Category:Merpeople
From UnknowableWiki
| Creature profile | |
|---|---|
| Merpeople | |
| Breed | Greek sirens, Scottish selkies, Irish Merrows |
| Ministry of Magic Classification | XXXX |
| Appearance | human body with fishtail, appearance depends on breed |
| Origin | worldwide |
| Known specimens | selkie tribe in the Hogwarts lake |
| First appearance in canon | The Egg and the Eye (GF) (mention), The Second Task (GF) (appearance) |
| Notes made on Harry's copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them | Harry crosses out the bit that says that selkies and Merrows are "less beautiful" than sirens, and notes that they are ugly. |
Culture
Wizards still have little knowledge of their culture, but it is certain that they are intelligent and have founded highly organised communities of varying size. Some tribes have constructed elaborate dwellings (FBAZ), while other settlements, like the village in the Hogwarts Great Lake, look rather crude (GF26). They engage in husbandry, keeping gardens of weed and pets such as Grindylows, or, in some instances, Hippocampi (GF26, FBAZ). They have their own language, Mermish, which sounds intelligible for all humans under water. Above water, however, their speech consists of unpleasant screechy noises and can only be understood by those who have studied the language (GF26). All merpeople share a deep love for music and singing (FBAZ). It seems that they do not know magic (GF26).
Classification
The question whether merpeople should be considered beasts or beings has been a point of debate for centuries. The earliest (and quite crude) attempt from the 14th century to define beings as bipeds excluded them, as did the following one, which defined beings as those who could speak the human tongue. Merpeople, who can only speak Mermish above water, were not invited to the Wizards' Council's summit, and the centaurs refused their own invitation in consequence. Merpeople do meet the criteria of the classification of 1811, which is still in effect today and defines beings as those creatures which are able to understand and help shaping the laws of the magical community. However, they followed the centaurs' example and requested to be classified as beasts to manage their affairs on their own in 1812 (FBi, FBAZ).
Merpeople at Hogwarts
Full article: Second Task
A merpeople tribe of the selkie breed lives inside the Hogwarts Great Lake. They have built a village consisting of rather crude stone dwellings around a village square decorated with a roughly hewn statue of a merperson. Outside the village, there is a painting on a large rock that shows a hunting scene in which merpeople armed with spears chase the giant squid. The tribe is governed by a merchieftainness named Murcus.
During the second task of the Triwizard Tournament, the champions each have to rescue a hostage from the merpeople (GF26). They are given a clue at the end of the first task: a golden egg that emits a song in Mermish when opened. To understand the song, the egg has to be opened under water (GF25). During the task, the merpeople sing the same song to lead the champions to their village. Harry Potter is the first champion to reach the hostages who are tied to the village square statue. He waits until Cedric Diggory and Viktor Krum have taken their hostages, and decides to save Fleur Delacour's hostage as well as his own when she does not come. The merpeople try to hinder him, but he threatens them with his wand, and as they know no magic themselves, they let him take both hostages. Murcus later tells Albus Dumbledore about this, which leads the judges to give high marks to Harry even though he left the lake well out of the time limit (GF26).
The Hogwarts merpeople pay their respect to Albus Dumbledore at his funeral with a song (HBP30).
