Harry Potter and the Sealed Gateway
Chapter 5: Borlig Borkkleburg
Standing before Harry was a very curious person (Was it a person, even?) indeed. He was about three feet tall, and had long pointy fingers. His head, adorned with curly black hair, was very large for his small body, but his eyes very narrow and he had pointy ears and a pointy nose. Harry was quite sure that this must be a young goblin. He had only seen goblins a few times in his life: at Hogsmeade, Gringotts, and the Quidditch World Cup, but he was quite sure that the person before him was, indeed, one.
"Grah-ahg-deg-oo-kla-juck," he said, baring his sharp, yellowing teeth. Harry took this for a grin.
"Er…thanks…"
"I…gam…Borlig Borkkleburg," said the Goblin. He made a strange clicking noise with his throat in between each word, making a 'g' sound that appeared at the front of each word. Harry remembered Professor Flitwick saying that he was here to welcome the Borkkleburgs.
"Erm…Hello, Borlig. I'm Harry."
"Heggo, Garry," said Borlig.
"Erm…do you live here…for the summer?" asked Harry. He quite wished that Hermione was here. She could surely think of something more interesting to ask Borlig.
"I glive here gwith my parents," Borlig replied, "dey glive by deh gwoods."
"Oh! So those are your cottages out there then?"
"Gyes. You gare gin deh gyear six?"
"Yes…I'm a sixth year."
"Me galso."
"Great…eh…so…you'll be going to school here then?"
"Gyes. Gand I gam gliving ghere gin deh Gryffindorgroom. Deh ghat said so."
"The sorting hat?"
"Gyes, deh gold ghat."
"Well, I'm going to go to bed…"
"Me galso."
"Right."
Borlig followed Harry up to the fifth year boys' dormitory. Harry noticed that along with the five beds that were there normally, a sixth miniscule one had been added.
"Gnight."
"Good night."
Harry lay awake thinking about Borlig. Of course, Dumbledore had picked a password that Borlig would find easy to pronounce--the Fat Lady was unlikely to accept his broken English. But something else bothered Harry…there were nearly twenty cottages on the edge of the forest. Surely there were more goblins coming, and they would probably have children with them, to send to Hogwarts. Borlig seemed like a very nice goblin, but he had heard goblins could be very nasty. Harry wished he could see his friends, Hermione and Ron, and tell them both what had happened to Harry lately. Harry drifted to sleep thinking of the veil…
"Gmorning, Garry!"
Harry looked up groggily and saw Borlig's head inches away from his. He gasped, inadvertently.
"G-Good morning, Borlig."
"Gwant to go get breakfat?"
"Sure."
So Harry threw on some clothes and followed Borlig out of the common room, and they began to descend the stairs to the great hall. Harry wondered if there was even a set breakfast hour during the summer. Over the Christmas holidays, one just went down to breakfast at his leisure.
"Gyou glike deh school, Garry?"
"Yes…it's a great school. Loads of fun during the school year."
"Goblins glike gme don't gusually go to school gwith gwizards, Garry," Borlig told him as they approached the Great Hall.
"But why not?" Harry had just realized that there were probably just as many goblins as there were wizards and why they shouldn't go to the same school.
"Gwe garen't gallowed to gown gwands," Borlig said sadly, "gwe gused gour gown gmagic gwithout gwands. Gbut gnow Dumbledore gis gletting gus ghave gour gown gwands."
"Why aren't you allowed to have wands?" asked Harry angrily. This notion didn't seem fair to him at all: Goblins were much more powerful than many of the witches and wizards he knew.
Borlig looked at him sadly. "Because some gwizards…tink dat we gizn't people ."
Harry's teeth clenched. He knew perfectly well that some wizards and witches hated "half-breeds," and hated Goblins and Centaurs for that very reason. He though of Professor Umbridge, last year's Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and realized just how unjust her ways of governance were.
"That isn't true, Borlig," said Harry resolutely, "you can probably do loads of stuff I can't."
"I gizn't neither, Garry," Borlig said blushing.
They reached the Great Hall and found the staff table had places set for them. Dumbledore was seated in his usual chair, Hagrid was seated at his right, and Mr. Filch, the caretaker was seated at the end, with his cat, Mrs. Norris.
"Good morning, Harry! I see you've met Borlig!" cried Professor Dumbledore, "Have a seat, we're having huevos rancheros."
Harry didn't bother to ask what "huevos rancheros" was; it smelled delicious.
"Mornin', 'Arry!"
"Morning, Hagrid," replied Harry.
"I was wonderin' if you wouldn' want to come an 'ave lunch at my cottage today."
"Sure."
Harry finished his huevos rancheros, and turned to Dumbledore.
"Eh, Professor Dumbledore…where are the rest of the professors?"
It was Filch who answered . "At home. You don't expect us to stay here and keep an eye on you students trespassin' on the corridors. But I do, coz I'm needed."
Dumbledore smiled. "Harry, you might not have realized it, but your teachers have families to go home to over the holidays."
Harry let this thought sink in. He had assumed that none of his teachers were married, and he now realized how foolish this was. Just then, the doors to the Great Hall opened, and handful of Goblins came in the doors. Borlig ran over to them and began chatting in Gobbledegook. They all spoke so quickly that Harry couldn't make out a single syllable they said. Now, Dumbledore began to speak with them as well.
"Burglik, Crumlock…graabulickaplunk."
Harry turned to Hagrid with a very puzzled and exasperated expression on his face. Hagrid seemed to share his feelings, "Ready ter leave, then, 'Arry?"
"Yes, let's," replied Harry.
Harry and Hagrid excused themselves, said goodbye to the Borkkleburgs, Dumbledore, and Filch (who growled some that sounded strangely like "don't come back,") and left the grounds to head for Hagrid's cabin. Hagrid and Harry talked about their summers (Hagrid had apparently been to Beauxbatons Academy visiting the equally enormous Madame Maxime), and about the following year's Quidditch season.
"So when are yah going to 'ave tryouts?"
"I dunno…we need two chasers, though," said Harry, "and I hope our beaters have improved, or we might need to replace them, too…"
"I reckon Ginny Weasley would be a grand chaser," mused Hagrid.
"Yeah, but I guess it'll be up to the captain…" Harry said pensively.
"Well, that'll be you, won' it?" asked Hagrid, as though he had come to this conclusion a long time ago.
Harry thought. Katie Bell was a year older then him, wouldn't she be the captain? But they'd both been on the team for 5 years. And Katie had never wanted to be the captain. Would he be the captain this year? It was an interesting question.
"Yep, I reckon with a bit of trainin', Gryffindor'll get that cup for the third year runnin'. And tha's a huge accomplishment."
Harry was suddenly interrupted from his Quidditch thoughts by another question. He studied Hagrid's face. There weren't nearly as many scratches, bruises, and missing teeth as there were the last time Harry had seen him.
"Hagrid, how's Grawp?" To Harry's great surprise, Hagrid smiled.
"I reckon he's round here somewhere."
"Does Dumbledore know about him, Hagrid?"
"Prolly, does. Dumbledore knows a lot more than he lets on."
"He hasn't been fighting you, then?"
"Nah, he's past tha' stage. Would yeh like tah visit him?"
"No…it's fine, really…" Harry remembered his last visit with Grawp, and was greatly relieved to be interrupted by a clamor of hooves approaching them.
"Harry Potter," said Firenze, a white-blonde centaur, "We meet again." There were two other centaurs with him. "Hagrid." Firenze nodded.
"Mornin' Firenze," said Hagrid.
"Harry Potter, allow me to introduce you to Qurian"--a tall, orange centaur stepped forward and bowed-- "and Pharene"--a light gray centaur, clearly a woman, stepped forward and bowed.
"Qurian and Pharene have kindly agreed to join me in assisting Professor Dumbledore. They have, however, been doing this without the knowledge of the herd. Now then, we must leave you, Harry Potter and Hagrid. We have work to attend to."
"Righ' then. Bye, Firenze--Qurian--Pharene."
"Bye," repeated Harry, and the three centaurs galloped off around the castle.
"Strange blokes, centaurs."
Harry and Hagrid rounded the corner and Hagrid's hut came insight. And next to it, Harry noticed, was a person even bigger than Hagrid, wearing an animal skin coat and baring large yellow teeth the size of saucers. Harry froze. He quite wondered if Grawp had been set free on purpose.
" Lo, Grawp!"
"HAGGER!"
"Remember my friend 'Arry!"
"ARRY! WHERE HERMY?" asked Grawp.
Harry felt very uncomfortable speaking to the giant. He spoke loudly, unsure if Grawp even understood what he was saying. "I dunno, Grawp…she's…"
"Right here, Grawp," said Hermione Granger, stepping out of Hagrid's hut, with Harry's other best friend, Ron Weasley.
Chapter 5: Borlig Borkkleburg
Standing before Harry was a very curious person (Was it a person, even?) indeed. He was about three feet tall, and had long pointy fingers. His head, adorned with curly black hair, was very large for his small body, but his eyes very narrow and he had pointy ears and a pointy nose. Harry was quite sure that this must be a young goblin. He had only seen goblins a few times in his life: at Hogsmeade, Gringotts, and the Quidditch World Cup, but he was quite sure that the person before him was, indeed, one.
"Grah-ahg-deg-oo-kla-juck," he said, baring his sharp, yellowing teeth. Harry took this for a grin.
"Er…thanks…"
"I…gam…Borlig Borkkleburg," said the Goblin. He made a strange clicking noise with his throat in between each word, making a 'g' sound that appeared at the front of each word. Harry remembered Professor Flitwick saying that he was here to welcome the Borkkleburgs.
"Erm…Hello, Borlig. I'm Harry."
"Heggo, Garry," said Borlig.
"Erm…do you live here…for the summer?" asked Harry. He quite wished that Hermione was here. She could surely think of something more interesting to ask Borlig.
"I glive here gwith my parents," Borlig replied, "dey glive by deh gwoods."
"Oh! So those are your cottages out there then?"
"Gyes. You gare gin deh gyear six?"
"Yes…I'm a sixth year."
"Me galso."
"Great…eh…so…you'll be going to school here then?"
"Gyes. Gand I gam gliving ghere gin deh Gryffindorgroom. Deh ghat said so."
"The sorting hat?"
"Gyes, deh gold ghat."
"Well, I'm going to go to bed…"
"Me galso."
"Right."
Borlig followed Harry up to the fifth year boys' dormitory. Harry noticed that along with the five beds that were there normally, a sixth miniscule one had been added.
"Gnight."
"Good night."
Harry lay awake thinking about Borlig. Of course, Dumbledore had picked a password that Borlig would find easy to pronounce--the Fat Lady was unlikely to accept his broken English. But something else bothered Harry…there were nearly twenty cottages on the edge of the forest. Surely there were more goblins coming, and they would probably have children with them, to send to Hogwarts. Borlig seemed like a very nice goblin, but he had heard goblins could be very nasty. Harry wished he could see his friends, Hermione and Ron, and tell them both what had happened to Harry lately. Harry drifted to sleep thinking of the veil…
"Gmorning, Garry!"
Harry looked up groggily and saw Borlig's head inches away from his. He gasped, inadvertently.
"G-Good morning, Borlig."
"Gwant to go get breakfat?"
"Sure."
So Harry threw on some clothes and followed Borlig out of the common room, and they began to descend the stairs to the great hall. Harry wondered if there was even a set breakfast hour during the summer. Over the Christmas holidays, one just went down to breakfast at his leisure.
"Gyou glike deh school, Garry?"
"Yes…it's a great school. Loads of fun during the school year."
"Goblins glike gme don't gusually go to school gwith gwizards, Garry," Borlig told him as they approached the Great Hall.
"But why not?" Harry had just realized that there were probably just as many goblins as there were wizards and why they shouldn't go to the same school.
"Gwe garen't gallowed to gown gwands," Borlig said sadly, "gwe gused gour gown gmagic gwithout gwands. Gbut gnow Dumbledore gis gletting gus ghave gour gown gwands."
"Why aren't you allowed to have wands?" asked Harry angrily. This notion didn't seem fair to him at all: Goblins were much more powerful than many of the witches and wizards he knew.
Borlig looked at him sadly. "Because some gwizards…tink dat we gizn't people ."
Harry's teeth clenched. He knew perfectly well that some wizards and witches hated "half-breeds," and hated Goblins and Centaurs for that very reason. He though of Professor Umbridge, last year's Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and realized just how unjust her ways of governance were.
"That isn't true, Borlig," said Harry resolutely, "you can probably do loads of stuff I can't."
"I gizn't neither, Garry," Borlig said blushing.
They reached the Great Hall and found the staff table had places set for them. Dumbledore was seated in his usual chair, Hagrid was seated at his right, and Mr. Filch, the caretaker was seated at the end, with his cat, Mrs. Norris.
"Good morning, Harry! I see you've met Borlig!" cried Professor Dumbledore, "Have a seat, we're having huevos rancheros."
Harry didn't bother to ask what "huevos rancheros" was; it smelled delicious.
"Mornin', 'Arry!"
"Morning, Hagrid," replied Harry.
"I was wonderin' if you wouldn' want to come an 'ave lunch at my cottage today."
"Sure."
Harry finished his huevos rancheros, and turned to Dumbledore.
"Eh, Professor Dumbledore…where are the rest of the professors?"
It was Filch who answered . "At home. You don't expect us to stay here and keep an eye on you students trespassin' on the corridors. But I do, coz I'm needed."
Dumbledore smiled. "Harry, you might not have realized it, but your teachers have families to go home to over the holidays."
Harry let this thought sink in. He had assumed that none of his teachers were married, and he now realized how foolish this was. Just then, the doors to the Great Hall opened, and handful of Goblins came in the doors. Borlig ran over to them and began chatting in Gobbledegook. They all spoke so quickly that Harry couldn't make out a single syllable they said. Now, Dumbledore began to speak with them as well.
"Burglik, Crumlock…graabulickaplunk."
Harry turned to Hagrid with a very puzzled and exasperated expression on his face. Hagrid seemed to share his feelings, "Ready ter leave, then, 'Arry?"
"Yes, let's," replied Harry.
Harry and Hagrid excused themselves, said goodbye to the Borkkleburgs, Dumbledore, and Filch (who growled some that sounded strangely like "don't come back,") and left the grounds to head for Hagrid's cabin. Hagrid and Harry talked about their summers (Hagrid had apparently been to Beauxbatons Academy visiting the equally enormous Madame Maxime), and about the following year's Quidditch season.
"So when are yah going to 'ave tryouts?"
"I dunno…we need two chasers, though," said Harry, "and I hope our beaters have improved, or we might need to replace them, too…"
"I reckon Ginny Weasley would be a grand chaser," mused Hagrid.
"Yeah, but I guess it'll be up to the captain…" Harry said pensively.
"Well, that'll be you, won' it?" asked Hagrid, as though he had come to this conclusion a long time ago.
Harry thought. Katie Bell was a year older then him, wouldn't she be the captain? But they'd both been on the team for 5 years. And Katie had never wanted to be the captain. Would he be the captain this year? It was an interesting question.
"Yep, I reckon with a bit of trainin', Gryffindor'll get that cup for the third year runnin'. And tha's a huge accomplishment."
Harry was suddenly interrupted from his Quidditch thoughts by another question. He studied Hagrid's face. There weren't nearly as many scratches, bruises, and missing teeth as there were the last time Harry had seen him.
"Hagrid, how's Grawp?" To Harry's great surprise, Hagrid smiled.
"I reckon he's round here somewhere."
"Does Dumbledore know about him, Hagrid?"
"Prolly, does. Dumbledore knows a lot more than he lets on."
"He hasn't been fighting you, then?"
"Nah, he's past tha' stage. Would yeh like tah visit him?"
"No…it's fine, really…" Harry remembered his last visit with Grawp, and was greatly relieved to be interrupted by a clamor of hooves approaching them.
"Harry Potter," said Firenze, a white-blonde centaur, "We meet again." There were two other centaurs with him. "Hagrid." Firenze nodded.
"Mornin' Firenze," said Hagrid.
"Harry Potter, allow me to introduce you to Qurian"--a tall, orange centaur stepped forward and bowed-- "and Pharene"--a light gray centaur, clearly a woman, stepped forward and bowed.
"Qurian and Pharene have kindly agreed to join me in assisting Professor Dumbledore. They have, however, been doing this without the knowledge of the herd. Now then, we must leave you, Harry Potter and Hagrid. We have work to attend to."
"Righ' then. Bye, Firenze--Qurian--Pharene."
"Bye," repeated Harry, and the three centaurs galloped off around the castle.
"Strange blokes, centaurs."
Harry and Hagrid rounded the corner and Hagrid's hut came insight. And next to it, Harry noticed, was a person even bigger than Hagrid, wearing an animal skin coat and baring large yellow teeth the size of saucers. Harry froze. He quite wondered if Grawp had been set free on purpose.
" Lo, Grawp!"
"HAGGER!"
"Remember my friend 'Arry!"
"ARRY! WHERE HERMY?" asked Grawp.
Harry felt very uncomfortable speaking to the giant. He spoke loudly, unsure if Grawp even understood what he was saying. "I dunno, Grawp…she's…"
"Right here, Grawp," said Hermione Granger, stepping out of Hagrid's hut, with Harry's other best friend, Ron Weasley.