According to the elderly merperson, the chieftain's longhouse they were currently in was built over a hundred years ago by a Hogwarts student. However, when Hermione pressed for the student's name, the merperson clammed up, refusing to divulge it. Their secretive demeanor suggested that merely mentioning the name might unleash some calamity.
As Harry and Hermione prepared to leave, the merperson gifted them each a peculiar gold coin, engraved with a twisted pentagram and an eye. They explained that these were ancestral talismans, passed down to ensure the safety of friends. Harry examined his coin, noting the absence of any magical aura, and casually slipped it into his pocket. After bidding farewell, the pair transformed into dolphins and swiftly swam toward the surface.
In the days leading up to the second task, Harry joined Hermione almost every noon to explore the Black Lake's terrain. Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor shared the same idea, frequently diving into the lake as well. None of them paid much mind to the two playful dolphins that occasionally circled them during their dives.
Time flew, and soon it was the evening before the second task. Harry and Hermione knocked on Professor McGonagall's office door to serve their final detention of the month. As usual, they efficiently graded fifth- and sixth-year assignments. Afterward, they chatted about the various theories mentioned in the students' work. When detention ended, they wished Professor McGonagall goodnight and prepared to return to the Gryffindor common room. But McGonagall called Harry back.
Hermione intended to wait, but McGonagall's sharp, "Planning to roam the corridors at night, Miss Granger?" sent her scurrying back to the common room.
"Professor, is something wrong?" Harry asked, watching McGonagall tidy her desk.
"It's about the second task. Professor Dumbledore will explain the details," she replied. With a wave of her wand, the books and assignments on her desk leapt back to their proper places. She then led Harry to the eighth-floor gargoyle guarding the headmaster's office.
"Password?" the gargoyle demanded.
"Fizzing Whizzbee," McGonagall answered.
The gargoyle slid aside, revealing the spiral staircase.
McGonagall knocked on the headmaster's door and ushered Harry inside. A chorus of voices filled the air as they entered.
"Professor Dumbledore, I've brought Mr. Potter," McGonagall announced.
Harry, trailing behind, raised his eyebrows in surprise. The headmaster's office, usually occupied solely by Dumbledore and his phoenix, Fawkes, was unusually crowded today. Harry's gaze first landed on the imposing Madame Maxime, her "sturdy bone structure" unmistakable, and the familiar blonde girl beside her. Then he noticed Karkaroff, accompanied by a Ravenclaw prefect who looked vaguely familiar, and a striking Asian girl—Ravenclaw's Quidditch Seeker, Cho something-or-other, though Harry couldn't quite recall her full name. The blonde girl froze upon seeing Harry.
"So, you're Harry Potter? Hogwarts' champion's most precious treasure?" The girl with cloud-like silver curls tilted her head, studying Harry curiously. Her English, tinged with a southern French accent, sparked a memory in Harry.
"You're that girl who got lost at the Quidditch World Cup!" he blurted.
"W-What do you mean, 'that girl who got lost'?" she huffed, stomping her foot. "My name is Gabrielle Delacour, thank you very much!"
"Alright, alright," Dumbledore interjected, rising from his chair in a starry purple robe. "You can chat as much as you like after the second task. For now, let's prepare." He drew his wand and flicked it lightly. Harry felt a layer of magic settle over his skin. "The second task takes place underwater. We'll now cast multiple protective charms to ensure you can safely remain submerged for two or three days—though, rest assured, the task won't last nearly that long."
The two Ravenclaw girls exchanged worried glances at the mention of days underwater, but Dumbledore's reassurance calmed them. The three headmasters began casting spells, layering protective charms onto Harry and the others. Then, Dumbledore raised his wand again. "Now, you may need to sleep for a short while…"
A wave of magic pulsed from Dumbledore's oddly shaped wand. Gabrielle Delacour and the Ravenclaw girls slumped unconscious onto cushions that had appeared behind them. Harry, however, stood blinking, unaffected.
"Er, why's everyone staring at me?" he asked, scratching his nose awkwardly under their gazes.
With a second, more powerful spell from Dumbledore, Harry finally succumbed to sleep.
The next morning, students gathered on newly erected stands by the Black Lake, buzzing with excitement about the second task. At the front stood a massive board displaying four first-person perspectives, transmitted by alchemical devices—courtesy of Nicolas Flamel—strapped to the champions. Below the board, a long table draped in gold cloth seated the judges: the three headmasters, Ludo Bagman, and, to many's surprise, Percy Weasley.
"Hey, Ron, isn't that your brother?" Seamus, sharp-eyed, spotted Percy, primly dressed in wizard robes, at the judges' table. "Wasn't Barty Crouch supposed to be the last judge? How'd Percy get there?"
"Don't ask me," Ron muttered, glaring at Percy, who was basking in the attention.
Amid the crowd's clamor, Ludo Bagman stepped forward to the champions, who were lined up along the shore, ten feet apart. He glanced at Hermione, searching her face for any sign of hesitation. Finding none, he seemed to relax. Pointing his wand at his throat, he cast Sonorus, and his voice boomed like thunder across the lake, crystal clear to every spectator.
"Listen up! Our champions are in position. When I blow the whistle, the second task begins. They have one hour to retrieve what's been taken from them. On my count: one, two—three!"
A shrill whistle pierced the chilly air.
Cedric acted first, earning excited gasps from several girls as he stripped to his swim trunks. Pointing his wand at his head, he cast a Bubble-Head Charm, encasing his face in a clear bubble. Wand in hand, he dove into the icy lake.
Fleur Delacour followed suit, her dive prompting cheers from Ron and other boys. Viktor Krum, sporting a shark's head from a partially successful human Transfiguration, was the third to plunge in.
"Impressive Transfiguration! Our third champion is off!" Bagman's voice echoed. "Now, only Miss Granger remains…"
All eyes turned to Hermione, anticipation thick in the air. Compared to the others, she took her time. While they shed clothing, she methodically cast auxiliary spells on herself. After a final Waterproof Charm, she stowed her wand, waded into the lake under everyone's gaze, and, at waist-deep water, dove face-first into the depths.
"Is Miss Granger planning to swim to retrieve her—Merlin's beard!" Bagman's commentary cut off as he gaped. The crowd shared his shock.
The lake's clear water revealed Hermione's actions. When she transformed into a five-foot-long dolphin before their eyes, many spectators rubbed their eyes in disbelief.
"Brilliant Transfiguration! Human Transfiguration is sixth-year material, and Miss Granger is only in her fourth year! Truly, our dragon-slaying champion, Hermione Granger!" Bagman's excited voice mingled with the crowd's cheers, reverberating across the lake.
"All four champions are underway! Let's turn to the screens… Good heavens! Miss Granger's speed is incredible!"
Three of the screens showed the champions navigating weed-choked shallows, but Hermione's displayed only darkness and fleeting silhouettes. After technical adjustments, her feed brightened.
The audience watched as vast stretches of silt whipped past. A massive stone loomed in the distance, etched with indistinct carvings, but it vanished from view before anyone could discern details. Seconds later, rows of stone houses appeared, rapidly approaching. The screen swerved, revealing a flat stone plaza—likely the merfolk village's square. Houses lined the area, with a crowd of merfolk floating before them. Some sang in unison, beckoning the champions.
Behind them stood a crude statue of a merperson, carved from a massive boulder. As the screen zoomed in, the audience spotted four figures bound to the statue's tail.
Without hesitation, the perspective rushed toward Harry, the leftmost figure. After a jarring shake, the screen surged forward again.
"It seems Miss Granger has retrieved her most precious treasure! Only eight minutes have passed since the task began. Could she finish this in under ten minutes?!" Bagman's voice thundered with excitement.
Two minutes later, a dolphin clutching a strand of seaweed in its mouth broke the surface. Amid the crowd's cheers, Hermione, still in dolphin form, carried a now-conscious Harry toward the shore.
Madam Pomfrey bustled over, yanking Harry upright. She poured a fiery potion down his throat with one hand while wrapping him in a blanket with the other. Hermione, reverting to human form, suffered the same fate. Despite insisting her clothes were dry thanks to her charms, she couldn't escape being swaddled into a blanket cocoon.
The two "caterpillars" sat together, watching the other champions' progress on the screen. Compared to Hermione, the others were noticeably slower.
Fleur Delacour reached the deep water first but made the unfortunate choice to swim through a patch of weeds. Her screen showed small dark shapes darting past, followed by violent shaking and flashes of red light before going dark. Minutes later, a bubble-encased Fleur surfaced.
Fleur Delacour, eliminated.
Cedric Diggory returned second with his "hostage," but he was a minute too late. Viktor Krum, the last to return, far exceeded the time limit.
Merfolk emerged, and a particularly burly, fierce-looking male swam to the shore, conversing with Dumbledore. The headmaster responded in the merfolk's shrill, piercing language, clearly fluent.
As the judges deliberated scores, Hermione used her wand to dry Harry's clothes. Harry removed a necklace from his neck, placing it with the gold coin and other items from his pocket, then handed his soaked clothes to Hermione.
"Not bad, Hermione," Harry said, grinning as he ruffled her hair.
"I wonder what score they'll give me," Hermione replied, squinting happily as she leaned into Harry's hand, savoring the sensation.
But as they spoke, a beetle—appearing from nowhere—landed on the necklace beside the gold coin.
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