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Merri tried her best to remember which lake she had been told might possibly have mermaids. To be honest she should have just consulted the Care of Magical Creatures Professor, after all they would know best. However, Merri wasn't always the most logical sort because her curiosity often guided her, and what ever happen, well she just hoped for the best.

As she approached the lake she kicked away both of her sneakers and removed her socks then tip-toed up to the water edge. Merri eyeballed the lake much like a cat would then stuck the bottom of her foot into the water. "Eek! Why so cold?"

But there was no way a little bit of cold water was going to get in this girls way! Merri cringed and forced herself to place both feet into the water then slowly walked deeper into the lake. When the water was up to her chest she stopped, wait now what? "Hello? Mr. Mermaids? Miss Mermaids? Mrs. Mermaids?" She giggled then stopped and began again. "Can you come out and talk to me now?"

Merri worked on trying to remove one of the hands from her leg. "I think it might be a grindylow?" She giggled as the creature finally released then swam over towards Rin and clung to her this time. It made some gurgling noises then looked back at the shore.

"But I thought that they were dangerous and sometimes ate people!" She wrinkled her nose for a moment. Even if they were dangerous this little guy was strangely kind of cute.

Chase kicked off his shoes and wadded into the cold water. He flinched as the water splashed up onto his shirt and towards his face. Whatever those two were looking at better be interesting.

He huffed a bit then stopped when he saw the creature that both of the other students were observing. "A grindylow you think?" He could not remember anything about the creature and hoped that one of them would be able to explain further. It looked friendly enough, but if it were a predator creature then it could just be using that to lure them into a trap. "Maybe we should leave it alone."

"Uh-uh" Rinoa smiled weakly as she watched the creature clung to her this time. "A grindylow? I've read about them in the library but this is the first time I've seen one" she answered still her eyes looking at the rather "friendly" creature.

Rinoa looked at Chase, who was now standing next to her and Merri. Raising an index finger she she explained what she had remembered reading "Aggressive towards witches and wizards and muggles alike, the Grindylow has only ever been tamed by merpeople as pets" she paused for a moment and looked back at the creature, checking if he was still behaving himself, she added "Or at least that's what I can remember".

Merri heard the word merpeople and was instantly distracted from the task at hand. She scanned the water hopefully, believing that a merperson must have lost their pet. "Merperson where are you?"

She splashed at the water impatiently then stuck her head back under the water. "Lahhh Nahhh," she yelled and waved her hands frantically.

This caught the attention of the grindylow, and clearly upset him. The creature grabbed onto Merri's hair and pulled as hard as it could, jerking her back above the surface of the lake. Once the girl was back above the water, the grindylow began to babble and make clicking noises.

"Owwie," Merri complained while rubbing her head, "What was that for?"

Chase frowned at Rinoa's explanation. From the sounds of it, they shouldn't be messing around with this creature. "I think," he paused to watch Merri shout something under the water again. It made him anxious, she really shouldn't do that.

He gasped and reached over to pull the grindylow away when it began to attack Merri. Once he grabbed a hold of the creature, he sighed in relief, "I don't think you should do that again."

Rinoa's eyes widened as she saw the creature attacked Merri. She was about to help her out. Good thing Chase managed to grab the little creature. She sighed in relief as Merri was not hurt. She nodded to Chase's remark and added "What were you trying to do Merri?"

Merri looked back and forth between the two students, her face wearing an odd expression, "You don't know mermish?" She giggled and pulled the grindylow away from Chase and began to pat him on the head. He wasn't a bad creature she had just scared him. At least that is what she thought.

"I was trying to call a mermaid. Since mermaids keep them as pets, they would know what to do with this little guy," She looked down and smiled, "I am going to name you Tobie!" Merri hugged the creature and listened to it make clicking noises.

Chase stood there for a few minutes. His face was plastered with a look of complete disbelief. What kind of student even knew mermish? Was she certain that she was even speaking it correctly. He definitely had his doubts.
"Oh Merri, you can't name him. He can't be your pet." He tried to gently convince the young girl that she was not thinking clearly. Maybe she had swallowed some of the murky lake water while she was down there.

"Mermish?" Rinoa repeated as she raised an eyebrow. "Where'd you learn such language?" she asked getting a bit curious. Rinoa's also interested in merpeople thus, when she heard Merri's trying to communicate with them, using mermish she was quite excited. She looked at the creature whom Merri named Tobie. "Tobie, can you understand Merri?" she asked the little creature as she pointed at Merri.

The little creature grinned but Rinoa wasn't actually sure if it was a yes, no or maybe. Rinoa scratched the back of her head and looked at Chase. Chase looked kinda not convinced with Merri's ideas. "Well, Chase.. What do you think?" she asked.

Merri continued to hold the creature, rocking it back in forth in her arms as if it were a baby. "I taught myself from a book in the library," she tilted her head at Chase. He seemed upset at her behavior, but she honestly didn't know what she had done wrong. The grindylow yawned, stretched and seemed to fall asleep after a few minutes of being held. "That's a good Tobie," she cooed at the creature, "Are you sure we can't keep him, maybe in a bathroom? Nobody hardly ever uses the girl's restroom."

Chase shook his head once more, and held out his hands, indicating that Merri should hand the creature over. "I think creatures like this can be tricky. Let me take him then the both of you make your way back to the shore."

"The creature maybe friendly with us but I am not sure how the others would react if they see him" Rinoa said as she gazed over the sleepy grindylow. "Also, as what we have stated earlier, he may belong to a merperson already so it would look like you took him away from his master" she added trying to explain the situation to Merri.

Rinoa looked back at Chase and nodded. "It maybe a good idea to let Chase handle the rest, Merri."

Merri pouted, her bright blue eyes filling with tears. It was not that she didn't understand the situation, she knew that the creature needed to return to his owner, but she had almost hoped to keep him as a pet. "I am so sorry Tobie," she sniffled and held the grindylow a bit longer then reluctantly handed him over to Chase.

Not waiting to see what he had in mind, she quickly swam back to the shore and sat down on the bank. "I never had a pet or anything like that." She frowned and wiped at her face with the back of her muddy hands. It looked like today's adventure was over for now though. "Maybe I can come visit him?"