Fixing the Future

6.5

Everyone was making their way towards the black lake for the second task. The Weasley twins were shouting, busy taking bets. Harry was walking along with Neville, he had some green plantlife in his hand and Alyssa.

'You're sure about this Neville.'
'Absolutely.'
'For an hour.'
'Most likely.'

'Most likely?' Lily said nervously.
'Well at least he's sure.' Marlene said sarcastically.

'Most likely?'
'Well there is some debate among herbologists as to the effects of freshwater versus saltwater.'
'You're telling me this now? You must be joking.'
'It's not like you have any other plan, what difference would it make?' Alyssa shrugged.
'Well I'm glad you feel so chilled out about the fact I might drown today.'
'You're not gonna drown Harry, stop being dramatic.'
'I just wanted to help.' Neville said

'Bless.' Alice awed.

'Well that makes you slightly better than
Lyss here- not to mention Ron and Hermione. Where are they anyway?'

'They're not there?' Lily stressed.
'That's unlike them.' Remus frowned.

'They'll be here- they wouldn't miss it.' Alyssa reassured him, 'also, let's backtrack. I did help, you just didn't like my ideas.'
'They were shit.'
'No, they were smart. I mean, why not use scuba gear.'
'It's muggle.'
'So? It's designed so people can swim underwater for prolonged periods of time. I'm telling you, slap on a wetsuit and we'll get you a gas canister and some other diving gear. It was foolproof. We could of even gotten you a diving lesson. Too late now of course, but it was a good plan.'

'Okay but to be fair that actually is a good plan.' Lily agreed.
'Yeah, that's actually smart.' Marlene agreed.
'I don't get it?' Bella frowned.
'Muggle diving, it's gear that means you can breath underwater.' Alyssa explained briefly.
'Woah, that's so cool.' Bella said in awe.

'I can't dive Lyss, I'd of drowned.'
'You'd of been fine.'
'Okay, we'll what about your other plan?'
'Which one?'
'The one where I coat myself in marmite and lie in the water til the giant squid eats me and then it'll carry me the the bottom of the lake where I can quickly swim out, grab my stolen item and swim back in its mouth and let to carry me to the surface whenever it feels like it.'

'Okay, that's a bad plan, I was defending you too.' Marlene laughed.
'What if he got swallowed?' Lily asked in disbelief.
'A necessary risk.' Alyssa waved it off.
'Why marmite?' Regulus asked.
'We'll, marmite's a love hate food, right? So fingers crossed, the squid is in the love half.'
'I see.'
'Logical, right?'
'Um...well there was logical behind it.' Regulus said carefully.

'In other words, Harry looks like a fool when he gets eaten in front of the whole school.' Harry summed up.
'I see no flaws.' Alyssa shrugged.
Harry exhaled nervously.
'You seem a little tense Harry.'
'Do I?'

Dumbledore's voice rung through true loudspeaker,
'Welcome to the second task. Last night something was stolen from each of our champions. A treasure of sorts. These four treasures, one for each champion, now lie on the bottom of the black lake. In order to win each champion need only find their treasure and return to the surface. Simple enough. Except for this, they will have one hour to do so and one hour only. After that they'll be on their own.'

'What the fuck? What sort of a competition is this?' Lily said in disbelief.

'Put that in your mouth.' Moody hissed to Harry.
Harry put the gilliweed in his mouth and started choking.