Vizet's consciousness left the "Shadow World" and returned to the Merpeople village in the real world.
The Merpeople were busy with something. They moved back and forth between their homes and the square, as if carrying out some kind of ceremony, gathering all sorts of ores and shells together and placing them before the Merpeople leader, Murcus.
Murcus was making selections, searching for the most suitable ores or shells and placing them into a basket woven from waterweed.
Vizet asked with great interest, "Headmaster Dumbledore, are they performing some kind of Ritual Magic? Are they selecting suitable 'Mediums'?"
"I can see traces of carving on all those things. Could this Ritual Magic speed up the changes to their appearances?"
Magical creatures such as Centaurs and Merpeople, who were recognized by the Ministry of Magic as possessing intelligence and could be classified as "beings," were actually capable of using Ritual Magic too.
He had previously gone with Luna to the Centaur Tribe in the Forbidden Forest specifically to observe the Centaurs' Divination activities and watch how they used Ritual Magic for Divination.
The Merpeople clearly knew how to use Ritual Magic as well. That was why they had been able to understand Vizet's plan and cooperate with him in carrying it out.
Because of that, a measure of anticipation rose in Vizet's heart. He wanted to observe the Ritual Magic the Merpeople were performing now.
"Ritual Magic?" Dumbledore blinked, a hint of slyness flashing through his eyes. "It isn't wrong to put it that way... it does count as Ritual Magic."
"The magic they're performing can't speed up the changes to their appearances, but it can preserve the beauty in their hearts... Murcus is actually choosing gifts. Gifts for us."
Seeing that Vizet was about to say something, Dumbledore immediately added,