Harry glared at Daphne as she stood over him. He had taken a sleeping draught to avoid being woken up in the middle of the night. Why was Daphne shaking him?
"What do you want?" Harry muttered. "I'm trying to sleep because tomorrow I might be dead."
"Don't be dramatic," Daphne scolded. "And I want to know if you know where Aria is?"
"I was sleeping. How should I know where she is?"
"Because it's almost midnight and she's not back yet."
Harry groaned, pushing himself up out of the warm covers of his bed. Grabbing his glasses, he shuffled over his trunk and rifled around until he found the Marauder's Map. Remus has slipped it into his trunk at the beginning of the school year with strict warning to not misuse it. So far, the only thing Harry had used it for was to sneak himself and his Slytherin friends into the prefects bathroom and twice to the kitchens for a late night snack.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he mumbled, pointing his wand at the map. The whole of Hogwarts and its grounds appeared. He shoved the map at Daphne who began scouring it for any sign of Aria.
"She's not on here," Daphne finally said.
"What's going on?" Draco muttered, sitting up. "Daphne, go back to bed!"
"Aria's missing," Daphne stated. Draco was immediately up and looking over her shoulder at the map. Blaise and Theo sat up while Crabbe and Goyle continued snoring away.
"Isn't this map of yours meant to show everyone on Hogwarts grounds?" Draco asked.
"Yeah."
"So, she's not on Hogwarts grounds."
The friends stared at each other in horror.
"Well, the Durmstrang students didn't take her onto the ship," Daphne said, pointing to the ship docked along the shore of the Black Lake. The lake was on the very edge of the map, only a small portion showing. "So if the Durmstrang students did get her, then they had to take her somewhere else. Like the Forbidden Forest."
"But the forest is nearly inaccessible," Blaise said, crawling of his bed. "There's still a lot of snow on the ground."
"We're going to have to go to Professor Snape," Draco said.
The students went to the tapestry that hid the hallway that connected Snape's office to the Slytherin common room. Draco had no qualms banging on the door, knowing that Snape would be alerted wherever he was.
They had to wait two minutes before Snape appeared at the door wearing a black dressing gown and looking very put out.
"What is it?" he demanded, glaring at Draco. "This had better be good."
"Aria's gone," Draco said.
"Missing," Harry clarified. "And she's not showing up on the map." He showed Snape the map. Professor Snape glared at the parchment, probably remembering how it insulted him last year.
"I can't believe Lupin gave it back to you," he muttered, snatching the map from Harry's grip. He looked it over, his frown becoming so severe Harry was certain that if they were in public he would have made several first years cry.
"Thank you for bringing this to my attention," he said. "I will handle this. Go back to bed."
"But my map!" Harry cried. "You'll return it won't you?"
Snape's face pinched and for a horrifying second Harry thought Snape wouldn't return it, if only to spite Remus, Sirius, and James Potter. But eventually the pinched look morphed into a rather petulant scowl.
"Yes, yes, Potter," he snapped. "You'll get your precious map back." He slammed the door, nearly catching Blaise's nose.
"Oh, I'm not going to be able to sleep!" Daphne cried, flopping into an armchair in the common room. The fireplace roared to life at her presence. "I have to know that she's all right!"
Harry yawned.
"I'll stay up with you," he said, settling on the couch.
"You've got to sleep," Theo argued. "The Second Task is tomorrow."
"Then I'll snooze right here," Harry muttered, laying his head on a couch pillow. "I'm a pretty light sleeper . . ."
Aria was not back when Harry and his friends woke up in the common room the next morning. They all hurried to dress, Harry pulling on the wet suit in emerald green that was laying on his bed. He pulled on warm clothes over the wet suit before hurrying with his friends up to breakfast where Professor Snape was glaring into a cup of tea. He did not look like he had slept a wink.
"Professor Snape!" Theo cried as the band of 4th year Slytherins charged the Head Table. "Did you find Aria?"
"Miss Bourne is missing?" McGonagall asked, looking up from her plate of eggs and bacon. Alarm was evident in her voice.
"I did find Miss Bourne," Snape said.
"But she never came back to the dorm!" Daphne cried. Snape glared at her for interrupting.
"I, unfortunately, cannot return her to Hogwarts at this time," Snape continued.
"Why not?" Blaise asked. "Is she hurt? Did she have to go to St. Mungo's?"
"She's not at St. Mungo's."
"Then," Harry began, "where is . . ." his voice trailed off as the haunting melody of the mermaids from his Golden Egg sounded in his head.
"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."
He slowly shook his head, green eyes widening in horror as he stared at his Head of House. It couldn't be true. Professor Snape would not have allowed it. He couldn't have!
"Harry?" Tracey cried. "Harry, what is it?"
"It's Aria," Harry squeaked. "She's been taken into the Black Lake." His friends gasped in horror.
"But . . . but the riddle said that you don't find what was taken, it won't come back!" Tracey all but shrieked. "Does that mean that if you don't find Aria she's going to die?"
"I can't believe you let them take Aria!" Draco snarled at Snape. Their professor glared down at his godson.
"I did not allow them to do anything," he said. "It happened before I was even aware of it."
"Then you should've gotten her back!" Harry cried, voice rising, and gaining the attention of other students at the house tables. "If I fail, it's not just me who'll be hurt! It'll be Aria! She's been through enough. You should've gone and gotten her back!"
"I don't know where she is," Snape replied, voice tight and just as angry.
Breakfast plates began to rattle the longer Harry glared at Snape.
"I thought you were supposed to protect us?" Harry yelled, his voice continuously rising until he was screaming at his Head of House. "You and every professor here has done a fucking piss poor job at it! First was Professor Quirrell, then there was a basilisk and petrifications, and now it's me in the bloody Triwizard Tournament even though I'm fourteen fucking years old! It's a good thing Sirius wasn't actually a mass murderer else he probably would've killed me by now!"
Snape surged to his feet, a terribly angry and thunderous look coming over his face. Harry stumbled back off the Head Table platform, turned on his heel, and began walking hurriedly towards the doors of the Great Hall. Students and staff stared in shock at him.
"Mr. Potter!" Snape shouted after him.
"Mr. Potter!" Dumbledore called after him. "Mr. Potter, you'll come back right now!"
"Fuck you all!" Harry shouted over his shoulder. He nearly collided with Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor at the doors. Cedric's eyes widened hearing Harry's words and Fleur looked shocked. Even Viktor appeared perturbed at how angry Harry was.
"Aria's the thing I'm meant to find in the Black Lake," Harry snapped at them, breathing heavily. "And if I don't find her she might die! Just like the riddle said."
"What?" Cedric cried.
"Have you noticed anyone missing?" Daphne asked, when it was clear Harry couldn't speak any more. His body vibrated with emotion. Ron and Hermione now joined them, the other Gryffindors hanging back a bit warily.
The other champions cast their eyes over the Great Hall. Fleur's face began to pale rapidly.
"Gabrielle," she breathed. "My sister. I thought she had gone ahead to breakfast. But she is not here."
"Da, I thought the same of Nikola," Viktor said. "But he is not here."
"Cho isn't here," Cedric said. "She's the only person I can think of that they would choose for me. But surely, they wouldn't let anything happen to them? Surely the riddle is just being dramatic?"
"I'm not taking any chances with it," Harry seethed. "Dumbledore and Crouch and Bagman have shone how utterly incompetent they are more than once."
As if speaking their names summoned them, Crouch and Bagman appeared at the doors of Hogwarts, escorted by Hagrid who was chatting happily with Percy. Percy took one look at Harry before cutting off his conversation with Hagrid and hurrying over to his side.
"Harry?" he questioned. "What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?" Harry cried. "What's wrong? What's wrong is that you're using our friends as part of the tournament!"
"Pardon?" Percy asked. "What do you mean?"
"For the Second Task," Cedric explained, much more calmly, but none the less bordering on hysterical. "They've taken a friend of ours and put them in the Black Lake and we're meant to find them in an hour or something terrible will happen to them."
"I can assure you," Percy said, "that is not what—,"
"Then where's Cho? Where's Gabrielle and Nikola and Aria?" Harry demanded. "Gabrielle's not even a student she's eight!"
Percy looked over at Crouch and Bagman, the latter looking as useless as usual.
"It's my understanding that no one under the age of seventeen is meant to be used for the Second Task," Percy slowly said.
"Vell, they all are under seventeen," Viktor stated. "Nikola's birthday is not for another few weeks."
"I'm certain it's all a misunderstanding that will be fixed in good time," Crouch said.
"We don't have good time!" Cedric cried.
"Mr. Weasley and I shall speak to Dumbledore," Crouch stated. "Until then, Mr. Bagman can answer any questions you may have." Crouch gestured to the still smiling Bagman before gesturing at Dumbledore who was meandering his way down the center aisle, greeting various Ravenclaw and Gryffindor students with a damn twinkle in his eye. The champions and their friends watched as Crouch, Percy, and Dumbledore disappeared up the stairs leading to the headmaster's office.
"Nothing's going to get fixed," Harry growled. "We're just going to have to make sure we find them and get them out before time runs out."
Fleur was shaking at the thought and raced off towards her headmistress when she appeared at the door with several Beauxbatons students. Madam Maxime seemed bewildered at Fleur's flustered state until Fleur explained what was happening to her in rapid French. It was then that the large woman's face became stormy. She and Fleur continued to talk in French while the rest of the champions looked on, feeling more than helpless.
"Let me get this straight," Neville said as they crowded into a boat that would take them all out to the towers floating in the middle of the Black Lake. Sometime overnight, several steel towers to multiple levels of viewing platforms had appeared floating in the lake, and now everyone who was going to watch the Second Task was getting rowed out to them in the magical rowboats usually only used for first years. "Aria is the object the mermaids have taken, and you're meant to find?"
"Yes," Harry repeated himself, holding onto the back of Susan's cloak as the boat rocked dangerously. There was a reason why they were only supposed to be four to a boat, but neither he nor his friends were in the mood to listen to school rules.
"Percy said that no one under seventeen was meant to be asked," Harry continued. "Apparently, it's tradition for the Second Task to be a search-and-rescue."
"So . . . how did Dumbledore get Aria and the others involved?" Hannah asked.
"Unclear," Draco muttered, keeping Justin from falling overboard. "He went with Crouch and Dumbledore to discuss it and hasn't left their side since."
"Auntie will definitely be getting an interesting letter from me," Susan muttered. "Though I suspect ICW will have things to say too, if the newspapers are to be believed."
"Not to change the subject or anything," Ernie said, peering down at the darkening waters of the Black Lake. "But how're you going to stay warm in the lake?"
"I was given a wet suit," Harry answered. "Fat lot of good it'll do me, it's like a wrestling uniform."
"Wrestling uniform?" Neville asked.
"It's a Muggle sport," Justin said.
"They wrestle as a sport?" Susan cried. "Like physically wrestle?"
"Hey! Wizards play on brooms where balls could smash you out of the sky," Justin cried. "Not to mention that horrid game I read about in America where the balls explode!"
The boat docked at the center floating tower and the students clamored off. Percy was already there with Crouch and Bagman along with Karkaroff, Madam Maxime, and the other champions. Bagman shuffled Harry's friends up to the upper levels. Harry looked around at the towers, trying to spot Sirius and Remus. They had written days ago that they would see him, but he had not seen them prior to having to go down to the lake.
"The families are over there," Cedric said, noticing Harry's searching gaze. He pointed to the second level of a nearby platform. Harry finally spotted Sirius and Remus and waved to them.
A calming shrill filled the air as Fawkes suddenly appeared, coasting around several towers to the delight of students and visitors alike who had never seen a phoenix before. Harry was grateful for the phoenix song. Fawkes would somehow make sure something bad didn't happen.
The phoenix landed on Percy Weasley's shoulder to the shock of everyone. Fawkes rubbed his head against Percy's red curls, the red of the phoenix much brighter than even the ginger of the Weasleys. Percy carefully rubbed the bird's belly.
"Ah, making friends I see, Fawkes," Dumbledore said with a serene smile. Several journalists snapped photos. Fawkes finished preening Percy's curls before flapping over to Harry. He tried preening Harry's hair, as he had done many times before in the secret room in the Restricted Section, and like each time before, it only made Harry's hair worse.
More pictures were snapped.
"Are we prepared, Champions?" Bagman cried, ever smiling.
"Let us get this over vith," Viktor growled. Bagman lifted his wand to this throat and his voice reverberated across the lake and off the mountains in the distance.
"Witches and wizards," Bagman cried, "it is time for the Second Task!"
Cheers rose up from the towers.
"For this task, each of the champions have had something stolen from them," Bagman continued. Harry thought he heard some people booing from above and he grinned at Cedric who laughed. Bagman tried to ignore the sound.
"The champions have one hour to retrieve their stolen object, or it shall be lost to them forever!" Bagman made sure to sound as ominous as possible. "Now, on my signal, the champions may enter the water. Are you ready? In three . . . two . . . one!" He removed his wand from his throat and pointed it out over the water, creating a flashy BANG from its tip. Viktor immediately dived into the water and did not come up. Harry tossed back a mouthful of gillyweed, shuddering through the transformation that he had been practicing with Aria for weeks. When it became difficult for him to breathe, he knew the gills had formed. Webs were still growing between his fingers and toes as he dove into the cold water. The gillyweed, surprisingly, seemed to help his body regulate his temperature in the cold lake water, which was not something they had tested in the prefect bathroom.
Seconds later, Cedric and Fleur were in the water with him, Bubble Head Charms wrapped around their heads to provide oxygen to them as they swam. Hermione had found that charm too, Harry remembered as he swam forward into the depths of the lake, in case they needed a backup plan. But she had been convinced it was not stable enough to last any kind of confrontation under the water and thankfully the gillyweed worked as well as advertised.
Beneath the surface of the Black Lake, life teemed in abundance. Harry had been aware that there was life in the Black Lake, they had learned a bit about Dark creatures with Remus and had done a whole section on aquatic creatures, particularly those found in UK freshwater lakes, rivers, and streams. He knew there were grindylows in the lake, and now merpeople, though he had to admit, they had spent more time studying the saltwater branch of the species and not the fresh water. Lisa Turpin said there wasn't a whole lot of difference between the two, except that the saltwater mermaids had the ability to transform themselves into beautiful Sirens while the freshwater mermaids had lost that ability thousands of years ago.
Harry swam over a field of deep-water pondweed that was, surprisingly, being tended to by at least a dozen or so mermaids. The pondweed grew in neat rows among the bottom of the lake, stopping just as the ground sloped further downward. Several mermaids glanced at him as he swam by, curiosity and wariness showing on their rather scaly and ugly faces. Harry assumed that the merpeople of the lake had been warned about today's events and that that was why no one was bothering him too much.
To his right in the distance, as he went lower into the lake, he saw structures, crude little huts made of stone and other unidentifiable lake vegetation. A group of merpeople were chasing the Giant Squid away from the little settlement using sharp stick spears or trident shaped weapons.
He came across another set of little huts. Young merpeople, clearly children, spotted him and sang out to their friends and parents. Several parents, because who else could they have been, grabbed hold of their children and pulled them closer to the threshold of their homes to watch him go by. A few older merpeople looked up from tending what appeared to be little gardens in front of their homes.
There was a whole civilization down here! Harry thought excitedly. Just wait until he told Lisa. She would be thrilled. Over the moon! There was very little research into the anthropology of merpeople, their history beyond their interactions with Muggles and wixen alike. Yes, Lisa would be thrilled!
The ground suddenly sloped nearly straight down, and Harry had to pause to look in awe at what lay before him. A deep circular structure was cut into the ground with multiple levels like a target. At the very center, in the smallest circle four figures floated, tethered down to the ground so that their bodies did not float away. Around them were merpeople with sharp tridents. Was Harry going to have to fight them? He had practiced casting spells underwater, and once Aria, Ron, and Hermione had also taken gillyweed to help him practice dueling, but there was only so much room in a bathtub no matter how big it was.
Aria would probably try to talk to the merpeople, Harry thought as he approached, wand gripped in one hand, eyes flicking about looking for further trouble. This was easy compared to the last task, and he was suspicious about how easy it was. Nothing about Hogwarts, or his life for that matter, was ever easy.
The merpeople pointed their tridents at Harry as he approached.
"Halt!" one cried. Its voice was like the song in the egg. Harry thought he could listen to merpeople speak all day if he were allowed. It was calming, similar to Fawkes' songs. "Why do you trespass within our sacred waters?"
"One of my friends has been taken," Harry answered, pointing to Aria. She looked dead, just floating there, her arms outstretched and hair floating around her head like a grotesque halo. He was reminded of some character from one of Dudley's horror films that he and Uncle Vernon liked to watch when Aunt Petunia was out of the house.
"You may pass," the merman said. They parted so that Harry could swim through their numbers towards Aria.
"You . . . aren't going to stop me?" Harry asked, floating through.
"We were only instructed to guard what was given to us," a mermaid sang. "Did you expect a fight?"
"Kind of," Harry admitted.
"One of your numbers nearly drowned in the Wilds," the first merman said. "Grindylows are not to be trifled with."
"What'll happen to their person?" Harry asked.
"At the end of one Surface Hour, all humans will be returned to the Surface," the mermaid assured him.
"None will be hurt?" Harry questioned.
"Upon our honor as Warriors of the Deep," the entire group of guards declared. Harry swam over to Aria's floating body. Even though he knew she was alive, it was like looking at a corpse. He shot a cutting hex at the rope tethering to down and grabbed her arm before she could begin floating away. The quicker they got to the surface, the better.
As he began his ascent, he was nearly bowled into at the top of the circles by Viktor who shot out of a garden of strange flower type plants, his entire top half transformed into a shark while his legs remained human.
"Merlin, wait until you hear about this," Harry said to Aria as he continued swimming forward. "I wish I had a camera for that."
She awoke with a sudden gasp and nearly swallowed the entire Black Lake. Blood pounded in her ears, distorting the louder thunderous noise around her. Where was she? There was sky above her and water around her. Why was there water around her? Where was she? What had happened? She had been in Dumbledore's office. What was going on? Why couldn't she remember anything?
A small wave hit her square in the face, and she gasped again, this time, screaming. She was not supposed to be here! She had to get out, get back to Hogwarts! An arm wrapped around her waist, and she grabbed hold of it, sinking her nails into the skin, thrashing to be released. She was not going to be drowned without a fight!
"Aria! Aria!"
Looking up, Percy's worried eyes caught her gaze. His mouth continued to move, she was certain he was calling her name, but it was drowned by the continuous, thunderous roar in her ears. But if Percy was here, then she knew she would not drown, because he would not let her. He would not let whoever was grappling her to hurt her!
Straining against the arms holding her, she kicked with her feet, using the body they landed against as a launch pad while she strained through the cold water towards Percy, straining to reach out to the older boy.
Percy's hands caught her own. His hands were warm, nearly too warm against her nearly frozen skin. With a great heave, she was yanked out of the waters and into her friend's arms. She clutched at his robes, pressing her face into his chest, only partially aware that she was screaming and completely unable to bring herself to stop. Someone had tried to drown her! Was it the person who had sent her the newspaper clipping with the Sign of Grindelwald painted over her face? Did Lord Malfoy somehow get someone into the castle to hurt her?
A heavy cloak was placed around her. The familiar, comforting smell of white musk, cedar, oakmoss, patchouli, and amber filled her nose. Hours spent with Professor Snape researching and brewing and recording information had made her familiar with the scent of the man's cologne which was normally hidden by the fumes of the potions classroom.
One hand still around Percy, she moved the other to clutch the potion master's cloak around her, her screams dying long enough for Professor Snape to force a Calming Draught into her. As her heart rate decreased, her breathing began to even out, and the thunderous roar in her ears cleared until she could determine that the thunder was the cheering of the crowd and that Percy was whispering into her wet hair,
"You're okay, you're okay. I've got you."
Professor Snape took her pulse.
"Let's move her to the medical tent," Snape said, waving his wand over Aria. He made to take her out of Percy's arms, but Percy refused to release her, instead, he rose to his feet with her in his arms and marched them towards a rowboat.
"Are you that strong?" Aria asked, brain just a bit fuzzy with Calming Draught in her system. "Are all older brothers this strong?"
"Professor Snape cast a Feather Light Charm," Percy replied, stepping into the rowboat. Snape joined them, barely managing to get in before the boat zipped several yards across the water to another tower which was covered in canvas. Aria noted that there were other towers in the Black Lake.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"What do you remember?" Professor Snape asked as Madam Pomfrey came bustling over with a tray full of potion vials. She shoved one at Aria who took it with a shivering hand and knocked it back. Immediate warmth filled Aria.
"I . . . uh . . ." Aria wracked her brain, "Dumbledore wanted to see me in his office." She gasped. "Did Dumbledore try to kill me?"
A bit of a shock if true, but at this point, Aria was use to the unexpected.
"No, he did not try to kill you," Professor Snape said as Aria took another potion, a Pepper-Up. Smoke came out of her ears, further warming her body. Her shivers were disappearing.
"I beg to differ," Percy muttered, taking Snape's cloak off of Aria and wrapping three blankets around her, one around her waist and lap, one around her shoulders, and the other over her head.
"It seems you were taken as part of the Second Task," Snape explained, ignoring Percy who took a steaming mug of tea from Madam Pomfrey and pushed it into Aria's hands.
"Harry had to find me?" Aria cried. "But . . . but . . ." she recalled kicking someone and digging her nails into their arm. "I hurt him!"
"I think he'll forgive you," Snape assured her.
Several people came barreled into the tent at that moment, distracting Snape who went to assist Madam Pomfrey in plying Cho and Nikola with a variety of potions and blankets. Neither of them seemed all together aware of where they were, though Aria noted they didn't seem hyped up on a Calming Draught.
"Where're the others?" Aria asked.
"Getting their scores," Cho chattered, teeth clattering together. Aria sipped at her tea and tried to push the blanket off her head, but Percy pulled it back up.
After another few minutes, the four Champions came tumbling into the tent, Fleur holding tight and crying over a little girl that Aria recognized at the elder student's little sister. She was wet and shivering and crying into Fleur's shoulder and neither of them seemed like they were going to stop weeping any time soon. Fleur was babbling in French and Cedric was patting her shoulder in a sweet, but not very good, attempt at comforting her.
Harry made a beeline for Aria.
"Are you going to keep screaming at me?" he asked, peering at her through the blankets.
"Was that really you?" Aria asked, grimacing. She glanced at Harry's arm and noted nail marks in the fleshy part of his arm which had already begun to scab over.
"You give really hard kicks," Harry said.
"Sorry. I thought someone had tried to kill me."
"So, you had no idea that you were going to be put into the middle of the lake?" Harry asked. Aria shook her head, dislodging the blanket from her head. Percy pulled it back up.
"Dumbledore completely disregarded the changes we made for the Second Task!" Percy cried, adjusting the blanket so that it was less likely to fall off Aria's head. "No one under the age of seventeen was to be used, he had to get consent forms filled out and signed, it is a right mess which I will have to clean up!"
"I think you need a Calming Draught," Aria said. She could still feel hers in her system. "And a large cup of tea."
The families of the Champions appeared. There were a lot of people in the tent. Aria was glad that magic allowed for all of them to fit comfortably. Remus bent down in front of her.
"Are you all right?" he asked. "I saw you screaming and crying, and it was awful to watch."
"I thought someone was trying to kill me," Aria answered. "The last thing I remember is going to Dumbledore's office and drinking tea." She glared down at the mug in her hand. Would this tea make her wake up someplace else?
"Mr. Weasley," Sirius said to Percy, "I thought the rules had been changed—,"
"They were, Lord Black, but it seems that there was some disregard."
"Is that his excuse?"
"If not he better have a better one."
Remus sighed heavily. Aria finished her tea, holding her mug out for a refill.
"I'm too old to deal with this," Remus muttered as Harry took the mug and refilled it, ignoring the tray of potions Pomfrey had floating next to his head. "What am I going to tell your dad?"
Aria's eyes widened.