Vid flicked his tail lightly, slicing through the dim water like a streak of flowing light.
He found that swimming in a narrow bathtub felt completely different from gliding freely through the vast expanse of the Black Lake.
The icy current brushed past the gills at the sides of his face, bringing a cool sensation; his body felt extraordinarily light, as if he had already shaken off the pull of gravity.
As Vid gradually dove deeper, the color of the lake water darkened and the scenery grew ever blacker. Forests of weeds swayed faintly on the lakebed, while tiny bubbles rose in strings like pearls.
To the fish in the water, those inky green ribbons of algae must be like a forest of high-rises, right?
A school of small silver-glinting fish was startled by Vid's arrival; they scattered and regrouped in an instant, like a drifting nebula.
They circled around Vid and followed him for a while, then with one flick of his tail he left all the little fish far behind.
All of a sudden, Vid saw a massive shadow looming ahead, like a Giant standing upright in the water.
[The Heart of Steel slumbers in the dark place…]
This line of lyrics flashed through Vid's mind.
He approached cautiously, only to find it was nothing more than a strangely shaped rock, riddled with holes of various sizes, with a few glowing shrimp and crabs picking at it.
Vid searched all around but didn't find anything that looked like a "Heart of Steel." He swam around the rock, completely off guard, when a black shape lunged at him like lightning!
It was actually a Kappa!
Vid snapped backward at high speed, the water surging violently as the claws sliced past right in front of his eyes.
Using the momentum, he twisted his body; his strong, powerful tail slammed down hard on the Kappa, and the ugly creature was sent flying, crashing into the rock. Green blood immediately seeped out.
Vid followed up with the Stunning Spell; watching the Kappa drift with the current, mindlessly banging into the rock again and again, he frowned slightly.
A withered arm silently reached from behind, grasping toward the gently drifting fabric of his clothes.
Vid flipped his wrist, his Magic Wand tracing a graceful arc through the water—
"Bang!"
The water exploded outward; the Grindylow that had tried to ambush him was blasted into several somersaults in the water. Before it could steady itself, it dove headlong into the nearby weeds and vanished in the blink of an eye.
Vid let out a faint breath of relief.
The underwater environment was different from dry land; danger could emerge from any direction. He had to heighten his senses and double his vigilance, which took some getting used to.
But the Merperson body allowed Vid to adapt quickly to being underwater. He dampened the disturbance of the water around him, recalled where the Giant Squid usually surfaced, and swam toward that area at a slow pace.
Today, the Giant Squid hadn't floated up to bask in the sun. It was coiled in a dark crevice at the bottom of the lake, its suction-cup-covered tentacles slightly curled, its normally round eyes narrowed to slits, its soft body rising and falling in slow waves.
—Asleep?
Vid's heart stirred; he slowed his pace.
He knew that the squid's sleep never lasted long and that it was extremely alert; the slightest disturbance would wake it at once.
Although the Giant Squid was usually friendly toward Hogwarts students and would even scoop up anyone who fell in, today it was the "gatekeeping boss" of the task. Vid had no desire to gamble on the squid's temper and sense of duty.
He instinctively held his breath; the tip of his Magic Wand lit with an extremely faint glow, illuminating the surroundings a little.
Vid circled halfway around the Giant Squid and discovered that on the suction cup of one of its tentacles, a red cylinder as thick as a finger was attached.
—So this is the Red of Sunset?
Vid didn't hesitate. He gently flicked his tail and inched closer. Just as his fingertips were about to touch the cylinder, a tentacle suddenly twitched.
Vid froze at once, gripping his Magic Wand tightly, ready to cast a Spell at any moment.
The Giant Squid did not wake; it merely shifted its body slightly, and soon its breathing steadied again.
With the smallest possible movement, Vid pressed upward lightly with his fingertip.
The cylinder dropped from the suction cup, and Vid's hand shot out to catch it.
He glanced at the squinting Giant Squid, then slowly backed away. Only after he had put enough distance between them did he focus on the object in his hand.
The thing looked like a Red Ruby Pillar, slightly narrower at both ends. It felt cool and smooth in his grip, with fine Magic Text etched on its surface.
Vid had known he'd be searching for items this time, so even after Transfiguration he'd kept a brown pouch tied at his waist. He stowed the cylinder inside and continued swimming toward the deeper parts of the Black Lake.
The water temperature around him gradually dropped, and the light grew dimmer and dimmer. No telling how much time had passed when Vid suddenly heard a melodious song.
His spirits lifted; he sped up, and soon, in the direction of the singing, he saw many rough, dome-shaped stone huts, each with dark, gaping windows.
A group of Merpersons was swimming among them, silver tails beating the water, but their appearance was worlds apart from Vid's.
The Merpersons were neither slender nor beautiful; their iron-grey skin was covered in tiny scales, their dark green hair hung like rotting weeds, their eyes bulged, their fangs were sharp, their faces were half-human, half-fish, and their bodies were dried and gaunt, with ribs clearly visible.
With the corner of his eye, Vid swept a glance at the small blue fish swimming in the deep water and wondered whether the spectators who saw this scene would forever shatter their fantasies of Mermaids.
In truth, he knew from books that beautiful Mermaids did exist; they just weren't the same species as the ones in the Black Lake—the difference between them was as great as that between a Centaur and a zebra.
Mermaids were not only more beautiful, but also prouder and more dangerous. Those creatures lived in the deep sea, rarely communicating with Wizards, and certainly not joining in Wizard games as NPCs.
As soon as Vid drew near, the Merpersons noticed him. They didn't rush out to attack; instead, they swiftly darted into their stone huts.
A few Merperson children, curious about how different Vid looked from them, swam over, only to be yanked back at once by their parents.
Through the windows, pairs of yellow eyes stared at him, wary and on guard. Wherever Vid swam, those gazes followed.
It was obvious that the creature his current appearance represented didn't have the best relationship with the Merperson Tribe. Although Vid received no aid, he was at least grateful that they hadn't driven him away.
He swam above the stone huts, circling for a while, then his gaze sharpened slightly—
On the outer walls of some huts hung old Bronze disks. Because they looked so much like round windows, Vid hadn't realized at first glance that they were exactly what he was searching for.
He quickly swam over and plucked a Bronze disk from one of the huts. Carved around its edge was a ring of delicately rendered zodiac signs, with patches of rust on the surface and a round hole in the middle.
Vid's heart gave a little jump; he now understood what the song had really told them to find.
He tucked the disk into his pouch and looked around.
The Merpersons were hiding inside their huts, watching Vid's actions, but still neither stopping nor driving him away.
He changed direction and swam to another hut, intending to take the disk hanging there and see whether its pattern matched the one in his hand.
At that moment, several Merpersons suddenly moved; they thrust out their Long Spears, barring Vid's way.
"Each person may only take one."
One particularly ugly Merperson said in a low voice, "Champion, do not be greedy."
This time Vid wasn't planning to eliminate all his other opponents anyway. He retreated a little in accordance with their words, and the Merpersons visibly relaxed; their Long Spears also lowered.
Vid gave them a smile, waved, and, carrying his spoils, turned and swam off in another direction.
Now, only the Heart of Steel remained.
If he was right, it should be a pointer.
In the depths of the lake, he often ran into minor dangers: tangling weeds, jellyfish with toxins, ambushing Grindylows, as well as electric eels, water snakes, and catfish.
All in all, they were creatures that could cause the students some trouble, but could be handled. The truly dangerous Giant Squid and Merpersons, by contrast, were being extremely restrained.
Patiently, Vid searched for a place that could be called "the dark place." Time and again, he saw a huge shadow ahead, only to swim over and find it was a clump of weeds or a rotten log.
Suddenly, the water ahead changed—
A whirlpool was slowly turning at the lakebed, like a transparent waterspout. One end reached toward the lake's surface, while the other extended down into an even darker, deeper canyon on the lake floor.
—Was there a place in the Black Lake darker than this?
Vid paused for a moment, one hand gripping his waist pouch tightly. Then his tail lashed, and he shot straight into the vortex!