Black Isle has and will forever have only one mountain. This mountain is and forever will be hollow as the result of magic. This hollow mountain was the last residence of the giants. Before their master had converted them to his army, the giants fought each other, many of the brawls meaningless, only to bring the giants closer to extinction. After ages of killing each other the giants were forced by growing human population to group together in a single valley known to humans as the Valle D'Aosta, somewhere in the Alps. As the giant race was diminishing to its last dozens, strange magic humans came to the Valle D'Aosta and brought wondrous gifts to the Gurg. The Gurg Karkus was visited by two large magic humans who wished for the giants to join them in fighting against the Dark Lord. Karkus was beheaded before the large humans were able to convince the giants to join them. The giant who beheaded him was Golgomath, the last of the Gurgs. Golgomath ordered that the large humans be disposed of, but they escaped—barely. No more than an hour had gone by since the large humans had fled when normal-sized humans appeared bringing gifts to Golgomath, wishing for the giants to join the Dark Lord in fighting against the weak but vast insult to the Earth.
The remaining giants lazed in the coolness of the large, damp hollow mountain. None spoke to each other as they had an obligation to serve their master's orders and keep inter nos skirmishes for enemy forces. Little did these once-independent creatures know that their master was to visit their cave within minutes, to announce the commencing of the largest battle ever known to magic-kind.
A scrawny human entered the mountain with hurried footsteps. His rat-like footsteps stopped at the point on the cave floor where the sun from the entrance of the hollow mountain ended and darkness began.
The rat-man's appearance brought many thoughts among the giants, obtuse inquiring thoughts, but thoughts nonetheless. The giants did know this human—they knew him as an initial member of the Dark Lord's followers. Such a loyal servant of the Dark Lord would be incapable of thoughts against his lord's wishes. Something was to happen and this the giants clearly knew.
Complete darkness drowned the giant's habitation, the cave was no longer damp and cool but was daunting and freezing. Though it was as dark as a pitch-black cave enclosed by centuries of rocks and dirt the portentous figure stood near his rat-servant, somehow illuminated. His presence in the cave was considerably momentous to the giants lingering there.
"My giants!" his voice resonated through the vast cave-like mountain. The giants were as still and quiet as a doornail, still looking fairly dangerous. "The time has come to avenge those who have made living on this Earth an insult to the worthy ones. As the sun sets tonight we commence the battle. Those who try to stand in our way we kill. Those who have been in our way we kill. And as for the rest…if they do not wish to join us: we kill."
The giants remained silent and silent still as the Dark Lord vanished and his rat-servant with him.
That night a horrifying battle broke out. The giants, Death Eaters, dementors, some goblins, led by their master, the Dark Lord, against members of the Order of the Phoenix, including the infamous Harry Potter and Dumbledore. Most died. The ones who had not been put through the trials of death included only the Dark Lord and a sole servant of his. Two derisory members of the Order vanished, presumably having escaped the horrific fate their associated comrades had.
A fairly tall hooded figure appeared from the cave the giants had last inhabited. The figure walked to the edge of the water and paused. It removed its hood to reveal bushy auburn hair and beautiful hazel eyes. The figure strode to the edge of the water and without hesitation walked straight under the waves.
Her name was Thalia and she was alone.
The merpeople did live mostly in peace they did have much human contact. A witch had been travelling beneath the ocean's surface alone the morning after the great battle had been fought. She wandered to a merman collecting pearls for his daughter's marriage. Thinking the merman would not know her language she headed around him.
"What are you doing here, human girl?" he asked in a humanly voice.
She started at the voice. "Merpeople can't speak human," she said to herself and him. "My mother told me."
The merman smiled warmly and put a few pearls into a small woven pouch he was carrying. "Though that may be true often enough I am no ordinary merman," he said, gesturing for the girl to follow him.
What did it matter to trust a strange merman? the girl thought, knowing that her life was nothing now that all hope for the Dark Lord to be vanquished was lost. She took a leaf of gillyweed out of her pocket and chewed on it. "How so?"
"Long ago, when I was a young fish-man, I was travelling the seas, looking for broken muggle ships. You see," he pointed to a dark shape in the distance. "That is my most recent ship finding. To my clan of merpeople the more ships you find the more holy you are. I do disagree with that," he sighed deeply. "In every part of the world beliefs are tearing people apart and yet it holds people together, as well…"
The girl no longer felt condemned but felt as if a light was shining in the sky, through the dark and vast clouds, a small light, but one nonetheless. "Yes," she said. "What happened on your journey?"
The merman was quiet for a moment then spoke quietly as if he were ashamed. "I was attacked by sharks off the coast of Australia."
The girl looked interested and slightly frightened. "How many?"
"Many different kinds, must have been at least fifty of them." He looked at the girl to see her startled face. Before she could say anything the merman began to speak again. "What," he asked. "Is your name?"
"Thalia," she whispered sadly. "Please continue with your story."
"Very well," he said. "I wound up on the shore of an island where muggles roamed freely. Luckily a wizard was there. He took me somewhere safe from muggle eyes and healed my wounds. I do, though, have a suspicion it was he who saved me from the sharks; they've been known to tear merpeople incapable of defending themselves into pieces small enough for fruit flies."
"I've never liked sharks," Thalia said, wanting to say something. "And who exactly are you?"
"I," he said, "I am Thorvald of the Cretan Sea, husband of Pandora of the Black Sea, father to Euphrosyne, who is of no place but her mother's womb."
Thalia took another piece of gillyweed out of her pocket and began chewing on it. "Why are you collecting pearls?"
"My daughter," he said, "is to be married, and I am collecting pearls for her." Thorvald noticed the pain in Thalia's eyes. "Dear child," he said, "why do you wander in the North Sea? Why are you here alone, and why anguish in your eyes?"
Normally Thalia wouldn't have told, but she needed to tell someone. There wasn't anyone else to tell. She began telling the story, everything she knew, how she felt, and what she planned to do about it.
"I am the daughter of a witch and wizard protecting the Earth from Voldemort," she said. "Last night a battle broke out between his army and the army against his. He—Voldemort—he lived. And so did my parents. And Harry Potter. And Dumbledore." She was crying, her tears flowing with the water surrounding her. "The giants—I was protecting them, making sure they didn't kill one another—they all fought and all died. My aunt and cousin escaped before they were killed like the rest of them. My aunt came to me to tell me everything, and she died, right in front of me she died. And my cousin went to alert the world and died like my aunt, just after finishing his story.
"I'm heading to Norway, where a close friend of my mother lives. He's a quidditch player and very good with the wand. I thought he might know what to do."
Thorvald looked as sad as Thalia. "Would you, perhaps," he said slowly, thinking as he spoke, "like to live with the merpeople? Where you could be safe?"
Thalia was taken aback by these words. "Well—"
"Only for the time being," Thorvald said quickly. "Until a plan could be thought up."
"I was going to say yes, I'd love to live with merpeople—but see, you don't understand," Thalia choked. "The only way Voldemort could be defeated is by Harry Potter killing him. And he's dead. And Dumbledore could easily fend off Voldemort but he's gone as well."
"Dumbledore's really gone?"
Thalia had a lump in her throat. "Yes," she whispered. "Did you know him?"
Thorvald nodded. "He was the wizard who saved me from the sharks. The wizard who taught me many human languages and I taught him Mermish. He was possibly the best human who ever lived."
"He really was," Thalia said. "There's no doubt in my mind."