The Years of Adventure: Atlantis
Chapter Five – Watcher, Greeter, Lady and Speaker
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Full stop. End of story.
Author's note: Here's an extra long chapter to make up for the short chapter I dumped on you yesterday. Enjoy!
Harry sailed around in the middle of the Atlantic, and around, and around and around. He could have sworn that this was where he magic had been pulling him, the tugging had stopped right where he was now. So he dropped the sails and sat on the deck, pouting. His boat rolled with the swells as the hours passed, and he still pouted, he was sure that his magic had been pulling him in the direction of Atlantis (or so he really hoped) because of when the tug started – during the story of the boy who wanted to find it. Harry didn't want to leave yet, so he decided to try and capture the beauty of the swells on paper. When he finished, he banished his sketchbook and pencils to his desk and went back to just watching them, and pouting.
It took him a few minutes to notice it, but the water around the boat started swirling with brilliant greens, blue and silvers, the three colours mixed with the natural ocean blue/green and raced around in a pattern so complex that Harry couldn't understand it. Half of him was screaming Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! And the other half was singing, I found it, I found it, I found it!
Soon, the water started flowing up around the boat and formed a sort of bubble around it, it was so brilliantly coloured and so thick that it blocked out all light except for an eerie glow it produced itself. The was a huge sucking sound and Harry was knocked to the deck, when things finally stopped moving, the boat was still inside the bubble and Harry was beginning to wonder if he was in a sort of prison cell. Just as that thought passed through his mind, a merman popped up next to the boat and started talking. What confused Harry was that it sounded nothing like the screeching he usually associated with mermen, instead it sounded like an extremely gravelly Greek? When the merman realised Harry couldn't understand a word he was saying, he switched to Latin? Arabic? Sing-song? Train? Gobbledegook? Random? Clicks and whistles? What the hell?
"Um, sorry, I don't think I speak any of those languages." Harry said. "I speak English, from England." The merman seemed to panic. Then Harry remembered the translation book he had found in Seattle, it allowed for actual conversation as opposed to rudimentary word translations. He remembered that Latin was one of the languages in the book and that Latin seemed to be one of the languages the merman spoke. "Hold on, let me get my book." He summoned the book and hastily found the spell for Latin. (A/N: Assume the conversation is now in Latin.)
"Um, can you understand me now?" Harry asked, he felt the same as he did when speaking Parseltongue, all he heard was English. So he didn't actually know if it worked. He'd never tried a translation spell before.
"It speaks! Finally. Why didn't you speak before?" The merman asked in his really gravelly voice.
"Well, I don't really speak Latin but I found a spell that allows me to do so for a little while. How do you speak all those languages? I didn't think mermen could learn human languages."
"Two of us learned so we could welcome people if they came." The merman said simply.
"Okay..." If they can learn, why do only two bother? "Well, um, where exactly am I?" Harry asked.
The merman looked affronted, "You are outside the ancient city of Atlantis, we do not know what to do with this thing you ride so we had to isolate you and it. On the surface, it was half in the water and half not, we did not want to harm it by putting it all in, or all out, of the water."
"Oh. Thanks." Harry said, then he did a mental happy dance, he had found ATLANTIS! But there was still the problem of his boat, he had no idea what the layout of Atlantis was; was it an island with a bubble over the top? Was it completely flooded? Was it inhabitable by anyone other than mermen who spoke ancient and unknown languages? "Um, what exactly does Atlantis look like? What's there?"
"Atlantis is the hidden city, it is the most beautiful city and has been immersed in the depths of the water. It is home to many peoples and much knowledge." The merman said proudly.
"Wow." Holy fucking shit I found Atlantis! And it's got people, and...BOOKS! Well, knowledge at least. "That's amazing. Is there anyway for me to see inside the city? Or are we already in it? Is there any air?"
"Of course you can go inside, there's plenty of air. Like I said, it's home to many peoples. You would be there right now if you didn't have this thing."
"Oh, right. This is my boat, I can shrink it but I have to get off first." Harry said, as he wandlessly shoved everything back in his tent. "I just have to go grab my pack and then I can go wherever you need me to."
"That makes things much easier." The merman said, with what might count as a grin. Then he pulled a round piece of a metal-like substance that was the size of a small side table, out of a pouch and placed it on the water. "This platform will create a livable space around you when you tap the side, if you stand on it and shrink your 'boat', it will then take you to an entrance."
Harry nodded and raced into the cabin to put away the last odds and ends, and pack up his tent. When everything was stowed in his bag, he stepped onto the tiny platform, thanking Merlin for his good balance and the maker of the platform for making it steady. He shrunk the boat and tucked it securely in his pack, then he tapped his foot against the side of the platform and another bubble (clear this time), sprung up around him. The bubble which had been around his boat vanished and he was finally able to see the fabled city of Atlantis. It was spectacular; spires, domes, passageways and buildings of every shape and size seemed to just grow out of the sea floor. There were what looked like mermen villages settled outside the main city, and in between all the buildings was a veritable garden of sea life that shouldn't have existed this far down, but it did, and it was beautiful. Many of the buildings' windows were stained glass with the most intricate designs, and carvings on the walls told enchanting stories. The water came right up to the buildings; the city was completely and absolutely surrounded by water. There was no shield, no protective wall, nothing. It literally looked like someone had flooded a city. The whole area glowed with an otherworldly light; the windows gave off warm hues, and cooler ones filtered down from above, seemingly defying the laws of light refraction through water. And each carving seemed to shine with an infinitesimally small silver light. But what was amazing, in Harry's mind, was the fact that Atlantis was overflowing with magic, Harry could feel it washing over him in waves. It was as if the entire city had been soaked in pure, unadulterated magic. Along with magic, the whole place radiated peace and tranquility, not completely, but there was more here than anywhere else in the world. The magic was so overpowering, that he had to extend his occlumency shields to cover his magical senses as well.
Harry felt his platform start to move and the merman swam away. Harry seemed to be headed to a small doorway with a porch in front of it, and as he approached, a bubble sprang up around the door. When the two bubbles touched, they merged and Harry stepped onto the slightly damp porch. The merman reappeared and stuck his head through the bubble right in Harry's face, which made him jump.
"This is where I leave you, there should be someone waiting for you just inside. I guess I should warn you, the last visitor we had was nearly a thousand years ago and she didn't look much like you, you should probably expect a long conversation."
"WHAT?" Harry yelled, as the merman swam away. A thousand years? Not like me? Who was it? What was it? Do they really get that few visitors? But he didn't have time to continue that train of thought because the door opened and he was met by a young boy, maybe 11 or 12. He was only wearing a pair of loose, deep green, drawstring pants and a translucent blue robe-like thing. Harry was happy to note that the boy was barefoot, because he himself hadn't worn shoes in quite a while and didn't feel like starting now. The boy looked human enough, except for the fact that he had brilliant blue eyes streaked with an emerald nearly as bright as Harry's.
"Greetings, Visitor." The boy said, "Kastas, our Watcher told us you speak the language of Latin. Is this correct?" The poor kid looked really nervous, even if he was hiding it well.
Harry nodded, "I suppose you could say that, I guess."
The young boy frowned, "If you not speak this language, which do you? I can get new Greeter."
"Well, the merman, Kastas, I think you called him, he didn't speak my language, so I used a spell to change how I spoke."
The boy looked extremely confused but he took a deep breath and continued, "Then, now for we will speak the Latin." The boy gave a small bow, "I am Sorianin, the Greeter for those who speak Latin." Then Sorianin's countenance changed, "I am the smallest Greeter, I am only 12 changes old, my teacher joined the current fast so I try to do best. Please don't tell if I do error."
Harry grinned, that explained the less-than-stellar grammar, young age and nervousness, this boy hadn't finished learning Latin before his teacher died. Harry wondered why they didn't just send someone else, but remembered what the merman had said, 'The last visitor we had was nearly a thousand years ago', they obviously didn't see the need to teach all these foreign languages to many people, it just wasn't worth it. Harry was going to suggest that he see if one of the other languages someone spoke was actually Greek or Arabic - because he had translation spells for those - but he liked this boy. Sorianin reminded Harry of himself when he was near the beginning of Hogwarts; a young boy who only knew a little about the situation into which he had been thrust, and was expected to do well. Harry figured that Sorianin's Latin was good enough for Harry to get his ideas across and Harry was good at figuring things out if the translation was a bit rough. Anyway, it wouldn't take long for Harry to learn the new language, he was a quick learner. With another smile he turned to Sorianin;
"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. I will also speak simply so it will be a little easier for you."
"Thank you." Sorianin said, "My job to welcome and translate for My Lady Aella until your Speaker gets here. He on other end city now."
"Well, I'm very glad you can do that. I could change my spell but I like you, so you can do this for now. Anyway, as long as you pretend to know what you are doing, it will be fine. It's all about confidence." Harry said. He also didn't want to ruin the boy's reputation or insult his skills.
Sorianin smiled weakly. "Thank you, I will do that. If you would follow me, please." This was obviously a rehearsed line, because Sorianin delivered it perfectly.
Sorianin led Harry through many halls and into a large, elegant chamber where a beautiful, middle-aged woman sat on a simple throne-like chair. She had light brown hair, half of which was loosely braided and tied behind her head and half of which flowed down her back. She had what looked to be deep blue eyes and alabaster skin. She was wearing an intricately embroidered, cream robe over a long sea green dress with a silver belt. Rested delicately on her head, over the braids, was a thin band of silver. Like Sorianin, she went without shoes. This was obviously the ruler of Atlantis. Seated around her, in a semicircle, were three men and three women, the men were wearing deep red robes over cream coloured pants and shirt, and the women wearing deep purple robes over long cream coloured dresses.
Sorianin walked in until he was only two metres away from the nearest seated man and gave a deep, respectful bow to the lady; hands clasped behind his back, chin to chest and bending from the hips, Harry followed suite. The woman spoke a few words in a lilting language and Sorianin stood up, so Harry did too.
Sorianin then turned so he could see both the lady and Harry at the same time. "My Lady says there is no need to bow, you are our honoured guest, an equal among equals." Again, this seemed like a rehearsed line. The woman spoke again and Sorianin translated.
(A/N: bold are the lady's actual words.)
"Greetings, Visitor. My name is Lady Aella, the care of this ancient city is entrusted to me."
Sorianin took a deep breath, "Her name is Lady Aella, she takes care of city. She's the ruler."
"Greetings, Lady Aella. I am Harry Potter, I am honoured to meet you." Harry tried to stick with words he'd heard the boy say before so as to make his job a little easier.
"Welcome, Harry Potter. It has been many years since Atlantis has been visited by a surface dweller, I am curious, how did you arrive."
"She says 'welcome' and asks how you got here." Sorianin translated, trying to do his best to get the meaning across, he knew there was no way he could say everything Lady Aella said but he figured that just the questions would be okay for now.
Harry panicked, if the merman didn't know what a boat was, how was Sorianin or Lady Aella supposed to? He decided on a much simpler explanation. "I don't really know. I was traveling over the water on the surface and then I just found myself here."
Sorianin's breathing sped up and he spoke quietly to Harry, "What does 'traveling' mean?"
"Um...moving along, looking around, exploring..."
"Oh, exploring. Thank you." Sorianin said and quickly translated for the lady.
"That is strange, our last Visitor was walking in the shallows along the shore of a hidden land, before she found herself in our halls."
"She said it is different. The other Visitor walked in the...um...small water where the big water come to surface land. The girl came inside. Um... There was not questions so I not know what you say now..." Sorianin said nervously, though he didn't show it.
Harry thought for a moment, "I guess because this is such an ancient city, the magic here works in different ways."
Sorianin looked worried again, "What is 'magic'?"
How the hell am I supposed to explain magic? Gah! "Um, its um...special power."
"Thank you."
"Yes, that is true. Our ancestors knew many things and the power of Atlantis is strange and wonderful. We do not know why Atlantis brings us Visitors, nor do we know how. It is such a rare occurrence that we have not been able to study it, and our Visitors have not stayed long, or so our records say. It appears that they grow tired or feel trapped and leave after a few months, they never return."
As Lady Aella had been speaking, more and more colour drained out of Sorianin's face and he looked like he was ready to faint, Harry couldn't blame him. That was a lot to translate, especially for a 12 year old who hadn't even finished learning the language. But that didn't stop Sorianin from trying. "I not think I can say all she talked but I try to do most. She said 'yes' Atlantis has many power. She not know why Visitors come. We not get many Visitors. Visitors get scared and leave fast. I think that all." He gave a weak smile, "I am sorry, your Speaker is coming fast...I hope."
Harry felt really bad for the boy, "Don't worry, you're doing fine, just remember, pretend you know what you are doing. Tell her that I would love to stay for a long time. I am an explorer, I go to many places to learn and I would like to learn and explore Atlantis."
Just as Sorianin finished telling Lady Aella what Harry had said, an older man rushed into the room and hastily apologised (or so Harry guessed), before pushing (rather rudely, in Harry's opinion), Sorianin out of the way.
"My apologies, honourable Visitor, for leaving you with that boy for so long, I hope he has not given you too much trouble." The man said pompously, "I am your Speaker, here to serve you and My Lady."
Harry hid a frown, he was getting annoying vibes off this man, then he smiled at Sorianin as an idea formed in his head, "Oh, you have no need to apologise, I am in the infinite debt to Sorianin for his most excellent services. His introduction skyrocketed my opinion of Atlantis. He's one neat kid, I'll have to have him show me all the hip places to hang later." Harry didn't like this man, he reminded him of Percy, and that was never a good thing. So he decided to use a combination of big words and modern slang to confuse his so called 'Speaker'. Lady Aella, the ruler had seemed to like Harry and as far as he could tell, she thought Sorianin did a good job with his translating so maybe Harry could convince them to let him show Harry around. Obviously it might take more than just this short introduction session to get his 'Speaker' fired, but hopefully they would let Sorianin teach him whatever language they spoke. Anyway, Harry could always use magic to facilitate the process. So, Harry turned to the boy – who was currently edging towards the door – and inclined his head respectfully, "Thank you very much young man, you have been a great help."
Sorianin blushed bright red, bowed to Harry and was about to run out when the lady spoke. Harry had no idea what she said but the boy's blush deepened (if that was even possible) and he stood next to the wall.
Harry turned to his new translator, "I don't think I caught that, mind lending a hand?" The man looked so bewildered that Harry almost felt sorry for him, almost. He smothered a grin 'caught', the spell probably translated it literally... So he tried again, "What did she say?"
"Oh, I apologise, honourable sir, she was telling the child to stay. Probably so he can attempt to improve his knowledge of this language by listening to proper translations."
Now Harry knew he didn't like this man, well, at least he could have a little fun. "Nice. Off we go then."
The Speaker obviously knew Latin well or he knew the kind of things Lady Aella would say because his translations were near perfect. But Harry didn't plan on making things easy.
(A/N: For now, assume that the mean guy is translating what she says exactly right.)
"It seems you Speaker has arrived. Shall we continue?"
"So I see. Thanks for that. I'm glad you let Sorianin stick around though, he's nice." Harry said with a grin.
"So you're an explorer, what do you explore?"
"I travel around the world. Well, I only started about a year ago but I'm gunna go the whole way round. I'm gunna find the antipodes, every single one of them. I travel and learn, well, I also managed to get roped into teaching a few times. Not too sure how that came around but who cares, eh? I also looked under a few rocks, just to see what I could find. There's some pretty interesting shit out there!"
The man seemed to struggle for a bit but, to his credit, he didn't show it much. When Harry glanced at Sorianin, he had to smother a laugh, the poor kid looked so completely confused! But then Harry winked at him and Sorianin's eyes widened as he realised what Harry was doing. The boy hid a smile and his blush came back. When the man had finished translating, Lady Aella's eyebrow raised a few notches, Harry wondered just exactly how his comment had been translated.
"That's wonderful. You are welcome in Atlantis for as long as you would like. It is a pity the other visitors didn't stay long, we love to learn and you Visitors are always so different that you must have lots to teach. Many of the others just wanted to know about us, they did not seem to understand that we wanted to know about them as well."
"Thanks. Hey, why'd ya dunk this thing in the first place? It's great down here with the fishes an all but I dunno, you guys are, like, people. What's up with the sunshine that ya traded it for Davy Jones' Locker?" Then Harry realised that there was no way his Speaker would be able to decipher that so he finished rather simply. "So why is Atlantis at the bottom of the ocean?"
The man seemed to sigh in relief, there was only one sentence in that entire thing that made sense to him. But at least there was one!
"Thousands of years ago, our ancestors saw conflict, struggle, death and pain start taking over the world. It began creeping towards our sacred city so they hid it from the hurt of the surface."
"Man, that shit musta sucked to have made ya high tail it outta there. I mean, it's still pretty crappy up top but I wouldn't say it bad enough to hide from. So, are ya just gunna stay down her till kingdom come?" A quick look at the Speaker told him it was time to go back to simplicity. "It sounds like it was terrible, how long is the city going to stay under?"
"The ancestors made it so Atlantis will only rise when peace once more covers the surface. They did not want the taint of the world to come to our city; war, famine, racism, plague, violence, deep-seated hatred, things like that are no more than myth, only a few of us even know what they are. Of course we have disputes, arguments and small disagreements, but that is all."
"Hold your horses, aren't ya, like, worried? Us visitors are from way up yonder, we could have a cold, we might start something more than a squabble. I mean, come on, I'm no where near perfect. Hell, I offed a nasty blighter not too many years ago, I gotta thing against those Death Munchers, I'm opinionated and not afraid to stand up for what I think it right, most of the time. Aren't you worried I'll bring something in with me? Oh yeah, and if I can get down, can't one of you go up?"
Over by the wall, Sorianin was having a really hard time keeping from laughing, and Harry was hard pressed not to join him, after all, half of what he was saying he wouldn't even dream of using in regular conversation. But he wanted to make his Speakers life difficult. Said Speaker was trying his best, probably only translating his last line or question.
"The ancient power of Atlantis would not have brought you here if it believed you to be a threat. Our ancestors knew what they were doing when they hid this city. No resident of Atlantis, and that includes the mermen, may leave, and in the nearly four thousand years that we have been here, only three surface dwellers have been given the honour of coming to this city."
"Damn, I fell special. Ah hey, what's up with the sunlight getting here? Doesn't it like, get a hell of a lot darker the further into the depths you head?"
"We do not know. It must be the power of the city."
"Okay, when you say 'power' do ya mean 'magic'? Cause this place like, oozes it. I fell it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes! Magic is all around me...ha, get it?" Harry knew the wouldn't understand the reference but he couldn't help putting it in there.
The Speaker turned to Harry, "What is this 'mag-i-eek' you speak of?"
"Ah well, never you mind. We'll just go with power for now. What other sorts of power are down here?" The Speaker looked relieved that he had understood all that Harry had said this time around.
"The power of Atlantis, and of the sea, is great. It runs through many of our veins. It brings gifts to some, each gift is different; music, dance, water guidance, air direction, earth changes, language, flight, animal affiliation, mind-speak, there are too many to count."
To Harry it sounded a lot like magic, just a different type of magic, one where it only gave each person a single power. He began to think that he could spend years down here, there was so much to learn! Then he yawned, a universal sign for either boredom or tiredness.
"I see that you are tired, we should continue this another time. You seem to have formed a bond with your Greeter, perhaps he can show you to your rooms?"
Sorianin's blush made a comeback, this time accompanied by one on the Speaker's face. The Speaker quietly spoke a few short words to Sorianin who shrunk back a bit and nibbled a lip, it looked to Harry that the older man was trying to intimidate him, so Harry decided to step in.
"Thank you Lady Aella, I would greatly appreciate that. I do indeed like Sorianin. And his Latin is quite proficient."
The Speaker reddened a bit more as he translated that, and Sorianin probably would reddened as well, but he already resembled an over-ripe tomato. Lady Aella nodded once and Harry got the impression that it was time to leave. "Thank you again, My Lady. I look forward to learning of your city and sharing what I know." Then, he gave an impish grin and, despite the fact that she told him not to, he bowed again. The entire room froze when Lady Aella gave a muffled snort; apparently she found Harry's obviously reverent disobedience amusing.
When the three Latin speakers were in the hall, the Speaker rounded on Sorianin and spoke extremely fast, then he turned on his heel and stalked off, his robe-like garment billowing in a way that was strangely reminiscent of Snape.
"What did he say?" Harry asked.
Sorianin fidgeted, "He just...warn me to treat you good."
Riiiight. Harry thought. And I've never broken a rule. But he decided to let the subject drop. "So, did you like how I got rid of him?"
Sorianin laughed, "I not believe you did that!"
Harry pretended to be wounded, "So you didn't like it? I'm hurt!"
A look of alarm spread across Sorianin's face until he realised that Harry was joking, then he laughed. Then Harry laughed. And pretty soon they were walking along berating pompous old men who thought they knew everything.
They got to a door where Sorianin stopped. "You now say your name and touch door. Then it only open for you."
"Harry Potter." Harry said clearly, the door opened to show the most amazing room Harry had ever seen. One entire wall was a huge stained glass window with clear glass edges which allowed him to see out over the city, the picture in the glass looked like a physical representation of a symphony, there was no other way to describe it. In front of it lay a low, king-size bed with what looked like a simple red duvet but upon closer inspection, it was red with an intricate gold pattern on it. Did they know I was a Gryffindor or something? He asked himself with a smile. There was a light mahogany wardrobe, a side table with a small glowing orb on it, a small bookshelf and a chair. There were also two more doors; one led to a simple, yet luxurious bathroom and the other to a lovely study, complete with stocked bookcases! Harry was about to exclaim to Sorianin, but noticed that he was standing awkwardly just inside the door.
"Oh come on mate, this room is brilliant! Don't go all shy on me now." Then Harry realised that even though he wasn't trying to, he had slipped into more collouquial speak, which Sorianin didn't understand. Crap. Then Harry had an ephipany. "Hey, Sorianin, I have an idea. How would you like to speak my language for a while?"
Sorianin looked confused, "I don't understand."
"Remember how I said I used a spell to speak Latin? I know you don't know what a spell is but I can show you, and make you able to speak English!"
"Okay..." Sorianin wasn't too sure about this, but Harry the Visitor seemed nice enough.
Harry reached into the book box in his pack and brought out the translation book. He pulled out his wand (if he was going to show Sorianin magic, he might as well do it properly) and cast the English spell. The nice thing about the English spell was that it was the most advanced of all the languages. It translated colloquialisms, exclamations and swears. It also allowed the speaker to hear the English as opposed to just hearing their native language. He took the Latin spell off himself.
"So, can you understand me?" Harry asked.
Sorianin's eyes nearly popped out of his head, "I can! And you sound weird but I still know what you're saying..." Then he gasped, "And I can hear myself! And English! Merlin, this is so cool! Wait, why did I just say 'Merlin'? What's Merlin?"
Harry grinned, "Excellent. Forget about Merlin for now, I'll tell you about him later. Anyway, we can only use this while we're alone cause otherwise people will wonder why I didn't just do this earlier...but now you can teach me whatever the hell your language is called!"
"Wicked." Then Sorianin started muttering a bunch of random phrases, grinning the whole time. "But hold on, if you're hearing English, then I must be speaking English. So how can I be hearing Atlantian and English?"
"So that's what it's called, 'Atlantian', that makes perfect sense actually. Anyway, it's because this is a more advanced spell, you can use it to teach and learn as well. All you have to do is focus on saying something in Atlantian and it will come out like that. Simple really. Damn, I love the English version of this spell!"
"What do you mean the 'English version'?" Sorianin asked.
"I mean, the English version allows you to control when you're speaking English and when you're speaking your own language, the others just make you speak that language all the time." Harry explained. "It's evil, and complicated but whatever, that's just how it works."
"Strange." Sorianin frowned. "But what about words I still don't know? I mean, I remember you saying the word 'magic' and this spell is telling me that it means 'power' but then I also know that that's not the correct word for it. Because we don't have that word. I'm confused."
Harry scratched his chin, "Well, I do have a dictionary, and an encyclopedia...and a Latin dictionary, come to think of it"
"In that bag? Really?"
"Oh, I have a lot of stuff in this bag. It's magic." Harry said with a mischievous smile.
"There's that word again. It's starting to annoy me." Sorianin said with a frown.
"Okay, for now, just think that 'magic' is what makes the impossible, possible." Harry said, proud of his impromptu definition.
Sorianin looked dubious but decided that trying to get a better explanation just wasn't worth it. "Okay, so what else is in the bag with magic?"
Harry grinned, it was TENT TIME! "You know how I said I was a traveler?"
"Yeah. I'm so glad I actually know what that word is, we don't use it very often but now I know it. Anyway, traveler..."
"Right. Well, as a traveler, I move around a lot, so I carry my home with me."
"You carry your home in that? I would say that's impossible but you said that's what magic is." Sorianin said.
"See, you're getting the hang of it!" Harry said, as he pulled out the tent bundle and walked over to an open area of the room. "Okay, stand back." He waved his hand and the tent sprung up. "Come on, follow me." Harry said, and he led Sorianin the Atlantian into his magical tent.
Sorianin's face was priceless. "Bloody hell!"
"Hey! Even in translation you're supposed to be too young to know words like that!" Harry scolded, not that it made much difference, Sorianin was too busy staring at everything. Being only 12, he didn't question it as much as someone else might and soon he was running into the kitchen, leaping over the couch, running his fingers along the books and then he dashed into the bedroom. Harry winced, his room wasn't exactly the tidiest place in there at the moment. He really should have learned his lesson in Florida, but he was just too lazy.
"Um, Harry?" Sorianin called, "Your room is a mess."
Harry huffed indignantly. "Hey! I'll have you know that I wasn't expecting to be giving a tour of this place anytime soon. It's my house after all, not a museum. I'm only showing it to you cause you're cool."
Sorianin blushed. "Sorry. But still, this place is amazing, you have a messy bedroom, in a whole house, in a tiny tent, in an even smaller bag. Magic is awesome."
"Oh, believe me, I know. Now, would you like a cup of tea?" Harry asked.
"A cup of what?"
Harry nearly fainted, NO TEA? It was a good thing he had stocked up when he had found a real tea shop in Key West. He had discovered during his travels in the Americas that the people in the New World knew absolutely nothing about tea. So, whenever he found someplace that sold the real stuff, he cleaned them out. He guessed that right now he had enough for nine or ten months of low, regular consumption (three cups a day), but if he cut down to one cup a day (he shuddered at the mere thought), he could probably last just about two years. Well, that might put a time limit on how long I can spend here. He thought, then he realised just exactly how much of a tea addict he really was. Damn, for a traveler, I'm really dependent on a single type of food...
"Okay, first of all, I can't believe you don't know about tea, second, I can't believe you don't know about tea and third, if I let you try some you have to promise not to tell anyone, if I'm going to stay for more than a year then I'm going to have to ration it."
Sorianin wondered what was so special about this 'tea' but then he realised what Harry said, "You mean you're staying here for a year?"
"Hopefully, possibly longer. I don't know, it's cool down here. Why? How long did the other Visitors stay for? You just said they went home fast."
"Oh, sorry about that. I didn't know how to translate what she said properly, and she said so much. I'm surprised I got through that without dying. Lady Aella said that they only stay for a few months or so." Sorianin said sheepishly.
"How can you find the lost city of Atlantis and only stay for a few months? Gosh, screw the tea, I'm staying at least a year. There's so much to learn! And the magic in this city, what you call 'power', holy Merlin, it's intoxicating!" Harry said. Just thinking about the magic brought it back to his attention, pushing through his occlumency shields. Now that he was in the city itself, it completely took over his other senses. He could feel the walls nearly vibrating with it, and when he switched to his magic sight, it was blinding! He could see all sorts of colours weaving in and out of everything, especially the windows. The stained glass windows could have been made of pure magic and they wouldn't look any brighter. In fact, now that he thought about it, the window that looked like a symphony was actually singing. Even from inside the tent, he could almost hear a magical symphony coming from that window. He could feel the magic of the city seeping into him, filling his veins with an intensity beyond anything he'd ever felt before. "I don't know how they could want to leave so soon. The magic in Atlantis is unlike anything I've ever felt or even heard of, it is so powerful." Then Harry shook his head, clearing thoughts of a possibly addicting magical sunken city from his mind.
"About that 'tea'?" Sorianin said hopefully. If tea was as good as Harry seemed to think it was, then Sorianin really wanted to try some. He didn't know what this magic was but Harry seemed to be getting lost in it.
"Right, yes, coming up." Harry said, throwing his shields back up. He flicked his finger to set the kettle to boil and walked over to the cupboards to get some cups and the tea. Proper, loose leaf tea. Not those bags the American's used.
Harry and Sorianin sat down at the table with two cups of tea, sweet and white, just the way Harry liked it. In unison, they took a sip. Sorianin grinned. Yes, tea was good. Very good. After a full ten minute discussion on the merits of tea, Harry showed Sorianin his books, drawings, notebooks (not the personal ones), paper and drawing materials, souvenirs and other odds and ends he kept around. Sorianin was in awe, Harry had so much stuff, and not random stuff, no, this was knowledge stuff. There was a reason Sorianin had been chosen to be a Greeter, he was good with languages, this had become obvious by the time he was nine. But what he had found out a year ago was that it wasn't just languages he was good with, it was learning. Learning, studying, collecting, reading, he could see himself being one of the Scholars or one of the Keepers of knowledge. He hadn't actually told anyone this because once you are chosen to be a Greeter, you become a Greeter for life. You learn the language and customs, you learn how to act when in the Lady's presence and you learn how to introduce someone to the city. He was often disappointed that he hadn't gotten a chance to be a Scholar or a Keeper, but now...now he was really glad he had been a Greeter. He was also glad that the Speaker for a Latin Visitor was a rude old man because Harry seemed to have decided that Sorianin would make a better guide. And Harry had all these books, all these drawings, all this knowledge. It was a dream come true, especially if Harry would keep him around.
As he washed up, Harry watched as Sorianin gently stroked the side of Harry's Creatures sketchbooks, Sorianin looked like someone had told him Christmas now happened twice a day. Harry smiled, he had a feeling that he and Sorianin would get along just fine, especially if he liked learning as much as Harry thought he did. Harry had not been one of those really studious kids in school, he hadn't studied anything beyond what he had to to get good marks, but once he started traveling...it was like a whole new part of him opened up.
Harry cleared his throat and Sorianin snapped out of his trance. "So, do you like learning?"
"Yes, I love it." Sorianin said with a grin. "But how do you have all this? You seem kinda young to have collected so much knowledge."
Harry laughed. "You're calling me young? Have you looked in the mirror recently, mate? You're 12."
Sorianin blushed, "I know I'm young, it's just...well, I don't want to be rude but how old are you? It's hard to tell but you seem too nice to be older."
"'Too nice to be older'? I love it! I'll have you know that there are plenty of older people who are nice. But you're right, I'm not old. I'm actually only 17 and a half."
Sorianin was speechless, 17? That was only five years older than him! "But, but...how did you get it all?" He asked.
"Well, I don't know how information is shared in Atlantis but on the surface you can go to a store and buy books. That's what I've done, in fact, I haven't even read all the books in here, if I see an interesting book, I buy it and I read them when I have time." Harry said.
"Wow." Sorianin said, "We have book stores too but they're expensive and it's hard to have so many different ones all in one place. The study in your rooms is one of the bigger personal collections."
"You're welcome to borrow some, just as long as you bring them back. I even have a few in Latin so it won't be suspicious. Now, I'm getting a bit hungry so what do you guys do for dinner around here?"
Sorianin leaped to his feet, "Oh my god! I'm so sorry, I'm a terrible Greeter, I was supposed to be showing you around! I mean, yeah, that's usually the Speaker's job but My Lady told me to do it! Oh, please don't tell!"
Harry rested his hands on the boy's shoulders, "Calm down. It's not the end of the world. I don't mind, really, I don't. Anyway, you're only 12, you can't be expected to do things perfectly. Hell, when I was 12, I was brewing illegal potions, being chased by a mental house elf, hearing voices in the walls and fighting a giant basilisk!"
"Okay, even with the translation spell, I only understood half of that." Sorianin said with a frown. "Should I just assume that 'potions', 'house elf' and 'basilisk' relate to magic?"
Harry laughed, "Yeah. Someday I'll have to tell you the story."
"Really?" Sorianin asked, excited. "You mean you're going to spend more time with me?"
"Of course I am. You're my only friend here!" Harry said with a smile. "Now, food?"
"Yes, right, okay. Um, shouldn't you talk this English thing off? People will wonder how I learned a new language in an hour." Sorianin said.
"Good point." Harry took the English spell off Sorianin and put the Latin one back on himself. "Shall we?"
Harry and Sorianin left the tent, which Harry then collapsed and put back in his pack. He put his pack in the wardrobe with an anti-theft charm on it (better safe than sorry), and they went to what Sorianin called the First Eating Hall.
Author's note: I hope you liked it! If you did (or if you didn't), I'd love to hear from you. Anyway, it might take a while for the next chapter, sorry. Please review!
