"Where have you been this whole time? We spent hours looking everywhere for you." Hermione asked sternly. "At the bottom of the lake doing research on the merfolk." Julian replied simply as he began loading his plate with food and eating. At that exact moment, Dusk also flew into the Great Hall and joined Julian in his meal. "What kind of research?" Hermione asked with immediate curiosity. "Merfolk history, customs, and crafting techniques. Even after only one day down there, I've already learned quite a lot. You'll have to wait until I publish my report if you want to know more than that, though." Julian said with a chuckle.-
She looked somewhat displeased at being told to wait, but there was nothing she could really do since it was his research in the first place. "I'll be down in the lake again tomorrow too, so there's no need for anyone to go searching for me." he added, and his friends nodded to show they understood. After that, dinner passed without anything notable happening, aside from Sue Li entering the hall later with Flitwick and her friends, looking pale and trembling. Other than the fact that she was clearly traumatized, she seemed physically unharmed, which meant there was not much anyone could say about the way Julian had dealt with her.-
After dinner, Julian went to bed because he wanted an early start for his second trip to the merfolk city. He woke an hour before dawn, got dressed, and prepared himself before leaving the castle and flying out on his broom to the area above the city. After a quick transfiguration turned his clothes into a diving suit, he put the broom away and dropped into the lake. It only took a brief moment for his eyes to adjust to the saltwater before everything became clear again.-
Just as he had the day before, he formed a bubble around his nose and mouth before descending toward the city beneath him. This time, none of the merfolk hid when they saw him, since they recognized him now and knew he had not come with bad intentions. Finding the head weaver from the previous day, Julian handed over another ring so he could resume learning how to make sea rope. It might have looked as though he was being cheated by having to pay twice for the same knowledge, but in truth he would have been perfectly willing to pay far more if necessary.-
He finally succeeded in weaving a decent sea rope and was able to begin learning how to thread his own magic into it the way the merfolk did. The method was honestly eerie in how similar it was to the "ancient" casting style used by ancient wizards, only more refined for enchanting than anything else. To be honest, it was very close to the Celebrimbor method of enchantment, except there was no channeling of spirit involved and no hammer required. Instead, he had to actively divide his magic into fine threads, then weave those threads into the rope through the individual strands of kelp or seaweed.-
It was much like the control exercises Helena had been putting him through, except easier, since all he had to do was keep the magical threads inside the fibers of the rope. By the end of the fourth hour, he finally succeeded in enchanting the sea rope completely. The head weaver examined it, then flicked his wrist, causing the rope to dart through the water and coil around a crate before dragging it back across the ground toward them. "It is good. You wove it, so it belongs to you now." the merman said, handing the rope to Julian, who looked surprised.-
"But I didn't pay for it?" Julian said, worried there might be some kind of problem. The merman shook his head. "First rope always goes to the weaver. Tradition, you see." the merman explained patiently, and Julian understood at once. It was a kind of rite of passage among the merfolk that the first sea rope a person ever wove belonged to them. Julian found it oddly amusing, since Ollivander had essentially done the same thing with the first wand he had ever made. 'If I ever take on an apprentice someday, I'll do the same thing. It's a good tradition.' he thought with a smile.-
After that, he went in search of the city's weapon crafters, since the stone and coral weapons they used interested him quite a bit. There was faint magic in them as well, something that prevented the water from slowing them down. The process used to make those weapons was similar to the one for sea rope, though it involved different materials and a slightly altered method in the form of actual wandless water magic. The crafters used that magic to form an intense, high-pressure spinning current of water at their fingertips, which they then used to carve the specially treated coral and stone with great care.-