Chapter 04

• Languages •

"Master Potter!" Randy, the house-elf yelled, bustling after him. "Master Potter, you is not supposed to be here. Come with Randy."

Harry turned, looked at the elf and then giggled. "Laa!"

Sophos, the eldest house-elf of the manor appeared in a doorway as Harry dashed out another. "Randy," he said quietly, but with a voice that stopped Randy from moving. "What did I tell you about the language that you are suppose to speak around him?"

Randy dropped his head. He knew that Harry was picking up the elven language better than he was picking up English, but it wasn't Randy's fault. "Randy is sorry," he said quietly. "Randy does not know how to speak the stories of mother in English. He can only speak these in our tongue. Randy is trying to speak the masters language as much as he can."

It had been two months since the house-elves had first had Harry put into their hands. Most of them were still getting used to the task. Sophos spoke with every elf at least once a week, checking what duties they were performing and the interaction between the elves and Harry. So far they had got used to the idea of him hobbling around the house trying to get into things. It went against their nature, but they had to actually tell him 'no' according to Sophos.

'He is our charge, we must raise him properly, even if it goes against our nature,' Sophos explained to all of the elves. He had to repeat himself constantly so that the elves would actually do as he asked, but they were coming around, slowly.

"Go ahead," Sophos said, seeing that randy was getting skittish, he was rarely out of sight from Master Potter for a minute or two, because when Harry was alone he tended to break things.

Following behind discreetly, Sophos watched as Randy finally found Master Potter crawling through the cabinets that held potion ingredients. Several potions were scattered on the floor. Luckily enough the tubes had unbreakable charms on them and they were only scattered, not broken. "You is not suppose to do that Master Potter!" the little elf berated the young master with as much force as he could muster. Sophos smiled from the shadows.

"Laa, laa, laa!" Harry said loudly.

"You must speak the normal tongue," Randy said, with even more courage. "You must say it as 'No'."

"No, no, no!" Harry repeated in English. Sophos frowned, he was happy that the master was picking up more than one language, but the fact that the master was saying no to everything wasn't good. It was going to be difficult for the other elves to enforce rules with the master telling them no so often.

Quietly Sophos turned, leaving the little elf to Harry. The master was in good hands, even if they were young ones.

A quick thought and Sophos was standing in the midst of dozens of paintings. Several of them were asleep, but many were just not present. Likely, they were seeing to business elsewhere in the world likely, or just staying out of the frame. "Masters?" Sophos asked, loud, but only enough to wake them. He had been coming here often to ask about raising the young master. He wanted to make sure the child was raised correctly and the only way to do that was consult other humans. Because of the Master Godfather, Sirius Black, he was not allowed to allow the child to be seen by other humans so this was the best chance he had.

Many of the portraits woke. A few appeared from the side of the portrait and returned to their seat or bed. Still, some stayed empty. When Sophos was sure that they'd woken and ready to talk he bowed slightly, showing his respect before speaking. "The young master is doing well physically. He is walking easily, crawling around. We is putting the charms on the stairs as you is suggesting. He is going up them all the time now."

Several of the portraits nodded and Sophos continued. "We is learning much about children, we is learning as much as we can. Some of the older elves is going to other places and getting books from other masters. They is of course being discreet about it, but we is learning much."

More nods of approval. But a few of them looked slightly agitated. "You have gone into other houses to request books about children?" one of the oldest paintings asked.

The painting, of Lord Tancred Potter, one of the founders of the Potter name, was always very careful about what he said. When he spoke he commanded respect and now the other portraits looked to him. "You said you were being discreet. Exactly how discreet where they?"

Sophos bowed his head again. He wondered about this, he was sure that the other portraits would have let it slip, but Tancred was always listening to what wasn't said. "The elves is getting these books through elves they know. No human is knowing about us getting the books."

At least, none that he knew of. He had been careful how he worded his comments, and as he paused before speaking he thought about exactly how to say what needed to be said. Tancred however cut him off. "And what if those elves are asked by their masters about the disappearance of said books?"

"Then their masters is knowing that elves has been taking the books."

"And what was the directive that was given to you by Harry's godfather?"

"We is to keep him safe. We is not to tell anyone about him. We is to make sure no one takes the manor."

"Right!" Tancred said. "And what happens if someone finds out that Harry's here?"

Sophos bowed his head even lower. He knew he was going to have to punish himself for letting this happen. They were going to have to find another way to procure information about children. "Then they is going to know about the young master and come looking for him," Sophos replied quietly.

"That's exactly right! Now, I want you to make sure that this doesn't happen again. That boy is to be taken care of by you elves since his godfather has not returned yet. We've gone over the basics."

Feeling regret that he had to continue speaking Sophos shuffled to the right. "The master sir, he is learning our tongue better than his own," he reported sadly.

This time none of the portraits grumbled, or even said anything. Sophos looked up to see how angry they were. He was right, a few of them were angry, but most of them were shocked. He feared that anger was forthcoming and he dipped his head once more, awaiting the punishment they would sentence him to. He stood stock still for several minutes but heard nothing. When he looked up again all of the portraits had emptied themselves, except the portrait at the far end of the room, Tancred's portrait.

It seemed that all of them had congregated to his portrait. They were talking amongst themselves, whispering in hushed tones so Sophos couldn't hear what was going on. He didn't move, he knew he had to wait for them to convene, because whatever they were talking about involved what he'd said. Maybe they were discussing his punishment, or what to do about this new information.

"Sophos." Tancred spoke, calling him forward. Sophos shuffled to the base of the portrait, keeping his head bowed the entire time. "You say that the boys native language is going to be elvish?"

Slowly Sophos nodded.

"I understand there are some elves here that do not speak English."

Startled that the portrait had picked up such things Sophos looked up at the portrait, nodding. "The mistress is letting many elves come here when they is being disgraced. They is not all coming from the nearby wizards. Some is coming from far off."

"Outrageous!" one of the people shouted. "Taking in disgraced elves. As if the Potter name could be soiled any more!"

"Shut it," Tancred growled. The man, a short black haired man, closed his mouth. Several of the other figures looked as if they wanted to say something, but would not speak up against Tancred.

Tancred looked to Sophos again. "How often do these elves interact with Harry in their native language?"

Sophos shook his head. "They is never speaking with him sir, we is trying to make sure that the master is learning English best."

"Make sure he hears all the languages."

Sophos gaped. He wasn't sure how to respond. "But the master…"

"Is to learn every language he can. If elvish is to be his main language then it will be his main language. I want him to have a proper grasp of the English language as well, so he will come in here once a week to have lessons. We will do our best to teach him other languages, though few of us have a grasp on other languages."

Several of the portraits nodded. Sophos still wasn't sure what to make of it. "The master is needing to hear all the languages he can?"

"Yes, I want you to insure he hears every language he can. It will be best for his future abilities to understand languages."

• Updated 2004.11.05 •

I know it's not much. For everyone that's reviewed and asked questions (I haven't checked in a while) I'll try to answer them next chapter. I'm currently in the process of moving, so I'm not getting much writing done. And for anyone that remembers the portraits explanation from JK I'm just going to say that my portraits will be slightly different. Somewhere in between what she said and ghosts. But, a lot more towards the ghost end. I'll explain it later. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this.