The Second Task
The day of the Second Task saw a colorful sunrise. The clouds had taken a day off and a rich blue had taken their place. Birds sang their tunes. The resident post-owls tried to outdo them by hooting enthusiastically.
Harry saw his dormitory get brighter and he heard all the birds outside. He was unable to turn around and get a little bit more sleep. He knew it was not due to the light or the sound. He was unsettled.
His actual nervousness paled in comparison to the day of the First Task. After all he was well prepared for the second part of the Triwizard Tournament. He had mastered the necessary spells with a week to spare. And most importantly he was not to face off against some spell resistant magical beast. The thing that was irritating his rightful self-confidence the most was what he had failed at. He had not found out what would be taken from him.
Therefore the first thing he did was checking his most most cherished possessions. His Firebolt was where he had left it, the Cloak of Invisibility was still hidden in his trunk and the Marauder's Map was right next to it. He even came across the penknife Sirius had given to him for Christmas.
Once he was ready for the day. Harry rushed the stairs down into the common room. He went straight for a solitary armchair in the corner. On the windowsill next to it was a small collection of reference books. Nobody was there. Harry blinked in surprise. His girlfriend was supposed to sit in exactly that armchair and read some obscure text. He questioned some early risers bot none of them had seen Hermione.
The library was not open at this time of the day and as a male Harry could not check the girls dormitory. He settled for waiting impatiently.
Ron had barely set food into the common room, when he was asked by his best mate: "Have you seen Hermione?"
Ron scratched his head, turned around and looked upstairs. "She is not in our dorm."
"Where is she? She is always here, when I come downstairs! Nobody knows where she is." Harry said irritably.
Ron shrugged. "It is not like she would tell anybody, where she goes."
Harry had to admit, that Ron had a point.
"Maybe she was hungry and went to the Great Hall. Breakfast, you know?" Ron guessed.
"Maybe." Harry said doubtfully.
"Well lets go." Ron went for the exit.
There was no bushy haired witch at breakfast either. "Maybe she is in the library." Ron said. The word library was only recognizable due to the context - despite Ron's longstanding training in speaking with a full mouth.
Harry retained two croissants and a small jar of strawberry jam for Hermione. He went for the library. He had pieced together that Hermione may have done something somewhere outside the common room before she went to her favorite spot in the castle.
She was not to be found.
When Hermione was late for class, Harry was close to panic. Hermione was no fan of Herbology but she had never been late for any class! Harry sneaked over to her roommates. Parvati and Lavender were repotting the thistle they were supposed to care for. Thanks to the sharp prickles the two girls were anything but enthusiastic about this task. Harry whispered: "Where is Hermione?"
The two witches glanced at each other. Their eyebrows were moving and they made some small gestures at each other, while holding a nonverbal conversation. It was Lavender, who answered Harry's question: "We don't know."
Parvati informed Harry: "But her used clothes were on the foot of her bed, when I got up to take a shower this morning."
"All neatly folded!" Lavender added with a nod.
"Thanks." Harry felt a little bit calmer. He sneaked back to Ron, who was roughly stuffing their thistle into a pot. "Ron, we are supposed to put the plant into a bigger pot. Not another pot of the same size. What good is that supposed to do anyway?"
"Do I look, like I care?" The redhead shot back grumpily.
Once the bell announced the class' end, Harry sprinted to the library. "Have you seen Hermione?" he asked the still sleepy Madam Pince once more.
"She's not here." growled the librarian and pushed Harry out of her door. Her reasoning was worthy of Snape: "You are panting too loudly!"
Harry ran to the next class. He hoped Hermione would be there. Alas, she was not. Close to the end of this lesson Harry could barely sit still. A single thought was demanding all of his attention. Once he was free to leave he rushed back to his dorm.
Harry searched the Marauder's Map frantically. Try as he might the name of his girlfriend was not to be found. She was neither in one of her favorite places nor the Hospital Wing. Harry skipped his entire third lesson in search of her.
Once he was sure, that Hermione was nowhere to be found, he checked his possessions yet again. Everything was still in its place! "This can't be happening!"
As fast as possible Harry ran to Professor McGonagall's office. He did not even bother to knock. "Tell me it is not true!" he blurted out.
"Mister Potter, where are your manners?" The Transfiguration Professor looked irritably over the rim of her square spectacles.
"I..."
"It is considered polite to knock before entering a room. Especially the room of a witch!" With a huff the old witch added: "I could have been indecent."
Harry blanched upon that reprimand. This diversion worked only for a very short moment: "Is Hermione the thing I will dearly miss?"
McGonagall swished her wand. Her door fell shut with a loud bang. "Mister Potter, please watch the volume of your voice!"
"I am sorry." Harry grumbled. "But Hermione has been missing all morning! Is the Golden Egg's song implying that she is the thing I will dearly miss? Is she a hostage? You can't be serious! She is a human being. You can't use her as some sort of prize for the Triwizard Tournament!"
Professor McGonagall sighed deeply. She gestured for her young cub to take a seat across from her. "Harry, I am sure you are aware of the rules. No teacher is allowed to actively help any competitor of the Triwizard Tournament."
"But I..."
The Professor's voice rose in volume talking over whatever argument Harry wanted to present: "I understand, that you find yourself in great distress. But, please hear me out." McGonagall paused. It was apparent, that she was searching for the right words. Her face brightened up, when she found them: "You should not forget, that you are a student of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Professor Dumbledore, a truly great wizard is your headmaster. He was the one to announce the Triwizard Tournament to the school. A Tournament that was already suspended once before because of a number of casualties."
Her next words were heavily emphasized: "The students' safety is the most important thing to Professor Dumbledore."
Harry frowned. "So, Hermione is not in danger?"
"Mister Potter." McGonagall smiled genuinely at him. "Like I said before, I am not allowed to help a champion with his or her task. However, as the Deputy Headmistress I am very happy to inform you on Hogwarts' policies regarding students."
Harry gave a deep sigh. "Thank you Professor."
"I am not sure why you are thanking me. But, you are welcome." McGonagall smiled benignly at Harry. "Are you done with preparing the Second Task?"
Harry spoke for about five minutes to Professor McGonagall. She excused him from the following class and told him, that she would talk to Professor Flitwick about his absence from the previous one.
A few hours later, Harry could not have cared any less for Ludo Bagman's speech. He was totally focused on the lake and the upcoming task. When the four Champions were finally requested to: "Get ready!" Harry discarded his cloak and stepped to the starting line, where he bent down and pulled swim fins over his feet. He was already wearing his swimming trunks. Hermione's parents had send both items upon their daughter's request via Hedwig to Hogwarts. Harry downed the endurance potion, which Hermione had brewed for him. He had no idea how he would have managed to prepare for this task without her help.
When Filch - of all people - started the task by firing a cannon, Harry cast the warming charm upon himself. He waded into the lake until the water was at his navel, then cast the Bubble-Head Charm.
Harry noticed the bubble form around his head. All sounds were significantly muted by the charm. He was ready. Harry plunged into the water. He instantly heard a familiar sound. The song of the Golden Egg was sung by a choir.
Very early in the task Harry was overtaken by Fleur. She was swimming significantly faster than him. The busy wizard had not cared for the other champions at the start. Therefore, he had no idea what Fleur had done. He could only guess that she had used some sort of human transfiguration. Her feet were elongated and she had very noticeable webbing between her fingers and toes. She was not using a Bubble-Head Charm either. Harry wondered if she had really dared to grow herself gills.
Fleur vanished in the murky water after a few moments. Harry found himself alone. Probably in front of the other two contestants. He was not sure since he could not look very far. He navigated the lake mostly by hearing and not by sight.
The Second Task turned out to be much easier than the First. Without the problem of locating Hermione it was rather simple to get to her. All Harry had to do was swim and at one point evade some grindylows, which was no problem at all, thanks to the swim fins and the supreme endurance caused by the potion.
After a quarter hour a number of rocks and colorful corals appeared out of the swirling darkness of the Black Lake. It was not a random formation. It was a sort of underwater village. Harry identified some swimming creatures as merpeople. He and Hermione had talked about them, since there had been a possibility to encounter them during the task. However, they had never considered, that they had an actual settlement inside the lake. They made no attempt at contesting him.
A lot of them had gathered at an empty area in the center of their village. They were the ones singing. In between them, Harry could see three blurred shapes in their marketplace - or whatever they used the square for normally.
When Harry came closer, the shapes turned into three girls. They were floating unconsciously. Harry's eyes were instantly drawn to Hermione, but he also recognized Cho Chang and Viktor Krum's date. All of them were restrained by brownish algae. He also noticed a big rock and some algae on the lake bed where a fourth person had been bound.
Harry swam over to the three remaining hostages. He pulled out his wand. The merpeople eyed him keenly. They neither raised their tridents nor spears.
He ignored Cho and the French witch, who had been escorted by Viktor to the Yule Ball. The merpeople were still watching him, but they did not intervene. They seemed to be relieved when Harry started to fumble at Hermione's bonds.
After a few moments Harry noticed that his efforts were in vain. The algae he had pulled away simply ensnared another part of Hermione. If he was unbinding her arms, her legs were grabbed more tightly. If he changed the area he was working on, so did the algae. The underwater plant was moving lazily but resolutely. Harry made no progress at all.
Harry tried to work faster. He still made no progress. He tried to cut the algae magically. It turned out to be counterproductive. Two strings grew out of every severed strip. Next he tried to use a sharp rock as a tool. He made progress this way, albeit slowly. The algae were very resistant. Harry took a look at the place, where the fourth hostage had been.
The algae had obviously been cut... but not in a magical way. The fringes of the algae were not even enough. Harry considered his options. He pointed his wand at the surface of the lake. "Accio Sirius' penknife!"
Harry searched the water for the arriving penknife. It was hurtling at him like the Firebolt had at the First Task. It was a good thing his reflexes were so fast. Harry cast: "Aresto Momentum!" just in time. The knife was slowed down until it was nearly unmoving. Harry could pluck it of the water like a weird fruit.
The magical blade cut the algae easily. Harry did not know if it was due to the enchantment of the item or the plant's properties. The algae was neither sprouting new strips or trying to take a hold on Hermione.
Harry realized, that he had still some work to do when Hermione was free of her shackles. She had to be returned to the shore. Since the witch remained in her comatose state, Harry chose to hug her limp body to his. He placed her head on his shoulder and circled his arms around her back and waist. Once he held her securely, he kicked his legs.
Harry noticed instantly, that he was considerably slower than before. He had barely used his arms before reaching Hermione. Most of his propulsion had been caused by the artificial extensions at his feet. It was not hard to guess that their combined weight was only partially responsible for slowing him down.
Hermione's cloak and her soaked winter clothes were the main reason for Harry's reduced speed. For a short time the young wizard considered removing both. He discarded the idea quickly. For one, he was aware, that he would waste precious time with this task. On the other hand, he was not sure if Hermione would appreciate it if she awoke partially unclothed.
Since he found himself with enough time at his disposal and he was more worried about losing his girlfriend than doing good on the Second Task Harry choose to play it safe.
He made sure that he had a tight grip on Hermione at all times. And he swam straight upwards. It was better to reach the surface sooner than taking the shortest route diagonally through the lake's waters.
After just a few minutes Harry saw the surface of the Black Lake from below. It sparkled mockingly at him. A sunny day in February and a soft breeze had transformed the often murky water into a marvel of light.
This was probably a good thing, since all the audience was able to observe of the Second Task were the departure of the four champions and their return with the hostages. In between they could only stare at the lake.
A lungful of fresh air was Harry's first reward when his head broke through the water. He felt elated and looked just at the right moment at Hermione for his second reward. Her unnatural sleep finally found an end. Harry saw her brown eyes flutter open.
The young witch's eyes rolled around in confusion. Harry tried to hold her steady. Hermione needed to realize that she had awoken in the middle of the lake.
Alas, his attempt failed. A wave splashed right into Hermione's face. She got water into her mouth and started to cough.
Hermione tried to hold onto Harry as she understood that she was in water. Since Harry was not wearing anything but his swimming trunks, her fingers found nothing to hold onto. They slipped from his wet skin.
In a panic Hermione slung her arms around his neck. She instinctively tried to push herself over the surface of the water, so she could finally finish her coughing and breath in.
By trying to get out of the water, she plunged Harry's head below the surface. He was able to close his mouth just in time. Unfortunately his Bubble-Head Charm had dissolved upon surfacing. Therefore it was now him who could not breath.
At least he managed to keep the struggling Hermione over water. Sadly she failed at calming down. She was holding onto Harry for her dear life while she cringed over her coughing.
Harry felt his lungs burn in need for oxygen and his heart hammered madly. The worst thing however was that he felt the control for his limbs slip. His movements became jerky and his fingers were slipping off Hermione. He realized dreadfully that it was a matter of moments before he would no longer be able to support their combined weight.
He tried to keep his calm. All he needed to do was after all to recast the Bubble-Head Charm. It was easy enough, to pull his wand from the transfigured holster at his lower leg. Only... he needed to speak the incantation!
He was between a rock and a hard place. Either they would both drown or he had to let go of Hermione.
It should have been a hard decision but it was not. Without wasting any noticeable time on thinking Harry understood what he had to do, to save the both of them.
He let go. Hermione did not. She held onto him. Harry understood that he had to stop pushing upwards. When he did, they started sinking instantly.
As Hermione realized that Harry was dragging her down she tried to pull him up.
Harry had not seen that coming. They had already sunk a few feet when Harry considered poking Hermione with the penknife. She let go of him before he had to resort to such measures. She left him behind and tried to reach the surface on her own.
Harry swam upwards and away. His head broke the surface. He made extra-sure to not swallow any water, when he inhaled deeply and screamed the incantation for the Bubble-Head Charm. He dove back into the water.
From below Harry saw, that Hermione was trying to keep herself above water. But her coughing and cramping made it impossible for her to steady herself. She was moments away from drowning. Her head was already underwater. Her right hand was pressed at her mouth while she made awkward movements with her left hand and tried to kick her legs in the right way.
Harry swam close to her. Thanks to the air around his head, he was able to speak the incantation and cast the Bubble-Head Charm at Hermione. He saw the bubble form around her. To both his and Hermione's surprise the charm expelled the water stuck in the witch's throat. Harry saw clearly a small stream run out of the left corner of her mouth.
Hermione's face was red and she stared wide eyed at Harry, when she breathed in greedily.
Meanwhile Harry felt appalled. Nobody had intervened. Hermione could have died!
He grabbed her hand. Hermione once more slung her arms around him. Harry felt his ribs close to cracking. "Thank you!" was all Hermione said. Harry guessed that he could understand her so well, because of their connected air bubbles.
They hugged each other for a full minute. They were floating underwater. Harry made some lazy movements with his swim fins, so that they neither sank down into the depth or broke the surface.
"I am cold!" was Hermione's next announcement.
Harry cast the warming charm at her. "Lets get out of the lake."
Harry hugged Hermione in the same way he had used in the village of the merpeople. He dove parallel to the glittering surface of the lake. "That is quite beautiful." was Hermione's single comment.
"I am sorry!" blurted Harry.
Hermione dragged her eyes away from the glittering surface. "And what exactly are you sorry for?"
"For getting you into this mess!"
"I would not say, that this mess is your fault."
"It is my fault that you are a hostage. Therefore it is my fault that you nearly drowned." Harry thought that was an indisputable deduction.
"First of all, you did not choose me as your hostage. This choice was made by officials of the Triwizard Tournament. So either the organizers or the judges are at fault for getting human hostages." Hermione said unimpressed. "And second, I did not nearly drown. I have not even lost consciousness."
"You were coughing like mad! You have clearly no idea how hard you cramped."
"That was not a very nice experience." Hermione made a displeased noise. "But in the end you made sure I saved and you had no trouble at it. You did that quite efficiently."
"No trouble?" Harry asked disbelievingly. "I was trying to keep your head over water for close to a minute you were holding onto me for your life!"
"You are slippery!" Hermione snapped.
Harry argued: "When I stopped kicking my legs, we sunk like a stone!"
"That is exaggerated!" Hermione pouted.
"We nearly drowned!" Harry exclaimed.
Hermione had the nerve to roll her eyes at her boyfriends antics. "You were holding your breath. You were not drowning at all."
"Fine, but..."
"And I" Hermione interrupted him "...got water into my throat. That is obviously quite different from drowning."
"You were sinking without being able to get back to the surface on your own! I would call that nearly drowning!" Harry argued.
"If that was the definition of drowning, I would be drowning right now. Because I would not be able to reach the surface on my own, with this cloak. And I doubt that I could get it off in time."
"That is not the same situation."
Hermione rolled her eyes once more. "Fine. You saved my life." She said in an even, nearly bored voice. "You are such a hero. Let me kiss you as a reward." She gave him a peck.
"That is not what this is about. I am no hero!" Harry whined.
"Fine, so what is this about?"
"It's about placing you in danger. Making a hostage out of you was not right!"
"That we can agree on!" Hermione nodded energetically, which did really weird things to her hair.
Harry felt guilty about the danger Hermione had gotten into. However, he could not keep feeling guilty without getting really angry at the judges and faceless people who had organized the Tournament. He shifted back and forth between anger and guilt.
He was really confused when they reached the edge of the lake. They choose to walk on its ground until they stepped out onto the shore.
"There they are!" Ludo Bagman's booming voice greeted them. "Our second champion from Hogwarts has managed to rescue his hostage! He is the last champion to rescue his hostage."
Harry glared at the former Quidditch professional. He was at fault! He was a judge and he had helped organizing the tournament. His eyes searched for Mr. Crouch to glare at him as well. Inconveniently Madam Pomfrey bustled over and broke Harry's concentrated staring. The school nurse grumbled something, which sounded suspiciously like: "Damn this dumb tournament!" Which was the correct thing to say in Harry's mind!
The two teens were swooped away and dragged into a tent. A spell dried them straightaway. Madam Pomfrey waved her wand at them and mumbled spells which were probably of diagnostic nature. Harry glanced at Hermione. Just like he had expected: She was listening enraptured.
"At least neither of you is hypothermic !" The nurse said after a while. It turned out that Hermione was in fact totally fine, while Harry only had some minor scratches.
"Despite the unlikeliness you are both fine." announced Madam Pomfrey. She shoved a little pot at Harry. "Apply this healing salve every morning until the scratches have completely faded." The matron glared at. "You are free to go and receive your points."
Harry put his previously discarded clothes on. He took note that there were two beds with closed curtains. Madam Pomfrey stomped into the direction of the right bed still grumbling something about "...moronic idiots without a sense of self preservation..." and "... self-opinionated ministry clerks with emergency portkeys..."
The couple left the nurse to her ranting and went back to the shore of the lake. The judges were in the process of haggling how many points Harry would receive.
"I am kind of curious how the other three did." Harry whispered at Hermione, who was holding his left hand possessively.
The witch in turn nodded at a group of blabbering girls. "Don't worry, it will be school gossip for weeks!"
"There is Fleur." Harry said and barely stopped himself from pointing at the French witch. She stood next to a pair of adults and a smaller girl whom looked like her small sister. "All of them are glaring at the judges."
"Who could blame them if the little girl was Fleur's hostage?" Hermione observed.
"Why do you think she was Fleur's hostage?" Harry wondered. "I thought everyone had to save his or her date from the Yule Ball. I recognized Cho and Krum's French date. Fleur's hostage was already gone."
"Look at the judges!" Hermione huffed. "They would not make a girl save a boy."
Harry gasped. "Really?"
"Maybe they argued, that Fleur was too weak to drag a heavy boy out of the lake." Hermione offered.
Harry thought that would have been harder than pulling a small girl out of the lake. "And why do you think her little sister was her hostage?"
"Just look at the three women." Hermione sighed. "Fleur and her sister's hair are messy. Their mother's, in contrast is styled just like Fleur's usually is. Do you think her little daughter would walk around with hair like that, when Fleur is always perfectly styled just like her mother at this moment?"
"Oh..." Harry looked closer. "You are probably right."
"I am probably right?" Hermione asked with an edge in her voice.
Harry grinned lopsidedly at his girlfriend. "I meant to say definitely."
"You are teasing me!" Hermione exclaimed reproachfully. "You are obviously too well!"
Harry chuckled silently.
"There is Krum."
"Krum looks..." Harry narrowed his eyes to slits. "sullen."
Hermione commented dryly: "That is his default expression."
"The judges are now ready to announce the points for Harry Potter!" Ludo Bagman said with his magically enhanced voice.
A/N: I would like to thank The Ghostly Minion, who has beta-read this chapter. He found a surprising number of mistakes and a huge surplus of commas. If you know someone in need of them? I can donate a few ,,,,,,,