Note

A blanket disclaimer for the entire story: the original work is not mine, never will be. On the other hand, no one but me reads those chapters before they are posted, so all the mistakes are mine! (yay)

What happened?

A recap of the second task and its rankings

Remember dear readers, in the first task, our champions had to retrieve a golden egg which held their instructions for the second task. All the champions came prepared… Some more than others.

For the second stage of the competition, the champions had one hour to dive deep into Hogwarts' Black Lake and retrieve what had been taken from them.

The stakes were high, for on this cold February morning, the four competitors realized it hadn't been an item that had been taken underwater, but the person they hold closest to their hearts.

All four hostages were kept in an enchanted sleep at the center of the Lake.

After a desperate race, all four champions successfully managed to retrieve their precious hostage.

The first to emerge, a long time before any of his other competitors, was Harry Potter, champion for Hogwarts. He came out of the lake with his dear Hermione Granger in toe.

Cedric Diggory, also a Hogwarts champion, came out of the lake second, accompanied by own girlfriend, the lovely Miss Chang.

Viktor Krum, from Durmstrang, surfaced third. The assistance was stunned to see him emerge, not with a family member, not with a close friend of his, but with the Boy-Who-Lived's best friend, Roonil Weasley!

Finally, Fleur Delacour, from Beauxbâtons, appeared. To make up for her lateness, the last champion made a spectacle of herself, emerging in a geyser of light and heat, her little sister clutched tightly in her feathered claws.

While this task was eventful for the champions, you were better at home dear readers. For had you been present, you would have seen as many things as the sleeping hostages: nothing. For several hours, this reporter and all the other spectators had to stay in the cold to watch the undisturbed surface of the Black Lake and wait.

While the champions were retrieving their hostages, the only excitement of the better part of an hour came when a Beauxbâtons student, unused to the Scottish winter, had to be evacuated because she was too cold to stay outside for one more second.

That was it, dear readers.

After the excitement of the first task, this reporter, just like the assistance, had expected better of the organisers and hopes Ludo Bagman will have steered this Tournament back in the right direction in time for the third task, for if this reporter had to sum it up in two words, the second task was cold and boring.

Gregory Goyle, a fourth year Slytherin who had come to cheer for Diggory, said that "had [he] known there was nothing to see in the second task, [he] would have slept in today." This sentiment was echoed by Vincent Crabbe, who added that the weather outside was so freezing both he and Mister Goyle would have preferred to take their time to eat breakfast inside. In fact, as Pansy Parkinson pointed out, many people had been discouraged by the weather and probably wouldn't have gone to watch the task at all, "if Draco hadn't wanted to see Potter in a swimsuit so much and dragged us all with him."

Colin Creevy, housemate and official photographer of the Boy-Who-Lived despite his young age, admitted through heart wrenching sobs that "I had thought it would have been like the first task, a true display of skills that would make my heart race. I had my camera at the ready for nearly the entire task but there was nothing to see! Towards the end, my arms were cramping and it was so cold I had to put my camera down for a few seconds because I risked dropping it. But Harry chose that moment to come out of the Lake! And I missed it!" The child's distress was real, my dear readers. It was so touching Bozo, this reporter's valued photographer, stayed for some time with Mister Creevy to teach him a few tricks of his trade to comfort him.

You see dear readers? This is what the second task amounted to. This reporter now wonder what tedious third task is in store for the audience. Currently, the only silver lining she has been able to find is that it shall take place on the twenty-fourth of June, so the outside temperature will be significantly higher.

The reason for such a secrecy in the proceedings of the second task unfortunately became clear to this reporter when she investigated.

The champions were discreetly observed during the entirety of the task by Merpeople.

Albus Dumbledore is the only person in Wizarding Europe who can speak Mermish. As such, he was the one who translated the Merpeoples' reports to the other judges.

As this reporter discovered, he took many liberties during those translations. This reporter would advise you to take any quote of his with a grain of salt.

Due to Dumbledore's imperfect Mermish translations, the final scores of the second task took many by surprise.

Delacour obviously came fourth and was awarded a weak 25 points (first task: 39, total: 64)

In third place, the first surprise happened for Potter only got 30 points (first task: 40, total: 70).

Because of this, Krum easily ranked second with his 40 points (first task: 40, total: 80).

And in first place, you shall find Diggory, with an exceptional though undeserved 49 points (first task: 38, total: 85).

Do note, dear readers, that the gap in points between the champions was so important the overall ranking is similar to the second task's.

You would be right to wonder: how can Harry Potter have ended up so far down in the rankings? This reporter asked herself the same question and investigated. The answers can be found in the next pages.