Chapter Twenty Four: Tournament Woes: The Second Task and Other Things
It was now February and the time for the second task was fast approaching. Raiden was more concerned with another important date in February though, that being Valentine's Day as he had worked out the egg clue and what to do about it. Now he was planning how to have a nice Valentine's Day and doing the planning in their favorite study spot by the lake.
'What to do, what to do' he thought before turning round as he heard footsteps behind him. Seeing that it was Hermione he relaxed, and then sat up straight again as an idea occurred to him. Who better to ask what a girl would like on Valentine's Day than another girl.
"Hey, Athena" he began, using her Avenger name. Hermione turned and smiled. She had been spending more time with the Ravenclaws of late, getting to know them. She had made friends with her year mates and even a few in third year who needed homework help.
"Yes, Veneficus" she said, flopping down beside him.
Raiden smiled. "I was planning what to do for Valentine's Day but realized that I didn't know what girls like to do on that day" he admitted. He glared at Hermione when she giggled.
"Oh Veneficus," she said, before chuckling again. She sobered as she found herself staring down the length of his wand.
Raiden was highly annoyed. "If you laugh at me again I will curse you so that any book you read from now till Valentine's Day is in gobbledegook. All books, including textbooks. Translation charms won't work either. Borrowing your friends' books also won't help."
Hermione gaped, before nodding. "Alright, Harry, no need to do that. I'm sorry. I assume you'd like some advice?" At his nod she settled down and began giving him an overview of what girls liked on Valentine's Day. Raiden went away from the conversation with several good ideas.
The next person he needed to talk to was Professor Snape. Walking inside he stopped to consider where his Head of House might be found at that time. It was a Sunday, so he might be in the dungeons, using one of the upper year's classrooms for potion brewing. Raiden decided to try his office first, and then go from there.
After not finding his professor in his office, his classroom, or the Slytherin common room, Raiden leaned against the wall and gently knocked his head against it a few times. Really, Snape had the most annoying habit of turning up when least expected or wanted, and not being around when you needed him. He was just turning to go and try the hospital wing when a shadow detached itself from the nearby alcove and a voice said, "Looking for someone, Mr Potter?"
Raiden spun round, wand out and a hex on his lips before he recognized the owner of the voice. Lowering his wand he glared at Snape and said, "Yes actually sir, I was looking for you."
Severus raised an eyebrow and gestured to the common room entrance. "Let's talk in there; it will be more private than out here." Raiden eyed him for a minute before nodding and preceding the man inside. They settled down on the couches, and Snape locked his eyes with those of his student.
"What did you need me for, Harry?" he asked.
Raiden looked at him and then replied, "I've solved the egg clue, Professor. I need some gillyweed for the task."
"Gillyweed. Yes that would work. Do you want some to practice with so you're used to it before the actual task?" Snape offered. Raiden looked surprised, before nodding. He wasn't going to give up a chance to practice if Snape was offering it. He heard his teacher get up and a moment later the common room door closed softly behind him.
Ten minutes later he was back, with a small amount of gillyweed with him. Raiden rose and took the herb. He was headed for the bath when Snape stopped him. Looking slightly past him, Snape said, "I will need to be in the room when you use it, just for safety purposes. Go and change into your swimming gear and then wait in the bath. Do not ingest the gillyweed until I say so."
"Yes sir," Raiden replied before heading for his dorm. He was slightly embarrassed that his teacher would be watching him swim round in his togs but understood the safety aspect of it. In short order he was in his togs and in the bath, holding the gillyweed in one hand and the side of the bath with the other. Snape sat in a chair and spelled the tub to be larger and deeper so Raiden could swim round in comfort. The sides were spelled to be transparent as well so Snape could see if Raiden got into difficulties.
"The amount I gave you there will last for ten minutes. I will of course give you a larger amount that will last for the full hour on the day of the task. Eat it. You should feel like you can't breathe above water two minutes after eating it. At that point, let yourself go under the surface and start swallowing water."
Raiden nodded in acknowledgement of the instructions and followed them to the letter. The gillyweed worked exactly as Snape had said it would and Raiden spent the ten minutes pretending he was a fish much to his enjoyment. Snape kept one eye on his student and the other on the latest issue of the Potions Journal, and thinking up a scathingly critical letter to write to the author of a particular paper on Wolfsbane, which called the potion a "waste of time and effort." The Wolfsbane potion had been the one which got Snape his Mastery and he sold it under a pseudonym to those that could afford it. For Remus Lupin he made it for free as Sirius had requested that he do so. It was part of Voldemort's plan for getting Remus, and eventually the other werewolves over to the Dark Side, that being free wolfsbane each month, whereas the Light Side would force the werewolves to pay for it while knowing that most couldn't due to the restrictions on them getting decent jobs.
Once the gillyweed wore off, Raiden surfaced, thanked Snape for the practice and then made to get out of the bath. He was amused at the speed with which his professor left the room, and hopped out of the bath, swiftly drying off and redressing. When he entered the common room, Snape was gone but a note from him lay on the table, which said,
Meet me in the Potions classroom at 8am the morning of the Second Task. I will have the gillyweed then.
Severus Snape
Pocketing the note Raiden extended his hand and silently summoned his homework to him. He only had Potions and Transfiguration left to do and he spent the next few hours writing and rewriting the two essays before finally being satisfied that they were the best he could make them. He thought that Hermione's might be better but then again, she was rapidly becoming the queen of their year with regard to grades so he wasn't too upset over it. He and Draco were fighting for the king position anyway.
He had just put his work safely away when Pansy Parkinson came into the common room. Raiden didn't like her very much, she seemed intent on breaking up the relationship between him and Daphne, and was hanging all over Draco so much that the blonde had sworn to Raiden and Blaise one night that he was going to hex her to be unrecognizable if she continued pestering him. Raiden looked up at her and sneered slightly.
"What do you want, Parkinson?" he asked.
Pansy blinked, and then backed up a bit. "I wanted to see if Draco was around anywhere, I have a message for him," she finally replied, annoyed that the Avengers seemed intent on keeping her away from Draco.
"He's brewing an important potion with Professor Snape at the moment and can't be disturbed" Raiden lied smoothly. In truth, Draco was with Daphne, Blaise and Hermione in the library, doing more research on their animagus forms just so they'd be totally ready for Easter, when Sirius was going to help them transform for the first time.
Pansy pouted and then snarled, "Fine. When he returns, point him in my direction would you."
Raiden hissed at her, mentally thanking Voldemort for allowing him to spend time with his familiar Nagini. The large snake had taught him to hiss properly without using parseltongue. Pansy backed up again, her eyes wide and Raiden inwardly exulted at the small victory.
"I don't think so. He doesn't like you and your habit of fawning all over him has him wanting to hex you senseless. Give me the message and I'll see that he gets it."
Pansy growled as her face turned an ugly puce color. "Very well. Tell him that he'll want to talk to his parents. My parents contacted me to say that the marriage contract between our families has been decided on and the two of us will be married when we graduate."
With that said she left in a huff while Raiden slowly made his way to the library, his mind in a whirl. He half wanted to be behind a solid shield when the news was told, his "brother" would not be happy. Sitting down beside Hermione, he withdrew his notes and drawings and began to study them. They were so engrossed in study that they jumped when a throat was cleared behind them.
"Madam Pince, do you need anything?" Hermione asked.
Irma Pince gave her a small smile, Hermione was one of her favorites. "Yes actually, did you five realize its dinner time?"
The Avengers looked at each other and then leapt to their feet. They hadn't realized the time but now they did they became aware of their growling stomachs and they raced down to the Great Hall. They paused just long enough to compose themselves before walking sedately in; it wouldn't do to show the rest of the school that they were human as well. After dinner, they retired to the Slytherin common room where Raiden decided that sooner was better than later with regards to the message that Pansy had given him to pass on to Draco.
"Um, Draco. Can we talk in private for a minute?" he asked. Draco looked at him and then nodded, curious about what his brother could possibly have to talk about that couldn't be said in front of their friends.
Walking into the dorm, Draco was intrigued when Raiden turned and cast several locking and silencing spells on the door, before sitting down on one of the beds.
"Harry what's got you in such a state?" he asked.
He was worried when Raiden looked at him and then shook his head. "Don't blow your top at me, Drake. Pansy Parkinson approached me today. She wanted to give a message to you but I stopped her. She gave it to me instead to pass on to you." Looking Draco straight in the eyes he continued, "You might want to contact your parents; Parkinson mentioned something about a marriage contract between the Malfoy and Parkinson families. She said that it had been decided and that you and she would be married after graduation in three years time."
Draco was now very pale but his eyes showed that he was furious. Growling, he stood and paced round the dorm, occasionally hissing expletives under his breath. Finally he stopped and whirled round, facing Raiden.
"I TOLD them I didn't like Parkinson, I told them that I would sooner marry Ginny Weasley than that pug faced cow. I can't believe that they signed the contract. Why?"
Raiden shrugged. "I don't know. You'd better write and ask." He watched as Draco hurriedly grabbed some parchment and a quill before writing a hasty letter to his father. Looking round for an owl, he yelped as Salazar landed on his head, digging his sharp talons into the blond locks with what seemed like malicious amusement.
"Don't even think about it!" Draco spat when it became clear that Salazar was contemplating leaving a present in his hair. The owl hooted and Raiden held up an arm.
"Come here you stupid bird," he said with a grin, and Salazar pushed off from his perch on Draco's head, digging his talons in further for a brief instant and landed on his owner's shoulder. Hooting affectionately, the owl gently nibbled on Raiden's ear before reluctantly allowing Draco to tie his letter to his leg. With another hoot he took off, flying out the window and off to Malfoy Manor.
"That owl is a bloody menace. He only likes you, he just tolerates the rest of us," Draco grumbled.
Raiden chuckled before flopping backwards on his own bed and saying, "Hey, if you don't like Parkinson, Daphne's off limits and you obviously won't be marrying Ginny Weasley, then who are you interested in?" Thinking for a moment he asked, "It isn't that you play for the other team is it?"
The next instant, Raiden ducked a well aimed Stinging Hex and used his bed for a shield. "OK, OK I get it, you like girls. Are you interested in any though?"
Draco calmed down and flopped down on his own bed, shooting his adopted brother a wry look. "It's a pity Hermione's a muggle born. If she wasn't, I could see myself with her. Unfortunately my father, our father really, since he's your guardian, would throw a fit."
"Why was he not against becoming my guardian then, if blood is so important to him? After all, I might be the Potter heir but I'm a half blood by birth," Raiden queried.
Draco shrugged. "It's not because of your Boy-Who-Lived status, nor is it your Dark Apprentice status either. He respects blood yes but also power. You are powerful, Raiden, or you will be when you reach your majority. Hermione, for all her love of books and spell knowledge will never be as powerful as you and I, even though she's going to be a powerful witch in her own right. Father just won't be able to see past her muggle born status to consider her as a suitable match for me. He doesn't mind us being friends, but anything more than that would be strongly discouraged."
Seeing that Raiden looked thoughtful, he snorted and continued, "He also saw an opportunity to help you learn your proper place in society, as the heir of an old, politically powerful, and rich pureblood family. He does care about you, Raiden, and so does Mother."
Raiden smirked. "I know they do, Drake, and I appreciate it. I just don't get the issues with blood purity when you're essentially breeding yourselves out of existence. It's the reason for my insistence on the strong muggle borns like Hermione being allowed to stay in the wizarding world. Magic remains strong while the gene pool is diversified enough to remain stable."
"I don't either really, but this is too serious a conversation for right now. Let's revisit it when you and our Lord start remodeling the world shall we?" Both of them laughed and mutually shelved the issue for later discussion.
"Have you figured out what to do about the second task yet? It is next week you know," Draco said.
Raiden laughed. "Yes I have. Professor Snape let me use gillyweed this afternoon for ten minutes. He will also give me enough to last for the one hour next week. It gives me gills and allows me to breathe underwater. It's great; you feel like a fish for the time that you have the gills. You also get webbed hands and fins for feet."
"Brilliant" Draco breathed. Raiden nodded and then took down the silencing and locking spells on the door before they discussed other things, such as finding a suitable name for Daphne's animagus form which they still hadn't decided on yet. It was a fact which was frustrating the young witch in question to no end. Soon Blaise and Theodore joined them and after a discussion on the Tournament, with the Slytherins being derogatory towards the rest of Hogwarts who continued to be non-supportive of Raiden, they went to sleep.
A week later, Raiden woke up late. After checking the time he swore and jumped out of bed, running to the shower and grabbing his swimming gear.
"Damn damn damn, how the hell could I oversleep on today of all days," he hissed to himself as he ran to the Potions classroom, bursting in and finding the gillyweed on the front desk, next to another note from Snape.
Potter
You're late. Get yourself to the lake as soon as possible if you don't want to lose the Task before you even begin.
Severus Snape
Picking up the gillyweed, Raiden thought for a moment before snapping his fingers. He summoned his broom to him and literally flew through the halls of Hogwarts and out of the front doors. Laying low on his broom he pushed it to maximum speed, arriving at the lake with a minute to spare. Jumping off the broom he shrunk it, and threw it to Blaise who caught it with a smirk. Grinning, Raiden listened to the announcement, while chewing the gillyweed. He swallowed it and dived into the water with the other champions when the cannon fired.
He sank down towards the bottom of the lake, feeling the odd sensations of gills forming and the webbing on his hands and feet forming as well. If he hadn't had the practice session first he might have panicked but since he had, he merely examined the new additions with interest, half wishing that he could transform like this every time he swum in the lake during the year. With a smirk he kicked his finned feet and began swimming towards the faint sound of singing. Reviewing the information from the clue and from the introduction at the beginning of the Task he stopped, pondering something.
'They'll take a treasure of mine. Daphne went missing last night and I didn't see her in the group up above. Logically she must be my treasure. So, let's go get her.' He checked his watch, glad that he had had it charmed to be waterproof and indestructible and began swimming faster as time was ticking away. A movement off to the side caught his attention and he scowled.
'Grindylows' he thought in disgust. He had nothing against the creatures, but they would slow him down if he allowed them to attack him. Thinking quickly he drew his wand and silently cast a spell that made the water around him too hot for the grindylows to be comfortable with while keeping it at a perfectly comfortable temperature for him. He then had the satisfaction of watching several grindylows fall victim to his spell before the others got the hint and left him alone.
Proceeding onward he found a large stand of seaweed, which was between him and the singing, which was perfectly audible now. Carefully he made his way through, stopping several times to disentangle himself from the slimy weed. Finally he was through and what he saw stopped him in his tracks.
Daphne and Hermione were floating next to each other. Their eyes were closed, but bubbles floating upwards from their mouths indicated that they were in some sort of enchanted sleep. Beside them floated a young girl that bore such a resemblance to Fleur Delacour that Raiden immediately deduced them to be sisters. The last person was Cho Chang.
'Well, Cho is obviously Cedric's treasure, the girl is Fleur's, Hermione must be Viktor's and Daphne is mine. I just have to trust that Viktor will save Hermione. Cho isn't my concern, and I can't save the other one. They won't let her drown if Fleur isn't here in time.'
Raiden drew his wand and silently cast a severing charm at the seaweed that acted as a rope holding Daphne down. As she started to float upwards, he grabbed her arm and kicked upwards.
"Forgive me Hermione but Daphne is my only concern right now," he whispered, even as he saw the weird half man-half shark form of Krum emerging from the shadowy water. Assured that Hermione would be safe he turned and began towing Daphne to the surface.
There was a loud cheer when his and Daphne's heads broke the surface of the water. Looking round, Raiden could see that they were in first place and he began helping Daphne towards the edge of the lake. Another cheer informed him that another of the champions had made it back and when he got to the edge of the lake, Raiden found out that it was Viktor and Hermione. Minutes after that, Cedric Diggory also surfaced with Cho.
Minutes passed and they all waited to see whether Fleur would emerge with her sister. Cedric, Cho, Raiden, Daphne, Viktor and Hermione had all been given Pepper-Up potions and had changed into dry clothes while waiting. Finally Dumbledore went down to the lake and stuck his head underwater, talking with the leader of the Merpeople. He pulled his head back out after a minute, wearing a grave look on his face.
Standing back from the lake, he swished his wand and the bodies of Fleur and Gabrielle Delacour floated up out of the lake. They had been killed by the grindylows, after being roughed up a bit by some of the younger, more overeager merpeople down below.
All the students and staff were stunned and the Beauxbatons contingent was devastated. A loud wail went up from them, and many of the girls were in tears. The rest of the students from Hogwarts and Durmstrang were shocked and upset but didn't have the deep level of grief that the Beauxbatons students did. Chaos erupted as everyone tried to stay as far away from the lake as possible while the staff tried to keep everyone calm. Classes were cancelled for a couple of days while Minister Fudge tried to think of ways to avoid an international diplomatic incident over this. The death of two French people on English soil was a bad thing, the fact that it was two students was even worse. Raiden hugged Daphne closer to him, Slytherin façade be damned, and thought that it was a very good thing that he had had that spell on him that made the grindylows leave him alone. Krum looked very shaken as well and looked to his Headmaster, Karkaroff for instruction as to whether they would leave the Tournament or not.
The teachers were conferring rapidly on what to do. Finally all the students were sent to their common rooms with the Prefects in charge while the staff discussed the horrible accident. For a few days there was a kind of organized chaos happening in and around Hogwarts and a memorial was held for Fleur and Gabrielle that the whole school attended.
The Triwizard Tournament would continue as in the past if a death had occurred it was tragic but the other two contestants had continued. In this case, considering that there were now two Hogwarts competitors vs one Durmstrang competitor it wasn't entirely fair but Viktor pointed out that no one had really expected Raiden to last as long as he had so it really was a good competition. The three surviving champions had merely dropped the school divisions and had personally begun to think of it in terms of age, two seventeen-year-olds against one fourteen-year-old. Even this was inherently unfair until Raiden proposed another way of looking at it. This was Cedric vs Viktor and Raiden would just do the best he could in the remaining task. With this being acceptable to all of them, they returned to their schoolwork although with a renewed sense of exactly how dangerous this Tournament really was.
"I mean imagine how dangerous it must have been in the past when there was no age limit," Hermione whispered in Transfiguration one day. Raiden shushed her, and nodded towards Professor McGonagall who was giving the two a stern look, but privately he agreed with his friend. McGonagall threw them another look before getting back to the lesson and they bent their heads back over their work.
The Beauxbatons students left a week later, with no interest, or desire to stay, now that their champion had been killed in the Tournament that was supposed to have been challenging, but not lethal. There wasn't going to be an international incident as the Tournament rules were laid out clearly and Fleur had chosen to put her name forward. It wasn't Hogwarts' fault that she wasn't up to the task of repelling the grindylows, only her own. Durmstrang and Hogwarts were now left in the race for the eternal glory promised to the winner of the Triwizard Tournament but all the champions were uneasy at what the third and final task would bring in terms of new danger.