Sword is equal to Wand, Chapter 34 (Patreon)

The very next day after breakfast hours ended. I went straight to Professor Mcgonagall's office to see if she was free to take me to see the mermaids/help me find that chimera I previously saved.

Knocking on her door, the door swung open with a light of groan with the powerful witch raised her gaze from her paperwork to take me in. And Professor McGonagall said with a hum of thought.

"It is good to see you up bright and early Mr. Bariss, I do hope your rest was fullfilling and you aren't too stressed about these two meetings?" 

I nodded in agreement before I said helplessly. "I slept alright, and I am well rested and with a clear mind. But I cannot say, I am not nervous. I imagine you aren't going to introduce me to just any normal mermaid."

Professor Mcgonagall's lips curled into a proud smile as she said firmly. "Of course not! The Great Lake is, of itself, its own minature pocket world that expands the deeper you go into its depths. The population of sea spirit beasts is beyond count, and the mermaids which nominally rule said minature world are able to command the sea for good reason."

Then she held up a hand and said more gently. "But Mr Bariss, I am still the Vice Headmistress of Hogwarts. So give me but five minutes to finish a few letters and sign off some important paperwork that needs to be sent out before lunch."

Letting my teacher and guardian basically finish her own paperwork before she went out of her way to help me make contact with a high-quality spirit beast was entirely fair.

So I just took a seat on a nearby chair and took out a book while mentally entering the Library of Heaven's Path and made sure to flip the page in reality every couple of minutes.

Ten minutes of relative silence besides Professor McGonagall quill scratching lightly across the paper and parchment she had to review and sign off.

And finally, she cleared her throat lightly and said. "I am finished with what needs to be done currently. Mr Bariss, are you ready to go now?" 

I nodded in agreement with Professor McGonagall waving me over to follow her.

We then walked out of the castle with her, only speaking to greet other students who greeted her in turn.

And it was only as we reached the Great Lake that Professor McGonagall spoke more seriously. "Now Mr. Bariss, I will warn you now. The Great Lake has two main mermaid families that which rule the sea below us and... While working together, do have major friction between them."

"The Atargatis clan is known for their males being strong enough to fight deep sea monsters with ease. And their women are skilled with magical music and control over the water."

She cleared her throat and then continued.

"The second family, the Avalokites are known for their more subtle but powerful magics. The men are known for their ability to use water constructs in battle in large numbers, and the women are known for having minor prophetic abilities, as well as having an even stronger talent with both water and especially ice magic."

I brushed a hand across my jawline before I asked with a helpless blunt tone. "Which clan is more agreeable and even in temperament? I rather not have my spirit beast partner be a major hassle or be extremely disagreeable even if they have a powerful bloodline."

At this point, with the ability to enhance and purify bloodlines with my Golden Pages. I wasn't exactly NEEDING an extremely powerful spirit beast from the get-go.

Still Professor McGonagall hummed thoughtfully said evenly. "The first clan I mentioned is the best for you in terms of raw combat potential. Especially if in the future, you spend time in more water-rich lands or in the sea itself. But the second clan, the Avalokites, are definitely known for being more... Homely especially in their women."

She then cleared her throat and with a wave of her wand I saw a glowing cat form as a Patronus charm. And then Professor McGonagall spoke seriously into it.

"Lady Kalleli, I have beside me a talented youth looking to form a contract and if possible, one of your kin would suit him well. And his rich astral-aligned magic will be a powerful aid to your own juniors."

The patronus cat then leapt into the water to 'swim' towards the second clan with Professor McGonagall coughing a bit before she said helplessly.

"Truth be told... I do hope you can make a contract with a junior from the Avalokites, because if we desire to even speak to the Atargatis clan, I myself will need to fight one of their guards to even have the right to speak to one of their elders."

I couldn't help a wry smile as I said supportively. "I am sure that Professor McGonagall is unrivaled in Hogwarts besides the Headmaster. But actual combat merely for the right to deliver a message is a bit much indeed."

Not as troublesome as that snake tribe who tested me by having their serpents roaming the thick and tall grass we had to walk through. But still... Terrible hospitality, I tell you. At least the Goblins would offer tea and biscuits before they tried to shiv ya.

Professor McGonagall's severe expression softened before she said in agreement. "You have the right mindset Mr. Bariss, while much of the world outside of Hogwarts is one that is ruled by strength. But when meeting peers and those stronger than yourself, you need to hold yourself with respect and dignity towards others."

She then tilted her head to the side and said. "A friend once told me. Leaving a path for others and yourself. Will lead to you always having a wider road to travel."

Then, with a wave of her wand, she formed a couple of well-padded stools that dug into the soft beach ground and said. "Let us relax for a bit. I assume my old friend will take a while to reach here."

-

Across the castle grounds, and leaning into a stone wall of a large bridge. The lonely figure of Dorea Malfoy stared at her quarry, who was being protected by his teacher.

"That... Bastard Freshblood! How dare he smack my ass like I was some common harlot used to show off to his friends in his cigar lounge!" Dorea hissed as she clutched the stone railing in front of herself.

A fiery heat filled her lower stomach, a furious heat of utter 'fury' at the disdain and disregard that ignorant Freshblood had for her!

Her! The heiress of House Malfoy! A house with more than a millennium of history that spanned from the great Roman Empire to being a pillar of the continent's magical history!

It's not like he was THAT talented. He just had an unrivaled magical awakening with a bloodline untainted by powerful rituals and contracts with god's and other powerful beings!

He was... Barely better than that know-it-all Granger girl who thought memorizing some books made her the best thing in our entire year!

That heat in her stomach constricted tightly at the memory of Jake Bariss winning the first year's tournament. And only losing to the second year's actual tournament winner and someone who lived for combat. Plus, she already had a spirit beast contract.

"Stupid Bariss, why can't you just take my money and not be an utter bastard?" Dorea finally pouted as the heat went away, and she felt that typical hollow feeling that filled her life so constantly.

Living alone inside of the Malfoy manor most of her life and only having Crabb and Goyle as her... Playmates left Dorea wondering if she was ever actually going to have a single real friend in her life.

Less said about her one attempt at a minor ball to make friends with that utter bitch Potter, who called her the spawn of evil. And that she wasn't going to get killed or betrayed by speaking to someone whose very name meant 'Bad Faith'

Dorea's thought process was quickly pushed aside as she paused at the sight of... An utter trollop and an even more lewd slut of a fish rising up from the Great Lake!

"No... No, Bariss, you aren't going to?" Dorea drew off as she watched in utter horror at the realization, as she used a charm to enhance her vision that all heirs are well used to after going to Quidditch games most of their childhoods.

From the very moment that smaller mermaid rose up out of the water, Dorea knew she was her enemy! Not a mere rival like Potter, Weasley, Bones, and she even demoted Greengrass mentally at this moment from enemy to mere rival.

That mermaid was innately her enemy! She could feel it in her very blood that had started boiling at the sight of that pig-headed Bariss shaking that disgusting fish's hand!

-

The wait with Professor McGonagall for the head of the Avalokites family went on for a good while longer before I had a question that rose to mind.

"Oh Professor, I had a question that came to mind. Is it the norm for females to be the heads of these spirit beast clans by the way? The last three clan's I have seen/heard about all head female clan/general leaders?"

Professor McGonagall chuckled and said easily.

"Hmm, you are partly correct Jake. It is true that it is often matriarchs that take hand in the leadership of spirit beast clans. And often it's not because of their pure strength either."

"Most often, it's the fact that, with the heightened intelligence of spirit beasts and their communal nature, they look up to and obey the head of the motherly figure who raised them, with their very long lifespan and growth cycles."

That explanation actually helped a lot as I had read about how spirit beast races with their males being especially stronger, often defer to their older females in their clan in terms of large-scale leadership.

Then Professor McGonagall went still and said quietly. "They are here. If I say the 'tallest tower in Hogwarts history,' I need you to run, Jake." 

"I understand, Professor," I said respectfully as I already went stiff at the feeling of a dense foreign mana filling the air. Even as the dark water below roiled with heavy motions.

Then, with a soft noise, two mermaids broke the surface of the Great Lake ahead of us and began to 'walk' up the beach.

Their upper bodies were indeed nearly completely human with only the edge of their ears turning slightly scale- and fin-like as it tapered off into an edge.

But... They expected them to be wearing a top of seashells. I was instead welcomed to the sight of both the matriarch and the younger mermaid wearing a two-piece bikini that covered up their sensitive parts.

"Minerva, I am surprised you called to me for such a thing. And not simply for us to meet at the usual spot for some tea." The matriach spoke in greeting before her eye's fell upon me in turn.

But before Kalleli could speak, her daughter? Stepped forward and spoke with... An utterly captivating voice that made my cock twitch and my vision dull before I flared my magic internally to break the natural allure her voice had.

"My name is Lingsha, my chosen Jake Bariss, I have seen you in my dreams, and I have been waiting... Most impatiently to see you again." She spoke as she strode out of the water and I saw that her lower arms were covered in red scales.

And those red scales covered the rest of her lower fish body which twitched in a heavy hazy before the singular fish body and fin split in half to allow Lingsha to truly approach on the ground on unsteady feet.

I looked at Professor McGonagall with clear uncertainty but she just sighed and said with clear annoyance. "Kalleli... Why didn't you merely send a letter? How long has she confirmed her visions even?" 

To which the Matriarch Kelleli chuckled deeply with a knowing smirk as she said easily. "I have foreseen her own binding a good... Oh, a good two months ago and some change, the moment Quetezcoatel glanced at the boy and for a moment considered abducting the boy to turn him into a priest for the deity."

My face twitched at the memory of meeting Mavuika back in the Leaky Cauldron and her warning about invoking the names of gods and other powerful beings.

So I was 'that' close to getting abducted by a god who to this day ate the hearts of defeated warriors and evil criminals.

And Lingsha continued with a flush entering her cheeks.

"I saw this meeting more than a month ago, though this meeting... Wasn't how I saw it; I saw that you were swimming in the Great Lake at night with a full moon."

"And as you resonated with the stars and moon above, they were reflected around you. You then almost drowned when several powerful spirit beasts crowded around you to take advantage of the domain of stellar energy you created."

Lingsha tucked a dark brown hair behind her mermaid ear, and her blush deepened as Kellelli giggled and said knowingly. "A beautiful mermaid saves a drowning man, let alone a genius wizard at that? We all know where that leads, and within minutes you both sealed the deal, as it were."

Professor McGonagall sighed with clear exasperation, and her free hand that wasn't holding her wand patted my shoulder.

Then she spoke softly and comfortingly. "Mr Bariss, if you wish to avoid this. I will not blame you at all. Most do not like the idea of their fate being toyed with."

I shook my head as I did acknowledge the power of Fate... Especially in this world, which had many gods of fate who were invested in keeping the loom on track. I knew that I would outgrow those very gods. I would not be bound to their will for long.