Chapter 7: The Second Task
Harry and his friends still were wondering what the second task would be like. "I still believe it's underwater." Harry commented.
"I hope the Champions will have to face the dragons again." Ron eagerly replied.
"Honestly, Ronald!" Hermione was exasperated. "One'd think we've already seen too much of them."
"I agree." Harry added. "Even if you think the champions don't need anything safer, the viewers would rather enjoy some variety."
"But how would we be able to see what's going on underwater, Harry?" Ron asked.
"They could use some underwater cameras." Harry suggested.
"Photographs won't make up for missing the action when it happens." Ron commented, making Harry and Hermione wonder how to explain Harry's suggestion to a born and bred pureblood.
Two days later, at Defense Class, some students once again got Sirius Black as their substitute teacher. "Students, I'm sure most if not all of you are wondering why Professor Moody isn't teaching this class." Sirius said. "It turns out Professor Moody decided to take some time off from teaching to spy on Headmaster Karkaroff to make sure the Durmstrang Death Eater isn't up to some dark magic from the good old times."
The students nodded, showing little to no surprise because of Mad-Eye Moody's reputation. Sirius then continued. "Now, as you can see, there are several glasses on my table. All of them seem to be filled with water. However, some of them have potions hidden within the water. Today's lesson topic is how to identify these potions without drinking the water. Any volunteers?"
Hermione raised her hand. "Miss Granger, please pick a glass and show how to identify any potions it might contain." Sirius asked.
She pointed her wand at a glass and shouted. "Specialis revelio!"
"Ms. Granger, what does this spell permit you to tell about this glass of water?" Sirius asked.
"That there are no spells or potions on the water." Hermione proudly answered.
"One point from Gryffindor for an incorrect answer, Ms. Granger." Sirius calmly replied, shocking everyone. "Does anybody here know what makes Ms. Granger's answer incorrect?"
Draco Malfoy raised his hand. "Mr. Malfoy?"
"The mudblood cast her spell on the glass and not on the water, Sir." Malfoy proudly boasted. All Gryffindors were upset at Malfoy calling Hermione a 'mudblood' even those initially pleased at seeing the know-it-all being wrong and it costing only one point.
"You earned five points to Slytherin for correctly pointing a flaw in Ms. Granger's answer, Mr. Malfoy." Sirius said, making the Slytherins snigger until he added: "You also lose ten points for calling a fellow student that awful name, Mr. Malfoy." He then redirected his attention to Hermione. "Ms. Granger, please cast the spell on the water."
She did as requested and still believed the water to be harmless. "Are you sure enough about this to drink the water?" Sirius maliciously asked.
Something on Sirius' face made Hermione suspect there was something fishy but she was too stubborn to admit the possibility of her being previously wrong… again. "Y-yes."
"Would you wage ten points over that?" Sirius asked.
"What?" She was shocked.
"If you drink the water and nothing happens, Gryffindor gains ten points." Sirius said. "If you drink it and something happens, Gryffindor loses ten points. Do you accept the challenge, Ms. Granger?"
"Yes, Sir." She said and then drank the water. Her skin then became a mixture of red and gold. "Ms. Granger, who just lost Gryffindor ten points, drank a prank potion Prongs and I developed during our student days with some help from Moony or Professor Such as he became known recently. While the spell she demonstrate could have detected some spells and potions, a highly trained wizard or witch can do something specialis revelio cannot detect. That's why Alastor Moody usually drinks from his own flask. Ms. Granger was lucky for not drinking a poison prepared by Professor Snivellus considering I asked him to brew something. If you don't believe me, you can ask Karkaroff to confirm." Now Harry was sure Sirius only asked Snape so Karkaroff would remain scared.
The day of the Second Task finally arrived and Harry, Ron and Neville were wondering why Hermione wasn't with them. "Maybe she doesn't want to be seen in public after all the spells she suffered from those idiots who believed the lies Rita Skeeter published about her." Ron suggested.
"Her original look is already bad enough for this." Pansy Parkinson said as she showed up.
"Shut up, Parkinson!" Ron angrily shouted. Right after that, Headmaster Dumbledore announced the second task. At the bottom of the Great Lake, three people were being held captive. Each one is someone a Champion cared deeply for. Each Champion had one hour to rescue their respective hostage. The Champions knew it'd not be an easy task because of the dangerous creatures residing the lake.
After the Champions dove, the viewers had nothing to do but wait until any of them returned or the one hour went up. "Harry, those underwater cameras you and Mione told me about would indeed be a good idea." Ron commented.
"I'm impressed that Viktor Krum partially turned himself into a shark." Neville commented. "I'd have eaten gillyweed."
"Gillywhat?" Ron asked in confusion. Neville then explained what he read about gillyweed from a book. Eating gillyweed temporarily enabled people to breathe underwater. Harry and Ron were a little horrified upon learning that Elladora Ketteridge, the first witch to learn about that effect, would have suffocated to death because of that if not for the bucket of water she stuck her head into. They even pitied her once they learned that someone named Beaumont Marjoribanks got credit for that one hundred years later.
One hour after the task started, none of the champions returned. It was later revealed that Viktor Krum overestimated his shark teeth and hoped to be able to chew the chains binding Hermione to the bottom of the lake. Cedric Diggory was another one who failed to cut the chains. Fleur Delacour didn't even reach the bottom because of the creatures inhabiting the lake. Each one of her adversaries earned more points than her.
End chapter.