Black-and-white (Translation)

✔11. Better acquaintance

Harry was overjoyed when he was on the grounds of Hogwarts. He loved being outside in nature. Locked up, as he had been often enough in his life, he never had the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors growing up.

He walked slowly over the grass and enjoyed the fresh air. He stopped at a tree and turned to his feathery shoulder pads.

"Well, you guys go ahead, I really would like to see you both fly side by side. I bet that looks pretty beautiful." Fawkes and Hedwig glanced over at Harry for a moment before meeting the boy's request and rising in the air. They flew one lap over the heads of the two humans before turning away towards the lake. They knew their protégé would go there; after all, they did not want to lose sight of him.

Snape, meanwhile, walked beside Harry and adjusted his pace to the boy's. The professor noticed by his slow movements how weak his pupil was. But he also understood the boy that he just needed some fresh air.

In a pleasant silence they went towards the lake. When they got there, Harry stooped down to the water and started splashing in the water with both hands. After a while he turned to his teacher.

"I want to introduce you to a friend of mine. You should know him for sure."

Snape just looked at the green-eyed boy, astonished. Who, exactly, did he want to introduce him here and why should Snape know of him?

However, he did not need to stew in his reflections for long, because there was suddenly a fountain of water shooting out of the lake, revealing the giant squid.

Startled, the Potions Master took a step back. He did, indeed, know about it, but since when was the squid friends with anyone? As far as the teacher knew, most students were afraid of the 'sea monster,' as they called it.

Harry, on the other hand, stalked up to the squid fearlessly and stroked it. whereupon the Kraken actually put a tentacle around his waist as if he wanted to hug him.

"Hello, Robin, it's good to see you. May I introduce you to Professor Snape? Professor Snape, this is Robin." In response to this, the squid, Robin, handed him a tentacle, which the confused teacher seized and shook after a few moments.

If someone had told him two days ago that he was going to shake hands with a squid, he would have taken him to St. Mangos.

After releasing the tentacle, he turned to Harry, who was still in the 'hug', glaring at him.

"'Robin'?"

"Yes, he tends to steal things from older creatures and pass it on to younger ones. That's why I gave him the name." The boy said and scratched his friend behind the ... ears, ear holes, whatever Krakens had.

"Since when are you friends with ... Robin?" As far as Snape remembered, he had never seen Harry at the lake, at least not until the second task in the Triwizard Tournament.

"Since last year, after I found out what the second task was. I had to learn to swim, and Robin taught me."

The fact that the boy could not swim did not really surprise Snape. After all, from what he had already heard about the boy's relatives, it was not surprising that Harry could not swim. But that a sea creature acted as a swimming instructor was new to the Potions Master. However, that was just one more proof that his student was more likely to become a white vampire than an avenging angel. He watched Harry, who played with Robin for a while, when the surface of the water rippled again and this time three merpeople rose from the waves.

The potions master watched speechlessly as Harry approached them without any shyness, but what almost derailed his features was the scene that now unfolding in front of him. Harry formed a thumb and index finger O, keeping it level and running his fingertips over his breastbone*. One of the Aquarians also performed this gesture, and Snape could only see how suddenly all three of the Watermen and his student were talking like this.