((OOC: Whoops, my bad Mamgu is Welsh for Grandmother))

Dominic frowned when Henry started off saying ‘that sounds’ but cut himself off before he completed the sentence. The 11 year old wondered what he might have sounded like? Was it a horse backfiring?, a coconut that has escaped from the zoo and is now hunting for its mother?, the solution to the answer of what is the meaning of life? A wiggle in the space-time continuum? The range or possibilities was endless. He looked eagerly at Henry but it didn’t seem like he was going to offer what it sounded like, which was very disappointing to the youngster. Perhaps a Nargworm had gotten inside his ear and had eaten this train of thought before moving onto its next victim. Thankfully they never hang around in the same area twice.

The Gryffindor watched his friend carefully as he hmmed. Yes… he thought to himself …hmming is definitely an after effect of a Nargworm he thought grimly to himself. Dominic leaned from side to side trying to look at Henry’s ears. If they started to sprout some strange pink parsnips he would have to rush him to the hospital wing and explain that he needs to be transferred to St.Mungos urgently. Nargworm infection could be extremely bad if untreated. His friend could end up as an asparagus without urgent medal attention. How would he be able to attend school then? Hogwarts would have to make some special arrangements for him. It would almost certainly upset the boy’s aunt to find her nephew was now a talking vegetable. After much examination Henry didn’t show any signs of infection. Dommie sat back on the branch sighing with relief. ”You are are okay Henry, don’t worry.” he said in relief.

”How long of pauses? 10 minutes? 20? An an an hour? 16.4 3 4 7 6 3 hours? 50 days?” the tragic thing was that Dominic wasn’t being sarcastic. He was asking in all earnestness. He titled his head rather curiously towards his friend. Was asking people to pause for such an extraordinary lengths of sign a side effect of the Nargworm that the first year didn’t know of? He shifted uneasily. He would have to keep more of an eye on the Hufflepuff than he first thought. Maybe he should owl Amy to keep an eye on Henry and make sure he doesn’t end up like a bunch of asparaguses. She would keep a loo k out for him.

”I I do give them a a achance to to to respond though. They just say that I say crazy stuff and and and to stop bothering them. I I tried to to to explain to them what to do if a lemon got upset and tried to to to attack them!.” he shook his head. The information that he shared with his housemates the other night could be vital in saving their lives. Some people simply didn’t want help. ”They they they always say that I I I stutter and and and it is hard to to to understand meeee. And that I I I am too hyper as well” he couldn’t help the way he was with his stuttering and his hyperactiveness. At least he didn’t think that he could.

Moving onto Welsh made Dominic feel a lot better. He nodded enthusiastically when he was asked if he could speak another language ”Ydy” he said, ”Which is is yes in Cymraeg, or Welsh as as you know it.” He shook his head at Henry when he asked if Welsh was difficult ”Not really, no.” then again he reflected that he was brought up with Welsh so it might be easier for him. ”Well, it has a a a separate alphabet and and differnet vowels and then there are the the mutations as well which I I I guess it it might make it it it harder for someone who doesn’t speak Welsh.” he told his friend in a matter of fact tone of voice. His Welsh valleys accent getting especially thick now.

It did make Dom feel rather sad that Lizzie could not make the quidditch team this year. ”Well, they did accept that boy a a a few years agao….” what was the boy’s name now….ah yea that was it ”Barry Porter…..a Gryffindor boy” he wondered why Barry managed to get onto the quidditch team during the first year. It seemed so odd to him. Most first years would be given detention for flying a broom without permission. If not expelled. With a thoughtful look he said ”Actually, I am not too sure that Barry Porter story is is true….” sometimes he doubted things like that.

”You cannot tame the the the carrots. They are are are wild.” he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. When Henry said that many wild animals got sot periodically he nodded grimly ”I I I hate animals being shot or or or or hurt in in anyway at all. I I I mean I Ido eat meat and and and maybe I shouldn’t but but but I do not agree with with animal cruelty in in any way shape or or or form! And and and I cannot think of anything more more more cruel then shooting them”. he wondered if he should become a vegetarian again. It been playing on his mind on and off for a while now.

If he was honest the hyperactive Gryffindor was still a bit hurt by Henry not wanting to go exploring with him and with him saying that he didn’t want to be best friends with Dominic. But he decided that he had to settle for what was on offer. Otherwise he would end up a total loner and he didn’t want that. He already found it a struggle. ”I I I Know. If we make a a a noise it it it would ruin everything….” an important thought suddenly struggle the youngster ”oooh oooh oooh. We we we totally should avoid anything like like beans before we we go on these adventures as as as we don’t want to to ot accidently fart and and and scare off the the the animals” he thought that he was making an extremely important point to his ‘very, very good friend.’

”Indeed. We we we will need to to to think about that. an immediate idea about what they should find out. ”Of course we we we can’t leave Hogwarts and and and I I know you don’t want to to to go into the the forbidden forrest so so so I will respect that.” he said with a bit of a cheeky grin on his face. He thought Henry was being a bit of a typical Hufflepuff in him putting loyalty to Hogwarts and his aunt over a sense of adventure. Dominic supposed that having a friend like Henry would at very least prevent the Gryffindor from doing anything too daft. It might be good to have someone to help keep his feet on the grounds.

”I I I am always ready, my my middle name is is is ready. Actually it it it it is Hywel but but but I am still ready.” Dominic grinned ”Of course” the Welsh first year climbed the tree carefully, getting to its highest point. It was one great view. Even better than the lower bench. ”The view is great” he called down to his friend ”And there are no Jiggleguls.” he warned his friend, before adding another warning to his mate ”And be careful because one of of of the branches on the way up is a a a bit loose” he was sure that Henry was an accomplished climber, he sounded as if he was. However he cared about Henry and wanted him to be safe. He would not be able to forgive himself if he didn’t warn his friend and something then happened to him.

It was a beautiful autumn day with the tree the two boys were sitting in still retaining most of its leaves though they slowly started to turn to yellow. And into this serene scenery, Dominic had brought that monster made of different body parts. Henry felt nauseated. He didn’t want to but couldn’t keep himself from conjecturing how something like that could be possible. He didn’t have anything superfluous about his body, and as far as he knew, nobody else had. Did these monsters make each other by stealing from other people and creatures? Was it possible to wake up one day, and a hand was gone? Henry shivered. ”Is…” he tried to say but had to clear his throat first because his voice seemed to have temporarily abandoned him. ”Is it very dangerous? If it is frank, that wouldn’t be that bad, would it? Is it British?” The name sounded foreign in Henry’s ears, and he put all his hope in the beast not living anywhere near where he did. Though, if the monster was close enough to endanger Dominic, then it was more than probable that it could pop up in London or Hogwarts. But the school was very well protected Henry reminded himself sternly. As long as he was at school, no monster could attack him.

He had tried not to look troubled, but maybe some of his fear had been visible. At least he had the impression that Dominic was eyeing him with worry. Henry briefly closed his eyes and breathed deeply. There was no need to be afraid, he was safe. And maybe Dominic had misunderstood something because that beast didn’t sound like anything Henry had ever heard of - though Henry had no idea how anybody could come up with monsters just for fun. He forced himself to look Dominic in the eyes and to smile when he asked whether he was okay. ”I’m fine,” he muttered, failing to sound cheerful. He only hoped Dominic wouldn’t tell another horror story. Henry felt that he couldn’t deal with any more creepiness today.

Henry stared at Dominic when he asked about the length of the pauses. ”Er… I… I think two minutes should be enough,” he finally said. ”If you wait longer, you’ll forget what you were talking about. But maybe the other one hasn’t heard you, so you could repeat your question. And if there is still no answer, you’d better wait because the other one is so preoccupied he can’t pay you enough attention. You can try to talk to him again after a few hours.” That sounded plausible to Henry. Some people didn’t like to concentrate and to talk at the same time. They needed more time because they didn’t like to deal with too much at once. And Dominic might sometimes be too much. At least when he was talking about creepy monsters.

”A lemon?” repeated Henry. ”But lemons don’t attack anyone.” He felt uncomfortable again. Either Dominic was making stuff up faster than Gunther emptied his feeding bowl, or Henry was utterly ignorant of what was going on in the world. He started to understand why the boys in Dominic’s dormitory had so little patience. It was uncomfortable to be constantly told confusing and disturbing news. ”Then you’d better only talk about things that they know too,” said Henry in another attempt to understand the whole situation. ”We’re at school here, and we learn a lot every day so that your dorm mates don’t want to be learning in their free time. That’s too much trouble for them, and if you are in trouble, you aren’t well. That’s why they are sometimes a bit rude. Because they’re feeling uncomfortable. You’d better just talk about things that are common knowledge with them like the Quidditch league or The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle.”

Welsh was something Henry had already heard of before. And by that point, he was glad for anything Dominic said that sounded somehow familiar. Languages weren’t creepy, something about which Henry was very glad. ”An alphabet of its own? Like Ancient Runes?” he asked, intrigued. ”And you can read that? Is it difficult?” He wasn’t entirely sure what Dominic meant with mutations, or how vowels could be different. There were only five as far as Henry knew, repeating the alphabet in his head. But as Welsh had a different alphabet, he supposed that it was somehow possible.

”Barry Porter?” Henry scratched his head. He had never heard this name before in his life. But then he had never that much cared about Quidditch. ”We could go to the trophy room. There should be medals of former Quidditch teams that won the House Cup. If Barry Porter was that good, his name would be there a couple of times. That might help.” He was slightly proud of himself to have so promptly thought about a good way to do research. He was also relieved that he was still able to be rational even after all that strange stuff Dominic said. Some things in life were easy.

It was a bit of a surprise that the carrots were wild animals. Considering that normal carrots got eaten all the time and were cultivated by men, he hadn’t expected that. He nodded though at Dominic’s comments about hunting. He was probably right. It was not very nice of them to hurt, worse, to kill animals. He hadn’t thought of it before that directly, but it was true. There was something horribly inappropriate about eating a formerly living being. After all, what set a pet apart from another animal? ”I guess that’s true. We shouldn’t eat meat,” he said. He would try from now on. There was always so much to eat, to avoid meat shouldn’t be that difficult.

”Em, alright,” said Henry when Dominic told him not to eat beans. He didn’t think that they had ever made him fart before, and eating them had to be better than a pig or calf. But he was glad that Dominic thought the same way he did. Even if he also thought a lot of other things that Henry couldn’t quite understand. But right now he was agreeing about the forest with him, which was a relief. The last thing Henry wanted was to disagree with Dominic, not after he had almost hurt him. ”We can’t go into the forest,” he corrected, considering it important to make his point clear. ”Because we’d be expelled. But maybe there are certain animals living at the borders. These aren’t out of bounds so we could start there.”

Henry made a mental note that ”Hywel” meant ”Ready” in Welsh. At least he guessed that that was what Dominic had meant. Why else should he have said something like that? The name was not that common, and it made sense that a name sometimes meant something. His grandmother’s name had been Rosa, and that meant Rose. If people could be named after flowers, they could be named after characteristics. He watched Dominic climbing swiftly after Gunther and followed a bit more slowly, looking around attentively. He still needed to check whether this was a good tree for training tree-climbing. In fact, it was almost a bit too boring, he had only come across one branch that wasn’t in a very good state anymore. He’d try later to get on one of the others that might pose more of a challenge. ”What?” he called up. ”What’s not there?” The branches were getting thinner and Henry stopped a little below Dominic, not wanting to risk both their weight on the same spot. ”Yes, I noticed,” he said, looking down to the branch. ”When there’s a storm, it will most likely fall down. Hopefully no one walks nearby then. That could be dangerous.” He let his eyes wander over the grounds and the castle. ”It is beautiful. We are really lucky that we can go to school here.”

[OoC Huh, good to know! I just assumed it’s some dialectal variant of Mum. Cintugnatus is the only Celtic word I know ]

Dominic looked curiously when Henry seemed not to know about the Frankenstein. Hadn’t his mamgu warned him about the dangerous of the Frankenstein? Maybe he didn’t have a mamgu to warn him. Maybe his aunt would, or someone. Still it was probably a bit late by now. It struck Dominic that Henry was probably too much of a goody goody to be attacked by the Frankenstein monster. It was only something that went after naughty boys that didn’t go to sleep. Being told about it always gave Dominic nightmares though. He couldn’t sleep because of it. Which was a problem because that is how the monster got you.

”It it is meant to be very dangerous. It it it takes you away and and eats you if if you don’t sleep.” he nodded with a look on concern on his face ”My my mamgu use to to to tell it to to me, so I I guess that it is British. Or or maybe it it was just Welsh….” he added with a bit of a thoughtful look on his worried face. Perhaps that was why the Hufflepuff didn’t have a clue about what Dominic was on about. That it was a Welsh thing and Henry, being English, might not have known about it. ”…maybe we are safe up here in Scotland” he added with a bit of a relieved smile.

He could tell he was making Henry uncomfortable and that worried Dominic a bit, he didn’t want to lose his new friend through him thinking he was weird. He was only looking after the Hufflepuff and making sure that he didn’t suffer because of the nargworm. He was looking out for him. The Gryffindor supposed that if looking after Henry cost him his friendship then it would probably be worth it. At least he would have sacrificed it for doing good. Even if he ended up being lonely because of it. The blonde boy looked relieved when his friend said he was fine. More importantly, he didn’t seem angry at Dommie.

The Welsh Gryffindor nodded when he said two minutes enough and made a mental note to time it. ”Okay, so repeat the the the question every few hours, got it” he said to his friend, there was a slightly mischievous glint in his eye. It was not entirely clear if he was just teasing Henry on this point or was serious. To be honest sometimes the little blond Gryffindor could not be too sure himself at times.

Dom opened his mouth to explain that these were not normal lemons but mutant lemons that had been grown in a lab by some mad potion master in an attempt to have a companion to talk to but it totally backfired because the potion master miscalculated one thing. Lemons do not have hearts. However he caught on how uncomfortable that Henry was feeling and his motormouth decided to give this one a rest this time. He nodded when his yearmate said that he probably should only talk about things they know. He guessed that made sense. Who would want to learn new things after all. The problem was how was Dommie meant to know what they knew and what they did not know. He thought everyone would know about the Frankenstein monster and the flying carrots but from his conversation with Henry, it seemed he was mistaken.

”So the the the dangers of of of having pineapples on on pizzas is off the the cards then?” he asked his friend in all earnestness. He felt warning people off having pineapples on pizzas was important. Not as important was telling them about a possible attack of the Guzzlewits but he guessed that would almost certainly probably be totally off limits. Which was a shame because that could prove a life changing event for people. ”What about Quinn the Eskimo, can I I I tell people about him?” he asked with a bite of his lip. It was so hard to decide. This might be more trouble then he felt it was worth. ”Maybe I I I should just try to to to stop talking to to to them” he said as a suggestion. That would be difficult too, but maybe not as tough as trying to talk about stuff that thy might know and trying to judge what that was. Still people had to know about the Might Quinn, as warned about in that little rhyme. Right?

”The Adventures of of of Martin Miggs the the mad muggle is is is one of my favourite comic books” he said sounding a bit re-assured, Maybe he could tell them about the book and discuss their favourite comics Maybe that could be some awesome common ground with his dorm mates, matybe the boys in his dorm would stop trying to stuff socks in his mouth and tie him up in an attempt to try and keep him quiet.

The Welsh boy felt more happier talking about his own language ”Sorta , yea…” he said thinking how to explain it to Henry ”It is the the the oldest language in in Europe” he told him. ”it Alphahbet it very different from the the the English one, so some of of of the letters sound different to to to how you would say them in in in English.” he said, glad he could talk about something that, hopefully, Henry would not find weird. ”Of course I I I can read Welsh and and and it not too difficult but but but it it might be be hard for someone to to learn it from the off” he supposed learning a totally new language with a very different alphabet would be hard. He was lucky that he learnt Welsh and English side by side.

Dommie nodded when Henry repeated Barry Porter back ”Huh-uh I I I I think that was his name” he thought harder about it. Yes, it was Barry Porter, definitely. ”ooh ooh ooh I I I I heard that one of of of the trophies there is a a a portkey to to to death himself and and if you touch it you be transported to to to him and he he he will kill you. Apparently it it happened to one boy and and Barry Porter himself is is the only one to survive an encounter with him” he told Henry getting a bit excited and shaking the branch a bit. ”Maybe we we we could find it and and and go and and challenge death himself to a a a game of of of of….” Dominic didn’t play chess ”….happy families for for our lives” that did sound like a fun idea. But maybe Henry would not see it that way. Perhaps this was one of the times he should have kept his mouth shut.

It had been playing on Dom’s mind for a while now about eating meat. Sometimes he did think it was cruel or weird to eat meat, he did like meat, but was it right for another living being to give up their live so that someone could eat. Humans could very easily live off vegetables alone. Of course he also understood the importance of farming and didn’t want to criticise people for eating meat or even farming meat. But, his own choice, maybe he would go vegetarian. ”I I been thinking about not eating meat for for for a while now…” he said sounding a lot more serious then he has previously ”….I am not sure, I I I don’t want to judge people for for eating meat but but but I I sometimes feel uncomfortable about eating meat because, you you know, it it it use to be another living thing…” it was certainly food for thought. It was a decision that the youngster knew that he would have to make for himself. Still it was certainly nice to discuss it with someone else. He felt sure that Henry could not judge him negatively about it.

”Indeed and and and I don’t want to get expelled. I I I mean I I I don’t mind getting a a a detention but but but expelled is scary. It it it would mean we we cant learn magic anymore” perhaps going into the forbidden forest would be a terrible idea after all. ”Although the the the borders sound good. And and then there are always areas of the school we can explore for for creatures” he informed the Hufflepuff sounding very eager and excited again.

Dominic sighed when Henry asked what was not there. He decided not to repeat it. The information wasn’t too important in the long run he guessed. ”Well…” he said looking down slightly to Henry. The view was amazing, he had to agree here. ”…indeed that what happen in storms. It it it a bit sad to to to think of the the trees that get killed in in storms….” he said looking down towards his lap ”…I mean the the the really tall trees that get hit by folks of of lighting and burn or or or get split” he added. ”Still, yea, some people do do hide under trees in in storms, which I I I think is a very silly thing to to to do. The bnest thing to do is is is lie flat on the the the ground” he wondered if he was talking nonsense here. It could certainly get someone wet, but at least the lighting would not strike them. Lower on the ground, the better right?

”Indeed, this is is is a really amazing place. A a a lot nicer then my my house back in in Caerphilly, I mean that is is is a very nice place too but but but not like this.” he took a moment to take in all the views and the sights. ”It is is is not just the views, it it it is also the magic and learnng it tooo..What classes are are you enjoying so so Far?” he asked his friend eager to keep the conversation going. He didn’t want this to end, not yet. It woulc mean a return to linliness and he did not want that just yet. 

A creature made of body parts had sounded gruesome enough, but when Dominic elaborated, Henry’s chin simply dropped. ”It eats people?” he asked, feeling more and more close to panicking. ”Does this happen often? Why… What is being done to prevent it? What does the Ministry do?” Something that ate children because they didn’t sleep sounded like something that needed to be strictly controlled by the Ministry. From what he had found in his books, the Ministry loved controlling. Though, if the monster was that dangerous, how was it possible that he had never heard of it before? He did feel scared, but the same scepticism that had vetoed other things Dominic had said spoke up again in Henry’s mind. Maybe the monster really didn’t exist. Still, Dominic had cited a source for the monster, so Henry was not as skeptical as he would have liked to be. His aunt would never lie to him, why should Dominic’s family be any different?

He nodded at the mention that it might be Welsh. Though he still thought that he should have heard about the monster if it lived anywhere in Britain (the Ministry was responsible not only for England, but also for Wales, even for Scotland and Ireland), he guessed that the monster might be very rare and probably counted as extinct. That would explain why it was little talked about. He was now relatively positive that he wouldn’t need to fear the monster personally. As to other people, he only had to hope that the Ministry would be on alert. If the monster really only came to people who couldn’t sleep (which was a curious detail that made Henry skeptical again), it would help to take a sleeping draught prior to going to bed. Maybe the monster wasn’t that dangerous after all. But the body parts thing remained very unsettling.

”Well,” said Henry thoughtfully, ”Probably only ask the same question three times in a row. There are some questions some people don’t want to answer, and if you keep insisting, that might make people mad at you.” He vaguely wondered what sort of questions Dominic tended to ask that were worth to be repeated every few hours. But then he only wanted to give advice and not be a bad example by asking inappropriate questions. Dominic’s problem wasn’t one he really understood. He was talkative, but that had never been a problem. Whenever he said something, he would get an answer. He couldn’t remember that the opposite had ever been the case.

”You can point out that pineapple and pizza doesn’t smell good,” he answered, feeling a little confused at the use of the word danger. ”But I think everybody knows that. Or if they don’t, there’s no harm in letting them try. Though… there are people with weird tastes, so they might like pineapple and pizza together. And it is not nice to argue over tastes. Oh!” It had suddenly dawned on Henry what Dominic might have meant with danger. ”Do you get sick from pineapples?” he asked. ”Then you’d have an allergy. But not everybody’s got an allergy. And not everybody is allergic to the same things. I for one can’t eat anything with dairy because it makes me sick. But most people are perfectly fine with drinking milk and such stuff.”

Once again, Henry felt slightly lost at Dominic’s next question. ”I don’t know Quinn the Eskimo,” he said slowly. ”Is that a story? That depends, some people like to hear stories, others don’t. You should probably just ask first whether you can tell them something. And if someone says no, it’s no.” That sounded about right to Henry. It was always important to respect the other person because otherwise one might be hurting their feelings. And hurting feelings was not nice because hurting was always bad. ”But it might also be impolite not to talk to them,” protested Henry. ”Probably you just have to talk little for a while and pay attention what the others talk about. Once you know what they like to discuss, you can try to join their conversation.” Henry was quite content with himself, he felt he was making a lot of sensible suggestions today. He nodded encouragingly. ”Talking about books and comics the others know should be a good thing to talk about.” He was now almost feeling proud of having given Dominic a good idea.

”How do you know it’s the oldest language in Europe?” asked Henry critically. ”How do you measure how old a language is? I think I read somewhere that Greek is attested since the 16th century BC. Are you sure Welsh is older?” Languages wasn’t one of the topics Henry was very much interested in, but he had once read a book about some old Greek culture that also told stories of significant Greek wizards and witches like Circe. He was rather certain that Greek had been mentioned there as a very old language. Come to think of it, Henry also thought it likely that Greek had an alphabet of its own. Probably alphabets and age of a language were somehow connected.

”That can’t be,” said Henry critically when Dominic started to talk about the trophy room. ”Why would the school put Portkeys into the trophy room? And you cannot be transported to death because death isn’t a person. I think you mix up something with Harry Potter. He survived the killing curse, remember. Maybe you made the mistake because their names are somewhat similar.” He shook his head decidedly at Dominic’s suggestion. ”We’re only first-years, we could never challenge death - apart from the fact that death is nothing that could be challenged. Haven’t your parents read that fairy tale from Beedle the Bard to you? You cannot escape death, but you can avoid him until you are ready to greet him like an old friend. Beedle was a very clever man, he knew what he was writing. What you are suggesting is very reckless.” Dominic was a Gryffindor after all. Recklessness was rather common in that house if Henry wasn’t very much mistaken.

”If you feel uncomfortable, you shouldn’t do it,” said Henry decidedly. ”It is right to follow your instincts.” When Dominic mentioned that meat once used to be a living being, Henry was suddenly reminded of the Frankenthing monster, and he felt sickened. ”It does sound wrong to eat something that once was a body part of something else…” he muttered. Was that how a Franken- whatever it had been - monster came into existence. Someone who ate a lot of body parts from animals until they took over his body? It was a frightening theory.

He was glad when Dominic agreed on not wanting to risk expulsion. Henry did not agree about the detention part - detention was for wrong doing, and if he got detention, his aunt would be informed - and when his aunt knew that he had done something wrong, she would be sad. And Henry forbid to himself to make his aunt sad. ”Yes,” he said. ”Though I suppose that most animals will be living outside. If I were an animal, I’d prefer to be here up in the trees or something. Because I don’t think that in the castle any rare animals would live where it is cozy. Where it is cozy, there are a lot of people. And where there are a lot of people, it is very unlikely that there are rare animals.”

It was not a windy day, and Henry was grateful for that. Otherwise it would have been more difficult to stay on the tree. As it was, they could look around in all tranquillity. ”Yes,” he said to his friend’s comment about storms. ”Lightning usually hits exposed targets like lonely trees. So if you’re in a forest, it wouldn’t be all too bad to stand under a tree to hide from the rain. But if you’re in open field and stand under the only tree, then that’s not very clever.” He had been very interested in lighting once, and that was what he had been told. Before lightning struck, the air would be sort of sizzling and the hair would be standing on edge. It had been a rather difficult explanation, but Henry had been fascinated.

”I like most classes,” said Henry, thinking proudly to himself that his suggestions of reasonable conversation topics were already showing. ”Charms is fun. Transfiguration is difficult but fascinating. Potions is somehow relaxing. And being around plants is fun. And you?”

Dominic nodded grimly when Henry asked if the Frankenstein monster ate people, that is what his mamgu told him and he believed her. Why would she lie to him about such a thing? The 11 year old could not think if a single reason why she would do that. No, this monster had to be real and it was a very very dangerous thing. He had to warn people about it and maybe Henry could try and spread the word in the Hufflepuff common room. The more people who where kept safe the better. Hogwarts would have to be a massive hunting ground for it, so many children.

”My my mamgue saids that that is happens all the the time and and and has eaten many little boys…” he nodded and took a small gulp. Maybe they would be safe here. He had to keep telling himself that. ”The the the only way to to to stop it is is is to sleep, and and and the Ministry is is not doing anything about it, because the the the creature is protected by a an international law!” he had asked his mamgu the very same question and that was her answer. It worried Dominie that they would put the rights of the creature over the rights of children.

He was very pleased that the conversation was moving off the Frankenstein monster, it was very unsettling even to Dominic. He nodded at his friend’s advice. Ask the same question three times in a row, right. So next time he is in the dorm he would asked ‘have the Scuntralls stole my socks again?, have the Scuntralls stole my socks again?, have the Scuntralls stole my socks again?’ that made sense. Although Dominic would probably end up repeating several of the worlds as well. Such a course of action would probably take plate all night. Pity the poor Gryffindor first year boys trying to get some sleep.

”Well, pineapples on pizzas do do not taste good either” the blonde boy stuck out his tongue in a sort of blugh motion. It was one of the most horrible things he had tasted and, given that Dominic tends to like everything as a rule, that was saying something. He nodded when Henry asked if he meant people getting sick ”Pineappes are not meant to be on pizzas, it it it made me sick.” He frowned when Henry said he had an allergy, he did not think he had an allergy not of pineapple, at least he didn’t think. ”Do you mean that that that I might be allergic to to to all fruit?” he said looking aghast. He loved fruit, if he was honest, it was his favourite meal. Especially as eating too much sugar tended to make him even more energetic than he was.

” I I Iam sorry that that diary makes you you ill. I cannot imagine life without diary….” a loot of worry came on his face again ”Oooh ooh ooh, do do the house elves know? Has the the the school been informed?” he didn’t want his new friend getting ill. It didn’t really occur to him that the boy’s own aunt would be on top of all of this and had gotten it all sorted out. He made a mental note not to drink or eat diary around Henry. He wanted to be sensitive.

He shook his head ”Quinn the Esikmo is a a a song, a a a muggle song to be honest but still a a a a song. But but I am apparently good at at making up stories.” all this talking etiquette was very confusing to the blonde boy a bit. He wasn’t quiet taking it all in if he was honest. It was going over his head a bit. He would try to do what his good friend said though. After all didn’t good friends take each other words? Maybe? He wasn’t sure.

Dominic frowned when Henry asked how he knew it was one of the oldest languages in Europe. ”My my parents told it it was...” he said. Was the Hufflepuff boy implying that his parents were liars? He hoped not. However, thinking about what he said he realised where their might have been a misunderstanding. ”….oooh I I I meant one of the oldest languages in in in Europe” He really needed to be more clear in his language. ”I I I am very sure Welsh is one of the oldest languages in in Europe, my parents said it it was….” he tried to remember how old his parents had told him Welsh was ”I I I think my parents said that Welsh was as was over 4000 years old.” he wondered if that was helpful for his butty. He hoped so. He also hoped that he was remembering correctly. Dominic was pretty sure that is what his parents had said and Welsh did have a very long history. In some ways he was surprised that the language had survived so long, especially with the invasions of the Romans, Anglo-Saxons and English.

The Gryffindor boy’s face lit up in recognition when Henry said he was mixing up with Harry Potter. That made sense and the name sounded more familiar now. ”ooooh, I I I think I I I might have have misheard his his his name” that was probably the situation. After all the young 11 year old did not really pay attention to people. He tried to make sure that he remembered the name for the future. It was definitely something that the young lad should know. After all he was a famous wizarding figure, It was a bit embarrassing that he got it wrong to be honest. Henry didn’t seem like the type that would keep it against him though.

He shook his head when Henry said they could not challenge death, ”Of course we could, we we we could challenge him to a a a game of hopscotch, although that that is a a a girls game. Oooh ooh ooh how about a a a game of of of snap or or something. And of course, Death. And and and he is a giant skeleton thing in a a a long black cloak.” he informed his new-found butty. ”My parents have read me about Beedle the the Bard! he folded his arms slightly. Yet again he was getting a distinct lack of adventure and imagination from the Hufflepuff. ”..nothing wrong with a a bit of of recklessness.” he added in a very serious tone. ”I am sure that some people would call climbing up a a a tree as a a very reckless action.” he felt that he had made a good point there.

Besides, it was not as if he was being serious, serious about challenging death, it was just a bit of childish talk about what they could do in that situation if it came up. It was an attempt at a playful conversation, yet it seemed to have fallen rather flat. The youngster wondered if it was his fault and he wasn’t making himself clear to Henry. It was entirely possible that was happening. Maybe he should be clearer. The 11 year old decided to make an effort to make sure when he was being serious and when he was having a bit of fun.

When Henry said that Dominic shouldn’t do anything that made him feel uncomfortable. It was a good point and made the 11 year old think carefully. He did like eating meat, to a point, but it was eating another living beating which he didn’t like. Could be go vegetarian? What would his family say? He wasn’t too sure. It would make his mother’s life more difficult cooking two meals, and people might find him a bit annoying going for the veggie option. But it was a lot kinder to animals, wasn’t it? The youngster pondered it. ”When you put it it it like that, you are right….” Dominic nodded. ”…I I I will need to to to think on it though. There are are so many things to to to think about, like the impact on on my mam, if if my family will accepted it, and and stuffl” he wondered if Henry understood what he was driving up? He hoped that, this time, on this issue, he was making more sense than he usually did.

Expulsion didn’t really appeal to Dominic, sure he was a rule breaker but only to a point, only to either to explore, pull minor pranks or maybe help his friends, if that situation ever came up. Of course there were limits to how he would help his friends, he would not do anything too bad or anything like that, but if it was something like sneaking out after curfew or something, sure. Going into the forbidden forest would be a no no though. While he might fantasise about it, the rule book was very clear on the issue. Going into the forest = expulsion. Even if there was a lot of really cool creatures in there.

”Finding animals up in the trees would be cool too, that could be exciting, and and and, then lake, and and and and around the school of course. I I I think we should find some in the the school. I I I I bet there are loads in in in some of the hidden corridors and and and secret rooms.” he nodded. The youngster was convinced about the wonderful beast he might find in the school and the need to company to find them, and the added bonus of finding secrets with a friend.

The 11 year old nodded “”Yes, indeed it it it would be very stupid but but people still dooo it.” he informed the Hufflepuff. ”I I I mean, people probably should not go out in in the rain anyway, you you you get all wet and and cold.” the blonde lad frowned a bit ”I guess if if you get caught by surprise thought. I suppose.” he gave a small shrug,

”I I I love all my my my classes. he enthused ”I I I I love charms, that is my favourite class, potions is is is also my favourite class, and and and and herbology is is is one of my my my faves, Flying is is awesome too and and and is a favourite class of of mine, Astronomy is is is fun, and and one of of my favourites too and and and Transfiguration is is my favourite class and and and I enjoy it.” the Welsh lad was sounding exhausted from his overexcitement.

The little boy then started frowning a bit ”Although History of of of magic is is boooring. And and and I find the the dark arts classes very scary.” the first year fidgeted on the branch again ”I I I really dislike some of of the stuff that they are teaching us in in that class.” Dominic definitely found that less deeply uncomfortable and he had the feeling that he was not the only person to do so.

If he was honest that class had led to the lad having some nightmares as a result of it. Dominic did not want to say though, he was too worried about what other people might think of him if he admitted to having bad dreams as a result of a lesson. That they might think that he is not up to being in the school or was weak of something. That was not something that Dom wanted to happen.

He looked over the lake again with another thoughtful look on his face ”I I I cannot wait until we we can do some more spells…”, yet again, with his total disregard for his own real safety he started bouncing on the branch with excitement ”….ooh, ooh oooh, we we we could try practicing magic together as as well as doing animal searching.” his eyes lit up with excitement of the possibilities.

When Henry had walked out of the castle about half an hour ago, he had wanted nothing but climb around in the trees by the lake and think up the best training possible for Lizzy and Carin. The very last thing he had expected was for this sunny afternoon to take such a nightmarish turn. That thing got more ghastly with every word Dominic said. It couldn’t be true. It couldn’t be true. He needed to repeat these words to himself, otherwise he would panic, and nobody should panic high up in the air on a tree branch. As experienced as he was with falling from trees, that was a course of action that required maximum attention. But it seemed that the monster was only hunting boys - if he interpreted Dominic’s comment correctly. At least Lizzy would be safe. He wasn’t that sure about Carin. Maybe sometimes at least? He felt like he should ask to prepare himself, but he didn’t have the energy, not with the ever new horrors he was learning. ”A… a law? For its protection?” he stammered. ”That’s… why would anybody come up with such a law? Why…” He felt so unsure. What should he do? Ask a teacher? But if everything was just a story of Dominic’s, wouldn’t they think he was crazy? But the Gryffindor had it from his grandmother!

Despite all the unpleasant news he got from him, he was glad that he seemed able to help his friend. The problems that were concerning their everyday lives were certainly not irrelevant, but far less threatening. And there were solutions to them - not easy ones, Henry would never claim that much, but solutions nevertheless. ”Oh, no,” he said, astonished at Dominic’s conclusion. At least his friend had had a reasonable reaction to pineapples, so he wouldn’t complain. ”Do you always have a rumbling tummy-” Henry stopped himself, he probably shouldn’t put it like it had been put to him when he was little. ”Does your stomach hurt regularly after eating fruit?” he asked almost professionally. ”Then that might be a sign, and you should go and consult the nurse. But if you’re only feeling sick after pineapples, you’d only be allergic to them.”

He smiled warmly at the Gryffindor when he expressed such great worry for his health. ”It’s not a big problem, really,” he said, giving the other boy a reassuring grin. ”Dairy isn’t that hard to replace, once you know how to. And there’s always so much to choose from during meals, I’m just being careful, and whenever I’m unsure I ask Nick or Atha, and they always know. There’s nothing to worry about!” He clapped his hands together and jumped to his feet to grab a higher hanging branch. Sitting still all too long on a tree wasn’t his speciality. But they were in the middle of a conversation, and he could postpone the climbing for some time. He sat back down and leant forward to pat Gunther’s head. ”How does the song go?” he asked. ”Is it good? Because singing songs together can be fun. Have you tried singing it to them?”

When Dominic started to explain more about Welsh, Henry grew curious. ”How is it possible to define the age of language?” he asked. ”We, I mean humankind, cannot have started talking at random. Didn’t languages somehow evolve…” He had heard something like that - that somehow languages could be related. But how was it possible for a language to have a beginning? He got the feeling that this was a very complex field. Maybe studying Ancient Runes would help. He’d think about it when they needed to choose classes for third year. ”4000 years,” he repeated slowly. ”That’d mean from year zero about just as long back as forward to now, right? How is it possible to define such moments, especially when they're so far in the past? Are your parents language experts?” The last idea made him look excitedly at Dominic, hoping that the boy might know an answer to his questions.

”Wh- oh, do you mean that the first-year Quidditch player was Harry Potter? Hm, I think I read somewhere he was really good at it. I’m sure the answer can be found in the trophy room.” It was a bit odd that anyone would forget the name of the most famous wizard alive. But then, over the last few minutes, Henry had accepted that oddities were to be expected when talking the Gryffindor. He would try to find some information on Harry Potter’s Quidditch career. That might also interest Lizzy. Though Harry Potter was sort of a delicate subject recently. Henry still didn’t understand why, but there was something wrong going on. He had to inform himself, but there was that uncomfortable sensation that he wouldn’t like the news.

His mouth dropped when Dominic started to talk about challenging death. ”Death is not a person,” he repeated. Yes, there was a personification of death in the fairy tale, but that was only symbolic. Everybody he had ever asked had said so, and it made perfect sense. And even if death had a body, he wouldn’t want to play games with first-years. ”We cannot meet death, and we cannot have any challenges with him. We’re eleven, death is nobody we should wish to meet but in many, many years in the future. Death is a very serious matter because it makes people dead.” That sounded stupid, now that he had said it out loud. But it was just how things were, and somehow he had the feeling that Dominic didn’t get the full meaning of it. ”Death doesn’t have any physical form,” he tried to explain. ”It’s an irreversible state. My grandparents are dead. I’ve never met them because there is no way to do that. Death is just… the opposite of life. And you’ve never seen a personified life, right?”

Henry couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the recklessness comment. ”Don’t talk like my aunt,” he said. ”Climbing trees is not reckless despite what an adult might say. I know exactly how to climb safely, I’ve got everything under control. There’s nothing reckless about that. But not taking death seriously, that is reckless. Because it’s death. Death.” He breathed deeply. This topic was developing little better than the monster one previously. Of course, he had never lost someone he had known. But that made him fear death even more. He had never met and most likely never would meet his father. On the one hand, that was a relief, but on the other, he did wish he could talk to him before he would not only be as good as dead for him, but really, physically dead. And there was the blank that his mother was. He was sure, both his parents would die, maybe were already dead, without him ever having had the chance to see them. No, death was loss, and he didn’t like how Dominic spoke of it.

The meat eating thing was something Henry hadn’t given that much thought until now. But his advice was certainly right - trusting your own judgement. Though considering some of the things Dominic had said… But he had sounded sensible when addressing the animal problem, and he certainly did have a point. It wasn’t nice to eat living beings. But many people did it. Was that an argument? Not really he supposed. It wouldn’t be that bad to leave out the bacon at breakfast. He could do an experiment and do things like that for a couple of days. And if it went well, he would keep the habit. It might be less embarrassing if he ever met a cow or a pig or a hen and wanted to be friends that he wouldn’t have to confess to having eaten one of their species recently. ”Why accept?” he asked, slightly astonished. ”I think you’ve got a good point. It’s certainly good to think about such things. And Hogwarts is a good place to try because there is enough variety of dishes.”

He screwed up his face in concentration. ”Yeah, the trees are a good point to start. There are a lot of animals living on them, most very small though. Finding them in the lake would be difficult though,” he said after having given the suggestions some thought. ”We’d only be able to check the shore because I don’t know how to breathe under water. Maybe we’ll learn something later, and then we can explore the whole loch. But the school… don’t you think that the animals up there have all been found? Though it has apparently taken about a thousands years to find a Basilisk, so I guess it’s possible.” He nodded to himself thoughtfully. Yes, they shouldn’t rule out the castle. Sometimes it depended on the way that one looked at things. Going through the halls looking for animals was not normally done by teachers, so they might really find something new.

”In summer the rain can be very warm,” said Henry. ”Then you’d only get wet, and that can be fun. You know, jumping in puddles and stuff. I used to do that a lot when I was little. But you’re right of course. When there’s lightning, you should get home as fast as possible. I think you’d also be safe on the train or the bus.” There had been a word, something like… not ”Faraway Cage” but similar, that described these construction wherein a person was protected from lightning. Electricity was very fascinating, he wondered why it featured so little in magical processes.

”Yes, these are great classes,” agreed Henry readily. He could understand the enthusiasm. Everything was just too exciting to be limited to one thing. ”I like History of Magic though,” he added. ”I think it’s very interesting to hear about past events. And to compare what the teacher says to what I read in A History of Magic. It’s one of my favourite books. But I fully agree that Dark Arts is creepy. I don’t know why we must learn such stuff. It’s not nice. It’s wr-” He didn’t want to say that it was wrong. He was only a first-year, how could he criticize a teacher. There certainly was a very good reason why these things were taught. But he still didn’t like them.

”Yes, we can!” Henry exclaimed. ”Probably some spells to render us more inconspicuous so that the animals won’t notice us. Or spells that make them slow down without them noticing. Then we could study their behaviour more easily. I’m sure that I once have come across a book with the most important spells for Magizoologists listed in it. I’ll try to find that again. But you’re right.” Henry sighed. ”We still need a lot of training until we can perform really important spells. We won’t get far with changing matches into needles.” He watched the Gryffindor bouncing up and down. ”Are you trying to reach the next branch by jumping? You’ve got to sit up more for that. And I wouldn’t use the branch directly above you, it doesn’t look strong enough to carry your weight.”

Dominic nodeed ”I don’t know why anyone would protect it, my mamgu wouldn’t say when I I I asked her, she she just said that it is the the law and that is is is that.” he wondered if he should ask his cousins to see if they knew, or if he could try and ask his mamgu again in the future to see if she would be more willing to disclose anything that she knows about anything at all about why it was the law. Maybe she would have found out something in the few years since he last asked the question. It was certainly very possible. ”Maybe they just think the lives of magical creatures are more important than the lives of children?” he gave a small, sad and concerned shrug at his friend.

The Gryffindor shook his head when he was asked if he always had a rumbling tummy, or stomach ache after eating fruit. ”Nooo, not usually” he exclaimed ”Just pineapples on on pizza. I I I eat a a lot of fruit. It it it sone of of of my favourite snacks. I I I I think that that the mixture of pineapples on on pizza just upsets my my stomach though” he informed his friend with a small smile. It was nice that the Huffllepuff was looking out for him. It was a sign of a true friend, that his year mate really did care for him. That was something that Dominic appreciated, it was something that he felt the same towards Henry. ”Then again I I I never really had pineapples off pizza, so so so you might be right about that. Oooh ooh ooh maybe I should eat a a a pineapple by itself and and and see if it it makes me sick” it was an idea, but then maybe it was a bad one. Dommie really didn’t want to risk falling ill. He hated vomiting.

”That is is is is good he said to Henry, glad that he was doing okay with diary. He was glad that his friend was getting support. The 11 year old wished he could help his friend out but being in a different house, and probably even less knowledgeable than Henry about what had diary in it and what did not have diary in it would put pay to how useful the Gryffindor could actually be to his mate. ”I I am sure that that you do okay with it thought, right?” he asked with a small bite of his lip. It just occurred to Dominic that it was possible that this Nick and Atha might not be around to support the boy forever, or even on some occasion. It was important to Dominic that his friend was safe.

He turned very red when Henry asked how did the song go, was he asking Dominic to sing the song? It did seem like it. Could Dominic sing it without stuttering? He wasn’t too sure. Still he would give it a go. ”I I think that that it is a a good song” he informed his friend with a sort of embarrassed grin. ”I I don’t know all the song though, I can remember a a bit of the chorus.” he took a deep breath ”But when Quinn the Eskimo gets you, everyone is going to jump for joy” he sung it. Thankfully he didn’t stutter and singing did suit his lilting Welsh accent. However if he got the lyrics complete right or wrong he was not too sure. He thought he did, but it was possible he had misheard the lyric. It still didn’t matter, it was a good song.

”I do like signing though, and and I do sing with with people, if I can.I I I quiet like round songs, you you know songs where where someone starts singing on verse and then another person joins in on on the second verse but but sings the first verse and and so forth.” he hoped that he was making sense to his pal on this. Maybe he was finding it a bit difficult to explain. ”but singing with any other person can be be fun anyway. Although sometimes they they they get upset because they they say that I I I stutter when I I I sing and and and ruin the the rhyme of of the soonng.” he did wish he could get his stuttering under control, sometimes it did seem better than others though. It depended on how excited and relaxed the 11 year old lad was.

The Welsh Gryffindor pondered this question slightly, it was a good question. How did people define an age of a language. ”I I I guess it is to to do with when the the the first text of of of the language and when it it was first written.” it seemed the most logical explanation to Dominic, although obviously language existed a long time before writing was invented. However he could not see any other way to define how old an language was, not without time travel being invented somehow. The first year noted the excited look in Henry’s eyes and it hurt him to say this ”No, sadly not. They do know a a a bit about the the Welsh language though” he gave a smile, hoping that what he said might still be useful.

”It it it probably could be found in in in the trophy room. Harry was apparently amazing at at a a lot of of things, because he he he was a a Gryffindor don’t you you know” he nodded enthusiastically. He was a proud lion, of course he was, were there any other kind of lions? Gryffindor was a very proud house, with a lot of history to be proud of. After all what other house could hold claim to so many great wizards and witches? None as far as Dominic was aware.

A sigh left Dominic’s lips when Henry started talking about death again. The Hufflepuff lad had no imagination sometimes it seemed. ”Well, I I I know that death is is not a a a person.” he finally admitted, albeit with an exasperated tone of voice. ”I I I was just playing around, Henry, so so so it it it was only meant as a a bit of of fun.” he gave a small shrug. Some people just didn’t get fun sometimes. ”ooh ooh ooh I I I I wonder what the the the personification of of of life would be, I I I mean there is a a a stalk. Ooh ooh ooh maybe it be a a a a giant baby or or or or a a a caterpillar…” he was getting very excited again, before a more thoughtful look crept on his face ”….then again maybe we we are the the the personification of of of life.” he reflected. He thought that he had made rather a clever comment with that, he actually felt somewhat proud of himself.

He gave Henry a withering look when he told Dominic not to talk like his aunt ”But but but that is my point Henryyy.” he exclaimed ”That that what might be be be reckless to to some people are are not to to others.” he shook his head again at the language about taking death seriously. ”But but that is no fun. Death is is is something to be challenged, regardless of of of if it it is a person or or not. It it not something to to to be feared…or at very least the the fear of death should not stop people from doing things which are dangerous or or or exciting.” he told his friend. Of course, Dominic himself would not do anything so reckless that would mean certain death, that is not what the young boy meant. But sometimes, dangerous things that might be potentially deadly, should be done. If only for the adventure of it.

”Well, Wales is a a very rural area and and some people can be be a bit funny about vegetarianism. Ann then my my my my mam would have to to to make an extra meal just for for for me and and and that would be more work for her and and that would be be be totally unfair. “ he sighed. Clearly he was not really making as much sense with Henry as he thought that he was making. That disappointed Dominic a bit. ”You are are right about the the idea that that Hogwarts would be a a a good place to to to try it out. I I I I will most certainly will during my my my year here. he gave his friend a large smile at that idea.

The Welsh 1st year nodded when Henry agree that tree are good point to start for animal hunting. He was really looking forward to that adventure with his fellow year mate. Especially since both the boys were fans of climbing trees. It was Dominic’s turn to screw his face in concentration when Henry talked about the lake. ”I I I am sure that that we can find out about the the lake, we we don’t actually need to to go into the lake, although that would be totally cool if if if if we did. But around the shoreline would be cool as well. I I II bet there are a a a lot of creatures around there. And and and I think that there be be some undiscovered animals about. As you said it took them thousands of of years to found a Basilisk so so so so I bet we we we could find new ones. Oooh ooh oooh they they probably be things smaller than the the the the Basilik about. After all, if if if all the animals have been found then then then their would be little point in in trying to to to find them?” it suddenly occurred to Dominic that Henry might be trying to back out on the plan that they had. He really hoped not. That would break his heart. He was too scared to challenge Henry on this though, just in case he didn’t like the answer.

”I love all classes…” he confirmed with an enthusiastic nod ”Well apart from history of magic which is is is still boring and and dark arts which is creepy. I I I don’t know why they teach that us tto to to use anyway. It it it it is like that they they want to to make us to to to use dark magic and and and accept it as as normal” actually, the more Dominic thought about it, the more exactly what it was. He decided that it was probably wise of Henry to shut up about the subject and move on, the Gryffindor decided to follow the lead of the Hufflepuff on this.

He nodded emphatically once again, his blonde hair flopping up and down as he did so. ”Yea, do do do you know of of of such a a a spell to to to make us more inconspicuous?” he asked excitedly. If his pal knew that, then he could learn it. Such a spell would be very useful for pranking purposes as well as animal exploring exercises. ”But even with with spells that that won’t help with our our animal hunting exercises would be cool to to to learn spells with with with each other. Like like charms and and and and stuff. But but but not the the the the the dark arts of of of of of course.” using dark magic on someone else filled Dommie with a cold terror. It was not something he would ever be willing to do.

The excitable young lad blushed when Henry asked if he was trying to reach the next branch ”No…sorry…” he replied sheepishly ”….I I I guess that I I I was just getting excited.” he looked down towards the ground. Hoping that Henry would not judge him over his excitability. He knew that it put a lot of people off him.
 

Even for a child as curious as Henry, it would hardly be considered normal that he had thought a lot about the legal system. But Henry had done exactly this even though he wasn’t interested in it, at least not directly. To call curiosity the reason why he had informed himself about the justice system would be wrong. No, from the moment on when Henry had learnt that there were all sorts of crime in the world, he had needed to know how the state punished what deed. He didn’t want to, he needed to know. His father was in prison for murder, and Henry tried to understand as best as he could what would entail a prison sentence, especially a life-long one. It was a necessity because he had to prevent himself from landing in prison. His aunt was miserable enough with her brother as a prisoner. He wouldn’t follow down the same path, he’d never do wrong.

That background was the reason why Henry had read up on an impressive number of court cases of all varieties. And while monster-related cases had not been at the centre of his attention, he nevertheless felt a bit doubtful of Dominic’s explanation as it didn't agree with the way a court usually decided - as far as he could tell. ”That can’t be,” he said reasonably. ”The magical law is primarily there to protect wizards and witches. Just think back to the giants. They are now extinct because the Ministry considered them so dangerous that they hunted them down - it’s all in A History of Magic. So why should the monster be any different from giants?” The evidence seemed increasingly strong to him that the monster didn’t exist. But just his brain supporting this assumption was of little help when he simultaneously shivered at the possibility of its not-entirely-to-be-ruled-out existence.

”Well, it’s not fitting at all, so that’s no surprise,” he said in reference to the pinapples on pizza. ”Ι doubt anyone would eat something like that of their free will. And fruit is healthy. It would have been really stupid if you were allergic.” Five. That was what he had been told. You need to eat five fruit a day - one of them an apple to keep the Healer away. He wasn’t really observing that himself carefully enough. Was he eating enough fruit… Shocked at the Gryffindor’s musing, he forgot about his own health. ”No, you shouldn’t make such experiments,” he said. ”You could get sick, and then you’d miss classes and would have to do so much work to catch up. I’m sure the matron knows how to check on allergies without harming you. We can go and ask her.” That was certainly the far healthier way than experimenting like his friend had suggested.

”Yes, it’s great,” Henry agreed. ”Dairy has always made me sick, so I’m very much used to avoiding it. It’s really not a problem. At all.” He smiled his most reassuring smile. There was no reason for his new friend to worry, especially as it was so nice of him to worry. Tree-climbers were the best people in the world.

Had it been a mistake to talk about singing? At least the boy looked embarrassed if Henry wasn’t very much mistaken. ”Don’t worry,” he tried to encourage the Gryffindor. ”I don’t know it at all, so I won’t notice if you make a mistake.” He leant forwards, eager to hear the song. The bit that Dominic rendered sounded cheerful, and he moved his head to it, but even that little of the content was confusing him. ”What is… is Quinn chasing people? But why would it be a good thing to get caught? Are they playing Seek-and-Hide or…” That still wouldn’t explain why the others enjoyed it when another got caught. But then, if he didn’t know it yet, it could be a fun game he supposed.

”Ah, yes, a canon,” he said, nodding. ”That’s always confusing me, I never know what to sing.” He had been talking a while now to the Gryffindor, and he had been waiting for the stuttering to go away, assuming that it was out of nervousness or probably because of the height. Now that the boy talked about stuttering at other times too, he felt a little ashamed. ”But you didn’t stutter at all when you just sang,” he said in an attempt to make the boy feel better. ”I mostly just sang a bit with my aunt. I don’t think I’m that musical. But we can sing together if you like. How about… er… ’Ten Little Pure Malt Whiskies’? No, forget about that one.” Henry could feel his head turn red. He had the song from a customer at the Leaky Cauldron, but his aunt had told him that he shouldn’t sing about drinking alcohol. Because at his age, alcohol was very bad. And drinking as much as was needed to like the song was even worse. So he didn’t sing it that often out loud. It was a bad song, and he shouldn’t be enjoying it.

”But not every language starts to be written at the same time as it is spoken,” protested Henry. ”Aren’t there languages that aren’t used for writing at all? Or at least have not been written for a long time? The oldest language would then be… then be…” He had leafed through some enormous book about ancient cultures when they had been shopping for school supplies at Flourish and Blotts, and there he was quite sure it had been mentioned. But he couldn’t remember, it hadn’t been anything he was familiar with. ”Something in the East I think… but there sure lived people elsewhere who also talked but didn’t write.” He frowned and tried to think of some method to determine the age of a language. Where objects were concerned, he was convinced there were spells that could determine things like that. Where did languages come from anyway? And was there a first language, and if yes, who had spoken it? It was all very confusing, something he had not expected at all when he had started to think about it. ”I wish I knew some other language,” he said. ”That must be fascinating. Maybe there will be more about such things in Ancient Runes? But that means waiting two more years.”

Having read several treatises about the past couple of years in British wizarding history, he thought it slightly incorrect to refer to Harry Potter as ’amazing at a lot’. He was a hero, wasn’t he? And that had nothing to do with him being a Gryffindor. But he only made some affirmative sound because he didn’t want to argue about something like that. There was nothing wrong with Dominic being proud of his house.

”Death is nothing to play around with,” retorted Henry, starting to feel slightly annoyed at Dominic’s lack of seriousness in respect to something so incredibly serious. You didn’t play with death, there was nothing funny about it. It didn’t help that the Gryffindor was making some very little reasonable suggestions about life. But before he could argue against a caterpillar representing life, the other boy said something that made Henry pause. ”Yes…” he said lowly and thoughtfully. That somehow sounded true though he wasn’t sure about the implications. ”You mean that everything that’s alive somehow represents life. So the sum of all our lives would be…” What did it mean? This conversation was getting far too confusing for a normal climb in a tree.

”I always know what I’m doing,” Henry defended himself. ”Just because someone else can’t judge what I’m doing doesn’t mean that I’m not aware of it myself. There’s no risk being up here. At least not for me. Or are you afraid?” He frowned at his new friend. He was feeling perfectly at home, but the notion that the other boy might panic was making him nervous. What if some accident happened to him? Of course, he wasn’t the one responsible, Dominic had been in the tree before him, but he still couldn’t allow that someone got hurt. And he really didn’t like this talk about death and danger. It was irresponsible. ”You should not do something if it is so dangerous that you’ll end up being in danger. At least not if there isn’t a reason for taking the risk. If you want to safe someone, you’ll of course take more risk than if you’re doing it just for fun. But for fun you don’t put your life in danger. You don’t.” Why wasn’t Dominic understanding how serious the whole matter was? Was it probably his own fault, and the Gryffindor’s approach was the one considered normal? But Henry was convinced that he was in the right.

”Why would it be funny? If it’s rural, then there are a lot of animals. So you constantly have before your eyes what you are about to eat.” Henry hadn’t made the abstraction from what was on his plate to what the animal had been before. But thinking about it like that, eating meat appeared increasingly sick to him. ”I’m sure if you explain why you won’t eat meat, she’ll agree with you, and then you can eat all the same stuff,” said Henry with full conviction. ”I can try too,” he offered. ”Then we have two experiences, and that’s always better than just one.”

Henry surveyed the grounds below, trying to imagine where he would hide if he were an animal. Considering that they both were up in a tree right now, that really sounded like the perfect point to start. And then they would tackle the shore. Where the coast wasn’t as accessible. Maybe there were hidden caves. The possibilities were endless, now that he thought of it. ”It can’t harm to look around for them,” he decided. ”And over the winter it’s maybe easier to search inside the castle. Probably we could start in the owlery. Where there is one sort of animals, there might be more.” Owls had very sharp eyes, and they were outside a lot. Admittedly, the animals in the owlery might be dead because they had fallen prey to the birds, but the mere knowledge that there was a priorly unknown type of animal around would already be a success.

”I’m sure I’ve read about it,” said Henry, frowning while attempting to remember which had been the book. ”It’s an advanced spell I think, so we might not manage it at once. But the sooner we start training, the sooner we’ll master it, right?” Learning a proper spell would be exciting despite all the difficulties. They would fail, Henry reminded himself, at first. There’d be a lot of frustration. But they could manage, they only had to be patient. And patience was something they’d need anyway in their researches. ”Yes,” he therefore agreed immediately. ”We can learn together. Four eyes see more than two. Or eight eyes. Or... we can form some study group. And it’s so much more motivating. But we won’t harm anybody. Of course not.” He involuntarily shivered. Dominic was completely right, and Henry couldn’t understand why the school didn’t seem to consider it necessary to make things like that clear. And something close to fear kept him from asking.

Excitement was a good enough explanation for Henry though he considered it slightly on the verge of  irresponsibility right now that they were so high up from the ground. ”Just don’t fall down,” Henry said. ”There are so many branches in the way, you could injure yourself. I haven’t been to the hospital wing yet, and I don’t really want to go there today.” They could go for the allergies, a broken leg was nowhere on Henry’s priority list.

Dominic watched his friend carefully as she seemed to mule over the news that there was laws to protect the monster. A frown crept on the Gryffindor’s face then Henry told him that it couldn’t be. Was the Hufflepuff doubting Dominic’s own grandmother? That did seem a bit rude to the 11 year old if he was honest. Henry didn’t even more Dom’s mamgu, it seemed very odd to imply that she was wrong, or even worse lying. To Dominic’s young mind his mamgu had to be 100% correct. Why would she lie about something like this and there was no way she could be mistaken. Nope, she was so old that she had to be wise and know everything.

The little boy looked a bit annoyed at his friend, ”My m-mamgu wouldn’t lie or be be mistaken.” he told him defensively. ”I I don’t know, my mamgu didn’t say. Okay? Maybe this monster is is is too rare or or hard to to find or something. I I I mean the the attacks do seem to to to be pretty rare, don’t they? I not know of of of anyone who was eaten or or or their siblings” it was bugging Dominic a bit though. As much as it bothered him, Henry was right, magical law and there to protect wizards and witches and magical creatures usually suffered the brunt because of it. If the youngster really thought about it, then it did seem very unlikely that the Ministry would let such a beast rampage across the wizarding world eating little children.

Dom was happy when the conversation moved onto pineapple pizzas. The last thing that he wanted to do was to fall out with his new friend so soon, and loose his friend. The Welsh lad was sure that no offense was meant by his year mate. ”Well…” he said after his butty talked about doubting anything eating that like ”…I I I have heard of of of a worst pizza” he nodded grimly and seriously ”It is a a a sweet treat pizza. It it consists of of marshmallows, chocolate buttons, strawberry jam, custard and and cream.” he had seriously seen that pizza, in a real life shop. It wasn’t something made up in his wild and hyperactive imagination. Even the thought of the pizza made the 1st year feel a bit sick. ”I I thought it it it was absolutely disgusting looking when I I I saw it for or sale in a a shop. I I I cannot imagine how anyone could eat anything like like that.” he gave his friend a tiny shrug and a smile. ”Still, even if if if if I wanted one my my mum would not buy it for for me. My mam does not like me eating too many sweets as she saids it it makes me even more hyperactive then I I am.” he didn’t think there was any truth of that. He had, sneakily, had sweets in the past and he didn’t think it impacted on his behaviour too much.

”It would have been very stupid if if if I had an allergy to to to fruit without knowing about it for for for 11 years.” he felt that it would have been even more stupid then if any sugar made him go completely hyperactive. He wasn’t a badly written fictional character after all. He was a real person and real people did not have hyperactive reactions to sugar. That would be like something out of a Saturday morning cartoon or have an allergic reaction to fruit and not know about it.

His face lit up when Henry said that he might end up being sick and missing classes, he was about to say that it didn’t really sound like a bad idea at all. In fact he felt that the Hufflepuff was making a pretty good cause for trying to eat pineapples. Actually, the young Gryffindor was wondering if he should try and feign sickness. These thoughts, however, were soon put to bed when Henry pointed out all the extra work to do to actually catch up. That did not sound very goo d at all actually. ”Well, I I I guess. But but but I am pretty sure that that I I I do not have a a a pineapple allergy” he didn’t really wanted to visit the school nurse, especially with something which the Gryffindor boy considered to be so trivial.

It was a relief for the 11 year old that his new friend was okay with diary and knew how to handle it. He guessed that he shouldn’t have doubted his friend. Still, he supposed that it was good to worry about him and really only natural. After all wasn’t that what friends did for each other? Look out for one and other, make sure that they were okay, and do what they could for each other? He decided that he would not stop worrying for Henry on this, or any other issue. ”Well…” he gave the Hufflepuff a smile ”….I I I am glad that that you have got it under control” he told him. In all honesty he was. IT sounded like it could be dangerous to Dominic so it was pleasing to know that Henry knew how to manage the situation.

The 11 year old wizard looked thoughtful when Henry asked him the meaning behind the song, he was sure the lyrics deal with it but….”Oooh, oooh I I remember that the earlier lyrics, I I I I am not sure how they went, but but it was saying something like err…you are making everyone sad, every girl and boy. So so so clearly Quinn was was chasing a a mean person and and and everyone is happy when Quinn gets him” it made perfect sense to Dominic. He didn’t think the lyrics deal with what Quinn did to the person though.

”You you have to to k ow the the the song well enough to to to know which verse you come in on.” he said in agreement. Still, it was something that he enjoyed doing, even if he sometimes managed to mess it up. Maybe singing was not meant to be for Dominic. He was in the process of lowering his head down to look at his lap when Henry pointed out that he didn’t stutter in the song he just sang. Well, the single line from the song. Dommie looked up towards Henry with a grin on his face ”I I I guess that I I didn’t. I do tend to to do better with songs though. I I am not sure why. But even then I I I manage to stutter sometimes” it was a problem for him and something which he knew he needed to work on. At least, as far as the Gryffindor could tell, his stuttering was not putting the Hufflepuff off him.

His grin turned into a look of amusement when he noticed his friend quickly backtrack on singing a song about Ten Little Pure Malt Whiskies. It was not a song that Dominic had heard before and the crimson colour that his friend’s face was turning made it too tempting for the Gryffindor boy not to probe the matter a bit. ”Ooooh oooh, I I I never heard that song.” he said as excited as ever ”…What is is is it aaabout?” Dom looked hopeful that Henry might enlighten him on the subject a bit, beyond the obvious clue in the song title that was.

The blonde Welsh boy was regretting talking about languages earlier now. The conversation, to him, was getting a bit boring. The poor little 1st year could not really hold his short attention span to such a topic. ”I I I guess not…” he said barely filtering in what Henry was saying on the subject anymore. Really… Dominic thought to himself …this Huffepuff is now starting to sound like a Ravenclaw, so boring. however he decided not to voice these concerns, the last thing he wanted to do was to offend Henry. Well, actually the last thing he wanted to do was to turn into a giant pink flamingo and state to do the fandango but he was pretty sure that he could manage to do both. Just as long as a rogue toaster didn’t try to tickle him.

”Maybe…” he replied with shrug, not really knowing what he was saying maybe too. Hopefully he hadn’t agreed to anything, his boring had led him to agree to things he really didn’t want to do in the past, like clean his room, or spending time with his boring family or something along those lines. Maybe he just agreed to spend time with Henry’s boring family while tidying his room? That would be absolutely horrible. Maybe becoming a Cyan Cat and doing the Charleston would not be a totally bad idea to get out of such a commitment.

When Henry started to talk about death again the small lad could not help but roll his eyes. Yes, Henry I know, so you keep saying he thought to himself again, but decided to keep his irritation to himself on this issue. He was about to argument back that playing about with death was not a bad thing and that it was something everyone did every day when he seemed to have made the Hufflepuff think about the personification of life. Sometimes, Dominic did manage to hit on some interesting thoughts. ”…it it it would be just that. The sum of of of our lives. But but what is is is is important is to to to be alive first and live your life how you want to.” he was sure that was making sense still. It was a weird feeling for Dommie though. It was starting to give him a headache.

A look of really annoyance flashed across Dominic’s face when Henry asked if he was afraid. ”I I I am not afraid of of of of aaaanything” he said flatly, fixing Henry with a bit of a glare. How dare he say that he was afraid. To Dominic, a Gryffindor, that was an affront. That was a challenge. ”I I I I will prove it it it to you” he folded his arms ”GO on, challenge me to to to to do anything to to to prove that that I am not afraid, go on. Dare me to to to do something and and and I I I will do it.” If Henry didn’t suggest anything, Dominic would have to think of something himself. This was a matter of pride to Dominic now.



”Because there is fun in in in the risk. People take risks all the the the the time Henry. You have people who who fly broomsticks around dragons, or or or or or muggles who who jump from building to to to building, or or ro sail the world by themselves, or or or go off exploring new and and dangerous places. There are lots of of people who do it Henry.” he couldn’t see why Henry could not understand his point of view. There were plenty of daredevils about who risk their lives just for the thrill of it, just for the excitement. ”It it it is better to to to live one hour as as as a tiger than a a a life time as a a worm” he was sure that he just made a good point there. Either that or spoke total rubbish.

”But but people also rely on on farming, especially sheep farming and and cow farming and and other animal farming, to to to make money. So so so someone not eating meat would be be be seen as being weird and and a threat to to their jobs.” Still maybe they would not be as offended as Dominic feared, maybe his friend was right and it would not be such a big deal. ”I I don’t think my my mam will agree with me, nor my my my dad, and and and I do not want to to to stop other people eating meat. I I I think that that would be be be very unfair…” he sighed. It wasn’t his job to police how people eat , was it? It was just up to him to eat the way he saw fit. Dominic didn’t want to morally judge others for eating meat or not. It was their personal choice. ”If if if you want to try too you you you can.” he smiled gratefully at the offer from Henry ”But but but don’t feel like like you have to either, or or if you don’t enjoy it that that you have to to to keep doing it for mee because that that would be very un unfair on on on you.” he nodded and waited to see f Henry would confirm he would be joining Dominic, at the start at least, of his vegetarian journey. If not, Dommie would not be upset. He genuinely didn’t want to be policing other people’s eating habits.

”Oooh exploring the the the owlery would be a a a good idea” there had to be secret passages in the library that they, well, he could try and find and lead Henry down to explore. Although Dominic was not too sure if other animals would be in the owlery other than humans and owls? Surely the very presence of owls would put off other creatures going in there? Well maybe not a Javawoffle. But then, that would be very difficult to find anyway. Especially since it was so small that you needed a magic spy class to see it.

”Right…” he said, him working together with Henry on magic would be a very awesome thing too He was getting excited by the prospect of studying with Henry. ”I I I I am not sure about the study group idea…” he shifted uneasily on the branch, worried a bigger group might leave him out of it, gang up and turn against him. Then again, he was on good terms with some other first years. Maybe it could work ”It it it would depend on on on who we let in after all…” he compromised. Dom wanted to make sure that, if there was a study group, then only people he knew that would be nice to him would join up.

He shrugged when Henry said about not wanting to go to the hospital wing “But but but but it it it is really nice” he informed his friend helpfully ”And and and they can heal broken bones very easily, and any cuts and and and bruises and and the what not.” he paused for a second and remembered earlier in the conversation about having a tone of school work to catch up with if they ended up stuck in the hospital wing for a few days ”But but but you are right. I I I I will try and and and not jump about so much.” to try and illustrate this the young boy put his hands on his needs and tried to look cool, calm and collected. His shaking leg and slight excited jitter gave him away though. He was going to fool no one.

Through his reasonings, Henry had almost successfully managed to calm his fears. But then Dominic really had a point. A grandmother, Henry was completely agreeing with his friend though he had no personal experiences, was a highly reliable source of information. Yet, after all things he had already heard from Dominic, he didn’t consider it impossible that the Gryffindor had confused things. Maybe the grandmother had been talking of another magical creature that was protected, and then Dominic had made the wrong connection. But he couldn’t tell this theory to the other boy. That would be downright rude. And rude… no, Henry wasn’t rude, and he most certainly wasn’t rude to new friends.

”That’s maybe it,” he tried to compromise. ”The monster is so hard to find that it’s almost like it’s protected. Probably your grandmother was making a comparison, and you missed that part of what she said?” Now Henry only had to hope that Dominic wouldn’t conclude that he thought he was dumb. It wasn’t his intention, not at all, but the longer they talked, the more convinced Henry was that discussions with Dominic were a demanding challenge. Though it wasn’t that bad of a challenge to be honest. If they weren’t talking about a murdering monster, it might actually be fun. ”Or maybe it is already extinct,” he added as an afterthought. ”You know, like it was rare and protected once upon a time, but then they were all… killed.” Henry gulped. As much as the monster frightened him, he suddenly felt a little sorry for it. ”Your grandmother was probably remembering the tales of her childhood and only now people say that it should have been protected, and she might have said it in a bit of a confusing fashion, or there might have been a rumour that the monster was still around, and she just wanted to make sure that you were safe…” If he thought about it like that, it didn’t sound that implausible any longer. The monster was extinct, but old people still vividly remembered it. Yes, Henry was quite happy with his explanation.

Henry looked at his friend, unsure whether he should really believe what he had just said. Marshmallows, chocolate buttons, strawberry jam, custard, and cream were all delicious things (at least the versions with no lactose), but they were supposed to be eaten separately! And not on a pizza. Who would combine such ingredients? That was gross! He had not intended to voice his disbelief and was glad he hadn’t when Dominic said he had seen it with his own eyes. That was prove enough for Henry that the statement was true. ”And they put all these sweets on a pizza dough? And on the tomato sauce on the pizza? That’s… That doesn’t go together at all. Who eats something like that?” He blinked at the next comment. He had never heard that sugar made one hyperactive, only fat. But, sure, too much sugar was not healthy, that much he knew, so he saw no reason to contradict Dominic’s mother. He could ask his aunt whether sugar had such an effect. ”Does she think you’re hyperactive?” he asked instead. ”Is that bad?” The word meant, if Henry wasn’t mistaken, that someone was doing too much. But how much was too much? And if one did a lot of right things, then hyperactivity would be something good… maybe he was overthinking things. Henry shook his head. There were too many questions in this world, how was he ever to find all the answers?

”I think there are reactions that appear out of nowhere,” interjected Henry. ”Hay fever I think. Or allergies that grow stronger with age. But I’ve never heard of fruit allergy, even less of fruit allergies suddenly popping up.” That was also something on the list of things he could ask his aunt. In the end, he’d have so many questions that he wouldn’t know anymore which answer belonged where. And there was all the school stuff they had to learn. He probably should introduce some Dominic-related question threshold like… to stop talking with Dominic as soon as he had ten questions he needed answer. No, that didn’t sound like a good solution. Henry had the strong feeling that he’d end up appearing very rude.

Henry grinned at his friend, feeling full of relief. ”Great! And if you’re unsure, you can always stop eating pineapples for the moment. It’s not the sort of fruit that we eat most often anyway. I don’t like it that much either. I love mandarins far better. Not that there would be anything wrong with pineapples,” he added hastily. It hadn’t sounded like it, but just in case Dominic considered pineapples the greatest fruit on earth, he didn’t want to appear to be discriminating towards it.

The song was puzzling Henry. When playing Hide-and-Seek, you usually didn’t want to get caught. And those who were hiding were in the majority, so they wouldn’t jump either. It had to refer to a variant of the game he didn’t know. Or… ”Oh, really?” he said. That didn’t sound like a funny song at all. It seemed about justice. ”So Quinn is an Auror?” he asked. ”What did the person do that made Quinn apprehend them?” He shouldn’t ask. Judging from the way Dominic had spoken, Henry supposed that he didn’t know the answer. He was more thinking out loud, trying whether his thoughts made more sense when he voiced them aloud. But that was maybe not such a clever strategy with Dominic around.

”Canons usually aren’t that difficult,” Henry said. ”Do you know the one with Brother John and the Morning Bells? Or Row Your Boat. They’re both very simple, but if you got a couple of people to sing them, they sound really nice.” He grinned back when Dominic lifted his head. ”You know,” he suggested, once again unable to keep himself from voicing his thoughts out loud, ”it might help you if you always talked with some sort of melody in your head. If music helps. You might sound a bit silly sometimes, but it might be better than stuttering. And with a bit of training, you could restrain the melody to your head and sound completely normal while talking.” Henry didn’t mind the stammering, he had hardly thought of it until Dominic had brought it up. But if his friend considered it a problem, Henry felt that he needed to give advice.

”Oh, well, it is… I’m not…” Henry stammered. Why did he mention this song? He himself had felt sometimes that the text was a bit creepy - thinking about it, it was honestly sort of gruesome and that was what he usually was most afraid of himself. But the melody was just so funny and uplifting that he didn’t pay that much attention to the text, or when he did, he didn’t have the feeling that it was meant seriously. It wasn’t funny either (though it might be possible that there were people who thought it was). He didn’t find it funny. But then, it was an enjoyable tune. But he shouldn’t share it with another first year, that would be wrong, wouldn’t it? On the other hand, Dominic looked so excited that he felt that he shouldn’t let him down. But what was the song about? Nothing, simply nothing, as far as Henry could tell. That conclusion wasn’t helping as ’nothing’ didn’t sound like an answer that would satisfy the Gryffindor. Considering that Dominic had sung for him, it might be only fair that he did the same. It was not like that singing the song was a crime - it was done all the time in pubs. At least that was what Henry supposed because he had heard it repeatedly in the Leaky Cauldron when he had accompanied his aunt or babysitter for their shopping.

”Er, yes…” he said, blushing slightly. ”It goes a bit like… I’m afraid I’m not that much of a singer, but - oh, and don’t mind the text, it’s a bit weird, but it’s just fun-” At least Henry hoped that it was, otherwise he’d be very confused. ”The tune goes something like this…” He cleared his throat and hummed,

”One little Pure Malt Whiskey, feeling all alone,
Invited for his Christmas feast nine Pure Malt Whiskies home
Ten little Pure Malt Whiskies smoking from one pipe
With one of them it disagreed and then there were nine
Nine little Pure Malt Whiskies wanted to inherit
To get to all the Galleons one now had to buy it
Eight little Pure Malt Whiskies on their racing broom
Seven landed on their feet and one met his doom

One fights for all and all for each other
If one is gone, then who would really bother
At times in your life you’ve got to loose too
That’s how it goes, it’s I or it’s you

Seven little Pure Malt Whiskies, all adulterers,
One learnt the moral not to flirt with the wives of seers
Six little Pure Malt Whiskies trying to trick goblins
One went too deep into Gringotts and then payed for greed’s sins
Five little Pure Malt Whiskies and five Aurors more
But they really controlled only one and then there were four

One fights for all and all for each other
If one is gone, then who would really bother
At times in your life you’ve got to loose too
That’s how it goes, it’s I or it’s you

One time you must go too
And though your heart may break
There’s nothing on earth for you to do
No, for Merlin’s sake

Four little Pure Malt Whiskies, wishing to duel
Succeeded in one thing of course - the best of them fell
Three little Pure Malt Whiskies in the Three Broomsticks
Were eating slugs, but one had a Steeler in his mix.
Two little Pure Malt Whiskies sought for a hotel
How one came across Azkaban, that is really hard to tell

One fights for all and all for each other
If one is gone, then who would really bother
At times in your life you’ve got to loose too
That’s how it goes, it’s I or it’s you

One little Pure Malt Whisky felt too much alone
Thus for Easter he invited nine new Whiskies home.”

He stopped, blushing even more. What was it with stupid texts that they were so memorable?Hopefully Dominic wouldn’t judge him for it. Henry still thought the song was about nothing - or about drinking maybe? - but there were several passages that he didn’t like at all.

The whole language question was utterly fascinating to Henry, and he would have loved to talk about Ancient Runes. He didn’t know yet what courses he’d take in third year - of course, he didn’t school had just started. He had so much to learn until he could make a mature decision. And he’d ask his aunt for help. He’d ask as many people for advice as he could. Still, the obviously disinterested response from Dominic told him not to pursue the subject as much as he would have liked. Maybe another time he consoled himself. He wouldn’t forget his questions. Or if he did, they would return as soon as he needed them. He was never lacking them.

”Yes,” he said absentmindedly, trying to wrap his head around the sum of all lives. That was so much. And then there was the sum of all dead things. That was the opposite… he supposed. Was there something else that connected all living things? That sounded like a really important question. He should write it down and make notes. Then he might make a progress. ”I don’t think we have another choice but to be alive,” he said, frowning. ”But should we really live the life we want? There are many things just as important as we, and don’t we have some sort of responsibility towards what is not we? Isn’t life about… not hurting…” His voice trailed away. Once again he was thinking about his father. He had hurt. Murdered. Become the worst a human could become. The only thing Henry wanted out of life was not to end up committing the same mistakes as his father, because mistake led to crime, crime led to pain. No, he wanted to make up to his aunt what his father had done.

Henry didn’t feel in the least impressed by the Gryffindor’s claim. Originally, he had only asked whether he was afraid because he had been worried about his safety. He hadn’t meant to offend Dominic, and he might have said that he was sorry if he didn’t consider the overall sense of his friend’s speech dangerously misguided. ”There’s nothing wrong with being afraid of heights,” he began his lecture. ”That’s something some people can’t help. It’s called vertihigh. No…” That sounded somehow wrong. Nevermind, he could look it up later. There were more important things right now. ”Fear is also important because he warns you,” he continued. ”To categorically not be afraid is nothing short of foolish. And I won’t challenge you to nothing. Because it’s dangerous. You remain sitting on that branch where you are safe.” He nodded resolutely. If Dominic was being reckless, he’d have to be the voice of reason. He knew the Gryffindor only since about half an hour, but he felt that his own judgement was tendentiously sounder than the other boy’s - though he promised to himself never to say that out loud.

”Just because two people do the same thing, it isn’t automatically the same risk,” said Henry defensively. ”There are a lot of people who would be in big trouble if they climbed up here, but I’ve been on higher and more difficult trees. I know that I will get safely down again. That’s why the risk isn’t that high for me, and I’m still very careful. I bet that’s the case for all those people. And those for who it isn’t - well, they’re idiots. We must know a risk before we take it. But death can’t be known. That’s why we’re not playing with it.” He shook his head resolutely. ”What’s the point of living an hour like a tiger? A tiger doesn’t take unnecessary risks either. It only takes what it needs. And the worm lives in exactly the same manner. The only difference in your simile is that the worm can live his whole life, and the tiger is deprived of most of it. Exactly because he doesn’t live like a real tiger, taking risks he isn’t in control of.”

He scratched his head. That sounded like a big problem. There certainly was a solution, but he now understood that it would be more complex than he had thought at first. ”Well,” he said, ”I guess the sheep farmers could only sell wool. And the cow farmers only milk.” He automatically made a face. Dairy. Stomachache. Brrr. ”You would have to assign new tasks to them…” Yes, it would be difficult. That needed careful planning, probably a bit too much planning for a first-year. ”No, I think you’ve got a very good point,” he said, giving his friend his best reassuring smile. ”I’ll try. It will be interesting. We should make a journal. Then we can observe everything in detail.”

He made a mental note to look up owls before they went to the owlery for exploration. He needed to know exactly what they ate so that he’d recognize the skeletons of the known mice and bird easily enough for them not to waste time on them. He let out an involuntary sigh. No teacher had given him more homework than his new friend.

”Oh, the more the better, wouldn’t you say?” said Henry cheerfully. ”Then the chances are much higher that at least one person is very good at a subject. I can ask around who’d be interested in learning together. But we can study, just the two of us, until we have a good plan for the group. I sometimes read our books to Lizzy. You could come and listen too.”

Thorough confusion came over Henry at Dominic’s reaction. ”You want to go to the hospital wing? You want to be injured?” He shook his head. The meaning of risk really didn’t seem to translate well into Dominic-an. ”Yes,” he agreed, still really baffled. ”We should be careful about how we move at this distance from the earth.” He slowly started to feel exhausted. It proved very difficult to be reasonable around his friend. But reason was important, so he guessed it was for the best that he was up here with Dominic. Who knew what might have happened if no one were here to take care of the other boy.