Cloudy water expedition

// THIS IS AN OLD CHAPTER. THE NEW CHAPTERS ARE IN VOLUME 2. YOU CAN READ THESE CHAPTERS IF YOU WANT SOME INSIGHT ON WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN LATER BUT SOME EVENTS CAN BE DIFFERENT BETWEEN THE OLD AND NEW CHAPTERS.

It is finally the day of the second task, we are all present on the shores of the lake next to each other, ready to start the second task at the signal of Ludo Verpey. He places his wand on his throat before launching a sonorus amplifying his voice so that all spectators can hear him.

"All the champions are ready for the second round. They have an hour to take back what has been taken from them. At my signal, ... go!"

I dash into the icy waters of the lake, before transfiguring myself to take a fishtail and gills, giving me the appearance of a triton.

The lake is really not a pleasant place, the mud covers the entire bottom making it slimy and sticky. I end up finding on the algae forest but instead of crossing it like the others I decide to go over it to avoid the Grindylow which must be waiting for me inside.

I keep an eye on what's going on below me in the seaweed forest when I see Fleur battling a dozen of Grindylow. They try to break the air bubble that covers her mouth to drown her. But Fleur does not seem to have said her last word and chained the spells to try to make them flee, but in vain. I change my appearance and give myself a shark's head before rushing towards the Grindylow. I grab one by a tentacle that I tear from it, a horrible taste floods my mouth as I vomit the tentacle and my breakfast at the same time. The Grindylow fled when they saw me appear with my shark head, ultimately leaving Fleur alone.

"Thank you, there were way too many of them." Her voice is strongly distorted underwater.

"You're welcome, we have to hurry, we must not have much time left." Fleur nods and we resume our progress.

It only takes us about ten minutes to reach the village of the Selkies. Several of them seem surprised to see a triton swim among them. Fleur rolls her eyes when several Selkies wave to me, inviting me to join them.

"What?"

"Even in the middle of a task you have to stand out."

"I haven't done anything yet."

"And that's the worst part."

We finally arrive at a statue on which are attached the 'treasures' that were taken from us. Among the people tied up, I spot Daphne and Sandra tied up with seaweed ropes. Next to them is Hermione and Gabrielle, Fleur's little sister. I make my teeth very sharp, enough to cut the rope that holds Daphne. I must admit that fresh seaweeds are not very tasty, I prefer the taste it has in a sushi but after a few seconds of gnawing the rope, it ends up giving way. Fleur used a knife attached to her leg to cut the rope from her sister.

"Go first, it's thanks to you that I was able to finish the task." I nod and we begin our ascension.

When we reach the surface, Daphne and Gabrielle regain consciousness, gasping for air.

"Hey, calm down. It's over."

We return to the shores of the lake where we are taken care of by Madam Pomfrey and the other members of the healing staff. I am completely wrapped in a blanket and I feel like a taco. Madam Pomfrey walks up to me with a flask and a spoon.

"Come on my boy, open your mouth wide."

"What is that?"

"Oh, don't be act like a kid and swallow what you are told to". She pinches my nose before forcing me to take a mouthful of her potion. Instantly, a wave of heat gripped my body and chased the chill of the icy water on my skin.

Viktor is the next to return, he holds Hermione in his arms as he gets out of the lake. But I can see the discomfort on the faces of the judges. Potter has still not returned, and the hour is now over.

He ends up emerging from the water with Sandra. His body is covered with bite marks and he looks like he has lost quite a bit of blood, but he manages to get back to shore with the help of his friend. The healers rush to him with blankets and potions in order to stabilize him. Dumbledore is the next to arrive, a hint of concern on his face when he sees all the blood on Harry's limbs.

"Please help him, he stayed to get me out of the water!" Sandra is totally panicked next to him. But eventually Harry is taken back to school on a stretcher as the judges approached to share their decisions with us.

"We will start with Miss Delacour. For skillfully using the Bubble-Head Charm, saving her prisoner and coming in second, 42 points." Fleur seems delighted to have succeeded and recovered so many points, she had not started well with the dragon's task where she was only in third place. "Then we have Mr. Potter who must have gone to the infirmary to treat his injuries. For the ingenious use of the properties of the Gillyweed and for having persisted in wanting to save his prisoner despite the allotted time has elapsed, 30 points. Mr. Krum receives 40 points for his use of an incomplete transfiguration spell which nevertheless allowed him to save his prisoner in the allotted time in the third position. And finally, for Mr. Bones who not only rescued his prisoner first and in the allotted time, but who also saved the champion of Beauxbatons when she was about to be overwhelmed by Grindylow thus showing all the interest of this competition regarding the cultural rapprochement between wizards, 50 points. "

Counting all the points, I am first with 98 points, followed by Viktor with 80 points, then Fleur with 77 points, and Harry with 30 points. Harry no longer has any chance of winning the competition, he's so far behind that he couldn't catch us even by scoring the maximum score in the next round.

The Slytherins give me a standing ovation. We return to the dormitory where we celebrate my victory with the others. Exceptionally, we asked permission for other students to join us in the Slytherin common room from Snape who couldn't stand the deafening noise that people were making in the halls of the dungeons.

Students from all houses gathered to celebrate in our common room. This is how Luna, Ginny, Susan, and Hannah joined us and stood speechless in front of the glass of the dormitory overlooking the depths of the lake. Eventually what was a small party thrown by the students from Hogwarts turned into a big party when Hermione arrived with Krum and the students from Durmstrang. Then Fleur and the students of BeauxBatons arrived, attracted by the noise of the party. Then the teachers came to watch us, Snape stormed out of his office but Dumbledore and the other teachers were already there to make sure there were no incidents.