XXIII. NEPTUNE'S MERCY
01:03 ─❁────────── 01:80
◁ Ⅱ ▷
❝This time it's my turn to send them
I will reach you and your thoughts❞
༻───────────────༺
THE WHISTLE ECHOED SHRILLY IN the cold, still air; the stands erupted with cheers and applause; without looking to see what the other champions were doing, Harry pulled off his shoes and socks, pulled the handful of gillyweed out of his pocket, stuffed it into his mouth, and waded out into the lake.
Lucia edged forward, nearing the bank but was held back by Neville and Astoria before she could do anything reckless. Faintly through the murk water, Lucia saw Harry still chewing the gillyweed as hard and fast as he could. He was waist-deep in the freezing water he stopped, swallowed, and waited for something to happen.
"What's the matter with him?" asked Seamus immediately.
"What's he waiting for?" Dean said.
"He better get in that water and come out first, because I betted that he'll be first!" said Fred. "Oi, Harry —"
"Settle down, Weasley. You are going to pressure him to the point that he'll end up last just out of spite and you'll never get your money," spoke Erin, appearing beside the group of Gryffindors and Astoria out of nowhere. They jumped at her sudden presence.
"Merlin's beard, why do you keep doing that!" George gasped, a hand over his heart.
Erin shrugged, chewing on her licorice wand. "A force of habit,"
"Is it all right for you to be here with us?" Astoria asked the older Slytherin.
"Is it all right for us to be here with them, you mean," said Erin, before shrugging once more. "It's fine, Astoria. Draco would not dare snitch to Father,"
"Didn't he —"
"He learnt his lesson from the last time," there was a chilling ominous tone to her words, in which no one had the courage to question. Not even Fred and George.
Laughter filled the stands, echoing against the nature that surrounded them. Lucia clenched her fist together, biting her lip. They were making fun of him, and she didn't like it. But she solely focused on Harry, who she began to worry about as he started to shiver violently. The stands were being merciless to him, laughter becoming louder, and there were evident catcalls and jeering from majority of the Slytherins...
"Don't tell me he didn't have a plan!" Ginny pointed. "I thought you, Hermione, Ron, and Harry spent the whole night planning — speaking of which, where are those two?"
"Snogging, I reckon," said George, snickering with his twin.
"I wished that were the case," Lucia said squeakily, "but neither of them came back, leaving me and Harry to do things our own!"
Harry felt as though an invisible pillow had been pressed over his mouth and nose. He tried to draw breath, but it made his head spin; his lungs were empty, and he suddenly felt a piercing pain on either side of his neck —
Harry clapped his hands around his throat and felt two large slits just below his ears, flapping in the freezing air... He had gills. Without pausing to think, he did the only thing that made sense — he flung himself forward into the water.
"About time," said Dean.
Neville pulled Lucia aside for a moment, "Did he used gillyweed?"
She nodded furiously. "Can it really make him breath underwater?"
"Yeah, if he chews it right," said Neville. "I read it in one of my Herbology book, but he'll have to submerge himself back as fast as he could."
"Why?" Lucia gulped, scared.
"Because there's not a proper time limit,"
"Y-You're saying that the effects can go away at any given time?!" Much to Lucia's dismay, Neville nodded. Lucia felt as though she couldn't breathe as she fell to her knees, ruffling her hair. "D-Dobby and I am going to be reason Harry drowns!"
"H-Hold on, Lucia. Let us not insinuate stuff —"
Right as Neville tried (failing) to reassure Lucia, there was a chorus of cheers, drowning out the laughter and jeering that was loud prior as Harry propelled himself up in the air, doing a magnificent flip before submerging himself back into the cold water.
"Atta boy, Harry!" Fred yelled, before muttering under his breath, "I'm totally going to get my money now..."
"Is money all you think about?" Ginny scoffed, crossing her arms.
"Eh, most of the time," said George. "But can you blame us?"
Ginny looked away, mumbling, "No..."
"There, there," Astoria crouched down beside Lucia, rubbing her back. "He's fine,"
"But not for long," moaned Lucia, hiding her face in Astoria's arms as she cried in fear.
As they waited impatiently for the champions to emerge from the water, it never came to their mind how boring the wait would be. This task was the opposite of how the first task was, in which they could see the champions fend off against feral dragons as they capture their eggs, while this task did not provide them any sort of action. Only wait.
Many minded their own business: Like how Malfoy and his posse were making banners that says "POTTER STINKS" only this time with much more pizzazz with how they decorated the banner with a lightning striking Harry as a laugh. But Dean could do a hundred times better than they did. Others were chatting, like Dean and Seamus, and Lavender and Parvati were. There were some that were... singing? And most were playing card games that were hosted by Fred and George. Erin and Ginny ended up joining the game and winning every single round as a duo. While some, like Lucia, Astoria, and Neville rested quietly as they wait.
With evident exhaustion, Lucia yawned, reading her dad's journal as she leaned her head against Neville, who was reading the book that Moody lent him, shoulder. Astoria was napping on Lucia's lap, snoozing like there's no tomorrow.
She needed to take her mind off Ron, Hermione, and Harry as much as she took. And what better than to do that by immersed herself in the realm of the past instead of crying in distress the whole time right? She could just do that later...
Dear book,
Maybe I am just hallucinating, or perhaps just being delusional? because for some odd reason (not that I am going to complain, of course) Mawar has been looking my way a lot. At first, I thought it is just because I dress up pretty none-mugglely, but I am starting to think that is not the case anymore...
Do not tell me, book, that it is because she's starting to notice that I am becoming a regular of this restaurant? Wait — shouldn't she be thankful then? You know, since I am practically investing in her restaurant, making it more, well, rich?
I am confused...
Now she is giving me this weird glare! Help! This is the last thing I want from someone I fancy!
She just gave me cendol with this really menacing look, and now I am afraid to drink it. But it is also my favourite dessert and I ordered it... but at the same time, she is the one that prepared it...
I am going to drink it.
If I die, I die. At least it is while eating something I love, and in the place I love. If there is a reader reading this, then that would probably mean I am already, well, dead. Please talk about my legacy, and make sure that all my money goes to Mawar and her parents because they deserve it.
Thank you —
"What do you think is happening down there?" Lucia asked, her voice was anything but loud as she shut the journal and stowing away into her pocket, sighing. She didn't want to read it any further, feeling a sudden ache in her heart at the mention of the word "die" and her dad in the same sentence.
"Probably chaos," he said casually, flipping to another page.
Playing with Astoria's hair, she peered at the lake, crestfallen. "I hope not..."
Harry sped on, staring around, and soon the dwellings became more numerous; there were gardens of weed around some of them, and he even saw a pet grindylow tied to a stake outside one door. Merpeople were emerging on all sides now, watching him eagerly, pointing at his webbed hands and gills, talking behind their hands to one another. Harry sped around a corner and a very strange sight met his eyes.
A whole crowd of merpeople was floating in front of the houses that lined what looked like a mer-version of a village square. A choir of merpeople was singing in the middle, calling the champions toward them, and behind them rose a crude sort of statue; a gigantic merperson hewn from a boulder. Four people were bound tightly to the tail of the stone merperson.
Ron was tied between Hermione and Cho Chang. There was also a girl who looked no older than eight, whose clouds of silvery hair made Harry feel sure that she was Fleur Delacour's sister. All four of them appeared to be in a very deep sleep. Their heads were lolling onto their shoulders, and fine streams of bubbles kept issuing from their mouths.
Harry sped toward the hostages, half expecting the merpeople to lower their spears and charge at him, but they did nothing. The ropes of weed tying the hostages to the statue were thick, slimy, and very strong. For a fleeting second, he thought of the knife Sirius had bought him for Christmas — locked in his trunk in the castle a quarter of a mile away, no use to him whatsoever.
He looked around. Many of the merpeople surrounding them were carrying spears. He swam swiftly toward a seven-foot-tall merman with a long green beard and a choker of shark fangs and tried to mime a request to borrow the spear. The merman laughed and shook his head.
"We do not help," he said in a harsh, croaky voice.
"Come ON!" Harry said fiercely (but only bubbles issued from his mouth), and he tried to pull the spear away from the merman, but the merman yanked it back, still shaking his head and laughing.
Harry swirled around, staring about. Something sharp... anything...
"Yeah, I doubt it's chaotic down there," said Lucia, braiding Astoria's hair. "Well, couldn't be as chaotic as the dragons. Merpeople are much more prideful of their grace,"
"Where did you learn that?" Seamus turned to her with a snort.
"Because The Little Mermaid says so, knobhead," she retorted.
Neville glanced up from his book in confusion. "The Little..."
"The Little Mermaid is just fiction, and not to mention how dumb Ariel was," Dean laughed.
"She was naive, not dumb," glared Lucia, in denial.
"You're saying that because she's your favourite Disney princess," said Seamus. "That, and the fact you want to be her."
"Do I look redheaded to you? On contraire, my favourite Disney princess so happens to Belle... for now anyways until they finally decide to come out with a mixed or typically someone that looks like me kind of princess." She huffed. "But the thing about Ariel is that she's allowed to be naive, since she's still young! She has as much experience as we do since she's practically Fred, George, and Erin's age! Also, her hair is fabulous and silky I bet!"
"What's a Disney?" Neville asked, puzzled.
"It's a long story, Nev," sighed Dean.
Seamus scoffed, "Her hair probably feels like Fang's saliva. You're just saying nice things about her because you probably act like her, just admit that,"
"Oh, I'll admit something, Seamus," Lucia smiled.
Seamus cocked a brow, "Oh? And that is..."
"The fact that the tension between you and the lake is starting to be unbearable now," Lucia said vaguely.
"And that means?" Seamus daunted.
"Seamus..." Dean groaned in disappointment.
Lucia was about to pounce on him when Neville quickly to pull her head back to lay on his shoulders. He rubbed her back soothingly to calm her down while, Seamus laughed as he his behind Dean, who shook his head. "Hope you're fairing better than us, Harry..."
Harry was not fairing any better than them.
The merpeople started screeching animatedly. Those holding Harry loosened their grip, staring behind them. Harry turned and saw something monstrous cutting through the water toward them: a human body in swimming trunks with the head of a shark... It was Krum. He appeared to have transfigured himself — but badly.
The shark-man swam straight to Hermione and began snapping and biting at her ropes; the trouble was that Krum's new teeth were positioned very awkwardly for biting anything smaller than a dolphin, and Harry was quite sure that if Krum wasn't careful, he was going to rip Hermione in half. Darting forward, Harry hit Krum hard on the shoulder and held up the jagged stone. Krum seized it and began to cut Hermione free. Within seconds, he had done it; he grabbed Hermione around the waist, and without a backward glance, began to rise rapidly with her toward the surface.
Now what? Harry thought desperately. If he could be sure that Fleur was coming... But still no sign. There was nothing to be done except...
"Oh, thank goodness you're okay, Hermione!" Lucia threw herself on the very soaked Hermione, who had just come out of the water after Cedric and Cho, and an injured Fleur who didn't came out with her precious person. Cheers erupted the stands as Krum waved at them.
Hermione shivered violently from the cold, but the warmth of the blanket that was given to her and being in Lucia's embrace was enough for her to not get frostbite. "H-Has Harry and Ron — ?"
Lucia grimaced. shaking her head. "No..."
"Then that means they're under there still?"
She nodded. "The thing is time is almost up..."
"Which m-means H-Harry's going to end up last..." shivered Hermione, a huffing out a cold breath. She glanced up at Lucia, who bore an expression that Hermione never once thought that could appear on her face. Hermione reached her icy-cold hands for Lucia to take and gave a reassuring squeeze. "They'll be fine. And even if they don't come out on time, the merpeople are going to help them back up."
"Still... i-isn't this insane how they used other students as bait for the champions?"
"Yes, well, at least it wasn't life-threatening," chuckled Hermione. It was as though their silent feud was never a thing as they hugged each other, waiting for their friends to emerged from the lake with suspense filling the air. "What happened to Fleur?"
"The... the Grindylows got her before she could get her person. Who's her treasured person anyway?"
"It's her little sister, Gabrielle. Ron and I met her and Cho at McGonagall's office, wished you both could've seen how grim she looks. As she should, anyway. Who thought of this?" Hermione shook her head reproachingly. "What happened while we were all down there?"
"Well, we ended up staring at an empty lake for one hour, but we pass the time with some games and sleep,"
"How much longer until the one-hour mark is finish?" Hermione asked.
"About... five," said Lucia worriedly. "Things are totally not okay down there."
Hermione fiddled with her fingers. "Have some faith..."
"Get out of the way!"
Only bubbles flew out of his mouth, but he had the distinct impression that the mermen had understood him, because they suddenly stopped laughing. Their yellowish eyes were fixed upon Harry's wand, and they looked scared. There might be a lot more of them than there were of him, but Harry could tell, by the looks on their faces, that they knew no more magic than the giant squid did.
"You've got until three!" Harry shouted; a great stream of bubbles burst from him, but he held up three fingers to make sure they got the message. "One..." (he put down a finger) "two..." (he put down a second one) —
They scattered. Harry darted forward and began to hack at the ropes binding the small girl to the statue, and at last she was free. He seized the little girl around the waist, grabbed the neck of Ron's robes, and kicked off from the bottom.
It was an awfully slow work. He could no longer use his webbed hands to propel himself forward; he worked his flippers furiously, but Ron and Fleur's sister were like potato-filled sacks dragging him back down... He fixed his eyes skyward, though he knew he must still be very deep, the water above him was so dark...
Merpeople were rising with him. He could see them swirling around him with ease, watching him struggle through the water... Would they pull him back down to the depths when the time was up? Did they perhaps eat humans? Harry's legs were seizing up with the effort to keep swimming; his shoulders were aching horribly with the effort of dragging Ron and the girl...
He was drawing breath with extreme difficulty. He could feel pain on the sides of his neck again... he was becoming very aware of how wet the water was in his mouth... yet the darkness was definitely thinning now... he could see daylight above him...
He kicked hard with his flippers and discovered that they were nothing more than feet... water was flooding through his mouth into his lungs... he was starting to feel dizzy, but he knew light, and air were only ten feet above him... he had to get there... he had to...
Harry kicked his legs so hard and fast it felt as though his muscles were screaming in protest; his very brain felt waterlogged, he couldn't breathe, he needed oxygen, he had to keep going, he could not stop —
And then he felt his head break the surface of the lake; wonderful, cold, clear air was making his wet face sting; he gulped it down, feeling as though he had never breathed properly before, and, panting, pulled Ron and the little girl up with him. All around him, wild, green-haired heads were emerging out of the water with him, but they were smiling at him.
The crowd in the stands was making a great deal of noise; shouting and screaming, they all seemed to be on their feet; Harry had the impression they thought that Ron and the little girl might be dead, but they were wrong... both of them had opened their eyes; the girl looked scared and confused, but Ron merely expelled a great spout of water, blinked in the bright light, turned to Harry, and said, "Wet, this, isn't it?" Then he spotted Fleur's sister. "What did you bring her for?"
"Fleur didn't turn up, I couldn't leave her," Harry panted.
"Harry, you prat," said Ron, "you didn't take that song thing seriously, did you? Dumbledore wouldn't have let any of us drown!"
"The song said —"
"It was only to make sure you got back inside the time limit!" said Ron. "I hope you didn't waste time down there acting the hero!"
Harry felt both stupid and annoyed. It was all very well for Ron; he'd been asleep, he hadn't felt how eerie it was down in the lake, surrounded by spear-carrying merpeople who'd looked more than capable of murder.
"C'mon," Harry said shortly, "help me with her, I don't think she can swim very well."
Lucia couldn't help but feel a great sense of relief as she watched as Ron and Harry pull Fleur's sister, Gabrielle, through the water and back toward the back where she, Hermione, Krum, Cedric, Cho, and evidently, Fleur, along with the judges stood as twenty merpeople accompanying them like a guard of honor, singing their horrible screechy songs.
Lucia leaned forward, as though ready to splash into the water just to pull all three of them up, while Madam Pomfrey was fussing over those who had been under the chilly water. Dumbledore and Ludo Bagman stood beaming at Harry and Ron from the bank as they swam nearer, but Percy, who looked very white and somehow much younger than usual, came splashing out to meet them. Meanwhile Madame Maxime was trying to restrain Fleur Delacour, who was quite hysterical, fighting tooth and nail to return to the water.
"Gabrielle! Gabrielle! Is she alive? Is she 'urt?"
"She's fine!" Harry tried to tell her, but he was so exhausted he could hardly talk, let alone shout. However, Lucia was quick to catch on as she held her arms out. Harry let Ron pushed Gabrielle to Lucia, who hoisted the little girl from the water and to the banks, not caring that she were to get wet in the process.
"Oh, you must be freezing," she said to trembling girl, rubbing her back comfortingly.
"M-My sister..." Gabrielle stammered. "I-Is she?"
"Yes, yes," Lucia reassured. "I'll take you to her."
Percy seized Ron and was dragging him back to the bank ("Gerroff, Percy, I'm all right!"); Dumbledore and Bagman were pulling Harry upright; Fleur had broken free of Madame Maxime and immediately went to her sister, hugging her.
"It was ze grindylows... zey attacked me... oh Gabrielle, I thought... I thought..."
"Come here, you," said Madam Pomfrey. She seized Harry and pulled him over to Hermione and the others, wrapped him so tightly in a blanket that he felt as though he were in a straitjacket, and forced a measure of very hot potion down his throat. Steam gushed out of his ears.
"Oh, that... uh... looks ghastly," said Lucia, approaching him.
"Well of course it is. It isn't pumpkin juice," retort Madam Pomfrey, who was passing by them.
Lucia chuckled as she kneeled in front of Hermione and Harry. "I'm glad you didn't drown, Harry. I... I don't think I can bear the guilt of indirectly killing someone..."
"I'm glad that I didn't drown either," he said in relief.
"Harry, well done!" Hermione cried. "You did it, you found out how all by yourself!"
"Well —" said Harry. He would have told her about Dobby, but he had just noticed Karkaroff watching him. He was the only judge who had not left the table; the only judge not showing signs of pleasure and relief that Harry, Ron, and Fleur's sister had got back safely. "Yeah, that's right," said Harry, raising his voice slightly so that Karkaroff could hear him.
"Did you just lie?" Lucia said in a hush tone.
"It's out of spite, now go along with it," he whispered back.
"You haff a water beetle in your hair, Herm-own-ninny," said Krum. It was clear to see that Krum was drawing her attention back onto himself; perhaps to remind her that he had just rescued her from the lake, but Hermione brushed away the beetle impatiently and said, "You're well outside the time limit, though, Harry... Did it take you ages to find us?"
"No... I found you okay..."
Harry's feeling of stupidity was growing. Now he was out of the water, it seemed perfectly clear that Dumbledore's safety precautions wouldn't have permitted the death of a hostage just because their champion hadn't turned up. Why hadn't he just grabbed Ron and gone? He would have been first back... Cedric and Krum hadn't wasted time worrying about anyone else; they hadn't taken the mersong seriously.
"Were the merpeople nice? They looked like they were since they escorted you, Ron, and Gabrielle out!" Harry didn't have the heart to tell her what went on under the water, instead he smiled and nodded.
Lucia's eyes gleamed with anticipation rather than the anxious one from an hour ago, as she looked over to where Dumbledore was crouching at the water's edge.
He was in deep conversation with the chief merperson, a particularly wild and ferocious-looking female. He was making the same bewitching sound as the merpeople; clearly, Dumbledore could speak Mermish. Finally, he straightened up, turned to his fellow judges, and said, "A conference before we give the marks, I think."
The judges went into a huddle. Madam Pomfrey had gone to fetch Fleur and her sister. Fleur had many cuts on her face and arms and her robes were torn, but she didn't seem to care, nor would she allow Madam Pomfrey to clean them.
"Look after Gabrielle," she told her, and then she turned to Harry. "You saved 'er," she said breathlessly. "Even though she was not your 'ostage."
"Yeah," said Harry, who was now heartily wishing he'd left all three girls tied to the statue.
Fleur bent down, kissed Harry twice on each cheek (he felt his face burn and wouldn't have been surprised if steam was coming out of his ears again), then said to Lucia, "And you too — you 'elped —"
"I-I did nothing but help her up, that's —"
Her words were cut off by a meek squeal as her face reddened tremendously. Fleur had pressed a soft kiss on her cheek, and it felt simply enchanting to be in the receiving end of it. All Lucia could say was, "Woah..." with wide eyes, as though she had seen heaven's gates.
Ron, who just came in, was greeted by Fleur. He looked at her nervous, however Fleur smiled at him. "You — thank you —" she kissed him.
Hermione looked simply furious, but just then, Ludo Bagman's magically magnified voice boomed out beside them, making them all jump, and causing the crowd in the stands to go very quiet.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Merchieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows..."
After recovering from her trance, Lucia held Harry's hand and gave him a reassuring squeeze. He squeezed back comfortably.
"Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points."
Applause erupted from the stands.
"I deserved zero," said Fleur throatily, shaking her magnificent head.
"Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was first to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour." Enormous cheers from the Hufflepuffs in the crowd. "We therefore award him forty-seven points."
Seeing Harry's solemn look, Lucia placed a hand over his shoulder and whispered, "You did great, Harry."
He perked up slightly, flashing her a small and faint smile.
"Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was second to return with his hostage. We award him forty points."
Karkaroff clapped particularly hard, looking very superior.
"Harry Potter used gillyweed to great effect," Bagman continued. "He returned last, and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Merchieftainess informs us that Mr. Potter was first to reach the hostages, and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely his own."
Ron and Hermione both gave Harry half-exasperated, half-commiserating looks. Lucia clapped applauding his efforts.
"Most of the judges," and here, Bagman gave Karkaroff a very nasty look, "feel that this shows moral fiber and merits full marks. However... Mr. Potter's score is forty-five points."
She turned to Harry; eyes wide in shock. Harry was tied for first place with Cedric. Ron and Hermione, seem to be caught by surprise as well as they stared at Harry. His three friends then laughed and started applauding hard with the rest of the crowd.
"There you go, Harry!" Ron shouted over the noise. "You weren't being thick after all — you were showing moral fiber!"
Fleur was clapping very hard too, but Krum didn't look happy at all. He attempted to engage Hermione in conversation again, but she was too busy cheering Harry to listen.
"To think they actually gave you points for that!!" eagered Lucia, couldn't help but feel proud that Harry was still able to get in first place despite being the last to emerged from the Black Lake.
"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June," continued Bagman. "The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions."
Madam Pomfrey began herding the champions and hostages back to the castle to get into dry clothes. There was nothing more to worry about until June the twenty-fourth, however Lucia couldn't help but sense and eerie chill down her spine.