Chapter Twenty-Four: The Second Task

"Harry Potter must wake up, sir!"

"Wha…?" Harry awoke with a start from his dream. He turned his head to stare right into a pair of round, wide eyes. "Dobby? What are you doing here?"

"I work here sir! But Harry Potter must hurry! You've got ten minutes!"

"Ten minutes to when?"

"The Second Task!" wheezed Dobby.

"What? You can't be serious?"

"I am, Harry Potter sir."

Horror struck in his eyes. He had been in the library all night, desperately trying to find something that would help, but he had failed.

"You must go join the other champions!"

Harry shook his head. "I can't. I have no way of breathing under water."

"I know sir!" Dobby was almost jumping.

"What is it?" Harry asked dubiously. Could he trust the house-elf?

"Gillyweed, sir!"

"What does that do?"

"Helps you breathe underwater, sir."

"It does?" Harry was feeling much more pleased with Dobby's presence now. He had given him a way of completing the task. Dobby stuffed a substance into Harry's hand, which suspiciously looked like a slimy, greyish-green rat tails. A sudden curiosity overcame him. "How'd you know about it? That task?"

"I heard Professor McGonagall and Professor Black talking about it in the staff room…Dobby cannot let Harry Potter lose his Godfather!"

A sudden coldness erupted in the pit of his stomach. He swallowed nervously. "They've got Sirius?"

The elf nodded. "You must go, Harry Potter, sir!"

Harry nodded, feeling numb inside. He took off at a run, the Gillyweed held firmly in his hand. He ran through the Entrance Hall, ignoring the staring eyes of the few stragglers. He leapt down the steps and into the chilly wind as he ran as fast as he could towards the lake. He didn't stop until he reached the judging table. He struggled to breathe as he stumbled over an excuse. "I'm…here…Sorry," he panted.

Harry's eyes caught Dumbledore's and the headmaster gave him a small smile, but Harry could not return it. He swept his gaze up where the teachers were sitting and could not find Sirius anywhere. Turning his eyes towards the lake he let out a slow breath as he considered his options.

Bagman was moving in front of each champion. "All right everyone? Know what you are going to do?"

Harry nodded, still panting as he struggled to catch his breath.

Bagman pointed his wand at his throat and said: "Sonorus!" Immediately his voice echoed over the stadium, his voice reaching those students at the back of the stadium. "Well, all our champions are ready for the Second Task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them: on the count of three, then. One…Two…Three!" The whistle sounded.

Pulling his shoes and socks off, Harry held the Gillyweed up to his mouth. Then he stuffed it into his mouth as he waded out into the lake. Icy cold water reached his legs. His clothes held him down, and his feet slid and slipped over the flat stones. He was chewing as fast as he could. The taste was horrible, unpleasant and rubbery, like octopus tentacles.

He was waist deep in water once he had stopped swallowing and waited for something to happen. Behind him he could hear the jeers of the Slytherins. He began to shiver, the icy water causing his body temperature to lower.

Then his head erupted in pain. He tried to breathe but found he could not. His lungs were empty; pain on his neck. Reaching up he ran his fingers along his throat discovering two large slits just below his ears, desperately trying to draw in air. He had gills. He couldn't breathe above water. Diving forward, he swam into the lake, going completely underwater, taking deep breathes as cold, lake water passed into his gills, sending oxygen into his brain.

His hands and feet had changed too. They were webbed. He looked at them in wonder. Even as he considered the changes the Gillyweed had conflicted upon his body, he realised that he no longer was disturbed by the coldness of the lake. My body temperature is adjusting itself to accommodate me.

He pushed forward, swimming far with the aid of his gills. He could see the beauty of the lake and he discovered he could no longer blink. As he dived into the depths, heading towards what he hoped was the direction where Sirius was. Small fish darted by him, but as he swam he began to get concerned that he hadn't found a trace of the Merpeople or any of the other champions.

As he travelled through the gloom something reached out and grabbed his ankle, pulling him down. He twisted his body round, his eyes widening as he realised that it was a Grindylow.

Its teeth were bared as it emerged from the weed. Harry pushed his hands into his robes and grabbed hold of his wand. Two more Grindylows had emerged from the weed, helping the first to haul him down. Pointing his wand at the three of them he shouted: "Relashio!" But no sound came out. Instead a large bubble issued from his mouth, and his wand, instead of sending sparks at the Grindylows, sent a steam of boiling water which caused red patches to rise on their green skin. In an instant he had pulled free from their grip and swam as fast as he could. Glancing back he sent one more jet of water at them before he was out of their hold.

Suddenly a ghostly shape of a girl appeared in front of him. He recognised her immediately: Moaning Myrtle. The ghost pointed to the left of Harry, and said: "You might want to try over there! I won't come with you…I don't like them very much, they always chase me when I get to close…"

Harry shook his head. Why was Myrtle here? How had she got there? There was no time to answer those questions now, as he swam to the left as fast as he could, further into the darkness. He didn't know how long he swam for, only that he was heading deeper into the lake. Then, after what seemed like ages, his ears caught the sound of singing:

"An hour long you'll have to look,

And recover what we took…"

Swimming faster than he ever thought possible Harry sped onwards, soon passing a large rock that had carvings on the side showing Merpeople that carried spears and chasing something that looked like the legendary squid. The song continued as he neared.

"…your time's half-gone, so tarry not

Lest what you seek stays here to rot…"

Half an hour? Harry's mind thought numbly. He didn't have long left. He had to find Sirius before it was too late otherwise he would lose him forever…and if that happened he would have to go back and live with the Dursleys. He shuddered at the thought. His determination was renewed however, and he pumped his legs as hard as he could, understanding that if he tarried he would lose his Godfather.

Around him dwellings began to appear, indicating to him that he was getting closer. He stared round at them, noting that they were made from stone, and little gardens were made from weed, and pet Grindylows were tied to a stake outside the doors. Merpeople moved forward, their eyes watching him. He could see them pointing their hands at his webbed feet and hands. Even in the gloom, he could hear their muttering amongst themselves. He rounded a corner and then stopped.

In front of him was the village square. A whole crowd of Merpeople floated at the side; a choir singing the mer-song from the Golden Egg was situated in the centre and behind them rose a statue. His eyes widened as he saw four people bound to the tail of the statue.

"Sirius," said Harry, but all he got was bubbles.

His Godfather was floating in the water, beside Hermione and the Ravenclaw Seeker, Cho Chang. There was also a girl who looked no more than eight, and he was certain that she was Fleur Delacour's sister. He scrutinised them, realising that they must all be in a very deep sleep. Their heads were lolling onto their shoulders and fine bubbles issued from their mouths.

Harry sped towards the hostages without a second thought. He reached out to touch the bindings noting that they were thick, slimy and very strong. He ran his eyes over the mermen who were holding spears. He had read that they were not friendly with strangers, so he decided not to try and ask for the spear. Instead he swam to the bottom and retrieved a sharp looking rock. He began to hack at the bindings that held Sirius, and after a few minutes they broke apart. Sirius continued floating, still unconscious.

As he threw the stone to the lake bottom, he risked a glance round at the hostages. He then swept his gaze, looking for the other champions. No one was appearing. He chewed his lip, wondering what he should do. He wouldn't be able to breathe underwater once the Gillyweed affect had worn off. He had no choice in that matter. If he lost the ability to breathe, he would die.

Hoping that he was doing the right thing, Harry grabbed Sirius by the neck of his robes and made a break for the surface. He glanced back to see one of the other champions arriving. Smiling in relief, Harry began to pump his legs harder. He might just win this Task too…

Lightness began to emerge ahead. With one last kick of his legs he emerged onto the surface, but found that he couldn't breathe. The Gillyweed had not yet worn off. Fortunately Sirius had woken as soon as he had surfaced. Harry lifted his head from underwater and displayed his hands to indicate that he couldn't breathe yet.

Together they headed towards the bank, where the judges were waiting for him. As they swam back, Harry felt pain on the sides of his neck. He glanced back to see Cedric and Cho emerge, swiftly followed by Krum and Hermione a few minutes later. By the time they had reached the bank, the effect of the Gillyweed had worn off. He noticed with some alarm that Fleur Delacour was already on land, and his mind turned to horror as he remembered the girl. Had he left her to a terrible fate?

However as he climbed out of the lake, assisted by Sirius, he noticed that Merpeople were surfacing, and one of them had held of Fleur's sister, and helped her to swim to shore. He smiled in relief.

Then Madam Pomfrey appeared, leading him and Sirius away to the warmness of a tent. A hot potion was forced down his throat, but he didn't care. He had come in first place.

A good ten minutes passed before each of the champions were called back to receive their marks. Ludo Bagman cast the same charm as before to make his voice heard over the wild cheering of the crowd.

Harry stood beside his Godfather, waiting.

"We have decided to reward marks out of fifty! The marks are as follows! Fleur Delacour demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm however she was attacked by Grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points."

"Not bad," Sirius muttered beside him.

"Harry Potter…"

Harry felt his heart leap in his chest.

Bagman continued: "Used Gillyweed to great effect! He was the first to return with his hostage. He returned one minute before the time-limit was up. Therefore we award him the full fifty points!"

Almighty applause erupted from the Gryffindor stands. Harry breathed a sigh of relief. Strong arms wrapped around him. "Good one, Harry!"

"Cedric Diggory was second to return with his hostage. He used the Bubble-Head Charm, but returned one minute outside the time limit. Therefore we award him forty-seven points! Victor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was third to return with his hostage. We award him forty points!"

Harry was in first place. He grinned. The Second Task was over: only the final one to go. He hoped he would survive it.

To be continued...