Before breakfast, Hailey caught Ron, Hermione, Mandy, and Michael up on the egg clue.
"You said you'd already worked out that egg clue!" Hermione said, indignantly.
"I just need to—sort of fine-tune it, all right?" Hailey replied.
"But how are you going to breathe underwater for an hour?" Michael asked, looking terrified at the thought. He had a fear of water, because when he was younger, he was nearly eaten by a kelpie, so he's been afraid of water ever since. Last year, Hailey managed to get him in the water, but not far enough, to help get rid of his fear of the water.
"Forget the egg for a moment, okay?" Hailey replied, "I'm trying to tell you about Snape and Moody…" She told them about what happened.
"Snape said Moody searched his office as well?" Ron asked. "What…d'you reckon Moody's here to keep an eye on Snape as well as Karkaroff?"
Well, I dunno if that's what Dumbledore asked him to do, but he's definitely doing it," replied Hailey. "Moody said Dumbledore only lets Snape stay here because he's giving him a second chance or something…"
"What?" Ron replied. "Hailey…maybe Moody thinks Snape put your name in the Goblet of Fire?"
"Oh, Ron," replied Hermione, shaking her head skeptically, "we thought Snape was trying to kill Hailey before, and it turned out he was saving Hailey's life, remember?"
"Why would Moody search Snape's office, though?" Mandy asked.
They had to split up when they got in the Great Hall to get to their respective tables.
"How are you going to breathe underwater for an hour?" Michael asked, confused.
Hailey sighed at that.
In Charms class, Hailey, Michael, and Mandy were in the back of the class, practicing the Banishing Charm. Due to the nasty accidents that happened when objects flew across, Professor Flitwick had given each student a stack of cushions to practice on, because they wouldn't hurt anyone if they went off target.
It seemed like everyone was having fun with the Banishing Charm, so it was perfect to tell Michael and Mandy what happened before she can tell Hermione and Ron.
"I just don't get why Moody would search Snape's office," Mandy asked, waving her wand and sent her cushion flying. Unfortunately it smacked Stephen Cornfoot in the back of his head. "Sorry!"
"I don't know," Hailey replied, waving her wand causing her cushion to do an odd sort of belly-flop off of the desk.
"What was Mr Crouch doing here in the morning anyway?" Michael asked. "He can't make it to the Yule Ball and apparently can't make it to the Ministry, and is so ill; he has to send Percy owls just to get his job done. So, why was he here?" He waved his wand and made the cushion land perfectly in box that the cushions were supposed to go in.
"I want to know what Snape did with his first chance, if he's on his second one," Hailey said grimly, waving her wand again. To her surprise, the cushion flew straight across and landed nearly on top of Michael's cushion.
Hailey ended up sending Sirius a letter explaining about Mr Crouch breaking into Snape's office and Moody and Sirius's conversation, with a brown school owl. After that was done, Hailey turned her attention to figuring out she was going to survive underwater for an hour on the twenty-fourth of February.
Ron liked the idea of using the Summoning Charm again to summon Aqua-Lungs, after Hailey explained what it was. Hermione shot that down because of breaking the International Code of Wizarding Secrecy and the fact that it seemed unlikely that Hailey could learn how to operata an Aqua-Lung within an hour anyway.
Hermione had said, "Of course, the ideal solution would be for you to Transfigure yourself into a submarine or something. If only we'd done human Transfiguration already! But I don't think we start that until sixth year, and it can go badly wrong if you don't know what you're doing…"
"Yeah, I don't fancy walking around with a periscope sticking out of my head," said Hailey. "I s'pose I could always attack someone in front of Moody; he might do it for me…"
"He probably wouldn't allow you to choose what you want to turn into, though," Michael pointed out.
"You can probably do a charm," Mandy said.
With that, they looked through the library again, looking for something that might be able to help a human to survive without oxygen. Hailey asked Professor McGonagall for a note of permission to look in the Restricted Section and she even asked the irritable, vulture-like librarian, Madam Pince, for help—but they didn't get any help.
Hailey was beginning to panic again. She couldn't concentrate in class and she was a little glad that she was exempt from end-of-the-term exams, because she knew she would've done terrible on them. She was also thankful that Michael and Mandy were taking notes for her.
Every time Hailey sat near a window in class, the lake kept getting her attention. It was a great, iron-grey mass of chilly water, with dark and icy depths that were beginning to seem as distant as the moon.
Time was beginning to slip by quickly, like when she had to face the Horntail. When she had a week to go before February the twenty-fourth, Hailey was thinking that there was still time…then there was five days to go and she was sure that they might be able to find something soon….and then there was three days to go and Hailey was hoping to find something.
With two days leg, Hailey started to skip food again. The only thing that was good at breakfast was that the brown owl that Hailey had used, returned with Sirius's reply, which was the shortest letter he sent her.
Send date of next Hogsmeade weekend by return owl.
Hailey turned the parchment over hoping to see something else, but it was blank.
"Weekend after next," whispered Mandy, who had read the note over Hailey's shoulder. "Here, borrow my quill and send the owl back straight away."
Hailey scribbled the dates on the back of Sirius's letter and sent the owl off with the note. Hailey wasn't sure why she expected advice on how to survive underwater because she hadn't written down that she figured out the egg clue, because she wanted to tell him all about Moody and Snape's conversation.
"Why does he want to know about the next Hogsmeade weekend?" Michael said.
Hailey felt depressed now that the owl had left. "Dunno. Come on…we have Care of Magical Creatures."
When they got there, Hagrid had somehow managed to capture two unicorn foals, which were pure gold. Parvati and Lavender were delighted to see them, while Pansy Parkinson had to work hard to conceal how much she liked them. Hagrid sure did seem to know a lot about unicorns as he knew a lot about monsters. Hailey also knew that Hagrid was disappointed about the lack of poisonous fangs though.
"Easier ter spot than the adults. They turn silver when they're about' two years old, an' they grow horns at aroun' four. Don' go pure white till they're full grown, 'round about seven. They're a bit more trustin' when they're babies…don't mind boys so much…C'mon, move in a bit, yeh can pat 'em if yeh want…give 'em a few o' these sugar lumps…"
Maybe Hagrid was trying to make up for the Blast-Ended Skrewts or maybe it was because there were two skrewts left, or maybe it was because he was trying to prove he could do anything that Professor Grubbly-Plank could, Hailey didn't know.
"You okay, Hailey?" Hagrid muttered, moving aside so the others swarmed around the baby unicorns.
"Yeah," replied Hailey.
"Jus' nervous, eh?" asked Hagrid.
"Bit," replied Hailey.
"Hailey," Hagrid started, clapping a massive hand on Hailey's shoulder, nearly bowling her over. "I'd've bin worried before I saw yeh take on tha' Horntail, but I know now yeh can do anythin' yeh set yer mind ter. I'm not worried at all. Yeh're goin' ter be fine. Got yer clue worked out, haven' yeh?"
Hailey nodded, but she had an urge to confess that she didn't have any idea how to survive at the bottom of the lake for an hour came over her. She looked up at Hagrid. Perhaps he had to go into the lake sometimes, to deal with the creatures in it? He looked after everything else on the grounds, after all. Before she can ask, Hagrid said, "Yeh're goin' ter win." He patted Hailey's shoulder again, and Hailey felt herself sink a couple of inches into the soft ground. "I know it. I can feel it. Yeh're goin' ter win, Hailey."
Hailey couldn't bring herself to wipe that happy, confident look off of Hagrid's face, so she pretended that she was interested in the young unicorns. She forced a smile in return and went to go pat the young unicorns with the others.
The evening before the second task, Hailey felt as if she was in a nightmare. She knew that if she found a suitable spell, she'd have a real job of mastering it overnight. She wondered how this happened. She wasn't sure why she tried figuring it out sooner? Why did she let her mind wander in class—a teacher could've mentioned how to breathe underwater, but then, Michael and Mandy would've mentioned it to her.
They were in the library, with the sun setting outside. They were quickly looking through page after page of spells. There were massive piles of books on the desk in front of each of them. Hailey felt excited when she came across the "water" on a page, but more often than not it was merely "take two pints of water, half a pound of shredded mandrake leaves, and a newt…"
"This second task has to be doable, otherwise they wouldn't have created it," Michael said.
"Only seventeen year olds were supposed to be a part of it," Mandy said. "They weren't counting on a fourteen year old to be forced into it."
Ron said, "There's nothing. Nothing. Closest was that thing to dry puddles and ponds, that Drought Charm, but that was nowhere near powerful enough to drain the lake."
"There must be something," Hermione muttered, moving a candle to her. She was holding a book close to her face. "Like Michael said, they'd never have set a task that was undoable."
"They have," said Ron. "Hailey, just go down to the lake tomorrow, right, stick your head in, yell at the merpeople to give back whatever they've nicked, and see if they chuck it out. Best you can do, mate."
"There's a way of doing it!" Hermione said crossly. "There just has to be."
Hailey was sure that Hermione was being crabby because she was insulted that the library is failing her.
"I know what I should have done," said Hailey, face-down on Saucy Tricks for Tricky Sorts, "I should've learned to be an Animagus like Sirius."
"Yeah, you could've turned into a goldfish anytime you wanted!" said Ron.
"Or a frog," Hailey said, yawning.
"It takes years to become an Animagus, and then you have to register yourself and everything," said Hermione. "Professor McGonagall told us; remember…you've got to register yourself with the Improper Use of Magic Office…what animal you become, and your markings, so you can't abuse it…"
"Hermione, I was joking," said Hailey, weary. "I know I haven't got a chance of turning into a frog by tomorrow morning…"
"Oh, this is no use," Hermione said, snapping shut a book. "Who on earth wants to make their nose hair grow into ringlets?"
"I wouldn't mind," said Fred Weasley's voice, "Be a talking point, wouldn't it?"
The five fourth years looked up to see Fred and George emerging from behind some bookshelves.
"What're you two doing here?" Ron asked.
"Looking for Mandy," said George. "McGonagall wants you, Mandy."
"I apologized for that," Mandy said, waving a hand.
"Well, she's looking for Hermione, too," George said.
"Why?" said Hermione, looking surprised.
"Dunno…she was looking a bit grim, though," said Fred.
"We're supposed to take you down to her office," said George.
"I'll meet you back in the common room," Michael said.
"Take as many of these books as you both can, okay?" Hermione said, sound anxious.
"Right," Hailey said uneasily, as she set aside a book and grabbed another book that involved plants.
Hermione and Mandy left the library with Fred and George.
"I wonder what McGonagall wants with Hermione and Mandy," Ron asked.
"Maybe she wants to congratulate Hermione on some test and then scold Mandy for that incident," Michael said.
"What did she do?" Ron asked, confused.
Before they could answer, Neville Longbottom, holding a very thick book, walked up to them. He set the book down on the desk, noticed the book that Hailey was about to look through, and said, "You know, if you're interested in plants, you'd be better with Goshawk's Guide to Herbology. Do you know about a wizard in Nepal whose growing gravity resistant trees?"
Hailey, Ron, and Michael were looking at Neville.
"Neville, no offense, but I don't really care about plants," Hailey said.
"However, if you know anything that can allow a person to breathe underwater, that'll be great," Michael said.
"Like a Tibetan turnip or something of that sort," Hailey replied.
"I don't know about a turnip, but you can always use gillyweed," Neville responded.
"Gillyweed?" Ron replied.
"It's supposed to help you breathe underwater," Neville explained.
"That's brilliant," Hailey said. "Where am I supposed to get gillyweed?"
"I know who I can get it from," Neville said.
Hailey was awoken by something prodding her quite forcefully. She muttered, "Stop poking me—"
"Dobby must poke Hailey Potter, miss, she must wake up!"
Hailey opened her eyes. She was in her dorm room.
"Hailey Potter needs to hurry!" squeaked Dobby. "The second task starts in fifteen minutes, and Hailey Potter—"
"Fifteen minutes?" Hailey croaked, "Fifteen—fifteen minutes?"
She looked down at her watch. Dobby was right. It was 8:35. She needed to meet with Neville and her friends in front of the castle.
"Hurry, Hailey Potter!" squeaked Dobby plucking at Hailey's arm. "You is supposed to be down by the lake with the other champions, miss! Hailey Potter has to go into the lake and find her Hearse—"
Hailey was confused, "Find my what?"
"—and take her Hearse back from the merpeople!" Dobby exclaimed.
"My Hearse? Am I going to a funeral afterwards?" Hailey asked.
"Your Hearse, miss, your Hearse," Dobby said.
Hailey didn't have time for Dobby's cryptic messages, so she told him so, before getting dressed in the clothes that was laid out at the foot of her bed.
She got dressed in a dark blue undershirt that had black straps. In gold letters on the back was POTTER and one star below it. It was stamped with the Hogwarts crest. She put on the dark blue sweat jacket that had gold stripes. It always had POTTER in red letters and had a red star on the back, which also had the Hogwarts crest.
She put on the dark grey swim trunks that had two gold stripes. She put on the black trousers and her shoes before hurrying out of the dormitory and through the castle.
She met up with Neville, Ron, and Michael outside the doors. They started walking towards the Great Lake with the others. There were three towering stands out in the middle of the lake.
Up ahead, they could see Fred and George taking bets on how horribly mangled someone will get. It looked like Ivy and Eva was doing the same, but they were shouting about who was going to be the first one out of the water. They were betting that Cedric would be the first to emerge from the lake, then Krum, and then Hailey. It seemed like Fleur would be taken out early. Neville held out what looked like slimy grayish-green looking rat-tails to Hailey, who took it. She looked at the bundle, a little disgusted.
"Are you sure that's going to work, Neville?" Ron asked, sounding incredulous.
From what Hailey heard, Neville was a bit…dense. However, Neville was quite remarkable in Herbology.
"Absolutely," Neville replied.
"Where did you get it from?" Ron asked, confused.
"Moody gave it to me," Neville stated.
"Will it last for an hour?" Michael asked as they walked along the path to the docks.
"Most likely," Neville responded.
Hailey repeated, "Most likely?"
"Well, there is some debate among herbologists as to the effects of freshwater versus saltwater," Neville explained.
"You're telling us this now? Are you joking?" Ron asked a little harshly.
"I just wanted to help," Neville replied, sounding a little dejected as they walked on the dock, which was lined with rowboats.
"You did help," Michael responded, grabbing tightly onto Hailey's arm.
"Where's Mandy and Hermione anyway?" Hailey asked, turning around to try and spot her two friends in the crowd.
"You seem a little tense, Hailey," Neville responded.
Hailey was trying to find her friends, "do I?"
They got in a boat which propelled them forward, towards the stands. They were deposited to the stand that was in the middle.
Hailey had to remove her shoes and socks, then her trousers when she got on the stand. She passed her clothes to Ron, who then passed it to Michael, who was looking very pale and anxious. Ron grabbed a towel from Ludo Bagman who was passing by to get to Hailey.
Ludo Bagman made his way over to Hailey, looking oddly relieved. "All right, Hailey?" He passed Hailey a thigh sheath, like the one that Colton wears. "Know what you're going to do?"
"Yeah," Hailey replied. Bagman gave Hailey's shoulder a quick squeeze and climbed the tower to get to the top. She went to stand next to Cedric, who was wearing the same thing that she was, except his undershirt was yellow. Krum was wearing a brown undershirt that was stamped with Durmstrang's crest and red swim trunks. Fleur was wearing a silvery one-piece swimsuit.
Moody was standing at the edge of the stand, and whispered to Hailey, "Put that in your mouth."
Hailey crammed the gillyweed in her mouth and started gagging at the unpleasant slimy and rubbery feeling. Moody clapped her on the back.
"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," Ludo Bagman's voice boomed out.
Hailey gagged again and she felt Moody clap her on the back again.
Bagman said, "On the course of three, then. One…two…three!" The whistle echoed shrilly in the cold, still air. Cedric, Krum, and Fleur did a perfect dive into the water, leaving Hailey standing, gagging on the dock. She was suddenly pushed into the water.
She felt a piercing pain on either side of her neck. She grabbed at her neck, feeling two large slits just below her ears. She looked at her fingers, which looked green and ghostly under the water. They were webbed and she looked at her feet, which were now elongated and her toes were webbed. The water wasn't feeling icy anymore.
Michael, Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville were standing on the dock looking down at the water. Michael was holding Ron's shoulder in a death grip as he looked down in the water.
"What's the matter with her?" Seamus asked.
"I don't know," Dean replied. "I can't see her." He looked at Michael, Ron, and Neville. "Can you?"
"I can't," Ron replied, tightening his hold on the towel he was holding as he looked down. "What happened?"
"Neville, what did you do?" Michael asked.
"Oh, my god!" Neville suddenly exclaimed, "I killed Hailey Potter!"
Ron suddenly looked at Michael, "When's lunch, again?"
Michael just stared at him in response.
Hailey then came bursting out of the lake and did a back-flip in midair, causing Seamus and Dean to cheer. Michael was immensely relived, yet, he would feel better if he wasn't thinking that the stand would suddenly crash down on top of them.
Hailey struck out, marveling at how far and fast her flipper-like feet propelled her forward through the water. She could see very clearly and how she no longer felt the need to blink. She swam so far into the lake that she could no longer see the bottom. She flipped over and dove into the depths.
Everything was eerily silent as she swam over a strange, dark, foggy landscape. She could see ten feet around him, so when she sped through the water, new scenes seemed to loom suddenly out of the oncoming darkness. There were forests of rippling, tangled black weed and there were wide plains of mud littered with dull, glimmering stones. She swam deeper and deeper out towards the middle of the lake. Her eyes were wide as she stared through the eerily grey-lit water around her to the shadows beyond, where the water became opaque.
Small fish flickered past Hailey like silver darts. Once of twice, she thought she saw something larger moving ahead of her, but when she got closer, it turned to be a large, blackened log, or a dense clump of weed. There was no sign or any of the other champions, merpeople, Mandy—nor the giant squid.
There was light green weed stretching ahead of Hailey, as far as she could see, two feet deep, like a meadow of very overgrown grass. Ahead of Hailey, there were shapes in the gloom, and she was trying to make them out, when something grabbed her ankle.
Hailey turned to see a grindylow, a small horned water demon, poking out of the weed. Its long fingers were clutched tightly around Hailey's leg, its pointed fangs bared—Hailey grabbed her wand and by the time she grabbed it, two more grindylows rose out of the weed.
"Relashio!" Hailey shouted. No sound came out and but a large bubble did. A jet of boiling water seemed to pelt the grindylows because red patches appeared on their green skin. Hailey pulled her ankle out of the Grindylow's grip and swam, as fast as she could, occasionally sending more jets of hot water over her shoulder at random. Every now and then, she felt one of the grindylows snatch at her foot again and she kicked out as hard as she can. She felt her foot connect with a horned skull and when she looked back, she saw the dazed grindylow float away, while its fellows shook their fists at Hailey and sank into the weed.
Hailey slowed down a little, put her wand back in the sheath and looked around, listening again. She turned in a circle, the silence weighing down harder than ever. She knew she must be even deeper in the lake now, but nothing was moving but the rippling weed.
"How are you getting on?"
Hailey turned to see Moaning Myrtle, floating hazily right in front of her. "Myrtle!" she shouted in surprise. A very large bubble came out instead of sound.
Myrtle giggled. "You want to try over there!" she pointed. "I won't come with you. I don't like them much, they always chase me when I get too close…"
Hailey gave Myrtle a thumbs-up to show her thanks and set off once more, careful to swim a bit higher over the weed, to avoid any grindylows that might be lurking there.
She wasn't sure how long she swam, because she was now passing over vast expanses of black mud.
"An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took…"
Hailey swam faster and saw a large rock emerge out of the muddy water ahead. It had paintings of merpeople, holding spears and tridents, and chasing, what looked to be, the giant squid, on it. Hailey swam by, following the mersong.
"…your time's half gone, so tarry not
Lest what you seek stays here to rot…"
There was a cluster of stone dwellings that was stained with algae appeared out of the gloom on all sides. At the dark windows, Hailey saw faces that didn't resemble the mermaid painting in the prefects' bathroom.
The merpeople had grayish skin and long, wild, dark green hair. They had yellow eyes and their teeth were broken, and they wore thick ropes of pebbles around their necks. They leered at Hailey as she swam by. Two merpeople emerged from their caves to watch her. They had powerful looking silver fishtails that were beating the water and they were holding spears.
Hailey hurried on, seeing that the dwellings were becoming more numerous. There were gardens of weed around some of them, and she saw a pet grindylow that was tied to a stake outside one door. Merpeople were emerging to watch her eagerly. They pointed at Hailey's gills and webbed hands and feet. The merpeople talked to each other behind the back of their hands. Hailey turned a corner and saw a whole crowd of merpeople floating in front of the houses that looked like a mer-version of a village square. In the middle of the square was a choir of merpeople calling the champions to them. Behind them was a crude statute that looked like it was made from stone. It was a gigantic merperson and tied to the tail of the stone merperson with weed, was four people.
Mandy was tied between Hermione and Cho Chang. There was a girl who looked to be eight years old, who had silvery hair and Hailey was sure that the girl was Fleur's sister. All of them looked to be asleep because their heads was lolling on their shoulders and streams of bubbles were coming from their mouths.
Hailey sped towards the hostages, expecting the merperople to charge at her with spears and tridents. The merpeople didn't and the ropes of weed were thick, slimy, and very strong. She remembered that the knife that Sirius gave her for Christmas. However, that was no use to her because it was locked in her trunk in the castle.
She looked around the merpeople who were carrying spears and she considered grabbing one, but they looked like the sort that wouldn't help. She grabbed her wand and used the Severing Charm on the weed, which broke apart. Mandy floated, unconscious, a few inches above the lake bottom, drifting a little in the ebb of the water.
Hailey looked around to see that the champions hadn't shown up yet. Where were they? Why didn't they hurry up? She turned to Hermione and went to save her, but six mermen grabbed at her and pulled her back. They were shaking their head and laughing.
"You take your own hostage," one of the mermen said. "Leave the others…"
"No way!" replied Hailey furiously. Two large bubbles came out of her mouth.
"Your task is to retrieve your own friend…leave the others…" the merman explained.
"She's my friend too!" Hailey yelled, gesturing at Hermione. An enormous silver bubble emerged from her lips. "And I don't want them to die either!" Cho's head lolled onto Hermione's shoulder. The small girl was ghostly green and pale looking. Hailey struggled to fight off the mermen, but they laughed harder than every, holding her back.
Hailey looked around, wondering where the other champions were. She wasn't sure if she had time to take Mandy to the surface and come back down for Hermione. She wasn't sure if she could find the others again.
The merpeople around her pointed excitedly over Hailey's head. Hailey looked up to see Cedric swimming towards them. An enormous bubble was around his head, which made him look oddly white and stretched.
"Got lost!" Cedric mouthed, looking panic-stricken. "Fleur and Krum're coming now!"
Hailey felt relieved as Cedric used the Severing Charm on Cho's binds and pulled her upward and out of sight.
Hailey looked around, waiting. Where was Fleur and Krum? Time was getting short and according to the song, the hostages would be lost after an hour.
The merpeople started screeching and the mermen holding Hailey loosened their grip. Hailey turned and saw something monstrous cutting through the water toward them; a human body in swimming trunks with the head of a shark. It was Krum and he had appeared to have transfigured himself.
The shark-man swam straight to Hermione and snapped right through Hermion's binds. He grabbed Hermione's arm and swam away with her.
Now what? Hailey thought desperately. If she could be sure that Fleur was coming…but there was no sign. There was nothing to be done except…
She held up her wand and the merman closed it around Mandy and the little girl, shaking their heads at her.
"Get out of the way!"
Bubbles came out of Hailey's mouth and the mermen stopped laughing and fixed their yellow eyes on Hailey's wand. They looked scared. Even though there were more, Hailey could tell that they knew no more magic than the giant squid.
"You've got until three!" Hailey ordered, causing streams of bubbles to burst from her. She held up three fingers to make sure they got the message. She put one finger down, "One…" she put down a second one, "Two…"
They scattered and Hailey used the Severing Charm on the little girl's binds. Hailey seized her around the waist, grabbed the neck of Mandy's robes and kicked off from the bottom.
Hailey couldn't use her webbed hands to propel herself upward, so she used her flippers furiously. Mandy and Fleur's sister were dead-weights, dragging her down. She pushed them to the surface, though she knew that they must be very deep, the water above her was so dark…
Right as the clock struck ten, Mandy and the little girl emerged from the water, coughing but otherwise they were unscathed. Michael felt relieved but where was Hailey.
Fleur ran forward, speaking in French at the girl. The girl grabbed Fleur's hand, Fleur and Ron helped pull the girl out of the water, before Ron went to help Mandy out of the water.
"Where's Hailey?" Michael asked.
Mandy shrugged, "I don't—"
Hailey and merpeople emerged from the water. Hailey was panting and the merpeople were smiling at Hailey.
The crowd made a great deal of noise, shouting and screaming as Hailey got on the dock.
Dumbledore and Bagman were beaming at Hailey and Mandy.
Ron threw a towel over Hailey's shoulders and Michael was very relieved as he went to Hailey. "Are you all right?" Hailey nodded, too exhausted and freezing to speak.
Madam Pomfrey suddenly seized Hailey and Mandy, to pull the over to where Hermione, Mandy, Cho, Cedric, and Krum were standing. Pomfrey wrapped Hailey tightly in a blanket, making Hailey feel like more like she was in a straightjacket instead. Madam Pomfrey poured a measure of Pepperup Potion down Hailey's throat, making steam gush out of her ears, before she went to do the same to Mandy. Ron and Michael came up to them.
"You haff a water beetle in your hair, Herm-own-ninny," said Krum.
Hermione seemed to brush it off, as she said, "You're well outside the time limit, though, Hailey…Did it take you ages to find us?"
"No…I found you okay…" Hailey replied, now feeling stupid. Why did she take that song seriously? Cedric and Krum had no problem with their hostage and leaving, yet…she did? Besides, Dumbledore would never allow a death of a hostage just because the champion never showed up.
Dumbledore was crouching at the water's edge, having a conversation with what seemed to be the chief merperson, a wild and ferocious-looking female.
He straightened up and turned to his fellow judges, "A conference before we give the marks, I think." They went into a huddle while Madam Pomfrey went to tend to Fleur's sister, as Fleur came up to Hailey and Mandy.
"You saved 'er. Even though she was not your 'ostage," Fleur said in a breathless tone.
"Yeah," replied Hailey. She wished she left Hermione, Cho, and Fleur's sister tied to the statue.
Fleur suddenly kissed Hailey on both cheeks. Hailey was a little disgusted. Fleur turned to Mandy, "And you too—you 'elped—"
"No," Mandy said.
Fleur left Mandy alone.
"Ladies and gentlement," Bagman's voice announced, making everyone go silent. "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…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."
Applause came from the stands.
"I deserved zero," said Fleur, shaking her had.
Bagman continued, "Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was first to return with his hostage, though returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour." Enormous cheers erupted from the Hufflepuffs in the crowd. "We therefore award him forty-seven points."
Hailey felt disappointed because she knew that she was way outside the time limit.
"It'll be okay," Michael whispered to Hailey.
Bagman announced, "Viktor Krum used an incomplete for of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was second to return with his hostage. We award him forty points."
Karkaroff clapped very hard and looked very superior.
"Hailey Potter used gillyweed to great effect." Bagman continued, "She returned last and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Merchieftainess informs us that Miss Potter was first to reach the hostages, and that the delay in her return was due to her determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely her own."
Ron and Hermione gave Hailey half-exasperated looks, while Mandy just winced.
"Most of the judges feel that this shows moral fiber and merits full marks. However…Miss Potter's score is forty-five points," Ludo Bagman said.
Hailey jolted, realizing that she was now tied for first place with Cedric. Ron, Hermione, Mandy, and Michael started laughing and applauding with the rest of the crowd.
"There you go, Hailey!" Ron shouted over the noise. "You weren't being thick after all—you were showing moral fiber!"
Fleur was clapping very hard too, but Krum didn't look happy. He was attempting to talk to Hermione, but she was to busy cheering Hailey on to listen.
"Even though you finished last, it was admirable what you did," Michael said and kissed Hailey on top of her head. The exchange made Ron, Hermione, and Mandy to look at them.
"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June," Bagman continued to announce. "The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions."
It was over, Hailey thought, feeling dazed, as Madam Pomfrey began herding the champions and the hostages back to the castle to get into dry clothes. It was over, she had gotten through. She didn't have to worry about anything now until June the twenty-fourth.
Next time she was in Hogsmeade, she was going to buy Neville something nice, and maybe buy Dobby a pair of socks for every day of the year as well.
