[Misty]
The morning of the Second Task was misty.
It cleared soon enough, but Viktor had never liked mist. It had always made it extremely difficult to see the snitch whenever he played Quidditch. It reduced Viktor's ability to see and that was the sense that Viktor depended on most.
Viktor had figured out exactly what to do, without needing any more of Harry's help. His Transfiguration had never been too shabby, and Viktor had taken Harry's "use your strengths" to heart this time.
In fact, Viktor hadn't seen Harry since yesterday. The Weasley twins had arrived to dinner late, whispering conspiratorially between themselves. Viktor had wanted to surprise Harry by his lack of nerves this time. He hadn't even been in his room when everyone had been called down to breakfast with the other schools. Viktor had waited there for Harry.
The whistle sounded and Viktor dived into the murky depths, wand immediately moving to cast the human transfiguration charm. It was a bit trickier than Viktor was used to, and didn't always work. Even now, only his upper body transformed but that was good enough to prevent him from drowning.
Viktor immediately followed the faint trail in the water. It smelt of human, and something more watery. He didn't bother looking back at the other two champions, sure that they had found their own methods. The swim was longer than Viktor had expected it to be, but the smell of human only grew stronger, and Viktor knew that he was on the right route.
He smelt a hint of blood far behind him, but Viktor didn't let that distract him. He needed to get this over and done with. He could go back later if he had to.
The blood-red robed were a dead-giveaway. Viktor wondered how Harry had managed to agree to this, but didn't think more of it as he ripped the rope into two pieces, Harry trailing behind him.
As they broke through the surface of the water, Viktor heard Harry take a large gasp of air. His own partial transfiguration faded as the sound of cheering met his ears.
"Took you long enough," Harry told Viktor in amusement as they swam over to the stands. "Are you sure you didn't get lost on the way?"
Viktor rolled his eyes, not taking Harry's words to heart with the half smile that had curled around Harry's lips.