The dome collapsed from the top, so when the water rushed in it didn't just drop onto them, but rather, it crashed into them, freezing cold and buffeting Harry out into the wider arena-
Harry tumbled through the water, not sure which way was up or which was down for a few moments but eventually he managed to right himself. The water had swept up the sand on the lake's floor and it was impossible to see anything. The little light at his shoulder almost made it worse. Harry couldn't see Ron - Where was Ron? - or Gabrielle.
"Ron?!" he shouted. "Ron?! Point me!" His wand spun and then stopped and Harry kicked frantically in that direction, not able to see more than about a foot in front of him. His legs protested at the idea of more swimming, but worry let him ignore them.
"Gabrielle!" He heard Fleur cry. He wasn't sure where she'd called from, but if she could shout for her sister then she hadn't drowned, at least.
"Harry?" That was Ron's voice and relief flooded through him at the sound of it, even if it was a bit panicked. Harry's wand twitched; up, Ron had gone up, which made a lot of sense, it'd be clearer, and that was closer to the surface even if only by a few metres-
"Oof!" Harry reached out to steady Ron, only it wasn't Ron, that was a silvery blue wetsuit- "Fleur!"
"Gabrielle." Her voice was frantic. "Where ees Gabrielle-"
"With Ron, I hope," Harry said, feeling his way down her arm to find her hand. He gripped it tight, pulling her with him and she didn't resist.
The water was clearer up higher but it wasn't Ron or Gabrielle that Harry spotted first, it was the trio of kelpie riders charging toward Ron and Gabrielle, who were a good fifty feet away. Harry had no idea if the merfolk had pursued the other Champions - or- or maybe time was up? Surely not, but Harry had no way of knowing-
"Non!" Fleur cried, and a spell tore from her wand to create a sizzling, bubbling wall between the riders and Ron and Gabrielle, who- they had fins for feet, both of them.
Four minutes, Harry thought, realising what Ron had done, and Harry'd have done exactly the same thing, but four minutes- less, probably, because it had probably been at least one since the dome fell…
The riders veered to avoid Fleur's barrier but were not dissuaded, though Harry strongly discouraged one a moment later with a forceful Propello that sent one of the kelpies and its rider plummeting back toward the lake's bottom.
"Go!" he shouted at Ron. "Take her and go!" With fins, he and Gabrielle would be faster than Harry and Fleur. Ron nodded, face set, and tugged Gabrielle up toward the distant surface.
"'Ow can she breathe?" Fleur asked.
"Ron had g-gillyweed," Harry said, shivering. "Petrificus totalus!" He missed the kelpie he'd been aiming for but he hit the merperson riding it which was the next best outcome. "But not much. They've got about three minutes. Fluctus. V-ventus." The air that streamed from his wand propelled him upward and he left Fleur behind for a few moments, then, as she had before, she got a wand in each hand and sped up more quickly and neatly than Harry had. She'd overtaken him within another few seconds and didn't slow, which Harry didn't hold against her; she'd want to get to Gabrielle, and, knowing her, she was probably still thinking about beating him to third place.
"Ventus." Harry shot up another few feet and then his bubblehead charm burst. The force of the water pulled his goggles down and Harry fumbled with them, trying to get them back on but couldn't so he tore them off instead and thought, Aercapitis. It was just another basic one and he stopped, treading water with his tired legs and cursing himself for having forgotten.
He took a deep breath and held it. Finite. Aercapitis, he thought and traced out the complex wand movement as quickly as he dared.
The bubble bloomed around his head again and he took a slow, cautious breath to make sure it wouldn't collapse on his inhale. As soon as he knew it had held, he cast a quick Aspectum on his eyes so he'd be able to see - given he was now without glasses and goggles - and started to kick toward the surface again, casting Ventus where he could to speed his way. He could see shadows in the distance that might have been Fleur, Ron, and Gabrielle, but could equally have been fish; he was still deep enough that there wasn't a huge amount of light filtering down.
One of the shadows grew bigger and bigger as he neared, though, and finally resolved itself into a relieved-looking Ron.
"Are you m-mental?" Harry demanded, because Ron had a minute at most and here he was waiting around for Harry. They were close enough to the surface now - probably less than a hundred feet deep - that Ron would be able to limp back up with Ventus charms and basic bubbleheads and - worst case scenario - breath-holding, but it wasn't ideal.
"Fleur's got Gabrielle," he said, gills fluttering, and as if he didn't know perfectly well what Harry meant. "And it'd be ungrateful of me to leave you down here when the only reason you came down here in the first place was for me." He grinned, then frowned. "Where are your goggles?"
"L-lost them," Harry said through teeth clenched to stop them from chattering. Swimming wasn't doing much to keep him warm, and while he didn't tend to feel the cold much on land thanks to his wolf, it seemed the same didn't apply to underwater. "D-didn't bother summoning them back b-because they'd be a p-pain to put back on." He gave Ron a nudge and they swam on, Ron moving effortlessly through the water, one lazy kick of his fins equal to three or four of Harry's kicks. It was surprisingly peaceful - the merfolk hadn't followed, or were following far enough away that Harry couldn't see them. If it weren't for the murky vastness of the lake, he and Ron could have been practicing in the Room. "Ventus. Don't s-suppose you saw if Hermione m-made it safely?"
"She'd have been too far ahead," Ron said, shaking his head. He held out a hand and the water beside Harry heated. Harry gave him a grateful look. "She'll be right, though - Krum could just eat anything that looked like it might cause them trouble-" Harry snorted. "- and even if he couldn't, Hermione's- well, Hermione." She could certainly handle herself, and even though she'd not practiced as much as they had, she'd still helped them train a bit and had endured him and Ron debriefing after enough underwater duels that she knew what worked and what didn't. She was probably standing on the shore of the lake right now, wrapped in a towel and fretting over where the two of them were. Harry smiled slightly at the thought and Ron grinned and then his focus must have slipped because the water around Harry cooled again, even colder than before in comparison. He bit down to suppress another shiver and opened his mouth but it suddenly went dark when it should have been lighter given they were only about twenty feet deep now, and there was a scream - too high to be Fleur, so maybe Gabrielle? - that made Harry look away from Ron and up instead.
An enormous shape moved through the water above them, blocking out the light. Harry's first thought was that the Durmstrang ship was on the move, but while the front was the right shape - a rounded sort of triangle - the back of it was far too... tentacle-y, and the weird… frills or fins or whatever they were were wrong for a ship too.
"Just the s-squid," Harry said, relieved. "Ventus."
"Blimey, it looks a lot bigger when you're in here with it," Ron said, but he didn't look worried either; Fred, George, and Lee often lured it into the shallows and all liked to brag that they'd been able to touch it, and if Dennis Creevey was to be believed, he'd fallen into the lake back in September and it had put him back into his boat. It was at worst neutral, but quite possibly benevolent.
Fleur, though, clearly didn't know that; Harry wasn't sure what she cast, but he saw a flash of spell light, heard an enormous splash, and then the squid angled itself down.
"Ventus," Harry said, and grabbed Ron to pull him along as he shot to the side. Above them, the squid let out an enormous cloud of pitch black ink.
"Gillyweed's going," Ron announced then, quite calmly, though he twisted his wrist in Harry's grip so he could hold Harry's wrist back. "Good thing too, because I don't think I want to be breathing tha-" He cut off with a stream of bubbles and Harry held him tighter.
"Aercapitis," he said, just as the ink settled over them, blackening the water.
"Eurgh," Ron said, and though he was less than an arm's length away, Harry couldn't actually see him, could only feel his wetsuit sleeve. "I think there's some on my face-"
Harry shivered a laugh and then something walloped him across the chest. Something else - another tentacle, if he had to guess - clubbed him over the head and shoulders, popping his bubblehead charm. It was a bit like being hit by a rubbery, less malicious Whomping Willow; Ron grunted and it sounded bubbly so Harry assumed that he'd been hit too and that he'd lost the charm Harry'd just put on him.
The water around them was loud, loud with the squid's thrashing, with splashes, and also, suddenly, loud with voices.
For the second time since the task started, Marlene lost sight of Harry, only this time he wasn't swallowed in a mass of disturbed sand, but rather disappeared into an inky blackness so dark that not even the exceedingly useful little light at his shoulder - the one she'd been tracking him by since he first entered the lake - could penetrate it.
A hand seized her wrist.
"Just me," Shacklebolt's calm, deep voice murmured, and she nodded before realising he couldn't see her either, wouldn't have been able to even without the ink because they'd all been Disillusioned for the task. They weren't there to provide reassurance, Sprottle had said, they were there to intervene if it looked like the hostages were going to drown, and were also to intervene - if they could - if one of the Champions was both unconscious and without a way to continue to breathe. Otherwise, she'd told them to keep their distance - a hundred feet or so - to not interact with the merfolk at all, and that interference with the hostages and Champions would be heavily frowned upon, including by the Champions, who'd get a score of zero if they had to be rescued.
Marlene had been partnered with Shacklebolt to make sure his disillusionment and bubblehead charms held, and to make sure he didn't interfere where he shouldn't. He was to do the same for her, but thankfully, Shacklebolt was both a friend and an Order member, and they were both prepared to do what they needed to to make sure Harry - and Ron - got out of this alive. So far, it had meant blatantly ignoring the hundred foot distance rule; they'd been following by about twenty, and Marlene had come very close to hexing the merperson who attacked Harry with the trident. Kingsley had stopped her, there, and, she'd later been forced to concede that he'd been right to.
"Can you see them?" she asked, sweeping her wand urgently through the water to try to clear it. It didn't do much at all.
"I can't see you," he replied. "Not even the distortion where you should be."
She could hear other voices - other Aurors, or maybe Harry and Ron - and they sounded startled, panicked. She thought she heard the fizzling of more spells, too, and water buffeted her, and, though she had no idea how it was even possible, the water darkened with more ink. A tentacle - or she assumed that's what it was - smacked her across the thighs and Kingley cursed quietly beside her.
"Stop attacking the squid!" she shouted, though she didn't know if anyone had heard her. Then, more quietly to Kingsley, she said, "They're probably fine-" They had to be fine. "-but I don't like that we can't see them. Anything could happen-"
"We're not deep," Shacklebolt said. "Twenty feet or less, I'd have thought-"
"Split up, I think - one of us wait on the surface, one of us stay down here," she said, trying another spell to clear the water to no avail.
"I'll go up," he said. He released her arm and Marlene felt the water stir as he kicked away, or, as the squid thrashed around a bit more.
"Delacour and Delacour are on the surface," someone - Brown, maybe? - shouted. "No Potter or Weasley yet, though, has anyone got eyes on them?"
Someone else - Wellington, this time, she thought - shouted, "No! Potter, Weasley, can you hear us?!"
And, though it was entirely against protocol, Marlene loved him for it a bit.
She did not love the fact that silence fell after maybe-Wellington's shout and that neither Harry or Ron's voice filled it.
The water was suddenly still, though it remained black as pitch.
"Harry? Ron?" Marlene said, as loudly as she could, thinking perhaps they hadn't recognised the voice - she herself wasn't completely sure if it was Wellington or not - but… nothing. And Harry would know her voice.
There was no reason for him not to reply, not unless they'd somehow reached the surface before maybe-Wellington called out, and if they had, surely Shacklebolt or someone else would have ducked back down to let them know. So could they not spare the air? Marlene's heart was in her throat. Or had they been knocked unconscious or were so badly hurt they couldn't reply, had this whole thing just been a distraction-
"Harry?!" she shouted again, and though she was terrified for him, suddenly all she could think about was Sirius, how he'd look if something happened down here. "Harry? Ron?!"
Harry couldn't place the voices at first and because he knew the other Champions had to be out of the water, other possibilities raced through his mind - merfolk, Death Eaters? - until he copped another tentacle to the side of the head (Ron made a bubbly sound as well) and a familiar voice shouted:
"Stop attacking the squid!"
Aurors, then, Harry realised, probably overseeing the task, and there sounded like there were a few of them - presumably just waiting for him and Ron, now.
And, well, Harry was cold and probably covered in ink and running out of breath and he'd had about enough of the lake…
"Delacour and Delacour are on the surface!" Harry felt relief at that, and Ron gave him a gentle squeeze. "No Potter or Weasley yet, though, has anyone got eyes on them?"
"No! Potter, Weasley, can you hear us?!"
Yes, Harry could hear him perfectly clearly, but he wasn't opening his mouth to say so, not in this water. And they'd figure it out soon enough anyway; keeping his eyes and mouth firmly shut, and his hand tight on Ron's arm - Ron was gripping him back just as tightly, which was comforting because it meant he was still conscious - Harry raised his wand. He gave Ron a quick squeeze in warning, then: Ascendio!
They collided with another tentacle on the way up but then the water was rushing past them and Harry's head broke through the surface.
"And that looks like- Yes, that's Potter and his hostage!" Bagman cried over the clamouring of the stands. Ron sputtered beside him, pulling his arm free and Harry let him, blinking inky water out of his face, and using his now free arm to help him tread water.
They'd come up almost in the middle of the lake, and they weren't alone - strange, ink-coated, vaguely human shaped lumps popped out of the water around them, becoming visible after a moment. It seemed the Aurors had been disillusioned, which explained why Harry hadn't noticed them; most of them were babbling frantically about the squid and Harry heard his name and Ron's several times until word seemed to spread that they were there and more or less unharmed and more Aurors - Marlene amongst them - surfaced and reappeared.
"Cutting it close at fifty seven minutes-" Harry looked at Ron, startled; he'd thought they must have been over the hour. "-but our fourth Champion likes to keep us on our toes. Absolutely fantastic - another task down! - and a valiant effort by all of our Champions this morning. I think you'll agree it was as heart-stoppingly dramatic as ever-"
"You were right," Harry said, tuning Bagman out as he and Ron began to swim toward the shore with the Champions' tent, where Fleur and Gabrielle were just clambering out and being bundled into towels by Moony, Maxime, and Mr and Mrs Delacour. "You have got a b-bit-" A bit was an understatement - Ron's hair was filled with globs of ink and he had streaks of black running down his face. "-of ink - just t-there-" Ron huffed a laugh and splashed him, then tried to scrub his face clean to little avail.
"Very sticky ink, right?" Ron asked, resigned.
"Yeah," Harry sighed. "Padfoot's a git." Ron laughed tiredly.
"Only sometimes," Marlene said, having swum up beside them. Harry gave her a tired smile and let her pull him into a hug. He hugged her back tightly, even though it made the cuts on his ribs and shoulder hurt, and even though he was shivering too much to actually hold on particularly well. "Merlin, you're shivering like mad." She whipped out her wand and flicked it at him and warmth raced through Harry, starting in his chest and spreading down his arms and legs. It made everything hurt more - because he could feel again - but it was still vastly preferable to freezing.
"Thanks," Harry said. She smiled and reached for Ron.
"You were brilliant - both of you." When she released him, Ron looked pleased. "And now you're another one down." She patted Harry's good shoulder, then gave him a little push towards the shore. "Come on."
Harry could see Hermione on the shore - thank Merlin - hair damp, and still in her wetsuit. Padfoot was beside her, laden with towels and practically bouncing on the spot, and Mrs Weasley, Draco, and Ginny were a little further back.
It was a relief to reach water shallow enough that they could touch the bottom; Harry could barely stand his legs were so tired, but Ron wrapped a warm, firm arm around his shoulders and the pair of them waded to the pebbled shore, Marlene peeling off to the side with the other Aurors with a last smile and nod at each of them.
Padfoot descended on them, with a tight hug that got him almost as inky as they were - not that he seemed to mind or even notice - and then bundled them into about four towels each. Ron was able to walk mostly of his own volition and let Mrs Weasley and Hermione fuss over him while Harry sagged against Padfoot - safe, and with another task done - and had let himself be dragged ashore.
"So," Bagman said loudly, from the judge's platform, which had floated away from the main stands upon completion of the task, "I imagine we're ready to hear our Champions' scores, are we?" Resounding applause followed this, and Peter shifted beside the Dark Lord, who - as tended to be the way at these - was watching Harry and only Harry, with rather unnerving focus.
Harry was standing with the other Champions on Bagman's platform, but the hostages and family members - including Sirius - were in the main stands - mainly, Peter thought, because there was very limited room on the platform. Harry, Delacour, and Diggory were all still wearing their wetsuits - Harry's in markedly worse condition than the others' - but Krum had emerged from Pomfrey's tent in a black and burgundy tracksuit.
"First back, first scored, eh?" Bagman asked. "That's Durmstrang's Champion Viktor Krum!" Krum raised a hand to acknowledge the cheers, and though he still looked a bit unwell, he also seemed pleased; Crouch, wherever or whoever he was, had secured Peter and the Dark Lord seats with an excellent view. Beside Peter, Skeeter's photographer snapped a photo. "Judges, when you're ready…" As one, the judges lifted their wands. "A seven, a six, a seven, a ten, a seven, and an eight, for a total of forty five! Very impressive performance, very impressive - partial self transfiguration for starters, and you were second fastest to reach the merfolk village. First into the arena, and you did very, very well against the grindylows, and the kelpies, but you'll have lost a few points for eating that lolabug-" Krum pulled a face - regret, rather than disagreement - and Peter wasn't surprised. "-but you didn't let it slow you down; you were still first to retrieve your hostage, and first to return to the surface. And, just in time, too."
Bagman chuckled and there was weak laughter from the audience; Peter'd never imagined he'd ever see a shark vomiting, but he had today. A lot.
"A few more lost points," Bagman continued, "or rather, points you didn't gain for working out how your hostage would breathe on the trip back up - she had a solution ready to go, based on what we saw-" Bagman gestured at the large lenses Peter and everyone else had just watched the task through. "-and, while we couldn't hear what went on down there, I'll hazard a guess and say it wasn't one you knew about, especially since you didn't recognise her wand when you got it at the start... Now, obviously, you could have tried to transfigure her like you did yourself, but we'll never know how that would have turned out… So, forty five, very respectable, well done Mr Krum!"
Krum raised his hand again and then Bagman called Diggory's name.
"A nine, an eight, a nine, a six, an eight, and an eight for Hogwarts' Champion, for a total of forty eight! Very skillful use of the bubblehead charm - I think yours might be the only one that was in place for the entire task - excepting when you entered the hostage dome, of course. But, that might have been your approach, as well - last to reach the village after getting lost and some trouble with a wild kelpie, and last to enter the arena as a result, but the only one of our Champions to use words rather than wands - or, rather, a very generous peace offering for the Merchief. And, it paid off - third into the hostage dome, second to leave with your hostage, and some on the spot bubblehead charm calculations to make sure your hostage could breathe… very, very impressive, Diggory, I'm sure you all agree!" From the noise, Peter assumed the crowd did, and Diggory grinned. "Short of perfect scores there because with the exception of the kelpie run-in, it probably wasn't as exciting a performance as we had from some of the others, but you made it through, got the girl, and were second back to the surface, so well done, Diggory!"
On the platform, Harry said something that made Diggory smile, and beside Peter, the Dark Lord cocked his head ever so slightly, not listening - they were far too far away for that - but obviously considering… something. Peter shifted and went back to watching the judge's pontoon.
"Next, we'll score the lovely Miss Delacour, from Beauxbatons. Judges… That's a seven, an eight, a six, a six, a six, and a six! Thirty nine! A good start with your bubblehead charm, and you showed you're more than capable of dealing with a few grindylows, though it cost you a bit of time; third to reach the village and enter the arena, and you had a bit of a rough time in the arena - kelpies, more grindylows, the lolabugs, and one particularly nasty eel. Now, you held your own - there's no denying that - but you never made it into the hostage's dome… never actually rescued your hostage at all - she was out and breathing before you got anywhere near her. You gave her a bit of a head start when you attacked the merfolk riders going to help her after the dome fell, and then you did manage to catch up with her in time to surface with her, third fastest. But, if you hadn't caught up with her, she'd still have made it to the surface, and if she hadn't had a way of breathing when the dome came down the merfolk and Auror support would have had to intervene before you had the chance to." Delacour gave a sharp nod, body stiff and pretty face set. Peter didn't think she was particularly happy; she didn't smile or react at all really, to the shouts from the crowd - some of them disagreeing with Bagman - and cheering.
Harry was watching her too, at least until Bagman called his name:
"And, as always, last but never, ever least, our Champion from Walpurgis… Harry Potter!" The Dark Lord shifted beside Peter, and Harry's eyes sought out Sirius in the crowd, resigned. "Judges, when you're ready… A nine, a seven, an eight, a six, a nine, and a ten!" Bagman - whose score had been the ten - beamed. "Forty nine, Harry! A little hiccup at the start with your bubblehead charm, but you got there and at fourteen… that's N.E.W.T. level at least. Unbelievable! I was expecting gillyweed! But, you like to keep us on our toes… So, you had a quick trip down - you bumped into some grindylows but you weren't letting them bother you - and that made you first Champion into the village and second into the arena. The kelpie riders banged you about a bit, but the grindylow weren't any trouble and you had three lightning eels to deal with… Incredible… And as if your bubblehead charm wasn't impressive enough, that little bit with the lightning… Somebody give this boy his N.E.W.T.s already, am I right?" Bagman chortled. Harry looked awkward and like he'd rather be just about anywhere else. The Dark Lord was still intent.
"Then, second Champion into the hostage dome, and then it gets interesting. You should have been second out of the dome and second back to the surface. But you waited. Now, we couldn't hear what you might have said about the whole thing, but we can assume you weren't trying to figure out a way to keep your hostage breathing on the way up, because that was well and truly sorted. So sorted, in fact, that your preparation saw two hostages in addition to your own have a way to breathe on the way back to the surface. I think - and the other judges agree - that you were waiting with the other hostages to make sure their respective Champions arrived… Not so good for your timing, or to give you a competitive edge, but I think we can all agree that it was a display of character and integrity." Bagman beamed over at Harry, who had hunched shoulders and a decidedly embarrassed look on his face. "It also almost cost you. See, you're a bit predictable, Harry." At that, Harry's head snapped up, and there was nothing awkward or embarrassed about him now; he was still, and not with trepidation, but with a sharp sort of intensity that Peter - safe in the stands and not actually there at all anyway - was glad to not be on the other end of. The Dark Lord's head tilted slightly to the side, curious. "But, you took the dome's collapse more or less in stride, gave us all a few grey hairs when you lost your goggles - we weren't sure if it was them sinking or you - and again right at the end there when the squid made an appearance and you didn't… And then, there you were! Just within the time limit, hostage alive and well, and really, just a fantastic effort! Highest score of the day, and well deserved!"
Bagman led the applause that followed. Harry still looked rather dangerous, and like he was thinking hard.
"So, ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our third task! We have Walpurgis in first for the day and first for the Tournament overall, Hogwarts in second for the day and second overall but tied with Durmstrang thanks to the second task, and we have Beauxbatons in last place." Delacour's chin lifted haughtily. "But, don't despair, Miss Delacour - you'll have a chance to redeem yourself in the fourth and final task! Save the date, folks - June twenty-fourth! Champions, there'll be more information to come, but for now, go and celebrate!"
Bagman started another round of applause and various groups around the stands chanted the schools' names or the names of the Champions as the judges stood.
"Are you ready, My Lord?" Peter asked, standing himself.
"Yes," the Dark Lord replied after a moment; eyes still on Harry. "We're done here, Wormtail."
Peter bent to gather the Dark Lord up as Dumbledore lifted his wand and had the platform drift slowly back to join the main platform, while the other judges talked amongst themselves and the Champions. Not Harry, though; he was frowning hard at the lake's surface. And, not Delacour, who - just as Peter was pulling himself and his Lord up and out of Crouch's memory - closed the space between herself and Harry with two long strides and slapped Harry hard across the face.
