Chapter 38

Soon, it was the day of the Yule Ball. Ron and Eric had managed to ask out the Patil twins. Padma was going with Terry, but she had agreed to go with Eric at the beginning. Parvati looked like she had been blackmailed into going with Ron as she had a slightly disgruntled expression across her face.

"Hermione, you look great!" Ron exclaimed.

Hermione smiled as she looped an arm around Alex's right arm. She wore a pretty purple dress, simple yet elegant. Luna wore a simple silver colored dress. She smiled dreamily, an arm around Harry's.

"Thank you, Ron," Hermione said.

She looked at Harry.

"Harry, you should put your hair up or you'll trip over your feet. With your bangs that long, perhaps you should get a haircut soon," Hermione said, frowning in concern. "And you're still wearing your scarf?"

"I like my hair the way it is," Harry said. "And I like my scarf; there is nothing you can do that will make me take it off."

Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a clip. He brushed his long bangs back and clipped them.

"Better?"

"Much," Hermione said, eyeing the scarf now.

"Oh my, I can really see that unique shade of green now," Luna said, leaning in.

"You're a little too close, Luna," Harry said, slightly annoyed.

Out of instinct, his pupils slit.

"Did your pupils just slit, Harry? You looked like a snake there for a second," Luna said, humming.

Harry blinked and as fast as it had appeared, his eyes turned back to normal just as quickly. Luna leaned back.

"It must've been my imagination." she said.

"You are quite the character, Luna," Harry said.

"You are easily annoyed sometimes, Harry," Luna said. "I find it...rather amusing."

"The ball is about to start. Eric, you need to go," Hermione suddenly said.

"Come on, Padma," Eric said.

Padma looked at Harry. Harry smiled innocently and waved in farewell. Padma glared at him halfheartedly.

"You owe me for this, Evans," she hissed.

Harry's smile widened as Padma walked away, linking arms with Eric.

Soon, the Yule Ball was underway. After the champions danced, everyone else joined in.

"This is enjoyable," Hermione said.

Alex grunted as he swung her around.

"You could stand to be happier, you know," Hermione said. "This is a joyous occasion."

"Yule isn't a big part of my life...but I suppose this is adequate," Alex said.

"What do you and Harry usually do for Yule?"

"We mostly stay home. We don't go out much," Alex said.

"You've told me that many times," Hermione said.

Alex twirled her to the waltzing music.

"You said you weren't good at dancing," Hermione said, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm not."

"Then what do you call this?" Hermione asked, raising her eyebrow. "You're dancing like you've done it your whole life."

"I am not good at dancing, but I still learned how...mostly because Harry didn't have a dance partner and I was the only one available in our house," Alex said, looking away. "So technically, he taught me how to dance as well."

"Your brother is very..." Hermione trailed off, thinking. "I can't think of a word that describes him well enough."

"Unique? Creepy? Intelligent?"

"All those...I was thinking of something else though," Hermione said, frowning. "I'll think of it later. How much does your brother know exactly?"

"Everything," Alex said bluntly.

"Everything? That can't be possible," Hermione said, huffing in disbelief. "He can't have self-taught himself everything."

"Hermione, when I say everything, I mean everything." Alex stressed. "He taught himself everything magical and muggle."

"Why would he do something like that?" Hermione exclaimed, her eyes wide.

"He was born a very curious person, thirsting for knowledge. After all, knowledge of power, no matter what it's for," Alex said.

Hermione looked over Alex's shoulder.

"Harry seems to be doing well...better than Ron and Eric. I do kind of feel bad for Parvati though. Ron never learned to dance well enough." she said. "Isn't Harry hot with that scarf on?"

They turned and Alex saw his twin across the dancefloor. He was chatting with Luna as they danced elegantly. Occasionally, he lifted a hand up to tug at the dark blue scarf.

"He's worn a scarf ever since I could remember," Alex said, glancing back at Hermione. "He rarely takes it off."

"He used to have a dark gray one, but only during the first part of the first year," Hermione said.

"You are very observant," Alex said.

"Hanging out with you and Harry can do that to people," Hermione said.

"Fair point," Alex said. "Harry wears a scarf for sentimental reasons, at least that's what he says to people."

"Is there another reason?" Hermione asked, looking up at him, meeting his ice blue eyes with her warm brown eyes.

"Well, he was born with a birthmark he likes to keep hidden," Alex lied smoothly. "It's on his neck. I made him the dark gray scarf when I was younger. It was probably the most embarrassing moment of my life, presenting him with that scarf. I can't believe he actually wore it."

That part, Alex thought, was true. He had been slightly embarrassed giving the dark gray scarf he had made to his younger twin; of course, Harry didn't know that because Alex had always been apathetic. Before he could see Harry's reaction to the scarf, Alex had left quickly. But the next day, Harry was wearing the scarf. He had wrapped it around his neck, hiding that horrendous scar along his throat and he never once took the scarf off until Alex had given him the dark blue scarf.

"Did you give him the dark blue scarf as well?" Hermione's voice broke through his thoughts.

"Yes," Alex said.

"You may seem very stoic at times, but you are a rather sweet person, Alex," Hermione said, smiling.

Alex almost snorted at that. He was a Death Eater; he couldn't afford to be nice to people when he was just going to kill them. As if to remind him of his position, his left wrist started to itch. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Snape and Karkaroff sneak away from the ball.

"I'm getting thirsty," Hermione said. "Do you want to get a drink? I saw a bowl of punch in the corner."

"I hope it isn't spiked," was Alex's only reply.

Hermione chuckled as they walked over to the table. They got some punch and walked over to where Eric, Ron, and Parvati were sitting. Parvati looked like she wanted to tear someone's head off.

"Parvati? You all right?" Hermione asked.

"He keeps stepping on my toes," Parvati said, jabbing a finger in Ron's direction.

"I said I was sorry," Ron grumbled.

Alex sipped some of the punch cautiously. As he did so, he scanned the contents with his magic; it wasn't spiked. Satisfied, Alex drained the rest of the punch quickly.

"Ah well, that was fun," Harry exclaimed cheerfully.

Luna sighed as she sat down next to Hermione.

"You are a very good dancer, Harry. Thank you for asking me to come with you," Luna said, playing with her hair.

Harry hummed in reply before tapping Parvati on the shoulder.

"Come on Parvati, you should get at least one good dance in for the night," he said. "I promise I won't step on your toes."

"Oi!" Ron exclaimed.

Harry laughed as Parvati accepted his hand. They walked off. Ron glared at Harry's back, grumbling under his breath.

"Don't pay attention to him, Ron; he's just teasing you," Hermione said. "Alex, is something wrong?"

Alex shook his head, turning away from where he had been staring where Snape and Karkaroff had left. His left wrist stung a little more now. It hadn't been his imagination earlier. Voldemort really was summoning his death eaters.

"Don't worry about it," he said.

"Did you figure out the second clue?" Hermione asked Eric.

"I did as Harry told me to do," Eric said. "I listened to it underwater and I got this weird poem."

"Let's hear it," Ron said, perking up.

Eric told them the clue:

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,

And to recover what we took,

But past an hour, the prospect's black,

Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.

Hermione frowned thoughtfully.

"From what I can tell, the second task is underwater and you need to save someone you care about," Hermione said.

"That's exactly it," Luna said, humming.

"Underwater though? Does that mean the second lake is going to be in the lake?" Eric asked.

"It'll most likely be in the Black Lake. You'll have to be careful there though. There are the merrow as well as the giant squid," Hermione said. "But that does sound right since it'll be dangerous."

"What are merrow?" Eric asked.

"That's the term for the Irish merfolk. They are considered less beautiful compared to their warm water counterparts, the sirens. They have a more humanoid shape with fish-like attributes." Hermione explained. "You can be sure you'll encounter them."

Eric groaned.

"This just keeps getting better and better."


Everyone was gathered at the Black Lake. It was towards the end of February, the day of the second task. The four champions were at the docks, waiting to dive in.

"You have a plan, Eric?" Hermione asked.

"For what?" Eric asked.

Hermione groaned.

"How are you going to get down there?" she exclaimed. "You can't breathe underwater."

"Oops...forgot about that," Eric said sheepishly.

Hermione groaned again. Harry laughed. He held out his hand.

"Eat this," he said.

Eric took the item from Harry. It was some kind of plant.

"What is this?" he asked.

"Gillyweed," Harry said. "It'll give you the ability to breathe underwater for maybe...an hour. Use it wisely~"

"Are you sure about this?" Eric asked nervously.

"Sure," Harry said cheerfully. "Have I ever been wrong before?"

Eric sighed and shook his head.

"No," he muttered. "Sorry, I'm just really nervous about this."

He looked around.

"Where's Ron?" he asked.

"I haven't seen him all morning." Hermione said, looking around as well.

"He's most likely the one you have to save. The clue did say you have to rescue someone you care about," Alex said.

"Great," Eric grumbled.

"Welcome to the second task!" Dumbledore's voice boomed. "Last night, something was stolen from each of our champions, a treasure of sorts. These four treasures now lie at the bottom of the Black Lake. Your objective, champions, is to retrieve your treasure and return to the surface. Simple enough, yes?"

The four champions looking down at the water.

"Good luck, Eric," Hermione called.

"However, you have one hour and one hour only to complete the second task." Dumbledore said. "The start of the task will be sounded by the cannon."

Eric took a deep breath and choked the gillyweed down. It was slimy and disgusting, but if it worked, Eric would thank Harry later. He began coughing as his lungs burned. Moody frowned at him and whacked his back to dislodge whatever was in his throat. There was the sound of cannon was heard. The other three champions dove into the water. Eric grasped the railing, gasping for air before promptly falling into the water, having been pushed by Moody.

He flailed around for a few minutes. His neck was burning in pain. Water flowed into his mouth as Eric coughed. Suddenly, it was easy to breathe. Eric blinked in surprise as he felt ridges on his neck. The ridges moved slightly, taking in water.

'Gills,' Eric thought.

He looked down and saw that his feet were shaped differently, like fins. He lifted his hands up and saw they were webbed now. Eric calmed himself down and swam down, no longer worrying about air or moving through the water slowly. He had one hour before the task ended and the gillyweed ran out.

He swam through the seaweed. He could see Fleur up ahead, with a bubble of air over her mouth. Eric swam further in. Something whooshed past him and Eric looked up to see a tail disappearing not too far from him. He swam towards it. He could hear a faint song, sounding much like the song from the egg. He followed it and it steadily grew louder, even through the water. There was stone structures under the water and he could see four figures within the stone structures. He swam forward and saw the faces of the four people. They were Ron, Cho, and two others Eric didn't recognize. One, a young girl, looked similar to Fleur, probably a sister then. The last one was probably the one Viktor had to save. They were all unconscious. There was a whoosh as a person with a shark head came out of nowhere and snatched one of the people. Eric saw it was Viktor. Merrow swam around, occasionally calling out.

He swam down and untied the seaweed from Ron's ankle. Cedric appeared, using his wand to blast the seaweed from Cho's ankle. He was wearing a bubble charm over his mouth, like Fleur. Cedric looked at Eric and nodded. He grabbed Cho and swam upwards towards the surface.

Eric grabbed Ron and started to swim upwards. He glanced at the last person. Fleur hadn't come. Something turned in Eric's stomach; he had a bad feeling about this.

Listening to his instincts, Eric grabbed his wand and freed the girl. The merrow howled in anger, going after him.

"Only one!" they hissed.

Eric blasted them away, grabbing the girl and Ron. He swam as quickly as he could towards the surface. Something grabbed his ankle. Eric quickly flicked his wand and sent Ron and the girl to the surface as he was dragged down. The merrow surrounded him angrily. Eric blasted them away. He was running out of time. The gillyweed was almost done now, meaning his one hour time limit was almost up. His lungs were starting to burn from lack of air as the gills began closing. In a desperate plea, Eric pointed his wand at the surface and blasted himself upwards, pushing past the angry merrow intent on drowning him. He flew out of the water and landed harshly on the docks. He coughed out water.

"Eric!" he heard Lily shout.

He gasped for air, barely noticing a towel being wrapped around him.

"Breathe, Eric," he heard Remus say. "You made it in time."

Eric took deep breathes, quickly adjusting to breathing air instead of water now. He looked up.

"Ron?" he asked.

"They're safe. Both Ron and that girl," Remus said, rubbing his back.

Lily draped another towel over him to warm him up.

"You were the last one out, Eric. When Ron and Fleur's little sister appeared at the surface without you, we were all afraid you were drowning," she said. "Don't worry me like that, Eric! You're going to give me a heart attack one day."

"Sorry mum," Eric said, smiling weakly.

Fleur burst through the crowd and hugged Eric.

"Thank you, Eric," she exclaimed, crying. "Thank you for saving my sister!"

"Sure," Eric said, smiling at the Beauxbatons champion.

Fleur pulled back and gave him a watery smile before hugging her sister.

"I'm so sorry, Gabrielle," Fleur said.

Gabrielle hugged her back.

"It's fine, Fleur; don't worry about it." she said.

"Eric!" Hermione exclaimed. "You were down there for so long! The gillyweed lasts barely for an hour, you know! Don't be so reckless."

She hugged him tightly. Harry and Alex were behind her.

"I'm fine, Hermione," Eric said. "Hey Harry, thanks for the gillyweed. It worked, but I'm never using it again."

Harry laughed.

"Fair enough," he said.

"Well done, champions," Crouch Sr said. "Take some time to recover. The third task will be held in June."

"Wow, that's a very long time from now," Eric muttered.

Hermione chuckled.

"Well, they do have to let us focus on our studies. The third task takes place after our finals," she said.

"Finals are easy," Harry snorted.

"For you," Eric grumbled.


Voldemort hummed.

"So Potter survived the first two tasks," he said.

"Yes milord," Barty said, kneeling before the Dark Lord.

Voldemort looked thoughtful for a moment.

"I have decided. I will confront him in the third task. Barty, place a portkey where Potter will for sure touch it. Make sure nobody other than him touches it. I don't want our first meeting to be interrupted by nuisances," Voldemort said.

"Of course, anything for you, milord," Barty said, worship clear in his eyes.

"Is there anything else?" Voldemort asked when the Death Eater didn't move.

"If you don't mind me asking, milord, there is a boy at the school that says he's affiliated with you," Barty said.

"I see; don't worry about it. You are not the only spy I sent to Hogwarts," Voldemort said. "Which boy did you encounter?"

"There is more than one, milord?" Barty asked, blinking in surprise.

"Yes, they are twins," Voldemort said.

"The one I encountered wore a scarf," Barty said.

"You met Harrison then. The elder twin, Alexander, is more...conservative. I have no doubt he knows what Harrison knows," Voldemort said. "Don't be bothered by them. They will not get in your way; they have their own mission to complete after all. Focus on your own mission."

Barty bowed his head. Voldemort waved his hand casually at the Death Eater.

"Dismissed."