Chapter 92: What Have You Done?

While the students were dismissed none of them moved. They stayed in their seats, each coming up with a different version of what must have happened underwater as Crouch told them the scores would be administered that evening once all champions were back on their feet. At the dock, Dumbledore hunched over to speak with the merchieftain. As they spoke, Hagrid advanced on one of the organizers.

"McLaggen!" Hagrid shouted at a man in navy robes. The man was a giant of a human, his head reaching well over two meters. With his hair cut close to his head, he looked imposing and intimidating… unless the other man happened to be the half-giant Hagrid.

The half-giant positively dwarfed the man, little pieces of spittle flying as Hagrid yelled.

"How many times did I tell yer!" Hagrid shouted, drawing quite a few curious stares as the students were spellbound at Hagrid's imposing display. "Yer kept talking about spicing up the task with the creature in yer big crate! I told yer no and yer did it anyway!"

"But I didn't," the man remained defiant in the face of Hagrid's tirade. "I have no idea how that got in there."

"Yes, yer do!" Hagrid said. "That creature had to have been in that large crate you brought with yer! The crate wobbled dangerously when unloaded. I told yer team it was not ter be unloaded and yet you defied me didn' yer!"

"I have no idea what you are talking about," McLaggen said, trying to brush by the gigantic man. "You must have put that in there by accident, you dumb oaf."

Hagrid growled and picked the man up, pinning him to a tree.

"I would never be that daft," Hagrid leaned forward and growled dangerously. "I would not be so stupid as to introduce an apex predator to this lake. Not for the task, not for any reason. Do you realize what you did? You introduced a dangerous creature into a foreign place. You could have upset the entire ecosystem and hierarchy of the lake. The squid has been the power in these waters since before I was in school and yer, ya bloody moron, just put something in there that could have challenged it. It's a good thing that thing is dead because there would be no getting it out and then we're all in trouble. Yer realize that could have disrupted so many things which would have impacted things on the grounds, right? For Merlin's sake, your kid goes ter school here."

"That's quite enough," a new voice cut Hagrid off. Amelia Bones stood on the bank with her wand out. "Hagrid please release the man and let us do our job. My aurors will scour the crates. Malcolm McLaggen, you are the head of the Aquatic and Marine Animals Division of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical

Creatures, correct?"

"Yes ma'am," the man brushed off his robes, trying to quell the shaking in his legs now that he was on solid ground again.

"You were responsible for all the creatures for the task, adding more Grindylows, a few Hinkypunks and such for the task, correct?"

"Yes ma'am," Malcolm rolled his shoulders to relax his now-bruised muscles.

"Do you know how a Sea Serpent from Norway found itself in a lake in Scotland?" Amelia said.

"No idea," Malcom said. "Maybe the serpent got lost."

"Mr. Hagrid," Amelia turned to the half-giant. "Have you ever encountered anything like this creature in the Black Lake before?"

"No ma'am," Hagrid said. "The squid would have reacted before now and one o' the two would have fought ter the death. We would have seen signs before now."

"Director!" The three turned as one of the Aurors ran up. "We found the crate that would have held the serpent. It had this inside it."

The auror lifted the shirt in his hands, a shirt with a Gryffindor tie still attached to it.

"Won't be hard to figure out who that tie belonged to," Amelia grimaced while Hagrid and Dumbledore, fresh off his conversation with merchieftain, shouted in outrage. "Did you find a magical signature?"

"Yes," the auror said. "It's the last thing on my wand."

"Mr. McLaggen," Amelia said. "Your wand please?"

"No," the elder McLaggen said. "You're not railroading me with this. I refuse to answer any more questions without counsel."

"Very well," Amelia squared her shoulders. "Malcolm McLaggen, you are under arrest for the illegal importation of a XXXXX creature and the attempted murder of one of the Triwizard champions. Be glad this creature did not attack any of the champions while they prepared for the task otherwise the Goblet of Fire would be rendering judgment on you, possibly costing you your magic for interfering in the tournament."

McLaggen paled at Amelia's previous statement as she turned toward her aurors.

"Savage, take him to the holding cells at the ministry. No one is to talk to him until I arrive, am I clear? Excellent. Log your findings and the magical signature you found. Leave nothing out."

As the aurors dragged McLaggen away, Amelia turned to the others.

"Thank you, Headmaster Dumbledore, for inviting me and my detachment to the task. It seems your instincts were correct that someone could use this opportunity to harm one of the champions."

"Glad you could be here," Dumbledore said solemnly, his brow furrowed. "I wish you were not needed."

"As do I," Amelia massaged her temples. "Perhaps we could go check on Mr. Potter and take statements from him, Miss Granger and the other champions?"

"The castle is yours for whatever you need, Amelia," Dumbledore said. "Shall we?"

Up in the Hospital Wing, the doors burst open as Hermione barged into the ward. Her hair whipped around her head as she turned to Harry's usual bed, hearing the matron chanting a spell as Harry screamed.

"I know it hurts Mr. Potter," Pomfrey's voice echoed across the ward as Harry's screams continued. "But I need you awake for this so your magical reserves can help me heal this. If you can lay still, I think I can prevent any scarring."

With one final gasp, Pomfrey stopped casting.

"I can hear you pacing out there, Miss Granger," Pomfrey's voice floated around the curtain. "Come on in, he'll want to see you."

Quicker than a Quidditch player on a Firebolt, Hermione was at Harry's side. Harry was sitting up as Pomfrey moved off to get him some bandages. Hermione tried not to appreciate his lithe form lying shirtless on the bed

"How is he?" Hermione asked Pomfrey to distract her thoughts.

"He is fine," Pomfrey said. "The cut was deep but clean. Just had to be stitched back together and then I put some dittany over the top as I went. That's the screaming you heard."

"Will you be keeping him?"

"No, after some time to rest, he'll be fine to leave."

"Good," Hermione beamed before turning to Harry. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Me too," Harry said, smiling at Hermione's concerned face until Hermione started poking him hard.

"Why?" She suddenly shouted. "Why didn't you portkey away when you were hurt? You pushed yourself too far; too hard yet again!"

"I wasn't sure if it still worked," Harry hastily put his hands up in a vain attempt to defend himself. "The creature tore right through my suit. I didn't want to make things worse by activating a damaged portkey. Also, that creature was put there specifically for me. Every time I dodged, he would swing back around. Even after dealing with the squid, it turned and sniffed the water until it found me again. Once I dealt with it, I was worried there'd be another intent on hurting you. I had to know you were okay."

"Well," Hermione relaxed, blushing a little. "I suppose it wasn't your most daft decision."

"Not even top ten," Harry gave her a crooked smile. "I'm just glad for your lightsaber spell. It's the only thing that saved me."

"It worked underwater?" Hermione asked in astonishment.

"Like a charm," Harry replied and then laughed at his unintended pun. "I'd just like to know who put it there."

"Something we all would like to know," Amelia called attention to herself. Arrayed behind her in the ward were Kingsley and Tonks on either flank, with Dumbledore, Fleur, Viktor and Cedric behind them. "We've found where the creature came from but I'd like to hear from you as well. Did any of you encounter the Sea Serpent besides Mr. Potter?"

"No," Cedric shook his head.

"Non," Fleur said. "I came by the scene after and all I saw was a lot of blood in the water."

"I found the same," Viktor said. "My shark head could smell two kinds of blood in the water. Thank you for the rescue earlier Harry, by the vay?"

"What rescue?" Dumbledore asked.

"The Squid," Krum answered. "He did not take vell to a shark in its territory. Harry got it to realize I vas not a real shark."

"So the serpent only attacked Champion Potter," Amelia nodded as Tonks scribbled notes on her parchment. "You said the serpent was trained on you?"

"Yes ma'am," Harry said. "I got close to the village and felt something coming my way. I barely dodged it but it kept coming. All of my spells glanced off its skin and only a few hit the inside of its mouth. I would have been killed if the Giant Squid hadn't intervened. I was flagging and the serpent was going to swallow me whole. After the Serpent incapacitated the squid, it turned back toward me and sped on another attack. I got lucky and landed a cutting curse down its side that cut down its entire flank."

"Do you have anything to add?" Amelia saw the corpse and it wasn't killed by a standard cutting curse. "That did not seem like any ordinary curse."

"No ma'am," Harry said, wishing to keep Hermione's latest spell a secret.

"The spell I used was similar but not quite like a cutting curse. Considering all the people after my head, I would rather not reveal it at this time. Just file it as a family spell if you must."

Amelia nodded, impressed yet again by this boy.

"That is everything for us then," Amelia Bones cleaned her monocle and turned toward her aurors. "Everyone use your due diligence and go by the book. I want to know who did this."

"I can help," the group turned and parted to find a nervous Ron Weasley standing there fussing with his threadbare robes. "After the first task, Cormac McLaggen told me his father was going to be in charge of the creatures for the second task. He asked me to get something of Harry's so things would be tougher for the task. I didn't think he would try to kill Harry, I just wanted to see him hurt a little. In my jealousy I didn't care what happened to Harry, nor did I think about the consequences."

Ron turned and looked at Harry.

"I want to apologize, Harry," Ron said. "You don't deserve to die just because we aren't getting along. I was hoping we could bury the hatchet, so to speak and start over."

"Well, Weasley," Ron tensed as Harry spoke. "You've said a lot of vile things about me and especially about Hermione. I'm not sure I can trust you."

"I understand," Ron nodded. "I've been a prat, a right pillock to the both of you and I am sorry. Friends?"

Harry looked down skeptically at Ron's extended hand. Instead of taking it Harry just nodded.

"Maybe one day," Harry said, noticing the tightening around his eyes and the small twitch his mouth did. "We've been through a lot, said a lot. I don't know if we'll ever be friends but I'll settle for not being enemies."

Ron relaxed a little, nodding as Dumbledore turned his attention back to him.

"So Mr. McLaggen is the source of this attack?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes," Ron nodded. "He's hated Harry since our first year, blames him for not being on the Quidditch team, among other things. I didn't think he wanted Harry dead, though."

"Amelia," Dumbledore addressed Madam Bones. "I guess you have another witness to interview. Though please leave the younger McLaggen's punishment to me. As a minor and a member of my school, I believe that responsibility falls to me."

"Not this time Albus," Amelia said. "If Mr. Potter doesn't survive, this is murder. It's an adult crime and he must face consequences. I won't walk him through the halls in irons but I have no alternative but to arrest him and charge him with attempted murder. Follow us Mr. Weasley and we'll take your statement."

Once Pomfrey cleared the other champions of any health issues, Amelia and Dumbledore filed out with the aurors. Before Ron turned to leave, he made one last comment. He looked over his shoulder and spoke with finality.

"I really am sorry, Harry," Ron said. "I'm glad you're not dead."

As Harry watched him go, he was conflicted. It was a stark difference from the Ron Weasley they had spent time with the last two years.

"I'm also glad you're not dead," Hermione said as she pulled herself onto the bed next to him, wrapping her arms around his waist in a way that told them she wasn't going to let him go anytime soon.

"Here, here," Cedric cheered from the doorway. "I'm glad you are safe. You looked like you were bleeding to death out there."

"I felt like I was," Harry said. "The bandages I conjured must have done just enough."

"Well glad to see you're alright," Fleur smiled warmly. "When I saw ze blood, I worried. Zat bed looks comfortable, iz zhere room for one more?"

"Not on your life, Delacour," Hermione shimmied away from Harry to take up as much of the bed as she could.

"Miss Granger," Pomfrey called out. "You are still wearing your clothes from the lake. I won't have you taking up a bed because you've gone and acted like your boyfriend. You can spend all the time with Harry after you've changed into clean, dry clothes. Understood?"

"Yes, madam Pomfrey," Hermione slipped off the bed and called Winky. The elf popped in with her change of clothes and, after a quick trip to the loo, Hermione was back at Harry's side.

"Lucky Potter," Viktor said.

"Sometimes I feel lucky," Harry said.

"Yeah well tonight you look you are going to get lucky, eh Potter?" Cedric said.

"Well you all can stay if you wish but I'm afraid Harry won't be much for conversation," Hermione said as she captured his lips in a searing kiss.

"Yeah fun as that would be, I think I'll go find Fay," Cedric led the other two champions out of the ward with Hermione haphazardly waving them out, not breaking her kiss to do so. As soon as they were alone, Hermione pulled back.

"Are you okay?" Hermione gripped his head in both of her hands so he could only look into her eyes. "I know physically you're healed but are you okay?"

"I... I don't know," Harry admitted. "I'm so used to people wanting me dead but this... this feels different."

"McLaggen's a pig but I didn't think he wanted to actually harm someone," Hermione said.

"And we're coming to the end of the tournament," Harry's head drooped and his shoulders slumped. "What else is coming?"

Hermione ran her hands through his hair, trying to soothe him. He rested his head on her sternum as she continued to comb her nails through the messy bird's nest he called hair. Under her ministrations, Harry relaxed.

"I'm just tired of it," Harry said, his voice muffled by her uniform shirt. "The fighting, the stress, never knowing who's going to kill me tomorrow."

"Shh," Hermione shushed and held him tighter. "I know but you're not alone. You have Daphne and Neville; Luna, Ginny, Fred and George. Vinny, Greg, Susan and Hannah. Even Sirius and my parents are here for you. I don't know what's coming but you are not alone. Whatever you need, we're here."

"As much as I'd love a break, I know I can't take one," Harry huffed. "There's still so much to do. Something is coming; something bigger and I have to be ready."

"We," Hermione corrected, pulling Harry back again. "Wherever you go, I follow. Stronger together, remember?"

"Stronger together," Harry said, though even to his ears, it sounded half-hearted.

That night, the champions decided to enter the Great Hall together with their hostages in a show of solidarity. When they entered the hall burst into applause.

"Welcome and congratulations," Dumbledore welcomed them from his lectern. "A marvelous job, all of you, on the task. You all were a credit to your schools, families and friends. Before we get to scores, I have an announcement.

"Cormac McLaggen has been suspended for the rest of the year, pending his trial for attempted murder," Dumbledore said. "McLaggen got his father to add a creature, A Sea Serpent, to the task to specifically target Champion Potter. Thankfully Champion Potter survived, with help from the Giant Squid but that behavior is unacceptable conduct for all students. As such, he will not be with us for the rest of the year and it is highly unlikely he will ever return.

"Now onto the scores," Dumbledore brightened. "Champion Diggory was the first to arrive back with their hostage. Using the Bubblehead Charm, Diggory was able to find his hostage and return her in 45 minutes. We award him the full 50 points."

"Champion Potter was the second to arrive at the 55-minute mark. He used Gillyweed and was rather inspired in using the water charm to propel himself through the water. Were it not for his encounter with the Sea Serpent, or his decision to help another champion in peril, he would have arrived first. We also award him 50 points.

"Champion Delacour gave us quite a show, covering her body with flames and then using a Bubblehead Charm. She arrived five minutes after the hour mark so we've decided to award her 40 points.

"Finally," Dumbledore moved his eyes to Krum. "Champion Krum used partial transfiguration to turn his head and torso into a shark. With his ingenuity- and a little help from Champion Potter- he was able to finish at the same time as Champion Delcour. Considering his attempt at transfiguration, we have awarded him 45 points."

Dumbledore drew his wand and a scoreboard appeared behind him.

"After two tasks, Harry Potter is in the lead with 89 points with Cedric Diggory hot on his tail with 86. Champion Delcour is currently third with 84 and Champion Krum is in fourth with 76. The final task will not be until June. The Champions will learn what the task is at the end of May. Until then, enjoy some time off. Congratulations on all your hard work to this point and I am sure I speak for the other judges where we can't wait to see what you do next."

No one paid attention to the scores, not with the notable absence of McLaggen. Suddenly, things seemed more serious, considering one of their number tried to maim or kill one of their classmates. The conversation was quieter, the thoughts turned inward and at the green table, two figures shook their head, not wishing to speak their frustrations aloud.

For Harry and his group, he was just glad to have a break from the tournament, a break that would give him time to commit himself to train harder. The still didn't know the endgame and that mystery still made him uncomfortable.

(A/N: Finally broke through some writer's block and the next chapter is almost done. One more chapter and then it'll be a three chapter close out to the year

Updated with a more severe punishment for McLaggen. Hated the first one after really thinking it through.)