Under the Sea

Chapter Five

Harry struggled against the walls surrounding him as the boat rocked back and forth. He tried to escape one time—was that really worth putting him in what appeared to be a giant fish tank? At least it was better than before, when the only water he got was the old woman spraying his tail with her stick.

The sky darkened and the waves began to rock dangerously. Triton must have found out what happened to Harry and Ariel. But it was too late, Harry thought. Once the three of them made land, there would be nothing the King of the Sea could do. There would be no escape for Harry either.

"Severus, do row faster," the old woman told her companion. "I would rather not drink seawater for dinner."

"Well Minerva, one does row faster when one is not the only person rowing for three," Serverus snapped back.

"Do you want to be the one to explain to Dumbledore that Harry escaped because we weren't watching him?"

Harry gulped, hoping he wouldn't be noticed. He was nervous enough based on what the greasy man—Serverus—had done to Ariel. What would they do to him? Hopefully nothing too bad. Then again, that would depend on whether their definition and his definition of bad differed.

"Looks like the shore isn't too far off," Minerva said, relief evident in her voice. Just then, a loud clap of thunder struck out causing them all to jump. Despite his nervousness, Harry had to grin. These guys were toast if they caused Triton to get this mad.

Severus noticed the grin but misread it. "Typical Gryffindor, enjoying the added danger," he sneered.

"Not helping, Severus!" Minerva snapped as she waved what appeared to be a stick at the large amount of seawater that had managed to get inside the boat. To Harry's surprise, the water vanished instantly.

Harry wasn't sure why he was shocked. I mean, Triton was able to use some form of magic. Maybe it was because these two were humans and not mermaids.

The sudden feeling of land under the boat shook Harry from his thoughts and he felt himself floating up into the air.

"What's going on?" he asked, wincing as the rocking of the container made him slightly dizzy. The adults ignored him. Instead, Harry was greeted to the feeling of getting sucked through a small tube. This didn't exactly help the dizzy feeling he had been experiencing. When the feeling subsided, Harry looked around to find that he was in a small village.

I don't think we're in Denmark anymore, Harry thought as they marched through the village. The only thing impressive was the castle in the background. As they walked, Harry realized that they were heading to the castle and a sinking feeling began to grow in his stomach.

Once inside though, Harry forgot about his nerves to stare at the beauty the castle had to offer. The multiple stairs seemed to go on forever while the walls were adorned with paintings of everything under the sun. Some of them almost seemed to move.

"Hurry up Minerva," Severus whispered. "We need to get him to Albus before classes let out. If a student should see him in his current state, who knows what would happen?"

"You don't need to tell me twice, Severus," Minerva responded but proceeded to pick up her pace a tad. "Might I remind you that it does take a large amount of concentration to keep the container Mr. Potter is floating in from dropping?"

"Yes, and how well will you be able to do that should the sea of students come out and jostle us into oblivion?"

They grew quiet and Harry had time to reenter his thoughts. What was he going to do? There was no way to escape this far away from water—unless they somehow managed to reverse the transformation.

Yeah right Harry! No human is that powerful, he thought but then reminded himself that one of the humans he was with managed to make Ariel forget all about him. Triton and the girls would have no knowledge of what happened to him—unless Triton reversed that process but what could that do to Ariel?

You really need to lighten up on your thoughts! Have you seen the place you're currently in? It's kinda wicked!

His inner voice was right—this place was wicked. But the question still remained: what were they going to do with him?

There was nothing Harry could think of, unless...no they couldn't!

There was no way these guys were going to send him back to the Dursleys! They seemed too nice. Or at least Minerva did.

Right, nice. These are the same people who took you away from your home!

Maybe they found family on land and got Triton's approval to take me?

That's weak and you know it! If Triton knew about it, then they wouldn't have attacked Ariel!

Harry inwardly sighed. His argument with himself wasn't going anywhere and all it was going was making him more confused. He was getting tired of all the stair climbing. Surely magical people could find a faster form of transport?!

"What's the password this month Minerva?" Severus asked as they stood in front of a statue of a griffin. Harry looked over at him like he had two heads. Why would a statue need a password?

"Sherbert Lemon," Minerva replied and Harry stared in awe as the griffin began spinning upwards—though he groaned upon seeing more stairs. I mean, he was being carried by magic and he was getting tired of stairs! All he wanted was to be set down!

Thankfully the stairs were brief and soon they were inside a rather peculiar office. It had all sorts of devices and gizmos—or as Ariel would call them, whosits and whatsits. The wall was covered in paintings of people but Harry didn't really know who they were. It didn't matter as they were all sleeping. Wait, paintings didn't sleep! Did they?

There was also a really strange perch by the desk, as if that would be used to hold something.

"We'll be back," Minerva said, setting the container of water down on the floor in front of the perch. Severus just shot him one last glare before walking out of the room with Minerva. Harry stared after them in shock. They just left him there! Anything could happen to him!

Well to be fair, it's not like you can go anywhere. You're a merman stuck on dry land. The only water you have access to is in this container.

Sometimes, his inner voice sucked. But that was really all that was to do—unless he wanted to wake the paintings. But he didn't know how to do that—or if that was even possible. So Harry was stuck dealing with the growing feeling of boredom as the seconds turned to minutes. After about a couple of boring hours where if Harry wasn't a merman might have been fun and interesting, Severus and Minerva returned to the room in the company of a strange man.

This man had long white hair and a long white beard, with moon shaped glasses and odd clothing. He looked to be at least one hundred!

"Hello Harry," the old man knelt down next to the container. "My name is Albus Dumbledore."

"Hi Mr. Dumbledore," Harry said softly. Hey, he wasn't going to be rude—even if this guy organized his kidnapping.

"You've given us quite a scare Harry," Dumbledore continued to speak. "But we can put that in the past."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Because we're going to take you home," Dumbledore told him and Harry's stomach plummeted. He could only guess what Dumbledore meant and Harry hopped with all his might that he was wrong.