Saviour of Magic

The Second Task

A few minutes later, Harry frowned when he encountered something he couldn't exactly identify. It was a concealment ward, but it was poorly designed. Suddenly, his senses were on alert and just as he turned, he was attacked by a horde of Grindylows. There were too many of them and they were clawing their way through his skin. Harry's eyes darkened in anger as he blasted several of them to smithereens; the concealment ward was merely a ruse to draw the champions' attention away from the Grindylows. The water demons realised that he was not prey and backed off. Cursing himself for not anticipating an attack, Harry hastily applied what little of healing charms he knew to seal the cuts on his body. Once done, he swam towards his target.

"Both Mr Potter and Mr Diggory have managed to defeat their Grindylows!" shouted Bagman. "Mr Potter has once again displayed his talent in ward-breaking! One hour and thirty minutes to go!"

There! He could see it from here. Conjuring a Patronus, he used the thunderbird to provide light as he realised that this hostage was Dylan. Dispelling the Patronus, he used a severing charm on the ropes binding his brother, put an arm around the younger boy's waist and began swimming towards the surface. Suddenly, Harry saw a movement from the corner of his eye. Turning around, it took all his willpower not to scream. In front of him was a massive snake, slithering around in the water. It came towards him, opening its mouth wide.

"Stop! I mean you no harm!" Harry said impulsively. Bubbles sprouted from his lips, but he could detect the hissing sound, even underwater. This was a surprise! The Amphibian potion must have given him the power of speech underwater as well! He would have to investigate this in depth later.

"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.