Chapter - 51 : The Fiery Trial part - 2

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The ball ended up being great fun with a few surprises thrown into the mix; Hermione, who looked stunning in a simple periwinkle blue dressed, attended the ball with Viktor Krum of all people, Neville managed to score a date with a pretty blonde Hufflepuff named Hannah Abbott, while Draco, Blaise, and Ron declared themselves bachelors and went in each others' company. The group was seated around a table with the Cedric Diggory and his date Cho Chang and all spent an enjoyable dinner discussing things of varying topics, by the end of the night, Harry was pleased to say he had made several new friends.

"I think we've been going about this the completely wrong way," Neville announced during one of their regular study sessions in the library.

"How so, Nev?" Harry asked, distractedly flipping through a book on Mermish customs.

"Well, we've been looking at spells to help you breathe underwater or to transfigure you into a creature that can survive in the water."

"Yes, that's right," Hermione nodded.

"But we haven't thought of the other problems he might face."

Harry marked the page in his book and turned his full attention to Neville. "Like what?"

"The task is taking place in February, which means the lake is guaranteed to be freezing and there will be creatures you might have to fight off, something you can't do if you're an eel or a koi."

"Koi," Harry sniffed. "As if."

"Oh, you know what I mean. My point is, I was thinking that maybe bubble head charms and human transfigurations weren't the way to go, so I started looking into other forms of magic, namely Herbology, and found this," Neville handed Harry a thick Herbology tome and pointed to a short passage on a plant called Gillyweed.

Harry read the passage carefully, his excitement grew with every second. "Neville, this is brilliant!"

The others crowded around Harry to read the book and were soon exclaiming their admiration of the idea.

"But where would we find Gillyweed?" Ron asked. "Do you think the apothecary in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade have some in stock?"

"They might," Harry said, "but I know somewhere better."

"Nine nights scrubbing cauldrons and eight inventorying the store room."

"Five nights scrubbing and three with inventory," Harry countered.

"Seven and six."

"Make it five and four and I'll throw in an extra night scrubbing potions off of the ceiling."

The two Slytherins looked up at the ceiling and the month's worth of botched potions caked onto it. "Deal."

Harry gleefully accepted the pouch of Gillyweed from Snape. "Thank you very much, Professor."

"Though I may come to regret it, I feel the need to ask why you just agreed to ten days of cleaning for a pouch of Gillyweed."

"The second task, sir. Come seek us where our voices sound, we cannot sing above the ground. I needed a way to not only breathe in, but survive and navigate creature infested waters in the beginning of February."

Snape nodded. "You know exactly what you're up against?"

Harry grinned cheekily. "There's no need to worry, sir, everything's in order."

"Worry," Snape scoffed, but there was a genuine, albeit very well hidden, sparkle of relief in his eyes, "I would hardly be distressed if you were to remain in the lake, life would, without a doubt, be much more peaceful."

"Ah, but you're not one for a peaceful life, are you professor?"

The second task began with very little pomp, the four champions lined up along the lake and received their instructions, and then, with the short shriek of a whistle, leapt into the frigid waters. Harry had eaten the Gillyweed several minutes before the task began, as all of his research had told him it worked best if given a few minutes to activate, so by the time he dove into the lake gills had formed, he had spouted flippers on his hands and feet, and, much to his relief, the water rather than being cold enough to freeze his blood, felt pleasantly cool.

With the help of his newly formed limbs, Harry slid through the water with natural borne ease. He had an unpleasant encounter with a group of Grindylows, but that was dealt with in a matter of seconds, and he ran into the giant squid, who waved lazily at him before continuing on its merry way. He had just reached the thirty minute mark when he heard a soft, haunting song drifting through the water.

"An hour long you 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."

Harry followed the sound of the song and soon came to a large rock painted with the scene of a group of mermaids armed with spears and chasing the giant squid. Soon after that, he came to the village where he and his gills and flippers were gawked at by grey skinned, yellow eyed merpeople all the way to the village center. There he found a group of armed merpeople guarding an enormous statue of a merman with Blaise, Hermione, Cho, and a little girl no older than eight tied to its powerful tail.

Harry singled out the fiercest female of the group and swam to her, when he was barely a foot away from her, he bared his throat and held his arms out gills up, leaving himself at her mercy. He remained in the position for several seconds before a gentle hand ran along his gills then touched his throat and he relaxed.

"May I pass?" he asked in barely accented Mermish.

The chieftainess nodded and the other merpeople moved aside so he could swim to the statue unimpeded. He drew his dagger, easily sliced through the thick, slimy weeds binding Blaise to the statue and pulled his friend to his side. "Will they be…" he struggled for a second, trying to find the word he was looking for, he wasn't fluent in Mermish, far from it in fact, he had only covered the basics. "…safe?" he finally managed.

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Loving the story so far? There's a whole world of magic and mystery waiting for you with over 85+ chapters still to come! By supporting my Patreon.

You not only get early access to new chapters but also exclusive content, behind-the-scenes insights, and special perks just for fans like you.

Join us on this enchanted journey and help shape the future of the tale. Your support makes all the difference—discover more and become part of the adventure today!

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(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)

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