Amulet of time 1: The Age of The Founders

Chapter 17: The Sign of A True Marauder

Ron had settled in well as well. He was exceptionally skilled at sword fighting, a fact he was very proud of. He finally had a talent he could call his own. He was also very good at coming up with cunning plans, usually for sneaking down to the kitchens at night. He attributed it to all of the chess games he had won. Over the last month, he had become good friends with Ardwick. He found they had a lot in common. Ardwick had four older brothers and two older sisters. His younger sister had died of influenza a few years back. He was the youngest in the family now and often felt he was in their shadow. Ron could relate, being the youngest of six brothers. The redhead was slightly better off, though, as he was at least older than Ginny. Ron hated being in his brothers' shadows, but the trip into the past was doing him the world of good. He didn't have any of his family there, apart from Ginny, so he was the oldest. He could show his talents, without his family thinking of how one of his brothers had done it first. It was a refreshing change for him. It was the same with his friendship with Harry. Harry had always been the 'Boy-Who-Lived' and Ron was his sidekick. In this time, Harry wasn't famous, so Ron was seen for himself and not just as 'Harry Potter's best friend'. If it weren't for the fact that he actually missed the rest of his family, he would never want to go home. At least he had Ginny, though. Hermione had been rather sad, as she had no family there at all. Harry, for obvious reasons, wasn't that bothered. Hermione, though, really missed her parents.

Hermione had spent the last month doing what she did best – immersing herself in the library. She couldn't get enough of the ancient spells and it took her mind off her family. She was still the same bookworm she had always been. The first book she was writing was about ancient charms. As with the other two, she was getting on well with it. The founders hadn't been giving the four any homework, as they already had the knowledge in their heads. They just needed to attend the lessons for the practical experience. They could then spend the time they would usually have spent doing homework practicing their skills and writing their books. Hermione had taken a liking to martial arts. She was top of the group in that particular field of combat. While all four were acquiring many skills in the lessons they were having, they each had a speciality. With enough training, if they worked as a team they would eventually be unstoppable.

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"Lalith."

"No! Lalaith."

"Lalailith."

"No, no, no! Lalaith!"

"Lalaith?"

"Much better, Harry. Now, again. Lalaith."

"Lalaith."

"Ok, now what does it mean?"

"Laughter?"

"Yes, well done. Now, say leuca."

"Leuca."

"Yes, that's better. What does it mean?"

"Um…snake?"

"Very good. See? It's not that hard, is it?"

"No Lolidé, as long as I keep practicing."

Harry had been having some initial problems with the elven language. He could understand the words and he was even learning the alphabet so he could write them. His main problem came with pronunciation. Elven speech was very fluid and lilting. It was more suited to native French or Latin speakers. The harsher English and Anglo-Saxon Harry was used to speaking clashed horribly with Lolide's native tongue. The woman had told him that he was doing well, though. If he put his mind to it, Harry was a good worker. He was intelligent, enough so that the Sorting Hat had put him in Ravenclaw over Slytherin. He only really learned anything, though, when he had an interest in a subject. This was where the shared knowledge had been helpful to him. Since he had learned more about various branches of magic, he had contracted the learning bug. He needed to know more. He was getting as bad as Hermione, especially when the subject he was studying was Dark Magic.