Chapter 20

Harry was pacing the room. His hands were waving wildly, while Severus sat on the settee, watching him with an unreadable gaze.

"I was a fool," Harry angrily muttered. "I see that now. But at the time, I was desperate. Oberon gave me directions to a lake where he said I'd find the crown. I thought it would be simple. Just fetch it, bring it back, and I'd be free of everything. Free of my parents, free of Voldemort... just... free."

"I took the Knight Bus to get there. But when I arrived, I realized too late that I didn't know a spell to breathe underwater. I didn't have gillyweed. I didn't even know how to swim properly."

"Foolish boy indeed," Severus shook his head. "You went in anyway, didn't you?"

Harry gave a humorless laugh. "Of course I did. I was fifteen, half‑mad with hunger and fear. I thought if I didn't try, I'd be abandoned. So I waded in. The water was freezing, and every step felt like it was pulling me deeper."

He paused, staring into the lit fireplace. "I nearly drowned. My lungs burned, my chest felt like it was collapsing. I thought I was going to die right there. Then I met Nimue. Well, not so much met as she literally yeeted me out of the water."

Harry's body hit the bank of the lake with a wet thud. He was coughing and sputtering as water poured from his lungs. Then he blinked wildly, somewhat disoriented, until he saw a shadow leaning over him. This shadow had pressed their lips to his and forced air into his lungs.

Harry tried scrambling back as he got a better look at the woman. She was a redhead and had pearlescent fins in place of ears.

"You are one weird human boy," she huffed, "Honestly, humans dying in my lake. Do you know how much cleanup that is? Algae blooms, fish are poisoned, and the whole ecosystem is disrupted. Utterly inconsiderate if you ask me."

Harry blinked up at her, still dazed, "I... what?"

"You're young," she continued while ignoring his confusion. "You've got your whole life ahead of you, and you decide to drown yourself in my waters? Foolish. Absolutely foolish."

Harry's mouth opened, but no words came out. He could only stare at the red‑haired woman with her strange, shimmering fins, as she leaned over him like a furious schoolteacher scolding a wayward child.

She jabbed a finger at his nose. "Next time you want to die, do it somewhere else. My lake is not a graveyard."

Harry coughed, still trying to catch his breath, and managed a weak, "Sorry."

The woman sighed, shaking her head. "Mortals. Always apologizing after the damage is done. You may call me Nimue."

"Harry..."

Harry's voice softened as he finished telling that part of the story, and his eyes flickered toward Severus.

"I sort of blurted out the question 'Wait, are you like Oberon?'" Harry admitted, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Nimue stilled. For a moment, I thought she might kill me then and there. Her eyes narrowed, and she asked where I'd heard that name."

"I didn't know the name was supposed to be a secret. So I told her the truth. That I'd met him in a cave, chained to a spire, and that he'd offered me a deal."

"She asked me what idiotic bargain I'd struck with Oberon. And when I said 'if' that if I could deliver him a fae queen's crown, he would lend me his power. Then she laughed. Nimue stated at least I wasn't an idiot like the humans from the past."

"I didn't think it right that Oberon should get his hopes up, you know. I wasn't sure I could even survive the attempt. So I worded it as if. Nimue apparently thought that was hilarious."

Harry's eyes flickered towards the Potion master, who was listening intently. "Nimue didn't linger after laughing at me. She dove back into the lake without another word. Ten minutes later, she rose from the water again, but this time she looked more human, and her hair was blond. Also, she was carrying a sword."

"She looked at me and said, 'Lead the way.'"

"Lead the way... to Oberon?" Severus rose a brow. "Considering how quirky she appeared, I would hazard a guess that she went to beat him up."

Harry nodded. "Yes. I was confused at first. She told me she and Oberon would be having a serious talk. I asked if I'd gotten him in trouble, and she just laughed again. 'He got himself in trouble,' I remember her telling me. 'His mother already put him in a time out for coveting her crown, but nooo... he had to try and take my queen's.'"

Harry gave a faint, almost incredulous smile. "Then she chucked the sword at me. Told me to hold onto it. I didn't even realize what it was until much later, after everything had gone down. Excalibur."

Harry gripped the sword awkwardly as its weight was unfamiliar in his hands. Nimue's fingers brushed his arm, and in a blink, they were gone from the lakeside. The world twisted, and when it righted itself, they landed hard in the cave where Harry had first met Oberon.

He staggered, unsteady on his feet while clutching the sword. "That was my first time side‑along apparating someone," Harry admitted.

Nimue gave him a nod, "You did well enough. But this is odd. A human, wizard, or Muggle, shouldn't have been able to see Oberon at all. The seal around him must be weakening." The glass spire loomed ahead as they made their way further inside.

Oberon stirred, and then his eyes snapped open when Nimue mockingly greeted him. "You," he hissed upon laying eyes on Nimue and then on Harry. "You returned... but with her?!" he spat.