Disclaimer: All character and the world in this story belongs to JK Rowling. I own nothing.

A/N: This would be the action filled chapter for the second task. There will be multiple POVs so please don't chew off my head as it is just an experiment for the final task. Please leave a review or PM me the suggestions regarding which style you would prefer. This will be the most difficult chapter till now for me to write so please bear with me. 'Selkie' are the type of mer-people in Britain and especially in the Black Lake.

Please review.

Chapter Twelve: The Depths of the Black Lake

Boom

'Aere Globus', with the incantation, Fleur cast the bubblehead charm on her and jumped into the water. She was wearing a pale blue one-piece swimming suit and almost every guy on the platform was staring at her body. But she didn't care, her sole focus was on the task. Madame Maxime had informed her that morning that her hostage was her younger sister, Gabrielle. She was fuming with rage that they had put Gabrielle in danger, it took all her self-control to not change in her avian form and start throwing fireballs at everyone. She needed to focus, to save Gabrielle from the dark depths of the lake.

In this task, she was at a significant disadvantage due to being a Veela. It was a misconception that you can be part-Veela, very few people were aware that Veela bred pure. If a Veela gave birth to a girl than she will be a Veela, this was the case more than ninety percent of the time. If the Veela gave birth to a boy, which in itself was a rare scenario but if it happened than the boy would be a normal wizard albeit a handsome one. Veela were powerful creatures with a natural affinity towards fire and fire-related magic. Their strength reduces significantly when it comes to water, they were less powerful and their magic was rather weak.

Fleur made her way through the muddy bed of the lake where different kinds of water plants were present, was littered with stones. She swam forward, zoning out everything around her and focussing on task at hand. After a couple of minutes, the landscape shifted and the lake became even deeper and foggier, now the visibility was less than ten feet. Small fishes swam past her like darts. She moved her head from side to side to see any hint to where Gabrielle might be. She swam for the next ten minutes in the same direction and came across a field of flat long weeds of deep brown colour, they looked like long ribbons, around a foot wide, rooted at the bottom of the lake which was at the least fifty feet deep from her position.

She had the feeling that she needed to cross the field so she entered but a bit hesitantly and drew the wand from the holster around her calf. She was looking around and saw something swimming past ahead which looked like a Selkie and suddenly something grazed past her left foot.

She turned but there was nothing, at this depth, the sunlight was useless so she lightened her wand tip but the result wasn't any better. And then something gripped her ankle, something with suckers, it took hold of her leg and started to pull her down. She tried to kick it furiously but to no success, she was a bit hesitant to fire a stunner, afraid that she might hit herself with it. The hesitation cost her and the next moment there were more than twenty of them, all around her. All of them attacked her at the same time, lunging towards her and getting a grip on her limbs and torso with their suckers. The bubblehead charm collapsed as the creature attacked at her face and in less than thirty seconds, all went black.

-X-X-

'Boom'

'Aere Globus', once the air bubble formed over her head, Zoe jumped into the dark lake. The first reaction she had was to light her wand with a 'Lumos'. The lake was so foggy and the visibility was very low which made finding her hostage even more difficult. Madam Picquery had informed her this morning that her hostage was her younger brother Joshua. Zoe hadn't seen him for half a year, the last time they were together was when she visited him in Australia in July.

It had been two years since their parents split up, her father received the custody for Joshua and her mother received her custody. He was three years younger to her but they were always close, contrasting to the usual sibling quarrels, they were a happy pair. Her father and her brother moved to Australia in that summer, since than she was spending a part of her summer break which coincided with her brother in Australia and her brother would spend the Christmas break with her mother and herself in America. This year, she had missed him during the break the most. And after all this, they were the closest after but in a very crooked situation.

She swam for around twenty minutes, going deeper in the lake with every passing second. She came across some kind of a tunnel, more like a passage between two huge rocks. The passage opened into an amphitheatre of sorts, like a smaller replica of colosseum. And in the middle of it was the peculiar creature, she hadn't seen it before but she was certain that it dangerous as the appearance was giving her the vibe that she should be careful around it.

As she came closer, the form finally registered in her mind, it was a Kelpie. It had the front half of a horse with bulrush mane and the rear half was that of a fish. It must have been larger than fifteen feet. It had a purple-green coloured scaly skin, similar to a fish, making it difficult to see him from distance.

She planned that she would circumvent it, try to go around it without any disturbing movement or sound. The creature was lying in the middle, rolled in itself so that his head was covered by the fin on the tail. As she started to move about, it reared its head and took in the surroundings. Kelpie than stood on its forelegs with its tail waving behind it, its eyes focussed on Zoe, assessing if it was an easy prey or not. Zoe panicked a bit and started to swim faster, this prompted the creature to come into action and it swiftly moved in front of Zoe.

She fired a couple of stunners which did not affect the creature but irritated it to no end. It lunged at Zoe, aiming for her side. Zoe was too slow to move out of its path and was hit on her side with its head and a hoof. The impact threw her into the wall, she was disoriented for a moment. Kelpie took the advantage of it and again lunged at her, this time Zoe acted faster and moved out of the way. Kelpie hit its head on the rock behind, throwing it off balance, enough for Zoe to put some distance between them. She took aim of the creature with her wand pointing towards its head.

'Incarcerous', a long rope sprang out from the wand and wrapped the Kelpie. Its mouth was tied and so were its hooves which were tied on the side of its body rendering it less agile and significant reduced the danger.

She moved past the creature and swam ahead, she reached an open area which looked like some Greek ruins. There were pillars, statues which resembled mermaids and fishes, the base of the lake here looked like a labyrinth with small square segments which looked like rooms. On the other side of all this was an archway, thirty feet wide and thirty feet high, under this archway were six human figures, floating with their legs tied to the bottom of the leg with ropes which resembled some kind of vines.

That was not all, there were red sparks flying closer to the hostages. Someone was firing curses in all the directions without any regard for the damage it can cause. She cautiously swam closer to the archway.

-X-X-

'Boom'

Krum jumped into the lake and drew his wand out. He moved his wand around his head and torso in a complicated motion for thirty seconds. At the end of it, his head, neck, shoulders and chest were transfigured to that of a shark. He looked like a hybrid between a shark and a human.

When he deciphered the clue in the egg, unlike most other champions, he was inclined to use transfiguration instead of the bubblehead charm. There were many hidden advantages of this, his vision and senses were heightened which would make the task of finding the hostage easier. The added bonus was that the transfiguration does not drain him of energy like the bubblehead charm. It also helped that the transformation made him impervious to the coldness of water.

Duo to his senses, he did not need a lot of time to find his way. A few minutes later, he saw the French champion in front of him, he wanted to remain hidden from her so that she could not follow him to the hostages. The moment Fleur entered the tall weeds, he rushed through with maximum speed so that she could not see him. As he was crossing the field, he heard a chilling scream coming from behind. He knew the scream belonged to the champion he just crossed but he had more important thing to worry about, i.e. his hostage.

He swam for five more minutes, coming at the edge of an open area, the mer-village. He saw the hostages bound under the archway and he swam as fast as he could towards the area. Selkies present around gave him way without any protest, afraid of the form he had taken. This made his work easier but then suddenly a jet of red light came towards him and his body went motionless.

-X-X-

'Boom'

Kenechi Ohara jumped into the lake and wore the locket which was in his pocket. He had spoken to his sensei about the task, he had deciphered the code in less than a week, it wasn't a difficult one to crack for someone who liked to take a hot bath after a tiring day. The Mahoutokoro residence had the facility where students can go and have a relaxing bath. It was a part of their lifestyle where they would relax in an herbal bath after a long day to relieve the stress in their muscles.

When he spoke with his sensei, he explained that he knew what he had to do and how he could accomplish, bubblehead charm wasn't a very difficult one. He just wanted something that would not drain so much energy. Sensei Kami than taught him a way to ingrain a charm onto a physical object and how to power the charm. It had taken more than forty days to master the art and ten more to charge the charm so that it would have an hour of reserve magical energy to fuel the charm. He had put the charm on a locket which he was wearing now, he understood that he would need all his energy to come through the task successfully.

He had a strategy from the beginning, he would tail one of the champions and then propel himself with a spell so that he can overtake him. He had decided that he would tail the American champion as she looked the most confident amongst the other champions. He maintained a safe distance so that she would not become suspicious of someone tailing her and she would clear the path ahead.

He was impressed when Zoe defeated the water-horse creature and that too pretty quickly. He was thinking about finding an alternative way if she was unable to clear the path but she quickly got the situation under control. As he came across the open area, he fired a propelling charm and was off towards the hostage area. He quickly became aware of the flying stunners when one of it came closer to him.

-X-X-

'Boom'

'Aere Globus' Cedric put the bubblehead charm and jumped in the water. The moment he was inside the water, he drew his wand from the holster around his calf. He had a portable compass attached to his wrist watch and with its help he was able to direct himself towards the north. When he deciphered the clue, he understood that whatever would be taken will be safeguarded by the mer-people. He was aware about the fact that the black lake around Hogwarts has the highest population of mer-people (Selkie) in Britain. He had to ask Hagrid to know where exactly the mer-village was, the half-giant was happy to help. He told Cedric that the village was towards the north, approximately a kilometre away from the boathouse.

Cedric followed the information and he reached the village pretty quickly and without any incident. He was able to get the information about the best way to reach the village from the gamekeeper of the school.

When he reached the open area of the village, his eyes moved towards the archway and the hostages tied there. As he moved closer, he saw the backs of the hostages. To reach the place easily, he had to swim a bit farther and swim back. As he moved closer, he saw Harry firing curses rapidly towards the mer-people in a bid to send them away. He moved ahead so that now he was facing the hostages from the front, he shot a cutting curse that severed the rope that was tying his hostage, Cho Chnag, to the lake bed. He turned back, taking Cho's hand in his left one, he fired couple of stunners towards the mer-people, pushing them back.

-X-X-

'Boom'

Harry jumped into the lake without a second thought and drew the wand from his wrist holster. He was chewing the gillyweed and it was a difficult thing, he could feel the coldness of the water, he did not have enough air in his lungs and after a few seconds they felt like burning. And then suddenly the burning sensation inside him was gone with a searing around his neck.

The side of his neck had split in multiple places to form gills which were flapping as he breathed. His vision, which was foggy earlier, cleared and the visibility increased significantly. The ice-cold water of the lake now felt pleasant. He looked towards his hands, his fingers were webbed like a sea creature; his legs elongated and transformed into big flippers. Every movement of his leg-flippers was propelling him a few feet forward without much effort.

This transformation and the experience he was having in the lake would have astonished him on any other day but today his sole focus was on his hostages, Hermione and Ron. He let his instincts take over and started swimming at the maximum speed he could manage. In less than fifteen minutes, he had reached the mer-village. He looked around and found the hostages were tied with some kind of ropes, the hostages were in an enchanted sleeping condition or so it looked. He saw six people there, four girls and two boys. The girl on the extreme left was surely Fleur's hostage as she was a carbon-copy of her, although significantly younger. The girl to her right was the date to the Japanese champion at the Yule ball; Harumi, Hakami something, he couldn't recall the name. the boy next to her had burgundy hair, similar to Zoe, he looked around his age but taller than him. On the right extreme was Cho Chang, next to her was Ron. On the left side of Ron was Hermione.

Harry's heart broke when his eyes rested on her face, she was pale, she was looking lifeless and it enraged Harry. The moment he went down to severe the ropes tied around her ankle, he was surrounded by three mer-people, they held long tridents in their hands. They pointed the trident towards his chest, trying to threaten him from three side.

"Not yours!" one of the mer-people said in a high-pitched voice, pushing the trident towards him.

"She is my girlfriend!" Harry protested but to no avail.

"Nah, only one." The Selkie on his right said. Harry's temper was flaring with each passing moment. His wand was already in his hand so he let the instincts take over. He rapidly fired three stinging hexes, one towards each Selkie. They moved back, clearly afraid and irritated by the curses, providing Harry some space to move. Other Selkies started to come closer and then Harry started firing every curse he knew that could render them immobile. Stunners, Incarceration curses, body binds, bludgeons, he put his everything in it. At that moment, everything that mattered was Hermione and to some extent Ron. He had no regard for the consequences of his action, all he could think about was taking Hermione to the safety of land.

And then there was some movement behind him. As he turned his head towards the side, he saw Cedric severing the rope that tied Cho to the bottom of the lake. Cedric followed it with a couple of stunners towards the mer-people. He then turned towards Harry and pointed at his wrist-watch with his wand, indicating that he had limited time. Harry just nodded and again turned back towards the mer-people.

The moment he turned back, he saw a shark moving towards him with its jaws wide open. He reacted purely on instincts and fired a couple of stunners rapidly which hit the shark on its snout, the stunner rendered the creature immobile. Harry did not remain idle watching his immobile target move slowly downward.

He then saw Kenechi moving towards him, followed by Zoe a few seconds later. They liberated their hostages and swam away from that place. Both of them firing a few curses with disoriented the mer-people. Harry found his opportunity in this chaos and liberated Hermione and Ron with a pair of severing charms. He looped their arms around his, keeping his wand free to move and swam as fast as he could towards the surface. A few feet below the surface, Harry pushed both of them upwards and dove back towards the hostage point. He remembered that Fleur's hostage was still there and he hadn't come across her in the lake.

As he reached the point, he waited for a few minutes for Fleur to arrive but his patience was running out. He severed the binding and pulled her away from the place, towards the surface. When Harry was twenty of so feet below the surface, something got hold of his left ankle, something with suckers on multiple arms. He looked below to find a grindylow stuck to his leg and a horde was following it. He pushed Fleur's hostage towards the surface and used a banishing charm to propel her. That was the last thing he did before grindylows got hold of his limbs and body. Their suckers were stuck to every inch of his exposed flesh except his face.

Then he felt the gills closing, his legs turning back to normal, webs around his fingers vanishing. He was now having burning sensation in his lungs due to lack of oxygen and a similar sensation outside due to the grindylows. He knew how to defend himself against them, professor Lupin had taught him this last year. He fired the curse that momentarily stunned the creatures and they scurried away, leaving a bruised Harry behind.

Harry was now drowning; his vision was foggy and it was now darkening with each passing second. He gathered all his courage and gave a last attempt at saving himself. He fired the only spell that came to his mind.

'Ascendio'

The next moment Harry was moving like a torpedo towards the surface, he broke the surface at some pace and was thrown a few feet in the air. He fell back in the lake but this time Harry started to swim while keeping his head above the surfaces, every muscle in his body was hurting, it had a burning sensation, inside and out. But at last he was above the surface.

-X-X-

Susan Bones was anxious, bordering on worried. She hadn't seen Harry or Hermione at the breakfast, she wanted to wish Harry luck for the task. Then just before the task, Harry came running to the platform, Neville coming along with him but there was no sign of Hermione or Ron. Harry's face had a look which was an amalgamation of fear and determination. And then the task and its objective was announced, realization than dawned on her but it still left her confused.

She understood that the champions had to rescue their hostage from the lake. She also knew that Hermione would be Harry's hostage but what left her a bit befuddled was Ron's absence. She was aware that Harry and Ron's friendship was changing for good, she had spent some time with Harry and they had talked about it. Ron's absence brought many questions.

Before she could wish Harry good luck, there was a canon blast and the champions dove into the ice-cold water of the lake. Hannah and she moved around the platform so they were standing next to Neville. Hannah gave a hug to Neville, Susan just rolled her eyes on the awkwardness between them. Susan knew about their relationship, which was at the moment, in the 'awkward' stage. They liked each other but they were not that comfortable around each other. She knew that it was just a matter of time before they would be unable to keep their hands off each other.

Susan moved a bit so she was standing in front of Neville. "Have you seen Ron?" She asked Neville with a confused look. In response, Neville told her that he hadn't seen him since last night. The next thirty minutes were uneventful, they discussed the possible obstacles Harry would be coming across and things related to the task. Around half-hour mark, a pair of Selkies brought the French champion towards the platform. They were holding her from either side and dropped her on the platform. She looked pale with a bluish tinge to her colour. Madam Pomphrey came running towards her and after three different coloured spells, Fleur returned to consciousness. Her face was held a worried look and with each passing minute, Susan could feel, she was becoming even more worried. She was wrapped in multiple towels and robes to keep her warm.

Dumbledore then announced that unfortunately Ms. Delacour was unable to continue the task and would not be returning to the lake for the task.

The clock was approaching the three-quarter mark when Cedric and Cho emerged from the lake. It sent a wave of relief through a big segment of Hogwarts students, including Susan and Hannah. Cedric's friends stepped towards the edge of the platform to give the couple some help to bring them on the platform. The first thing Cho did after stepping over the platform was to throw herself onto Cedric and kissing him. Madam Pomphrey came closer to them and checked both of them for any injury.

They were followed by the Japanese champions with his hostage and the American champion with her hostage. They were quickly pulled out of the lake by their friends and madam Pomphrey rushed towards them to check if everything was okay. From the place where she was standing, it looked like Zoe had bruises on the side of her body and on her shoulder, Kenechi looked completely unharmed. They were then wrapped in multiple towels and blankets.

A few seconds later, Hermione and Ron swam towards the platform, a wave of relief washed over her as she saw them coming towards the platform. She offered her hand and pulled Hermione up with some help from Hannah. Neville helped Ron to get out of the lake. Madam Pomphrey came running towards them and checked Ron and Hermione for any injuries. She then wrapped them in towels and blankets. The first thing Hermione asked after her check-up was the whereabouts of Harry, she was worried to the extreme, Harry was supposed to come to the surface with his hostage but he was still in the lake.

She was fidgeting, she kept her hands wringing together, Hermione was trying her best to not breakdown. Just before the hour mark, someone emerged from the lake but a hundred yards or so away. The person was very small and was unable to swim, every eye on the platform was fixed on it and then came a shriek of relief. It was from Fleur, she was than shouting the name of the person, 'Gabrielle', she was waving frantically towards her. Dumbledore waved his wand and Gabrielle rose out of the lake and started to drift towards them with a gentle pace. Fleur received her sister in her open arms and both Delacour girls started crying in the embrace. Fleur removed her blanket and wrapped Gabrielle in it, kissing her all over her face, trying to assure herself that her sister was safe. The clock struck the hour mark.

Few seconds later, Harry shot out of the lake and then fell into to it again, he started to swim towards the platform, he was at the least fifty yards away from the platform. Without a second thought, Hermione threw the blankets and towels away and jumped into the lake, swimming rapidly towards Harry. They caught each other in the middle and Hermione put her arm under his shoulder to support him. She could feel that he was utterly exhausted and was having trouble in swimming. Ron and Neville dragged them out of the lake as the pair came closer. Hermione broke down in Harry's arms the moment they were out of the lake, she kissed both his cheeks and his forehead in an attempt to reassure herself that Harry was back with her. Neville put towels and blankets around Harry to dry him and madam Pomphrey evaluated if there was anything serious, finding nothing wrong, she left the couple and walked away.

"I'm so sorry Harry, I didn't know what was happening." She hid her face in the crook of his neck, he could feel her hot tears flowing down his neck and towards his chest.

"Shhh…. Hermione, it's alright, you are safe, we both are. I will let nothing happen to you." They stayed kneeled on the platform, wrapped in each other's arms, completely oblivious to the world. They missed the green beetle sticking on Hermione's robe. Harry's head was throbbing but he tried to push the pain away, the only thing that mattered right now was Hermione and showing weakness at present won't be good.

Fleur came towards them with Gabrielle walking just behind her, holding her sister's robe. She stopped next to Harry and tapped him on the shoulder. Harry turned to look at the source of interruption, he found the emotionally charged eyes of the French beauty.

"You saved her, even vhen she wazzn't yours to save. Zank You!" She held Harry's face in her hands and kissed him on both his cheeks, emphasizing each word in 'thank you' with a kiss. Harry's ears turned pink and so did Hermione's cheeks but due to completely difference reasons. Gabrielle came forward and gave a tight hug to Harry and refused to step away. Harry bent down and gave a soft kiss on her forehead which stunned her enough for Fleur to drag her away from Harry.

"Looks like someone got a crush on you." Neville commented from behind. Everyone around them chuckled at the comment except Harry. Their banter was interrupted as two Selkies were dragging something in between them towards the platform, it looked like a shark. Dumbledore bent down and spoke with the mer-people in mermish for a full minute before he flicked his wand and restore Krum to his human form and brought him back to consciousness. Krum jumped on the platform as he returned to consciousness and regained control of his faculties. He turned his head towards Harry, a look of pure loathing and hatred in his eyes. Dumbledore gathered all the headmasters and the ministry representatives, he made an announcement for the students and staff to return to the castle and that the score would be announced during dinner that evening.

As everyone started walking towards the castle, clearly unhappy that the results weren't announced then and there, Dumbledore asked Harry to stay back. Hermione gave him a tight hug and a kiss on cheek before leaving for the castle with Ron, Neville, Hannah and Susan; their group was one of the last people to leave the platform. Harry walked towards Dumbledore with a look of anger.

As Hermione neared the boathouse, a voice called her from behind. "Mione!" She turned to find Krum coming towards her, he stood a couple of feet away from her and asked if they could talk. Hermione replied that they could talk here, she was amongst friends. Krum took a step towards her, coming closer.

"Mione, you were my 'ostage. I vanted to say, I like you. I would like to ask you for a date." Krum asked her in his heavily accented voice. He raised his hand in an attempt to put it on her shoulder.

Hermione's eyes widened at his words., she took a step back before he could rest his hand on her shoulder. "Victor, I have a boyfriend and if I was your hostage then it was wrong. It was nice talking to you but it would be better for you if you would maintain a respectable distance from me here onwards." She answered tersely, turned on her heels and walked away with her friends.

"You have something on your robes." Susan plucked the beetle from Hermione's robes and eyed it. The beetle looked different than any she had seen. "It doesn't look native." She showed it to Hermione who gave it a glance and threw it towards the lake. There on they just walked towards the castle in complete silence, everyone busy in their own musings.

On the platform, Harry stood facing the headmasters/headmistress and the ministry representatives. The officials stood in a semicircle with Dumbledore in the middle of it. He looked at Harry with a concerned look and spoke.

"Harry, why did you attack the mer-people?" Dumbledore knew that the others wanted to disqualify Harry from the tournament for attacking Krum, he needed to remain in control of the situation as always.

"They were stopping me from taking my hostage, Sir." Harry answered curtly, his reply a bit sharper than one would expect.

"The girl was not your hostage, boy!" Igor jumped in the conversation, "He attacked my student Dumbledore, I want him out of the tournament." He was looking at Harry with a look of disdain. The way he said 'boy', angered Harry even more as it reminded him of his uncle.

"Igor, control yourself." Dumbledore said calmly but gave a look that shouted to keep yourself in check. "Harry, Ms. Granger was not your hostage, she was hostage for Mr. Krum. Your hostage was Mr. Weasley."

That was it for harry, he could not control his temper any longer. "How can you think that professor? How can you think and believe that Krum could miss her more than me? She is my best friend. How can you think that I would miss Ron more than Hermione?"

"He is your closest friend Harry." Dumbledore was still calm as a night.

"He lost my trust professor, he wasn't a friend to me this year." Harry replied, the last part coming out of his mouth as a curse.

"Perhaps we should all calm down, emotions running high won't solve anything." Madam Picquery suggested.

"Or perhaps the boy should answer as to why he attacked a fellow champion." Roshi Kami questioned while looking at Harry with a look that suggested that he didn't trust Harry.

"I didn't attack any champion!" Harry answered loudly.

"Quiet, Potter. Show respect to your superiors." Percy spoke for the first time.

"Weatherby, don't interrupt the discussion. I believe Mr. Potter's actions were in self-defence." Bagman answered, coming to Harry's side and resting his right hand on Harry's shoulder. "We shouldn't forget, he saved the French girl." He turned his eyes towards Harry with an appreciative look.

"Professor, I hit Krum because he was in the form of a shark, I did it to save myself and the hostages." Harry answered while looking into Dumbledore's eyes. Dumbledore nodded towards him. "You can leave, Harry. We will talk later." Harry didn't waste any time standing there or on farewells. He wrapped the blanket around himself tightly to shield his body from the icy wind. He was back in the common room fifteen minutes later.

Harry was surprised to find Susan and Hannah sitting on the couch on either side of Hermione, Hannah was on the right and Susan on her left. Neville was occupying the nearby chair on Hannah's side while Ron sat at the chair opposite to Neville. They were clearly waiting for him, all their faces were a mask of worry, they looked up towards him as he entered though the portrait hole. He told them that he would return to the common room in fifteen minutes after he had taken a hot shower and changed into something warmer. He suggested the same to both Hermione and Ron who nodded and walked towards their dormitories.

Harry was back in the common room before fifteen minutes were over, Ron was just a step behind him. Hermione had already returned to the common room and was sat in the middle of the couch, other three were still in their seats. Harry walked towards the couch and kneeled in front of Hermione, their eyes at the same level. He rested his hands on her knees and she rested hers on his. The contact providing them the comfort and warmth they so badly required. Sensing their need to stay close, Hannah rose form her seat and sat on the arm of Neville's chair, Harry sat in the seat vacated by Hannah. He wrapped his arm around Hermione's shoulders and she rested her head on his shoulder, the closeness comforting both of them.

"What happened after we left?" Ron asked him in a concerned manner, hoping that nothing bad had happened.

"Nothing, just some misunderstanding." Harry took a deep breath to keep his temper in check. "Apparently, Hermione was Krum's hostage and according to Karkaroff, I attacked Krum." He said with an angry laugh, the reaction surprised both Hermione and Ron.

Harry recited the whole incident that took place inside and outside the lake. He gave a complete report of what happened since he woke up to the point when he was dismissed by the headmaster. After he was over with his recital, the others gave him their story. Hermione told him about the talk she had with Krum, she pacified Harry's anger on the mention of Krum's words. It took them better part of an hour to tell everything that transpired this morning.

They then moved towards happier topics, the transition was pleasant for everyone and they discussed who would score how many points, their upcoming classes, nothing of importance in general. They were talking about their summer plans when the portrait swung open to admit the fifth-year Gryffindor prefect, Cormac McLaggen and his friends. The boy was the Gryffindor version of Malfoy, he was the biggest jerk in Gryffindor and a massive ego to go with it. He had the attitude that he owned the place and Harry took an instant dislike to the boy that year when he was made prefect.

The blonde guy walked towards them, his chest puffed and he gave a disdainful look to their group. "Non-Gryffindors are not allowed in the common room. Leave now, puffs!" he said pointing towards the portrait hole.

"Stay away from my friends!" Harry answered him, the reply coming out as a growl. Harry stood up from his seat, facing McLaggen; it didn't matter that the other guy was five inches taller than Harry. He had had enough for the day and he wasn't going to take any more from anyone.

"Stay clear of me, Potter!" McLaggen warned him in the sternest manner he could muster, his eyes looking down at Harry.

"Make me!" Harry stepped even closer in a threatening manner. Every eye in the common room was upon the scene unfolding in front of them. Seeing that the confrontation could turn hostile pretty quickly, the twins jumped in.

"Any problems, Mr. prefect?"

"Looks like you can't…."

"handle a delicate situation, don't you think brother mine…."

"similar thoughts brother, similar thoughts."

"Stay out of this you two or else you will be spending your evenings in detention." McLaggen threatened the twins with an evil gleam to his eyes.

"Not the best idea for an evening, eh Forge!"

"May be telling McGonagall about abuse of power can lighten up our evening, Gred."

"Good idea, my less smart twin."

"What? I'm the smarter Weasley."

The situation was averted by the twins and McLaggen stayed clear of the group. They only separated when they went for lunch, the remainder of the day was spent lounging around the Gryffindor common room, talking about inconsequential things. They could spend a day being teenagers without any worry about the tournament or anything else.

As the quartet of Harry, Hermione, Ron and Neville was walking towards the great hall for dinner, the twins came up to them and informed them that they had spoken with McGonagall and she had told them that apparently, many other students were also fed up with Cormac and she would be replacing him with someone more responsible.

-X-X-

They were sitting at the house table in the great hall, eating dessert when Dumbledore stood behind the podium. The hall quietened immediately in the anticipation of the results of the second task.

"Good evening, everyone. This morning, we witnessed the second task of the tournament. Due to some unforeseen issues, the judges were unable to announce the standings after the second round." He paused here, his eyes travelling through the sea of faces in front of him. His face had a knowing smile, his eyes held the familiar twinkle, his body-language showed his authority.

"We have decided that Mr. Diggory would be given the first place as he completed the task in minimum time." There was a thunderous applause from the Hogwarts students at the announcement. It took better part of a minute for the noise to die down enough for headmaster to continue.

"Mr. Ohara was second to surface with his hostage and would have been avoided the second highest score but him using an unregistered magical artefact saw a serious deduction of points. However, the artefact was a brilliant example of charm-work nonetheless. In the light of this we have decided that Mr. Walker will be given the second place while Mr. Ohara will be placed in fourth position." The response wasn't as loud as the one for Cedric but it still took fifteen seconds for the noise in great hall to die down.

"Ms. Delacour was unable to finish the task as she forfeited due to an accident, she would be given the last place." Some consoling gazes were directed towards the French champion along with some lustful ones. Dumbledore continued with his announcement, "Mr. Krum could not retrieve his hostage and was stunned by Mr. Potter unintentionally. His partial human transfiguration to an aquatic species was a good piece of work and was highly appreciated. He marginally missed the fourth place and would be in the fifth position." There were some negative voices but all-in-all the response was lukewarm.

"Mr. Potter would have been given the first place if he had saved only his hostage as he was the first to reach them. He, however, rescued others as well who weren't even his responsibility. Therefore, we have agreed to award him third place, for outstanding moral fibre." With those words, Dumbledore resumed his seat in the middle.

The response for the announcement was completely unexpected. Applauses flooded from Beauxbatons and Ilvermorny contingents as well as a handful of Hogwarts students, the remaining weren't as generous in their appreciation of the result. The Slytherin table and the Durmstrang contingent was booing Harry openly who were then joined by a few elements from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. It took a minute or so for Harry to understand fully what was announced, during this period of confusion, Hermione held his hand in a silence to show him her unwavering support.

Five minutes later, Dumbledore dismissed the students to their dormitories but asked the champions to stay behind. Hermione rose from her seat, squeezed Harry's shoulder gently and told him that she would be waiting in the common room for him to return.

As everyone walked out of the great hall, the champions moved towards the teachers' table where the headmasters/headmistresses, Bagman and Percy were sitting. Dumbledore rose from his chair and asked everyone to join in his office for a discussion. He led the group towards his office, the group walked in total and awkward silence. As Dumbledore stepped closed to the gargoyle that hides the moving stairway to his office, leapt aside to reveal a gigantic bronze griffin that was fixed on the top of the axis of the stairway. Dumbledore stepped in front of the griffin statue and the stairway started to moved. Some faces in the corridor has the look of awe on their faces. The next minute everyone was inside the office of the Hogwarts headmaster.

Dumbledore sat behind his desk and conjured twelve chairs in the circular office, facing towards the centre. Harry took the chair closest to the door, Cedric sat on his right; Bagman occupied the chair on Dumbledore's right, Percy sitting next to him. It took a minute for everyone to settle down, a table appeared in the centre of the room, laden with an assortment of drink. A house-elf appeared a moment later and offered the drinks everyone requested, adults opting for stronger spirits while the younger members had to select from pumpkin juice or butterbeer.

Once everyone had taken a sip or two from their drinks, Dumbledore broke the silence. "The reason I asked all of you to accompany me to the office was to get the chance to clear the air, so to speak. The aim of this competition was to make way for international cooperation and friendship among the future generations." He sighed, it felt like the almighty Dumbledore let slip his composure just for a second, the moment was gone as soon as it came. "I hope that this attempt will not fail due to some accidental or premeditated, intentional or unintentional actions of some as I believe that those actions were not in any ill will. It is my humble request to all of you that any mistakes made by anyone till this point should be forgotten and we start with a blank slate." The last statement was directed towards Harry and Krum. Everyone in the room had blank, thoughtful expressions, absorbing Dumbledore's words and coming to their conclusions and decision.

Dumbledore raised his glass, "to the hope that this tournament will forge new bonds of friendship and cooperation." Everyone raised their glasses and drank as Dumbledore toasted.

The only thought racing through Dumbledore's mind was the 'discussion' the officials had after the task. The discussion soon turned into a heated argument, he had been chief warlock for years and was no stranger to heated arguments but todays was altogether on a different level. It had egos clashing, tempers flaring, couple of shouting matches and a barely avoided duelling matches. Everyone wanted someone to get to the top and everyone had a favourite, it took Dumbledore's best effort to pacify everyone so that they can again think rationally. Calling everyone to his office was his way to offer an olive branch so that no animosity or grudges remain after tonight. He hoped that he had succeeded to some degree.