Suprise of the day - I don't own Harry Potter, Lego or Spam. I'm not rich. Please don't bother suing.
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Chapter 29
Splish-Splash
Hermione stood at the edge of the lake watching the squid lazily floating in the sun. The old oak tree by the lake was between the castle and herself, hopefully blocking her from view, and Dobby was in the castle making sure Professor Dumbledore was kept busy for the next half an hour or so. She had said her good byes to Harry and their friends. There was no telling how long this would take.
She swiftly charmed her wand and arm holster to not disappear like her clothing when she transfigured. With a quick backwards glance at the castle, she changed into a mermaid and sunk into the water, breathing in great gulps of liquid. As a child she would fantasize about being a mermaid, wondering how you could breathe in water without panicking. Well, now she knew – it simply felt right in this form.
She swam near the surface for a bit, enjoying the warmth of the water on her back and stretching her fins and tail, getting use to the new muscles. She swam near the squid which ducked under the surface of the lake and came close, looking her over with amazement.
"I don't recognize you. Are you new here?" The squid spoke telepathically. Hermione pondered to her self that it was amazing how so many creatures did not need to speak audibly in the magical world.
"Sort of" she answered back, smiling. "I'm a student at Hogwarts. I just learned I was part mermaid."
"I haven't seen one like you in years. And you are a founder's heir! My my." the squid answered back. "What brings you to the lake?"
Hermione was enjoying herself. She had never wondered about the squid before – for some inexplicable reason she merely accepted there was a giant fresh-water squid living in the lake. She never even wondered if it was intelligent, or how many there were. There were no squid in the lake during the time she spent with the founders. She decided there was no reason not to be honest with the huge cephapod.
"The war on land brings me here. I wish to find out if the forces of dark have been in touch with the merpeople, and what the relationship is between merfolk and wizard."
The squid waved it's tentacles around in lazy enjoyment. "It's been so long since I've spoken with anyone outside of the Merfolk School. Can we chat a bit? They don't seem to teach telepathy at Hogwarts anymore." The squid sounded sincerely sad and lonely.
"Why sure. My name is Hermione. What's yours?" Hermione did wonder for a moment if this was a dangerous thing to do – give her name to someone she didn't know. A big someone that could eat her, in all actuality. But she figured the chances of Riddle actually caring about the giant squid or the merpeople, were slim.
"The headmaster named me Marvin. He brought me to the lake many, many years ago when he was just a fingerling. But he doesn't really talk with me, sort of 'at' me, if that makes sense."
"Well, yes, Marvin it does." Hermione answered the squid sadly "Headmaster Dumbledore doesn't speak telepathically. He probably doesn't realize you are intelligent. Why did he bring you here and from where?"
The squid perked up at the promise of a long conversation. "You know, Hermione, I agree – I don't think he does. How sad. When headmaster was young, he brought a whole tank of us to school from a local fish market. I don't remember a lot of my youth – we were small squid from the sea, and quite sickly by the time we came to Hogwarts. I remember how horrible the water was in that small clear box, and many of my companions died. Young headmaster changed us to fresh water creatures through magic. Sadly, I was the only one to survive. Perhaps I was the strongest, or it was just meant to be."
Hermione felt a bit sick as she shared the image of a small aquarium of cloudy water and panicking squids with Marvin. Were all fish and creatures sentient? Did she have to give up fish and chips and become a vegetarian?
"Anyway, one night he brought me down to the lake, enlarged me to this size, and let me go. He commanded me not to hurt the merpeople or the students, and to guard the lake from dark intruders. I have been doing that ever since. I also keep the carp population in check" and the squid distinctly giggled in her brain.
"You are all alone, poor friend?" Hermione asked with pity.
"Friend. Are we friends, Hermione of the land and lake?" Marvin asked her hopefully. "I love the merfolk, but they do not spend much time with me. I would like a friend. Perhaps that is what keeps beings alive – friendship."
Marvin was certainly a philosopher, Hermione mused. "I would be honored to be your friend, Marvin." She swam up and stroked the tentacle he stretched out toward her. "And when the school year starts, I have three friends, founders' heirs too, who can talk with you also. They will be thrilled to meet you. Did you know the house elves can talk with you too?"
"I do listen in on elf chat a lot when I'm bored, but I don't bother to speak with them any more. Elves are too busy to take time with a squid." Marvin said sorrowfully. "Wait – all four of the founders are back? The merfolk will want to talk with you! Is Albus Dumbledore retiring?"
Hermione looked in the giant eye of the squid that was facing her. "Marvin, I will not lie to my friend. He is about to lose his job for not keeping with the desires of the founders. He has become more interested in politics and forgotten about the needs of his students."
"Although I've only been here one hundred summers, Hermione, I've learned much of the history of Hogwarts from the merfolk. I don't think they are very happy with headmaster. I have no qualms with him – if he hadn't of changed me and brought me here, I would have been fish food decades ago. But times are changing." Marvin had a thoughtful look (for a squid) about him as he chatted.
"Have any other wizards or witches been here lately to speak with them, Marvin?" Hermione asked the squid.
"No. There was a fingerling about 60 years ago that could talk with me – he was wonderful to chat with. His name was James. James Weasley. Other than him, it's been the headmaster only."
"Wow, Marvin" Hermione laughed, "James must have been the grandfather of several of the students now. There are seven Weasley brothers and sisters!"
"Are they as nice as you?" Marvin sounded beside himself with joy. "I have really missed chatting with people."
"Some of them are wonderful, some not-so. The twins, who left school last year, would love to talk with you – I know they mind-speak. They are good friends of mine. The other three founders are wonderful friends – you will love them all." Hermione smiled at her new buddy. He was really a sensitive kind of guy. She looked the squid over for a bit and said "Marvin, when the war is over, which will be soon, I promise to either return you to the ocean or bring you a companion – which ever you desire." I also will never eat calamari again, Hermione added privately to herself.
"Oh Hermione – you have filled my heart with joy!" Marvin gushed. I'm pretty sure I can say I don't want to return to the ocean – large or not, it's rough out there. A companion! My soul is singing!" Marvin actually spun in place, swirling his tentacles like a ballerina's skirts. "But not so many would die this time, right?"
Hermione laughed. "Marvin, I will learn about transporting fish, and will study it carefully so I don't have anybody suffer. I promise. Now give me a tentacle to hug – I can't hug your body very well. I need to speak to the merpeople about the war. I'll chat with you a bit on the way back, and I promise when the school year starts I'll be down here constantly." With a hug around the long squid-arm and a cheery wave, she swam deeper into the lake.
O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
As Hermione made her descent, she marveled at what it must have been like for Harry back during the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Alone and terrified, with most of the school hating him, he took gillyweed for the first time, not knowing if it would work or not. She had a year of living with merfolk, and knew how to deal with the reduced light and unpredictable water currents. She knew where the grindylows nested. She could speak the language of the merfolk. The man she loved had been through an awful trial and had done nothing to deserve it.
"How did you do it, my love?" Hermione pondered as she gentle paddled her webbed fingers and flicked her finned tail.
"Do what, chuck?" Harry answered back through the elf network.
She smiled with delight. "Sorry – didn't realize I was broadcasting. How did you manage under here during the tournament? I love it, but it's in my blood, and I've had lots of experience. You thought your friends would die if you goofed up… wow. You are amazing."
"Shucks – you make me blush. Never discount the power of adrenaline, my dear." With a mutual laugh, they cut the connection.
Traveling along the dark lake bottom, Hermione pulled her narwhal wand from her holster and transformed it into a staff. She wanted to be sure the merpeople saw it from a good distance. Then she slowed her swimming to a more upright position, so any merfolk could see she, too, had a tail like they.
Soon enough the young witch found her self surrounded by surprised and friendly looking mermen and mermaids. They held spears and pitchforks, but were not brandishing them in a threatening way. The feeble sunlight glinted off their colorful scales, showing healthy beings in various shades of lilac, blue and green and their eyes were warm and friendly, despite their cold surroundings.
"Hermione, heir of Slytherin, long has the merfolk waited for this day!" The merfolk spoke in her mind in unison, swimming around her in dancing circles and gesturing for her to follow them. Brandishing her staff/wand in a customary greeting, she swam with them, playfully twirling in the water and laughing with them.
"How do you know my name?" she asked them curiously. She wondered if it was because she was one of the 'victims' in the Tri-Wizard tournament.
"Come! Come!" Many voices beckoned in her mind as they smiled and gestured for her to follow.
Speaking with merfolk was very much like elf communication. If you could do one, you certainly could do the other. It wasn't like goblin occlumency, as all your thoughts were not open to the person you were speaking with – it was a like talking on a telephone in your mind. The problem was that while you were speaking with merfolk, someone skilled in occlumency near by would have no problem listening in, and using it as a gateway into your private thoughts.
They entered the school's city, and Hermione found it impossible not to get caught up in the merfolk's excitement. Everyone was swimming out of houses, smiling and laughing, children swimming up shyly to gently touch her tail fin or hair. Obvious preparations for a celebration began at once as she followed happy mermaids and mermen into the 'town hall', for lack of a better word. And inside the hall was quite a shock.
The walls were covered with mosaics of famous merfolk from history far past and recent. Shiny and glittering, Hermione was amused to see pieces of glass, cans, bottles, plastic, - discarded trash from Hogwarts students and muggles alike used through out the works. It was far more embellished than in the founder's day. She was delighted to see the very mural she had started 200 years ago with Stoney and Kelpy. But the young witch was positively floored when she saw the first mural on the left – it was a very good portrait of herself.
"But, how, I, I don't understand!" she sputtered in her mind, gesturing at the mosaic rendition of herself.
The leader of the merfolk swam to the front of the greeting school. "When you left us 200 years ago, our ancestors made this as a constant reminder that our friend Hermione would return in the future."
Her swift mind put the pieces together. That was why Salazar looked so longingly at the water and did not join her, although he had transformed as well. A painting, even one made by the founders, could only hold so much magic. The magic in the Founder's landscape was immense – enough to support giving the ghosts temporary bodies, keep the souls of the Founders alive, and support occasional guests. But it could not maintain a school of merfolk, a full herd of centaurs, or the many other magical creatures they learned of and with during those three magical years. Hermione had actually gone back in time during her stay with the merpeople of the lake. Poor Salazar could not travel with her, being a soul in a painting. He had not visited with them for centuries, and would never again.
Bringing her thoughts back to the present, the merfolk of Hogwarts Lake started assembling in the great hall, carefully seating Hermione in front of her mosaic likeness. Food was served – edible water plants, fresh water muscles, and non-sentient fish that had been steamed in thermal vents at the far end of the lake. She ate heartily, having forgotten how great raw and barely cooked seafood was. Harry wasn't convinced of that when she had told him the first time, although he did eventually develop a taste for sushi.
When the meal was finished, the leader introduced himself as King Falasir, and called for the concert to begin. Hermione sat back, most surprised and excited. When she had first met the merpeople back in Hogwart's time, she had to learn how to communicate with them. Mermaids and men do not have lungs, diaphragms, or vocal chords, so audible sound is not possible. They had a superior form of telepathy where a merperson could 'talk' to one person privately, a few, or everyone at once, and pretty much unconsciously direct the conversation accordingly. One day when Hermione was working with a mermaid, she was recalling a song she enjoyed to herself. The maid could hear it and was enraptured – nothing like music had ever been heard by the merpeople, and it was nothing that could possibly be duplicated by creatures underwater. Dumbledore had made the golden eggs from the Tri-Wizard Tournament, and it wasn't the merfolk tongue you heard when you opened them.
Hermione's recalled song spread like wildfire through the merpeople's minds, and Hermione spent many days recalling all kinds of music and songs for the merfolk. They learned to 'sing' along telepathically, and even duplicate instruments in their thoughts. It became a huge source of entertainment overnight.
Now, back in the present, Hermione was about to enjoy the inner-mind concerts again. It was actually much better to sing telepathically – if you can imagine it, it comes out perfectly for you every time. There was no such thing as a sour note, broken reed, or missed beat. Down here, in her thoughts, she was quite the musician! Aren't we all?
The music that started to swell in her brain was beyond description. In the two hundered years the merpeople had taken the simple songs and melodies and created their own art form that was simply divine. Imagine singing if you never had to take a breath. Now imagine singing if you never knew what it was to need that breath in the first place. There were no limitations of vocal range – the merfolk didn't base the melodies on how far a vocal cord could stretch, only on how far their imagination could fly. Again, the instrumentation that accompanied the perfect, surreal voices was missing the limits of the earthbound equivalents. 'Piano', if you could call it that, was now perfectly in tune, and if the keyboard was real, it would be six foot long, and played by a four-armed musician with incredibly long arms and eight fingers on each hand. Rhythm in the air-breathing world tended to be based on heart beats or breaths because it accompanied lung-driven voices. Now rhythm was free of all restraints and bonds.
Of course it was far, far after her visit that Hermione was able to analyze what she heard that day, and realize what made it so different. All she knew now was that she was hearing the most amazing, wonderful, pure melody she had ever heard, and would never be the same again. If she was able to cry, which merfolk weren't, she would be weeping with the beauty of the experience. If she could sit there for the rest of her life, listening, she would do so without a complaint. Perhaps this was the power of the harpies in mythology.
When the concert ended, and way too quickly in Hermione opinion, all eyes turned to her. She gracefully 'stood' with a flick of her tail and addressed the school.
"Never did I imagine recalling one song back in Hogwarts time would lead to such a purity of art. You have touched my very being with your magic – if there were not such pressing problems above, I would stay and beg for more."
"How can you say that, Hermione, heir of Slytherin?" The King and merfolk all looked puzzled. "It was you that taught us music in the first place."
Hermione laughed. Comparing her music to theirs was like comparing a child's toy piano playing 'Jingle Bells' with one finger to an orchestra performing a masterpiece. Yes, they are both music…. "Good merfolk, you have taken the music I gave you and made it uniquely your own. You have surpassed the teacher by far!"
The school of water people were pleased and flattered, if not a little disbelieving, and soon settled down for serious talk. The king started the conversation. "What happens with the land dwellers? Dumbledore had spoken to us briefly last spring about trouble coming on the tides, but never came back to tell us more. We do hear from Myrtle on occasion, but as she stays in one room of the castle, her information is limited."
Hermione wished she could sigh. Or take a deep breath to start with. Some habits are hard to break. Not having her old 'habit' of oxygen or lungs, she chose to dive right in. "The time is serious for the land-dwellers" she began, "and the final battle of good against evil in the wizard world is at hand. The Chosen One of prophecy is trained and ready to fight the leader of the dark, but waits to hear who will join him in that struggle. He has the power to defeat Riddle, or Voldemort as he likes to call himself, but we fear Riddle has called on the demons of the dark dimensions to aid him. We need all beings of the magical world to aid in sending these creatures back to where they came from."
"We owe Hermione more than we can repay for the gift of song. What would you have us do? We would fight at your sides if we could breathe the air as you do."
To say Hermione was floored would be a crass understatement. Yesterday the centaurs, with pride and arrogance, had them jumping through hoops to 'prove' they were worthy of the man-horse help. Here the people of the lake heard her speak a few words and were offering her anything and everything for help. But Hermione put on a professional face and answered "Great people, wonderful musicians of the water. Your generosity and kindness has not changed in two hundred years, except to grow. I don't know if Riddle will try to speak with you – most do not know the treasure of the water that lives here. But if he or an emissary does, please do not assist them. If demons of the water are called, please fight them and call on us to help."
"Is that all? You must need more!" The voices were crying from the crowd.
"Beware of Dumbledore" Hermione said sadly. "The once great hero of the wizards has grown self-serving. He does not side with Riddle, but he is working against the Founders and the government of the wizards. Do not take council with him." It hurt her to say that, but she had to.
The King nodded at her. "Over the years we have felt his heart grow cold. He barely speaks with us now, unless he needs something. We had hoped your great tournament would have opened the door between our people."
"The door will be open soon. The Founders tasked my companions and I to take over Hogwarts as soon as the battle is over. Dumbledore will be retired, against his will if necessary, and we will ensure the students learn to communicate with the good people of the water."
Glittering fins were waved in approval – the merfolk equivalent of clapping and cheering. The meeting was a success.
Hermione spent a few days with the school, immersing herself in their music and love. She hated to leave, but felt she was merely being selfish, taking a vacation from the worries of above. With heartfelt thanks and promises to return soon, she started the ascent back to Hogwarts and Marvin.
Marvin greeted her with waving tentacles of joy. "You've come back! I have been waiting, friend!"
Hermione waved her fins in response. "I promised I would, Marvin. I just spent three wonderful days with the school. They have agreed to help against Riddle."
"I'm not surprised. They have been anticipating the day you would return." Marvin mused. "Do all wizards live hundreds of summers like you?"
"Oh no – I'm only seventeen summers, Marvin!" Hermione giggled, despite herself. "I went back in time to learn about my powers and ancestry – that's how the merfolk knew me so long ago. It gets sort of confusing…"
"Time travel always does, Hermione. If you think about it too long, you tie your brain in knots like the kelp. Now how can I help in this war?"
"Oh Marvin – you are wonderful" Hermione gushed. "If you see dark creatures from other worlds, please let me know and do what you can to stop them. If Dumbledore comes asking for assistance, do not give it to him. And especially keep yourself safe from Riddle."
"You don't ask much, friend. What you request is freely given."
After a nice long visit, Hermione headed back to the world of air, land, and gravity.
"Chuck" is a term of endearment in some areas of the UK. You will hear it occasionally if you watch Wallace & Grommitt. If you don't watch Wallace & Grommitt – you don't know what you are missing! Nick Park – I love you! Can I have a job? I'm a much better artist than writer!
Oh – and please no complaints about my merfolk not able to make audible sounds! I know dolphins and whales do. I know catfish and plecos can make grunting noises. I just chose to make MY Merpeople mute except for telepathically. We don't know for sure that the voices in the Tri-Tournament eggs were really mermaid voices, or just something clever Albus did for the clue…