A/N: I wished I owned Harry Potter. Alas, I do not. Ms. Rowling, I'd be happy to take it off your hands
A/N: Well, a lot happened there. I'm curious to know what you think of two chapters without a sign of our protagonist.
In February I was having so much fun writing this and I wished for more time to write. Be careful what you wish for, right? Anyways, hope everyone stays safe.
Chapter 43: I Can't Swim
February 24th, 1995
"Still no sign of him?" Dean asked as he sat down next to Neville.
"Nothing," Neville admitted. "I know that Professor Hayashi said not to worry, but something just feels wrong."
"Ok, so the situation isn't ideal," Dean countered. "But relax. No need to have odd feelings. Things tend to work out."
"How can you be so relaxed?" Neville fretted
"There is nothing that I can do about it," Dean said. "So I am going to eat my breakfast."
"Hey, have you seen Hermione?" Neville asked. "I assume she would be the most worried at the moment."
"Her and Harry are honestly like an old married couple with all the arguing and speaking without words," Dean said. Neville smacked him on the head and looked around.
"Don't let Cedric hear you say that," Neville cautioned. "Susan says Cedric is just about fed up with Hermione talking non-stop about Harry. He really likes her, but he doesn't want to be third wheel to the world's greatest friendship."
"So?" Dean said with a snort. "Want me to be shocked? Cedric and Hermione have been playing relationship chicken ever since the ball. Hermione is terrified of what might happen if they are alone, and they need to have a frank conversation with no one else around to butt in, least of all Harry when he shows up again. Cedric is too much of a nice guy to really push her to have that private conversation."
"Yeah, I guess," Neville said.
"Hey, we can't all meet the love of our lives as teenagers," Dean commented. "By the way, Hannah has looked quite pleased recently. How'd that conversation about your grandmother's letter go?"
"Surprising well," Neville replied, before a look of surprise flashed across his face. "Wait, how do you know about it?"
"Lavender told me," Dean relayed. "Do you think because I tend to be relaxed I am seen as trustworthy?" There was a puzzled look on his face as he contemplated the question he had just asked.
"Focus please," Neville argued with an exasperated sigh. Ever since the winter holidays Dean could be frustratingly evasive and unfocused, but Neville had been relying on him with Harry gone. "Why did she tell you?"
"Because she knows a million secrets and it eats her up," Dean explained. "She needs to tell other people, and for the most part I will keep my head down. Besides, after you told her she asked me to keep an eye on you."
"Huh." Neville was fairly pleased with the answer. Dean did seem to blend it at times and did keep his head down and stay out of trouble. So if Lavender did need to unload, Dean was as good a person an any "Regardless, Hannah understands where my grandmother is coming from, but I made it clear that I intend to keep on seeing her. She said that not having my guardian's approval made her feel like a bad girl, which made us dating even more thrilling."
"Don't tell me you two still haven't seen Harry!" Cedric stammered as he slid down next to Dean. "The task starts in under an hour!"
"Not a sign," Neville admitted. "Dean seems to think it will work out fine."
"Hey, we can't control it, so why worry?"
"Yeah, yeah," Cedric said distractedly. "Have you seen Hermione?"
"Narry a sign. That's a negative too," Dean told him. Cedric seemed to snap as he bolted upright. "You ok?"
"I can't believe it," Cedric muttered. "Harry needs to get here, right away!" Dean and Neville watched Cedric's fleeing body as he raced back towards the Hufflepuff table where the other two champions were sitting.
"What does he want us to do about it?"
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February 24th, 1995
"Sun has been down for almost an hour," Nambung commented, his feet dangling off the top of the building.
"Seems like it," Harry said, sitting next to him.
"You nervous?" Nambung asked.
"A little," Harry admitted. "You heard the clue same as I did. If I don't accomplish my task, I lose something forever. What if it really is a person, and I mess up? That is a really heavy thing to have on my conscience."
"Harry, I say you when you arrived and you are a totally different person than you were after New Year. I can't imagine that the British Ministry of Magic has come up with something that can stop you."
"I doubt I could take on a feral dragon again," Harry replied, which earned him a laugh from the Taekwondo Grandmaster.
"Maybe, maybe not," Nambung replied. "But at least you could run away more effectively." They sat on the edge of the building, looking out into the inky blackness for a few minutes, a comfortable silence stretching over them like a blanket. "I want you to know that if you die I'm going to kill you myself."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence. "I'll do my best." Harry stood and smiled at his master. "I'll see you around."
"Right back at you," Nambung replied. He sighed and heard the familiar crackle of lightening to his right. There was a flash of light, and Nambung turned his head to see the space beside him empty. He sat there for a few minutes more, and then vanished into his own flash of light.
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January, 1995
Harry flew forward his fists flashing at top speed. Across from him his foe dodged every punch in the flurry without moving his lower body. All he did was bend and twist his upper body, and everything Harry tried hit air. Harry tried to up the speed but his muscles protested. An attempt to push through the pain failed and then the energy in his body was gone, totally drained. He collapsed to the floor in a puddle of sweat.
"I think I'm starting to understand the problem," Nambung said, conjuring a chair and sitting across from Harry. "So Akira only taught you Basutosutorimu?"
"What do you mean only?" Harry managed to get out in between deep breaths. "Isn't that the ultimate technique?"
"Not exactly," Nambung explained. "For one, the idea behind Basutosutorimu is not unique to the Hayashi School. They have brought it to the pinnacle of achievement, but the idea of burning up all your energy, both physical and magical is not exclusive to them."
"So what's my problem?" Harry asked, still trying to catch his breath.
"Oh, you know it's no fun if I just tell you," Nambung said, hoisting Harry to his feet. "You'll need to figure it out on your own." Harry shook his head ruefully. Most of his master's teaching meant solving the problem on the own. There were only two exceptions to this, and they had both happened over the summer and not the few weeks he had spent in Korea since January. "Ok, I've got work. Try and puzzle it out before I return tomorrow." He reached out and ruffled Harry's hair, which earned him a steely look from the green-eyed boy. "See you later." Nambung vanished to the sound of crackling lightening, and Harry growled in frustration.
He spent a few hours going through his form, cleaning up small mistakes. Then Harry spent a few hours breaking things, his wand still in his holster. Nothing struck him as he lay down in the evening. Nambung had posed him the riddle a few weeks ago, and he was still not making progress. His Basutosutorimu was almost perfect. In English, it would translate as Burst Stream.
It was one of the most dangerous and difficult techniques of the Hayashi School. Releasing all of your physical and magical strength and converting it all into physical ability and protection gave the user unparalleled strength for a short time. Harry was not so naïve to believe that when he used it that he might be able to land a hit on his master, but he still hadn't forced him to move. The stronger you got, the longer you could use the technique for. Nambung said that the senior Hayashi could use the technique for 20 minutes.
No, Harry realized, that wasn't right. He sat up straight in his bed. The essence of Basutosutorimu was that it was a finishing move. If you didn't use up everything in a short time, some of the more dangerous attacks that could only be performed with the additional physical boost would do serious damage. Basutosutorimu didn't just increase your speed, agility, and strength. It gave the necessary protection to your bones and muscles so that there would be no long-term damage.
Along with posing him the riddle, Nambung had taught him some of his techniques that could only be used while Harry was in Burst Stream mode. The leg techniques for movement had been easier than the two attacks. The first had been Seismic Step, which increased his leg strength for any kind of downward kick. But Harry had studied and trained hard and was now comfortable with it.
The second technique was called Slip Strike. Harry had called the name stupid until he saw his teacher punch a 20-foot thick wall of concrete and leave the wall undamaged while destroying the dummy on the other side. It had taken 2 weeks for Harry to get through any type of target while leaving the point of contact unharmed, but now he felt like he might be able to punch a victim and end up hitting the person behind holding them.
But the riddle had left him totally stumped. Now, for the first time, Harry felt inspiration strike him. How could Hayashi-Sensei use Basutosutorimu for 20 minutes? Perhaps it was not about releasing everything at once! It was about tight control.
Harry thought about his spars with Nambung and analyzed every second of it. He realized that when he used Seismic Step, or Slip Strike he had put all his energy into that moment. What if that was the secret? Only using Basutosutorimu the moment of the move that you needed it? Switching in and out of that mode in under a second, from throwing a punch to stasis until you needed the power for his next technique? Was it even possible?
Supposing it was possible, everything began to make sense it a way that it had never made sense before. Sleep was banished from Harry's mind as he made his way down to the training rooms. As he prepared, he realized that his exhaustion from the day's worth of training might actually be helpful. If he couldn't hone his powers, he would collapse in a matter of minutes. But he calmed himself, took a few deep breaths and allowed his magical power to start to build inside of him.
With a primal howl, Harry yanked all the energy in his body into his legs and right arm and struck through the target, making mincemeat out of the secondary target behind it. He then jumped back with enhanced leg strength and immediately released the extra magic he was harnessing as physical enhancers. He felt magic flow back into his body and the exhaustion vanish into thin air.
He jumped and pirouetted into the air, and as he headed back towards the earth, he directed that energy back into his right leg and his magical reinforced kick shattered the hardwood floor. Harry rolled away and regained his feet, releasing the magic back throughout his body. He had just performed two fully powered finishing moves and did not feel any of the exhaustion that would normally accompany that.
It was late at night, so Harry could only continue his practice for another 10 minutes. He would have gone a little longer, but he needed to save some magical power to repair the damage he had done in the room. Multiple training dummies, even those charmed to resist powerful attacks had been smashed, and the floor had a variety of holes all over it.
The next day when his master returned Harry felt much more confident in his use of his new style, which he had called instant release. He still got kicked around during the spar, but he was able to keep attacking much longer than normal, and his master revealed he was much closer to solving the riddle of Hayashi-Sensei's ability to keep his top power for so long. In fact, he had progressed enough to get to the heart of his training with Nambung.
"The main thing I want to focus on is using your power efficiently. People throw around magic power with no concern to efficiency," Nambung told him. "It's always hit harder and make a more powerful shield. If you learn tight control of your magic, you won't exhaust yourself as quickly."
"What does that actually mean?" Harry asked as he stretched. He had learned that summer that Nambung tended to wander when teaching, and apparently he had not fixed that habit.
"Fire a spell at me," Nambung told him. "Something powerful." Harry shrugged and drew his wand. He had learned a long time ago that Nambung did all of his magic silently and without a wand in his hand so there was no point in waiting.
"Depulso!" Harry yelled, sending a shockwave towards his teacher. To Harry's surprise, his teacher turned sidewise and the spells just rippled over him. "What was that?"
"You would call it Protego," Nambung said. "I just didn't bother casting an ostentatious spell that covered more area than necessary. I cast it in a tiny layer all around the side of my body. Most of your spell missed, but the rest got caught in my shield. For now, you will need to learn how to cast it silently. Eventually you will be able to keep the shield up all the time like Hayashi-Sensei and I do, but for now we will work on refining your magical control so you can do things like this. Eventually I'd like you to be able to release magic in concentrated bursts the same way you do when you convert it to physical energy."
"So my spells will be much more concentrated, but a little more exhausting," Harry commented.
"Won't it be easier to hit someone with a gouging spell that penetrated their shield rather than 5?" Nambung pointed out.
"Fair point," Harry conceded.
"Well, we have around a month left before you have return," Nambung said, finishing his stretches as well. He drew his wand and Harry raised an eyebrow at his teacher. "You are still a while away from wandless magic, so I'll use my my wand so you can copy my form."
"You aren't going to train me by beating the techniques into my body?"
"Well, I said we only have a month," Nambung replied. "Why do you even ask when you know that I am going to beat you up until you can't stand. It's the fastest way to learn."
"Of course it is." Harry couldn't keep the sarcasm from his voice. Nambung snapped his wand at Harry, who managed to get his wand up and whisper "Protego." The Korean wizard's spell smashed through Harry's hastily cast shield, but it slowed the spell enough for Harry to dance around it. However, he had jumped straight into the path of the second spell.
"You need to sense the magic from my wand," Nambung said. "Don't count on your eyes, they betray you." Harry nodded and rolled to his feet firing a barrage of spells, all of which his teacher deflected with ease. Harry didn't even see the flicker of movement that indicated the attack, but he sensed a pulse from his teacher that he hadn't felt before and rolled out of the way. He heard a spell impact on the wall behind him, but as he tried to recover his feet he was knocked back by another spell.
"I think I felt something," Harry explained as he rose to his feet again.
"That was fast," Nambung said. "Sensory magic is very tough, but it will come in handy as you refine your magic. Nice work." There was no movement but Harry felt that pulse again and threw up a shield to block the stunner. "Very nice work. Now you just need to feel the power of the spell and use the appropriate force or movement in response-"
"And the best way to learn that is with your body," Harry interrupted with a wry grin on his face. "I am well aware of-" He was interrupted by a spell that shattered his shield and sent him flying, but Harry contorted his body in midair and landed on his feet, dodging another two spells by inches as he regained his balance."
"Then don't talk back," Nambung said, his wand snapping out at Harry a few more times and eventually catching him with a stinging spell that made Harry wince. "Come on then. You better attack as well."
"Evanesco." Harry then cast a silent banishing spell at the debris he had just turned invisible, and Nambung laughed as he dodged the flying scraps and countered with a flurry of spells that Harry weaved through.
"Good improvisation," Nambung said as he hit Harry in the middle of the chest. "If you had cast that vanishing spell silently, you would have caught anyone at your school."
"Let me guess," Harry said as he flipped to his feet. "I'll get it with more practice?"
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February 24th, 1995
"Where is he?" Dumbledore hissed at Akira, who looked around with an unconcerned look on his face. The student bodies of all three schools were assembled around the water. "The task starts in a matter minutes, and I cannot delay it longer. I do not think you need to be told of the importance of making sure Harry Potter does not lose his magic."
"I'm sure my brother will be along soon," Akira told Dumbledore. "If I was you, I'd be more concerned about those people below water." Dumbledore flinched in surprise. "Oh, I can sense them just fine. I'm sure that if Minerva was down there for Harry to rescue she'd be upset. Did you run it by her?" Dumbledore stayed silent. "Very brave to put a young Veela in the water as well, much less the daughter of Laurent Delacour."
"It will be fine," Dumbledore snapped.
"And if the champions fail in their task and do not rescue their hostages? What will happen then?"
"The mermen will return them to the surface," Dumbledore replied.
"Even a Veela, a race who embody the element opposite them?" Akira replied. "I sure hope you are right." As Akira strolled away he remained unconcerned about his brother. Nambung had always been a showman given the opportunity and while Harry had only minutes, he was sure when his brother arrived it would be with a bang.
He was concerned about the hostages. From what he understood, the champions would only be allowed to rescue one champion without being attacked by the merpeople. In their private lessons Cedric had confirmed to Akira that while they had solved the clues together the champions would be on their own in the task. Cedric had admitted that if Harry had been there, he might have been able to convince the others to work together with people in harm's way, but without him the other two were too stubborn and invested in victory.
Krum would probably not encounter too many problems under the lake. The main problems were figuring out how to breath underwater and grindylows, both of which should prove no problem for the Bulgarian and his powerful casting. Cedric had done good work to master the bubblehead charm and Akira had worked on the Revulsion and Ebublio jinx until Cedric had dropped.
While Fleur was quicker than Krum and more powerful than Cedric, Akira was worried for her. He was unsure that the merpeople would leave her alone. The enmity between the two races was well known. Fleur's magic was also driven by her internal fire, which would be much weaker than normal. And if her hostage was left under water, Laurent and Apolline Delacour were not people to trifle with.
The champions, all in bathing suits assembled on the shore of the lake. Dumbledore looked at Akira once more, who shrugged. They all looked nervous and Akira knew that they worried about the people underwater. It was bitterly cold, and Akira knew that Cedric would cast a warming charm the moment the task started. He could only hope the other champions cast a similar spell. Wizards and witches could catch hyperthermia as easily as muggles.
"Welcome to the second task!" Dumbledore cried with his wand at his throat. The crowd went wild. Then the headmaster stopped as an earth-shattering crackle coursed through the air, and a bright ball of lightening appeared 40 feet above the edge of the lake. A body dropped from the ball of lightening and smashed into the ground sending up a giant dust cloud. As the dust cleared Akira saw Harry striding towards the lake, a small grin on his face.
The crowd went into hysteria at the appearance of Harry. He had apparently appeared in midair and easily landed a 40 foot jump and walked away as if it was nothing. Akira had recognized both skills and drew a breath of relief. Seismic step was a specialty of Nambung. Harry had clearly not wasted his time away from school.
"Hey guys," Harry said, shaking the hands of the other contestants. "I hope I am not late. From the fact we are not yet in the bitterly cold water I assume we have yet to start."
"What in the world was that?" Cedric asked, patting Harry on the back. "That was one amazing entrance. Were you hiding up there?"
"No, I apparated," Harry explained. "I didn't want to appear inside one of you and it was from pretty far away. The landing isn't too hard if you know what you are doing."
"Don't be ridiculous Harry," Dumbledore snapped. "You know as well as I that it is impossible to apparate into Hogwarts."
"For you, maybe," Harry said with a grin. "Well, I guess that wasn't really apparition. Call it a specialty technique." Cedric smiled at relief. Harry was back, and he looked healthy. Something seemed a little off about Harry as he bantered with Krum. Then with a start Cedric realized what it was.
Whenever he had spent time with Harry before, he had always been self-effacing and fairly quiet, even when you engaged him. But now, even as they were about to dive into the unknown, he had an easy smile and seemed totally ease. Harry seemed to be dripping with confidence. If anything it bordered on arrogant. He wasn't sure if it was nerves or something new, but Cedric was sure he would find out soon.
"Ok, should we get going?" Harry said. Fleur just glared at him. Harry sighed as he saw the glare. "Actually, give me a minute." He crossed the few yards with speed that didn't allow Fleur to react and gently moved her away from the group. "I'm guessing you are pretty mad at me?"
"Pretty mad?" Fleur felt absolutely furious. Sure, Akira had confirmed Harry was probably fine, but part of her was preparing for the knowledge that her perfect match was lying dead in an unmarked grave.
"It was no entirely my decision to return so late in the game," Harry explained. "Let's go rescue Luna, McGonagall, Hermione, and whoever else is down there and then I'll let you yell at me."
"What?" Fleur took a step back in surprise. "How do you know who is down there?"
"I can sense them," Harry said, looking surprised as well. "You can't?" Fleur shook her head. She had heard rumors about sensory magic, that incredibly powerful wizards could sense magic from their opponents in a duel. But the hostages were through thousands of feet of water. What in the world had happened to Harry while he had been away to develop those powers? "Stupid Nambung. He said everyone could do it. What a liar."
"Harry, are you ready?" Dumbledore asked. "We need to hurry."
"Oh, swimming?" Harry said. "Yeah, I'm not doing that. I don't know how. But sure, get started." Dumbledore stared dumbly at the young Gryffindor. "Cedric, Victor, Fleur," he strode to the edge of the lake and slid one hand into the water, "you may want to head…" Harry paused for a moment and closed his eyes. "that way." He withdrew his hand and pointed towards the far edge of the lake, a little left of the farther point.
"Thank you," Krum grumbled. "You can feel them?" Harry him a small nod and Krum gave a grunt of surprise. "Far?"
"Swim quickly," Harry said. "Keep an eye out for grindylows, and the big one, whatever it is."
"What big one?" Akira asked. Then he felt it on the edge of his conciseness. A mass of magic sliding through the water. "What is that?" He whispered to Dumbledore.
"The task will begin at the sound of the canon," Dumbledore yelled, and then a canon banged. All three champions jumped into the water, and Harry started drawing in the dirt. "Harry, hurry in!"
"No thanks," Harry said, still drawing in the dirt. "Like I said, I don't swim. I figured I'd take a different route." He drew in silence for almost 20 minutes with the judges and students staring in confusion. A few times Dumbledore and Ludo Bagman had urged Harry to get going, but the champion ignored him. A few sections of the crowd started jeering at him. Eventually he stood, looking over the design. "That should be good. If you can clear a path?" Harry walked all the way back to the crowd 100 feet away and they seemed to part as he walked through them. "Let's go!" Harry turned on his heel and raced towards the lake edge so fast Akira could barely track him, and saw his wand snap out.
Apparently Harry had not been doodling idly in the dirt. As his wand moved the runic structure in the dirt began to shine. Akira was not a runes expert but he had studied them extensively in school and had graded Harry's test. Not only did he not recognize the runic array, but to activate a rune array on the run with considerable skill was well beyond the Harry that had left in January. Akira almost shuddered to think what six weeks of intensive training with Nambung would be like.
"HA!" Harry yelled as he stepped on the runes and then he simply jumped. Akira felt a massive amount of magic power from Harry as the runes activated and Harry reinforced his leg strength with magic. The ground he had jumped off crumbled and Akira looked up to see Harry soaring over the lake. He almost looked he was flying as he soared through the air at incredible speed.
"Woah," Akira said quietly as the crowd exploded into noise as Harry became a speck in the distance. Akira saw the speck start to arc down and Harry slashed into the water. "I guess he wasn't kidding about swimming. What in the world did he do with Nambung?"
Harry used his downwards moment to propel him to the bottom of the lake. He had hoped that he might be able to propel himself all the way to the hostages, but he could feel them a few hundred feet away from him. He grimaced as he shot a blasting spell behind him, shooting him towards them. He had messed up a little bit with the runic array so he had wasted a little bit of his magic power as he threw it into the explosive jump, which is why he was short of his intended target.
It had taken a little longer to get here then intended, but the last thing Harry needed to do was mess up the array. He might blow his legs off instead of amplifying the power. Besides, it had all worked out. Harry drifted towards four pillars in the water. He heard the singing of the merpeople as he examined the columns. He felt his heart tighten as he saw his grandmother on the second pillar.
He had been showing off a little on the lake. He couldn't help it, as Nambung had rubbed off on him. Harry realized he would need a little humbling in the near future to get off his high horse. He had sensed four people in the lake, but he had guessed that it was Hermione, Luna, and his grandmother from the clue he and Nambung had solved a few days ago. He saw his two friends on the other pillars, and he didn't recognize the fourth. As he drifted closer he saw she looked like a miniature Fleur, and realized this must be her younger sister.
He was sure the other champions were focusing on breathing, but for Harry it was simple. Near the end of February he had finally mastered keeping the thin veneer of magic around him. Despite the water hundreds of feet around him, all he had do was expand the magic around him and release it and reform it every time he felt the oxygen grow stale. He had practiced flicking the shield on and off at will before returning to Hogwarts for the task, so his only concern now was how to get the hostages back to shore.
Harry used a quick severing charm as he felt the massive surge of magic swimming nearby. It had not sensed him yet but Harry didn't have time to wait for the others. He stuck Minnie to the pillar he had freed her from and swum over towards Hermione. Instantly he felt the merpeople surround him.
"Get out of my way," Harry said. The giant magic beast was still circling, but Harry had never felt that magical signature before, and it worried him.
"Only one," one of the merpeople hissed, holding a trident to his throat.
"You asked for it," Harry muttered, and he felt the lightening start to flicker around his body. The merpeople started to draw back as the water around Harry started to crackle, but his magic already partially replenished from the jump as the runes had provided most of the power, and he was already in a bad mood. He brandished his wand at the fleeing merpeople but then heard a sound behind him.
Harry saw a pack of grindylows racing towards him. He took a glance over his shoulder and saw the merpeople regrouping across their village. Apparently they were going to take the one hostage thing seriously, and while Harry would not hesitate to cut them down, if it endangered any of the hostages it was unnecessary if he could deal with this quickly. As he moved his wand towards the pack of grindeleows, he fired two powerful blasting spells, sending the creatures running. A few of them were bigger and meaner, and carried on towards him, and Harry cast a silent movement freezing charm. The magic beasts froze and started drifting towards the bottom of the lake.
The merpeople were swimming back towards him, weapons raised. Harry allowed the lightening to flicker around his body again and the merpeople retreated. Nambung had not told him that apparently, sentient water beasts were well aware of the effect that a lightening spell could have in the water, amplifying its effects 10 fold, and apparently these creatures were smart enough to get the message. Harry cut and stuck Hermione and Fleur's sister when he heard the merpeople crying out. Harry dimly saw a larger shape drifting towards him, and recognized Cedric as he approached the village. Closely behind him was Fleur.
The bubblehead charm, Harry realized as he saw the globe of air around their face. He felt like an idiot. It was tiring to keep the magical shield around him, and he could have just concentrated it around his mouth. At this point it would have been easier to drop his shield entirely and copy the two other wizards, but it would have felt like cheating. Harry looked around for Krum but didn't see him. Had something happened to him?
He felt Krum a little while away, but something about him felt odd, almost feral. Harry turned and saw a half shark Krum slashing through the water towards him. Krum reached the pillars first and his teeth made short work of the binding around Luna. Harry gave a half wave but shark Krum was obviously incapable of anything more than simple thoughts and he swam off.
It took a few minutes for Fleur and Cedric to reach the pillars, but they both nodded to Harry but immediately went to their hostages. Harry unstuck them, but then he felt it. The massive creature was moving towards them, and it was moving fast. Harry summoned Fleur and Cedric, leaving their hostages in the open water, both of them struggling against his accio spell but it was no use. With a quick twist of his wand, he created an air bubble around them.
"What are you doing!" Cedric cried.
"No time," Harry said. "Something big and powerful is coming, and I don't know what."
"What is going on?" Fleur told him. "I need to get Gabrielle out right now."
"I suspected that someone would try and put something in place in this task, the same way that the dragon's chain was broken. Whatever is coming will be beyond you. I can only hope I can handle it. Be careful. Get out of the water as fast as you can. It looks like the hostages will awaken as soon as they touch the surface. Cedric, take Minnie."
"Minnie?" Cedric looked around. "Do you mean Professor McGonagall?" Harry cursed silently. Too much was going on as he tried to read the magical aura pulsing from the approaching creature and he had slipped.
"Yes, she is my grandmother." Cedric gave a yelp of surprise. "We have a lot to catch up on, but not now." Cedric and Fleur nodded and Harry vanished the giant air bubble. He had burned through a decent amount of his magic, but the creature was almost there, and Harry couldn't be bogged down with passengers. Cedric and Fleur grabbed the hostages and. "Ready?" They both looked at him in surprise as Harry swum underneath them. "Depulso!"
Fleur's face morphed in surprise as the charm sped towards her and she wrapped her arms around her sister. Then the rippling water seemed to accelerate and she shot towards the surface at an angle, vanishing into the murky water in an instance. Harry had tried to angle his spell so that she would come out near the shore, but he couldn't direct his aim perfectly. He couldn't sense the magic of the crowd as his magical sensors was nearly drowned out by the creature.
"Hold on tight!" Harry told Cedric, who wrapped his arms around Hermione and his grandmother. Harry send an even more powerful spell at Cedric who went whooshing off into the distance. "Whoa." Harry took a few deep breath. His magic was returning quickly, but he had used a lot of strength. Now that the other champions were gone, Harry dropped the body shield and cast the bubblehead charm. "Now let's see who you are?"
Harry turned as the shadow of the creature towards over him. He turned and his first look at the creature made him catch his breath. It was massive, a literal monstrosity. It was as bigger as a house as a ship as it floated above him. It seemed to vibrate and magic literally pulsated from the beast, running shivers down Harry's spine.
The color of the fish shifted from red to silver and back again. It had a fin the size of a large horse, and the fish circled Harry, the water swirling around Harry in a dangerous circle. It took Harry a few minutes to place the animal. It was a Ramora.
Harry eyed the fish with interest. Ramoras were generally peacefully creatures. They were guardians of seagoers and were protected by the ICW. Harry had no idea how the creature had been transported from India, where Ramoras lived. More concerning was the fact was that the vortex from the fish swimming was starting to make it hard to keep the bubblehead charm up. That, and the fact that the fish's skin was not its trademark silver, as the color had stopped flashing and was a dark red.
The Ramora stopped circling but then darted towards Harry with frightening speed.