As their boat reached the viewing platform Harry saw the other champions had already arrived and were standing in a section that had been roped off to prevent anyone else from entering. Once again Ludo Bagman was there and seemed to be in charge. Bagman spotted him walking towards the group and began waving him over.
"Harry! Wonderful, you're finally here." Bagman said. Harry gave him a fake smile and took the chance to look at his competition. The first and most obvious thing he noticed was that Fleur Delacour looked upset and very nervous. Apparently she had noticed that whoever they took from her was gone and was not at all happy about it. Cedric Diggory just looked confused as if he had no idea what was going on, Harry guess that he had not heard that Cho was missing. Krum, as always, looked like he couldn't care less what was going on around him.
"Yes sir." Harry answered. "Are we ready to start yet?"
"Almost. Now that you're all here I can explain the rules. This morning something was taken from each of you, something important."
"Where is Gabrielle?" Fleur demanded to know. "If you have hurt her I will ruin you!" Bagman looked uncomfortable with her threats but had no choice but to answer her.
"Well, since Ms Delacour has given the surprise away I suppose it won't hurt to let you all know that a person important to you has been placed at the bottom of the lake. You will have one hour to find them."
"And what happens after the hour is over?" Harry asked, hoping that his fears would be put to rest.
"Let's not worry about that right now, shall we? I'm sure all four of you will do marvelously!" Bagman answered. Meanwhile, Harry's anger was beginning to rise. Bagman's non answer could have meant anything, including that their friends and loved ones were in mortal peril if they were not able to rescue them in the allotted time. The others took Bagman's response no better than he did and he could tell that Fleur was seriously contemplating cursing the man.
"Your hour will start in five minutes. I'll leave you to prepare yourselves. Good luck!" Bagman said as he made a hasty retreat. The four champions lined up at the edge of the platform and waited for the challenge to begin. Unlike last time there was no talking, each of them was fully focused on the challenge ahead. In the background Harry could hear Bagman welcoming everyone to the second task and explaining the rules to them. He ignored it, still angry at Bagman. Perhaps he was just an announcer and not really in charge of the tournament, but Harry still considered him a part of it and therefore someone who deserved his scorn.
"The task will begin in 5… 4…" Harry heard Bagman's voice say loudly.
"3…" He took a small portion of the gillyweed, enough for about twenty to thirty minutes, out of his pocket and put it in his mouth.
"2…" Harry forcefully swallowed the distasteful plant. As it travelled down his throat he felt an odd burning sensation that let him know it was working.
"1…" He could already feel the changes in his body beginning. In a few moments his hands would grow webbing between his fingers, gills would sprout from his neck, his feet would elongate and turn into fins, and many other small changes would occur that would turn him into a perfect swimming machine.
"GO!"
Harry and the other champions all dove into the lake as Bagman's countdown ended. He slowed down and waited for the transformation to complete as he watched the others split up and head in different directions. Cedric and Fleur were both using the bubble head charm while Krum had taken a completely different approach and transformed part of his body into a shark. It was clearly not an animagus transformation but one done with a wand and Harry wondered what negative side effects such a move might also have. A loss of intelligence was almost a given, although for a task as simple as 'Find Hermione' it would probably be adequate.
Once the others were out of sight Harry cast a disillusionment charm on himself, hoping it would help him avoid any underwater threats and prevent his competition from following him. He then cast the tracking charm and was relieved to see the bright golden line once again spring forth from the tip of his wand and point down and eastward towards one of the deeper sections of the lake. He began swimming as fast as his new body would allow towards where the magic was pointing him. Cedric had chosen to search in this direction as well, although it was probably a lucky guess on his part. Harry caught up with and passed the other Hogwarts champion less than a minute later, despite the fact that Cedric had left the starting point almost thirty seconds before he had. Cedric's head shot up and looked around, but he could not see through Harry's disillusionment charm. Harry smiled as he swam past Cedric and thought about how glad he was to have the gillyweed. Cedric and Fleur had no chance of catching him as long as they used the bubble head charm, although Krum might be able to with his partial transfiguration.
Harry realized a moment too late that he was paying too much attention to following the golden line and not enough to his surroundings when he came over a small underwater hill and found himself face to face with an equally surprised giant squid. The squid's senses were much more adept at finding predators and prey it could not see so it was able to quickly find Harry even through the disillusionment charm. The huge animal began to panic at the sudden perceived threat and thrash its arms about wildly. Harry dodged as fast as he could, but he was not able to completely escape the giant squid in such close quarters. One of its huge arms hit Harry in the side and managed to knock his wand out of his hand and send him flying through the water several feet.
He hit the lake bed with a soft grunt and immediately started looking for his wand. Fortunately the tracking spell was still working and so he knew that it would be found at the nearer end of the golden line. Unfortunately though, his wand was now directly under the giant squid. Knowing he had no choice, Harry swam as quickly as he could towards his dropped wand. The squid sensed him swimming under it and began to sink to the lake floor trying to crush Harry under itself. As Harry reached his wand he knew he could not swim fast enough to avoid the squid so he spun around and yelled "Reducto!" The curse hit one of the squid's many arms and opened a large, bloody gash in it. The squid did not scream in pain but instead quickly retracted its arms and began to slowly move away from Harry, who it now knew was a major threat. Harry began to swim away, eager to put some distance between himself and the squid, as the large animal seemed to think about whether or not to pursue him. To Harry's immense relief the squid slowly began to retreat, allowing him to continue on with the second task.
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