank you.
Croaker reached out to caress Lucy's fur, and the canine readily allowed herself to be petted. He then began to speak in a soft voice.
"Many of our colleagues have become Unspeakables as a method to hide from the world. There are many cases, in which they are believed dead even by their own families. I believe that Felina and Whisker are examples."
Harry nodded. He knew that.
"Then, there are others, such as for example Archie and all the creatures we employ, whom I have specifically invited believing that they would be an asset to the office. When a person comes to me stating that they wish to become an Unspeakable, they'll have to train with Devil first. He is the one to assess if they have the potential to develop to a… let me call it worthy Unspeakable."
Harry inwardly groaned at the prospect of being sent away.
"While Devil only trained you for about two hours and not two weeks as in a usual adult's case, he already spoke very highly of you. Lorenzo did the same and even reserved an hour of your time per week."
Harry's expression changed to a smile of hope that did not falter, when Croaker continued. "There has only been one Mini Unspeakable once before. Similar to your case, I had a family connection and got to join the Unspeakables at the age of ten. During the year, before I entered Hogwarts as a student, I studied fulltime with everyone here in the office, who was able and willing to teach me. I did not have the possibilities, which you have now. The various types of creatures we have now were not present at that time. Another advantage you have is your age. By the time you enter Hogwarts, you'll already have a broad knowledge and will efficiently be able to assist our researchers or even do your own research."
Harry listened with interest, occasionally nodding his head in understanding.
"Why I am telling you this now is that I am 81 now and wish to retire at the age of 100 at the latest to be able to openly spend some time with my wife, children and grandchildren. However, I can only retire with good conscience if I'll have a worthy successor. Frankly speaking, I carefully hope that you will be willing and able to become said person. This is still many years into the future, I just want you to keep it at the back of your mind, and I shall ask you about it on the day after you finish Hogwarts."
"Thank you, sir," Harry replied in confusion, as his five-year-old mind, which was untrained to say the least, had not been able to follow each of the explanations and fully comprehend the meaning.
"Please keep this to yourself."
"I will, sir."
"Thank you, Paws. Now, I don't know how comfortable you feel travelling through the fireplace, but I believe that it might be dangerous for a five-year-old to travel just by yourself. If you pronounce something incorrectly, you will possibly end at a completely different place. Therefore, I have made a Portkey for you, which will take you home if you tell it 'Paws' home' and back to the team room of Team 13 if you tell it 'Team 13'." He held out a silver necklace with the pendant of a dog in a form similar to Lucy. "If you wear them, necklace and pendant will be invisible to anyone but you and your doggy. Just wear it, and if you might happen to be in some kind of danger, you can use it at any time. Now, travel home and get some rest, and I shall see you in the morning. Tomorrow, you will have training with Devil and then with Nix, our Yeti."
Harry profusely thanked the older wizard, before he carefully raised Lucy's left front paw to touch the pendant, before he touched it himself as well and uttered, "Paws' home."
HP
As he was uncertain how much he was allowed to tell Regina, Harry inwardly sighed in relief, when Rebecca joined them shortly after he returned home.
"May I practise taking Lucy's ball?" Harry cast the witch a questioning look, holding out the ball, which had mysteriously remained in his robe pocket.
Rebecca nodded in understanding. "Please give Artemis and me some time to put up some wards around your house, so that the ministry won't detect magic in a muggle area. He's now at Hogwarts for a staff meeting, but he'll come over later on, and then we'll see to it. From tomorrow onwards, you may practise magic here."
"You seem to have enjoyed yourself." Regina smiled.
"It was absolutely brilliant." Harry grinned, broadly. "I love it."
HP
Immediately after breakfast the following morning, Harry said good-bye to Regina and activated his Portkey, too eager to even hear her warning that it was still very early. To his surprise, the team room was still deserted. Therefore, he pulled up his hood and headed to Devil's training's room, hoping that the older wizard would already be there.
"My, aren't you early, Paws?"
Harry looked around seeing Devil and Croaker having breakfast together at a table at the far end of the room. He hesitantly walked over to them, wondering if he should come back later on, when Devil motioned him to take a seat. He tapped his right hand against the table in front of him, causing a cup of hot chocolate to appear on the table next to a bowl with dog treats.
"Thank you, sir." Harry happily eyed the small marshmallows that decorated his cup and carefully handed Lucy one of the treats – much to the canine's delight.
"Do you remember what we practised yesterday?" Devil cast him a strict look.
"Yes sir, but I couldn't practise at home, because Felina and Whisker had to put up wards first."
"That's fine. We'll just practise some more this morning. Afterwards, I heard that you're going to have a lesson with Nix."
'Is that the Yeti?' Harry wondered, when Croaker confirmed it.
"Enjoy your time with Nix, as he tends to vanish from the spot, whenever I try to talk with him." Croaker rolled his eyes in apparent annoyance.
"I suppose that he's going to teach Paws how to do that." Devil looked from Croaker to Harry in apparent amusement.
The Head Unspeakable returned a glare. "I hope not. I'll appreciate being able to talk to Paws in the future."
Harry chuckled. "You will, sir." 'I hope he'll teach me how to vanish from the spot. That seems interesting,' he thought and from that time onwards impatiently waited for his lesson with Nix to commence.
HP
Nix looked like a light blue teddy bear with fluffy fur. At first, he was friendly, when he picked him up at the team room; however, Harry felt irritated, when the yeti simply vanished from the spot, as soon as they had entered a training room.
'Where is he now?' Harry wondered in irritation, when he recalled what Devil and Croaker had told him about the yeti.
All of a sudden, he was back. "My speciality is time sliding." He cast Harry a challenging look. "It is not easy, but I heard that your magic is strong, and you need real strong magic besides clear intent and a lot of practice. To time slide, you need to imagine yourself just a second in the future or past then add another second to proceed if necessary, which will prevent people from seeing you in their own time."
During the hour before lunch, Nix held a long monologue about how to achieve time sliding, and Harry did his best to listen intensely, resolving to do his best and manage to vanish from the spot just like Nix. 'I wonder if it would be possible to turn into a yeti instead of an animal like Felina's and Whisker's cat forms. That would be a cool Animagus form,' he thought, when he headed to the canteen after arranging with Nix to have his next lesson the following Tuesday.
HP
"How was your morning, little one?"
Returning Archie's smile, Harry turned to Felina. "Do you think it's possible to have a yeti as an Animagus form?"
"I only know one thing," Felina replied, grinning, while Whisker chuckled. "If anyone manages such a feat, it'll be you."
"There is nothing that you can't try." Archie seemed pensive. "However, the word Animagus implies that it should be the form of an animal. Still, it won't hurt you to try."
tbc...?
Thank you so much for the kind reviews for the last chapter. Are you still interested? Please tell me what you think and what you would like to see in this story. My muse appreciates it.