I do not own anything from Harry Potter, only any OC, that may appear in my stories.
Hello guys Badger here, back with a new chapter, after finishing another one of my drafts. Before I begin I just have one thing to say, I don't like naming names but…steve and dave, you know who you two are…have you never heard of an AU before? I've seen your comments on some of my stories about how 'this character isn't like this in canon' or 'this character doesn't want this in canon'…news flash…I know, because its an AU, also known as Alternate Universe, and in an AU, characterisations of certain characters are often changed and I'm sorry for calling you two out like this, even if you don't see this, but as you are guest accounts, I could not message you to explain this.
Anyway, sorry to the rest of you about that little rant, I needed to get it out of my system. How are you all today? For me, University has been stressful but going well and, after an unplanned hiatus, I plan to write semi regularly. I've planned to try and write for around an hour, every day to try and get chapters updated as often as possible, as I feel like this would be a good writing schedule, for when my next Semester begins. But for now, read on, enjoy and I will see you, at the end.
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Chapter 11
Singing Under The Water
"Again!" James instructed
Harry's eyes narrowed, as he stood in a duelling stance, staring at a training dummy, several feet away from him. It has been nearly two weeks since the First Task of the TriWizard Tournament and ever since, James and Daphne have been teaching him all kinds of spells, that they could do. After Harry had to go up against a dragon in the First Task, neither of them were taking any chances, and neither was Harry, he wanted to be as prepared as possible for the Second Task. So, whilst James was teaching him some spells which could be useful, should Harry go up against any other magical creatures, whilst Daphne was scouting through all kinds of books on magical creatures to see what the screeching in the Golden Egg could've been.
Harry's grip on his wand tightened, the spell on the tip of his tongue, before jabbing his wand forward, and yelling:
"Scalpere Vulnus!"
As Harry jabbed his wand forward an arc of white light slashed through the air, cutting through the wood of the training dummy, cleanly and easily. The training dummy stood there for a moment, before the top half slowly fell off of the bottom half, clattering to the ground, whilst the bottom half remained standing where it was. Harry looked slightly surprised at how clean and easy the spell cut through the training dummy, as he lowered his wand, whilst James merely nodded, seemingly impressed, as he flipped through a book in his hands.
"This spell is more powerful than the common Cutting Curse, 'Diffindo', capable of cleanly cutting through practically anything" He said, reading the passage from the book, about the spell itself, before looking up at Harry "I would definitely keep this spell ready and waiting, just in case you go up against, or come across any other magical creatures...especially Grindylows...if the passages from books are true, they're nasty little bustards..."
Harry nodded, before the doors opened, with Daphne quickly entering the room, a book under her arm, the doors slamming shut behind her. As soon as she entered, Harry and James immediately stopped what they were doing, with James closing the book in his hands and jumping up, off of his seat, approaching her curiously.
"Daphers, glad you could join us..." He said
"James, remember what I said I would do, if you called me that again?" Daphne replied, with a sweet, yet creepy smile, as she turned to face him, causing James' eyes to widen in slight fear
"Duly noted..." James replied, holding his hands up in mild surrender "So...have you found something for us?"
"I think I have..." Daphne nodded, placing the book on a table and opening it up "Take a look for yourselves..."
Harry and James looked at one another, curiously before looking at the book Daphne had brought, where Harry's eyes widened a little, at the contents on the page:
Merpeople:
Originally native to Greece, but now found worldwide, Merpeople are a sapient species, that live underwater, resembling half-human and half-fish hybrids, though are not actually half-breeds like many in the Wizarding World believe them to be.
Although the exact level of intelligence of Merpeople, compared to those of humans, is unknown, there is reason to believe their intelligence, is equal to, if not greater then human intelligence, with their ability to create large communities and cities, especially deep underwater, but they are also able to domesticate Creatures such as Grindylow, Hippocampus and Lobalug.
Unlike other animal species, Merpeople were able to develop their own language, commonly referred to as Mermish, which is recorded to be, like that of a song and is very angelic and soothing to those who hear it, however it is only possible to hear their language underwater, as should one try to speak on the surface, out of the water, their speech would be nothing more then shrieks and screeches that are deafening to anyone who unfortunate enough to hear it.
Harry couldn't help but wince at the picture of one of the Merpeople shown in the book. Savage was the only word he could use to describe it, with its greyish skin tone, wild frizzy hair, manic looking eyes and broken jagged teeth, savage was definitely the word to use. The large weapon, resembling a trident in its hands, definitely didn't fill Harry with much confidence either. But the last part of the Merpeople description caught his eyes. It caught James' eyes too.
"Daphne, are you suggesting that the screeching we heard when Harry opened the egg, was Mermish?" James asked
"I'm almost certain" Daphne nodded, turning to Harry "If you want to know what the clue is, you have to put the egg underwater before opening it...if my belief that it is Mermish, is correct, you should be able to hear their singing under the water..."
"Where exactly am I supposed to find a body of water deep enough to put the egg, and myself under in order to do that?" Harry asked "I don't know about you two, but I don't feel jumping into the Black Lake...not only is it full of god knows what, its also very cold this time of year..."
"You'll figure it out Harry, you're a smart person, deep down..." James said, patting his shoulder "In the meantime, me and Daphne have somewhere else to be..."
"Wait, you're not going to help me with this?" Harry asked
"As much as we would like to Harry, unlike you, we still have to attend classes, we're not Champions" James replied, as he and Daphne gathered whatever things they had with them "Let us know what you find out..."
Harry sighed to himself, as James and Daphne left the room they were in. He took a moment before gathering his things and also leaving, making his way down one of the many corridors of the castle, lost in his own thoughts, as he tried to think about what to do. His train of thought was interrupted however, when he heard someone call out his name. Harry turned around, to see Cedric running up to him.
"Harry...there you are..." Cedric said, taking a short breath "Merlin, you're hard to find...how have you been?"
"Spectacular" Harry replied, a tad sarcastically, sighing before looking at the older Hufflepuff "Can I help you with something?"
"No...but I can help you" Cedric smiled "Have you figured out the clue in the Golden Egg yet?"
"Not fully...I do know its Mermish...I just haven't figured out a place to open it" Harry sighed
"Really?" Cedric asked "Well...the Prefects bathroom has a large bath...Well, it's more like a pool...big enough to dive under, perfect place for a swim...the thing is, it's only accessible to Prefects as they're the only ones with the password...however, I am a Prefect and the password is Pinefresh so, if I were you, I'd take your egg for a quick swim"
"Thanks Cedric, but why are you telling me this?" Harry raised an eyebrow
"Well...you told me about the Dragons, for the First Task...you didn't have to, but you did...and I will be, forever grateful..." Cedric replied "So, I wanted to return the favour and help you, the same way you helped me...remember the password is Pinefresh"
With that, Cedric gave Harry another smile, before turning on his heel and walking off, back down the corridor. Harry watched him leave, for a moment, before quickly rushing to the Gryffindor Common Room. If Cedric was being truthful about the Prefects bathroom, he had an egg to fetch, beforehand.
...
Dumbledore had his hands behind his back, as he paced back and forth, inside his office, muttering to himself, under his breath. Ever since his talk with Harry, after the First Task, Dumbledore has been keeping tabs on the boy, watching his movements throughout the castle. He was disappointed to see that Harry, still refuse to forgive his friends. The boy had not even made an attempt to approach Miss Granger or Mr Weasley, who seemed to be hoping to find and speak with him, at any opportunity. The boy needed to forgive, could he not see that. Harry needed to learn to forgive those who wronged him, peace and forgiveness was better then hostility.
Still, Dumbledore was concerned about Harry. Not for the company he was currently keeping, but because of the TriWizard Tournament itself. Dumbledore, was now, more then convinced that Harry's placement within the Tournament was a plot placed by Voldemort to bring him back to the land of the living. It only made sense. What concerned Dumbledore was that, if this was a plot and Voldemort did return, Harry wasn't ready. He was not ready to face Voldemort or his true destiny, for the Greater Good of the Wizarding World.
The boy still had a lot to learn.
...
Harry shivered, from how cold he felt, as he stood inside the Prefects bathroom, the Golden Egg in his hands. He was glad that Cedric was in fact truthful about the password , he hoped to return the favour somehow, to show his appreciation. After filling the bath with plenty of water and bubbles, Cedric wasn't kidding about the bath being more like a pool, Harry stripped down to his underwear. Even though it was incredibly unlikely that another Prefect would enter, he still felt uncomfortable about the idea of being completely naked, even if he was alone. However, Harry wished he knew a warming charm as he was quite cold.
Taking a small intake of breath, Harry got into the bath, letting out a small sigh of relief from how warm the water was. He sat near the very edge of the bath, where the water was more shallow and put the Golden Egg under the water. He narrowed his eyes, bracing himself, as his hand touched the locking mechanism on top of the egg. He just hoped Daphne was correct about the screeching being Mermish. Twisting the mechanism, the egg opened, but instead of an ear piercing screeching, there was a gentle and soothing hum, the egg seemingly glowing under the water. Seeing that it wasn't screeching like it was before, Harry held his breath, as he went under the water, to hopefully hear what the clue was. As soon as he went under the water, the hums became more clearer.
Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you're 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...
Unlike the unbearable and demonic screeching that Harry had heard beforehand, the singing voices he could hear was soothing and angelic, though he wondered what it all meant. Feeling the need to breath, Harry quickly returned to the surface, taking several deep breaths and coughing up a bit of water, as he placed the Golden Egg on the side of the bath, after closing it once again. As he leant against the side of the bath, Harry took a few moments to get his breath back and gather his bearings, whilst thinking about what he had just heard from the egg. He had hoped, after opening it, he would be closer to the clue for the Second Task, but if Harry was being honest, he was still as confused as before. All he could properly tell from the song was that he would have an hour too search for something...something Harry would sorely miss. But what could that be?
Harry let out a frustrated sigh, as he ran a hand through his wet hair. Once he was dry, he was going to wait for James and Daphne to let them know what he discovered. Thankfully he had a fairly decent memory, so he would be able to write everything down. Harry wasn't entirely sure what the Second Task entailed, but he had a feeling he wasn't going to like it.
...
And, done. What are your thoughts.
I know it seems short, but originally this chapter was supposed to be much longer, with Harry talking to James and Daphne about what he discovered, where it would end with Harry talking to Neville about the Gillyweed, with Chapter 12 then jumping to the Yule Ball. However, I felt like this chapter would be all over the place if I did that, so I decided to cut the chapter in half, so Chapter 12 will be Harry going to Neville about the Gillyweed and Chapter 13 will be the Yule Ball.
One last thing before I end things. To any writers reading this, have you ever noticed that, when you check the analytics on your stories, it says certain chapters have no views or reads, yet they have reviews? Several chapters all from different stories have this glitch, at least I'm assuming it's a glitch in the sites system and it's been like this for months and it is so annoying because I don't know how good or bad a chapter or a story is doing because of it. Do any of you know how to fix this, or is it something I just have to sit through until the glitch automatically fixes itself, whenever that may be.
Anyway, that is all for now, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you next time, in whatever story I see you in.
Badger Out.