Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of its wonderful characters, they all belong to J.K. Rowling.
Chapter Fourteen
Pretty soon the whole school is abuzz with talk of the second task. Hugo's especially excited, as this is one of the reasons he wanted to see our parents' fourth year in the first place. When I wake up the day of the task, I notice that Mum isn't in the dormitory, but I know she'll be at the bottom of the Great Lake. I've heard Mum and Dad—specifically Dad tell us the stories. It still might be interesting—and fine maybe a little fun too, to see the task live.
After eating breakfast the four of us follow the rest of the school to the edge of the Black Lake. I can hear a group of Ravenclaws wondering to themselves what the task will be.
"I can't believe we're getting to see the second task of the Triwizard Tournament!" Hugo exclaims. "Do you think Uncle Harry will have to battle the giant squid? Dad said that he helped Uncle Harry battle off the merpeople, do you think we'll be able to see it?"
I shrug, though I'm not sure how we'll be able to see the actions taking place below the lake. Lily squints as she looks out across the lake to wear the champions are waiting. Her brow furrows in distress.
"How come Dad's not with the rest of the champions?" she asks.
"There he is!" Hugo says, pointing to a dark haired figure running around the lake. He stops in front of Ludo Bagman, and bends over, catching his breath. After a few moments, Bagman announces the second task. On his whistle, the four champions start into the water.
"Look!" Lily cries, pointing to her father who is clasping his hands to his throat amongst jeering from some of the students—mostly Slytherin.
"What's he doing?"Albus asks, and not a second later Harry flings himself into the water and is gone.
"I think…" I say, "I think he grew gills."
"Oh!" Lily gasps, "That's so cool!"
Despite Hugo's excitement, the task turns out to be fairly boring, as we cannot see anything that's going on below the surface of the water. About halfway into the task, our Aunt Fleur is removed because she was attacked by grindylows, and stays the remainder of the time wrapped in a towel and sitting by the judge's table.
The hour the champions have to complete the task is up, and a minute later, two heads appear out of the lake.
"I thought Dad won though," says Lily, confused as a good-looking blond boy climbs out of the water with an Asian girl.
"I think that's Cedric Diggory," I say in a hushed voice. "He-he's killed by Voldemort in the third task."
Lily, Albus, and Hugo stare at me with wide eyes when Ludo Bagman confirms my guess, telling the crowd that Cedric Diggory had returned first. The next champion to resurface is a strong looking Durmstrang boy, who Hugo recognizes as Viktor Krum, the former Bulgarian seeker. Oddly enough, he is accompanied by my mum.
"Why is Mum the thing Viktor Krum would miss the most?" Hugo asks.
I shrug. "Well, we saw that she went to the Yule Ball with him…"
Hugo wrinkles his nose, and we return to watching the water, looking for any sign of Uncle Harry and Dad. After a little while, Uncle Harry finally breaks the surface, along with not just Dad, but small blond girl who looked a lot like Aunt Fleur. He's greeted with lots of shouting from the students, and when he reaches the bank, Aunt Fleur and Uncle Percy rush up to him and Madame Pomfrey wraps everyone in towels.
After some minutes of deliberation and conferencing, Ludo Bagman booms his magically magnified voice to tell the scores. Aunt Fleur has received twenty-five points, Cedric Diggory, forty seven, Viktor Krum, forty, and lastly, Uncle Harry, for "outstanding moral fiber," receives forty five points; apparently tying him with Cedric in points overall.
Albus laughs at this. "Trust Dad to get points by trying to save everyone."
Hugo grins, "That's Uncle Harry."
The weeks following the second task have Uncle Harry, Mum, and Dad followed around everywhere by students begging for accounts of what happened in the lake. I can tell Dad enjoys the attention, and the versions he tells match up much better with the ones he told to us, when Mum wasn't around.
We arrive early to Potions class one afternoon to find a bunch of Slytherins huddled around a magazine. When our parents show up, not much later, the girl in possession of the magazine holds it up, revealing the cover as Witch Weekly.
"Oh no," Lily says her face paling. "I hate that magazine so much; they're always printing gossip about me."
"And James and I," Albus adds. "Just because we're Harry Potter's children they think we're some celebrities."
Lily shakes her head in disgust and we file into the potions classroom. Not long into the lesson, however, it seems that the magazine has not been forgotten, and Professor Snape finds it next to Mum. He has a nasty glint in his eyes as he opens it and begins to read it to the class.
"Harry Potter's Secret Heartache," He begins, and proceeds to read an article saying that Mum has been Uncle Harry's steady girlfriend but dumped him for Viktor Krum. It also suggests that the only reason Mum dated these two boys was because she was giving them love potions.
Albus, Lily, Hugo and I listen to Professor Snape read this article with open mouths.
"Mum never dated Uncle Harry, did she?" Hugo whispers to me.
"I don't think so…" I say.
"Most likely not," Lily puts in, "Just like I'm sure she didn't give Viktor Krum a love potion to make him go out with her. It's by Rita Skeeter, she always writes rubbish about Dad—I should know."
"I still can't believe Dad named me after him," Albus says after a moment, referring to Professor Snape. "What kind of teacher would read that in class? He obviously despises Dad."
"And look at Malfoy," Hugo adds, pointing to the blond by wearing the same badge that he first greeted us in, that says: Potter Stinks. "He's a jerk"
Albus smirks, "I know, how can you possibly be attracted to his spawn Rose?"
I shove him gently, "I'm not!"
Albus just smirks at me.
What did you think? The next chapter will be the last one D: