Chapter 40: Underneath the Surface

After another week had passed, Albus heard from Alastor that Viktor was planning on using some kind of transfiguration for the Second Task… while Cedric and Fleur had been seen practicing the Bubble-head Charm… but as for Harry… from what his portraits reported, that while he had figured out the secret of the egg, he still didn't know how to perform the task.

"They're spending endless hours in the library," Dilys sighed. "All of them are practically living in that room…"

"They haven't learned anything like this yet," Albus frowned nervously. "Spells and advanced magic that could help them survive underwater isn't learned until sixth year."

He hated that all he could do was keep a close watch on them. The trio searched through their lunchtimes, evenings, and whole weekends – now even skipping meals – but Harry still wasn't able to find anything to help him. Albus had hoped that he would talk to Hagrid about it during their next class with him, as the gamekeeper, it was also a part of his job to care for the creatures in the lake as well.

He had heard, to his greatest relief, Hagrid stopped teaching them about the Skrewts, and was now finishing teaching them on unicorns. He hoped that Harry would be able to talk to him during the lesson… however…

Harry returned after class and went straight back up to the library, still fruitlessly searching through dozens of books. Albus knew that he couldn't help them, but he still had to fight the urge to try and lead him in the right direction.

Before he knew it, it was the eve of the Second Task and he was in Minerva's office, waiting for the four hostages to arrive and getting ready to explain what was about to happen. Minerva entered the room, closely followed by Miss Cho Chang—looking around her in polite confusion, and a very sweet looking girl that looked so much like Fleur, that it could only be Gabrielle.

"Minerva," he greeted her, keeping his voice as light as possible, "And have you found Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley?"

"Not yet," she answered wearily. "I had the Weasley twins go and get them for me."

Albus nodded before he turned to the girls, who were looking at him nervously. "Well," he said evenly. "I imagine that the two of you are wondering why exactly we called you here?"

The two girls nodded nervously.

"We're not in trouble, are we, Professor Dumbledore?" Cho spoke up timidly. "Because if we are, then I'm really sorry for whatever…"

He smiled gently at her and interrupted, "No, no, Miss Chang. I assure you that you are not in any trouble. This is about Cedric Diggory. And, of course, Fleur Delacour," he added with a nod in Gabrielle's direction who blinked in worry.

"Oh, are zey all right?" Gabrielle gasped, wringing her hands and looking around her as if expecting to see her sister appear. "Did something 'appen to Fleur?"

He gave her a kind look and said reassuringly, "No, your sister is just fine as are the other champions. What I'm trying to say is that you two is that—ah, here they are," he said looking over their heads where the door just opened and Ron and Hermione came in.

"Sit down," Minerva said briskly, pulling out some chairs for them all. "You're just in time."

"Professor," Hermione said at once. "If we're in trouble here, whatever it's about, it's probably his fault," and she pointed to Ron.

"Oh, thanks!" Ron said angrily at her.

"No one's in trouble," Minerva said at once and they visibly relieved.

"Then why are we here, Professor?" Hermione asked respectfully.

"I am about to explain," he nodded graciously. "Now that you all are here, we can begin." He cleared his throat and went on, "First, let me make introductions. Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger—I'm sure that you both already know Miss Cho Chang of Ravenclaw."

The three of them all nodded to each other, before glancing at little Gabrielle, who was looking scared of being in a room with all these strangers. "And, this is Gabrielle Delacour; Fleur Delacour's younger sister."

She nodded to them without looking at them, keeping her eyes to the floor.

"As you all already know," Albus went on, "The Second Task is tomorrow morning. It will involve the champions… and the four of you." At these words, Hermione and Ron both looked unsurprised, however Cho and Gabrielle looked positively bewildered and he explained, "The reason we've called you here tonight is because you all have all been selected to participate in tomorrow's task."

"What do you mean by that?" Ron asked taken aback.

"You mean we'll be working with the champions?" Miss Chang asked in amazement.

"I suppose… you can think of it like that," he answered carefully, "You'll be acting as the champion's… inspiration, shall we say?"

"Albus," Minerva said, looking grim.

"Alright, Professor McGonagall," he told her courteously. "I'm getting to it." He looked back to them and said, "All of you have a very close bond to at least one of the champions. The tomorrow's task, if you aren't already aware of yet, is that the merpeople who live at the bottom of the lake will be taking something very precious from each of them and they must survive in the lake long enough to take back what they took."

"There are merpeople in the lake?" Cho said startled.

"Oh, yes," he answered graciously. "A fair few as well I might add. But the point is that they will be taking something with them tonight so that the champions will be able to retrieve it."

"Yeah, what are they taking?" Ron interrupted, "Is that what you need us for? To tell you what they should take?"

"You're very close, Mr. Weasley," Albus smiled fully, "But not completely. No, we've already chosen what's to be taken," he looked at each of them in turn, "What will be taken will be those closest to them." He placed a hand on Ron's shoulder.

"Who's closest to them," he said calmly, at least until he realized what he was talking about and his face was replaced with terror. "WHAT?! YOU MEAN US?!"

"What?" piped up Gabrielle in fear and the other girls looked alarmed.

"You're joking right?!" Ron yelled. "Please say yes!"

"Don't be alarmed," he said deeply, though he knew that it was too late for that. "I've discussed it with the officials in charge, and the merpeople of the lake and everything is ready. It's very simple. You see, each of you will be put under a powerful Sleeping Spell and the merpeople will take you to the decided location at the bottom of the lake at the very center of their village. And then, tomorrow your respective champions will hopefully be able to find you and bring you back to the surface."

"Hopefully?!" Ron's voice cracked in suppressed panic.

"The merpeople have sworn that they will protect you from any harm while you are in their care," Albus said to them. "The Second Task is for the champions to rescue you, the person they will most sorely miss the most."

Gabrielle blinked and said, "So my sister ees going to come for me?"

He nodded. "Once she hears that it's you who's down there waiting for her, I'm sure that she won't stop until she succeeds. You will be the extra motivation that they will need."

"So…" Miss Chang said slowly before she blushed red. "Cedric…"

Albus nodded and smiled. Ah, young love…

Ron and Hermione both looked at each other before looking up to him and Hermione asked, "You mean that Harry has to save us both?"

Albus shook his head. "No, one of you will be the hostage for Harry," he looked at Ron. "And the other…" he looked to Hermione, "Will be for Viktor Krum."

Hermione looked stunned and blushed deeply, but quickly recovered and said, "So if Viktor will be coming to save me, then Harry has to save Ron."

Albus nodded as Ron shot Hermione an angry look. "Now the catch is, the champions must rescue you in under an hour. Of course," he added hastily at their scared expressions, "The spell on all of you will last for the entire time you will be in the lake. You see, all of you will be put into the enchanted sleep right here and taken down to meet the merpeople. And as soon as your head breaks the surface of the lake, you will awaken. In the unlikely event that your champion fails and is forced to return to the surface without you, the merpeople will escort you to the surface, and see to it that none of you will be in harm's way. I'll be performing the Sleeping Spell myself, so the next time you open your eyes it will be tomorrow when you are brought back."

Albus looked to them all and asked, "The safety of you and the champions are our greatest priority. We wouldn't be taking this risk if we hadn't thought everything out. Are there anymore questions?"

"In other words, do you have any last words?" he heard Ron muttered to Hermione. She glared back at him before she looked up and asked, "So… we really will be safe?"

"Perfectly," he assured her.

"And the champions?" Miss Chang added anxiously.

"I will have the merpeople keep a close eye on all four of them," he turned to her. "If there are any signs of them in trouble, they will be brought back up to the surface at once. The next time you all awaken, you will be out of the lake. Of course," he added as he pulled out his wand. "I cannot make you all do this… it is your choice."

They all hesitated before they all looked at each other, and nodded—somewhat a little uncertainly.

"All right, then. Pleasant dreams," he said and cast his spell. Almost instantly their eyes closed and their breathing became peaceful. Ron's head lolled to the side and onto Hermione's shoulder, Cho's head fell against her chest and little Gabrielle almost fell out of her seat as the spell took full effect. All of them out completely—dreaming deeply.

Minerva stepped forward and looked closely to make sure they were sound asleep. As she inspected them, Albus looked at their peaceful expressions and he couldn't help but realize how much younger they looked. Looking at their faces, he almost had second thoughts about this.

"Well, let's head on down to the lake," Minerva said as if from far away and he came back to the matter at hand. "And get this over with." She looked at him furiously, sounding like she was doing this against her will, and conjured four stretchers. Albus levitated them all up onto them and they left the room; meeting no one as they headed down to the Entrance Hall and outside.

It was bitter cold outside, and Minerva shivered as they made their way down to the lake. He could see her watching him from the corner of his eye and he asked, "Are you alright, Minerva?"

"What do you think?" she hissed to him, slipping slightly on an icy patch of ground. He reached out and grasped her arm firmly as she stumbled and led the way down the familiar path.

"I'm not any happier about this than you are, Minerva. But these four will be just fine," he reassured her. "And before you ask, I also put a powerful Warming Charm to protect them from the freezing water."

"Well, at least you're thinking things through," she sighed, her anger disappearing.

Albus sighed as well, not knowing if it was at the icy wind or his own guilty conscience. "I don't like this either…" he repeated. "But we can't use just anyone for this task."

"I know," she said as they neared the dark waters of the lake. "But that doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Here we are," he said, and knelt at the edge of the lake. Its surface was smooth, only ripples from the wind were causing any movement, and kept throwing up sprays of water onto the bank. Albus looked around and said softly, "The merpeople should be here any moment now."

They waited, standing there in their cloaks, Minerva pulling hers around her a little extra tightly as a particularly cold gust of wind swept over them.

"Ah, here they are," Albus said happily, and sure enough, a moment later about eight or nine heads appeared from beneath the surface of the water and started to come closer to the shore. It was rather a frightening thing to see them appear, one by one, and make their way towards them—especially with their gray skin and long green hair trailing behind them—like some drowned victims returning to the shore. Their yellow eyes almost began to glow in the darkness as a wild-looking female that he recognized at once as the Merchieftainess Murcus came up to the shoreline and began to speak in Mermish.

Albus smiled at her and said, "Thank you again for helping us with this task. Is everything ready?"

"Yes," she answered in her screeching voice. "Everything is ready. It's just the four?"

"Correct," he answered and gestured to the sleeping ones on the stretchers next to them. "They'll be asleep the whole time so I hope that we don't have anything to worry about. The champions will go down tomorrow and try to rescue them."

At least he hoped so. Unless by some miracle, Harry found a way to do so tonight… he shook his head at the thought, and went on to her, "If any of them don't appear after about an hour, please bring them back up."

She nodded in understanding. "We'll be taking them now," and she called the others she brought with her. Albus turned to Minerva. "It's alright. They're ready."

"Are you sure this is safe?" she whispered back to him, staring at the merpeople in fascination and apprehension.

He put a hand on her shoulder and answered, "I'm sure. They may not look it, but they are very honorable. They won't go back on a promise. We can trust them."

Minerva hesitated, and for a moment, he wondered if she was going to refuse, but after a few more seconds she nodded. He smiled reassuringly at her and flicked his wand at the four hostages. Almost at once, they rose from the stretchers, their heads bobbing strangely and their limbs flopping limply.

"Ready?" he asked again in Mermish, and the merpeople nodded, coming as close to the shoreline as they could, and with another flick of his wand, the hostages fell gently into the water where the merpeople caught them. A few of them waved goodbye to the two of them as they turned and dove back into the water, pulling the four with them.

Minerva gave a great sigh. "I still don't know how you talked me into this," she said as they turned and made their way back up to the castle. "But what's done is done I suppose."

"Yes," he answered as he turned back to see the lake, glistening in the feeble moonlight. He knew that it was too late now, but he couldn't help but hope that he won't regret this.

"Albus?" Minerva asked worriedly, when she realized he stopped.

"I'm fine," he answered her, and together they walked back up the path towards the castle.

*Morning*

"Where is Potter?" Minerva asked him anxiously as he headed to his seat at the judges table which had been conjured up at the water's edge. "How could he be late? What is he doing? I don't even remember seeing him at breakfast and…?"

"It'll be alright, Minerva," he said, surprised at how calm his voice was. To be honest, he wasn't sure if he was trying to reassure Minerva or himself. "I'm sure that he's on his way right now… he'll be here."

"Vell, I say ve start without the boy already," Karkaroff said nastily. "He's already late! And if he can't show us respect by being on time for the task, he doesn't deserve to be competing! Not that he should've in the first place!"

"Igor," he said warningly, not in the mood to be listening to him about rules at the moment.

Karkaroff opened his mouth to complain when he heard someone shout out, "There he is!"

Albus turned just as everyone did, and sure enough, there was Harry, running flat out across the lawn, his robes flying behind him. Karkaroff looked furious as Ludo, for some reason, looked immensely relieved.

"I'm… here…" Harry gasped as he came to a skidded stop in front of the table, accidentally splattering Fleur's robes with mud. Fleur glared at him and whipped out her wand to clear the mud away.

"Where have you been?" Percy Weasley said pompously. "The task's about to start!"

"Now, now, Percy!" Ludo reproached him with a grin on his face, as Harry bent over trying to get his breath. "Let him catch his breath!"

As he said this, he led the four of them to the very edge of the lake where each of them would be starting. Albus looked at Harry, wondering what on earth he was going to be doing, and as he watched the boy pull something out of his pocket and shoved it into his mouth.

What was going on now? Did he really still have a plan? He was still in the library last time he checked… unless he could've mastered a spell that could've helped over night he couldn't see how…

Suddenly, Ludo returned to the judges' table and pointed his wand at his throat, and Albus wasn't able to think about it anymore.

"Sonorus!" His voice suddenly boomed out across the water to where the stands were on the other side of the Lake. "Well, 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. On the count of three, then. One… two… three!"

The shrill whistle pierced through the air, and the stands erupted with cheers and applause as all the champions started to wade into the water. Cedric and Fleur were the first to act, and both cast the Bubble-Head Charms. Massive bubbles materialized around their heads, which disoriented their features before they dove straight into the water and disappeared almost at once. Viktor took a little more time as he raised his wand and had preformed a very sloppy job of Transfiguration on his head; changing it into one of a shark's. However he seemed satisfied with it and he plunged into the water just as Cedric and Fleur had done.

Now only Harry was left standing on the very edge of the Lake. He watched as he stumbled through the water, wondering what on earth he was planning on doing. As he walked out, he could hear laughs and jeers from the Slytherins in the stands—now he was about waist-deep in the water, and still nothing was happening. Everyone watched, but when nothing happened, there was more laughter which then turned into catcalls and jeering… just when Albus was beginning to think that Harry hadn't been able to find a way to do the task, it happened.

There were gasps coming from the crowded and he had to strain his eyes to see what was happening… he watched as Harry clapped his hands around his throat as if he had trouble breathing and when he pulled them away he saw that there were long slits just below his ears…

"He's got gills!" he heard someone shout. Everyone stopped laughing at once, and watched in amazement.

'Gillyweed!' Albus thought, and glanced over at Karkaroff and had to fight the urge to laugh at the dumbfounded look on his face. "Clever boy," Albus whispered to himself before he turned back just in time to see, Harry flung himself forward into the water and disappeared beneath the surface.

Ludo was roaring with laughter, and for once it didn't bother him—really it had been worth the stress of planning this task just to see the looks of astonishment from everyone in the crowd. Once he had calmed down, Ludo cleared his throat and called out, "Well, now that all the champions are underwater, I might as well tell you all what this is about. Last night, something was taken from each of them and is now waiting for them to come and bring them back from the bottom of the lake!"

As he let that sink in, he could hear them all talking among themselves, wondering what was taken from the champions no doubt.

Ludo then went on to say, "They have one hour to retrieve the one thing that each of them will most sorely miss - or I guess I should say, who." The stands fell silent, as they looked around, understanding now what was happening.

"That's right," he called to the stunned crowd, "The task is simple enough. There are hostages at the bottom of the lake and the task is for the champions to bring back what was taken from them. In this case, Fleur Delacour's hostage is her own little sister Gabrielle Delacour."

A few people gasped as Ludo went on, "Cedric Diggory's hostage is Cho Chang. Harry Potter's hostage is his best friend Ronald Weasley. And Viktor Krum's hostage is Hermione Granger."

Albus could hear a few of the girls let out cries of indignation at Hermione's name, but Ludo didn't seem to have noticed. "Rest assure that the hostages aren't in any real danger. Each one of them has been put into an enchanted sleep that will wear off once they are brought back to the surface. But as for what the champions had all just done right now…"

He pointed to the lake, "Just now, I'm sure that you all saw that both Cedric Diggory and Fleur Delacour had preformed the Bubble-Head Charm which, for those of you who don't pay attention in class, creates a giant bubble of air around their heads to breathe. Viktor Krum did a partial Transfiguration and gave himself a shark's head. A clever idea, however that also had to be some of the most awful Transfiguration work I've seen in years."

Again, Albus had to stop himself from laughing at the look of fury on Igor's face. "As for our youngest champion, our Mr. Harry Potter, on the other hand, used what is known as gillyweed. To those of you out there who never heard of such a thing, gillyweed is a water plant that actually allows one to breathe underwater by growing gills and webbed hands and feet. It's effects last for about an hour before they wear off… so, now that's all taken care of, all we've got to do is wait for the champions to return, hopefully with their respective hostages."

Ludo looked to him and he nodded in return as he looked out at the lake, wondering what was going on down there…

*Later*

After an excruciating wait about 55 minutes later… something finally happened.

"Someone's coming!" he heard someone screaming, Albus got to his feet, looking at the water, trying to see who it was. The stands, who had all fallen silent and had been talking amongst themselves for over half an hour, now all turned to the lake and tried to see what was going on and who was the first champion to return.

"Now, let's see who it is and if they had succeed!" Ludo called gleefully running to the water's edge and shaded his eyes from the sun as he squinted at the water. The surface of the water rippled and suddenly broke, and the stands gasped.

"Fleur Delacour!" Ludo cried out at once. "Can't say for sure what's wrong, but I think she's out cold! The merpeople have brought her up!"

Next to him, Madame Maxime was up on her feet in a flash, and Albus followed her as they all made towards the lake as the group of merpeople began dragging her back. One mermaid with particularly wild hair gently laid Fleur on the bank of the lake as the others sank back below the water. Madam Pomfrey, rushed up and carried Fleur away to the medical tent and Madame Maxine hurried after her with an anxious look on her face.

Albus watched as they took Fleur away and turned to the mermaid. "Please tell me what happened."

"It was the Grindylows," she said in her high voice. "Saw the whole thing. She got to close to the weeds and they pulled her down." She sank back into the water until there wasn't anything but her head showing, "They popped her bubble and her head was hit pretty hard. We pulled her free and brought her back up here… she passed out just before we reached the surface."

Albus nodded. "Thank you. I'm sure that she'll be fine thanks to you all. Now, what of the others?"

"Saw the boy with gills a little while ago not to far from where the village is," she confessed. "He should be there by now. As for the other two boys, they got lost and are heading in the right direction as we speak. They should be along soon."

Albus let out a sigh of relief, "Thank you," he said again, trying to put as much sincerity in his voice as he could.

She nodded before her head sank, and disappeared under the waves. He got up and went over to the judges and told them what she told him.

Ludo nodded and addressed the crowd who were all standing, trying to get a view of the medical tent.

"The merpeople have informed us that Fleur Delacour was attacked by grindylows," Ludo called to them. "And after she lost her air bubble, she was no longer able to continue, and was unable to reach her hostage."

After the announcement, the crowd began talk all at once to their friends like a hive of excited bees. Albus went back to the tent to see how she was doing, and saw that Fleur had already come to and appeared to have been arguing with Madam Pomfrey.

"No! You can't be serious! Zat ees my little sister! Zat is not fair!" Fleur cried, "She ees waiting for me! Please let me go down and get 'er!"

Albus looked at her in sympathy. "I am sorry," Madame Maxime said, "but eet's part of ze tournament's rules. No 'ostages can be released until all of ze champions 'ave surfaced, successful or not."

"Who cares about ze tournament and eets rules?" she yelled as she got up, and tried to move, but stumbled. As she fell back to her knees she started to cry, "Gabrielle! I'm sorry! I am a 'orrible sister!"

Albus lowered his head as he returned back to his seat, almost as if in a trance. A failure? He knew what it was like to be a failure of an older sibling better than anyone. And that girl right there was anything but a failure.

Many here would not even have been able to have been brave enough to face the task. She did amazingly well and he was sure she fought bravely against the Grindylows. No, she was very impressive today. But most of all… he admired her dedication to her little sister. Her determination to protect her no matter what happened to her. He stared up at the sky.

"Which is more than I ever did," he mumbled to himself.

"Headmaster?" Percy Weasley called which caused him to look back down. "Is she going to be ok?"

Albus nodded. "Yes, she'll be fine. Though I think that she'll be better as soon as we bring her sister back up." He turned his full attention back to the lake again and waited. If what the mermaid said was true, then the boys should be coming up any moment… "It shouldn't be long now."

But after five more minutes, the hour was up.

"It has now been one hour," Ludo called for everyone's attention. "And so far, none of the other champions have returned with their hostage. So now, all the judges will give him marks on how much longer it will take for them to…"

But no one was paying attention to Ludo anymore and Albus could see why. The water was stirring again, and as he watched, two heads broke through the surface.

"Ah ha! It's Cedric Diggory!" Ludo cried happily, as Cedric's Bubble-Head broke the surface. "And…" he squinted to see, "Yes, he has his hostage, Cho Chang!"

Albus sighed with relief as he watched Cedric bring Cho back to the shore—with Cho wide awake and clinging tightly to him. The stands erupted into cheers at the sight of Cho and Cedric stepping back onto land and Madam Pomfrey hurried over to treat any injuries and dragged them back to give them some Pepper-up Potion.

They didn't have to wait much longer because about ten minutes later, Viktor Krum arrived, with Hermione in tow.

"Viktor Krum also returns successfully with Ms. Hermione Granger," Ludo announced to them all as the two of them swam back to land with Madam Pomfrey there waiting for them—and Albus felt more relief wash through him as he watched the two of them climb out and wrapped in blankets, "About ten minutes outside the time limit I'd guess. Now we just have to wait for Harry Potter to return… it won't be long now, I reckon…"

Last again…

Albus bit his lower lip and stared determinedly out at the lake. What on earth was going on down there? The Gillyweed would be wearing off by now… if Harry had been closest to the village, then why is he the last to return?

Five minutes passed but still nothing happened… then another ten minutes… finally after about ten minutes, just when he was starting to think that something went wrong, three heads suddenly burst out of the water.

As soon as he saw them, he put his face in his hand in deep reprieve. He didn't he realize that there were three people instead of two. At least until Ludo called out flabbergasted, "Harry Potter has returned with both Ronald Weasley and Gabrielle Delacour!"

The stands were on their feet, shouting and screaming themselves hoarse. At the sound of her sister's name Fleur Delacour came bursting out of nowhere and ran to the bank, apparently prepared to fling herself into the water to her sister. However, Madame Maxime was there and was restraining Fleur with her massive arms, though with some difficulty.

"Let me go!" she screamed at her headmistress, fighting to get to the water. "I need to see her! I need to go and get Gabrielle!"

Meanwhile, about twenty merpeople had also just emerged out of the water beside Harry and the others, beaming and singing as they escorted the three back to the bank. He, Ludo, and Percy all got up from their seats and walked to the edge of the lake. He was beaming at Harry as he and Ron helped Gabrielle back to shore, but Percy ran past them and went plowing into the water to pull his brother back himself.

"Gabrielle!" Fleur called out to them, still fighting to get to the water like Percy. "Gabrielle! Is she alive? Is she 'urt?"

Harry called out, but no words came out… apparently too exhausted to speak. He and Ludo both came out as soon as they were close enough and pulled him back to his feet—though he was so tired he almost fell over again.

At that moment, Ron yelled out angrily at Percy, "Get off me Percy, I'm alright!" Just as Fleur finally broke free of Madame Maxime and practically flew to her sister.

"It was ze grindylows… zey attacked me… oh Gabrielle, I thought… I thought…" and suddenly both sisters started hugging and crying.

"Come here, you," said Madam Pomfrey from his left. And he let her practically dragging him to Hermione and the others, forcing a Pepper-up Potion down his throat. Hermione came forward and was busy talking to Harry, as Krum looked surlier than ever at this sight. Madam Pomfrey then went to go and get Ron from Percy as well as going to Fleur and her sister. Fleur was in bad shape; she had cuts on her face and arms and her robes were torn; however it didn't look like she cared as she gave Gabrielle over to her.

Albus smiled at the two sisters before he crouched at the edge of the lake, talking to Murcus once again as soon as she reappeared. She gestured him to come closer and he asked, desperate for some answers, "Just what happened down there?"

"The boy," she said nodding to Harry, "He was the first one to reach them."

He blinked in surprise. "But then why was he the last one back?"

"Because he didn't want to leave anyone behind," she answered with a smile.

Realization washed over him like the waves that were beating on the shore. "I should've known," he said shaking his head, a smile also appearing.

"We tried to tell him to leave once he got his hostage," she told him. "Had he, he would've been back before time ran out. But he stayed. Then the next boy came… the second boy with the bubble."

"Yes, Cedric," Albus said at once, "So he was second? And then what happened?"

"He cut his hostage free and left for the surface," she answered simply. "We thought that the first boy would leave once he did, but he tried to cut the girl with brown hair as well. Of course we stopped him."

Albus could see that Fleur wasn't the only one who took the song seriously. "After that, the shark-head boy arrived," Murcus went on. "Though I suppose it was a good thing the boy stayed."

Albus raised his eyebrows. "Why?" he asked.

"Shark boy tried to use his teeth to cut her free," she answered with a shake of her head, "Could've sliced her into two if he wasn't careful… but just as we were about to stop him, the other boy gave him a sharp rock instead and they left."

Albus nodded in understand. "And he waited for the last champion to show up?"

"She never did," she answered, "He finally got tired of waiting and cut the girl free."

Albus stared at her, that didn't sound like something they would just let him do. "And you let him?"

She shrugged. "He had a wand."

Closing his eyes in understanding as he nodded to her. He could see now clearly what had happened as if he had been there himself Harry wanted to ensure that all the hostages were safe before he came back up. He waited for the other champions, but as soon as he realized that Fleur wasn't going to show up, he finally took matters into his own hands and took her hostage to. He smiled to her, "Thank you… that's all I needed to know."

He was about to leave when she suddenly said, "He's a strange one that boy… don't you think?" she asked him, still smiling as the rest of her brethren retreated into the water.

Albus chuckled at her. "He certainly is…"

She grinned wider at him before she dove back into the water, her fins flashing in the sunlight, and disappearing. He got up and went to the judges, "A conference before we give the marks, I think."

He then told them what Murcus told him, and finally a decision was made—and though Igor looked ready to throw a tantrum, it was decided. He retook his seat as Ludo walked out and addressed everyone else.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Merchieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows…"

He cleared his throat and turned to Fleur, who was holding her sister's hand tightly—and looked ready to face anything that they had to say. "Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points."

Everyone applauded but she just shook her head as she said, "I deserved zero."

Gabrielle shook her head this time and hugged her tightly as Ludo went on, "Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was first to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour. We therefore award him forty-seven points."

The Hufflepuffs went wild and he applauded loudly as well, however, he wasn't so sure that Cedric noticed anything else other than Cho—who his whole attention was on. Ludo then turned to Viktor, who was still trying to get Hermione's attention, "Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was second to return with his hostage. We award him forty points."

Karkaroff clapped particularly hard, as Viktor nodded his head simply and unsmilingly.

Finally he looked to Harry, who was looking grim, "Harry Potter used gillyweed to great effect. He returned last, and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Merchieftainess informs us that Mr. Potter was first to reach the hostages, and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely his own."

Albus chuckled, that was something that Harry would do.

"Most of the judges," most of the judges gave Karkaroff a very nasty look, who glared at them all in return, "feel that this shows moral fiber and merits full marks. However… Mr. Potter's score is forty-five points."

The crowd began to scream and cheer loudly at those words and Albus felt the weight lifted off his shoulders again. Two tasks down… just one more to go and then this would all finally be over. Ludo then addressed when the final task would be before Madam Pomfrey took charge and took the eight of them up to the castle to get warm.

"Thank goodness that's all over with," Minerva said to him as the rest of the school headed up to the castle for lunch, all of them talking loudly and in awe of what happened. "Only one more task to get through and then this dreadful year will be over. I can't say that I'm not looking forward to that."

"I couldn't agree with you more, Minerva," he answered firmly as they entered the hall.

"But still," she went on almost angrily, "Potter scared me half to death. I thought for sure he drowned back there. What was he thinking?"

"I know," he answered truthfully. "I was beginning to think so as well. Though I can't say I'm surprised that he would do something like that."

She shook her head. "Sometimes I think that he's a little to morale!"

"No," Albus answered her with a smile. "I don't think he even realized what he was doing… that's just his nature. He doesn't try to be the hero, but he feels that he needs to do something."

He stopped and looked behind him—almost sensing it.

Minerva looked back at him when she realized that he wasn't moving. "Albus?" she asked.

Albus was staring back at the lake, which now glittering innocently in the bright sunlight. He turned and continued following her through the great doors… however he could've sworn that he saw a few figures down there now celebrating the end of the Second Task.

(Liked it? Hope so! Sorry for the long wait, had other things to take care of this week. But hopefully, the next chapter will be easier to write. Next chapter is when Mr. Crouch re-appears!)