Year Four: The Goblet of Fire
The three magical schools of Europe compete for eternal glory in the form of the Triwizard Tournament. Death Eaters are rising, gathering followers to join Voldemort. Dark times are approaching, threatening everything Marie loves. It's time for bravery. To be the light in terrible darkness...
Chapter Fifteen-The Second Task
Sleeping became a chore once again. Marie could hardly close her eyes without dreaming up a nightmare where she was sinking further and further into the black lake, weight tied to her feet and she was unable to swim upward. Lungs burning, bubbles escaping her mouth and then with a painful breath she would wake up in a sweat, tangled in her sheets. The merpeople's song echoing in her head, the eerie lilt burned into her memory.
The end of February was approaching quickly as she continued to hide away in the library and bury herself in research. A week before the second task, she had found a charm that would create a bubble of oxygen around the caster's head. Typically used for exploration underwater or in areas where oxygen was a premium. It was a perfect fit for the challenge and she had just a week to master it. So to test it efficiency she would use the spell in the bath or while she was researching in the back of the library to see how long it could last.
She was still confused as to what they were going to take from her. Something she would sorely miss. The Slytherin girl racked her brain trying to pinpoint an item she would miss. A book? A photograph? She didn't exactly have a beloved possession and they wouldn't take her wand away. School work was no longer her first priority as she devoted herself to solving the riddle entirely. She would catch herself singing the song under her breath as she became lost in thought. Exhausted, she pulled out her parchment from her bag to examine her notes once more.
Come seek us where our voices sound, we cannot sing above the ground (The merpeople in the black lake.)
And while you're searching, ponder this: We've taken something you'll sorely miss, (Unknown.)
An hour long you'll have to look, and recover what we took, (The task's time limit, an hour.)
But past an hour-the prospect's black, Too late, it's gone, it won't come back. (The unknown item will be lost.)
Now the task was taking place the following morning on February twenty-fourth at nine-thirty, and she still had no idea what was about to be taken from her. She had the spell worked out, where she was going, but not what she needed to recover. She dropped her head into her folded arms and gave a groan in annoyance. How could she not figure out that single part? Did she really not treasure anything?
"You all right, Marie?" came a familiar voice. Marie looked up to see Marcus Flint stepping around the bookcase, raising a brow. She gave a laugh, running her hands through her hair, only serving to ruffle her rebellious mane.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to bother you," she apologized. The candles were burning low and the library was getting ready to close soon, so she started to pack up her bag. The older student handed her a book from the far end of the table and she promptly returned it to its shelf.
"You didn't answer me," he reminded. She looked up from double checking her bag.
"Answer what?" she asked, not recalling his question. He gave a soft smirk, doing his best not to laugh at her clueless expression.
"I asked if you were all right?" he repeated clearly. "You gave a sound of pain earlier. Finally sick of reading?"
"What? I could never be sick of reading!" she answered with a dramatic gasp. This encouraged a small smile from the older student and she smiled brightly in return. "Sorry, I'm just tired of working on the second task's clue is all."
"Are you ready for tomorrow?" he asked as they headed for the door. She notice the tension in his shoulders and his voice was tight.
"Technically? Yes, I know what to do," she reassured. As they stepped out into the hall, she could still feel the weight of his gaze on her. Glancing up, she was surprised to find stern grey eyes studying her.
"Then what part is bothering you?" he insisted.
"Oh, well, I-I don't know what they're going to take from me," she answered, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, mildly flustered by the stare.
"That's all?"
She nodded. "That's all."
The seventh year gave a heavy sigh, tossing his arm over her shoulder as they continued down the hall. "I'll be happy when this tournament's over..." he muttered. She gave a breathy laugh, leaning in to his side.
"You're telling me."
Their pleasant walk was soon interrupted when they encountered Derrick and Bole. Instead of moving around each other, the Quidditch Beaters brought them to a halt.
"What's going on?" asked Marcus, regarding the two boys oddly.
"Snape wants us to bring you to his office," answered Derrick in his typical straight forward manner. "Just Flint," he added, sensing Marie's question.
"What for?" asked Marcus. "I didn't do anything."
"He didn't tell us. You know Snape, he's not especially chatty," clarified Bole with a shrug. "Looked a bit more severe than usual if that's any help."
"Not exactly," muttered the larger student. "All right, let's go find out what trouble I'm in now. Later, Rogue."
With a small wave from the fourth year, the three older boys walked away, Derrick and Bole flanking their former captain.
"How strange," she mumbled as she made her way back to the dormitories. She needed to review her charm again and try to get a full night's sleep.
As if that was likely.
Once again, the water was all around her, pressing hard against her nose and mouth to keep her from breathing. She kicked her legs but she didn't go anywhere. Images blurred in and out of focus as she thrashed around. Blasts of brilliant green light, Wormtail kneeling before a high backed chair, a chilling laugh, flashes of jagged teeth, the rippling scales from her dragon. Everything was swirling about her, surrounding her, encompassing her very body and mind, the merpeople's song ringing in her head. It all crashed in on her from every angle-
"MARIE!"
With a sharp yelp, green eyes opened and she was so startled she promptly fell out of bed with a loud crash. Shoving her unmindful hair out of her face, she looked up at Millie who was standing at the foot of her bed.
"Millie? What on earth-" The taller girl didn't allow her to finish.
"Marie, you've got to be down at the lake in fifteen minutes!" she explained, breathless.
Scrambling to her feet, Marie pulled on the nearest articles of clothing, doing her best to dress and simultaneously move toward the door.
"Marie, your cloak! It's freezing outside-" The friend's warning went unheard as Marie was already gone.
The fourth year ran as hard as she could, spotting the newly assembled pinstriped tent and the large bleachers that were at the edge of the lake. Students were still filing into the stands as the judges were sitting in their golden chairs, sitting beside their former champions just like the first task. Ludo Bagman was standing with the two other champions, Fleur and Viktor. Marie stumbled to a halt, doubling over to catch her breath.
"I'm here-I'm here!" she declared.
"Excellent show, Miss Rogue. Tad bit close to start time, don't you think?" he asked, still good natured. She nodded, trying to ignore the throbbing stitch in her side. The announcer picked up a bundle of clothes and handed them to her.
"Just like last time, Marie. Go ahead and change in the tent and then come out and stand with the others while we wait for Harry," he instructed. Wordlessly, she took the bundle and hurried into the tent and changed in a timely manner. Her new outfit was a black swimsuit with a wide green stripe up the side, identical in style to Fleur's light blue one. Leaving her old clothes behind, she jogged over to stand at the edge of the lake with the others, barefoot and only armed with her wand and the holster now strapped to her leg.
A stand with a large clock had been conjured and it was ticking very close to nine-thirty and there was no sign of Harry. Fortunately, she had a spare hair tie around her wrist and she pulled her hair up into a tight high ponytail as she scanned the grounds for her brother.
"Where is he?" she muttered. Was he throwing the task? Could he not figure out the clue, even with her help?
The excited babble of the crowd rose as a figure came into her line of sight. Dark robes flapping about him as he flat out ran toward the judge's stand. Checking the clock, her nerves lessened as she saw that he was technically there before the start time.
"I'm...here..." Harry panted.
"Where have you been?" came the bossy voice of Percy Weasley. He was standing in for Barty Crouch again it seemed. "The second task's about to start!"
"Now, now, Percy!" laughed Bagman, who looked incredibly relieved to see the Gryffindor. "Let him catch his breath!" The jolly man picked up Harry's bundle of clothes and ushered him off toward the tent to change as well. A quick moment later, he was ready and standing beside Marie, their toes not quite touching the water's edge. Merlin only knew how frigid the water was going to be.
"All right?" asked Marie quietly.
"All right," he nodded. "You?"
"All right," she gave a weak smile at their lack of eloquence. He gave a tight smile in return, noticing the humor as well.
Ludo Bagman stepped up to the edge of the judges stand that was stationed at the bank of the lake. Bring his wand to his throat, he whispered, "Sonorus!" just like he had at the Quidditch World Cup.
"Well, all of our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They precisely one hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One...two...three!"
Pulse pounding away in her ears, Marie didn't hear the whistle with her adrenaline flowing. She saw the whistle touch his lips and immediately cast her spell. The Bubble formed and welled over her chin, mouth, nose and eyes like a type of mask. Once her air supply was secured, she began to wade out into the water. The lake was unforgivably cold which was only enhanced by the cruel wind that sent chills and goosebumps over her exposed skin. The water was up to her ribs and she took an unconscious breath as she braced herself and finally dove into the water.
The cold was mind numbing as Marie struck out into the body of the lake. It was surreal to experience a strange sensation such as breathing underwater. She still found herself holding her breath at some intervals. It was dark and murky in the lake, she could only see about ten feet ahead of her as she swam. Due to the limited vision, changes in landscape seemed to appear from nowhere. Thick forests of dark coarse weeds, giant rotting logs, and she almost panicked when she thought she saw the giant squid. She certainly didn't want to go up against something of that magnitude. Calming down when she realized that it was a false alarm, she continued on her way.
Without any warning, something grabbed her ankle tightly, jerking her down toward the dark weeds. Twisting about so to gain a better perspective, she saw that it was a grindylow, a type of water demon with long sharply pointed fingers. It bared its pointed teeth at her as she tried to shake it off. His grip didn't break and she reached for her wand clumsily due to the cold. In this time, more had arrived, long nails scratching at her so to gain a hold of some sort and drag her down.
"Flippindo!" she shouted, voice sounding strangely mute in the new environment. Instead of the usual blast of light, a jet of broiling purple liquid came from her wand. The spell seemed just as effective as the grindylows screeched and released her, giving her the opportunity to kick her legs hard and put some distance between herself and the bottom of the lake. She sent a few more spells their way just in case as she continued on her way. She was doing her best to stay to the center of the lake, the most straight forward and likely trail to take, in her opinion. She just hopped she wasn't wrong.
It was impossible to track time as she couldn't account for how long it had taken her to get to her current location. She couldn't even tell how far she was from the shore for that matter. There was no sign of any of the other champions and she couldn't decided if that was a good or bad sign. If she sustained any cuts from the grindylows she couldn't feel them but she did swim faster as she didn't want to possibly attract anything larger than a grindylow with the scent of blood.
"An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took..."
Catching snippets of the merpeople's song, Marie kicked even harder, following the haunting song that had been trapped in her head ever since she cracked the golden egg's clue. The murky water cleared up ahead and she could see a large rock formation coming into focus. There were paintings of merpeople on it, carrying spears and apparently chasing the giant squid in the picture. She passed the rock, a type of front gate as the song continued.
"...your time's half gone, so tarry not
Lest what you seek stays here to rot..."
The time's half gone? Since it was depicted in the song it could only be a generalization which could mean that there was less than a half hour left. Pulse picking up, she pushed herself to swim faster, passing some crude stone housings stained with algae. With the water clearing, she could see further ahead and she caught sight of the nearest merpeople. They looked nothing like the beautiful blonde depicted in the painting. They had grey skin and long, wild, dark green hair. Bright yellow eyes watched her every stroke, equally yellow and jagged teeth bared at her as she passed them. The silver of their fins seemed to be the only bright things in the water, that and the heads of the sharp spears they were carrying. More and more came from their dwellings to point and stare, gesturing to her oxygen mask of sorts.
The further she traveled the more strange the situation became. The civilization was orderly to a degree and even seemed to have a town square of sorts. That was where the merpeople were currently singing in a choir, stationed in front of a large stone statue of some merperson, of importance to them. Her gaze followed the statue down to the upturned tail where four people were tied. Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, a young girl with silver blonde hair, and then at the very end-
"Marcus!" she called out, despite her lack of volume. She swam closer to see that Harry was already there, cutting Ron free with a sharp rock. It took her a moment for her to be level with the seventh year boy, hands cradling his face. It seemed the hostages were in some type of sleep, going by the fact that there were fine streams of bubbles issuing from their mouths. She pulled her wand out again, pointing at the base of the weed like rope that tethered him to the statue.
"Diffindo!" The Severing charm took an extra moment but it did the job and he was free, sinking a few inches.
The Slytherin looked to Harry who seemed to be just waiting around. She tapped her wrist.
"Hurry up!" she shouted, hoping to be heard well enough. He nodded and that was good enough for her. Storing the wand in the holster, she grabbed Marcus by the neck of his robes and began to swim upward.
Now, it had never properly occurred to Marie just how heavy the older boy was in comparison to her physical strength. He was large in height and muscle mass and she was properly overwhelmed by the sheer mass he seemed to carry as she struggled to drag him up. Her body was exhausted from swimming who knows how long, and every time she made a bit of progress the pair seemed to sink a few inches in return. Her fingers were numb and she was constantly readjusting her hold or grabbing him again as he slipped away. The surface seemed ages away as she huffed and gasped, doing everything in her power to claw her way up. Her body was tremoring from the effort as she wheezed, her body daring to become light headed. Her vision started to sway, or was that simply the water?
She could see the sunlight more as they made progress. They were still just a bit away. Was she still within the time frame? What happened if the hour passed? What would happened to Marcus? The stitch returned to her side tenfold while her legs burned as they kicked as hard as they could. Her strength was wavering, fingers weakly gripping the robes, his weight feeling more and more like a large sack of bricks. She couldn't let go. She couldn't stop moving. She had to get Marcus to safety. She had to...
Spots speckled her vision and her Bubble Head charm started to waver. She kicked harder, her legs begging for her to stop working. Just a little longer, a little longer, please! she mentally begged. If only she was stronger, if she could kick harder. They were so close to the surface now, maybe just a dozen feet. That was when her charm shimmered and then vanished all together.
Water crashed in on her face as she stole one last deep breath. Eyes now closed and the frigid liquid crushing against her face, she kicked even harder. That is, she thought she kicked harder. It was so hard to tell with ever growing sensation of numbing that was overtaking her. Her lungs were burning as she fought to keep the last bit of oxygen within her. She didn't dare release one hand to help with swimming as Marcus was too heavy. She couldn't take the risk of accidentally letting go.
Bubbles escaped her as she gave another surge of great effort, yanking the troll wizard as far up as she could go. The last bit of air was gone, her lungs were empty. This was the last chance and she threw everything she had into it. Legs kicking fiercely and arms pulling him upward.
The February air was sharp with chill that stung her face but it never felt so good as Marie gulped greedy breaths, choking and spitting out water. Her head bobbed under for a moment while she rearranged her hold on Marcus, bring his head up as well. There was cheering from the stands but she hardly heard it as she focused on Marcus. His head was above water, a heavy arm draped over her shoulder and he was still unconscious. Already exhausted, Marie started the final leg of the swim, dipping under every now again from his weight coupled with her exhaustion.
"C'mon Marcus...waking up any time now...would be great..." she wheezed. Nothing happened and fear was started to take root in her chest.
The bank of the lake was a welcomed sight, her knees scraping against the silt and rocks as they finally made it into shallow water.
"Marie Rogue is the first to return back with her hostage! Just five minutes outside the time limit!" announced Ludo Bagman to the cheering crowd.
Madame Pomfrey and other teachers hurried to the shore, separating Marie from Marcus. She saw them lay the boy flat on his back, still unresponsive. The nurse lifted her to her feet and wrapped her tightly in a thick wool blanket. A Pepper-up potion was forced down her throat to battle the cold while Pomfrey tried to take account of the scratches she had attained from the grindylows, the depth and the amount. Marie wasn't even aware of them as she continued to watch the teachers fuss around Marcus.
"Why isn't he waking up?" she vaguely heard herself ask, throat raw. "Is it because of me? Because I wasn't fast enough?" She was interrupted by another bout of cheering and she looked to see Viktor Krum and Hermione emerging from the water. The Gryffindor girl was awake and moving on her own and the panicked only bloomed further within her as she stared wide eyed at Marcus.
Did she do something wrong? Was it because she was too slow? But Hermione was all right and she was retrieved after Marcus. Was it her fault? What did she do?
Professor Snape approached her but she could hardly see him for the tears welling up and blurring her vision. She staggered to meet him half way. What if-what if he was...because she wasn't strong enough...
"Professor-why isn't he waking up?" she asked, voice rising in pitch. "Why won't he wake up? I'm sorry-I'm so sorry-!" Her chest was tight as the hot tears rolled down her pink cheeks. She could scarcely breathe, hysteria close to the breaking point. The sand under her feet started to shift in response to her distress and Snape stepped right up to her, blocking her view of the seventh year.
But past an hour-the prospect's black,
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.
If she was too late...and Marcus couldn't come back...if he was gone...
"Marie, listen to me," Snape said sternly. She only barely noticed the fact that he addressed her by her first name and that he was gripping her shoulder tightly. Her thoughts were too busy trying to wrap around the concept of her losing the person she would sorely miss...
"Listen to me. Marcus Flint was your hostage to recover. Due to his troll genetics, there was a possibility that he may be resilient to the Sleeping Enchantment and we didn't want to take any risk of him waking up early. Madame Pomfrey created a Sleeping Potion to go along with the enchantment. He is fine. His recovery should just take an extra moment more than the others." Her Head of House then stepped aside so that she could see Pomfrey draping an equally thick blanket over the boy's shoulders. He was sitting up and looking around, mildly disoriented. It took just a moment for him to find her, grey eyes locking with green.
A sudden flash of strength overtook Marie as she ran to Marcus. Throwing her arms around his neck, she managed to knock him over with the force of her hug, her blanket falling away. She buried her face in his neck as she cried, body shaking, fingers twisted in his dark hair at the base of his neck. All she could do was apologize and say his name over and over again. His arms wrapped around her tightly as well, perhaps too tight but she didn't care in the slightest. She could feel her heart rate finally relax, the previous fear ebbing away the longer they stayed together.
"I-I thought...I thought you..."
"It's all right, Marie. I knew you'd get me out," he muttered for her to hear. She managed to pull back, enough to look right at him in surprise. He gave a knowing smile. "You've always got my back."
She couldn't recall what had driven her to act on such an impulse, but she reached out, took his face in her hands and pressed her mouth to his. The moment was private as everyone cheered for the final champion surfacing. The gesture was sweet and very brief, a result of the remaining adrenaline. Neither one said a word as Marcus brought her blanket back over her shoulders and embraced her once more, grip too tight but loved nonetheless.
"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 points for each of the champions, as follows..." announced Bagman after the judges' discussion.
"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."
There was polite applause from the stands while Fleur hung her head. "I deserved zero."
"Marie Rogue, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was first to return with her hostage, though she returned five minutes outside the time limit of an hour. We therefore award her forty-seven points." Enormous cheers erupted from the Slytherin section and Marie and Marcus shared a smile.
"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 especially hard, raising his chin in pride.
"Harry Potter used gillyweed to great effect," continued Ludo. "He returned last, and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Merchieftainess informs us that Mr. Potter was first to retrieve the hostages, and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely his own.
"Most of the judges," Ludo gave Karkaroff a very nasty look, "feel that this shows moral fiber and merits full marks. However...Mr. Potter's score is forty-five points."
Marie looked over to Harry with a gasp of surprise. This meant that they were tied for first place and she gave a smile while the Gryffindors roared with celebration.
"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June," continued Ludo Bagman. "The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions."
Madame Pomfrey was quick to heard the champions and hostages inside so to change into dry clothes and finish mending up the remaining cuts and damages. Marie walked in a daze, relief daring to send her into a deep and peaceful sleep. She didn't have to start worrying about the third task until the end of May. Thank goodness.
For now, she was more than content to walk up to the castle with Marcus' arm over her shoulder, as if nothing was wrong. She had survived the second task.
REVIEW! Your thoughts would be much loved as always! So there you have it, the second task all wrapped up! Lots of different emotions and moments in this chapter, whew!
Next time: A Hogsmeade trip (maybe a Sirius sighting?), perhaps a Rita Skeeter article, and a chat with Professor Snape!
I hope you enjoyed!