Bumblebee (A Fred Weasley Fanfiction)

- CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE -

The Second Task

Emmie and Juniper made their way to the lake where the second task was about to be held. They took their seats just as Ludo Bagman addressed the audience, "well, all our champions are ready for the second task which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them from the lake. On the count of three, then. One... Two... Three!"
The stands erupted with cheers and applause as the four contestants jumped into the icy water, Harry was the only one who hadn't disappeared under the water, he was still floating on the surface as everyone laughed at him. He stood there shivering for a moment until, out of nowhere, gills appeared below his ears.
"Gillyweed," Emmie whispered to Juniper, she remembered learning about it in Herbology.
Once Harry had also disappeared, the crowd had to wait for the first person to return. After about forty minutes someone did, Fleur, but she didn't have anything with her, whatever it was that was taken from her was too difficult for her to get. Cedric arrived next carrying Cho and then Krum arrived with Hermione but Harry was no where to be seen.
Emmie could see Madam Pomfrey fussing over Hermione, Krum, Cedric and Cho, all of whom were wrapped in thick blankets meanwhile Madame Maxime was trying to restrain Fleur, who was quite hysterical, fighting to return to the water.
Suddenly there was a loud splash and three bodies were thrown from the water, Harry, Ron and Fleur's sister Gabrielle.
The crowd got to their feet, shouting and screaming with excitement as Dumbledore and Ludo Bagman stood beaming and Madame Pomfrey ran to them with blankets.

The judges went into a huddle with Ludo Bagman for a moment before Ludo magically magnified his voice making them all jump and causing the crowd in the stands to go very quiet.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Mer-chieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows...
Miss Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by Grindylows as she approached her goal and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points.
Mr Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was first to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour. We therefore award him forty-seven points.
Mr Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration which was, nevertheless, effective and was second to return with his hostage. We award him forty points.
Mr Harry Potter used Gillyweed to great effect, he returned last and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Mer-cheiftainess informs us that Mr Potter was first to reach the hostages and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely his own. Most of the judges feel that this shows moral fibre and merits full marks, however Mr Potter's score is forty-five points."

- Princexiero xx