What followed was a very nice time. Harry and Severus ate breakfast with the Nektons, and afterwards they all set off to investigate why the fish wasn't eating the bioluminescent bacteria as they should. Well, all except for Severus. He told Harry to mind Fontaine as she was the eldest, and borrowed a wetsuit and mask from Will. When a curious Harry asked why he didn't just become a merman again, he admitted that Gillyweed was not his favourite thing to chew but he put extra in his wetsuit's pocket anyway because he didn't quite trust Muggle inventions, and made Harry do the same in case he fell overboard.

"Sailors don't fall overboard," Harry told him in a prissy tone.

He was feeling a little miffed at getting a babysitter and being talked to as if he was a child. For weeks the adults onboard the ship had treated him like one of them. He was a proper sailor, wasn't he? He had scrubbed decks and ran chores for everyone like any good cabin boy and Captain Tom had even said if he hadn't been a stowaway he would have been paid.

"Then keep it in case someone pushes you overboard," Severus said. "They might if you keep up that attitude."

Severus went off to the moon pool room—that was what the Nektons called the room with the circular pool Harry and Severus had come in from the previous night—and set off to collect as much goop as he could before the fish started eating again. Harry followed the Nektons to the bridge, trying not to feel as if he had been told to stay out of Severus's way. He would have loved to help collect the goop and wondered if perhaps he should have said.

He didn't get to feel maudlin for too long, for the Nektons realised the whole area was devoid of fish and set off in search of the reason. Deeper and deeper the Aronnax dove. Fontaine, who was only fourteen was at the helm, her mum letting her practise; they sank past the twilight zone into the midnight zone that was as black as its name, and finally they saw a strange sight on the radar. All the fish in the ocean was swimming as if hypnotised around an eerie yellow light. Kaiko set off in a robotic suit to see what was up with that, and then Will went to rescue her when she started speaking in embarrassing baby talk.

"Aww," they heard her over the robotic speakers. "Sooow pwettyy…Whooz a little cutie wootie…"

"Oh, no! That's awful!" Ant clasped his hands over Harry's ears. "Don't listen, Harry!"

Soon Will was doing the same, cooing baby-talk to whatever was luring the fish, and Harry watched in awe as the Nekton siblings smartly sprang to action and figured out how to save their parents.

It was both scary and exciting at the same time. They closed all the windows with steel shutters so that they won't get hypnotised by the light also, and did everything by watching the radar screens. Ant went out in another robotic suit—that he had built himself!—to save their parents, and they soon found out it was an enormous, no, ginormous Anglerfish that had lured them and all the other fish. An angler fish, Harry learned lured its prey with a luminous ball dangling over its monstrous face with its many, many teeth. Jeffrey hid in his little aquarium and refused to come out which was probably for the best.

Harry watched as Fontaine saved the day and dragged her hypnotised family back into the submarine with a mechanical claw while Ant lured the anglerfish back to where it belonged in the deepest depths of the ocean with… a mirror.

"Fascinating," said Severus when they returned the Aronnax to where they had left him and Harry had relayed their adventure.

Severus was treading water, scooping up goop with a glowing net that expanded as it filled. Fish started bobbing up all around him, eating as if they hadn't for days, and Severus tried in vain to shoo them away.

"If I had a net I could help collect the goop before they eat everything," Harry offered helpfully.

It had been a nice adventure but he had been an observer and was starting to feel a bit bored. He wasn't used to doing nothing. By this time Harry would have helped Cook wash the dishes, he'd have scrubbed the deck, and would have been busy sewing on buttons on the sailors' trousers. Sailors always seemed to be losing their buttons and Captain Tom kept a whole chest full of them.

"We'll help too," Ant and Fontaine said. They still had energy to spare. That, or perhaps they would like some mindless fun throwing slime at each other to forget how close they had been to losing their parents.

"Very well," Severus said and he made Ant bring him three buttons which he magicked into nets for each of them.

"Transfigured," Severus corrected Harry. "We don't say 'magicked'."

"Okay."

Ant and Fontaine dove gleefully into the water and started gathering goop, fighting over who would get the most the fastest. Jeffrey was there, swimming happily next to Ant, gobbling food, ignoring Severus's protests.

Harry memorised the new word and waited to see if Severus was going to teach him anything else but when it didn't look like it he jumped in after the siblings. Ant and Fontaine swam as if they had been born in the water and quickly collected large volumes of the shiny, slimy goop. Harry on the other hand learned that swimming didn't come so easy anymore when he didn't have gills, and he spent more time trying to stay afloat than actually scooping up anything. Still, he had immense fun and decided he would learn to swim properly and become the best goop-scooper he could be.

"Bioluminescent bacteria collector," Severus corrected, and Harry thanked him nicely like a polite boy should.

The Aronnax stayed above the waves and Will and Kaiko set up a picnic on the deck, complete with yellow and white striped deckchairs for everyone and umbrellas. This was a job Harry knew to do, as he had often set up a deck chair for Captain Tom on a sunny day, and he hurried to help now. Kaiko praised him for being a good boy and gave him a big, shiny red apple for his trouble. He couldn't swim while eating so he sat cross-legged on the deck and asked a million questions.

He learned that Kaiko was a submarine pilot, a mechanic, and a Marine Biologist, and Will an archeologist, and an Olympic swimmer. It was interesting and gave him food for thought. Up to now, he hadn't thought people could have more than one job and he wondered if he shouldn't broaden his horizons and revise his idea of being only a sailor.

"A sailor is a good job," Will said. "There's no reason why it cannot be enough."

They discussed the pros and cons of being one for a while. Then he went back to the others and practiced his swimming some more.

Will and Kaiko did not help Severus with his collecting, but sat with computers on their laps, writing up scientific papers and detailed reports on their morning's adventure.

"Severus," Harry asked when he was tired of swimming and paused to hang onto Severus's steadying arm. "What is your job?" He imagined something like Kaiko or Will; Severus was always collecting things, wasn't he?

"I'm a teacher."

"You're not!"

Now if you put yourself in the little boy's mind you'll soon realise that Harry was like many other six-year-olds, he still imagined teachers lived where they worked. Perhaps they folded themselves into the drawer with the stationary when the last bell rang. He would have been just as surprised had he seen Miss Jamison, his first-grade teacher in the shops.

Severus watched Harry and saw all of these so did not take offence.

"If you say so," he said, not bothering to correct Harry because he was tired from all the swimming, and did not have the energy to amuse a child when he was supposed to be on holiday from them. Severus got out of the water and draped a large fluffy yellow towel around himself. He went to sit with Will and Kaiko and said he's had about enough of the ocean.

Will said they were close to the coast of Taiwan and would drop them there after lunch.

With any normal family or on any normal ship that would have been that, but these were the Nektons, and they explored the deep. It took them exactly a week to reach Taiwan.

First, they were beset by pirates. Severus and the Nektons found themselves bound on the pirate ship and Harry and Jeffrey were stuck with the pirates on the Aronnax. Ant and Will came up with a plan to lure the pirates back to their own ship, threatening to throw their gold into an underwater volcano. When the pirates left, Harry and Jeffrey became co-captains of the submarine until the Nektons saved them all. (Severus was unable to help, not wanting the pirates who were Muggles to learn he had magic, but he did do stinging hexes whenever a pirate was within reach.)

Then Ant and Fontaine took Harry to search for a Colossal Squid which was very rare. They were all nearly squid dinner but luckily they were saved by a pod of whales. Though that happened only after the Aronnax was attacked by the squid, and a fire broke out in the engine room—Severus fixed that with a spell that shot water out of his wand because the only Muggles around were the Nektons and they already knew—and after that, they nearly ran out of oxygen. They were about to abandon ship but Severus cast bubble-head charms over everyone's heads which helped them breathe and Ant realised it was all a new light bulb's fault and they replaced it with an old faulty one which fixed the oxygen problem. They all had cocoa and cookies after.

Last but not the least, Ant's fishy wetsuit attracted a baby crocodile in an underwater cave system. Sea-life and other animals loved Ant and he thought he might keep the baby as a pet. Baby was a relative term for he was as large as Ant himself, and his mother, when she finally found them, was larger than number 4, Privet Drive. When the crocodile adventure was over and they were all back on the Aronnax—Severus had missed it for he was collecting acid from the Giant Clams in the Aronnax's hold—and drinking cocoa and eating cookies, Harry thought he might like a pet too. He watched Ant feed Jeffrey his flakes and wondered what animal he could get for himself. Probably a cat, there were always cats on ships. He decided to keep an eye out for one.

There were no cats around yet, but meanwhile, Harry thought magic was very cool—when you were actually allowed to use it. For a while imagined himself growing up to be a wizard. Wizards did do interesting stuff too, look at Severus going all over the world meeting people and collecting stuff for potions—he had been quite ecstatic over the squid ink. That was how Severus had met the Nektons too the previous year when he had been shipwrecked in a storm much like this time.

Harry imagined a future in which he was wealthy beyond compare, living off his riches in a mansion, far away from the Dursleys. He scrapped that idea when he learned Severus was collecting for the school because their budget was lower than the Mariana Trench and not to line his own pockets. And then he learned he would only get a wand once he was eleven and then he would have to go to school for years. Being a sailor needed no school if you wanted to stay a cabin boy and you could start as a cabin boy even at six.

Along the way, Severus transfigured new glasses for Harry out of more buttons so he could stop walking into things. Harry learned that Severus snored like a lion when he slept but did not mind. One couldn't help the nose one was born with. No one needed Harry to scrub the decks but he did it anyway when there was an opportunity to do so, and did his best to be helpful. And there were always cookies and cocoa ready and basins filled with hot water to rest their feet in whenever the adventures became too much. Severus insisted.

Taiwan finally appeared on the horizon, and Harry realised he would soon be reunited with the Dursleys. Desperate for that not to happen, he thought he might stay behind and become a cabin boy for the Aronnax instead. He asked them over their last lunch.

Severus said no.

"I vote for," Ant said. "It's boring with just Fontaine."

"I vote for," Fontaine said. "If Harry will keep Ant out of my hair then I don't mind."

"I'm fine with it," Will said. "The more the merrier."

"What about your guardians?" Kaiko asked because someone had to be sensible and it seemed it was her turn today.

"They don't want me."

"I'd prefer to have their consent," Kaiko said with a kind smile. "I have no problem hiring a cabin boy who comes with his guardian's consent."

That still made it three to two, Harry thought, doing the math.

"The math doesn't apply. I am taking you home," Severus said. "You will not be staying here. Kindly don't make a fuss."

Harry didn't make a fuss. Sometimes you had to do what adults wanted you to. Or let them think you did. He would let Severus take him home and then get Aunt Petunia to write a letter to Kaiko, asking if he can stay. No matter how hard he thought of it he couldn't imagine his aunt not doing it.

They were dropped off at Taitung Fugang Harbour. Harry was back in his own clothes, the red and white sailor shirt and shorts, but Fontaine had let him keep the wetsuit and it was safely stowed in Severus's trunk. Severus was also back in his black attire and unlike Harry, he did not keep his borrowed wetsuit but resized it magically to fit Will again.

The Nektons hugged Harry one by one and said how happy they were to have met him. Then they did the same to Severus—who looked extremely awkward—and told him to visit more often and not wait until he was shipwrecked. Jeffrey, carried by Ant in a backpack filled with water, waved and blew bubbles at them.

Harry shed some manly tears and said he'd miss them all. If he had his way he would see them soon again but he didn't say that.

"Let's go," Severus said and he held Harry's hand tightly when he saw all the fishing boats and noticed the yearning in the boy's green eyes.

They stopped at the Harbour Master's office where Severus held a whispered conversation with a corpulent man who never stopped smiling for one moment. He pressed a pineapple cake in Harry's hand when they left. It was a sweet shortbread square with pineapple paste inside and Harry liked it quite a bit and licked his fingers when it was done.

"How are we going to get home from here?" Harry asked curious as they walked along the port. He had been learning his maps with Captain Tom and knew Taiwan was quite a distance from Little Whinging, Surrey.

"We'll take a Portkey."

"Not a ship?"

"No."

Harry wracked his brain but could not for the life of him remember if he had ever heard of or seen a Portkey. "A train then?"

"A train will be of no use, we are on an island."

All right, he had forgotten the island bit. Maybe Portkey was the name of the airplane. It was going to be his next guess but he happened to look up at Severus's face and sensibly asked instead: "What's a Portkey?"

"It's an object enchanted to take us instantly to a destination of our choice," Severus said, sounding like a dictionary.

Magic. He skipped next to Severus and tried not to be disappointed that it wasn't a plane. He'd never been on one. Not even Dudley had been on one.

They passed a few fishing boats, Severus keeping a tight grip on Harry's hand in case he decided to become a stowaway again, and stopped at one with a blue roof. Severus stuck his head into the boat's window and held another whispered conversation with a young girl inside. Money was exchanged and he received a yellow sock and a crushed soda can with instructions to, "Please recycle!"

Next, they entered a long building with a low, flat roof, and Severus walked at a steady clip past several food stalls, not giving Harry time to look at any of them. He smelled peanuts and meat and warm bread and out of the corner of his eye saw black eggs! Never mind, he had a good lunch, he wasn't hungry, just curious. Harry channelled Pollyanna and decided it was a good thing they were walking so fast. Perhaps if they stopped the people would think they wanted to buy something and be disappointed when they only looked. "Have you been here before?" he asked Severus.

"No."

"So how do you know where to go?"

Severus pointed to the sign for bathrooms that seemed to be the same all over the world and swept Harry inside the one for men.

"I don't need to go."

He had gone on the Aronnax before they left, encouraged by Kaiko just like his aunt always did with Dudley.

"We only need a private place," Severus said with a sigh. The children in his school were much older and he had forgotten how nosy six-year-olds could be. And how quickly they became boring. The stalls were empty and he held out the crushed soda can out to Harry. "Hold on tight and you'll be fine."

When he was sure Harry had a good grip he waved his wand over their hands.

They disappeared.

And reappeared.

In between disappearing and reappearing there was a lot of stretching and squeezing and Harry closed his eyes imagining they would pop out if he didn't. When all of that stopped he opened them and found himself inside a small rural village next to a narrow ditch made of cobblestone in which water flowed merrily. Beyond the houses, he could see green fields and hills.

"This isn't home."

"No, it's Donghe Township. We will gather some Water Running Upward," Severus said. "It would be a waste passing through and not do that."

It made absolutely no sense until Harry noticed the small stream was indeed running up the hill and not down. Severus did not hold his hand because there were no ships he could run away to. They passed a few women who wore conical hats and they all smiled and said 'Hello' to each other, and Severus let him jog up the stream until they came to a private, shady spot. There he enlarged his trunk and took out a couple of glass vials with cork toppers. Together they crouched next to the stream that ran uphill and Harry helped him fill them.

"Is it magic?" Harry asked because he knew water wasn't supposed to run up the hill. Sailors knew a lot about all sorts of water.

"It's an illusion."

"Oh. Then why is the water special?" He stoppered up the vial and took an empty one.

"Even illusions have power over the mind. Potions made with Water Running Uphill will be more potent than those with water running downhill or regular tap water," Severus said.

In the last week, Harry had learned that Severus—like surprisingly many of the teachers he knew—didn't have much patience for children and it usually took some pestering to get him talking. But like always, once he had started he turned it into a lecture that Harry was happy to listen to. He did not understand the whole of it but it was interesting all the same. They gathered water and then put it all back into his trunk. Then Severus shrank it. He put the trunk back in his pocket and held out the yellow sock.

"Time to go home."