Harry stared into the ground at the Headmaster. Even if he had to put his head back to do it. How did the guy manage to get Severus to go along with this nonsense? Did he even ask him? No certainly not. Severus would have laughed at him.
The rest of the champions looked just as angry at the old man.
"A cheek," grumbled Victor.
Fleur and Michael cursed in French. especially the cute half veela was about to switch to her fury mode.
Madame Maxime wanted to reassure the teenagers.
"It's not that bad, nothing happens to any of your friends or family members."
"It's not about that," Cedric cursed. The young man wasn't nice anymore since he found out his girlfriend was being held captive at the bottom of the lake.
“You sent my mother down there. she certainly did not agree. After all, she's afraid of water. ”Melina cursed. She glared at Karkaroff. But he didn't seem to care.
"Severus would never have participated voluntarily. What have you done? him knocked out beaten? ”Harry growled. He had to hold on to Beast otherwise the book would have attacked the old man.
"No, it was all voluntary," the director tried to appease the champions.
"Yeah, about as voluntarily as Harry goes along with all the bullshit here," Victor shot back.
Dumbledore clapped his hands.
“Now that's over. You heard the rules. Each of you has an hour to get the most important person in your life out of the water. ”He looked at Harry for a long time. It had surprised everyone here that Severus Snape meant so much to the boy. the man was even more important to him than his own godfather. Sirius himself didn't seem to mind.
The six stared at the man a little longer. Then they set off.
Harry could clearly feel the looks of Sirius and his friends on his back. Neither of them had believed for a second that Severus had volunteered as bait.
lucius Malfoy was also in the audience. And he also agreed with the young people. He said the old man would be angry about some newspaper articles that appeared after the ball. in one, the headmaster didn't fare well for having passed Harry's idea of the additional champions as his. In another, it was rumored that he was very committed to the hunt for magical beings. something that all champions fought against. The journalist had even expressed concerns about whether it would be dangerous for some of the French students to be at Hogwarts?
And in the Klitterer, among other things, the parents of the Weasleys were denounced. their behavior at the ball hadn't exactly caused a storm of enthusiasm. Mainly because they were publicly drawn over a 14 year old. All because it was a former Malfoy. and finally passed Harry Potter off as their daughter's fiancé.
For all of these reasons, Lucius Malfoy suspected that the old man wanted revenge. but how exactly he did it would probably not be found out until after the end of this task.
Harry went to the edge of the lake and turned a stone into a comfortable chair. He put Beast on his lap. then he took the little Hungarian Horntail figure he had been given on the first assignment and his Quidditch goggles from his pocket.
He cast a magnifying spell on the figure. in the background the boy could hear the audience screaming. No wonder, the figure was now the size of the original. Then he bandaged the dragon's eyes with protective goggles. So he would be able to see what the figure was seeing. then he put another spell on the dragon's mouth. That had given him the most trouble while practicing. At least one should still be able to understand what Harry was saying. And that wasn't that easy with a dragon's mouth.
when he had finished all preparations, he turned to his enchanted dragon.
"Let's go. Get into the water with you. Let's find my dad. And if possible before he destroys the houses of the water people in his anger. I trust him to do that even when he sleeps. "
The dragon bowed its head and went swimming.
Harry put on the goggles and watched the figure walk.
The first thing he noticed was the octopus that was targeting Melina. no wonder, the good woman looked like an octopus herself. Somehow she reminded him of a certain character from the cartoon with the mermaid. The girl from Durmstrang, however, was much prettier.
Harry ordered the dragon to save his companion from the sea monster's advances.
Melina grinned at the dragon.
"When I heard of the dangers lurking in this lake, I never thought that I should worry about my virtue."
Harry and his dragon started laughing.
"I would be curious about the boys of you two.he said.
“Hey, I'm 17. I don't think about getting married or having children. At least not yet. "
The Harry dragon nodded.
“Swim ahead. I have a problem here right now. "
Melina gave her new friend a startled look.
"Do you need help?"
"No thanks. I'll cope with that. See you later."
"Well, well, if you say so." With that, the young woman swam on.
Harry turned in his chair.
"So Crookshanks, who are you hissing at?"
the boy had heard the hangover for a while. And seen out of the corner of my eye too. But first he had to take care of his girlfriend.
Hermione's confidante stared at Harry's pant leg. Or rather, something that climbed on it.
"A beetle?"
The half-knee hissed on and started to jump. Then Harry clicked. He quickly cast a silence spell around him. Then he plucked the insect off his pants. He held it close to his eyes.
"No matter who you are, I'm sure you haven't registered."
Harry could tell by the wild fidgeting of the animal that he was right. He was holding an unregistered animagus. And that literally. perhaps it was the one who had put his name in the goblet.
“I'll take care of that later. Beast, Crookshanks, please take care of our guest. "
Both the book and the cat seemed very pleased with the task. beast wrapped its tongue, usually used as a bookmark, around the insect. And Crookshanks continued to glare at it.
“Thank you both. I really have to continue here. "
harry stroked his friendly helper again briefly, then he went back to looking for his favorite bat.
He hadn't got very far when he was surrounded on all sides.
"What's this?"
unfortunately it was impossible to tell. The water around him was very dark. Harry suspected that Melina had earlier got herself to safety with her ink from whatever was lurking here.
"Just come here, I'm not afraid.muttered the young hero.
The beings even did him a favor. Whatever it was, they weren't intelligent. Or they had never seen a kite before. of course there was also the possibility that they could not feel fear. Why should this be the case with the Black family?
In the next moment the first attacked. The young champion didn't really care. the skin of his horn tail was really made of dragon skin. Well, Sirius had got a screaming fit when his godson and son had taken off one of his cloaks. but he had understood that Harry just wanted to make sure he could do the second task. He had woven the leather into the figure. Now he was even more like a real dragon. however, this made it harder to conjure up the character. That had spurred Severus to make some sarcastic comments. All of them were about Gryffindors acting first, then thinking.
Harry grinned at the memory.
but then the attackers became annoying to him. Because his dragon was not making good progress. So the champion decided to use another ability on his character.
"Come on, put a fire on their bum. Wherever is their butt? "
immediately the dragon opened its mouth and let loose fire on the critters. That had also taken a long time. After all, water had the ability to put out fires. But in the end Harry had succeeded.
again the audience cried out in surprise. It was probably because the lake was starting to steam. Why did they even watch this task? You could only see one lake for an hour.
the fire also made an impression on the creatures that targeted the dragon. They all fled as quickly as they came.
“Cool, it worked better than the exercises. Well then, go on. "
"Hello Harry."
the dragon turned its head in surprise. He was even more surprised when he saw who had spoken to him. "
"Myrtle? You recognize me? ”He wanted to know, amazed.
The ghost girl nodded smugly.
"Of course, I'm dead, but not stupid."
“I never said that either. But I dare to say that I don't really look much like a Hungarian horntail. "
The ghost laughed out loud.
“No, certainly not. but I recognize your magic signature. ”she explained to him.
“Can you feel that? Wow, I'm impressed."
At Harry's compliment, the girl turned silver. A sure sign of embarrassment with ghosts. then, however, the expression on her face was offended.
“Why didn't you come to see me after the Chamber affair? I thought you liked me. ”At the last sentence she had started to cry.
“I do too, but unfortunately it didn't work. last year we had the stress with the dementors. Sirius and Dad just didn't let me out of their sight. "
Myrtle nodded sadly.
"I noticed. They were here back then, too, shortly before I died. Terrible beasts. "
"You agree." Harry shuddered at the memory.
“And what is this year? Isn't it because of the stupid tournament? ”The ghost wanted to know more.
Harry blushed suddenly. He looked around briefly to see if nobody could hear him. a stupid idea underwater, but he couldn't help it.
"Um, no, there is another reason. I gossiped with Severus over the holidays. When he found out where I was hanging out in the sophomore year, he read me the riot act. I had to write sentences. He also talked at length about decency and privacy. he forbade me to ever go into a girls' bathroom again. Regardless of whether it is used or not. The only exception would be if a woman had her child in a toilet and no one was there to help except me. I tell you, that was embarrassing. "
Now Myrtle had a hysterical fit of laughter.
“You had to write sentences? Which one?"
"Myrtle please, this is so embarrassing."
the ghost girl didn't even think about letting the boy off the leash so easily.
"Come on, tell me. What did the old grump want from you? "
“The name was right back then. I had to write that I had no business in the girls' toilets. So if you want to talk to me you have to leave your domicile for better or for worse. I'm not interested in any detention. especially not on the subsequent education classes. The man knows how to embarrass someone. ”Harry blushed at the memory.
The girl giggled again.
"Can I introduce myself."
"How did you get here anyway?" Harry wanted to know. Especially to change the subject.
"Oh, where do you think the toilets are going?"
"What? Yuck, it's good that I never swam in this lake. That's disgusting. "
the ghost nodded.
“Tell that to the Aquarius and all the other beings that live in here. They don't like it either. "
Harry grumbled something to himself.
Then something else took his attention.
fleur was struggling to get out of the water. She had an air bubble around her head so she wouldn't drown. Puffing wildly, she came to lie next to Harry and released the spell. He himself took the magic of silence from himself.
"Fleur, what happened?the girl had received some injuries.
"Kappa," she gasped.
Harry's eyes widened.
"What are kappas doing here?"
The French woman just shook her head. She was completely exhausted. Then she started crying.
"Gabrielle is still down there." She sobs.
Harry put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
“Don't worry, I'll get her. Look here comes Remus. "
The werewolf ran to them as soon as he saw the injured girl.
"Come on, I'll take care of your wounds."
The young woman shook her head vigorously.
"No, my sister."
The healer stroked her hair reassuringly.
“I'm sure Harry will get her. Not true?"
“What you can rely on. According to Fleur, the little one is only six years old. It shouldn't be down there at all. "
Fleur nodded wildly. And Remus also agreed.
"You see, everything is fine, our puppy is not going to let anything happen to your sister."
Reluctantly, the young woman allowed herself to be brought to the healing tent.
"She's six?" It came from Myrtle in disbelief.
The dragon nodded.
"Indeed. an impudence. Fleur is very fond of the little one. She often told us about her. "
The ghost thought for a moment.
"Come with me, I know where you can find your father and the other 'prisoners'."
"Really, are you going to show me?Harry wanted to know in disbelief.
"Yes, I planned to do that anyway after you told me why you weren't coming to visit me anymore."
Without another word, the girl swam ahead. The dragon after her.
soon they had reached a beautiful underwater palace. In front of the gates stood or floated water people. And next to them were the capsules with the people.
The dragon stood up in front of the frightened creatures.
"Are you going to stop me?" He wanted to know.
An Aquarian shook his head.
“We never intended to do that. We are only supposed to guard these people. "
"Well, I'll take these two with me in a minute." Announced, Harry.
then he let the kite swim very close to the capsules. In one he could recognize Severus. And, although he was asleep, you could clearly see how angry the man was.
"I'm glad he's not mad at me," Myrtle muttered at the sight.
harry could only agree. The dragon opened the capsule with one claw and plucked Severus out. The same thing did with the one in which Fleur's little sister was lying.
“Well, that was it. Thanks for watching. ”he said to the Aquarius. Then the dragon made its way back with its prey.
He talked to Myrte for a while before he broke the surface of the water.
as soon as Severus and Gabrielle were both heads above the water, they opened their eyes.
The little girl looked around, frightened. When she saw the dragon, she began to cry.
The figure quickly swam ashore and set them down.
severus had started to talk to the girl, but she didn't understand him.
"Dad, this is Fleu's sister, you have to speak French with her."
Severus looked at his son for a moment, then switched languages.
"Show off," grinned Harry.
Fortunately, the potions master managed to comfort the little one.
“Where is your sister?” The teacher then wanted to know.
Harry pointed to the tent.
"Fine, I'll take you there. And then, I'll behead the old man. "
"Do that, but maybe you should dry yourself off first." With that, Harry pointed at the two of them wet clothes.
With a brief spell, Severus settled the problem. Then he went to the tent with the girl.
Harry had observed that in the meantime the other participants had also left the lake. Victor was half a shark and came out of the water with his grandmother. And Michael was a sea man and had his best friend with him. Young Gryffindor found the one with Grandma particularly cute.
Harry was about to conjure up his dragon again when myrtle shot out of the water.
"Harry, quick. He will soon be out of breath! ”The boy turned around, startled.
"Who?"
"Cedric. His girlfriend is still sleeping, but the magic is wearing off with him. "
The Gryffindor cursed, then sent his kite to dive again.
Cedric had conjured up gills. However, the saying was apparently not very tenable.
The dragon quickly followed the ghost girl, and he could see his two friends from afar.
"Come on, hold on," Harry ordered.
Cedric didn't bother to be amazed. he clung to the animal's wings and let himself be pulled up.
The young man drew in his breath greedily. Cho and the dragon helped him to the bank.
“Damn it, that was close. Why didn't the magic last? ”Cedric wanted to know after a while.
"You have to ask Flitwick that, he's the expert on charms," Cho muttered worriedly.
She thanked Harry and then took her friend into the tent.
Harry could finally relax too. this time it hadn't been dangerous for him, but he had worried about everyone nonetheless. He leaned against his large kite.
"Well done, kid.severus went down on his knees next to him and stroked the boy's hair.
"Thanks, I hate this tournament more and more."
"I can understand, I feel the same way."
the Gryffindor leaned against his father and just enjoyed the moment.
“Can we stay like this for a few minutes? I don't want to face the pack again now. "
severus sat down on the meadow and pulled Harry into his arms.
“Of course, take a rest. I'm here."
"Thank you", so the boy closed his eyes and blanked out the world. If only for a brief moment ..