Unspoken
by Teddylonglong
Please refer to chapter 1 for my disclaimer and warnings. Thank you.
After breakfast the following morning, Rebecca arrived to take Harry with her.
"Harry, are you sure that you want to accompany me to the Unspeakables' Office?" She cast him a sharp look. "You can see if you like it and, if not, return home at any time. I just want you to know in advance that training with the Unspeakables is really hard. Moreover, if you decide to become an Unspeakable, no one but your immediate family may know about it. Even the Unspeakables from other teams are not aware of our real identity. They only know our Unspeakable names. Croaker, the head Unspeakable, is the only person who knows everyone."
Harry nodded in understanding, recalling that Rebecca and Artemis had promised that he could take Lucy with him.
"Are you ready to leave?"
Harry jumped from his chair, his eyes shining with excitement. "Yes please. Lucy, are you coming?"
To his relief, the canine obeyed immediately, making him recall a conversation between the adults if Lucy would need a leash before going to Diagon Alley the other day. Regina had asked about the leash; however, Rebecca had informed her that in spite of her young age, Lucy was already trained to a certain degree and was a very well-behaved doggy. Harry had not understood the details, just that there was a difference between magical and muggle dogs and that Lucy would not need a leash, especially as she was bonded to him. 'Does the bond make her stay close to me in any case?' Harry wondered, before he became distracted, when Rebecca reached out for his hand and Lucy's paw. An instant later, the kitchen of his new home vanished from the sight.
HP
When the world stopped spinning and he could make out his surroundings, he found himself in a small office, where Artemis and another wizard were talking animatedly. A dog of about Lucy's size seemed to be asleep on the other wizard's feet; however, he jumped up and dashed over to them to eagerly greet Lucy before turning to Rebecca and him.
"Good morning, Archie and Whisker. Archie, these are Harry and Lucy, our new Mini Unspeakables in spe."
"Good morning, Felina and Paws. How delightful to have someone so young join our team."
"Paws?" Rebecca chuckled. "That might be a good Unspeakable name for you, Harry. What do you think?"
"I like it," Harry replied, smiling, still marvelling at what Archie had said. 'He doesn't look exactly old,' he thought in surprise.
Artemis chuckled. "Archie, I believe that you might have confused Paws, considering that you don't look much older than us."
Harry gave the older wizard a small nod.
"Ah, not everything is what it seems, child. I am 602 years old."
Harry merely stared at the older wizard, wide-eyed.
"My real name is Nicholas, by the way. Nicholas Flamel. I am a master of Alchemy. You probably haven't heard of it, considering what Felina and Whisker told me about your upbringing with muggles who despise magic."
Harry shook his head. "No, sir."
"In the fine art of Alchemy, we use several kinds of materials to magically make things. We can, for example, make a proper wand for you, or a broomstick."
Harry's eyes widened at the idea.
"One of my inventions is the so-called Philosopher's Stone. It is a red stone, and using it, I can brew the elixir of life. My wife Perenelle and I have been taking a dose once a month for almost six hundred years, which is why we're still alive without looking old."
"Wow." Harry stared at the old wizard in amazement.
"I shall teach you if you're interested and the others let me."
"Yes please."
"Before we will take you to Croaker, let me shortly explain what else we do in Team 13. Just like Archie, we research several topics, but our current main interest lies on two issues, one being the invention of a time travel method and the other being a possibility of enhancing a Squib's magic to make him or her a wizard or witch…"
'Oh, it would be cool if they could give Regina magic,' Harry thought in excitement.
"… Before you'll be able to work in our team, you must undergo some training. As you're so young, you'll probably not only have training with Devil, our trainer, but also with all kinds of species, such as goblins, elves, dwarves, giants as well as researchers like Archie. Of course, it will depend on where your interests lie."
Archie let out a small snort. "I've made the experience that the more you learn about one specific subject, the more you're going to like it."
'I can't believe it,' Harry thought in happiness. 'So many fields of study and everyone is willing to teach me. That's totally cool.'
"Anyway," Rebecca continued, "we will ask Croaker to get you for our team, which means that you may discuss anything with us, such as what you learned, what interests you, what you'd like to study next and so on. You will also study with us and be able to help with our research."
"Thank you," Harry replied, smiling happily.
"Our team has one more member, Ninja," Whisker explained. "He's a goblin, and right now, he's working at Gringotts. He will only join us in the early evening."
Felina nodded. "Archie and I are the only team members, who are working here full-time."
HP
Croaker was as friendly as the members of Team 13. Harry noticed in amazement, however, that his office seemed to be chaotic, as it was cramped with piles of parchments from the floor to the ceiling. The head Unspeakable merely moved two piles of parchments from two chairs for Felina and him to be able to sit down. The only empty part on the walls, which were not covered by shelves, were the parts above the door and the windows, and they accommodated several kinds of decorations from what Harry thought had to be various materials and construction methods, probably from different cultures.
Apparently following Harry's gaze to the decorations, Croaker informed him that the Unspeakables employed all kinds of creatures, not only humans. "Are you interested in learning all kinds of things?"
Harry nodded eagerly. "Yes sir."
Felina let out a scoff. "Harry would be willing to learn anything, as so far, his relatives haven't taught anything but cooking and house cleaning with muggle methods."
"Is that so?" Croaker cast Harry an intense look, and Harry felt as if the head Unspeakable was able to look right through him.
"Yes sir."
"Very well then, Felina informed me that we have two weeks, before the primary school is going to commence. I suggest that during this time, you will have training with Devil in the mornings. Don't worry, Felina, I'll tell him to go soft on Paws, considering his age. He will teach him easy magic, Charms and whatever. During the hour before lunch, I would like all the creatures to take turns teaching him. I will make appointments for him for eleven o'clock and tell everyone to fetch him from your team room. I trust that you'll show Paws around. After lunch, Team 13 is free to have him for the rest of the afternoon, or let me say as long as Harry wants. A whole day might be too long for a five-year-old."
HP
The following two weeks were the most interesting that Harry had ever experienced.
'Training with Devil is hard' was Harry's first impression on this Monday morning. Unaware of the fact that Harry was in the possession of a children's wand, the trainer taught him 'easy magic' as he called it using his right hand. The thought 'Perhaps, he even knows but doesn't care,' crossed Harry's mind; however, noticing that he could simply use his hand to cast the Lumos spell, he realised that he did not care either.
Afterwards, Devil instructed him to summon Lucy's ball from her, and Harry noticed soon that it was much more difficult. It took him a long time, before he finally managed to make her ball float over to him, only for her to fetch it back, so that he could try again. Somehow, playing with Lucy that way, Harry and Lucy both enjoyed themselves greatly.
However, while he could now easily summon her ball, making a dog treat float over to where she was sitting, staring at the teat with growing impatience, was simply impossible.
"Not all kinds of magic are easy. You must practise every waking minute." With that, Devil dismissed him with the instruction to return to his team room.
'He seems very grumpy, but I still like him, and the treat was nice,' Lucy informed him on their way back through the corridor.
'Sorry, you were only able to get the one he gave you,' Harry replied, feeling truly sorry for his familiar. 'I'll really need to practise.'
'You'll manage soon,' Lucy thought back, giving him a gentle nudge.
HP
To Harry's relief, Felina and Whisker were waiting for them, when they entered the team room.
"You may take off your hood now. So, what did Devil teach you?" Felina looked at him with apparent interest.
"Easy magic. He made me summon Lucy's ball from her, but I couldn't get the treat to float over to her." Harry let out a sigh of deep disappointment.
A collective gasp made him look at his colleagues in surprise.
"The summoning charm is easy magic?" Whisker's voice was laced with disbelief. "I don't remember in which Hogwarts year it's taught, but for a five-year-old it's everything but easy."
Felina shook her head in apparent annoyance. "Harry, please don't be frustrated. That was quite advanced magic."
HP
Harry was just about to relax with Lucy fast asleep on his feet, when there was a knock at the door.
"Quickly, pull your hood up."
He instinctively followed Felina's instruction, when the door opened and a strange creature stepped into the room. It looked like a horse, but the upper part of the body was that of a human.
"Mini Unspeakable Paws, I am Lorenzo. I am a centaur, and I'm supposed to be your teacher for the next hour. Please follow me."
While the centaur's voice was not unfriendly, Harry somehow found his appearance a little scary. Nevertheless, seeing Felina and Whisker nod in silent reassurance, he followed Lorenzo outside with Lucy sleepily trotting along. Harry smiled in amusement at his familiar, knowing that she always needed a few minutes to properly wake up. 'At least, she's always with me,' he thought, feeling very much reassured by the canine's presence. He looked around in surprise, when Lorenzo led him into what seemed to be a park with many large trees. 'Or is it a forest? Are we still in the Unspeakables' office?' he wondered, however, knew better than to voice his question.
"This is one of the Unspeakables' training rooms. It is merely charmed to be like one of the places, which the centaurs appreciate." He pointed to a lower branch of a tree. "Please make yourself comfortable."
Harry complied, feeling very much reassured, when Lucy jumped up to sit on the branch next to him. While she usually relaxed on his feet, his feet were just a little too short to touch the ground from where he was sitting.
"I heard from Devil that he already tired you out. Don't worry. He is a slave driver, even for a human. Therefore, I will not teach you any spells today. Instead, I will teach you theory."
"Thank you, sir." Harry smiled at the centaur's thoughtfulness, as he gently caressed Lucy's ears to calm himself.
"We centaurs study the planets and their constellations. One could say that it is one way of divination. A more efficient approach than the one which the humans use." Apparently realising that Harry did not comprehend what he was talking about, he reworded it. "Predicting the future. From the constellation of Jupiter and Mars at the time of your birth in combination with the distance from the centre of the space between them to where you were born, we centaurs know that you're a very special child."
Harry stared at the centaur in disbelief, when he continued, "You're the prophesized child, who is said to be able to unite all magical beings large and small in the future."
"I'm nothing special," Harry protested in a small voice, staring at the centaur in shock.
"Ah, but you are. Humans always believe that they know everything better, but many magical creatures have knowledge exceeding the humans' by far. Unfortunately, many humans, especially those in leading positions, such as Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, head of the Wizengamot and the International Federation of Wizards, are too stubborn for their own good. It needs someone like you to make an impact on the magical world with the goal of efficiently changing the earth a better place to live."
Harry stared at the centaur with a combination of doubt and fear, when he added, "Believe me, you are that child. Now, for today, I will teach you about numbers."
During the remaining time before lunchbreak, Harry had his first Math class, and he realised not only that Lorenzo was a wonderful teacher, but also that he loved numbers and the logic behind them. 'It makes totally sense,' he thought, happy at what he learned from the centaur.
Too soon for his liking, Lorenzo ended their class. "Now, we must leave, or you'll be late to join your colleagues for lunch. Was what I taught you interesting for you?"
"Yes sir, very much so," Harry replied in excitement.
"Do you wish me to continue teaching you?"
"Yes please."
Lorenzo nodded in apparent understanding. "I shall see you on Monday next week, and when you're going to start your primary school in September, I shall see you every Monday after school. Feel free to bring your muggle friend. She will be able to support you, even if only in theory for the time being."
'My muggle friend?' Harry thought in bewilderment. 'To muggles, I am nothing more than a freak.' He knew better than to voice his thoughts to the teacher and merely nodded his understanding.
"As we're running late, I will take you right to the Unspeakables' canteen. Your doggy should be able to find your team mates for you."
"Thank you, sir," Harry replied, when the centaur released him at the entrance to a large room.
"I'll see you next Monday. Take care, Mini Unspeakable Paws."
'Too bad that I'll have to wait for a whole week. His class was really interesting,' he thought in slight disappointment, before he looked around in surprise. While the room appeared to be large, it seemed to be divided into smaller compartments, which were separately hidden from the view by invisible barriers. There was only one area, into which he was able to look, and he recognised his teammates surrounding a large table, only to realise that Lucy had already ran ahead and was just greeting everyone around the table by licking their hands.
HP
"Hi Harry, how was your morning?"
Harry cast Rebecca a huge smile. "It was absolutely brilliant. Thank you so much for bringing me here."
"You're welcome, little one. Now, we believe that it was enough for the first day, and after lunch, Croaker would like to speak with you once more."
"All right." Harry nodded in understanding, the thought 'What if he deems me too stupid to study with the Unspeakables?' crossing his mind.
"Harry?" Artemis cast him a questioning look. "A Knut for your thoughts?"
"A what? Sorry, sir?"
"Oh, sorry, Harry," the older wizard apologized, before he explained everything about money in the magical world.
HP
After an enjoyable meal with his three colleagues, Harry and Lucy made their way to the Head Unspeakable's office for the second time that day. His colleagues accompanied him but went their way, when they reached the door to Croaker's office.
"Hello Paws, come in." Croaker's voice was as gentle as it had been in the morning. He motioned him to the seat, which he had already occupied earlier. "Now Paws, tell me, how was your day?"
Harry smiled. "It was absolutely brilliant, sir. Please allow me to continue studying with the Unspeakables."
"That's good, and yes, of course you may study as much as you like. In fact, there is something that I'd like to speak about with you in private." 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."