Chapter 37: Treasures to Find
Swimming deeper into the Black Lake, Claire and the two Merwomen approached more underwater ruins with purple bioluminescent plants growing on the lake floor and a statue of a Merperson holding a trident in its hand. As Claire touched upon a stone-covered plateau with her iron-heeled boots, the two Merwoman pointed down at the floor.
"You want me to wait here?" Claire guessed, her voice muffled by the bubble around her mouth.
The Merwoman with the yellow-green fish tail nodded.
"Okay, then, I'll wait," Claire agreed.
After the Merwoman with the yellow-green fish tail and her similar-looking partner swam off, Claire's eyes fell on the distant ruins beyond the plateau she stood on.
"Is this some kind of ancient city?" Claire wondered out loud.
A few minutes later, the Merwoman with the yellow-green fish tail swam in front of Claire causing her to follow the Merwoman's movement. Behind Claire several other Merpersons swam toward her with green and yellow-colored fish tails. In front of them was a blue Merwoman wearing a crown made of silver-colored coral.
"I assume this one's your Queen," Claire guessed, speaking to the Merwoman with the yellow-green fish tail.
"Kye kyee!" Responded the Merwoman with the yellow-green fish tail, waving her webbed hand at the blue Merwoman.
Claire took this as a queue to address the blue Merwoman, so she bowed. "Your Royal Highness, I am Claire Krystal of Hogwarts. It is an honor to be in your presence."
Smiling, the blue Merwoman lowered her trident causing the other Merpersons to do the same.
"May I speak of the issue that I have journeyed to your kingdom for?" Claire asked.
"Kya!" Replied the Merqueen.
"I'll take that as a 'yes,'" Claire interpreted. "Well, I'm looking for a Cursed Vault that I believe is hidden in the Black Lake. I was hoping you could help me find it before an evil Dark Witch gets to it first. And if there's anything you want me to do to get your help, I'll gladly do it."
The Merqueen nodded to one of the other Merpersons, and they brought over a stone slab that had three items on it: a lyre, a necklace, and a comb. Next, the Merqueen waved Claire over to the slab.
"You want me to take a look at the items?" When the Merqueen nodded, Claire did just that.
Claire immediately noticed the lyre's strings were frayed to the point of almost breaking, the necklace had empty sockets where jewels would've been nestled, and the comb's teeth were chipped.
"Well, it's clear to me that you value these items, though they've obviously seen better days," Claire observed out loud. "If I can bring you new versions of the items, will you lead me to the Cursed Vault?"
"Kyee!" The Merqueen smiled.
"Then that's exactly what I'll do," Claire agreed.
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By the time Claire resurfaced at the Boathouse, the Weird Sisters concert was already over leaving the Lakeshore just as quiet as it was before. As the moon rose over the Black Lake, Claire realized Astronomy Class was tonight. So she sneaked back to the Ravenclaw Dormitory, changed out of the kelp-green gown and into a plain school robe, then she climbed up to the Astronomy Tower where Professor Sinistra was beginning her lecture.
"Sunspots can help us predict space weather, even though the sun's not out at night," Sinistra said while Claire scooted between Ben and Merula, much to the latter's annoyance. "Therefore, if we look at the spots on other stars we may be able to determine the weather around them."
Suddenly, Alanza raised her hand. "What about auroras? Are they a form of space weather?"
"Yes, they are, Miss Alves," Sinistra nodded. "Auroras are often the result of geomagnetic storms, and often occur at lower latitudes. Now while auroras are relatively harmless, solar winds can be dangerous and they affect the earth's magnetosphere constantly. Sunspots, on the other hand, are the result of increased solar activity."
"Is that bad?" Barnaby asked.
"Not exactly, though sunspots do lead to solar flares and winds being ejected into space which do reach Earth," Sinistra answered.
"Then space weather is like Dueling," Diego pointed out. "You have to work with it rather than against it."
"I suppose that works as a metaphor," Sinistra said after a pause. "Now, let's look at some starspots through your sextant instruments."
Merula groaned as she picked up a gold triangular device with a small telescope attached to it that was identical to the ones used by the other classmates. "I swear, these sextants will be the death of me."
"You'll get the hang of using it, Miss Snyde," Sinistra smiled. "I promise."
Standing on the balcony, everyone including Claire and Merula looked through the night sky with their sextants making several calculations in their heads using arithmetic. Next, they wrote down their findings in their notebooks. Afterwards, they had to make adjustments to the star charts they were making which had to be complete by the end of the year. The next day, Claire went to her Transfiguration Class looking tired. Professor McGonagall seemed to notice this, but she didn't say anything as she removed a glass cover over a tray of pink fairy cakes decorated with icing shaped like butterfly wings. Seeing this, the students looked hungrily at the tray.
"I know these fairy cakes look delicious, but they are not for eating," McGonagall said, causing the class to groan. "Now, can one of you tell me how Fairies communicate?"
"They buzz, I think," Tulip said.
"Very good, Miss Karasu," McGonagall nodded approvingly. "The reason I bring this up is because today, we are going to transfigure fairy cakes into Fairies. Now this is a somewhat difficult Transfiguration Spell to pull off, so take as much time as you need to cast it properly."
Even though Claire was physically and mentally exhausted from all the swimming she did the other night, she was still able to cast the spell on the first try. Thus, the pink fairy cake that was on her desk was now a pink-skinned Fairy who hovered in the air looking very confused.
To be continued…
