Digital Magic

‘’I thought Mimi was the only one who could scream like that,’’ T.K. whispered solemnly. He was sure that he and Patamon were still half deaf, despite Madam Promfrey’s diagnosis. The small digimon nodded in agreement, readjusting himself on T.K. 's head. Glancing around at the rest of the houses, he was sure that several other students were thinking the same thing, with many of them still complaining about ear aches and other issues. 

‘’This doesn’t make any sense, you guys,’’ Matt stated, eyes watching as the contestants readied themselves for an ice cold hour long swim in the Black Lake. ‘’Harry’s just as much a contestant as Tai is, why would they take him?’’ 

‘’They could have just taken their digimon!’’ Hikari agreed. 

Matt nodded, completely involved in Hikari’s train of thought. T.K. sighed, keeping his gaze on the surface of the water. Hikari and Matt were both correct-even he’d found it strange. Was it because Tai was the original champion? He knew Harry wasn’t a substitute-then the other schools would’ve been allowed substitutes as well. According to the rules, Harry was just a contestant, same as Tai, Viktor, and Fluer. Why was he taken? 

‘’Hey you guys! We’ve been talking to the mermaids!’’ Gatomon called out, shortly followed by Elecmon, Agumon, and Gabumon. 

The digidestined looked up from their conversation, slightly stunned by the words. 

‘’Did you…’’

‘’Say mermaids?!’’ 

Agumon cocked his head, ‘’Yes, of course we did!’’ 

‘’There’s a giant squid in the lake and you’re surprised by mermaids?!’’ Gatomon admonished. 

‘’I don’t think this is something you want everyone hearing…’’ Neville spoke, casting a privacy bubble around their small group. Neville had been happy to join the digimon and the digidestined, while they waited for Dean and Seamus to come back with snacks from the kitchens. 

‘’Thanks Nev!’’ Hikari smiled brightly, causing the other male to blush brightly, mumbling an answer. 

‘’So what’d they say?’’ 

‘’Tai didn’t have anything worth going into the lake for-even though those are the rules! Your most precious thing has been taken from you and you have one hour to retrieve it! Tai already keeps his digivice on him and Agumon isn’t considered a thing! They said Dumbledore gave them permission to take whatever they assumed was valuable!’’

‘’So instead of things, they took people?!’’ 

Gabumon nodded solemnly, ‘’They had seen what happened at the first task, after Agumon digivolved and they didn’t want to risk their homes. They figured people were safer.’’

‘’Harry’s a contestant too!’’ 

‘’According to their law, Tai was the first contestant, he has a higher value than Harry does since he was the last one!’’ 

All eyes turned towards the Black Lake, fixated on its mirror-like surface-it was deceptively still and nearly impenetrable to see below the surface. They all wondered how deep Harry was, how far Tai would have to swim-

‘’Tai can’t hold his breath for an hour!’’

At this, Neville coughed harshly, nearly choking, ‘’I….kinda helped him with that one.’’

—————————————————————

Tai glanced at the strange green and yellow ball in his hand-Neville had called it…Gillyweed? It smelled like the fancy seaweed his mother brought at the health food store but more stale and cold. The feeling reminded him of slime and octopus tentacles and suddenly he wasn’t so sure about swallowing it-but what choice did he have? He couldn’t hold his breath for an hour, even though soccer allowed him to have better lung capacity it wasn’t enough! 

He was the child of courage! Besides, he’d survived his mother’s health shakes, this would probably taste better. 

Reasoning that if his mother’s food hadn’t killed him, then this wouldn’t, Tai waited for the loud bang that signaled the start, before shoving the Gillyweed into his mouth and leaping into the ice cold water. 

He felt like dying-like he was being deleted all over again and there was nothing he could do, it was out of his control. He couldn’t save himself, couldn’t save Harry-would never be able to tell Harry that he loved him and that he wanted to stay with him forever. 

Huh, it’s….warmer now….

Slits opened up along his neck and he could feel the unconstricted airflow fill his lungs and clear his head, his feet and hands felt connected and Tai somehow knew they were webbed, making it easier to slice through the water. He shook his head to clear his vision and finally, he saw everything. Underneath the Black Lake was a world unlike anything he’d ever seen-stone structures towered around in a twisting coral spiral, reaching depths he couldn’t make out from where he was currently. He could see a variety of plants-seaweeds and sponges, along with other varieties he was sure did not exist anywhere else. Along the walls were small alcoves -many of them appearing like caves, but he saw them-the mermaids, wielding tiny daggers and spears, standing in defense of their homes and territory. 

‘’I won’t hurt you, I’m here for Harry!’’ he spoke fiercely and a spark of warmth flared in his gut. 

‘’There…..’’ the creature snarled, long thin fingers pointing towards a grove of seaweed which seemed impossibly large and thick. 

Thanking the small creature, Tai pushed himself through the grove, finding his new appendages useful in moving through the water and aquatic plant life. A swift figure nearly barreled him over and Harry caught sight of Viktor swimming with an unconscious Marcus in his arms. 

‘’Shark head?’’ Tai whispered to himself, finally managing to push through the grove. 

Harry was floating in one place, suspended in the water by an unknown force, he was still and pale, looking far too still to be normal. Tai took quick notice of how frail he looked, too pale, too sickly, lips too blue to be normal-acting quickly, Tai grabbed Harry, mindful not to jostle him too much and began making his way towards the surface, when he heard a scream-a bird like scream underneath the water! Whirling around, he caught sight of Fleur struggling against the merpeople, their small spears stabbing at her as she floundered helplessly. The water around her was growing redder and redder, her arms outstretched towards a young girl. 

That must be Gabrielle! Her Sister!

Moving Harry to a safer place, Tai charged at the creatures-they hadn’t hurt him, but he couldn’t let anyone die! 

—————————————————————

‘’Here comes our first winner-Ah! Mister Krum! A very interesting use of Transfiguration, my dear boy!’’ 

Viktor shook off the last vestiges of shark, attending to Marcus who began to cough violently, a murderous intent in his eyes at Dumbledore. 

‘’I’ll…kill him for sure! Fucking bastard!’’ 

Viktor looked perplexed at his lover’s words to which Marcus mouthed ‘later’ before pulling Viktor into a kiss. 

‘’You taste like….fish?’’ 

—————————————————————

The entire stadium watched silently, waiting for either of the other contestants to break the surface. Hermione checked the time, the floating numbers doing nothing to quell her fears. She shifted in her seat, swallowing nervously, fingers drumming on her thigh. Besides her, Seamus and Deanhad wrung the wrappers from several pumpkin pastries to ruin, while Neville nervously watched every ripple in the water with bated breath. 

The digidestined were no better, Hikari was being held in her seat by T.K., while Gatomon looked ready to pounce at Dumbledore. 

‘’Say the word, Kari, I’ll shoot him so full of arrows!’’ she seethed. 

‘’Matt, grab her digivice!’’ 

—————————————————————

Harry felt a strange awareness, like a veil suddenly being lifted off of him and suddenly, there was a mass of commotion-a canopy of yelling and accusations, the heart wrenching screams of a young girl, and the smell, it stunk of blood, fresh and raw. He groaned, only to find himself gently shushed and pressed back into warm blankets and thick cushions. 

‘’It’s alright no’ Harry, get some sleep,’’ 

Harry felt the drag of Tom’s hand through his hair before drifting off into a deep sleep. 

—————————————————————

When Harry woke up next, the sun was lower in the sky and he recognized the Infirmary ceiling and his usual bed; the curtains drawn tightly around it. 

‘’Hmm, Harry?’’ 

Harry had hardly noticed that Elecmon was curled up by his feet and gave his partner a gentle smile. 

‘’Elecmon,’’ he rasped, suddenly aware of how thirsty he was. Elecmon quickly passed him a goblet of water, helping Harry drink slowly. ‘’Thanks, feels much better,’’ 

Elecmon rubbed his partner’s arm, unaware of how much or how little Harry knew in terms of what had happened. Harry gathered Elecmon into his arms, hugging his partner and waiting. 

‘’What happened back there? I thought I heard…yelling and smelled blood?’’ 

Elecmon sighed, wanting to comfort Harry rather than tell him the news. 

‘’Kiddo?’’ 

The duo glanced up at Tom, followed by Tai and the others-they all looked like they would rather be anywhere else than here. He sat up straighter, bracing himself for the news. Despite this, he was glad that Tai was alright, that he was alive. 

Tom cleared his throat, motioning for everyone to come in, drawing a rather complex privacy ward on the cramped space of the bed. Tom remained standing, while Tai perched himself next to Harry, while the rest of the children filled in the empty spaces. 

‘’I shouldn’t be telling you this-it technically, should be coming from Dumbledore, but it’s not. Fleur is dead, and as of right now, Gabrielle is being used as fodder for the mermaids. The task was only an hour because that’s how long the sanctuary was in place for-anything that went over that became their property,’’ Tom watched as the color drained from Harry’s face and tears flowed freely from his eyes. 

He wished he didn’t have to do this. 

Before Tom could continue, Tai started speaking, ‘’I….tried, I did! I got you to safety and then, by the time I went back, she was…gone, there was so much and Gabrielle, she…I-’’

Harry comforted him and that’s when he noticed the thick bandages on Tai’s arm. 

‘’That was part of their retribution-a penalty for going back for what was not his.’’

‘’Tai…’’ Harry started, unsure of what to say. His love had been hurt- a scar from the dragon he’d faced and now, his arm which was probably torn to shreds underneath the bandages. 

He’s still apologizing? 

Moving without thinking, Harry wrapped his arms around Tai’s waist and simply held him, giving him comfort in the best way he could. 

‘’Wait…wasn’t I a…contes-’’

‘’Dumbledore cheated,’’ Hikari spat, a venom in her voice that sent shivers throughout the room.

‘’What Kari means is that Dumbledore gave the mer-folk permission to take someone valuable, not something. Since Tai was chosen first, they saw him as the true competitor. Dumbledore claimed you were a substitute, a false champion. However due to these circumstances and Fleur’s passing, you are now the third champion.’’ 

Harry felt as if all the wind had been knocked out of him, when Hermione spoke up-’’I thought there was a way to forfeit this tournament without losing his magic!’’ 

Tom shook his head, ‘’There might have been if Fleur hadn’t passed. We could have argued that Harry was Tai’s most valuable person, but now without Fleur, Harry’s position as the third champion means he must compete.’’ 

‘’Bollocks!’’ Hermione cursed, gathering her things and stomping her way towards the library, muttering curses under breath. The group watched her leave, understanding that someone would have to physically pry her from the Magical Rules and Regulations of Games section later. 

‘’I’ll get her later,’’ Dean volunteered solemnly. 

‘’I’ll back you up,’’ Seamus offered, twirling his wand in his hand, ‘’she can’t take both of us!’’ 

Despite the joke, the atmosphere was still tense. Harry’s mind was swirling and after promises of coming by to visit, the large group filed out, leaving Harry and Tai alone. 

‘’I’m sorry, Tai,’’

‘’No, don’t be, it’s my fault, ‘m supposed to protect you!’’ 

‘’We’re supposed to protect each other,’’ 

Tai smiled at Harry, looking at their interlaced fingers and knew that at least they were okay for now. Settling Harry against his chest, the two remained that way for the rest of the night.