AN: I want to thank tg77ed for providing Draco's Elven name. Thanks, tg. Our hometown misses you. MS

Chapter 20

Dear Father,

I hope that you and Mother had a happy Christmas. Thank you for my gifts, and please extend my appreciation to Mother. I missed being home this year, but I did enjoy the Yule Ball. I escorted Daphne Greengrass, who has become a very good friend this year. The other Slytherins are still treating me well, with the exception of Theodore Nott, but I believe his actions are caused more by jealousy than anything else. It seems that Elven blood does not taint quite so harshly as Muggle blood because Elves are, to quote Pansy, "beautiful, mysterious, magical and look almost human." If anything, I've gotten a bit more notoriety for being the great nephew of the Queen of the Elven Realm. Despite my protests, Pansy insists on calling me Prince Lolindir.

Aunt Thespa and Uncle Kathair attended the ball, along with Cousin Elsbeth and Lord Mithrael. I danced with both my aunt and my cousin, both of who insist on calling me by my Elven name, even at Hogwarts. Of course, I had to explain to Daphne that Lolindir means Dragon, same as Draco. Pansy was upset that I did not take her to the ball. She waited until the last minute to accept Blaze Zabini's invitation to attend with him. Of course, Daphne is a much prettier girl and also more refined.

During the dance, Cousin Elsbeth went into labor and had a daughter on Christmas night. The baby was not due for another month, but I have seen them both, and they are well. Cousin Elsbeth allowed me to hold Coriel. She is the smallest thing I have ever seen. I could almost fit her in the palm of my hand. Elsbeth told me that her name means Heart of Light.

Father, Blaze told me that he overheard Nott, Goyle, and Crabbe discussing what occurred on the night of the World Cup. He overheard them say that their fathers all participated. If you know this already, I apologize for sending old new, but it was the first I heard of it, so I wrote you immediately. I have had no news on who else might have been a part of that, except of course for Mr. Crouch's son who was arrested that night.

Cousin Sethrael, or Harry Potter as he is known to the Wizarding world, is in first place. He used his Elven ability to speak with the dragon he was supposed to get past to steal a gold egg from her next. Instead, he asked her for it, and she actually gave him the egg, which surprised everyone who was watching. As a result, I believe that people are beginning to understand more about the magic that is inherent in Elves and appreciate it. Cedric Diggory is all right, but I hope that Harry wins the tournament. It will show everyone that a 14-year-old elf can competently compete against 17 and 18 year old fully trained witches and wizards, or almost fully trained. The next task is in February. I hope you and Mother can attend.

Affectionately,

Draco

Lucius folded the letter and set it on his desk. He had not been asked to participate in the Death Eater activity during the World cup and had heard nothing about the Dark Lord. It had been over 2 years since Draco had announced to his friends that his father was half Elf, and since then, there had been no mention from any former Death Eater of their past or plans for the future. It was as if Lucius had never been part of that world. This worried him almost as much as it would if they were being open with him and inviting him to join their activities.

Queen Thespa had informed him that the Dark Lord could no longer use the ritual that Lucius had brought to them. But he knew that he would find a way to come back. If he were still roaming the Earth, he would definitely be back. He just hoped that the Child of Prophecy destroyed the Dark Lord before the Dark Lord destroyed his family.

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Harry spent the rest of the Christmas holidays visiting his godfathers' rooms where his mother was now staying with baby Corry. Sirius and Remus had added a crib to the guestroom where Corry and his mother were staying. If Harry didn't know better, he would think that his mother had had the baby while she was at Hogwarts on purpose so that she could stay and keep an eye on what was going on with him. She did not seem to be in a hurry to leave to go back to the Elven Realm. Not that Harry wanted her to. He was enjoying the time he spent bonding with his little sister.

It had been a big surprise to Harry to find that Corry had his emerald green eyes. Elves did not have green eyes. Theirs were light, silvery blue. When he asked his father about it, he explained that the adoption ritual had given Harry some of his parents Elven blood, but that it had also given his parents some of Harry's. As a result, some of his blood had been passed on to Corry.

"She is the first green-eyed elf," Harry said proudly.

"No," his father corrected. "She is the second. Her brother is the first."

Each morning before breakfast, Harry and his father spent an hour exploring the village of the merpeople in the lake. At first, the merpeople tried to turn them away, but after talking with Mithrael, they relented, and Harry and his father spent several days getting to know the layout of the village and some of the merpeople. By the end of the holiday, they had run out of gillyweed, so Mithrael promised to go back to the Elven Realm to collect more before the second task.

As the days drew closer to the second task, Harry noticed that the other champions were getting nervous. He wondered if they had been able to figure out the clues, and if so, why they had not gone into the lake to explore. Since he had visited the village many times, he was not concerned, although he did hope that whatever they took that was important to him was something large enough for him to find quickly. He hoped it wasn't his new Firebolt that Uncle Sirius had gotten him for Christmas. He didn't know how well it would hold up after being in water for over an hour, and he hadn't even gotten to play his first real Quidditch match on it yet. Just in case, he decided to hide it in his godfathers' rooms until after the second task.

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On the day of the second task, it was cold and snowing. As Harry walked out with the other champions, he placed a warming charm on himself. He was wearing his clothes of doeskin because they would not weight him down in the water the way his robes would. In a waterproof pouch on his belt, he carried gillyweed and a knife. His new holly wand with a phoenix feather core was strapped to his thigh.

He looked around for his mother and sister and found them standing near his father and godfathers. One of his godfathers had obviously placed a warming charm on them because they both looked comfortable. Hermione and Ron were standing with his parents, but he couldn't find Ginny. He decided that she must be with Luna or some of her 3rd year friends.

When the whistle sounded, Harry dove into the lake. He avoided the thick growth of weeds where he had discovered that grindylows liked to hide. The giant squid was nowhere to be seen today, and as Harry swam toward the village, he wondered if it was hiding because of the crowds standing on the shores of the lake.

Within minutes, Harry had made his way into the village. There, right in the center, he saw what the champions were there to rescue. Ginny, along with 3 other girls, were floating in the water as if they were asleep. A long rope was attached to one of their ankles to keep them in place. Since he didn't really know any of the other girls that well, he decided that it must be Ginny that he was here to rescue. He pulled his knife out of his pouch and cut the rope, then grabbed her by the back of her robe and swam toward the surface.

When they reached the surface, Ginny regained consciousness, and together they swam to the ramp where the judges were waiting. Percy leaned down and helped Ginny out of the water, and then Harry climbed the ladder of the ramp.

"You made it in half an hour," Ron said, taking his arm to help him onto the ramp.

Hermione handed him a towel, staring at his webbed fingers and the gills that were still on his neck. "I didn't think you'd be able to breathe out of water until the gills disappeared," she said.

He wiped his face and placed the towel around his neck to hide the gills. "When I'm out of water, I the gills kind of shut off, and I can breathe normally. I guess I'm sort of like a dolphin or something."

He turned to find Dumbledore and the others so he could get his score and saw Fleur Delacour, still wet, but wrapped in a robe, crying.

"What happened?" he asked.

"She got caught by grindylows and had to be pulled," Hermione said. "Her little sister is still down there. That's why she's crying."

Harry frowned, remembering the end of the clue:

But past an hour, the prospect's black,

Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.

"Tell her not to worry," Harry said, handing her the towel. "I'll be right back." He turned around and dove back into the water.

Harry swam as fast as he could, knowing that the effects of the gillyweed would only last an hour, and it had taken him half that to rescue Ginny. Again, he avoided the weeds that hid the grindylows and swam toward the village. When he arrived, he noticed that the other girls were gone. Only the little blonde girl remained. He had never really noticed how young she was before. She wasn't even old enough to attend Hogwarts.

Taking the knife out of his pouch, he started to cut the rope, but was stopped by one of the merpeople.

"You have already taken your hostage," he said. "This one must stay."

Harry shook his head stubbornly. "Her sister was stopped by grindylows. There is no one to rescue her. I am taking her with me. This is not part of the tournament."

The merman moved back and Harry cut the rope and began swimming with her toward the surface. His one thought was of how he would feel if he had found out that Corry was in the lake and had failed to rescue her.

They had just broken through the surface of the water when the effects of the gillyweed disappeared. The little girl woke up and looked at him in surprise. "Where is my sister?" she asked in a French accent.

Harry pointed toward the ramp where Fleur was leaning out over the water calling for Gabrielle. The little girl waved and swam toward her sister with Harry following her.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you!" Fleur cried when he was out of the water. She grabbed his face and kissed both his cheeks. "You saved my little sister."

Harry blushed and looked up to see Ginny watching him. She was trying to hide her grin behind her hand. He grinned back at her.

"You did it! You did it!" Ron said, jumping up and down. "You rescued two people within an hour! I can't believe it!"

Harry turned to the judges who were talking together. Suddenly, Ludo Bagman left the group to make an announcement.

"May I have your attention, please? Each of the judges has awarded 10 points to Harry Potter, which keeps him in first place. However, because he rescued two people within the hour, it has been decided that his score will be doubled for this task. Congratulations, Mr. Potter. You now have 148 points!"

After the applause had died down, he continued.

"The score is as follows: Harry Potter in first place with 148 points; Cedric Diggory and Victor Krum tied for second place with 98 points each; and Fleur Delacour in third place with 60 points. The final task will take place at dusk on the 24th of June. Congratulations to our champions."