Chapter 37: Second Task
I lost my muse a bit on this chapter after the ritual but I hope you all enjoy it anyway. Heads up... I put some french in here...I apologize if I completely and utterly butchered it.
I don't own Harry Potter, wish I did though.
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"Talk"
'Think'
"Parseltongue"
"Nightshade communication"
Chapter 37 – Second Task
"He said that he was aiming for Mr. Krum. It would seem that he was jealous that Hermione turned him down only to go with Mr. Krum instead." Severus didn't sound impressed but neither was Harry or the others who sat with them.
"His aiming sucks. What is Ronald's punishment?" Harry growled, eyes glowing with his released magic. He glanced over at the closed bedroom door where the rest of his Pack was sleeping. Severus, Minerva, Sirius, and Remus were sitting with him in their common room. The Yule ball had ended two hours before and the teacher meeting was over. Sirius, Samuel, and a few other Aurors had been summoned to help sort out the mess of one Ronald Weasley.
"Dumbledore protected him a lot. Originally Ron was going to be expelled and have his magic locked away for three years but Dumbledore protested that a bit of jealously and a poor decision shouldn't be so severely punished. He won." Sirius growled too. He was more canine then man some days because of his bond to Remus and his animagus form. That boy hurt one of his pack pups.
Harry heard something behind him shatter, his magic lashing out in his anger. "He got off free?"
"No," Remus, ever the calming voice, reassured him. "He has been suspended for the rest of the year and when he returns next year he will have a tracking and magic monitoring charm on him."
"That's not much," Harry muttered, but it didn't matter. He could take care of Ron even if the boy was outside of Hogwarts.
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Harry wanted to let his magic attack the old man. Ever since the Yule Ball Dumbledore had been keeping an eye on Harry's girls. A little to close from what Amara and Nightshade reports. Minerva tried to tell him not to worry, she was keeping a close eyes and ear on the headmaster. She wasn't going to let anything happen to his girls. While Harry trusted his godmother he didn't trust Dumbledore. When he told the founders, they agreed to step up their training. The founders were teaching them how to use their elemental magic and shadow magic in combat. The twins had learned how to combine their fire and wind without burning everything around them and losing control. Neville had taken to carrying seeds on his person. He told them that he saw something in one of Hermione's manga books that he wanted to try to master. Harry and Hermione laughed when he made a rose whip in their last session. Neville cut his own cheek but he was determined to master his new weapon. Ginny was the first one of them to use the shadows as a means of transportation. She had called the shadows to her only for her to somehow fall through them and fall out of a shadow on the other side of the room. The others soon joined her in learning how to manipulate the shadows to transport themselves. Harry had no doubt that they would be ready for anything that Dumbledore threw at them.
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"Come seek us where our voices sound, We cannot sing above the ground, And while you're searching, ponder this; We've taken what you'll sorely miss, An hour long you'll have to look, And recover what we took, But past an hour — the prospect's black, Too late, it's gone, it won't come back." Harry broke the surface of the bath as the whimsical voice faded from the water. Just what he needed, mermaids in the Black lake.
"How will you last an hour underwater? A charm?" Amara asked curiously. Harry had projected the scene when he was underwater so she would hear it the same as him.
Harry closed the egg while it was still under the water before he set it beside the bath tub. "I could but the bubble head charm can be popped while under. I would prefer not drowning."
"Is there a potion? How about a plant?" Harry really did love Amara. She was always ready to help him, even when she was out of her depth.
He relaxed against the edge of the bath wall. The Pack wasn't expecting him back until morning at the latest. "I think there are. Neville might have something and you know that Draco is our potion wiz. I'm more worried about the something I will sorely miss."
The conversation ended there. Harry soaked for a half an hour before he pulled himself out of the still steaming water. The moment he was out the ROR changed before his eyes into the small stone room he used for his first blood ritual. Amara and Nightshade lay next to the mole skin pouch he kept all the material he needed. He took out the salt first. He flicked his wrist causing the salt to form a perfect 5 ft circle. This ritual was simple in nature but he still put one crystal into the circle for a power focus. As when he did his first ritual, Harry stepped into the circle naked but with Nightshade in his arms and his fang necklace around his neck. He set her down in front of him with the crystal between them. Nightshade curled up into a ball, her head towards Harry. Harry kneeled, pulling his knife out of his necklace.
Harry had decided to forgo any words or chants. His Blood Magic book had said that those in tune with their magic didn't always need words to direct their magic. He was counting on that for this ritual. Harry took a deep breath before slowly releasing it. He didn't feel the pain of his knife slicing into his left middle finger but his magic surged into the open cut. He used the wound to reapply his chosen blood symbol onto his forehead and heart. His magic surged around him pulsing in flashes of fire and ice. Amara hissed from outside the circle as the pressure built in the room. Harry ignore her, he couldn't afford to lose his concentration and center. He took the knife into his left hand, he sliced a matching cut into his right middle finger. With this new cut he drew his symbol onto Nightshade's forehead. She shifted faintly but didn't pull away. Harry was thankful. His magic moved around her small body, penetrating the new mark and moving into her body, interacting with the blood he had fed her throughout the year.
Harry steadied himself for the last part of the ritual. It was going to hurt his little one. He focused all his attention and magic onto Nightshade. His magic pulled and pushed between them forming a bond. Nightshade screeched, withering as the magic bore deep into her blood and soul. Harry felt sweat drip down his neck with every passing moment. The sounds his little one made struck him to the core but he pushed it to the side. After what felt like an eternity, his magic settled and Nightshade fell silent. The pressure in the room faded, causing Harry to slump forward in exhaustion. When he planned this ritual, he never though it would take so much out of him.
"Sleep master. I will guard you both as you rest." Harry heard Amara tell him, she sounded so far way. "Sleep."
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"Master?" A soft feminine voice called him from his dark rest. "Master please wake up."
"Amara? Nightshade?" Harry was still fighting to leave Hypnos' arms of sleep. While his magic is vast, it was not used in such large spurts. It took much out of him. He felt weak, his magic sluggish in his veins, and he had to fight to open his eyes.
"That's it, Master." Nightshade was inches from his face when Harry finally won the battle with his eyes. Amara was coiled up behind her looking worried, or as worried as a snake could be.
"Nice to see that the ritual at least worked," Harry muttered as he tried to push himself up from his face down position on the floor. 'How long was I asleep for?'
"The night. Dawn is only an hour away." Amara gently pulled Nightshade away when Harry's arms almost gave out.
He pushed the exhaustion away. He needed to get back to his Pack. He just knew that Luna and Draco had stayed up the whole night waiting for him. He crawled over to his mole skin pouch outside of the circle of salt. From inside it, he pulled out a pepper-up potion. It would last him until he got to his bed. He shot it back so he wouldn't taste it and the moment it started shooting steam out his ears he gathered his things. "Come along ladies."
The walk back to the Pack's common room was a long one. The pepper-up was working but he still felt the tiredness at the edge of his mind, the pepper-up only just holding it at bay. When the door came into sight Harry sighed, grateful that he would get to sleep soon.
"Alpha!" Just like Harry thought. Both Luna and Draco had stayed up waiting but he wasn't much surprised to see Hermione up with them either. He was only just in the room when he received an arm full of Luna.
"Luna love, please don't shout so loud this morning." On his walk back to the Silver rooms he had developed a mind slipping head-ache.
Hermione rose from his chair looking worried. "You don't look so good Harry." Her hand was cool when it was placed on his forehead. "You have a fever."
"Just magical exhaustion." Harry muttered as the girls pulled him to the couch. He happily laid his head on the plush pillow Draco conjured. "A bit of sleep and some food will clear up everything." The pepper-up potion was wearing off. He slowly slipped back into the arms of sleep and dreams. He didn't even feel the soft warm blanket that was placed on him or how the couch was changed into a bed. He did feel the others lay down with him though. The bond humming happily at the close contact of his Pack mates. Hours later, even so lost to sleep, he felt the others join the pile from their own beds. His magic pulsed, slowly getting stronger again.
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"The Black lake has mermaids?" Fred looked at Harry in bewilderment.
"Really? I just thought that the giant squid was the only thing in there." George muttered.
"You wanted to believe there wasn't anything else in that lake. There is a big difference." Neville muttered in his boyfriend's direction. George stuck his tongue out in retaliation.
"Moving on." Hermione rolled her eyes at the childishness. Her eyes finding Harry's soon after. "What will they take for the competition?"
"I don't know. It could be anything and that concerns me." Harry shifted Luna to the left so he could move his right arm a bit more. "For all we know it could be a person and not an object."
"They wouldn't allow innocent people to be used in this tournament…er… right?" Hermione didn't sound so convinced at her own statement. Harry couldn't blame her. He wouldn't put it past the Ministry or Dumbledore to use innocent bystanders that are connected to the champions in this.
"What about the hour underwater part? What do you want to do about that?" Ginny asked, she was lounging in her older brother's lap, Fred, like Luna was doing with Harry.
Harry though back to many of the books he had read. "There is a plant I read about called Gillyweed. It allows a person to breathe underwater. There was also a few potions I read that did the same."
Neville shook his head. "Gillyweed taken on its own can make one very sick and the time it lasts for varies with the quality of plant. I would trust a potion over the plant itself."
"I'll find something to make in one of my potion books." Draco volunteered. "Now can we move on to something more important?"
Ginny snorted. "Impatient much?"
"Yes." Draco sent her a teasing smirk. "Viktor has requested a meeting with you Harry."
"He approached you and asked?" That was surprising. Harry had expected the boy to approach him himself.
"Yeah. A few of the Snakes told me that he was asking questions and when he made a mention of wanting to have a private meet with you they told him to come to me first." That made much more sense.
Harry nodded. "You are my right hand and the prince of Slytherin. Had he not been able to get to you he would have spoken to Ginny, as she is the princess. What is it you said you wanted to be at your family's summer gala? My representative?"
Draco laughed in amusement. "Yeah. Hermione is the researcher, the twins took inventors and spies, and Neville is a spy."
"I'm you seer but that can't be public knowledge so…" Luna paused to think. She brightened a minute later, a grin stretched across her face in delight. "I call the recruiter position!"
They all turned to Ginny, as she was the last to choose what she wanted to be in their Pack. "I'll be a spy. You can never have too many of them." She smiled innocently at the group.
Fred wasn't convinced. "Or assassin. Your aim is scary." Ginny only flashed him another innocent smile and snuggled closer into his heat. Harry almost laughed at the uneasy look that crossed Fred's face at that smile.
"Okay, back on topic." Harry waited for all the attention was back on him. "Viktor wants a meeting so let's meet. Invite him to meet after the second task. Tell him in front of Fleur."
Neville nodded. "If she knew Viktor was meeting you, she'll want to meet too."
"Probably at the same time. More security in numbers." Hermione agreed. "It helps that they also knew each other through their fathers. That gives them a bit of trust to count on."
"Who are their fathers?" Draco, always the politician, asked intrigued.
"Fleur's father is part of the French Ministry's alliance board. Viktor's father is part of the Bulgarian's Dark party." Viktor had told her that when she had asked how their Ministries differed from each other.
"Dark party?" Ginny asked.
"Yeah, Bulgaria is made up of three legislatures. The Dark, the Light, and the Neutral legislatures. Each party is given equal power so the laws they make don't benefit just one party. They are much more like the Wizard's Council than anything." Harry remembered being fascinated at 12 by how many countries used that style of government than like the Light dictated Ministry the English used. "France has the same system. The alliance that Fleur's father belongs to doesn't include England. The alliance is called Gardiens de Magi, Guardians of Magic."
Hermione looked at her Alpha with shocked amusement. "Viktor said he couldn't give me the name of the alliance. Do I even what to know how you know so much about it, let alone the name?"
Harry grinned at her, the whole Pack looking on waiting for him to explain. "The Black family came from France along with the Malfoys. Both libraries have books written about the alliance. It's been around since the Wizard's Council changed over to the Ministry of Magic."
"You have books on this?" Hermione's eyes drifted. Luna giggled at the dreamy expression on her face. "Books on secret…" They had lost her to her dreaming.
The twins shared grins. Laughter filled the room when the twins, in fox forms, jumped on Hermione, causing her to scream in surprise. The talks and plans were pushed aside for the rest of the day while the founders looked on at the sight of a room full of different animals playing around.
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The second task was soon upon Harry. The night of, he ate dinner with his Pack at the Hufflepuff table. The Pack was relaxed, for the most part. Hermione sat with Viktor debating spells with him. The twins were ganging up on poor Draco. Neville and Ginny were in a deep discussion with Harry about the possibilities of the task he was to face. Luna though hadn't been feeling to well and opted to speak quietly to Fleur from Hermione's side. That is when Harry pin-pointed, his day went to hell. Poor Luna had tried to stand, feeling a wave of nausea. She only just missed Fleur, puking onto the floor. Hermione, closest to her, was quick to try to help.
Minerva was quicker to approach to group. "Oh dear. Luna, I think a trip to Pomfrey is in order." She glanced at Harry when she spoke.
"Luna love, what do you want to do?" Harry lowered his voice to a mere whisper. The Pack had potions that would help her get better in their rooms but that was only if she didn't want to go to the med wing, somewhere she liked to make visits to. She wanted to be a healer so she talked a great deal with the resident med witch.
Luna smiled, holding onto Hermione. "I'll go. Maybe Madam Pomfrey will give me another lesson while I'm there."
Harry smiled at that. Only Luna could see go much light in this. "Yeah, maybe she will. Come on then."
Minerva followed with them, cleaning up when Luna was sick three more times before the med wing came into sight. Madam Pomfrey, at the sight of one of her favorite students sick, ushered Luna onto a bed. The Pack stood back watching and listening as she cast scans on Luna. The results were written down.
"It looks like flu but the scans say pox." Pomfrey turned to the waiting Pack. "Sorry students but Luna needs to stay here for the night. I'll run some tests but she might have to ride it out without potions. I know you are all close so I'll make a deal." Harry nodded for her to continue. Luna wasn't the only one who talked with the med witch often, Harry liked to hear stories of his parents and godparents from when they were in school. Pomfrey knew the Pack was close and Harry didn't like leaving one of his alone without another to keep their back."Luna stays here for the night and one of you stays by her side. Sound fair?"
He couldn't argue with that. He trusted her. "Deal"
"I'll stay with her," Hermione called out first, winning the right. Harry chuckled but nodded permission anyway. His girls would be safe together.
That last though bit him in the ass the next morning. They were gone. Pomfrey was in a pissy mood when she told then that Dumbledore came in before dawn and just took them. When she had gotten him his way he had the audacity to stun her. The Pack was pissed, more than that though Harry wanted blood. The Pack didn't know how Harry kept calm all the way down to the lake. They didn't know how he kept his magic in check when he approached Dumbledore either.
"Headmaster Dumbledore, a minute of your time please." Harry's voice was cold. A mask he hadn't worn for a time was strongly in place, his iron control over his magic firm. Dumbledore looked away from his fellow headmaster and mistress, whom he had been talking to when Harry arrived at the platform in the middle of the lake. The lake that Harry could feel his girls deep within.
"Harry my-" Harry cut him off, not caring to hear what he had to say. Dumbledore looked shocked, so did the others within hearing range, which was a lot of people. "Imagine my surprise when I go to visit two of my girls this morning in the med wing only to find them missing. Then imagine my surprise when I was told that you had taken them against Madam Pomfrey's orders. Now if that wasn't enough, you also stunned a member of your own staff, the med witch in charge of caring for your students, to take my said girls. Said girls that are most likely at the bottom of this lake, to participate in a stupid tournament that they wanted no part of. Please tell me, what the hell were you thinking? Or is that the problem? You weren't thinking at all."
Silence hung over the once loud crowd of students and adults. It blanketed the air making many hold their breath. Harry's eyes glowed with his power, matching the intense gaze of angry blue eyes. Dumbledore looked thunderous. "How dare you-"
"No, I dare." Harry's voice never changed from the calm ice it had started with. "Did my girls even consent? Did you even ask? Unlike a champion, all whom become part of a task or challenge in the tournament, like this very lake task," Harry waves a hand to the water around him, "has to sign a magical binding agreement stating that they are willing to place their lives in to the hands of a champion chosen for them with full understanding that said life could be lost and that no compensation or punishment could be persuaded in result of said death. This agreement is written up and them signed by all tournament judges, officials, and willing participants. I want to see this document."
"Mr. Evans," Percy Weasley, one of Mr. Crouch's underlings in the Ministry, stepped forward. "You are right about those who participate needed to consent but as this tournament is less dangerous than in the past we only needed parent consent of minors." Percey pulled out two rolled up parchments from his briefcase. "Here are the two contracts for Ms. Lovegood and Ms. Granger."
Harry took them, with a sharp eye and with both Neville and Draco reading over his shoulder, he went over every word. They were well written, Luna's more so as her father knew all about contracts as an editor of a newspaper. Hermione's though was written in a different manner. It went on and on like most official papers do and he just knew that whomever got them to sign had to explain many parts, in a way that made them think this tournament was just a school game and their daughter wouldn't be in any danger. No were in the contracts did it say that no harm or loss of life would befall the girls.
"Nice wording, but let me give fair warning," He handed the contracts back to Percy, after spelling a copy of both, "if anything happens to my girls before I get to them, hell will be paid by all." He didn't wait for a reply. He brushed passed the officials and headmasters/mistress to join his fellow champions by the platform's edge. Cedric gave a nod in greeting but didn't speak.
Viktor though had no such problem. "Hermy-own and Luna are in the lake?"
Harry only nodded to confirm his question. Viktor opened his mouth to speak again but Dumbledore spoke first. "Ladies and Gentlemen, in the first task the champions had to retrieve a golden egg. In the egg was a hint about the second task that the champions had to puzzle out." Harry gave his wand a flick, transforming his robes into black swim trunks with the Pack' mark on the right leg and a water armor long sleeve shirt with the same emblem on his right breast. "In this task the champions have to swim in the lack to find something we placed down there for them to find. They have on hour." Dumbledore turned to the champions, harry felt his Pack fall back into the surrounding crowd. "Champions at the ready." Harry took the potion from his pocket and shot it back. "Begin!"
The champions dived into the icy water. Harry felt the potion take effect. His feet shifted into webbed flippers, his fingers became webbed together, gills cut into his neck for him to breath, and his eyes developed a lens over them to help and protect his sight. He wasted no time shooting off into the direction he could feel his missing girls. He was swimming for only about 30 minutes when he heard a scream. A quick glance around showed Fleur being attacked by hoards of grindylows close to 25 ft below him. She was getting dragged down into the seaweed where they would tangle her up and let her drown before eating her. With that knowledge in the forefront of his mind, Harry swam to help her. He sent his magic out, wrapping it around the frightened and tiring girl to defend her. His magic lashed out, fighting the grindylows until he got close enough to use the single dagger he strapped to his ankle. The grindylows left after they realized that their meal was protected. Fleur was sobbing into her bubble head charm. Harry pushed her towards the surface.
"The person-" He couldn't make out what else she said but he knew what she was getting at.
He pushed her up again. "I'll get them. I will not let this tournament take innocent lives." Harry expected her to disagree, to try and continue but to his surprise she didn't. She nodded before swimming up. She had placed her trust in him; the trust that he would save whoever was down here for her.
Harry watched her for a moment longer before continuing on. It was getting close to the time limit set by the officials when the scenery changed. Rudimentary stone hut type formations came into his sight. He could feel his girl somewhere in the center of it. He swam on soon seeing mermaids, not like the ones in fairy tales as they weren't beautiful at all, the closer he got to the center. Four figures were floating in the village square, held by a seaweed rope each. Luna and Hermione were side by side, small bubbles escaping their mouths. He was hit with a realization. If the champions didn't get them in time, they would drown. But past an hour — the prospect's black, Too late, it's gone, it won't come back. The last part of the clue played through his mind, mocking him. The judges and officials were going to let them drown if they weren't saved in time. Harry glanced at the other two with his girls. One was Cho Chang, Cedric's to save but the other was a blond little girl no older than 8 years old. She must have been Fleur's to save. They shared some physical traits so he could only assume that she was Fleur's sister.
He felt Cedric approach the center of the village. Chang would survive. He went for Luna first, cutting her loose. He cut more of the rope to tie her to him by the waist. Cedric was cutting Chang loose when he noticed Harry looking at him. He indicated to his wrist before pointing up. Time was running out. Harry nodded to him before Cedric swam upward with Chang in his grasp.
Viktor, with a shark's head, came shooting out of the gloom next. He bit through the rope holding Hermione and Harry knew he didn't need to worry about her. He swam to the end of the line to get the little girl. The mermaids weren't having that.
One with a spear jabbed at him when he got too close to her. "You can only save one."
"The hell I can." He growled, his magic lashing out at the mermaids around him as he cut the girl free. He used his magic to propel him to the top, one arm wrapped tight around each girl. They broke the surface braking the enchantment on the girls. Luna woke with a sputter while the young girl cried out in fright. Harry, understanding that Luna was still tied to him and capable to swim, let her go to wrap both arms around the girl. Her arms wrapped around his neck and her face buried into his neck sobbing. The poor thing should have never been part of this, Harry thought. Luna pointed to the platform about 10 meters away. He cut the rope holding her to him before he pushed to swim on his back, holding the still crying girl to his front.
The Pack stood by the edge to pull them up. Hermione was cocooned into fluffy blankets to ward off the cold. "Alpha! Are you alright?" Harry nodded.
"Come on Luna let's get you warm." Neville pulled the shivering girl out of the freezing water. The twins helped pull Harry and the child out together as the girl wouldn't let her savior go.
"Where is Fleur?" Harry called out. A flurry of activity happened behind the Pack as the girl in question made her way to them. Cedric sat down behind him but Harry ignored him. He was fine.
Fleur dropped to her knees crying at the sight of the child in Harry's arms. "'Oh Gabrielle, es-tu correcte? Je suis tellement désolé, je n'ai pas réussi à te sauver.(1)" Harry decided that he needed to learn French. Fleur pulled her sister out of Harry's arms and into her own. Gabrielle went willingly, clinging to her sister. "Merci, Harry, merci for saving my sister." Without warning she kissed Harry's cheek. "Merci."
The next ten minutes were used for deliberation by the judges and getting warm by those who were in the water. Harry had stayed in his seated position, the Pack settling around him. Luna curled up in his lap while Hermione snuggled into his side. Viktor didn't know if he should be amused or jealous that the girl he saved didn't want to curl up with him, but he let it go as she called him over to sit next to her. Fleur had stayed where she kneeled in front of Harry, her sister still in her arms. Cedric sat behind Harry trying to warm up under his own blue blanket. The rest of the Pack stationed around the champions to keep an eye on their own in the middle of the grouping.
"It is after much deliberation that we award Fleur Delacour 15 points for use of the bubble head charm but she did not save her captive. Cedric Diggory 50 points for great use of the bubble head charm and for saving his captive within the hour mark. We award Viktor Krum 45 points for grand use of human transfiguration and saving his captive only two minutes after the hour mark. And last but not least we award Harrison Evans 50 points for use of potion and saving a fellow champion. We were told that Harrison was the first to find the captives but as he wanted to save others then Ms. Lovegood he came in last at five minutes passed the hour." Harry wanted to throw something at the headmaster. He made him sound like Harry had a hero complex. He just knew how to work any situation to his own favor, that and he didn't believe in death of innocent. Dumbledore just continued on. "So in first place with 95 points each we have a tie between Viktor Krum and Harrison Evans. In second place with 85 points we have Cedric Diggory. And finally in third with 61 points we have Fleur Delacour. Well done champions."
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(1) translation (i hope it is right because this is what I meant for her to say.) - Oh Gabrielle, are you okay? I'm so sorry, I did not save you.
And that is the end of another chapter. Please review! Reviews make me happy and smiley, which makes the people who see me frightened, so please review!