Chapter 64: Mermaid
"Afraid of the deep sea, are you?"
"I didn't expect the great vampire hunter, Sir Kate, to be scared," Alexander said with a smirk.
The room dimmed once again, the only illumination coming from the overhead lights—perhaps for dining purposes, a cold blue glow lit up the table. Kate focused intently on her food, pretending the eerie surroundings didn't bother her.
She knew that if she responded to Alexander's teasing or tried to cast spells in retaliation, he would only become more insufferable.
So, she decided: just eat. Let the rest wait.
Sure enough, after a few moments, Alexander stopped his antics.
"Thetis." With that whispered incantation, the surroundings shifted back to normal. Kate's strategy had worked: staying calm and composed won the day.
"What? No more games?" Kate asked, dabbing her mouth with a napkin, her tone mature and cool.
At that moment, the table sensed that the diners were no longer hungry and smoothly flattened, leaving behind only a pot of steaming black tea.
"Kate, look—the table might be using Looking Glass technology," Alexander said, changing the subject.
"The Looking Glass? That's a black magic detector shaped like a glass spinning top. If someone suspicious comes near, it lights up and spins."
Alexander gave a dry chuckle. He knew he'd walked into trouble now. Kate remained unmoved, still seething like a lioness on the hunt.
"Come on, Kate, say something. Why the sudden silence?"
"This table—and actually, all the tables we've encountered here—work like a Looking Glass. They don't rely on house-elves. They respond to the eating desires of the people around them."
Alexander noticed that although Kate was still visibly annoyed, she was listening. Her posture eased ever so slightly.
"Shall I continue?" Kate asked suddenly.
"Sure! Okay, alchemy devices like this can be hacked with magic. Wanna guess how?" Alexander said, trying to sound mysterious.
Silence.
He tried again. "Remember what I mentioned earlier?"
Still nothing.
"Then here's the big reveal: Occlumency!" Alexander grinned, flashing all eight front teeth like a young Lockhart.
Kate leapt to her feet. "You're too proud of yourself, you stinky Alexander!" she shouted, grabbing his face and tugging it like a furious cat.
But Alexander knew then: the storm had passed.
After the scuffle, Alexander introduced a new game—an imaginative RPG he created in his mind using telepathic communication and exceptional creativity. In the game, he was a priest, a healer who weakened vampires. Kate played a vampire hunter: fast, agile, dual-wielding blades—one of ice, one of flame—and cloaked in shadows.
Amid thunder and gloom, the ghost-hunter Sir Kate led the charge, blades gleaming. Alexander, radiant in golden priest robes, wielded a staff that repelled evil and even the rain.
They entered a haunted graveyard. Vampires attacked. Kate lurked in the shadows, striking silently. After countless battles and upgraded gear adorned with gems, they reached the Kingdom of the Dead—and finally, scattered flowers over their victory.
It was incredible how such a simple slasher-style game, mixed with gold-farming mechanics, had completely captivated Kate.
Thankfully, Alexander kept the in-game time synced with reality, so they didn't lose track. But virtual adventuring was still exhausting, and by nightfall, he managed to convince Kate—reluctantly—to call it quits.
Once Kate, now brooding slightly again, had finished washing up, Alexander finally got to enjoy a long, peaceful bath.
"Thetis." he intoned again.
Though his body felt submerged in warm water, everything around him transformed into an undersea paradise. Gentle, dreamlike lighting filled the space. Strange but adorable fish flitted by, plankton sparkled like stars in the darkness.
Some fish were blood-red and bat-shaped; others were crystal-clear and ribbon-like; a few had bell-sized eyes and gaping mouths.
As the Poseidon continued its descent, magical creatures—normally invisible to both Muggles and most wizards—appeared before Alexander's eyes.
Nature was truly wondrous. There were always unexpected beings—some of them magical, some the result of failed wizarding experiments.
The most famous among them: mermaids.
Through his introspection, Alexander had deduced a likely origin story. Long ago, a wizard named Poseidon tried to conquer the sea by casting a powerful group curse on his entire coastal domain. Nobles turned into half-human, half-fish; commoners became even more grotesque—yellow-eyed, iron-gray-skinned, with long, tangled green hair.
These mermaids were used as slaves. After Poseidon's death, they fled to the colder oceans—the ones avoided by the more beautiful mermaids of the tropics.
Thus, the mermaids of warm waters evolved to be lovely, while those in the cold—like Scotland's Selkies and Ireland's Merrows—were more monstrous.
Without Poseidon's control, the mermaid tribes fell into chaos. They became savage and brutal, surviving by blood and raw instinct. But over time, civilization re-emerged.
Advanced mermaid societies began constructing stone dwellings and practicing animal husbandry. They tamed creatures like Grindylows, sea-horses with monstrous heads, and even Loba Bugs—sometimes using them as weapons.
Mermaids crafted jewelry, forged weapons, sculpted art, and developed a gesture-based language for communication.
Modern wizards later discovered that mermaids also possessed their own spoken language—and even composed music.
One case in the 19th century told of a witch named Mirabella Plunkett, who fell in love with a mermaid from Loch Lomond. Her family forbade the union, so she transformed into a haddock and vanished into the depths.
So strange… how far the influence of wizardry extended—even into the deep sea.
After soaking in the underwater world for a while, Alexander recited the spell once more.
The room shimmered, returning to the familiar green-metal walls with patterned flooring. He floated out of the tub, his body dry.
After slipping into pajamas, he opened the door to the bedroom.
Windows on both sides gave a view of the endless deep sea. The room had a warm, ocean-inspired design, with blue, white, and red hues blending together like waves.
The bed resembled a Muggle waterbed. Kate was already asleep, dressed in oversized fluffy pajamas that wrapped around her like a quilt.
Seeing her so peacefully asleep, Alexander put away the long-titled book he'd been reading—"The Abilities You Didn't Know You Possessed and How to Use Them Once You Understand."
He closed his eyes. As if sensing this, the lights dimmed gently, letting the room drift into silence.
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