"Where've you been this whole time , we looked all over for hours?" Hermione aske sternly. "At the bottom of the lake conducting research on the merfolk." Nick said simply as he started to pile up his plate with food and eat. Dusk also flew into the great hall right at that moment and joined Nick in his feasting. "What sort of research?" Hermione asked curiously. "Merfolk history , customs and crafting techniques. Even after only a single day down there I have already learned a great deal. You'll have to wait until I publish my report on the matter to learn more though." Nick said with a chuckle.-
She looked a bit upset at having to wait but there was nothing she could do about it since it was his research to begin with. "I'll also be down in the lake tomorrow as well so no need to go looking for me." he added and his friends nodded in understanding. After that dinner went by uneventfully with the slight exception of a very pale and shivering Sue Lee entering the hall to eat alongside her friends and Flitwick. Besides the fact that she was clearly traumatized she was otherwise unharmed which meant that there wasn't much anyone could say about the method Nick had used on her.-
Nick went to bed after dinner since he wanted to get an early start on his second trip into the merfolk's city. He awoke an hour before dawn and got dressed and ready to go before leaving the castle and flying out to the area above the city on his broom. A quick transfiguration of his clothes into a diving suit and he stored away the broom and dropped into the lake. It only took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the salty water before clarity returned to him.-
Creating a bubble around his mouth and nose like last time he descended into the city below. This time none of the merfolk hid away as they recognized him and knew he was not here with bad intentions. Finding the head weaver from yesterday Nick handed over another ring to get back to learning how to make sea rope. It may seem like he was getting ripped off by having to pay twice for the same information but in reality he was more than happy to pay much greater amounts if need be.-
He finally managed to weave a decent sea rope and get started in learning how to weave his magic into it as the merfolk did. It was honestly eerily similar to the "ancient" casting method of the ancient wizards but more refined for enchanting than anything. Honestly speaking it was very similar to the Celebrimbor method of enchanting except there was no channeling of spirit or need for a hammer. Instead he directly had to actively split his magic into threads that then needed to be woven into the rope via the individual strands of seaweed or kelp.-
It was very similar to the control training Helena had him do except easier since he just needed to keep the magic threads inside the fibers of the rope. By the end of the fourth hour he succeeded in fully enchanting the sea rope. The head weaver looked it over and flicked out his wrist causing the rope to shoot through the water before wrapping around a crate that he pulled across the ground over to them. "It's good , you wove it so it's yours now." the merman said handing the rope to Nick who was surprised.-
"I didn't pay for it though?" Nick said worried that something was wrong. The merman shook his head "First rope always goes to the weaver , tradition you see." the merman explained patiently and Nick understood. It was a sort of right of passage for merfolk that the first sea rope someone weaves belongs to them. Nick thought it rather funny as Olivander had basically done the same thing with the first wand he had made. 'If I ever have an apprentice in the future I'll do the same since it's a good tradition.' he thought with a smile.-
After that he went looking for the weapons crafters in the city as those stone and coral weapons interested him. It was faint but there was also magic in them that made it so the water didn't slow them down. The process for making these weapons was similar to the sea ropes except with different materials and a slightly different method in the form of honest to gods wandless water magic. The crafters use this magic to create a high pressure intense rotational current of water at the tip of their fingers that they then use to carefully carve the specially treated stones and corals.