Last First Kiss {HP Next Generation}

Chapter Seventy Six

Stella and Eliza along with the other competitors with the exception of Hope had entered the water upon the sound of the horn went off. The lake was beyond freezing upon the initial entry but both girls placed it out of their minds as they went under. With the bubble charm as Victoire informed them to use as her mother once did, they began their search under water. They kept their wands close remembering the stories of the Grindylows that lived below and were more than willing to attack. Finding the fragments of the key turned out to be way more difficult than they planned. Upon coming up on the other students from the other schools, it seemed that they weren't the only ones that were confused. 

Stella surfaced finally when she found herself sister, and Eliza followed her lead.

"Where the bloody hell are these pieces?! And where's Hope?!" Stella hissed, smacking the top of the water. "I feel like we've searched every bit of this stupid lake and I can't see anything resembling a key."

"Maybe it doesn't resemble a traditional key," Eliza said as she swam in place to keep her head afloat. "Maybe it's a different type of key...and I really hope Hope is alright."

The twins looked about trying to keep an eye out for her.

"Leave it to Hope to get swimming lessons from an actual mermaid and still not know how to swim," Stella grumbled. "We should probably find her before we go searching for the key again."

"We don't have that much time left," Eliza said. "We've wasted plenty on just searching."

"What does it matter? The other schools are in the same boat as us. We'll probably all be hit by a time penalty at this rate."

"You're right," Eliza nodded, " we need to find her and make sure that she's not hurt."

Fergus felt his entire body shaking from where he stood near the judges' platform, but it wasn't he who was shaking, but Henry, who stood beside him. Henry was chewing down on his fingernails, his eyes glued to the water as they were all unable to see anything. They had all heard a yell in the distance and he was only thankful that it didn't belong to Hope. At least, it didn't sound like her. He was relying on Stella and Eliza to take care of their younger cousin since he obviously couldn't go in the water and help her.

He was certainly nervous, despite the fact that his mother reassured him that Hope would be just fine. Hope wasn't destined to be a swimmer, but she came from two brilliant minds that had invented numerous and wondrous things, she above all the competitors in the water was capable of problem-solving once she settled her mind.

"Do you see anything?" Henry asked looking to Elliot and Teddy, who stood nearby. Both boys shook their heads, their gazes focused on the water.

"Relax, Henry, it's Hope, she can do this," Fergus' voice rang out. "Peeves may call her Hope the Dope but you and I both know that she is far from stupid. She'll figure something out if she hasn't already."

"He's right," a voice brought Henry to jump before he glanced over past Fergus. Only to see Armina standing with her eyes focused on the water. 

"I heard my mum and dad talking about it, if she's anything like her parents, she probably figured it out before she even had to enter the water. Plus, she has Stella and Eliza. I actually pity any underwater creature that approaches Stella, they'll probably regret it within seconds. Not to mention, they both had Eliza and she's the most level-headed person of the castle in my opinion. They're all going to be fine."

Fergus smiled at the girl before turning his attention back to Henry. "See? I told you."

Armina's words seemed to settle down Henry along with Elliot and Teddy for the time being, but Henry hoped that they would be out of the water soon.

Stella kept an eye out for their younger cousin, as Eliza kept a look out for any of the key fragments.

"How bloody hard are they going to make these tasks?" Stella growled.

"It's the Triwizard Tournament, Stella, what did you expect? It's supposed to get harder. We should be thankful that it's been nothing like what Uncle Harry told us or what Mum said about the dragons."

"We have reached the fire task yet," Stella reminded her. "There's always the possibility."

"Well then you and I should have no problem with that task. I don't think any of the other competitors can claim that they've been raised at a dragon sanctuary."

Stella smiled before her eyes spotted something in the distance or rather someone.

"There she is!" Her hand shot out of the water and pointed in the direction of Hope that was still standing at the edge of the water. "And of course, she hasn't even entered the lake!"

"Hope!" Eliza called out, bringing the younger girl to look up. Hope smiled and waved in their direction before they made their way to her.

"You haven't even entered the water!" Stella said to her.

"No, I haven't," Hope said. "But I bet I made way more progress than you two."

The twins glanced at one another before Stella gave her a look. "What are you talking about, Hopey?"

"I'm talking about the fact that I already have the key," Hope said holding up the skeleton key that was all placed together.

Eliza's jaw dropped as Stella blinked in disbelief.

"But you didn't even have to enter the water to do it," Stella said.

"I know, it was great," Hope told her. "But that's because I realized something before I had to enter the water."

"What?" Eliza said, unsure of how Hope had beat her to figuring it out.

Hope pulled out one of the gold coins from the first task. " We couldn't use Accio, which was just like the first task. I figured there had to be some sort of connection with that. Then I remembered how my coin floated that night Henry knocked me into the water. We were all thinking about the last time, where they had to find what they lost below the water. But that wasn't the case this time, things are different, remember? The coin floated, which meant, it had to do with the surface. The answer was supposed to be in plain sight, but it was also supposed to trick us."

"I...I..." Eliza watched as Hope placed her coin in the water, and allowed it to float to the surface. She then placed the key in the water, and the twins watched as the key immediately clung to the coin like a magnet.

"Son of a-" Stella began but Eliza quickly covered her mouth.

"It's like a big puzzle," Hope smiled, " we just have to figure out how all the pieces fit in the tournament."

"Hope, you are dubbed the family genius!" Stella said with an excited look.

"Thank you!" Hope beamed proudly. "But uh, we still need to make it to the platform to open up the chest and receive the second hint."

"She's right," Eliza nodded, " come on, hold onto us, Hope."

Hope did as she was told and held onto the back of her cousin's as she entered the water. She suddenly felt secure as she didn't have to swim anymore, allowing her to relax her body a bit. However, worry left her mind all too quick and she should have kept her guard up as she suddenly felt something wrap against her legs.

"Uh guys," she let out a whimpering sound.

"What is it, Hope? Loosen up your grip will you, you're choking-" Stella went to scold her cousin, when Hope's hands were ripped away from them and she was dragged under.

"HOPE!"