There were a few scattered students around the Entrance Hall, but none gave any indication of having seen or heard anything, so I exhaled in relief and stepped out of the broom cupboard with James.
We didn't do anything beside snog, but I still felt a bit like a criminal when we traisped back into the Great Hall as if nothing happened.
We ended up joining the rest of the S4 at the Slytherin table. I didn't know what the context of the conversation was but Wyatt was shaking his head "no," while Isaiah and Elijah were nodding their heads "yes."
"—the beard... You understand?" Wyatt was saying.
"It's not about the beard but rather, how in the Hells you managed to cross that age line, even temporarily," Isaiah seemingly reiterated.
"Beard? What beard?" I asked them all as James and I slipped into the seats in front of Elijah and Isaiah with Wyatt next to us.
"Wyatt here somehow managed to cross the age line, but got thrown out instantaneously, and then, magically grew a long white beard," Isaiah explained, his hand extended out at Wyatt.
"I looked like Professor Dumbledore. It was wicked," Wyatt said, laughing about it.
I immediately remembered Fred and George with their white beards in the Infirmary earlier. I also recalled that conversation I had with them about Wyatt, but I decided not to press on about it. Maybe Wyatt did not want anyone finding out that he had been getting potions from the Weasleys.
"Mate grew seven decades and still thinks he's proper dishy," Elijah inserted, snickering.
"I did make quite a handsome old fellow," Wyatt mused.
"We had to force him to go to the infirmary," Isaiah added.
"I wish I could have seen that," I said, crestfallen.
"So do I," James said, a bright smile on his face.
"You know, I have to wonder," I began abruptly. The guys just all turned to look at me. "When did you two make up?" I asked pointing at Wyatt and Elijah with my index and my pinky.
Elijah simply raised an eyebrow at me while Wyatt stared at me in confusion.
"What are you talking about?" Wyatt said, seeming genuinely confused.
"I — you two were fighting just a few days ago—"
"That wasn't fighting, Blackwood," Elijah interrupted pompously. "Men can have disagreements without it being considered a fight."
"That was a fight, though," I deadpanned.
"If I hadn't avoided him, there would have been a fight. But I avoided him, hence, no fighting occurred," Elijah clarified.
"So, you're not upset with Wyatt anymore?" I asked, ignoring his twisted logic about fighting.
"Yeah. Wyatt's my brother. We're good," Elijah said.
"How did you even forgive him so quickly? What happened?" I found myself asking more questions, curiousity getting the best of me.
"You think too much, Blackwood. I'm just a man. I woke up one day and realized I didn't care anymore. Not that complicated," Elijah said with a shrug.
"Okay..."
"Hello, Maeve. Would you mind if I sat with you. I'd love to meet your friends," a soft voice uttered next to me. I nearly jumped in my seat as the figure of my cousin, Rose-Marie, appeared.
Her skin was just as deep almond as before, and her black braids still ornamented with silver beads and clips. I scooted closer to James to give her some space to sit next to me.
"And who might that be?" Elijah asked, eyeing Rose-Marie with great interest. There was a gentle smirk forming on his lips.
My cousin wore her Beauxbatons uniform, so they could obviously tell she wasn't a Hogwarts student.
"That's my cousin, Rose-Marie," I introduced. "Rose-Marie, that's Elijah, Isaiah, Wyatt and... James." I lastly pointed at my boyfriend.
"It's nice to meet you all," Rose-Marie said, smiling brightly.
"You never told me you had a cousin that went to Beauxbatons," Elijah said, still looking intently at Rose-Marie. "Nor did you mention that she had such an adorable accent."
Frankly, I hadn't really noticed Rose's accent before, but now that Elijah mentioned it, she did have a Parisian-British accent when she spoke English.
"Is that one Elijah?" Rose asked me, looking a little flustered about his comment.
"Yeah, don't mind him. He's a bit of a tosser," I said with a dismissive wave.
Elijah looked offended at that but said smoothly to Rose-Marie, "Don't listen to her, doll. How about you get to know me first?"
My eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. "Hands off, you absolute weapon. That's my cousin!"
"I can assure you, I am a proper gentleman, Rose-Marie," Elijah insisted. When my eyes landed on Rose, she had a hand covering her mouth and a delighted look in her eyes. I tried really hard not to gag.
"Alright, Elijah. Keep the courting off the dinner table. Some of us are trying to enjoy our evening," James interjected.
Elijah retreated, but still kept his gaze on Rose-Marie, as if, if he kept his eyes on her long enough, she would fall in love with him.
"How did you all meet Maeve? You all look a little older than her..." Rose-Marie noted. Her eyebrow was perked up as she observed the S4 around the table.
"We're sixth-years," Isaiah answered.
"And we met because of Wyatt," James said, putting an arm around him. "Bloke drank one of Maeve's potions and got an absolutely horrible reaction to it."
"And naturally, Wyatt forced me to be around them because he wanted more potions," I finished. Rose-Marie laughed at the irrationality of it all.
"You're all making me sound like a blithering idiot," Wyatt whined, but there was a faint playful smirk tugging at his lips.
"Wy, you made yourself look like a blithering idiot," Elijah said, glancing at Rose, as if hoping she'd give him some kind of reaction. I frowned and pretended not to notice that because I'd rather not imagine Elijah trying to impress my cousin.
"Oh, because you're so smart," Wyatt retorted, rolling his eyes.
Elijah chuckled and said, "Well, yes. I am known as the most rational member of this group." Again, glancing at Rose.
"More like the most arrogant one," I muttered.
James didn't shy away from cackling at my remark, and so did Wyatt and Isaiah. Elijah's jaw clenched slightly, but his eyes still retained that same playful good-humour from before.
His eyes landed fully on me, and he said, "Arrogant as I may be at times, it is never misplaced."
"At times, he says," Isaiah interjected. We all laughed at that, even Rose.
Elijah pursed his lips to the side as if trying to think of how he could save face in front of Rose-Marie. Clearly, however, he couldn't think of anything good enough because his lips remained sealed.
"Is our little Elijah at a loss for words?" Wyatt teased. Elijah rolled his eyes but didn't comment.
"He's trying to stay humble, to prove a point," I observed. Elijah's smirk turned into a grin.
"Believe me, Rose, I am the humblest of humble men," Elijah said to my cousin. She giggled in her hand.
"I believe you," she said, though she clearly did not.
We had now reached a point where every student from Hogwarts, Durmstrang, and Beauxbatons had arrived in the Great Hall. The anticipation in the air was so great, even the professors and headmasters shared the same excitement as the students.
It was finally time to pick a champion.
At last, Dumbledore waved his wand and all the candles in the Great Hall extinguished, except for the ones inside the carved pumpkins. It was semidark, allowing the Goblet of Fire to shine unmistakably bright at the center of the Hall. Bluey white flames danced so brightly inside the cup, it was almost painful to look at.
It was only a matter of time...
Suddenly, the flames turned red and something shot out of it. A charred piece of parchment. Everybody gasped.
Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and read it at arm's length under the now blue-white light of the flames.
"The champion for Durmstrang...is Viktor Krum."
A hurricane of cheers and applause erupted just as Wyatt cried out, "YES! VIKTOR! YES!" and clapped especially loudly.
Elijah laughed at Wyatt's enthusiasm and said, "Wow. You really are in love with Viktor, aren't you, Wyatt?"
Wyatt rolled his eyes but didn't comment. Instead he just hooted and kept cheering for Viktor who was disappearing in a doorway behind the staff table.
When the applause finally died down, as if on cue, the flames turned red and shot out a second piece of parchment.
"The champion for Beauxbatons..."
Rose-Marie drew in her breath and glanced at the Ravenclaw table where most of the other Beauxbatons students were sitting.
"Fleur Delacour!"
Rose-Marie's face lit up as a magnificent silvery-blonde-haired slim girl basically glided to her feet and gracefully stepped up to the front. She disappeared behind the same doorway that Krum had.
"Do you know her?" I asked my cousin. Rose smirked ever so slightly.
"Know is a bit of an understatement," Rose mused.
"So, you're friends with her?" I pried.
"Something like that."
Before I could even ask her what she meant by that, the Goblet of Fire shot out the last piece of parchment. It was time for Hogwarts' champion to be announced.
"The Hogwarts champion is... Cedric Diggory."
The Hufflepuff table immediately roared into cheers. Every Hufflepuff student stood up on their feet, stomping, screaming and being so rambunctious for so long that it took a while before Dumbledore could address the crowd again.
"It should have been me," Wyatt groaned, slumping his head on his arm over the table.
"Excellent! Well, we now have our three champions..."
As Dumbledore rambled on, my eyes landed on the Goblet of Fire. It did not appear to be over yet. Something seemed to be brewing inside it— it turned red, interrupting Dumbledore in his speech, and spitting out another piece of parchment.
Dumbledore caught the parchment in his hand, and stared at the name inscripted on it. Everybody looked up at him, curious, confused, waiting for his next words—
"Harry Potter."
Everybody was stunned. Even Harry Potter as he sat numbly at the Gryffindor table, looking like he didn't quite understand what was happening at the moment. Everyone stared at him. Most stares were puzzled, but many were angry, outraged, envious—
"Harry Potter! Harry, up here if you please!" Dumbledore called again.
Seemingly urged by Hermione's push, Harry awkwardly got to his feet and stumbled to the front.
As soon as he was gone behind the doorway, Dumbledore dismissed everyone to their dormitories, and the Hall buzzed with chatter.
"That punk!" Wyatt whined as we started getting up from our seats. "How did he get through the age line?!"
"I'm not sure that he put his name in..." I said quietly. James peered over at me curiously. "I mean, did you see his face? He was so shocked. So... terrified."
We managed to squeeze out of the Great Hall and made our way over to the marble staircases.
"He was clearly feigning shock," Elijah remarked. "And anyway, anyone would be shocked if they were selected as champion."
"No, I agree with Maeve. That boy looked downright horrified," Rose chimed in. Elijah's lips parted to the side, but he did not comment.
"So who do you suppose put his name in if it wasn't him?" James asked, mostly to me and Rose-Marie.
"I dunno... Maybe somebody who wants him dead?" I offered uncertainly. "The death toll is quite high, isn't it?"
"It wouldn't be the first time someone wanted Harry Potter dead," Isaiah pointed out.
We were now entering the dungeons, following the crowd of Slytherins down the stairs and into the dimly lit corridors.
"Wait, Rose, what are you doing still here with us? Aren't you supposed to go back to the Ravenclaw tower?" I randomly realized.
Rose stumbled to a stop. The others and I also halted.
"No, I'm expected to sleep in the carriage outside now that the champions have been selected," Rose said. "I'll see you tomorrow, Maeve!" she added with a delighted smile and a quick wave.
"Oh — Alright, goodbye, Rose!" I called back at her as she darted back out of the dungeons.
"Does that mean Krum isn't sleeping in our dorms anymore?" Wyatt asked, downcast. We continued our stroll down the dungeon corridors.
"I suppose, we'll see..." Isaiah said with a shrug.
"I think we already see," I noted, indicating the lack of Durmstrang students around us.
"Oh, bollocks," Wyatt groaned. "First, I can't put my name in the cup, now Viktor Krum can't sleep with us in the dorms anymore."
"Why are you acting like you've just ended a longterm homo-erotic relationship with him?" Elijah said, snickering.
We finally arrived inside the common room, and sure enough, there weren't any Durmstrang students anymore. Even the study rooms were void of their belongings, James and I noted on our way to my dormitory.
"I suppose that now that the champions have been selected and the tournament has officially began, they want to make sure to keep their winning strategies a secret," I surmised, shrugging.
"That makes sense," James said simply, looking around almost furtively.
"What?" I said.
"We can use the empty study rooms again," he said with what looked like a restrained smirk. I giggled softly in my hand.
"Okay, calm down, Lancaster. I think you've had enough of me for the day," I teased, referring to our snogging in the broom cupboard just earlier today.
James stammered slightly, "No, I — I don't mean for today. I just mean, in general."
"Right, right," I said sarcastically, though there was a lot of playfulness laced in my tone. James just shook his head at me and laughed.
After a short pause, I pulled James into a short embrace, and then, bid him goodnight.
It only took a few days for the Slytherins (ahem, Malfoy) to come up with a rather clever but evil idea to mock Harry Potter. At lunch, when I entered the Great Hall, Malfoy was distributing these strange-looking badges with the words "SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY — THE REAL HOGWARTS CHAMPION" on them. Those words, when pressed on, would change into another message: "POTTER STINKS."
It seemed that the whole school had difficulty accepting Harry as the fourth champion as even members of other houses were putting on those badges. But it didn't seem like Harry was noticing any of this happening in the Great Hall as he appeared too busy lamenting his fate.
"Want one, Blackwood?" Malfoy drawled when I passed by him at the Slytherin table. "Would look a lot better than that stupid badge you've been wearing."
He was referring to the SPEW badge that Hermione had given me. I had been wearing it ever since she handed it to me a month ago.
"As if I would wear something so unfunny," I said, rolling my eyes. I paid no mind to him and just charged forward, joining James and the other S4s at the table.
My eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets when they landed on the badges that Elijah and Wyatt were wearing. I sighed in relief to see that neither James nor Isaiah were wearing the badge, but I still eyed the other two unpleasantly.
"What? Is there something on my face?" Wyatt said, immediately pampering his cheeks.
"No. I think she's making that face because of the badge you are wearing," James said.
"Oh, this beauty?" Elijah jumped in, proudly showing off the badge gleaming on his chest.
"It's awful," I said as-matter-of-factly. "And since when do you care about Cedric Diggory?"
"Anyone's better than a lousy Gryffindor," Elijah scoffed. "Much less Harry Potter. You do realize he asked for all of this, right? If he can't handle the attention, he shouldn't've put his name in the cup."
"He didn't even want to be a champion. Look at him, he's miserable," I said, pointing at Harry Potter sitting with Hermione at the Gryffindor table, looking despondent. For some reason, Ron was seated further away on the table with Dean and Seamus, but I didn't dwell on that thought much longer before going on. "Hermione told me Harry didn't put his name in. There's something else going on. Someone's trying to get him hurt."
"Well, of course, he would lie. If he admits to it, he's admitting to having broken the rules," Elijah said, shaking his head at me as if that statement were so bloody obvious.
"I'm just wearing the badge because it's funny when I press on it. Look." Wyatt proceeded to pressing on the badge, making the words POTTER STINKS appear. Wyatt chuckled at that, as if that were the funniest thing he'd ever seen.
I groaned and pressed my fingers against my temples. "I'm going to eat with Harry. Anywhere's better than here."
Without even sparing a glance at any of them, I got up from my seat and tramped to the Gryffindor table. Hermione look up at me brightly while Harry barely noticed my sudden appearance as he glumly looked down at his plate.
"I believe you," I said. Harry still didn't seem to notice me standing there, so Hermione nudged him on the arm. He looked up at me in surprise.
"Sorry?" he said.
"I believe you. I know you didn't put your name in," I said, slipping into the seat in front of them.
"Thanks. Wish everybody else agreed with you," Harry groaned.
When we got to potions class later ( I was still with Harry and Hermione), all the Slytherins were standing in front of the door, waiting for Professor Snape, and they all wore that stupid badge from earlier.
"Like them, Potter?" Malfoy said as we approached them. "And this isn't all they do — look!"
It was that same idiotic thing from earlier, with the message changing to POTTER STINKS, so I just groaned, rolling my eyes.
All the Slytherins were howling with laughter. All except for me and Tracey. However, Tracey was, unfortunately, also wearing the badge, and she was looking at me remorsefully, mouthing the words, "I'm sorry." Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode were laughing harder than anyone else.
"Oh very funny," Hermione said sarcastically. "Really witty."
I noticed Ron standing nearby with Dean and Seamus, like earlier, but he wasn't saying or doing anything to defend Harry, which was odd because I thought they were best friends.
"Want one, Granger?" Malfoy said, actually putting his hand out to give her one. She crossed her arms at him, refusing to be anywhere near that terrible badge. "I've got loads. But don't touch my hand, now. I've just washed it, you see; don't want a Mudblood sliming it up."
"Don't you dare call her that!" I reprimanded. Right at the same time, Harry pulled out his wand furiously, as if all he could see was red, and pointed it right at Malfoy's face. People all around scurried away, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire.
"Harry!" Hermione warned, looking very worried.
"Go on, then, Potter," Malfoy said, smoothly pulling out his own wand. "Moody's not here to look after you now — do it, if you've got the guts —" I barely even had time to draw in a single breath before the two of them acted at the same time.
"Furnunculus!" Harry yelled.
"Densaugeo!" Malfoy screamed.
Jets of lights shot out of their wands, hit each other midway through the air and ricocheted at strange angles — Harry's spell ended up hitting Goyle, who instantly grew boils all over his face — And Malfoy's spell ended up hitting Hermione, who immediately clutched her mouth in panic.
"Hermione!" Ron finally intervened, immediately hurrying to see if Hermione was okay.
When Ron pulled her hand away from her face, we could finally see what that spell Malfoy shot out did: Hermione's two front teeth were growing at a terrying rate, continuing even past her chin. She let out a horrified cry, and I began to storm onto Malfoy angrily.
"Why, you—" I barely even had time to lunge at him before Snape arrived, looking displeased at the scene.
"And what is all this noise about?" he uttered softly in his usual deadpanned voice.
The Slytherins spoke all at once, giving a chaotic unintelligible explanation, so Snape pointed a long finger at Malfoy and said, "Explain."
"Potter attacked me, sir —"
"We attacked each other at the same time!" Harry shouted.
"— and he hit Goyle — look —" Malfoy went on.
Snape examined Goyle's puss-popping face.
"Hospital wing, Goyle," Snape said calmly. Goyle, dumbfounded trudged off.
"Malfoy got Hermione!" Ron said. "Look!"
"I see no difference," Snape said coldly at Hermione when Ron managed to pry her hands away again to show her extremely long front teeth. Pansy and Millicent were giggling and pointing at the scene. It took everything in me not to attack them right then and there.
Eyes filled with tears, Hermione turned on her heel and ran away, weeping. Without thinking, I went after her, rushing past some Gryffindors on the way.
"Hermione!" I called out to her as we both ran down another corridor. We even passed Goyle along the way. Hermione kept her pace towards the Infirmary, and I lagged not too far behind.
Finally, we'd arrived. Madam Pomfrey was tending to another student when Hermione entered in tears.
"Dear, dear, have a seat," the matron indicated to a chair nearby. "What happened to you?"
But Hermione's teeth were too large for her to be able to speak properly, and they were continuing to grow even past her waist, curving forward as they did.
"She got jinxed by Malfoy," I said. Madam Pomfrey noticed me and shook her head at me.
"You, again, Miss Blackwood," she said. "Why is it that you or your friends always find yourselves in here, hmm?"
"I dunno, but please, they're still growing—" I said, gesturing at Hermione's teeth. Hermione whimpered miserably.
Madam Pomfrey immediately acquiesed, bringing her wand out to Hermione's face. She cast a spell I wasn't familiar with and Hermione's teeth stopped growing. Then, Madam Pomfrey cast another spell, and Hermione's teeth were shrinking at last.
"Let me know when they have gone back to their natural size, dear," the matron said when Hermione's front teeth had shrunk past her chin. Hermione nodded slowly and the spell that Pomfrey had casted, slowed down as well. At that point, Hermione was looking at herself in a hand-held mirror that Pomfrey had given her earlier.
When her teeth had reached closer to their natural size, Hermione hummed happily. The matron stopped the spell and Hermione investigated her teeth in the mirror. They were a lot straighter than before. Apparently, the matron's spell was meant to make all teeth straight again.
"Perhaps a bit more than this," Hermione said, almost sheepishly. The matron acquiesed, casting the spell again on Hermione's front teeth.
After reducing them again just a smidge and straightening them more perfectly, the matron asked, "Is this good, my dear?"
Hermione nodded. "Yes, thank you."
My friend's front teeth, which were naturally a bit longer than average, had now shrunk to be exactly as average. Her teeth were not necessarily crooked before, but now they were a lot straighter than they used to be. Hermione looked pleased with herself as she looked at herself in the mirror, so I didn't comment. They weren't my teeth.
"How do I look?" Hermioned asked, seemingly acknowledging me for the first time. Though, I wouldn't blame her because I'd also have trouble wanting to face or speak to anyone if my teeth were growing and shrinking out of my mouth as such.
"Better," I told her. She smiled and looked very relieved.
"I won't need braces. My parents will be so pleased. They're dentists, you know," she added. I did know. She'd mentioned it before. Dentists were muggle teeth-caterers, or something of that sentiment.
"Braces?" I repeated because that was the only word I didn't understand.
"They're a sort of gear that dentists place on your teeth to straighten them," Hermione explained. "Rather expensive, and rather uncomfortable as well."
"Oh, that's good then," I said, frankly horrified by the idea of having any type of gear on my teeth.
It was still class time, but I assumed Hermione was not very fond of running back to Professor Snape after that horrible thing he said about her and her teeth.
So, naturally, I proposed, "Why don't we go for a walk? I don't suppose you wish to go back to class? I mean, it's almost over anyway. How about some fresh air after what happened?"
"That sounds rather nice, actually," she said.
The two of us exited the Infirmary together and went out by of the courtyard nearby. There weren't any students around as they were expected to be in class, but we resumed our traipse out onto the grounds, edging the Black Lake. We walked by the shore for a while, talking about everything and nothing.
"I'm sure they'll find a way to go back to being friends again," Hermione was telling me about Ron and Harry. "But I can't help but worry about them both."
Apparently, Ron was upset with Harry for not telling him that he put his name in the cup — Although, the truth was that Harry did not put his name in, so, Ron was also upset about Harry "lying" to him.
"You know, I've come to learn that male friendships are a bit different from female friendships," I began, recalling that "fight" that Wyatt and Elijah had. "I'm not sure I understand the reasoning behind it, but it seems to me that guys will fight about something seemingly really small, and then, forgive each other on a random Thursday morning."
"And what exactly made you believe this?" Hermioned asked, perplexed.
"Wyatt and Elijah, Slytherins that I am friends with, were at odds for a week, and then, one random day, they just behaved as if it never happened. And when I asked them about it, I was told that I was overthinking it."
"I suppose... That is quite odd—"
Something splashed around the lake shore nearby. We both shifted our bodies towards the source of the sound. It seemed to be coming from behind a bush. Hermione and I gave each other a look of curiosity before proceeding forward.
Gingerly, we approached the bush, the splashing sounds behind it slowly turning into plodding sounds.
I peek over the side of the bush with Hermione by my side doing the same, and I nearly gasped.
Hermione's mouth hung open in immense shock and we both retreated behind the bush, not fully understanding what we had just witnessed. I wasn't even sure that I could properly put it into words. It was just strange.
Romeo Linares was hiding behind a bush with a fishtail attached to his body where his legs were supposed to be. The scales gleamed orange, pink, and yellow iridescent colours, and he just lay there, on the shore, his wand in hand as he stared down at his tail.
"Exaresco!" Romeo cast behind the bush. I wasn't sure, but if I remembered correctly from Malfoy using this encantation on me a year ago, this was the drying charm.
Hermione and I just stared at each other in astonishment, not daring to peak behind the bush again, but also not daring to walk away in fear of being noticed by Romeo.
There was shuffling behind, and before we could even begin to move out of the way, Romeo Linares emerged from behind the bush, fully clothed, no tail in sight.
He gaped, as if we had walked in on him at the wrong moment.
Hermione's mouth twitched open, but it was me who managed to let any words out.
"Romeo!" I said. "Erm... nice day out, isn't it? We were just — erm—"
"Just enjoying the view!" Hermione interjected. Romeo blinked, and then he slowly shook his head.
"You two saw everything, didn't you?"
Hermione and I exchanged uncertain glances. I nictated very slowly, as if, if I closed my eyes long enough, I would wake up in my bed because all of this was a dream.
But alas. This was not a dream. And the truth had to spill out eventually.
"We... did..." I finally admitted.
"We didn't mean to! We heard a bit of noise and wondered what it was..." Hermione trailed off.
"I thought students would be in class at this time," Romeo said. Then, he looked down at his watch. "Well, I suppose class is over by now — but how did you have time to get all the way over here?"
We were indeed quite far from the castle as we could see it over the horizon, on the other side of the Black Lake.
"We weren't exactly in class, this afternoon," I told him. Romeo nodded in understanding.
"I suppose you two are wondering what that was?" he said, almost cringing at the reality that we had seen him. Hermione and I nodded slowly. "Well, I... suppose there's no other way to put it... I'm a mermaid... Well, a merman. I turn into one when I get in contact with water."
"That's why you've missed all these rainy quidditch matches!" Hermione said before I could piece it together, myself. I wasn't around Ivy Law and her friend Romeo Linares to have realized any of this. Though, now that Hermione mentioned it, there was a quidditch match last year where we were all wondering why Romeo wouldn't be coming to cheer for his own team. And, of course, it was a very rainy day that day.
"Yes. I mean, I know a few spells to sort of shield myself from the rain if I happen to need to walk around in the rain, but sometimes, I'd rather not risk it."
"So... How did that...? How did that happen, exactly? I mean, were you... born that way?" I questioned uncertainly. Romeo winced.
"I wasn't born this way, no. I don't know if I'm allowed to tell you, actually. The last time I told someone, I got into a fair bit of trouble..." he said.
"Ivy Law knows, I reckon," I said because it made too much sense.
"She does, but she can't tell you too. It's sort of complicated—"
"Merlin!" I exclaimed suddenly. "I — I saw you before! With a man. By the lake. He — well, he sort of walked into the lake — and you — well, I've seen you walk into the lake every month, on every full moons, that is. I'd nearly forgotten about this!"
Romeo blanched. I'd exposed him a bit too brightly. And Hermione looked even more perplexed than ever.
"Sorry. I — I'm not explaining myself correctly," I rectified. "I was just..." But I couldn't think of anything to say that would rectify the situation.
Romeo inhale sharply, looking a little embarrassed.
"Blimey," was all he managed to say.
"What?" I said.
"I — Frankly, I thought I saw you that day with Poseidon too, but I couldn't be sure..."
"Poseidon?" I repeated. "What? Is that who that was? Poseidon?"
Romeo looked slightly more horrified as he covered his face with his hands.
"Oh, I've said too much. He's probably going to kill me — Well, not kill me, don't make that face Hermione, I'll be okay — I just mean, he won't be pleased with me—"
"I'm sorry, but what is happening right now?" Hermione asked in near exasperation.
"I don't know!" Romeo admitted. "Look, I've got some things to do before I can tell you two everything. Just... give me some time, alright? I don't really know what the procedure is."
Hermione and I were still staring at Romeo in awe, and boy massaged his temples for a moment before saying, "Okay, Blimey, fine. I'll just — Look, Poseidon is real. All those Greek Gods are real — they watch over us, make sure we're doing okay. And I'm working for Amphitrite, Goddess of the Sea, also known as Poseidon's wife — she turned me into a merman. Every month, I sort of have some missions to do, and well, we, sea creatures, are stronger during the full moon, so I've been going on every full moon. So, yeah. That's the whole story. I'm sorry. I can't say more than this. I'm not even sure I was allowed to say all of this — Blimey, I have to go back down there — You two, just, stay here, alright? I'll be back. Make sure there's no one around when I come back, okay?"
And without another word, Romeo walked back into the water of the Black Lake until he disappeared. Hermione and I just stared at the scene, utterly dumbfounded.
For a while, I thought I'd gone mad, but then, Hermione spoke, making me feel a little more sane.
"Greek Gods... I suppose that makes sense."
"Does it?"
"Well, according to wizard legend — and muggle legend, actually — Greek Gods used to interact with us all of the time. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, Greek Gods is the muggle term for them, while wizards call them Ancients."
"Oh! I know about Ancients!" I exclaimed. "They're just some silly old bedtime stories, though, aren't they?"
"Well, apparently not," Hermione said with a soft laugh, gesturing at the Black Lake where Romeo Linares the Merman had just disappeared into after rambling on about Greek Gods to us.
"Now that you mention it, Poseidon and Amphitrite... They are Ancients. Been a while since I'd heard about them, though," I admitted. "I can't believe I actually saw Poseidon. He didn't seem that grand, if I'm being honest. Frankly, he sort of looked like a muggle — because of his clothes, that is."
"Maybe Ancients have decided to live in muggle society all these years. Legends say they all vanished after a war against wizards," Hermione said.
"That's what my mother used to say! After the Great War, Ancients went on to live as muggles, not wanting to meddle with wizards anymore. We're too destructive, too greedy. Merlin, it's been too long since I'd heard the stories."
Hermione nodded in understanding. She was raised by muggles, so I presumed her bedtime stories regarding those dieties were quite different.
Suddenly, a ripple appeared in the water. So did Romeo's head apparently as it bobbed out of the water looking over at us.
"Er — are you two busy right about now? They sort of want to see you both."
"They? Do you mean Poseidon and Amphitrite?" I asked.
"Yes. You'll have to swim into the water where I am right now. They've opened a vessel for us here."
"A vessel?" Hermione repeated.
"Like an underwater portkey."
Hermione and I shared a bewildered look. What were we getting ourselves into?