https://docs.google.com/document/d/1no00uC_VKFabPWBusuO7P_ykeGFQcZjD0B_AamOXjVI/edit?usp=sharing
Chapter 29
As January began, Harry once again found himself in the library, searching for spells to use during the Second Task. The Bubble-Head Charm would help him hold his breath for an hour, but he still had two major issues to deal with. First, the cold. He’d have to find a way to combat that, or he’d die of hypothermia before he finished the task. And secondly, if he wanted to win, he’d have to find a way to move faster than just swimming.
Harry was flipping through a list of Heating and Warming Charms, looking for one that might fit his needs, when Jenna quietly took the seat across from him. He looked up as she set down her books and flashed him a shy smile.
“Homework?” he asked, turning back to his book.
“Transfigurations,” she nodded. “Are you working on Charms?” she asked, looking over his book.
“This is for the Tournament,” Harry told her. “I’m trying to find a way to avoid freezing to death.”
Jenna nodded, and they fell into silence. Over the next couple of minutes, Harry felt her eyes on him, but every time he looked up, she looked away. It was pretty clear she had something on her mind. The minutes ticked by and, eventually, she bit her lip and spoke up.
“Can I get your advice on something?” she asked softly.
Harry glanced up at her and smiled before turning back to his notes.
“Sure.”
“How do you deal with a bully?” she asked.
Harry slowly set down his quill and turned to her with his full attention.
“Who’s bullying you?” he asked.
“Oh, no, not me,” Jenna said quickly. She paused and bit her lip, looking torn. “It’s Luna,” she continued in a voice barely above a whisper. “You remember that party in Ravenclaw she invited me to while you were at the Ball? Well, I noticed some of her housemates were really mean to her.”
“How?” Harry asked. “What did they do?”
“They call her Loony,” she said. “And, well, they kept asking Luna about some of the stuff she’d lost, like her earrings. They seemed really happy about it. Luna said her stuff goes missing all the time. Clothes, shoes, homework, jewlery. I think they might be the ones hiding it on her.”
Harry sat back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest.
“And they aren’t bullying you?” he asked, watching her intently.
“No,” Jenna answered, shaking her head. “They weren’t exactly nice and asked me why I was spending time with a loser like Luna, but that was it. I don’t really see them much outside of class.”
Harry nodded his head, satisfied.
“And I’m guessing Luna hasn’t told a teacher. You should talk to Flitwick. He’s her Head of House.”
Jenna bit her lip and wrung her hands.
“I thought about that, but I don’t want Luna to be mad at me,” she said.
“Then I’ll take care of it,” he told her. “If Luna gets angry, you can blame it on me.”
She smiled at him gratefully, but it fell quickly.
“You’re not going to do anything to get in trouble, are you?”
“I’m sure the teachers will do their job,” Harry said, then he grinned. “Besides, I only get in trouble if I get caught.”
Jenna giggled, and they fell back into quiet studying. An hour later, Harry left the library and made his way down the hall and up the stairs to the Charms classroom. Professor Flitwick was seated at his desk, talking to Professor McGonagall over a cup of tea. Raising his hand, Harry rapped on the doorframe.
“Ah, Mr. Potter,” Flitwick said, smiling brightly. “What can I do for you?”
“Do you two have a minute?” Harry asked.
“Of course. Come in, come in,” he said, waving his hands.
Harry grabbed a wooden chair on his way to Flitwick’s desk and sat down on it backwards, his arms folded over the backrest. He struggled not to smile when McGonagall pursed her lips disapprovingly. He turned back to Flitwick, who hid his smile behind his teacup.
“I was talking to Jenna in the library, and she thinks some of Luna’s housemates are bullying her,” Harry said.
The levity died, and Flitwick set down his teacup.
“What happened?” he asked.
“She thinks some of them are stealing Luna’s things and hiding them,” Harry said. “They knew exactly what she was missing and taunted her about it. I know that’s not much to go on, but I thought you could talk to Luna about it. I wrote down a list of names.”
Harry pulled a scrap of parchment out of his pocket and handed it to Flitwick.
“Why are you coming to us with this and not Ms. McKinnon or Ms. Lovegood?” McGonagall asked.
“Jenna’s worried Luna might get mad at her if she said anything, so if you could keep her name out of it, I’d appreciate it,” Harry said. “As for Luna, no idea. I don’t really know her that well.”
“She’s a very intelligent, kind young woman, if a bit socially awkward,” Flitwick said. “The girls on this list. I’ve had to punish them before for calling her names, but I’ve never heard anything about stealing. I’ll look into this straight away.”
He folded the piece of parchment and tucked it in the inside pocket of his robes.
“Did you need anything else?” he asked curiously. “Advice on a spell, or one of your brooms, perhaps.”
“Not right now, I…,” Harry paused thoughtfully and then grinned. “Actually, I think you just gave me an idea.”
He thought he heard a soft, ‘oh, no,’ from Professor McGonagall, but he couldn’t be sure, and by the time he looked at her, she was sipping her tea.
As Harry sat down for breakfast the next day, he noticed that Ravenclaw was looking a bit subdued. When he asked Hermione about she shrugged but pointed out that they’d lost a substantial amount of House points overnight. Looking down the table where Jenna sat with Ginny, he caught her eye and winked.
Not much news about why they’d lost so many points reached the rest of the school, just that a few of the younger students had gotten into trouble. It wasn’t until lunch that Harry talked to Jenna and got a bit more information.
“Professor Flitwick did a surprise inspection of the girls’ dorm last night and found a whole bunch of Luna’s things in their trunks,” she told him. “He was furious. Luna’s roommate, Astoria, told me about it. It wasn’t just the girls in her year, but the upper and lower years, too. I think he was expecting to find a couple of her things here and there, not half the belongings she’d brought to school for the last three years.”
“Half?!” Dora asked incredulously.
“Well, probably not that much,” Jenna said. “But that’s what Astoria made it sound like.”
“How’s Luna doing?” Harry asked.
“Fine,” she told him. “I thought she’d be more upset. She’s happy to get her things back, especially the necklace her mother gave her before she died.”
Outwardly, Harry simply nodded, but internally, he was seething. Dora rubbed his arm soothingly, and it was only then that he realized his muscles were tensed. Slowly, he relaxed.
“If it happens again, you let me know,” he said.
As much as he wanted to give those girls a healthy dose of payback, he just had too much to do for the tournament to deal with it. But if it happened again, he’d make time.
~
He didn’t hear anything more about it over the next few weeks as he studied and prepared for the Second Task. The morning of February 24th dawned bright and cold. Harry and his Ilvermorny classmates donned their heavy woolen cloaks and trekked up to the castle for breakfast. There was excitement in the air as the students chattered and loaded their plates.
Harry felt as prepared as he could be, but that didn’t stop his nerves from buzzing. In fact, Dora looked more nervous than he felt. She clung to him all morning, trapping his hand in hers and squeezing it tightly. Meanwhile, out of the corner of his eye, he watched the Weasley twins move from table to table, collecting bets.
As breakfast came to an end, students began making their way down to the lake. Harry stood with Dora, mentally psyching himself up, when he noticed someone missing.
“Where’s Jenna?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Dora said, looking around. “Maybe she went down to the stands? Sirius and Marlene are probably already here. Hermione’s not here, either. She probably went down to see Michelle.”
Harry nodded and put it from his mind as they walked down the familiar path to the lake. Towering stands had been erected all along the shore. Between two of them sat a long, narrow dock that widened at the end, where two smaller sets of stands sat. The water was dark and calm, reflecting the clouds drifting high above.
The Headmasters, judges, and other Champions were gathered around the entrance to the dock. Just before Harry and Dora reached them, they paused and turned to each other.
“Good luck,” she said.
She kissed him softly and pulled him into a tight hug.
“Come out of this in one piece, and I’ll have a surprise for you later tonight,” she whispered.
Harry pulled back and arched his brow. Dora flashed him a sexy, promising smirk and kissed him again briefly before she suddenly turned and dashed off to the stands. Smiling, he turned and jogged over to the Judges.
“Ah, Harry,” Dumbledore smiled. “Ready for the task, I hope?”
“As I’ll ever be,” Harry said.
His eyes landed on an unfamiliar redhead standing behind Dumbledore, and he turned back to the Headmaster with a questioning look.
“Ah, my apologies,” Dumbledore said. “This is Percy Weasley. He’s filling in for Mr. Crouch, who’s unfortunately fallen ill. Now then, since we’re all here, perhaps we should get started.”
Harry nodded, and they walked down the dock. Halfway down, he turned to his left and right, trying to spot his family in the audience, but he couldn’t make them out in the crowd. As they reached the end, the judges took their seats in the stands. The excitement built as the Champions approached the edge of the dock. Harry stood in the middle with Fleur on his left and Cedric on his right.
“Welcome, witches and wizards, to the second task of the Triwizard Tournament!” Bagman shouted into the microphone, pausing to let the loud cheer settle. “Hopefully, our champions have deciphered the clue in the Eggs, because today, they have precisely one hour to recover what’s been taken from them. Champions, prepare yourselves!”
Harry, Cedric, and Fleur shrugged off their cloaks. Underneath, Harry and Cedric wore the long board shorts and T-shirts they’d been provided with the night before, each emblazoned with the crest of their schools. Fleur, however, wore a silver, form-fitting one-piece swimsuit with the Beauxbatons crest embroidered over her left breast. Harry leaned over for a better look and blatantly eyed her hard nipples pushing against the thin fabric of her swimsuit.
“Cold?” he asked, arching a brow teasingly.
Fleur huffed as she shivered and tapped her chest with the tip of her wand. A Warming Charm, he realized when her muscles relaxed and a light layer of steam wafted from her pale skin. Turning to Cedic, he watched him do the same thing.
“You know those wear off,” Harry said smugly. Reaching under his shirt, he pulled out a silver chain with a silver Thunderbird pendant dangling from the end. “I went with an enchantment. It’s kept me toasty warm all week.”
“Good,” Fleur said. “Zen you weel be comfortable in second place.”
“Don’t you two go counting me out just yet,” Cedric said. “I plan on winning this one.”
“The task will begin at the sound of the-”
Boom!
Filch set off the cannon early once again, interrupting Bagman’s announcement. Fleur cast the Bubble-Head Charm and jumped straight into the lake. Cedic, after casting his own Bubble-Head Charm, paused to transfigure his feet into flippers before diving in after her. Harry watched them disappear into the darkness, smiled, and raised his wand into the air.
People muttered nervously in the stands as he stood on the dock, unmoving. A few of the less friendly students, mostly Slytherins, even jeered at him mockingly. And then someone spotted the black speck rapidly approaching. A sleek, black, polished broom zipped past the stands and landed neatly in Harry’s empty hand. Grinning, he cast the Bubble-Head Charm over himself and mounted his broom.
He kicked off the dock, flew several feet into the air, rolled over, and plunged into the lake. All sound from the surface instantly cut off as Harry ripped through the water. He caught up to Cedric in seconds and passed him like he was standing still. Cedric looked at him with an incredulous, defeated expression, and Harry flashed him an apologetic smile.
A few seconds later, he caught up to Fleur. She was using some sort of Charm to pull herself through the water, but it wasn’t fast enough to keep up with his broom. She did a comical double-take when he pulled up alongside her. Harry smiled, gave her a little wave, and then took off as fast as he could.
Building a broom that worked underwater hadn’t been that difficult, but it had its limitations. Because water was so much denser than air, and it didn’t compress, his usual shields didn’t work, and he didn’t have time to design new ones. Theoretically, he could make one as fast as anything he made for the air. In reality, his speed was limited to how fast he could go until the force of the water knocked him off the broom.
Maybe one day it would be a fun challenge to charm a better broom and explore the depths of the world’s oceans, but for now, this was more than enough to win him the task. In moments, he reached a steep drop-off and descended into the pitch-black depths.
The lake was a lot deeper than he’d expected.
Harry lit his wand and kept going down until he finally reached the bottom. It was covered in thick, lifeless clay hills and mounds. He flew over the featureless, alien-looking terrain, occasionally sending out little balls of light to give himself a wider view. This went on for several minutes until he crested a hill and spotted a dull, green glow in the distance. Pointing his broom in that direction, he flew over to it.
As he got closer, more green, glowing lights appeared. Soon, he was able to make out round, mud huts clustered around stone-laden paths. The lights were green flames flickering in sconces outside the huts.
He’d found the Selkie village. They appeared in doorways and windows as he rode past. Their skin was light green, and instead of the beautiful faces of mermaids he’d seen in books, they looked like a cross between humans and fish with thick hair that resembled stands of kept. A few of them had Grindylows tied up in the front yard, like a pet dog. Some of the braver and more curious among them followed him at a distance.
Harry followed the road until he hit what he could only describe as a town square. Several larger mud buildings surround the T-shaped intersection, and there were about a dozen Selkies swimming about. But these ones were different. They wore polished copper breast plates and carried tridents. Harry slowed and approached cautiously, his wand at the ready.
As he neared the square, he spotted a large stone statue of a Selkie in the middle. Three objects bobbed in front of it, surrounded by the guards. When none of them moved to stop him, Harry moved closer and sent out a ball of light to get a better look.
He stopped and stared in horror at the three figures floating in front of him. Jenna, Gabrielle, and Cho hung motionlessly in the water, bound by their ankles to heavy boulders by a length of green rope.
Harry rushed over to Jenna and cupped her cheeks. Her eyes were closed. She looked lifeless. Fear and rage burned through his veins until he spotted a small stream of bubbles escaping her lips. Holding his breath, he waited. It felt like an eternity, but it happened again. She was alive.
Angrily, he slashed his wand through the water. An overpowered Cutting Curse severed the rope and left a deep gouge in the stone road. Cradling Jenna to his chest, he whipped his broom around and headed back to shore as fast as he could. The muscles in his arm burned, but he didn’t slow down until he reached the rocky drop-off he’d seen on his way in.
Just as he was about to head upward, he spotted movement in the thick kelp forest to his right. He was going to ignore it, knowing he could outrun anything that lived in the lake, but then he saw something that made him curse under his breath. A pale, human foot that poked through the sea of green ribbons for just a moment.
Fleur was in trouble.
Wheeling his broom around, he raced in that direction. He flew up for a better view; wand at the ready. Suddenly, he heard a loud, piercing shriek. Dozens of Grindlylow appeared from amidst the forest and scattered. They vanished into the darkness as quickly as they’d appeared, and then everything fell still and silent. Harry looked around for Fleur and finally spotted her a few yards away, floating above the kelp.
Before he could even turn his broom in that direction, two Selkies – armed and armored – appeared from below her. They grabbed her by the arms and raced straight upward.
Harry resisted the urge to chase after them and took a deep breath. Fleur was fine. They were taking her to the surface. But what about Gabrielle?
Turning his head, he looked back at where he’d come from. In his head, he knew Gabrielle would probably be fine. The hostages were in some sort of enchanted sleep, and the organizers wouldn’t put them at any real risk. It would kill any hope of reviving the tournament if someone died.
But in his heart, Harry remembered the song. Too late, it’s gone, it won’t come back. Gazing down at Jenna, he knew he couldn’t leave Fleur’s little sister down here alone. He spun his broom around and headed back the way he’d come.
He flew fast, now knowing the general direction he needed to go. In his search for the glowing green lights that marked the village from a distance, he nearly missed the large, rapidly approaching object in his path. He only saw it because it was slightly darker than the near pitch-black he was moving through.
Harry pulled up hard and lit his wand. He nearly flew face-first into a long, mottled tentacle and ducked down to go under it. The Giant Squid swam by lazily, completely unaware of Harry’s presence as he dodged around its slowly moving tentacles.
Coming out on the other side, his heart racing, he kept his wand lit and kept moving toward the village. Quickly, it came into view. He stayed higher this time and prepared for a fight. He didn’t think the guards would take kindly to his stealing someone else’s hostage. Fortunately, he had the perfect distraction.
Cedric had reached the statue and was cutting Cho loose.
Hovering above the scene, Harry readied his wand and dove down. The guards and Cedric were startled by his sudden appearance. A quick Cutting Curse freed Gabrielle from the boulder, and he snatched her up before anyone could react.
The Selkies were indeed angry. They shrieked and chased after him, but he was too fast for them. Clutching Jenna and Gabrielle to his chest, he raced back to shore. It was an immense relief to see sunlight filtering through the water. Packed, dark clay gave way to lighter, rocky sand. When he spotted the pilons holding up the dock, he pulled up and broke the surface.
Jenna and Gabrielle woke up instantly and screamed.
“Easy!” Harry yelled over the roar of the crowd. “I’ve got you!”
Jenna calmed down and gripped the girl in front of her tightly while Gabrielle glanced back at him, her eyes wide and uncomprehending. He gave her a reassuring smile and gently set the broom on the dock.
“Gabrielle!” Fleur shouted.
She ran over, pulling her sister off the broom and into a crushing hug. Looking at Harry over Gabrielle’s shoulder, she gave him a watery smile.
“Zhank you,” she said thickly.
Harry smiled and nodded as Madam Pomfrey wrapped a towel around his shoulders. She led them away and forced each of them to drink a steaming Pepper-up potion before quickly making her way over to Gabrielle with another goblet in hand.
“Alright, how the hell did you end up down there?” Harry asked, taking a seat at the bottom of the stands.
Jenna sat down next to him and wrapped the towel tightly around her body. With a quick flick of his wand, he cast a Warming Charm over her.
“Thanks,” she smiled. “Professor Turner took me to Professor Dumbledore’s office last night after dinner, and they asked me if I wanted to be part of the tournament. They knew they couldn’t use Tonks without you finding out or tearing apart the castle looking for her. Mom was there, and Sirius. I didn’t really understand all the safety precautions they were talking about, but they said it was safe, and it was up to me if I wanted to do it.”
“And you said yes?” Harry asked incredulously. “I thought you hated being the center of attention.”
Jenna blushed and ducked her head.
“I do,” she muttered. “But I wanted to help you.”
Sighing and shaking his head, he pulled her into a tight hug. Jenna leaned into him, her damp hair brushing his cheek. That sat like that for several minutes until, finally, Cedric surfaced with Cho and swam her to the dock. They were quickly pulled from the water, bundled in towels, and force-fed Pepper-Up potions.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, if I can have your attention, we are ready to give our Champions their scores,” Dumbledore announced loudly through a magically amplified voice.
Harry stood up and led Jenna back over to stand in front of the judges. To his right, Fleur lined up with Gabrielle, and to her right stood Cedric with Cho clutching his hand.
“First, let’s give our Champions a round of applause for a magnificent performance,” Dumbledore said.
The crowd cheered, but Fleur stared down at her feet. Harry could see how disappointed she was with herself. As the applause came to an end, she raised her head, resolute but defeated.
“Yes, well done, all of you,” Dumbledore continued. “Now, for your scores. In third place is Miss Fleur Delacour of Beauxbatons. Your Bubble-Head Charm was impeccable, and your use of a modified Water-Spout Charm was inventive. However, as you failed to reach your hostage, we award you forty points.”
The polite applause was noticeably subdued, especially from the Beauxbatons section. Fleur remained stoic and nodded respectfully to the judges.
“In second place is Mr. Cedric Diggory of Hogwarts! We were impressed with your partial human transfiguration, and you returned with your hostage one minute outside the time limit. For that, we award you forty-four points!”
The Hogwarts section exploded. They were so loud that they drowned out everyone else. After a full minute, Dumbledore raised his wand and let off a loud blast to quiet them down.
“Yes, very well done,” he said. “And in first place, Mr. Harry Potter of Ilvermorny!”
As if trying to outdo Hogwarts, the Ilvermorny section yelled and screamed as loudly as they could. After a few seconds, they spontaneously began to chant, ‘U.S.A., U.S.A.’ Harry grinned and shook his head as Dumbledore let off another blast from his wand to shut them up.
“A truly extraordinary performance,” he smiled. “You finished well within the time limit with not only your own hostage, but Ms. Delacour’s as well. While not strictly part of the task, thus we cannot award extra points, we would like to note your excellent moral fiber.”
There was another brief round of applause that quickly quieted down when Dumbledore raised his hand for silence.
“Additionally, not only did your broom ensure your victory, it very well may start an entirely new industry of underwater recreation.”
The crowd and Harry chuckled.
“For your excellent performance, we award you forty-eight points!”
There were loud cheers mixed with a handful of boos. It took a moment to understand why they were upset, but apparently, there was a contingent of students who thought he should have received full points.
“The points stand as thus,” Dumbledore continued once the cheering had stopped. “Mr. Diggory and Ms. Delacour are tied for second place with eighty-six points apiece, while Mr. Potter holds the lead with ninety-three. The third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament will take place on the 24th of June. The Champions will be given more information precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the Champions.”
As the judges began to depart, Harry turned to Fleur and Cedric and smiled.
“Thank Merlin, that’s over,” he said.
Fleur huffed and shook her head.
“I should not ‘ave been given so many points,” she frowned. “Zey took pity on me. I deserved zero.”
“You just had a spot of bad luck, that’s all,” Cedric said, smiling handsomely with one arm dangling over Cho’s shoulders. “At least you didn’t get bloody lapped,” he added, glaring at Harry pointedly.
“Hard work only gets you so far,” Harry teased. “Sometimes you have to work smarter.”
Cedric snorted.
“Not that I’m complaining, but how was that even allowed?” he asked curiously.
“You have to know the rules to break them,” Harry grinned, parroting advice Wilkinson had given him during his very first dueling lesson. “The rules say we’re only allowed to start with a wand. They didn’t say anything about summoning something after it starts.”
Cedric laughed and shook his head.
“I’ll remember that for the next one,” he said.
“Can we go inside now?” Cho asked. “It’s freezing.”
“Sure, I’ll see you two later,” Cedric said.
With a wave, they headed towards the castle. Harry watched them go with a smile until he felt someone kiss him on the cheek. As he turned to Fleur, she enveloped him in a hug.
“Zank you for saving Gabrielle,” she said softly.
“You’re welcome,” he replied, patting her on the back.
She stepped back with a small, soft smile. Gabrielle took the opportunity to rush forward and hug him around the waist. Harry chuckled and patted her on the back. Stepping back with a bright, beaming smile, she took Fleur’s hand and started chattering rapidly in French as they walked off towards the carriage.
“Well, ready to go find our family?” Harry asked
Jenna smiled and nodded. Together, they walked off the dock and met their waiting family on the shore. Dora crashed into him hard enough that she almost sent him tumbling back into the lake. While he was regaining his balance, he watched Marlene engulf Jenna in a smothering embrace.
“I can’t believe I let Albus talk me into letting you do that,” she chided herself. “Are you alright, sweetheart?”
“I’m fine,” Jenna said. “Honestly, I don’t remember anything after falling asleep in Dumbledore’s office. The scariest part was waking up on a broom.”
“The way Harry flies, I don’t blame you,” Sirius smirked.
“Hey!” Harry yelled. “My flying is perfectly fine!”
“You crashed four brooms as a kid,” Sirius retorted.
“Five,” Andi corrected. “We weren’t even in America for twenty-four hours before you parked your toy broom handle first in the wall.”
“That’s better than the one he parked in a corn field,” Sirius added.
“I wasn’t even riding that one when it crashed,” Harry protested.
“But you were riding it when it took off,” he pointed out.
Harry sputtered, searching for an excuse, but fell silent. Sirius made a fair point.
“If you two are done, perhaps we can go back to the carriage and get these two into some dry clothes,” Andi suggested.
Harry and Sirius shared a glance and nodded. A temporary truce. Dora finally let go of him long enough for Sirius to pull him into a sideways hug.
“You really did great out there, kid,” he said, smiling proudly. “And you did the right thing going back for Gabrielle. Your parents would’ve been damn proud of you today.”
Harry smiled as they made their way to the train.