Annabeth Smith in the Goblet of Fire

Chapter Eleven: The Second Task

24 February 1995

Annabeth was walking between the twins as they called out around them taking bets on the Second Task while the students were taking off from the dock to the stands in the middle of the Black Lake.

"Any bets?" George yelled out.

"Place your bets!" Fred called. Annabeth was silent as the bond was alive and loud inside her. "Step up, Mates, don't be shy."

"Three lads."

"One lady."

"Four go down."

"But do four come up?" Fred asked just before Ginny pushed into his right side. Annabeth, Fred, and George turned to look at the young girl.

"Don't be so mean." Ginny told them.

Fred and George just looked at each other before George yelled out again— "Any bets?"

"Best ten to one!" Fred waved tickets in the air.

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Ayla McGonagall, the granddaughter of Professor Minerva McGonagall, was sitting in the Professors' box with her grandmother and some other guests as she had helped with the Second Task as she had done with the First Task. Ayla had been able to help with the Second Task as she was fluent in Mermish, having been taught by Albus Dumbledore himself. She'd learned it while growing up on the Hogwarts grounds. After Dumbledore had learned she'd often play at the lake where the Mermaids would come up to the surface to see her, he taught her so she could communicate with them. She was fluent by seven years old. Professor McGonagall had been happy because Ayla had stayed at McGonagall Cottage, which still stood on Hogwarts grounds, since the First Task. Unfortunately, Ayla's boyfriend, Charlie Weasley, had had to return to Romania after the First Task with the dragons.

Annabeth stood in the stands between Fred and George with other Hogwarts students as Dumbledore opened the Second Task. The bond was still loud. "Welcome to the Second Task. Last night, something was stolen from each of our Champions; a treasure of sorts. These four treasures, one for each Champion, now lies on the bottom of the Black Lake. In order to win, each Champion need only find their treasure and return to the surface. Simple enough, except for this. They will have but one hour to do so, and one hour only. After that, they'll be on their own. No magic will save them. The task will begin with the start of the canon." A canon went off.

From where Annabeth and the twins stood, they saw Krum, Fleur, and Cedric leap into the water, but Harry hadn't gone in. Instead, after a moment, Mad-Eye pushed him in.

"Harry! Something's wrong with Harry!" Annabeth cried.

The twins tried to see. "How can you tell?" George asked.

"Yeah, all I see is murky water." Fred pointed out.

Suddenly, Harry flew out of the water and did a backflip. "Yeah!" He yelled before he dived back in.

Fred and George chuckled. "He looks fine to me."

"Yeah, try to worry less, Annabeth." George told her as he wrapped an arm around her.

Annabeth breathed a sigh of relief. "He's not out of the woods yet. He still has an hour to go."

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There was only eight minutes left in the Second Task. Fleur had been forced to stop competing because she had been attacked by some Grindylows and could not continue.

Suddenly, Cedric Diggory surfaced first with Cho Chang. Everyone cheered, but all Annabeth cared about was Harry. A moment later, Victor Krum came up as half a shark with Hermione before he transformed back into a human. Durmstrang students' cheers were louder than the Hogwarts students' had been.