"So drink it before entering the water, after a minute you'll change, if it doesn't work drink this." Pansy handed me a vile of deep purple liquid and light red. "Good luck." She said giving me a hug before running off before age started to cry.
"Bring Sunny back will you?" Draco said before he and Blaise hugged me.
I then turned to Fred. He didn't say anything. "I'll be fine." I said as he held me in his arms.
"I know. Your Mel." He said kissing my head. "Why did they pick JJ? I mean out of everyone. It was her..."
"Because she's the smallest and sweetest thing." I replied. "Everyone world miss her. Also imagine me carrying anyone else in the water, I wouldn't be able to do it."
"You better be quick. That potion will only last an hour. Then you change back. Stay safe." Fred said before we kissed and he left. I walked over to Fleur and we both took off our track suits so we were on our swimsuits. I put a headband on my leg and slid my wand in it so I could swim without carrying it. She grabbed my hand and I grabbed hers.
"Vey 'ave taken my sister." She whispered.
"They've taken JJ." I replied as we waited for Harry to turn up. The crowds were waiting and the judges muttering.
"I'm . .. here ..." Harry panted, skidding to a halt in the mud and accidentally splattering Fleurs robes. Now he had gotten here I took my potion and turned to Fleur.
"Where have you been?" said a bossy, disapproving voice. "The task's about to start!" Percy Weasley was sitting at the judges' table - Mr. Crouch had failed to turn up again.
"Now, now, Percy!" said Ludo Bagman, who was looking intensely relieved to see Harry. "Let him catch his breath!"
Dumbledore smiled at Harry, but Karkaroff and Madame Maxime didn't look at all pleased to see him. ... It was obvious from the looks on their faces that they had thought he wasn't going to turn up.
Harry bent over, hands on his knees, gasping for breath; Ludo Bagman was now moving among us champions, spacing them along the bank at intervals of ten feet. I was in the middle next to Fleur who looked as scared as I was.
"Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle." I turned to Fleur and she looked at me. The whistle blew and we ran into the water before it was deep enough to swim inside. I saw she had used a bubblehead charm while I was holding my breath hoping the potion worked.
The water was so cold, like a thousand knives digging into my skin and then it wasn't, it was warm and refreshing. I couldn't feel my feet, I looked down and saw a beautiful, shinning, golden tail. I stopped holding my breath and realised I was now breathing underwater. I turned to Fleur and smiled.
"I'm a mermaid." I said happily. "Woo this is so cool." I started to swim diagonally down.
I could only see about a 10 feet radius all around me and all the other champions were gone. I couldn't see them at all. I swam deeper and deeper. To my side I saw light green weed stretched ahead as far as I could see, two feet deep, like a meadow of very overgrown grass. I thought best to avoid it so I swam down. It turned out it was the right thing to do, ugly little creatures were swimming around the weed, they looked terrible.
I carried on swimming deeper. I was surprised at how fast I was going but maybe it's because I'm a mermaid. I swam deeper and deeper until I heard music.
"Come closer child, you have made it in record time. A quarter of your time has gone... stay quick or your girl will rot." That made me snap and I charged down to the voice. That melody was playing over and over, I couldn't stop now, JJ needed me!
Then I found it.
The merpeople had grayish skin and long, wild, dark green hair. Their eyes were yellow, as were their broken teeth, and they wore thick ropes of pebbles around their necks. They leered at me as I swam past; one or two of them emerged from their caves to watch me better, their powerful, silver fish tails beating the water, spears clutched in their hands. They looked very impressed by my tail and some stroked it... I was very creeped out.
I sped on, staring around, and soon the dwellings became more numerous; there were gardens of weed around some of them, and I even saw a pet 'ugly-thing' tied to a stake outside one door.
Merpeople were emerging on all sides now, watching me eagerly, pointing at my long, silky hair and golden tail, talking behind their hands to one another. I sped around a corner and a very strange and disturbing sight met me 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. Five 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 me feel sure that she was Fleur's sister. Then JJ was at the end.
All five 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.
"JJ!" I shouted zooming over and looking at her. "It's ok I'm here." I said panicked. I tried to curse the rope off but it wouldn't work. I tried a sharp rock. Everything... nothing was working. "WHY ARE YOU JUST WATCHING?!" I screamed at the merpeople.
"We cannot help." One of them grunted at me.
"WHY NOT! THE ROPE ISN'T COMING OFF! I CAN'T LEAVE HER HERE!" I said before I started biting the rope. That was also doing nothing. Then I noticed JJ was stirring... she was waking up. "NO! NO! NO!" I shouted before the rope suddenly burnt to a crisp. Then I realised, the others won't be able to get there hostages. I turned to Fleurs sister and started to work on the rope but the merpeople all stopped me.
"NO! I'M HELPING! JJ IS WAKING UP AND THEY AREN'T GOING TO BE ABLE TO BREAK THE ROPE! SHE'S SO YOUNG! LOOK AT HER!" Fleurs sister was smaller than JJ and looked about eight. I shoved them all away and loosened all the ropes. I couldn't break them but it was now easier for everyone else.
"LEAVE!" All the merpeople hissed. I grabbed JJ's wrist and started to pull her along. She stirred some more... what if she wakes up.
I tried to remember anything...
Maybe if she can breathe underwater she'll wake up and still be ok. I looked down at the merpeople before remembering... the bubblehead charm.
I put the enchantment on JJ just in time as she woke up. She tried to scream looking around.
"JJ, calm down. We need to swim up ok? Just nod don't scream." I said. JJ nodded before pointing at my tail. "I know, it's amazing." I grabbed her hand and we started to swim upwards.
Then I heard another song.
"An hour long you'll have to look, And to recover what we took. . . your time's half gone, so tarry not Lest what you seek stays here to rot. ..." I turned to see Harry swimming along.
"They're down there! I loosened the ropes!" I said before JJ waved at him floating a little. I think he said thank you but all that came out was bubbles. I smiled as JJ and I continued are journey upwards. Then I realised I was super speedy and JJ was slow. "Get on my back." I told her and she obliged. She put her arms around my neck and feet around my waist and I swam upwards.
Soon everything was getting lighter... we were almost there.
"MEL YOU DID IT!" JJ screamed at me as we looked around, I saw all the cheering crowds and my friends there looking very relieved. I swam over, with JJ still on my back, and sat on the bank before having to wait as I have a massive tail... I'm luckily able to breathe above land! Then I saw Fleur crying on the docks. Her sister was down there! Fred came and picked me up and once I was out of the water my tail vanished. He then put me down and I ran to Fleur.
"Fleur! Your sister! I should of gotten her!" I said breathless.
"It's not your fault. It was ze Grindlylows . . . zey attacked me..." Oh so that's what they're called.
"Don't worry! They won't let anyone get hurt." I turned to see JJ running away from Madam Ponfree. Then I had to hug everyone while Pansy squealed in my ear. Then I stuck glued to Fred and held Fleurs hand.
After a little while Cedric and Cho Chang appeared, they were a little out the time zone. I ran up to the water edge and helped them out. Cedric then gave me a hug.
"You ok?" He asked.
"Just peachy. I was a speedy mermaid." I grinned before Cedric turned back to Cho and they had a snog. Thank God Harry wasn't here... wait Harry! I had past him! He should of been second down there! That means second back up.
But I was wrong. It was Krum and Hermione next. JJ knew what I was thinking and stood next to me as we helped Krum get Hermione out of the water.
"Who's up?" Hermione asked.
"Fleur got attacked and retired, I came up with JJ first, then Cedric and Cho, Harry's still down there! But he should of been the second one down, at half way he was close to you guys, I past him." I said as towels and potions where handed to us. Now we waited.
If Harry's dead I will hate myself forever, he was right in front of me!
The crowd in the stands was making a great deal of noise; shouting and screaming, they all seemed to be on their feet; Harry was back, he had Ron and Fleurs sister! They pulled Fleur's sister through the water, back toward the bank where the judges stood watching, twenty merpeople accompanying them like a guard of honour, singing their horrible screechy songs.
Madame Maxime was trying to restrain Fleur, 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. But I got there and carried the little girl over to Fleur.
Percy Weasley 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 was hugging her sister.
"It was ze grindylows . . . zey attacked me ... oh Gabrielle, I thought... I thought..."
JJ was looking around at the merpeople in absolute disgust. She obviously isn't very happy with them after they kinda kidnapped her.
Dumbledore was crouching at the water's edge, deep in conversation with what seemed to be the chief merperson, a particularly wild and ferocious-looking female. He was making the same sort of screechy noises that the merpeople made when they were above water; 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 rescue Ron from Percy's clutches; she led him over to us as she shooed everyone who wasn't a champion or hostage away, she gave Ron a blanket and some Pepperup Potion, then went 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.
Fleur bent down, kissed Harry twice on each cheek, then said to Ron, "And you too-you 'elped -"
"Yeah," said Ron, looking extremely hopeful, "yeah, a bit -"
Fleur swooped down on him too and kissed him before giving me a hug. 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. . . .
"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 from the stands.
"I deserved zero," said Fleur throatily, shaking her head.
"Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was second 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; I saw Cho give Cedric a glowing look. "We therefore award him forty-seven points."
I could see Harrys heart sink, his face said it all. If Cedric had been outside the time limit, he most certainly had been.
"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 second 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."
"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."
Harry looked absolutely shocked and very very happy.
"And finally Melissa David, she used a complex potion turning herself into a mermaid, she was first to reach the bottom and first to get back. She was well in the time limit also the Merchieftainess informed us that she wanted to help the other hostages and ended up loosening the ropes so it was easier for everyone else AND performed a bubble-head charm on her waking hostage. It would be a crime not to award her the full fifty points." I looked up in total shock before JJ started to scream and we bounced around.
"The full fifty points!" I said hugging her. That means I'm first place! I'm first place. "I'm first place!"
"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."
Right, I'm going to learn every spell I can so I'm able to increase my lead going into the third task.
I'm going to win!