Chapter 120: Lakes and Allegiances (Part Two)
Harry kicked into the Merpeople village as his watch clicked over to show 50 minutes had gone by. He kept going at a frantic pace to make it to the platform in the center square before the time limit expired. As Harry swam up, he saw Hermione and the little girl he assumed to be Fleur's sister tied to the two rightmost pillars. Both girls' hair was drifting around their faces, the young Veela's golden hue making her look like an angel. The light stream of bubbles coming from their mouths let Harry know they were just enchanted asleep and not dying like Fleur had been. Arranged around the platform were nearly two dozen Mermen all bearing large, wicked looking tridents. The man directly in the center of the grouping glanced at a makeshift clock on the back of the stand and turned to glare hungrily at Gabrielle.
Harry scowled, but slowed as he saw the group hadn't yet done anything. He still had time. Fighting against everything telling him to get the little girl now, he turned away and swum up to Hermione. He wouldn't be able to free her and fight the Mermen off but if they didn't realize he was trying to save Gabrielle and Hermione he might be able to pull it off.
He came up next to the elegant chain holding Hermione to the rock pillar and stretched out with his left hand pressing the Lockpick tattoo to the padlock across her waist. He could feel the magic pull harder and start to shift the tumblers inside the large lock. A quick glance down at his watch had Harry's eyes widening. There was less than a minute left. Not enough time to let his rune do its work and get to Gabrielle before the Mermen moved in.
Scowling Harry threw caution to the wind and shifted behind Hermione. He took a deep breath, lined up on the chains and brought his arms together. The Lava Bomb roared to life as the rune clusters on each arm touched and a gout of lava spewed forth directly ahead of him. Yelling in pain as the water around his forearms flashed to steam, Harry twisted and the lava flow died. Hissing at the water rushing over the burns along his arms, he pulled Hermione free from the now destroyed chains and moved over to Gabrielle.
A dull chime sounded behind him as he slotted Fleur's key into the lock and twisted it off. Sounds of delight and frustration in equal measure shouted out from the circle of Mermen. Gabrielle's eyes fluttered open and she drew in a breath before coughing and clamping her mouth shut, her hands fluttering to her throat. Harry growled again. Of course the charm would wear off on her at exactly an hour! Thankfully he could feel Hermione still completely asleep in his arms. Harry reached for his spare Breathkeeper to give it to the little Veela only to close on an empty pouch.
His eyes widened in horror as he realized that he had already given it to Fleur and forgotten to grab it as he jumped back into the lake.
Gabrielle had been awake for only a few seconds and looked ready to panic. Harry was about to panic as well. The Breathkeeper wasn't designed to work with two people. With two sets of lungs each would only have half their volume replaced with air while the other half filled with whatever fluid they breathed in normally. He knew enough basic biology to know that having that much fluid in one's lungs might as well be a death sentence.
Gritting his teeth, Harry did the only thing he could do – he took one large final breath and tore the Breathkeeper from around his own neck and put it on Gabrielle's. Her eyes widened but she breathed in and then looked at him in shock, her mouth falling open. Harry tried to smile reassuringly though the lead Merman letting out a deep thundering call wiped the smile off his face. The Mermen surged forward with tridents held point first. Harry wrapped Gabrielle into his free arm and activated his Boomstone again. Most of the Mermen fell back, holding their ears and shaking.
Harry took the opportunity and started to kick towards the surface. Gabrielle clutching the rune stone around her neck with one hand and Harry around his waist with the other. Harry had his wand clenched in his right hand, but with Hermione held under his arm it was mostly useless. Gabrielle being awake and holding on at least gave him some limited range of movement with his left hand.
He was going to try and reach for the Breathkeeper to take a short gulp of air when another battle cry sounding from below him and he saw a Merman riding the back of a charging hippocampus lunge towards the group. He kept kicking towards the surface and twisted enough to be able to send a bludgeoner in the man's way through the Knockback runic tattoo on his left palm. The hippocampus shrieked and pulled away with the Merman hanging limply on its back.
Before Harry could try reaching for the breathing rune stone again more Mermen swept up from the depths. Harry's vision was starting to narrow as black bands cut off the edges of his vision. Still he ignored it and kept kicking to the surface and tossing bludgeoner after bludgeoner at the attackers. He felt Gabrielle holding tightly onto his waist and bury her head into his neck. His lungs burning, Harry tried a final burst from the Boomstone causing a few of the last attackers to peel off. He saw more coming but he could barely focus on them.
Just as he was felt he couldn't resist the urge to breathe in anymore, the small group broke through into clear air. Harry gasped for breath and felt Hermione stir from under his him. "Harry? Are we done?" Her voice took on a puzzled tone. "Hello. Who are you?"
"Je m'appelle Gabrielle. Je crois que Harry Potter vient de me sauver la vie. Peut-être aussi la votre," Gabrielle started to chatter in French while moving her grip to clutch Harry's neck and not shifting her head from its spot pressed into the crook of his neck and shoulder. (2)
"No time to chat," Harry wheezed out between desperate gasps for air. "Hermione hold on and hold your breath. Gabrielle, if you can understand me, make sure that rune stone is touching your skin until we stop moving. There's going to be a lot of water spraying into the air."
"What? What do you mean – aahh!" Hermione screamed as Harry reached out and pulled on the dock again with his Fishing Line. It wasn't a moment too soon as just when they started to speed away, three different tridents thrust through where they had just been floating.
Thankfully this time acting like a human water ski – while longer than the first time with Fleur – was a far shorter trip than back to the surface from the village. He only had to hold his breath for about thirty seconds before they reached the dock and he let the spell go. Fleur, Apolline and Sébastien were already on the side and reached down to help Gabrielle onto the platform while Harry and Hermione both gave the girl a boost from below. As soon as the younger girl was up, Viktor, Fred and George reached down and helped Hermione and Harry up.
"Gabrielle! Est-ce que tu es blessée? Est-ce que ça va? Pardonnes-moi, j'ai suis tombée dans une embuscade et je n'ai pas pu venir jusqu'à toi," Fleur exclaimed wrapping her arms around her sister and burying her head in the girl's wet hair. (3)
Gabrielle grinned broadly and gestured wildly around Fleur's death grip. "Je vais bien, Fleur, maman, papa. Harry Potter m'a sauvée! Il a combattu les hommes-poissons et les a repoussés avant de me donner ceci pour que puisse respirer sous l'eau! C'était incroyable! J'ai eu la peur de ma vie mais c'était incroyable! Il est aussi génial que tu l'avais dis, Fleur, et même encore plus que dans les histoires!" (4)
Hermione's eyes narrowed as she caught most of what the young Veela said. She peered first at Gabrielle then Fleur then Harry before turning to the approaching judges and snarling. If looks could kill there would likely be five piles of ashes.
Harry for his part had merely collapsed lying down on the dock and breathing heavily. Pomfrey was hovering over him and casting diagnostic charms. "Sorry, mate," Fred said softly. Viktor nodded his head. Both men were looking anywhere but at Harry. "We thought that you were hanging back with Fleur because she was a slower swimmer. We didn't realize there was a problem until we were already back and we didn't think we could make it down again in time to help…"
"Don't worry about it, Fred, Viktor. It's not your fault the Merpeople decided today was a perfect day for murder." His eyes widened and he sat bolt upright almost clocking Pomfrey on the head. "Shite I forgot!"
"Sit down, Mr. Potter!" the mediwitch huffed.
"One moment, Madame Pomfrey! Accio Fleur's wand!" he said channeled a large burst into his runic tattoo and focusing on the last spot he had seen it while it drifted into the kelp bed. Sure enough only a few seconds passed before the wand flew out of the water and into his hand. "Fleur, here. I think you dropped – "
Harry was abruptly cut off by a sobbing Veela jumping into his arms and kissing his cheeks. "Tu l'a sauvée! Je n'arrive pas à y croire mais tu l'as sauvée! Merci, Harry, du fond du cœur. Je te suis redevable à jamais!" Fleur clutched at him while Harry wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back. (5)
"You're welcome, Fleur. I have pretty much no idea what you said, but I get the gist and you're welcome. Mr. and Mrs. Delacour," Harry said turning his head towards the French parents still holding onto their youngest daughter. "I think Gabrielle is fine. I gave her the Breathkeeper before she took anything more than a gasp so she shouldn't have breathed in much water at all. I kept the Merpeople away too so I don't think any of them got close enough to scratch or stab her. Fleur, are you okay?"
"Oui. Oui, I will be fine, 'arry. Zanks to you," she said quietly, her crying starting to slow.
"Honestly, Miss Delacour, I can't finish checking the boy over if you keep staying wrapped around him like that," Pomfrey said glaring at the Champion. "Move or I will make you move. I will not have this young man spend another night in my wing because I couldn't finish the charms."
Tonks chuckled from where she was leaning against of the wooden poles at the edge of the lake. "You should just engrave his name over that bed. He certainly winds up there often enough."
"Hey! It's not always my fault! I just have the worst good luck ever," Harry mumbled scowling.
"Eh, hem, I believe we need to distribute the scores still for this event," the Umbitch said with a wide smile. "Mr. Potter you might as well remain here. Again you did not manage to complete the Task so again you will be receiving – "
"I advise you to stop talking immediately, Madame," Sébastien Delacour said very quietly and very calmly. With extreme deliberateness he got to his feet and paced towards Umbridge who hastened to back up a step. Sébastien stopped and stared down at the toad woman. "I know that it was you who suggested this event. I also know that the entirety of this judging body," he swept a calm hand to encompass all five, "signed off on the hostages. While I would never expect Fleur to be excluded from a Task due to inherent racial tension…including my youngest in this without my or my wife's consent was very poor judgment. Rest assured I will be investigating this matter to the fullest. And if I find that any of you had any inkling about the continued tensions between Veela and Merpeople…you will find French prisons quite unaccommodating I'm sure. If you make it to them that is."
Umbridge sneered at the man and held her nose high. "Is that a threat?"
"Oh good, perhaps you aren't as stupid as you look," Apolline commented with a snort from her position on the dock.
Sébastien on the other hand simply inclined his head in a small nod. "It is certainly a threat. The Treaty of Athens is commonly taught in all major institutions. Having a Veela as a contestant should have ensured that appropriate safety measures were in place on this Task. That you not only ignored that but also included a second underage Veela without parental consent…Make no mistake, Madame Umbridge, I am making a threat." He scowled and his control slipped momentarily before he regained his poise. "Had Harry Potter not saved both of my daughters' lives I very much doubt you would be breathing right now either. As it is, I will see you and as many of the rest of you behind bars as is appropriate. If you have any sense at all you would be already running to your Minister and begging for his protection."
He turned back to Gabrielle and Fleur and sat beside his wife.
Bagman visibly gulped and tried for a smile that came across looking very faked and very forced. "Yes, well, shall we get to the scoring?"
The four Champions trooped into the grassy field near the docks several minutes later. Gabrielle refused to move too far away from Harry so she walked between him and Fleur and held both their hands grinning like a loon. If he hadn't seen her terrified in the water he'd think the younger girl was having the best day of her life.
Tonks and Hermione had moved to the side of the field and stood with the rest of his friends along with Apolline and Sébastien. Amusingly, The Umbitch had actually taken the elder Delacour's 'advice' and gone to speak with Fudge rather than participate in the judging. Percy was again taking her slot.
Krum and Fred both received 45 points for near perfect execution of the Task. Krum got an extra nod for thinking outside the box by using gillyweed though he also lost some points for having to wait an extra few minutes for it to wear off before he could climb out of the lake.
Fleur was called forward and Gabrielle rather reluctantly let go of Harry to stick with her sister. "Mlle Delacour," Dumbledore said standing. "The judges have discussed the situation after receiving a briefing on the events taking place during the Task. As you did not retrieve your hostage the Task was not adequately completed. However, we feel that the tension between your people and the Merpeople was severely underestimated resulting in a skewed level of prejudice and difficulty towards yourself. In light of this, we have agreed to award you 25 points."
Gabrielle snorted as she stepped back into line with Fleur. "Sévèrement sous-estimée, hmph. Sévèrement sous-estimée mon joli petit cul, oui." (6)
Fleur rolled her eyes good naturedly at her sister while Harry stepped forward. "Harry Potter," Dumbledore intoned, the twinkle in his eye nonexistent. "You returned outside the time limit for this Task which should again result in 0 points. However taking into account your…noble actions regarding the Beauxbatons Champion and her hostage we have agreed that such a score would be grossly unfair. Taking into account your obvious preparation, skill and quick thinking we have decided to award you a full 50 points."
A loud cheer rose from nearly everyone in attendance drowning out anything else Dumbledore had to say. Harry's eyes were huge as he stepped back into line. Gabrielle quickly hugged him and smiled up at him saying in English, "Congratulations, 'arry. Zat was a great score!"
"Thanks, Gabrielle," Harry replied.
"Gabi! It's Gabi, to you Monsieur Potter!" Gabrielle said with a laugh and let him go. Fleur simply raised her eyebrows at the two.
"Well, this concludes the Fourth Task in the Triwizard Tournament," Bagman said as the crowd finally the crowd calmed down enough for him to be heard. "Again we do apologize for the lack of visual aids as the early start prevented us from getting them into place. Rest assured, the Final Task will be quite the spectacle!" All four Champions and several of the audience members shivered at that. "The final event in this Tournament has the theme 'Face The World' and will be held at the end of June. I look forward to seeing everyone there and wish the Champions the best of luck!"
Newton and Paracela were already sitting in the chairs in front of her desk when Olympe returned to her office. Sweat beaded on her forehead as she sat down. She didn't even have a chance to start speaking before Newton held up a hand. After a moment he slowly lowered it and spoke in a very soft, exceedingly calm voice with no attempt made to hide the steel present. "Olympe. Please explain to us just how two Veela wound up in a lake full of Merpeople. One of them as a hostage, while underage and without parental consent."
Olympe considered lying for a moment. It might have worked too. She'd been told before that her giant heritage helped to mask some of the more characteristic tells if she was careful…Sighing she deflated. It wasn't worth trying to keep her job. The founders were only here to help and to protect the students. Something she had obviously failed at. "It happened because I did nothing to verify the circumstances or details."
"Explain."
"Each Headmaster gave their recommendations for suitable hostages to the group and Dumbledore assured us all that he would personally speak with them and ask for their assistance. My recommendation for Fleur was Hermione Granger as Harry Potter was already a contestant. It is blaringly obvious the girl cares for both of them far more than anyone she has ever met in this school. I had no idea he was going to ask little Gabrielle."
Newton and Paracela turned to look at each other. Paracela raised her eyebrows and cocked her head in an 'I told you so' expression while Newton just scowled and nodded. "Unfortunately we assumed that might be case," Paracela said. "Sébastien is on a warpath. He knows that as one of the Ministry leads on this, Umbridge had to personally sign off on it. Whether she's just an idiot or actively malicious doesn't much matter. By the time this term ends, she'll be destroyed politically and in one of our prisons. Bagman has been hit in the head by too many Bludgers to bother pursuing. And his name is never on any of the signature lines. Apparently someone drilled that into his head during his career."
"Dumbledore though…" Newton sighed. "As much as I'd like to think otherwise, I have a hard time imagining he didn't know about the Treaty of Athens."
Olympe let out a deep sigh and nodded. "I as well find that hard to believe. I ensured that the Giant Squid was to be close to the village in order to hopefully keep the Merpeople from getting bold prior to the end of the hour and it would have shadowed Fleur back to keep her from being attacked if she was late." The Headmistress laid her hands on the table and shook her head. "I never expected them to be so bold as to attack the girl prior to the time expiration."
"Technically they didn't," Paracela said scowling. "The grindylows attacked the Champion and the hippocampus was meant to scare her. He of course failed to recognize that his mount was just a little too close and that a spine punctured her breathing bubble." She snorted and swatted the air. "This is why I hate politics."
"I did speak with Sébastien, Apolline and Gabrielle shortly prior to returning here," Olympe ventured. "Gabrielle was approached and asked if she was willing to help her sister. No details were given. Sébastien and Apolline had not been approached since Fleur's initial selection. At that point they made a statement to the organizers that could loosely be considered blanket permission for anything involving their family. If one were to squint and twist their head just right.
"That would likely be why Sébastien is so confident he can nail Umbridge to the wall," Paracela nodded smiling. "The toad will be tossed to the wolves. It will save the others in Fudge's administration as well as the judges and organizers so he won't even try to protect her beyond a token protest."
Newton leaned back with a sigh and stared at the ceiling. "None of this solves the issue surrounding Dumbledore though. I've known the man for so many years…to willing put a 13 year old girl into such a potentially deadly situation…What could he have been thinking?"
"I warned you he was going to end up being the chessmaster here," Paracela snorted. "He's careful and willing to play the long game. I doubt we'll be able to find much of anything concrete."
"There must be a reason," Newton argued.
"His vaunted 'Greater Good' is the reason! He's lost his marbles, Nick, and I for one will not stand idly by while he drives more lives into the ground."
Olympe blinked between the two attempting to remain quiet and invisible as they glared at each other. Finally Newton sighed heavily and nodded. "A compromise then. We continue to investigate the finer points and should the root cause prove to be foolhardy we will pass the information along. If the main players neuter him, then we will jail him. I won't consign my old friend to the wolves just without knowing why he has faltered. He deserves better than that."
Paracela narrowed her eyes and lapsed into silence. After nearly a minute she gave a slow nod. "Agreed. We haven't survived this long by getting personally involved. However, your refusal to admit the man is losing grip isn't tenable. I propose we approach Fleur and Potter at minimum and inform them of our suspicions."
"The rune teacher as well, Bathsheda Babbling," Newton said. "She's the boy's guardian and is by all accounts a stable, well-reasoned individual. He may be emancipated, but he's not an adult yet so she deserves to know."
Olympe raised her hand to interject. "They may already suspect Dumbledore of being involved. From what I understand, he has crossed them in the past."
Paracela nodded. "All the same, we have learned to avoid assumptions regarding allies." Her visage hardened and she glared pointedly at the Headmistress. "I would hope that after today's events you have learned that lesson as well, Olympe." The Headmistress quickly nodded in agreement.
Harry ran a hand through his hair as he paced in front of the couch in the Room of Requirement. Fleur, Hermione and Tonks were all sitting on said couch looking on at him in various shades of amusement and exasperation. Harry had asked them all to meet him here as he snuck out of the party in the Gryffindor Common Room. He'd given it a good go, staying for almost an hour before giving up and asking Daphne, Luna and Tracey to provide a decent distraction.
"You really don't need to be so dramatic, Wonder Boy," Tonks commented with a light grin. She was leaning against the armrest with feet pulled up and crossed under her obviously trying not to laugh while following his pacing.
"Stop teasing him, Nym," Hermione scolded. Sighing, she turned to look at Harry and said softer, "Harry, I think we have a good idea why you asked us to come and talk. You can relax a little."
"At least sit down, 'arry," Fleur commented gesturing to an armchair behind him.
Harry stopped his pacing and shook his head. Flopping down on the chair he held his head in his hands. "You almost died, Fleur," he said quietly.
"But I didn't. Because you saved me, 'arry. Again," she said smiling.
"I watched you drown. I was right there next to you! If Nym hadn't taught us that CPR thing…" Fleur moved to get up and go to him but Hermione laid a hand on her arm and shook her head. "Being around me is dangerous," Harry suddenly said lifting his head up and staring hard at all three of them. "Every single year I or someone I care about has almost died. If you three stay with me, you're going to be a target."
Hermione smiled sadly. "Harry, we've known that for a while. And I want to be perfectly clear on several things. You don't have a monopoly on danger." Everyone turned to look at her with expressions of disbelief. She held up a finger. "Troll. There is no possible way you can claim credit for that thing walking into the same bathroom I was in. Voldemort would have been in the castle regardless and he would have used the same distraction regardless and you had no control over Ron saying what he said.
"Basilisk," she continued holding up a second finger. "If you think I wouldn't have been researching that monster without you around you're barmy. Again, not your fault I was hurt. Also not your fault that Lucius decided to give Tracey the diary. You didn't even know her or Daphne at that point.
"Luna," a third finger joined the others. "I love the former Ravenclaw, but you have been literally nothing but a godsend to her. Her life was miserable before you and I can't think of a single bad thing that has happened to her since you met her. The near rape would've happened with or without the push from the article in the Quibbler; those girls would've found some other reason to pick on her.
"Dementors. Yes, you helped shine the light that Sirius might be innocent. Yes, Nym used that light to start investigating. But, don't you dare try to take the blame for the Dementor attack at the end of the year. We had five adult witches and wizards with us that night.
"World Cup," Hermione grimaced as she said that one but quickly regained her stride. "Those…people would've tried to go after Fleur whether you had been there or not. They did go after Fleur before we got there.
"Finally, the Tournament. Harry, the Goblet also would've chosen her even if you had not been entered," Hermione sighed and leaned back. "While I will admit your involvement has likely ramped up the danger of each individual Task I would again point to the horrid history of death and permanent injury surrounding this. Today…today's issues were completely unrelated to you, Harry. What happened this afternoon was a remnant of an old war whose reason no one even remembers."
Harry gaped at his girlfriend. To hear it all laid out so logically rather took the wind out his sails and threw most of his arguments into the meat grinder. Closing his mouth and frowning, Harry considered what Hermione had said. After a few minutes he looked back up at the girls. "It's still dangerous to be with me. Especially if Voldemort comes back," he said sounding slightly confused.
Tonks took over. "Wonder Boy, life is dangerous. You're good luck. Weird good luck, but good luck."
"And I would like to see if zis Voldemort is fireproof," Fleur said with a small grin. "His name is quite amusing to ze French. I'd love to test how accurate it is."
Harry's confusion deepened. "You all really are still interested in dating me?"
"Harry, you have half the female population of the country interested in dating you," Tonks said rolling her eyes. "Hermione and I have won and we have no intention of letting you go. Considering Fleur is sitting here too I think she's got a shoe in for a spot as well and this girl is not one to give up."
Harry sighed and leaned back bonelessly into his seat. "I hate when people use logic on me. I can't claim to be a normal wizard when you use logic because things actually make sense and wizards don't seem to like that."
"Amen to that," Hermione muttered.
Harry squared his shoulders and turned to Fleur. "Fleur, are you still hoping for a Consort agreement with House Potter?"
Fleur quite nearly jumped up and pumped her hand in the air though somehow she managed to restrain herself to a very emphatic, "Oui."
"Hermione, are you still accepting of Fleur as a potential Consort to House Potter?" Harry asked turning to the brunette.
"I am," she said nodding.
"Nymphadora," neither Harry nor Tonks faltered at the dreaded name, "are you still accepting of Fleur as a potential Consort to House Potter?"
"I am," Tonks agreed her hair flashing through a quick rainbow before settling back into pink.
Harry stood and moved in front of Fleur taking her hand. "Okay," he muttered nodding to himself and taking a deep breath. "Okay. Fleur, I would very much like for you to join my growing family."
Grinning from ear to ear, Fleur nodded and pulled Harry down into a kiss.
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