Please Note: This chapter is mostly from Revelin's point of view. I hope you like it.
The first time Shara took him to the ocean, Revelin almost didn't believe what he was seeing. An endless stretch of deep blue, met by light blue sky…it was a stark change from the dirty-brown of the rocky beach. Revelin craned his head around and peered up at his shara in astonishment.
"It's so big," he said, unable to keep the surprise from his voice. He had known what the ocean was, of course, had seen pictures of it in his geography books, and had realized it must be big, but he hadn't imagined how large it would seem in person.
His shara arched an eyebrow and tilted his head. "Not what you expected?"
As he stared out at the ocean, excitement thrummed in Revelin's chest. He smiled happily. "No," he said eagerly, "Better." Before his shara could say anything, Revelin tugged his hand free and slid down the sand dune, racing to the water, his little heart beating in anticipation. He wanted to feel the water, see and experience the waves and the sand and the fish he had always read about.
He had almost made to the shore when an unseen force hooked him in the small of his back and tugged. Revelin yelped in surprise as he shot backward like a rocket through the sands. A hand grabbed his arm, and Revelin stumbled to the ground at his shara's side.
Revelin peeked up at him nervously, then shrunk in shame. Shara was scowling at him. "Don't run off without my permission," he told Revelin sternly.
"Yes, Shara," he said immediately, blushing pink.
"You can swim later," said Shara, his voice still stern. "But not now."
Revelin cringed at his shara's tone. The sick feeling he got whenever his shara was disappointed in him pooled in his stomach. He hunched his shoulders and peered down at his feet.
A finger forced his chin up. "Never look down like that," his shara chastised him. "It is unbecoming."
Revelin nodded quickly, feeling miserable. He had disappointed his shara again. Twice in less than a minute!
"Now," said his shara, tapping his chin, "tell me: how many oceans are there?"
Revelin swallowed. He had to answer all of his shara's questions correctly. He didn't want to disappoint him again. "Five," he said.
"Which one borders Morocco?"
"The Atlantic," said Revelin quickly. Then, at his shara's arched eyebrow, he added hurriedly, "And the Mediterranean Sea, also."
"And what is the difference between an ocean and a sea?" Shara pressed.
"A sea is…generally smaller. An inlet"—'inlet' had been a word he had learned just this week, and he hoped his shara noticed he used it—"connected to an ocean."
Shara didn't say anything about his vocabulary. Instead he was silent for a long moment. "And what," he finally asked, rather ominously, "is the other definition of a sea?"
Revelin swallowed and thought about it quickly, anxiety blooming in his chest. "A sea is also a…salty lake?"
Shara's lips quirked up a bit, and the atmosphere immediately lightened. "Essentially," he acknowledged. "A very large one." He tugged on Revelin's arm and the two climbed down the bluff, his shara smoothly and elegantly, Revelin tumbling a bit. When they got near the waves, Shara set the pace for a walk along the shore.
"Now," Shara asked, the sea breeze playing with his hair, "What causes waves?"
Revelin thought about it. "Um…"
"Don't say 'um.'"
Revelin had to bite his lip to stop himself from saying it again. He racked his brain. He knew this. He had just read it. But the fact that he had upset Shara was making him forget everything. "Wind," he remembered at last.
"Good. And what causes the tides?"
And thus began at least an hour of questions, as his shara quizzed him over everything related to the ocean. Some of the questions his shara asked, Revelin had no idea what the answer was, and he was rather frightened of his shara's reaction. But when he confessed to it, to Revelin's relief, his shara did not seem perturbed. Instead he would say, rather mildly, "I imagine you have not read it yet," and would continue on to explain in detail the answer to his question, whether it be on oceanic animals or wind currents. Revelin listened to him as he always did, and as always he was awed by just how much his shara knew. Revelin couldn't imagine anyone in the whole world knowing more than his shara!
When Revelin finished answering his shara's last question, about the location of the Aral Sea, his shara stopped and looked down at him, his expression inscrutable. Revelin resisted the urge to fidget under his shara's gaze. He didn't want his shara to be upset the way he had been earlier, and fidgeting would be sure to upset him.
"You have done well," Shara said, eventually. Some of Revelin's misery washed away. Considering him for a moment, Shara at last nodded his head and looked up. Revelin followed his gaze.
They had come upon a damp, rocky stretch of shore, where collections of water had pooled in concavities in the rock. His shara guided him close to one so Revelin could look into it. It was shallow, only one or two hand-widths deep. Scrubby little plants of pale greens and reds ringed its edge, and inside two tiny fish darted about frantically, as if searching for a way back to the ocean.
"These are tidal pools," explained Shara, at Revelin's questioning glance. He went on to describe how tidal pools formed, and Revelin listened intently. Shara explained that the plants that grew in tidal pools were unique, that they were adapted to live in both air and water. He knelt down next to the pool and pointed to a particularly stunted-looking planet. "Do you see this?" Shara asked.
Revelin nodded. "Yes, Sir."
"It's gillyweed," said Shara, yanking a handful and uprooting it. He handed it to Revelin so Revelin could examine it more closely. "It allows a person to breathe underwater," Shara explained. "Generally for about an hour, but it depends on how much one consumes."
Revelin turned over the gillyweed in his hand. It was grey-green and slimy. He imagined it tasted quite yucky. As he stared at it, a funny thought popped into his head, and he blurted it out before he was even truly aware of what he was saying. "Is that because it lives in tidal pools?"
His shara paused in what he was doing and tilted his head to the side, looking rather intrigued. "Clarify."
Revelin swallowed, nervousness and excitement battling in his chest, as the idea took root in his mind. He hoped his shara did not think it was a stupid idea. "You said that plants in tidal pools can live in air and water, and gillyweed grows in tidal pools," he said anxiously. "Is that why its magic can let people who breathe air breathe underwater, because it can do both?"
There was a brief pause as his shara seemed to think about what he was saying, and then a slow smile spread across his face. "Very good, Revelin." He sounded both surprised and impressed. "Yes, it is."
Revelin's little cheeks flushed. He was so excited he had managed to impress his shara. Another idea popped into his head, and he asked quickly, hoping this question would also please his shara, "Then if it can make creatures that breathe only air breathe underwater, can it also make creatures that breathe only underwater breathe air?"
His shara arched an eyebrow. Revelin thought he looked even more impressed, and he resisted the urge to rock back and forth in excitement. "I have never considered it before," admitted his shara. He flicked his wand. "Let's find out."
About forty feet into the ocean, the water bubbled ominously before a long grey fish burst into the air, writhing desperately. His shara flicked his wand again and the fish hurtled toward them, landing with a squelching slap between them. It immediately began to flop around desperately, knocking Revelin and his shara around the ankles, till his shara immobilized it. With a few clever movements of his wand, his shara sliced off a section of gillyweed and forced it down the fish's throat, then mobilized it again.
The fish continued to thrash for a few more seconds, but then it calmed, its sides heaving. Revelin observed with fascination that two breathing slits had appeared on the ridge above its upper jaw. His shara kneeled down and picked up the fish from behind its eyes, examining the slits more closely.
"I believe you are right," his shara announced at last, tossing the fish down carelessly. "Gillyweed does work both ways. Very good, Revelin."
Revelin's heart soared.
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Voldemort stared down at the tiny child as the boy knelt next to the flopping fish, observing it in fascination. A smile twisted his lips.
He was extraordinarily pleased. If gillyweed can make creatures that breathe only air breathe underwater, can it also make creatures that breathe only underwater breathe air? What an incredibly insightful question, all based on the most rudimentary knowledge of the plant! Voldemort was quite sure no one had ever asked that question before, that gillyweed's secondary function hadn't been discovered until now. He wasn't sure what that knowledge could be used for…it probably had veterinary value…but he was extraordinary pleased that Revelin had discovered it.
His eyes glowed as he thought about it. Like he had always suspected would be the case, Revelin showed such promise. Most grown wizards, even experienced herbologists, would have never considered that possibility for gillyweed, and Revelin, at age four, amateur, had.
It was exactly the sort of creativity, insight, and intelligence Voldemort had always expected from his offspring. A feeling of triumph surged through him. As he had suspected would be the case the night the child was born, Revelin was proving to be a point of pride for Voldemort.
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There were so many terrible reasons to have Pettigrew as a spy, but one of the worst had to be that the man was incapable of giving information in an efficient and speedy manner. Little did the rat know that he could do as he so desperately desired and spend less time in Voldemort's presence if he just managed to speak without stammering. It annoyed Voldemort that the vermin wasted his precious time by forcing Voldemort to drag out from him all relevant information.
"—a-and R-Rubeus H-Hagrid h-has b-been s-sent t-to t-try a-and—"
"Convince the giants to leave my side?" guessed Voldemort, sneering. "I would have never thought that Dumbledore would send the only Order member with giant blood to negotiate with the giants."
At his side, Bellatrix tittered with laughter. Pettigrew flushed pink.
"Give me something useful, Wormtail!" Voldemort snarled. He raised his wand. "Crucio!"
Pettigrew screamed and writhed on the floor, clawing desperately at the marble tile. Voldemort lifted the curse after only a minute. If he kept it much longer, the rat would go insane. Pettigrew whimpered as the curse was lifted, sobbing at Voldemort's feet. Voldemort stared down at him in disgust and loathing.
"You are useless," he hissed. "Legilimens!"
He hurtled through the man's mind, an utterly revolting experience, rummaging through his memories, inflicting as much pain as possible. The rat's fear was overwhelming and pathetic and inwardly Voldemort sneered. He was about to leave his mind in disgust, having found nothing of significance, when he snatched at a wayward memory and examined it more closely. Fury rushed through him, and he pulled out of Pettigrew's mind, snarling, his eyes glowing with rage.
"You are an idiot," Voldemort hissed in fury, "Did it not cross your mind to inform me that Emmeline Vance and Dorcas Meadowes are the guardians of the Sorceror's Stone? Crucio!"
Pettigrew screamed again, and this time Voldemort held the curse longer, the rage rushing through his blood making him worry less about the man's sanity. Eventually he lifted it, and when he did Pettigrew was a blubbering, though still sane, mess on the ground.
"Leave my sight immediately!" Voldemort snarled. "You disgust me."
Sobbing, Pettigrew scrambled backwards, tripping and falling over his own robes in his haste to depart. Voldemort's lip curled, loathing rushing through him, and his hand inched towards his wand again. Pettigrew, however, squeaked in terror and managed to stand and disapparate before Voldemort had the chance to curse him again.
When the rat had gone, Voldemort leaned back in his chair. At his side, Bellatrix looked up at him adoringly. "My lord," she breathed at his feet. "What do you wish to do?"
Voldemort looked down at her, and then at the other assembled Inner Circle Death Eaters. "I wish," he said, slowly and clearly, anger still coating his voice, "to acquire Emmeline Vance and Dorcas Meadowes."
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Shara showed Revelin the world.
When Shara started to expand the number of subjects he taught Revelin, and Revelin started learning more independently, Shara was able to give Revelin more hands-on experience. In herbology, they covered Abyssinian shrivelfigs, so Shara apparated them both to the Highlands of Ethiopia. There on the edge of a great, rocky precipice, silent but for the buffeting wind, the rustling grass, and the cries of the baboons not a hundred yards away, Shara showed Revelin a cluster of shrivelfigs in their natural habitat. There they sat in the noon sun and ate lunch, with Shara pointing out between bites the different properties of the plant, a 1000-foot drop not five feet away.
When Revelin began Care of Magical Creatures, the first type of creature to learn had been magical birds. For their first lesson, Shara snapped on them both a pair of soundproof earmuffs and apparated them to the jungles of the Congo, where they hunted down Fwoopers, multicolored birds whose song could drive men to madness. Shara found a nest of them and the two spent a long, sticky afternoon studying their habits from afar, Shara writing down every observation he wished Revelin to take note of. Near the end of the day Shara caught one, placed a strong silencing charm on it, and brought it back home so Revelin could study its anatomy in more detail.
When Shara taught Revelin History of Magic, he apparated them both to the sites associated with each lesson. The two spent one morning in Egypt touring the Valley of the Kings, Shara taking Revelin to see the places where important burial rituals had occurred thousands of years ago. Each ritual had been so powerful that both Shara and Revelin could still feel the echoes of it, though Revelin was not sure the tourists, who had taken to following them because Shara knew so much more than the tour guide, could feel it as well.
Shara could make anything interesting. Even boring subjects, like potion theory, could be fascinating with Shara teaching it. Shara would take Revelin to different locations across the world, from Brazil to Siberia, with the purpose of demonstrating how different cultures utilized each plant and showing Revelin the different magical properties in use. Then they would return to the classroom in the riad, and Shara would ask Revelin to summarize the plant's properties, and then guess what each plant's effect would be in a potion. It was never that hard for Revelin to guess, not after the day of travel. Shara had a way of showing Revelin things and explaining them in such a manner that everything just made sense.
Sometimes, in the course of Revelin's studies, his shara took him to Europe. Shara was always so paranoid about Revelin's safety when they went to Europe. Revelin was under strict orders to never ever use Parseltongue when they were there. Revelin wasn't quite sure why his shara was so paranoid, but he suspected it had something to do with the great war going on in England and the continent. He also suspected, from mutterings he had overheard from Shara and the house-elves, that his shara was somehow heavily involved in the war. Revelin was curious about Shara's involvement, but he was also a little afraid to know, so he didn't ask anything. Whatever the case, Revelin was never worried the way his shara was when they traveled to Europe. Revelin was confident that if the bad guys attacked, his shara could send them running in no time. It seemed to Revelin that his shara didn't seem to realize just how scary he was when he was angry, which Revelin told him one day when they were in Spain and Shara seemed unusually tense. This had inexplicably caused Shara to burst out laughing. Revelin wasn't sure if his shara was laughing at him, but he didn't mind either way: his shara was much more relaxed and pleasant the rest of the day.
Despite how tense his shara was in Europe, Revelin liked to go there. A lot of people spoke English in Europe, and Revelin, who had only ever been able to talk with his shara in English, thought it was fun to be able to talk with someone else in the language. And it helped that it helped him practice his reading, for Shara had finally begun to teach him the English alphabet. Whenever they were in Europe and his shara was distracted with, say, talking to a vendor, Revelin would shift in his shara's arms (in Europe, Shara kept Revelin close, often balancing him on his hip, as if afraid someone was going to snatch him away), peer over his shara's shoulder, and slowly, struggling, attempt to pronounce aloud the words of various signs. Revelin always found it so difficult to pronounce these words out loud, a fact which frustrated him when he confessed it to Shara.
"It's because," said Shara, shifting Revelin on his hip as he looked around, "none of the signs are actually in English, though they use the same alphabet. Remember we are in Sweden, child."
Revelin looked at Shara imploringly. "Then can we go to England?" he asked. "I would like to practice."
Shara tensed. "I will get you some basic English books, so you can practice with those instead."
Revelin's brow furrowed. "But…why can't we go to England?"
"England isn't safe."
A distressed expression crossed Revelin's face. "But what about the next chapter?" he asked, upset. "It's about the history of magical England!"
Shara frowned at him disapprovingly. "You will learn it out of the book, like most children."
Revelin wrinkled his nose. "But that's so boring," he complained. "It's—"
Shara shot him a stern look, and Revelin fell silent immediately, blushing pink. "I hope I have not spoiled you," Shara said warningly, "taking you across the world like this. If this has made you incapable of learning in a normal academic setting, the visits will stop."
"It hasn't," said Revelin in a small voice. He looked down at the ground, embarrassed, then remembered that his shara didn't like it when he looked at the ground, and stared instead at the buttons of his shara's shirt. "I can learn from a book, Shara," he said earnestly, peeking up at him. "I promise."
"Good," said Shara shortly. "Because you will need to when you start regular school. The professors at the Sahara School of Magic don't take their students across the world like I do with you."
Revelin privately thought, then, that the Sahara School of Magic sounded awfully boring. He didn't say so aloud, though. He was afraid that if he did, it might be enough to make Shara stop taking him everywhere.
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Please review! I am new to the author side of fan-fiction, so I treasure each review, both positive and negative…though, admittedly, I will treasure the negative reviews less.