Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Hadrian's Second Task
As February 24th arrived, Hadrian wasn't nervous for the Second Task, and he grinned at Fleur when they entered the Great Hall for breakfast. He was excited for it really, wondering what they would consider his most valued. It wasn't like Dumbledore really knew them that well, thank merlin.
"What do you think of the second task?" Fleur wondered aloud. "Giving nothing away, of course."
"If they touched my books, they're dead." Was all he said, and the French students laughed. They entered the Hall and Hadrian kissed Fleur's cheek quickly before heading for the Slytherins. He sat down happily next to Theo.
"Hey Hadrian." Draco greeted. Hadrian waved and pulled a plate to himself.
"Nervous?" Zabini asked from across the table, taking a bite of sausage.
"Not really. It'll hit me right before the task, I'm sure." He smiled at Theo.
"So you have a plan then?" Theo asked, head tilted.
"Of course," Hadrian nodded. "Several, in fact."
"Trust Black to be over prepared." Blaise mused. "I'm betting on you, by the way. You finished the first task so fast." Hadrian nodded absently, as George Weasley was running up.
"George, what's wrong?" He stood immediately as the boy stopped in front of him.
"What's the Second Task?" He demanded. Hadrian blinked.
"I can't really say, it's not totally allowed." George made an impatient noise.
"Fred is gone!" He exclaimed, glaring at the ceiling in frustration. "McGonagall sent for him last night, and when I went with him she kicked me out and said only he was needed. She said it was for the Second Task." Hadrian froze, eyes slowly darkening. "You know what this is about, right?"
"Yes." Hadrian seethed frostily. "He's being used as a hostage in the Second Task. They've taken him to the bottom of the Black Lake." George paled, anger bleeding into concerned fear for his twin. Hadrian wrapped his arms around the boy and put his head on his shoulder as George grasped him back tightly. "I'll get him back, I promise." Hadrian said firmly. George took a deep breath, and then nodded as he released Hadrian.
"I believe you." Hadrian turned away from the Weasley and stalked over to Fleur, determined.
"Hadrian? What's wrong?" She stood quickly, taking his elbow.
"Have you heard from your sister?" He asked immediately. "From Gabrielle?"
"Of course not. She should be back at Beauxbaton. Why?" Fleur looked confused. Hadrian pulled her in and put his lips to her ear.
"Did you solve the egg?" A barely perceptible nod. "Remember the clue? My partner for the dance, Fred, is gone." He drew back and Fleur's face was clouded with veiled anger.
"If they touched my sister they're going to regret it." She seethed. They swiftly exited the Great Hall and Hadrian made eye contact with Cedric. He jerked his head towards the doors and Cedric stood immediately.
"What's going on?" He asked worriedly as he came running up to catch them.
"They're taking hostages. Fred is gone. Who are you missing?" Hadrian demanded as they stopped just outside the courtyard.
"Malcolm didn't come back last night..." Cedric realized. "He missed breakfast." Hadrian nodded.
"The Merfolk take what matters to us. Gabrielle, Fred, Malcolm." Hadrian explained, fists clenched. "I bet they took Granger for Krum." The other Champions nodded seriously. "Okay. Fleur, there's a giant squid in the lake. Ignore it, it's domesticated. The Mer might be threatening, be careful. Lastly, Grindylows. Use the Revulsion Jinx when you encounter them. Do you know it?" The two nodded and Hadrian was mildly relieved by that.
"What do we do about the other hostages, if one of the Champions never shows?" Cedric prompted. "Dumbledore wouldn't hurt them, would he?"
"Go for only your own. They wouldn't risk the students." He agreed. Even though he was mad, Hadrian knew it was the truth. Letting someone who wasn't even a Champion die, would only rain disaster upon the school. "However, whoever finds them first should create a large Lumos above the hostages to attract the others. We only have an hour, and working together isn't a bad idea." He tapped his chin as he thought. "Get the hostages as quickly as possible, and deliver them to the surface. They'll most likely be at the center of the lake." They all nodded, determined.
"Let's go save our valued ones." Fleur grinned, eyes dangerous.
The Champions lined up next to the judges panel on the bank of the lake. They were spaced about 10 ft apart, probably far enough they'd lose sight of one another immediately in the poor visibility of the water.
Fleur was wearing a silver bodysuit, a swimming suit. She was jumping in place, probably for warmth or to stave off nerves. Krum was in swimming trunks, and was sulky as usual. Cedric was wearing an awful Hufflepuff jersey top and swimming bottoms. Hadrian was in a silver swim top with the Beauxbaton crest, and green swim trunks.
"Well, all our Champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle." Bagman's voice boomed to the crowd. "They have precisely one hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One, two, three!" He shouted.
Hadrian ran into the lake immediately. It was as freezing as he remembered it being. He dove in and looked around to see the same looming darkness could be seen in every direction. He was right, there was no sign of his competitors.
Hadrian drew his wand and flicked it in the shape of a horseshoe, ordering his magic to wrap him in the bubble headed charm. A bubble wrapped around his face like a mask, allowing him to breathe and keep his vision unobstructed. He'd perfected it specifically for this, after Fleur threatened him about the whole drowning thing. She had been proud, of course, it was her specialty.
Hadrian swam through the water carefully but quickly as he dared, counting the landmarks he remembered. He spotted the black log where the minnows lived, and the deep hole the Giant Squid usually hung out in, and the place he'd once caught sight of a sobbing ghost who quickly left when she saw him.
He swam forward and recognized the next landmark, a looming meadow of tall grass. It was definitely a grindylow meadow, and Hadrian was glad his wand was already in his hand as he gripped it in preparation. With a sigh that made him blow out a bubble, Hadrian headed into the overgrown grass. As he looked around in the looking darkness, he waited in suspense as he pushed his way through the plant life. Hadrian was so jumpy, he was ready for it when a grindylow grabbed his ankle and reacted immediately.
Relashio! He ordered. Boiling water came from his wand, burning some of the grindylows. The demons withdrew, but more swarms replaced them. Hadrian swam quickly, kicking at them and thrashing, ankles smashing into skulls. Relashio! Relashio! He threw at them repeatedly. More and more seemed to come and Hadrian panicked, wondering if Dumbledore had done something to make all the Grindylows collect in one place.
Ignoring what was behind him, he swam for it, racing through the water quickly and whipping through the sea grass. He panted into his bubble charm from the exertion, and then shrieked as his ankle was grabbed again. Relashio! He ordered again, kicking the demons away as much as he could.
Hadian spotted the end of the plantlife, the light from the sun peaking through ahead of him, and tried to go even faster. In his haste, he didn't notice one of the twisting plants wrapping around his ankle, keeping him in place. Trying to control his panic, Hadrian pointed his wand at the stem of it. Diffido! He called mentally. The Severing Charm cut through the stem, and Hadrian ignored that the weed was still attached to him. As long as he could keep going, he didn't care.
Hadrian finally crossed the meadow and looked over his shoulder, little demons hissing and waving their fists at him angrily. He breathed deeply and wished he could go up to take a real breath, above water, before continuing. Instead, he settled his nerves and brought his leg up to where he could reach the plant. Gently untangling it, he studied his surroundings and continued on his way as steadily as he could.
He swam slowly, drifting above any lingering kelp nearby. Swimming through the Lake, listening and watching, he wondered how long it had been. Hadrian cast a "Tempus." and saw he had 37 minutes left. Setting off at a marginally faster pace, he finally heard something.
"An hour long you'll have to look, and to recover what we took..."
A haunting chorus floated nearby, and he grinned. Hadrian spotted a large rock he recognized as the entrance to the stone mervillage he'd spotted in previous dips in the lake.
Beyond the rock he knew he would catch sight of the very edge of the village. He was right then, the hostages were at the center of the Lake. The middle of the largest mervillage in the Black Lake was centered there.
"... your time's half gone, so tarry not… lest what you seek stays here to rot..."
He saw exactly what he remembered as he made his way through the mervillage, watching grey merfolk who watched him back with yellow eyes. He smiled at them as their silver tails flicked in the water back and forth. He sped on.
Hadrian had never been so deep into the village before, the Mer usually driving him away, and felt increasingly uneasy the farther he went. Stationed silently on every corner, assessing and watching with pitchforks in hand, large and glaring Mers but none tried stopping him. The haunting song was coming from a choir in the mervillage square.
Gone were the small huts, replaced by a full town square. There were stone buildings, looked to be carved right out of boulders by the merfolk. That book he read before he solved the egg explained their culture excellently well compared to what he could see.
Hadrian swam closer to see a giant statue of a Mer, stone and ominous. He spotted Fred tied between Malcolm Preece and Hermione Granger. They were all tied together, with Gabrielle, to the tail of the huge merstatue. Their eyes were closed and their heads lolled to the slide. They bobbed in place as the water current shifted.
Lumos Duo! He pointed his wand above his head. A beam of blinding light exploded from his wand and went straight upwards, creating a brilliant beacon for his fellow Champions.
Satisfied, he swam closer to the statue to examine the ropes tying the hostages to the statue. Hadrian revised his earlier statement, they weren't tied together. They were attached to the statue separately, just side by side.
He eyed the ropes around Fred and raised his wand. Diffido! Hadrian called, careful to only aim for the ropes. The bonds snapped, and Fred was released. He bobbed and floated a few inches upwards, unconscious and face slack in a way Hadrian didn't like. Fred didn't go all the way to the surface, simply swaying in place.
Hadrian took Fred's hand tightly and pulled the unconscious boy towards him, the redhead being pulled easily through the water. Hadrian started swimming upwards, and saw Cedric approach out of the corner of his eye. Hadrian and ignored it as he swam harder, Fred's hand in his.
They broke the surface, and Fred immediately gasped, eyes flying open. "Merlin, you better have won." He breathed as he coughed slightly. Hadrian's bubble head charm broke and he laughed.
"I did." Hadrian grinned in relief, and he and Fred began swimming for the bank. He heard Malcolm sputtered and Cedric laughing behind them, but he didn't care much.
As they arrived, Madam Pomfrey was there with blankets to swoop Fred up and make a huge fuss. She gave Hadrian one too before she spotted Cedric and bustled away. Why the blankets? There was a perfectly good drying Charm, and Hadrian muttered the previously mentioned drying charm as soon as Fred was covered by a blanket. Madam Pomfrey didn't even notice. She had already moved to a grinning and very soaked Malcolm Preece.
Dumbledore and Bagman were beaming as Fleur and Krum came next, both with wet but cheerful hostages. Hadrian grinned at them as they were given fluffy blankets of their own. Dumbledore seemed to be discussing something with the merfolk, mimicking their shrieking language. Clearly he spoke Mermish.
Fleur was whispering to her sister in soft French, Hermione was having Krum brush a beetle out of her hair, and Malcolm was enthusiastically asking Cedric how he'd done.
"How did you do?" Fred caught his attention, taking his hand.
"I was caught by Grindylows, but otherwise smooth sailing. I got there first, retrieved you first, and got back first." Hadrian grinned, thumb swiping the back of Fred's knuckles.
"Amazing as usual." Fred grinned, face tinged pink.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision." Bagman called their attention loudly, voice magically enhanced. "Merchieftainess Murus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the Champions, as follows..."
Fleur was watching with a blank face, Krum was watching Hermione smile, Cedric was grinning, and Hadrian was busy watching the other Champions' reactions. He tried to refocus on Bagman as the man beamed at everyone.
"Fleur Delacour, she demonstrated excellent use of the bubble headed Charm. She saved her hostage, though she returned well outside the time limit. We award her, 38 points." Fleur looked disappointed, but nodded as the crowd applauded.
"Cedric Diggory, who also used the bubble headed charm, was second to return with his hostage. He arrived one minute outside the time limit. We award him, 47 points." Cedric gasped and Malcolm clasped his shoulder happily. He exchanged a grin with Hadrian.
"Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was third to return with his hostage. We award him, 40 points." Krum smiled at Hermione, who beamed at him. Karkaroff looked immensely proud.
"Hadrian Black also used the bubble headed charm to great effect. He was the first and only champion to return inside the time limit. We award him, 49 points." Fred beamed in excitement.
"You're way in the lead!" He laughed. Hadrian grinned happily.
It was true. Hadrian had a total of 91 points. Cedric had 85, while Fleur had a measly 68, and Krum had 80 points.
"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the 24th of June." Bagman exclaimed happily. "The Champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the Champions."
Hadrian sighed. "That's ages away. Can't we be done already?” Fred just laughed and squeezed his hand.
"Nah, you gotta win one more time, beautiful." Fred winked, and Hadrian beamed.