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The Cursed Line & Blessed Heir
🕑 Added 2024-11-27 18:31:44 +0000 UTCChapter 18- The Second Task
“Come in, Harry.” He wondered why the young man was seeking him out. He only hoped that it was nothing serious.
The young man came into his office and sat down in front of the man following the man’s gesture. Dumbledore regarded the young man closely for a few moments.
“How can I help you today, Harry?” He questioned as he leaned back in his seat.
The young man frowned in thought, most likely thinking of something. He hesitated a few times but then steeled himself with a deep breath.
“I had a question, Professor.” The Headmaster nodded curiously. “Remember when visited Gringotts a few months back?”
“I do. I assume it was something to do with your family.” The young man agreed and went on to explain about the portrait of his grandparents he had managed to obtain from his family vault.
“I found a letter in that portrait, Professor. A letter written by my Grandmother and she mentioned something that I have been wanting to ask about for a while now.”
“Go on, my boy. It isn’t like you to hesitate so much for a question.” Dumbledore prodded encouraging the boy to ask his question.
“I read that there is a prophecy between me and the Dark Lord, Professor. My Grandmother said that you were the one who approached my family with that theory.”
Whatever Dumbledore was expecting, this was not it. He had no intention of letting Harry know about the prophecy until he was older, but considering the young man had taken up the responsibility of the prophecy without knowing about it beforehand, he saw no problem in letting him know about it anymore.
“I assumed it was far-fetched Professor, but I couldn’t help myself from asking about it. I just wanted to know about it and if there was any truth to it.”
“You would be right in assuming so, Harry. In this case, it was the truth.” He confirmed much to Harry’s surprise.
“Divination is a very special form of magic, Harry. A very imprecise form of magic, but very interesting if you wish to study it.”
“There is little stock we must put into such a branch of magic. With it being challenging to understand, there are a lot of things that could go wrong if we chose to believe everything that we learn from this branch of magic.”
“People don’t choose to put much stock into it due to its very vague nature, but in some rare instances, they turn out to be right. Yours was one such instance.” He explained.
“The prophecies rarely come true. A lot of them would live on as words and nothing more, but on the rare instances, when acted upon, the prophecy comes true.”
He stood up from his seat moving towards his cupboard at the side of the room and then pulled out what seemed like a stone artefact. He placed the stone receptacle on top of his table and sat down once again.
“This is a pensieve. Do you know about it?” Harry nodded. He had seen a similar one in the Black family home.
“I will be sharing the memory of the night when the prophecy was made. Look at it and we can discuss anything else after that.” He then proceeded to use his wand and placed it on his temple. He pulled out what seemed like silvery strands and deposited them into the pensieve, asking Harry to look into it.
Harry did as told, dipping his head into the pensieve, and feeling drawn into the artefact. When he felt his surroundings clear up, he saw that he was standing in a dingy-looking room. The room and the surroundings were eerily similar to the Hog’s Head down in Hogsmeade.
Dumbledore was seated across from his divination professor, Trelawney. There was no difference in the woman's appearance from how he was seeing her today.
“Ms Trelawney is it? Dumbledore questioned receiving a nod from the woman. “I will let you know about my decision in a few days. Please expect a letter in a few days.”
The woman nodded her understanding and Dumbledore got up, wanting to leave when she went rigid. Her eyes closed for a moment and when she opened them, Harry saw that her eyes had turned white. The woman had straightened up in her seat and sat still for a few seconds.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…”
It was at this moment that Dumbledore looked away from the woman and towards the door and Harry couldn’t ignore the commotion happening outside the room. Dumbledore approached the door and stepped outside only to see Snape arguing with somebody not far off.
Harry felt his blood boil at the scene. Snape was spying on the Headmaster? So it was he who leaked the prophecy to Voldemort? It had to be. Why else would he be here?
Harry watched as Dumbledore returned to the room, though this time, he raised his wand and with a swipe erected a soundproof charm against the door.
The woman was still lost in a trance repeating her words again and again and Dumbledore sat down and began listening to her words intently.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."
A few minutes later, the woman went silent once again, and Harry watched as her eyes cleared up, returning to their normal state and the woman shook her head, returning to the present.
“Oh…” She said looking around and spotting the Headmaster. “Professor Dumbledore?”
“Yes, Ms Trelawney?” The woman frowned in confusion, trying to regain her senses. “Did I say something, Headmaster? I feel lightheaded.”
“Nothing of much importance. You have been appointed as the Divination teacher at Hogwarts.”
The woman smiled genuinely as she stood up from her seat and bowed at the aged Headmaster. She shook hands enthusiastically with the man thanking him again and again for the opportunity.
At the same time, Harry felt himself being lifted off the ground and the scene he witnessed began to blur as he was pushed out of the pensieve.
Harry sat back in his seat just as Dumbledore returned to his seat from a nearby shelf. He placed a bundle of parchments on his table and sat down.
“Was that real, Professor?” He questioned. It was vague at best. Nothing in her words indicated anything about Harry being the one to kill Voldemort.
“I know what your thoughts are right now, Harry. They have merit. There is nothing said about you being the one to kill Tom. But it changed when Tom enacted the words.”
“What do you mean, sir?”
“Born as the seventh month dies, and born to parents who have managed to defy the Dark Lord three times. Two candidates fit the criteria here. You and Neville Longbottom.”
“Neville?” Harry asked shocked by the answer.
“Yes. Neville was born one day before you. Both of your parents were fighting against Tom and in a direct face-off, your parents and Neville's parents managed to escape and fight back three times.”
“The rest was in the hands of Tom. He was the one that should have acted upon the words to bring life to the prophecy and he did by attacking your house that night. He marked you as his equal.” Dumbledore explained, tapping his forehead and looking pointedly at Harry’s forehead and the young man got the message.
“My scar from his curse.” He whispered in realisation.
“Yes. Your scar is the mark that you are his equal.” Dumbledore continued with a nod. “He could have gone to young Neville’s house that day, but he chose you. In choosing you, he activated the prophecy and you became the chosen one.”
Harry leaned back in his seat with a sigh as the weight of his future settled upon him. The final part of the prophecy confirmed everything that was taking place around him.
“Neither can live while the other survives.” The aged Headmaster nodded sadly, and Harry got the final confirmation from the man.
“I am sorry to say it, but yes. If you should live, he must die and if he must live, you must die. That is now necessary. That is why he came to your house that day. He didn’t hear the final part of the prophecy, but he was unwilling to take a risk. No matter how powerful you are, thoughts like this tend to play at your head.”
“He guessed the profiles for the prophecy, but he didn’t know there was no need for him to act upon it. He doesn’t know that either of you must die for one of you to live. But he will come for you anyway. The reason is his ego.”
“He will come back out into the open and when he does that, he needs to make an example and for that, he needs to finish what he started. There is unrest among his followers. They do not doubt his power, but his setback all those years ago and a baby besting him was a huge blow to his prestige.”
Harry stayed quiet as he listened to the man. It was not surprising anymore, but now that he was hearing about it as a confirmation, he felt all of it overbearing.
It took him a few moments to compose himself and Dumbledore gave him his space but Harry nodded firmly. He knew this was happening and he was ready for it.
“This power he doesn’t know about? What is that?” He asked and Dumbledore shook his head.
“I don’t know. It can be anything, but, it is difficult to say. You must find out that on your own. I will help you of course, but you must find out about it.”
The immediate thought that came into his head was the elemental magic he had been introduced to. Was that supposed to be a power Voldemort didn’t know? He wondered if he should reveal the same to Dumbledore, but then decided against it. He would wait and see if there was something more to the prophecy before deciding on it.
“So Snape was the one who leaked the prophecy?” Harry questioned, his voice flat, not betraying his emotions to the man.
“Yes,” Dumbledore confirmed not even bothering to deny it. “Severus had just been recruited to the Death Eaters and was assigned to spy on me. It was a lucky coincidence that he caught me talking to Sybil and it was a poor judgement on my part to forget silencing the room. But I never guessed something like that was happening.”
“He was driven away before he finished hearing the entire prophecy, but he had to give Tom whatever information he had available and he did just that.”
Harry didn’t take long to figure out the blunder that Snape pulled and he saw red. He stood up, his eyes blazing furiously and his breathing heavy.
“That bastard is the reason for everything?” He growled. “He is why Neville and I are left with no parents today?”
He didn’t wait for an answer. There was no need for it. He took off towards the door, intent on confronting Snape. He had no patience to think over anything. The first instinct that was running through his head was to hold Snape by his collar, look him in the face and punch his teeth down his stomach.
The doors of the office wouldn’t budge. He tried to push the doors with all his might but to no avail. He turned around to face the Headmaster who sat in his seat, his expression one of calm.
“Open the door.” It was not a request and the aged Headmaster looked Harry in the eye and shook his head denying the suggestion.
“I am not asking, Professor.” He muttered through gritted teeth and Dumbledore watched as his eyes turned pitch black in warning.
“Come, Harry. Sit down please.” He motioned towards the seat, speaking calmly, making sure that the young man would not erupt in anger. “Calm yourself.”
“Please don’t do this.” Harry returned, now glaring at the man. “I cannot let this go after knowing what happened. Do not ask me of this.”
“Listen to me.” Dumbledore began once again. “Please sit down and listen to me.”
Harry didn’t sit down but heeded the man’s advice and stood waiting expectantly for the man to continue.
“I can understand your anger and it is justified. But because of this blunder, Severus switched sides and played double agent. I asked for this favour knowing that Tom was not dead and that he would come back and we would need an inside man.”
“Why?” Harry questioned. “Why the change of mind out of the blue? Please don’t tell me he had a change of heart.”
“He did,” Dumbledore confirmed but Harry couldn’t help but snort in derision.
“No chance. You either had something on him or he had something personal to accomplish. He is a fucking bastard and you can never tell me he had a change of heart. Why you turn a blind eye to his antics in the school to every other student, I will never know, but I won’t question your judgment.”
“But don’t expect any form of respect going forward when it comes to that man,” Harry said, with conviction. He was being serious. He would no longer sit down without responding if he continued being a bastard during his classes.
“I will continue to turn a blind eye to this blunder of his, but I want him to remain within his limits. I will not tolerate his usual nonsense, which also applies to every other student. He better check his attitude when addressing students.”
“I have learnt a lot about what it takes to hold the name, Potter. If what I have learnt is true, then I can make life difficult for anybody in this country. Let him know that I would not hesitate to use my name to make his life problematic.”
“I understand.” Dumbledore agreed and Harry sat down once again, taking a deep calming breath to control himself.
“If Tom has no idea about the prophecy, what difference does it make?” Harry questioned.
“Nothing,” Dumbledore replied immediately. “But tell me, Harry. What would you do if you were Voldemort? What will your first job be when you remember that you were bested by a baby?”
“Look into how that happened.” He answered and Dumbledore agreed with a nod.
“Exactly. He will look into how that happened and the first place he would be checking would be that prophecy.”
Harry agreed with that logic. The man was right. If it was up to him, he would be doing the same. But the only way Tom could reach the prophecy was through Professor Trelawney and there was no chance that would happen with Dumbledore personally watching over the woman.
“But what you probably don’t know is that once a prophecy is made, the seer forgets about the prophecy entirely. They would have no clue about the prophecy they have created.”
Harry was surprised by that piece of information and now that he learnt about it, there was no chance that the prophecy would get out will it?
“But, every prophecy will immediately be recorded in the Hall of Prophecies in the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic.” Dumbledore continued.
“It is a form of magic. It is a form of self-updating magical art, a form of magic lost centuries ago. How it was created, I have no idea and I haven’t spent time finding it out. There is a similar magic employed in Hogwarts here when names of young witches and wizards in the country are updated with their births.”
“So, at this moment, there is a prophecy in the Department of Mysteries with your name on it. The good thing is that only you, or Tom can take it from the shelf it is placed in. Nobody else despite their power, knowledge or ability can take away the prophecy if it is not made in their name.”
“So unless Voldemort himself or I go to retrieve it, there is nothing much others can do about it?” Harry questioned and Dumbledore confirmed.
“Yes. If you want to see it or pick it up, we can go to the Ministry whenever you are available.”
Harry thought about it, but it didn’t take long for him to realise that there was no need to retrieve it. Not yet anyway. He conveyed the same to Dumbledore who agreed with his decision.
“Prophecies aside, how is the preparation for the second task?” Dumbledore questioned.
“I have managed to solve the clue to the task, Professor. But I have no idea what they will be taking, " He still had no idea what they would be taking.
“Ah yes. I am afraid I can’t help you with that. This time, the decisions regarding the second task are kept secret so that none of the schools gain an unfair advantage. We will be informed about the task before the day of the competition.”
That was expected to avoid further scrutiny after the first task. If two schools were cheating their way into the tournament, it would be bound to become an international issue.
“All I can say is that we will be ready to help. So, you don’t have to worry too much. I give you my word.”
“I think I can manage, Professor. But thank you for your assurance. “ He smiled at the Headmaster thankfully, as he stood up.
“And thank you for the information, Professor.” The aged man shook his head.
“It was your right, Harry. You were supposed to know about it. I kept it for myself just to wait until you were ready to take in information of that magnitude. There is a certain age for hearing certain things and you were not ready to hear them until today.”
“I hope I did the right thing and I would ask your forgiveness if I was out of line.”
Harry thanked the man and left his office, having been equipped with much information far from what he was expecting to learn today.
‘So it is either you or me, Tom.’ He thought as he began his walk back to his common room.
He had not expected anything different, but now, it was all but confirmed. It didn’t change anything about what his future held. He wanted to put an end to this from the moment he touched his family. This slight against his family will not go unpunished.
Two innocents lost their lives because of his thirst. One young man lost the prime of his life for a crime he didn’t commit and one baby was left an orphan just because he believed in the ramblings of a seer.
He returned to his dorm and sat down on his bed as he picked up his trunk from the side. He rummaged inside and retrieved a set of parchments that had been bundled together. These were the letters he had picked up from the memorial placed in Godric’s Hollow.
Every single day, he made sure to read these letters without fail. He had finished reading all the letters at least four times by now.
“I will do it for all of you who lost somebody you love. I will do it for all of you who were tortured by that bastard. You have my word.” He promised nodding in determination.
BREAK—---
“Welcome to the second task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament.” Ludo Bagman announced and received applause from the students gathered to watch the task.
“In a few minutes, we will begin the second task. Four very important individuals related to our champions have been held hostage in the middle of the lake. The champions will have one hour to retrieve them from the bottom of the lake. The least time taken to return will be crowned the winner of the task.”
Harry was angry as he listened to the man speak about the task. Whatever he had been expecting for the second task, this was not it. He had learnt about the nature of the task just an hour ago and he was furious when he got to know that they had taken Ginny for the task.
He would have torn into the organizers had he not been worried about the state of the girl. The other champions were not faring much better. Hermione was chosen to be the hostage for Viktor Krum and Cho Chang, Cedric’s girlfriend was chosen to be his hostage.
The most worried among them was Fleur Delacour. From what he could understand, the girl’s younger sister had been taken hostage. How they put a ten-year-old into the lake for a dangerous task he had no idea and he could understand the emotions of the girl.
“Champions ready?” When none of them answered back, Bagman laughed and continued.
“Gather at the starting point please.” He requested of the champions who gathered at the starting point one after the other.
Just as they were getting ready, Harry heard a few taunting whistles and catcalls from the gathered audience. It didn’t take long to find out the reason for all the excitement. Fleur had just changed into a silver one-piece swimwear and despite everything that was going on, he couldn’t help but stare.
A sigh of admiration left his lips as he watched the blonde beauty clad in silver standing not far from him. Her swimsuit hugged her sinful figure leaving a lot to his imagination and Merlin did his imagination run wild.
It was painful to pull himself back into reality and the task ahead, but he reluctantly took his eyes off the young woman and returned to staring back at the water body. The whistles and jeers didn’t stop anytime soon and Harry had to bite his teeth in anger, quashing a bout of jealousy. For some reason, he wanted her beauty to be exclusive only to him and not to any other eye. He didn’t want any other appreciating her apart from him.
‘What is the matter with you?’ Harry chided mentally as he tried to forget about the beautiful French girl. He had a task to finish.
BREAK—---
Not far away, Fleur Delacour was worried. Who convinced Gabby that this was a good idea, she didn’t know, but she hoped they stayed away from her for their own good.
Her father and mother had come all the way from France to see her compete and when asked about Gabrielle, they had no idea why she had accepted to go down the lake as a hostage despite them forbidding it.
She looked towards the seats where her father and mother sat and she smiled weakly as she saw her father nod encouragingly.
With raging emotions in her head, she followed Bagman’s orders and made her way to the starting point along with the rest of the champions and removed the robe she had put on to cover herself.
‘There it is.’ She thought bitterly as the gathered audience began whistling and teasing her noticing her current costume.
Her eyes surveyed the champions getting ready for the task and they sought out the most interesting character among all of them. Harry Potter.
The young man had yet to change into swimming attire. She tried to watch him closely and she could not pick out an emotion apart from anger. There was no anxiety that she and the other two possessed, but just anger.
She couldn’t forget the day he revealed the location of the Merfolk village in the lake and tried explaining the second task to her. It confused her greatly, but this boy was not like the others and that was something she couldn’t put to the side. Helping her after she spoke like a mean bitch to him in the first task and then helping her again just before the second task despite knowing that she cheated along with her Headmistress was not something she had expected.
She didn’t know if he noticed, but she caught him staring for a few seconds and she smirked. He wasn’t so infallible after all. For one moment, she forgot about the spectators surrounding them.
It was not something she would ever admit to anybody, but she was fine with him looking. The very thought of any other eyeing her up like a piece of meat made her skin crawl, but Harry's look was different. She could see it in his eyes and not for the first time. It was pure admiration and Fleur enjoyed that.
‘What are you doing, Fleur?’ She chided herself mentally.
‘Your sister is in danger and you are thinking about a boy?’ She shook herself from her thoughts, her focus going back to the Great Lake and her sister held in the waterbody.
“On the count of three…” Bagman began and the champions took their positions.
“One….two…three…” A loud bang resonated around them and that was their cue. Fleur jumped into the lake and within seconds, had erected a bubblehead charm around herself. She didn’t wait a moment longer and began swimming towards the direction Harry Potter had pointed out.
The moment the charm was on, the young woman found her competitive spirit back. She focused on winning the task, and reaching Gabby was her only aim as she swam towards the possible location with powerful strokes.
BREAK—---
It didn’t take long for him to think of where to go. He headed straight in the direction of the Merfolk village that he had found a few days back. He was going out on a limb to guess their location, but his instincts told him he was doing the right thing. If not, he would have to start again and he hoped that it didn’t come to that.
It wasn’t long before he arrived at the familiar clearing he had visited not long ago and continued swimming further into the Merfolk village keeping an eye out for any sign of the hostages.
Deep into the village, Harry finally caught sight of the hostages. He swam closer to what appeared to be a stone structure which then he recognized as a huge stone monument of a Merperson. The hostages were floating in the water, with each of their waists tied to the structure with the help of a vine.
The hostages were in a trance from the looks of it and Harry approached closer to Ginny. He was about to free her but then decided to wait for the others to come. He was concerned about the safety of the students, but the rational part of his brain was livid with himself.
‘Do you honestly think that the organisers will let something happen to these hostages, Harry?’
Harry went back to the clue from the golden egg. He should be worried about losing out on his most important thing had it been anything else apart from living and breathing individuals.
He decided to free Ginny and leave, but he noticed some movement not too far away from the stone. He turned around and he was met with a group of Merfolk swimming towards him, tridents in their hands. He watched in caution, readying to defend himself if attacked.
The merfolk stopped a good distance staring at Harry without doing anything. Harry continued to hold their eye, anticipating trouble, but they had seemingly stopped a good distance from him and did absolutely nothing.
He was sure that the allotted period to complete the task was almost over. He had still not seen the other three. He had expected Fleur to be here at least, but she was nowhere to be seen. He sensed some form of trouble, but he decided to stay back without moving.
He waited for the designated one hour to finish off, and then he swam towards the hostages and began cutting through the vines that held them afloat.
“One!” He heard one of the merfolk scream as he moved away from Hermione towards Cho.
“One hostage. You can take one hostage. No more.” One of them warned, brandishing his trident menacingly.
“The time allotted for the task is over. There is no competition anymore. We will leave.” He turned around and with a single wave of his hand, slashed the knots that tied the other three hostages.
“I am warning you, human. Take your hostage and leave.” Another of the group spoke this time, but Harry paid no heed to it. The merfolk now angered by his persistence charged at him.
Harry had not expected them to react. He understood the warning they provided was in line with the task they were participating in and they might be instructions from the organisers, but he did not expect them to attack him. He had completely ignored the possibility of an attack but as soon as he had freed Fleur’s sister, he felt a sharp pain shoot through his arm.
He turned around immediately and he noticed the trident stuck to his tricep and he was bleeding profusely. He faced the merman who had just attacked him with anger.
“What are you doing?” Harry yelled as he pulled the trident out from his arm. He gritted his teeth as the pain began to shoot through his arm once again as he chucked the trident away.
“The task has finished. We are supposed to return.” He didn’t fight back. He swam away, putting some distance between the two and began to gather all the hostages together.
He heard movement behind him and he rounded upon the merpeople who had gained upon him. A few of them had their tridents out and ready to attack him and Harry had enough. He had been trying very hard to keep calm and to do what he was supposed to, but despite trying to let it slide, he had enough of them trying to attack him.
He felt his arm going sluggish in the area where the Merman attacked a while ago and despite him managing to stop the bleeding, the pain didn’t.
“I won’t be making requests anymore. You try and harm me and I will return the favour.” He warned.
Before he could go on any further, Harry recognized two figures making their way towards his location. The first one seemed like Cedric Diggory and not far off, was Krum, but he had managed to transfigure his upper body into that of a shark.
He was relieved that they arrived and Harry watched as the Merfolk moved away from them as the other two approached.
“What happened? Why are you guys late?” Harry questioned. Diggory in his bubble-head charm didn’t speak other than indicating to his wrist telling him their time was up and he swam towards Cho and pulled her away from the other hostages and continued swimming back up towards the surface.
Krum was next and he didn’t bother stopping for a second. He swam past Harry and left with Hermione. Fleur was the only one remaining and Harry continued to wait not willing to leave the girl unguarded. Did she get lost? Or did she get into some trouble?
He waited for a few more minutes and then he decided to return to the open and he also decided that he would be bringing both the hostages with him. He grabbed both of them by their arms and was about to push outwards when the Merfolk decided to strike again.
He felt a few more sharp jabs on his body when he decided to fight back. He was annoyed by their presence, but he must do something with them now attacking him. He felt painful stings shoot all over his body due to the attacks and he said one word.
“Stop it!” He roared slashing his arm as the pain became unbearable with each passing second. The merfolk continued to advance towards Harry, but suddenly, a shockwave reverberated in the surrounding area, pushing the group of Merpeople away by a few feet.
The creatures dropped their tridents, gasping for breath as they clutched their throats. It was difficult to see, but their faces were turning purple from suffocation. This was supposed to be his elemental power. He had taken away the air surrounding them and the merfolk struggled to breathe.
He was quick to come back to his senses. He was not looking to pick a fight and now that he had, he certainly didn’t want them to die. He just wanted to return with Ginny and Fleur’s sister as the task was over. He didn’t know what instructions had been given to the merfolk, but they were baying for his blood right now.
Now that he had reacted, he had not expected it to be this harsh. He had wanted to scare them away, but his magic had lashed out of control.
He was worried about what he was seeing. He wanted to save them, but he had no idea what was happening or how he was supposed to stop it.
“Now is the time to talk to me, Mr Peverell.” He urged, hoping the voice in his head listened to him. Just as expected, he heard Ignotus speak to him.
“Just calm yourself and communicate,” Ignotus instructed and Harry cursed softly.
“Very poor advice, Mr Peverell. Please be clear and please make it quick.” He yelled, swimming towards the struggling group.
“Manipulate the water around you. Relinquish the control your magic is holding the water body under and you will restore everything to normalcy.”
“How am I supposed to do that?” Harry questioned desperate for an answer.
“Do you remember what I taught about speaking to your surroundings? About speaking to that buzzing voice? Cut that off and your task will be accomplished.”
Harry did as the man asked. He remembered being taught to listen to the voice of nature and the unique buzzing sound that was for his ears alone and when he heard it, he did as asked. He tried with all his might to stop whatever was happening around him and when the merfolk continued to struggle he heard Ignotus again.
“Patience. Try and stay calm. Your emotions are what your magic listens to. The calm you are, the more you are in control of your activities. Lose control over yourself and your activities reflect them. Erratic, out of control and dangerous to everybody else including you in most cases.”
There was a lot at stake here and Harry didn’t know how he must remain calm with lives at stake, but he deployed everything he had learnt from Occlumency and brought himself under control.
It was not long before he saw the Merfolk regain their ability to breathe. They gulped down deep breaths to try and stabilize themselves.
Harry approached the group, his hands held out to show he had no intention of attacking, but as soon as he neared the group, the Merfolk screamed in fright and swam away as quickly as they could.
“Demon! Demon!” He heard them scream as they swam away as quickly as possible. He didn't bother to wait anymore. He approached the two hostages remaining and he began to pull them up with the help of magic.
The cool air from outside hit him as soon as his head peeked out of the water body and he stood up. Soon behind him, his hostages arrived and a few of them came closer to the bank to retrieve them.
Both Fleur’s sister and Ginny who were under a trance regained their senses as soon as they stepped out of water. He dragged himself out of the water helping Ginny and the other girl along with him.
The young blonde was asking questions at a rapid pace and using French which Harry had no understanding of.
“Gabrielle?” Harry watched as two individuals came racing towards them. The woman, most likely her mother hugged the girl whispering assurances to calm the excited youngster. The woman was shockingly similar to his French counterpart. The resemblance was uncanny.
The middle-aged man next to the two stood watching their interaction, worry written all over his features.
“You all right, Ginny?” Harry questioned, the redhead next to him who was shivering, having been in the water for almost half a day.
“I am fine.” She assured sitting next to him. “The task is over?”
“I should hope so.” He said, looking around. Madame Pomfrey was now tending to the girl he had just pulled from the lake and Dumbledore and the other judges approached him.
“What happened to you?” Ginny yelped and Harry followed her eyes and took a look at his body.
He was marred with cuts and he was bleeding from his wounds. He had forgotten about the pain entirely, the adrenaline making sure that he was unaware of the toll his body had taken, but now that he was cooling down, he felt pain shoot all over his body.
Madame Pomfrey who had heard Ginny’s cry immediately walked up to him and began to tend to his wounds.
Harry let the woman do her job and decided to look around until he came to a realization. He was not able to see the French champion.
“Where is Delacour?” He questioned hoping for Poppy to provide an answer, but Dumbledore spoke up.
“I wanted to ask the same, Mr Potter.” He said as he came to a stop in front of him along with the other judges.
“Ms Delacour didn’t come up at all.” That was all he needed to hear. Despite Ginny’s protest, he ran back towards the Lake and jumped in without a second thought.
He knew that the girl had to be in some form of trouble if she had not managed to find her way to the spot he had disclosed almost a month ago. There was no chance it would take more than an hour to reach the location and if that did take longer, she was in trouble.
He retraced his path to the Merfolk village and kept a lookout for the girl. He was around the village area and he found no trace of the girl. He continued into the village and kept a look around until he came across a group of merfolk.
Judging by their reaction at his arrival, he guessed that they were the same as before from the stone structure. He raised his wand menacingly, making sure that they didn’t run away from the spot.
“I have questions.” He said and his tone conveyed that he would take nothing but answers.
“Eight of us were inside the lake for the past few hours and only seven of us made it outside. One of ours is missing and I know that she is been missing somewhere in this place that you call your home.”
“If you have seen her, now is the time to answer. I will not stop at anything to find her.”
The creatures looked at each other and gulped in fear and Harry kept his gaze on them. They might not be responsible, but he was not in a state to swim every inch of the lake to find an answer. He just needed a clue about her whereabouts and if they could help him, it would be quicker to find the girl.
“We were supposed to guard the hostages and make sure that only one of them was retrieved by a singular person at a time. We attacked you only because you tried to free all of them. We don’t have anything against you. Please don’t harm us.” One of them begged, the others nodding along with him.
“I don’t mean harm. I want everybody to get back without harm. Please help me if possible.” He requested this time, hoping it would sway them to help him in any way possible.
One of them whispered something in hushed tones to the one who spoke to him, and the group leader nodded.
“Only three champions were seen entering our village. There was no fourth champion.”
That worried Harry greatly. If she hadn’t entered the village, what happened to her? Where should he even begin to look for her?
“Thank you.” Harry bowed shortly before taking off. He was stumped. He had no idea what to do and where to find the girl. He didn’t know why he was getting worried about an unknown girl, but he removed that thought instantly. She didn’t deserve to face danger for taking part in a competition.
“What should I do?” He began retracing his path, hoping to find something he might have missed. He had not gone very far away from the village when he noticed a small silver piece of cloth stuck to a piece of weed. He swam closer and plucked the piece out instantly recognising it.
He could not forget the sight of Fleur Delacour in that silver bikini and this material came from that. He was sure of it. He would never forget that sight. He took a good look at the material and found a smudge of something crimson which he chalked off as blood.
Harry didn’t know what to do until an idea popped into his head. He didn’t know if it was the right thing to do or if it would work, but he had no other choice. He didn’t have the time to go around checking every inch of the lake.
The next thing he did was retrieve his wand and cast his patronus. He didn’t know if it would work underwater, but he sighed in relief as the familiar thestral materialized in front of him.
He thought hard about the French champion and conveyed his thoughts to his patronus.
“Find her. It’s urgent. Please be as quick as you can.” He requested watching as the thestral nodded and pranced away. He continued swimming around, slowly getting back towards land.
His patronus was back very soon and circled him trying to convey something and began shooting off in the direction he came in. Harry followed his patronus and returned back up to land.
He coughed as he stepped out of the water body and he tried to follow the patronus who pranced forward and began circling around a group of people.
He noted Dumbledore’s tall figure next to Madame Maxine and a few more people but his thestral went on and approached a figure sitting next to Madame Pomfrey.
She was back. She was receiving treatment from Poppy and she was surprised by the arrival of his patronus.
“Harry?” Dumbledore noticed his presence immediately and the entire group turned around to face him. He didn’t care. He had eyes for one person only and she was watching his patronus closely before turning back to him as his patronus disappeared.
“You alright?” Harry questioned as he regarded the blonde who nodded slowly, looking him up and down.
“You are hurt.” She returned wincing as she stood up. She limped forward and approached him and Harry observed the girl properly. She was wrapped in a blanket, but judging by her limp and her face scrunching up with every movement, she was injured heavily.
“You brought my sister up.” She said, watching him critically. “Why? I heard that you were the first to reach the hostages and you stayed back till the end.”
Harry shrugged. “I could care less about the task. I was not leaving that place knowing there might be trouble. Anything can happen if we slip up and it was not a risk I was willing to take.” He returned and the girl shook her head.
“You are very difficult to understand.” She whispered, a small smile adorning her face.
“You need treatment, Harry Potter.” She nodded at the injuries that littered his body as Poppy nodded her agreement approaching him instantly.
“Thank you,” Fleur whispered and then she did something he never expected. She approached him closer than necessary and before he could comprehend what was happening, pressed a small kiss onto his cheek.
Harry was at a loss for words as she pulled back, her cheeks slightly pink, exertion or something else, he had no idea.
“Take care, Harry Potter.” She patted his cheek and walked away with her parents and sister leaving him behind to be tended to his wounds by an amused Madame Pomfrey who shook her head.
‘Clueless idiot. So similar to you, Charlus. So similar.’ She thought as she began to heal him wondering how long this boy would take to recognize what was going on between the two.
TBC—--------
Comments
Romavictrix
Interesting. Is this gonna be a Harry/ Fleur pairing
