The next day, Saturday, January 20th, 1995, at 1 P.M. Hogwarts time, Harry, Cedric, Viktor, and Fleur met up at the Black Lake to practice how they would handle the water part of the Second Task.
Harry, Cedric, and Fleur had come naked and were holding their wands in their right hands and Harry was carrying Gillyweed in his left hand.
Viktor was wearing his shark costume and was also holding his wand in his right hand.
"Before we start our practice," piped up Viktor, "I would like to thank you, Cedric, for getting me this shark costume as a Christmas present after the four of us had agreed on our methods for attacking the Second Task's water challenge."
"No problem, Viktor," nodded Cedric, "In fact, why don't you go first and test out the costume?"
"You don't need to stay in the water for an hour and a nanosecond, " added Fleur, "Just long enough to give your shark costume a legitimate test."
"I'd suggest ten minutes and ten nanoseconds," piped up Harry, "That's long enough for the costume to get wet enough to be seriously tested."
So, Viktor dived into the water and went under it.
Harry, Cedric, and Fleur watched him swim away using the butterfly stroke and before long he was out of sight.
Viktor didn't come back to them and got out of the water for a little over twelve minutes.
Nevertheless, Harry Cedric, and Fleur all felt the amount of time Viktor had spent in the water had been reasonable and not excessive.
When he climbed out of the Black Lake, Cedric asked him, "How did it go?"
"Excellent," declared Viktor happily, "I was easily able to breathe underwater through the use of this costume and it is clearly waterproof as it doesn't have so much as an inch of water damage."
"It literally looks brand new," observed Fleur, "Cedric clearly picked this costume out carefully."
"Cedric giving Viktor that costume as a Christmas present was a super cool touch," cooed Harry.
"It certainly was," smiled Viktor.
"One down, three to go," smiled Cedric, "Harry, you next."
Harry ate the Gillyweed and jumped into the Black Lake.
Harry took himself beneath the surface of the water.
Harry swam away using the backstroke and spent roughly ten minutes in the water.
"It's all good," piped up Harry confidently when he'd gotten out of the water, "I was easily able to breathe underwater and didn't even think about it much."
"So," realized Fleur, "It felt totally natural to you?"
"It did," confirmed Harry.
"That's good," nodded Viktor, "The Gillyweed did its job."
"So far, so good," agreed Cedric, "Fleur, you next."
Fleur pointed her wand at her own head and called out, "Headicus Bubblicus!"
As the words exited Fleur's mouth, an enormous bubble appeared around her head that made her features appear oddly wide and stretched.
Fleur then plunged herself into the Black Lake and went deep enough into it that her entire body was submerged in water.
Fleur swam away using the breaststroke and was gone for somewhere in the neighborhood of eleven minutes.
"Success," declared Fleur when she had removed herself from the Black Lake, "The Bubble Head Charm is very effective for those who can perform it successfully."
"Oh," remembered Harry, "You told us in the tent after the First that Charms is your best and favorite subject."
"Exactly," replied Fleur, "This is a great opportunity for me to put my Charms talent to practical use."
"Things are looking good," said Viktor matter of factly, "But Cedric still needs to do his practice. "
"True," agreed Cedric, "What's good for the goose is good for the gander and I can't tell you three practice and not practice myself without being a hypocrite."
Cedric leaped into the Black Lake and forced himself downward so that he was one thousand percent underwater.
He began to swim away using the freestyle stroke while simultaneously performing nonverbal spells that temporarily transformed some of the water into land.
He would easily be able to breathe on the land once it was land. What he needed to test was whether he could do the transfiguration in question.
If he couldn't, he'd use the Bubble Head Charm to get himself out of trouble and think of an alternative method before the day of the Second Task. If he was successful, he had his plan.
Fortunately, he was successful at turning some of the water in front of him into land. The effects of this spell lasted about thirty minutes so Cedric knew he would have to redo it halfway through the Second Task. All he cared about today was confirming to himself that he could do it.
Once he'd reached a certain point, he turned around and walked back to the edge of the Black Lake on the now temporary land.
He had to do a tiny bit of swimming where he hadn't yet started his transfiguration towards the very edge but easily got himself out safely and comfortably.
Cedric's practice time went about thirteen minutes, meaning he had taken the longest. All the same, the four of them had completed the practice in less than an hour.
"That was easier than I expected it to be," grinned Cedric.
"I think we're all set then," said Viktor simply.
"We all have different ideas, and they all seem to work for us," said Fleur briskly, "I feel good about how we're going to perform in the Second Task."
"It's going to go well," agreed Harry confidently.
"Well," said Cedric matter of factly, "With that out of the way, we can enjoy the rest of the day."
"Let's just go lie down on the Sloping Lawns and relax for a little bit," suggested Harry.
Cedric, Viktor, and Fleur all nodded in agreement.
The four champions all laid down next to each other on the sloping lawns and just enjoyed relaxing for a bit after their highly successful practice for the Second Task's water challenge.
It felt good to just relax for a bit.
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