Chapter Eight
Merida-
Merida yawned and struggled not to fall asleep as Professor Moor went over the proper wand movements to cast basic charms. Blake and Ellen were next to her. Blake was out cold with his head in his open book. Ellen was staring at Professor Moor earnestly, like she was holding on to his every word.
It had been two weeks since their little 'duel' on the sixth corridor. Once passing the hourglasses that held the points for each house, Merida had discovered that each house was missing one-hundred points. She could only assume it was from them.
At first people had been confused by the loss of points and had made up crazy stories about teachers out to get them, but then someone must have let it slip because pretty soon everyone was asking her about the duel. Merida had been scared they'd be mad that she lost them points, but to her relief they were in awe of her bravery and fighting skills.
"Who would like to demonstrate this for the class?" Professor Moor asked. Ellen's hand shot up. Merida slouched down hoping not to get called on. "Hiccup," Professor Moor chose his favorite student.
Hiccup walked to the front of the class and pulled out his wand. He reached out his hand and gently flicked his wand up then waved it to the left then tipped it down. Professor Moor nodded and smiled. He was almost as skinny as Hiccup and had half as much hair.
"Very good Mr. Haddock," he praised. Hiccup smiled and stood up straight as he made his way back to his seat. Ellen looked at him in envy and awe. Merida rolled her eyes and Blake snored loudly.
"Now I'm going to give you the spell that goes with the movements," Professor Moor continued. Merida sighed. She nudged Blake awake and he grunted and looked up at Professor Moor. "Growthlender," he said. "It enlarges whatever you wave your wand over. Everybody try it on the quill in front of you."
Merida pulled out her wand. At first she attempted the movements Hiccup had showed. After she was happy with it she added the word. "Growthlender," she said. The quill on her desk shivered then grew about an inch.
"Well done Miss Dunbroch," Professor Moor congratulated her. Ellen looked at her quill with a frustrated face and tried the charm again. Blake had gone back to sleep.
"Alright that's it. Class is over," Professor Moor said after a few more students had enlarged their quills. "Now remember, since this is a charm it is temporary, spells are permanent." Merida and her friends rushed into the Great Hall for lunch.
As they were eating four owls flew in with letters. Merida was surprised to see her own barn owl among them. He dropped a small note in her plate. "What's that?" Dorian asked. Merida shrugged and opened it curiously.
Dear Merida,
Because of your actions on the sixth corridor you will be serving detention with Gossle tomorrow night during the Halloween feast.
Sincerely
Professor Starling
"Detention," Merida grumbled. Her friends gave her sympathetic looks.
"Well you shouldn't have been out after hours," Ellen pointed out. Merida glowered at her. She turned and saw Jack, Rapunzel, and Hiccup looking at the same note. Merida got up and walked over to Rapunzel.
"You got one too," she mentioned. Rapunzel nodded sadly.
"I hope it's not too bad," she said.
"I'm sure they'll just make us fight off a troll or something," Jack joked walking up behind them.
"More like a werewolf," Hiccup said glumly, walking behind Jack.
"A werewolf?" Rapunzel gulped.
"Why would we even have to see those things? They live in the Forbidden Forest and that's off limits," Merida pointed out. Jack and Hiccup shrugged. Rapunzel looked relieved.
"Maybe we'll just have to clean the school for Gossle," Rapunzel suggested.
"I guess we'll find out tomorrow," Jack said. They all looked at each other. "I better get back to my table," Jack began walking back to the Slytherins.
"Me too," Hiccup headed for the Ravenclaw table.
"Bye Punzie," Merida said before leaving Rapunzel at the Hufflepuff table.
Rapunzel-
Rapunzel felt sick to her stomach as she headed to the lake. The rest of her friends were heading to the Great Hall to eat the Halloween feast. She would have given almost anything to be with them, eating in the jack-o-lantern decorated room.
Merida, Jack, and Hiccup joined her on her walk to the lake. They were unusually quiet, all of them nervous of what lied ahead. As they grew closer they could make out Gossle's lantern shinning by the water's edge. It was the only light in the dark for the moon was hidden by clouds.
Rapunzel gulped and pulled her cloak closer around her, more for comfort than for warmth. She was still dressed in her white button up shirt, with the sleeveless grey sweater and yellow stripped tie. Her short grey skirt swayed around her legs.
"It'll be ok," Jack said, "at least we're all together instead of being alone," he smiled. It was a genuine smile, not his crooked grin or smirk and it made Rapunzel blush. For once she was happy it was dark.
"Come on you four," Gossle said when they got closer. "We've got work to do tonight." He picked up the lantern and climbed into a boat like the ones that they had rode in at the beginning of the year. There was another one next to him and they climbed in.
Gossle pushed off from the land and began to row out to the middle of the lake. They followed him. Rapunzel wished she could enjoy the boat ride like she did when she first came here.
They came to a halt in the middle of the lake. Gossle stood up in his boat and turned to face them. "I'm sure you've heard the tales of the mermaids that dwell in our lake," he started.
"Mermaids," Rapunzel gasped before she could stop herself. Gossle rolled his old eyes.
"Yes mermaids. They live here, at the deepest part. Normally they are very peaceful folk and they don't bother the school, but it seems that lately they've been restless."
"What does that mean?" Merida asked curiously.
"Mermaids have one of the most alluring voices in the world and hearing it can leave a man senseless, senseless enough to follow the noise into the water and not get back out. Recently we've had a few students found in the water," Rapunzel covered her mouth with her hands and gasped in horror, "but luckily they were alive." She sighed in relief.
"What are we supposed to do about it?" Jack asked.
"You are going to go down there and find out what's bothering them and hopefully put an end to it," Gossle smiled wickedly.
"What?" Hiccup chocked. "How are we supposed to do that?"
"Ever heard of aquasensatic?" Gossle asked. They shook their heads. "Well it is an advanced spell. Whoever it is cast upon turns into something similar to a mermaid." Hiccup and Jack looked at each other.
"So we're going to be mermaids?" Jack asked.
"Or mermen," Gossle sighed. Jack grinned. Gossle pulled out his wand and placed it over their heads. "Ready?"
"Wait! Shouldn't we be briefed on what to expect or something?" Hiccup asked panickedly.
"Aquasensatic," Gossle cried, ignoring Hiccup's question. At first nothing happened then Rapunzel felt a weird tingling in her throat, legs, and fingers. She took a deep breath then chocked.
"I can't breathe," she wheezed. The others coughed and gasped for air too. Gossle reached over and shoved their boat, knocking them into the water. Rapunzel didn't have enough air to scream.
Once she hit the water she coughed and took a deep breath. "Wow," she said, amazed she could breathe underwater. Just then the tingling faded away. She felt her neck and was shocked to find a set of gills. Her hands had changed too. There was greenish webbing in between each finger.
Her legs were where the real change happened. Instead of actually having legs she was now equipped with something similar to a tail. It was greenish like the webbing on her hands and had bright yellow stripes. She gasped and bubbles exploded from her mouth.
"Like your tail?" Merida asked. Her voice was surprisingly clear, unlike what someone would expect to sound like underwater. Rapunzel looked up and saw that Merida had a tail too. Hers was green also. She also had tiny fins jutting out of her elbows and a few out of her back. Her clothes had also changed into a scarlet belly shirt.
Rapunzel looked down and was startled to see that she too was wearing the belly shirt and had fins. The only difference was that her shirt was yellow.
"Hello ladies," Jack said, swimming by. He looked similar to them only he had two scaly legs with webbed feet instead of a tail and fins all down his legs. Both of the boys were shirtless. Rapunzel felt her face heat up and she tried to only look at his face.
"So what do we do now?" Hiccup asked. His brown hair was floating in the water around his head and made it look like he had on a brown halo. Rapunzel giggled and bubbles floated around her face.
"What's so funny?" Merida asked.
"Hiccup has a brown halo on," Rapunzel laughed. Merida laughed too.
"Well you've got a blond cloud floating behind your head," Hiccup shot back. Jack laughed. Merida glared at him.
"Don't you laugh at her. You've got white frosting on your head," Merida shouted. Jack raised an eyebrow.
"You're one to talk. It looks like your head is on fire," Jack said calmly. Merida snorted and rolled her eyes.
"Listen here mister Slytherin," Merida started, but Hiccup interrupted her.
"We've got to stop fighting. We're stuck in this lake until we solve this problem so unless you want to stay down here, I'd advise you to shut-up," he said sternly. Rapunzel was surprised by the power behind his voice, and from the looks on their faces Merida and Jack were too. "Now if I'm right, the mermaids live right over there," he pointed behind them.
The three turned around at the same time. Looming behind them was the ruins of some long forgotten castle. Lurking in the shadows Rapunzel could see the silhouettes of shapes that looked like her.
"I think you're right," she said. Jack and Merida nodded. Hiccup actually smirked at them. Together they swam towards the ruined castle. As they grew closer Rapunzel began to feel like they were being watched. She noticed several of the silhouettes move and a few eyes glowed from the dark waters.
She looked around nervously. "Don't worry, I'm right here," Jack whispered, swimming to her side. Rapunzel did feel better with Jack next to her, but she would never tell him that.
"What are you doing here?" a strange voice asked. It was melodious, but at the same time sounded tired and weak. It came from the mermaid in front of them. She was covered in yellow skin that almost looked like scales. Her hair was thick like snakes and flowed around her head. He face stuck out like an animal's face and her lips protruded from her face like a fish. Altogether she was nothing like the beautiful mermaids Rapunzel had seen in movies. But she was pretty in her own way.
"We've come from Hogwarts to help you," Merida said, swimming forward. The mermaid looked at her wearily with murky brown eyes.
"Why do you want to help us?" she asked.
"There have been some incidents with the mermaids and the students and if we help you we would like them to stop," Hiccup said. The mermaid smiled and exposed yellow fangs.
"So you want to help us so you can get something back in return?" she checked.
"Yes," Jack answered bluntly. She glanced at him. Her brown eyes bore into him and Jack clenched up next to Rapunzel. His hands balled into fists and veins popped out of his neck next to his gills.
"Jack, Slytherin, brave, ambitious, smart, secretive, strong, sly, and yet loving. An odd mix young wizard," the mermaid said. Jack relaxed as she looked away. Now she turned to Rapunzel. To her immense relief she felt no pain, just cold. "Rapunzel, Hufflepuff, smart, creative, naive, fearful, doubtful, and all too trustful. Be careful Rapunzel I fear you have a bad judge of character and it will cause you much grief."
Now the mermaid looked at Hiccup. "Hiccup, Ravenclaw, studious, curious, gentle, scared, shy, and longing for bravery. Hmmm," she said thoughtfully, turning to Merida. "Merida, Gryffindor, strong, bold, brave, curious, ambitious, and easily angered. Not surprising for a ginger," she mussed. They were all silent watching her with wide eyes. Rapunzel's mouth was hanging open.
Merida blinked in wonder and Hiccup looked astonished. Jack's eyes looked conflicted like he wasn't sure about what she said. "H-how did you do that?" Hiccup finally stammered. The mermaid laughed.
"What, see your minds?" He nodded. "It's a gift. My name is Mackerel by the way."
"Hi Mackerel," Rapunzel breathed. Mackerel smiled.
"So do you four really think you can help us?" she asked. They all nodded. "For your sakes I hope you are right. Follow me," she swam into the ruined castle with surprising speed. They quickly swam after her.
Hiccup-
Hiccup tried to look around at the ruins, but he had to swim fast to keep up with Mackerel and couldn't focus on anything else. The others took furtive glances around, but for the most part just kept swimming.
"Where are you taking us?" Merida asked.
"To the center of the city. Only one can explain what is happening to us. You must go to him," Mackerel answered. They grew quiet, content to follow her through the water. As they passed mermaids swam out of openings in the ruins and watched them swim by.
Some watched with hostility, but most were curious. Hiccup noticed some mermaids that looked something like he and Jack did only they were completely covered in scales and most had facial hair. He also noticed that a lot of the mermaids carried tridents with them.
"Hmm, I guess not everything in movies is fictional," he thought aloud. Merida glanced at him then looked back at Mackerel.
Mackerel lead them to a place where the ground was flat and covered in stones. It looked like it used to be a courtyard for the castle. Standing alone in the middle was a single stone fountain. Sitting atop the fountain was a merman unlike any he'd seen.
Its whole body was covered in scales and its hair seemed to be made of golden fins. Its eyes were as round as owls' eyes. It had a long beard of golden hair that floated around its head. It had a tail instead of two legs only its tail was much longer than the others' legs. It wrapped around the fountain and trailed across the ground. Its arms were muscular and its hands were large. A top its great head was a large golden crown and a matching trident rested against the fountain.
"What have you brought to me Mackerel?" he asked, his voice sounding sad and empty.
"Four students from Hogwarts who want to help King Hydro," Mackerel said bowing her head low to the ground. The merman looked at them. Mackerel pushed them forward so they were floating in front of him. He leaned forward.
"How do you know you can help?" he asked.
"We'll try our best sir," Merida answered. He cocked his head at her and his golden crown tipped to the side and almost toppled off of his head.
"Could you just tell us what's wrong?" Rapunzel asked. He blinked is owl eyes at her. They all held their breath.
"These waters have been here for longer than that school. They know everything that goes on there," King Hydro began. Hiccup briefly wondered how water was capable of feeling anything but wet, but he dismissed the matter. "As king of the merfolk it is my job to feel the water, but I'm not the only one who can feel it. The others are beginning to understand."
"What is happening to the water?" Jack asked.
"There is something wrong with the school." They all looked at each other. "A dark shadow stalks the halls and poisons them with dark magic." Hiccup noticed a thoughtful look pass over Merida's face, then it was gone.
"What is this shadow?" Jack asked yet another question.
"I do not know. He has concealed himself from even the water. But his work is obvious. Every student who he has defiled bears the mark," King Hydro said darkly.
"Are they the students you've tried to drown?" Rapunzel asked, her voice small. King Hydro nodded his scaled head.
"What is the mark?" Merida questioned. King Hydro closed his eyes and leaned his head back. Suddenly the moon broke free of the clouds and the water grew brighter. His face shimmered in the pale light. As he sat there a dark mist rose in the water and encircled his head.
"I-I can not say," he said, his eyes snapping back open. As they did the mist vanished. Merida opened her mouth to protest, but he continued. "Even if I did you wouldn't understand the mark. Only we can see it. But there are signs to know if one follows him. Strange behavior, isolation, dark mutterings, and such." Hiccup could think of several students who fit the bill, but surely not all of them were following some dark wizard.
"Is there anything we can do to stop this," Hiccup paused, "shadow?"
"Keep a close eye on your friends and don't fall victim to him," King Hydro advised. Hiccup's heart sank. He had been hoping for a secret weapon or spell.
"Thank you for this knowledge and for the advise," Rapunzel said sweetly. She began to swim backwards. Suddenly King Hydro grabbed her arm with one of his large scaly hands that were equipped with long pointy fingernails. Rapunzel looked terrified.
"You can't leave. You said you were here to help," he said. His eyes widened even larger as he looked at them.
"There's really nothing we can do. You said so yourself that all we could do was keep an eye on our friends and not follow him," Jack said. He had his hand on his wand and his eyes were narrowed at where the merman's nails threatened to cut into Rapunzel's arm.
"But you have to help us," he said desperately. "We can't go on attacking Hogwarts students. Nicholas will not allow it!"
"Please sir. Even if we could help we can't do it under water," Merida said. She too had her hand over her wand. King Hydro gripped Rapunzel's arm tighter and she whimpered. Jack winced.
"No. You can't leave. You have to help us!"
Jack Frost-
"But there's nothing wrong with you. It's the water," Jack pointed out, trying to keep his anger down. He wasn't one to get scared, but he had a nasty temper.
"We are the water," King Hydro shouted. He rose from the fountain. "I haven't slept in three months. I constantly feel as if there is someone prowling these waters, about to take the life of my people. Do you know how that feels?"
"Sir," Merida breathed.
"No don't talk. All of you must stay until the water has calmed and it is safe," he yelled. Hiccup flinched. Jack glanced at Merida. She nodded. He grabbed his wand. Taking a deep breath he waited a moment before pulling it out and pointing it at King Hydro. Merida did too. After a moment's hesitation so did Hiccup.
"No. We are not going to stay," he said. King Hydro narrowed his large eyes. "Now let her go," Jack glanced at Rapunzel. King Hydro dug his nails into her arm and thick red blood began to spill into the water, staining it red. Rapunzel bit her lip as tears welled in her eyes only to be lost in the water.
"No," King Hydro hissed. Jack could feel himself heating up in anger. Beside him Merida looked furious. Hiccup's wand was shaking, but it was more from fear than anger.
"I'm warning you," Jack said, his voice dangerously low. King Hydro smiled.
"You're warning me?" he tilted his head. Around them mermaids and mermen began to swim out of the ruins.
"Please help us," they begged. Their voices sounded unemotional and empty. Hiccup's breath hitched and he heaved. Even Jack was unnerved by them. "Stay with us."
"Stay away from us," Merida moved her wand towards the other mermaids. Hiccup did too. Jack kept his pointed at King Hydro. He noticed Rapunzel moving and saw her reaching for her wand. King Hydro hadn't noticed, he was focused on them.
"This is your last chance," Jack said. King Hydro laughed.
"Or what?" he asked.
"Reducto," Rapunzel shouted pointing her wand at him. King Hydro flew away from here. Rapunzel gasped and grabbed at her bleeding arm.
"Swim," Jack yelled and began to swim towards the surface. The others followed behind him. For a moment the mermaids were still. Then one of them raised their heads and started to scream. With its mouth open it showed off its fangs and its hair flew around its head making it look quite frightening. The other joined in with the screaming until the whole water sounded with it.
Jack winced, but he kept swimming. He didn't think they had long until the mermaids attacked. He was right.
There was a movement in the water behind him and he turned back to see the swarm of mermaids heading towards them. Their fangs gleamed and their clawed hands were outstretched. "Swim faster," Jack yelled.
"We're not going to make it," Rapunzel heaved.
"Yes we are," Merida said. "Stupefy," she pointed back at the mermaids. Several of them fell back.
"Reducto," Jack cried. A small group fell back, but they caught up quickly enough. "Hiccup, help," Jack cried, knowing Hiccup knew almost every spell.
"Swim," was all Hiccup said.
Rapunzel was the first to break the surface. Jack could see Gossle pull her into the boat. Hiccup was next. Jack and Merida reached it together. Gossle threw them in just as a scaly hand rose out of the water and grabbed at them.
Jack panted from where he lay in the boat. He was back in his Hogwarts clothes and was dry with no fins. The others were too. Rapunzel's sleeve was drenched in sticky red blood.
"So I can assume you didn't fix the problem," Gossle said.
"No, but we found out why they're doing it," Merida panted. "The students are marked by a dark wizard."
"And how do they know this?"
"The water," Hiccup answered. Gossle laughed.
"The water told them? Crazy mermaids. They'll come up with any excuse," he shook his head. "Well let's get back to the school. You'll want to go to the hospital wing and get Madam Lawson to look at that cut. Mermaid nails are said to be poisonous," he nodded his head at Rapunzel.
"Thanks for getting us out of the water," she said. He shrugged and began to row back to the school. Jack snorted then headed after him.
A/N:
I liked this chapter. I've had two action chapters in a row! Awesome. I guess that's because the next one is gonna be a filler so it's going to be boring :/ sorry. I know I made Hiccup like a really big coward in this even though he's not really a coward, but it just fits my storyline. At the very end you'll understand. And by the very end I mean the end of the series, not the book. This is going to a long story with lots of different little book thingies. I'll probably put years one and two together though since year one is kind of short. Well thanks to brebre277, Bailey24, and arrowtosparrow for reviewing. You guys are awesome and it means a lot to me. Thanks for reading and please review!