Chapter 35: Music for the Merpeople
While Liz searched for books on Merpeople in the Hogwarts Library after school, Claire used the Floo Network to head to Flourish and Blotts while accompanied by Chiara. Madam Villanelle seemed pleased to see them, but when Claire explained the subject-matter she seemed disappointed.
"Sadly, not much is known about the Merpeople," Villanelle sighed. "But I hope you find what you're looking for."
Then as Villanelle went off to attend other customers, Chiara led Claire to the Magical Creatures section of the bookstore. Looking through several books, they learned the Merpeople lived all over the world in various waters with the prettier ones living in warm water. Like the Centaurs, though, they had been offered the 'Magical Being' status but preferred to be labeled as 'Beasts'. Merpeople could also breathe out of the water, but for limited amounts of time.
"Found anything of interest, Chiara?" Claire asked, ignoring the headache she was getting from too much reading.
"Here's a book by Newton Scamander that has one interesting fact," Chiara said, and held the book up before reciting a passage from it. "'Early records indicate that the Merpeople were from ancient Greece, and said to be Sirens.' You know what a Siren is, right, Claire?"
"Yep, I remember Professor Kettleburn did a lecture on them once," Claire recalled. "He said they were 'beautiful Merpeople who used their singing voices to lure unwary sailors into the water,' like in the Muggle sailing legends."
"Right," Chiara smiled, and looked back at the book she was holding. "Scamander also says, 'the Selkies of Scotland and the Merrows of Ireland share a love of music that is common to all Merpeople.'"
"Maybe I should play music to the Merpeople as a peace offering to them." Then an idea came to Claire's head. "Of course! The Weird Sisters!"
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After talking to Alanza about the situation in the Black Lake, Claire was able to arrange a meeting with the Weird Sisters the following evening in Knockturn Alley.
"Olá (Hello), Myron, Orsino, and Kirley," Alanza waved to the three teenage boys that approached her and Claire. "Thanks for meeting us here."
"To be honest, we like hanging out in Knockturn Alley anyway," Myron said.
"Yeah, it fits the vibe of our band well including our choice of clothes," Orsino added. "Would you agree, Kirley?"
In response, Kirley said nothing.
"So I know you guys hope to perform in the Great Hall someday," Alanza began. "But would you consider performing a concert at the Black Lake as a warmup?"
"Hmm, that's not exactly an ideal place for a concert," Myron pointed out. "Why should we perform there?"
"Not only is the Black Lake far away from Filch, who's certainly kept you from performing at Hogwarts on multiple occasions, but it too is dark and mysterious like Knockturn Alley," Alanza said persuasively, though Myron didn't seem convinced.
"There's also Merpeople who live in the lake, and they love music," Claire interjected. "So we thought if you played for them, they might surface to listen to your stuff proving that you guys will be the next big hit in the Wizarding World."
Orsino paused and said, "Those are good points, and expanding our audience to non-human creatures wouldn't hurt either."
"But there is one problem," Myron claimed. "Filch recently took Kirley's eighteen-string guitar. Without it, we can't play our tunes properly."
"If I got Kirley's guitar back, would you agree to play the concert?" Claire offered.
"Yes, but Filch will definitely be on high alert if you pull it off," Myron warned.
"Leave Filch to me," Claire responded confidently. "I know exactly how to handle him."
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The next morning, Claire and Alanza snuck into Filch's Office to find Kirley's guitar. It was stashed away in a corner of the room, resembling a gray electric guitar with three necks instead of one. But before the two could grab the eighteen-string guitar, Filch showed up.
"Care to explain what you two are doing here?" Filch frowned.
"Um, there is a simple explanation," Alanza said, then she noticed Mrs. Norris was rubbing against her leg. "Ah, Mrs. Norris! So good to see you again."
Mrs. Norris purred in response.
"Yes, actually, we…came here to write a song about Mrs. Norris," Claire lied. "We noticed you had an instrument on hand, which we thought about borrowing, and we're wondering if you could tell us some things you like about your cat."
Filch hesitated. "Unlike you lot, Mrs. Norris is wise, incredibly loyal, and I like her color. Now what kind of song did you have in mind?"
"A moving ballad, to show people that they should respect Mrs. Norris," Claire answered. "Call it my way of apologizing for dropping that Blood Pop on her fur."
While Mrs. Norris continued to purr, Filch said, "All right, take that ugly guitar out of here. I never cared much for it, or the student it belonged to. Now you'd better make a good ballad, Krystal, and Mrs. Norris ought to like it."
Then after Filch left the office, Alanza and Claire followed. Once they had Free Period, they made their way down to the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade where they met up with the Weird Sisters with the eighteen-string guitar in hand.
"Here you go, Kirley," Claire said triumphantly, placing the guitar next to Kirley's seat at the booth he, Orsino, and Myron sat at.
"It couldn't have been easy getting the guitar out of Filch's Office," Myron remarked.
"Actually, it was," Alanza mentioned. "Claire just told Filch she was going to write a song about Mrs. Norris, and he basically gave the guitar to us."
"Very clever," Myron chuckled. "You're quite the devious one, Claire."
"We shouldn't be surprised," Orsino pointed out. "After all, Claire's probably fooled many Hogwarts staff in order to get into the Cursed Vaults. Got anything to say, Kirley?"
Once again, Kirley said nothing.
"He's a man of few words, but he's just as sincerely grateful as the rest of us," Orsino said.
"Now we can start planning that concert by the Black Lake," Alanza said excitedly.
To be continued…
