February the twenty-fourth came too soon for Harry, and before he knew it, he was dressed in his swimming gear and was being escorted out of the dormitory by Seamus, Dean, and Neville, all of whom had decided that Harry deserved a guard of honor. When the boys arrived in the common room, many Gryffindors had been waiting for Harry, and erupted in cheers upon seeing him exit the dormitory. They filed around Harry and started parading him down to the Great Hall. Harry grinned nervously. He had his Gillyweed in his pocket, but the previous night was the first time he had even read or heard about Gillyweed, and was starting to have doubts about its effectiveness for the task, despite what Neville's book said. As Harry sat down at the Gryffindor table to try and wolf down some breakfast, he realized he really should have gotten a head start earlier on the clue. Maybe he'd have had a chance to test out the Gillyweed beforehand.
"You aren't eating much, Harry," remarked Dean from Harry's left.
"Not hungry," muttered Harry, sipping a bit of his pumpkin juice.
"Don't blame you," said Seamus from Harry's other side. "I don't envy being in that lake." Just yesterday a notice had gone up that said the second task would take place in the Black Lake, causing everyone to start speculating on what the task was.
"I don't envy myself," sighed Harry, chewing on a small piece of toast.
"You know how you're doing to do the task, though, don't you?" asked Dean.
"Yeah, I do," replied Harry, gripping his Gillyweed with his other hand again.
Seamus clapped Harry on the back. "Wish we could've helped you more with this, mate."
"Ah, well, moral support is good enough," said Harry, chuckling nervously. "A right sight better than Ron or Hermione anyway…where are they?"
He had not seen Ron or Hermione since he had woken up that morning, and now that he thought about it he hadn't seen them since Hermione had said she and Ron were heading to the library to get more books the previous night. He wondered if maybe something had happened to them while they were on their way to the library. It would be the perfect opportunity for someone like Malfoy to try and sabotage Harry's chances in the tournament by assaulting his friends. Harry had no time to think about it, however; he had bigger things to worry about.
"I think I'm going to go head down to the lake now," said Harry, standing up from his unfinished breakfast.
"We're coming with you, Harry!" said Neville from behind, and there were roars of agreement from the Gryffindors that were assorted around Harry.
With a vast, chattering crowd around him, Harry slowly started heading out the entrance hall and down to the grounds, towards the lake which was starting to fill up with students and other people coming from outside of Hogwarts. Three large wooden stands had been constructed in the middle of the lake, and self-rowing rowboats were transporting visitors to each of the wooden stands. Different levels had been constructed in each set of stands, so that there was a large section of stands at the very top, a slightly smaller section in the middle, and then the dock at the bottom. The center set stands had one side where the railings that were present on every other side were gone, so Harry assumed that that was where he was to go to. He nervously clambered into one of the rowboats with Dean, Seamus, and Neville. As the other three chattered excitedly about the other champions and what they would be doing, Harry said nothing, his stomach churning as the rowboat moved closer to the set of stands. Before he knew it, he was climbing out of the rowboat and was now being led to the gap in the railings, following a Ministry official.
"Ah, Mr. Potter," Harry saw Mr. Crouch turn from where he was talking to Professor Dumbledore and address Harry. He still looked rather ill, from what Harry saw. Percy Weasley stood next to him, clutching a clipboard. He nodded at Harry formally, who nodded back numbly. "Good, good, you're here, you'll need to stand here…" said Mr. Crouch. He motioned Harry to a spot at the very right of the gap. Harry nodded blankly and moved to take his spot. For a brief moment he wondered if Dumbledore had talked to Crouch about what Harry had told him, being in Moody's office, but all other thoughts disappeared when he gazed down at the black water. He had swum in it before, but for some reason at that moment in time it seemed to be much more sinister, as if inviting Harry to jump in and never come out…
Harry started and turned around to see who else was there. Dean, Seamus, and Neville had taken it upon themselves to stay at Harry's side since Ron and Hermione were still absent, and were at the moment talking to other students. Cedric had just arrived with his gang of Hufflepuffs and grinned slightly at Harry, looking very pale as he did so. Harry tried to smile back but could only grunt incoherently and nod his head stiffly, feeling that if he tried anything else he'd throw up. Cedric seemed to understand, as he nodded back and then turned to face the water as Harry had been previously doing, seemingly deep in thought.
A couple minutes later there was another outbreak of murmuring. Krum had just showed up with his fellow Durmstrang students, and he still looked his surly self. Only his flickering eyes and twitching jaw betrayed his nervousness as he took his place next to Cedric. Karkaroff was continually whispering into his ear, but Krum gave no indication that he was listening to what he was saying. Harry heard more movement behind them and looked to see that Fleur was following Krum, her fellow Beauxbatons students crowding around her as she made her way to the spot at the very left of the gap. She spotted Harry and smiled nervously at him. Harry smiled back, feeling the muscles in his face constrict rather awkwardly as he fought back the feeling to throw up, the nerves in his stomach culminating.
Dumbledore looked and saw that all the champions were assembled on the dock. "Excellent," he said, turning to Mr. Crouch who nodded back at him. Mr. Bagman was standing to Crouch's left and winked at Harry, who merely nodded back. Dumbledore pointed the tip of his wand to his throat. "Sonorus," he muttered, before raising his voice. "Attention!" boomed Dumbledore's voice, magnified to fifty times its normal volume, causing Harry to wince slightly at the loudness of his voice. "Welcome to the second task of the Triwizard Tournament! Last night, something was stolen from our champions. A treasure, of sorts. Each champion's treasure now lies at the bottom of the Black Lake."
Harry, who had been listening to Dumbledore speak, had a horrible feeling suddenly sink in. He had not seen Ron since last night. Was he Harry's treasure?
Just then he felt someone poke him in the ribs. He turned to see Moody was standing next to him. "Put that in your mouth," he hissed, pointing at the Gillyweed that was now in Harry's tight grip. Harry looked up at him, feeling slightly confused. "Now!" Moody growled. Harry started and looked down at the Gillyweed before shoving it in his mouth. A few moments passed and nothing happened. Then, suddenly Harry felt his chest constrict tightly. He broke into a coughing fit, holding onto the railing as it felt that someone was covering his mouth and preventing him from breathing.
"You alright, Harry?" Harry heard Cedric mutter to him. Harry barely managed a nod before coughing again. Moody slapped him on the back. Dumbledore was still talking throughout all of this.
"In order to win the task, each champion need only find their treasure, and return it from the lake. They will have one hour to complete this task, and one hour only. After that, they will be on their own, and no magic will save them. Champions, you may begin at the sound of the cannon."
Almost instantly a cannon fired in the distance, causing a portion of the crowd to shriek. Cedric, Krum, and Fleur all dived into the lake. Harry heard and saw none of this. It seemed that his vision was starting to blur despite his glasses and there was a piercing pain on the side of his neck. Moody pushed Harry roughly into the lake, and Harry started to sink, still struggling to breathe. He could tell that the people in the audience were talking confusedly to each other, wondering what Harry was doing and why it seemed like he had done no magic while entering the lake. Then, almost suddenly, the pain subsided and Harry…he…he could breathe.
Harry grabbed the sides of his neck. He felt a slimy texture and realized that he now had gills alongside his neck. Harry raised his hands in front of his face and saw that they were now webbed and connected with each other. Looking down at his feet, he saw that his feet too were webbed and had become elongated, looking like flippers. Breathing came easily to Harry, too, as he realized it now felt like he was on land. The water was no longer freezing cold; in fact, it felt pleasantly warm, room temperature like. As he felt his face, he noticed that his glasses seemed to have disappeared, but his vision was still perfect. He swam through the deep water, and realized how easy it was.
For a moment, Harry floated in the water, taking in his new abilities. Then, without warning, he shot up to the top and broke the surface of the lake, doing a couple flips in the air as he reached ten, twenty feet above the lake. There were cheers from the crowd and people applauding as Harry dove back into the lake, feeling a surge of confidence and joy run through him. He was ready to complete the task.
Harry swam deeper into the lake, his wand in hand, using his feet to shoot down into the dark depths. All was quiet as Harry continued swimming. It was an almost eerie feeling, hearing absolutely nothing, as Harry plowed forward. He could see a fair distance in front of him, and saw many different landscapes as he swam; forests of dark weeds that rippled as he swam by, with plains of mud swamping the lake. Stones were everywhere, with a dull glimmer at Harry swam past them. Harry glanced around, seeing if there were any creatures around him. He wondered for a moment if there was a chance he would end up meeting the giant squid. No creatures popped out at him. Harry turned to face front and continued onwards.
As he continued delving into the depths he started seeing small groups of fish float past him. Reefs appeared out of nowhere and twice he nearly collided into stone structures that jutted out of walls. Harry dove deeper still, nearly level with the rocky ground and filing between the stone rocks and weeds that were omnipresent. More and more fish started appearing out of the water, and a few seemed to follow Harry as he continued searching for Ron.
Harry turned a corner around a reef and was startled. A few dozen feet in front of him was the giant squid. It appeared to simply be floating in the water, facing away from Harry as it watched the water. Harry also floated there for a moment, shocked. He had never seen the giant squid before, so he had no idea what to expect, but it was still much bigger than any other creature Harry had ever seen before. Its tentacles reached out from beneath it, and it moved slightly in the water, almost restlessly, as if awaiting someone to grab onto. Harry, anxious to avoid an encounter with the squid, shot deep towards ground level, entering a forest of blackened weeds and swimming his way deeper into the lake. Then, without warning, something grabbed at Harry's foot.
Harry whipped his head around. Still behind him was a strange sea demon. Harry recognized it as a grindylow; there had been one in Professor Lupin's office the previous year when he had been in there, and they had studied them as a part of their Defense Against the Dark Arts classes. It glared at Harry and made another attempt to grab at his foot as Harry tried to swim away from it. More grindylows appeared out of the water and were trying to assist the first one in attacking Harry. Harry pulled his wand out of his trunks and aimed at the grindylow, shooting a few warning sparks to try and dissuade the sea demons. Instead of causing them to let go of Harry, they only seemed to try harder to grab him, slowly pulling him down to the depths. Harry struggled heavily, panic starting to set in as he desperately tried to break free of the grindylows. Was this the end of the tournament for him?
When the cannon fired, Fleur dove gracefully into the water, her wand in her hand as she casted her Bubble-Head Charm. She had been practicing this charm for a few weeks now, and had mastered it quickly, seeing as she had always been very adept at charms. Now that she was in the water, she was able to breathe normally just as if she was above water, although she still felt the chill of the black water.
Her gracefulness when diving however was coupled with the franticness of her mind. Her mother, father, and sister had arrived at Hogwarts a week ago to watch Fleur in the second task, and had been staying in an inn in Hogsmeade. Fleur and her sister, Gabrielle, had the closest of relationships. They told each other everything. Gabrielle knew what had happened at Fred and George's afterparty with Harry as well as Fleur's feelings that she could not comprehend about him. She had not started at Beauxbatons yet, and so Fleur found it very difficult to find time for them to spend with each other. Her family's arrival in Hogsmeade was a godsend, as she was able to visit them every day (Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students had no Hogsmeade restrictions, unlike Hogwarts students) and spend a lot of time with them. Alexandra and Marie had come with her on some of these trips, and she had thoroughly enjoyed the last few weeks because of it, being able to spend time with both her friends and her family. But Fleur had not seen Gabrielle since the previous afternoon, and when Dumbledore announced that their treasures had been taken from them last night, her worst fears were confirmed; Gabrielle was her treasure that she was supposed to rescue.
With this in her mind, Fleur began the task with a slight panic. She was not worried, however, about the task itself. Growing up, Fleur had always enjoyed swimming. It had been a favorite pastime of her mother and it too was a favorite pastime for Fleur whenever she was feeling stressed or anxious. She started swimming when she was just five years old, and just before she started at Beauxbatons she had become very talented at swimming. In the weeks leading up to the second task, she had swum in the Black Lake to get used to what it felt like. It certainly was much colder than any other lake or pool in France, but she quickly became acclimated to it.
Fleur continued through the dark water with her wand in hand, turning her head every now and then to see if there were any sea creatures near her. She saw nothing in sight. She turned back forward to see that she was now swimming over forests of dark weeds, mixed in with a rocky stone floor that seemed to go deeper and deeper the further she swam. Small groups of fish swam below and above her, and coral colonies gleamed at she swam past them.
Minutes passed and Fleur continued to search for her sister in the depths of the Black Lake. Everywhere she went, however, she did not see her, nor did she see any of the other champions or their hostages. She only saw fish, weeds, rocks, and the occasional sea creature. Fleur swam between two rock formations and came across a massive forest of blackened weeds that stretched the ground. She hadn't been to this part of the lake and was sure that she was headed in the right direction. Glancing behind her, Fleur turned back to the front and dove down into the weeds, thinking that it would help conceal her from any unwanted sea creatures that wanted to attack her. The weeds rippled slightly as she swam through them and for a few moments it seemed almost peaceful, as the deafening silence reigned throughout the lake.
Suddenly Fleur felt something grab at her ankle and she turned her head quickly to see that a sea demon she recognized as a grindylow had grabbed on to her. She had never seen a grindylow, and only knew of them from the research she had been conducting in the library over the past few weeks about possible sea demons and creatures she could face in the lake. However, Fleur had been more focused on finding a way to survive in the lake, and so had not done as much study on sea demons as she probably should have. Fleur panicked for a moment, fumbling for her wand which she had stowed back into her pants. During this time more grindylows had appeared out of the water and were now pulling Fleur down into a hole in the forest of weeds.
Fleur finally managed to grab her wand and aimed at the grindylows. One of them jumped up her body and using its claws popped Fleur's Bubble-Head Charm. The bubble around Fleur's head repaired itself quickly, but water had already leaked in and was lapping around inside the bubble, close to her mouth. "Re – Relashio!" Fleur said desperately. Her wand emitted a few sparks but the grindylows only seemed to fight back harder. Another grindylow poked another hole in her bubble and more water began to leak in, until it covered Fleur's mouth and up to her nose. Soon, Fleur was flailing in the water, unable to get rid of the grindylows and starting to have to hold her breath due to the increasing water.
After a couple more minutes of trying to fight with the grindylows, Fleur's flailing started to weaken. Her wand laid limply at her said, as water covered her mouth and she was desperately attempting to flail off one of the grindylows that was pulling her down still. Her vision started to blur and Fleur realized that she was starting to black out. As she slowly started passing out she dimly saw that the grindylows were no longer pulling her down, but more had showed up and were now pulling her up, towards the surface of the lake with astonishing speed. The surface of the lake started appearing a little bit more clearly just as Fleur passed out, exhausted and out of breath…
"Fleur! Fleur, are you okay! Fleur!"
Fleur's eyes fluttered open as someone called her name very loudly. She blinked a few times as her vision started getting clearer, and she could see Alexandra was peering at her with a very scared and concerned expression on her face. Marie was just behind her, with her usually pristine face looking scrunched and pale.
"Fleur!" Alexandra cried before throwing her hands around her neck and hugging her tightly. Fleur blinked again before hugging her back. Alexandra released her and then looked at her again. "Are you feeling okay?" she asked.
"Yes, I think I am fine," said Fleur. "What happened?"
"Those grindylows brought you up to the surface of the lake." Now it was Marie who was speaking, hugging Fleur in turn as many of the Beauxbatons students were now crowding around Fleur, murmuring and staring at her with undisguised pity. "You were passed out, and that Hogwarts headmaster, Dumbledore I think it was, spoke to them in some weird language. We brought you up here. You were only out for a couple minutes, but we were all so scared." The students around her nodded fervently. Fleur sighed quietly.
"And…and the task…"
"That Ministry official, Mr. Crouch, said that since you were forced to return to the surface of the lake, you forfeited the task," said Marie quietly. "I am sorry, Fleur."
Alexandra looked at her concernedly, along with the rest of the Beauxbatons students. Fleur sat there silently, taking it in. She had forfeited the task and essentially put herself out of the running for the tournament, at that moment. But for some reason, instead of feeling depressed, she felt relieved. She had not known before, but the tournament had started to feel as if it was a bit of a burden. Nowadays Fleur would often stay in the Hogwarts library much later than any other students, looking up new spells and charms that she thought would be helpful for her in the tournament. It was as if a heavy weight had been lifted off of her.
"It is okay," said Fleur, sitting up. "No, really," she continued, seeing Alexandra open her mouth uncertainly. "This tournament was starting to be a bit stressful for me, anyhow. Besides, we do not know for sure if I am out of the running until after the task. Maybe I still have a chance."
Marie nodded, still gazing at her with a forlorn expression on her face. "Possibly," she finally said.
Fleur got to her feet. "Well then, now that I am done with the task, where is Gabrielle?"
Marie, Alexandra, and the rest of the Beauxbatons students froze and glanced at each other very briefly. Fleur frowned. "What is it?"
"Well, um, what do you mean where is Gabrielle?" asked Alexandra uncertainly.
"She was my hostage, was she not?" asked Fleur. When some of the students nodded yes, she said, "Since I have forfeited the task, she should be brought back to the surface, shouldn't she?"
Marie gulped nervously. "Well, you see Fleur, they said that even if the champions failed in the task, the hostage had to remain down in the lake…"
Fleur stared at her blankly, taking in what she said. "What?" she whispered.
Alexandra's eyes were brimming with tears. "Remember the poem? Past the hour, the prospect's black – "
"Too late, it's gone, it won't come back…" Fleur finished even softer, staring down at the ground. Everyone around her was quiet.
"So – so," Fleur struggled to say. "Y – You mean to tell me th – that Gabrielle is – just – "
"I don't know," said Marie, turning to look through the crowd. "Those Ministry officials won't say anything about if she'll be okay or not…"
"She has to be!" cried Fleur, and before anyone could do anything she had gotten to her feet and rushed over to Madame Maxime, who was deep in discussion with Mr. Crouch and a few other Ministry officials.
"Madame Maxime! They say Gabrielle is still down there!" said Fleur desperately, wringing her hands.
"Fleur, my dear, I am sorry," said Madame Maxime solemnly, putting her hand on Fleur's shoulder. "Zey say zat Gabrielle should be okay."
"Should or will?!" asked Fleur agitatedly, glancing down at the lake. "I have to save her!" She made a motion as if she was about to jump back into the lake.
"Fleur!" Alexandra held onto her so that she couldn't move. "You can't go back in! Not until the task is over!"
"But it may be too late by then!" sobbed Fleur, tears starting to fall from her face. Alexandra too looked agitated and turned to Madame Maxime. "Gabrielle will be okay? For certain?"
Madame Maxime didn't answer, instead holding onto Fleur's shoulder with her hand and gazing out at the Black Lake. "We will see."
Harry had been searching for the hostages for some time, and it was only when he started hearing the sound of singing that he was certain he had found them.
He started swimming faster towards the sound of the song. As he did so he started seeing more and more rock formations appear out of the blue, many that seemed to be a little bit more defined and shaped than the ones from before, some with drawings of merpeople on them. Harry observed one that had a group of merpeople carrying weapons and attacking what Harry could only tell was a creature that looked like a kraken. He passed the rock and continued deeper into the water. After a little bit longer, he started seeing crudely made stone and weed dwellings. Out of some of these dwellings came merpeople, all of whom paused to watch Harry as he swam towards the sound of the song.
The merpeople looked exactly as Harry had imagined them. They had dark skin that had a blueish tinge from the water with long, wild hair. Their eyes were yellow as well as their teeth, which were broken and uneven. Many murmured to other merpeople in a language Harry didn't recognize as Harry swam past them. Smaller merpeople also swam excitedly, pointing at Harry and jabbering away to the older merpeople, most of whom nodded listlessly and watched Harry intently. Some even had animals for pets, like fish and other sea creatures. All the merpeople had a necklace of pebbles tied around their neck.
Harry pushed on through the colony and continued towards what he imagined was the center. He assumed that the hostages would have been held there. As he turned a corner to a larger street, he was met with an image that stopped him in his tracks.
Four pillars were present at the end of the street. Merpeople gathered all around them, singing ominous songs. Some of the merpeople held spears and tridents, with dangerously sharp points that Harry did not like the look of. All of them turned to face Harry the moment he came around the corner towards them. Harry moved towards the hostages, gripping his wand, ready to fight if he needed to. To his surprise, none of the merpeople attacked him. Instead they merely watched him approach the hostages, who were tied to each pillar.
Ron was tied to the very left pillar. Harry swam to him first, holding his arm and staring into his face. He looked to be in a very deep sleep. Harry then looked down the line. Hermione was tied to the pillar next to Ron's, her head lolling on her shoulder as bubbles issued from her mouth. Next to her was Cho Chang, her hair floating behind her as she too appeared to be totally asleep. At the very right pillar was a smaller child, younger than the other three hostages. She appeared to have very silvery hair, and Harry realized with a dreadful pang that she must be Fleur's sister.
Harry looked at all four of the hostages, stricken with fear. He didn't want any of them to die. But he knew that he had to get his two best friends first. Harry assumed that Hermione was Krum's hostage, as she had been his date to the ball. At first, he swam down to Ron's rope and tried to untangle it by hand before giving up, seeing it tied too tightly. Thinking quick, Harry pulled back slightly and aimed his wand at the rope before crying out, "Diffindo!" The Severing Charm proved effective, as the knot around Ron's foot immediately cut loose and floated down to the bottom, while Ron started moving slightly in the water. Harry grabbed his arm and then looked around him. Where were the other champions and what were they playing at? He knew that they had been down in the lake for quite some time now. The hour must nearly have passed…
A second later Harry saw someone at the end of the long street swim around the corner and start coming towards him. As they got closer he realized that it was Cedric. Cedric had managed to create what seemed like a giant bubble of air around his head, giving him a peculiar image, but he appeared to be breathing fine. He quickly made his way towards Cho, his wand in his hand as he muttered the same charm Harry had used to get rid of Ron's ropes. Turning to Harry, he tapped his watch with his wand and mouthed, "Out of time! Go up now!"
Harry nodded back, and Cedric turned to grab Cho with his left arm and start kicking up towards the surface. Harry grabbed Ron a little bit more securely under his arm and turned. Where were Krum and Fleur?
As if on cue, another figure appeared out of the dark at the end of the street. As they got closer Harry was momentarily stunned. It seemed like it was a shark but at the same time the 'shark' had human legs. Only the Durmstrang symbol on the figure's pants helped Harry realize that it was Krum. He had done some type of Transfiguration to change into a shark. Krum looked at Harry briefly and nodded quickly before biting through the rope tying Hermione to the bottom of the lake. In a few moments it was broken through and Krum quickly grabbed Hermione and started his ascent to the top of the lake.
Harry started to slowly kick his way to the top, but then turned just as he passed next to the little girl. Fleur was still nowhere in sight, and it had been at least a few minutes since Cedric had told Harry to go up. What would happen to the little girl if Harry left her there? The egg had said, "it won't come back" …what did that insinuate?
After looking around again and seeing the weapons that some of the merpeople were armed with, Harry wasn't willing to risk leaving the little girl in the care of some very dangerous looking creatures. He swam towards the little girl and aimed his wand at her rope. Almost at once the merpeople flew towards him and one raised his trident and pointed it at Harry's neck. "Only yours!" it hissed at Harry, with others around him echoing the hiss.
"But I don't want her to die!" Harry protested. The merpeople around the one holding the trident cackled loudly, as if mocking Harry's insistence on saving the little girl. Anger started boiling inside of him. If they thought he was going to leave the little girl in their care, they had something else coming to them. He backed up slowly, as if he were giving in, then suddenly aimed his wand at the merman who had pointed his trident at Harry and shot a couple warning sparks at him. The merpeople scattered to a greater distance from Harry, most watching Harry's wand fearfully. The merman had stumbled backwards quickly and his trident laid loosely in his right arm, pointing downwards. "Try and stop me," said Harry angrily, moving his wand slowly at the other merpeople still staring at Harry. None said anything, most still transfixed by Harry's wand. Slowly, Harry aimed his wand at the rope holding the little girl to the bottom, muttered, "Diffindo," and gently grabbed the little girl, holding her with his left arm while Ron still hung from Harry's left. He then started kicking up towards the surface.
It seemed like Harry was swimming upwards forever. It was very slow work, as Harry no longer had the ability to use his newly webbed hands to propel himself up to the top, instead having to use his feet to continue kicking while making sure Ron and the little girl were held onto securely. As he continued moving to the top, Harry was aware that the effects of the Gillyweed were starting to fade. He could feel the gills on the sides of his neck going away, and the water slowly starting to feel colder and colder. The webs on Harry's hands started to disappear, and his feet were slowly returning to normal. With a shock, he realized he could no longer breathe in the water and that he was holding his breath. He started kicking even more furiously towards the top, but even as he started to see the top of the lake, he knew that it was too far away. His legs were exhausted, and he was on the verge of passing out. Knowing this, Harry pushed Ron and the little girl up with the last strength within his hands, watching them float to the top as he grabbed his neck with his hands, feeling the last of his gills go away slowly. He wondered if the merpeople in the lake would take mercy on him…
Fleur had been standing at the edge of the dock for minutes now, still searching the surface of the water frantically even though she knew that it was pointless. Her schoolmates and friends gathered around her, piling towels onto her and trying to reassure her while looking out at the water themselves nervously, trying to find any sign of movement in the water. Madame Maxime had gone off to talk to the Ministry officials about the safety of Gabrielle as well as Fleur's chances for the rest of the tournament, but Fleur didn't care about that right now. All she wanted was for Gabrielle to be okay.
People milled around her, most not saying anything. Harry, Cedric, and Krum were still in the water, and the hour time limit had been up a couple minutes ago. Many, like Fleur, were gazing out into the water, waiting to see at least one of the three emerge from the Black Lake. What if none of the champions were able to successfully rescue their hostages, Fleur thought. Were the three other champions incapacitated, like she was? What about Harry? Was he down there, unable to continue on with the task? What if…
Almost as if on cue, about fifty meters from the dock, a pair of heads broke the surface of the water. There was a great roar of applause as the two started shaking the water from their heads. Fleur looked over there quickly and was disappointed to see that Gabrielle was not one of them. It was Cedric and Cho who had returned first. Fleur then berated herself silently. She should be glad to see that a champion and their hostage had made it out safely. Yet she couldn't help but continue to silently panic about Gabrielle's chances in the water.
As Cedric started making his way through the crowd towards his friends who were close to Fleur, Fleur hurried over to him. "Cedric!"
Cedric turned to see Fleur there. "Fleur!" said Cedric, looking surprised. "You're already back? What about – "
"I was stopped by the grindylows," said Fleur, waving him off. "No matter, I must know this; my sister, Gabrielle. Is she okay?"
Cedric suddenly started looking uncomfortable. Cho, who was being fussed over by Madame Pomfrey, glanced at both Cedric and Fleur, looking slightly confused. "Well, uh," started Cedric, still looking uncomfortable. "She's down there. I saw her. But, well, I don't know if she'll be okay. I'm sorry."
Fleur's face fell. Gabrielle was still at the bottom of the lake. Cedric noticed this. "I saw Harry down there, I think he was still there when I was coming up. He might save her, you never know," he reassured her.
Fleur listened and nodded before turning back to the edge of the dock, where there was more commotion. Krum had returned to the surface of the lake with a bushy-haired girl Fleur recognized as Hermione. They both swam over to the dock, looking flushed and breathless. Yet, as Fleur tried looking around at all three of the docks, she did not see Harry. That meant he was still down in the lake, and as Fleur looked at the time, he was nearly fifteen minutes over the time limit. People around him noticed the same, and many were muttering nervously as they looked over at the Ministry officials and heads of each school, who were all clustered together and having a very fervent discussion about something.
"Look! There's something coming up to the surface!" someone yelled from one of the higher balconies.
Fleur turned back to the water just in time to see another pair of heads break the water. There was another upsurge of noise as everyone started talking almost at once, peering over the railings on all three levels to see who had returned. Fleur made her way back to her original position next to the edge of the dock and saw with a jolt that Gabrielle was one of the two. The other was a redhead that Fleur knew was Ron Weasley, someone who had asked her to the ball in a very public fashion. She didn't care, though. Fleur shrieked in joy and pushed her way down the stairs to the platform that had the ladder that led into the water. "Gabrielle! dépêche-toi ici maintenant!" she cried, reaching into the water and ushering Gabrielle to come to her. Gabrielle slowly floated her way towards Fleur's outstretched hand, aided by Ron who was pushing her and holding her up in the water. Both were spitting water out of their faces and looked extremely confused.
"Gabrielle! Are you okay? Are you hurt? Do you need me to get Madame Pomfrey? Oh, no, Gabrielle!" said Fleur as she fussed over her.
"Fleur! I am okay! Stop worrying!" said Gabrielle. Ron sat there for a moment as his friends wrapped towels around him, looking confused at the conversation the two were having.
"Where's Harry?" he finally said after a few moments, turning around him.
"Didn't he come up with you?" asked Seamus confusedly.
For a split second everyone in the area stared at each other. Then chaos ensued. Ron, Seamus, and many of Harry's friends immediately rushed up the stairs to find the nearest Ministry official, panicking. Fleur meanwhile wrapped another towel around the five towels already wrapped around Gabrielle and hurried after the crowd, pulling Gabrielle along. Harry had saved Gabrielle, Fleur was sure of it, but how horrible it would be if he did not make it back to the surface of the lake. All because she wasn't good enough to complete the task…
Just as Fleur and others were shouting at the Ministry officials, all of whom looked very stressed and perturbed, there was yet another upsurge of noise from the upper balconies. Fleur rushed to the edge of the dock to find Harry had flown into the air, his wand pointed above him as he launched himself from the water and onto the dock. At once he was surrounded by people, all of whom were quickly wrapping towels around him and talking to him quickly. Percy Weasley had dragged off Ron, looking much paler and frantic than Harry or Fleur had ever seen him before. "Percy, gerroff, I'm fine!" said Ron, struggling to break free.
"Where's Harry?" Gabrielle asked from Fleur's side. Since she was so short, she had to resort to peeking between people to try and see what was going on.
Fleur lowered herself next to Gabrielle. "Did he save you?" she asked quietly.
"I'm not sure," replied Gabrielle. "I only came to when I broke the water, and that redhead was there with me. But he is Harry's friend, isn't he? So, Harry must have saved me!" she finished joyfully.
Fleur smiled at her, then stood back up and pulled her along through the crowd, searching for Harry so that she could thank him.
Harry was so out of breath that he could barely respond to anything people were saying to him. When he landed on the dock, he immediately collapsed onto the ground. The first thing that happened was Seamus and Dean appearing at his side, throwing towels over him and calling other Gryffindors to start grabbing more towels. Then Madame Pomfrey had suddenly appeared, talking to Harry very sternly and forcing him to drink a Pepperup Potion that caused Harry to feel very warm and steam to start shooting out of his ears for a few seconds. Now Hermione had appeared and was roughly checking him for injuries, all while talking very fast.
"Ouch – Hermione – I'm fine – ouch!"
"Harry, oh you must be freezing, I can't imagine what it was like for you to have to figure out the task without Ron and I, we really wanted to help you, but Dumbledore needed us and we just had to help him, and personally, I think you did the right thing bringing back Fleur's sister, the judges can't possibly dock you points for insisting on saving everyone, I'm sure of it!" Hermione said all of this very fast. Harry blinked at her for a second, taking it in, before she moved to his side and Fleur had appeared in front of him.
"You saved my sister," said Fleur breathlessly, gazing into Harry's eyes. "Even when she was not yours to save."
"Well, I'm sure anyone would've done the same," muttered Harry, feeling quite stupid now that he realized that no one was in any real danger.
"Cedric and Viktor didn't," replied Fleur, smiling brilliantly at him. "You did."
And before Harry or anyone else could say anything, Fleur had bent down and kissed him on the lips. Harry froze for a split second, absolutely stunned by this. But soon he returned her kiss, albeit slightly hesitantly. It was just as electrifying as the first time they had kissed, perhaps even more so, because this time Fleur was not drunk, and she seemed so much more in control of herself. For Harry, the feeling of Fleur's lips on his was something that he knew at that moment he would not feel from anything else for the rest of his life. It was satisfyingly soft, and at the same time full of energy that Harry was taken aback by. It was almost as if Fleur was relating all her emotions to him, everything that had been building up since the moment they had met.
The kiss lasted for what seemed like an eternity until Fleur broke away from him slowly, moving back to stare back hesitantly at Harry. Harry blinked before smiling back at Fleur, who returned it broadly. Then someone wolf whistled loudly in the background and everyone broke out in laughter. Harry then got to his feet just as Bagman called for everyone's attention.
"Ladies and gentlemen! After speaking with Merchieftainess Murcus and the other creatures of the lake, the judges have deliberated, and we have come to a conclusion on points awarded. Each champion will be awarded by marks out of fifty."
"First, is Fleur Delacour. She demonstrated an effective Bubble-Head Charm, although was attacked by grindylows on her way to the hostages and was unable to retrieve her hostage from the lake. We award Miss Delacour twenty-five points."
A smattering of polite applause came from the stands, and Fleur bowed her head in shame, feeling she did not deserve any of those points. Harry rested his hand on her shoulder tentatively to try and comfort her, and Fleur turned to smile at him once again.
"Second, is Viktor Krum. He used an incomplete form of human Transfiguration to allow him to swim underwater, which was nonetheless effective, and was second to return with his hostage, albeit seven minutes outside the time limit of an hour. We award Mr. Krum forty-two points."
Roars of appreciation came from the Durmstrang members of the crowd, and Karkaroff in particular was clapping very hard, looking high and mighty as he did so.
"Third, is Cedric Diggory." As Bagman said this, there was the largest amount of applause yet, with many shouts coming from the Hufflepuffs of the crowd. Bagman paused for a few moments to allow the applause to continue before speaking again. "He, too, used the Bubble-Head Charm very effectively, and was the first to return with his hostage, just two minutes outside of the time limit of an hour. We award Mr. Diggory forty-eight points."
The massive applause ensued once more, as it seemed nearly every Hogwarts student applauded Cedric loudly. Cedric grinned sheepishly as many of his friends pounded him on the back, roaring his name.
"Lastly, is Harry Potter." At this, the crowd grew almost deathly quiet and Harry was sure he could even hear the ripples of the water. "Harry Potter used Gillyweed to great effect, and was the last to return with his hostage, well outside of the time limit of an hour. However, after discussing with the merpeople and creatures of the lake, we have learned that Mr. Potter's lateness in returning with his hostage was due to his insistence of returning with not just his hostage, but with all the hostages."
Applause broke out after this, with many people calling Harry's name like they did Cedric. Cedric and Fleur applauded Harry very loudly, and even Krum was applauding, giving Harry a surly grin.
"Most of the judges," Bagman gave Karkaroff a very dirty look as he said this, and Karkaroff returned it just as strongly, "believe this shows outstanding moral fiber on Mr. Potter's behalf and merits full marks. However, after deliberation, we have agreed to award Mr. Potter – forty five points."
The crowd was cheering harder than ever, and Harry stood there for a moment, in disbelief, while his friends were grabbing onto him and screaming. Ron in particular was shouting at him excitedly about being tied with Cedric for first place, and Hermione was grabbing his arm so hard he felt like it was about to come off. But the one thing that grabbed Harry's attention was Fleur, who was smiling at him radiantly once more. Harry returned it just as broadly, feeling happier than he had ever felt in a long time.
"The third and final task will take place on June twenty-fourth, at dusk," continued Bagman, smiling broadly himself as he looked at Harry. "The champions will be notified exactly one month in advance of what is to come. Until then, thank you all for your support!"
If it was possible, Harry felt even more relieved than when he had gotten past the dragons. There was no clue for him to solve, nothing to stress over. No, he didn't have to worry about the third task until the end of June, and that was fine with him.
Everyone began to push towards the rowboats which had magically reappeared and were now rowing back to the edge of the lake. Harry squeezed onto a rowboat with six or seven other Gryffindors, Ron and Hermione amongst them. As they reached the edge of the lake and started walking up the path back to the castle, a crowd of not just Gryffindors but Hogwarts students as a whole surrounded Harry, all talking excitedly and congratulating Harry on the second task. Harry nodded numbly at all of this, a permanent grin stuck on his face, as the massive group made its way to the castle.
It was one of the best days of his life.