The Prophesy of S

Chapter 10

"Hey, Selene, do you have a moment?"

I looked up from my book I was reading in my favorite spot by the windows of the common room. Nerida was standing in front of me in a nervous posture. "Um, sure. Is there something you need, Nerida?"

She sat close next to me on the couch and I bookmarked my page before closing it. "It's a big favor I hope you could help me with." I nodded for her to continue. "So, as someone who has the same regards towards merpeople as I do, you were the only one I thought of to ask. You see, a few days ago I presented them with a gift to forge a good relationship between wizards and merpeople. After all, I do wish to become a liaison to the merpeople."

"You do?" I asked, surprised. "That amazing. I'm sure you'll be excellent at it."

"Thank you. But I'm afraid the position doesn't exist, yet. That's why I want to be the one to form it. I mean, if centaurs and goblins have one, then the merpeople should, too. Well, anyway, they wanted to give me something, too, and that they'd leave it in one of their underwater caves." She then started twiddling her fingers. "But the thing is, I can't swim, and something must have gotten lost in translation when I tried telling them that. Mermish can be tricky to get a grasp of."

"Okay, so how can I help?"

"I was wondering if you could do me the favor of retrieving it for me. I heard from Grace that you helped once in retrieving a family heirloom for her."

"Oh, is that all? Yeah, I'll be glad to help you."

She grinned from ear to ear. "You will? Oh, thank you so much. You have no idea how important this is. The last thing I'd want is for them to think I shunned their gift. The relationship between our kind is very delicate at the moment."

"We wouldn't want to jeopardize that. So, where is this cave?"

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Diving into the underwater cave by the boathouse was simple as what I've done when retrieving Grace's family astrolabe. It was a good thing she told me about the Bubble-Head charm to make dives easier. Though diving during the start of autumn made it uncomfortable this time. Thank Merlin for Sebastian teaching me the Hot-Air charm.

After drying off, I handed Nerida the beautiful necklace the merpeople crafted for her. I'm certainly going to be hitting the library to learn more about them and their culture. "Here you go. I found it exactly where you said the cave was."

She awed at the necklace. "I can't thank you enough, Selene. I was worried that I'd left this down there for too long and they'd see it as a disrespect."

"Well, if it's to forge a good relationship, then it's worth it. But I think I should teach you to swim next time. How else can you be a liaison to the merpeople if you can't swim?"

She smiled sheepishly. "You're quite right. Oh, isn't this marvelous? I'm going to show it to everyone—including the Ministry. Do you think I should hand deliver it or send by owl?"

"Perhaps you should speak with Professor Weasley—she is the Deputy Headmistress. She might know the best course of action to have someone at the Ministry take notice of your diplomatic accomplishment," I suggested.

"Yes, I think you're right. I can't just show up or send a letter out of the blue claiming what I've done. I should properly present them with what my actions did for the betterment of our relations with the merpeople. I'll speak with her later today. For now, I'll be heading up to the Great Hall. All the nerves and excitement made me hungry. Will you be joining me? I'm sure diving can also make one famished."