Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, have I not made that clear by now?
Chapter 63
After a long discussion with Hermione that involved a lot of comforting and a lot of hugs, the pair spent the day adjusting Harry's strategy in order to maximize his chances of passing through the Second Task with flying colors. When the Weasley twins came up to them in the common room that night and informed Hermione that McGonagall needed her, they had shared the longest and tenderest hug of their relationship before a teary-eyed Hermione departed, leaving a very determined Harry to stand and stare at the portrait hole before striding up to bed.
On the morning of the Second Task, Harry was the first champion to arrive at their designated area on the edge of the lake. The judges – including Percy Weasley, who was filling in for an ill Barty Crouch – milled about and casually conversed with one another, giving Harry plenty of space to get ready. He quickly shed his school robes and folded them up on a nearby table, leaving him in his swimming trunks and his scarlet tournament jersey. In one pocket of his bathing suit lay the remaining dose of gillyweed, which had been preserved in a jar charmed to mimic Mediterranean climates. In the other pocket was a folded-up piece of parchment that Harry surreptitiously pulled out when nobody was looking.
Crouching down with his back to the judges and pretending to unlace his trainers, he activated the Marauder's Map and scanned for his own dot on the edge of the lake. After locating it, he found the small 'x' that Neville had drawn weeks earlier. Sure enough, four dots lay motionless right next to the mark: Hermione Granger, Aleksander Krum, Cho Chang, and Gabrielle Delacour. Harry dragged his finger along the space between his dot and Hermione's, glancing between the lake and the map to try and gauge the distance and figure out the best route to take to arrive as fast as possible. After much internal deliberation, he figured out his best angle of pursuit and hurriedly folded up the map, muttering 'Mischief managed' and stashing it within the folds of his robes.
Next, he double-checked his right ankle, which held a leather holster that housed the knife Sirius had sent to him for his Christmas gift. After seeing Hermione attached to the statue via a rope in his dream, it was deemed a worthy addition to his arsenal. Bringing the knife also afforded him the opportunity to stab whoever thought it was a good idea to kidnap the girl he loved and hold her hostage at the bottom of the lake in February, but he had not mentioned that to Hermione.
The rest of the champions arrived just as he finished adjusting his ankle holster. Fleur and Krum both looked particularly miffed, and Cedric looked resigned. He met Harry's gaze and shook his head dejectedly, a gesture that Harry mirrored. Clearly the others had caught on that they were to rescue someone, not something. As the champions entered, the stands began to fill up with the students from all three schools. Harry smirked as he watched the Gryffindor Gang all pile into one section and begin all sorts of pro-Potter chants, with help from the Weasley twins and the rest of Gryffindor house.
The clock ticked on, and at nine twenty-five Harry was directed to stand on the edge of the water all the way to the left. Krum was to his right, followed by Cedric, followed by Fleur. Bagman began his commentary of the task with his wand pressed to his throat, but Harry barely registered any of his words. His eyes never left the water, his gaze boring into a spot near the middle of the lake slightly to the left of his current position.
"With that," Bagman finally concluded, "it appears all our champions are ready for the Second Task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them." Reaching into his pocket, Harry extracted the ball of gillyweed strands and shoved it into his mouth. His second encounter with the magical plant was just as unpleasant as his first, but he forced himself to chomp down on the foul substance and swallow it just as Bagman spoke again. "One…two…three!"
Harry waded into the water alongside his fellow champions before a familiar burning sensation made itself known along his neck. As soon as his gills were fully formed, he submerged himself entirely. His stomach skimmed the muddy bottom of the lake as he propelled himself forward with his webbed hands until he was far out enough to begin kicking with his feet-turned-flippers. Turning slightly so that he was making a beeline for the merpeople's village, he began to swim as fast as he could.
No longer inhibited by uncertainty and the need to stop every couple of minutes to place a beacon, Harry moved through the water with a speediness that rivaled the swiftest of sea creatures. At one point he passed a bed of weeds and saw a grindylow bare its fangs, but he summoned his wand from his wrist holster and cast a Revulsion Jinx so quickly that the water demon was sent flying backwards before it could even think about attacking Harry. Pushing forward, he passed the weeds and reached the precipice where the bottom of the lake deepened significantly. Silently congratulating himself for reaching the spot faster than the last time, he dove down and followed the descent until the ground evened out.
Far off to his right, he was just barely able to make out the toilet seat he had planted into the mud during his practice run. Recalling that he had needed to take a sharp left turn after placing that marker, he congratulated himself again on finding a much more efficient route. He swam onwards, pushing the limits of his flippers to see just how fast he could move. After a few minutes, he reached the cluster of stone dwellings that comprised the merpeople village, and soon enough he was facing the gargantuan merperson statue once more.
Unlike his first visit, the clearing was filled with merpeople this time around. Several stood guard around the statue and clutched spears while many others moved aimlessly about, clearly enjoying the spectacle. Harry pushed onwards to the statue and caught sight of four figures bound tightly to the stone merperson's tail. Harry made his way over to Hermione immediately, curling in on himself to extract his knife before getting to work on her rope. He managed to slash through the material and sheathed the blade, swimming back up so that he was level with Hermione.
His heart sank as he got his first good look at her. Her eyes were closed; she had clearly been charmed into a state of slumber, but she looked unnervingly similar to a corpse. He instinctively cupped her face with his hands, but she did not respond at all. Her skin was ice cold, and Harry was reminded of her second-year petrification in just about the worst way possible.
He glanced back at the other three hostages. Clearly, their corresponding champions had not yet arrived. He checked his watch and was surprised to see that the task was not even twenty minutes in. He reminded himself that the task was designed to last an hour, meaning the champions were expected to arrive roughly ten minutes later than he did. There was no reason to fret on behalf of Aleksander, Cho, and Gabrielle.
But the lyrics from the golden egg echoed hauntingly in his head. If one of the other champions didn't arrive on time, would these innocent people drown, or worse?
Harry shook his head at that thought. Cedric, Krum, and Fleur were all exceptional at magic. The Goblet of Fire had determined them as the best that their respective schools had to offer. Each of them was more than capable of retrieving their hostage and returning to dry land. Harry just happened to be friends with a Herbology quasi-prodigy, and his good fortune had enabled him to arrive first, that was all. If a fourth-year could manage it, he told himself, they could manage it.
He blinked back to reality and turned to Hermione, his heart shrinking in on itself all over again at the sight of her. Deciding that he couldn't bear seeing her in her lifeless state for a second longer, he made his decision. Snaking one arm around her waist, he began summoned his wand again and bellowed "Ascendio!"
The moment they breached the surface, the spell that had been cast on Hermione wore off. She spluttered a few times, furiously wiping her wet hair away from her eyes. "Harry!" She beamed once her eyes landed on him. He smiled back, making sure to keep his gills submerged. She turned in his arms and wrapped him up in a fierce hug, treading water alongside him. She eventually let go and swam alongside him, although he was essentially dragging her due to his ability to swim much quicker than a normal human.
"Did you use the map like I told you to?" Hermione asked as Harry propelled them forward.
"I did," Harry grinned. "I do listen to you, you know."
"Oh, shut up," She giggled, reaching over and poking him in the shoulder. "How much time did it take?" Hermione asked, holding up her arm to check her watch. "Twenty-five minutes?" She gasped, gawking at him. "Harry, that's incredible! You needed less than half the time!"
"It probably would have been even less if I hadn't spent so much time wondering what would happen if one of the other champions didn't show up," Harry admitted as they neared the bank of the lake. He hesitated but decided to reveal the final straw in prompting him to leave the other hostages behind. "I realized that sticking around would have just prolonged whatever spell they put you under, anyway, and seeing you look like that was physically painful. It was like you were petrified all over again."
Hermione immediately flung her arms around him again, burying her face into his sopping hair. They returned to the edge of the lake a few minutes later, where Hermione waded out of the water and wrapped herself in several warm towels and gratefully accepted a dose of Madam Pomfrey's Pepper-Up Potion. Harry remained in the water, finding a spot that was roughly neck-deep where he could stand without worrying about suffocation. He gave Hermione a thumbs-up as she was ushered into the medical tent by Madam Pomfrey, and she beamed back at him before disappearing. Letting out a relieved exhale for completing the task, Harry leaned against a nearby boulder that protruded out of the water and stood at quite an impressive height.
A few minutes after the tent flaps closed, a series of splashes rang out. Harry turned, expecting to see one of the other champions return with their hostage, but felt his jaw drop as he watched several merpeople carry an unconscious Fleur Delacour towards dry land. He craned his neck and saw that her face was covered in scrapes and cuts, some looking particularly nasty, while her tournament jersey was nearly in tatters.
The merpeople brought her back onto the shore and laid her on her back before launching into an indiscernible conversation with Dumbledore in Mermish. Madam Pomfrey sprinted out of the tent and towards Fleur, and it took her hollering "Ennervate!" at the top of her lungs for the blonde to stir. As soon as she realized where she was, the Beauxbatons champion began shrieking at the top of her lungs.
"Gabrielle!" She hollered, trying to dive back into the lake. It took both Madam Pomfrey and Bagman physically restraining her to keep her from succeeding. "Gabrielle!" She repeated, tears streaming down her face.
Harry's stomach sank like a stone. Clearly whatever had befallen Fleur in the lake had resulted in her disqualification, meaning she was not allowed to try and rescue her sister. If Fleur was unable to retrieve her hostage, who would? Harry checked his watch and winced. What would happen to Gabrielle in twenty minutes?
"Too late, it's gone, it won't come back," The eerie melody of the golden egg rang through his head like nails on a chalkboard. He thought grimly of what he would do if he were in the same position as Fleur, unable to rescue Hermione from the bottom of the lake. He would definitely hex everyone involved in orchestrating the tournament, and probably scream until his vocal cords were rendered useless. Then, of course, he would probably beg one of the other champions to do something.
'Oh,' Harry thought to himself dejectedly. For a split second he considered pushing the impulse to go after Gabrielle aside, but as soon as the thought of staying above water crossed his mind, he felt an almost unbearable sense of guilt wash over him.
"I hate this tournament," Harry muttered under his breath before turning and swimming back in the direction he had just come from a few minutes earlier. The muscles in his arms and legs ached in protest, dreading another strenuous journey, but he ignored the pain. Kicking his legs furiously, he reached the edge of the lake's abyss and dove down after checking his watch and seeing that he now had fifteen minutes until the task concluded.
A few minutes after the ground evened out, he passed Cedric, who had cast the Bubble-Head Charm on himself and had an arm around Cho's waist. The Hufflepuff gave him a quizzical look, but Harry waved him off and took off towards the merpeople's village. A few moments later, Harry had to barrel roll out of the path of a slowly moving shark, only to realize that it was a partially transfigured Krum with his brother in tow.
Moving forwards, he came across the village once again with ten minutes before his gills would vanish. He returned to the clearing and saw Gabrielle Delacour still tethered to the statue. Wrenching out his knife, he moved to cut through her rope when several pairs of scaly hands latched onto his limbs and pulled him away. He yelled in protest, trying in vain to jerk his arms free from the merpeople's grasp. Inadvertently, he flicked his right hand during the struggle and ended up summoning his wand. The moment it floated free of his holster and landed in his waiting fingers, the merpeople backed off, eyeing him warily.
Scowling at the sea creatures for their willingness to let one of the hostages suffer, he swam back over to Gabrielle and sliced through the rope that kept her tied to the statue. Checking his watch, he saw that he was now down to his last seven minutes before the effects of the gillyweed would wear off.
"Ascendio!" He pointed his wand upwards and wrapped another arm around Gabrielle's waist. The two of them were flung upwards to the surface, zipping away from the merpeople quickly enough to avoid any retaliation. They broke the surface and Gabrielle immediately began babbling incoherently in rapid-fire French. Ignoring her ramblings, he kicked his flippers and used one hand to propel himself forward while the other arm remained around his unexpected hostage, who was not keen on swimming.
The edge of the lake looked impossibly far away, and soon enough every stroke began to feel like pushing a boulder up a mountain, and he felt like the distance he moved with each kick was growing smaller and smaller.
He continued to swim towards the stands, following the sounds of the students screaming and cheering as loud as they could. Every fiber of his being was screaming at him to quit, but a much louder voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Hermione was telling him to keep going, that he had to get back to dry land. Feeling a second wind at the sound of her voice, even if it was just in his head, Harry pushed himself harder and found it in himself to just keep swimming. He barely had the strength to lift his head up, using the sounds of cheering to estimate how close he was to his destination.
He was halfway there when he checked his watch and saw that just over one minute remained before the gillyweed would wear off. Based on how exhausted his muscles already were with the added benefits of the gillyweed, it didn't take long for Harry to realize he would be nearly dead in the water if he did not get out soon. He managed to lift his head and saw that the edge of the lake was just over fifty meters away, the enormous boulder he had leaned against earlier serving as a sort of finishing line.
Extracting his wand once again and hoping he had enough strength to cast the spell, he pointed his wand at the boulder. "Carpe Retractum!" He croaked out. Instantly, a brilliant jet of orange light shot out of his wand and streaked towards the boulder. It collided with the stone surface, and immediately the jet of light tightened like a rope cord. Harry tightened his arm around Gabrielle's waist just before he was jerked forwards, the effects of the Seize and Pull Charm taking effect.
The Seize and Pull Charm was not originally a part of Harry's strategy, but then again neither was rescuing a second hostage. He was grateful he had recalled the spell when he had; not only had he spared his arms and legs from any additional strenuous swimming, but he had also ensured that he would be in shallow water by the time the gillyweed wore off.
They crossed the remaining distance of the lake at a relatively calm pace, but that did not stop Gabrielle from screaming as if she were on a roller coaster. Eventually, the pair reached the boulder and the orange light dissipated. Harry nudged his unexpected hostage forward and she promptly scrambled towards the shore while he caught his breath against the boulder.
Harry felt a relieved smile make its way onto his face as Fleur sprinted into the water and wrapped her sister up in a fierce hug, dragging her out of the water and rattling off all sorts of reassurances in French.
The moment Fleur exited the lake with her sibling in tow a searing pain materialized along Harry's neck. The gillyweed began to wear off, beginning with his gills and concluding with his feet shrinking back to their normal state. A loud bell chimed, signaling the conclusion of the Second Task, just as Harry staggered out, his legs barely able to support his own weight once he was out of the water. His knees buckled after a few steps and he was certain he would have face-planted if not for a missile with arms and legs rushing towards him and enveloping him in a bone-crushing embrace.
"You're alive!" Hermione whimpered, burying her face in the crook of his neck as she flung her arms around him. Harry feebly wrapped his arms around her, slumping into her as his legs finally gave out. "I thought you were…I thought you wouldn't be back in time…" She whispered frantically into his jersey, squeezing him tightly enough to wring most of the water out of his jersey.
"I'm back," He said, his voice reflecting his fatigue. He smiled into her hair – which was now dry and back to its usual frizzy self – and let out a relieved sigh. "I'm back."
"I can't believe you did that," Her voice cracked as she sobbed. "Do you have any idea how terrified I was when I came out of the tent and you had disappeared?"
"I'm sorry," He said sincerely, his shoulders slumping. "I couldn't leave her down there. If it were me instead of Fleur…I would have wanted someone else to rescue you…" His voice faltered. "I couldn't leave her," He choked out. Hermione nuzzled into his shoulder and rubbed circles on his back.
"Why did I have to fall in love with such a selfless prat?" She whispered, and Harry found it in himself to laugh. Once they had both composed themselves, Hermione led him into the medical tent, where Madam Pomfrey was waiting for him along with Dumbledore.
"Are you a sadist, Potter?" The Matron crossed her arms as he entered the tent. Before he could answer she dragged him over to a table and forced him to sit atop it. "Do you get some sort of sick pleasure from testing my healing capabilities?"
"Believe me, I – ack!" He coughed as an enormous dose of Pepper-Up Potion was forced down his throat. Steam poured out of his ears, but the chill that had permeated him once the gillyweed wore off was dispelled instantly. "Dear Merlin…" He muttered as he rubbed his now-burning ears. Pomfrey just huffed irritably before performing a plethora of Warming Charms for good measure.
"How are you feeling, Harry?" Dumbledore asked, taking a seat in a chair across from Harry's table. He casually leaned back and steepled his fingers, his eyes twinkling with fascination. At the Headmaster's lack of concern at how close Gabrielle Delacour had come to drowning, something inside Harry snapped. He had nearly died himself trying to save her, had he not remembered the Seize and Pull Charm he probably would have drowned alongside her, and the judges had all sat back and observed like they watching a play being performed.
"With all due respect, Professor, I feel like you've got some nerve," Harry said stoically, peeling off his soaked jersey and tightening his towel around him.
"Harry!" Hermione gasped from behind Dumbledore.
"Professor, Gabrielle Delacour did not volunteer for this tournament, and she came dangerously close to drowning today. I came pretty close to dying along with her." Dumbledore said nothing, so Harry kept going. "And I'm not thrilled that you kidnapped Hermione, the person I love more than anything or anyone –"
Harry stopped speaking when Dumbledore's eyes widened in shock. Something Harry had said had taken him off guard. The bearded wizard straightened in his seat and peered at Harry quizzically for a moment, letting out a long, pensive exhale. He eventually averted his eyes and began drumming his fingers on the arms of his chair for almost a minute, muttering all sorts of things under his breath that Harry could not hear.
"Professor?" Harry asked, surprised his outburst had elicited such a reaction from the most powerful wizard on Earth.
"Love…" Dumbledore whispered before standing up and composing himself. He turned back to Harry, his pensive expression giving way to one of pride. "Harry, you performed exceptionally today. If you would please come with me, the scores will be announced momentarily."
With that, he ushered Harry and Hermione back to the champions' area once Madam Pomfrey deemed Harry fit to leave. Dumbledore walked over to the other judges while Harry and Hermione stood awkwardly and exchanged confused glances about their Headmaster's behavior.
"Is it true?" Cedric came sprinting over with Cho, both having dried off and warmed up. "Did you really go back and rescue Fleur's sister?" Harry nodded awkwardly, and Cedric shook his head, his expression a mixture of disbelief or awe. "You really took the clue seriously, then?"
"What do you mean?" Harry tilted his head.
"Harry, Dumbledore would never let one of his own students drown!" Cedric kept shaking his head. "Seriously, can you imagine Dumbledore intentionally allowing any of his students to suffer?"
Harry thought back to one of the last days of his first year, when Dumbledore had tried to encourage Harry to return to Privet Drive, and decided that he could very much imagine the Headmaster allowing one of his students to suffer.
"The clue was just an incentive to get us back within the time limit!" Cedric continued, oblivious to Harry's grim thoughts. "Still, though, good on you for doing that. And getting her back before time ran out is something else, mate. Krum and I couldn't even make it back within the time limit and we had only one hostage to deal with."
"Wait, what?" Harry stilled. "I passed both of you, and you both had your hostages already. How did I beat you back?"
"You must have lapped us," Cedric chuckled wryly. "Krum butchered his Transfiguration, so he could only use his legs to kick himself forward. And I didn't bother with any sort of spell to swim faster, so neither of us were moving nearly as fast as you. I was going to talk to you once I got back but you were too busy hugging Granger here."
Harry managed to crack a smile at that, but before he could say anything else, Fleur jogged over to the group, her sister trailing behind her like a duckling. Before Harry could say a word, the elder Delacour bent down and kissed him twice on each cheek, much to his surprise. He saw Hermione's face contort in fury out of the corner of his eye, but Fleur spoke before she could.
"You saved Gabrielle," She said breathlessly. "You 'ad already returned to safety and you saved 'er, even though she was not yours to save."
"Yes, he's quite brave," Hermione said curtly, wrapping her arm around Harry's and pulling him towards her. Fleur gave Harry another grateful smile and – oblivious to Hermione's terseness – turned back to her sister and led her into the medical tent.
"Never took you for the possessive type, Hermione," Cho giggled, eliciting a blush from the bushy-haired witch. "If I had known that, I wouldn't have tried distracting Harry during our Quidditch match last year. I can only imagine the hexing I would have gotten if I'd succeeded and Ravenclaw won."
Before Hermione could offer a sheepish reply, Ludo Bagman's voice rang out across the grounds, silencing everyone. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Points for the Second Task will be awarded out of fifty, as agreed upon by all of the judges. The marks for each of the champions are as follows:
"Fleur Delacour, despite her excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was incapacitated by grindylows and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points." Weak applause rang out from the stands. "Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective. He was third to retrieve his hostage, and he finished four minutes outside of the time limit. We award him forty points." The applause for Krum was much more enthusiastic. "Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was second to retrieve his hostage. He finished one minute outside of the time limit and we award him forty-seven points."
Harry clapped Cedric on the shoulder enthusiastically and Cho threw him a glowing look, but the Hufflepuff just waved them off as modestly as he could.
"Harry Potter used gillyweed along with the Seize and Pull Charm with exceptional results," Bagman continued, and Harry felt his face grow red. "He returned his hostage first, doing so well inside the time limit of an hour. Those alone would have earned him high marks, but Mister Potter was not finished. Upon learning of Miss Delacour's incapacitation, he demonstrated unparalleled moral fiber by returning to the depths of the lake and retrieving Miss Delacour's hostage unprompted and without a second thought. Not only was he successful in returning Gabrielle Delacour, but he was able to do so under the allotted time limit. After much deliberation, we have come to an unbiased decision," Harry saw Bagman throw Karkaroff a glare before continuing. "Mister Potter will receive the maximum score, fifty points!"
With the exception of the Slytherins, the entirety of Hogwarts began cheering triumphantly, along with most of the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students. Cedric and Cho were emphatically congratulating Harry, and Fleur had returned from helping her sister in the medical tent to add her own congratulations.
"Harry, you're in first place!" Hermione beamed, throwing her arms around him once again. Harry was so dazed by his results that it took him nearly ten seconds to return the hug. He was in first place in the Triwizard Tournament, at fourteen years old. He had bested a Veela, an International Quidditch Star, and one of the best wizards Hogwarts had to offer.
As Harry buried his face in Hermione's hair, grinning from ear to ear, he vowed to take Herbology even more seriously than he already was.
A/N: Hi everyone! Enjoy my version of the Second Task. Writing the water scenes was kind of difficult to me because of what I went through a few weeks ago, but I powered through, and now I think I'm a bit better off because of it, even if only by a small margin. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.
To my brilliant readers, I cannot express how much I love you guys. Just reading this story is enough to make my day, but those of you who review, favorite, and/or follow, you guys have no idea how happy you make me. I really do treasure every single one of you for what you do, it warms my heart to think that something I created is worth your time. Thank you all for everything, and stay safe!