Chapter Twenty-Three: The Golden Egg

It was after the New Year that Harry began to worry about the Egg. He had asked Hermione to help him ages ago, shortly after the First Task, and though she had promised to get back to him a day later, she hadn't. The teachers had begun setting demanding homework tasks for the fourth years, leaving Hermione loaded with essays and books to read, and Harry knew he wouldn't have liked it if someone had bothered him and he'd been trying to work.

When McGonagall had announced the Yule Ball most students had been too concerned about the dance, Christmas and homework to even think about the second task. Harry, himself, had also been bogged down in homework; however on Tuesday 12th January 1995 he decided to ask Hermione about it.

Finding her in the common room, Harry quickly made his way over to her.

"Hermione?"

"Hmm?" she didn't look up, but instead kept scribbling on the parchment.

"Did you find out anything about a spell I could use to decipher this language?" The word 'decipher' had come from Sirius when Harry had talked to him about the Egg. Since then Harry had been thinking about deciphering the Egg, but hadn't found a good way to get around it.

Hermione shook her head. "I'm sorry. Too much work to do," she frowned. "Hang on. Tell you what, I'll go and check in the library in a minute, and I'll get back to you tomorrow. I really promise this time."

"Thanks," Harry smiled and then left Hermione, who had already started writing again.

True to her word Hermione came to find him after classes on Wednesday. They found a quiet corner in the Gryffindor Common Room. Hermione reached into her bag and produced a large, thick-bound book entitled: CREATURES OF THE DEEP. She gave it to Harry who looked at it quizzically.

"Eh, what is this for?"

"You told me there was some sort of language that you couldn't understand - and I hope you don't mind this, but during lunch today I came up here and listened to the Egg. It was horrible, screechy, and I can understand why you can't work it out. It's too…what's the word I'm looking for?" There was a frown on her face.

"Incomprehensible?" guessed Harry.

Hermione shook her head. "No." Then she clicked her fingers. "Murky!"

"Murky?" Now Harry was confused.

Hermione nodded enthusiastically. "Like the lake outside."

"Right…"

"So I thought I'd look for creatures that may exist in the lake. So I found this book. And the one thing it mentions is Merpeople."

"Merpeople?"

"You know, like the Disney film, The Little Mermaid?"

"I've never seen it. The Dursley's didn't exactly let me watch what I wanted to when I lived with them," he elaborated.

"Oh. Well it is about a mermaid princess called Ariel who has the most beautiful voice and she wants to become human. By the end she has become human."

"And what's this got to do with the Egg?" Harry felt confused. Was Hermione going off on a tangent?

"This book mentions Merpeople that live in the deeps of lakes and seas. And in Hogwarts legends it says that they inhabit the Lake. Also," Hermione continued before Harry could get a word in, "they are known to have a beautiful singing voice that can only be heard underwater."

"And you think the language in the Egg is that?"

"Worth a try isn't?" Hermione suggested.

"I suppose," frowned Harry. "If it doesn't work then what do I do?"

"No idea, but I think that is your solution."

"Right," Harry nodded. "Thanks Hermione. I'll go and try this theory now."

"Good-luck!" she called after him.

The Gryffindor baths were not luxurious, but at least the one room the boys had was lockable. There were two baths, one for the boys and another for the girls in their own bathroom. Harry ran the taps, before settling down in the hot water. He paddled around for a bit before he reached for the Golden Egg, examining it.

Taking a deep breath, he ducked under water and opened the Egg at the same time. Hermione had been right. The sounds that had erupted above water were now comprehensible. Instead of a screeching sound there was a lovely, soft voice that trailed through the water, embracing Harry's ears.

"Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you are 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 won't come back"

Resurfacing, he shut the egg, before floating on his back, considering the details. It definitely looked like Hermione had been right about the Merpeople. He frowned, thinking over each sentence. Getting out of the small bath, he retrieved his towel, quickly dried himself and put on his dressing gown. He paced around the bath, his mind working.

"Come seek us where our voices sound…. That has got to be the Lake. I think that's a definite, especially if that little song mentions that they cannot sing above the ground, which is exactly what Hermione said. Hmmm…" he rubbed his chin. "By the looks of things they've taken something I'll sorely miss, but what could that be? I've have an hour to retrieve it, but if I go past an hour I won't get it back."

"The big question is, how will I breathe underwater?" Harry wondered aloud.

Once again, Harry had spoken to Hermione. He had told her the song and she had agreed with what he had made of it. The only problem that Hermione had was with the breathing underwater part of the task. She consulted books in the library, with Harry and Ron helping, but neither of them could find anything. Throughout the rest of January and up to the day before the task all three looked, trying to discover anything that would aid Harry to survive underwater for an hour.

By dinner time all three had given up. The only solution Ron had was to ask the teachers, but not even Harry was willing to go to any of them. Not even Sirius had been able to hint to him this time either, for he had been official stumped.

Harry returned to the library in his Invisibility Cloak during the night, but all his efforts came to nothing. He could not find a thing. And he felt that without discovering a way to breathe underwater, he was going to lose something that was very dear to him.

To be continued...