The night marches on. For a certain bride-to-be, and many of her friends and relatives, the night just can't pass slowly enough...
Beneath the surface of Negura Lake, mermen swim among the rocks, and in the open. Some of them are armed with fishing spears. Some of them seem to think the thought amusing, of slaying the Gaunt basilisk, hours before Marcus's wedding...and then serving the basilisk suckling at the wedding feast. For this, the mermen could really benefit from seeing the dinner sequence in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom...
In the caves, some of the mermaids stay home. They, too, don't think Parvati should marry Marcus Gaunt...as often as merfolk and wizardry usually don't get on.
The bad mermaids, of course, are having a bachelorette party. They watch, laugh, drink, and have a good time, while a merman stripper entertains them. Down here, everyone drinks from a flask. Goblets just don't work; not even with merfolk magic...which is a lot less potent than some might think.
In the shallows, just offshore from Ollivander Forest, there's a rock. Waves crash against it. All others flow right past it, and crash against the shore. Beyond, the shadows of Ollivander Forest lurk...
From the deeper shallows, a merman breaches. He does gymnastics in the air, and lands on his back, atop the large rock. He's in rut...and a certain vampire noblewoman can smell it from many, many clicks away...
Running across the water, Countess Viala super-speeds to the top of the boulder. She mounts him, and fucks him. Lying on his back, he moans. Each time, he almost wishes the Countess would sink her fangs into his neck...
"O Tomor," she moans. "O, how I missed you!"
For a merman and a vampire, sex on the beach never felt so good. Alas, if only it were beach sand Tomor was feeling against his back, rather than a bare rock...as vulnerable as he feels, with the lake's waves crashing against his mount, beneath his back...
Up the shore, shadows lurk in Ollivander Forest. From one, a pair of glowing green eyes shine, narrow, and look around.
Greyback wanders out, looks around, and sniffs around. He sees the Countess and merman making out on the rock...and sneezes. As much as he still loves the Count, she can be a pest, at times...
For this, he transforms into a wizard. In both hands, he conjures a goblet. One is silver, jeweled with emeralds, and with a serpent design. The other is bronze, sapphire-jeweled and with a raptor design.
He sighs, before beginning. "This'll be odd...but I think I'm ready. All I need is something to add," he drains the silver goblet, "and something to refine," he drains the bronze one...and nearly chokes on it. "Fucking enchanters make some of the scariest potions," he wheezes.
With that, he vanishes the goblets. For this next part, he's ready.
Fenrir wades into the lake, until he's shoulder-deep in the water. Once there, he swims into the depths. And he dives, leaving many ripples where he does.
He doesn't dive far. While still in the pelagic zone, he relaxes...and allows the potions to do their charm. At last, a new mood comes over him...
He transforms into a new variant of his lycanthropy: a leopard seal. Once transformed, he breaches the surface with his huge snout, and takes a breath. Ah, and boy does that breath feel SO good... He now submerges again, and dives...to where the merfry roam, and the mermen and mermaids play...where too much is heard, and WAY more than a discouraging word, and the sky is so far up, it's like it's not even there.
The mermen see Greyback coming. And they give the monster his space.
He swims among the rocks. The mermen down there see him coming, and flee. The locals seem more than bothered by his presence...
It's bound to happen...and it does. A rank of trident-armed mermen assemble in front of Greyback. Their tridents glow.
Greyback stops, treads water, and bares his fangs. The mermen tread water strong, prepared to attack, if Greyback encourages them...
Alas, a mermaid swims in between them. Behind her, the mermen are compelled to lower their weapons.
The mermaid, who's a ravenhead with a purple flower in her hair, presses her fingers against the side of her head. Via telepathy, she communicates with Greyback. "If you are a lycan," she says, telepathically, "try to signal so, with your thoughts."
Naturally, Greyback can't think very well while transformed...but he tries. "Am lycan," he answers. "Am Greyback. New shape...trying on. Need see...Soma."
"You're...here to see Soma?"
Greyback nods his long large head, baring his leopard seal fangs as he does so.
"Stay here," she says. "I will summon her." She raises her arm, and snaps her fingers.
Nearby, an otter seems to get the message. He playfully swims away, and vanishes into the caves.
At this, Greyback scoffs. Up there, wizardry has owl post; down here, merfolk have otter post...
The trident squad stays where it is, aiming their tridents at the over-armed leopard seal. They both imagine that Greyback can swim in both saltwater and freshwater in his new shape...if the merfolk here even KNOW about saltwater environments... Romania doesn't have much of a coast, in this day and age.
Greyback wonders if those tridents can compare to nuclear weapons, from the Muggle world. He half-wonders how comparable they are to Horcruxes...or dragons...or chimaeras...or basilisks...
At last, the mermaid they call Soma arrives. Her red hair is long and flowing. Her eyes are grey...as is her tail. She wears a black metal torc around her neck...and several matching bracelets around both arms...and a matching navel ring. The torc and navel ring both bear a beryl jewel.
She looks at Greyback, confused. She, like most of Romanian wizardry, is not yet used to Greyback's new makeover.
"Follow me," he tries to tell her, telepathically. He brings himself about, and swims to shore. Confused, she follows. Behind her, the trident guard lowers its guard, and scatters. A few, alas, follow her...just to make sure she's in safe hands.
In the shallows, Greyback becomes a man again. Dragging Soma by the arms, he hauls her to land, cussing as he goes along. Once they're both surrounded by land, he steps back.
Around her neck, the beryl on her torc glows with bright yellow light. As this happens, Soma chants.
Her tail splits, and becomes a pair of legs. And Greyback must confess they are some VERY nice legs, at that...
Like a gentlewolf, Greyback helps her to her feet. They hug one another; it's been too long, after all.
"Missed you," she says, in a thick Romanian accent, "whether I've wanted to or not."
"The feeling's mutual." He backs away from her. "I'm putting a team together. This is your official recruitment."
She arches her brows. "I'm stimulated. What's the occasion."
He crosses his wolfy-furry arms. "How would you react if I told you that I've managed to turn six of the Avengers into packmates?"
She studies him. "The...Avengers?"
"Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Or rather, MUGGLE Earth's Mightiest Heroes."
"Sounds underwhelming."
"Very well. If you must know, their captain can tolerate an infinite amount of pain without breaking. And there's a girl made of machine parts, who can shapeshift and move through walls, like a ghost."
"Are you sure they're Muggles?!"
"Their strong guy is armored, and can fly. They've got a mutant witch who can cast illusion charms that actually change reality. Less notably, they've got a man who can see and fly like a falcon. And their third girl can sting by touching anyone with any part of her body."
"And...you turned all six of these people into wolves?"
He shrugs happily. "It's what I'm made for, right? Anyway, I've already recruited four to my cause; you're the fifth, making this sixth. I just recruited the sixth a few hours ago."
"I see." Soma flaps her hair. "And what advantage would that endow us with?"
In the woods nearby, there's a small tent, with a mystical cloud hovering over it. Inside it, Countess Viala showers, and sings the Oak Ridge Boys' "Lucky Moon..."