Zora Scales and Wizard Magic

by HelKat

Harry Potter was introduced to the wizarding world around the same time a young Zora found himself lost. Voldemort is on the return and Ganondorf is steadily winning after the Hero disappears in the Temple of Time. Harry just wishes he can help his injured friend get home, no matter how many years are passed.

1. Harry Potter befriends a Zora

Title: Zora Scales and Wizard Magic

Rating: T

Character(s): Harry Potter / OC!Zora

Summary: Harry Potter was introduced to the wizarding world around the same time a young Zora found himself lost. Voldemort is on the return and Ganondorf is steadily winning after the Hero disappears in the Temple of Time. Harry just wishes he can help his injured friend get home, no matter how many years are passed.

Disclaimer: Not Yaoi. This is a friendship fic

Warnings: Life changing injuries semi-explored in this chapter, i.e. blindness. This pretty much translates to a lot of hand holding.

xXx Chapter One: Harry Potter befriends a Zora xXx

Harry Potter was not a boy for crowds. Having spent a lot of time without friends and hidden away from the eyes that look upon the Dursley's, his solitude was a comfort rather than a punishment his guardians no doubt thought it was. Diagon Alley was wonderful and Hogwarts is amazing, Harry wasn't going to ever argue that, but after the first day of classes he was ready to spend some quiet time alone.

It was after his last class with dinner being served in another hour when Harry found himself slinking along the cooling fields with his school bag on one shoulder. He was heading towards the farthest side of the lake from the school. Ron had been hard to get away from, and he was hoping he could stay away from him until dinner. Not that the other boy was a bad or annoying kid; he was just a bit too loud and clingy for Harry. He wondered if Ron counted as a friend yet.

Setting his bag on the ground, a tree and clump of bushes hiding him from the castle, Harry smiled at his spot. The lake was especially dark, being so close to the Forbidden Forest, but the small section curved back as if it had started to make a river but changed its mind. The sun was pacing a pleasant angle and the birds were far enough away to be heard but not distracting.

It was a good spot, and Harry pulled out his books to work on his assignments.

It wasn't until he was just starting his last paper that he heard a soft voice.

"hello? help me... please help. hello?" The voice was quiet, not quite a whisper but soft and scared. Harry set his book down and tried to listen.

"Hello?" He called back cautiously. There was a moment of silence.

"Who are you? Where are you? What are you?" Realizing this might be a magical creature – and what an amazing delight it was to realize there were magical creatures like goblins and centaurs! – Harry reminded himself to be polite.

"My name is Harry. I'm a, a human." He said with only a brief hesitation. He'd only just realized he was a wizard, but he knew he was human all his life. "I'm right here. Where are you?"

"I'm here. I'm here. I don't where I am." Harry was startled. The voice, another boy if Harry was right, whimpered and sounded like he was going to cry.

"Hey, don't cry. Please don't cry! I can help! Come on, what's wrong? Where are you?" The other boy sniffled and Harry heard a small splash.

"I'm here, in the water. Where are you?" The boy called back from behind the rocks closer to the forest. He seemed to be slowly coming closer.

"I'm on the shore. You can come closer. I won't hurt you." And then Harry saw him. There was a boy with pale blue skin and a smooth head without hair in the lake. His face looked more angular than his, and Harry could see long finned ears and large dark eyes. The boy's face was crumbled in an expression of worry and fear, and Harry was alarmed when the other ran into the rock in front of him with a squeak.

"Ouch!" The blue boy seemed to fall into the water, and Harry quickly got to his feet to get into the water.

"Hey, stay there. I'll get you. Are you okay?" The other boy sniffled again, coming up again and holding the rock for support. Harry made a lot of noise rushing into the lake, slowing down as he got closer. He didn't know how to swim, but he only had to go out ten feet anyway. He didn't know how he did it, but with a lunge he caught the rock and spluttered a little as he caught his breath. The boy's ear fins twitched as he looked at the water splashing around them. "I'm here. Are you okay? Hey, what's your name anyway?"

"I am Topa." The boy said. Harry suddenly realized that his blue skin was actually scales. "I think I am okay. How do you see in this cave if you are human?"

"Cave?" Harry asked, looking around him just to be sure. The sky was clear, the sun starting to lower, but there was nothing to show a cave around him. "We're outside, Topa... Did you hurt your eyes?" He asked carefully. The fish boy – mermaid? – rose a hand to his face, feeling around his eyes carefully.

"My eyes burned, a little, when I passed through a stream of rushing water, but... Are we really outside?" He asked, sounding more frightened with his quiet question. Harry wondered if there was a nice way to put reply.

"Yeah." He said with a breath. Topa continued to feel his eyes in silence.

"Oh..." Feeling awkward, Harry held out a hand.

"Here, raise your hand for me. I'll take you to the shore so I can help look for other injuries, okay?" Topa lowered his hand and nodded.

"Okay." He reached towards him and Harry was startled by how soft and warm the other's skin was. Topa seemed surprised by how his own hand felt too so he didn't say anything, opting to tug him into the direction to the shore of his hiding place.

"Are you a mermaid, Topa?" Harry asked as he sat cross-legged in front of the other and leaning close to his face to inspect the dark blue eyes that were much larger than his own. Topa sat patiently, seeming to feel better now that there was someone with him. His fingers dug a little into the damp dirt, so Harry tried to be as gentle as possible.

"Mermaid?"

"Er, I guess Merman? Merboy?" Topa gave a small smile.

"I don't know what that is. I am a Zora."

"Oh."

"And you are a human? Are you Hyrulian?"

"Er, no. I'm British."

"Oh. That must be why I couldn't place your accent. I've never heard of a British before."

"Really? I guess I hadn't heard of a Zora before either." He hadn't heard of Hyrulians so it seemed fair. "I'm eleven years old." He added as he waved a hand in front of those eyes and felt disquieted to see not a single movement.

"I am ten winters. Ouch."

"Sorry!" Harry jerked his hand back from where he had been feeling the others eyelids. "Your skin looks swollen and tender around your eyes."

"Oh. I guess... I guess I'm not okay."

"I can take you to the castle! I'm sure the nurse can look at you!" Harry suggested, suddenly realizing that was probably what he should have done. He tugged at his new friend – maybe someday soon? Would he have a better chance making friends with non-human species? – to have him stand up. The Zora boy remained sitting.

"Castle? Are we near the Hyrule Castle?" Harry stopped tugging, looking down at his friend in confusion as a breeze made him shiver in his wet robes.

"No. This is Hogwarts Castle. I go to school here. Well, today was the first day of classes, but, come on! We can see the nurse! She could help!" Topa faced him.

"Harry," Harry paused, waiting as patiently as his friend obviously wanted him to. "I don't recognize 'Hogwarts' and have never heard of a different castle before, much less one that was dedicated to schooling rather than ruling."

"It's okay. I never heard of Hyrule Castle." Topa gently tugged his hand back and Harry watched in growing trepidation as the younger boy cupped his face and silently started to cry.

"Harry, I am lost." Harry refrained from saying 'I know'. He just realized so as well. "If I am lost, I am in a kingdom that Hyrule does not know. If they do not know of Hyrule, they do not know of my Kingdom. I am scared, Harry. Please don't tell of me. Please. Not yet." Topa cried. Harry sat down again, carefully pulling Topa's webbed hands away from the eyes he was rubbing.

"Shh. Okay. I'll keep you a secret. Stop rubbing your eyes, Topa. You'll hurt them more."

"I cannot feel them." He admit as he let Harry pull his hands away. Harry wiped the dirt and grass of his fingers, carefully looking at Topa's face to find any dirt or grass he may have rubbed on his eyes.

"Maybe not now." Harry said, feeling like he was speaking in ignorance and hating it as much as he hoped it would make the Zora in front of his feel better. He glanced again to the castle, not wanting to risk his friend staying completely blind, but there was nothing short of forcing the Zora through the field that he could really do.

Then Topa's stomach growled. Harry watched with surprise as the boy's blue cheeks turned a shade of light purple.

"Sorry."

"No, it's okay! I can get you food! What would you like?"

"Well, I normally have fish." Harry wondered if that was cannibalism, before feeling grateful it wasn't humans he ate instead. "But, I also like seaweed and have tried a fruit called 'blueberry' I think."

"Great! I can get that! Though, it might take a while. The school has meals together and there's a curfew for night, but I can get that for you. I can sneak out no problem! You stay right around here, okay?"

"Harry?" Topa reached a hand to him, and Harry held it as he stood again and waited. "Are there monsters around at night?" Harry thought for a moment.

"I don't think so. I heard the older years say there were werewolves, but they stay in the forest anyway, I think. I know a Giant Squid is in the lake, and I thought mermaids were too, but this is a hidden part of the lake. You'll be fine if you stay." Topa slowly loosened his grip.

"Okay. Thank you, Harry." Harry smiled, even though the other boy couldn't see it, and snagged his book bag.

"No worries. I'll be back tonight with food, and I'll try to bring a blanket!" Harry ran off before realizing Topa might sleep in the water. Would he need a blanket? And how would he get it?

X

It was well past ten o'clock when Harry finally found the front doors.

After everyone had left the common room, Harry snuck back down with his bag after making sure his dorm mates were really asleep. His bag empty of books and filled with a couple sheets from his own bed instead, he stood in the common room for a moment when he realized something. He had no idea if there was even a kitchen to get food from. The food for meals appeared with magic, and it was at the Headmaster's bidding.

Then a wrinkly, bat-eared, 'house elf' timidly asked if 'Young Sir was troubled with the homey sickness?' It was that house elf, Zinny, who told him about the kitchen's portrait, after fetching the food items requested. She even explained that there were many house elves in Hogwarts that did many things, but they were never called to talk to the Headmaster. Harry wondered if Topa could have a house elf help him, but after asking the question in as vague a way as he could, Zinny said they were only here for the castle and picking up after students. Harry supposed she only spoke to him because he was a first year and she slipped a couple times in calling him 'little elfling' as if he reminded her of her child or something. So, with getting lost only twice and discovering a lot of rooms and the ghosts – who said he would be reported if they catch him again, thinking he was trying to find his dorms after another snack – it was very late when Harry creaked open the large doors of Hogwarts to the open field. He ran to his spot and tried not to pant too loud as he dropped his bag.

"Topa?" He called. There was silence for a moment. "Topa?"

"Harry?" A small splash, and Harry saw Topa rise from the water. He smiled in relief as the Zora slowly walked towards him.

"Yeah, sorry it took so long." Harry said as he reached for the other's hand to help guide him. His trainers were wet again, but he didn't care.

"It's okay. I like this lake. It's quiet, and I felt safe." Topa sounded a lot calmer than earlier. Harry was glad, he was worried the boy would start crying again.

"I'm glad. Here, I brought you food. I wasn't sure if you cooked your fish, so I got both cooked and uncooked." Harry said as he opened his bag and set the different parcels in front of Topa. "And a bunch of different berries like strawberries and raspberries and I got a little seaweed too. And, I didn't know if you needed a blanket, but I brought two anyway."

"Wow. Thank you so much, Harry!" Harry blushed brightly. His new friend didn't even seem to realize that he was supposedly famous, and it made him feel good to know that he was making a friend without the words of the Dursley's or the 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named' business making him look like something he wasn't.

"You're welcome. I'm glad to help." Harry replied as he opened the other parcels of food. Topa held one up.

"What is in this one, Harry?"

"That's the cooked fish. I think it has only a little bit of seasoning and some lemon."

"Are they different fish?" He asked, sniffing it. "I don't recognize the smell."

"I think this one is salmon." He said before moving Topa's other hand to touch the pinkish fish on top. "I'm pretty sure this one's tilapia." He said moving the other. "Not sure of the others." He admit, noticing there were three other servings of other fish.

"Hm." Topa pinched a little of the salmon and popped it in his mouth. He hummed around the bit, slowly chewing and tasting it. "It tastes, candied. I like this one. What was it called? Salmon?"

"Yeah. Here. These are the other berries." Harry scooted the berries closer to his friend, having already separated the berries as well he could. "This one is a raspberry. These are my favorite berries." He put one in his friend's hands. Topa touched it with his fingertips, studying it intently before tossing it in his mouth too.

"It's sweet!"

The rest of next few hours was a lot lighter than their first meeting. Harry ended up ripping a corner of the sheet to make a blindfold for Topa so the Zora would stop rubbing at his eyes. Topa devoured the food brought to him and Harry promised to bring him food as often as he could. The ripped blanket was then ripped some more as the boys worked together to try to make a sort of shelter for Topa. Harry took off his trainers and robe before jumping into the freezing water. He was wearing Dudley's cast-offs, so he didn't care too much if the clothes got more abused. He knew there was a clothes shop in Diagon Alley he could buy more at.

There was a long time where the two simply rested in the water, Topa keeping a hold on Harry's sleeve so the other didn't float too far away or start to sink.

"Harry?" Harry tried to keep floating when Topa's hand suddenly let go. A warm hand rested on his arm not a moment later. "You feel cool, Harry."

"The water's pretty cold." Harry admit. He had spent a long time muting his shivering so Topa wouldn't notice anything.

"You were warmer before. Come on, I'll be here tomorrow. It's late, isn't it? You said you'd be back after dinner?"

"Yeah. I think it's midnight." Harry yawned. Topa tugged at his arm before sliding up to his sleeve and tugging that instead..

"You should get on land."

"Okay." Neither moved right away, so Harry continued to float for a bit more. Then his head hit a rock. "Ow." Topa giggled.

X

Harry kept Topa a secret like asked, and he found himself looking forward to running away to his spot. A few months later, and it was Halloween. He was becoming better friends with Ron, but the boy was very demanding. He supposed it was just his personality, but there was only so much he could stand at a time before it got annoying. His classes were getting interesting and Topa liked to laugh at his attempts to practice. He said the spells sounded funny.

Topa even taught Harry how to swim properly. The lessons officially started after getting tickled when Topa admit he'd never seen a human before and 'can I please please please feel you legs and feet!?' so he can prove it. Topa also wanted to feel his face and had taken a liking to pet his hair. Like a pet.

His days were fine, going the pace they were. He was doing fine in his classes and he was perfectly fine with Topa as his best friend. He had clothes that fit him and three meals a day with a clean soft bed to sleep in at night, or a soft grassy patch if he didn't make it to the bed when talking to Topa. He didn't need more than that.

"This school is scary!" Harry cried in frustration after this particular day.

"Harry? What is it? What's scary?" Topa asked as he got his feet under him, having been curled in a warm pool of water behind a rock.

"There's a giant three headed dog in the school! A giant three headed dog with great big teeth and a paw that can probably step on me!"

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"Oh." Topa waited a beat before opening his mouth.

"Hermione thinks there's something it's guarding and she and Ron are both obsessed with figuring it out but that dog is so big! It barely fits in the classroom! Those two are so, so – Uhg! I feel like they think just because they're in Gryffindor they have to disregard their self-preservation instincts! That giant three headed dog can probably eat us three in one bite for each mouth and they just want to get closer!" There was another moment of quiet where Topa opened his mouth.

"...What's a dog?" Harry blinked before moaning in despair.

"It's a hairy animal that are normally kept as pets and companions for people." He explained dryly. "They're known for barking or howling like a wolf." He didn't add the habit's Aunt Marge's dogs had.

"Oh. How interesting." Harry smiled at his friend. The Zora boy was facing him with a look of interest, and Harry wondered which part of his rant caught his attention other than the dog.

"Do Zora keep pets?" Topa thought for a moment.

"Nothing furry. I think some who have more time keep small seahorses as a creature to care for, or even glowing fishes if they can be found. But not really. Oh, the royal family watches over the Lord Jabu-Jabu. I don't know if it counts as a pet though. He's said to be a guardian... He's pretty chubby." Harry laughed.

"How big can it be?" He wondered. Topa hummed for a moment.

"I think, if there were two more of me standing on my shoulders, I still wouldn't be able to touch the roof of his mouth." Harry choked on his laughter.

"Eh!? What!? Really!?"

"Yeah. He's really big."

"...You keep a whale for a pet!?"

"No, he's a fish. He was a gift from long ago before the dragon guardians all passed on to the next realm."

"Wow. Dragons?"

"Yes." Harry took off his robe and Topa heard him shuffle through his clothes until he stepped into the water.

"Hey, Topa? Do you celebrate any holidays?"

"Oh yes! We have four major holidays each year, as well as the birthdays for the members of the direct royal family. Princess Ruto's birthday is the same as mine, so every year my caretakers take me to the party for celebration and give me my present afterward!" Topa grinned. He let it fall when Harry didn't immediately say anything.

"That's great!" Harry finally said. Though Topa could hear it was slightly forced.

"Sorry, I forgot." He suddenly remembered that Harry's parents were dead.

"No, it's okay."

"You know, Zora never really know who their parents are." Topa offered. "Two of the major holidays are spawning in the spring and winter. The royal family are the only ones who spawn in a royal pool. Any eggs that hatch from everyone else are a chance for couples to raise a child. The fertile eggs cling to the old temple from the currents downstream. My caretakers found me on resting in seaweed."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Harry wondered if that was considered similar to Thumbelina and decided to ask after telling his friend about the story.

"What about the other holidays?"

"The new year and midyear festivals! It's so fun! Everyone gets together and sometimes friends from other races like humans or Gorons come too. We made special tunics for them to be able to breathe underwater so they can participate in the games! The new year festival retells the history of the Zora and the midyear festival celebrates the victories of our struggles with the goddesses before they blessed us. It's so fun! Next time I attend, I'll be old enough to jump the waterfall!"

"What?"

"Yeah! It's so high! I hope, I can show you one day." Topa said with a wistful tone. Harry splashed water to him.

"It's a promise." Topa splashed water back.

"Okay! I'll get you a Zora tunic for free!"

"I'll remember you said that! Oh, that reminds me. Topa, we have a holiday near the end of the year also. We call it Christmas. It's a celebration of the birth of the son of our God. In our religion, when he was born, three kings were led to him by a star, and they brought presents to congratulate him for being born. Christmas is a time where family and friends bring each other gifts to show we care. Is there anything you would like?"

"Nothing that we don't already do, Harry. I'm glad you're my best friend." Topa admit.

"I'm glad you're my best friend too." Harry replied. Topa smiled, able to hear the tears Harry was trying to hold back.

"So, you pray to a God?"

"Yes."

"How did he make your world?"

"Um, well, God made the light and liked it so he kept it. Then he made the planet and the plants and animals and liked those too and kept it. Then he made a man and called him Adam. He had Adam name all the animals, but Adam noticed that there were boy and girl animals and grew lonely. So when he told God, he was told to go to sleep and he would find a companion when he woke up. God took a rib or two from Adam and made a woman, who was called Eve. They were the first humans, and from them we were born." Harry said, hoping he didn't mix anything up. "I don't know what wizards believe in, but that's what I hear my Aunt saying."

"Wow. One God made everything?"

"Yeah. That's what the Bible says." Harry shrugged. He refused to think about how often he cried in silent prayer, wondering why...

He smacked his friend's hand away from his blindfolded eyes when the Zora tried to scratch the skin underneath. The blue boy grinned playfully before laying down. Attention distracted, Harry laid close to him and waited. There were a lot of differences between them that Harry liked learning about. Topa started the story soon after Harry stopped wiggling around the dirt.

"My caretakers say Hyrule was made from three Goddesses. The land of Hyrule was chaotic before the Goddesses descended from above. Din made the land with her powerful flaming arms, Farore made the creatures in the land with her courage for life, and Nayru gave everything balance with her wisdom. From that moment when all was peaceful, they left, leaving behind the rest of their power to Hyrule in the shape of three golden triangles in a pyramid; the Triforce. Whoever controls the Triforce can bring either prosperity or ruin to the land depending on their heart, so it was hidden with the Royal Family chosen by the Goddesses."

"Wow. Your royal family guards the Triforce?" Topa laughed.

"Not us! Zora did not come to Hyrule until later! No, the Hyrulian Royal Family and the line of Princess Zelda!" He chuckled.

"It's still amazing." Harry said.

X

"Troll! In the dungeon! Just, thought I'd let you know." Harry definitely didn't need that. Mind racing, and the rest of the school talking loudly and pushing their way out of the doors, Harry realized that there was one Gryffindor who could not have heard the sudden announcement. He snagged Ron and darted towards the bathroom he heard Hermione Granger was hiding in.

Harry liked Granger, and he was beginning to realize the letting Ron rant and belittle the girl behind her back was obviously not the right thing to do. The other muggleborn was just a little socially awkward, and the difference between him and her was that Harry was willing to stay quiet and let other talk first. Other than that, Granger was smart, and Harry liked that about her.

"Harry!" He shushed Ron sharply without slowing down. "What are you doing! We had to go to the common room with the prefects!" Ron continued with a harsh whisper. He was terrified, and Harry could feel his classmate's – friend? Close acquaintance? – hand get sweaty in his own.

Why did he call Granger by her last name and Ron by his first if he felt equally close to them both? Was he supposed to call both by their first name or last name?

"You made Granger cry today in Charms. It's your fault she's locked herself in the bathroom and now she doesn't know about the troll." Harry panted as he ran. He glanced at Ron and could tell the boy was pale, but he was still running and hadn't made to pull away. "You tell her you're sorry!"

"What!? Now!?"

"Yes!" There was a scream and a roar up ahead followed by a crash. "If not you may as well have killed her!" Harry yelled before letting go and running into the crumbled doorway of the flooding bathroom ahead. He snagged a piece of the broken stone and threw it as hard as he could to the troll's small head. "Hey you big stinky troll! Pick on someone your own size!" He yelled.

"Nhaaaa!" The troll grunted. Harry was suddenly struck by the similarity between his cousin and the troll in front of him.

"I hate Harry Hunting." He mumbled before darting out of the way as the troll reared his club back to swing at him.

"Mwoooar!" The troll tried to roar. It's lips seemed to be drooling though. Harry scrambled against the slippery pipes running along the walls, tugging at them and trying to grab something of his own to swing.

He did realize it was futile, but it was the principle of the thought. A brief thought about using his wand flashed through his mind, but he couldn't think of anything he could cast that would help.

"-so I guess I was jealous and I didn't really think you were too different than my sister since she annoys me too and I guess I'm just really sorry when I-"

'Huh, guess he really is apologizing. Bad timing though.' Harry thought as he finally pulled a thin copper pipe up as the troll reared back.

"Nhaaraaah!" The troll moaned angrily as it swung. Harry rolled away, bumping his shoulder and feeling a high ringing in his ears as he dazedly looked around him for the troll. The club was just a foot or so away from him, and he followed it to the trool. Copper pipe held tightly, like a heavy sword, he couldn't find it in himself to raise it in defense.

"Harry!"

"Potter!"

Harry felt like he was in slow motion as the troll looked at the two behind him. Harry struggled to stand up and aimed the pipe towards the great beast, but he wasn't able to think of anything he could do. The club was risen as the troll aimed at him, the large wooden weapon itself was probably bigger and heavier than him by three times.

"Mroooarw!"

Harry relaxed his shoulders and leaned against the wall behind him. 'Sorry Topa.' He closed his eyes, took a breath, and held it.

X

Topa stared. Well, gaped, since he was blind. He reached a hand out and Harry obliged him his own, already shucking off his cloak since Topa would no doubt want to feel for himself that Harry was fine. Topa pulled him closer and his hands flittered along Harry's skin in a way that reminded him of butterflies.

"Does anything hurt!? Are you sure you're okay!?" He asked, realizing now why Harry sounded suspicious when he asked how he was earlier. He suddenly snagged the human boy's head to feel his skull and neck.

"Yeah, I'm sure I'm okay." He said, giggling as Topa flittered his fingers around his back.

"Don't laugh! You were in danger!"

"You're tickling me!"

"Give me your legs!" Topa demanded before trailing his fingers along Harry's side to his thighs. Harry screamed. "I'm sorry!" Harry laughed.

"No, you're just tickling me!" Topa frowned before continuing. Harry continued to giggle and kick his legs before Topa slid his shoes off. "Topa I'm okay! AHHhahahah! Not my feet! I'm sorry! Not me feet! Stop ticking me!"

Topa ignored Harry's plead for mercy until he was satisfied nothing was broken or bandaged.

"So, you just stood there in front of a great big monster, no longer bothered to fight when it aimed its weapon in front of you, and came out okay?" Topa asked, incredulous. Harry calmed himself and continued the story.

"Well, yeah. I figured Ron and Hermione were at the other side of the bathroom and I was trapped, so I just, hoped it ended quickly. Then I hear Ron yell out 'Wingardium Leviosa!' and when I open my eyes the troll is staring at his club which is floating higher than it could reach, then when it looks at me again, Ron drops the club right on its head! The troll passed out and we run out of the bathroom to the common room. I think the professors were behind us, but we didn't turn back."

"Sheesh, Harry. You know how to tell scary stories."

"Sorry Topa."

"I'm glad you're okay." Topa reached his hand out again and Harry put his in it. Topa pulled him in a hug. "Please be careful. Your school sounds dangerous."

"I'm sure this was just a freak accident. Professor Quirrell is normally good against trolls, but he must have become lightheaded running to warn us all. A lot of the wizards in school aren't very athletic." Topa hugged him for a moment more before pulling away.

"Wizard?" Harry blanked for a bit.

"Uh, yeah. Hogwarts is a school for Witchcraft and Wizardry." He said, feeling like he repeated himself about the school before realizing, no he hasn't. He'd just been calling it the castle or Hogwarts.

"Oh, I didn't realize you were a magical human." Harry laughed.

"Yeah, I didn't realize it myself until a few weeks before school. What did you think I was practicing when I was doing wand work?"

"They just sounded funny. I thought you were reading." Topa shrugged before demanding he recheck Harry's head and shoulders.

X

Topa swam carefully. He tried to make sure to touch everything around him to keep himself oriented to where his and Harry's shore is. Harry said it was hidden, and he didn't want to chance resting on a shore that wasn't hidden. He liked Harry, but his popa taught him to be wary of humans. Not distrustful, just wary. It was safer that way. Harry was safe, he knew this, but all other humans were still unknown.

"Blue child, what are you?" A voice asked in front of him. Topa gasped before sliding up against the stone pillar he knew was near. He peaked towards the voice, in vain for his blind eyes, but careful to show his empty hands.

"I'm sorry, you startled me."

"Not our intentions." Topa jerked to the side, towards the newer and deeper voice.

"My you frighten easily. Speak, child. We will not harm you. What are you?" A new voice said in light amusement.

"I am," He gulped wishing he knew what he was facing and how many there were. "I am a Zora. My name is Topa."

"A Zora?"

"A new creature!"

"A trick and a lie." There was a moment of silence.

"I do not lie!" Topa argued. "My popa is Top Scaled Rumado and my mopa is Middle Scale Utamaka!" A cold scaly webbed hand touched his arm and Topa flinched.

"Peace child." A female voice soothed. Another hand trailed along the ridge of his brow. He felt water push past his face. "What happened to your eyes?"

"They burned like fire before I found myself here. I don't recall how." He admit. The female holding him gently touched his neck where the blindfold Harry made was resting so he didn't lose it.

"Has someone tried healing you?" The other woman asked.

"Sort of. I refused for him to show me to his healer."

"You will not refuse again." The man said. Topa found his hand taken and he was pulled along through the water. He tried to pull free.

"No! Please! Do not take me from Harry!" Another hand pulled his other one. He kicked his finned feet against them. "Please! Take me back!"

"Peace child." The soothing woman said as his head fin was pet. "We shall return you, but such injury should not be left alone. You are already blind. Do not let it be permanent if it can be helped." Topa struggled a little more before conceding that he was utterly lost anyway. He'd never make it back to the secret shore without help. "Topa, I do apologize for frightening you. My name is BlueLine."

"BlueLine?"

"Yes. I am SeaFoam!" The other female said from his hand.

"I am CoralPoint." The man introduced.

"We are part of the mermaids tribe of the Hogwarts Black Lake."

"I am from the Lake Hylia."

"What a pretty name for your home."

"Thank you. It is very beautiful."

"BlueLine, what have you found on patrol?" A new voice said. Topa wished he could see. He couldn't help the series of clicking at the back of his throat with his tongue.

His black world suddenly flashed at him.

"Child?" BlueLine asked.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"UnderWave asked your name."

"Sorry, UnderWave. I am Topa." He introduced. His mopa would pull his ear fin if she ever found out he was so rude.

"It is a pleasure, Topa. Please, follow me and I will bring you to out healer." Topa was let go, and he suddenly realized he had no idea which direction was even north.

"We must return to patrol." CoralPoint said.

"I understand." Topa knew patrols alleviated boredom, especially when you lived in a lake. It was an important duty regardless, where anything that could harm your home water was taken care of as quickly as possible. Like drowned animals or trash.

"Come along, young Topa." UnderWave said and Topa held his hand out as he felt the waters rush around him.

"Bye Topa! I'll try to visit you soon!" SeaFoam called.

"I will as well, young Topa!" BlueLine added, already sounding farther than SeaFoam. Topa waited a beat before lowering his hand.

"UnderWave?" He asked. No reply.

With a scowl, Topa crossed his arms and waited. After a minute, he felt a little less angry and a little more worried. Was there anything in this water that was dangerous? How exposed was he? He clicked his tongue again as if popping bubbles in his throat.

His dark sight suddenly blinked at him. Cocking his head, he tried again. He could 'see' white and grey in the water around him. A small white flat something floated down towards him. It 'felt' flimsy, like the material of the blanket Harry brought him. He clicked at it, wondering what it was and how he was able to make it look clearer with how he was clicking. It felt like he was clicking through his forehead more than his throat, but he supposed it was just where in his mouth his was hitting that made it seem that way.

It fell lower, and he clicked at it before reaching for it. He thought it was a leaf, with the strange line in the middle that seemed thicker and a little more stiff.

It was a leaf.

"Topa?"

"UnderWave!" He smiled.

"I believe asked you to follow me. Why did you not?" He held his hand out again, refusing to feel contrite.

"It is my eyes that must be healed, UnderWave. I cannot see."

"...My apologies. I did not realize that was the reason the other were holding you." He felt a large hand hold his, and Topa was soon led to what sounded like a comfortable and cheery village.

"UnderWave, what do you know a lot about humans?" Topa asked as they swam leisurely through the village. The young Zora could hear other children playing around him.

"I do not claim to know everything, or even a lot, but I believe I can say I know plenty. This lake of our home is right next to a building that teaches young humans."

"I was told the school teaches magic. Do all humans know magic here?"

"Here, yes. Only humans that can learn attend."

"So not all humans can learn magic?"

"No. And the humans that know magic are often times cruel to those that do not. Often, they do not hold respect for any other living creature, especially if it talks as well. I would be cautious about surfacing, Topa. Especially if you cannot see. You are not merperson, therefore they may capture you to see what use to them you can be." Topa was silent for a moment.

"Really?"

"It is disappointing, but true."

"Are there any magic humans that can be trusted?" Topa didn't want to doubt Harry, but it was frightening how different these merpeople thought to what he knew of Harry.

"There are. The headmaster of the school above, he is a noble man. It was through him that we were able to have full rights to our home lake. He listens to us if there is anything we need help with and he has a few teachers that trade with us as well. However, it is best if we remain distrustful rather than wary. There are many students, and a lot of them are closed-minded." Topa remained silent. This was the opposite of what his popa taught him, but he didn't want to insult anyone.

"Here we are. Healer LightScale is very kind. Healer LightScale! You have a patient!" Topa froze from surprise with UnderWave yelling near his ear fin.

"UnderWave, what have you done this time?" An older voice sounded. Topa was gently floated towards her. "Oh!"

"His eyes have been injured in a travel. The patrol found him and passed him to me."

"Hm, blue child, what is your name?"

"I am Topa." He introduced again.

"I am LightScale, young Topa. UnderWave, you may wait outside."

"Sure thing, Healer LightScale."

"Stay away from your weapon tip!" The woman added before Topa could no longer feel a current. "Okay, dear Topa, I will be feeling around your eyes. Let me know if you feel pain or tenderness."

"Yes ma'am. Ouch!"

"Hmmm." Topa squirmed a little more and flinched and yelped. After all her poking and prodding, wherein he was made to tell her what happened, he was set against a seat and the mermaid could be heard shifting through bottles and drawers. Then a shift of water alerted him to the healers return to his face and he tensed, ready for more poking or prodding. "Relax child. What is this for?" She asked as brushed her hand along his neck to let him know it was the blindfold she was talking about.

"My friend Harry gave it to me to protect my eyes when above water."

"Oh?"

"Yes."

"How kind of him. We shall use it than my own then, since it looks durable. I am going to be putting a cream on your eyes now, and it may sting, but it should cool quickly.

X

Topa floated tiredly to the shore.

"Topa? Topa!" He smiled at Harry's voice and continued to walk carefully when he heard Harry run into the water, giving small 'ouch, ouch, ow!' sounds which meant he was probably barefoot. He held a hand out and Harry's familiar dry warm skin held it. "Topa, are you okay? Did something happen? Oh my goodness, Topa, your eyes!" Topa quickly caught the hand brushing against his blindfold to prevent the human from moving it.

"I'm okay, Harry. I'm just tired. The merpeople found me and brought me to their healer. She has things on my eyes that should help, but she's using your blindfold to keep it in place." Harry's hand pet around the blindfold carefully.

"It looked like you were bleeding." He admit. Topa wondered if the cream LightScale was red before not caring. It no longer stung, in fact it only felt like he couldn't blink anymore.

"I am unharmed. It stung a lot, but now I can feel magic try to heal it." Topa smiled to help Harry feel better.

"That's great! Did they say how long it will take for you to see?"

"Well, no. I'm under the impression it either won't work or it'll take a long time to work."

"I'm glad you're okay. Come on, I brought you more raspberries. And here, I found some clams to try too. Oh, hey!" The two started to sit down on the soft grass in the spotty shade. "You said merpeople. Like real mermaids?" Topa nodded with a small smile.

"Yeah. They all seemed really nice. But, they are afraid of humans."

"Oh." Harry sounded disappointed. "It would be cool to meet a real mermaid. Before I realized it was real, we had stories of mermaids and they're supposed to be really pretty. After meeting a real troll though, I'm not sure how realistic my stories were. Trolls were a lot uglier and dumber than I thought. I hope to never meet another troll again. They can keep their mountains." Topa offered a smile.

"I hadn't met a real human before you. I've seen them at holidays, but I never tried talking before. I stayed in the deeper parts of Lake Hyrule my home. We had a few fishermen during some seasons, but it wasn't really bothered. The Zora Domain, where the royal family resides, was closer to the major village of Hyrule. I had never been there."

"Sounds peaceful."

"It is, for the most part. I was supposed to travel to the Zora Domain to begin training for patrols. I was going to choose a weapon to learn! But, now that I can't see..." A warm hand rested on his shoulder.

"I'm sure we can get your eyes healed. The real question would be how exactly you got here so we can figure out how to get you home for your training. Oh! Hey, what if the mermaids train you!" Topa cocked his head, his ear fins twitching.

"I'm not sure. I do not recall if they had a weapon." The hand left and Topa could hear Harry taking off his school robe and shoes. His swim clothes now permanently resided in the stone shelf that Harry covered with a long flat stone to keep dry. It was the same shelf he left food for Topa when he couldn't stay long.

"Come on, let's go swimming and hopefully we can find a mermaid to ask."

"I don't know." Topa said slowly.

"Well, if they don't want me near, I can stay away while you ask. Besides, blind or not, you're not handicap! And, I don't want you bored or anything." He was quiet for a moment. "Oh, Topa..."

"What?" He asked, alarmed by Harry's suddenly sad voice. He heard the steps and was brought into a hug. He was taller than Harry, regardless of age, but it was comforting.

"What are we going to do about summers? No, you can ask the mermaids that too. Come on." Hand held, Harry brought them back into the water.

Topa didn't understand why summers were a problem. The waters would be warmer, wouldn't Harry want to be at the lake more often?

X

As he stated, Harry waited fairly close to the shore where his feet touched the top of a rock and the water still slapped his cheeks. The mermaids – and they were nowhere as pretty as The Little Mermaid – floated in conversation for what could have been half an hour before Topa turned around carefully and began to swim towards him again.

"So?"

"They said they had to ask."

"About the training or the stay."

"Well, both. The training is overseen by the King and for the summer, they need to figure out how to get food for me."

"What? Why?"

"They eat algae. I can't. That's like asking you to eat your food fuzzy, discolored and smelly." Harry made a face.

"I understand... Well, at least the training can sort of have a chance."

"Yeah... Why do we need to plan for food for the summer?"

"Well, I won't be here."

"What!" Topa sounded betrayed.

"I'm sorry. School doesn't go for all year. We have summer breaks for a couple months before coming back to school again. It's like a vacation for the teachers. I promise I'll try to see if I can stay!" Harry said clearly. "I don't need to go home! I don't want to go home! I love it here at Hogwarts, and I don't want to leave you!" Topa sniffled. It was hard for Harry to tell certain expressions without being able to see the Zora's eyes and eyebrow ridge. The mouth was only half reliable.

"Okay... How long until summer?" He sounded sad.

"We have half a year. We'll figure something out. Promise." Harry stopped swimming for a moment to readjust the red tinted blindfold. "Okay?"

"Yeah. Thank you, Harry."

X

Harry soaked the rock cake as Ron and Hermione spoke with Hagrid. Fang sat next to him, panting happily for no other reason than being near. Hermione seemed to get more excited as Hagrid became more flustered until the big man – giant? Half-giant? Harry wondered – shooed them out. Well, Harry slowly nibbled on his rock cake to take what would come off until he suddenly realized his friends were waiting at the door and Hagrid had asked him a concerned question. He stood up.

"Sorry Hagrid, I was listening. I mean, I'm not really paying attention. I mean, er, sorry. Can I ask you something?" The two at the door exchanged a look and Hagrid took a breath before nodding.

"Have you ever heard of a Zora?" Hagrid blinked.

"No, can' really say ah had."

"Oh, okay. Thanks for the rock cake and tea." Harry scratched Fang in passing and walked behind his friends. They were in a discussion about the 'clue' they got from Hagrid. Harry liked Hagrid, he was really nice and could probably be called Harry's first friend. Topa took the title of his first best friend though. Hands and flippers down.

'But how can I help him when I'm not here?' Harry wondered. The house elves couldn't. Topa was neither their master, student, nor a part of Hogwarts. Hagrid didn't know about Zoras, but... 'Neither did I. Maybe he just needs to drop food off and the mermaids can help keep him company.' It was a thought. Except no matter how much he liked Hagrid, that would mean telling someone about his secret spot. It was close enough to the Forbidden Forest to probably get him in trouble.

Harry sighed.

"It's okay Harry, we'll figure this out." Hermione said. Harry offered a small smile to her.

What was the deal with this Nicolas Flamel thing anyway? This school was weird.

X

Harry spent Christmas with Ron at Hogwarts, and probably would have been happy to include Hermione too if the girl didn't have a trip planned with her parents. He opted to keep his suspicious package hidden from Ron though. He'd already received a few too many anonymous thank you letters and was rightly frightened of trying anything from strangers when he shared his sweets with Ron and the other boy had promptly been out of character and almost delirious with happiness and love for the fork he had been eating with.

No, he wasn't going to open it until he felt safe. That meant with Topa, and maybe a few mermaids to look out for them. BlueLine liked to check on them from time to time, and Harry could say a couple of phrases in Mermish now. Sort of. With an 'airy' accent, as the two aquatic beings liked to point out.

With his wand in his pocket and the present from the stranger and the present he planned to give Topa, Harry snuck out of the castle. He had the feeling someone was watching him the whole time, and wished very dearly he could perform that concealment charm on himself. He'd found the spell a few weeks ago, but hadn't gotten it to work. It always felt like he just cracked a large, cold egg on his head when he tried the spell, but he could still see himself.

Harry cringed at the discriminating footprints that trailed after him and hoped it snowed only a little more to cover it. Topa said he was fine in the cold, better than fine. He felt relaxed in it and liked the ice on his feet. The merpeople of the lake had, for the most part, retreated to deeper in the water, but there were a few that liked to let ice crystals grow on them.

"Crazy fish." Harry muttered, shivering already. He darted into the Forbidden Forest before running along the treeline towards his spot. The tree was bare of leaves now, and the bushes covered in snow only, but it was still hidden very well. "Topa!" Harry greeted in glee.

Topa yelped in surprise before falling off his rock and slipping along the ice as he tried to catch himself. The merpeople helped make the small shore more like a natural pool just before the ice froze the top. Less mud meant less worries of being caught, and in the winter it meant less chances of slipping through partially frozen mud and getting hurt. Now Topa used it for a sunning (or mooning if at night) bed rather than the first step down into the water.

"Harry! It's cold tonight!"

"I know! Merry Christmas!" Harry giggled as he set down his bag of presents and food.

"Merry Christmas? Oh! Your gift holiday! Merry Christmas!" Topa smiled brightly. "I have a present for you, you know? It's frozen right now, but when the ice melts I have one for you, if you want it." Harry grinned at the obvious blush his friend wore.

"Thanks, Topa. You didn't have to."

"I wanted to." He argued. "Since you told me about it, I've been working on it."

"Well, I've got a present for you too. Here." Topa held out a careful hand even as he lowered his face.

"Harry, you didn't have to, really. You do too much for me." Harry waked over the ice carefully to reach his friend and together they moved to sit on the cleared patch of ground on the battered and weathered blanket.

"It's fine. Here, open it." Harry plopped the present into the Zora's lap. The other boy carefully inspected the small bundle with his fingers and palm. I just barely fit in the cup of both hands. Pulling the bow-tied string, Topa heard the tightly wrapped gift jingle and clink. He held it up and realized there were metallic squares tied on a string. A looped knot was on one end, and a large bead on the other.

"A necklace?"

"Yeah. You said your favorite stone was topaz, that you were sort of named after it. These are topaz," Harry guided the other's fingers along the oval stones sitting in each square. "And the metal is copper. One of my professors charmed it so it wouldn't ever rust or get ruined from fresh or salt water. The cord is dark green and the other stone is a bit of tiger eye I found."

"Harry…" Topa sounded choked. "Thank you, Harry."

"You're welcome. I even got a bunch of different topaz, mostly because I didn't know which one you liked better. My professor said it's a very good stone for amulets. This middle one is blue, kinda like your lighter skin but a bit darker. There a yellow here, this one's kinda clear, this is dark orange and this one's a pink and that's purple. They can bring hope, wealth and happiness and stuff. Um, oh, I even found out it's supposed to be able to calm storming seas, so I figured this was the best –" Harry was tackled to the ground.

"Thank you thank you thank you so so much! Harry! Harry you spoil me!" Topa complained with a wet laugh.

"Topa, don't cry! What's wrong!? Are your eyes hurting? You're bleeding again!"

"Harry I'm fine! Stay here! Now I have to get your present!" Topa laughed as he pulled away and headed to the hole he made earlier.

"Okay, be careful. You know Healer LightScale said the cold water won't be good if you stay under for too long. Oh, and can you ask anyone on patrol if they can come up to watch us?"

"Got it. Stay there." Topa said sternly before touching the stone in the middle of his necklace and sliding swiftly to the hole. Harry smiled to himself as he waited. He knew his friend had to be starving, having been eating a little more to keep up with the cold of the ice and snow. He didn't even get a chance to ask what dinner was brought. Harry then inspected the brown parcel left anonymously.

It kind of felt like a slippery eel was inside or something. It was creepy.

Before he realized it, there was a small bundle dropped on his head. A merman, UnderWave, was grinning at him with his sharp teeth and curled lips. The same as an amused smile to humans. Topa was holding the older merman's hand for guidance.

"You wanted a guard?" He asked before repeating the sentence in a fairly quiet volume of mermish.

"Yes, thank you. I got this earlier today and I have no idea who it's from. I figured it'd be safer to open it with some capable of getting more help if necessary."

"Open mine first!" Topa demanded.

"Okay okay!" Harry laughed. Topa settled next to Harry as opposed to their normal face to face and UnderWave set his trident down as he sat down on Harry's other side. The merman was still very tall when sitting. "Oh, wow!" Harry was surprised to see a thin black cored, woven seaweed that was treated to be stronger than steel but as flexible as yarn, with small blue scales woven into it. In the middle was a deep red stone about as big as Harry's pinky nail. "Topa, are these your own scale?"

"Yeah. They are from around my gills, and the stone is a concentration of my blood." Harry stopped rubbing the red marble, instead holding the cord by the end of one side. He didn't know if he should be amazed, touched, or disgusted out that his gift was made from real blood from his best friend. He tried not to be too grossed out. "With this, you can hold your breath longer and dive deeper than normal without feeling the 'pressure in your ears' my popa says prevents you from moving too deep. It's kind of like our Zora tunics, only not as good."

"Wow." Harry breathed. UnderWave hummed in contemplation.

"A nice gift." He complimented before once again repeating himself in mermish. Both boys tried to repeat it as well. "You said you had a suspicious package. Let me see." He held a hand open. Harry gave it to him. The merman carefully held the paper bundle with his wet hands, handing Harry a small note by the corner after a moment.

"You're father left this in my possession before he died..." Harry started reading before frowning at the letter. "What? Nevermind." Harry had long ago decided that wizards had no sense in anything like personal boundaries, manners and etiquette, and common sense. Hagrid's flute present was a stark contrast to that idea, but Harry was suspicious about the giant man's humanity anyway. He wondered if giants were real...

"In all my time." The merman murmured before holding a cloak out to Harry. Harry took it at the offer, figuring the merman dubbed it completely safe for him. He inspecting the silvery lining with interest. "This, Harry Potter, is an Invisibility Cloak. Put it on." Harry shrugged to himself and did as prompted. He gasped.

"What? What is it?" Topa asked.

"My body disappeared!"

"What!?"

"It is the doing of the invisibility cloak. It makes the wearer invisible, even from death it is rumored." UnderWave said in a tone of awe.

"It feels like water." Harry said as he held his friend's hand and placed a section of the cloak in it. Topa ran his fingers along it to inspect.

"Yeah." He agreed, wishing he could see, at least for this night.

"UnderWave, can the cloak get wet?" Harry asked.

"I suppose it can."

"Topa, I'm letting you wear this if you ever need to hide, okay?"

"What?"

"I'm not going to use this thing. I like sneaking around the old fashion way. I'm used to it. This will get me lazy and probably prone to make mistakes that can get me caught. If there's anything around here that isn't me, I'd like for you to be able to hide. You keep this in the stone shelf, okay?"

"Harry, you give me too much."

"You're my best friend. Okay?" Topa sighed with a smile.

"Fine. This is the last time though." He looked sternly into Harry's direction as his emphases. UnderWave chuckled mutely and Harry tried not to make a sound either at his friend's expression.

"No promises." He said instead, snagging his bag just as Topa opened his mouth to continue. "Look! Christmas Dinner!" Topa's stomach growled on cue.

"Well boys," UnderWave started as Harry laughed and Topa held his stomach with an expression of panic and surprise, "I wish you both a Merry Christmas. Stay safe. I must get back to patrol."

"Thanks UnderWave. Merry Christmas to you too!

"Thank you UnderWave."

X

Topa was napping in the afternoon sun, the snow just barely starting to melt when Harry sighed in content. He had just finished his homework in silence and Topa had been relaxing in the quiet companionship they had. They spent a lot of visits in silence. Topa was told he learned best when he stopped and paid attention to nature.

He learned a lot about his friend even if there was no conversation. Harry hummed when he concentrated on something. It wasn't loud, in fact it was very quiet, but it told him how studious his friend was. The sound of a heavy bag hitting the ground told him there were many subject Harry was learning at once.

His own education was very simple. Navigation was a priority in terms of learning currents and temperature bowls. Communication was another that he was always trying to recall so he didn't forget. After all, Hylian and English may have sounded similar, he noticed that Harry had phrases and words so very unusual. Zorago was kind of like Mermish too, only he could speak it clearly above and below water. It was fascinating.

Hunting, though, was a skill he wasn't sure he'd learn. After graduating from training at Zora Domain, after the ceremony celebration where he wouldn't be able to eat anything during, Topa knew he was supposed to hunt for himself as his final test to adulthood. It should have been only three years from now, but with him being away from Hyrule and blinded too...

Topa rolled to his side to face Harry, who had soon made a inquiring noise. He tested a few clicks, seeing a figure with messy spikes all over the top of his head before speaking.

"How old are you when you are considered an adult?"

"An adult? Well, seventeen I think. Unless I get emancipated."

"Emancipated?"

"It means I plead to the court of law to be allowed to be on my own." Harry said in a soft voice. Topa blinked with his eyes closed. "I used to always look for ways to get away from my relatives. I don't like them too much. Emancipation is a way I found, but I would need to tell them I wanted to be out of their hair and that's just, not a good idea." Topa never liked hearing about Harry's guardians. They didn't seem like good people.

"Oh. What about here in the wizard realm?" Harry hummed and laid onto his back, and Topa couldn't help but click back a couple times. Harry seemed to be holding his arms in the air.

"No idea... Maybe I can ask to be put with a wizard family." Harry pondered. "Well, if I can choose for myself. Everyone seems to treat me like I don't know anything because I'm a kid or they figure they know me so well because they know I'm the Boy-Who-Lived they can make decisions for me." Harry sighed. Topa sighed with him in sympathy.

"Are there any rites of passage for adulthood?"

"I don't know about the wizard world, but in the nonmagic world there would be the acceptance to university or learning to drive a car. It's all, well, expected. There's nothing really interesting unless you get the hardest university or the most expensive car."

"What's a car?" Topa was fascinated with Harry's life. It didn't even seem like Harry had to hunt!

"Just a contraption that is used for transportation. Like a carriage or wagon that doesn't need to be pulled. It'll move from the wheel inside." Topa clicked again, Harry seemed to be laying down again. "What are you doing?"

"What?"

"The clicking. You've started doing it more often."

"Oh, well, when I click fast and high, I can sort of see white shapes. I think I can see you." Topa heard Harry sit up before the human tugged him up as well to sit in their usual position.

"How man fingers am I holding?" Topa cocked his head. "Come on, Topa. Click. How many fingers can you see?" Topa obliged and jerked back when he saw a form in front of his face. "Sorry, I guess that was too close. Try again." He did.

"I see, this many?" Topa realized he didn't really know English numbers, so he held up one finger.

"One. Yes! Topa! Topa you're doing sonar like a submarine! Maybe you don't have to be blind! You can see with sonar!" Topa let Harry have his moment.

"What's a submarine?"

Topa learned a lot from Harry. It was all so very fascinating.

X

Topa heard Harry sigh heavily at the shore. With his clicking able to practiced on now that he had a better idea of what it was happening – though he couldn't picture a dolphin – he had steadily been able to click from above his mouth rather than the back of his throat. Harry said it may be his sinuses he was using, but he couldn't accurately explain what sinuses were for since he said he had them too. Topa quickly climbed out of the water and sat on his sunning stone to dry without dripping on his friend.

"What is it, Harry?" He asked.

"Dragons, Topa." Topa felt his blindfold shift with his expression.

"What?"

"Last night, and sorry again I had to leave so soon," Topa waved a hand at the apology. "I helped get a dragon from Hagrid's hut to the Astronomy Tower. Ron got bit by it but me and Hermione have detention tonight with the git who told on us. But, Topa, it was a baby dragon! I wish you could have touched it!"

"Harry, you're crazy. Dragons are not pets." Topa couldn't imagine how a dragon would be able to be hidden in the castle school, no matter how big the building was. Dragons were huge!

"Oh I know. Norbert was a baby though. Hagrid hatched him a couple days ago, remember?"

"Oh, that Norbert. How did Hagrid get a dragon egg? I though dragon moms were extremely violent." Harry was quiet for a moment.

"Oh, Hagrid..." Topa rolled onto his stomach to sun his back and face Harry as the human mumbled to himself all the complaints he had with the castle. Again. He clicked to try to get an idea of what Harry was doing. He'd noticed it was harder to get a picture when above water. He had to make a different type of click-almost-whistle where underwater it was more a click-squeal.

"What?"

"Hagrid has a tendency to run his mouth. He's a great guy, and I can probably call him my first friend even if he's an adult, but he's not too bright."

"Oh?"

"Yeah..." Harry sighed. "He's let a lot slip to Hermione, but Hermione's very clever anyway so maybe we can't blame him." Topa rolled back into the water.

"Come on, Harry, let's go swim." Topa held a hand out. Harry shuffled around, and the Zora figured he was changing into his swim clothes. There was a splash and a yelp.

"It's still cold!" Harry shivered before Topa felt his friend put a hand in his. "Remember, Topa, I can barely hold my breath for five minutes." They swam swiftly, Topa pulling his friend along the lake surface. After a moment, he spoke up again.

"Healer LightScale said she had some gillyweed for you to try. It's supposed to let you breath underwater for a while depending on how much you eat." Harry tugged his hand free to try swimming on his own some more.

"Eh, it doesn't sound tasty, but I'll try it." Topa smiled and let go before circling him.

"Okay! Let me find a patroller to keep you company and I'll go get it!"

"Do you know where to go?"

"Yes, I can see a little better underwater than above. It's just that I can't see too far. Things confuse me when they're too far."

"Okay. Swim carefully, Topa. I'll float here until that patroller arrives." Harry said as he ducked his head underwater again to get more used to the water temperature.

"I'll be back with it soon." Topa agreed, not wanting his friend to be alone for too long.

"Go get what, children?" A new voice asked. Topa quickly swam closer to Harry, who was swimming a little away from the new merman to put distance between them.

"Healer LightScale was going to give me gillyweed for my friend. Who are you?" He didn't recognize the voice.

"You have no need to fear me, children. I am DarkTip. You must be young Topa, and you... Harry Potter?"

"Yes sir. Pleased to meet you." Harry said back. Topa could hear the caution in his voice and as he grabbed his hand to help steady him, he could feel his tension.

"Hello sir." Topa greeted back to not seem rude.

"Young Topa, I imagine no one has told you about me?"

"No sir." Harry pulled them a little further. The merman chuckled in front of them, closer. Topa didn't dare click in case he got angry.

"Young Topa, I am King of this lake, and have decided to oversee your training personally come summer." The two boys stopped trying to swim away. Topa didn't know whether the other was lying, but Harry seemed to relax.

"So, that's your crown? Sorry sir, er, your majesty?"

"King is fine, unless I can have you call me by my name." The merman sounded amused, but patient. Topa let himself relax too. "I imagine you boys had plans. Let me keep you company, Harry Potter, while young Topa visits the good Healer." Topa carefully let go, risking a few squealing clicks before waving goodbye.

The king was easily twice the size of what he noticed UnderWave to be. As he swam, he supposed that made sense. His own king was easily the largest Zora in their domain. Though, his king was mostly large by girth. King DarkTip was simply taller and obviously stronger than everyone else.

He was only able to relax when he found Harry still safe with the merman king. They seemed to be practicing mermish. Harry still had too much air when he spoke underwater though.

"Ew! What is that!?" Harry asked as he refused to accept the gillyweed. The king chuckled.

"This is gillyweed. We've recently had it imported from waters far away. Healer has been growing more in our garden. Try it, Harry Potter, and you will swim farther and faster than before. At least until the effects wear off." Harry gulped and Topa offered it again. He couldn't see it, but he could admit it felt disgusting.

"How long until it will wear off?"

"The standard bundle like what you have lasts for an hour."

"I have classes in thirty minutes." Harry said as Topa heard a wet squelch. He couldn't help but gag at the sound.

"Then you may eat less than half. It will stay fresh enough to use reliably for another three days."

"Okay..." Topa felt Harry's hand run on his arm so he held his friend's hand again. "Here I go..."

Topa still laughed at Harry's attempts to speak better mermish. It was fun, though, to swim with Harry for the first time so deep underwater. Even if Harry wouldn't stop laughing when he swam into a rock. He liked Tag, but he would have to use sonar a lot more than he normally did to be able to keep track of everything with his speed.

X

"Hermione, it's not Professor Snape." Harry murmured as Hermione and Ron started yelling at each other even though they were saying the same thing.

"Of course it is! Harry, look. When you played Quidditch and your broom started acting up," Which solidified Harry's decision that he liked swimming better than flying. Flying was pretty fun, but it was so solo... "Professor Snape was the one with his wand in his hand and his eyes staring at you without blinking! We all heard him threaten Professor Quirrell earlier this year before we found Fluffy. He singles you out in every class! Harry, Professor Snape is after the stone!"

"Yeah mate! That greasy git is after you and the stone!" Ron added. Harry sighed softly as he wished he took his invisibility cloak from the rock shelf to hide from his stubborn Gryffindor friends.

"Dumbledore isn't in the school, Harry! We have to do something and stop Professor Snape from getting the stone!" Harry gave another sigh, looking out at the warm warm sun and wishing he could be swimming right now before putting his books away. "Thank you Harry!"

'No, no thank you Hermione.' Harry thought. He liked his friends, but he liked silence just a smidgen more. The faster he dealt with this, the faster he could 'go to bed' and head to Topa. The water would probably be a little warmer deeper in the lake because of the warm day today. He hoped so. He was starting to wonder how he never got sick.

"Alright, what do we need if we're going to do something, Hermione? Ron?"

"Wands." Ron answered.

"And?" The two were quiet. 'Maybe I should have accepted Slytherin.' He pondered. "Backup?"

"No! We can do it ourselves!" Ron frowned. Hermione bit her lip.

"I'd like backup, but I don't know who."

"I have an idea. What else?" Harry continued their train of thought.

"In case we get hurt, we should bring a first aid kit." Hermione said determinedly.

"Where are we going to get a first aid kit?" Ron wondered. "Madame Pomphry will be suspicious if we just ask for one."

"She can be back up?"

"No, I got this. Zinny?" The other two looked at him. Then with a soft pop, Zinny the house elf appeared with Hermione yelping in surprise and Ron tripping over himself to get some distance. Zinny lowered her large ears in slight irritation before looking up at Harry and stepping closer.

"Young student sir asked for Zinny?"

"Can I get a small first aid kit anywhere? We're not sure if Madame Ponphry would let us practice without her." Zinny looked at him very closely, eyes lowered in an all knowing and unimpressed way before she disappeared.

"What was that!?" Hermione asked, hiding half behind Ron and half keeping him in place. Ron wasn't amused.

"House elf." Harry said before Zinny returned.

"I espect you tell me the truth, little elf, when you's being done." Harry smiled at her and gave her a hug.

"I will. Promise. Thank you so much Zinny!" Zinny's ears relaxed and she returned the hug in a way that made Harry wonder just how old she was. She made him think she was a grandmother. Or older. She disappeared and Harry slipped the fair sized white box in his bag.

"Harry-?"

"Well, I think we're set. Oh wait, music. How do we get past Fluffy?" Harry asked them, conveniently not bringing up the flute Hagrid carved for him for Christmas. There was no way he was risking that. Especially since he was still keeping it at his secret shore in the rock shelf.

"Oh, I have a music box! I'll be back!" Hermione ran out of the room and left Ron sitting awkwardly with Harry.

"Um, do we know what else?" He asked.

"We'll have our back up work on it." Harry shrugged. After Hermione returned and their small supplies held in his backpack, Harry let them out of the common room and down to the lower levels of Hogwarts.

"Harry?" Hermione asked as they got closer to the potion's classroom.

"Who, exactly, are you planning to get for backup?" Ron asked. They passed the classroom and Harry tried hard not to laugh at their sigh of relief. Then Harry knocked on a door and stepped back and waited.

"Enter." A familiar voice called. Harry ignored the two frantic pulls on his arm – Topa pulled harder – and entered Professor Snape's main office. The man sneered at the three. "And to what do I owe this pleasure?" He asked with obvious distaste.

"Professor Snape, Professor McGonnagal wouldn't listen to us, so I'm asking you."

"Harry!" Hermione hissed.

"Professor Quirrell is going after the stone tonight because Headmaster Dumbledore has been called to a meeting out of the school. I saw Professor Quirrel send an owl out and it was the same owl that handed the Headmaster his letter not even five minutes later." The Potion's Professor watched them in silence as Ron turned a fascinating shade of speckled pale and red, and Hermione simply looked terrified.

"And how long ago did you see the Headmaster leave?" Professor Snape asked in an uninterested tone, his eyes narrowed.

"Professor McGonagal said he left about thirty minutes ago." Snape shot to his feet.

"You idiot boy! Why bring this to another attention after so long!"

"They wanted to go by themselves." Harry gestured to the two behind him with his bag. Snape whirled around them to snatch something from a shelf before gesturing at them sharply with his hand.

"Out of the way. I suppose you thought this was a fun little adventure just waiting to be explored?" Snape sneered as he walked swiftly through the hall. Harry had to trot to keep up.

"Well, not me. I just wanted to go to the lake. But, we do have some things for Fluffy and a basic first aid kit for anything after."

"You know how to get past that beast? How did you even-? Forget it." Snape scowled as he snagged Harry's offered bag and rummaged through it. He held out a strand of gillyweed and stopped short. "POTTER! What do you think you are doing with this?" Harry blinked at the gillyweed before Snape growled in annoyance. "Messing with ingredients without supervision are you? How did you get in my personal stores!?" Harry frowned at the accusation of theft.

He was not a thief, and he did not appreciate being called such.

" Healer LightScale gave it to me. I've got King DarkTip watching over me." Snape let his arms fall, his expression blank. "I'm just learning how to swim from the mermaids, Professor Snape. Honest." Hermione and Ron caught up, panting loudly and wondering why they stopped.

"We are going to have a discussion later, boy." Harry flinched at the last spat word.

"Yes sir." He agreed in haste. Snape narrowed his eyes before continuing as he was before.

X

"Here, Hagrid." Harry pointed. The outcrop just shy of his spot had a rather large rock as if the merpeople had wanted a diving board. Hagrid nodded.

"Shouldn'ta be a problem, 'Arry! You sayin' fishes, berries an' leafy greens?" He asked, peering around the lake.

"Yeah. Seaweed and cabbage are his favorite."

"Ah, made friends 'n the lake have ya?" Hagrid chuckled. "I got me a couple duties aroun' the lake with the Giant Squid an' the merpeople. I can do this no problem!"

"Thanks so much Hagrid." Harry felt relieved. If Hagrid spoke to the merpeople, they could relay whatever Topa needed during the summer if there was anything happening.

"You best be packin' up, 'Arry. The train leaves tomorrow."

"Thanks. I'll try to see you one more time Hagrid." The half-giant lumbered away after nodding at the area again and Harry waited until he was sure no one was watching to head for the Forbidden Forrest entrance he used to prevent people from following him to his secret shore. He quickly took off his cloak and trainers and changed into his swim clothes. He hoped to get the chance to buy real swim clothes soon.

"Harry." Harry had just stepped into the water when UnderWave appeared.

"Hello UnderWave. How are you?"

"Fine myself. Do you have gillyweed?"

"Just this half batch."

"That is fine. Eat it, and I will take you to the city." Worried about why UnderWave was here and Topa hadn't shown, Harry did so. He snagged the gillyweed, not disgusted as much by the thick slimy texture but still not used to the taste, and gulped it down. As he felt the gillyweed work, he slipped the string Topa gave him around his neck and tied it. The gillyweed visual effects disappeared slowly, but were just a little stronger with the string of Zora scales and small marble of blood. Harry wished his feet stayed a little more webbed, but he was grateful for the lack of gills on his neck. It felt weird to breathe from there.

"I'm ready." Harry said as he dove. UnderWave offered the end of his spear to help Harry along. They made it to the main merpeople street soon and Harry felt his worry spike when he was brought to Healer LightScale.

Topa was resting on a bed of netted seaweed.

"Harry." LightScale said before Harry could say anything. She gestured for him to follow her to the other side of her large home. UnderWave patted Harry's floating hair in a comforting gesture before leaving. "We are understanding that you will be gone for the summer starting tomorrow?"

"Yeah. I had Hagrid promise to bring food for Topa while I'm gone. It'll be brought to the diving rock closest to our secret shore." The mermaid hugged him.

"That is good. Topa is uninjured, you do not need such a scared expression." Harry glanced at his friend.

"Then what's wrong?"

"We have discovered what it was that burned his eyesight." Harry blinked.

"That's good, right? We can fix it?" LightScale pet his hair the way the merpeople were wont to do. Harry waited.

"What Topa passed through was a jet stream of heated water, Harry. He has mentioned that his lake runs through the bottom of a volcano, and that means the water heated is not just hot, but scalding. It is unusual to imagine that there was just a small stream of burning water as thin as a seaweed stem, but after inspecting his eyes again, it is exactly what happened. Cuts, foreign bodies, and poison we can heal. Burns are a different matter. Topa is blind, and we do not have the means to heal him, Harry." Harry let the mermaid pet him as he watched his friend.

"Why is he sleeping?"

"He was, greatly disappointed by the discovery. He had been hoping to one day know what you looked like in color." LightScale said softly. Harry could imagine he felt his fiend's disappointment. Now he felt even worse for not being able to stay for the summer. LightScale ran her long webbed fingers through his hair one more time before floating to the entrance. "I will let you stay in peace. Help shall be outside if you need it." Harry floated himself to his friend without another word and gently took his hand.

"It'll be okay, Topa." He said, his other hand raising to brush against the necklace of scales and blood.

"I know." Topa said quietly after a moment. Harry squeezed his hand and felt a little better when the Zora squeezed back. His blindfold was around his neck, and he slowly opened his eyes. They were still dark blue, and unlike the merpeople there were no pupils. Unless the slightly faded shade of blue in the middle of each eyes were his pupils and not just the light scarring of such a serious injury. "I just hoped, I could see you." He admit before clicking. Harry offered a smile, hoping he could tell.

"It'll be okay." He repeated. Topa tried to smile at the more upbeat tone. "We caught Quirrell." Harry offered as a change of topic. He figured the Zora was awake the whole time, so it wouldn't mean anything to repeat Hagrid's food deliveries.

"So it was him?"

"Yeah. Hermione and Ron were trying to get us three to go alone into the room, but I brought them to Professor Snape. He let us follow him but after getting past Fluffy, I had to be the one to fly to these winged keys-"

"You flew!?" Topa looked surprised. Harry laughed.

"Yeah! They made the obstacles really hard, but Professor Snape said someone must have snuck the brooms in earlier because they weren't supposed to be there. There were three of them! So, after I caught the big key to the door, all the other keys chased me! Professor Snape cast a shield spell and it was a lot of help, so we were able to get through the door and there was another obstacle. There was a giant chess set that Professor Snape and Ron both won in five steps. The chess set was made so intruders had to pose as extra pieces and because they were practically stone statues, getting checked meant getting smooshed! It was kind of scary, but we all went through the door. Professor Snape said if we had tried to walk past the chess set, all the pieces would have attacked us until we stepped back on the chess set."

"Wow... What's chess?" Topa asked in the pause. Harry chuckled in slight embarrassment.

"It's a strategy game that is based on battling and war. You win when you 'checkmate' the king piece."

"Ah. We have something like that. It's more a chasing game adults and children play then a step forward and get hit." Harry laughed, making a note to ask how it's played later. He was due to leave tomorrow. "So what was behind the door?"

"It was the troll from Halloween. Professor Snape said that when they found it unconscious in the bathroom that night, they decided to use it as another obstacle. He said Professor Quirrell never did give a good reason why he freaked out that night. Anyway, the troll was kind of dead already, and when Hermione started crying, Professor Snape sent her and Ron back with a silvery doe to get more help. Professor Snape said the light from his wand was a spell called the Patronus. Hermione felt a little better when she touched it."

"A 'patronus' made her feel better?" Topa wondered. Harry reminded himself that his friend was still very new to magic. Topa had mentioned that generally witches and wizards were known to terrorize citizens of Hyrule. The two worst known sorceresses, twin sister witches, were from the desert of the Gerudo. The concept of magic being useful, or even useless – like changing a matchstick to a needle – was still a little difficult for him to understand. The lack or elemental magic was also a hard concept to understand.

"Professor Snape said the light of a Patronus is made through the happy memories a wizard or witch uses to power the spell. The happier the memory, the stronger the spell, and the stronger the spell, the more visible the shape. Everyone has a different shape to their Patronus. He said it's a hard spell though, so he didn't want me trying it out." There was a pause where Topa gave a slow small smile.

"I'm hearing a 'but' with that, Harry." Harry laughed and was happy when Topa smiled a little more.

"There is. I'll get to that. So after the troll was a hallway blocked by a wall of fire. There was a riddle set next to a bunch of vials of different shapes and sizes. Professor Snape inspected the pedestal and told me not to follow him now because the intruder was just behind the fire. He took a vial from his pocket, I think he got it from his office before we all left – and after drinking it, he walked through the flames. Nothing burned him!"

"And he left you!?" Harry smiled at Topa indignant tone.

"Yeah, but, he must have forgotten that I'm a student who is not only very impressionable but with sharp eyes. Quiddich should have told him that."

"Oh, that's right! You do fly for those competitions!" Topa remembered. Being a creature of water and sometimes land, he didn't give much thought to flying. He supposed he shouldn't have been so surprised when Harry mentioned the flying keys. Harry hardly spoke of it anyway.

"Right. And the bottle he took looked kind of like one of the bottles sitting in front of me. I read the poem, and it said that the bottles all had either poison, wine or the potion that would let me go through and back. It was kind of easy. So I took the fire proof potion and the returning bottle and stepped through the fire."

"How strange. Harry, you step through many elements for being human. You swim, you fly, you run, and you've played with fire and there's that touch with light magic!"

"The school's full of magic, Topa." Harry reminded with a smile. Topa sat up and faced his friend.

"That is true." He said. "So, what was behind the fire?"

"Well, Professor Snape was talking with Professor Quirrell. They were arguing about the stone. It was too obvious that Professor Quirrell was trying to get the stone, and Professor Snape was saying that he wasn't following the proper procedure for handling an intruder. Professor Quirrell just started laughing in a creepy way and started accusing Professor Snape of being a two-faced liar. Only, he didn't stutter at all. Then he faced a large mirror and asked Professor Snape if he was going to help him revive his master or not."

"His master?" Harry shrugged.

"They were talking about this really evil wizard named Voldemort. He's the guy who killed my parents and for some reason wanted to kill me. Turns out he was in the back of Professor Quirrell's head, and when Professor Snape wouldn't move any closer, he called to me."

"He knew you were there!?" Topa slid his finned legs off the edge of his bed and reached out to Harry's arms. Harry sighed quietly and let his friend feel for himself that he was okay.

"Yeah. I stepped forward since they all knew now, and Professor Snape looked so angry at me. I think he was a little disappointed and scared too. But I stepped closer to Professor Quirrell and Voldemort had me stand in front of the mirror."

"Give me your legs." Topa demanded. Harry let himself float rather than sit and tried not to squirm so much. He made a note to not worry his friend since all that ever happened was he got tickled.

"I'm fine, Topa." He said just before chuckling from a swipe behind his knee.

"Stop laughing, Harry." He said sternly. Harry laughed harder. "Harry!"

"You're tickling me!" After a few moments, Topa was satisfied Harry wasn't hiding any injuries from him.

"So, he made you look in the mirror? Why a mirror?"

"I asked him that. I asked him, 'what's so special about this mirror'? He said it was the mirror of erised. It showed the viewer's most desired thing. I looked in it, and I told him 'It's a normal mirror. I just see our reflection'." Harry paused a moment, and continued in a lower voice. "Then I saw it all change. Everyone disappeared, it looked like I was underwater, and I could see you standing behind me near the wall."

"What? I've been here the whole time." Topa said. Harry nodded at him.

"Yeah, that's why I looked behind me to see. Everyone was still there, and Voldemort asked in a creepy voice what it was it I saw. He asked if I saw my parents, or his death. I told him I didn't see anyone except a Zora. He told me to try to see the Philosopher's Stone. I looked again. I think I saw my parents that time, you were still there, and there was another reflection of me standing behind my reflection. He was wearing my school robes, and my closer reflection had my swim gear. As the merpeople swam above us all, my school reflection held a finger to his lips and showed me a big red rock before putting it in his pocket. Then there was a weight in my pocket."

"Yours? He put it in your pocket?"

"I guess. So I explain everything else I see to Voldemort and he gets to angry he has Quirrell reach for me. Professor Snape suddenly rushes to stop him and then I hear a strange spell and Professor Snape is clutching his arm before he starts screaming. Then Professor Quirrell grabs me, but when he does he starts screaming too. Ouch." Harry tugged at his hand, which Topa had snagged and was holding tightly. "Topa, I'm okay."

"You're telling a scary story!" Topa argued, clicking in his way to double or triple check Harry's well-being.

"I'm okay! Somehow, where Professor Quirrell was holding me, his skin started burning and blistering until he caught on fire and burned up. When he did, Voldemort came out in the form of a shadow and yelled really loud as he left. He told Snape his treachery will not go unpunished and disappeared. Professor Snape was still screaming in pain and I tried to see what was wrong with his arm. He had a tattoo of a snake on his arm that was biting him and making him bleed black. It was hissing out 'Traitor! Traitor!' and I yelled to it 'Stop it! Stop biting him! Go away!' And Professor Snape got really quiet as he lay on the floor." Harry pried one of his friend's hand onto his other hand so that he could at least move his fingers.

"Did he die?" Topa asked quietly.

"No. The tattoo disappeared and Professor Snape stopped bleeding poison. He still hurt, I could tell as he trembled, but all he did was stare at me. The Headmaster Dumbledore arrived, and I think I passed out on Professor Snape. Topa I'm okay!"

"You said you passed out! You fought the madman who was after your life and got hurt and passed out and I wasn't there! Harry!" Harry suddenly found himself being hugged as Topa cried on him. He was uncomfortably reminded of Hermione when she cried on him too.

"Topa, I'm fine. I woke up in the hospital wing and was told I used a lot of magic. Turns out the tattoo on Professor Snape's arm was a mark of Voldemort as his follower and he had been a spy for the light. It was supposed to be impossible to remove, but when I spoke to it, I used Parselmagic or something. I was told that speaking with snakes was an ability that was known for coming up with Salazar Slytherin's family, one of the founders of Hogwarts who was said to be mean and evil."

"That's strange. If he was mean and evil, why make a school for children?"

"I didn't understand it too well. The professors were very worried and trying to speak in hushed tones. I figured I'd be better staying quiet unless they moved somewhere else to talk. But, with me and Professor Snape stuck in the infirmary for the rest of the night, I asked him instead. Pretty much, he told me not to tell anyone I can speak and understand snakes. He also told me that he owed me for taking the mark off his arm. I asked him to teach me the Patronus." Topa thought back to when Harry was explaining the light spell, and laughed.

"What made you think of asking him to teach you the spell?"

"When Voldemort was that big black cloud, he screamed at me and I was kind of afraid he was going to possess me like he did Professor Quirrell. He didn't, but I think he could have. If I could use that spell, I figured it could help." Harry shrugged. Topa held a hand to his chest and took a breath.

"Harry, being your friend is scary. You need to be careful." He said solemnly. Harry nodded.

"I'll try, but it seems to me that everything just comes to me no matter what I do." He pulled out the red stone that everyone seemed so worried about. He shelved it in an empty spot on LightScales ingredients wall.

"You should learn that shield spell that your professor used to protect you from the keys." Topa suggested. "That would make me feel better about you being without me." Harry sighed, idly noting that it felt strange to blow water through his throat as if it were air.

"Okay. I'll bother Professor Snape before I leave." There was a moment of silence as the boys realized they will soon be separated.

"You will be back, right?" Topa asked.

"Definitely. And when I come back, you can show me what King DarkTip has taught you. I bet you'll be great." Harry said as he rose to the doorway a bit, wanting to swim around now. Topa felt his current from that direction and floated upright.

"And you can go through all the spells you learned, so I can laugh at your strange pronunciation." The boys laughed. Harry tugged his friend outside and fixed his blindfold before they swam away from the stick and seaweed hut.

They didn't like saying goodbye, but the 'I'll be back soon' was still a little teary.

XXX TBC XXX

HK: Wow, thirty-five pages. All because I was trying to find good stories about Zoras and then got in my Harry Potter crossover mood... Yeah, I'm just hoping I do well enough to inspire someone else to write about Zoras and Harry Potter. Reviews make me happy. And ideas are welcome, since I wanted to go through the rest of Harry's years before bringing both boys to Hyrule, but I have less of an idea of what to do other than what adventure they'll have in Hyrule with Link.

Posted:06FEB13

Updated: 15FEB13 – fixed some spelling and solved the mystery of what happened to the philosopher's stone. Harry hid it in LightScales Hut without really telling anyone. Silly boy.