Disclaimer: I own nothing. Well actually, that's not true. I own lots of things, just not Harry Potter. J.K Rowling does. So please don't sue me. Thanks.
Chapter 5: Toren's letter and gifts from Rowan
Toren woke one fine summer morning, to the sound of angry squawking. He turned over and pulled the blankets over his head to try to muffle the sound. A flurry of kinetic activity rolled over the small of his back. Startled and aggravated, he pushed up on his forearms and glared around angrily. He saw a snarl of blue and brown feathers tumble into a corner of the den. He recognized the blue half as Skye, so he got up to see what was going on.
He pulled Skye off of a rather distraught looking owl that was holding a yellow parchment. Toren stared at the letter for a minute, before grabbing it, dropping the owl, and running through the den yelling at the top of his lugs.
"T GOT IT! I GOT IT!" Skye flew around in circles, squealing happily for him.
Selene just grunted, grabbing Nemo and putting him over her head. When that didn't help to make the noise go away, she sat up and watched through bleary vision as her brother ran around and made a fool of himself. Nemo just curled down into her blanket, completely unperturbed by the noise. She glared down at her sleeping friend in annoyance, then got up to see what all the yelling was about.
"Got what?" she yawned out, rubbing at her eyes. Toren turned and shoved something in her face. She pulled it away and looked down at it. It took a minute for her sleep fogged brain to register what it was. Once it did, she was running along right beside Toren. And yelling just as loud.
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After waking their mother and telling her the good news, they went to find Rowan.
After showing him they discovered that Selene's list of fifth year school supplies were in the letter along with Toren's. Rowan said that he needed to go get something and to wait for him at home. So they went, giddy as could be, and talking about all the adventures they would have living with humans. They spent most of the morning talking, and looking at their lists, wondering about some of the things on them, like (What do I need a wand for?) and (do you think I can bring Skye? It doesn't say anything about falcons on here? And what about Nemo?) They decided that if their friends weren't aloud they'd just have to sneak them in. Later that evening their mother came in and asked them to come outside.
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"Congratulations!"
The crowd consisted of dragons, gryffins, and centaurs. All friends of the family, who had been a part of their lives for as long as Selene or Toren could remember. They looked on with wide eyes for a minute before walking over to Rowan. Who smiled at them when he saw them approaching.
"I have something for each of you." He said, pulling a long thinsomething, wrapped in fur from behind his back. Presenting it to Toren, who took it carefully, and after a last look at Rowan, unwrapped it. It was a staff. Made of polished slivery wood, wrapped at the top in some type of animal hide. Red and gold feathers dangled from it, catching the light and making them glow.
Toren stared at it in awe then began to move with it as he had been taught. As he swung in around in an arch it slipped from his fingers and hit a boulder near the entrance of the den. That shattered. Toren and everyone else, with the exception of Rowan, gawked.
"That staff is special. It's made of wood from the ash tree, wrapped at the top in graphorn hide. It's practically indestructible. The feathers you see are phoenix feathers. That staff will also serve in place of your wand, although I detest the things at least this is better than having one of those useless things." Rowan explained. Toren picked up his staff from were he dropped it, and walked back over the stand next to his sister.
"Thanks a lot Rowan, this is great!" Toren said, beaming up at his teacher. Rowan smiled back, then turned to Selene, who was practically bouncing in her excitement. He took her hand and turned it over, placing something in it. She looked at her fisted hand, then opened it. Inside was a ring. Made of the same silvery wood as Toren's staff, but with a silverish blue stone, almost the color of her eye's, in the center. She turned it this way and that looking at it. Then up at Rowan.
"Put it on." He said motioning to the ring. Selene shrugged then slipped it onto her right ring finger. Nemo squawked and fell off of his perch on her shoulder, Toren gasped, stumbling backwards and Rowan just chuckled. Selene looked around in confusion.
"What?" she asked, looking at Toren. Who was staring at her as if she'd grown another head.
"Your ears! And your tail! Their gone!" Nemo wailed. It seemed that his mouth still worked, even if his brain was numb from shock.
"Huh?" Selene felt her head. No, her ears were still there, what was Nemo talking about? Rowan chuckled again upon seeing her confused expression.
"That ring has an illusion spell placed on it. It makes you look human. But it is only an illusion, you still have your ears and tail, so be careful about bumping into people." Rowan said. Selene nodded then spent five minutes taking on and pulling off her ring. Just to watch her brother and Nemo's reactions.
From the dragons they got a pouch full of treasure, it was magic so it would shrink down to fit in their pocket. It was to help " pay for your schooling" they said. Selene and Toren hugged them all thanking them for their thoughtfulness, since they hadn't even thought about how they were gonna pay for all their school supplies.
Their mother gave them each a cloak made from Tebo hide. To "Help protect them" she said. Toren's was a dark blue, and Selene's was purple. They were pretty soft and warm. They both put them on and went to join in the feast.
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Later the next day Selene, Toren, Nemo and Skye stood in front of their mother and Rowan.
"Well this is it. Were gonna miss you." Selene said looking close to tears.
"I'll send Skye here all the time with letters, don't worry mom." Toren said, trying to look brave and confident. Their Gryffin mother burst into tears, grabbing them both in a huge hug.
"My baby's are all grown up and leaving the nest." She wailed, while Toren and Selene squirmed in her grip.
"There, there. It'll be alright." Rowan comforted, patting her on the back. She released the children and turned to grab him. Rowan suddenly looked rather panicked.
Selene looked thoughtful for a minute then asked.
"How are we gonna get to this "Leaky Cauldron" anyway?" Toren brightened suddenly.
"I know!" he grabbed ahold of Selene, waved to their mother and Rowan then slammed his staff against the ground.
"Leaky Cauldron!" he shouted. Rowan snapped his head up to see them disappear into a black hole that had appeared under their feet.
"No, wait!" he yelled, but he was too late, they were already gone. He sighed.
"What's wrong? They're not going to be hurt, are they?" the gryffin asked in growing panic. Rowan shook his head.
"No, no. It's just very draining to travel that great a distance. He'll learn." He said, then turned back to the gryffin.
"Would you like some tea? I feel like having a soothing cup right about now." And with that they walked back to the den, talking about times passed.
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Selene and Toren appeared from a hole in the ceiling of The Leaky Cauldron, after pulling themselves out of the bundle of arms and legs they had created on the floor, and dusting off they looked around. Then Toren started to wobble. Selene looked worriedly at him.
"What's wrong?" she asked. Toren just blinked at her sleepily then fainted into her arms.
"Toren? Wake up? What's wrong?" She was getting panicky. The bartender came over and examined the boy.
"It's alright miss, he's just exhausted. You can use the room at the top of the stairs and on the left, I don't think he's gonna be goin' anywhere today. My name's Tom, by the way." He said. Selene smiled at him in gratitude.
"I'm Selene and this is Toren, Nemo and Skye." She said, pointing to each in turn. Then she pulled out the pouch that the dragons had given them, she gave Tom a handful of gold and jewels. He stared at them with wide eyes and a gapping mouth. When he didn't say anything for a few minutes Selene began to look scared, maybe she hadn't gotten this "Money "thing right.
"Um. Is that enough? Or do you need more?" she asked. Tom snapped his mouth shut, and looked at her.
"No. This is more than enough, this'll even pay for your meals. So come down later and we'll fix you up somethin special. 'Kay?" Tom said beaming. Selene nodded, then grabbed Toren. Skye perched on her shoulder and stared worriedly down at his friend, while Nemo sat on Selene's head and look around.
She climbed the stairs and entered the room that Tom had given them to use and laid Toren on the bed. She brushed his wild hair off of his face then covered him with a light blanket. She walked over and sat at the window gazing out upon their new surroundings, and wondering what new surprises the next day would bring.
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Authors note: Hey everybody I hope you liked it. Next chapter has Harry in it! Finally. Oh, by the way, I fixed my review thing so now anonymous reviews can be given. So please review and let me know what ya think. Now, a thank-you to the people who did review.
To Blueberrie: You like me! You really like me! (sniff) give me a moment, I'm just so overcome with happiness. Thank you Blueberrie! Keep reviewing!
To ER: Thanks for reviewing! They get to Hogwarts in chapter eight. But keep reading. Lots of good stuff happens before then.