Miranda suspects this could be done more diplomatically and goes looking for Timothy.

He's heard. He's herding students back to the common room. "Swan, find Minor, ask if there's written Mermish."

Miranda looks again for Minor.

He's still just outside Mole's office.

"Is there written Mermish."

"No. Pictograph things but they're really limited - why - they won't even let us near -"

"Slytherin common room has an underwater window. Can any of them read English?"

"I don't think so. Could try giving you the pictographs - or you could break the window -"

"I don't think Karen would be pleased about crashing into the floor under a giant wave which then proceeded to drown a bunch of Slytherins. What do you know how to pictograph -"

"Could evacuate the Slytherins. Uh, I can do 'human' 'merperson' 'water' 'morning' 'friendly' and that's about it."

"...I don't think we can get very sophisticated like that. Maybe there's a way to get sound past the window."

"I don't know a spell for that but maybe should I come so I can talk if they do figure out how -"

"Come just outside, at least, I'll ask Timothy."

He comes.

Miranda doesn't bother much about keeping the password quiet. "Minor knows five pictograms of written Mermish, that's not getting us anywhere, can we get sound through the window - what do we even say -"

" - that if she dies it'll be a disaster please let us get someone out there who can keep her safe, for starters -"

Nod. "Minor's waiting outside in case there's a way to talk through the window."

"There're spells that'd go through the window but I don't know one for sound -" he surveys the Slytherin common room -

Philomena knows an eavesdropping spell but it won't let the merfolk hear them.

They can try it anyway to see if they can get a sense of how much of an emergency it is.

Philomena casts it.

The merfolk are talking about how much they dislike wizards.

Miranda would have been more sympathetic to that if they HADN'T KIDNAPPED KAREN.

"Is the one who speaks English around I'm still so cold -"

Another seaweed blanket? But no, the one who speaks English is talking with the Hogwarts representatives.