T'Ancan'Rethorbi

T'Ancan'Rethorbi

Part 1 - Rehweya

Chapter 1 - Beginnings

The attack on the boy's home was regrettable, and not only because the other three members of the Dursley household at Number Four Privet Drive had been killed. For the rest of the world that would be enough of an excuse for Harry Potter's disappearance from the public view, but it troubled Albus Dumbledore greatly. The Death Eaters that had been involved in the attack should not have even known where Harry lived during the summer. They definitely should not have been able to find the house, breech the security, and kill Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley Dursley. If that wasn't bad enough, they had reached Harry first. It had been pure dumb luck and not the protections around the Dursley home and those provided by the blood magic that had prevented Harry's most untimely murder.

The Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry sighed, pushing his half moon spectacles up his nose and bringing his gaze to meet Harry's shockingly green eyes, now devoid of much of their usual glow. The boy's appearance was nearly as alarming as the attack: his black hair fell past his chin in unwashed clumps and he was thinner than even the Dursleys starving him would have accounted for. "You do understand that this is for your own good? We have to find somewhere that you can be hidden and train in safety. Not even Hogwarts is safe enough for you know, not with all your protections canceled." Harry nodded shortly, and Dumbledore continued. "I have several places in mind that we can move you around between until we find a more permanent solution. I only wish I had one now."

"Professor Dumbledore, sir?" a squeaky little voice interrupted.

Harry and Dumbledore turned simultaneously to face the source of the voice. Standing a little way from where they had been facing each other over the headmaster's desk was Dobby the House-elf. "Yes, Dobby?"

"Sifil'Nitoi . . . House-elves . . . since we be the smallest and weakest Nitoi, elves, we be assigned to look after the namuhem. Humans. It be so long since we charged that most forget it, but Dobby knows. Not just a house and a family, but all namuhem. Keeping Harry Potter safe is the best way to do as we be charged. No Sifil'Nito has enough power to protect Harry Potter on his own, but Dobby could take him Rehweya, Elsewhere . . . T'Ancan'Rethorbi will help. The Elder Brothers promised when we be charged."

Professor Dumbledore was very obviously stunned at what Dobby had just said. Even Harry, who was dull from the shock of the recent attack and the aftereffects of the episode at the Ministry of Magic looked vaguely curious. "I see," Dumbledore said faintly. "And you're sure that the . . . Elder Brothers . . . can help? And, more importantly, that they will?"

"Harry Potter will be very safe, Professor Dumbledore, sir. The other here in danger has already agreed to go as a protector, and those who take Harry Potter will be able to protect him, even if all the Kali'Nitoi work together. The Dark Elves don't like namuhem, but the others can match them. Harry Potter will be safe."

Dumbledore nodded, then turned to Harry. "Is this solution acceptable?"

"I suppose."

"I will leave Mr. Potter in your hands, Dobby. May I ask who has agreed to go as his protector?"

"Professor Snape, sir."

"I want you to know now, boy, that I'm not doing this for you. I was offered something that I could not pass up."

"I understand, sir."

Snape narrowed his eyes suspiciously, then nodded. "Well, then. Dobby, we might as well get on with this."

"Wands and familiars only, please. T'Ancan'Rethorbi will give what sirs need."

"You already informed up of that," Snape said shortly.

"Dobby knows, sir, and just wants to be sure that sirs are ready. Sirs must close their eyes."

Snape and Harry did as they were told, and waited. Nothing seemed to happen.

"Get on with it," Snape growled.

"Dobby has, sirs. This is Rehweya, sirs. Sirs do not need to keep their eyes closed."

The two humans opened their eyes and were met with a sight that stunned them into speechlessness. They were in a forest, standing in a break in the trees too small to be called a clearing. There was no one thing that was anything other than normal, but everything was sharper, clearer than it had ever been, more real than anything they had ever seen before. Dobby let them stare for a moment, before speaking.

"Sirs? Dobby must take sirs to the Cheia'e'Ker'yilai. The Council of Rulers is near."

The wizards exchanged glances before they caught themselves, then stared stonily ahead as they followed Dobby into the forest. After a surprisingly short distance they exited again, coming out of the woods in front of a huge tree that was surrounded by a low stone wall. In the trunk of the tree there was a very obvious door, and a man stood in the gap in the wall where the path up to the door started. Except this man had pointed ears.

"Yaiay'Rethorb, nic hini ni ehwe?" The man spoke directly to Dobby in a musical voice, the language he used flowing even where the sounds should have been jarring.

"Tc'ec hin tin'namuhem z'ke'e'lch a'nesep fot'nor'ni t'Cheia'e'Ker'yilai," Dobby, his voice considerable smoother than it was when he spoke English. "T'oin'yai ch't'feileb'e't'namuhem. Ec kei a'di'amintana u thuat. T'rehto ch'ehwe a'lch aminta t'oin'yai."

The man nodded, then started off towards the tree. "Follow us, sirs," Dobby said, waving for the two wizards to follow into the tree. They didn't really have that much of a choice.

The inside of the tree was an apparently natural chamber with seats and desks growing from the walls. Ten men and women sat in these seats, their bearing announcing them to be kings and queens as surely as the crowns on their heads. All ten were slender and beautiful and had pointed ears, but that was where the similarities ended. One pair had black skin, white hair, and purple eyes; they wore hugely ornate crowns and their scant clothing was obviously designed with spiders in mind. Another pair had fair skin and dark hair and eyes and wore simple clothing in earth tones with slender golden circlets worked to look leaves on their heads. A third pair wore gray and white silk in a style reminiscent to that of the Elizabethan era, simple circlets of silver snowflakes resting on pale hair that framed equally pale faces. The next pair was also pale, though dark compared to the snow-crowned pair, and wore plain homespun clothing and unadorned copper circlets. The final pair was tall and thin with fair skin, blond hair, and blue eyes; they were dressed in flowing midnight robes, large gold-set sapphires hanging on their chests and circlets of gold and dark sapphires resting above their brows. After a moment the woman of the final pair nodded at Dobby.

"Tc'ec hin tin'namuhem z'ke'e'lch a'nesep fot'nor'ni t'Cheia'e'Ker'yilai. T'oin'yai ch't'feileb'e't'namuhem. Ec kei a'di'amintana u thuat. T'rehto ch'ehwe a'lch aminta t'oin'yai, u kaimi nosapehtir. Owt ke Detiloin'vi'nyw'e't'enitelav a'esare solin u tulanif."

"What is sought will be reached," The pale man announced, sounding slightly surprised. "Even that which they do not know they seek."

"Teroc'aysling?" the plainly-clad man asked.

"Oc."

"Then it shall be given," the blue-robed man declared.

"Ot! Ot'lch a'manuhem!" The black-skinned woman surged from her seat as she spoke, and Harry shivered as he noticed for the first time that she had dark-skinned man wearing even less than she was acting as her footstool. "Ni ch'Nitoi! Nitoi! Ot'manuhem!"

"What has been asked shall be given," the robed man repeated levelly. "Ki'Zica'enitelav'marek, you are not asked to give anything. You cannot refuse to allow what others would give."

The woman--Ki'Zica'enitelav'marek--glared at the others that were gathered as she returned to draping sensually in her chair, her feet resting on the beautiful male at her feet.

"If no one objects, I ask that they be put in my charge," the woman with the leaf-circlet stated. "Both have the blood of my people."

"They do," The pale woman said, eyes alight with curiosity. "How odd. I wasn't aware that you had allowed any of the Xylona'Nitoi to leave Rehweya."

"Only two recently, and both Zica'Xylia. If I guess correctly, one was the mother of the elder of this pair, and the other was the father of the young one's father." A scattering of the others nodded. "We will take them then, if there is nothing further for us to discuss today." There was a moment's silence, and then the leaf-crowned man and woman stood, leading Harry, Snape, and Dobby out of the tree.

Harry Potter and Severus Snape sat on comfortable, natural chairs across from the pair who had claimed stewardship over them, dressed in clothes of the same style as the rulers wore. Dobby had been dismissed as soon as they had exited the tree, and then they had been brought here, given rooms and clothing, and asked quite politely to change. Politely, but in a way that made it quite clear that black robes were not acceptable attire. Hedwig, who had perched patiently on Harry's shoulder throughout the entire meeting in the tree, had a natural perch in Harry's rooms, and had taken to it for a nap as soon as they had arrived.

"I am Ki'Airlia'ashlin'ryni. In your language, Queen Ethereal Lake Waters. This is my consort, Xerxes'Athan'Aislin, King Immortal Inspiration. While you abide with us, we shall simply be Airlia and Aislin. You are Harry and Severus?"

The wizards nodded, wondering at the strange names the queen and king possessed. Ethereal Lake Waters . . . ?

"There is much pain in those names. To recover from that pain, you must allow the past to leave. Let Harry Potter and Severus Snape die, and become someone new. When you are ready to release who you were, it will be done. But learning is as important as healing, especially for one who is the hope of his people. There is much to learn, but to begin with you must know our language. Yours lacks much of what is needed. This learning can be done quickly, if you will."

"How?"

It was the first time Harry had said anything without some sort of prompting since the attack that killed his aunt, uncle and cousin. Severus, who was getting used to the boy's silence, started slightly at the question.

"A simple matter of mind-magic. You have some of our blood, and so the paths are receptive to what we would share. Yours especially, yai'Harry, are open. You will, with training, be able to touch any mind."

"What's this about us having the your people's blood, anyway?"

"Two of ours, both Zica'Xylia'e't'Xylona'Nitoi--Black Wood clan of the Forest Elves--left Rehweya for your world. A man and a woman. Both married mortals, into the mortal wizard's families. The man married a woman named Rosalynn Potter. The Woman, Fraus Snape." Severus started, and Airlia smiled. "Yes, your father. Isora, unfortunately, died after living a short and unhappy time married to Fraus. She had believed that he loved her, but he could never truly love her because Isora had what he wanted: immortality. She would not have lived forever, though she could have. In time, she would have Passed out of this life. She loved her son, but the father was not who she had believed. The Fraus she married was not the man she fell in love with, for the man she loved did not truly exist."

With one last, sad smile for Severus, she turned to Harry. "The story of Arion is a happier one. He loved Rosalynn, and she loved him. They had a son, James. Eventually James married a young woman named Lily Evans. Arion brought his love back to Rehweya, where she lived out her life and died peacefully. Shortly afterwards, Arion chose to step out of this life." She smiled at Harry. "You look much like Arion, though his hair was lighter and his eyes brown. Rosalynn had black hair. The green eyes . . . a gift from your mother?" Harry nodded. "The ears . . . I notice yours do not show. The points are hidden, but it may be time for them to be brought out. There is no longer any need for their hiding. That can be done at the same time as the language. If you wish it done."

The wizards were silent for a moment. Then, ever so slowly, Harry nodded. Severus was right behind him, though he didn't notice.

Airlia's smile widened. "Tonight, it shall be done as you sleep."

Harry quickly decided that waking up after the work that had been done while he slept was a decidedly odd sensation. His mind tingled, and his ears felt as though they were sparkling. Part Wood-elf. That's got to be the strangest thing I've ever discovered about myself. Well . . . there are other things up there. Like when Hagrid told me I was a wizard. Or when Dumbledore told me about the connection between Voldemort and I. And everything else I've learned involving Voldemort and myself. Harry chuckled weakly. Okay, so my life is just messed up. If Dudley or Aunt Petunia were here, they'd have something to say about my life. Uncle Vernon would just yell at me for having pointy ears. Tears welled up in his eyes. Oh, Merlin, they're dead. We might have hated each other, but we were family. They were the last family I had. Angrily, Harry tried to wipe the tears away from his eyes. I dared to hope that Arion was still alive when Airlia mentioned immortality. A grandfather, a family member who would love me . . . but he Passed on. Not died, I got the impression that elves don't generally die. But not here anymore, either. And Dudley and Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon are dead . . ..

Someone knocked at the door, and Harry quickly scrubbed at his face before standing to open it, still wearing the green thing that he had been given to sleep in, too long to call a sleep-shirt and too short to call a nightgown. When he opened the door, however, Harry felt his face going red and fervently wished he had dressed properly before opening it.

Outside was a very pretty girl about his age. Her long white-blond hair was done up in an ornate mountain of curls with a few loose curls falling alluringly into her silvery eyes. She was pale and wore a white dress with a tall rigid lace collar that reminded Harry of a snowflake. A silver coronet with a single snowflake resting above her brow finished the ensemble. She was, as Harry now knew, Yra'Nito, a Gray elf.

"I am Kinal'Pighpeyal'thadea."

Princess Piper's Courage, Harry thought. Interesting name. Are all of them like that? Well, no. Snape's mother's name was Moon, and Grandfather's name was Musician. Of course, she's royalty. All the wacky names have belonged to royalty. Like that scary black-skinned elf. A Dark elf, Kali'Nito. Queen Black Heart War. That one was creepy as well as weird. Then he realized that she expected him to respond.

"Uh--Harry Potter."

"I am visiting from my parent's court to study with the Mages here. As soon as you are dressed, I am to guide you to our lessons. You are to bring what you usually use to work magic."

Harry nodded, then shut the door and hurriedly dressed. Then he gathered up Hedwig and joined the princess in the hall.

"While we are students together you may call me Thadea," she said after a moment of walking in silence.

"Courage?" Harry grinned. "Do you even play the pipes?"

"Yes, actually. I just believe that courage is more important than the fact that I play an instrument."

Harry nodded, his eyes darkening. "Music doesn't do a very good job of keeping you alive."

To his surprise, Thadea laughed. "Music can do a wonderful job of keeping you alive! Without courage, however, you can't do anything. There is no point to life without courage."

After a moment, Harry nodded slowly. "I can see that. About courage, I mean. I have no idea how music can keep you alive."

"Song-magic, of course! Didn't you learn anything with the humans?"

"I learned a lot. Song-magic, though, is new to me. And mind-magic, for that matter. Seeing as your run-of-the-mill Sifil-Nitoi has more magic than your average wizard, you can see how we might be less diversified in our magic."

"The Sifil have more magic than humans? How do they do anything?"

"I got along without any magic until I was eleven."

Thadea motioned delicately with a pale, slender hand as though to brush off that comment. "Many among us have little or no magic, or choose not to use it. But how are the Workings possible with so little power?"

"Workings?"

Harry was very sure that at that moment Thadea would have stared if she were not a princess. "You do not know of the Great Workings? They hold the Balance in place!"

"What Balance?" Harry asked, annoyed. This felt very similar to when Hermione had assumed that he and Ron knew what the Sorcerer's Stone was in their first year.

"The Balance of the Elements! Earth, Air, Fire, Water; Light and Dark! The Great Workings keep the world in Balance, placed in Spirit, halfway between Light and Dark!"

"I don't know about any Balance," Harry said sullenly. "In my experience the only way for Light to keep the world from being overrun with Darkness is to fight it."

Thadea shuddered daintily. "War?" she asked faintly. "I did not know there was war anywhere except among the Kali'Nitoi."

"Not everyone lives like the Elves do, Thadea," Harry said shortly. "In some places there is nothing else to do besides fight for what you believe in. In some places, it is necessary if you want to survive."

As they continued down the corridor, Thadea continued to talk, but Harry was fairly unresponsive to her chatter.