Chapter Nine
The King's Decision
Ron took a deep breath, then followed Harmony into the Throne Room for the second time that day.
There was tension in the air. It seemed much more intimdating than it had this morning. It no longer had that warm, welcoming feel.
Harmony swept in with the gracew of the princess she was. She walked up to the king, curtsied, and looked her father in the eye.
"Father," she said, loudly, clearly, as though making sure everyone present understood every word she spoke. It was the same regal tone she had used when speaking to Drep. "I have some very important business to present to you."
"Proceed." The King was speaking in the same superior voice. It made him much less jolly and much more intimidating.
"Both you and I have looked this human over. He is not a Dark wizard, nor a Muggle. He knows, and is good friends with, Sirius Black, a well respected human citizen of our fair city. There is no reason he cannot be accepted, our people like him and he likes our people. There is no reason he cannot be accepted with the exception of the childish prejudice against his kind. He has humbly requested that the testing start as soon as possible." As Harmony spoke her royal superiority radiated from her like a visible aura. The king as well, without speaking a word, made it very clear that he could have anyone of them executed with a snap of his fingers.
"Let me speak to my advisers about it." He motioned his council to a chamber off the hall and slammed the door once they were all inside. Ron let out a long breath and nearly collapsed onto the red velvet rug. Harmony started giggling.
"Typical," She said between giggles. "He had to make it look like he was debating it. For the counil's sake he had to be 'royal'. Puh-lease, as if! At least he hound a way to let us let out the laughter."
"You mean...he's already decided?" Ron asked uneasily.
"Calm down, Ron!" She said. "He decided the moment he saw you." Now Ron laughed. But he quickly straightened up as the King reentered the room and sat back down on his intricatly carved wooden throne.
"I have made my decision." He made a point not to say 'we' have, 'our' decision. "The testing will commence tommorrow. Dismissed." Harmony cutsied again, then turned and marched to the door in a dignified manner, Ron trotting at her heels.
They came out of the Throne Room to find Sirius was still laughing hysterically.
"Honestly!" Harmony exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air. "We couln't have been that amusing!"
"No, no, no," Sirius gasped between chuckles. "Your humming bird friend, Twirk or whatever, showed up. He told me the most hilarious joke about a pig, a veela, and a basilisk, who all fo into a bar--"
"Wait a second," Ron interrupted loudly. "A HUMMING BIRD told you?!?!?!"
"Didn't you know?" Harmony asked in surprise. "One of our traits is that we can understand and communicate with animals."
"But...but..." Ron sputtered. "Sirius isn't one of you." Ron finished bluntly and somewhat rudely.
"Ron," Sirius expained. "After the acceptance you are given that prticular trait. You are especially fluent in a certian language. Mine is Dog, naturally."
"Yes," Harmony agreed, nodding as if she approved of this explanation. "My language is Snake."
"WHAT?!?!?!" Ron, who had been listining patiently, burst out. "SNAKE?!?! You mean, like, parseltoungue?"
"Pasil...er...Patsil...uh...Parselwho?" Harmony asked in confusion.
"That's what I said, too," Sirius told Ron. Then he turned to Harmony. "Being able to speak and understand Snake is a very rare, yet existant, human trait. To be one is to be a Parselmouth, and the langauge itself is Parlseltoungue. It's considered a Dark Art. The most infamous Parseltoungues were Salazar Slytherin himself," Here Harmony looked away, but neither Ron nor Sirius noticed. "Harry's a Parseltoungue too." Sirius added as an afterthought.
"Harry Potter? He's not Dark!"
"I know," Sirius replied. "But when Voldemort tried to kill Harry, that trait was transferred between them." Ron sighed.
"How do I become friends with all these snake people?" he asked more to himself than to either of his companions.
"You might be able to choose what language you specialize in." Said Sirius thoughtfully. " You could choose Snake."
"One question; Why in the hell would I choose Snake?"
"Well, I thought that should be obvious. When you go back to Hogwarts you and Harry will be able to speak a language no one else could understand."
"Did you get to choose your language?"
"No," Harmony answered. "We are born with whatever, and Sirius could already speak Dog technically, being an animagus of a Grim and all. You probably won't get to choose, anyway. You get whatever suits you, just like the your animagus and patronus forms. For us they're all the same." Harmony seemed to be considering something, but then she snapped back to reality. "Anyway, I think we should prepare you as much as possible for the tests." She continued in a business like tone.
"How?" Ron asked blankly.
"Just read everything you can in my library." She replied in a matter-of-fact tone, as if explaining to a 3 year old. Ron went slightly pink.
"I'm not a big reader--"
"Don't worry, Ron," Said Sirius, swallowing another outburst of laughter at this response. "Hardly any of it is in English. Most of it is in Snake, actually."
"To my room!" Harmony shouted, pointing down a hall. She marched down that hallway, with Sirius and Ron in tow. She stopped outside the entrance of what would've been the astronamy classroom at the bottom of the South Tower.
Ron remembered this room as large and circular, with a door oppisite of the one he was about to walk through. This door led to a spiral staircase, and as you can imagine, the staircase leading from the beginging to the top of the tallest tower was pretty long. The stairs opened up into a large balcony, where the students actually observed the stars.
"Hisssssssss," Harmony whispered to the door. It swung open.
"What did you say?" Ron asked.
"Sparkly pencil," said Harmony, giggling at her ridiculus password. "Are you coming in or what?"
Ron stepped in and blinked a couple times to make sure his eyes were working properly. It was the same room all right, but it was astronomically diffrent.
In the center of it was a large lavender canopy bed. The walls were lined with exquisitly tailored gowns and robes. Off to the side was what appeared to be a giant glass display case holding dozens of crowns of varying size and fanciness. There was a large mirror hanging above a desk that was clattered with books such as One Hundred Hairstyles that Only Need a Wand! and Redden Your Lips, Color Your Eyes, Give Your Face the Perfect Glow!.
"So this is a princess's bedroom?" Ron asked in awe. Harmony and Sirius suddenly developed very bad coughs that sounded strangely like chuckles, but Ron chose to ignore it. "Anyway," He continued. "Where's this library of yours?"
"Over here," She said, heading for the door that undoubtedly led to the stairway that, in turn, led to the top of the North Tower. Ron and Sirius followed her, then she opened the door. It was almost the same; just one minor difference. The walls were lined floor to ceiling with books.
Harmony started climbing while Ron stared at the books. As many books as he could read she said? Impossible! These books were huge and abundant. He went cautiously to the first book and took it out, flipping through it. He couldn't even identify the language, let alone get something usefull out of it. He gave Harmony a quizzical look.
"Zebra," Harmony explained. "They're in alphabetical order of language, A at the top, apparently. Then by author's last name."
"Oh yeah...you can read animal language..." Ron said, giving the impression that he was very dense. Harmony rolled her eyes. She didn't seem to notice that Ron was still looking at the books rather apprehensively. Sirius, however, did.
"Don't worry, hardly any of it is in English," He said, grinning. He seemed to be doing a lot of that Ron noticed. He made a mental note to tell Harry. "Most of it is in Snake, actually." Sirius continued. Ron shivered, and started up the staircase after taking a look at Harmony's impatiently tapping foot.
When they were nearly to the top Harmony stopped abruptly. She gestured to a shelf of about ten books.
"There you have it." She said. "My English books." Ron looked at her as if she were nuts.
"That's it?"
"Well, English is the main language spoken, but almost everything written is in...something else." Harmony replied thoughtfully. "I never really thought about it." She confessed, shrugging. After looking at the titles Ron chose six books and followed Harmony to the top.
They suddenly stopped spiraling, (which was probably a good thing as Sirius was looking rather green) and they came up to the balcony. This too was extremely different from the observing balcony Ron remembered. A thin glass dome surrounded the balcony it, protecting it from the elements, but not at all harming the view. Luxurious looking silk covered benches with pillows and such. They looked like the pictures out of a Muggle book he had seen Hermione reading once; Egyption knights, or Arabian Solders, or something like that.
"This is where I read." Harmony said. "Look, I have to go to talk to Dad, kay? See ya later!" She waved her wand and left a plate of sandwiches and a drink before she and Sirius left.
Ron sighed and picked up the first book, this was not going easy.
"Ron, RON! Wake up!" Harmony shook her red headed companoin until he woke up. The two of them, plus Sirius, ate a filling breakfast. Then Ron was taken outside to the two gaurds who would be escorting him to wherever these so called 'tests' would be taking place.
Ron looked back to see Harmony, Sirius, and King Shinra waving goodbye. After a weak wave, he turned and faced forward, gulping. He had never been good at facing the unknown....
The King's Decision
Ron took a deep breath, then followed Harmony into the Throne Room for the second time that day.
There was tension in the air. It seemed much more intimdating than it had this morning. It no longer had that warm, welcoming feel.
Harmony swept in with the gracew of the princess she was. She walked up to the king, curtsied, and looked her father in the eye.
"Father," she said, loudly, clearly, as though making sure everyone present understood every word she spoke. It was the same regal tone she had used when speaking to Drep. "I have some very important business to present to you."
"Proceed." The King was speaking in the same superior voice. It made him much less jolly and much more intimidating.
"Both you and I have looked this human over. He is not a Dark wizard, nor a Muggle. He knows, and is good friends with, Sirius Black, a well respected human citizen of our fair city. There is no reason he cannot be accepted, our people like him and he likes our people. There is no reason he cannot be accepted with the exception of the childish prejudice against his kind. He has humbly requested that the testing start as soon as possible." As Harmony spoke her royal superiority radiated from her like a visible aura. The king as well, without speaking a word, made it very clear that he could have anyone of them executed with a snap of his fingers.
"Let me speak to my advisers about it." He motioned his council to a chamber off the hall and slammed the door once they were all inside. Ron let out a long breath and nearly collapsed onto the red velvet rug. Harmony started giggling.
"Typical," She said between giggles. "He had to make it look like he was debating it. For the counil's sake he had to be 'royal'. Puh-lease, as if! At least he hound a way to let us let out the laughter."
"You mean...he's already decided?" Ron asked uneasily.
"Calm down, Ron!" She said. "He decided the moment he saw you." Now Ron laughed. But he quickly straightened up as the King reentered the room and sat back down on his intricatly carved wooden throne.
"I have made my decision." He made a point not to say 'we' have, 'our' decision. "The testing will commence tommorrow. Dismissed." Harmony cutsied again, then turned and marched to the door in a dignified manner, Ron trotting at her heels.
They came out of the Throne Room to find Sirius was still laughing hysterically.
"Honestly!" Harmony exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air. "We couln't have been that amusing!"
"No, no, no," Sirius gasped between chuckles. "Your humming bird friend, Twirk or whatever, showed up. He told me the most hilarious joke about a pig, a veela, and a basilisk, who all fo into a bar--"
"Wait a second," Ron interrupted loudly. "A HUMMING BIRD told you?!?!?!"
"Didn't you know?" Harmony asked in surprise. "One of our traits is that we can understand and communicate with animals."
"But...but..." Ron sputtered. "Sirius isn't one of you." Ron finished bluntly and somewhat rudely.
"Ron," Sirius expained. "After the acceptance you are given that prticular trait. You are especially fluent in a certian language. Mine is Dog, naturally."
"Yes," Harmony agreed, nodding as if she approved of this explanation. "My language is Snake."
"WHAT?!?!?!" Ron, who had been listining patiently, burst out. "SNAKE?!?! You mean, like, parseltoungue?"
"Pasil...er...Patsil...uh...Parselwho?" Harmony asked in confusion.
"That's what I said, too," Sirius told Ron. Then he turned to Harmony. "Being able to speak and understand Snake is a very rare, yet existant, human trait. To be one is to be a Parselmouth, and the langauge itself is Parlseltoungue. It's considered a Dark Art. The most infamous Parseltoungues were Salazar Slytherin himself," Here Harmony looked away, but neither Ron nor Sirius noticed. "Harry's a Parseltoungue too." Sirius added as an afterthought.
"Harry Potter? He's not Dark!"
"I know," Sirius replied. "But when Voldemort tried to kill Harry, that trait was transferred between them." Ron sighed.
"How do I become friends with all these snake people?" he asked more to himself than to either of his companions.
"You might be able to choose what language you specialize in." Said Sirius thoughtfully. " You could choose Snake."
"One question; Why in the hell would I choose Snake?"
"Well, I thought that should be obvious. When you go back to Hogwarts you and Harry will be able to speak a language no one else could understand."
"Did you get to choose your language?"
"No," Harmony answered. "We are born with whatever, and Sirius could already speak Dog technically, being an animagus of a Grim and all. You probably won't get to choose, anyway. You get whatever suits you, just like the your animagus and patronus forms. For us they're all the same." Harmony seemed to be considering something, but then she snapped back to reality. "Anyway, I think we should prepare you as much as possible for the tests." She continued in a business like tone.
"How?" Ron asked blankly.
"Just read everything you can in my library." She replied in a matter-of-fact tone, as if explaining to a 3 year old. Ron went slightly pink.
"I'm not a big reader--"
"Don't worry, Ron," Said Sirius, swallowing another outburst of laughter at this response. "Hardly any of it is in English. Most of it is in Snake, actually."
"To my room!" Harmony shouted, pointing down a hall. She marched down that hallway, with Sirius and Ron in tow. She stopped outside the entrance of what would've been the astronamy classroom at the bottom of the South Tower.
Ron remembered this room as large and circular, with a door oppisite of the one he was about to walk through. This door led to a spiral staircase, and as you can imagine, the staircase leading from the beginging to the top of the tallest tower was pretty long. The stairs opened up into a large balcony, where the students actually observed the stars.
"Hisssssssss," Harmony whispered to the door. It swung open.
"What did you say?" Ron asked.
"Sparkly pencil," said Harmony, giggling at her ridiculus password. "Are you coming in or what?"
Ron stepped in and blinked a couple times to make sure his eyes were working properly. It was the same room all right, but it was astronomically diffrent.
In the center of it was a large lavender canopy bed. The walls were lined with exquisitly tailored gowns and robes. Off to the side was what appeared to be a giant glass display case holding dozens of crowns of varying size and fanciness. There was a large mirror hanging above a desk that was clattered with books such as One Hundred Hairstyles that Only Need a Wand! and Redden Your Lips, Color Your Eyes, Give Your Face the Perfect Glow!.
"So this is a princess's bedroom?" Ron asked in awe. Harmony and Sirius suddenly developed very bad coughs that sounded strangely like chuckles, but Ron chose to ignore it. "Anyway," He continued. "Where's this library of yours?"
"Over here," She said, heading for the door that undoubtedly led to the stairway that, in turn, led to the top of the North Tower. Ron and Sirius followed her, then she opened the door. It was almost the same; just one minor difference. The walls were lined floor to ceiling with books.
Harmony started climbing while Ron stared at the books. As many books as he could read she said? Impossible! These books were huge and abundant. He went cautiously to the first book and took it out, flipping through it. He couldn't even identify the language, let alone get something usefull out of it. He gave Harmony a quizzical look.
"Zebra," Harmony explained. "They're in alphabetical order of language, A at the top, apparently. Then by author's last name."
"Oh yeah...you can read animal language..." Ron said, giving the impression that he was very dense. Harmony rolled her eyes. She didn't seem to notice that Ron was still looking at the books rather apprehensively. Sirius, however, did.
"Don't worry, hardly any of it is in English," He said, grinning. He seemed to be doing a lot of that Ron noticed. He made a mental note to tell Harry. "Most of it is in Snake, actually." Sirius continued. Ron shivered, and started up the staircase after taking a look at Harmony's impatiently tapping foot.
When they were nearly to the top Harmony stopped abruptly. She gestured to a shelf of about ten books.
"There you have it." She said. "My English books." Ron looked at her as if she were nuts.
"That's it?"
"Well, English is the main language spoken, but almost everything written is in...something else." Harmony replied thoughtfully. "I never really thought about it." She confessed, shrugging. After looking at the titles Ron chose six books and followed Harmony to the top.
They suddenly stopped spiraling, (which was probably a good thing as Sirius was looking rather green) and they came up to the balcony. This too was extremely different from the observing balcony Ron remembered. A thin glass dome surrounded the balcony it, protecting it from the elements, but not at all harming the view. Luxurious looking silk covered benches with pillows and such. They looked like the pictures out of a Muggle book he had seen Hermione reading once; Egyption knights, or Arabian Solders, or something like that.
"This is where I read." Harmony said. "Look, I have to go to talk to Dad, kay? See ya later!" She waved her wand and left a plate of sandwiches and a drink before she and Sirius left.
Ron sighed and picked up the first book, this was not going easy.
"Ron, RON! Wake up!" Harmony shook her red headed companoin until he woke up. The two of them, plus Sirius, ate a filling breakfast. Then Ron was taken outside to the two gaurds who would be escorting him to wherever these so called 'tests' would be taking place.
Ron looked back to see Harmony, Sirius, and King Shinra waving goodbye. After a weak wave, he turned and faced forward, gulping. He had never been good at facing the unknown....