Sorry guys I didn't want to keep you waiting too long, but I had to update one other fic before this one. I'm glad you all pitched in ideas on how this should be handled, and I shall grant your wish.

Also someone had mentioned that even though Charlotte is a seer, why hasn't she seen horcruxes, well there will be an explanation for that later on.

This chapter starts off the morning after the last chapter, and there's gonna be some drama. Then we'll go to the second task to Harry, but we'll see it differently than in the movie or books. It'll be in Viktor's point, third person and though there's not much to go on in his spot I'm improvising.

Written by myself and my sister author AnnaBoleyna1536, and we don't own Harry Potter.

Enjoy!

The next morning, Dumbledore's office:

"You have no idea how difficult that was for me Albus, to go through with it." Minerva's face was so overcome with guilt she couldn't lift her eyes from the floor.

"I know Minerva, but it's for the tournament my hands are tied." the old wizard took a look at Barty Crouch, who seemed less bothered by this than the rest of them. Severus was there too, and while he had protested everything the night before he couldn't say much right now.

"You have no idea how angry that woman's going to be once she finds out." Severus put his face in his hand. "When she gets here…" he stopped when everyone suddenly heard thundering footsteps storming up the staircase and suddenly kicked the door down. The wood broke off the doorframe and the door itself about split in half.

"YOU SENILE OLD FOOL!" it was Charlotte Prewett, face as red as her hair and eyes flashing dangerously like fire; oh yes she was furious. "DID YOU THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH THIS?!"

"Lady Prewett please calm down…" Crouch tried but Charlotte yanked out her wand.

"Shut up you coward!" she looked ready to pounce at him. "Tell me why none of you bothered to mention that Harry is involved in the next task! Where is he?"

"He's safe Lady Prewett rest assured…" that time Charlotte drove the tip of her wand into Crouch's throat. "He…he's safe!"

"I'll believe it when I see it, and what I've just seen is not something I'd call safe." Charlotte turned to Snape. "Did you know?"

"Not until last night, after it happened." she glared at him.

"Cowardly of you, and you couldn't stop it."

"You didn't see it!" Snape snarled at her. "You call yourself a seer and you didn't see this coming?" he regretted saying that when she was nose to nose with him, her angry eyes blaring like firecrackers.

"My powers don't act upon command you imbecilic dung brain! True I can look around and see more than I choose, but that's only within a certain time frame! If I look too far ahead it strains me!" she grabbed him by the collar of his robes and yanked his head down slightly, and then slapped him.

"Lady Prewett!" McGonagall gasped in shock.

"Don't speak of things you don't understand." Snape fell to the floor and then Charlotte turned to McGonagall.

"You did this, what did you do? Where is he?" her glare had the older woman unnerved.

"You have your father's temper, and Molly's rage." Charlotte's fury grew by a mile.

"Don't make me hurt you; I'm Harry's guardian why was I not informed of this? And unless someone talks in the next ten seconds I will inform my own Minister of this and believe me you don't want that." she was willing to take legal action, yes that was not what they needed right now.

"Charlotte, this is a part of the tournament but Harry is in no danger." Dumbledore's twinkling eyes almost lost their twinkle for a moment.

"Like he wasn't during his first three years here? Under your supervision, with your teachers lurking about?" her words were dripping like venom; obviously she held no trust for anyone in the room and frankly no one could blame her.

"Lady Prewett I assure you Mr. Potter is fine; the hostages are in no…"

"You have them underwater unconscious with their ankles tied to a statue, don't tell me there's no danger!" Crouch was getting angry, Charlotte's temper was a monster compared to Molly but if she wasn't reassured soon she'd likely start hexing someone.

"They will survive Charlotte; we won't let them get hurt that is the catch of this task."

"Do not call me by my first name, you will never earn that privilege." she growled. "Viktor…where is he?"

"In the infirmary, but he will be fine when it's time for the task."

"That is in an hour, and while I know the outcome of the task it will not save you if anything happens to him or the others." her glare was fierce. "I'm going to be involved with this, I will watch it go but if anything is amiss I will dive into the water myself." she turned to the door, waved her wand and mended it, and then turned her attention back to Albus.

"I must say Charlotte, you still astound me in your protectiveness over Harry." her eyes narrowed.

"Harry might not be my son by blood, and I may have had him for a short time, but there is nothing I wouldn't do for him. You would do well to remember that." with that said she left the office, but her footsteps echoed down the stairs and almost down the entire corridor.

"That woman…" Crouch all but growled.

"Is not one to anger, she is much worse than her aunt." Severus stood up and stayed back until after Charlotte left. "I will not press charges."

"Are you sure Snape?" Crouch seemed skeptical.

"I am, should she try anything else I will take care of the situation myself." he brushed off his robes.

"Albus, what on earth did you to do to make the girl hate you so much?" McGonagall looked to the old wizard, and he just sighed.

"Now's not the time to tell stories Minerva, the task will begin soon and we'd best gather up the students. Let's just hope this goes all well, we can't expect much else right now." all adults in the room quivered at the possible chance of meeting Charlotte's rage again. They could only hope this task would go according to plan.

Black Lake pier:

"You sure you're alright Viktor?" the whole group of Durmstrang minus Harry were in a boat leading them to the stands just above the spot where the second task would begin. Viktor woke up in the infirmary almost an hour ago, and he noticed that Harry wasn't there beside him. He then remembered the night before, they solved the clue and then some teacher showed up and all went black.

"I will be once I find Harry." Viktor realized what the clue meant now; his boyfriend was taken captive for the task so he had to rescue him from the mermaids of the Black Lake before the hour was up. He prayed Harry was alright; no doubt the judges had ways to keep the hostages alive until the task was over. He even heard Charlotte was furious on the counts of the events, but he knew she wouldn't let anything happen to Harry that she couldn't prevent.

"You'll get him back mate, we know you will and Harry's tough he can make it."

"Perhaps, but I'll feel better when I have him up here with us." they made it to the stands and Viktor noticed the other champions on the bottom. The open spot was for them to dive underwater, and thankfully Viktor had the perfect spell ready for him to find Harry in the dark tresses.

"Has anyone seen Lady Prewett?" Devon looked around.

"She's up there." Nikolai pointed to the stand above them to the left, and there was Charlotte dressed in tight pants and a black jacket with her red hair pulled up. She caught them staring at her, and she nodded their way.

"That either means good luck, or she knows something." Gerard looked at the others.

"She does, but worry about it later it's about to start." Nikolai whispered and the other champions were in place.

"Attention all!" Dumbledore's voice echoed over everyone from above, likely where the judges were waiting. "Welcome to the second task everyone! Last night, something was stolen from each of our champions, a treasure of sorts. These three treasures, one for each champion, lies at the bottom of the Black Lake and each champion need only retrieve their treasure before the hour is up. At the sound of the cannon all champions….!" just before Dumbledore could finish the cannon went off and all three champions dove into the water.

'Hang on Harry, I'm coming.' Viktor quickly used his wand to shift the upper part of his body into half a great white shark. He could breathe and move underwater fast, but he would have to find the nest of mermaids before the hour was done or something might happen to Harry. He swam forward and went around trying to figure out where in this huge lake the merpeople would be. They likely lived in the center, where it was more open and filled with fewer plants and hopefully no grindylows. Those little monsters loved hiding in the kelp, made it easy to catch prey and that's where he saw Fleur going.

'Avoid the place, I must find the mermaids.' he knew it was likely someone was going to be there around the time he was, but he didn't have time to waste. Using his shark skills he swam fast around some odd looking rocks, and spotted a large cave. They wouldn't be in there; mermaids wouldn't hide unless danger was close.

'Curse it, where are they?' he swam fast, looking for the space and then he saw it.

There were some underwater remains of a building where he saw several merpeople looking and watching Diggory free his hostage, a girl with dark hair, the same one he took to the ball, chained to a statue along with Fleur's sister Gabrielle, and Harry! How were they able to survive under here for so long? They had to have been enchanted, it was the only explanation.

"Take only one…" he heard the mermaids hiss, the guarding ones with tridents.

Diggory managed to get his girl freed and swam off with her, so Viktor took the chance to swim and scare off the merpeople with his large teeth. He managed to loosen the chains around Harry, but suddenly Viktor felt something come past him and cut his shoulder.

"GAH!" it stung greatly underwater, and Viktor turned around to see a mermaid with what looked like daggers in its hands.

"The boy…" it whispered, he couldn't tell if it was male or female it's body was shaped oddly despite the long lock. "Give me the boy."

'What is that…?' something was off about the creature, it looked like it was strained in some parts of its body, and it didn't almost…look like a normal mermaid.

"Give me the boy…or die." the voice was hoarse, hissing almost. Viktor stayed in front of Harry, but he was worried they were limited for time, and where was Fleur? Her sister was still chained up he might need a little help. Viktor tried to cast a spell but the creature moved aside and it struck some rocks. Gabrielle Delacour was suddenly yanked from her spot on the statue and the figure held a dagger to her throat. "Hand him over, or she dies." the figure's form was beginning to falter, it wasn't a creature it was a wizard!

'No, Fleur where are you?' Viktor readied his wand prepared to fight and try to free the girl, but he was almost at a loss what to use that wouldn't harm her.

"VIKTOR!" a loud voice reached them both and the creature/figure turned its head.

'Lady Prewett!' it was Charlotte, but she had a fishtail and her upper body was covered in scales with it. Her human appearance was gone, her body was half fish with silver and green scales, her bright red hair was now solid blood red, with matching eyes, her hands had sharp black claws, and what almost terrified Viktor the most was that angry snarl of pearly white teeth.

"Let go of the girl!" Charlotte's teeth were sharp like fangs, glowing brightly in the water. She looked like a monstrous mermaid, the others were so afraid they swam off.

"Give me the boy!" the figure's voice changed into a man's, an angry one at that. Viktor took the chance and aimed a spell at the man's tail and it hit, leaving a nasty cut that began to bleed. The man loosened his hold on Gabrielle and Charlotte took the chance to snatch her out of his arms and cut the man's face across his left eye. "AGGH!"

'Got him!' Viktor tried to aim at him but whoever the man was swam in another direction.

"Stupefy!" Charlotte shouted and pointed her wand but the stunner missed by an inch, the man took the chance to swim off as fast as he could before his transformation was almost gone. Viktor gave off a light roar and Charlotte just pointed to her wristwatch.

"Hurry to the surface, time's almost up!" she passed Gabrielle to him. "I'll meet you up there go!"

Viktor gave a nod and swam off as fast as he could to the stands. He saw out of the corner of his eye Charlotte raced after the kidnapper and disappeared. Holding the two unconscious people made him a bit slower but he swam as fast as he could even over the kelp.

'Almost there!' he saw the sunlight shining just over the stands, and with a great leap he burst out of the water face first with Harry and Gabrielle, all three gasping to catch their breath.

"Ugh…" Harry started coughing, and Viktor began to lead him and Gabrielle to the stands. Fleur came down, she had bruises and suction marks on her arms and legs; she never got past the grindylows.

"Gabrielle!" she held out her hand to help her sister out of the water. The crowds cheered as Viktor and Harry climbed up to the stands, and the others helped them wrap up in towels and robes from the freezing air.

"Harry…" Viktor hugged him close and kissed his head. "Are you alright?"

"I'm…I'm fine but ow…" he rubbed the back of his neck. "What happened?"

"You were taken, knocked out last night. You were made my hostage for the challenge, I saved you, and Gabrielle…Fleur couldn't finish." speaking of Fleur, the French girl raced over to them with Gabrielle in tow, and she bent down to Harry's level.

"You both saved my little sister…even if she wasn't yours to save. Thank you!" she kissed both their cheeks. "Thank you so much!" Gabrielle gave a grateful nod, she was exhausted from the task.

"You're welcome." Viktor helped Harry stand.

"Where…where's mum?" Harry looked around but didn't spot Charlotte.

"She vanished soon after Viktor dove down mate." Devon answered him. "Dunno where, she just left."

"She's there!" Nikolai pointed to the water where they spotted Charlotte swimming their way, but Viktor noticed her human appearance returned. Charlotte climbed out of the water and the boys handed her a towel, but she went straight for Harry and wrapped him in a hug.

"Mum." he hugged back.

"We'll talk later." she whispered to him.

"ATTENTION!" Dumbledore's voice was loud like a blow horn to make everyone silent. "The winner is…Mr. Diggory! Second place goes to Viktor Krum! He shall be rewarded the honor for his attempts not only to save Mr. Prewett, but also Ms. Delacour as well."

"Yeeaahhh!" Durmstrang cheered for Viktor, but he cared not about the applause he just wanted to get Harry back to the castle and warm him up.

"Dumbledore." Charlotte called out to the old headmaster. "We have to talk." her stare stated 'immediately'.

"Yes, we should." Dumbledore turned and whispered something to Crouch, so Viktor took the chance to get Harry onto a boat with their friends and row back to the castle. He spotted Snape watching them from a distance, but he seemed relieved.

"Here Harry." Viktor helped him onto the dock.

"Thanks, I can walk you know."

"Mew." a faint noise made Harry's eyes light up.

"Emerald!" the cat ran over and jumped into Harry's arms. "Hey girl." she purred against him.

"She missed you." Viktor couldn't help but smile.

"Harry, Mr. Krum if you'll please follow us." Blagorodna, McGonagall, Snape, Charlotte, Dumbledore, and Crouch all followed along into the castle, but they stopped in a bare room and put up charms as the students started filing inside the castle. They were free to go study now that the task was finished, but they would want answers later on no doubt.

"You said he'd be safe." Charlotte glared at Crouch.

"He was perfectly safe as you can see Lady Prewett." Crouch pointed at Harry.

"Then why did someone try to kidnap him underwater?" Viktor growled.

"Kidnap?" Anton looked to Dumbledore.

"I saw it; it was someone trying to disguise themselves at a failed attempt of a mermaid. They were struggling with the form they took, and they attacked me." Viktor held Harry's shoulder. "I almost attacked him but Lady Prewett beat me to it."

"You?" Snape turned to Charlotte.

"Yes me, I saw something amiss so I went down to investigate. I saw a man holding Gabrielle Delacour hostage with a knife at her throat, demanding Viktor to give him Harry."

"You intervened in the task…" Crouch growled slightly.

"I intervened to save my son, from something that wasn't supposed to happen! Viktor would've still won second place regardless but if I hadn't Harry would've been kidnapped plus Gabrielle and Viktor would've been hurt." her eyes were flashing again.

"You could've…"

"Don't you start with the righteousness shit Crouch!" Charlotte snarled. "I know about your son, and I know what happened to your poor wife when you sent him away. You chose not to help your son before it all started, but I won't make the same mistake." when she said that she was in the old man's face, and Crouch's face turned red with anger. He struggled to speak, but instead stormed out of the room and slammed the door.

"That was unwise Charlotte." Dumbledore had the nerve.

"Shut up you old fool, this is your fault for allowing this." Charlotte looked to Harry. "Sweetie how do you feel?"

"Alright, but a bit cold." Viktor wrapped his arms around Harry a bit tighter.

"I'll take him to the suites."

"See if the elves can make him some food, easy on the stomach so try soup." Viktor only nodded and led Harry out of the room, and the boy didn't argue. "I'll come see you later." they heard that before the door shut behind them.

"Charlotte I understand your anger, and I'm sorry you weren't informed, it wasn't my intention to keep you unaware."

"Yes well see to it that it won't happen again." Anton nodded in agreement.

"Two of my students could've been harmed fatally, tournament or no you'd think your own Ministry would try and prevent such threats. Your Minister is an incompetent man."

"Wouldn't trust him with my life." Charlotte rolled her eyes.

"Yes well…they're all safe now so we can hope for the better."

"Better? It's not going to get much better yet Dumbledore." the redhead glared. "Everything that's happened so far is because someone is trying to kidnap Harry and use him to revive Voldemort. The final task is the last step."

"You've seen this?" Snape stared.

"I have, though as for where it will happen I am unsure. All I could see were headstones and crypts, and an old house with a single light. It's obviously a cemetery, but which one I can't tell, and Sirius and Remus are looking around for it." that's why they hadn't shown for the task.

"Black and Lupin? You would trust them?" brown eyes snapped to the potions master.

"More than I would trust you, and I know they'd never let Harry down. You can assist if you wish, but I warn all of you now if anything happens to Harry because of your incompetence again then you'll see exactly how dangerous I can be." no one dared say a word. "Now I have to go see my son, if you need me you'll know where to look. Anton?"

"I shall accompany you Charlotte." the two left without another word. Everyone else in the room remained quiet, but Snape broke the silence.

"As much as I detest her Albus she is right, and I will ensure this time that Harry won't be harmed in the next task. I don't wish to be on the burning end of her rage again."

"Alright Severus, do as you wish but be mindful."

"Hmph." the potions master left the headmaster and his deputy behind.

"Albus…" Minerva looked to him.

"I know Minerva, I know."

Well I hope you enjoyed it, took me longer than I'd hoped but at least it's an update for you!

Next chapter we have a brief little flash of the past concerning Charlotte, and we'll also have something on our former trio. Call it a break from the original right now, after all we only know so much about why Charlotte left and more.

Also I'll be switching things up for the final task, but that's a while away though I'll be working on a plan.

R&R

Later!