"You told me you'd already solved the egg's riddle!"
Before a furious Hermione, Harry shrank.
With only two weeks remaining until the Second Task, a truly desperate Harry had finally confessed that he'd been lying and pleaded with Hermione and Edith for help.
Of course, it wasn't that he had done nothing.
He had, at the very least, genuinely solved the egg's secret and knew what the next task was.
The next task was underwater.
He had to dive into the lake and retrieve something 'precious' from the Merpeople. That was the Second Task.
However, that was as far as Harry had gotten. He had no idea about the most crucial part: how to get through it.
The time limit announced by the opened egg was one hour.
That meant he needed to stay submerged for nearly an hour straight.
How was he supposed to breathe underwater? And could he even swim, having barely ever done it in his life?
…He was far beyond the point where he could solve this on his own.
"Can't you just keep your head above water as you go? If you can just figure out how to swim, you could swim along and come up for air…"
"But Edith, that will be a problem if his 'precious thing' is in a deep place," Hermione countered, rejecting Edith's suggestion. "We still have to find a way for him to stay submerged."
It couldn't be that simple of a task. Since it was taking place underwater, it was surely designed to require diving.
"Ideally, you'd transform into a submarine or something," Hermione mused. "But human transfiguration is Sixth-Year magic, so no one can do it… And trying something you only half-know could lead to a disaster."
"Yeah," Harry agreed. "I'm not thrilled about the idea of walking around with a periscope growing out of my head."
Hermione's suggestion of using Transfiguration might have been a good one, but Harry lacked the knowledge and skill to perform it. The Triwizard Tournament's participation standard was age seventeen and up, and the tasks were naturally designed with that in mind. A student who had completed their education up to age seventeen might be able to solve it with magic they had learned or by combining different spells.
No, the tasks were designed to be solved that way.
But Harry was an unexpected fourteen-year-old contestant. That premise didn't apply to him. Compared to the other champions, Harry had significantly fewer tools at his disposal.
"What about transfiguring something other than yourself?" Edith suggested. "Like, you could wear a rucksack beforehand and turn it into an oxygen tank."
"But I don't really know how an oxygen tank works," Harry said.
"Right, that might be a bit too difficult," she conceded.
They continued to brainstorm, but no good ideas came to mind as time slipped away.
One week left… He told himself there was still time, trying to stay calm.
Five days left… He wanted to believe he was bound to find something soon.
Three days left… There was no more room for calm. Please, let me find something. He prayed, but time passed mercilessly.
When at last only one day remained, Harry was still without a brilliant solution.
As if to make matters worse, on that final day, his lifeline Hermione was summoned by Professor McGonagall and couldn't help him.
While Ron and Edith were still with him, neither of them was a bookworm like Hermione; they were people of action. Thrown into a situation where he had to rely on three simpletons, Harry wasn't optimistic about getting a good result.
Indeed, Ron was only making useless suggestions like going to the lake, sticking his head in, and yelling at the Merpeople, while Edith just stared at a book, humming and hawing.
"Hmm… It really seems like it's too difficult to solve this with any magic we know how to use," Edith said. "Shouldn't we try a different approach?"
"A different approach? Like what?"
"Like maybe using an item, or a potion, or a magical plant… Don't you think there might be something convenient like that out there?"
They had already searched for spells until they were blue in the face. The conclusion was that it was nearly impossible to clear this task with magic a fourth-year could use. That was why Edith suggested looking at it from another angle.
"But Edith, we've never learned a potion like that, and even if one existed, are you suggesting we brew it now?" Harry asked.
"What about an item? I feel like there could be something for staying underwater in a joke shop's inventory," she offered.
It wasn't a bad suggestion, but as Harry said, a potion was too much of a stretch. As for joke shop items, Ron immediately shot that down. "Nothing like that exists." With two older brothers who were obsessed with pranks, he was apparently an expert on the subject.
"Then that leaves magical plants… but I don't really know much about them…" Edith trailed off.
"Magical plants…" Harry repeated.
Magical plants.
Hearing those words, something snagged in Harry's mind.
What is it? What's nagging at me?
Harry desperately traced the threads of his memory, trying to unravel the fuzzy feeling in his mind.
Magical plants… something that could be used underwater. He had seen something somewhere.
Where? When?
He searched back, back through his memories… all the way back to the day of his first class with Mad-Eye. And then he remembered.
Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean.
"…Neville…!"
"Huh?"
"Neville has the book!"
Kicking his chair back, Harry stood and broke into a run. It felt like a ray of light had finally broken through the darkness. No, this was his last chance. After searching for spells all this time and finding nothing, it was too optimistic to think he'd find one in the final day. It was better to bet his hopes on magical plants.
He rushed to the Gryffindor common room, found Neville sitting there, and cornered him.
"Neville! Sorry to spring this on you, but do you still have that book Mad-Eye gave you, Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean?!"
"Huh? O-oh, yeah, I still have it… What's wrong?"
"Can I please borrow it? The thing is, for the Second Task, I have to stay underwater for an hour… There might be a hint in that book."
Neville, startled by Harry's frantic state, had a flash of recognition as he listened.
"I-I know… I know a plant that can help with that, Harry!"
"R-Really?!"
"Yeah, it's called Gillyweed… If you eat it, you can breathe through gills, and you get webbing between your fingers and toes… you become just like a Merperson."
"Th-That's it! Neville, do you know where I can find some of that Gillyweed?"
For the first time, Harry felt a surge of real hope. He grabbed Neville's shoulders, his joy plain to see, but Neville seemed hesitant.
Don't tell me there's none at the school.
That fear crossed his mind, but the words that came out of Neville's mouth were, in some ways, even more troublesome.
"Well… it's a really rare plant. I saw some in Professor Snape's storeroom once, when I was in detention. But I don't know where else to find it."
Snape!
Of all the places, that was the absolute worst, Harry thought. That professor would never give him some if he asked; on the contrary, he would probably hide it with glee.
That left only one option… theft.
But even if the target was Snape, it wasn't a path Harry wanted to take. He had no time. If he wasted it looking for another way, he would undoubtedly make a fool of himself in the task tomorrow.
Images of everyone's disappointed faces flashed through his mind… He didn't want to see the trust on Hagrid's face crumble. The jeers from Slytherin, the insults from everyone else… Just imagining it made him want to run away from the school.
Harry had Neville show him the book, memorized the appearance of the Gillyweed, and then left the common room. Outside, Edith and Ron were standing, looking at him with concern.
"…It's in Snape's office."
"What?"
"The Gillyweed is in Snape's office. We have to steal it… It's the only way."
Edith grimaced at the extreme measure that came from Harry's lips.
Theft… and from a teacher, of all people! Even if it was for the task, it was a gamble that would cost them more than just house points if they were caught.
Even Harry knew this was hardly a commendable course of action. But he was out of options.
"Okay, let's steal it," Ron agreed instantly, his voice firm and without a trace of hesitation.
Their willingness to do whatever it took in a pinch was both a strength and a weakness for the two of them.
Edith held her head as the two boys marched forward with determination. It was no wonder she sometimes found herself thinking, Why are these two in Gryffindor?
They made their way to the vicinity of Snape's office and stopped.
…Snape wasn't there at the moment. It was the perfect opportunity.
But things rarely go so smoothly.
With the worst possible timing, Malfoy came walking down the opposite corridor.
"Well, well? If it isn't Potter. What are you doing in a place like this?"
"…It's none of your business."
"Hmph, is that so? I'm curious, though. What exactly were you doing here? If you have nothing to hide, you should be able to say, shouldn't you?"
When it came to sniffing out a person's sore spots, Malfoy had a first-class talent. He grinned like he'd found his prey and stared at Harry and the others.
"I said it's nothing. Go away."
"Hey, now, do you have the right to say that to me? I'm just standing here because I want to."
He's such a detestable git, Harry thought. But this was the normal state of a Slytherin. Someone like Edith was the rare exception; nasty people like Malfoy made up eighty percent of the house. That's just what Slytherin was.
Now what do we do…
As Harry worried, a savior appeared.
Clunk. Clunk. Mad-Eye Moody came walking by, the sound of his prosthetic leg echoing in the corridor.
"Ugh…"
Malfoy, who was terrified of Mad-Eye, let out a disgusted sound and hastily turned around. After all, Mad-Eye openly despised Lucius Malfoy and took it out on his son, which was more than Malfoy could handle. The memory of being turned into a ferret and tormented was still fresh, and he practically fled.
But now a teacher had seen them, so the situation was still bad. They obviously couldn't commit theft right in front of a professor.
To their surprise, however, Mad-Eye just gave them a grin and walked right past them.
"I didn't see a thing."
As he walked away, Harry thought that maybe he was a surprisingly kind teacher after all. Come to think of it, he had tried to give him advice during the First Task, and he had helped him out when Snape almost caught him in the middle of the night. Perhaps he cared more about his students than his appearance suggested.
It was Mad-Eye, after all, who had given Neville that book in the first place.
He looked terrifying, but he was a good teacher. Harry thanked him silently and stepped into the office.
Later, it was said that Snape noticed the Gillyweed was missing and was in a spectacularly bad mood.
Harry passed the Second Task, which began with great anticipation, with a score of forty-five points.
As expected, the challenge was to dive into the lake, overcome various obstacles, and rescue a precious person.
And the person precious to Harry was Hermione; this was the reason she had been summoned by McGonagall. The Yule Ball had probably been the event used to determine who their 'precious person' was.
Harry reached the hostages faster than anyone else and successfully rescued Hermione, but at that moment, his bad habit… his need to save everyone… kicked in.
Anyone with common sense would know that Dumbledore wouldn't let other students die for a competition, but Harry took the trial's words—'after an hour has passed, they will not return'—to heart and tried to save the other hostages as well.
In the end, he waited to ensure Cedric (whose hostage was a girl named Cho Chang) and Krum (whose hostage was Ginny) had rescued their people, even helping them, and when he finally determined that Fleur couldn't make it, he rescued her hostage (her younger sister, Gabrielle) himself, finishing in third place.
However, Dumbledore, Crouch, Maxime, and Bagman, who praised his noble spirit, awarded him high scores, resulting in a total of forty-five points.
Only Karkaroff gave him a five, but even with his blatant favoritism towards Krum, it still wasn't enough to catch up to Harry, which must have been quite frustrating for him.
At any rate, all that remained now was the final task.
I have to thank Neville later, Harry thought as he let himself lean on Hermione, who was supporting him.
Author's Note:
∩(・ω・)∩
This time, we covered the Second Task, where Mirabelle was once again out of the picture.
Harry has the qualities of a hero, but he also has the flaws of a life-sized, relatable boy. I remember when I was reading the books, especially during his struggles before a test, I really identified with him, thinking, "Ah, this is me before an exam." Maybe that's the secret to Harry's popularity.
Also, in this fic, the fake Mad-Eye's scheme, which failed in the original story, succeeded. Harry got the information from Neville and stole from Snape's stores.
Professor Snape, both in the original and here, gets his personal belongings stolen so often, doesn't he? For some reason, it's always Snape who has the exact item Harry needs. I'm starting to wonder if he's doing it on purpose.
***
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[10 Advanced Chs] [14 Chapters/week]