The days of hanging out at Hogwarts

"Boom..."

With a tap of Harry's wand, the transparent bubble covering his head burst crisply.

"Oh, no." Harry frowned and said in distress, "This head soaking spell is too fragile, and it definitely won't last for an hour..."

"Let's think about where to buy gillyweed." Hermione held her chin in her palms, resting her elbows on her knees, staring at Loren's fish bobber intently, "That is a very uncommon herbal medicine, and it is not available in ordinary pharmacies. You can definitely buy it.”

"Oh..." Harry's eyebrows were knotted with worry.

"How about using the summoning spell again?" Ron pulled up the empty fishhook, re-hooked it and threw it into the water. "When the second project starts, you get a set of scuba from a nearby Muggle town."

"Sounds great!" Harry joked, knowing he was talking nonsense.

"Yes, as long as you learn how to operate a scuba within an hour, and then convince the referee not to care about your violation of the confidentiality law, so as not to disqualify you from the competition, if everything goes well, you can pass the second event smoothly." Hermione said in a tone of voice He poured cold water on them gently.

"It's a joke, Hermione, don't be so serious!"

Hermione glanced at him sideways: "Speaking of which, the ideal way is to let you transform yourself into a submarine or something... But unfortunately, although the Animagus teaching class has taught some knowledge about human body transformation, But it’s not enough.”

"..."

After going round and round, things finally came back to practicing the head bubble spell and looking for gilly grass.

Harry looked dejectedly at the ever-flowing lake in the ice cave, sighed and muttered: "It would be great if the competition allowed others to help. I can violate the school rules in front of Professor Moody, and he might turn me into a shark." …”

Ron was amused and laughed twice. While he was distracted, the bait on the hook was stolen by the fish again.

He returned to the bait nonchalantly: "Speaking of which, Professor Moody has been teaching for half a year. I think he is quite good. Although he is a little weird, he is very competent. What do you think?"

Hermione was noncommittal, turned her head and exchanged glances with Loren, silently silent.

Loren stared at the dark and deep ice cave and couldn't help but recall Professor Moody's recent Defense Against the Dark Arts teachings and his actions after the start of the Goblet of Fire...

He was certain that Professor Moody still smelled of lacewings, which meant he was still taking Polyjuice Potion. Judging from what was observed during meals and at the Yule Ball, the fake Professor Moody seemed to be very familiar with Barty Crouch. The two of them were keen on talking to Snape, and they were both warm-hearted and cold-blooded. Not annoyed at all.

What on earth was Dumbledore thinking...

Loren's mind floated along with the fish float, and his mind seemed to sink into the deep lake water. The sound of gurgling bubbles and the crackling sound of ice cracking could be heard in his ears...

Um?

The crackling sound of ice breaking!

As three huge cracks spread from the ice cave to all directions, Loren's eyes suddenly widened and he pulled Hermione into his arms. Harry and Ron also clung to each other in fear.

The distance here from the shore was too far, and the ice was unstable, so a few people did not dare to run rashly for a while.

"Crack, click, click..."

Slight vibrations were transmitted from the ice along the soles of the feet into the heart, shaking people's hearts, as if huge waves were lapping on the ice, and humming and rumbling sounds came from all directions.

At a certain moment, the ice in front of him suddenly cracked and shattered into pieces.

"ah!"

"Ah-ah-well..."

The four of them stepped into the air instantly and were pulled into the water by gravity. Their screams were scattered by the waves.

There was no cold as expected, nor was there the suffocation of falling into the water.

The cold water is sucked into the lungs smoothly like air, turns around in the chest, and is exhaled through the mouth and nose again, as naturally as breathing.

Loren quickly adapted to this kind of breathing, and felt that the little witch was holding his hand tightly, even a little painful. He reached out and hugged the little witch who had her eyes closed tightly.

Shaking his limbs and floating in the water, the light around him was not dim, but rather bright.

Hermione opened her eyes and looked around in astonishment, but she only saw floating long strips of water plants, as dense as a forest. He saw countless black shadows gathered around the water plants, which were constantly shaking and could only be seen clearly. Silhouette human figure.

Harry and Ron were floating behind and above, their expressions dull, and they were dumbfounded.

The sound of the ice cracking disappeared, and the bright and blurry skylight shone down. The few people gradually calmed down and swam forward to see clearly what was floating around them.

Mermaids, each dragging a long fish tail.

Different from the mermaids they were familiar with, they looked a bit green underwater and looked scary. Their fingers were webbed, their skin was iron-gray, and their dark green hair was long and unkempt. Their eyes are yellow, their incomplete teeth are also yellow, and they wear pebbles tied with thick ropes around their necks.

Holding a spear in his hand, his thick and powerful silver fish tail slapped the lake water.

The leading mermaid has a long green beard, and wears a bracelet made of red coral stones, emitting a soft red light.

There were faint blue shadows floating in Loren's pupils. He saw a similar red light floating on the four of them. It was weak and soft. It was this soft red light that caused their bodies to undergo strange changes, allowing them to survive the cold. Breathe freely in the lake.

This is completely different from the feeling of breathing underwater under the Bubble Curse. The Bubble Curse still stores air or draws oxygen from the surrounding water, and the red coral stone directly allows their bodies to adapt to the underwater world.

Is this the magic of mermaids?

A thought suddenly flashed through Loren's mind - this is the magic power of the mermaid!

Just as the magic of the salamander allows the salamander to move freely in the flames, red coral stone adds a magical animal magic to them, allowing humans to live in the water like aquatic animals.

The leading mermaid shook his tail and turned around, waving his hand for them to follow.

The four of them looked at each other. After knowing that the mermaid had no ill intentions, they gradually calmed down. The wonderful feeling of breathing freely underwater aroused their strong curiosity. They were eager to know what the mermaid wanted to do...

They quickly reached a consensus and followed with shaking hands and feet.

Swimming in a hazy and strange scenery, there was silence in their ears. As the depth of diving increased, they gradually could only clearly see the scene within ten feet around them. Every time they paddled in the lake, there were brand-new The scenery suddenly emerged from the darkness ahead.

Occasionally, small fish swam past him lightly and nimblely, like silver darts. Once or twice, Harry seemed to see a big guy swimming in front of him, but when he looked closer, he realized that it was just a fish. A large dark wood, or a dense tangle of water plants.

There are also the weird and ferocious-looking Grindylow, the huge squid...

After climbing over an underwater canyon, Loren's eyes penetrated the gray, eerie lake water and looked at the black shadow in the distance. The lake water there was dark and hazy.

Harry glanced at the mermaid leading the way, and then secretly glanced at some of his friends, feeling a little sorry.

These mermaids must have dragged them into the water because of his status as a warrior, and the little friend was implicated by himself.

Ah, I feel a little guilty...

The silence oppressed my eardrums, and I entered the deep lake bottom. There were large tracts of black mud at the bottom, and the lake water formed dark eddies due to their stirring.

I don't know how long I swam, but I saw something new - in front of me was a patch of green water plants, each one several feet long, really like a dense lawn, scattered with shiny pebbles.

Walking through the tangled green grass, we came to a wide and flat platform.

Many rough stone dwellings suddenly appeared around. The place seemed to be a small mermaid village, with some houses dotted with algae, and some mermaid faces in the dark windows.

Mermaids appeared from all directions, looking at them curiously, pointing at their hands, feet and mouths, covering their mouths with their hands and whispering.

Behind them stands a pitch-black statue. The face of the statue has been blurred, and the surface is covered with a thick layer of mud. Shells and barnacle shells are attached to it, and there are even swaying seaweeds. However, judging from the rough shape, it is A statue of a mermaid.

There is a platform under the statue, which seems to be a village square, with a large group of mermaids floating in the center singing in unison.

The sound is ethereal and ethereal.

If Loren hadn't been watching them singing, he would have thought the songs were falling from the sky.

The mermaid wearing a red coral stone bracelet came to a few people and said in a deep and rich voice like a bass singer: "Come with me, the elder wants to see you."

"You can talk?" Ron exclaimed in surprise, "Hey, I can talk too!"

"Dumbledore would come down sometimes to chat with the elders and teach us human language." The bass-bass mermaid glanced at him with disgust and swam toward the square with its tail swaying.

"Yes, Dumbledore can speak mermaid!" Ron didn't notice his dislike at all, and said proudly, "Tsk, our principal has such a wide range of friends."

No one paid attention to him, and Loren and the others swam up to follow him, discussing at the same time.

"Elder Mermaid, could he be hundreds of years old?"

"Maybe. There is very little information about mermaids. Their living environment is too special."

"What do you think the mermaid elder is looking for for?"

Hearing Ron's question, Harry pondered for a moment, lowered his head in shame and said, "It should be because of the Goblet of Fire. I'm sorry for causing trouble for you!"

"emmm..."

No one paid any attention to him.

I walked closer to the mermaid chorus, but the singing still sounded ethereal.

The eyes of Loren and others were attracted by the conductor in front of the choir, and they couldn't help but look over. With just one glance, they knew that the conductor was the elder the mermaid said——

He is too old, anyone can notice this at first glance. His dark green hair and dark green hair are withered and shriveled, and they don't look like something soaked in water at all. His skin and scales have become wrinkled and discolored with age, and the iron gray on his upper body mixes with the silver on the fish's tail, turning into a color between gray and silver.

He directed the choir attentively, and the bass mermaid was waiting quietly beside him. Loren and the others seemed to feel some kind of silent solemnity, and they were waiting quietly beside them.

As the chorus comes to an end, the old man makes an arc from both sides to the middle, grabs the air with his hands like grabbing something, and finally closes it, ending with a powerful long high note.

He waved his hand to dismiss the team, turned to look at a few people, his smiling eyes shone slightly in the water, and he opened his mouth and uttered an old but powerful voice:

"I've kept you waiting for a long time. Merkus doesn't give me much free time every day. I must cherish it."

"Merkus is our leader." The bass mermaid explained without saying much.

No one answered for a moment. Harry glanced around and felt that he should shoulder the responsibility of communication. He took the initiative to stand up and said, "Old sir, do you have anything to do with us?"

"I'm going to die soon and I want someone to talk to."

Harry never expected this answer. He was stunned for a moment, opened his mouth, and finally failed to answer.

The old man smiled, shook his slightly trembling tail and climbed up: "It's not convenient for me to drink tea here, so I will show you the scenery of the mermaid tribe. Follow me..."

Follow him as he climbs and swims to the shoulders of the mermaid statue. The soles of his feet step on the somewhat slippery mud. From a high altitude, he can see from a distance that the stone houses in the mermaid village are scattered like whirlpools on the bottom of the lake. The windows reveal the light of various gemstones.

Looking further ahead, a large rock appeared in the turbid lake water in front, with many mermaids painted on it. They were holding spears in their hands and chasing what looked like giant squids.

"Mermaids are as complex creatures as humans."

The old man was talking to himself, his voice old and distant, as clear as if it had been washed away by the long river of time.

"We are divided into different subspecies or races based on where we live. I remember that in the early days, we were all called sirens. Later, those mermaids who lived in warm waters had a more beautiful appearance. , so we have the title of mermaid, and mermaids living in cold water, such as Selkie in Scotland and Merrow in Ireland, are not so good-looking..."

The old man trimmed his beard and showed them an indescribable smile: "When I was young, I was also a famous mermaid!"

Loren, Hermione, Harry and Ron, including the bass mermaid, did not speak, but from the looks in their eyes, none of them agreed with this point of view.

"Forget it if you don't believe it!" the old man mermaid cursed a little bit angrily, and his voice became old and distant again, "Because they live in deep water far away from the land, they can't keep up with humans, but because of the gifts of the ocean and lakes, I thought the mermaid can be free. Live a free life and multiply..."

“Sing and recite poetry, those with no musical talent can collect beautiful stones to make necklaces, make jewelry and weapons, create sculptures…

"If you really don't have any artistic talent, then you can tame little guys like Grindylow, horse-headed fish-tailed sea monsters, and Loba worms. Fishing and hunting are also good..."

Loren listened quietly, and the cold water flowed into his chest with his breathing. For some reason, even though the mermaid elder was telling a beautiful vision, he still heard some sadness in these words.

Colder and more desolate than the lake in late winter.