Translation Error

"Is that book worth translating?"

Mukuro raised his eyebrow at Blaise's question. "Hm?"

Blaise gestured to the book that Mukuro had been reading. "That book. The runes are interesting. If I'm not mistaken, it translates Death, Hell and War? Or perhaps more accurately Death, the Hell of War? It does sound interesting but translating ancient runes can be tedious."

"You see ancient runes?" Mukuro asked, holding the book up.

Blaise gave him a curious look. "Yes."

"Interesting," Mukuro said. He called out across the room. "Tsunayoshi!"

Tsuna wandered over, Kyoko drifting behind him. Mukuro held the book out to Tsuna. "What language is the book written in?" Mukuro asked.

"Japanese," Tsuna answered. His head tilted to the side. "Why?"

"But it's in ancient runes," Blaise interjected, alarmed.

"No, I see Japanese too," Kyoko said.

"Interesting," Mukuro said. Who else to test it on? He strolled out of the common room, ignoring the shared look between Kyoko and Tsuna who quickly followed after him with a confused Blaise.

Just inside of the Great Hall, Mukuro spotted his target. "Potter!" Mukuro swiftly called out. He mentally chuckled at the way the Golden Trio tensed at his voice.

Harry looked at him. "What do you want, Rokudo?" he asked, warily.

Mukuro held out his book. "What language do you see?" Mukuro asked.

"English," Harry answered.

"What?" Hermione said. "It's in ancient runes!"

"That's what I said," Blaise said, catching up with Mukuro. He pointed to Kyoko and Tsuna. "But these two see Japanese!"

"Maybe there's a translation spell attached to the book?" Hermione said thoughtfully, reaching for the book. "Doesn't explain why only it works for some people. Ron what do you see?"

"Runes," Ron said. "You can rule out having to know ancient runes in order to see the runes since I don't take Ancient Runes."

"What do you see, Mukuro?" Tsuna asked.

"What is going on here?" Professor McGonagall interrupted. By her side was Professor Snape. Both were looking equally crossed, most likely expecting that they were breaking up a fight.

"What language do you see, Professors?" Mukuro asked, holding the book out. He was curious, but if the pattern held true…

"Ancient Runes," Professor Snape said with a drawl. "What is the meaning of this Rokudo?"

"So, majority of the people here see Ancient Runes," Hermione said. "Harry sees English and three people see Japanese-"

"I see Italian," Mukuro interrupted. Everyone stared at him.

"Italian is an option?" Blaise said, slightly offended. "Why can't I see Italian? Why do you see Italian?"

"That's not really surprising," Kyoko said. "Italian is Mukuro's native tongue."

"It is?" Professor McGonagall asked, surprised. "I would have thought it was Japanese."

Mukuro had made no motion to correct people's misunderstanding that was he was born and raised in Japan. Most people just looked at the similarity between him and Chrome and assumed them to be related. He was more than comfortable with that idea.

Perfect timing, Ayame had just walked into the Great Hall. "Ayame," Mukuro called out. "What language is this book in?" He held the book.

Ayame squinted at the book. "What language do I see or what language is the book written in?"

That was why Mukuro had the level of respect for her that he did. She easily understood all of his hidden questions. "Both," he said.

"I see Japanese," Ayame said. "It's written in Ancient Runes though."

Exactly as he thought. So, that would mean only one explanation.

"Ah," Tsuna said in understanding, coming to same conclusion as Mukuro.

"But how?" Blaise asked.

"Potter has Sight," Mukuro said, ignoring Blaise question.

"What?" Harry said, eyes widening.

"Of course," Ayame said.

"Would you like to explain it to the class?" Professor Snape said with a touch of annoyance.

Ayame shot him an irritated glare. "Sight is the ability to interact with different planes in existence. The strength and ability varies between people. Some people are born with it, passed down from parent to child, others learn, some awaken it by accident. Ancient Runes is one of the few languages that still retains its spiritual imprint. Most languages lost the ability as more and more people lost belief. One of the abilities of Sight is the translation of languages, usually into your native tongue."

Ayame gestured to Mukuro's book. "The book is written Ancient Runes. All of my kids have Sight, so they most likely see it in their native tongue. Japanese for Kyoko and Tsuna. Italian for Mukuro. I already confirmed that Mr. Potter has Sight as well. So, it's no surprise that he can see English."

"Are we going to learn Sight?" Blaise asked. "Because that sounds like a really useful skill."

"I wasn't planning to teach it, no," Ayame said. "It's not something that can be taught to every student in Hogwarts in the timeframe we have, requiring a bit more one on one focus if anything else. It's possible to pick it up as a result from the lessons, but it's not something I'm going out of my way to actually teach."

"It's more of a bother than anything," Mukuro said dryly. Hogwarts was a nightmare to look at with Sight. The stronger one's Sight was the more it was a curse than a blessing. The rest of the group was fortunate that their Sight wasn't strong enough.

He gave the book a curious glance over as he tuned out the rest of Ayame's explanation. As always, what Ayame didn't say was as equally important as what she said. She had said Sight had the ability to translate languages, leaving out the words 'with spiritual imprint'. Knowing her, that meant with the right training you could use Sight to translate other languages that lacked spiritual imprint, such as translating Japanese into Italian. It was most likely automatic with those that had spiritual imprints while others required some effort.

Interesting.

Now, how could he apply that to Japanese?

See Chapter 20 of We Weren't Born to Follow for more information on Sight. See Chapter 28 of WWBTF, Friendly Inquiry, for Mukuro's issues with reading Japanese.

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