The Second Task won't happen quite yet in this chapter as it still needs more planning on its execution. I decided I didn't want to keep everyone waiting for another chapter any longer, so I wrote this setup chapter.
On Sunday, February 20th, 1995, at 1 P.M. Hogwarts time, it was finally time for the Second Task.
Harry, Cedric, Viktor, and Fleur were all standing by the edge of the Black Lake waiting for instructions.
Harry, Cedric, and Fleur had come naked while Viktor was wearing his shark costume.
Dumbledore, Madam Maxime, Bagman, and Amanda Diggory were standing a few feet in back of them.
Meanwhile, chairs had been set up around the perimeter of the Black Lake and special glasses with water vision that allowed the spectators to see what was happening under water had been provided for the event.
"So," explained Dumbledore, "There is a certain strategy to this event. A number of objects have been hidden in the Black Lake. Each champion will earn ten points for each object he or she retrieves from the Black Lake within the established time limit of one hour and one nanosecond. One strategy that will come into play is how often each champion comes back to the edge of the Black Lake to relive himself or herself of his or her burden before continuing to search for more objects. The more objects each champion can hold and carry at once, the fewer trips back he or she will have to make and the more time he or she will have to search."
"Carrying too few objects at once will lead to wasting valuable time. Carrying too many objects at once could lead to dropping and losing objects," explained Bagman, "Part of the champions challenge in this task is to strike that balance."
"Another important strategy," interjected Madam Maxime, "Is finding pairs. Each individual object a champion finds will be worth ten points. But there are fourteenth categories of objects we have defined, and we have made seven pairs out of these categories. These category pairs are as follows: wet and dry, hot and cold, light and dark, light and heavy, soft and hard, thick and thin, and loud and quiet. Each category pair that a champion finds will result in a seven point bonus. Any champion who successfully completed all seven of these category pairs!"
"You may have noticed," added Dumbledore, "That there are only three judges here. Crouch is absent due to his continuing critical illness. As the rules here are entirely objective, we deemed it unnecessary to bring in a fill in judge."
"Karkaroff, is of course, no longer present due to his threatening and blackmailing of his own students," added Madam Maxime.
"Speaking of Karkaroff," added Bagman, "It has come to our attention that Karkaroff judged the First Task through a biased lens. Furthermore, there was a largely subjective side to judging the First Task anyway. As such, we have decided to disregard the results of the First Task. The Second Task is going to be entirely objective and so is the Task. The champion who performs the best in the Second Task will have a slight advantage in the Third Task in a way to be explained later, but all champions will have a fair chance. For today, try to focus on doing your best in the Second Task."
"Cedric, Harry, Viktor, and Fleur," said Amanda with a genuine smile.
"Thank you for coming, mom," said Cedric gratefully.
"I asked your dad to come too," explained Amanda, "But he refused to come. He's become even madder at you for associating with your opponents. He is hellbent on seeing opponents as enemies. He insists that you are soiling the Diggory name by being chummy with your enemies."
"It's his loss," said Cedric thoughtfully, "Not just in terms of missing out on watching the Second Task today, but in general. If he had your attitude, he could have developed a nice and enjoyable relationship with the other champions."
"I truly do enjoy the company of Harry, Viktor, and Fleur," smiled Amanda sincerely.
"Amanda," said Harry seriously, "I am very sorry that you had to endure Rita Skeeter's lies about you."
"That hurt," said Amanda honestly, "But I got some awesome revenge on her when I ate the orange half of a Puking Pastille in front of her and vomited all over her while she couldn't access her wand, ruining her favorite dress, and quickly ate the purple half of the Puking Pastille to avoid too much suffering if my own. Better yet, I destroyed her Quick Quotes Quills in front of her."
"Karma's a bitch!" declared Harry in a satisfied voice.
"And that's not even considering what might happen to her legally," added Amanda with a smirk.
"This has been a great year for assholes and bitches to get what they have coming to them," piped up Viktor in a satisfied voice, "Ron Weasley, Igor Karkaroff, and Rita Skeeter all had Karma's a bitch come back to them this year."
"Amanda has been great to all of us," acknowledged Fleur.
"Viktor?" asked Amanda, "Is that the shark costume Cedric got you for Christmas?"
"Yes," confirmed Viktor, "The Four Champions talked about which methods we would each use to allow ourselves to breathe underwater for an hour and a nanosecond. My original plan was to temporarily partially transfigure myself into a shark."
"That would have been very dangerous," said Amanda in a shocked voice.
"That was exactly Cedric's reaction when I told him," remembered Viktor, "He told me partial and temporary human to animal transformations were even more dangerous than becoming an animagi and that that was saying something."
"That's true, " confirmed Amanda, "Good for Cedric both for acting responsibility and for looking after you."
"That's a major advantage of working together with each other," observed Viktor, "We can step in and stop each other if any of us realizes another is going to do something retarded."
"The support the four of you have shown each other is inspiring," cooed Amanda.
"Anyway," continued Viktor, "I'm going to wear this shark costume to allow myself to breathe underwater in the Black Lake. Cedric suggested this idea to me and then got me this costume for Christmas. It will give me the properties of a shark without the aforementioned danger."
"I'm going to eat Gillyweed before I go into the Black Lake," explained Harry, taking a piece of Gillyweed out of his left pocket with his left hand.
Neville applauded from where he was sitting in the crowd with Hermione, Ginny, and Luna.
"Neville's best subject is Herbology," said Harry proudly, "I became closer with Neville after the First Task after making the wise decision to NOT forgive Ron or accept him back. Neville is now my second best friend in Gryffindor in my year behind Hermione. Hermione and I had taken to sitting with Neville during Herbology lessons and he would share his knowledge of magical plants with us."
"He's been a consistent O student in my classes," beamed Professor Sprout from her chair.
"It's a very nice feeling to know that knowledge that was given to me by a friend is what allowed me to make the choice I made and is going to help me succeed in the Second Task today," beamed Harry.
Neville applauded again with a wide smile on his face.
"I am going to use the Bubble Head Charm," revealed Fleur.
"I could have used the Bubble Head Charm myself," admitted Cedric, "But I let Fleur take that approach and chose a different one for myself."
"That was very decent of you, Cedric," acknowledged Fleur.
"Typical Cedric," smiled Amanda, "Always putting others ahead of himself."
"You are sweet and kind, Cedric Diggory," declared Lily Moon from her seat.
"A Bubble Head Charm should be a really cool thing to see in action," cooed Padma Patil from her seat.
"And I'm going to use my strong Transfiguration skills to temporarily turn parts of the Black Lake from water to land," Cedric told them.
At this, many members of the crowd looked excited.
Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown gave each other excited looks.
"That's going to be spectacular to see if he can pull it off," piped up Parvati.
Ernie MacMillan, Hannah Abbott, and Susan Bones all had eager looks of anticipation in their eyes and on their faces as they prepared to cheer on their housemate.
"If anyone could achieve that, Cedric could," exclaimed Ernie in a proud and confident voice.
"So," said Dumbledore calmly, "The Second Task shall begin at precisely ten after one Hogwarts time."
As the Four Champions prepared to embark on their Second Task journey, everyone looked on out at the Black Lake cheerfully awaiting the competition to come.
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