Harry was surprised to realize that the spell was harder now than it had been the day before, even without the presence of the Dementors. There was no way for him to tell if the Patronus he was creating could kill a Dementor like the previous one had done, but it appeared to be more solid and lifelike than a normal Patronus would. Eventually he decided that he had made the Patronus as strong as he could and concentrated on holding the magic animal together. The stag quickly realized there was no danger in the room and began walking in large circles around the room, still hoping to protect its master. Professor Moody walked up to it and began inspecting the Patronus, his magical eye twitching the entire time.
"Good one, Potter." the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher commented. "Not as good as the one yesterday, but better than I have ever been able to create." Moody stuck ran his hand along the stag's back and a surprised look immediately came over him. "Odd. It feels… wet."
"Really Alastor?" Dumbledore asked before walking over and repeating Moody's actions. After coming to the same conclusion that Moody had the Headmaster turned towards Harry and said "Marvelous!" Harry nodded and ended the spell, sighing in relief as he did. It took all of his energy and concentration to keep it going for as long as he had and he felt exhausted afterwards. Harry took the opportunity to sit down as the others discussed the results of their 'test'.
"Filius, you are the charms expert. Can others be taught to do this?" Professor Dumbledore asked. "If so, it would be a powerful tool against Voldemort."
"It's difficult to say, Albus. I fear I could never do it, although if Harry's idea about how the charm works is correct we could all make out Patronuses stronger. I suspect you and Alastor could perform the spell successfully, but I lack the power it appears to require."
"As do I." Professor McGonagall added. Harry listened in silent shock. Two of his professors thought he was stronger than them? Professor Flitwick had told him that one day he would be stronger, but the Charms professor now seemed to think that day had already come.
"Very well. I suggest we continue research on the subject. It has been hundreds of years since the last confirmed killing of a Dementor and many had feared the secret had been lost forever, but I now believe that we have the answer in front of us. How surprising that it is such a small change to what we were already doing." Dumbledore noted. The other professors nodded and Harry got the feeling that the meeting was coming to an end. "Thank you again, Harry. Though you may not yet realize it, you have given us a powerful tool with which to fight back against the darkness. During the last war the Dementors sided with Voldemort and were a constant threat. In battle they could not be defeated, only contained, which meant many of us would have to focus on them and not the Death Eaters. That can now change; we might not even have to kill another Dementor. I suspect they will be more reluctant to become involved if they realize they are in danger."
"Oh. Well then you're welcome, I guess." Harry answered, not really sure what to say to the Headmaster. "If that's all I'll be going. There's less than a week left until the second task after all."
"Another trip to the lake then?" Dumbledore asked with a chuckle.
"I thought you weren't supposed to talk about the tasks with the champions." Harry reminded him, wondering if the Headmaster would let any information he didn't already know slip.
"And I am not. I am merely noting that you have chosen to prepare for the second task by swimming in the lake. A commendable choice, swimming after all is wonderful exercise." Harry frowned; Dumbledore wasn't going to give anything away. He wasn't too disappointed though, he was fairly confident that he had most of the challenge already figured out. The only part he was still unsure about was which of his possessions they would be taking.
"Sure it is." he agreed. "Professor, I know this might seem like an odd question but could you keep me updated on how the research with the Patronus charm is going? I sort of feel like it was mine, and now I am handing it off to someone else."
"Of course, Harry. Now I will let you return to your training for the tournament. You have done very well so far, I am eager to see how you respond to the next task."
"Thanks Professor Dumbledore." Harry said and walked out of the room. Dumbledore was still smiling as he left, but soon after his face changed to one of concentration. Harry was more powerful than he should have been at this point, even with his non-stop training over the past few months. There was another factor at play here, he knew, though he was uncertain what it could be. There were a few dark rituals that could produce similar effects, but only temporarily and not without unpleasant consequences that would have been easily recognizable. Harry Potter was turning out to be full of surprises.
...
For the first time since he had started exploring the lake, Harry felt free underwater. The gillyweed changed his body in such a way that he felt like he truly belonged there. It was similar to how he felt on a broom soaring through the air. His previous worries about not being able to move fast enough had been completely erased by his first experiment with gillyweed. Now he felt confident he could out swim many of the fish in the lake and avoid most of the aquatic threats he would face instead of having to fight them. Harry was enjoying a peaceful view of the underwater environment when a sharp pull on his robes got his attention.
He turned to see Daphne staring at him, looking quite angry. Hermione was not far behind and had an eqally enraged look on her face. They were both using the bubble head charm and were therefore not capable of keeping up with him. Harry belatedly realized he had been having so much fun swimming he had forgotten to make sure he stayed close by the others. He clasped his hands together in a pleading motion, hoping that Daphne would understand his apology. They had quickly found that communicating verbally underwater was not possible. She did understand what he was trying to do, but turned her head away letting him know she still wasn't happy with him. Harry scratched his chin, showing that he was thinking what to do next. He then acted as if an idea had suddenly occurred to him and dropped down to the lake floor. Once there he gathered up some of the more colorful plants and made an odd bouquet out of them. When he presented it to Daphne she took it and smiled and then hugged him dramatically. Hermione had been watching the entire scene and laughing the entire time, her anger now having faded away.
Harry spent the next half hour showing them around the lake, frequently stopping to point out things he thought were interesting including the ruins he had noticed on the first day and the remains of a shipwreck he had found a week later. He could tell Hermione was eager to stay longer and learn more about the lake but he knew the gillyweed would be wearing off soon and he should return to the surface. He eventually was able to convince them to follow and made it just as the effects of the transformation were beginning to wear off. Once they were out of the water Harry began casting drying and warming charms, much to the relief of Daphne and Hermione.
"So, what do you think?" Harry asked once everyone was comfortable.
"The gillyweed is definitely the better option." Hermione commented. "It offers superior mobility at the very least."
"You're right, but I can also see and hear much better underwater. And if it wears off early for some reason I always have the bubble head charm to fall back on."
"That settles the question on how you will stay under the lake for an hour, but you still need to a way to find what you are looking for." Daphne reminded him. "I found a spell that might be useful, but only if you know what it is you are looking for."
"Really?" Harry asked, excited that another part of his challenge might have an answer.
"Yeah. It's actually two spells, but they are pretty easy to learn and cast. The book I found it in said it was invented by a wizard who kept losing his wallet, and it is supposed to work on things less than a mile away. It wears off after a few weeks though. The first one is Celario, you use it to mark and name whatever it is you are going to be looking for. Here, let me show you." Daphne said as she walked over and picked up a rock. She waved her wand in a sharp slashing movement before tapping the rock and saying "Celario rock."
"Ok, so what now?" Harry asked, curious to see how the two spells worked together.
"Now you use the second spell. Reperio rock!" Once Daphne cast the spell a faint red line linked the tip of her wand and the spot on the rock she had tapped. Harry looked towards her and then to the rock with an disappointed look on his face.
"No big deal, Daphne. Maybe you just cast it wrong, we'll keep trying." Harry said as if he was trying to cheer her up.
"What are you talking about? It worked. Don't you see the red line?" Daphne asked.
"Red line?" Hermione said sounding quite confused. "What are you talking about? There's no red line."
"Of course!" Daphne exclaimed in realization. "Only the person who cast the spell can see it. That makes the spell even better, this way no one will be able to follow your path."
"Great. Now, can you show me that wand movement again?" Harry asked. For the next ten minutes she showed Harry and Hermione how to cast the spell. Harry was the first to master the spells, as he almost always was, but Hermione was not far behind. After a few tries they had both successfully cast the spell on a number of objects around them. Harry was surprised to see that instead of a red line like Daphne's his had been a bright yellow, almost golden, color. Hermione said that her line was purple.
"I didn't expect them to be different." Daphne said. "But I guess they all work."
"Now I just need to cast the spell on my most important possessions. I'm still not sure what they are going to take though." Harry said with a frustrated sigh.
"What do you have that is most important to you?" Hermione asked, trying to get him to think about it.
"My Firebolt, the invisibility cloak, the Marauder's Map, and my photo album. Those are the only really important things I own. I guess you could count my wand too, but I don't think they would take that from me."
"Maybe they aren't going to take objects." Daphne suggested. "I was thinking they might take a person who is important to you."
"They wouldn't do that, would they? I mean the clue makes it sound like if I can't find what I am looking for in an hour then it is gone forever. They wouldn't put someone in that kind of danger against their will." Harry answered.
"Oh yeah? Look what they've done to you." Daphne pointed out. Harry frowned but nodded in agreement.
"She's right, Harry. I don't think the people running the tournament really care if someone gets hurt." Hermione replied. "That or the clue could just be an exaggeration, maybe if it is a person at the bottom of the lake they will just bring them up after it is over. So I guess you should cast the charm on the person most important to you as well." Harry's eyes immediately darted towards Daphne and he blushed slightly. Daphne noticed and smiled back at him.
....
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