Harry and Dobby used their time alone to plan for the second task. The advances Harry had made with his magic would allow him to complete it easily but they also didn't want to expose his abilities this early in the game. Harry still had six months before he could make his move towards freedom and the longer he prolonged the inevitable, the easier it would be.
In the end, they came up with three plans; the first would use gillyweed to transform Harry into a humanoid water creature that could easily move around Black Lake. The second plan would use his newfound magic which would be dispelled before reaching the surface. In the final plan, Harry would use his Firebolt and get the heck out of there. Dobby, in his infinite quest to help Harry had gone out and purchased enough gillyweed to survive underwater for three hours just incase there were problems.
As the champions were lined up and Dumbledore was counting down to the firing of the starting cannon, Harry shoved the gillyweed in his mouth and started chewing. Cedric gave him a strange look to which Harry responded with a large gillyweed filled smile. After a snort from Cedric, Harry finished chewing and then swallowed the slimy plant. Just as the cannon went off, all three of the other champions enacted their plans and dove into the water.
Harry had a good idea how long it would take for the gillyweed to affect him and by his plan, he was the last one in he water a full thirty seconds after the other champions. True to what he told Cedric after the first task, he was letting his inner Hufflepuff out and was following along behind the other champions to make sure they survived the task. He knew that his method was probably the best out of all the champions except for that creepy shark thing that Krum did.
The reason why Harry was out on the platform meditating was so that he would know which way to go. He used a technique Dobby taught him to locate magical signatures. Since Ginny owed him a life debt, it was easy to pick up hers as he scanned the lake. He followed the strand that linked them both and swam up to Cedric. After a tap to the shoulder, he pointed out the direction he needed to go and with a nod, Cedric headed in the right direction, Harry turned and sped over to Fleur.
He motioned for her to go the same direction but received a frown and a quick shake of the head. Harry shrugged and headed off to watch over Cedric. He followed Cedric for a while and when he saw Cedric was making good time, he swam back to check on the French champion. He hadn't gone far before he saw a pack of grindylows overwhelming her and blood staining the water.
Harry sped over and with a wave of his hands, banished the little buggers twenty feet away from her. As he took in her appearance, her normally gorgeous body and face was bloody and bruised and she was barely conscious. The situation went from bad to worse as her eyes closed and the bubble from her bubble head charm started to flicker until it finally vanished.
He reacted on instinct and used the only way he could think of to save her which was pressing his lips to hers in order to breathe for both of them. He knew she was in no shape to continue the task so he wrapped his arms around her and kicked hard towards the surface. Her eyes started to open on the way up and when she noticed what was happening, those same eyes grew wide in alarm.
As he approached the platform, he gave a final kick which propelled them out of the water and onto the hard surface. As they landed, the only thing he heard was Fleur muttering "Ma Sueur". Harry didn't know much French but he did know she was saying 'my sister'. With a quick nod, he dove back into the water before the judges could approach.
Harry didn't waste any time and sped through the water. As he came upon the merpeople village, he noticed Krum and Cedric were working on releasing their hostages. He saw Ginny Weasley and sighed internally. Even though he knew she was the one down here, he thought 'Shite, she'll be following me round even more now. Bet Dumbledore had something to do with this.'
He knew he should be angry and refuse to take her back up but a part of him just couldn't do that to her. In a way, she was a victim of all this just like he was and although he would no longer seek out her friendship, he wasn't so cold that he would just leave her. He floated in front of her for another minute before making his decision. He'd have to rescue her if only for them to think that he was still somewhat on their side.
He glanced over at Cedric who was laughing at him as if he could figure out what Harry was thinking. Even though he had webbed fingers, Harry made his gesture as plain as possible which caused Cedric to start laughing even harder. Harry looked at him and pointed to the surface to which Cedric nodded and headed off.
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