"English Harry. While they may know French I doubt Mrs. Fortourney or Mr. Beckett speak Indonesian."
"Sorry," Harry sheepishly apologized to the adults. "I wanted...I asked to get to know the school."
Rebecca was puzzled by Carson's attitude. After shooting Carson a puzzled look she said, "You're in luck. Because now while Carson talks to Sirius about the results, and you and I take a tour."
As Harry and the assistant principal left the room Sirius struggled with his hackles rising and an urge to growl as the counselor looked at him. "You obviously have some questions, or issues that came up in the last two and a half hours so instead of glaring at me, speak up."
"Harry is a very bright boy. However part of the entrance tests is a psychological evaluation, it is not an in depth one. But for an eight year old to have the results I saw on his, it makes me wonder if he's being abused. He's giving strong indicators of depression but he acts like nothing is wrong; that degree of acting usually goes hand in hand with abuse."
"Harry isn't abused, however he is going through a lot. I used to do security work; back at the end of July I almost died when my principal was attacked, which is why I no longer do security work. Add to that in November Harry learned that the treatment for a condition he's had almost his whole life involves stopping his heart. Most recently back on Dec. 17th, he and I lost the all people we considered our closest friends and family on Bali and then a week later he and I left the only home he remembers. Any one of those is hard for a kid to handle but Harry gets to deal with them all at once. Fate likes to dump on him, she started when he was fifteen months old and his mum was murdered in front of him."
"The bastard that did it, tried to kill him like he did Harry's parents; but Harry is above all things a survivor and to stubborn to quit. On the plus side, he mediates everyday and he and I talk about crap as he's ready to cope with it. I was only twenty two when his folks died and maybe I haven't been the best parent in the world but I did my best and Harry knows he's loved both by me and my fiance. He's actually looking forward to being a big brother."
"He does have good things in his life and I'll find him a counselor if we decide he needs it. We've been here eleven days and some things have taken precedent; like a place to live, a school. I'm still trying to get many things together so pardon me, I'm doing my best. Harry isn't one to share everything with someone he just met. So of course, he's going to act like nothing is wrong with his life around you; anything else would be displaying weakness, something that as a warrior spirit, he's unwilling to do. Any other questions?"
Carson Beckett sat there for several moments mentally processing everything he had just been told. He somehow he knew he was sitting there with a shocked look on his face. It wasn't everyday a counselor heard a recitation like that. It explained loads about the boy though. It implied a complexity to Harry that matched the maturity his tests showed. "No, no questions. Let's go over the rest of his results. I suspect Rebecca told you his recall index is ninety-five percent. His English scores are slightly low but given it isn't his dominant language that's not surprising. What is his dominant language by the way?"
"I don't think he has one. He lived in Great Britain his first fifteen months. Then after his folks died we traveled for six months Then we settled in Indonesia on Bali. He spoke Indonesian, Balinese and English inter-changeably and at three I started teaching him French as well. Since then he uses all four languages, sometimes in the same sentence."
Carson's eyebrows climbed into his hair in his surprise. He gulped then continued. "We analyze learning modalities visual, auditory, kinetic most kids Harry's age are dominant in one or two, most people grow more balanced between the three as they reach adulthood. Harry learns like someone seven or eight years older he's balanced in modality. We also test for intelligences." At Sirius' blank look he explained, "Multiple intelligence theory tells us that we all have differing levels of intelligence in different areas. The intelligences we test for are: spatial, kinesthetic, mathematic/logical, linguistic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, musical, artistic, natural. Harry scored high in all but the artistic which is very unusual. Most people only score high in two or three areas."
Sirius smirked. "Harry's artistic talent is only found when he's behind a camera, I'm not surprised by what you've told me. Both of his parents were exceptionally smart, especially his mum. But I want to know what this means for him here at the school."
"He'll be placed in the fifth grade like he was in Indonesia. Which brings up the question of boarding or day student. I would plan that he'll be receiving tutoring for his English Composition class. He's going to be in the more advanced math class for the fifth graders. The rest of his classes he's probably going to fall right in the middle, unless you account for the fact he's a two years ahead of his peer group." Carson stumbled over what to say, he had basically accused the man in front of him of child abuse. He had questions but didn't know what to say. "Why if your lives were already so unsettled would you..."
"Pull up roots and come here? Harry was drowning in memories and grief back on Bali. We had met Beth, my fiance, while on a month long vacation in November. She is the one person we both wanted to see after...We literally lost almost everyone that had meaning for us in one night. What compounded the trauma, was that we were the people who could identify the bodies of everyone that died that night. I knew the adults and Harry knew the kids so we identified the bodies. I figured it was healthier to move than have him lost in grief. He still has it, but at least here he doesn't get reminded of it a million times a day."
"I'm sorry. I was wrong to accuse you. I'd like to help if I could."
....
Join my P*atreon right now and enjoy more than 60 advanced chapters.
Link: p*atreon.com/Divine_Quill (Remove the *)
FREE members get up to 2 chapters for FREE.