"Good idea." Harry said before walking over to Daphne and saying "Celario Daphne" while performing the wand movement. He then cast the second spell to see if it worked, which it did. He felt a bit uncomfortable with this semi-public admission of how much he cared about Daphne, after all they had not really discussed their feelings for each other, but was very relieved when Daphne wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.
"You're that important to me, too." she whispered as she hugged him, low enough that they both knew Hermione would not be able to hear. Hermione, however, didn't have to hear it to understand the feelings between the couple in front of her. She smiled, happy that Harry had found a little joy in his otherwise crazy life.
"I think you're ready, Harry." Daphne said as she broke the hug. "And with a week to spare this time."
"I must be getting good at this, huh?" Harry replied jokingly. "I wonder if the others are ready." Harry looked over at Hermione when he said this, knowing that she still frequently talked to Viktor Krum.
"Sorry Harry, but I can't say. I don't tell Viktor what you are doing and I won't tell you what he is doing. And since I help you, I don't help him." Hermione said, her voice making it clear that she would not be persuaded.
"I know, I shouldn't have even brought it up." Harry responded. "I guess he doesn't have Karkaroff around to help him anymore either."
"No, but Viktor says that Headmaster Karkaroff was always too busy to help him anyway. I doubt that it is going to make a difference in the tournament." Hermione added with a shrug. "I wouldn't worry much Harry, I don't think there is anything in that lake that will cause you any real trouble. Just make sure you beat the others."
Harry nodded, knowing that his lead in the tournament was not too big and that he needed to win this event. He had no doubt that the other champions had figured the clue out or been told what it was, the tournament seemed to be rigged to ensure that. Unlike in the last task he didn't have some rare talent that would give him an advantage. This would be a true test of skill and creativity. Harry found that he liked the idea of proving himself to be better than his older competitors. He had not been taken seriously in the tournament even after winning the first event and Harry was ready to change that. Using gillyweed he believed he could make it to from the shore to any point in the lake in less than twenty minutes, so assuming he had guessed correctly that he would be looking for one of his few cherished possessions or Daphne he knew that the task should be fairly easy.
All three of them went inside and separated at this point. Since it was Sunday they all had classes the next day to prepare for. Before he went to bed that night Harry remembered to cast the tracking charm on everything he owned that had any sentimental value to him at all, but through it all he had the strong suspicion that none of the items he was charming would be taken. It would be Daphne, he felt certain of that. And if that was indeed the case, there was no way he was going to let her sit at the bottom of the lake any longer than she had to.
The next week seemed to pass by in a blur to Harry. He had classes and homework and tests but he found he was only able to partially pay attention to them. His friends noticed his single minded concentration, but only Daphne was able to even come close to pulling him out of it. Hermione had never seen her friend this determined before, and she attributed it to his belief that Daphne might be in danger because of this task. She had come to realize that Harry was becoming a powerful wizard, enough so that she almost felt sorry for anyone who would threaten the people he cared about. Their training had been temporarily suspended while he explored the lake in preparation for the tournament, but Hermione knew that he had not been relaxing over the last few weeks. She suspected that he had been pushing himself harder than ever away from her and Daphne's watchful eyes.
Hermione's suspicion was correct. Harry had returned to his old practice of pushing himself to the brink of exhaustion before finally quitting. Afterwards his body felt like it was on the verge of falling apart, but by the next day his aches and pains had faded and he was ready to do it again. He knew Daphne would worry about what it was doing to him if she knew, but he believed it was helping to make him stronger. And he was willing to make her mad if it meant he could keep her safe.
He would stop after the next task, he told himself, and then he and Daphne would figure out just what he was doing differently than everyone else. That or they would figure out how he was different from everyone else, an option that Harry suspected was more likely. By the end of the week spent using his intense training method Harry felt that he had increased his magical power more in those few short days than he had in the months spent using normal training methods. Maybe it was dangerous, but the results spoke for themselves. And because of it, Harry felt ready for the second task. As he lay in bed the night before attempting to sleep, Harry swore that he would shatter the low expectations he knew people had for him.
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