A/N: Slightly AU, Slightly OOC... but isn't most fanfiction?
x
x
x
x
x
The Black Lake
A year.
It had been an entire year.
The black-haired boy sat against a large tree, staring moodily across the serene body of the Black Lake. It was very late in the afternoon and the surface of the waters looked like glass- reflecting the days last rays of sunlight among the pines. The nearly nineteen-year-old boy was staring, but he wasn't seeing. His eyes were slightly narrowed, a scowl on his face, his arms folded. The picturesque landscape in no way reflected his mood. While he was surrounded by pristine beauty, unpleasant thoughts and feelings churned violently within him, and he seemed to carry a veritable dark cloud over his head. It had been near this spot that he had first seen him- a glimpse of the Wizard who was more monster than man.
He wasn't supposed to wallow today. He had told himself he wouldn't wallow on The Day, but with a reminder of what had happened on this day one year ago lurking around every corner, he found he could not escape. He should have known it if the previous night had been any indication. Nightmares and memories intertwined with each other in a horrific dance, plaguing him endlessly. Only when he woke- his clothes soaked with sweat and his wand drawn in terror- could he discern between the two.
Not for the first time, he wondered if coming back here had been a mistake. He hadn't been in his right mind when he'd initially agreed anyway. Surely Professor McGonagall would be more than understanding if he backed out of their agreement. There were plenty of capable witches and wizards to fill his place, despite the rumor of the post being cursed. He hadn't thought twice about the rumor, it couldn't be any worse than what he'd already been through.
But where would he go?
What would he do?
Mere moments after his existence was made known to the wizarding world, the Ministry had swooped down on him with greedy arms. They offered a plethora of positions he hadn't even known existed. They offered incentives, publicity, a celebrity lifestyle, and he found himself fleeing their advances as fast as he could. Having dodged the very public positions and propositions of the Ministry, the Aurors came calling. They seemed to be under the impression that under no circumstance was Harry suited for anything else. He had refused to join the Aurors- hadn't even had to think a moment on it- much to their shock and disappointment.
After all, one of them had said, hadn't his entire life been dedicated to fighting darkness? Isn't this what he had been born to do?
Harry had wanted to hit the man. He was more than a weapon. He was more than a tool. He was more than the bloody, fucking Prophecy...
He winced at the word as it drifted across his mind. It didn't matter anyway- he had made up his mind. He was done being a soldier.
No one seemed to understand his refusals. It wasn't until a formidable-looking witch with a familiar face approached him and effectively rescued him from fleeing the scene that he felt like someone was hearing him. He recognized her wizened face from the last battle. She spoke of coming back to the school, to which he nearly laughed at her. Come back to the place where he had seen more carnage than he ever cared to again? At the time he thought her mad. But she spoke of students- just as traumatized as he was- needing guidance and instruction in this new world. She spoke of youth who had lost as much as he had, and how his influence and presence could just what the school needed in order to reopen and continue.
His jaw had nearly dropped at her offer. Even more shocking than that, was when he felt his own head nodding in agreement. He would have somewhere to go, something to do, and it wouldn't be drills, it wouldn't be fleeing and tracking, it wouldn't be foes and danger lurking around every corner... but it was something. He was willing to take something, especially a something that didn't involve him living alone in Grimmauld Place. It was also something that wasn't so near to death.
Yes, he had seen a fairamount of death. His parents had only been the beginning. Rescued as an infant by his godfather, life on the run had been an exciting and dangerous existence. Determined to keep Harry hidden and safe, there had only been a small handful of friends his guardian could trust. When they had learned of the prophecy and his role in it, his safety and anonymity became even more paramount. Those precious few ensured Harry would live to fulfil what the prophecy foretold. Of course, they were all gone now- struck down one by one. His time at Hogwarts had only seen more victims. Students and professors and aurors had been slain in droves. He himself had been hit with the killing curse, briefly wrapped in the shackles of death. But that was nothing compared to what he had lost to death before he had even made it to the school.
Harry winced inwardly again, his head falling heavily against the trunk of the tree behind him. Last year, he had been struck a blow more powerful than anything he had ever experienced at Voldemort's hand. His own death was a minor inconvenience in comparison to the loss that seemed to have left a great, gaping chasm within him.
The last person in existence for him to have ever cared for had been taken from him. The pain of that loss was nearly Harry's undoing, but it would ultimately be the undoing of the Dark Lord himself. That very pain he had felt symbolized the reason for Voldemort's downfall- whose true enemy was love and not death. Harry had risen from death- much to his surprise- but his survival was marred by loneliness and grief more agonizing than any unforgiveable. He hadn't understood why he was allowed to live, and daily he fought the internal battle that it would have been better if he hadn't.
Days passed, and a great memorial was held to all those whose lives had been sacrificed in the last battle. Candles were lit, vigils were held, and grand epitaphs spoken. Harry remembered none of it. He sat near the exits in the back of the services, careful not to draw attention. Watching the memorials, he struggled with guilt and regret at the lateness of his arrival to the battle. But it couldn't be helped, they had arrived as quickly as they could. It had taken him great effort to make it to the school at all and had cost the life of the man who raised him.
Harry stood abruptly from his spot under the tree, scolding himself when he felt his eyes begin to burn.
Don't wallow.
Don't be pathetic.
He began walking along the rocky shore of the lake, watching as the sun began to dip in the sky. He tried to clear his mind as he walked, occasionally giving the pebbles a kick and listening to the water ripple as they tumbled in. Ahead of him the land was jutting out into the water, a collection of large boulders standing together. One of the boulders had become flattened, laying on top of the deeper parts of the body of water. Deciding he was done walking for the moment, Harry climbed the boulder, sitting on it cross-legged. He wasn't quite ready to go back in, and it was still pleasantly warm out. A school of tadpoles wandered near the rock, nibbling on the slimy underside. His mind finally somewhat blank, he reached down with the tip of his wand and touched the water, trying to coax the tadpoles to nibble on it. The tadpoles swam away from it, fleeing the foreign object. Harry abruptly pulled the wand out of the water. It had become quite warm in his hand, but he hadn't cast any spell. Something gold and glowing seemed to be caught on the end of the wand, but when he peered closer it was gone. Perhaps the lake had some type of golden plant life.
The sun was dipping further, and Harry stood up to make the long walk back to the castle. He reached to his jeans to pocket his wand. Just as his fingers were about to release their hold, he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Living with a man who had been thought to be a criminal, and the subsequent years of life on the run had drastically sharpened his senses. Harry was certain he was not alone. He froze in place, hand still at his jeans, feeling a pair of eyes on him. He took a steadying breath. In one swift movement that could have rivaled an experienced Auror, he quickly withdrew the wand again from his pocket and whirled around. He pointed it towards where he had felt the gaze of his assailant, his hand steady, and a stunning spell ready to leave his lips.
It was no Death Eater, nor was it any other menace he had conjured up in his mind.
There, right in the deep water, was a girl. Harry blinked, unsure of what he was seeing. Blinking changed nothing. It was definitely a girl, and she was definitely staring at him. She was quite pretty, but he had a hard time focusing on this due to the fact that she was neck-deep in the water. Two small hands were clinging to a boulder as she peered around the side at him. She looked to be around his age, or maybe a bit younger, and by the expression on her face she seemed just as surprised to see him as he was to see her.
"Oh," he said, unable to cover his surprise. "Hello."
The girl did not answer him. Her head was soaked, and he could see drops of the frigid lake water rolling down her face, yet she did not appear the slightest bit chilled. Her wet face was framed by red hair, darkened from the water. Several thoughts- mainly questions- crossed Harry's mind. She had to be a student, she looked far too young to be staff. But what on earth was a student doing swimming in the lake in the middle of summer holiday? He opened his mouth to speak again but was unsure which question to ask first. Her eyes then caught his complete attention. As he looked at her, he promptly forgot any questions he had, and the strangeness of the situation was momentarily unimportant. He had never seen such eyes. They were a deep chocolate brown, expressive and with long lashes. They widened slightly at the wand he had pointed at her, betraying a glint of fright. He had forgotten he was pointing a weapon at her.
"Sorry!" He immediately lowered the wand, pocketing it carefully. "I didn't mean-"
But she was gone.
No girl with the dark, distracting eyes was to be found. Harry stared for a moment at the boulder in the water she had been clinging to, waiting for her to reappear. When she did not, he looked around the lake with his brow furrowed. He was sure he hadn't imagined it, there really had been a girl there.
Hadn't there?
He circled around to the other side of the boulder, but there was no one there either. He glanced along the rocks and shoreline, looking for any discarded towels or possessions, but he found none. Minutes passed, and his confusion mounted. Still, there was no one in sight. He looked across the lake surface, waiting to hear a splash or see a ripple interrupt the water, but all evidence pointed to him being very much alone. Maybe he had terrified the poor girl so badly that she had made a run for it and gone back to the castle. He pressed his palms to his eyes until he saw stars.
He had been certain he saw someone.
Sighing, and cursing what must be a combination of volatile emotions and lack of sleep, he trudged back toward the castle. He turned back several times to look back at the Black Lake, but with the setting sun each glance was more and more obscured by nightfall. With each step towards the castle, he half expected to feel eyes on him again, but he never did.
X
"Mr. Potter, do I want to know what crime your dinner has committed?"
Harry's head snapped up from his food. He and Professor McGonagall, along with half a dozen other staff members were dining in the great hall. There were candles lit, basking the hall in a gentle glow. A row of tables lined with framed photographs of the fallen staff and students lay at the side of hall, now adorned with bouquets of flowers. The chatter in the room was minimal and hushed. Harry hadn't paid the slightest bit of attention to the conversation going on around him. He wasn't interested in reminiscing any more than he already had about The Day, so his thoughts were kept occupied on what he had seen at the lake.
"What?"
"Your dinner, Potter." Minerva gestured with her fork to his plate. "By the look on your face it has surely done you a grave injustice." The corner of her lip twitched as she eyed him.
"Oh! Oh, no. The dinner is fine." He scooted his potatoes around his plate. "I was just thinking about... something."
"Dear me. I've never seen thinking look so painful. Is there something I can assist you with?"
"Er, no," Harry cleared his throat. "It's just- you know- The Day. Today, I mean."
Understanding immediately washed over Minerva's features.
"Yes," she agreed solemnly. "One year, today. The Day." She took a sip of elf-made wine from her goblet. "There are celebrations happening right this minute, you know, witches and wizards coming together from all over the Wizarding World."
"You were a war hero, Professor. You should be out celebrating with them."
Minerva raised an eyebrow at him.
"I could say the same to you, Potter."
Her expression turned serious once more. "I find myself unable to make merry today. As grateful as I am of Voldemort's defeat, it is not a day I remember with happiness. There was so much loss that day. I never thought I'd see the doors of Hogwarts close in my lifetime. For a time, I admit I worried we would never reopen." Her eyes were unmistakably sad beneath her spectacles, and her face showed the telltale signs of longsuffering. "I think in favor of parades and fireworks I prefer to quietly remember The Day. I'm sure you more than anyone can understand."
He certainly did.
Harry averted his eyes, suddenly interested in his potatoes again. He felt a rush of appreciation that the school could shelter him from the rest of the world, especially today.
"Actually, Professor," he said slowly, "I saw something odd today."
"Oh?"
"I went down to the lake for a bit, and while I was there, I saw...someone."
Minerva raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to continue.
"Well, I'm pretty sure I saw a student. She- she looked too young to be staff, like she was a few years younger than me."
This time it was Minerva who frowned, but it was more in confusion than annoyance.
"Potter-"
"Or I could be wrong," he interrupted quickly, "she might have been staff- I just assumed... well, but then she was swimming and I think I must have offended her because she ran off. But I didn't mean to, she just caught me off guard-"
"Potter." Minerva was shaking her head back and forth. "Are you sure you didn't fall asleep when you were down there? The students don't arrive until September, and you've met all the staff already."
"Right. Of course." Harry found himself back-pedaling as he realized how ridiculous his story sounded. He had met all the staff that was staying for the summer on his first night at the castle, and none of them had been a pretty redhead, and try as he did, he hadn't spotted another sign of her anywhere. He certainly hadn't seen any students milling about either.
"Yeah, I probably just imagined it."
"I'm sure, Potter." She placed her hand on his sympathetically. "Chalk it up to The Day. It hasn't been easy on any of us."
Dinner was a slow affair and Harry only found he could stomach a few bites. A few glasses of wine later, the solemn staff members of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry gave a moment of silence for the fallen, reverently remembering The Day. Then Hagrid passed around generous amounts of mead, and a slightly wobbly Harry found himself being relieved of his goblet by the Headmistress.
"I think you've had quite enough, Mr. Potter," she said, motioning him towards the doors, "its bed for you now."
"I know you don' believe me," Harry slurred good-naturedly at her, "but I definitely saw a girl in the lake."
"I'm sure you did, Potter."
"Right? I did. I saw her- right there in the water. But no! No one believes me! Not even the... the... Prime Minister."
"Headmistress."
"Yeah, her too."
Harry scowled at the floor which seemed to be much more uneven than usual.
"Sirius would've believed me."
Minerva sighed, then grabbed Harry by the shoulders to prevent him from hitting the doorframe.
"Potter, until the rest of the staff come back to the school from holiday, Madam Pomfrey and I are currently the only female staff members." She grabbed Harry's shoulders again when he tried to turn down the wrong hallway.
"And I assure you," she muttered, "We do not go for leisurely dips in the lake."
X
That night, Harry fully anticipated the usual plague of nightmares. He wasn't wrong- his night certainly started off in the usual manner. For the last year or so he had grown accustomed to bad dreams. They usually featured twisted memories of a teenage boy morphing into a red-eyed, snake-like monster, flashes of blinding green light, and the panicked face of his godfather shouting at him to run.
Tonight, he was standing on the hill above the Black Lake. Down on the shore, he could barely make out a figure of a teenage boy. Even from a distance the face of the boy was positively predatory. Harry drew his wand just as a jet of red light came rocketing towards him. He deflected it to the side, where it hit a pine, turning it into a smoldering pile of dust.
"Harry!"
The familiar voice was behind him. Harry knew without looking who the voice belonged to. It was with both joy and sadness that he turned around and looked upon the face of the man who raised him. Sirius Black stood resolute. He was holding his wand tightly, looking down at the lake.
"Sirius, what are you doing?" Harry asked, just as he had that night in Grimmauld Place.
"You've got to go, Harry," he answered, his voice a perfect echo of the memory. "You've got to run. I'll hold them off, but you need to go!" He nodded once at Harry, before stepping forward. He began rapidly sending spells down towards the lake.
"Go, now!"
He shouted the last words over his shoulder, before disappearing over the side of the hill. Harry tried to speak, tried to tell him to stop, but his words were choked off by some invisible force. He ran to the edge of the hill to follow but could do nothing as Sirius began a dead sprint towards the shore of the lake. Blasts of light were coming at him in all different directions. He waved and thrashed his wand as he ran. He looked back once at Harry.
"Harry!" he shouted over his shoulder. "Run!"
A blinding green light made contact with Sirius, hitting him square in the back. Harry blinked and his guardian had disappeared. Harry shouted his name out, his heart in his throat. Anger welled up inside him, and he stormed down the hill towards the lake. He stumbled over roots and brush, losing sight of the cruel man he knew waited at the bottom. He tripped again and looked down angrily at the landscape he was struggling to walk over. To his surprise, it was not the landscape that was impeding him. Beneath his feet were not tree roots or brush, but bodies of students. Children of all ages dressed in Hogwarts robes looked to be simply sleeping as they lay still on the ground. Harry cried out in horror. He turned to flee to the shore in a dead run, but he was already there. He was on the rocky, pebbled banks ready to face the Dark Lord. Blinking in confusion he saw that the dark wizard was not there. Harry frantically cast his gaze in all directions. He had to find him. He had to end it all.
Something drew his eyes like a magnet to the water of the lake. A ripple appeared in the still waters, and his heart began to pound. Wand pointed at the lake he watched, not daring to blink. A head gently broke the surface of the water. The hood of a black cloak shadowed the face beneath it. Shoulders and a torso soon followed. Harry did not move. He felt the urge to cast a spell, but something was stopping him. The figure stood eerily still in the water for a few moments. With slow, careful footsteps, it began to walk towards him. Harry still could not move, even as two pale hands reached up to lower the hood of the cloak.
When the hood lowered, it was not the snake-like face of Voldemort, neither was it the cruel, teenaged face of Tom Riddle.
It was the face of a girl- the girl- beautiful and dripping with lake water. Familiar, dark brown eyes peered at him beneath wet lashes. As the hood fell completely, her long red hair was revealed, looking like blood falling around her.
Harry gasped as he sat up in bed. Sweat-soaked and shaky, he trudged to the bathroom to rinse his face. Looking into the mirror above the vanity, his eyes- striking green but weary- looked back at him.
Get a grip.
Drying his face with a towel, he crawled back in bed, determined to get a few more hours of rest. He rolled over onto his side, trying to keep thoughts of dark eyes and long red hair out of his mind. At least now his nightmares had some fresh content. Although, towards the end, it hadn't really been a nightmare at all. Infact, he found he wouldn't mind if the mysterious girl from the lake popped up in his dreams again.
X
Harry drummed his fingers across his desk.
It was odd to call it that- his desk- but better a professor's desk than an Auror's desk in his opinion. He had begun his curriculum outlines and was making good progress. The school had provided him with the course objectives, which he found to be reasonable but just vague enough to leave him a bit of wiggle-room.
He knew that many students returning would be nervous and possibly a bit behind due to the school being closed. But, like the Headmistress had said, despite the defeat of Voldemort, the students were looking for guidance. Even though the likelihood of hand-to-hand combat was slim, Harry wanted to make sure his students were confident and felt like they could protect themselves.
Yet another reason he hadn't joined the Aurors. Voldemort was gone, yes, but the scattered Death Eaters were still being hunted. How long would it take to find them? How many years, resources and lives would it take? And when they did- if they did- who would rise up and take their place?
The fight against the dark was never over, but he desperately needed rest from that fight.
Harry let his thoughts stray from the current piles of parchment that lay in front of him. A few days ago, he was sure that arriving early to the school had been a mistake- full of reminders and memories of what he had witnessed last year. The Day had been the hardest- painful and strange. Then of course seeing that hallucination or ghost or whatever that was- he had been so glad when that day had ended.
Harry glanced out the window at the grounds. It was a warm afternoon, and he was finding it harder and harder to resist the temptation to go back to the lake. Not to look for the girl, of course, he would just go for a nice walk and get some fresh air.
Mind made up, he pocketed his wand and left his office.
X
A few hours later, Harry's feet were beginning to protest all of his walking.
He had been walking around the rocky shore of the lake, and he hadn't caught a glimpse of anyone or anything that seemed out of place. Neither had he seen anyone going for a swim. Not that he was looking, of course, this was just for fresh air.
He found the large boulder he had sat on before and decided to sit there once again to give his feet a break. He leaned his head back against the rock and closed his eyes. The sun was pleasant on his skin, and he rolled his sleeves up to cool off. He wasn't sure how much time had passed when he felt his body jerk himself awake. He instinctively drew his wand as he did so but realized quickly he was alone. Relaxing a bit, he sighed, knowing he should head back up to the castle soon.
He tapped his wand lazily on the boulder, not wanting to go inside but starting to feel hungry for dinner. The tapping noise drew the attention of a small school of minnows in the water. He reached his wand out to the water, remembering the bizarre gold thread that had been there last time. He gave the water a gentle tap next to where the minnows swam.
No sooner had his wand made contact with the water, a head popped out of the water to his left. He was so startled he nearly fell face first into the lake.
"Bloody fu-!"
He choked off his expletive when he looked at the girl in the water. It was her- the same girl he had seen before. Once again, she looked startled to see him, and once again, he had his wand pointed directly at her. This time, he lowered his wand slowly, without looking away from her.
"Hi," he said quietly.
Was he hallucinating again? She looked real enough. Her eyes flickered down to his lowered wand.
"Sorry," he said, "You startled me."
She just stared back at him, neck deep in the water again. She was still drenched from the water, but he could see her a bit better this time. Her long red hair floated gently in the water. She had a lovely pair of lips, and a small dusting of freckles across her nose. He couldn't help a quick downward glance at her, barely able to make out an odd-looking bikini top in the water. Around her neck was a thin rope Just like last time, she looked ready to bolt at the slightest move. Harry didn't dare blink lest she disappear again.
This had to be real.
"I'm Harry, by the way."
Still, she did not move, she simply clung to the boulder, her dark eyes locked on him. Harry felt himself grow uncomfortable under her intense gaze. For a moment, he thought she might be searching him for something, almost as if she held a hint of recognition towards him. He instinctively reached up to his forehead and smoothed his hair over his scar. That mark was surely recognizable to just about anyone. He cleared his throat awkwardly as he watched another drop of water roll down the girl's face.
Wasn't she freezing? Didn't she speak? Did she need help?
"Are you alright?" He asked gently.
She only blinked at him and Harry stared right back at her.
Gods, she was pretty.
Something in the atmosphere seemed to awaken as the two locked eyes. As insane as it sounded, Harry wondered if they knew each other. Her eyes were drawing him in, and he found himself searching them for something. But no, he couldn't know her, he would have remembered... and beyond the obvious strangeness of the situation, there was something inherently off about her that he couldn't identify.
It might have been the way she was looking at him and how he couldn't seem to look away. Or the hint of recognition he thought he saw in her eyes...
He relaxed his pose a bit, trying to appear non-threatening.
"Will you tell me your name?"
The skittish girl seemed to relax as well. She didn't move from the boulder, but her shoulders were no longer stiff and her eyes seemed more wary than fearful. Harry's heart began thumping when she opened her mouth to speak to him.
But the voice that he heard was rough and deep, and directly behind him.
"Everythin' alright, Harry?"
Harry jumped and whirled around to see Hagrid standing behind him, looking at him curiously.
"Oh! Oh, yeah, I just-"
He turned back to the lake, only to see the surface smooth as glass, not a soul in sight.
Harry frowned. "Where did she go?"
"Who, Harry?"
He pointed Hagrid's gaze out to the lake.
"There was a girl out there, I saw her. She was swimming or... something."
Hagrid gave him the same confused look that Professor McGonagall had, and he sighed in frustration. A thought struck him. He had seen the head and neck of a beautiful girl in the water- and he hadn't seen her anywhere else but in the lake...
"I mean, it looked like a girl. I was sure it was at first, but-"
Hagrid put his hand up, blocking the waters reflection of the sunlight as he looked across the lake.
"Don' see anyone out there now..."
"Right. But, maybe... Hagrid, what sort of creatures are in the Lake?"
"Merlin, Harry, all kinds! Grindelows, the giant squid, though he's been awfully shy since the las battle, been worried a stray spell may have nicked a tentacle. And years back we had an infestation of double-ended newts-"
"Mermaids?" Harry interrupted.
Hagrid's brow furrow a bit. "Well, yes, them too, but-"
"It had to have been a mermaid!"
Hagrid looked at him quizzically, but his eyes were amused. The corner of his lips quirked up.
"Is tha' so, now? Tell me, were she cute?"
Harry felt his face flame but couldn't stop his stupid mouth from betraying him.
"Beautiful," he choked out in an embarrassingly pre-pubescent voice.
"Hah!" Hagrid barked out in laughter, "Then it weren't no mermaid you saw. You must have been daydreamin."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that I been working aroun' this lake a long time, Harry, and I have seen the merfolk a time or two. Skittish creatures, not many they trust. An' Dumbledore was the only one of us who speaks Mermish. I only know a word or two meself. They don' come up but maybe once year, if that. I seen 'em up close though, and unless you weren't wearin' your glasses, merfolk are nothin' even close to resemblin' beautiful. Not pleasan' at all to look at. Grey skin, yellow eyes, they can be a frightenin' sight."
"What? But I thought-"
"You're thinkin' of muggles, Harry. All those paintings and pictures of pretty girls with a fishtail. Though, I hear mermaids in the warmer waters can be nicer to look at. Never seen one, so I can' tell ya. But, wha you think you saw here in this lake? Tha ain't no Blake Lake mermaid, that's jus a muggle fantasy."
Fantasy indeed.
"Oh."
Harry couldn't hide his disappointment. If the girl had been a mermaid, it would not only have explained what he had seen but would be proof he hadn't been hallucinating or daydreaming.
"Hagrid, you haven't seen anything... odd or out of place? Around the Lake, I mean?"
Hagrid adjusted his crossbow on his back.
"No, nothin' at all. Though I've been a bit preoccupied in the forest and grounds. Tryin' to get everythin' ready for the students. Been a nightmare doin' damage control. Havent seen anythin out o' the ordinary roun' the lake though."
Harry nodded. If anyone knew a thing or two about magical creatures it was Hagrid.
But still...
Hagrid gestured towards the castle with his head.
"You comin? Almost dinner time."
"You go ahead, I'm going to stay here a bit longer."
"Aye."
Hagrid peered across the Lake again with his black eyes.
"Lemme know if you see the squid, Harry. Really hope he's okay."
"I will, I promise."
Harry watched as his enormous friend made his way back to the castle grounds. He stayed by the lake until the sun went down, occasionally prodding the water with his wand, and exploring several rock formations. Aside from finding a hidden grotto near where he had sat on the boulders earlier, he saw nothing that prevented him from heading back inside for dinner.
X
Late that night Harry found himself in the library, books scattered around him that had nothing to do with his teaching curriculum. What began as simple curiosity was rapidly turning into obsession.
He wasn't sure which was more determined to prove- that a girl was sneaking onto Hogwarts grounds for swims in the lake, or that he wasn't crazy. Over the years, Sirius had kept him well-sheltered, but he would never forget the many nights where he had strange visions and a burning scar. Those nights had certainly made him question his sanity. He wasn't about to let a pretty redhead make him lose his head now.
In front of him, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander lay open. A fairly disconcerting picture of a mermaid was on the page next the inscription.
Grey skin, long green hair, yellow eyes and teeth...*
No. Absolutely not.
He tossed the book aside and opened the next one.
Siren: A beautiful creature, usually a body of a woman with a tail of a fish, with a deadly song that calls to sailors. According to Homer, they wait in meadows to bewitch unfortunate sailors to their doom, with rotting corpses of their victims surrounding them. Some sirens are also known to have bird-like characteristics. *
No.
He turned a few pages and found a picture of another creature Hagrid had mentioned.
Grindelow: Also known as 'Pollywiggle' or 'Jarvis.' An aggressive water spirit, said to grab little children from the shores to drown them. Grindelow's are typically green in color, with long, spindly fingers and sharp horns. *
No.
It was growing later, but Harry's lack of success was fueling his feverish frustration. He reached over and grabbed the last book on the stack, flipping it open.
Selkie: In Celtic and Norse mythology, selkies are mythological beings capable of therianthropy, changing from seal to human form by shedding their skin. They are found in folktales and mythology originating from the Northern Isles of Scotland.
Harry leaned forward, letting his aching forehead rest on the hardwood table. The stack of books had gotten him nowhere, and how was he to prove that the girl existed when inexplicably he had been the only one to see her so far?
He wasn't mad. He couldn't be.
He let out a disheartening sigh, sitting up and leaning back in his chair.
What on earth had he seen?
X
X
X
X
X
TBC
*Information obtained from Harry Potter wiki and good ol' regular wikipedia.