"Unfortunately English doesn't work that way,"  Leopold answered.  "One of the many problems with English is that it borrows words from other languages.  Those words sometimes sound like other words in English but the spelling is different.  Sometimes the spelling it the same but the way you say the word is different.  An example of the first kind of words would 'two' the number and 'too', meaning also.  The second kind would be 'lead', the base metal and 'lead' which means to go ahead so that others can follow.  When you add in words that are the same spelling and sound the same but mean different things, it's a wonder anyone can understand English at all."

Leopold sipped his tea and looked at Heliotrope over the rim of his cup.  Calling the body a shell showed a very sophisticated concept of self.  The merfolk certainly were a fascinating people.  A breed apart, but fascinating nonetheless.   "Death is part of life, Miss LeJean.  Some call it the last great mystery because no one really knows what is beyond it.  Even the ghosts don't know.  It is something we must all face eventually.  Hopefully not for many years.  When my time comes, I hope some one is thoughtful enough to bury me so the fish don't start nibbling on me either."

Professor Sandusky's lesson sounded like one Heliotrope had learned when learning the dry speech. "Lead and lead are spoken different." That was one of the few mnemonics she could remember for word spelling. The metal was dead and to lead was a need. "Led sounds the same. That is a past word for lead."

His next words sounded just like something a Loch Lomond chieftainess had told the spawnlings before their first hunt. "I can bury you when you die. It does not need to be in a lake unless you had died there, then I would fend of the fish."

"You are quite correct," Leopold said.  "And I thank you for your kind offer.  I do not expect to die in the lake but stranger things have happened.   I won't burden you at this age with that sort of responsibility but if the offer is still open when you graduate, I would consider it an honour."

He hadn't expected the young mermaid to make sure an offer but she did it with a gravity that few adults could have managed.  He was learning to admire and respect the young girl more and more.  She was a stranger in a strange land and she was thriving despite any difficulties she was encountering.

"Tell me, Miss LeJean, is there any likelihood that you might be rising to a position of authority within the merfolk community?" he asked.  "Colony, I think is what you called it.  Is that the proper word?"

There was some silence to the next question. There were some things Heliotrope could readily answer but ones she could not. After a moment she started with what was certain. "It is colony. All merfolk once came from the sea, so any lake or river claimed by a group became a colony." Terminology still used even if the original exodus was hundreds of years ago. "Such as my colony of Loch Lomond. We are now freshwater selkies, we have lost the form of the seal from life spent away from the sea."

There had been changes, slow to take form since last spring, though merpeople believed that slow change was the better change. Slow like the legends of melting ice mountains that filled the lakes of the earth. "The merchieftains encouraged me to seek out all I can one the differences of our merfolk kin. I traveled far this summer. But I am neither fully human or merperson so I do not fit in both."

Caught between two worlds.....

"Have you considered the possibility of regaining the ability to take seal form?"  Leopold asked.  "Gaining the ability of an animagus might win you a larger role within the merfolk.  You have a great deal of potential, Miss LeJean.  I suspect that the merfolk leaders would be aware of that and are expecting to see great things from you.  Occasionally a group grows stagnant and requires a change of some sort to stir things up and bring more vibrant life into their waters again."

Leopold hoped his use of aquatic metaphor might carry the point but it was entirely possible that it would be misinterpreted.  He was, after all, not entirely familiar with all the nuances of underwater life.

"I--animagus form?" By default, Heliotrope could be considered speechless in the nuance of not replying immediately during conversation. But changing the words mid sentence was unusual for her.

"Can I transform into an animagus like blurbeng Plunkett?" Much earlier than her mother Danielle, there had been another outsider to join the Loch Lomond colony. She had transfigured herself into a haddock. How exactly was lost in the retellings.

"I suspect that if you chose to apply yourself, you can become any sort of animagus that you want,"  Leopold replied.  "From what I've been told, I was too comfortable inside my own skin to be able to change into another form, so I wouldn't be able to teach you.  I do know a young man who is quite the accomplished animage and I'm certain he would be willing to offer some assistance.  I could probably even build a class around it."

Leopold didn't recognize the first name but he'd heard the name Plunkett before.  They were a well known wizarding family.  Not as famous as the Potters or the Weasleys but certainly not unknown.  He wouldn't have put it past one of them to have become an animagus.