Harry awoke and looked around to find that only he, Ron, and Neville were still in bed. He quickly got dressed in clothes he wouldn't mind getting wet, slipped a robe on overtop, and walked down to the common room. Few people were inside, as it was Saturday, but Harry was delighted to find that Kelly was among them, reading a book in a corner.

"Harry!" Kelly exclaimed when she saw him. "Let's take a walk."

Several people snickered, and Harry glared daggers to silence them.

Kelly quickly walked outside the common room, pretending she couldn't hear them. Harry followed without a word, and it wasn't until they had come out on the grounds and were nearing the lake did Kelly speak.

"Harry, have you thought of what we might be up against?"

Harry looked at her. "Of course." He'd dreamed about being attacked by merpeople with fish balloons the night before.

"Well, all morning I've been reading Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," Kelly held up the book Harry had seen her reading, "and I've come up with a list of all the water creatures I found."

She handed Harry a list of creatures:

Grindylow

Hippocampus

Kappa

Kelpie

Lobalug

Merpeople

Murtlap

Plimpy

Ramora

Sea Serpent

Kelly went on about the creatures as though she spoke of them every day, which Harry was quite certain she used to with Hermione.

"Well, of course you'll know about Grindylows, but they shouldn't be a problem. A good repelling charm should do. The hippocampus is mostly found in the Mediterranean, so we shouldn't have any problems there. We would have major problems with a Kappa, but they're only found in Japan. We could have difficulties with a Kelpie, though I've never known one to be at Hogwarts. The Lobalug's found at the bottom of the North Sea, so I don't know how the merpeople would get one…."

Harry was about to ask about this one, but Kelly kept on going, determined to get this out.

"The merpeople themselves, of course, will be there, but I'm pretty sure they're friendly…."

Again, Harry was about to interrupt, but she plowed on.

"Murtlap are only found on the coast, but if there are some here, don't step on them if you like your foot where it is…."

Harry didn't see why he even bothered opening his mouth.

"We'll probably see a Plimpy, but they're not really dangerous. The Ramora's only found in the Indian Ocean, but pray we see one, anyway…."

Harry didn't open his mouth this time, though his brain was still reeling with questions.

"…And as for the Sea Serpent, well, it's just scary looking." Kelly said this all in a very quick succession.

"Uh huh…" Harry said, trying to take this all in. "Okay. Well, first--"

"Hey!"

A pair of doors shut, and Ron came bounding out of them. He raced toward them and arrived fairly quickly. "Harry, why didn't you wake me?"

"I wouldn't let him," Kelly said quickly. "I told him he had to come take a walk with me."

"Oh…" Ron said. "Did you come in our dorm?"

"No," Harry said firmly, in case Ron got any ideas.

"Well," Ron said, turning to Harry, "you could have woken me up when you got up, then."

Kelly was about to intervene on his behalf again, but Harry spoke first, not wanting an argument.

"You're right, I'm sorry," Harry admitted. "Now can we please get back to the list?"

"What list?" Ron asked curiously, peeking at the parchment Harry held.

"A list of obstacles we might face," Harry said, looking down the list again.

"More mischief after I just got you out of last night's gillyweed incident?" someone said near them.

"More mischief?" another said. "Excellent!"

Serenity Snape and Uriko Wolf stepped out from behind two trees. Kelly started muttering incoherently to herself.

"More mischief?" Serenity repeated. "My, my, we are a troublesome group, aren't we?"

"I know, and they're Gryffi's," Uriko agreed.

"And what is wrong with being a Gryffindor?" May jumped off a high limb in a tree.

Uriko snorted. "Do you want the short list or the long?"

"Aight, aight, break it up you two," Riles said as she also jumped from a limb in a nearby tree. Kelly stopped murmuring to herself and glared.

"So what mischief have you planned this time?" Vikki said as she leaned back lazily, just reaching one of the trees lower limbs.

"The usual?" Crystal asked, joining her predecessor.

"The usual?" Ron asked, confused.

"Have a holly, jolly Christmas!"

BANG!

"WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT CHRISTMAS SONGS ANY TIME BUT DECEMBER!"

"And any hour of the night," Uriko reminded Vikki, shuddering at a memory.

"And any hour of the night," Vikki agreed.

Yellow writing came shooting down from a tree, in answer to Vikki's question:

Um… let's see… don't try and shove any of Fluffy's heads down the toilet… Seren's Care Bears are not chew toys…

Here, Serenity nodded vigorously. Past experiences seemed to be coming to life.

Avada Kedavra does kill… Do not try and take off Dumbledore's beard… um… Christmas caroling… early or late Christmas caroling… was it "don't"?

"Yes…" Vikki said slowly. "That would be why you cannot speak."

… Can I speak now?

"NO!" Vikki yelled.

"Come on…" Amber protested, climbing down a tree and looking up, where Bunny obviously was. "It's not that bad…."

Vikki turned on her. "I would have thought you, of all people, would be tired of it; you're around her more than any of us!"

"Well…" Amber shifted uncomfortably.

She sings with me.

"You WHAT!" Vikki screamed.

"Calm yourself!" Riles suddenly exclaimed. "I will not tolerate your pointless bickering any longer!"

"So--" Vikki stopped. She saw the glint in Riles' eye. "Whatever…"

"I'm going up to the common room," Kelly said, unable to stand being around Riles anymore.

"Bye," Riles said viciously.

"Bye," Kelly retorted with just as much malice as Riles. She stomped away, slamming the doors to Hogwarts behind her.

"Riles, what's up with you?" Harry asked.

"It's not me, it's her!" Riles said haughtily.

"Well, what's up with her?" Harry said, rephrasing the question to make her happy.

"None of your business!" she snapped and stomped away toward the forest.

"Titchy…" Ron murmured.

"Don't mind them. They're just…" But apparently just what Riles and Kelly were, May couldn't say.

"Hey, can't you tell us what's going on between them?" Ron asked desperately. "I can't stand this much longer."

No one answered, but slowly, one by one, they all looked at May.

"Their secret is their own," May said at last. "It is not for me to tell, but for them in their own time. However, I will let you in on this--the secret can easily be found within Kelly. Within her, the answer lies."

With that, the Secret Students walked away, leaving Harry quite a bit more confused than he had been when he woke up that morning.