Something Fishy
"Come on, we're going to be late!" Hermione's insistent shout was hurled back on the breeze as she strode ahead towards the lake. Somewhat reluctantly Alice, Harry, Ron and Neville trailed behind her.
"Hermione, it's freezing!"
"Well walk faster then, it will warm you up!" Was her unsympathetic response to Ron's griping.
"I don't understand why they need to have us traipsing down to the lake in the middle of winter. Why did they decide to set one of the tasks now?"
"Because there are three," Alice informed him in amusement, "and unless you squashed them all together at one end of the year, you have to have some of them when the weather's rubbish. We are in Scotland after all."
"Come on," Harry grinned at the two of them, "we shouldn't keep her waiting." He grabbed Ron's arm and began towing him along at great speed.
"You're just scared of her," Neville teased. His friends chuckled as Harry grinned ruefully.
In the chill, winter air they crunched across the frosty grass, pulling their hats and scarves more tightly around their faces to stop the sharp, icy air biting at them. The ground seemed to glitter beneath their feet as they moved. As with the last task they had no idea what to expect when they reached the lake, they had all just been told to assemble there at two o'clock. It was now five minutes past.
"Ron's the one who should be scared," Harry quipped back. "He's the one who took forever eating lunch and made us late."
They all picked up their pace to keep up with Hermione. "What do you think the task will be?" Neville asked.
"Maybe they'll have to wrestle the giant squid," Ron mused causing Neville to snort with laughter. Alice smiled, it was good to see him laugh again; it was something he had done very rarely since the attack on St Mungo's. He'd been uneasy ever since and would spend breakfast every day scanning the Prophet for mention of anything remotely threatening. Other than extensive coverage of the St Mungo's incident for weeks after however there had been nothing new to report. Truth be told, Alice had been surprised they hadn't cancelled the Triwizard Tournament in light of recent events, especially after Sirius had warned them Hogwarts was a potential target. Whether it was because they had nothing more substantial than rumour to go on however, or because Fudge was still trying to deny there was anything concerted to worry about, the show had gone on.
Alice had taken to spending time with Neville, just the two of them, talking about his parents and trying to reassure him. He still didn't want the others to know about his situation so she had to keep the real reason for their long chats from her friends. She didn't mind too much though, Neville needed her and the others knew her well enough to know that she would have a good reason for not telling them. Only Fred and George had made a comment about her having no time for fun anymore.
At their increased speed it wasn't long before they reached the enormous wooden stands which had been set up down by the lake. The same stands which had been used for the first task seemed to have been set up again, but unlike the enclosure which they had formed for the dragons, these were set out side by side in a slight curve around the edge of the lake.
Shuffling round to the side they craned their necks trying to spot some empty seats whilst remaining unobtrusive. They looked to be the last to arrive and Mr Crouch from the Ministry was standing on a platform down at the front, already in full flow about what exactly was going to happen. Typically the nearest empty space on one of the benches was only going to be accessible by pushing past a whole host of other students. Still, it was that or stay on the ground and see nothing of what was going on. Whatever it was going to be.
"'Scuse, me."
"Pardon."
"So sorry, was that your foot?"
"Don't mind us."
Eventually, after much squeezing past, and with incredibly red faces, they managed to reach the free seats which were only just wide enough for them all to cram into provided they held their breath and tucked their elbows.
"Well this is cosy, isn't it?" Her brother whispered to her with a grin partly concealed by his scarf. Alice glanced back the way they had come at all the students glaring crossly at them.
"Quite," she replied dubiously.
As they all gazed down at the lake the Mr Crouch wound up his undoubtedly scintillating speech and walked off the platform to be replaced by the three champions. All wearing thick robes and what appeared to be not much else.
"They're not getting INTO the lake, are they?" Hermione asked with horror in her voice. "It must be freezing in there! They'll catch hypothermia!"
Whether they would or not, there was an abrupt bang and the three champions suddenly stripped their robes off to reveal various styles of swimwear and dived into the rippling, grey depths of the lake. Alice and her friends watched for a full minute, waiting for them to reappear, but nothing happened.
"Colin," Hermione leaned forward and tapped the third year who was in the row in front on the shoulder. He lowered his camera, poised readily for any drama, and turned around. "What's going on? We missed the start. What is the task?"
"Ooh, it's a good one!" He enthused, every bit as irrepressible as he had been in first year. He and his brother, who was standing next to him and bouncing up and down in an attempt both to keep warm and to see over the heads of taller students, were both wearing matching red scarves with enormous yellow snitches all over them. "They've got to get to the bottom of the lake and recover something precious to them, which has been taken, and they've only got an hour to do it in!"
"Well, that sounds like it will be fun to watch," Hermione remarked drily as she straightened up.
"You never know," Harry told her with a grin, "maybe they'll still have to wrestle the squid."
"Is this going to be it?" Ron finally asked after ten minutes of staring at the glassy surface of the lake as they shivered and stamped their feet. "They dragged us all the way down here to watch the lake? I've spent more interesting afternoons at my great-aunt Mildred's... well, almost anyway." He glanced towards the enormous clock which had been mounted on the judges' platform. "It'll be ages until this is finished!"
A further twenty minutes in Harry, Ron and Neville had just begun their hundredth game of hangman on a piece of scrap parchment, as Hermione continued to determinedly watch the lake, and Alice idly wondered why they hadn't installed some sort of magical underwater camera to relay the events to students; it would have made the whole experience much more entertaining. She was just trying to work out how such a device might work and the spells required to project the view onto an enormous screen when there was a commotion in the middle of the lake.
"What's that? What's happening?" Hermione squinted to try and improve her view as she elbowed the boys urgently. "Pay attention, will you? Something is happening!"
The boys scrambled to their feet along with half the students around them who seemed to have been caught napping. "Is that Fleur?" Ron asked.
"Has she completed the task? I can't see if she's holding anything." Harry's question was soon answered as a bedraggled and shivering Fleur was hauled back up onto the platform by several Beauxbatons students and Madame Maxime who had rushed over and seemed to pick the girl up bodily from the water and deposited her on the boards before wrapping her in her own cloak. From their vantage point the Gryffindors could see that she seemed upset, her normally pristine hair was wet, tousled and full of various pieces of aquatic vegetation. Her hands gesticulated wildly as she described what had happened to her. From the actions Alice wasn't sure if the Giant Squid had tried to eat her or if she had encountered a swarm of disgruntled fish.
"What do you suppose happened?" Hermione asked again, curious as ever. "Maybe she got tangled up in the pondweed?"
"We're about to find out," Neville pointed towards Dumbledore as the Headmaster walked sedately over to the commotion and spoke a few words with Madame Maxime and Fleur. After conversing for a few moments he returned to the desk and addressed the student body at large.
"It would seem," his magically magnified voice carried towards them on the frozen air, "that Miss Delacour has run afoul of a school of grindylows and as such was unable to complete the task. The treasure which she had to retrieve will remain at the bottom of the lake until such time as the other champions have returned after which they will all receive their scores. I believe Miss Delacour deserves a round of applause for her very good effort." He led the clapping which was a little half hearted as most students were too bored or frozen to put much effort into it. Really, the Triwizard Tournament was meant to be exciting. What was the point if they couldn't see anything?
Things went back to the dull state they had previously occupied as Fleur was shepherded into a small tent, presumably to be handed some warm clothes and a steaming mug of something. Personally Alice would have liked a hot chocolate right about now. Bored with watching water, which was about as stimulating as observing paint dry, Alice fell to looking at the students and seeing where her friends were sitting. Luna wasn't difficult to spot as her hat of choice for this task seemed to be an enormous Giant Squid spurting bubbles from its tentacles. It occurred to Alice to wonder where on earth the girl purchased the creations from?
Finally, after much searching she spotted Fred and George. "Ron, what's wrong with your brothers?" Rather than watching the lake, being bored or finding some other form of entertainment as everyone else seemed to be doing they had their heads bent together and were whispering fiercely to each other.
"What's not wrong with them?" Was Ron's helpful response.
Alice rolled her eyes and looked back at them, they seemed to be arguing about something, waving their hands towards the judges platform and throwing ugly glares in that direction every few minutes. Looking that way Alice saw Ludo Bagman from the Ministry shift uncomfortably in his seat, evidently aware that he was the object of their hostile attention. Really, what was going on with those two? She was just about to ask Ron again when an enormous cheer was thrown up by the crowd as a distant head bobbed to the surface of the lake and someone in Hogwarts colours began swimming for the shore. As Cedric got closer Alice could see a frozen, disorientated Cho Chang clinging to him as he paddled valiantly. The girl looked so bedraggled and lost, that any jealousy Alice might have felt at her being selected as the thing Cedric would miss most, was replaced by a great swell of pity.
As the students around them continued cheering Cedric and Cho clambered onto the platform and waved tiredly. Mere minutes afterwards Viktor Krum appeared, his features shrinking down from what looked to have been a shark's head as he crested the waves, and towing a younger boy who looked to be his brother. As this was going on Fleur Delacour, now wearing thick fur robes which had been procured from the tent appeared to become increasingly anxious, hopping from one delicate foot to the other as she jabbered in French to Madame Maxime.
"What do you suppose that's about?" Harry shouted to his sister over the roar of the suddenly awake crowd.
"She probably wants to know who her person she would miss the most was," Alice reasoned after a moment's thought. "Will they fetch them now do you think?"
"Dumbledore said they would, didn't he?"
His question was answered moments later as the oddest looking creatures, and she had seen a fair few, broke from the water carrying a small, blonde girl between them who could only have been Fleur's sister. Their silvery hair was identical, as were the wide blue eyes that looked around in a fearful daze at her rescuers and the roaring crowd. The creatures were grey in colour with wide, flat faces set with orb-like yellow eyes and hideous teeth. From their heads green hair trailed, fanning out in the water around them and across their narrow shoulders which glistened with tiny scales. They were creatures Alice had only ever seen in drawings; she hadn't even realised that any lived in the Hogwarts lake.
"Merpeople," she breathed, utterly enraptured, just as Fleur screamed her sister's name and rushed down to the water again.
Once Dumbledore had spoken to the creatures in a series of whining screeches, they had been dispatched and some semblance of order had been restored to the proceedings he bent heads with the other judges and after a moment's conferral addressed the audience once more.
"It would seem now that we are all firmly back on dry land, that it is time to deliver the scores. After discussion with my fellow judges we have decided to award the points as follows. Despite being one minute over the time limit, Mr Cedric Diggory was the first to return with his hostage and therefore will receive forty-seven points. Second was Mr Victor Krum and he shall receive forty points for his efforts. Lastly Miss Fleur Delacour, who, although she did not succeed in returning with her hostage, put forth a valiant effort. She shall therefore be awarded twenty-five points."
The stands erupted with joy as the Hogwarts students realised that not only had their champion won his task, but that he was now in the lead going into the final. It was just the news they had needed to give their spirits a lift after weeks of gloom and fear. Alice joined in enthusiastically with the others putting the worry to the back of her mind.
There wasn't a common room in the castle that night which didn't hold a small celebratory party, apart perhaps from the Slytherins, though she suspected the largest party would definitely be in Hufflepuff. Alice and her friends indulged on pumpkin juice and some truly delicious cake, courtesy of Ron's brothers, as they debated what the final task might be.
"I just hope it was more interesting that this one," was Ron's comment.
During a lull in the evening Alice tried her best to corner the twins and question them about their argument and what they had against Ludo Bagman. They evaded all her carefully probing questions however and in the end George simply rapped her gently on the top of her head and told her to be less nosy before walking away leaving her as curious as ever.
March showed no signs of lessening the icy hold which seemed to have gripped the castle. The Gryffindors spent Ron's birthday huddled in a swathe of jumpers by the fire in the common room, eating the fudge Mrs Weasley had sent and arguing over who had cheated at exploding snap. Fred and George added a little variety to the end of the day by presenting their younger brother with an enormous plastic spider they had found in a joke shop somewhere. Ron promptly shrieked and dropped the thing into the flames where it sizzled and popped as the twins laughed uproariously and Alice attempted to berate them for their meanness and keep a straight face at the same time. She wasn't sure how thoroughly she succeeded. Once the commotion had died down a glowering Ron swore he would buy something truly evil in revenge from Zonko's the next time he went.
Revenge would have to be delayed however as the following Saturday they were informed that yet again their visit to Hogsmeade had been cancelled. Taking advantage of a break in the icy rain which had been pelting the castle for weeks Harry and Alice had gone flying with the twins and Ginny, no one had told them they couldn't do that, though Alice felt it was only a matter of time before some thought they were at risk on a broom and banned it until further notice too. Neville was writing to his grandmother again, whilst Ron had disappeared with again mumbling about promising to help Luna look for one of her fantastic creatures. Hermione, rather predictably, was in the Library. With exams drawing ever closer Hermione had practically taken up residence there, studying for her impossible number of subjects as well as researching defensive enchantments in whatever spare time she could conjure. Alice had taken to bringing her meals up from the Great Hall when she forgot to eat.
One they had finished their game Alice had wandered in search of her friend with Harry in tow. Meandering through the bookshelves looking for something to help her with the latest Potions essay she spotted her sitting by a desk next to the window and gave a wry smile. Bushy hair illuminated by a beam of late afternoon sun streaming through the window Hermione sat with her cheek resting on the pages of a particularly weighty looking tome. She was fast asleep.
"Hermione," Alice whispered going over and gently clearing a space for their homework amidst the stacks of books Hermione had constructed. "Hermione." The brunette gave a gentle murmur and slept on.
"I don't get it," Harry looked askance at all the titles, "how can she be taking this many subjects, it's not possible, it's -"
"Like magic?" His sister interrupted. Harry grinned at her.
"Oh, what are you doing here?" Hermione had finally woken up. "Was I asleep? Oh Merlin, I am going to fall so behind with my study plan."
"Hermione," Alice plonked herself into a free seat. "Take a break for a minute, a short break won't make you fail anything. You're going to burn out at this rate." Wide, dark shadows were visible beneath her friend's eyes.
"Eat something." Harry laid a pumpkin pasty down on the table and gazed imploringly at her until she laughed and consented to eat it.
"Fine! But only a short break."
A short break and some study later, the three of them were still sitting at the table, the red sun setting brilliantly outside the window. Alice was trying to explain the exact properties of the various ingredients necessary for a wit-sharpening potion to her brother, something Hermione had given up on half an hour before, when there was a commotion by the door.
"Harry, have you heard? Have you heard what's happened?" Ron came dashing into the Library, ignoring the menacing tut emitted by Madam Pince and raced towards their table waving a letter in his hand. Behind him Ginny and Luna followed swiftly in his wake. The grim expression on Ginny's face, coupled with the fact that Luna was actually running set Alice instantly on the alert.
"What's wrong?"
"There's -" Ron stopped and glanced around at the occupants of the Library, irritable for having their study interrupted. "I just got a letter from Mum," he said in a more hushed tone, "it's bad. Really bad."
Hermione folded her arms across the pile of books she had just been caught napping on. "Well, spit it out then. What's happened?"
Alice notice Ron was white and the hands which held the letter trembled slightly. "There's been a breakout from Azkaban," he whispered.
"WHAT?!" Hermione exploded, generating several more glares from those trying to study around them.
Alice shook her head, trying to clear her ears and understand. Surely she couldn't have heard that properly?
"Azkaban?"
"Yeah, they're trying to hush it up so they don't cause a panic or something, it's stupid really, I mean who would panic, I'm not panicking, you're certainly not panicking, why would they think people would -"
"Ron, you're babbling," his sister informed him.
"A breakout?" Harry repeated.
"Last night." Ginny told them. "Mum's not sure yet how many have gotten out, the Ministry is in uproar apparently and Dad hasn't come home from work since it happened, but she thinks it might be some high profile Death Eaters."
"How many do they think it might be?" Hermione whispered looking green at the same time as Alice asked, "how did they get out?"
"She's not sure how many, says it could be a fair few whatever that's meant to mean. I think she was trying not to worry us too much."
Alice couldn't see how that would ever have been a possibility with such a letter.
"Maybe they had help to escape," Luna observed calmly. Now that they were discussing the topic she seemed to have recovered from the sense of urgency which had induced her to run. Alice nodded grimly. Given everything that had happened, it seemed the most likely scenario.
"Do you think this was what Sirius meant when he said that they had something big planned?" She asked her brother.
"I dunno," he responded. "Could be, but then..."
Alice had no desire to go and find dinner anymore. The thought that there were Death Eaters out there was one thing, she had always known there were and until this last year they had been almost entirely inactive, scuttling back to whatever foul lair they had originally emerged from after the fall of Voldemort. Knowing that there were those who had gone to Azkaban for their crimes, and that they were now on the loose and probably seeking revenge. That was another kettle of fish altogether.
"What's wrong Weasle-bee?" An entirely unwelcome voice cut through her thoughts. "You look like you've swallowed a toad, bad news from home?" Malfoy, as gloating and insufferable as ever, rounded the corner of a nearby book shelf, his usual shadows in tow, and smirked at them. How much had he heard? Everything judging by the self-satisfied expression on his face. She wondered if he had received a similar, but much more enthusiastic letter from home and whether or not he knew any of those who had escaped. She would put good galleons on the fact that his father certainly would.
"Shove off, Malfoy," Ron growled, his fingers twitching towards his wand.
"Touchy," the Slytherin smirked. He was dressed from head to foot in black and Alice fleetingly wondered if it was intended to make him appear more menacing. She wouldn't put it past him.
"Haven't you got somewhere better to be?" Harry asked him irritably. "Is your Dad not throwing a welcome home party for all the escapees or something?"
Malfoy's wordless smile answered any questions Alice may have had on the subject. His grey eyes glittered maliciously. "Time's running out, Potters," he informed them both. "There won't be room for blood traitors, filth and mudbloods in Hogwarts for much longer."
Harry was on his feet in a flash, wand in hand and chair toppling to the floor as his face burned with anger. "Say that again you rotten piece of -"
"OUT!" They all jumped in unison as Madam Pince, quivering with rage, descended on them, spectacles flashing in the emerging candlelight. "Out, all of you! I will not tolerate fighting in my Library! Ten points each from your houses. Get out, now!"
They all scrambled to collect their books as the Librarian continued to rant and the other students peppered across the Library turned to stare. The Slytherins melted back into the shadows from which they had sprung as Alice grabbed her homework and made for the door the others hot on her heels. Hermione decided to simply abandon half her books, so terrifying was Madam Pince.
"And you can stay out for a whole week," she screeched at their retreating backs.
A/N: What will Hermione do without the Library for a whole week?! I know this chapter was fairly gloomy, but hopefully it worked and let's be honest our heroes have had far too easy a time of it this year for me to not make them suffer a little... I always wondered what it must have been like to watch the Second Task rather than to participate in it, so I thought I'd try and capture that. Please R&R!