"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the second task of the Triwizard Tournament!" Mister Bagman's voice rings throughout the stands. "This task is just as dangerous if not more dangerous than the first because it does not just involve the champions!"
The crowd oohs and aahs in anticipation, "Something extremely important was taken from each champion last night and has been hidden at the bottom of the lake! The champions have one hour to retrieve their prized possession from the depths!"
"How the bloody hell are they supposed to breathe underwater for a whole hour?" Walter says. A girl from Beauxbaton hushes him.
"And now that all of our champions are here, we are ready to begin! They have one hour exactly to resurface with what has been taken from them. On the count of three!"
"One..." We all count together, "Two..." George squeezes me again, "Three!"
A high pitched whistle rings out and we can hear four splashes that I can only assume are the contestants jumping into the water.
Lee and Wally stand up and go to the rain around the edge of the platform, "You can see them! It looks like Viktor turned his head into a shark!" Walter says excitedly.
"They've gone deeper... so now we are what? Supposed to just sit here for an hour staring at a lake?" Lee says clearly not very impressed with the whole situation.
"I brought exploding snap cards?" George says. He squirms in his chair and I move away from him a bit so he can get to his coat pocket easier.
"I've also got some canary creams we can feed to people." Fred says.
George looks over at him, "Are you kidding? You've brought the rest of our supply here of all places? Ludo is down on the ground right now, we can't have him see we've been feeding people those."
Fred rolls his eyes, "You're no fun anymore."
We decide to play a few rounds of exploding snap much to everyone else on the platforms annoyance. But what else were we supposed to do? Sit here and stare at the water?
A splash from the water gets everyone's attention. "Its Fleur!" Someone shouts. We all scramble to the railing of the platform so we can see what's going on.
"She doesn't have anything with her! Did she fail?" Emma gasps.
We watch in a sort of silent horror as Madam Maxine helps her out of the water and swaddles her in towels. "Fleur Delacour has returned empty handed and thus failed the task!" Mister Bagman shouts. The Beauxbaton students groan loudly.
Fred rushes back over to his seat and pops open the small trunk that he and George have been using for the bets. He pulls out a long roll of parchment and licks the top of his quill. George goes over to him and they start crossing off the people that bet on Fleur.
"The poor girl just can't catch a break can she?" Lee says.
"Whats going to happen to the person they took from her?" I ask.
Everyone grumbles a different version of 'no idea'. Once we realize that no one else is coming back to the surface for at least another half hour we all sit back down in out seats.
"I wonder if you could see whats going on from the Slytherin common room? Given that half of it is made out of glass looking out into the lake." Emma says out loud.
Everyone looks at her, "Why the bloody hell didn't you think of that before hand? We all could be down in the dungeons warm and cozy actually seeing whats going on!" Lee moans.
I look around the crowd and notice that there aren't very many Slytherins around. "Looks like our whole house thought of that. So the lion heads wouldn't have been able to sneak in anyways." I say.
Lee, Fred, and George all look at me. "The lion heads?" George asks with a smile.
I shrug, "That's what Slytherins tend to call the Gryffindors. Cause you're all loud and obnoxious just like when a lion roars. And well, your mascot is literally a lion."
"Ravenclaw we just call little birdies or literally anything other than ravens, and we've been calling Hufflepuff Winnie the Pooh for a while now, ever since someone found a muggle story book called Winnie the Pooh in the library during our first year." Walter adds on.
"Doesn't Gryffindor have nicknames for the other houses?" Emma asks the boys.
They all look at each other awkwardly, "Claws, Puffs, and well... assholes." Lee says.
"Course we don't call Slytherin assholes. Given our best friends are Slytherins and all."
Emma, Walter and I look at each other, "Mmhmm sure." Walter says jokingly.
Splash.
"It's Cedric! And Cho Chang!" Someone shouts. We all go back to the railing and watch Cedric and Cho swim from the middle of the lake and to the dock. Dumbledore and Madam Hooch helps them up out of the water and they are rushed off to get warmed up.
"Its Krum!"
Viktor and Hermione pop their heads up out of the water as well, Viktor's head morphs from a shark back into his normal human face. They also swim over to the dock and are helped up by the headmasters.
"Well, well, well! Hogwarts champion Cedric Diggory in first place! Followed by Durmstrang champion Viktor Krum! Good job gentlemen!" Mister Bagman announces.
"Yes!" Fred and George shout at the same time.
"A hundred and seventy galleons!" George grabs me and spins me around a few times laughing.
"Look! Harrys got Ron!" Lee shouts.
Fred and George look at each other, "Ah, right. Forgot that he was down there." Fred shrugs.
"He's got someone else too, look!" I say pointing down at the lake.
Its not hard to figure out which one is Ron, his red hair is still the brightest thing in the dark lake even when its wet and got seaweed in it.
"You think Harry saved Fleurs person too?" Emma asks.
"That's the only thing that makes sense."
All the teachers scramble to help get the three of them out of the lake and into towels and blankets. It takes a while to get another announcement from Mister Bagman.
"Do you think they're going to disqualify him? He was out of the time frame?" Emma asks. She brings her hands to her face and blows hot air on them to warm herself up.
"They'll probably make an exception. He's Harry Potter after all. The rules don't apply to him." I say.
"Dumbledore's favourite pet." Walter says in agreement.
George laughs and pulls me into his chest, "And you wonder why we call you lot assholes. The kid just saved two people."
"And one of them happens to be our brother." Fred says.
Walter looks at him, "The brother you forgot was down there?"
Everyone laughs, he's got a point.
We can hear Mister Bagman clear his throat and the entire crowd goes 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."
"Merchieftainess?" George whispers. I snicker but I try to hold my laugh so I don't disrupt anyone else.
"Miss Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the bubble-head charm, was attacked by Grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to receive her hostage. We award her, twenty-five points."
"Twenty five points for a failure? I wish Bagman was the one grading all our work." Fred says. Everyone applauds politely for Fleur.
"Mister Cedric Diggory, who also used the bubble-head charm, was first to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside of the time limit of an hour."
"Oh wow one whole minute." George says. The happy cheers from the Hufflepuff students are loud.
"We therefore award him forty seven points."
Every Hogwarts student cheers wildly. Fred and George are ecstatic because 'who can beat forty seven out of fifty!'
"Mister Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective and was the second to return with his hostage. We award him forty points." Another wave of cheers from the crowd. At this point the twins are bouncing up and down on their feet thinking about all the money they've just made.
"Mister Potter used Gillyweed to great effect." Mister Bagman says.
"Here it comes boys. Good luck." Lee says clapping both the twins on their backs.
"He returned last, and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Merchieftainess informs us that Mister Potter was first to reach the hostages, and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all the hostages to safety not merely his own."
I look at the boys who's smiles are faltering slightly, "Told you. Harry Potter is above the law when it comes to Hogwarts. I say to them.
"Most of the judges... feel that this shows moral fibre and merits full marks."
"Fuck!" Fred and George scream in unison.
We look down at the judges and they are looking up, trying to figure out who yelled that. "However..." Mister Bagman continues, "Mister Potter's score is forty-five points."
Everyone but the Durmstrang students are cheering loudly. Though I'm sure that most of the noise is coming from Fred and George who are now a hundred and seventy galleons richer.
"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June. The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month before hand. Thank you all for your support of the champions."