When he returned to the school, there were still quite a few students in the Great Hall, eating dinner with gloomy expressions. Outside the window, a light drizzle continued to fall, and Filch was grumbling as he mopped up muddy footprints from the floor.
"Go get something to eat," Anthony said with a smile to a few students. "I hope you have a wonderful evening."
"Of course!" Angelina said cheerfully, waving toward the dining table. "It's finally my turn to make them jealous—I've been waiting all semester!"
Ian said with a furrowed brow, "I need to go back to the dormitory and hide this thing. Do you think they'll believe me if I tell them a monkey stole my three pounds?"
Cedric said kindly, "I would believe you."
…
When Anthony returned to the office corridor, he ran into Myrtle chatting with the Fat Friar. He couldn't decide which was more surprising: Myrtle appearing in the corridor before curfew or her laughing heartily.
"Good evening, Professor Anthony," the Fat Friar greeted him with a smile. "I heard you took the students to the zoo?"
"Oh, yes," Anthony stopped. "Good evening, Fat Friar. Good evening, Myrtle."
"Good evening, Professor Anthony," Myrtle said, still giggling.
Anthony smiled. "You seem to be in a good mood."
"Yes, yes," Myrtle said excitedly, floating in front of Anthony. "Those students are in big trouble! The merpeople will laugh at them for the rest of their lives!"
The Fat Friar said uneasily from the side, "No, it's not that serious, Professor… Just a few minor grammar mistakes. The merpeople know they meant no harm…"
"They—will—be—laughed—at—for—the—rest—of—their—lives," Myrtle said triumphantly. "I heard it. The merpeople were talking about how terribly wrong they were when they left."
Anthony asked in surprise, "Wait, do you speak Mermish, Myrtle?"
"What?" Myrtle said. "No, of course not. I know my voice is shrill and unpleasant, and no one wants to listen to me!" she said tearfully. "Now you're going to laugh at me too, Professor! Merpeople, merpeople—" She burst into loud sobs.
"Oh, I didn't mean it that way!" Anthony said, pulling a tissue from his pocket. His hand, holding the tissue, passed right through Myrtle's silvery, translucent arm, causing her to cry even louder.
"Myrtle, I think Professor Anthony just doesn't understand how Mermish works," the Fat Friar said.
He gave Myrtle a sympathetic look and explained to Anthony, "Mermish is a magical language specifically designed for communicating with intelligent aquatic creatures. Although it sounds very strange on land, once we enter the water, anyone can understand what the merpeople are saying. However, only those who have learned Mermish and follow its rules can speak underwater without their words turning into gurgles."
"Like Parseltongue is a magical language specifically for communicating with snakes," Anthony mused. "It doesn't sound like the noises snakes make, but snakes can understand it."
"I suppose so," the Fat Friar said. "Now, don't cry, Myrtle."
"I didn't mean to upset you, Myrtle," Anthony said. "Believe me, I've never thought your voice was unpleasant. And don't I listen to you often? We are neighbors, after all."
Myrtle sobbed, "Annoying, annoying Myrtle, making a fuss, crying over every little thing, so irritating… No one wants to be my neighbor, Professor…" She covered her face with her hands, peeking at Anthony through her fingers and asking sadly, "Are you going to move away too?"
Anthony met her gaze and smiled reassuringly. "No, I have no such plans."
"Professor Anthony isn't the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor," the Fat Friar told Myrtle. "Only Defense Against the Dark Arts professors keep moving away."
"Who is the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?" Myrtle asked.
"The one who just moved away was Professor Quirrell," the Fat Friar said. "The current Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is Professor Lockhart."
"Oh, Professor Quirrell," Myrtle said gloomily, lowering her hands. "He was a nice person, very much like me. I could hear him crying and sobbing… But Professor Lockhart is nice too." Her face slowly turned silvery-white as she glanced at Lockhart's tightly closed office door and blinked shyly. "I hope he doesn't move away."
Anthony also glanced in that direction, wondering why Lockhart hadn't joined their conversation. Based on his understanding of the office door's soundproofing, if Lockhart were behind the door, he should have heard their conversation long ago.
…
The next morning, Anthony learned from the professors about the excitement he had missed the day before.
"Everything was fine at first," Professor McGonagall said. "The merpeople surfaced, Albus exchanged a few words with the leader, and then the students spoke to the merpeople in groups of five."
"Since we were so curious, we asked Albus to translate for us," Professor Flitwick said in his high-pitched voice, spreading a large pat of butter on his toast. "The students and merpeople greeted each other, introduced themselves, and said they were pleased to meet."
"Then the rain grew heavier," Professor Sprout said, shaking her head. "One of the merpeople said, 'I really like the rain because the water level of the Black Lake rises at this time.'"
Seeing the amusement in the professors' eyes, Anthony pressed, "And then?"
Everyone at the staff table chuckled quietly, trying to restrain themselves. They told Anthony that the students didn't know what to say next, likely because they hadn't understood what the merperson was saying. The students and merpeople fell silent for a while, staring at each other as the heavy rain soaked their hair. Dumbledore walked over to help, but Miss Clearwater seemed to mistake it as a prompt and bravely replied to the merperson.
"What did she say?" Anthony asked.
"I like the rain too," Professor Burbage said, swallowing a mouthful of mashed potatoes and repeating seriously, "because when it rains, my nose turns into a trout."
Anthony held his breath. "What did the merperson say?"
"She asked Miss Clearwater to repeat it," Professor Burbage said. "Of course, this is all what Albus told us later. When he arrived, he happened to hear Miss Clearwater say, 'My noses, they are very delicious.' Mr. Weasley said, 'She means the nearby air is very ugly.'"
Anthony looked down at the house tables. Percy Weasley was sitting stiffly in his seat, with Fred and George each slinging an arm over his shoulders.
Fred said, "Tell us, Percy, what exactly did you say?"
"It must have been a brilliant joke!" George said.
"You made both the merpeople and Dumbledore laugh!" Fred said.
"Fine, I'll tell you," Percy said impatiently, shaking off their hands, his ears bright red. "I asked if I threw my brother into the lake, could they do me a favor and not rescue him?" He threw his spoon into his half-finished porridge, patted his robes, stood up, and walked away.
Fred stared after his retreating figure. "You know what, George? I really regret not continuing to learn Mermish."
"It made even Percy funny!" George said.
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