When Harry woke up the next morning he was surprised he had slept so well. He had been much more nervous before the first task, which he admitted might make a lot of sense considering nothing in the lake was as dangerous as a nesting dragon trying to protect her eggs. The next task was scheduled to take place at 1:00 PM, so he still had several hours to prepare. The first thing he did was open his trunk and check on his belongings. As he suspected it would be, everything was as he left it the night before. That meant that either no one had come to take something from him yet or that what was going to be taken from him was not an item but a person.

"Reperio Daphne." Harry said, eager to make sure the spell still worked. He had recast it the previous day because he was worried it might wear off. The locating spell was still functioning perfectly, he found, and the bright yellow line coming from his wand was currently pointing towards another part of the castle. Harry suspected it was aimed at the dungeons the Slytherin dorms were located in but could not be certain of that. He ended the spell and decided to start getting ready for the rest of his day. That was when he noticed a small package lying on his dresser. Curious about what it was he tore away the brown paper covering it and found that someone had sent him red and gold, the Gryffindor colors, swimming trunks with a matching shirt that said "POTTER" on the back in large letters. The clothes appeared to be the right size for him and when he picked them up was surprised to feel that they were quite warm. A note was lying at the bottom of the package and Harry picked it up to see who the gift was from.

Harry,

I thought that given your newfound love for swimming you might enjoy some new swim wear. They are enchanted to keep you warm and dry off instantly. I am sure you will find an opportunity to use them soon.

- Professor Albus Dumbledore

Harry smiled and muttered a silent 'thank you' to Professor Dumbledore. He put them on and found that they did indeed fit perfectly. Harry put his school robes on over his swimming clothes and decided to walk down to the Great Hall and see what was for breakfast. When he got there he immediately saw that the Great Hall was full as if it were a normal school day. He guessed that most people wanted to be up early enough to get good seats for the second event, although he wondered how exciting it was going to be for them to stare at the surface of a lake for an hour. When the other students noticed him walking in every eye turned to look at him and most of the conversations stopped. Harry was used to this kind of reactions so he grinned and shook his head. That was when he heard someone shout "Go Harry!" and some people started clapping for him. Maybe a quarter of the student population seemed to be supporting him, even a few Hufflepuff's were clapping despite the fact that Cedric Diggory was from their house. Harry smiled and waved to everyone for a moment, still a little shocked by what was happening.

'Maybe there is hope for these people after all.' Harry thought as he made his way to the Gryffindor table. He glanced over to the Slytherin table and noticed that Daphne wasn't there. His certainty that he would have to find her at the bottom of the lake increased as he felt anger towards those responsible for the tournament. He never wanted to be in it and he especially never wanted to endanger anyone he cared about. Sighing, he decided that there was nothing he could do about it at the moment and he might as well eat breakfast. He found Neville eating alone and decided to sit with him. They both said a quick hello and then got back to their meals. Harry had heard that it was a bad idea to eat a big meal before swimming, but decided he still had enough time for it to settle and not cause any problems so he ate until he was content.

"Hey Neville, have you seen Hermione?" Harry asked while taking another look down the table to see if she had sat down without him noticing. Most of Gryffindor seemed to be there but his friend was strangely absent.

"No. I haven't seen her all morning, actually." Neville answered. Harry nodded and wondered what she could be up to.

"Lavender!" Harry shouted, trying to get the attention of Hermione's roommate.

"What?" the girl shouted back from the other end of the table. She had been in the middle of a conversation and wasn't happy about being interrupted.

"Do you know where Hermione is?"

"Professor McGonagall came and got her this morning. She didn't say what for." Lavender answered and then turned back to the conversation she was having with Parvati Patil. Harry frowned as he thought about this new piece of information. Then he was struck by the realization that Hermione had been Viktor Krum's date to the Yule Ball. He jumped out of his seat and started looking up and down the Ravenclaw table. Cho Chang was missing as well. He did however see Roger Davies who had been Fleur Delacour's date at the Yule Ball, so that seemed to disprove his idea that the tournament officials had simply taken the people who had gone to the Ball with the champions. Perhaps there was someone else more important to her. In any event there was now no doubt at all that he would be looking for Daphne in the second task.

"Reperio Daphne." Harry said, casting the locating charm. Neville looked at him oddly because from his point of view the spell didn't seem to do anything at all. Harry however saw a golden light extend from his wand out of the Great Hall in the general direction of the lake. He frowned, guessing that meant she and Hermione were both already hidden in the lake. When he cancelled the charm Neville was still staring at him, waiting for him to explain.

"Daphne and Hermione are both at the bottom of the lake. I've got to get Daphne, and Krum has to get Hermione." Harry said.

"Oh. Do you think they are safe down there?"

"Yes, for now at least. But I don't know what's going to happen if we can't get to them in the hour we're going to be given. I'm not going to let either of them get hurt." Harry replied confidently. "I guess I might have to break the rules, but it will be worth it." Neville nodded in agreement and sat back in his chair, thinking about the situation.

"You don't really suppose the professors would let anything hurt them, do you?" Neville asked.

"I'm not sure the professors are in charge of this tournament. It's being run by a branch of the Ministry of Magic, and I don't trust them."

"No reason to, is there?" Neville agreed. "I'm sure you'll do great Harry. I'll be there cheering for you."

"Thanks. I'll see you there ok?" Harry said as he gathered his belongings and left the table. His exit drew far less attention than his entrance, but he did still notice a few people giving him thumbs up or softly booing him depending on their opinion of him. He shrugged off the negative reactions and tried to forget them. There was no way he was ever going to be liked by everyone in the school and he had long ago stopped trying.

As he walked out the door he saw Draco Malfoy with Crabbe and Goyle following close behind him turn the corner on their way to the Great Hall. Harry had not spoken to any of them since the previous weekend, although the thought of having a long and intelligent conversation with either of Malfoy's lackeys almost made him laugh. Harry slowed down as the approached each other, wondering what Malfoy would do.

"Potter." Malfoy said the name with a hint of disgust in his voice, as always. They had all stopped and were now staring each other down in the middle of the hallway. A few people had noticed and were watching, wondering if there was going to be a duel.

"Malfoy." Harry responded. Malfoy stood still and stared at the person who had been his nemesis practically since they met almost four years ago. Then, after a small shake of his head and a frustrated grunt, Malfoy motioned for Crabbe and Goyle to follow him past Harry and in to the Great Hall. Harry watched him go feeling slightly confused. He had expected Malfoy to insult him or at least claim he was going to fail miserably in the second task today but instead he had done nothing. It was quite clear that the Slytherin still harbored an intense dislike for him but at least he was being civil about it. He wondered if the improvement was going to be permanent or just temporary until the fact that Harry had saved his life became a distant memory. He shrugged and decided to wait and see what would happen. At the moment he had far more important things to worry about.

A few hours later Harry was finally making his way to the staging area for the second task. Neville was walking beside him and wishing him luck, but Harry wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying. All of his attention was focused on getting into the lake and finding Daphne and Hermione. For at least the twentieth time, Harry reached into his pockets to make sure that his gillyweed was there. He had enough left to last for two hours, far more than would be necessary. He had decided to take a smaller portion when he dived in so that he could have some left just in case. His biggest worry was that there would be some unexpected rule or requirement that he had not planned for.

Once they reached the lake shore a boat was waiting to take them to a large viewing platform that had been erected in the middle of the lake. Harry had seen the tournament crew working on it over the past week and had taken it as further proof that interpretation of the clue from the golden egg was correct. He was actually quite happy with the platform because it meant that his starting point would be in the middle of the lake and not on the shoreline. That meant he could easily reach any point in the lake in less than ten minutes, assuming he didn't have any major obstacles to overcome. As it was Harry felt confident in his abilities to handle anything the lake had in it.

As their boat reached the viewing platform Harry saw the other champions had already arrived and were standing in a section that had been roped off to prevent anyone else from entering. Once again Ludo Bagman was there and seemed to be in charge. Bagman spotted him walking towards the group and began waving him over.

"Harry! Wonderful, you're finally here." Bagman said. Harry gave him a fake smile and took the chance to look at his competition. The first and most obvious thing he noticed was that Fleur Delacour looked upset and very nervous. Apparently she had noticed that whoever they took from her was gone and was not at all happy about it. Cedric Diggory just looked confused as if he had no idea what was going on, Harry guess that he had not heard that Cho was missing. Krum, as always, looked like he couldn't care less what was going on around him.

"Yes sir." Harry answered. "Are we ready to start yet?"

"Almost. Now that you're all here I can explain the rules. This morning something was taken from each of you, something important."

"Where is Gabrielle?" Fleur demanded to know. "If you have hurt her I will ruin you!" Bagman looked uncomfortable with her threats but had no choice but to answer her.

"Well, since Ms Delacour has given the surprise away I suppose it won't hurt to let you all know that a person important to you has been placed at the bottom of the lake. You will have one hour to find them."

"And what happens after the hour is over?" Harry asked, hoping that his fears would be put to rest.

"Let's not worry about that right now, shall we? I'm sure all four of you will do marvelously!" Bagman answered. Meanwhile, Harry's anger was beginning to rise. Bagman's non answer could have meant anything, including that their friends and loved ones were in mortal peril if they were not able to rescue them in the allotted time. The others took Bagman's response no better than he did and he could tell that Fleur was seriously contemplating cursing the man.

"Your hour will start in five minutes. I'll leave you to prepare yourselves. Good luck!" Bagman said as he made a hasty retreat. The four champions lined up at the edge of the platform and waited for the challenge to begin. Unlike last time there was no talking, each of them was fully focused on the challenge ahead. In the background Harry could hear Bagman welcoming everyone to the second task and explaining the rules to them. He ignored it, still angry at Bagman. Perhaps he was just an announcer and not really in charge of the tournament, but Harry still considered him a part of it and therefore someone who deserved his scorn.

"The task will begin in 5... 4..." Harry heard Bagman's voice say loudly.

"3..." He took a small portion of the gillyweed, enough for about twenty to thirty minutes, out of his pocket and put it in his mouth.

"2..." Harry forcefully swallowed the distasteful plant. As it travelled down his throat he felt an odd burning sensation that let him know it was working.

"1..." He could already feel the changes in his body beginning. In a few moments his hands would grow webbing between his fingers, gills would sprout from his neck, his feet would elongate and turn into fins, and many other small changes would occur that would turn him into a perfect swimming machine.

"GO!"

Harry and the other champions all dove into the lake as Bagman's countdown ended. He slowed down and waited for the transformation to complete as he watched the others split up and head in different directions. Cedric and Fleur were both using the bubble head charm while Krum had taken a completely different approach and transformed part of his body into a shark. It was clearly not an animagus transformation but one done with a wand and Harry wondered what negative side effects such a move might also have. A loss of intelligence was almost a given, although for a task as simple as 'Find Hermione' it would probably be adequate.

Once the others were out of sight Harry cast a disillusionment charm on himself, hoping it would help him avoid any underwater threats and prevent his competition from following him. He then cast the tracking charm and was relieved to see the bright golden line once again spring forth from the tip of his wand and point down and eastward towards one of the deeper sections of the lake. He began swimming as fast as his new body would allow towards where the magic was pointing him. Cedric had chosen to search in this direction as well, although it was probably a lucky guess on his part. Harry caught up with and passed the other Hogwarts champion less than a minute later, despite the fact that Cedric had left the starting point almost thirty seconds before he had. Cedric's head shot up and looked around, but he could not see through Harry's disillusionment charm. Harry smiled as he swam past Cedric and thought about how glad he was to have the gillyweed. Cedric and Fleur had no chance of catching him as long as they used the bubble head charm, although Krum might be able to with his partial transfiguration.

Harry realized a moment too late that he was paying too much attention to following the golden line and not enough to his surroundings when he came over a small underwater hill and found himself face to face with an equally surprised giant squid. The squid's senses were much more adept at finding predators and prey it could not see so it was able to quickly find Harry even through the disillusionment charm. The huge animal began to panic at the sudden perceived threat and thrash its arms about wildly. Harry dodged as fast as he could, but he was not able to completely escape the giant squid in such close quarters. One of its huge arms hit Harry in the side and managed to knock his wand out of his hand and send him flying through the water several feet.

He hit the lake bed with a soft grunt and immediately started looking for his wand. Fortunately the tracking spell was still working and so he knew that it would be found at the nearer end of the golden line. Unfortunately though, his wand was now directly under the giant squid. Knowing he had no choice, Harry swam as quickly as he could towards his dropped wand. The squid sensed him swimming under it and began to sink to the lake floor trying to crush Harry under itself. As Harry reached his wand he knew he could not swim fast enough to avoid the squid so he spun around and yelled "Reducto!" The curse hit one of the squid's many arms and opened a large, bloody gash in it. The squid did not scream in pain but instead quickly retracted its arms and began to slowly move away from Harry, who it now knew was a major threat. Harry began to swim away, eager to put some distance between himself and the squid, as the large animal seemed to think about whether or not to pursue him. To Harry's immense relief the squid slowly began to retreat, allowing him to continue on with the second task.

Harry's tracking charm had ended as soon as he cast another spell, a major flaw with the spell as far as he was concerned, so he recast the spell and restarted his journey towards Daphne. His violent encounter with the squid had taken less than two minutes, but he was still unhappy with the set back. After few uneventful minutes Harry swam over the edge of an underwater valley and spotted his target. Daphne, along with the other three people taken from the other champions, was tied to the lake floor and surrounded by merpeople. Unsure whether or not they would try and attack him, Harry disabled his disillusionment charm and approached cautiously. As he got closer the merpeople spotted him but made no movement to attack him or stop him, although he found that they were holding spears or tridents.

Once he reached Daphne he saw that she appeared to be unconscious. She did not seem to be breathing and when he put his hand over her heart he could not feel it beating. Knowing that he had reached her well under the hour he had been given, he assumed that she had been placed in some kind of magical stasis. Using a cutting charm he removed the ropes tying Daphne and wrapped one arm around her in order to carry her. He began to swim towards Hermione but a group of the merpeople jumped in his way and began threatening him with their weapons. Harry frowned and guessed that the champions would only be allowed to take one hostage. Harry knew that the other champions still had over fifty minutes to rescue the people that had been taken from them so it was not imperative for him to take them yet. First he needed to get Daphne to safety.

Harry sank to the lake floor and picked up a rock as the merpeople watched on curiously. "Celario rock." he said softly as he cast the first part of the tracking charm on the rock which he then dropped back where he found it. He was fairly certain he could find this spot again without it if he needed to, but having the charm there to help reassured him. He then pulled Daphne close towards him and began to swim towards the surface. Harry was relieved to see that the merpeople seemed happy to let him go. Harry swam up and out of the valley and began to head back towards the viewing platform. He had not gotten very far when he suddenly stopped and began looking around. He had been by this part of the lake before, but this time it seemed different somehow. He didn't have to look for very long before he found what had changed.

About two dozen grindylows had hidden themselves behind plants, under rocks, in the mud on the lake floor, and in various other places in order to set up an ambush. They had clearly seen him approaching but had not yet made their move, choosing to wait until Harry was a little bit closer and it would be harder for him to escape. The creatures were vicious and quite dangerous when they hunted in packs but they did have several weaknesses. One of them was their speed. Harry could easily out swim them when using gillyweed, however that would be much more difficult to do while carrying an unconscious person. He did however have one trick up his sleeve that they would not be expecting. In his preparations Harry had wondered how muggle underwater vessels moved. Most of them used propellers to force the water in one direction and push the ship in the other. Others used jets that did something similar. It seemed obvious to him that if he could find a spell that would do that he could propel himself underwater much faster than he would be able to swim. At first he had considered conjuring or transfiguring something into a propeller but realized actually holding and using it would be difficult. Finally the perfect spell to use had come to him and he was a little shocked by its simplicity.

"Aguamenti!" Harry said, grasping his wand tightly and pointing it behind him. Immediately a strong jet of water began pouring out of his wand, but since it was already underwater the force propelled Harry forwards. That, combined with his fin-like legs that were still kicking as strong as he could, enabled Harry to swim much faster than the grindylows even though he was carrying Daphne. Seeing that their ambush had failed, the grindylows began chasing after him but it soon became clear they were too late. Harry was simply too fast for them. Eventually they returned to their hiding spots and angrily waited for the next opportunity to come around.

It did not take long after that for Harry to reach the surface. As first his head then Daphne's rose out of the water the waiting fans began to clap and cheer loudly. Harry began swimming towards the viewing platform and felt the effects of the gillyweed beginning to wear off. If he had stayed underwater the gillyweed would still be working fine, but the transformation rapidly begins to reverse once the person begins breathing air again. Harry reached the platform just as his body finished transforming back to its normal state.

"And at just over thirteen minutes, our first champion to complete the task is Harry Potter!" Ludo Bagman announced to the excitement of the crowd. Harry was still trying to get Daphne safely on the platform when her eyes opened and she started coughing. Once she was finally on the platform he magically dried and warmed her and pulled her into a hug. She leaned heavily on him, still weak from the effects of the spell that had been used to keep her unconscious.

"It's ok Daphne, I've got you." Harry said, trying to comfort her. "You're safe now." Daphne nodded and laid her head on his shoulder. A member of the tournament crew approached them with a large towel which Harry gratefully took and covered them with.

"What about the others? Hermione is down there." Daphne asked.

"I know. They're still down there. There is still about fourty minutes left so hopefully they will be able to make it too." Harry answered.

"You're going back down there, aren't you?"

"If I have to." Harry responded seriously. He didn't really want to, but he was not willing to innocent bystanders get hurt in this stupid tournament. "I need to go talk to Bagman, will you be ok here for a minute?" Daphne nodded her head and reluctantly released her hold on him. Harry smiled and gave her a quick kiss before walking towards Bagman who was still talking to the crowd which was eagerly awaiting the next champion.

"Mr Bagman!" Harry shouted, trying to get the man's attention. The announcer looked Harry's way with a surprised and confused look on his face for a moment, and then broke in to a large smile.

"Well done Harry! I knew you could do it." Bagman said in congratulations.

"Yeah thanks. I need to know what is going to happen if the other champions aren't able to rescue their hostage before the hour is up."

"But you already saved your friend, Harry." Bagman pointed out. "Why don't you just relax and watch the rest of the competition?"

"Because one of my friends is still down there!" Harry yelled angrily. "And if you won't answer me I am going back down there and getting all of them."

"Settle down." Bagman said with a frustrated sigh. "Nothing is going to happen to them, even if the other champions can't reach them in the hour. Did you really think the Ministry of Magic would endanger children like that?"

"Yes, actually. I did." Harry answered and walked away feeling relieved. In Harry's opinion Ludo Bagman was a weak and stupid man, but he wasn't a liar. No one was going to be in life threatening danger in this part of the tournament at least. Once he reached Daphne he sat down beside her and pulled the towel back around them.

"Everything ok?" she asked, guessing from his reaction that it was.

"They'll be safe." Harry replied. Daphne nodded and put her arms back around him as they began to wait for the other champions to make it out of the lake.

"Thank you for coming for me, Harry." Daphne said after a few minutes.

"You weren't ever in any real danger though." Harry responded, still feeling a little angry that the tournament officials had not made that point clear before the second task began.

"True, but you didn't know that." Harry shrugged and thought she was giving him too much credit.

"I won't let you get hurt." he said earnestly. Daphne smiled, knowing he meant it.

"I know. That's one of the things I like about you." Harry grinned in response, happy to hear that she appreciated his concern for her safety. When he thought about it he realized that he cared a lot for her and not just for her safety.

"Daphne, will you be my girlfriend?" Harry asked uncertainly. He knew it probably wasn't the best time to ask, but he had been struck by the sudden urge to do it and his courageous Gryffindor side wouldn't allow him to back down. Daphne looked surprised by his question but her expression quickly changed to a happy one.

"Yes, Harry. I will. I'm just surprised it took you this long to ask." she answered, playfully teasing him. Harry shrugged and kissed her in response before realizing they were still in a very public place. He blushed slightly and then put his arm around her as they watched the rest of the second task. At halfway through the hour Fleur Delacour was brought back to the surface alone after being attacked by a group of grindylows. Harry thought he could guess exactly where that had happened. The Beauxbatons champion was clearly upset and tried to get back in the lake to rescue her little sister. She only calmed down slightly when informed that Gabrielle would not be harmed and would be returned to her as soon as the task was over.

By the end of the hour neither of the other two champions had returned. The crowd was growing restless as it eagerly waited and an announcement was made that the champions could still complete the tasks for fewer points if they were still able to rescue their hostage. Five minutes after the hour had passed Cedric Diggory finally made it back to the surface with Cho Chang held close to him. The crowd, mostly made up of Hogwarts students, was thrilled that their two champions had done the best. Viktor Krum was only moments behind Cedric but when he reached the surface he seemed quite disappointed in his performance. Despite his anger at himself, Krum was very careful with Hermione. He gently placed her on the platform and did not leave her side until she had woken up. Harry smiled at that as he realized that the large Bulgarian really did care for his friend.

Harry hardly paid attention as Bagman announced the results. He knew the most important part: he had once again come in first and should now be the favorite to win the tournament, just like he had planned. A date for the third and final task was announced, but no clue was given as to what it would be. Harry held Daphne close to him and found that at the moment he did not care. He had months to worry about the future and at the moment all he wanted to do was celebrate his victory with his friends and new girlfriend.

Author's Note:

Due to the surprisingly positive response to my suggestion after the last chapter that Harry's animagus form should be ManBearPig, I have decided that the sequel to this story will be entitled "Harry Potter and the Vice President" and will feature Harry's attempt to escape from a very confused but obsessed American politician.

I'm super cereal here, people.