Looking for mermaids

[Lyra Potter]

Rays of sun shined down on the sparkling water of the Hogwarts lake where a Gryffindor girl sat on a giant rock on the edge of the water. Her brown hair had an unusual auburn hue to it as the sunlight touched it. She was lounging on a blanket to keep the rock from soarching her. She was dressed in a tank top and shorts like a muggle would wear as she stared down into the depths of the water. Lyra's green eyes searched curiously. She had heard stories that said mermaids lived in the water, and well, she had never met a mermaid. Gabriel had said that he saw a mermaid there once, but she had a feeling he was teasing her to see how gullible she was. Lyra had asked around a bit and the consensus seemed to be that it was a possibility but not a certainty.

Lyra stuck a foot in the water. She wondered if she was allowed to swim in the lake. She had half a mind to dive in and look for the mermaids herself. Surely she could find them if they existed. How much trouble would she get in for jumping in the lake? Maybe she could make it look as if it was an accident? It might be worth the trouble if she got to see real live mermaids. Lyra pursed her lips, considering her options.

 

[Marcella Benivieni]

Marcella, upon entering the school, had kept her eyes and ears open for anything magical. Floating candles, moving stairs, talking hats - it was all incredibly exciting for her. She had not had time to talk to her brother, Alessio, much, but she wasn't too worried. She knew that he was capable of keeping himself out of trouble, he was much more practical and clever than she was. Flights of fancy often plucked Marcella from the Earth and took her straight to the clouds, and her easily distracted nature just made it worse. The young Ravenclaw rushed down towards the lake as soon as possible, however, when she overheard some older students mention mermaids. Marcella (obviously) had never seen a mermaid before, and couldn't think of anything more magical (except maybe a dragon, but those sounded a little scary). With bathers under a white t-shirt and knee-length skirt, the lake was her destination.

Her sandals clicked along the way, and she skidded to a stop on the rocks when she saw another girl. She vaguely recognised her, probably from classes or something, but no name was coming to her mind. Undeterred, Marcella grinned at the girl and sat beside her. "Hello!" she greeted, pulling her long hair out of her eyes, before leaning forward to peer into the clear water below them. "I'm Marcella - I heard there were mermaids here, do you know anything about them?"​

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[Lyra Potter]

Lyra turned as she heard someone else approaching. It was a girl who seemed to be her age. Lyra quickly pulled her foot out of the water in case the new girl wanted to tattle on her. However, the friendly voice put her at ease and she put her foot back in the water. The Gryffindor grinned at the girl as she introduced herself as Marcella. "I'm Lyra. Pleasure to meet you." she said happily. "Actually, that's what I am looking for. My Uncle Gabriel said there were mermaids here but I'm not sure if he was messing with me or not. I think if I just dive into the water I can find out. What do you think?" Lyra asked the other girl curiously.

 

[Georgina de Lacey]

One of the things Georgina had learned pretty quickly at Hogwarts was that when things were slow, they were really slow. She found herself without a lot of the home comforts she would use to pass the time. A lack of electricity was something Georgina had not taken kindly too in her first few days at Hogwarts but she was coming around slowly to the idea of living in the past. With nothing much to do Georgina had taken to exploring the castle and the grounds, she found that one of her favourite places to go in the grounds was the lake. It was a beautiful sight and quite peaceful. Lately however Georgina had heard rumours that the lake was inhabited by Mermaids. A few months ago she would have schofed at such a thing but she didn't know what to believe anymore. Perhaps it was possible, it was also possible it was just idle gossip spreading around the first years who didn't know any better.

Georgina decided that she wanted to go out and see for herself. So on a particularly boring day the young Slytherin made her way out of the castle on over to the lake. She made her way to her favourite part of the lake only to find that two students had beaten her too it. It was two girls and to look at them Georgina would judge then to be first years. If she paid attention in classes she would probably recognise them. "Did I hear something about Mermaids?" She asked approaching the two.

 

[Marcella Benivieni]

Marcella looked back at the girl - now known to be Lyra - with her eyes full f wonder. Being a muggle-born, she had no uncles to whisper all the fantastic sights she could see. She and Alessio were the first here, and she felt that it was their job to figure out all of this stuff so that they could be those cool siblings to tell all the secrets of the school to their younger family members. She looked nice, trustworthy, and so Marcella was immediately happy to find that perhaps there were mermaids here, and she wasn't just the only one falling for some kind of joke or something. So many amazing things had happened after these few months - absolutely anything was possible, she was sure of it.

"I think that's the best idea," Marcella whispered, as if someone was going to pop up out of no-where if she spoke too loudly. "I'm wearing my bathers under my skirt and shirt - I was planning on sneaking in for a little peak. I love swimming! And the thought of finding mermaids?" She squeaked with delight, before falling silent as another voice was heard. She turned, and was met with another girl, vaguely familiar but no name formed in the Ravenclaw's mind. "You sure did! I'm Marcella."​

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[Georgina de Lacey]

Georgina looked between the two girls and then back to the lake in front of her. She thought she had a handle on what it was they were planning and she liked it. "If you guys are going in the lake in search of mermaids, you can count me in," Georgina smiled, she had decided recently that she was going to make an effort to come across as friendly and approachable. She had had a bad first week when it came to meeting people so she wanted to make some friends in an attempt to block out those memories. "I'm Georgina by the way, Slytherin I hear that's the bad house but I don't know much about that," That wasn't wholely true, she had seen some of the vile creatures that Slytherin had to offer and was not surprised that it was the house with the worst reputation. Georgina liked the look of the two girls in front of her, they both seemed friendly and unlikely to punch her in the face. That was a comforting thought.

 

[Lyra Potter]

Lyra immediately liked Marcella. She believed in the mermaids and even thought it was a good idea to jump in the lake to look. She had a feeling she would get along excellently with the other girl. "I was just going to jump in with my shorts and tank top. I don't mind if they get wet. I didn't bring my suit with me. Swimming is so much fun and we might even find mermaids!" Lyra gushed excitedly. She stood up, getting ready to jump in when another girl approached them.

Marcella answered the question and introduced herself. "I'm Lyra and you are welcome to join us." She said with a friendly smile. Lyra thought she had found her type of people when the other girl, Georgina, said she would jump in with them. "I'm in Gryffindor just like my parents." she said proudly. "Grandpa says there isn't anything wrong with Slytherin." she said, thinking Grandpa Harry would be the one to know such things.

 

[Marcella Benivieni]

Marcella grinned at Lyra as she stood, and follow suit. She would have offered to give her a suit (as she had about a million of them, seeing as she packed her entire wardrobe), but running all the way up to Ravenclaw Tower and back again sounded like a good way to kill herself from exhaustion. Besides, they needed to find mermaids, it probably didn't matter whether bathers were worn of not - as long as swimming was possible! The young Ravenclaw frowned, however, as Georgina introduced herself a Slytherin. She didn't know anything about the houses, and had yet to have trouble with any of them. Her only issue with Ravenclaw was that it was like, a million floors from the ground and forced her to answer a riddle to get in every day. It was kind of a nightmare, but she was willing to accept the challenge.

She was glad that Lyra seemed to have some worthy facts - Marcella always believed her grandfather's wise words, and so no reason to doubt Lyra's own grandfather's. "See Georgina? It doesn't matter where you are as long as you know where you're going - that's what my Nonno always says. Just because you've got the green robes doesn't mean you've got a green heart!" She then slipped out of her skirt and took her shirt off, her frilly bathers wiggling in the wind. "I say we count to three, and jump!" If they all did it together, it seemed less bad.​

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[Georgina de Lacey]

Georgina smiled as the two girls reassured her that her house didn't matter. It was the first time in a while she had been around genuinely nice people. As Lyra introduced herself she thought she had heard the name before, maybe it would come back to her. Marcella seemed to ramble a little bit, Georgina didn't understasnd all of what she said but the general principle of it was friendly and encouraging so she liked her for it. "Well I don't know about where I came from, but I'm going to the bottom of the lake to find some mermaids," Georgina grinned and followed Marcella's lead in undressing. Though unlike Marcella she did not have a swimsuit underneath her clothes but Georgina had never had any confidence issues and being in the pressence of two people who were accepting her she felt no reason to be self consicious. She stripped down to her underwear and was ready to jump in when Marcella suggested a count down, "One, two, three, got it, whenever your ready,"

 

[Lyra Potter]

Lyra nodded her head with a wicked grin on her face. She liked these girls and their willingness to explore. "I like the way you think." she said cheerfully. When she saw Georgina strip down to her underwear, Lyra decided to toss her shirt to the side, wearing her sports bra instead. It was usually a pointless bit of clothing but she was glad she had it on today. The Gryffindor decided she would leave on the shorts since they were more like briefs. She had followed her mother's influence when dressing, and Kiera was an athlete at heart. Kiera was a tiny creature, and Lyra had the same frame as her mother. She only hoped she would be a few inches taller. "Okay. Ready?" Lyra asked. She no longer cared if she would get in trouble for this. It was definitely worth it. "One...Two....Three!!" she shouted before plunging straight in the water.

 

[Marcella Benivieni]

Marcella's grin was immoveable as the girl's seemed ready to jump into the lake with her. Everything was better when there was group participation, in her opinion. With both girl's ready to jump into the lake, Marcella grabbed their hands as he foot poked the top of the water. It feels a little chilly, but the Ravenclaw had already commited. Kicking off her sandals, she flicked her head to brush her hair out of here eyes, and counted along with Lyra. "Yeah!" She leapt into the water screaming, and sank right now. Releasing her hold of the girls, she pulled her head back above the rippling water, and brushed her hair out of her face. Laughing and trying not to swallow water, she wiggled around and repositioned herself so she could find the girls again.

Still giggling, she swam closer to the girls. "Okay, does anyone have any ideas on where they'd be?" She looked down at her paddling feet and the rocks. "Maybe there's a cave or something?"​

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[Georgina de Lacey]

Georgina was all ready to jump in when Lyra decided that she was going to shed her clothes too. She was glad to see her being equally as gutsy. When the three of them were ready the all took hold of each others hands. Georgina joined in with the other two girls as they were counting down and on three she closed her eyes and jumped into the lake. The water was ice cold and it took all of her energy not to scream as she crashed into the water. Once she got her bearing she swam back up to the surface and popped her head out of the water and regrouped with the other girls. It was then that Marcella asked where the mermaids might be found. "We could just head for the bottom and have a look around, there must be somehing down there, a cave or something like you said, lets go," Georgina divded back into the water kicking her legs up to propell herself deeper into the lake hoping that the other two were right behind her.

 

[Lyra Potter]

Lyra squealed as she surfaced. The water was freezing despite the warm weather they were having these days. She looked around for her new friends, swimming together to meet. The Gryffindor nodded her head. "Yeah, a cave or a cove sounds like a reasonable place to start looking." she agreed. Gabriel hadn't said anything about where the mermaids actually lived. Georgina suggested they swim to the bottom of the lake. Before Lyra could point out that it was probably too deep for them to make it to the bottom, the Slytherin girl dove under the water. The gutsy move earned Lyra's affection and she paused only a moment to shrug at Marcella. "Let's go then!" she said excitedly, plunging under the water.

Lyra followed Georgina down, trying to look around in the murky water. She really wished she knew more magic. There had to be a spell that would help them out with finding the mermaids. Unfortunately, the lake was just as deep as Lyra feared. There was no way they would be able to make it to the bottom. She couldn't even see the bottom. The Gryffindor felt the burning in her lungs and knew she needed air. She surfaced once more. "Okay, so I don't think going to the bottom is an option. Does anyone see a cave?" Lyra asked, wondering if they saw something she didn't. "Oh, and keep an eye out for the giant squid. Gabriel said it lives in here too." she told the girls. She didn't know if the squid was friendly or not.

 

[Jezebel di Angelo]

Jezebel had decided upon taking a walk outside the Hogwarts castle, as the Gryffindor was in desperate need to clear her head, and desiring to breathe in crisp air. She was frankly missing her mum and aunt, and she'd hadn't really made any good friends yet. The library was lovely, but even for the religiouslyavid book reader, it couldn't take her mind away from how lonely she was feeling.

Jezebel sighed heavily, she'd be pretty much stuck here for the next seven years. Once she'd been bouncing off the walls at the prospects of attending the magic school, but she was definitely having her doubts about it now. She trodded further away from the castle and towards the lake, her hands fidgeting about. She dropped her robes on the ground and loosened her tie.

F*** these stupid uniforms! I'm getting so hot. she thought angrily as she kicked a stone off into the lake. After a moment, she heard voices, and on further inspection, she spotted a what appeared to be a girl diving into the lake. She waited and watched as a different head popped up from the water, and then the first came back up. There were at least two, maybe even more.

A splendid idea. Apparently I'm not the only one sick of getting baked.
She swiftly removed her tie, determined to swim out into the lake for herself, and tied her hair up with it. Probably wouldn't stay for long, but Jezebel wasn't thinking of that, and she ran towards the water, jumping high, and landing in the lake with a grand splash. Well, the heat was no longer a problem, as the lake was quite cool. Jezebel chuckled and swam forward with long furious strokes. As an experienced swimmer, it was only a few moments, and she had swam out to where the girls were.

"Oi, I hope I'm not bothering y'all, but I just came out here to cool down. She announced in her boisterous voice.

 

[Marcella Benivieni]

Marcella nodded at Georgina's decision, though she wasn't sure if she could hold her breath that long. She was an acceptable swimmer, but no better than that. She nodded firmly at Lyra and took a loud, deep breath, before throwing herself under the water and as far to the bottom as she could manage. The water was harder to see in that she first realised, and the sudden urge to have brought her goggles was strong, but it was too late for that. Coughing a little when she finally resurfaced, she wiped her eyes and shook her head at Lyra. She took the time to removed a coloured band from her wrist and tie back her hair, which was getting all over the place. She hadn't seen a thing down there, but maybe Georgina would have more luck.

"A giant squid?" she asked, wide-eyed at Lyra. "I hope it's friendly. I haven't seen any caves, either." She was panting a little, not being the greatest swimmer, but after a moment of deep breathes, she was comfortable again. Her head bobbed a little, and she was about to go back down when a splash and ripple disturbed her concentration. She coughed a little, swallowing some water, but turned around to so another girl.

"Hi!" she greeted, wiping her dripping face. "I'm Marcella - this is Lyra." He head nudged to the direction of Lyra. "And Georgina's here somewhere - we're looking for mermaids! You want to help us?" The more the merrier!​

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[Georgina de Lacey]

Georgina was the last one to come up for air and that extra time she spend underwater took its toll on her lungs. She coughed and choked heavily once she was at the surface and looked around for her new friends who had now been joined by a new girl. It seemed the first year girls weren't shy about getting their kit off for a dip in the lake. "No way, I couldn't see anything down there, couldn't get deep enough there must be some spell or something we can use to breath underwater otherwise what's the point?" She asked her group still struggling to fully get her breath back. She then turned to the new girl who had jumped in after them. "Hi, I'm Georgina, we are currently, and rather unsuccessfully, looking for mermaids, they however seem to have an advantage over us, we can't breath down there," Georgina stopped talking while she thought about other ways they could go about their quest.

 

[Silus Hollister]

Oops, wrong character... Pleas ignore me...

 

[Jezebel di Angelo]

Jezebel grinned as one of the girls greeted her warmly and told her they were searching for Mermaids. At first, she perceived the girl was simply pulling her leg, but she seemed quite serious. It was nice to be a part of something for a change, and this was far more interesting than being all alone in the castle. "I'm Jezebel. Thanks for the invite, I'll definitely join you!" She said cheerfully. She swam even closer and glanced around quickly, looking for the third girl. "Mermaids? They live out here? She asked with a playful smirk.

It seemed a bit preposterous, but Jezebel had experienced the un-believable here.

 

[Lyra Potter]

Lyra grinned at Marcella as she heard the giant squid comment. "Well that's what Gabriel says at least. I figure he's a sixth year so he should know unless he's teasing me." she said cheerfully. She knew it was a little odd to have an uncle so close to her age. She treaded water, trying to keep her bobbing head above the water as another girl swam out to them. She nodded as Marcella spoke, agreeing with everything she said. Georgina came up about the same time without much luck. "Nice to meet you, Jezebel. We've all heard the rumors about the mermaids so we are trying to find out." she answered in a friendly tone. The more the merrier in Lyra's opinion.

"I'm sure there's a spell but we are too young to know it. I don't really want to wait six years to find the mermaids." Lyra said, impatiently. Patience had never been virtue she learned. Her green eyes scanned the area. "Any ideas?" she asked her new friends.