The Girl with the Green Tail

Chapter Six: The Encounter ("Ariel's Song of Discovery")

Harry swam down to the depths of the sea. How will I ever know where the are? He asked himself. And I've only got an hour! He had no idea where he was going, or what obstacles lay in his way. But one thing he knew for certain: once the hour was up, whatever the mermaids have taken will be gone forever.

~~~

Ariel swam with urgency away from the castle's court, away from her grotto and her sisters, in pursuit of the isolated West Reef—the place where the second task was said to be. She couldn't believe it; she was going to see a human! She'd never seen a human before! As she swam, she could barely contain her excitement, and began to sing:
"Look at me swim! Far from my home!
Out to discover things all on my own!
Wouldn't you think I'm the girl,
the girl who does everything?
Watch as I go to the West Reef,
as for my dad, well, who cares what he'll think!
Seeing me now, you might think:
'Wow! She does everything!'
I discovered the snarfblat just Monday,
who said Monday's were nothing but bore!
And the dinglehopper? I found Sunday!
And what now? Here I am,
to find more..."

~~~

Harry ceased his swimming. A beautiful voice came to his ears. A voice that sounded nothing like the mermaid's screeches that came from the egg.
The sweetness of the mysterious voice took away the strangeness of the singer's words. What is a "snarfblat"? And who came up with the name "dinglehopper"?
The voice continued, this time without words, but just the beauty of the voice made Harry forget why he was even underwater.
"Ah ah ah, ah ah ahhh,
ah ah ah, ah ah, ah ah ahhh,
ah ah ah, ah ah ahhh,
ah ah ah, ah ah, ah ah ahhh, ah ah ahhh!"
Harry finally gathered his words together. "Hello?" he tried to say, but nothing came out but a few bubbles. He had even forgotten he had gills to breath underwater.
The noise seemed to startle the mysterious voice, and the singing stopped.
"Who is there??" Harry tried speaking again, but it was no use. His words were not words, but bubbles.
From about fifty feet away from him, a figure darted from a bunch of seaweed to a rock, and hid. The figure had one green leg, which Harry soon realized was a tail. The figure also had blood-red hair that was so long and bushy.
Harry swam in place, hoping the figure would return. Maybe they're friendly and could help me, Harry thought. Nah, that's the most absurd thing I've ever thought...

~~~

So this is a human.... Ariel thought to herself. He's....not much different than a merman.... Except for the lack of a tail, and he has a shirt on.
Ariel peaked out over her rock, and began to stare at the mysterious human. "I've never seen a human this close before...." she thought aloud.
The human opened his mouth, as though to speak, but only bubbles came out. Oh no... Ariel thought. I said that out loud didn't I....
Ariel began to swim away, but then remembered the second task. He needs my help...
She came out from behind the rock, and began to swim toward the human.

~~~

Harry watched in bewilderment as a girl with long red hair and a green tail began to swim towards him. She looked almost identical to the mermaid in the painting back in the Prefects' Bathroom...
He drew his wand as act of precaution, but not daring to hex the mermaid.
"Who are you?" he tried to say, but again, no words were audible.
This didn't stop the mermaid, whose swift motions brought her closer to Harry.
She swam until she was right in front of him, and said with a clear voice, "You need my help, do you not?"
Harry looked at the mermaid in confusion, then realized what she had said was true. He couldn't speak, so he had to use his "body language". He nodded his head "yes".
"You do? Alright. Follow me, the West Reef isn't far from here." She grabbed Harry's hand and dragged him along towards where the "West Reef" is. "Say, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Ariel. What's your name?"
Harry tried his best to say "Harry Potter", but his voice could not be heard, and all that came out of his mouth were bubbles.
"Oh, right. Can't speak, huh?" Ariel said.
Harry shook his head "no".
"Wait," she said, "you can speak?" Harry motioned with his hands, trying to tell her that he could speak, just not now, but Ariel knew nothing of "sign language", even though what Harry was doing was far from sign language. "Oh, nevermind. Surely, since you're human, you'll be able to speak once we go up to the surface."
Suddenly, Ariel gasped loudly, causing Harry to jump and drop his wand. He swam down to pick it up, and returned to Ariel, as she began to get excited. "The surface!" She shouted. "Oh, I've never been to the surface before! You can introduce me to all your human friends! And I can see your human school and all the human stuff I've heard about from Scuttle!"
Then, she gasped even louder, and Harry wasn't prepared for that either, for he had dropped his wand again. After picking it up, Ariel went on again as she swam, "You can tell me all about the dinglehoppers and the snarfblatz! Not that Scuttle hasn't already told me this stuff, but-"
She gasped loudly a third time, but Harry was ready, and did not have to pick up his wand again. "You can tell me what else humans have! Like what are those things on your face?"
Harry tried to say "glasses", but he couldn't speak. Ariel remembered this, and said, "Oh, right. Oh well, guess I'll just have to wait until we get to the surface!!" She seemed really excited to go to the surface.
I wonder what makes the surface such an exciting place for her, Harry thought. To Harry, the land above the sea never seemed such a special place to him. But, of course, that was because he had always lived up there. The surface was nothing but a home with the Dursleys, Potions class with Snape, fighting off dragons, and who knows what Harry would have to face next....