A God's Apprenticeship

After a suitable reunion with his friend, Harry took the letter that Hermione had apparently been writing for a week. It was pretty long. He also took the small enclosed note. He was curious to find a candy inside.

The other letter had two candies. As this one was shorter, he read it first. His eyes widened. He looked over to Hedwig. "Is this for real?" Hedwig bobbed enthusiastically. He quickly read the small note with Hermione's and saw that it would allow him to understand cats like Crookshanks.

Seeing as the note informed him that he could only take one at a time, he decided that being able to understand Hedwig was more of a priority and immediately began sucking on that one.

He mentally reviewed his choices and decided that Hermione, indeed, was a good choice for the second one.

He read Hermione's letter in full. She told him everything she knew. The last part obviously had been added in haste:

"You and Ron have corrupted me. I can't imagine my eleven-year old self going against the Headmaster's order to 'give you space' – but I've decided that is Balderdash. I've been fretting for days as to how to get this to you and Hedwig finally showed.

"With Voldemort gone, I see no reason why you have to kept apart. Besides, aren't you seventeen in just a few days? So tell me: What do you want to do?

"Love, Hermione J. Granger"

Harry looked at the letter fondly. At least one of his friends seemed to be on his side. He still didn't know about the rest of them. He looked at Hedwig. "Maybe tomorrow morning you can tell me everything you know." He went to his meager supplies and pulled a sheet of parchment. "I'm going to write Hermione and ask her to give you a few treats – I don't have any and no one will let me get any – and tomorrow you should be back. After that, we can write whatever and ask you to pass on anything secret between us. Wouldn't that be grand?" Hedwig ruffled her feathers and nipped his finger lightly.

He started writing and then paused. He mused to Hedwig, "I wonder if she's got her apparition license. It's too bad she's never been here – though I'm glad she never had to meet the Dursleys." He included those thoughts in his letter. Petting Hedwig, he attached the return letter with the extra lozenge and let her out the window.

Elphias Doge, from his position, had full eyes on the window but the charm on Hedwig meant he never saw the owl arrive or leave.

Ron and Ginny had returned inside and gone to scrub up. Ron was seventeen and used magic. Ginny was sixteen and used magic anyway – who would notice the extra magic in the Burrow? She just made certain that her mother didn't see.

And while Ron wasn't mean to animals, he wasn't particularly observant when it came to things that he was not looking at or thinking about. As a result, he didn't notice Hedwig's cage being empty. Normally, if Hedwig wanted to she would bark out, thus drawing Ron's attention which meant she was fed regularly. Ron even gave her any mice that he could accio (now that he could perform magic). No bark, however, meant Ron didn't really look over. Besides, this was a time that the nocturnal creature might be expected to be asleep. Pig was sleeping after all.

And so, Ron went down to the kitchen for a snack, never noticing the empty cage. And Ginny, while more conscientious, was not in the room and subconsciously knew that Ron would take care of Hedwig's needs.

She always visited the beautiful owl after dinner.

Marek and Flute knew that Hedwig was moving things along as needed. Harry was being fed – or allowed to eat anyway. The Dursleys had taken the warnings and both were aware that the boy would be "legal" soon and didn't want to make him want to serve up any revenge.

As a result, they kind of ignored him and told Dudley to as well.

The two deities discussed where they should go next. Flute was thinking of Hogwarts to scope it out further and Marek was trying to make arguments against it, not to be averse but to work out the pros and cons.

They finally decided that with the castle so empty there was not much to learn there. Marek said, "We can always visit the Goblins and see what their position is."

Flute nodded. "Do you think we should do it openly or be sneaky about it?"

Marek chuckled as he asked, "What do you think?"

Flute gave a mischievous smile. "I'm known far and wide at home for being a bit sneaky."

Marek asked, "Won't they notice us? They are magical and they seem to be more observant than wizards and witches. Whenever I walk into any Gringotts, they notice my divinity almost immediately."

Flute rolled her eyes. "They aren't gods. The reason they notice is that when we aren't hiding, such people can always see the divine element within our aura. But you've never used purely divine magic to hide yourself – you tend to use mortal magic as well. If we don't want to be seen, only another god can actually see us."

"But what if they asked a god or goddess to help with a ward to detect that?"

Flute considered that. "Well, we'll notice before we expose ourselves. I probably should teach you to hide your divine nature."

"I thought I was doing that," he said.

She sighed. "No. You don't exude it when you are 'hiding it' but you are not masking it really."

Marek nodded. "Okay then. More lessons."

Marek and Flute spent a good portion of their time in their clearing in the Forbidden Forest.

The first thing Aphrael did was say, "Okay. First lesson. We need to teach you to see sites that have been consecrated."

"Why is that?" he asked.

"Because that would allow you to see if the goblins have wards which a god has assisted them with."

He saw the logic of that and so the two went around the forest looking for consecrated sites. This was a very old forest and there was a history of Druidism in the area. It wasn't hard to find echoes of past consecrations.

In the course of their movements, they rand across the Centaur herd. While at first Flute wanted to play some tricks on the belligerent Bane, Marek argued against it. He did say, "I do agree he needs to be taken down a peg or two. Let's show ourselves. I'll try that hiding of my divinity and see if he gets riled up. And then I can let it loose."

Flute considered that. "Let's retreat and I'll do something that I haven't done in a while."

They got a good distance away and Flute pulled out the very instrument that had given her the name "Flute" by the assorted Knights of Elenium.

Marek, due to his phoenix nature, also had a beautiful singing voice. And so he decided to accompany her. After a moment she paused. "You know your singing sounds almost like a phoenix, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, I'll teach you to do what I do." With that she brought into being a recorder. "Blow on that."

With his innate understanding of music and his divine nature, he easily played the recorder. It sounded almost birdlike. "Put that away."

Marek had long ago learned to carry things in his own divinely created space. That was where he carried the Galleons and other things he carried from time to time. He put that flute away.

"Now," Flute said, "let's look around." She, however, did not find what she was looking for. At that, she closed her eyes and concentrated. "Found it!" she cried out. She looked at Marek. "Let's walk over there." She pointed in a direction. He shrugged and followed her.

He noticed that the woods changed significantly as they walked until they found themselves outside of a small hut in the middle of trees that he knew could not be found in the Forbidden Forest. Also, he noticed that the world had gone from afternoon to the middle of the night. He looked at Flute. "That was extremely well done."

She grinned. "I've had a lot of practice."

"My instant movement is not as impressive as that. You have to teach me how to do that!" he said.

She gave an angelic smirk (that phrase being almost oxymoronic) and said, "A girl has to have some secrets."

Someone inside the hut had heard them speaking and the door opened. A very wizened gentleman, Japanese Marek guessed, came out. The man bowed and said, "Konbanwa." (Good Evening.)

Aphrael and Marek bowed in return. Flute spoke. "Good Evening, honored sir. It is a joy to meet you."

The man replied. "Welcome. May I ask if you need assistance?"

Flute replied, "Please forgive our rudeness in arriving so late. We have traveled far because it is said that you are the best maker of instruments to be found and I lost track of the exact time."

The man smiled and forgave her instantly. "It is no matter. I was still awake and will be for a time. Please come and accept tea."

The old man led them inside and served tea. After they were seated he said, "Please tell me what I can do for you?"

Marek always found certain cultures interesting. He could sense the man's curiosity as to why he was deferring to Flute but inquiring would be unspeakably rude. To a traditionalist Japanese native a mild statement of discontent of their presence would be the equivalent of Vernon Dursley screaming at a wizard that he was angry that the freaks had disturbed his normal existence.

Japan was a place of subtlety.

And though it took until almost the middle of the night, Flute had obtained what she had come for: A beautifully crafted flute that did not actually play but could transmit Marek's voice as though it was being played. If no one knew, they would assume he was actually playing.

In additional to the gold which Harry brought from his personal space (he had some non-minted gold for just this reason) Flute also presented a gift of a special tea to thank the old man for his time and assistance. As was expected, he refused twice before accepting.

Marek provided his own gift: A performance using the new flute.

The song had an effect on the man. Though he would have been mightily embarrassed if he had realized it as it happened, he fell asleep listening to the song. The two gods ensured the old man was placed on his normal bed before leaving themselves.

When he awoke the next day, the only thing that showed that the visit was real and not a dream was the fine gold he had been paid and the tea which had been left behind.

He also immediately noticed that the many pains he normally felt were much reduced and his sleep had been strangely restorative. He decided to make himself some of the gifted tea, thankful for it as it had saved him a trip to go and buy some.

The old master instrument maker normally had a hard time sleeping due to the pains of growing old – which was why he was still awake when they had arrived. Flute had put this gift together as the old man was looking through his stock for the flute, and had asked Marek to include the tears of his animagus form. The old man would find that, to his dying day, the tea box would never need to be refilled. He would live a long and much more pain free life, far longer than he had expected to live.

Flute and Marek had returned to Scotland much as they had arrived. Marek was quite fascinated and, even knowing it was coming and what was happening, could not figure out exactly how she did that.

Every god traveled their own way due to how they perceived the world and Aphrael needed anchors within the real world to travel most effectively. Marek was too used to moving from place to place and so only needed a space-time relationship or a mental anchor to a spot and could move instantly.

This, however, meant that Marek tended to ignore the physical anchors of what was around him and could not cause a transition the same way. Aphrael had actually learned her method from a traveling Prince of Order named Corwin.

Corwin came from a plane where Order and Chaos manifested purely. And though his family were not divine, per se, they were much more elemental. Those who were directly related to Order and Chaos could travel within to and from any world as long as they could imagine it. The children of the Pattern, a manifestation of pure Order, mentally placed new order points and traveled to them. The children of the Logrus, a manifestation of Chaos, rode the chance and uncertainty to achieve the same ends. It was all very technical and hard to explain. As a result, Aphrael could not really teach her method to Marek.

He actually pouted when she told him. He also listened to her when she explained that he could not travel to these extreme manifestations of the forces of the multiverse as his divinity had no bearing in these places. She also warned him that if he should meet a Prince of Amber or a Prince of Chaos that it was best to refrain from interfering as they could affect even gods.

There were no true limits for anyone who could create or destroy a dimension with a thought.

It was 8:00 at night when the two deities returned to the Scottish forest. With a thought, both had verified the Centaurs were still in the same place.

Both grinned at each other and then each began to play. Both started walking toward the Centaur position.

The Centaur group heard the music before they saw the visitors. And while they quite enjoyed the music, they did prepare themselves in case it was treachery.

Bane, one of the better fighters, was angry at the intrusion. He exhorted the leader, Magorian, to allow him to attack but the herd leader ordered him to restrain himself.

Still, it was a wary group which saw the two walk along the Forest paths and arrive quite nearby. They stopped playing. Marek said, "Hello!"

Magorian motioned Bane to silence. "Good evening. You are unfamiliar to us."

Marek nodded his head in agreement. "Yes. I was in the midst of learning something from my little sister here and she decided that she wanted to play. She loves this forest and how the music echoes around it."

Magorian was about to say something else when Bane could no longer hold himself back. "You should not be here! This forest is for us and not you! We will not tolerate your kind trespassing anymore!"

"Bane!" Magorian cried. "Be silent!" Bane, furious, held himself in again.

Flute looked at the Centaurs and pouted. "Are you sure? I was quite enjoying myself. The trees seem to like me here." Another Centaur, Ronan, snorted at that statement. "Do you not believe me?" She asked him.

Ronan, at least, looked to Magorian before speaking. "Your statement is nonsensical. You speak as though you understand the trees speaking."

"Of course I do!" She paused. "Don't you?"

Ronan snorted again. "The trees cannot talk so that we can hear them."

Flute rolled her eyes. "Every living thing has a voice – even if you cannot understand it." She gave a superior smile. "One only has to learn how to listen. It just takes a lot of practice."

Magorian took back control. "And how long did it take you to learn the speech of trees?"

Flute appeared to think for a moment. "It couldn't have been more than …. A thousand years?" She looked at Marek. "I think it was a thousand years."

Marek replied, "And I haven't been practicing that long. It isn't that easy."

"But it only took you a few hours to learn to speak Owl and Feline. Tree-speak isn't that much harder." She was deliberately ignoring the Centaurs.

Marek rolled his eyes. "Great. I'll get right on that. It shouldn't take more than – oh a year or two."

Flute shrugged. "That's no time at all. You could do that holding your breath."

Bane spoke to the leader. "Magorian! These two are mentally damaged. They speak of things that we know are impossible while insulting us as though they have a right! They should be forced to leave – or forced to die!"

Marek took one look at Flute and groaned. "Now you've done it. Did you have to insult her?"

Everyone looked at the absolute fury on the small girls face. Many were taken aback. With that, Flute released the restraints on her nature and allowed her divinity to shine through. Marek, who had been learning, allowed his to do the same.

Flute marched toward the startled Bane. As she walked, she gradually rose in the air as though walking on a ramp of air, until she was facing the Centaur stallion face to face. "You call me mentally damaged? You are a mortal creature. I am a goddess. You have no chance at understanding my mind or comprehending how utterly insignificant you are in the grand scheme of things. I should scatter your being across time and space."

The watching Centaurs groaned, understanding truly what their visitors were.

Marek spoke. "Aphrael! Leave the creature alone. He's not one of yours. If it comes to it, we can always get whoever his god is to punish him."

Magorian tried to calm the situation. "Divinity! I apologize unreservedly for the callous words spoken to you by two of my own. I would beg you to leave Bane's correction to me. While he is reactionary, he also does much to protect and defend the herd and I would ask you not to take him from us."

Flute considered that. "Centaur! Feel lucky that my brother speaks for you and your leader has better manners. You hold hatred too close to your heart and it poisons your mind. Justified or not, you will learn to act with reason and consideration or you will insult someone who does not have my restraint. And in that moment, you will be obliterated."

With that she turned away from the Centaur and walked back to Marek, still in the air as though she was walking on solid ground. "Marek? Let's get out of here."

Before Marek could speak, a young Centaur spoke. "Divinity? I loved your song! Can you play another?" Flute looked over and saw the earnest young female Centaur with imploring eyes. In that moment she changed instantly.

The Centaurs witnessed the mercurial young goddess squeal in delight and rush over to the foal. "You're beautiful!" Flute hugged the foal and peppered her face with kisses – her own form of divine blessing. "What song would you like?"

Flute ignored the other Centaurs as she engaged with the young female. Flute even eschewed the illusion of her pipes and sang directly.

Marek sat back and observed. Magorian took Bane aside and remonstrated him. Marek could not truly blame the Centaur – he had lost family to Death Eaters in years past. But his prejudice would be damaging.

Flute was not so reactive as she appeared. She had wanted to teach a lesson and she had. Marek was observing so that he could see how Flute created the mindsets that she wished to create.

Marek had to admit: Aphrael was a master at emotional manipulation.