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Harry had been in the library all day trying to find out how he was going to compete in the second task. Ron and Hermione had been called a way by some professors, and then Dobby appeared. He was nervous enough already with not knowing how to breath underwater for a long period of time, and he did not need Dobby bothering him.
“Harry Potter needs help,” Dobby stated with his house-elf ears perked up.
“Tell me something I don’t know Dobby.”
“What is that Dobby?” Harry asked, annoyance spewing with his words.
“Gillyweed, Harry Potter can use gillyweed.”
“What is gillyweed?” Has asked as his interest peaked at the idea of anything that could solve his problem.
“GIllyweed would help Harry Potter to breathe in the lake,”
Harry ran to the stack of books in the herbology section, labelled G. He found one with gillyweed in the title. He skimmed through the books furiously and found that what Dobby said was correct. Gillyweed was a plant that would give him gills for a short period of time, but enough time for the task. His mood improved exponentially at the solution he finally had.
“Dobby, you’re a genius,” Harry screamed as other students gave him dirty looks and shushed him.
“I only want to help Harry Potter,” Dobby said his big eyes filled with pride that Harry was happy with him.
“You have Dobby,” Harry said as he patted him on the back.
Harry rushed out of the library tried to make his way to the Gryffindor common room to find Neville who was the best he knew at herbology. As he turned the corner outside the library he crashed into something, someone actually.
“I’m sorry,” Harry said as he rubbed his head where they impacted and grabbed the books he dropped.
“That’s alright, I’m used to not being seen,” she said with a light, airy voice.
“I didn’t mean to…” Harry began as he looked at the girl with blonde, almost white hair, and big blue eyes. She wore radish earrings and had a faraway look in her eyes. Harry was in awe of her oddness. He was intrigued at the thought she might not care what others think.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to run into you,” Harry continued as he helped pick up her copy of The Quibbler.
“That’s quite alright,” she said, “You’re Harry Potter aren’t you? I’m Luna, Luna Lovegood. Good luck with the task tomorrow,” and then she skipped off before he could answer. Harry starred and wondered if she knew or even cared about where she was going.
…
Harry was down by the lake early the next morning. He had the gillyweed in his hand which Neville had helped him find the night before. The plant adhered to his hand as he held it tight enough to make his knuckles white. Harry was exhausted. He didn’t sleep well knowing what lie ahead of him. Neville helped him to feel more assured that the gillyweed would work, but he didn’t know how it would feel. As he waited for the start of the task he wondered where Ron and Hermione were, he had not seen them since the library the night before. He could not help but worry about where they were. The clue had been, “An hour long you will have to look, to recover what we took. Now Harry was worried that he knew exactly what, or who, was taken.
Harry was jerked out of his thoughts by someone’s hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Neville.
“Harry I just wanted to remind you to eat the gilllyweed just before the start of the task. I can’t know exactly how long it will last. A lot of books say that the length of the effects is based on the environment and its conditions. There just no way to know.”
“Thanks,” Harry said, not paying Neville any attention. He was grateful for Neville’s help, but he had too much to worry about. Harry gave Neville a half-smile and handshake as the champions were called to take their places. He looked at the crowd still unable to see a trace of Ron or Hermione. He took a deep breath as the other champions stood in place. He was out of place next to them. They were more experienced and stronger wizards and witches. The announcer went over the rules of the task: each student had one missing item to find and bring back up, the first to do so would be the winner of the task.
Harry heart started to beat faster as a countdown started and the crowd cheered. As the bell sounded, he threw the gillyweed into his mouth and struggled to get it down. The taste was atrocious and took his breath away. He realized that he could not regain his breath as he fought to get into the water. As is sunk in to the freezing darkness of the Black Lake, Harry grabbed at his throat and felt the slits and movement of gills forming. He no longer felt out of breath, the oxygen was entering his body through the gills now. Harry treaded the water in amazement.
Harry didn’t wait too long to get moving, because he had no idea how long he would be able to stay underwater.
…
Harry became use to moving through the water and the unique sensation of breathing in the water as well. He couldn’t help to be a little in awe of the gillyweed’s ability. As he progressed through the lake he didn’t not that he was being followed by its creatures. As he moved around the thick seaweed, he barely noticed when a mermaid, who was pale green with gills and razor sharp teeth, hissed at him with a trident in hand. Harry tried to grab his wand, but the mermaid swung the trident and he struggled to get away. He rushed away as fast as he could hoping to avoid more mermaids or any other creature that called the lake home.
As he rapidly moved through the water, Harry slammed into something solid. He looked up to see the girl that he had met in the library. She was tied at the ankle with a rope attached to a rock. Harry wondered what she was doing in the lake. He didn’t think any of the other champions would know her since they were from different wizarding schools, except Cedric. Harry’s mind raced around in loops. Was she there for him to help? Was she what he needed to find here in the lake? Harry began to look around and notice that next to the girl was Ron, and next to him was Hermione. There were two ropes floating and attached to other rocks, and Harry thought they must have been attached to other students that two champions must have already saved. Harry now knew he was right about his theory, they were who the champions had to recover. He just didn’t know who he was meant to save; Ron, Hermione, or Luna. Luna, he remember, yes that was her name. There were five people, but only four champions. What would happen to her if no one helped? Harry looked around helplessly for an answer.
He felt movement in the water and when he looked up a shark was headed straight for him. Instinct forced him to move out of the way as the shark headed toward Hermione. He reached for his wand when he noticed that the shark had a human body. He recognized that it was Viktor. Viktor went straight for the rope binding Hermione to the rock and took it and Hermione with him as he travelled upward to the surface. Harry looked back at Ron and Luna. He knew he had already lost the task and now he knew he couldn’t leave either of them behind.
…
Harry grabbed his wand and cast a spell towards Ron’s rope and then Luna’s. He swam to grab both of them by the arm. He headed upward to the diluted light of the surface. Trying to swim with them both became more and more difficult. He tried hard to keep moving but the air started to leave his body and his lungs began to ache. The gills were disappearing and Harry knew that the gillyweed was wearing off. As the burning fire spread through his chest, his mind started to go blank.
He barely reached the surface before he started to black out. He was able to get oxygen in his lungs as he coughed up lake water. He was relieved that the fire in his chest was gone, and that he was fully conscious of his surroundings. He still held on to both Ron and Luna who were now both conscious and coughing as well. He let go of them once they had caught their breath and they were able to swim. They all swam towards the docks and the other champions.
Once they reached the docks, Harry got out of the water and fell on the boards. Students, professors, and tournament workers handed them towels and made sure they were safe. Ron thanked Harry with a mild punch on the arm. “Glad I didn’t have to stay down there all day, mate,” Ron joked.
Harry moved over to Luna and helped her around the dock. He put his arm around her to steady her. “Thank you,” she said softly. Harry barely heard her because he was staring in to her big blue eyes. Looking at them made him feel like he was in a dream; a dream he didn’t want to leave.
Before Harry could answer Hermione rushed over to see if he and Ron were alright. After they had fully convinced Hermione of their safety, Harry went to look for Luna who seemed to vanish. The crowd grew quiet as they announced the winner, Cedric. Apparently they announced that Harry received points for saving two students, but he was not paying any attention. He only knew what had happened because Hermione and Ron had congratulated him. Neville came up to congratulate him as well, and Harry took the time to thank him for the gillyweed. He was distracted the rest of the conversation. He didn’t care what was happening, he wanted to find Luna.
…
After wading through all the people and congratulations, Harry looked around for Luna again. He followed the small crowd of students that were headed to the forest and back to the castle. He looked around and noticed Luna off the path looking up in to the trees. He walked over to her wondering what had caught her attention.
“Hello, again,” Luna said in her sing-song voice without moving her gaze from the trees.
“Hello. What are you looking at up there?”
“Oh, just the Nargles. They’ve seemed to take a liking to this tree, and I’m not sure why.”
“Maybe they’ve just found it interesting.” He replied as he stepped closer to her and examined the tree itself. There was nothing there that he could see. She was beautifully strange.
“Perhaps,” Luna said finally looking back at Harry, and instantly he was back in that dream again. “Thank you again for helping me in the lake.”
“I couldn’t leave you down there.”
“Oh, I would’ve been fine. The game officials would have come to get me eventually. You could have won if it wasn’t for me,” Luna looked down at her feet. Harry could see she felt some guilt.
“I’m not sure what they would’ve done, and I really don’t care about winning. I didn’t even want to be in the tournament to begin with. I’m just glad you’re safe.”
“I figured you didn’t want to be in it. You don’t care much for glory, do you? That’s a good thing, I think. Some people think it’s an act but I can tell it isn’t.” She seemed to read Harry like a piece of parchment. How did she understand him so well without knowing him?
“Well I’m glad someone can see that.” Harry mused.
“I’ll be rooting for you the rest of the tournament.” She smiled.
“Thanks, it’ll be nice to have you on my side. I hope to see you around Luna.”
“You too, Harry Potter,” She said as she skipped toward the main path again. She looked at Harry and smiled brilliantly before heading back to the castle. Harry felt a rush of heat in his cheeks and hoped he would see Luna again very soon.