11 A small reveal

Our excursion ended in the late evening, when we settled down for dinner.

My parents and grandparents seemed to have a silent conversation I wasn't part of, but my grandfather included me, when he set his silverware down, and gazed at me in his Capo mode.

"So my boy, how long have you been able to speak to all creatures?"

I pretended to be shocked and answered cutely. "Since I could talk. Isn't that same for everybody?"

Now it was my grandfather's turn to be confused. I could imagine the Anime speech bubble floating from his head, "NANI??"

"What do you mean by that? Not everyone can speak to animals." He said in an exasperated tone.

I turned my head in that innocent wa to the side, and answered. "But everyone speaks to one another like that. It's just that we don't speak in the same language, so the creatures don't understand us. The groundskeeper back home talks to the Ashwinders and Bicorn in English. Pfft! If I speak to a Chinese in Italian, how would he understand me?"

My grandfather did a sweatdrop at that. Fortunately for him, my grandma took the reins of the conversation.

"What your grandpa means sweetie is, since when could you speak in the language of other creatures? Or rather, since when could other creatures understand you?"

I thought about how to answer that for a minute. And I replied just as slowly. "I think ever since I could remember, everyone spoke to me in a language I understood. And I could speak to everyone in a language they understood. Be it people, creatures or even the bugs in the garden."

Everyone at the table was shocked at that. I heard a "Incredible!" "By Merlin!" from grandpa and father. But mother was even more shocked. "Sweetie. Can you tell me what language you are speaking now?"

I thought about it. "I am speaking English with RP."

"How do you know it's RP son?" My father asked.

"I just know papa. I also know that mother teaches me Italian with Venetian Dialect."

They were shocked. A five year old boy should have no idea of the various dialects of a language, and what it means. "So son, can you speak in Italian, in Venetian Dialect?"

I shrugged. "Of course I can." Only this time, I replied in the said language.

Now it was my mother's turn to do a spit take. "But if you can speak so fluently darling, why did you not tell me? We spent so much time learning Italian."

I looked at her in apparent guilt. "Because I wanted to spend more time with you." My mother approached me like a missile and hugged the life out of me, making me squawk in indignation.

Everyone laughed at my reaction, and mother gently stood next to me. "You didn't have to pretend to spend time with me darling. You can be honest with me, and I promise to spend as much time as I can with you, okay?"

I agreed with a smile.

There was a small pause at thst. The silence was broken by my grandfather, who got into his analytical mode. "Boy! Come with me."

Everyone was curious, and we followed grandpa, as he brought us to the Floo. There he made a Floo call, and talked to someone. I couldn't hear anything he said, as his voice was all muffled. When he was done apparently, he told me to come closer.

"Boy, the man there is an Indian who speaks Marathi. Can you talk to him in his mother tongue?"

I thought about it, and nodded, and began to converse with him. I answered his questions and when he told me to call for his grandpa, I did as I was told.

After he turned back, closing the Floo, he took a deep breath and sighed. "This is going to be a headache."

My grandma knew that tone, and she asked him, "What happened dear?"

My grandpa gave a wry smile and said, "Our grandson just talked to the man in Marathi, a language he couldn't have even heard of, let alone learnt, and he spoke so fluently, that the man wondered if I met another of his competition. He said, and I quote, the boy spoke like 'Marathi was the language he was born to speak', and even doubted me, when I told him, that it was my grandson speaking."

I knew I had to reveal a few of my gifts before I shock someone unknown, so I had decided to reveal my gift. While I was deep in my thoughts, mother had an epiphany, and yelled, "Wait a minute!" She drew her wand, and summoned a Tome from the study. She placed it in front of me, and asked me, "Can you read it darling?"

I saw the time and read. "Moste potente Hexes for Scorned Lovers. Spells that hit the belt, below and behind. What does that mean mother?"

My grandma was shocked and looked at me. "You can read ancient Gaelic?" She had a look of contemplation on her face.

That made them all pause for a moment, as they all looked deep in thought.

My father looked stern and all serious when he looked at his wife. "Dear, that changes things."

My mother answered equally. "That it does, my love."

She then slowly turned to me and said, "I am sorry, sweetheart, but you are going to need to work harder than before. Your father will find a way to make time, or simply resign from his post at the Ministry, and all four of us, are going to concentrate on preparing you better."