"Headmaster," Snape said curtly when he spotted the other wizard waiting for him through the Hogwarts gates.

"Ah, Severus," Dumbledore exclaimed brightly. "I was beginning to wonder where you were."

"Yes, of course you were," the Potions Master murmured as he stalked past the aged old man and through the Hogwarts wards, a wide-eyed Potter and two eels swimming in a levitating bubble behind him.

"Ah, Severus? Just what are you doing?"

Looking off to his side in his peripheral vision, Severus could see Albus side-eyeing the little Potter and his eels as the old wizard lengthened his strides in an attempt to catch up to the tall Potions Master.

"Headmaster, meet Potter," Severus gestured to the bubble, not breaking his stride. "He has been living in the ocean for the last four years. The eels are his only friends. He barely speaks English and finds it hard to breathe above water." The Potions Master sighed as he finally made it to the edges of the enormous Black Lake, which was luckily not far from the entrance. Lowering the changed boy and his eels into the water with a quick warming charm on all three of them, Severus turned to look at the stunned old man. "He's also your problem now," he added.

Walking away, the lanky man threw a "Goodbye, Mr. Potter," over his shoulder before focusing on funneling his magic into his legs. It would be a bit of a walk up to the hospital wing for Poppy's tender care, and his legs would never get him there on their own.

-

Dumbledore watched as his surly Potions Master stomped away in dismay, before turning to the supposed child of James and Lily Potter who was staring up at him with wide green orbs.

"Hello there," the Headmaster offered quietly, disconcerted by the odd child staring up at him. Albus thought briefly on how Severus should have had the decency to at least let him adjust to this abrupt change of events before leaving him alone with the child, but he changed his train of thought quickly. He needed to figure out how to deal with 'his problem', as his Potions Master had so eloquently stated.

"Hello!"

Dumbledore abruptly returned his penetrating gaze onto the smiling child. The old wizard quickly saw the familiar, discolored lightning-shaped skin on the child's forehead, and realized that Severus had indeed been right. There was no possible way this was not Harry Potter for the scar was identical. The Headmaster also absently noticed the sharp teeth the child had as he opened his mouth again.

"I'm Freak." The Potter child pointed at himself, before his face crumpled as he looked around. "Where did man go?"

Albus' lips quirked at the child's speech before he frowned. Harry believe his name was Freak. That was not a good sign. How had the child remained unaware of his name for so long? Better yet, how had he even become what he is now?

"That man was Professor Severus Snape. He went into the school behind you," Dumbledore replied, pointing at the glittering Hogwarts castle.

Harry turned around and his eyes widened in awe as he hissed, long and low. "Wow... it's so big and beautiful."

The Headmaster frowned in confusion when he heard the Potter heir hissing. Then his eyes widened in shock and despair. The eels- it was obvious Harry could speak Parseltongue, and they were brought along because they were his friends. Otherwise Snape would have never brought the two random saltwater animals. The boy already looked different, speaking to snakes would not endear him to anyone.

"Freak is not your name, my boy," Dumbledore stated firmly, before he tried to explain. "Your parents' names were Lily and James Potter. They named you Harry Potter."

"Lily?" Freak repeated quietly to himself. He had heard his Aunt say that name before. His mother was named Lily. But then why did his relatives call him Freak? And why did his mother call him Hairy? He didn't have any hair anymore, did that mean he couldn't go by his real name?

"I don't have hair. I can't be Hairy?" Hairy questioned the old man. It was getting easier to talk, especially the more he heard the man say. Should he be named Speaky instead?

Dumbledore looked over the child with a chuckle. He indeed did not have any hair. "It is not a description, my boy. You can be Harry without having any hair."

The Potter heir let out a sound of understanding before he went below the surface for a moment and came back up. "I'm Harry. Why you sssay 'my boy'?"

Dumbledore smile widened even as he finally began to realize just how limited the boy's understanding of English was. That would most definitely need to be fixed soon.

"It is a term of endearment," the Headmaster explained. "I use it when talking to people that I like and appreciate. It's somewhat similar calling someone your friend," he continued.

Harry let out a small sound of understanding, his green orbs widening in interest.

The headmaster watched in interest as those strange eyes narrowed a moment later as a yawn caused the child's face to scrunch up with his jaw open wide, showing off his sharp teeth.

Harry rubbed at his eyes with a black-colored hand before Dumbledore chuckled, returning the Potter's attention to himself. "If you could wait here for a little while longer, Harry, I'm sure I can find a place for you to sleep. I believe I must talk with someone first however."

The changed child nodded as he stifled another yawn. Harry felt really tired. The sun was just rising in the sky, but before he had come to this wonderful place, it had been setting. Harry didn't really understand that, but the sun had always worked mysteriously. The Potter would normally have settled down in a cave with Snap and Snoop by now, his internal clock was telling him.

Harry focused on keeping himself awake as he blearily watched the white-haired man stick his head under the water and screech. Sinking below the surface himself, the child felt a spike of energy as an interesting creature suddenly appeared around a bunch of seaweed and began swimming up towards them. It looked like a cross between a human and a fish, much like himself. Harry smiled widely at the being's gaze, only to frown when the being started singing to the old man.

"What is that human doing?" Snoop asked as he wrapped himself around Hairy's arm. His golden head was pointed towards the odd pair in front of them curiously.

"I think they're singing," Hairy hissed quietly back, his eyes not straying from the irritated face of the creature. The sounds were beautiful, though he couldn't understand any of the words.

Snap flicked his tail at Harry as he swam to his other side. "No, foolish human. They are talking. Mermish sounds like singing to those who can't speak it."

"Mermish?" Harry hissed back excitedly. "Like mermaids?!" Harry could feel himself brightening at the excitement he felt. These were real mermaids! He had seen beings that looked half-human, half-fish before, but they were never the actual thing.

Harry giggled in delight as the mermaid turned to look at him with a sharp smile on her face. The being waved her webbed fingers at Harry, and Harry enthusiastically waved his own back.

First he saw that huge castle, and now he gets to meet a real mer! Harry would have the thank man that brought him here once he saw him again.

-

"~Albus, what is it you need?~" The Merchieftainess asked in her native tongue. It wasn't common for the Hogwarts Headmaster to ask to meet her, but whenever he did, he was always courteous and spoke Mermish.

"~I am sorry to request your presence so early in the morning, Merchieftainess, but I am in need of your assistance. It has been brought to my attention that one of my younger students has gone through some startling changes and now prefers to remain in the water. Until we can find a way to reverse the situation, would he be allowed to live in your domain?~" The old wizard requested politely, gesturing to where the Potter heir had drifted off to, a little ways away from where they both were.

Murcus was surprised by the request, and then even more so when she caught sight of a thin luminescent figure. The changed student held quite a few deep-sea salt water fish traits, but it was obvious they were human if only in the way the child smiled at her with bright, shining orbs.

The Merchieftainess offered a smile of her own before she waved to the child, who waved back in excited glee. They did not appear to be malicious or troublesome. The mermaid believed it would be quite easy to host this child.

Murcus turned back to Dumbledore as she asked, "~What caused such a transformation? The school year has not started yet, has it?~"

"~No~," the Headmaster confirmed. "~The school opens again in roughly a month. Harry here has apparently been living in the ocean for the past four years. I have yet to figure out just what caused this situation myself.~"

"~I see~," the mermaid replied, her decision already made. "~Do let me know what you find out. I would be most interested. However, does he understand Mermish? I would prefer to not have to swim to the surface every time he wished to speak if he were to remain with us.~"

Albus chuckled as he motioned for the child to come closer. Murcus watched the child with hidden mirth as he swam forward eagerly, the smile on his face shining brightly. In his excitement, the child seemed to be unconsciously giving off a glow similar to the anglerfish her tribe's Elder Selkie sometimes spoke of. Perhaps the child had seen such life if he truly had lived in the saltwater depths for so long.

It was as the old wizard pointed his wand at Harry that the Merchieftainess spotted the two small eels wrapped around his arms. Her clawed fingers twitched to grab them, and Murcus was reminded of why she was irritated to have been called by Albus so early. She had been on her morning hunt when she heard him call her name.

However, the eels appeared to be the child's pets, so the mermaid refrained from snatching them. She made a mental note to tell her people that they were off-limits. It would not do for one of her own to eat the friends of this child by accident. Pets were a respected object in her culture that none dared injure, and to hurt a child, physically or emotionally, was even more damnable. If only the wizards held their young in the same regards, Murcus thought angrily, thinking on the many children who had been hurt in the wizards' last war.

As a red light flashed and sunk into Harry's dark skin, the Merchieftainess was pulled out of her thoughts.

"~Can you understand me, my boy?~" Albus asked the child, and Murcus chuckled when he nodded erratically.

"~Hello little one, I am Merchieftainess Murcus, the leader of the selkie colony that lives within this lake. What is your name?~"

"~My name's Harry! But wait, if you're part of a selkie colony, does that mean you're not a mermaid, Miss Merchieftainess?~" The child asked, his bioluminescence dimming in a reflection of his emotions.

Murcus chuckled as she reached forwards to pat the adorable child on his head. The Merchieftainess noticed that he tensed slightly under her touch, but she dismissed that observation for now.

"~Well, you see, little one, I am a mermaid, as well as a selkie~," the mermaid replied. Seeing the child frown in confusion, Murcus continued, "~Just as humans can be a Scotsman or an Englishman, mermaids can be selkies, merrows, or siren. Does that make more sense, little one?~"

The child's mouth dropped opened lightly in surprise as he nodded, before his mouth opened wider in a yawn, his gills flapping open and shut to push the water he inhaled back out of his body. "~That's really cool, Miss Merchieftainess. I've always wanted to meet a real mermaid~," the child confessed, a tired smile lighting up his face.

Murcus shot a look at Albus before she swam closer to Harry and put an arm around his shoulders, starting to gently guide him towards the location of her home. Her morning hunt could wait a little while longer.

"~I am sure you have, little one~," the mermaid agreed, "~But it seems that the trip here must have been a long one, and you are tired. Let us get you to bed so that when you meet the rest of my people, you are awake enough to enjoy it.~"

"~That- sounds like a good idea, Miss~," the child yawned, relaxing farther into Murcus' grip as her warmth seeped into his body.

The rest of the swim to the mermaid's home went quickly, and Harry wouldn't remember any of it when he eventually woke up the next morning.