All the World’s a Stage
Sally-Anne and her mum arrived at Number Four Privet Drive. She got out of the car and began the walk up to the front door.
Every year, the theatre did a play from Shakespeare, and this year was no different. What was different about this year was that only one of her friends could attend. With Ron and Ginny being in Egypt visiting family, Hermione and Rose being at a family reunion for Hermione's family, and Sally-Anne not knowing Luna or Neville all that well, it would be just her and Harry.
Sally-Anne's dad was already at the theatre setting up, so she, her mum, and Harry would be getting a quick bite to eat before going to the show.
This meant that Harry and Sally-Anne would be grabbing dinner and a show, just as if they were on a date.
The thought of this made Sally-Anne blush, but after taking a moment to concentrate on something else, she got through it and rang the doorbell.
This turned out to be unnecessary, since Harry was waiting for her on the other side of the door.
"Hi," Harry said, quickly closing the door behind him, muffling the shouting on the other side.
"Hey, Harry," Sally-Anne replied, smiling. "How are you?"
Harry glanced back at the house. "I've been better."
"I'm sorry," Sally-Anne said, the smile fading from her face. "Did you let them know you were leaving?"
"They don't care," Harry said. "Aunt Marge came over 20 minutes ago, and I've already given serious consideration to convincing Rose that she's Sirius Black in disguise."
"That bad?" Sally-Anne asked.
"She called Dad a drunk and Mum a bitch," Harry spat. "Yeah. That bad."
Sally-Anne wasn't sure what else to do, so she settled for giving her friend a hug.
Harry quickly returned the hug; after the lousy night he'd had, he needed one.
"Thanks," Harry said, settling down. "I needed that."
"I'm really sorry," Sally-Anne said. "It's alright. You'll have a better time with us."
"Break it up you two!" called her mum. "Save the snogging for later!"
Sally-Anne blushed and quickly let go of Harry, realizing that she'd been hugging him too long.
The pair of them got into the car and began the trip to the theatre.
"Let's go over this one more time," Hermione said as they turned onto her uncle's street. "What's your name?"
"Rose Peta-Lorrum!"
"Where are you from?"
Rose opened her mouth, but said nothing.
"Glasgow," Hermione said. "You've read every single book about it in the library. It's called Glasgow."
"Glasgow," Rose repeated. "I'm not sure if I can–"
"Ref, I know you can hear me," Hermione said. "Make sure she gets it right."
Rose paused, then frowned.
"Traitor," she muttered.
"Rose, please take this seriously," Hermione pleaded.
As they climbed out of the car, Emma leaned towards her daughter.
"Hermione, where is Rose from?"
"Not from around here," Hermione muttered.
"She's an alien, isn't she?" her dad asked.
"Sort of."
"What're we talking about?" Rose whispered.
"Show time," Hermione said as her relatives greeted them.
Reminiscent of their first year at Hogwarts, no less than ten people immediately asked about Rose being white as a sheet. Fortunately, none of them could refute the unknown condition that caused her to be so.
Rose smiled politely and answered any questions she could. Fortunately for Hermione, Rose utilized her talent for dodging questions she didn't want to answer to avoid questions she wasn't supposed to answer.
Everything was going well until Rose noticed a little girl who seemed to be hiding in the corner. Her mum was trying to convince her to socialize more, but the girl looked scared to death of the idea of talking to other people.
"Salutations," Rose whispered to the girl, bending her knees to put her at eye level with the girl. "My name's Rose. What's yours?"
"Estelle," whimpered the little girl.
"Estelle, do you like stories?" Rose asked.
Estelle slowly nodded her head.
"Me too," Rose replied. "My mum and dad used to tell me all sorts of stories. I know one about knights and dragons. Would you like to hear it?"
With more enthusiasm, Estelle nodded. A small smile found its way to her face.
Once upon a time, there was a Dragon God called Io. He wanted to perfect everything about dragons, so he created two children: Bahamut and Tiamat. Bahamut represented all that was good, and Tiamat all that was evil. Although they were supposed to grow and learn from each other, creating perfect dragons, they instead became bitter rivals, and they grew to hate one another.
Tiamat brought all evil dragons into the world, creating her spawn that would wreak havoc and ruin the lives of countless people.
But to combat her evil, Bahamut began his own army: The Army of Dragonborn. These warriors would fight for all that was good, bringing justice and peace to all corners of the world. This army took up base in the city of Drae'o'nir.
One of the most famous Dragonborn heroes was known as Arytiss Uxcaex. He was a brave and heroic warrior, leading his people to countless victories. He was promoted to Brigadier-General of the First Drae'o'nir Squadron within two years of joining the army, a feat no one has ever accomplished before or since.
But Bahamut, Tiamat, and Arytiss aren't the subject of our story. Instead, it was the person who was constantly overlooked. The boy who had to live in Arytiss's shadow for his entire life, growing up thinking he was never good enough. This is the story of Bowie Uxmiirik.
Like Arytiss, Bowie was born as a Spellscale, a Draconic race said to have been descended from dragons. Unlike Arytiss, Bowie was less interested in the war against the Spawn of Tiamat, and more interested in stories. He loved making people laugh, and always had a bad joke to tell people to lighten a tense situation. Bowie loved singing, dancing, and having a good time.
But Arytiss was the favorite brother. He was the talented one. Arytiss was the brother that made their parents proud. Everyone talked about how Arytiss had been made Brigadier-General so soon after enlisting in the army that no one bothered with Bowie.
Bowie was often left behind, even by his own parents. He always thought that he was just as important to his parents as Arytiss was, but then one day that illusion was shattered.
Bowie was putting on a play with some of his classmates, and the whole town was going to see it. But on that very same day was an award ceremony for Arytiss out in the Drae'o'nir camp. Arytiss had received many awards before that day, but Bowie had never been in such a big performance before. It was sure to be a big moment for him, and he wanted nothing more than to see his family out there.
But when he got up on stage and looked out at the crowd, he didn't see any of them. Not his mum, not his dad, not his brother. Both of his parents went to Arytiss's ceremony instead of going to see Bowie perform.
It devastated him, as it would any child whose parents were insensitive jerks. So on that day, Bowie made a choice. He enlisted in the Drae'o'nir army, becoming a Dragonborn like his brother.
Now, in order to become a Dragonborn, one must give up all that they were. You are literally reborn as a Dragonborn, casting off almost everything that made you who you once were. He was still Bowie, and still loved singing and dancing and laughing, but he was more committed to serving Bahamut. He sprouted wings on his back and grew shining, platinum scales all over his body. To complete his rebirth, he took the name "Bowie Uxmiirik", which, in the language of dragons, means "Born of Platinum Song".
He was placed in the Fourth Squadron, which is as low as you can go, and was made a flag bearer. The thing was, Bowie wasn't made for fighting like his brother Arytiss was. He was a Bard, not a Fighter. Even though Bowie gave it his all, that wasn't good enough.
What made it worse was his brother's attitude towards him. Arytiss was proud of his brother for trying, but when Bowie said that he was just as important to the army as Arytiss, Arytiss simply laughed at him, telling him that only the Crusaders, Paladins, and Fighters were truly important. Everyone else was there as support, but not really necessary.
After several months, Bowie quit and ran off. He found his way to the town of Aurus on the continent of Sentrum. It was there that he met the four people that would change his life forever.
"What's going on over–" one of the adults started to ask.
"Ssh!" all the kids hissed.
Hermione had long since noticed a pattern that unexplainable events happened around Rose. Whether it be Rose's unique ability to make getting into trouble sound like a good thing, or her strange knack for getting Professor Snape to leave them alone in Potions, Rose often displayed a talent for making strange events happen.
This time, she had managed to collect every child at the party with her story, along with several adults. Due to her increased audience, she had led her flock out into the backyard, where the children either pulled up chairs or simply sat on the ground.
The strangest detail was how Rose sounded. Normally, she made no effort to sound like a normal person, but she conveyed the story as if she were a different person.
Maybe this is her taking it seriously.
"It's just getting to the good part!" one of them whined.
"Like I was saying, it was in Aurus that Bowie met Carolina Bulard, Sk'lar Thra'la, and Shadow Black."
"That's not a real name!" one of the kids shouted.
"Yes it is!" Rose protested. "Shadow Black is a–"
"No, the middle one!"
"It's Elven," Rose replied.
"Don't you mean 'Elvish'?" another unnamed NPC adult asked.
"Of course not," Rose said, frowning. "That sounds ridiculous. Who would call it that?"
"Lord of the Rings does," one of the adults said.
"What's th–?" Rose began.
"Anyway," Hermione said, worried that the topic of fantasy novels would get Rose too far off the beaten path. Worse than that, Hermione was certain that Rose would start commenting on the "flaws" of the award-winning series, or, rather, how it differed from Rose's definition of magic. "Rose, you were saying?"
"Right," Rose said.
In Aurus, Bowie met Carolina, Sk'lar, and Shadow, and they formed the group that would one day be known throughout the land as the Exalted. But just after they met, they saw some thieves running away from an old man. The Exalted, being good people, quickly stopped the thieves and returned the money that they had stolen to the old man.
They talked to him, and learned that the old man was called Harold Strant. What they later found out was that Harold was an expert swordsman, having traveled far and wide, amassing a great fortune by taking on jobs throughout the land. He even fell in love and married an Illumian princess named Veshraolea. Harold had his time, and he was looking to pass on his knowledge, wisdom, and secrets to someone whom he deemed worthy of them.
As Harold's son, Edward, had died in battle many years before Bowie and Harold met, Harold had no successor. He had no heir to whom he could pass his wisdom.
But then along came Bowie.
Over the next few years, Harold taught Bowie the ways of the swordsman. He even bestowed an ancient blade, known as the Blade of the Last Citadel, upon Bowie. This magical sword grew in power as Bowie grew in skill.
Bowie became a famous hero, just like his brother, but for different reasons. Bowie's expertise lay in making other people look good. As a Bard, Bowie could grant other people amazing powers in combat. Even the Blade of the Last Citadel helped him improve his friends. He could empower a house cat to take on a small army.
But despite all that he had accomplished, Bowie still wanted his parents' approval, and more importantly, Arytiss's approval.
So one day, Bowie and the other Exalted returned to Drae'o'nir, seeking Arytiss. When they found him, Arytiss still didn't believe in what Bowie did. But after the Exalted helped defend Drae'o'nir, Arytiss began to see something in his brother.
"Dinner's ready!"
"Sh!" hissed the kids again.
"We need to stop for a moment," one of the grownups said. "We can pick this up after dinner."
"Why not during dinner?" whined one of the children.
"Try it without whining," a man that was probably the child's father instructed.
"Can we listen during dinner?"
"I'm sure she wants to eat too," the father said, indicating Rose.
"Not really," Rose replied.
"She's on a special diet," Hermione cut in quickly. "She can only eat particular foods, so she ate before we left."
"I'll wait for everyone to get food," Rose said.
Much to Hermione's surprise, Rose waited patiently for her audience, which was now the entire party, to get their food and get comfortable. Hermione couldn't believe how good at telling stories her friend was.
As Hermione filled her plate, she continued to wonder what was going on. Since learning about the family reunion and making the flawed decision to allow Rose to attend with them, she'd been so nervous she could hardly think straight. A few times in the past month, Hermione had tried convincing Rose to go visit Luna for the night, but Rose insisted that it wasn't possible.
It hadn't been long before Hermione realized that Rose wanted to go with them. Hermione still couldn't figure out why, but it was the only explanation as to why Rose brushed off every alternative. Her reasons for doing anything else, including staying home and crafting, weren't solid, nor did they make any sense.
Then all at once, it hit her.
In a moment that confused all but two of the adult guests, Hermione rolled her eyes at Rose.
Arytiss's intelligence indicated that the generals of the Spawn army would be holding a meeting in a cave not too far from Drae'o'nir. Arytiss was planning on going in personally to take out the generals, dealing a critical blow to the Spawn army. Sk'lar and Shadow thought it would be a better idea to spy on them instead, so they could learn their plans and stop the entire army instead of just the generals.
But Arytiss was too proud to listen to newcomers, and Bowie was too obsessed with getting his brother's approval to listen to his friends. Instead, Bowie and Arytiss left on their own to go after the generals. Needless to say, Bowie's companions weren't happy with this decision.
What made it worse was that it was all a trap. A very obvious trap, in hindsight. As Shadow had pointed out at the time, there was no reason for them to be meeting so close to Drae'o'nir, but like any stereotypical hardheaded general, Arytiss didn't listen to the voice of reason.
Arytiss and Bowie found themselves outnumbered and outmatched. Instead of finding the generals in the cave, they found more than 30 soldiers, too many for even Arytiss to take on. See, the cave had a series of tunnels around it, and the soldiers had been hiding in those tunnels.
Bowie and Arytiss fought with all their might, with Bowie empowering his brother to take down each one with a single hit. But there were too many of them, and more just kept coming. This was surely the end for Arytiss Uxcaex and Bowie Uxmiirik.
But suddenly, everyone looked to see a dainty, frail Elf walking into the cave. It was Sk'lar, Bowie's teammate and friend.
As calmly as he could, Sk'lar explained that he needed his Bard back. Sk'lar was smart, but Bowie was always their face man, so Sk'lar wasn't used to it yet.
Fortunately, while Sk'lar had them distracted, Shadow and Carolina were getting into position. When they were finally ready, they attacked!
Arytiss was strong, and he could take out enemies with a single swing of his sword, but Carolina was untouchable! She danced around every strike, using powers granted to her by the Celestial Paragons to aid her friends.
Shadow used her cunning and wits to subdue her opponents, and Sk'lar used his magic to divide the soldiers, allowing his friends to concentrate on one at a time.
In no time at all, the soldiers were defeated. The day had been won, thanks to the Exalted.
What followed was the single most epic lecture that has ever occurred in the history of forever. Bards continue to sing songs about how thoroughly Bowie and Arytiss were chewed out by Carolina.
Carolina was the most selfless, most kind person that anyone could ever meet. She would willingly give up a fortune if she thought that it would buy a town food and water. But if you did something so foolish, so senseless, especially when it put other peoples' lives at risk, she would make you feel smaller than a common ant.
Even Arytiss, the decorated war hero who had faced death a thousand times, was terrified of her. He had put his little brother in harm's way, all because he was too proud to listen to common sense.
So you remember kids, if you don't listen to other people, then you might get into big trouble some day too.
After seeing their own show, Harry, Sally-Anne, and her mum were on the way to return Harry to his aunt and uncle's house. Despite Sally-Anne's best efforts, she had been unsuccessful in convincing her parents to let Harry stay with them for the night. It wasn't that she wanted to get up to anything inappropriate, which her mum understood, but that she just didn't want to return Harry to that wretched place.
Alas, despite her parents' understanding, she still had to bring Harry home.
Harry wasn't eager to return either. He had enjoyed having a normal life and normal friends. It was almost surreal seeing a normal Muggle family. The Weasleys were great, but they were still abnormal to him. The Perks family was nice and simple, not to mention the play had been wonderful.
Harry had heard about the play Romeo and Juliet, but he'd never been able to see it. On top of that, listening to Sally-Anne talk about it reminded Harry a little of Hermione talking about Arithmancy. Sally-Anne was so passionate about plays and stories, and it was conveyed when she spoke about them.
Harry just wished he could hold onto it all for a little longer.
"I guess this is goodbye for now," Harry said as they arrived at the entrance to the Underworld. "Thanks for the ride, Mrs. Perks."
"Not at all, Harry," she replied, smiling. "You're welcome to come over any time you like, so long as you give us more than a few second's warning first."
Harry leaned over to his friend. "Has Rose visited you?"
"How'd you guess?" Sally-Anne replied, chuckling.
"Just a hunch," Harry replied, smiling. "I'll see you soon, I guess."
"I'll walk with you to your door," Sally-Anne said, climbing out of the car.
"You don't have to," Harry replied nervously. He really didn't want people to know just how bad his aunt and uncle were, not to mention Large Marge. Sure, Rose and Sally-Anne both had some idea, but neither girl knew the entire story. They didn't know that he would go for days at a time without eating, or that his cousin would beat him for fun. They didn't know that his uncle had once grabbed him so hard that he had broken Harry's arm, nor that the arm never received proper care. Fortunately, it had been a minor fracture, and it healed on its own (although Harry had never had it professionally checked), so there was probably no permanent damage, but he didn't want his friends, especially Sally-Anne, to see any of it.
Harry hated making his friends worry. Unlike Ron, Harry was fine with asking for help when he needed it. Unlike most of his friends, Harry had felt completely useless during the Basilisk fight. He wanted to stand up for himself, just like Sally-Anne was doing. Everyone thought Harry was amazing, but he thought she was amazing. Harry knew better than almost anyone how terrified Sally-Anne was of the Basilisk, but she still jumped out in front of him, stopping it from killing him. Harry barely remembered anything after that, but he clearly remembered Sally-Anne saving his life from the creature she feared the most.
If that wasn't bravery and friendship, Harry didn't know what was.
"I want to," Sally-Anne replied. "Come on."
Crickets chirped quietly in the cool night air as the pair made their way to the front door. Harry rang the door bell, sparking a lot of shouting from within the household.
"Thanks again for inviting me," Harry said. "I had a lot of fun."
"I'm glad," Sally-Anne said.
For a moment, Sally-Anne wished that Harry would kiss her goodnight, but, not for the first time that night, she reminded herself that they were just friends. Despite the obligatory teasing she would be receiving from her parents, that night hadn't been a date. No matter how badly Sally-Anne wished that it were. What was worse, she knew that Harry didn't feel the same way about her as she felt about him. It wasn't a hunch or lack of self-confidence, but her magic pendant that allowed her to read Harry's mind. It was a little depressing, actually.
"Good night, Harry," Sally-Anne said.
"Good night, Sally-Anne," Harry replied.
Sally-Anne started to walk back to the car when the door opened. She glanced behind her and saw an anthropomorphic pig standing at the door. If Sally-Anne hadn't known better, she would've sworn that Harry had used magic to teach a pig to walk on its hind legs and wear clothes.
"Where have you been?" Dudley asked Harry, a look of disgust on his face.
"Out," Harry replied. He turned back to Sally-Anne, smiling at her one more time.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the light catch something in the distance. It was a pair of eyes belonging to a dog. Harry could barely make out the silhouette of the black dog across the street as it patiently watched them. What was most interesting about this particular dog was that it had been following him. He wouldn't have noticed if not for the enhancements Rose made to his glasses, but he was certain that it was following him.
When Harry turned back to the door, he found Uncle Vernon standing in it.
"You're late!" he shouted. "You were supposed to be back an hour ago!"
"No, I told you I'd be back later," Harry said. "I knew how long the play would be and when it started, and I told you when I thought I'd be back. Actually, I'm early."
"You'll do as I say!" roared Vernon. "Get in this house now!"
He grabbed Harry and yanked him through the doorway.
Sally-Anne jumped as her friend was wrenched inside the house, and started back to help him.
Before she took two steps, Sally-Anne felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see her mum smiling at her.
"Watch this," her mum said.
Sarah approached the horrible man currently abusing her daughter's friend and possible boyfriend (She was already looking forward to teasing Sally-Anne about it).
"Vernon Dursley, right?" Sarah asked.
"What do you want?" growled Vernon.
"You're the director of Grunnings, the drilling company, correct?"
Vernon released his grip on the boy and turned to face the woman before him.
"How do you know that?"
"Grunnings has got a big contract coming up, so I'm sure someone as responsible as you has kept the facility and equipment up to code."
"What?"
"No corners cut, all problems reported. No equipment issues swept under the rug, such as an issue with the B-147 Terra Drill suddenly malfunctioning yesterday at 1:53 in the afternoon."
Everyone stared at her. That was way too specific to have been a guess. She knew something.
Vernon was so angry he couldn't think straight.
"Exposure of that one incident is enough to keep Grunnings busy for weeks with paperwork and investigations," Sarah continued. "Especially now that you've kept it quiet instead of reporting it. By the time you've got it sorted out, your major clients will have moved on to your competition."
Sally-Anne tried using her pendant to learn about her mum's secret job, but to her dismay, all she got was the phrase "Get under his skin, then go in for the kill."
"What are you saying?!" demanded Vernon, storming up to the stranger.
"I'm saying, Mr. Dursley, that I can have an investigator to Grunnings before you take your first sip of tea tomorrow morning. I'm saying that my daughter stays in constant communication with your nephew, and if that communication stops, or if we hear that you're abusing Harry, then an investigator will be looking into everything involving Grunnings, including you, Mr. Dursley. What do you think an investigator would find? An upstanding citizen and his model family, or an abusive caretaker who neglects his unreported nephew?"
Vernon had no clue who this woman was, but she stood up straight with her hands behind her back, and spoke as if she owned all of Great Britain. Under any other circumstances, she'd probably be someone to whom he'd be sucking up, but instead, she was defending his rotten nephew.
"What do you want?" Vernon growled through clenched teeth.
The woman looked past him and at the boy. "Harry, have you got the Hogsmeade form on you?"
"Yeah, I've got it here," Harry replied, reaching into the bag Rose gave him.
"I want you to treat your nephew with respect, and I want you to sign that form for him."
"I haven't got a pen," Vernon muttered.
Harry pulled out a pen from his bag. "I have. You can use one of my books as a writing surface."
Harry was trying his hardest to not laugh at his uncle. He could see Aunt Marge standing in inebriated shock at the door.
Mrs. Perks was giving Harry's uncle the payback that Harry had always wished he could give his uncle, and Harry loved every second of it.
Uncle Vernon grudgingly signed the Hogsmeade form, then Mrs. Perks grabbed the form from him.
"And I think I'll hold onto that for safe keeping," she said, handing the form to Sally-Anne. "And Mr. Dursley, if I hear that you or your sister insulted Harry's parents again, there will be repercussions."
"It's not a crime for someone to speak their mind!" Vernon shouted.
"Of course it isn't," Sarah said. Keeping her voice low, she added, "But there's a little crimson-haired girl that likes to make sure justice is served to those who upset her friends. And I hear she's got a particularly good throwing arm."
She left the rotten man with that.
"Good night, Harry," Sally-Anne said, smiling.
"Good night, Sally-Anne," Harry said, still not sure what had just happened.
"Mum, you're amazing!" Sally-Anne exclaimed when they were out of Privet Drive.
"Thank you, but if you don't mind, I'd rather that incident stay between us ladies."
"I won't tell Dad if you get him to not tease me about Harry."
"Aw, but I was looking forward to that!" her mum complained.
"No 'buts', Young Lady!" Sally-Anne replied in her best impression of her mother. "I don't want to hear it, or I'll have the entire British Government after you!"
"I can't quite send the entire British Government after someone I don't like," her mum said, laughing.
"How'd you know all that stuff?" Sally-Anne asked.
"The Quality Control Manager at Grunnings owed me a favor," her mum replied. "He's been giving me dirt on Grunnings for a few weeks now. That's all."
Sally-Anne used her pendant to try to learn the real truth, but instead got something that shocked her even more.
Stop trying to read my mind, Sally-Anne.
"Gah!" Sally-Anne exclaimed. "How did you–"
"Over the winter holiday, you responded to your father's thoughts," her mum explained. "Most people won't notice when you reply to their internal dialog, because they don't always realize that other people can't hear it. When I entertained the idea that you could read other peoples' minds, it actually made quite a lot of sense."
Sally-Anne gaped at her mum.
"But the conclusive evidence was during our talk. You wanted to be done talking so desperately that you kept finishing my sentences. I started to notice a look on your face when you did it. You had that look just now when you were trying to read my mind."
Sally-Anne stared at her mother until a wave of guilt washed over her.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Sally-Anne said.
"So long as you're not using it to cheat," her mum said. "I assume that pendant's the source of this?"
"It is," Sally-Anne said.
"And Rose is the source of that pendant?"
"She is."
"Don't spend too much time poking around in other peoples' thoughts," her mum said.
"Does Dad know?" Sally-Anne asked.
"I didn't know until just now," her mum replied. "I had a hunch, so I didn't share it with your father. He should know."
"Can we wait til morning?" Sally-Anne asked.
"Of course. It's been a long night."