A few minutes later Harry sent Hedwig away with a short note.

Cedric, Viktor, and Fleur weren't sure what Harry was up to, but not too long after Harry sent Hedwig away, Hedwig returned with the letter, which Harry had turned into a Portkey, and Ludo Bagman.

"So, Harry?" said Ludo cheerfully, "Why do we need to talk?"

"I have some suspicions about what the Second Task entails and I don't approve of what I suspect are the contents of the Second Task," said Harry clearly.

"What don't you approve of then?' inquired Bagman.

"I sense that "we've taken what you'll sorely miss" really means "we've taken who you'll sorely miss" piped up Harry disapprovingly, "You're intending to set up a hostage/rescue task."

Bagman's face went as white as if he were a ghost and had seen a ghost at the same time, giving away that Harry was right.

"Well," said Bagman, defending the contents of the Second Task, "People will miss people who they're close with far more than any things."

"That's true," said Harry firmly, "My problem is that you want to make sport out of a hostage/rescue situation. "

"None of the hostages will be in any real dang-"

"MANY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN EMOTIONALLY SCARED FOR LIFE BY BEING VICTIMS OF HOSTAGE SIUTATIONS OR HAVING A LOVED ONE BE A VICTIM OF SUCH. it's NOT SOMEHTING TO MAKE LIGHT OF AND IT'S NOT SOMETHING TO MAKE A GAME, SPORT, OR COMPETITON OF! IT'S A SLAP IN THE FACE TO ACTUAL HOSTAGE VICITIMS TO CREATE A PRETEND HOSTAGE SIUTATION LIKE THIS!" exploded Harry.

"Harry has a point," said Cedric supportively, "I would suggest that instead of a hostage situation that we have a hunting for treasure competition for the Second Task."

"But-" began Bagman.

"No buts," said Harry clearly, "If you do not change the contents of the Second Task away from being a Hostage Challenge, then all four of us will retire as Triwizard Champions and we will refuse to play the rest of the Triwizard Tournament."

"By the way," added Fleur, "Stealing possessions that we already own isn't the answer either. You never know what possessions might hold emotional significance to someone and such possessions should also not be used in an event like this."

"What should happen, if you want this kind of task," called out Viktor, "Is one of two things. Either put bars of gold by the mermaids and have the task be to retrieve the bars of gold and return them to the starting point with the fastest champion earning the most points. The other option is to forgo the mermaid thing altogether and have an hourlong underwater search challenge. Hide gold bars underwater in the lake and each bar that a champion finds within the time limit is a worth a certain number of points. This would allow the Second Task to test both our search skills and underwater stamina without making sport of serious stuff. "

"Well, I suppose some consideration could be given to changing the contents of the Second Task," said Bagman uncertainty.

"It's either that or this tournament is over!" declared Harry.

Harry put out his right hand and said clearly, "Cedric, Viktor, and Fleur, touch my right hand with your right hands if you agree that we have agreed not to do the Second Task as currently constituted.

Cedric, Viktor, and Fleur immediately placed their right hands upon Harry's right hand.

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