Chapter 8- The Underwater War
The day before the second task had Harry very anxious. Dumbledore had called them in a few days ago and he had directly asked Hermione if she consented to be a hostage. She agreed but then Dumbledore added a new wrinkle. "The mermaids agreed to keep the hostages safe but I think the ministry has made a deal to possibly eliminate one of the competitors. I don't have details or proof right now but we need to be cautious." Dumbledore said.
So he taught them the bubblehead charm and Harry ordered gillyweed from an apocathary. They would use them as backups in case things went pear shaped in the lake. Ron and Harry also increased their weapon training while Hermione studied spells for underwater use. Mostly bludgeoning and cutting curses, since elemental spells would be dangerous for the caster.
Harry was sitting on the couch when a pair of hands began rubbing his shoulders. Harry leaned back and saw Hermione standing over him with a smile. "You need to relax dear. I know the task is making you anxious but it won't do you any good to have a heart attack before the event." She said as she rubbed his shoulders. Harry just nodded as he let her work her magic on his shoulders. Harry often wondered how she got so good at this, but figured practice over the future years made perfect.
Ron was also anxious sitting with Lavender. He thought about the warning Dumbledore gave them about the task being rigged. He knew Crouch Jr. was behind some dastardly plots but from what Dumbledore said, it seemed as though the ministry was interfering. Lavender noticed his anxiousness and questioned him. "Ron, you have been staring at Hermione all day. Do I need to worry?" Lavender asked. Ron shook his head. "No, well maybe. The figured out the clue to the next task and it involves retrieving something the champions would miss the most. Well, harry would only miss one person the most." Ron said. Realization dawned on Lavender. "They can't do that. I thought putting students in harms way was against the new rules." She said. Ron shook his head. "Apparently it makes for exciting drama." Ron said. Lavender growled as she heard that. "Show me how I can help." Lavender said. Ron smiled as he pulled out his notes on the bubblehead charm.
As Hermione worked the knots out of Harry's shoulders, Colin Creevy came in and made a bee line for the couple. "Hermione. Professor Dumbledore wants to see you in his office." He said before heading to hang out with his friends. Harry looked up at her and she gave him a smile. "I know you will come get me. I'll see you tomorrow." She said as she gave him a deep kiss. When they broke apart, she walked out the portrait hole. Once she was gone, a sense of dread came over Harry, like the task was not going to be as easy as the first.
The next morning, the sense of dread came over Harry once more as Ron woke him up. There was going to be no early morning workout, just spending the morning revising their plan. Soon enough, he was being called to the champions tent by Bagman. "Good luck mate." Ron said as he and Harry shared a hug.
Harry was in a changing room, getting in the swimming outfit he was assigned. He could hear loud arguments in French in another part of the tent and soon Cedric joined him. "Well, apparently Bagman assigned Fleur a bikini for the task. I think Madam Maxime and Fleur are tearing him a new one." He said. Harry groaned. "Just need to objectify the French girl huh?" Harry said. Krum walked in with a scowl. "If vhey vish, ve can compete in speedo, ya?" Krum said earning a laugh from the other boys.
Soon enough, an angry Fleur entered wearing a similar one piece swim suit that the boys were wearing. "Porc." She growled at the retreating form of Ludo Bagman. Percy entered looking nervous, he was judging on Mr. Crouch's orders. "Terribly sorry for the delay, apparently Bagman needed to be reminded about why he just needs to announce things instead of making last minute changes." Percy said. Fleur still had a glare. "'E weel do to never speak to moi." Fleur snarled. The four champions were then escorted out to several large platforms on the lake.
"Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament!" Came Ludo Bagman's magically enhanced voice. "For this task, the champions must go down into the lake and rescue a hostage." He announced. A magical screen came up and showed the mermaid village. Harry recognized most of the hostages. Hermione, Cho and Gabrielle were the same but the fourth was different. She was a tad bit older than the rest of them and looked remarkably like Krum. Harry looked at the man and he had a look of shock. "Vat iz my sister doing here?" He asked to himself.
"Champions have one hour to rescue them or well, lets let the mermaids demonstrate." Bagman said. One the screen, a mermaid pointed its trident at Hermione's throat and made an evil face. Harry was unsure if this was part of the task or if he was going to cleave a mermaid in half.
"Now, get ready. You have one hour!" Bagman said. A countdown came up on the screen. Harry pulled out some gillyweed and when the timer reached zero, Harry swallowed the disgusting stuff and dove into the water.
Harry felt the gills forming as he dived into the cold water. He could breath right once he was under the water. Krum had once again partially transfigured himself into a shark and began swimming toward his goal. Diggory and Fleur had bubblehead charms once they dived in and began swimming as well. Harry pulled out his wand and cast the point-me spell to lead him to the mermaid village.
Harry knew he could summon the sword at any time, but decided to try doing the task normally. He hoped he could just get Hermione and leave. But a feeling came over him as he swam. He might be the champion marked for death.
But his dread was not for himself, but rather for the other champions. Cedric died last time because Harry was noble, and no matter what, Harry wondered if in the same situation would he be able to be slightly more ruthless? Harry shook the feeling as he swam through the lake, and found the first real problem with this task, grindylows. The little tentacled creatures were fine to deal with in small groups, but in a small horde? Harry swirled his wand while silently casting an air spell that made a slight whirlpool. The small creatures were easily vanquished.
Harry began swimming but then he heard it, a voice of a serpent. "rip and tear" and he looked and saw a massive 15 foot snake swimming from out of nowhere. Harry had never seen something like this but he was ready. He swam up to avoid the monster. The terrain was very rocky and this snake blended very well. He saw it coil in preparation to strike. He went under several rocky arches as the snake followed him through. As he swam he had an idea and using a cutting curse, he ropped one of the rocky arches down and it fell on the massive snake's body, trapping it. "rip and tear." It kept saying as Harry swam on.
In the stands, Dumbledore and the other heads were concerned with that they saw. The grindylows were normal, same with the bullywugs that Krum just fought past, but the Midgard Serpent? Dumbledore walked over to a very stunned Percy Weasley. "Did Crouch tell you what the task would entail?" Dumbledore asked. Percy shook his head in shock. "I thought those were banned for being to dangerous." Percy said. Dumbledore nodded. "I have contacts with the Norwegian Ministry. But I think we should pay a visit to our Master of Ceremonies." Dumbledore said while glaring at Bagman.
Fleur was going through a seaweed area, it seemed like a large lawn for it, when she saw them from the corner of her eye. Mermaids were stalking her. She figured they were part of the task and kept going, doing her best to avoid them. The problem was, her vela heritage made her hair stick out amongst the green. She saw several crab like Chuul and decided to avoid them. For the tenth time she wished she brought a cap to wear because her hair tended to stick out.
She swam through the seaweed before something pinched her. Looking down, she saw a chuul, scurrying away. Thinking nothing of it she kept going before she felt her leg was starting to not move. Then she remembered her magical creatures. Chuul were dangerous with their massive pinchers, but they also secreted a toxin that paralyzed their prey. She struggled to get through the seaweed before her body stopped moving entirely. As she went numb, several mermaids approached, with wicked grins on their faces.
Nobody saw the incident. But they did see Krum battling the giant squid. Krum saw it with his shark vision, something was irritating it and he fired a cutting curse on the item. The squid calmed itself and allowed Krum to move on. Before he left, Krum gave the great creature several pats to assure it that he did not blame him.
Dumbledore burst intot he announcer booth and pulled Bagman out while Percy let Lee Jordan in with Professor McGonagall. "I can forgive a few of the new things in the tasks, but a Midgard Serpent? Those are banned from export. And the device on my squid? You have much to answer for Bagman." Albus said in a threatening whisper. To say Bagman was afraid was an understatement. Albus smelled him soil himself. "Look, I was told to make the tasks more exciting." Bagman blustered. Percy was by Albus's side with a glare. "You do realize one of the competitors is under age right? And he had to face the Midgard Serpent. What else did you put in there?" Percy glared. Bagman closed his eyes before answering. "A colony of chuul. And also we made a deal with the merpeople." He said. Dumbledore glared and leaned into him. "What kind of deal?" he growled.
Harry made it to a clearing, a sacred area for ceremonies. There Harry saw Hermione chained to a rock. The other hostages were there as well. Harry swam forward but was stopped by several merpeople armed with tridents. The Chief then swam up and was above them all. "You have done well to get here human. Take your hostage and leave. But leave the spawn ling here." He said pointing to Gabrielle. One of the merpeople was near her, a knife to her throat. "Your safety is assured, but at the cost of the child." The Chief said.
Elsewhere, Fleur was being carried away to the Ceremony site by a squad of merpeople. They had her bound with seaweed in case the Chuul paralysis wore off. Two were carrying her while four more were on guard duty. "The humans promised they would take the intruders out?" One of the merpeople asked. Their leader nodded. "We will kill this one and the spawn-ling as per our deal." He said.
As they floated, one of the merpeople saw movement. He floated over to investigate but found nothing. As he turned, he was grabbed by his tail and pulled away. The merpeople got in defensive positions, tridents at the ready. "Intruders!" One said. Suddenly, fourfigures swam out and overtook the merpeople.
Harry was glaring at the Chief. "I am not leaving unless all hostages are safe." Harry glowered. The Chief glared back. "You are in my domain human. I will allow you and the others safe passage, but you must leave the spawn-ling as tribute. If not, well." He indicated to one of his underlings who held a trident to Hermione, and he used the points to scratch her cheek. Cedric and Krum then entered the clearing and he could tell both had been through the ringer.
"Cedric, take your hostages and get Dumbledore." Harry said. The boy looked at Harry and then the Chief, who had a glare that could crack rocks, and he nodded. He cut Cho's chain and floated up with her. Krum did the same for his sister, then surprisingly he cut Hermione's chain and took both girls up with him. The Merpeople tried to stop him but Harry swam in a defensive position against them. "You are being a fool. The girl will die. You do not wish to die with them do you?" The Chief snarled. Harry now understood. The deal was for Fleur to die. Harry wasn't going to allow that and he reached his hand out and called the sword. In a moment, it appeared in his hand.
"You dare challenge us?" The Chief snarled. Harry got himself in a fighting position and glared at them. "Kill the spawn-ling. Then kill him." He growled.
As the warrior pulled his blade out and reached for Gabrielle's throat, a red light flew out and the knife flew out of his hand. Harry and the others looked and saw an angry Fleur swim in the clearing, wand drawn. "Geet away from my seester!" She glared. The Chief was in shock.
At the surface, the hostages woke up upon breaking the surface. "Cedric. You came!" Cho smiled at her boyfriend. Cedric though looked concerned. "Harry is still down there." He said. Cho nodded. "I'll get to the platform, I need my wand." She said as she swam back.
Hermione surfaced, waking up suddenly, wondering where Harry was. "What's going on?" She asked as Krum and the older girl came up. "Something is wrong with task. Potter is facing merpeoplle." Krum said as he ended his transformation. Hermione understood and put on her bubblehead charm and went back in the water.
Ron saw that the screen was showing Harry and Fleur facing the merpeople and he stood up and took off his robe. Lavender following beside him. "Your not going to stop me are you?" She asked. Ron smirked at her as he pulled out Wolffang. "Just keep up with me babe." Ron said as he jumped off the stands onto the ground and ran towards the lake, Lavender close behind him. Lavender applied the bubblehead charm to herself then to Ron before both rushed past Cho and dived into the lake.
Dumbledore saw the pair head into the lake before turning to McGonagall. "I'll be right back." He said as he headed down to the lake, joined by Hagrid. "Those merfolk need a talkin to." Hagrid said to a surprised Dumbledore. The pair then jumped into the lake together.
Harry was slightly surrounded but he didn't mind the odds. One merfolk lunged at him with a spear, but Harry dodged before blasting him back with a bludgeoning curse. Fleur whipped up an underwater whirlwind and cleared herself some space from the various warriors. Harry swam through several warriors, slashing with one hand and using his wand to bash back closer warriors.
Soon, Harry noticed a few more people joined in. Ron and Lavender swam in with Ron chopping at merfolk with his axe. Lavender using cutting curses to slicing them back.
Dumbledore was down there as well, blasting back several warriors and trying to get to the Chief. Hagrid was a surprising agile swimmer. He grabbed several warriors with his bare hands and threw them out of his way as he swam for Gabrielle.
Sadly, despite the added numbers, the humans were quickly overwhelmed, and were surrounded by the merfolk. "This is your last chance. Leave the vela here, and you will be allowed to live." The Chief said. Dumbledore glared at him. "You do realize, if you continue with this, I will expel your tribe from the grounds." Dumbledore said. The Chief laughed. "My people were promised new lands if we killed them." He said. Dumbledore couldn't believe how gullible this fool was but was surprised by Fleur laughing.
"What is so funny girl?" The Chief snarled. "I am so sorry. But you theenk I no have a back up plan?" She asked.
Several things happened at once, first came the Giant Squid, tentacles flying out and scattering the warriors, then four strange creatures came from the shadows. Harry recognized them as Kappa. But they were dressed funny. All were wearing bandanas over their faces and wielding weapons. One was wearing blue and had twin swords, another in purple had a bo staff, the red one had sai, and the orange one was using nunchucks.
The blue one effortlessly sliced through the surprised warriors and took seven out beforte they regrouped, only for the purple one to whirl his staff and knock their weapons away so the red one could swim through, stabbing and slashing with his sai, with the orange one effortlessly whipping the reinforcements with his nunchucks.
Harry took the advantage and swam up and slashed several warriors. Hermione conjured a whirlpool while Fleur and Dumbledore sent sharp rocks into the maelstrom, stabbing the warriors caught in it. Hagrid took a spear from one warrior and fought off several merfolk, even as they stabbed him with tridents and spears.
Ron chopped down on a warrior, who blocked with his spear, but the axe broke through and Ron drove the blade into the creature's head. Cedric and Viktor were firing curses out at the merfolk while Lavender cut Gabrielle loose and was taking her up to the surface. The Chief saw this and swam to her to stop them,
Harry swam quickly and intercepted him and challenged him by raising his blade. "You dare?" The Chief laughed. He twirled his trident and swung at Harry, who parried before slashing at him. The Chief dodged effortlessly. They traded hots with their blades, loud clangs of steel echoed under the waves. Harry was flung by the Chief but Harry righted himself and landed his feet to several large rocks and used them as a springboard to intercept the Chief, but the leader slashed with his trident and cut across Harry's chest, making blood come from his body.
"You fool. We are descendants of Neptune, the king of the seas. You are just a mortal." He said as he swam high and then turned around and swam out at Harry, with his trident forward. Harry swam to meet him, his own blade at the ready as they closed the distance.
The trident pierced Harry's right shoulder and chest, with the merfolk leader pushing Harry down with the force of his thrust. Harry saw the vicious look in the Chief's face as he twisted his trident to have Harry above him. "If I can't kill the vela, then I shall take the whelp." He said as he began laughing
Harry gripped his sword in his left hand and with his last ounce of strength, plunged the sword into the Chief's mouth and through the back of his head. The laugh still on his face as the Chief died.
Hermione was mopping up warriors when she saw the blood and Harry with a trident through him. "Oh no. HARRY!" She screamed as she swam to him.
Dumbledore heard the scream and his heart broke at the sight. Harry was losing lots of blood. He nodded to Hagrid who was already heading to him. The half-giant gently grabbed Harry as a hysterical Hermione followed the pair out of the lake. All Harry remembered before he lost consciousness was Hermione begging him not to be dead.
AN: Oi, so I am at a difficult part of writing, in which I am trying to write act 2, but I have been trying to cram a ton of crap into the summer chapter, but I think that is a stupid idea and maybe act 2 will be a bit longer. This story is already going to be longer than my longest story. I had my first eye treatment, which was goddamn scary cause I hate needles and things in my eye, and I needed to have a needle in my eye. Luckily I didn't feel anything except that weird thing that kept me from closing my eye. I'll try and get my writing inspiration.
Oh and as for the four kappa, I will happily admit I was drunk while outlining and I regret nothing.
