Chapter 9
With the second task looming, the usual Animagus and Occlumency lessons were put on hold. Instead, every adult in the household had taken it upon themselves to drill the group on underwater charms, mermaids, and survival techniques.
Snape, of all people, had begrudgingly handed Harry a small pouch of gillyweed the night before, his expression unreadable.
“Do not waste this,” he had muttered. “Knowing you, Potter, you’ll find some way to nearly drown yourself regardless.”
Harry had only grinned in response, much to Draco’s exasperation.
But what was supposed to be a simple study session quickly turned into something much more chaotic.
“Merpeople have their own magic,” Narcissa explained smoothly, sipping tea as she lounged beside Lucius, who nodded in agreement. “It’s different from ours, but no less powerful.”
“They have territorial tendencies,” Lucius added. “Which means, Potter, that if you do anything stupid—”
“Like breathe in their general direction,” Draco muttered under his breath.
“—they will see you as a threat.”
“Right,” Harry said. “So, don’t do anything reckless. Got it.”
Sirius scoffed. “That’s rich, coming from you.”
Harry shot him a look.
The conversation should have been straightforward—at least, until Hermione and Draco started overcomplicating things.
“Well, actually,” Hermione said, eyes bright with excitement, “merfolk do have their own magical laws, but they also function under the broader spectrum of aquatic magical theory—”
“—which means their abilities fall somewhere between elemental magic and wandless magic,” Draco finished, nodding along.
Across the room, Remus, Snape, and Narcissa all looked equally intrigued.
“Fascinating,” Narcissa mused. “That would explain the enchantments around certain aquatic ruins…”
“Of course,” Hermione agreed, eyes wide. “And if you think about it, their runes could—”
Harry had stopped listening.
His brain had completely short-circuited about three sentences ago.
He glanced at Blaise and Ron, who looked equally lost. Even Sirius was blinking as if he’d been smacked with an invisible book.
Harry groaned and leaned against Draco dramatically. “Precious,” he whined.
Draco blinked at him. “What?”
“You’re too smart,” Harry said, dramatically clutching his heart. “It’s painful.”
Draco rolled his eyes, shoving Harry’s face away. “Honestly, Potter—”
“Precious,” Harry repeated, grinning. “My precious.”
Lucius coughed into his hand to hide his amusement. Narcissa looked positively delighted. Sirius, on the other hand, cackled.
Draco, unfortunately, had walked right into Harry’s trap.
And there was no escaping it now.
---
The moment Harry hit the water, the cold gripped him like icy fingers. His vision blurred for a second, but then the gillyweed kicked in. Gills formed along his neck, and a strange sensation ran through his hands and feet as webbing spread between his fingers.
Kicking forward, he adjusted quickly to his new underwater form and propelled himself into the dark abyss of the lake.
The water around him was eerily silent except for the distant swish of creatures moving just out of sight. Shadows lurked in the depths, shifting and curling around the underwater ruins. Harry tightened his grip on his wand.
"Find the hostages."
Draco, Hermione, and the adults had spent hours drilling him on maps of the lake, expected routes, and all the ways this could go wrong. He was supposed to move quickly, but cautiously, avoiding the deeper trenches where even merfolk rarely ventured.
But, of course, because he was Harry Potter, things immediately stopped going according to plan.
As he swam past a thick curtain of kelp, something moved—fast.
A grindylow shot forward, clawed hands swiping at his face. Harry jerked back, narrowly avoiding a nasty scratch, and sent a Stinging Hex at it. The grindylow hissed and disappeared into the darkness.
"Not today, you slimy git."
He kicked forward, scanning the murky water. The song from the egg had mentioned an hour. He didn’t know how long he had already wasted.
Then, finally, he saw them.
Floating eerily among the ruins, the four hostages were tied to a thick stone pillar covered in algae and vines.
Among them—Draco.
Harry’s heart stopped.
The moment he saw the platinum blond hair floating in the water, something primal and protective surged through him. Draco looked eerily peaceful, as if he were merely sleeping, but Harry hated seeing him like this.
Merfolk swam around the area, their piercing eyes tracking Harry’s every move. He knew they wouldn’t attack unless he did something stupid, but he also knew he didn’t have time to waste.
He reached out, fingers brushing against Draco’s cheek.
"I’m getting you out of here, Precious."
Without hesitation, Harry pulled his wand and began severing the bindings. The merfolk hissed in warning, gripping their spears, but Harry ignored them.
A sudden rush of water signaled another champion arriving—Cedric, moving toward Cho. Harry gave him a quick nod before focusing back on his own task.
With a final swipe of his wand, the ropes snapped, and Draco’s body lurched forward.
Harry grabbed him instinctively, pulling him close. His heart pounded. He needed to get out, and fast.
But as he turned, a dark shadow passed overhead.
Something was moving in the depths—something big.
Harry’s stomach dropped.
This was not part of the plan.
---
Harry tightened his grip on Draco as the shadow loomed above them. His instincts screamed at him to move. Whatever it was, it was massive, and it was getting closer.
His gills fluttered as he kicked off the lakebed, pulling Draco with him. The merfolk around them shifted uneasily, gripping their weapons. Whatever was coming, they didn’t seem prepared to handle it either.
A deep, rumbling sound vibrated through the water.
Harry turned just in time to see it.
A creature with glistening, dark scales, far larger than any grindylow or merperson. Its enormous, milky eyes locked onto Harry, its serpentine body coiling around the ruins.
"Oh, brilliant," Harry thought, barely suppressing panic. "Just what I needed—another giant monster trying to eat me."
The beast lunged.
Harry barely managed to push himself and Draco out of the way as the creature’s massive jaws snapped shut where they had been. A cloud of silt exploded around them, making it even harder to see.
He had seconds to react.
Still gripping Draco, he swam as fast as he could, zig-zagging through the ruins. His mind raced through everything he had learned in their frantic study sessions before the task. What the hell was this thing?
A water dragon? No. A mutated kelpie? Maybe. Either way, he doubted it wanted to be friends.
Through the murky water, he spotted Cedric struggling with Cho, and further away, Fleur frantically trying to untie Gabrielle.
The merfolk had scattered, their previous calm completely gone. Even they didn’t seem to want to deal with whatever this thing was.
"Great. That’s reassuring."
Draco stirred slightly in his grasp, his head lolling against Harry’s shoulder. The spell keeping the hostages unconscious must have been wearing off.
Harry didn’t have time to think about that.
The creature coiled again, its tail knocking into the ruins, sending a shockwave through the water.
Harry turned to the others and gestured wildly. Time to leave. NOW.
Cedric, wide-eyed, nodded, grabbing Cho and kicking toward the surface. Fleur had finally freed Gabrielle and was already making her way up.
Harry gritted his teeth and turned back to the creature, which was already preparing to strike again.
He needed to buy them time.
Carefully shifting Draco so he was holding him with one arm, Harry raised his wand.
"Relashio!"
A jet of boiling water shot from his wand, striking the creature’s face. It let out a horrible, gurgling screech, thrashing violently.
Harry took the chance and bolted.
His lungs burned, his muscles ached, but he kicked upward as hard as he could, Draco still held tightly in his arms.
The surface was getting closer.
Closer—
The moment he breached the water, air filled his lungs again, and his gills faded. He gasped, pulling Draco fully above the surface with him.
Shouts erupted from the stands. Someone was sending sparks into the air.
Strong arms grabbed them both, hauling them onto the platform.
Harry barely had time to blink before a towel was thrown over his shoulders and hands were gripping his face.
Sirius.
"Merlin, Harry!" Sirius looked both furious and relieved. "What the hell was that thing down there?!"
"Would love to know myself," Harry rasped, still trying to catch his breath.
A weak groan came from beside him.
Draco.
Harry instantly turned, only to be met with dazed, unfocused grey eyes blinking up at him.
"Harry?" Draco’s voice was hoarse, confused. "Why are you—"
Harry didn’t let him finish.
He pulled Draco into a fierce hug, ignoring how freezing and soaking wet they both were.
"Don’t scare me like that again, Precious," he muttered against Draco’s damp hair. "Ever."
Draco, still weak, let out a breathless laugh. "You really are dramatic, Potter."
Harry didn’t care. He just held him tighter.
And in that moment, with the chaos of the crowd around them and the lake still rippling with whatever had been lurking beneath, Harry realized something.
Nothing else mattered.
As long as Draco was safe—he didn’t care what the Tournament threw at him next.
---
The Champion in the Lead
Harry was exhausted. His muscles ached from the second task, his lungs still felt like they hadn’t fully recovered from nearly drowning, and he was fairly certain he still had lakeweed in his hair.
But none of that mattered because—
"You’re in the lead, Harry!"
Ron practically tackled him as they entered the common room, his face split into a grin. "By five points!"
"Of course, he is," Draco said from beside Harry, looking as smug as ever. "He rescued me. Obviously, he deserved the points."
Harry barely had time to process it before Hermione shoved a parchment in his face, showing the updated standings.
- Harry Potter: 85 points
- Cedric Diggory: 80 points
- Viktor Krum: 75 points
- Fleur Delacour: 70 points
Harry blinked. "Wait, I—"
"You’re winning," Blaise confirmed from the couch, where he was lazily flipping through a book. "The judges were very impressed. And that ridiculous monster you fought off didn’t hurt your score either."
"You mean the giant, man-eating lake creature?" Will added dryly. "Yeah, I’d say that earned some points."
Harry barely heard them.
He was winning.
That wasn’t supposed to happen. He wasn’t even supposed to be in the tournament, let alone leading it.
"This is ridiculous," he muttered, rubbing his face. "I didn’t even figure out the egg on my own. Draco and Hermione practically spoon-fed me the answer."
"And you still pulled it off," Pansy said, perched elegantly on the arm of an armchair. "And saved Draco. That alone is worth points in my book."
Draco smirked. "See? Even they agree."
Harry huffed, but his lips twitched up in amusement. "You’re all impossible."
"And yet you still love us," Nico added from where he sat, leaning against Will.
Harry just shook his head.
Sirius and Remus had practically smothered him when he got out of the water, Snape had looked two seconds away from hexing every judge who hadn’t given him full marks, and Lucius had nearly dragged Draco off to lecture him about not getting himself in danger.
Now, he was back in Slytherin Dungeons (with several Gryffindors who had apparently just decided this was their common room now), still trying to process the fact that he was actually winning the Triwizard Tournament.
Draco, still wrapped in one of the fluffy towels Narcissa had sent over, leaned into Harry’s side, resting his head on his shoulder. "You should enjoy this, you know. Just accept that you’re incredible and move on."
Harry rolled his eyes but rested his hand on Draco’s knee anyway. "You would say that."
Draco hummed in agreement, eyes half-lidded with exhaustion. "Obviously."
Across from them, Hermione was already muttering about strategies for the third task, Ron was dramatically re-enacting Harry’s underwater battle (with Blaise throwing in sarcastic commentary), and Will was nudging Nico, whispering something that made the son of Hades roll his eyes.
For the first time in a long while, Harry felt… calm.
Winning didn’t matter.
Draco was safe. His friends were here.
For now, that was enough.