Chapter 932: Beneath the Surface
Chapter 932: Beneath the Surface
Of the four champions, Fleur Delacour was the least prepared. Due to the harsh winters at Hogwarts and the extreme coldness of the lake, she had not ventured underwater to gather information after uncovering the secret of the golden egg like the other champions. This led Fleur to severely underestimate the difficulty of the second task.
While the Bubble-Head Charm could solve the issue of underwater breathing, Fleur encountered a big problem as soon as she dove into the lake. The icy water made her limbs clumsy and numb, and to make matters worse, she had no idea where the merpeople had taken Gabrielle, nor did she know about the existence of the merpeople village.
However, her beloved sister, Gabrielle, was still at the bottom of the lake, and Fleur's lack of preparation now seemed futile.
Fleur knew she had to rescue Gabrielle from the merpeople.
Enduring the discomfort of the frigid water, Fleur used her hands and feet to frantically swim towards the depths.
Before long, a person with a shark-shaped head quickly overtook her—it was Krum, identifiable by his swimming trunks.
Of course, it was also because Harry and Albert were wearing rather distinctive outfits.
Harry Potter was also swimming at a decent pace, following Krum towards the deeper parts of the lake.
There they go! Let's follow them.
They must know where the merpeople have taken the hostages.
After all, Krum often went swimming even in cold weather, so he must have some knowledge about the lake.
Fleur felt as if she was grasping at straws, desperately swimming in the direction of the two boys. However, despite her best efforts, the distance between them only widened, and eventually, both Potter and Krum disappeared from her sight.
All the difficulties that Dumbledore had mentioned to the temporary judges about the second task were now being experienced by Fleur. The lake water was indeed very cold, numbing her limbs to the point of losing sensation. The resistance in the lake was also significant, requiring a lot of effort to cover any distance. Moreover, the deeper she ventured, the worse the visibility became, to the point of blindness. This forced Fleur to frequently use her wand for illumination, but the light from her wand couldn't penetrate the gloom of the lake depths, adding to her torment.
If it weren't for Gabrielle still being at the bottom of the lake, Fleur might have given up already, as she was well aware of her slim chances of completing the second task.
And Madame Maxime had repeatedly assured her of Gabrielle's safety.
Furthermore, with the presence of someone like Albert Anderson, the chances of Beauxbatons winning the Triwizard Tournament were practically zero.
In truth, she really wanted to just give up.
But the thought of her sister, Gabrielle, waiting for her rescue, only to be let down, filled her with despair.
So, Fleur gritted her teeth and persevered. She slowly moved her arms, swimming in the direction that Krum and Harry Potter had taken.
The cold lake water and her worry for Gabrielle completely distracted Fleur, or else she might have realized that her direction was off.
As one of the four champions, Albert was the most likely to win, and he surely had a way to locate the hostages. Yet, she had only seen Krum and Potter, which seemed odd.
Fortunately, Fleur hadn't realized that she was swimming in the wrong direction altogether, away from the merpeople village. Otherwise, overwhelmed by despair, she might have broken down right then and there.
Just as Fleur was reaching her limit, she suddenly sensed something swimming by nearby. She stopped and cautiously looked around. A dark figure was swimming flexibly in the distance, and Fleur was certain it was a merperson.
This was actually a deliberate act by the organizers to give the champions a chance.
The merpeople would often appear near the champions, keeping an eye on their safety and occasionally indicating the correct direction to the merpeople village. Whether or not the champions seized this opportunity was up to them.
Fleur was delighted and quickly followed. Even though the merperson was swimming in a different direction than she had been, she used all her limbs to keep up. As long as she could find a merperson, she would be able to locate Gabrielle.
As Fleur attempted to pass through a lush underwater forest of seaweed, she encountered trouble. A grindylow emerged from the seaweed, grabbing her leg with its long and powerful fingers. Its mouth revealed sharp, pointed fangs that bit into her leg, and the pain snapped Fleur out of her dazed state. She used her wand to strike down the attacking grindylow, but more grindylows emerged from the seaweed, grabbing her legs and pulling her into the seaweed forest. They entangled her arms, trying to drown her at the bottom of the lake.
Fleur's desperate counterattacks did not deter the grindylows; instead, it only provoked them further. More grindylows rushed towards her, overwhelming the beautiful champion.
In the chaotic struggle, Fleur accidentally lost her wand, and despair consumed her. When she was finally awakened, she found herself lying on the shore, with Madame Maxime looking at her worriedly.
"Gabrielle!" Fleur struggled to get up. "A group of grindylows attacked me."
"Don't worry, Fleur. Gabrielle will be fine. We won't allow any harm to come to the hostages. After the competition ends, your sister will be returned to you. For now, you need treatment." Madame Maxime placed her hand on Fleur's shoulder and led her to a nearby medical tent for Madam Pomfrey's care. Fleur looked a bit worse for wear, with wounds left by the grindylows on her face and arms.
In the stands, Sirius Black's expression turned grim. After seeing Albert effortlessly rescue the hostage, he had thought the second task would be simple. But now, witnessing Fleur's failure and subsequent removal from the lake, he realized that the task was likely more challenging than he had assumed.
"How's Harry doing?" Sirius asked Lupin.
"We haven't found the merpeople village yet, but we're prepared for everything else, so it should be fine," Lupin explained.
"Didn't you ask Albert?"
"That thing Harry said he couldn't transfigure. To be honest, I probably couldn't do it either," Lupin admitted with a wry smile. Transfiguring just any stone into that form was a bit far-fetched.
"You idiot, even if you can't transfigure it, can't you just use the Summoning Charm? Ask Albert to make one for you beforehand. I'm sure he wouldn't mind making one for you, or at most, you can just buy one from him," Sirius said, perplexed as to why they hadn't consulted Albert. There was an easy solution right in front of them, and it wasn't like they were competing for the final championship.
"Sometimes, Harry wants to accomplish things using his own abilities."
Lupin sighed in resignation. He, too, had wanted to do it that way, but Harry clearly preferred to rely on his own skills to complete the task, so he hadn't directly approached Albert.
"Accomplish the task using his own abilities?" Sirius fell silent. He understood that it was Harry's pride.
But did Harry truly have such abilities?
He didn't! The clothes, the warming charms, even the Bubble-Head Charm—all of those were copied from Albert.
But it seemed Harry had forgotten that.
Sirius could understand why Lupin hadn't done it that way. They were both carefully safeguarding Harry's fragile dignity.
Perhaps that's just how teenagers were! Sirius reminisced about his own youth and the adventures he and James had embarked on, letting out a sigh.
As Fleur exited the lake, she no longer had to endure the torment of the icy waters, but there were still two brave souls struggling at the bottom of the lake.
Krum's shark-man form didn't give him much of an advantage. While he had solved the problem of breathing underwater, swimming was still a big hassle.
In fact, Krum's situation wasn't much better than Fleur's, but he still had his own advantages. Among the four champions, Krum had the best resistance to the cold, and because he had been trying to winter swim and dive recently, he was in a much better position than Fleur. He, too, had been guided by the merpeople and changed his direction, but the visibility at the bottom of the lake was poor, and Krum soon became lost. To make matters worse, he encountered big trouble.
The group of Grindylows that Albert had swept away happened to be lurking in the seaweed that Krum was passing through, which caused Krum to be ambushed by a large number of Grindylows as soon as he tried to pass through.
This Durmstrang wizard was a much more formidable fighter than Fleur, and he immediately engaged in a fierce battle with the ambushing Grindylows.
If it hadn't been for Harry Potter, who happened to pass by and lend a hand, Krum's competition might have ended right there.
Even after eventually defeating that group of annoying Grindylows, Krum was still badly wounded and looked miserable.
"You go first!"
Krum expressed his gratitude to Harry, who had offered a helping hand, and declined his offer, telling Harry to go ahead.
Krum was probably about to give up.
While having one less competitor was a relief, Harry couldn't bring himself to feel happy about it.
Because, from the start of the competition, he had been quite frustrated himself, and his underwater journey was not going smoothly at all.
Harry was not a good swimmer, and just traveling was exhausting his energy. His muscles were screaming in protest, but he still had to keep moving in a certain direction.
To be honest, Harry was really afraid to get close to the seaweed, lest he suffer the same fate as Krum. But he remembered that Hermione had mentioned that the Merpeople village was hidden in the seaweed forest.
Just as Harry was still making his way toward the unknown direction of the Merpeople village, he suddenly felt something swimming by on his right, scaring him so much that he immediately stopped and looked around cautiously, wand at the ready.
The light at the bottom of the lake was dim, and visibility was low. Even the light from Harry's wand was of little use underwater.
Yes, it was useless. Harry was lost.
Or perhaps he had been lost from the beginning.
But he kept swimming aimlessly, searching for the Merpeople village.
Harry regretted not bringing Hermione's ever-burning flame with him. At least then he wouldn't have to worry about the poor visibility at the bottom of the lake.
Not having taken Gillyweed like in the book, Harry truly experienced the difficulty of the second task. He had to struggle at the bottom of the lake just like the other champions. The only consolation for Harry was that even if he failed, the hostages would not come to harm.
Albert probably had an easy way to complete this task! As for Fleur, Harry didn't rate her chances highly.
As for Krum, he looked badly injured, and he would likely choose to give up.
Harry tried to distract himself by thinking of other things, forgetting how long he had been swimming. Just as his whole body was about to give out, he felt something swimming by nearby again. This time, Harry managed to catch a glimpse of what it was—it was a merperson, and the merperson even glanced at Harry before swimming away.
"Are they guiding me, or misleading me?" Harry wondered.
Harry felt that the merpeople might be leading him, or they might be leading him astray, but he had no choice. Otherwise, with such poor visibility at the bottom of the lake, how could he possibly find the Merpeople village? Even when he had dived with Lupin, they hadn't been able to locate it.
Harry swam in the direction the merperson had gone, not knowing how long he had been swimming when he finally heard the unforgettable singing of the merpeople coming from a large patch of seaweed forest. But Harry hesitated in front of the seaweed, because if he were ambushed, his situation would likely be no better than Krum's. What's more, he was already close to exhaustion.
After hesitating again and again, Harry finally gritted his teeth and followed the sound, and to his surprise, there were no Grindylows lurking in the seaweed forest. It was as if they had collectively disappeared.
Following the singing, Harry finally found the Merpeople village.
The merpeople before him were nothing like the ones in the painting in the prefects' bathroom. Their skin was iron-gray, their hair a dark green. Those holding tridents looked like seasoned killers, and he worried that they would suddenly pounce and skewer him with their tridents.
Seeing that the merpeople didn't attack him, Harry breathed a sigh of relief.
After entering the Merpeople village, Harry soon found the hostages under the merpeople statue: Ron, Hermione, and a little girl with silver hair.
"Albert has already completed the task, I see."
Harry checked on Ron and Hermione and found that they were just asleep, so he breathed another sigh of relief.
He carefully used the Reductor Curse to help Ron break the seaweed binding him.
But Harry didn't leave with Ron right away. Instead, he stayed a little longer, waiting for the other champions.
However, Harry soon realized a serious problem—his breathing was becoming more and more difficult, and the Bubble-Head Charm was clearly at its limit. If he didn't resurface soon, he might not make it at all.
Just as Harry hesitated, the badly injured Krum finally arrived. This Durmstrang champion was indeed more resilient than he looked, as he was still persevering. Seeing Krum rescue Hermione, Harry was finally relieved that he wouldn't have to worry about how to bring all three hostages back.
Ignoring the merpeople's attempts to stop him, Harry waved his wand to keep them at bay, then reached out, grabbed the little girl by the waist, and pulled Ron by the collar of his robe. With a strong kick of his feet, he left the lake bottom with the two hostages in tow.
However, Harry seemed to have overestimated his own abilities.
He was moving very slowly, even though he was furiously flapping his fins. Ron and Fleur's sister felt like two sacks of potatoes, dragging him down toward the bottom of the lake. He looked up, but the surface above was still pitch-black. His brain, starved of oxygen, was losing its ability to think clearly. Leaving the hostages behind and making a solo dash for the surface might have been the best option, but Harry ultimately didn't do that. He sank to the bottom of the lake with the two hostages.
The next moment, Harry felt a push that carried him upward—the merpeople had given him a boost, propelling him and the two hostages away from the depths.
As soon as he broke the surface, Harry immediately dispelled the Bubble-Head Charm and took a deep breath of fresh air. He had never felt air to be so wonderful.
Around him, there were several green-haired heads that popped out of the water as well, including Ron and the silver-haired girl, who had been brought to the surface by the merpeople.
He had failed.
Harry knew it, but he didn't regret it.
After reaching the Merpeople village, he had barely any strength left.
Harry hadn't thought about the possibility of not being able to resurface with the little girl, he just knew he couldn't leave her behind in the eerie depths of the lake.
(End of Chapter)
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