Harry apparated with Luna straight to the entrance of the Ravenclaw tower. They stood in front of a door. There was no handle and no keyhole: nothing but a plain expanse of aged wood, and a bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle.
"You don't have to do this Harry Potter." Luna said in a musical tone
Harry smiled. "I don't have to. But, I want to Luna. Open the door."
Luna hesitantly reached out with her hand and knocked at the wood.
At once the beak of the eagle opened, but instead of a bird's call, a soft musical voice said, "What can go through glass without breaking it?"
"Hmm... What do you think, Harry Potter?" said Luna, looking thoughtful.
"Light." Harry replied instantly.
"Correct." The door knocker said and the door swung open. Instantly the chatter of students reached Harry's ears.
Harry ushered Luna into the room and stepped inside before clearing his throat and flaring his magic. Instantly all the noise ceased.
The Ravenclaw common room was a wide, circular room, airier than any Harry had ever seen at Hogwarts. Graceful etched windows punctuated the walls, which were hung with blue-and-bronze silks; By day, the Ravenclaws would have a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains. The ceiling was domed and painted with stars, which were echoed in the midnight-blue carpet. There were tables, chairs, and bookcases, and in a niche opposite the door stood a tall statue of white marble.
Harry instantly recognized the statue as Rowena Ravenclaw's. The statue stood beside a door that led, he guessed, to dormitories above. He strode right up to the marble woman, and she seemed to look back at him with a quizzical half smile on her face, beautiful yet slightly intimidating. A delicate-looking circlet had been reproduced in marble on top of her head. The lost diadem of Ravenclaw.
Helena Ravenclaw, the daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw and the ghost of the Ravenclaw tower, had stolen it and ran away. Rowena Ravenclaw had fallen ill due to the heartbreak of her daughter, a person she had loved with her life abandoning her. She wished to see Helena one last time. So, Rowena had sent the Baron, now, known as the Bloody Baron- the ghost of Slytherin. Baron apparently was head over heels for Helena Ravenclaw and Rowena though he would succeed in the endeavor of making her daughter return. But, when Helena refused, Baron being the hot tempered man he was, stabbed her in the chest. When he saw what he had done, he was overcome with remorse. He took the weapon that had claimed Helena's life, and used it to kill himself. All these centuries later, he still wore his chains as an act of penitence.
All this news had resulted in Rowena's death and she had passed over to her afterlife while her daughter roamed the halls of Hogwarts to date. And, Harry disliked the ghost of Ravenclaw, the gray lady as she was called, for she had abandoned something that should be treasured. She wanted fame when she had the most important thing in the world with her: Her own mother and parental figures. As an orphan, Harry understood what place family held, but, the daughter of Rowena didn't.
Harry looked around the room and saw stunned faces of the students gaping at him. A few were whispering amongst themselves. "What are you doing here Potter?" The head boy, Roger Davies asked from the crowd.
Harry turned to him. "A job that you should've done apparently. Isn't it your duty to protect younger students from bullying Davies?"
He sputtered. "W-what? What do you mean by bullying Potter?" He demanded.
"I meant what I meant, Head Boy. Several members of your house are bullying another student and I am here to rectify the problem. Now, I want the whole Ravenclaw house down here in a minute."
"You can not demand things like that Potter." Some student shouted from the crowd.
"RAVENCLAW HOUSE! THIS IS HARRY POTTER SPEAKING." Harry said, casting a sound amplifying charm on himself. "I WANT EVERY STUDENT FROM HOUSE RAVENCLAW DOWN HERE IN THE COMMON ROOM IN ONE MINUTE OR ELSE THE CONSEQUENCES WOULD BE GRAVE. YOUR TIME STARTS NOW."
"Potter, this is against the rules. I—" A prefect started saying but, Harry wandlessly silenced him.
"You will find that cursing you is also against the rules but I am willing to do it if you don't shut up." Harry said and conjured an ornate throne-like chair at the base of the statue and sat down on it.
"You don't have to do this Harry Potter." Luna repeated softly in a nervous tone but, Harry ignored her as he chose to see the students arriving from their dormitories.
"Is everyone present?" Harry asked to the room.
"Yes. Everyone's here as far as I can see." Cho answered.
"Very well. Now, Ladies and Gentlemen, it has come to my notice that a certain member of your house is being bullied frequently. I would like you all to know that from today, Luna Lovegood is under my protection." Luna's eyes went wide at that and a few people gasped in the room. "I would request you all to return her things from wherever you've hidden them right now and cease bullying from this moment forth." Harry completed in a serious, commanding tone.
"Why do you care? She is just Loony Lovegood!" A girl standing beside Cho said.
"What is your name?"
"Excuse me?"
"What. Is. Your. Name?"
"Marietta Edgecombe." She replied snobbishly. Time to put her in her place
"Hmm... Edgecombe isn't a part of the sacred 28 so, you're basically a nobody, right?"
"I am a pure blood!" She shrieked at being called a nobody.
"So, it gives me the right to bully you, doesn't it Ms. Ebcall?" Harry continued, ignoring her statement.
"It is Edgecombe and what do you fucking mean?" The girl snarled just before she screamed out in pain and fell to the ground as the bones in her leg were crushed.
"I mean that I have the right to do this and bully you Ms. Elcose just because you're unimportant. You said that you could bully Luna here cause she is Loony? Well, by that logic I am bullying you cause you're a nobody. Come on. Who else thinks that you have freedom to bully Ms. Lovegood?" Harry asked twirling his wand in his hand.
No one spoke up. The only noise in the room was the girl's whimpers.
"Very good. I give you all two minutes. Whoever has taken her things, return them NOW. If you don't... you can see Meloise down here. Now, scram!"
A couple of older girls and a boy who was in Harry's year immediately ran up to their dormitories with scared looks on their faces. Luna looked around the room nervously. Harry knew there were more bullies.
"Potter." The head boy called. "I respectfully ask you what has lead you to doing this?"
"I found Luna wandering through the halls without her shoes on. When asked, she told me that people love to take her things and it was a common occurrence... Something which was your duty to keep an eye out for." Roger flinched at the statement.
"See here now—"
"What is going on here?" A voice boomed from the doorway. Harry turned to see Professor Flitwick standing there with Susan behind him.
"Good evening Professor Flitwick." Harry greeted, standing up from his conjured throne.
"What are you doing here Mr. Potter? And why is Ms. Edgecombe in this condition?"
"Who Ms. Edgecombe?" Harry asked innocently, rubbing salt on the girl's wounded pride.
But, Flitwick narrowed his eyes, knowing perfectly well that Harry knew who the said person was. "Ms. Edgecombe is the girl lying on the ground with a crushed leg Mr. Potter. I, for a fact, know that only you in this whole room beside me could've successfully casted a perfect bone-crusher curse."
The bone-crusher curse was a spell only taught in the hit-wizard academy or known only by professional adult duelers. The bone-breaker curse was taught in the second term of the NEWT year in DADA. Not the bone-crusher. And, it was a tough spell to master to be honest. In a duel, if one is hit with the spell, it would be nearly impossible to duel further due to the crippling and the excruciating pain.
"Hmm... I am here because I found out that a young student from your house is being bullied by several people in your house. Be it by name-calling or by stealing her things."
Flitwick's eyes widened before gaining a dangerous glint in them. "Who is the person being bullied?" Flitwick asked in a tone he had never used before. Many Ravenclaws flinched at it.
"Luna Lovegood sir. I found her wandering through the halls bare-footed in the cold. When asked, she told me that people love to take her things and it was a common occurrence to call her names."
"Is this true Miss Lovegood?" Flitwick asked the girl who just nodded meekly in response.
"And," Harry continued, "When I confronted the whole house about this, she came forward asking me why I cared about, and I quote, 'Loony Lovegood'. So, she had the right to bully Luna." Harry said making air quotes. "In response I asked her name and came to know that she was a nobody, and if we went by her theory, I too had the right to bully a nobody, don't I?"
"Mr. Potter, while I appreciate your willingness to protect a younger student from bullying, I would request you to avoid using such spells to punish the preparators and leave it to us professors. And, in any case, you could've used a less harmful spell like the bone-breaker to give an example. So, five points from Gryffindor."
Harry just smirked and nodded in response as Flitwick turned to his house.
"Now, as for you lot. WHOEVER HAS BULLIED MISS LOVEGOOD, STEP FORWARD RIGHT NOW!" He roared. Harry caught Susan looking wide-eyed at Flitwick and they shared a look. Harry too had never seen Flitwick yelling at a student.
Many people in the common room gulped.
"Sir, a few of your students have already gone to retrieve Luna's things. But, I still believe that there are several more preparators to this." Harry added. On cue, a girl came down the stairs holding two textbooks.
She gulped when she saw the enraged charms master standing in the common room. The other two students soon followed holding things they had taken from Luna. Harry strode forward and snatched them from them before handing it to Luna.
"Who else has Ms. Lovegood's things?" Flitwick asked sternly.
No one dared to step forward.
"Dobby." Harry said and the elf popped in. "Go bring me a dozen house elves and ask them to search for Luna Lovegood's things. And bring me a list from wherever they were found."
"Yes Master Harry." He said and popped away.
"This is the last chance to step forward. Once, the elves come, and you're found guilty, the punishment would be much harsher." Flitwick warned the house again. One guy from the sixth year stepped forward hesitantly and was followed by a couple of more people. Flitwick and Harry just glared at them. Five minutes later, the elves popped in with a multitude of things: books, parchment, quills, a robe, Quibbler copies, shoes, socks, a photo-frame, letters, two pairs of shoes among other things.
Luna squealed and hurried towards the things and picked up the photo-frame. Her eyes teared up at their sight. From what Harry could see, the picture had a woman and a child... who was probably a younger Luna and her mother... who was no longer in this world.
Rage filled Harry. How dare they take a memento of a parent from an orphan! That was an unforgivable offense in Harry's eyes. His magic flared violently. The fireplace and the torches burned brighter. Lightning flickered between Harry's fingertips.
"From where did you find the photo-frame?" Harry asked the elves.
Several of the Ravenclaws, especially the preparators of Luna's bullying were cowering by now, realizing the repercussions of their actions.
"From—"
"I had taken it. I am sorry." The sixth year stepped out, admitting his mistake.
Harry turned to him and immediately sent a Legilimency probe at him. He had no occlumency shields whatsoever. He was scared of Harry and had confessed in hopes of lighter punishment. He was wishing that he hadn't taken Loony's photo-frame to see the girl make a fuss. To feel supremacy over someone.
"Mr. Potter. I will deal with him." Flitwick pleaded as Harry lifted the boy into the air by sheer will, constricting his air passage. Harry ignored Flitwick and concentrated on the boy who was frantically grasping the thin air to ease the pressure on his throat.
"HOW DARE YOU TAKE A MEMENTO OF A DEAD PARENT FROM AN ORPHAN?" Harry thundered. "HOW FUCKING DARE YOU TAKE HER MOTHER'S PICTURE FROM HER? A PHOTO OF HER LATE MOTHER! ANSWER ME!"
Harry felt someone grasp his arm. He turned to see Susan's pleading eyes. "Harry." She said softly. "Let him go. Professor will deal with him." She pleaded.
Harry looked at the boy floating in mid air and flung him across the room, and let go. The sixth year crashed into the wall and several people winced at the sound of breaking bones.
He screamed in pain and lay crumpled on the floor whimpering in agony.
"Mr. Potter. I request you to leave this room. I assure you on my honor that every bully will be punished appropriately. I ask you to leave this to me and trust me on this. Please."
Harry looked critically at Flitwick before he nodded.
"And I assure you that in case, anyone dares do anything from this moment forth to Ms. Lovegood, I will personally duel them for retribution." Flitwick added.
"Very well sir. I will take my leave. And, Luna. If anyone does anything, including calling you by names, come to me. I will deal with them. And leave what is left of them for Professor Flitwick to deal with."
"Thank you for bringing this to my attention Mr. Potter and Ms. Bones. Take thirty points and return to your dorms. It is almost curfew. Go."
The two students left as they heard Flitwick starting to yell at the Ravenclaws. The door closed behind Harry and Susan.
"Why did you stop me?" Harry asked neutrally as the couple walked down the corridor.
"I was scared you'd kill him. Because, that is what I wanted to do. He took the photo of a late mother from an orphan girl... if he had done that with me, I would have fucking ripped the bastard apart." Susan stated.
Susan had also lost both her parents to Voldemort and his forces. Susan was only alive because she had not been with her parents at that time. And when the incident had taken place, Susan was just above a year old. She was an orphan like him. Thankfully, Susan had a parental figure in Amelia Bones.
"The photo must be very dear to Luna." Harry agreed. "If someone dared to take the mementos of my parents... I don't know what I would've done to them. People don't understand the value of something unless they don't have it. You know, in my first year, I found a very special mirror during the Christmas break. It is known as the mirror of Erised." Harry said.
"It shows nothing but our deepest desires. I saw my parents in it. For the first time."
Susan gasped. "You... you mean to say that... you never knew what your parents looked like till you were eleven?"
Harry nodded. "The guardians I lived with... weren't the best people. They hated my parents and anything to do with the wizarding world. I didn't even know my whole name till I attended primary school."
"Did they... abuse you Harry." Susan asked softly.
"No. Abuse, never. But, neglected me? Yes. Very much so." Harry replied.
"What... did they do?" Susan asked.
So, Harry gave her a brief history of whatever had happened with him at the Dursley's. She had a right to know about his life as his girlfriend and future wife. Amelia Bones had consented to signing a line continuation contract with House Potter for Susan. Susan would not be taking the Potter name and thus retain her position as Lady Bones in the magical hierarchy. The Bones line would be continued with Harry though by the line continuation contract. In essence, Susan would be Harry's wife in all but her official name. The finer details of the contract would be discussed over the summer with Sirius present along with a lawyer.
"I will kill those fucking bastards. How dare they do this to you?" Susan seethed. "I will tell this to Aunt Amelia. She would—"
"Susan, there is no point. The Dursleys have moved to Australia. A magical-nation which is not under the ICW." Harry replied
It was the truth. The only difference was that Harry was the one who had pulled the strings. They were his last direct living blood relatives. Petunia was her aunt. He couldn't leave them unprotected especially from something they never wanted to get involved in. But, he didn't want the Dursley family near him again. So, he had pulled strings and Vernon had been offered a transfer from Grunnings in their new branch in Australia in August 1994.
Susan cursed about not getting to punish the Dursleys for their crimes, but Harry ended her rant with a kiss before dropping her off to the Hufflepuff dorms and apparating himself to the entrance of the Gryffindor tower as Filch rounded the corner as soon as the curfew set in.
The next day, the Ravenclaw house had lost nearly 700 points and several people were put in detention with Argus Filch, the caretaker for the whole year. Two Prefects lost their badges and their Quidditch team Beaters were banned from playing for the next three years... till which they would have graduated anyways.
Harry was given a week of detention too with Flitwick because of the damage he had done to the girl and the sixth year boy, which constituted of Harry sitting in front of Flitwick and helping him grade NEWT and OWL students' mock papers.
Needless to say, the students got their papers thoroughly checked and their parchment was filled with red ink, stating their mistakes.
The charms master had just looked at Harry with an amused expression and declared that Harry was welcome to come and replace him whenever he retired from teaching.
24th February 1995
Black Lake, Hogwarts.
"Welcome!" Bagman's voice boomed. "Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen, to the first round of the Second task of the TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT!"
The crowd went wild at the proclamation, cheering wildly for the four champions. Several students in the audience started jumping up and down in their seats. Several huge mirrors surrounded the crowd. The mirrors clearly showed each of the four champions standing near the start line, awaiting the beginning of their task.
"As we all know, this task has two rounds: the first will take place now, and the second will take place after Lunch. As for this round, last night, something was stolen from each of our champions. This treasure now lies at the bottom of the black lake. In order to win this task, the champion only needs to find their treasure and return to the surface facing whatever they come across in the Black Lake under the water. In order to do so, they have exactly one hour." Bagman informed the crowd.
He of course failed to mention that the said treasure was a person. Harry would have been more worried if the professors hadn't assured him that the hostages would be asked to consent beforehand and their safety was being guaranteed by the four heads- Sirius, Dumbledore, Karkaroff and Maxime themselves.
"The task will begin exactly at 10 AM at the sound of the canon." Bagman announced. Harry looked at the huge clock that had been specially placed to keep record of the time. There were still about ten minutes to go. "Till then, the champions would be receiving the final set of instructions for the task!"
Harry rechecked himself first before looking around at the champions. He was wearing a plain black hoodie over a pair of swimming shorts currently. A knife was strapped to his calf currently disillusioned and his wands were in his arm Holster. In his mouth, was an antidote pill which he would need to break in order to reverse the effects of the Gillyweed (He had stuck it in his mouth with a mild sticking charm). And, in his shorts pocket were three batches of Gillyweed which he was going to use to swim underwater. He had ordered nearly a dozen batches of the product and practiced swimming underwater beforehand several times. Each batch gave him the capability to breathe underwater for an hour. He had taken the two extra for assurance.
And he also had practiced and perfected the body-bubble charm which was an advanced variation of the bubblehead charm usually used by deep sea divers to find magical creatures or magical plants under the water. He could do a normal bubble-head charm too but, it was much less reliable than the body-bubble charm.
But, that wasn't Harry's plan A because it took continuous magic to maintain. Magic which he didn't want to waste. He would need to be in his prime to break through so many wards in round 2.
Around him, the other champions were in a similar state. Cedric was practicing the wand movements of the bubblehead charm while Krum was doing basic warmup exercises the quidditch players did before a match. Fleur Delacour on the other hand, was panicking. She was searching for someone. She probably had thought that the treasure would be an object rather than a person. And only now she had realized that it was a loved one.
He tapped her shoulder gently and her head snapped towards Harry. "Miss Delacour, do not worry. The hostages at the bottom of the lake are perfectly safe and no harm would come to them." Harry said in perfect French.
"How do you know that?" She snapped.
"As soon as I heard the egg riddle, I realized that the treasure that we had to retrieve was likely a person. So, I stormed the deputy headmistress's office and questioned her. She has told that the three heads of the schools and Sirius are ensuring the safety of the hostages. No harm will come to them even if you fail your task. My own girlfriend is at the bottom of the lake and so is my best friend whom I consider as my sister." Harry added.
Susan was Harry's hostage while, Hermione was Viktor Krum's.
"They have my sister. She is eight!"
"Champions!" Dumbledore's voice interrupted their conversation. "I hope you all have decoded the riddle of the egg. Because if you haven't, I will tell you that this round is going to be completely underwater and, if you haven't noticed, a person you hold dear is currently missing. They are your treasure. You have to find where they exactly are and retrieve them before the end of one hour. Rest assured that no harm would come to the hostages in case you fail. We have two hit-wizards stationed in the lake near the hostages to ensure their safety and come to your aid if in dire need."
Dumbledore looked each one of them in the eye, trying to reassure them of the fact.
"As for the hostages, Gabrielle Delacour is the hostage for Fleur Delacour, Hermione Granger for Mr. Krum, Cho Chang for Mr. Diggory and finally, Susan Bones for Mr. Potter."
All the champions nodded, visibly steeling themselves.
"Very well champions. The task begins in three minutes. Get in your swim attire." Dumbledore said before turning and returning to the judge's table with the rest of the judges. The champions started taking off their footwear before removing their outer cloaks/ hoodies.
The crowd positively went wide at seeing the champions in such state. The three boys looked extremely fit with a toned body and six pack abs. Krum and Harry's were more defined than Cedric's though. Fleur Delacour on the other hand was wearing a silvery-blue one piece conservative swimwear which did absolutely nothing to hide her figure.
Harry applied a wandless warming charm on himself to combat the cold before looking at the crowd. He caught Daphne's eyes and gave a charming smile and a wink. Several girls in the crowd swooned. Harry had technically winked at the crowd.
"Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on the sound of the canon. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One... two... three!"
At the number one itself, Harry had put a batch of the Gillyweed in his mouth and at three, he dived with the other three champions as the canon boomed.
The water was cold. Damn cold. Harry could feel the chill despite the warming charm he had applied on himself. Then, Harry felt as though an invisible pillow had been pressed over his mouth and nose. His lungs were empty, and he felt the expected piercing pain on either side of his neck - Harry clapped his hands around his throat and felt two large slits just below his ears. He stretched out his hands in front of him and stared at them. They looked green and ghostly under the water, and they had become webbed. He twisted around and looked at his bare feet - they had become elongated and the toes were webbed too.
The Gillyweed had taken effect perfectly. It was just very unpleasant and Harry could still not get used to it despite having experienced it a few times already in the past two weeks.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Fleur and Cedric had opted for a bubble-head charm whilst Krum had transfigured himself into a half-shark. Now, that was dangerous. Self transfiguration while in an uncontrolled environment for anyone less than a master of the art of self transfiguration was a recipe of disaster waiting to happen. Krum was taking a risk here as Harry doubted that Krum had actually mastered the art.
Of course, it wasn't an impossible notion but, Harry still doubted it. Self transfiguration only came in practical when one started studying for their masters in the art of transfiguration. It was just a theoretical concept for the NEWT level students. Harry himself had not mastered it completely. To transfigure your body into something other than your Animagus form was extremely dangerous and Harry saw a little appeal in it. He only learned the art on the insistence of Helga and Salazar.
Harry flicked his wand into his hand and used a propelling charm to push himself forward while simultaneously kicking his legs. It pushed him forward at an unbelievably fast pace as the other champions followed him before splitting up.
The lake was HUGE and a little could be seen over the strange, dark, foggy landscape. Harry could only see fifteen feet around him even with his enhanced vison. As he sped through the water, new scenes seemed to loom suddenly out of the incoming darkness: forests of rippling, tangled black weed, wide plains of mud littered with dull, glimmering stones.
He swam deeper and deeper, out toward the middle of the lake, staring through the eerily gray-lit water around him to the shadow beyond, where the water became opaque. Small fish flickered past him like silver darts. Once or twice he thought he saw something larger moving ahead of him, but when he got nearer, he discovered it to be nothing but a large, blackened log, or a dense clump of weed. There was no sign of any of the other champions, merpeople, Hostages- nor, thankfully, the giant squid.
Harry unfortunately couldn't use locating charms or revealing charm as the water tended to disturb those type of spells. And, if he produced a light, he would become a beacon for creatures to attack.
Light green weed stretched ahead of him as far as he could see, two feet deep, like a meadow of very overgrown grass. Harry was staring unblinkingly ahead of him, trying to discern shapes through the gloom... and then, without warning, something grabbed hold of his ankle. Harry twisted his body around and saw a Grindylow, a small, horned water demon, poking out of the weed, its long fingers clutched tightly around Harry's leg, its pointed fangs bared. Harry just shot a stunner at it and put it down.
Several more of the creatures popped out of the weeds. So, Harry shot a jet of boiling hot water at them and they sank back down. Harry continued swimming, occasionally sending a jet of boiling water around himself.
Suddenly out of the corner of his eye, he saw a light. He turned towards the source to see Fleur Delacour panicking as she was being attacked by the Grindylows.
She was already surrounded by several of the water demons and was already bleeding. The water around her was tinted red. Harry immediately swam towards the girl and sent several Relashio charms at the water demons along with stunners and banishing charms.
That was when Harry saw her bubble-head charm being pierced. Harry's eyes widened before he burst into action, banishing all the water demons or stunning them as Fleur struggled to hold her breath. As she was about to loose it, Harry pulled her closer, smashing his lips against hers and gave her oxygen through her mouth before reapplying the bubblehead charm. Fleur gulped in the fresh air that Harry had produced greedily before giving him a look of pure gratitude. She looked at Harry like he was her knight in shining armor... which he was- sort off.
Harry waved his wand again and her wounds started sealing themselves as her swim suit got repaired. He shot her a mock salute before propelling ahead. Harry saw that Fleur chose a different direction to go in than himself.
He continued ahead, wading through the murky waters, looking for the hostages.
He swam on for what felt like at least twenty minutes. He was passing over vast expanses of black mud now, which swirled murkily as he disturbed the water. Then, at long last, he heard a snatch of haunting mersong.
"An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took..."
Harry swam faster and soon saw a large rock emerge out of the muddy water ahead. It had paintings of Merpeople on it; they were carrying spears and chasing what looked like the giant squid. Harry swam on past the rock, following the mersong.
"...your time's half gone,
so tarry not Lest what you seek stays here to rot..."
A cluster of crude stone dwellings stained with algae loomed suddenly out of the gloom on all sides. Here and there at the dark windows, Harry saw faces . . . faces that bore no resemblance at all to the painting of the mermaid in the prefects' bathroom...
The Merpeople had grayish skin and long, wild, dark green hair. Their eyes were yellow, as were their broken teeth, and they wore thick ropes of pebbles around their necks. They leered at Harry as he swam past; one or two of them emerged from their caves to watch him better, their powerful, silver fish tails beating the water, spears clutched in their hands. Harry sped on, staring around, and soon the dwellings became more numerous; there were gardens of weed around some of them, and he even saw a pet Grindylow tied to a stake outside one door.
Merpeople were emerging on all sides now, watching him eagerly, pointing at his webbed hands and gills, talking behind their hands to one another. Harry sped around a corner and a very strange sight met his eyes. A whole crowd of Merpeople was floating in front of the houses that lined what looked like a Mer-version of a village square. A choir of Merpeople was singing in the middle, calling the champions toward them, and behind them rose a crude sort of statue; a gigantic Merperson hewn from a boulder. Four people were bound tightly to the tail of the stone Merperson. Four Girls: Cho, Susan, Hermione and a little, barely eight year old girl who looked like a mini-Fleur.
The hostages.
All four of them appeared to be in a very deep sleep. Their heads were lolling onto their shoulders, and fine streams of bubbles kept issuing from their mouths.
Harry sped toward the hostages, half expecting the Merpeople to lower their spears and charge at him, but they fortunately did nothing. Harry would hate to kill or harm such an endangered magical species.
The ropes of weed tying the hostages to the statue were thick, slimy, and very strong. Harry shot a Lacero at the ropes tying Susan but it just bounced off harmlessly. Harry blinked.
Then he shot a much more powerful severing spell which could cut thick trees in half but, that too bounced off harmlessly.
Magic resistant weed?
Harry admittedly wasn't the best at Herbology, but he never had heard of a weed that could resist magic. Harry looked at them with mage sight and saw that they were charmed to resist and deflect magic. Also, two disillusioned people were standing at the base of the statue: The hit wizards.
That was when Harry found a fault in the enchantment: There was no protection against physically cutting the weed.
So, Harry took his knife out and cut the weed off, freeing Susan. All this while, he was constantly on guard for a surprise attack by the Merpeople.
They didn't even move.
Harry cut Susan free and hugged her tightly before willing his magic to propel him and Susan straight up like a rocket in the water. Harry saw a figure swimming towards the Mer-village in a distance and assumed that it probably was Cedric by its figure.
He and Susan broke through the surface of the lake a few moments later.
Harry immediately broke the antidote pill he had placed in his mouth before the task, undoing the effects of the Gillyweed.
Both he and Susan breathed in the cold clear air once again. The enchantment on Susan had broken as soon as her head broke through the surface of the water. Now, her strawberry-blonde hair was sticking to her face as droplets of water dripped down her face.
"Harry!"
"You alright?" Harry asked, using magic to make them stand upright in the water without sinking one bit.
"Yes" She panted.
Harry nodded before both of them swam to the bank near where the Judges were waiting and got back on the land. Harry had to help Susan as her wet robes weighted her down and made walking difficult.
He immediately hit her with a powerful drying and warming charm making her sigh in relief as the chill elevated before doing the same for himself. Steam rose from Susan's clothes as her hair braided itself, which was once again completely dry and pristine.
"Thanks." She said with a grin and kissed his cheek before whispering in his ear, "You're looking hot as fuck."
Harry just grinned at her as Cedric emerged with Cho Chang from the lake. The mirrors showed that Delacour and Krum had also entered the village, but were still looking for the hostages.
Nearly half an hour later, the four champions and their hostages found themselves in front of the judges, once again being viewed by the crowd.
They had been checked by the healers and they were only allowed to leave a few moments ago. All the champions had returned safely with their hostages, nearly unharmed.
In the medical tent, Fleur had came in and hugged Harry before kissing his cheeks and thanking him profusely for saving her life.
"Now, it is time for the points!" Bagman's voice boomed once again as the crowd cheered. "Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by grindylows as she approached her goal, and was saved from being eliminated only by the heroics of Harry Potter. She was also the last to return with her Hostage, well outside the time limit. So, we award her thirty points out of fifty."
She just nodded in agreement.
"Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was the second to return with his hostage, though he returned just one minute inside the time limit of an hour." Enormous cheers from the Hufflepuffs in the crowd; Harry saw Cho give Cedric a glowing look.
"So, we award him forty-eight points."
"Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was third to return with his hostage. We award him, forty points."
Karkaroff clapped particularly hard, looking very superior.
"Harry Potter used Gillyweed to great effect," Bagman continued. "He returned first, and well inside the time limit of an hour. Despite some disagreement of him helping another champion," and here, Bagman gave Karkaroff a very nasty look, " we have come to the conclusion that we award him full points."
The crowd went wild. Sirius shot him a thumbs up from where he was standing.
"So, the points stand as follows: In the first place, we have Mister Potter with 198 points. In the second place, Miss Delacour with 135 points. Followed by Mr. Krum having 125 points. Last, but not the least, we have Mr. Diggory with forty-eight points."
The crowd cheered again.
"We shall meet again in a few hours after Lunch for the Second round of the task. Till then, let us give the champions a well deserved rest! Thank you."