- "— and now, sitting on the marble bottom of the bubble-filled bath, he heard a chorus of eerie voices singing to him from the open egg in his hands ..."
- — Harry Potter listening to a mersong in the Prefects' Bathroom[src]
Mersongs[1] were songs performed by merpeople, who were known for their love of music.[2][3]
Known mersongs[]
Golden egg's clue[]
Harry Potter figuring out the mersong clue in the Prefects' Bathroom
During the 1994–1995 Triwizard Tournament, a mersong was included into four golden eggs, which were retrieved by the four champions in the First Task, as a clue for the Second Task. To understand the song, the egg must be opened under water, or else it would let out an unpleasant wail.[2]
The two Hogwarts champions Cedric Diggory and Harry Potter were known to discover the mersong while bathing in the Prefects' Bathroom, Hogwarts Castle. How the other two champions Viktor Krum (the champion from Durmstrang Institute) and Fleur Delacour (the champion from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic) figure out the mersong clue in the egg was unknown.[2]
Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you're searching ponder this:
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took,
But past an hour-- the prospect's black,
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.
Eventually, all the champions realised they had to rescue something which was taken from the Great Lake Selkie colony in the depths of the Great Lake in one hour. Unbeknownst to them, what was taken were the champions' loved ones: Ronald Weasley (Harry's best friend), Hermione Granger (Krum's Yule Ball partner), Cho Chang (Cedric's girlfriend), Gabrielle Delacour (Fleur's sister).[1]
On 24 February 1995, during the Second Task, the mersong was sung by the merpeople, informing the four champions that they almost reached their destination: the Merpeople village.[1]
Dumbledore's funeral[]
- "But then he heard music, strange, otherworldly music, and he forgot his dislike of the Ministry in looking around for the source of it. He was not the only one: Many heads were turning, searching, a little alarmed."
- — Mersong during Dumbledore's funeral[src]
After Albus Dumbledore, the Hogwarts Headmaster, was murdered during the Battle of the Astronomy Tower, his funeral took place next to the Great Lake. Aside from wizards, ghosts, and centaurs, the funeral was attended by the merpeople in the lake, who sang a mersong from beneath the water surface. Though the song was in the language of mermish which most humans didn't understand, it spoke very clearly of loss and despair.[4]
Behind the scenes[]
- In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the mersong was different from the one in the novel:
Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
An hour long you'll have to look,
To recover what we took.
- The rest of the song from the film soundtrack ("Underwater Secrets") goes:[5]
An hour long you have to look
To recover what we took
Your time's half gone so tarry not
Lest what you seek stays here to rot.
- In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Illustrated Edition, it is written as "mer-song".[6]
- In the video game adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry's golden egg still sits in the Prefects' bathtub and screeches unless the tub is filled enough that the egg is covered by water, which can be achieved by casting a Banishing Charm on the taps. The mersong can then be understood.[7]
Appearances[]
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (First appearance)
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Mentioned only)
- Pottermore (Mentioned only)
- Harry Potter (website) (Mentioned only)
- LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 26 (The Second Task)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 25 (The Egg and the Eye)
- ↑ Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 30 (The White Tomb)
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film), Chapter 21 (Mischievous Myrtle)
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Illustrated Edition (see this image)
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
