The Second Task
To ashpar08- Glad you liked it…thanks for reviewing!
To Courtney-Tamara- thanks for reviewing…keep reading…you'll find out soon, who Kitty ends up with!
Disclaimer: I don't own HP.
The next day, when Kitty and Vandyll joined her brother for breakfast in the Great Hall, he had a lot to tell them. "I swear, I heard Kararoff telling Snape, that something's becoming clearer. He sounded freaked out. And then, Snape told him to flee. What do you make of that?" said Harry, whispering. Kitty did not seem too bothered, "Well, if you ask me, they could have been talking of almost anything."
"Yeah, but since when have Snape and Karkaroff been on such good terms?" said Harry. Kitty shrugged and helped herself to some toast. Ron and Hermione were being friendly again, though oddly formal. Harry also told her about what Cedric had told him: to take his egg in the Prefect's bathroom for a bath. "Well, if that's the best Pretty boy Diggory can come up with, he doesn't stand much of a chance of winning the Tournament," said Harry.
"Wait!" said Kitty, jumping up, "Wait here, I'll be back within two minutes," she said and ran towards the Ravenclaw dormitory. A few minutes later, Harry saw her walking up him, clutching a thick book, under her arm. "Hermione gave me this for Christmas," she said, panting, and set the book down on the table. It was entitled, Merpeople: A Comprehensive Guide to their Language and Customs.
"Hermione gave you this?" said Harry, looking at her. "Well, Moody told me it was a good read, when I was in Tomes and Scrolls, buying Kitty her Christmas present," said Hermione defensively. "Really, it doesn't matter," said Kitty impatiently, as she opened the book and pointed out a paragraph to them.
'The language of the Merpeople, is called Mermish, and sounds to humans like music, under water. Above the ground, however, it sounds like a loud, screechy wailing, much like a banshee. The Merpeople speak in rhymes, mostly in the iambic meter...' Kitty looked up triumphantly at Harry. "That's why your egg wails when you open it!"
"But that means…no...," said Harry slowly, "That means, the next task is under the water." He looked around. "You know how to swim, don't you?" asked Vandyll. Harry nodded, "Yeah but…"He broke off.
About a week before the task, Harry joined Kitty and Luna at the Ravenclaw table, and told her that he had figured out the egg clue. Vandyll saw them talking, and hurried over. Harry showed Kitty a paper, on which was written:
'Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you re searching, ponder this:
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took,
But past an hour- the prospect's black,
Too late, it's gone, it wont come back.'
"And, get this, yesterday night, when I was returning from the Prefect's bathroom, I saw Mr. Crouch in Snape's office…on the Marauder's Map, I mean. I almost got caught by Snape. And you know what; Moody searched Snape's office when he got here. He said that Dumbledore had told him to. He reckons Snape is still a Death Eater." Kitty frowned, "That's not fair, Harry, Snape's not bad. Besides Dumbledore trusts him, or he wouldn't be teaching here, would he? Besides you just hate him, because he picks on you."
"Wait, I haven't finished yet. After Snape went back to bed, I told Moody about seeing Crouch on the map, and he said that Crouch was obsessed with catching dark wizards." "Well, so's Moody, for that matter," said Kitty, "Well, I'm glad you didn't get in trouble. But I think you should forget about it and concentrate on the second task?" Harry nodded.
"Now, there aren't many things you can do to breathe under the water," said Kitty, "I thought perhaps a bubble head charm, but that's NEWT standard. What about an Aqua-lung?" Harry shook his head. "Hermione reckons that I can't learn to operate it in an hour," he said.
"How about the Drought Charm?" suggested Vandyll. "You can't dry up an entire lake, Van," said Kitty. They spent the entire week in the library, looking up charms and incantations that might help Harry. "Oh this is no use," Hermione said, snapping shut Weird Wizarding Dilemmas. "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?" Kitty looked up. Fred and George had just emerged from behind some bookshelves. "What're you two doing here?" Kitty asked.
"Looking for you," said George. "McGonagall wants you, Kitty. And you, Hermione."
"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. Kitty and Hermione followed Fred and George out of the library.
"You don't reckon she's going to tell us off for helping Harry, do you?" said Kitty, as they knocked on Professor Mcgonagall's office. "Dunno," said Hermione. "Enter," said Professor Mcgonagall's voice. Hermione and Kitty entered the office.
Inside stood Professor Mcgonagall, looking grim, Dumbledore, Cedric Diggory's date, Cho Chang and a small 8 year old girl, whom Kitty recognized as the one who had asked her for the cassoulett, back on the day Beauxbatons had arrived.
Dumbledore spoke up, "Now that you ladies are here, I must tell you that you will be deprived from watching the second task of the Tournament. This is because we have found a much better use for you. You will assist the champions in their task. Ms. Granger, you shall assist Mr. Krum, Ms. Chang, you will assist Mr. Diggory, Ms. Potter, you will assist Mr. Potter, and Ms. Delacour," said Dumbledore smiling at the little girl, "You will assist your sister, Ms. Delacour."
Kitty wondered how she, being a first year, would help Harry win this task. "I will be putting you in a bewitched sleep, and then, you will be taken to the middle of the lake. There you will be tied up to four posts, and wait for your champions to rescue you." The words of the merpeople came back to Kitty's head, 'We've taken what you'll sorely miss...'
"I assure you," continued Dumbledore calmly, "that you will come to no harm. If your champions are not able to locate and rescue you, you will be transported back my office in no time. Now, let's waste no more time."
Dumbledore pointed his wand at Fleur's sister, and muttered something inaudible under his breath. He did the same to Hermione and Cho. When, he turned to Kitty, she hoped fervently that Harry had found something to help him breathe under the lake. The next thing she knew, her attention was drifting, and Mcgonagall's office seemed to be becoming blurry.
"On the count of three, then. One...two...three!" said whistle echoed shrilly in the cold, still air; the stands erupted with cheers and applause; without looking to see what the other champions were doing, Harry pulled off his shoes and socks, pulled the handful of gillyweed out of his pocket, stuffed it into his mouth, and waded out into the lake.
He swam deeper and deeper, out toward the middle of the lake, his eyes wide, staring through the eerily gray-lit water around him to the shadow beyond, where the water became opaque. There was no sign of any of the merpeople, or Kitty, or the other champions. "How are you getting on?"
Harry thought he was having a heart attack. He whipped around and saw Moaning Myrtle floating hazily in front of him, gazing at him through her thick, pearly glasses. "You want to try over there!" she said, pointing. "I won't come with you...I don't like them much, they always chase me when I get too close..." she said.
He swam on for what felt like at least twenty minutes. He was passing over vast expanses of black mud now, which swirled murkily as he disturbed the water. Then, at long last, he heard a snatch of haunting mersong.
"An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took..."
Merpeople were emerging on all sides now, watching him eagerly, pointing at his webbed hands and gills, talking behind their hands to one another. Harry sped around a corner and a very strange sight met his eyes.
A whole crowd of merpeople was floating in front of the houses that lined what looked like a mer-version of a village square. A choir of merpeople was singing in the middle, calling the champions toward them, and behind them rose a crude sort of statue; a gigantic merperson hewn from a boulder. Four people were bound tightly to the tail of the stone merperson.
Kitty was tied between Hermione and Cho Chang. There was also a girl who looked no older than eight, whose clouds of silvery hair made Harry feel sure that she was Fleur Delacour's sister. All four of them appeared to be in a very deep sleep. Their heads were lolling onto their shoulders, and fine streams of bubbles kept issuing from their mouths.
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