It took some getting used to, waking up with far too many limbs. And she had thought learning to swim properly was difficult.

Te Fiti was nice enough to drop her into a smaller pond of water, which allowed her to sit comfortably while allowing Moana and Maui to be part of the conversation properly.

"Why am I half-octopus?" asked Nimue.

Moana, who was translating for Te Fiti for Maui's sake, spoke up.

"A mermaid princess made a deal with a sea witch to become human to marry a prince, and her father disagreed, rather vehemently at that," said Moana.

Nimue held up a hand.

"Wait, wait, wait...are you telling me the plot to that ridiculous story called 'The Little Mermaid' is real?"

Moana nodded.

"Most of it," she agreed. "Anyway the girl's father was rather angry his sister helped his daughter out, so he kidnapped the sea witch's daughter and placed a rather nasty curse on her so that she would never see her mother again. She got him back by bringing Maui to the sea palace where he had...relations with one of his daughters (a different one mind you)...which resulted in Triton fighting him and the hook being lost. He took her familiars away and the sea witch went into hiding because it was clear their father wouldn't intercede in the matter."

Nimue had a flat look on her face.

"So you're saying that my true form being hidden all this time is because I was a victim of a petty spat between siblings gone horribly wrong?" said Nimue annoyed.

"Pretty much," said Moana, with a look that said 'What can you do?', before continuing. "Either way Te Fiti got involved so the brother lost a good chunk of his powers after what he did to Maui."

"So the fact I found the hook and brought it back..."

"The hook lifted most of Triton's curse on you, because only a divine artifact of similar power levels can break spells placed by a different one. Te Fiti wanted you to sing because the witch was pregnant with you when she took her niece's voice away to power the spell that turned her human. You retained a fragment of the mermaid's singing voice."

That...was incredibly useful. Not to mention awkward.

"So now what? I can't exactly go to Night Raven like this," said Nimue, pointing at the mass of tentacles.

"I'll show you how to shapeshift properly," said Maui. "Least I can do after you returned my hook."

Te Fiti looked to Moana, who had an odd look on her face.

"She said there's something she wants to give you. Something she rescued before Triton could do any more damage."

Nimue blinked, and stared at the almost identical twin moray eels that swam around her happily.

She felt the familiar bond kick in the moment they were near her. She also instinctively knew their names were Flotsam and Jetsam.

"Are these..."

"Your mother's familiars, the ones Triton would have killed had Te Fiti not absconded with them," said Moana. "She's been keeping them safe all this time."

Nimue looked at the maternal face of Te Fiti.

"Thank you," she said sincerely. Te Fiti nodded back.

"She said once your divine powers settle, that you're free to return...and that if you want to join her pantheon instead of your grandfather's she would gladly welcome you, if only so you had some protection from Triton."

"Which pantheon is he part of?" asked Nimue.

"The Greek/Roman one," said Maui.

Nimue's expression said volumes.

"You know what? I'd rather join her pantheon than touch that one with any length of pole," said Nimue. Considering the lack of reading material at Hogwarts and the fact she took Ancient Runes, she had read a large amount of Greek mythology.

She knew damn well that being related to a god wouldn't stop them from trying to sleep with her and that if she ended up knocked up, she would be lucky if they took responsibility.

She would still have to wait until her divine powers settled before she could jump ship to the pantheon Te Fiti was in.


Nimue was rather glad Maui had taken her under his wing, so to speak, as a surrogate little sister. Shapeshifting was hard without a focus, but Te Fiti had assured her that she would get one once her power stabilized enough. Until then she would have to make due with the spell pen she would get once she became an official Night Raven College student.

On the plus side, she wouldn't need the potion that would allow her to maintain her human form as much, since she was more used to that state than she was her mer form.

She had a good chunk of her account converted to the currency used on the island, since the conversion rate meant she'd be saving money by doing so.

It was a good thing she had a special container for her new familiars. They seemed to take inordinate amount of pleasure curling up next to her in her mer form. They would be transported in her new suitcase in the massive aquarium she had set up inside.

She got onto the carriage and blacked out once inside. She had been warned beforehand this would happen by her new Master, so she didn't try to fight it.

Some time later...

The coffin opened, revealing a grand room and a rather impressive mirror that looked ancient.

The mirror looked at her, before saying clearly in a deep voice...

"The form your soul takes is...Octavinelle."

It took her a second to find a spot, and she immediately gravitated to a silverette and a pair of mismatched twins.

"Mind if I sit here?" asked Nimue.

"By all means. You're Professor Crewel's new apprentice, are you not?" said the silverette.

"I am. I'm glad he accepted me... being stuck in that drab castle was driving me spare," said Nimue.

"Oh? What school did you go do before?" asked one of the twins. He had a cultured tone to his voice.

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," she replied, making sure to keep her voice quiet.

"That's a rather prestigious school," commented the silverette.

Nimue couldn't help the derisive snort.

"Maybe at one point it was, but standards have slacked to the point it's more of a joke than a school. The headmaster there is an absolute menace," said Nimue. "Where are my manners... my name is Potter Nimue."

"Ashengrotto Azul, and these are my associates the Leech twins, Floyd and Jade."

They quieted down when they received scathing looks from the prefects.

The first thing Nimue did upon entering her dorm was set up her personal wards to keep unwanted intruders out. The next thing she did, once she was properly established, was get permission from the housewarden to let her familiars swim in the waters around the dorm.

Octavinelle was based around the benevolence of the Sea Witch, and she couldn't help but feel a sense of irony over the fact she ended up in her birth mother's dorm.

She was still coming to terms with the fact that her mother was a octopus mermaid, and that her uncle had cast her out for something she had nothing to do with to spite his sister.

Maybe if she was lucky she'd learn more about her birth mother while attending school.


"Is that her?" whispered one student.

"You see any other students wearing the uniform?" said another.

"I thought girls weren't allowed in NRC?"

Nimue ignored the rumors, which were still more favorable than the crap she had to put up at Hogwarts. Here, the only notoriety she had was being female in a school full of boys. She kept her hair in a tidy ponytail, mostly to keep it out of her face, and wore the same uniform as everyone else.

She had to admit, she loved Night Raven College. The library was much more expansive and while it did have a restricted section, it was less because of 'pure blood bullshit' (as she called it) and more for legitimate reasons...like it was highly dangerous or had done a lot of long term damage people hadn't forgotten about.

Seriously, she had found three books on potions that were considered 'restricted' by the wizards but were publicly available for the students to check out.

Hell, Most Potente Potions was one of the books that Professor Crewel had said she had best master before third year!

She was still slightly abashed by the fact she could have brewed the polyjuice potion as a sample of what she could do and gotten the apprenticeship. She had overdone it with the liquid luck.

Being in Octavinelle was ridiculously comfortable. It felt like home in the best way possible.

Even better, once the school let out for the summer she wouldn't have to return to the Dursley's at all. Crewel had zero issue with her spending the entire summer couch surfing until the school restarted, as he hadn't exactly anticipated having an apprentice and needed a break as well.

He had to put up with teenagers for the majority of the year. He was not about to sacrifice his limited free time dealing with a unknown teenager until he had a better measure of her personality.

They would still have to make appearances together whenever Crewel had to make an appearance as a potion master and alchemist, but otherwise they stayed out of each other's personal lives.

Right now she was heading towards her first PE lesson with Coach Vargas.

She had already tracked him down this morning to ask if they were allowed to bring personal brooms or if they were forced to use the school ones.

The guy was the exact sort of muscle head she would avoid if she had the choice in any other situation. Fortunately he took his job as a teacher seriously, which meant he showed her the same respect he gave the other students and no obvious 'extra attention'.

She was rather glad she was permitted to bring her own broom since she had one. Though after examining the ones the school had in stock, she was pleased to say they weren't the decrepit ones that Hogwarts gave their first years to practice with.

Flight practice...

"Holy...is that a Firebolt?" said one of the other freshman.

"I heard those things were super expensive when they came out, and it's definitely maintained properly!" said another.

"Shesheshe... you must be loaded to have one of those," said one freshman. A beastkin named Ruggie, if she remembered right.

"Actually my godfather gave it to me after he accidentally wrecked my last one," admitted Nimue. "I'm just glad that they maintain the brooms here, unlike my last school."

"Seriously?" said Ruggie.

"Let me put it this way...I heard one of the dorms had a broom go out of control and a student ended up with a broken wrist. The brooms were little more than kindling," said Nimue.

Ruggie looked wide eyed.

"What school did you go to?"

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Cheap and outdated does not begin to cover it," said Nimue.

Seeing everyone's attention, Nimue smiled at them all.

"I'd be more than happy to supply pensieve memories or explain what I can about the school and the classes...for a small price," she informed them.

As they all lined up to get on their brooms, Nimue was shivering with anticipation.

The second it was her turn, she took off. She raced through the basic laps before finishing it off with a classic Wronski Feint.

The only reason she wasn't on the house team was that Cho was an excellent Seeker in her own right and the rest of the house team was pretty good. She didn't mind being on the reserves.

Vargas was highly impressed with her showing. So was someone else who had been napping nearby.

Nimue found it amusing she had caught the attention of the Savanaclaw housewarden, who happened to be a literal prince.

Honestly, Spelldrive did sound like a lot of fun to play, and it wasn't like she could only apply to one club. She was interested in the board game club as well as the pop music club.

She ended up joining all three, and soon found herself befriending the odd hyena. She felt for Ruggie, she really did...it sucked having to scavenge for food because their either isn't enough resources or the people responsible for caring for you were assholes.

He certainly appreciated taste-testing all the new dishes she was learning.