Disclaimer: I own nothing but my mistakes.
Chapter 15: Between a Hammer and a Hard Place
The morning of the second task everyone aboard the airship was frantic, though not because of the task. Hermione, Sharra and Luna were missing. It was quickly confirmed that they hadn't left by the door, as neither the guards nor the house elves who had also been watching had seen any of them. Yet when the ship was searched none of them were there.
Unfortunately, Dean Horsefeather had her suspicion where the girls were. If she was correct there would be no way to avoid a war. That was if their families didn't just kill Dumbledore and the Minister themselves.
It wasn't difficult for Dean Horsefeather to locate Dumbledore. He was already down at the shore overseeing the placement of the stands for the spectators. She knew that it was foolish but there was a part of her that hoped that Dumbledore wasn't involved. But she knew that there was virtually no chance that the girls weren't at the bottom of the lake.
Dumbledore sighed as he saw the angry woman heading towards him. He waved off the ministry lacky that he had been speaking to and turned to face her. "I take it you have yet another complaint."
"Yes, I made it clear to you that none of my students were to be used in this task."
Dumbledore blinked in surprise; he had spent a good deal of time rehearsing his reactions. "Yes, you did which is why the ministry took over negotiations. I was led to believe that a compromise had been reached. I assume that I was mistaken?"
"You aren't in charge of hostages?" Dean Horsefeather asked in surprise.
"Only for Mr. Diggory, his mother should be here shortly to take her place as his hostage." Dumbledore said.
"And who at the ministry was supposed to be negotiating with me?" Dean Horsefeather asked, unsure if she believed him.
"Madam Umbridge was appointed to the task. Here she comes, following your group. Oh, dear this does look troublesome." Dumbledore focused a considerable amount of his mental skills to keep from laughing. This was perfect.
Madam Umbridge would take the blunt of their anger, he had insured that his involvement was erased and others were in place to take the fall. Ture this would most likely result in some heavy fines and such against the ministry. Well Fudge had mostly lived out his usefulness, perhaps now a new minister could be elected. One who was more open to the Greater Good.
He had planned the task carefully. Both miss Black and miss Granger had been placed in the lake. Harry would of course save his sister; this would leave miss Granger for Daniel. He had had Daniel practicing for over a week to make sure he could properly pull off the bit of acting that was required of him. He would apologize to her, admit that he had regretted everything that had happened to her.
Yes, it would be a foot in the door with Harry's party. Hopefully miss Granger had information that he could take to Madam Bones and get the ministry on his side. Once that was done steps could be taken to return Harry to his family and investigate his connection to Daniel's ability to fight Voldemort.
And this would also be a bit of revenge against Madam Umbridge, that woman had no idea how to be subtle and was quickly becoming a pain in his side.
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Madam Umbridge waited, concealed near enough to that accursed flying balloon to keep watch. She was pleased as she saw the burst of activity shortly after dawn. When that brat Black left surrounded by his family of traitors and mudbloods she carefully followed. She was frustrated when she found herself unable to get close enough to plant the tag that she had been given on Black. She needed a distraction, and as it happened a distraction was just what she got.
"So Black ready to lose?" Daniel asked as he swaggered towards the group, his own supporters following eagerly behind him.
"I'm not in the mood Potter." Harry growled as he moved around Daniel.
"Hey don't ignore me like that!" Daniel made a grab for Harry's shoulder but his brother just stepped to the side.
Before he could try again Cedric hurried over, worried by the Wandwood groups apparent anger and their missing member. "What's going on?"
"Hermione Sharra and Luna were taken from the ship. One guess where they are." Harry said with a glare towards the lake.
Madam Umbridge smiled, Black and Diggory had fallen slightly behind while they spoke. Everyone's attention was elsewhere. She held up the small tag and banished it towards Black. And then Potter shoved Black and was unknowingly hit instead.
She paled, no no no that wasn't supposed to happen. If anything happened to Potter the ministry would hang for it. She needed to do something; she couldn't stop the task though. Mcnair! Surely, he'd be able to call off his beast. She needed to find him immediately.
Before she could hurry away though she was waylaid by that idiotic Dean. "Excuse me I have important business to attend to." Umbridge attempted to shove past her but suddenly the rest of Blacks group had surrounded her.
"Where are my students?"
Umbridge, secure in the knowledge that she had the protection of the ministry puffed up her chest. "You students received the honor of being selected as hostages for the task. They have already been moved to the lake to await rescues."
"I see, appropriate choice of words." The Dean was ready to let the group rip the toad apart when Harry made a motion to let her pass.
Reluctantly the other did before they turned to him for an explanation. Harry held up his hands to ward off their disapproving glares. "Look I want to curse her as much as anyone but I didn't want anyone to do something that their ministry could use to wiggle their way out of this. Beating her up would probably give them enough room to avoid the worst punishment. I want them to hang for this."
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Harry stepped onto the platform with the other champions, he had finally convinced the rest of the group not to jump in and help him rescue the girls. It wasn't that he didn't want to get to them as soon as possible but rather that he didn't trust Dumbledore or the Ministry not to have something rigged that would 'accidently' kill them if there was outside interface.
The group of aurors around the shore tasked with preventing interference also helped make his point. The compromise was that they would watch and wait. Only jumping in if they had to. Harry hoped between him Cedric and Krum that they'd be able to rescues the hostages without the need for anyone else to risk themselves.
While the task was underway the airship would be prepared to leave. There really wasn't a choice about staying now, Harry would be surprised if war wasn't declared the moment the airship was out of the country.
Despite everything that had happened there was a part of Harry that had always believed the English Ministry would have stopped short of something that would really start a war. He hadn't truly believed that they would be so stupid.
Next to Harry stood Cedric and Krum, the three of them were wearing the latest version of their wetsuits and breathing masks. Each had extra masks and various other supplies strapped to their belts. The gathering crowd were confused that three champions from different schools all wore the same clothing, except for small variations in color and the crests on each suit. Many thought that it was just insulting of them, it clearly showed that they had planned together before the task. Though those same people would agree that the three champions looked very dangerous.
Further along Daniel Potter wore an old-fashioned stripped bathing suit that wouldn't have looked out of place a century before on a muggle beach. He gave the other male champions a wary look. He knew the task; he knew the plan Dumbledore had given him but they were the ones that looked like they were in control.
Finally, Fleur stood on Daniel's other side wearing a shimmering one-piece silver bathing suit that had a majority of the men in the crowd drooling. Harry barely spared either Daniel or Fleur a thought beyond briefly wondering where Fleur had gotten her suit and if he could get Hermione one. He shook his head to focus himself back on the task. He could let his thoughts wonder to more pleasant things after the girls were safe.
He tapped his foot waiting for the task to start. His fingers played with his breathing mask. Finally, the judges made their way onto the platform and explained the task to the crowd. As soon as they finished and the cannon blast sounded Harry slapped his mask to his face and dove into the lake. The sticking charms along the seal clung to his skin. Beside him Cedric and Krum kept pace.
Fleur had gone with the bubble head charm and was swimming deeper into the lake, towards the very bottom. Daniel was a few second behind her. His altered appearance told them that he had used gillyweed.
The other two champions were ignored by the trio who stuck close to the surface, occasionally breaking the water to find their position. They knew where the village was and had decided to stick close to the surface where the threats of the lake were lowest.
Following all of the champions were the golem eyes, showing the crowd what was happening beneath the fridged waters. They began to cheer as Fleur was the first champion to encounter trouble, a swarm of grindylows, her wand flashed as she desperately fought them off.
Several of the judges smiled, this was much more entertaining than watching the lake without any indication of what was happening. They turned to congratulate Dean Horsefeather on her wonderful idea, only to be meet with a stoney face and glare.
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The North American Minister was awoken by a frantic call from Watson. "The English kidnapped several students from Wandwoods airship for their task and stuck them under a lake."
He cursed, that airship was considered north American territory. A forging government had just illegally entered the country, kidnapped children and transported across international borders for the purpose of being hostages. Yeah, this was going to start a war. "Call the congress together, I'll be right there."
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Harry Cedric and Krum were half way to the village when Cedric caught sight of spell fire below and to the right. "Should we check it out?"
"We probably should." Harry said as they swam towards the lights. He was half expecting to find a sea monster or some such creature had been brought in to make the task more interesting. As they approached the mass of water plants that the spell fire was coming from, they saw Fleur being swarmed by the grindylows.
Despite her quick casting and struggles the sheer number of attackers was dragging her down into the tangle of weeds and kelp. They knew once the grindylows got her into it she wouldn't be able to get back out. They'd tie her up until she drowned or bleed out from the gashes they opened.
"Right, on three we blast them. Cedric, you check on her while Victory and I cover you." Harry said as they raised their wands. "One… Two… Three!"
They shot their spells over Fleur into the swarm of grindylows, the foul creatures flew off in all directions screeching. Harry and Victor sent a few more spells chasing them while Cedric swam down to check on Fleur.
As he got closer, he saw that while she was struggling to free herself, her bubblehead charm had failed. He quickly pulled one of the masks from his belt and slapped it onto her face. The mask filled with bubbles as it removed the water and replaced it with breathable air.
Fleur took several greedy breaths while Cedric cut away the weeds that had already tangled around her legs. She said something in French.
Cedric shook his head. "Sorry, don't think any of us speak French."
Fleur watched him with surprised eyes through her mask. "You can hear me?"
He tapped his own mask. "Communication built in. The Wandwood students really are geniuses."
Harry's voice sounded in their masks. "I hate to interrupt but they're coming back with friends."
To his dying day Cedric would remember the predatory smile that appeared on Fleur's face. "Good, I wish a rematch."
Fleur kicked her way above the bed of weeds and turned to face the approaching swarm.
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Many in the crowd were disappointed that the other champions had intervened to rescue Fleur. Some were jealous of the reward they imagined her giving them later, some felt that her death was justice. How dare the French let a halfbreed compete for them? It was insulting to the tournament, their country and the fine upstanding citizens. Others were just disappointed that her bathing suit hadn't been destroyed further. As it was the worst tears only gave a tantalizing peak at her stomach.
Then she unleased a string of powerful spells at the approaching grindylows and left the audience speechless. In a matter of moments, the swarm was decimated. The lucky ones were able to escape, but there were few of them.
A few people turned their attention away from the screens and looked out at the lake to try and see the quickly spreading red puddle that marked the point of devastation.
Their attention was quickly pulled back to the screens when a massive shadow fell over Daniel. They watched in horror as a sea serpent materialized from the depths of the lake and shot towards him. They watched as giant white tentacles suddenly caught the serpent and fought with it.
The giant squid struggled against the monster, their brawl churning the waters on the far side of the lake. Daniel took advantage of it to swim as quickly as he could away from the battle.
James and Lily rushed onto the stage. "Dumbledore you have to cancel the task! That isn't supposed to be in the lake!"
"I cannot." Dumbledore watched in a kind of horrified detachment as the behemoths fought behind the retreating for of Daniel. "All judges must be in agreement to cancel a task and Madam Umbridge excused herself several minutes ago."
"Remus check the map!" James shouted. He'd get that toad back and force her to cancel the task even if he had to do so at wand point.
As the Wandwood students watched the fight Wendy held up a small device that she had tied to the masks. When they had learned that the audience would be able to watch all the champions at once they had come up with the idea to have spotters to relay important information. Obstacles they might encounter, who was where and who was in the lead.
The idea had lasted until the champions were in the water, despite all their testing something was now interfering with the communication runes. They had been unable to hear Harry or the others, and judging by the champions actions they couldn't hear the spotters either.
Still Wendy clutched the device and desperately attempted to warn them about the serpent. Only a fuzzy static answered her.
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Not being able to understand French meant that Harry Cedric and Victor had no idea what spells Fleur was casting. But they were certainly effective against the grindylows. By the time she finished she was panting heavily and floating limply in the water.
Cedric was the one to sum up their collective thoughts. "How the bloody hell did they manage to catch you if you could do that?"
"Maintaining the bubble head charm under water took for more concentration and power than I had expected, in review it was a mistake to use it. Thank you for the assistance." Fleur said.
"No problem. Come on the village isn't much further." Cedric said and the group of four champions continued to swim on, remaining close enough to the surface that there was little risk of further trouble.
When they reached the correct spot in the lake they began to rapidly dive, slowly the hazy outline of the village began to take shape. The hostages were clearly displayed in the clear space at the center of the village.
Fleur began to curse as she raced towards a small blonde-haired girl. The rest followed to free the others. Sharra and Hermione were secured at the end of the line, Harry freed Sharra first and placed one of his spare masks on her.
The water inside fizzed as it was replaced by air and she woke. "Harry? What happened?"
"You, Hermione and Luna were kidnapped from the ship." Harry explained as he handed her her wand, and moved to free Hermione. Several of the merpeople rushed forward to stop him.
"Only one hostage! Take yours and go!" One of them shrieked at him. Even underwater their speech didn't sound pleasant.
The mermen quickly backed up when they found half a dozen wands point at them. They had agreed to protect the surface dwellers while they were sleeping but they had no desire to fight them. They hadn't even wanted them in their village but the long haired one had insisted.
As the mermen backed away Harry freed Hermione and slipped his last mask onto her. Before he had a chance to explain anything to her Daniel swam into the village and pointed frantically behind him.
Harry turned to look and saw a massive serpent heading towards them. "Damn, I'm using the waterhammer, shield!"
Immediately everyone else bunched together. Daniel, not knowing what was happening did the same, if only because he hoped they would somehow protect him. Cedric, Victor, Luna and Hermione all cast a special shield that Wendy had taught them meant to absorb physical impacts.
Harry aimed as best he could towards the rapidly approaching serpent. He had promised Hermione and Wendy that he would only use the waterhammer charm as a last resort, he thought this qualified. It was based on a simple vanishing charm with a few tweaks. One of which was the removal of the part of the spell that prevent air from rushing in to fill the empty space all at once.
They had tested it out on land, a foot wide space of vanished air produced a miniature sonic boom, enough to knock them off their feet. Underwater that effect had been amplified, at a hundred feet the impact had felt like someone hit their chests with a ten-pound hammer.
He pushed all the magic he could into the spell, a massive void appeared around the creature's middle. Sadly it was to spell resistant to be vanished itself, though the spell did annoy it. Then the void imploded.
Hermione's hand grabbed Harry and pulled him into the shield they had created as the water rushed in to fill the void at incredible speed. The force of the water colliding with itself in the center of the void at well past the speed of sound resulted in an explosion.
The shockwave ripped through the lake, below it the silt was pushed away and the bedrock cracked under the force.
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On the surface the golems eyes stopped transmitting just as a geyser of water shot into the air, high enough to drench those on the shore. Followed by the lake rapidly flooding the beach before being pulled back in. There was a good deal of screaming, the Potters were once again demanding someone be sent in to help. The final image that the golem eyes had displayed would stay with many of those at the tsk for years to come. A wall of silt ripping up everything along the lake floor.
A few muggleborns would compare it to an atomic bomb going off, though a very small one.
Dumbledore was shocked that Harry knew such a destructive spell; in his mind it was further confirmation that the child was dark. How else would he know it?
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In the village the merpeople had been thrown around and dazed by the concussive blasts, first from the spell, then when the shock waves had hit the shore and bounced back. The lake still shook with the force of the blast and it would be some time before it completely settled again. But it was now calm enough that the group dropped their shield and quickly swam towards the surface, out of the cloud of silt that covered the lake floor.
Nearby the water was stained red with the blood of the serpent, its middle crushed by the force of the water.
The group was slightly slowed because it took both Cedric and Vicktor to carry Harry between them, who while not unconcise, was very close to it. Fleur kept pace carrying the blonde child.
Daniel swam after them, not able to believe what he had seen his brother do. For the first time he was truly frightened of Harry and could now believe why Dumbledore was worried. One spell had killed the serpent and nearly destroyed the lake. It was now more important than ever that he convince Hermione to help them.
Fleur's sister woke when they broke the surface, the rest of the group pulling off their own masks. While they worked, they really weren't a substitute for fresh air. Fleur was fussing over the young girl when Daniel also surface, the gillyweed having finally worn off.
Fleur immediately rounded on him. While she was speaking French it was clear that she was angry. Once she realized he didn't understand her, she took a moment and switched back to English. "You loathsome gutless bilge sucking child! I was promised if I attended the Yule Ball with you that Gabrielle would be left out of this task! I should send your burning corpse back to the merpeople!"
Before she could lose her temper anymore, she turned back to Gabrielle and they started swimming for the shore. The rest of the group, glad that they weren't the target of her anger followed. Harry had caught his breath and was able to move unassisted. Though he knew he'd crash fairly soon, he'd overdone it a bit with that last spell.
Daniel began to hesitantly follow. He didn't want to risk Fleur's rage but he knew he only had until they reached the shoreline to speak with Hermione and start turning her to their side. "Hermione, hold on a moment. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to rescues you, you were my hostage you see and I find that I have become quite fond of you recently. I-"
Hermione stopped swimming long enough to punch Daniel square in the nose. "I've wanted to do that for years you bloody bastard!"
"Way to go Hermione." Harry said with a grin. He could only imagen how good it was for her after everything that Daniel had put her through.
When the group reached the shore Andromeda was casting charms on them before most of them were out of the water. Wendy and the other students were ready with dry towels, even extras for Fleur and her sister that they accepted with gratitude.
The Hogwarts healer wasn't far behind and immediately set to work on Daniel's still bleeding nose. "Really miss Granger was that necessary?"
"It felt bloody fantastic." Hermione said as her father clapped her on the shoulder.
As soon as it was confirmed that no one was about to drop dead Dean Horsefeather began to move the group back to the airship. They needed to take off and leave the country as soon as possible.
Cedric followed them. "I'm coming to, if anyone tries to pull something like that with Luna again, they'll learn to fear the badger."
Dean Horsefeather almost stopped him but he was of age, and another ready wand couldn't hurt. "Fine, but you realize you might not be able to just come back."
"That's fine." Cedric put an arm around Luna.
"We would like to come as well." Victor said.
"The last thing I remember is refusing to be part of the task." His intended explained. "Then I awake underwater."
"Fine, anyone else?" The Dean asked with a glance at Fleur.
"Thank you for the offer but I must find our parents and learn what has happened." Fleur took Gabrielle's had and led her back towards the stands.
Harry found that he felt sorry for anyone who crossed her. Then he smacked his head. "Damnit, I forgot to ask her she got her swimsuit." When he got several disbelieving looks he sheepishly admitted to wanting to get Hermione one like it.
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Dumbledore was relieved when he learned that all of the hostages and champions were alright. Less so when he learned that Daniel was the worst injured with a broken nose that he had received from Miss Granger. He took it to mean that his plan had not worked.
He had then confirmed with the other judges, including Percy Weasley who was filling in for Madam Umbridge as she had apparently needed to return to the Ministry and the man who had provided the golem eyes for the task. Dumbledore couldn't remember his name and was not at all pleased that Dean Horsefeather had assigned him to fill in for her while she went to check on her students.
He was further disappointed when he called for the champions to come receive their scores and only Daniel arrived. He explained that the others had gone back with the Wandwood students to be checked over.
Suddenly everyone's attention was brought to the airship that had risen into the sky and was beginning a slow turn that would see them over the North Sea in just an hour. "Oh, this can't be good."
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"An emergency meeting has been called for one hour from now. You need to figure out what you plan to do." Madam Bones said as she left the Ministers office.
Fudge sighed, this was the end, he had finally given Madam Bones full authority to investigate who had kidnapped the children just to shut her up and get her to leave his office. He knew she would easily trace everything back to Dolores, but he doubted even handing her over now would stop a war. Really there seemed to be nothing left to do.
He straightened his back. That was fine, the British people were so ungrateful for everything he had done for them. Well, he wasn't going to just roll over and see everything that he had worked for fall apart. It was time for Cornelius Fudge to act!
Less than an hour later he walked into Gringotts and emptied his personal vault, as well as several others he had stashed away. Then finally he moved onto vault forty-two, it was filled with more gold than he could count in a week. He pulled a shrunken trunk from his pocket; he'd often dreamed about using it but never dared too before. The repercussions were always to sever, but now that he stood to lose everything anyways, he was able to use it without fear. Let the people see what it meant to cross Fudge!
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It would surprise many in the ministry to learn that the department with the best relationship with Gringotts was not the goblin liaison department but the finance department. The ministry accountants were used to having to balance impossible numbers and move funds for the higher up. They understood numbers and being considered near worthless. It was one of the departments that you got stuck in for life, no chance of advancement or promotion unless someone else died.
They understood the goblins and the goblins felt some slight kinship with them. That was why one goblin decided to do the honorable thing and send a message to the department of accounting. The message sent the entire staff of the department into a frenzy as things were double checked and documented.
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Madam Bones was not happy, she was about to enter the Wizengamot chambers and explain to the emergency gathering that they would most likely be at war before the end of the day. As it turned out that was probably the better announcement that she soon found herself making.
Just before she entered Mr. Till, the head of accounting ran up to her. "Fudge has cleaned us out! He's emptied our Gringotts vault and even our own under the ministry. Not a knut left!"
Yes, war might have been preferable to telling the Wizengamot that their minister had just robbed the country blind and they were flat broke.
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(A/N: Well things just keep getting worse for the British. To everyone wanting people to face the consequences of their actions, that's still a chapter or two out, but rest assured I have a plan for everyone's punishment, I'm especially looking forward to Draco's.)