AN: Hello everyone! So here we have Chapter 21! I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: Everything related to Hogwarts!verse belongs to J K Rowling, all of the Dalton!verse characters belong to Mamma CP and the OCs are thanks to one of three things: my friends volunteering, my brain making them up or the special guest I have dropped in because I can ;) Also, the title was inspired by 'Magic Works' from the OST of 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire', so credit goes to whoever wrote it.
The day had come. The towers in the Black Lake had been placed, the research had been done and the crowds were ready and waiting.
The day of the Second Task had arrived.
Once again, the Champions found themselves in their respective dorms preparing for their challenge whilst their respective peers waited for them.
As Casey finished up her preparation, the Terpsichores stood outside her tent, quietly beginning to sing out the introductory bars of the song. As the brunette pulled on her tracksuit over her pale blue swimsuit, they burst into the initial vocals,
"Ohh-ohh-ohh,
Ohh-ohh-ohh,
Ohh-ohh-oh-oh-ohh,
Ohh-ohh-ohh,"
As the Beauxbatons Champion made her way out of the tent, she began to sing,
"Into the night,
Desperate and broken,
The sound of a fight," Katherine sang out, "(Ohh-ohh-oh-oh)"
"Father has spoken,"
The Terpsichores sang again, "Ohh-ohh-ohh,
Ohh-ohh-ohh,"
Meanwhile, Shane was leading the Durmstrang boys to the lake, singing as the others provided the back-up,
"We were the kings and queens of promise,
We were the victims of ourselves,
Maybe the children of a lesser God,
Between heaven and Hell,
Heaven and Hell,"
Back inside the school, Dwight was leading his fellow Gryffindors- who had by that point been joined by the other Houses- outside, walking front and centre as he led them in the song, the Warblers providing the main backing music and the others adding to it,
"Into your eyes,
Hopeless and taken,
We stole our new lives,"
Casey sang also, "Through blood and name,
In defence of our dreams,
In defe-e-ence of our dreams," Logan took the backing vocals, "(dreams, dreams)"
The three Champions sang together, all making their way to the boats that would take them to the towers built in the middle of the lake, "We were the kings and queens of promise,
We were the victims of ourselves,
Maybe the children of a lesser God,
Between heaven and Hell,
Heaven and Hell,"
The crowd went quiet, and Dwight's voice rang out from the boat he sat in with Professor Harvey, "The age of man is over,
A darkness comes at dawn,
These lessons that we've learned here,"
Casey and Shane joined in, "Have only just begun,"
Everyone else joined them, "We were the kings and queens of promise,
We were the victims of ourselves,
Maybe the children of a lesser God,
Between heaven and Hell,"
As the three sang the main part from their boats, their supporters sang the backing vocals around them, "We are the kings, (Ohh-ohh-ohh)
We are the queens, (Ohh-ohh-ohh)
We are the kings, (Ohh-ohh-oh-oh-ohh)
We are the queens, (Ohh-ohh-ohh)"
The three went quiet as their peers sang the last part, their voices echoing over the lake, "Ohh-ohh-ohh,
Ohh-ohh-ohh,
Ohh-ohh-oh-oh-ohh,
Ohh-ohh-ohh."
Once arriving at the towers, the three stepped on to the wooden decking, shedding their clothing in preparation for the task ahead. From where he was standing, Shane could see Reed waving and cheering, but his brother was nowhere to be seen.
He turned to Dwight, "I can't see Blaine anywhere."
"I haven't seen or heard from Franzi either," the Gryffindor replied. He was quiet a moment, his eyes widening, "You… You don't think?"
"Please Merlin no," the brunet murmured, looking down into the dark, choppy waters.
"What is it?" Casey asked.
"Who haven't you seen today, that you usually would do?" Dwight asked.
"The only person I haven't seen is Regina…" she trailed off, realising what they had just moments before. "Oh no… Please, no." She looked down also, as if trying to confirm her fears.
"We'll find them and we'll bring them back. Besides, our headmaster and headmistresses wouldn't put innocent students at risk, right?" Shane asked, his voice tinged with hope.
"I hope not," Dwight answered solemnly.
Before they could continue the conversation, Minister Wright spoke, "Good morning all, and welcome to the second task of this year's Triwizard Tournament." The crowds cheered. "Last night, something of great value to each of our Champions was stolen from them, and now all three- one for each of them- lie at the bottom of the Black Lake. In order to win this task, each Champion must retrieve what has been taken from them and return to the surface within the allotted time of one hour. Champions, prepare yourselves."
Shane looked over to the two as he swallowed the gillyweed- which he had been holding since he left his room that morning- and Casey mimicked with her own as Dwight performed a Bubble-Head Charm on himself.
"You will start on the cannon."
As searing pain shot through his neck the cannon went and the three jumped in, Dwight swimming ahead immediately. Shane thrashed in the water, clutching at his neck and attempting to cry out in pain, his skin feeling like it was splitting and he was struggling for air until… he could breathe. He touched his neck where the pain had been moments before, and he felt gills. He then looked down to see his feet and hands had become webbed. At the revelation, he grinned before swimming off, down into the depths of the Black Lake.
Meanwhile, Dwight was already making his way through the seaweed, which he knew to be careful of as it was known to leave rash-like burns should it come into contact with the skin. He swam with his wand ready, wading between the burning leaves until he could see the merpeople's kingdom ahead.
Suddenly a rush of water hit him on his left as a blur of light brown vest and red shorts darted past him, Shane quickly turning to flash the Gryffindor a grin before speeding ahead. At being overtaken, Dwight pushed harder, gasping and hissing as his arm grazed along one of the blades of seaweed swaying in the water from the Durmstrang boy passing him so quickly. It didn't take long for the angry, red rash to form up his arm, but luckily he had reached the edge of the seaweed and was entering the moss-covered kingdom the merpeople resided in. He could see the stone arch up ahead with three figures floating under it and he pushed himself further, swimming as hard as he could to get to the arch as quickly as he could. He looked around, noting the merpeople swimming around and he gripped his wand tighter as he swam, staying vigilant should any see him and try to stop him from finishing the task.
As he got closer, he became aware of a presence behind him and turned to see Casey making her way towards him, not quite used to the webbed hands and feet she had recently acquired, and seeing her only made him push harder, his muscles burning from the exertion.
At the stone arch, Shane had got to where the three were being held and swam to Blaine, held to the foot of the arch by a cloth tied around his ankle. Not wanting to bring any unwanted attention to himself, he glided over and untied it by hand. Whoever had knotted him down had done a good job, and it took him longer than he had planned to untie his brother before grabbing him by the waist and making his way to the surface.
When Dwight finally arrived where Franzi and Regina were being held, he wasted no time in freeing his friend, pointing his wand at the tie holding her to the base and quickly destroying the hold it had on her. He grabbed on to her and treaded water, waiting until Casey arrived and was untying her younger step-sister before making his way to the surface, swimming as fast as he could to get as much of a lead as possible.
It didn't take long for Casey to reach the moss-covered arch where Regina was, and after Dwight had left her, she wasted no time in trying to untie the rag around her ankle, quickly giving up in favour of obliterating it with magic. Once free, the Champion grabbed Regina around the waist before making her way up to the surface.
When she reached about seventy-five feet she began to feel the gillyweed's effects wearing off, making it harder to swim and- worse- breathe. Just before her gills healed up she took a final deep breath and pushed for the surface. She had to reach the top, she had to make sure Regina was safe. She made a snap decision and with a great push she sent the younger Beauxbatons girl up above her before swimming after her, finding it easier to swim when she was only carrying her own weight. Regina reached the surface when she was about thirty feet away and Casey could see her step-sister begin to tread water. She had to keep pushing, she was nearly there but she didn't know if she would make it; spots were appearing in her vision. But she kept swimming.
Twenty feet. More spots.
Fifteen feet. Her head felt funny.
Ten feet. The world began to get darker. 'Almost there. Keep going.'
Five feet. She had tunnel vision and her head felt worse.
She burst to the surface and gulped in air, seeing Regina was being helped up on to the platform by Katherine and Sara and she treaded water as she caught her breath before swimming over.
Once safely on more solid ground, she noticed the commotion on the other side of the decking.
"What's happened?" she asked, wrapping the towel she had just received tightly around her to fight off the February chill.
"Dwight's collapsed. He seemed fine then as soon as he got up here he hit the deck. Madame Summers is dealing with him now. He's breathing and everything, but she can't bring him round without her equipment in the Hospital Wing," Katherine answered.
"Oh," she nodded, noting the pressure of her younger step-sister trying to get a hug from her. She lifted her arm and held Regina into her side as she watched the adults levitate the Hogwarts student on to one of the boats, followed by a very teary-eyed Franzi, before they were ushered to their own boat to make the journey back to shore.
AN: Thank you so much for reading! Credit for the musical number goes to whoever wrote 'Kings and Queens' by 30 Seconds to Mars! Until next time!