❝how you look
for magic unfailingly,
that's your treasure,
that's your gold.❞

- butterflies rising

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ⋆*･ *･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

ARIEL SERRANO HAD A KNACK FOR THE THEATRICS, or that is what her abuela always said anyway. But was it her fault? Her name itself had been the first provoker to the dramatic in her, it was an awful lot like a tongue twister, it sort of rhymed AND it was a fairy tale princess' name for Merlin's sake! She could succumb to embarrassment for the rest of her life, or do what her mother suggested instead - decide to love it so much that others have no choice but to love it more. It sounded better in spanish, she believed, but none the wiser.

The day her awaited letter arrived, was not awaited at all actually. You see, she was completely unaware of the fact that her magic had anything to do with a school where she could learn more about it, what else was her mama Rosita for? Ah right! Rosita Serrano, the best fashion designer Cornwall had seen in ages, or at least that is what Ariel believed, the woman with so much love in her but with that love came a lot more protection, sometimes good, other times, eh. Truth be told, the real reason she didn't want to let young Ri go to the magic school was less to do with her attachment and more to do with her...situation.

Ariel didn't look much like her mother, which Ariel found was a pity since her mother was considered the most beautiful woman to everyone that ever laid eyes on her ( mermaid genetics were to thank ). Of course, like any other eleven-year old, she chose to ignore how her abuela always gasped at the girl's siren-like features that always amplified her innocent eyes that seemed to hold the depths of the ocean with them. Apparently she looked like her father a lot, from the colour of her skin to the shape of her eyes. Being the only half-mermaid in recorded history, the looks-wise differing quality from her mother, seemed to not need an explanation fro Ariel, it confused her just as much nevertheless.

The absence of Ariel's apparently "absolutely amazing" ( her mother's words ) father certainly didn't help Rosita the slightest. How on Earth was she supposed to explain to an eleven year old that she was not just a mermaid, but also a witch, alone? The time Ariel had learned of her part mermaid-ness she had cried rivers for she was only PART something so exquisite, and couldn't turn into a sparkly-tailed princess of the sea on demand, like her mother could. Rosita also figured, it was after all his side that made her part witch, he should be there to tell her, right?

Ariel only knew good things about her father, for sure, like, how he was very charming to her mother when they met, how he loved her dearly even though they didn't go to the same school, their love was not taken well by their families, and that was the only reason her father could possibly leave the two girls he loved very very much.

That was it. But there were always those moments where curiosity got the best of her. What did he even look like? Did they look similar in any way? It was hard for Ellie to tell since the only family she ever had to compare herself to was someone she saw every day of her life, her aunts and her grandmother who she barely saw at all. There was such a beauty that Ariel imagined him to have, painting pictures of the stranger in her own mind. And yet, she always wondered if her mother spoke of him so kindly, why was he not involved in their lives?

It had been about eight months since her eleventh birthday, on a summer July holiday, and the mother-daughter duo were sitting on outskirts of cornwall on the beach of their house after a day well spent at their local diner - Scones and Soju - when it appeared, in their mail, making Ariel double-take and Rosita's heart pace up.

The letter. Written on parchment, sealed with wax and addressed to Ariel by name. Not just name, but with pretty much every little detail of the little girl's little world.

The letter was so specific it immediately put a huge smile, followed by a look of confusion on little Riri's face. Turning to her mum, "Mama? Did you make this? To surprise me?" She was surprisingly met with a sigh from her mother, looking quite sad, completely contradicting her own smile and asked her to sit on the couch as she further opened the letter.

"Mi amour, we should talk." Now with a little worry coating the young girl's eyes, she sat beside Rosita and listened to her talk. Listened to her talk about her marine heritage, her father and mother's forbidden love of being a human and mermaid, and slowly the conversation slipped onto her "human" father who wasn't quite as unaware of their magical world as Rosita had let on.

"Your father was not what they call a muggle, he was a wizard you see, magic wands and everything!" She tried to make the story as cheerful and not shocking as she could, but words like 'muggle' and 'wizard' kept catching her off guard. Surely, she had read about tons of magical places and worlds, and it had made her quite happy with the fact that she was slightly connected to the lore she read, but this was something completely different. Furthermore, learning about Hogwarts - a school of witchcraft and wizardry, felt like something out of a dream!

"I can't believe this mama!" Ariel exclaimed, now jumping on the couch with joy. Rosita felt immense happiness seeing her daughter so happy, but felt the need to burst her bubble, "I don't know if you should go amour," making Ellie stop in her tracks, "Why not?"

"These people, these...wizards and witches, they don't accept people like us! They categorize us the same as the dangerous creatures that roam the night and treat all of us with equal disrespect!"

"But mama, how can I give up my birthright just so they can leave peacefully? Isn't that what you always tell me NOT to do?"

Ri was right. And Rosita knew that. She had been so worried that Hogwarts would not welcome her, that she would be bullied, ostracized, or worse, that she had almost stopped her from taking what was rightfully hers. She was torn between her desire to protect her child and her own experiences of being excluded from certain communities. On one hand, she knew that attending Hogwarts could be an opportunity for her daughter to learn and grow as a witch, and to find a sense of belonging among her peers. On the other hand, she also knew that the wizarding world could be cruel and unforgiving towards those who were different, and that her daughter's mermaid heritage might make her a target for discrimination or even danger.

But she also knew Riri. Smart, headstrong, curious, spitfire Ariel. And the girl had a better control on her temper than Rosita ever did. So she decided, it was better to waste no time and go give Diagon Alley a visit.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ⋆*･ *･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

After a very stressful shopping day, which somehow included a full verbal fight between Rosita and the tailor, who apparently was a very obvious fraud and mine are much better anyways, ( Rosita's words, and they were much better anyway ), they finally got done with their shopping, and Ariel received her much-awaited wand - 12'' long, made of walnut wood, and possessed a unicorn hair core.

"Are you sure we have to go to the Caribbean islands? Do we really?" Ariel certainly had no intention or energy to interact with her possibly already angry abuela and aunts, who did not like the idea of her going to Hogwarts at all. But Rosita decided that if she doesn't want to go, it only means she respects no one. Not her abuela, not her aunts and not her mother. So of course that meant Ri had no say in that matter.

A few days had passed and being with her family had actually calmed a lot of Ellie nerves. And the food was absolutely brilliant, so how could she ever truly dislike the non-stop bickering. Not only that, but the fact that they were all willing to stay in their house on the island instead of the sea just for Ariel had made her feel extra special.

However, with the full moon coming, it was suggested to stay as far as the sea as possible. Apparently the moon and sea don't go well together. But for some reason, as the nights got closer to the full moon, Ri had found herself either staying up most nights, or even waking up in the middle of the night to just stare out of the window, and into the sparkling waves of the sea, looking as mesmerising as ever with the Moon's platinum gaze on all of water, shining amid the starlit heavens, all across the horizons.

It was something she had never felt before. And before she knew it, despite the locked doors and closed curtains, she had found herself on a mysterious island, farther than her home, unable to stop herself from sliding in and entering the pool right below the opening of said volcano, as the full moon passed above her.

In that moment, the cove was filled with an otherworldly beauty, a scene of magic and enchantment that seemed to transport her to another realm entirely. The light danced across her skin, casting a halo of radiance around her as she basked in the wonder of the connection to the world around her that transcends words, a sense of oneness with the ocean and its creatures that fills her with a profound sense of purpose.

The ocean was her home. From the moment she was born, she had felt the currents of the water, the whisper of the waves, the play of the sunlight on the surface. She was a mermaid, with a tail of silver and green, scales like jewels, and eyes that glowed like the moon on the water. And as she emerged from the cove, new tails shimmering in the moonlight, she knew that she had been changed forever, that she was now part of a world more beautiful and mysterious than she could ever have imagined.

The following days, of course, included a lot of training after Ariel's sudden transformation. Her family focused on teaching her more about mer-culture and all its wonders and had her ridding of all her anxiety after what she had done accidentally under the effects of the full moon. Rosita grew worried by the day, as she knew this day would come, just not when she was about to go so far away from her, somewhere she wouldn't have anyone to guide her.

Nonetheless, she tried her best to remain calm and teach Ariel of the coming excitements, problems and how to deal with them and was just happy her family was there to help her. They preferred living in the sea, but for Ariel, they were ready to sacrifice a few months of the sea. 

Ariel, blissfully unaware of the mayhem she had caused in her family's heads, was just happy that swimming with her tail out in the sea made her so relaxed and so ready for Hogwarts.