A/N: The sections in italics about the clue for the second task was taken from the Harry Potter wiki and is from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire whose rights belong to J.K. Rowling.
CH 10.
Albus Dumbledore wearily took a seat at his desk. He had just attended a meeting of the Hogwarts Board of Governors to discuss the situation involving Draco Malfoy. Thanks to a combination of his influence and Lucius Malfoy's deep pockets they were able to keep Draco from being expelled. Instead, Draco would spend the rest of the term at home and would only be able to return if he could convince the board that he wasn't a threat to the other students. As Dumbledore popped a lemon drop into his mouth, he knew that one student in particular could help and hopefully keep Draco from following in his father's footsteps.
Pansy, Daphne, and Astoria were in the Slytherin Common Room going through the pile of belongings that the Parkinson's house elf dropped off earlier. Thankfully all of Pansy's things had been delivered and Daphne had Dobby and Tinker bring all of it back to Potter Manor. As they were getting ready to leave the common room, a first year student came up to them.
"Uh Professor Dumbledore wanted me to give this to you." He said as he handed a piece of parchment to Pansy. She opened the note and had an exasperated look on her face.
"Well what does it say?" asked Astoria.
"The headmaster wants to discuss my situation." Pansy said with a sneer that would make Snape proud. "I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to make me take Draco back."
"I'll let Harry know about your meeting." Daphne said.
Pansy ascended the spiral staircase leading to Dumbledore's office. The door opened as Pansy reached the top. Dumbledore was sitting at his desk waiting for her.
"Ah Miss Parkin…I mean Pansy please have a seat. Lemon drop" He asked as
"No thank you professor." Pansy said as she sat sown.
"I'm aware of your recent disowning by your family." Dumbledore started." Because of that your tuition is now an issue. While you are covered for the remainder of the year, next year will be an issue unless you'd be willing to assist me with something."
"Actually professor while I was disowned this morning, I've already had a family take me in. If you would wait a few minutes my new legal guardian will join us. Dumbledore was surprised at this bit of news. No noble family would be willing to accept anyone who had been disowned by another noble family. Such action could cause the family to be viewed as blood traitors. Before Dumbledore could continue, the door to the office opened and Harry entered.
"Mr. Potter I don't remember summoning you to this meeting." Dumbledore said.
"I did." Pansy said. "As of this morning. Harry is my new legal guardian."
"How is that possible? Mr. Potter is not of age." Dumbledore said.
"Actually professor, I'm consider of age due to my betrothals and over the summer I claimed lordship to the house of Potter." Harry said. "I would have been here sooner, but I had to send a letter to Gringotts. As of tomorrow, Pansy's tuition will be covered for the remainder of her time at Hogwarts. Now is there anything else professor?" Harry said.
"No I believe that is all" Dumbledore said resigned. Pansy and Harry got up and made their way to the door. Before they left Pansy turned to Dumbledore.
"Oh and professor? It's Miss Potter from now on."
January came and went and Harry was still no closer to figuring out the mystery of the golden egg. It wasn't until the Tuesday before Valentine's Day that they had a breakthrough. During lunch Cho came into the Great Hall.
"Harry you need to see this!" she said with an excited tone in her voice. "I just came from Care of Magical Creatures and look at this!" She handed him a copy of her notes from that day's class. They discussed Mer-folk and other magical aquatic creatures. The part that caught Harry's attention was the part about Merpeople voices were screams above the surface.
"You think the second task has something to do with Merpeople?" Harry asked.
"Yes, Hagrid mentioned that there was a colony living in the black lake." Cho said.
"So now we just need to open the egg underwater." Harry said.
"I had an idea about that." Cho said. "It will have to wait until tomorrow night, I promised Marietta that I'd join her O.W.L. study group tonight."
Valentine's Day fell on a Wednesday and the entire school was given the day off from classes and a special Hogsmeade trip was arranged. Harry had a plan to spend the day with his three wives. The morning Harry spent with Ginny, serving her breakfast in bed with help from Dobby. After breakfast the two of them spent some quality time snogging and cuddling. The afternoon was spent with Daphne shopping in Hogsmeade and lunch in a private room in the Three Broomsticks.
Just before dinner Harry received a note from Hedwig. He recognized the handwriting as Cho's asking him to meet her in the Room of Requirement in his dress robes and to bring the egg with him. The door to the room was already there waiting for him. Inside was a small table with two chairs and several dozen candles floating around casting a dim glow throughout the room.
"Hello Harry." Cho said. "Happy Valentine's Day." Cho was wear a low cut black dress that nearly left Harry's jaw on the floor. The two of them sat down and ate dinner. After dinner Harry presented a necklace to Cho it was a simple golden pendant with sapphires. Harry had given Ginny and Daphne similar necklaces with rubies and emeralds respectively. Each necklace doubled as a portkey that would take them to Potter Manor if they were in trouble.
"So did you bring the egg?" Cho asked.
"I got it right here." Harry said as he pulled it out of his book bag.
"Good wait right here." She said. She got up from the table and went behind a changing curtain that the room provided.
"So where did you get that dress?" Harry asked when he saw it draped over the top of the curtain.
"Did you like it? I actually got it at the Manor. I spent all day there looking through the massive walk in closet and found this dress." As she was talking the table that the room had given them had disappeared and a large tub, similar to the one in the prefect's bathroom, replaced it. "Oh and you might want to change out of your robes."
"But I didn't bring a change with me."
"So? There's nothing I haven't seen before." Cho said as she stepped away from the curtain in a blue and silver swimsuit. "Now let's see what the egg has to say."
Harry and Cho lowered the egg under the surface of the water and then submerged themselves as Harry opened the egg. Instead of screams, the sound coming from the egg was a pleasant voice that sounded like it was singing.
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
But past an hour- the prospect's black
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back
Harry and Cho surfaced after the egg had finished.
"So you'll need a way to breathe underwater water for an hour to retrieve something that they'll take from you. Any idea what they'll take?"
"No." Harry said. "The only possessions I care about are my wand, my broom, the cloak, and the map. I'll probably need my wand for the task, I could replace my broom easily and nobody else knows about the map and cloak. The only thing that isn't replaceable is….No they wouldn't." Harry said.
"What is it?" Cho asked.
"It's not what they'll take but who they'll take, they're going to put a hostage at the bottom of the lake for us to rescue."
"Then we'll really need to find you a way to breathe underwater soon, the task is less than ten days away."
The remaining days until the second tasks found Harry and all of his friends spent trying to prepare for the task. Hermione had pointed out that the bubblehead charm would help Harry breathe but there were questions as to how long it would last. Fortunately Neville came through for the group. Neville mentioned that Gillyweed would be a better choice.
"That's just what we're looking for Neville.' Harry said. "How did you come up with this idea?"
"Actually it was Moody. He gave me a book on it the other day. Susan suggested that I tell you about it."
"How are things between you and Susan?" Harry asked.
"They're great. Asking her out after the Yule Ball was probably the best thing I've ever done."
Later that night, Harry had Tinker bring some Gillyweed from the potion lab at the manor the night before the task.
Harry could barely focus on the breakfast in front of him. Last night McGonagall came to the common room and asked to see Ginny. Ginny hadn't returned to the common room that night. Judging by who was absent from breakfast, the other hostages were Hermione, Hannah, and Fleur's sister Gabrielle.
The crowd was gathered in a floating platform built on the surface of the Black Lake. Harry was standing on the edge with the other champions. The champions would enter the lake in ascending order. Cedric would enter first, followed by Viktor, Fleur, and then Harry. Similar to the first task, a cannon blast was used to indicate the start of the task. Harry placed the Gillyweed in his mouth when Fleur entered the lake. As he dove into the water, he could feel the changes taking place. He grew gills and fins to help him swim.
From what he could remember from the research in the library, the village was in the center of the lake. Making his way there he came across Fleur fighting off several creatures. Drawing his wand he sent several stinging hexes toward the creatures causing them to flee. Fleur mouthed a thank you to Harry through the bubblehead charm she was using. Several minutes later, Harry was contacted by Daphne over the bond.
"Harry, they just pulled Cedric out of the lake." Daphne said mentally.
"Are they pulling Hannah out too?" Harry said.
"Doesn't look like they are." Daphne replied. Harry had reached the village shortly after that. He had to have been the first to get there since all four hostages were still there tied to a statue in the center of the village. Harry couldn't help but wait for the other champions to rescue their hostages. Viktor was the first to show up after Harry. He had partially transfigured himself into a shark. He bit into the rope holding Hermione to the statue. Fleur showed up seconds after and took Gabrielle. Harry tried to take both Ginny and Hannah but the Merpeople kept him from taking both. Harry cast a severing charm at the rope holding Hannah to the statue. Harry helped Hannah to the surface and went back down just before Hannah broke the surface. He was able to cast another severing charm at Ginny's rope. Ginny floated up and into his arms without the Merpeople noticing.
As Harry went back to rescue Ginny, Hannah broke the surface of the lake and the stasis charm placed on her, Unfortunately Hannah, like most pureblood witches and wizards, didn't know how to swim. The only one to do anything was Neville. Neville's great uncle had taught him how to swim, mainly so that Neville could safely retrieve aquatic plants when studying Herbology. Neville dove into the lake and helped Hannah over to the shore where Susan was waiting to help them out of the water. As Susan helped Neville and Hannah out of the water, Cho and Daphne noticed a familiar golden light engulf the three of them at the water's edge and they collapsed on the shore.
A/N: Well chapter 10 is finished. Next chapter will cover the aftermath of the second task and the start of the third task.
As always read and review!