" A speaker!" hissed the sea serpent in surprise. " I have never met one of your kind before. I did not mean to startle you, young speaker. I wanted to eat the fish behind you."
Harry could have laughed if he were not annoyed at the fact that in his moment of panic, he had forgotten that sea serpents do not attack humans. But it was hardly his fault! Anyone who had faced a seventy-foot long Basilisk would feel the same way. Nodding to the massive snake, Harry used an Aguamenti charm to propel himself and Dylan towards the surface. When he was close enough, he let Dylan ascend while he remained underwater.
Just as Dylan's face emerged from the water, he gasped, desperately trying to breathe. He panicked when he realised something was supporting him underwater, but a quick look made him calm down; it was only Harry. Smiling at his brother, he reached down to pat him on the head and swam towards the podium in the middle of the lake, while Harry returned to the depths of the lake to rescue Daphne.
"Look at that!" shouted Bagman as people in the stands cheered loudly. "Harry Potter was the first to reach one of his hostages. Dylan Lestrange has been rescued and he now has to find Daphne Greengrass to finish the task!"
Harry went back to searching for Daphne, letting the tracking charm guide him. Every few minutes, he encountered more wards, traps, and concealment charms; they weren't too difficult to crack but were time-consuming. Moving forward towards the Merpeople's colony, Harry suddenly felt something move rapidly towards him. Turning around, he saw claws just inches from his neck. Kappa! Bloody hell! He could have been strangled to death if he had not been careful!
Firing a jet of boiling hot water at the creatures, he continued on his journey.
"All four champions have managed to rescue one of their hostages!" yelled Ludo Bagman amidst cheers. "One hour down and another to go!"
Harry entered the Merpeople's colony, deep in the lake, and began looking for Daphne. A minute later, he saw her on the other side of the colony, guarded by merpeople. As he was about to cut the ropes, he saw something that made him pause.
"Miss Delacour seems to have been attacked by Grindylows!" said Bagman. "It appears she is unable to continue the task."
"Wait, what's that? Sweet Merlin, send the Emergency Squad immediately! Cedric Diggory has been tricked by the Kelpie!"
Was that a Kelpie? Harry swam towards Cedric who seemed to be riding some kind of horse. It was going lower towards the lake bed. If they reached the bed, then Cedric was doomed as the only thing remaining would be his body parts. Acting on instinct, Harry conjured a bridle and used a Placement Charm to place it over the Kelpie's head. The effect was immediate. The Kelpie stopped moving, looking confused for a moment and Cedric yelped as he leapt off the creature's back.
"Mr Potter has rendered the Kelpie docile!" shouted Bagman. "Cedric Diggory is no longer in danger! Harry Potter is now moving towards his hostage. Well, well, this is certainly interesting, isn't it?"
Cutting the ropes, Harry wrapped an arm around Daphne's waist, pulling the girl up with him. The task was nearly over. Just about thirty feet more and the second task would be done with. That thought had to be put on hold when Harry saw two dozen or more Grindylows surrounding him. They attacked him and Daphne again, clawing at their skin, cutting off any room for escape. Harry was bleeding rapidly from the wounds as he tried to fight back, but his wand arm was injured as well. Snarling in anger, he wandlessly cast a blasting curse at those to the left while, with great effort, cast another blasting curse from his wand.
Leaving the dead and destroyed Grindylows behind, Harry and Daphne surfaced, both of them gasping for air. Daphne winced in pain when she realised that she was injured. Blood was pouring from her wounds as she and Harry swam towards the podium.
"He's done it!" shouted Bagman amidst thunderous applause and cheers. "Mr Potter is the first to resurface with both his hostages well before the time limit!"
Helped by Sirius and Cyrus, the two of them managed to get onto the podium. Harry didn't even twitch or wince in pain, his face impassive as always, but Daphne couldn't help but grimace. She thought her cuts were bad but that was nothing as compared to Harry's!
Once a few spells were cast by the student-healer stationed there, their wounds were sealed, and the two were quickly ushered into the medical tent that had been erected for the champions and the hostages. There were several privacy screens in place and the couple quickly searched for the cubicle that had -
"Dylan!" exclaimed Daphne worriedly, rushing towards the boy who was lying down on the bed, giving him a quick hug. "Are you hurt?"
"Just a few scratches," he answered. "What about you two?"
....
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