Apart from a brief visit to Hogwarts to pass on a message about where she is and what she's doing, Mistress Yewglisten stayed with the Star Bound Court with her children as she helped the other women acclimatise and learn the beginnings of the Sidhe language. Slightly surprisingly, while the memories of the few women who had come memoryless to the Harem regained their memories once the oaths were removed, they still reverted to children younger even than Tansu was. When questioned by Ege, those memories were as if they happened to another person.
The ex-prisoners were a different story, much of her time was spent with the Titania working with those people and teaching them to deal with both the culture shock of being in a different realm, but also both having magic, and recovering enough from their ordeal in the prison that they can walk around without freaking out. Given that of the 8 prisoners she rescued, 5 of them were women, this was an important concern.
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Quite frankly, Tonks was bored. Intellectually she'd known that there was a big difference in the way of live that Azaria lived and the way that she'd lived thus far. Until now she'd never actually appreciated what that actually meant. They'd been here for years, and the babies were still babies. She was still breastfeeding, and she'd pretty much read everything she'd brought with her. Which had been everything in her flat.
Grumpily she approaches Petunia, "Petunia, do you mind if I have a word?"
"Sure, what's up?"
"How do you do it?"
Petunia looks puzzled, "Do what?"
"Deal with the change in pace here compared to earth."
Petunia creates a couple of armchairs along with a table and a couple of goblets of water, taking a seat she sighs, "It was hard, so hard. If I wasn't needing to care for Lyasa in that cell I think I'd have gone insane from isolation very quickly. The first year was easy with Lyasa there, just plodding along doing what I could. Working with the humans that lived in the outpost with the Sidhe. Not having the TV or radio to listen to during the day was the hardest part, but the work was familiar. I was a housewife before this. It really started to get hard probably 10-20 years in. The humans I'd been working with had all grown older, and I was working with their children or grandchildren. I think my first break point was after 80 years, I'd stopped really counting the days at that point, but that was when I realised that there were no humans that I'd known when I started. That's really when Lyasa started to become my teacher as well as I hers. The key is to slow down, it's easy to say but hard to do.
"We can move fast when we need to, but day to day, as long as the daily tasks are completed we just need to do the things that interest us. Hermione has started to learn how to make her own paints, so that she can paint. Harry is studying the sword, and Daphne is learning to carve. With magic it's easy to do the day to day things, and I'm sure that you'll be able to go hunting in a few great cycles once your babies are weaned. So pick something that passes your fancy and do it when it strikes your fancy. Do you want to learn how to use illusions and makes them a seamless part of your magic? Find someone to learn the basics from and then practice it. Do you want to learn our style of magic? Ask your wife for lessons and pointers. Do you want to draw, paint, sew, build, try it and learn through your failures. Stuck on a spell? Take the time to practice it every day or so.
"The difference between humans and us isn't in the things we're really good at, as they can match us handily in what they specialise in. It's that we have a far broader range of things we're good or passible at. It might take a hundred great cycles, but any of us can become as good at pottery as the best human potters, even if we barely try it occasionally. For those like the Sword Mistress, who's passion for the blade has driven her for most of her life, there isn't a human alive that can match us. As things stand, you probably have a good 100,000 earth equivalent years in front of you. Your children will probably be ready to start Hogwarts in around 10,000 years."
Tonks slumps in her chair at the numbers given to her. On earth the last ice age was 10,000 years ago, human civilisation didn't exist 100,000 years ago and it was arguable that humans as she knew them even existed. Her mind started racing, trying to come to grips with this fact, ideally she notes that Petunia is now over 1,000 years old. "How is it that the Sidhe haven't taken over this world?"
Petunia smiles sadly, "The triple light and triple dark. Part of the cycle of this area of the dream, to escape it you need to go to the desert. Indeed, it's why the courts used to hunt on earth with the lesser fae. We don't all leave because as each of them approaches it gets harder to travel the dream as the turbulence caused by the changes thickens the borders between realms. This is why we have the sanctuaries, as most of our people can't actually travel the dream during that time. It takes either a lot of power or a lot of skill to do that, so those of us that can travel instead stay to protect those that can't. Even so, a clan will lose one or two people every few light and darks. During the dark, it's to the madness of wild magic, and in the light it's to fire. If we're unlucky, a victim of the wild magic will kill many others in the clan, and some smaller clans and families have even been wiped out when one of their members loses themselves to wild magic. This is ignoring the new families that fall foul of the Slaugh during or after the triple dark."
"I didn't realise it was so dangerous here."
"I did some reading when I've been popping back to earth, and it's not really any more dangerous than it was to be a human on earth five or six thousand years ago. The difference is that we need to use wards to shelter us from predators and an underground space to shelter from the light and dark. That limits the areas that are suitable for living in, as well as how large the settlements can be."
"Why does it limit how large the settlements can be?"
"Static wards such as those used on earth, will only last a few hundred years at most without maintenance. Wards like those at Hogwarts that use a ward stone powered by ambient magic work well for a while but get disrupted by the changing magic during those events. If they are close to the limit of their capabilities that can cause them to overload not just have problems. When that happened in the past it led to clans and families being wiped out due to the lack of protection. Instead the most senior Elder is given the title Honoured Elder, and they hold the wards for the entire area that covers the clan holdings. A court will have an Oberon, Titania or both, and as such their primary holdings will be that much larger. An older court or clan will often build up walls around their settlement, and anchor wards deep inside them so that they're not as affected by the fluctuations in magic from the light and dark. Once completed they allow the settlement to act as an above ground sanctuary. But even there, every home will still have a deep cellar, and there are communal sanctuaries throughout the settlement just in case the wards at the walls fail."
"It sounds like you're very knowledgeable about this already."
"Only academically, I've been learning about the possibilities since I became an Elder. I've got hundreds of cycles ahead of me before I would be able to lead a family, let alone a clan."
"I, wow, I."
"Don't worry about it, a lot of this won't make sense until you experience your first dark. Some of it won't make sense until you learn our magic either."
"How long did it take for the kids to adapt?"
"Hermione took the longest, and I think it took her three or four cycles. That's around 20-30 years. That took her parents putting a stop to her learning from other people more than a few day a phase. From what they said, she came back one day and asked how to capture a sunrise. After a brief lesson in how to make paint she's disappeared down the rabbit hole of discovery through experimentation and investigation. I think she may have even tried painting a couple of times."
"What do you do?"
"I carve, it started with stones in the walls of my home, but now I'll find a pretty stone and take the time to turn it into something. I'll either give it away or put it back when I'm done. I might pick up something else in the future, might not."
"I, wow."
Tonks lapses into silence as she considers what she's been told.
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"Papa!" Fleur greets her father with a flying hug when he returns home for the first time that holiday.
"Hello my little flower, how was school?"
"It was great, and so challenging. I don't see how I would have been able to compete fairly next year after this year."
"I'm glad, where's your wand?"
"I had to snap it." To his mind, she sounds far too upbeat at that statement.
"I'm sure you said that you had to snap your wand."
"Oui, I had to do it at the start of the intensive training. The other two had already done it, and it was hard. But the results are amazing."
"I saw at your presentation, your mother was very impressed as was your grandmother."
"Grandmother was actually there? I know you said she would be, but I didn't see her."
"She was, as soon as she found out you were taking warlock training she reinstated your mother. She wants to see you before you return to school."
Fleur steps back and stares at him.
"She did, it's why I'm back in France rather than you coming to Little Whinging. Come let's see how your sister is doing."
Fleur laughs, "She's driving mother spare, her wand was taken away when she came home and it did absolutely nothing to stop her."
"What's she been doing?"
"Playing, but they're taught four spells as first years, the basic transfiguration, levitation, light, and a musical spell, like the one that Celia used, but it changes based on your magic."
"So, only by putting her in a bare room would we be able to stop her playing?"
"Nope, I have it on good authority that Harry Potter used the basic transfiguration spell to carve a cube of granite out of a mountain."
"What?"
Fleur sighs and conjures a block of wood floating between them, then conjures a basic wand blank. "It's simple, you do it like this." She deliberately uses the wand movements with the incantation, and the block turns into 8 equal pieces.
Jean-Paul frowns, and draws his own wand before tapping it to one of the 8 pieces, neatly separating it into 4.
"Why don't more people know this?"
"According to Magi Minerva, convenience. It's easier to remember a spell that cuts a cake or pie into a certain number of slices than it is to visualise the same thing. That's why the Gabbie has been doing structured play instead of magic. It forces the children to become very good at visualising what they want."
"So why does everyone sew? We haven't been able to stop Gabbie from sewing at all."
"It's to train multitasking and precision. When you're not using a wand it's like trying to write with your fist rather than your fingers. So we need to practice using our magic so that we're able to do more with it. It also teaches us to do multiple things at the same time. Sewing is two things at a time, holding the fabric and moving the needle. Next year she's going to be taught to knit, which is then three or four things, with a more complicated motion with the yarn. I've seen some of the warlock class doing braiding with between 4 and 12 strands. The headmistress usually has a bobbin lace project on the go, without bobbins, pins, or cushion. Magi Minerva I think is doing the same thing with bobbins, pins, and cushion."
"Is there anything else I should know about? Such as the sword you're wearing?"
"I have been taking private lessons from Elder Aodh, I am hopeful that when I complete my schooling I will be able to continue to learn from him or Elder Isbeil."
"Remind me, who are they again?"
"I don't think I've mentioned them before, they're two of the Sidhe from the Yewglisten clan. Petunia was kidnapped last year."
"Oh, yes, I remember. That led directly to the new magical nation in Britain."
"She joined the Yewglisten clan after saving their Clan Lord's sister. Given that the Clan Lord teaches at Hogwarts, it has become something of a waypoint for the elders to visit. Just before the end of the year the whole clan came for the solstice."
"Ah, I feel like I'm going to need to talk to you about that more before long. But let's go and see your sister before she comes looking for me."
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Lyasa fidgets in the dress that the humans at the palace have put her in. Her mother stands nearby in her own dress, thwarting her efforts to make it more comfortable. Elder Aodh sits to one side in his robes as they ladies in waiting are giving them all a crash course in how to behave in front of a queen.
Eventually the door opens and a man bows before saying, "The Queen will see you now. Please follow me."
As they all leave the room, Sir Connolly meets them in the corridor wearing a tailcoat. He follows behind the three Sidhe, ostensibly as a guard. They are then led into a sitting room where the oldest human she's ever seen is sitting on an uncomfortable looking chair. Seated slightly in front of her is an old couple, a man and a woman. The prince that she met is standing with his family behind the three of them.
The man that led them stands to one side and proclaims, "Your Majesty, may I present the Sidhe Elder Aodh, Sorcha, and Lyasa of clan Yewglisten."
All the humans bow or curtsey while Lyasa just looks confused, "I'm sorry, I'm still not sure what a Queen is."
Sir Connolly coughs, "If I may your majesty." Seeing the Queen nod he continues, "The King or Queen of the country is like the Honoured Elder of your clan."
"Oh!" Lyasa bows to the oldest person in the room, "Honoured Elder."
The Queen Mother smiles, "Thank you Lyasa, however I am the Queen Mother, the Queen is my daughter, sat in front of me. You should say 'Your Majesty' instead of Honoured Elder."
Lyasa turns to the old woman and bows again, "Your Majesty."
Elder Aodh and Sorcha both follow suit, showing that they had a similar issue but were wise enough to allow Lyasa to make any mistakes.
"Good afternoon Lyasa, I believe that you have already met my son and his family. My mother as you know is sitting behind me, and my husband, Prince Philip, is sitting next to me. Now, I'd like to know why you felt the need to take my grandchild to another world."
"He had just asked me about my father, who died when the Winter court attacked. That made me a bit sad, so I felt like going somewhere pretty that always makes me feel better. That's where I met my fourth mother, and she promised to be my mother. She even gave me her mark see." She channels a little magic into her forehead, causing Selene's symbol to glow, "It has big rivers of magic in the sky. Then I realised that Harry is too young to be left alone, so I asked him if he wanted to see rivers in the sky. When he said yes, I was about to leave when I remembered my clan mother said that I wasn't allowed to take magical people with me, so I asked him if he was magical, and then checked in case he didn't know he was.
"It was really pretty, and we had fun. I could take you to see it too if you wanted."
Sorcha admonishes Lyasa gently, "Not now Lyasa, maybe you could ask if it's ok to use an illusion and show us a memory of it. My apologies your Majesty, she is at around the same development as the third year students at Hogwarts. This was one of the very rare occasions where we actually punish one of our children. While she is getting better with understanding that her actions have consequences, and how to think them through. She is still young enough that she's not really aware that other people may not see 'harmless' things the same way."
"It is refreshing to see that children are the same no matter the species."
"Indeed, it's why we refrain from punishing our children the way humans seem to. Often the child just isn't developed enough to understand why what they did is wrong. We instead go through what they did, and help them work out other ways they could have approached the issue. Though we only do this for adolescents."
"Indeed. Lyasa, would you be able to show us the illusion of where you took my grandson?"
Lyasa cups her hands and a ball of blue light fills it, once she finishes concentrating she throws her hands in the air and the sitting room is replaced with a completely alien landscape. All of the electronics in the room immediately short out at the surge of magic, and the people look around curiously.
The Queen nods regally, "It is indeed a beautiful place. Though it looks somewhat inhospitable."
Elder Aodh confirms it, "It is inhospitable. The test for becoming an Oberon or Titania is to spend a whole day of our realm there. For someone that doesn't have the will to live, it would tear their body apart leaving them disembodied. It says a lot about Lyasa's ability with her magic and practice with Human style magic that she was not only able to take your grandson there, but also able to play with him safely until they both got tired. We are all using the same techniques to survive in the low magic environment here. Without them we would need to be wearing iron or we would die in hours."
The faint sound of shouts of alarm and banging on doors becomes audible as if far in the distance. Eventually Sir Connolly notices and brings it to the others attention. Lyasa eventually collapses the illusion, and Sir Connolly leaves to assure the security guards that everything is actually fine, and no they don't have the security clearance to actually see what was going on. Once that was done, the Queen did indeed give Lyasa a dressing down, though not one that Lyasa understood the point of. After all, her parents had already gone through all of this stuff with her, and the Queens dressing down was far less informative. She didn't say anything though as it seemed to be helping the Queen somehow. Afterwards the adults all talked about the new culture that the prince would need to join, and the possibility and costs of other members of the royal family emigrating there.