Selkie

Selkies exhibit the greatest dimorphism in their saltwater and freshwater counterparts. ( Selkie ) Saltwater Selkies have half human, half sea lion bodies, akin to how Centaurs have a blend of human and horse shaped physiology. Below their waist is a extra set of limbs, like seal flippers, which grant them further mobility on land. Their seal pelts are brown, grey or black. Their resemblance to humans is somewhat pleasant, as they mostly exhibit human hair colors with the rare white or charcoal.

Freshwater Selkies have lost their seal-like features over hundreds of years of being loch bound. Their regressive merperson forms are similar to the Irish Merrow, suggesting tight relations between the two species. Freshwater Selkies are considered ‘ugly’ in terms of their resemblance to humans. They have lite-green or silvery-grey skin, with vestigial fins in the area of the seal flippers occasionally seen. Many have yellowed eyes. Hair colors are a mix of earth tone highlights along predominately green or purple hair, although yellowed hair is also common.

Range

Selkies are native to Scotland. They are seen in parts of the North Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, as far west as the Faroe islands, Iceland, Greenland, and parts of north-eastern Canada. Many Scottish lochs, including the Trossachs National Park region, have established freshwater communities.

Outsider Relations

Regardless of waters, on the whole both variants of Selkie tend to be the most diplomatic of merpeople within the area of the UK. Both varieties have an adolescent curiosity towards life on land that fades as they mature. Aggressive encounters with outsiders still exist, although they are less common.

Particular clans of both saltwater and freshwater colonies have annual migrations to the sea-touched lakes (such as Lochs Striven, Long & Gare) or as far south as the Firth of Clyde around the Isle of Arran. Some saltwater Selkies are prejudiced towards their freshwater kin, considering them inferior “cast-offs” that no longer possess seal traits. Although several freshwater colonies hold significant holidays to reflect on their origins.

The saltwater kin were also seen around The Lazy Kelpie of Crovie, Scotland, which was also frequented by Hags. Usually, Selkies were present in their human form to meet romantic partners or casual hookups. The Kelpie had steady business in this regard, utilizing underwater smuggling tunnels for visiting merfolk to create distance from hag customers.

Notable Colonies

The Black Lake Colony

The lake at Hogwarts is home to a colony of merpeople that have a village of stone huts at the very bottom of it. They might occasionally be seen out of the windows of the Slytherin common room but many students may pass through the school never catching a glimpse of the freshwater colony. Under Merchieftainess Murcus the colony was very loyal to Albus Dumbledore, a fluent speaker of Mermish. They facilitated the Second Task of the 1994 TriWizard Tournament and attended Dumbledore's funeral, held by the lakeshore. Although pictoglyphs show the merpeople hunting the Giant Squid, this is for sport and entertainment of the entities involved as the lake has few if any predators. They just don't like it accidentally knocking over their village. Black Lake Merpeople colony

Colonies of the Trossachs National Park

The Trossachs region of Scotland, northwest of Glasgow, is home to many freshwater Selkie colonies. Being a frequent vacationing spot, a few of these colonies shift to a nocturnal sleep cycle during the height of tourist season. A series of overground and underground waterways connect the lochs, with the rare overland journey for some traveling merpeople. Pockets of deep underwater caves under the Trossachs, with geothermal heat and biolumessent species, are utilized by the merpeople but unknown to muggles. Such chambers are where the local variety of Gillyweed is farmed.

Loch Katrine and Loch Lomond are neighboring colonies, with a small outpost in Loch Arklet shared between them. Loch Arklet falls to the purview of Loch Katrine for the local colonies.

Loch Lomond is the largest loch in the region, with storied infamy of relations with witches. In the 1800s, Mirabella Plunkett fell in love with a merman during holiday in Loch Lomond. Disregarding her parents’ objections, she was last seen transfiguring herself into a haddock before disappearing. Her story was featured on a Chocolate Frog card. Over a hundred years later, Danielle LeJean made a similar journey to this loch after graduating from Beauxbatons, despondent from the death of the grandparents that raised her. She and Kulgor, a hunter, were wed in Union and are the biological parents of Heliotrope LeJean.

The young merpeople, also called spawnlings, in Loch Lomond are raised communally. Union, or romantic marriage, in the colony is made regardless of gender (or in the case of Danielle, species) and is sometimes different from couples that procreate together. Some merfolk may be within two such partnerships. They have a strong oral history of tying merfolk legends from distant colonies to the stars, with stargazing or watching the aurora borealis on clear nights. The hunting of kelpies, to defend both the colony and surface dwellers, is a major rite of passage in the colony.

At Absit Omen

Meeting the Black Lake colony at Hogwarts was a lesson facilitated by Sissel Jowd for the first years of the Class of 2016, with then 2nd year Heliotrope LeJean's assistance.[1]

In 2014, Loch Lomond drew ire from the magical community after the disappearance of Maya Elliot, daughter of Miranda Storm. Maya did not resurface after her gillyweed would have worn off. The search was called off after a month.[2] Danielle LeJean, a trader representative for the colony, was the last area wix to see Maya. She was arrested during the time of the search but later released. Heliotrope was never told what became of Maya or why her home colony stayed silent on the matter, as she was attempting her 6th year at Hogwarts after a rocky start. The incident motivated her to take work at the Ministry in place of quidditch prospects.

Loch Katrine hosted Yavin Morgenthau’s 77th birthday celebration on an iced over section of the loch.[3]

Two saltwater Selkies named Sulesk & Ve'sker feature in Plot:Selkie_Seeking.

Reference

The saltwater/freshwater Selkie dimorphism is to bridge actual Selkie mythology with the most commonly seen species of merpeople in the Harry Potter books & films.