Salty Waves

7th of November, 2000.

There was a rush through Ennerdale that morning. Charlie packed his bag and made sure Harry had what he needed. Keyara was running between her dresser and her suitcase with things. Harry was sitting in a chair listening to her. He knew Winky would make sure she had what she needed before they left.

Charlie ran down the stairs. He walked over to the potions lab and opened the door. "Were you coming along or not?" he asked gruffly.

Draco looked up at Charlie surprised. "Yes, I'm packed and ready," he said. He raised an eyebrow. "What is wrong?" he asked.

"You haven't spoken to Harry in over a month. He knows a way to help him see and could use your help," Charlie said.

"And…?" Draco asked. "If he needs me, he knows how to get a hold of me."

Charlie sighed and seemed to deflate. "A letter arrived yesterday," he said. He summoned it and handed it to Draco.

Draco read through the letter quickly. "Well, he's an idiot," he said. "Have you told Harry?" he asked.

"No, I don't know how he'll take it so I just don't know how to breach the subject," Charlie said.

"He'll be displeased if you hide things from him," Draco said. He placed the cauldron down and dried his hands off. "Need any help?" he asked.

"Could you check if Harry and Keyara are ready while I go fetch the portkey?"

"Sure," Draco said. He headed upstairs. Keyara's room looked like a glitter bomb had gone off. He walked up to the door. She was arguing with Harry. "Accidental magic?" he asked.

"Ginny gave her a jar of glitter and she wanted to bring it," Harry said. "I said no so she threw it on the floor."

"She didn't just hit the floor," Draco pointed out.

Harry shrugged. "Winky told her off," he said. "She is pouting now."

"Well, Charlie went to get the portkey so I think we should make it downstairs," Draco said.

"Come on now Keyara. We're heading out," Harry said

"No!"

Harry raised an eyebrow and sighed. "You really don't have a choice, young lady. We're leaving now," he said.

Keyara narrowed her eyes at Harry. "You'll have to catch me first!" she called as she started running.

Harry shrank his staff, cast clairvoyance and took off after his daughter. A person looking into the house wouldn't think Harry was blind considering how fast he moved. It was a combination of knowing his home and using magic to guide himself. He wrapped an arm around his struggling daughter and pulled her up against his chest. He walked back to the entrance hallway and stopped next to Draco.

"Doing better I see," Draco said.

"Yeah, need to run some things past you though," Harry said. "Rhavaniel thinks I might be able to use something similar to clairvoyance to sort of see. The spell works fine, we're just thinking of something with a little more coverage."

Draco nodded slowly. He could see that working. The question was just how to get it to work. Harry certainly knew more about that field than he did, but he wasn't incapable of helping either. They would figure it out even if it took them some time.

Charlie returned with the portkey and took the still-struggling Keyara from Harry so they could get going. "We'll start spinning soon," he warned his daughter.

Winky teleported in after them with their things and shook her head as she looked at the ship. She was glad Dusty was going along with them. He didn't cook that well, but at least he could help out when needed. She watched her little family walk aboard before heading back home.

"Captain," Charlie said as he approached Swiftblade the Dwemer in charge of this expedition. "We're all here and accounted for. Where do you want us?"

"Astre the humans are here show them down below," Swiftblade called. She watched them head inside. So their blind human clan brother had joined them. It was a strange expedition to bring him on if it wasn't for the possibility of dragons. Then again so much about the sea was felt not seen. She heard the soft thump of wood against wood as Harry slowly made it back upstairs without the rest of his family.

The humans had been given a single room. Even with a vessel as large as the Lysserian they could only expand the insides so much and everyone needed space. Not to say that the room was small. She was sure they could make due for their time onboard.

Harry smiled as he felt the wind tear at him. He could hear orders called and he heard the sails being lowered. He moved back and placed a hand against the main mast. "Ven," he said softly.

Wind caught the sails. The Lysserian glid out of port and headed out on the Atlantic. Steel grey waves swelled and gulls squawked. The sun shone gently down upon them. They would be travelling south into warmer weather.

"Keyara is displeased," Draco said as he joined Harry.

Harry shook his head. "I'm somehow not surprised," he said. He smiled softly. "At least she can act that way without ending up in a boot cupboard.

Draco shook his head and sighed. "Your Aunt and Uncle should have to pay for what they did to you," he said.

Harry didn't comment. He didn't care about them. "We should head back down. I want to check if we can figure these spells out."

Draco nodded. He watched as Harry weaved between the working crew as easily as any seeing man would. At least a simple shout could show him where people were. He was glad Harry was finding solutions that helped him. He had so much magic at his disposal that it felt almost ridiculous to think that he would never see again.

20th of November, 2000.

Draco walked up to the deck and looked around. It was another day of doldrums. He knew the Dwemer were moving them forward slowly with a low beat that could be heard from below, but they didn't want to use up too much of their energy if they could help it. The sails hung limp. He sighed. They had to do something. He could tell that the crew was grumpy.

"Co-co up!" Keyara said as she ran up to Draco.

"Again. What did you want Keyara?" Draco said calmly.

Keyara sighed. "Draco please lift Ara up," she said.

"Better," Draco said. He grabbed her and pulled her up on his hip. "What is Harry doing?" he asked Charlie as the redhead came walking up to him.

"He will deal with our lack of wind," Charlie said.

Draco nodded slowly. He watched as Harry walked up to the Captain. They spoke for a moment before the crew was called. Harry walked up in front of everyone else. "Charlie please come up here," he said.

Draco shifted his hold on Keyara and moved closer to the crew.

"Split into three groups and move back," Harry said. "Captain Swiftblade has informed me that you are wondering just why my family and I have joined this trip. Why aren't we helping?" He shifted and placed his staff out in front of him. "The answer is simple. I was told you could handle the journey. I trusted in your ability to do so. If you want us to help then we will." He started tapping the staff against the deck. "I have listened to your beat and yes I know this isn't the one you are using. Your rhythm will not work for what I am trying to do. Centre please hold the rhythm." He moved the staff calmly.

The Dwemer didn't move.

"Do as he says," Captain Swiftblade called.

"He just told us our magic is flawed."

"He thinks he can just come here because he is part of the clan and take over?"

"Bloody humans think they're better than the rest of us."

Swiftblade shook her head slowly and sighed. She had known this would happen. "We can sit down and explain everything to you or we can get out of this stupid doldrums. It is entirely up to you, but he is right. I told the humans that we would get us to Antarctica so if you turn him down I will hear no more bad words about the humans not pulling their weight." She sneered angrily. If only the crew knew how much of the food they ate had been prepared by the man they now looked down upon. She knew they hadn't handled this the best, but what could she do? She wasn't known for her tact.

"I say let him try," Astre said. "If he manages that is great then we'll be back on windy seas and we can keep going. If he fails he'll have to admit that he doesn't understand the magic we use."

Swiftblade smirked, she knew she loved Astre. Her first mate knew how to handle the crew even when she messed things up. She could hear how the crew grumbled, but they moved into the position Harry had called for and the centre line picked up the beat he was giving them.

Harry changed the rhythm of his strikes and turned to his left. "Your turn," he said calmly. The staff in his hand disappeared once all the dwemer were following the rhythms set for them. It was a fairly simple rhythm altogether. The dwemer wondered what this human wished to achieve with such an unfocused beat. It felt like there was no direction to what they were doing. This would do nothing and they knew it.

Harry took a few calming breaths. His voice started out soft as he sang in Dragon-tongue. Charlie moved up behind him and wrapped his arms around Harry's waist. He picked up the tune. It was nearly impossible to live with Harry and not at least get a feeling for music. He didn't sing often, but he sounded okay when he did.

Draco looked over the side of the ship and smirked. They were moving and they were doing so quickly. He could see the Captain walking over to the helm when he looked back up. Seemed he wasn't the only one who had noticed.

As Harry and Charlie's voices grew stronger and their words fell on the beats held by the Dwemer they could finally feel it. They could feel the reason for the beat that had been picked and they could hear the full rhythm in the words that were sung to them. Slowly they moved the beat apart and made it more complex as they could hear the words of power rise and fall.

Harry's voice softened slowly until he fell silent and only the beat remained. He could feel Charlie slump against him. He felt tired himself, but he knew when he needed to stop. Draco hurried up to them. "He needs to get to bed," he said.

Harry nodded. "I have to stay," he said. "I'm still holding the spell. It won't drain me much more now though. It is up to them." He sat down slowly as Draco let Keyara down and grabbed Charlie.

"I guess you do know what you are doing," Swiftblade said.

"I sometimes have an understanding of magic that leaps out and grasps concepts I'm near. It has happened before, and I'm sure it will happen again. Thu'um is words and words carry power. Words can be used in a rhythm and words can be used in song or chanting. I can use Dragon-tongue in any way anyone else would use words as part of their magic."

"It is very versatile then," Swiftblade said.

Harry nodded slowly. He took a heavy breath as the beat died down and the Dwemer looked around.

Astre came walking up to the helm. "The crew won't doubt your power now," they said. "I'm surprised just how effective the spell was. We're still moving at speed. For how long will that continue?"

"Until I have to let go," Harry said calmly. "It will be a while yet. What our clan crew did was very effective and has left me with a lot of power to work with."

"I will let them know," Astre said. "It will make them less grouchy about the fact that they were wrong about you."

Harry smiled. "I know we could have handled things better, but animosity was getting to me," he said.

"That is my fault. I should have been clearer with the crew before you joined," Swiftblade said.

"Well," Harry said as he summoned his staff and got up. "No harm, no foul. I'll go make sure that the cook doesn't get angry with me as well." He took Keyara's hand and they headed down to the kitchen.

"Finally done playing wind?"

Harry chuckled. "They didn't believe I could do it," he said.

"After all the work I put into training you?"

"You didn't want any credit," Harry said.

"Of course not. They would never stop hounding me. I like my job. I don't want to have to put out their fires every single time something goes wrong. I'd never get any peace."

Harry shook his head. He could understand the sentiment. He had done things he didn't want credit for and had worked hard to keep his name away from those things.

"Get started on the carrots. Keyara can you help me with the meatballs? You do such a great job rolling them."

Keyara smiled as she ran up to the cook and got up on a stool next to them. A bowl was placed next to Keyara and a board ended up on her other side. She picked goop out of the bowl and rolled it up before placing the meatballs on the board. "We need many?" she asked.

"Yes, your father can help once he is done with the carrots," the cook said.

"Ahha," Keyara said. She smiled up at Harry as he walked up behind her sometime later. She took his hand and guided him to the bowl. "Ara will make one so Arry knows how big they need be," she said.

"Need to be," Harry said calmly. "Thank you, dear," he said. He was handed a meatball and placed it down before grabbing some meat from the bowl. He rolled it up and held it out for Keyara to inspect.

"Too big," Keyara said.

Harry chuckled as he removed a bit from the ball and rolled it again.

"Good," Keyara said as he showed it to her.

"Arlie! D-raco! Food is done! Ara made meatballs," Keyara screamed as she and Harry entered their room.

Draco looked up from his book pointedly. "That is great but you don't need to scream Keyara," he said.

Keyara stuck her tongue out at him before running up to Charlie's bed and climbing up. "Arlie time to wake up. Need food," she said as she poked her dad. "Arry say you need to eat."

Charlie grumbled and tried to pull the covers tighter around himself.

"Come on Keyara we'll bring Charlie a plate for later," Harry said. He picked his daughter up and headed back out of the room. "Charlie is tried. We'll bring him some food."

"Okay, Arry," Keyara said. "Draco come with us thou."

"Yes of course," Draco said. "Especially if you made the meatballs. Who could say no?"

The cook plated their food for them.

"Arlie needs a plate too," Keyara said.

"I'll save a plate for him," the cook promised. "You can come here and pick it up once you have eaten."

"Okay," Keyara said. "Thank you for food."

"You are welcome little one," the cook said.

Keyara bounced over to a table and looked back at her father as Draco sat down next to her. He balanced his plate in one hand and felt the room out with his staff. While they had always been seated at the same table ever since they joined the crew, people didn't adapt to the fact that Harry was blind. They didn't try to be mean, but they often forgot that he couldn't see. He stopped suddenly as a chair was moved out in front of him. He moved to the side. He heard another chair move near him and he took a step back.

"Yer in the way."

Draco grabbed Harry's upper arm and pulled him back. He had left Keyara by the table so he could help get Harry away from the dwemer. "This way," he said. He moved them around the room until they reached Keyara.

"Arry's food cold?" Keyara asked.

"Don't worry about that sweetheart," Harry said. "Have you eaten?"

"Ara is finished," Keyara said.

"Good."

Keyara watched her father eat with a concerned look on her face. She knew he had been able to see before his eyes went black and now he couldn't anymore. She didn't like that the Dwemer didn't care, but she knew Harry didn't want her to get angry at them. He had told her so. This was their boat and she had to be nice.

"I'll go get Charlie's plate," Draco said. He stood up and headed back to the cook for the extra plate. He didn't want Harry to have to move through the dining hall again. Normally he and Charlie got the food while Harry sat down with Keyara so this didn't need to happen. He hoped Charlie just needed a good night's rest. He smiled as he saw Keyara walk her father out of the hall. Most rooms were strangely sizable for the length overall of the ship. It wasn't anything new, but it somehow felt strange while they were floating around on the ocean. He handed Harry the plate as he caught up to him before heading up and looked out. He wondered what coast they were following at the moment. He knew it was Africa but he wasn't sure exactly where they were.

A part of him wished they had just portkeyed to some basecamp later, but he guessed they were better off going with the crew the entire way. This was what Charlie and Harry had set up. He wasn't going to argue with them. He headed back down below deck not much later. Harry sat with a book in his lap and Keyara next to him as he ran his fingers across the pages slowly and read to her.

Charlie was asleep but his plate was empty so Draco guessed he had eaten at least. Hopefully, they would have wind in their sails in the morning and the crew would be less grumpy.

2nd of December, 2000.

It was getting colder again. Harry was standing on deck. "Whale to port!" he said loud enough for the people around him to hear. He placed his hands on the rails. He felt the swell as one of the whales came out of the water.

"Get them away from here!" Astre shouted.

"Gut Veysun Aak!" Harry shouted. He heard a splash and felt droplets of water hit him, but he could see the whales leaving. Their auras were massive. He was glad he had made sure to figure out what animals lived around Antarctica. He would have been worried otherwise. "Hard to starboard!" he roared. "Something big is rising out of the water."

Captain Swiftblade ran over to the helm and grabbed it doing exactly what Harry had told them. She knew he could see beings despite his lack of sight. If he was worried something was coming out of the water she believed him. Her eyes widened as they veered past what looked like a small island. She knew that island wasn't on the chart.

"It's alive," Harry said softly. "It is massive."

"Yeah, don't say that too loudly we don't need the crew freaking out. I would guess it is a Zaratan. A giant turtle. I have never seen one before though," Astre said softly. "As long as we don't disturb it we should be fine."

Harry nodded slowly. "I guess that is alright then," he said.

"We'll need to be careful as we get closer to land. There are quite a few creatures that aren't friendly," Astre said. "I lost my sister to an expedition gone wrong a few years ago. We ran into a herd of Nykur."

"I should be able to get us close to where we need to go without the need to leave the ship," Harry said calmly.

"Sounds good to me," Astre said. "Anything else we need to worry about?"

Harry shook his head. "Nothing I can detect right now at least," he said.

"We should probably activate the wards," Astre said. "We try not to use them too much since it can create problems for other vessels but I'd rather not end up with a hole in the hull just because we want to be inconspicuous."

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Harry said. "It will get rough on us if we need to act lookout."

"Not your job human," Astre said. "You are supposed to get us to the dragons."

"I know," Harry said. He could hear Astre walking away. He stood there for a while longer before heading below deck. He sat down next to Charlie and leaned against him.

"How are things going?" Charlie asked.

"A few days more and we should be there," Harry said.

"Are you making any progress?" Charlie asked.

"I don't know," Harry said. "I think I might have to consider how spell creation works and that is a whole thing. There is a reason very few people try to create spells entirely from the start."

"You'll figure it out," Charlie said. "For now you should play with Keyara. She wants to play."

Harry chuckled. He didn't mind playing some.