Chapter 206: Who Are You?!
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"Thanks, chief," Percy replied, his voice clear and undistorted by the water all around him. "But I can't really stay and chat right now. Friends to save and all that. You know how it is."
"Understood, my lord," the merpeople chief said with another respectful bow.
He gestured with his seaweed-covered trident, making way for Percy. The chief and his armed followers then followed Percy as he swam towards the very middle of the underwater village.
There, in a small, open square surrounded by carved stone homes, four young people were tied up with thick, strong strands of magical seaweed, floating gently in the current.
Their eyes were closed, and they looked like they were peacefully asleep. Percy recognized Hermione Granger, with her bushy brown hair, Susan Bones from Hufflepuff, and his own housemate, Juan Garcia.
The last hostage was a small, delicate-looking girl with silvery-blonde hair, who looked very similar to Fleur. Percy guessed this must be Fleur's younger sister, Gabrielle Delacour.
Percy immediately swam over to Juan and, with a quick snap of his fingers, commanded the magical seaweed to untangle itself from Juan's ankles. The moment it released him, Juan started to float upwards towards the surface, but Percy quickly grabbed his arm, keeping him tightly by his side.
"You will find safe passage back to the surface through there, my lord," the merpeople chief pointed with his trident towards a clearing in the kelp forest to the North.
"And," the chief added, a fierce glint in his yellow eyes, "we will make sure your opponents have… significant difficulty getting here. You will have no trouble from them. They will be delayed."
"Wait, what? No! Don't do that!" Percy cried out, genuinely surprised and alarmed by the chief's offer. The merpeople all looked at him with confusion.
"M-my lord?" the chief stammered, his confidence faltering. "But… but why not? Surely you wish to win this contest? It will be no trouble for us, we can easily ensure that they never even reach their hostages, let alone finish the task. It will be simple, and that old goat Dumbledore up there won't ever know we interfered-"
"-No!" Percy cried out again, more forcefully this time. "They aren't just my opponents in some game! They are my friends! And Fleur is my girlfriend! I have enough of a lead already just by being able to breathe down here! Don't you dare hurt them, or hinder them in any way! In fact," Percy commanded, his voice ringing with authority that even the merpeople couldn't ignore, "you do your very best to make sure none of them are hurt by any dangers in this lake! That is an order!"
The merpeople chief looked very surprised by Percy's passionate defense of his competitors, but he bowed his head again. "I see, my lord. Very well. Your will shall be done. We will not stand in their way. We will… observe."
Percy nodded, satisfied. He then took off, pulling Juan along with him, swimming powerfully towards the surface. He broke through the choppy water with a final, strong push. The moment they were in the open air, Juan began to gasp and cough, the magical sleeping spell over him broken.
"Percy?!" Juan cried out, sputtering and blinking his eyes open, looking around wildly. "You… you found me! You actually saved me!"
Percy grinned, treading water easily. "You sound surprised, mate," he teased. He swam them both quickly over to the wooden pier, which was now covered with cheering people, mostly Hufflepuffs. Percy pushed Juan up onto the pier first, where helping hands quickly pulled him to safety, before climbing up easily himself.
Immediately, Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, rushed up to them, fussing and trying to wrap them both in thick, fluffy towels. Percy smiled, shaking his head.
"It's fine, Madam Pomfrey, I got this," he said. He snapped his fingers, and instantly, both he and Juan were completely dry, not a single drop of water on their skin or clothes.
Juan blinked, staring at his own dry arm in amazement. "How… how did you do that?"
Percy just grinned. "Magic." Juan groaned good-naturedly as, quickly, they were surrounded by excited members of their Hufflepuff house, all cheering and patting them on the back.
"Percy! How in the name of Morgana's saggy tits did you do that so fast?!" Cedric Diggory asked, his eyes wide with disbelief as he pushed through the crowd.
"You were only in there for, like, fifteen minutes, tops!" Heather, another Hufflepuff, exclaimed. "That lake must be absolutely huge! How did you find him?"
Percy sighed, trying to look modest. "It wasn't that big of a deal, guys. I had the surface of the lake, and most of what's underneath, mapped out pretty well in my head from all my… uh… recreational swimming. I just knew the shortest way to get to the merpeople village, that's all. No big deal."
"Fascinating, and quite remarkable," came a wise, old voice. The crowd parted respectfully to reveal Headmaster Dumbledore, accompanied by Madam Maxime and Headmaster Karkaroff, all looking rather impressed (except Karkaroff, who just looked suspicious).
"You have indeed completed the task with… far more time to spare than we anticipated, Mr. Jackson. Most impressive indeed."
"He must have cheated! It is simply impossible for someone to swim to the middle of the lake and back in that ridiculously short a time period!" Karkaroff, the Durmstrang Headmaster, cried out, his face red with anger and disbelief.
Percy just raised an eyebrow at the grumpy man. He snapped his fingers again, and immediately, a long, thick tendril of water rose up from the lake beside the pier, twisting and turning under Percy's silent command.
"I control water like it's second nature to me, Headmaster Karkaroff," Percy said calmly, looking the Durmstrang head in the eye. "What do you think? Did I need to cheat?"
The man looked absolutely fuming, his face turning an even darker shade of red, before he spun on his heel and stormed away in a huff, muttering angrily in Bulgarian. Percy rolled his eyes. "Drama queen," he muttered under his breath.
Dumbledore and Madam Maxime offered Percy their congratulations again and then left, probably to discuss the early completion of the task, leaving Percy with his cheering friends and a still slightly dazed Juan.
They all moved off the crowded pier and stood by the lakeshore, watching the water for the other champions.
Percy summoned his cloak, which had been patiently hovering nearby, and wrapped himself warmly in it as he waited.
At the half-an-hour mark, Fleur broke the lake surface, gasping for air, and began swimming tiredly towards the pier. Percy smiled at first, relieved to see her. But then his smile faded as he noticed that she was alone. Little Gabrielle wasn't with her.
Worried, Percy ran quickly to the edge of the pier, just in time to reach down and help pull Fleur up out of the cold water. Fleur coughed up some lake water, shivering, before her eyes, wide and frantic, immediately landed on Percy.
"Percy! Oh, Percy! They ztill 'ave her!" Fleur cried out, grabbing his cloak desperately and pulling him down towards her. Her eyes were red and wild, and she was shaking with desperation and fear.
"I couldn't zave her! T'e Grindylows… t'ey attacked me! I fought them off, but I ran out of time! Please, Perzy! You 'ave to zave my zizter! Please, you 'ave to!"
Percy wanted to assure her that everything would be fine, that Gabrielle wasn't in any real danger, that the judges wouldn't let anything truly bad happen to the hostages. But the way she looked at him, that raw, terrified desperation in her beautiful eyes… he never wanted her to look at him like that ever again.
"I'll get her, Fleur," Percy replied, his voice firm and resolute, all teasing gone. He took off his own warm, dry cloak and wrapped it gently around Fleur's shivering shoulders.
Madam Pomfrey quickly took Fleur away towards the medical tent, murmuring comforting words. Without a second to waste, without a thought for the rules or the points, Percy turned and jumped straight back into the icy water of the Black Lake.
"Where's he going now?" Juan asked, looking completely bewildered. "I'm right here! He already saved me!" The others around him shared his confusion, no one offering up any immediate answers as they watched Percy disappear beneath the dark waves again.
Percy swam even faster now, if that was possible, propelled by a new urgency. He reached the merpeople village much quicker than before.
The merpeople looked very surprised to see him return so soon. But instead of greeting him, Percy noticed that most of the merpeople were gathered around the central square, their expressions tense.
Now, only two hostages remained tied to the underwater statues: Susan Bones and little Gabrielle Delacour.
As Percy swam swiftly towards the square, he noticed Harry Potter there, struggling. Harry was trying to free both Susan and Gabrielle, pulling at their seaweed bonds.
Percy couldn't help but smile, even in this tense situation. Noble, brave, slightly idiotic Harry, always trying to do the right thing, even when it was against the rules.
"No!" the merpeople chief was telling Harry sternly, his voice gurgling with disapproval, as several other mermen pointed their sharp, triton-tipped spears threateningly at the Gryffindor boy. "Only one hostage! Those are the rules!"
"Please! They are both my friends! I can't just leave one of them!" Harry cried out, though his words came out as garbled, underwater gibberish. Percy, however, with his connection to the water, could understand him just fine.
"No!" the chief replied firmly, his patience clearly wearing thin. "Stop! Or we will stop you!"
The mermen began to close in on Harry, their spears glinting menacingly. Harry, looking desperate, reached for his wand, ready to fight them all if he had to.
Just then, Percy cleared his throat loudly, the sound somehow carrying through the water. "That's enough!" he commanded, his voice echoing with power.
Immediately, everyone, merpeople and Harry alike, turned to look at him in surprise. Harry's fear instantly gave way to a wide, relieved smile. "Percy!" he gurgled happily.
Percy smiled back as he swam up to the Gryffindor and ruffled his messy, underwater hair playfully. "Good boy, Harry. Always the hero. But don't worry, I'm here to help now! You grab Susan. I'll take care of Gabrielle."
"But… but them?" Harry replied, pointing a shaky finger towards the still-hostile-looking merpeople, who were now slowly backing away, looking uneasy at Percy's sudden appearance.
Percy just shrugged dismissively. "They won't be a problem anymore," he said confidently. He turned to the merpeople chief and just waved him away with a flick of his wrist, a clear gesture of dismissal.
Immediately, as one, the merpeople all backed up further, lowering their spears, their earlier aggression gone.
Percy then snapped his fingers, and the seaweed bonds holding both Susan and Gabrielle instantly unwound and fell away. Harry immediately grabbed Susan's arm, while Percy gently took hold of little Gabrielle.
"Follow me, Harry," Percy told him as they began to swim swiftly back towards the surface, Percy using his powers to subtly speed Harry along, creating a smooth current for them to ride. In what felt like less than ten minutes, they were back at the pier. The moment they broke the water's surface, Susan and Gabrielle gasped for air, coughing and spluttering.
The little Veela, Gabrielle, began to cry out, looking around in confusion and fear, her eyes wide. "Fleur? Fleur, where are you? And who are you?" she wailed, looking at Percy with terrified eyes. "You're not Fleur!"
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If you want to read ahead by 20+ chapters you could take a visit on my patreon Or check it out.
http://patreon.com/SageOf016