Magic Incarnate

As classes returned after the Yule Break Harry went back to doing self-study in his room. Knowing the Second Task was taking place in the lake and would involve something being taken from him Harry was going over all the various ways in which he could travel around the lake to search for the Merperson Village that said item would be kept. Not wanting to reveal that he had multiple Animagus forms to the staff at Hogwarts he decided against using, his fish, merperson, and octopus forms to accomplish the task. Harry had a special one in mind which would allow him to easily get to Merperson holding his stuff. As he had promised the other Champions shortly after he had joined their ranks he was not interested in winning just testing himself. So rather than take his item back Harry planned on waiting for the other three to come along and get theirs back before he made his way back to the surface. As he waited Harry planned on talking with the Merperson for while during his travels Harry had talked to other Merpeople he had yet to chat with one native to this world.

While he did his self-study Harry made a point of hanging out with random students of Hogwarts from the various years and Houses during their normal break periods. Of those, he spent the most time with, were the cousins of both his Godfather and Fleur in Draco Malfoy and Luna Lovegood. He also spent time with Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger but only made sure the pair did not barrage him with constant questions about his unusual, to them, magical skills and unknown spells. Though the pair of Fourth Year Hogwarts students agreed to his terms they seem unable to help themselves asking about other matters such as where all Harry had gone to school at, and how they were different from Hogwarts. These questions, to an extent, Harry was alright with answering as long as it did not reveal any of the various institutions' special secrets. From all the students, Harry spent time with he listened to their speculation on what he planned to do next during the tournament. It seemed that Ronald's older brothers started a betting pool on what crazy thing Harry would do next with his magic. And since he had translated the Golden Egg from the First Task in front of a crowd people were trying to guess how he would handle the lake. Harry had to smile as their speculation had moved past what they were being taught by the staff of Hogwarts since everyone thought he would use some non-standard spell or potion to accomplish the task. One of his favorite guesses he heard was that he would use a combination of a Bubble Head Charm and Gillyweed as if he would put his trust in something that could easily break underwater or have a time limit.

On Wednesday, February the twenty-fourth Harry was the first of the Champions to arrive for the Second Task and watched as the Judges' stand being put in place by two random British Ministry workers who left after it was put in place at the Lake's edge. Harry looked around to see if any Magical screens were also being put up since he and the other Champions would have to travel a fair distance into the water and the visibility for those watching would be non-existent. When no further Ministry workers came Harry took matters into his own hands as he created six screens. As soon as his fellow Champions arrived he would tie their magic to one of the screens so people would be able to follow each of their journeys. With the fifth screen, Harry dipped a finger into the lake and used a spell that worked like Echo Location to get the full dimensions of the body of water putting the map onto the screen. As soon as he set up the three other Champion screens he would tie them to the map so people could track where everyone was. For the last screen Harry had it display the timer since the clue had mentioned the task needing to be accomplished in just one hour, but also had it aimed towards the stands the crowd would be sitting so people could see how everyone else was feeling about the task.

As people began to filter in they gave the screens a thankful look as some began to put books and other items away which they had brought to occupy themselves while he and the others were in the lake. When Fleur, Viktor, and Marcus arrived Harry tied them to the four Champion Screens, as well as turned them on so it looked like it had all been set up by the Ministry for the Task. If anyone paid attention to Dumbles' face once he saw the screens it would be easy to see the old fool had not planned for them or for that matter wanted them giving them a dark look before he let his face take on a smile he welcomed everyone to the Second Task. As the man gave the speech to the watching students, Ludo Bagman had moved forward to space Harry and the others out, as if a few feet side to side would make a distance on having to search the lake for the Merperson holding their item. An item that Harry was unsure of being since he had already placed Wards around everything he owned and no one had even tried to bypass them at any moment.

As the task began Harry stayed where he was watching what the others did to brave the lake. Fleur, it seems trusted her magic as she cast a Bubble Head Charm on herself, as well as a small shield charm around the bubble so it would not burst easily before she performed a perfect standing dive into the water. Harry was almost tempted to add a Heating Charm to her since it was February and the water had to be cold. Marcus had gone the Gillyweed route as he pulled a large ball of the plant out of his pocket and shoved it into his mouth before he quickly dove into the water so the gills that the magical plant produced on a human would allow him to breathe as quickly as they appeared. When Harry turned to Viktor he saw the older male perform either a partial transfiguration on himself or incomplete Animagus change as his upper portions took on the aspect of a Great White Shark as he too dove into the water leaving Harry alone on the shore.

For a moment he considered altering his plan and waiting until one of the others found the merperson holding their stuff and just watching their screens just to annoy Dumbles, but the students deserved a show. Rolling his head as if he had a small crick in his neck Harry recalled the lessons he had received from a most unusual being during his travels in the Multiverse. This being had been a powerful slime-like creature who had gained the ability to take on a humanoid form. During his talks with the slime who gave his name as Rimaru Tempest, he learned that the slime had lived in a world quite like the reality, Harry was in now but had been killed only to be reborn as a slime. Seeing Rimaru shift between his humanoid and slime form Harry had tried it himself and thus had gained a similar ability.

With a smile, Harry began to shift his body into his slime form, which unlike Rimuaru who had been blue his was the same color green as his eyes. There was some gasp at his transformation as Bagman commentary voiced astonishment at this latest unknown magic. Harry paid them no mind as he moved into the lake as a slime. Due to this form's natural state, Harry was easily able to spread himself quickly through the entire lake without losing his sense of self. This allowed Harry to find the missing item, but rather than finding a single merperson watching over say a treasure chest Harry saw a whole village of Merpeople, and in the village center were four humans tied to a large statue. Around the statue guarding the humans was a group of armed Merperson warriors. Not liking the look of that, Harry put his body back together inside the village square making one of the spear-wielding merpeople start at his sudden appearance. "What manner of creature is this?" the merperson asked jabbing at Harry with his spear. Harry easily moved his body out of the way and glared at the wild-looking female.

"Leave that thing alone, Betrasa," another Merperson said, "we have a job to do."

As Harry wanted to talk to the Merpeople while he waited for the other Champions he knew he would have to resume a human form again at some point, But for now, he sent a bit of magic at the forms of Lee Jordan, as well as the younger siblings of both Fleur and Viktor who he had met during a family day when he had been at the two schools. Assuming that Lee Jordan was the person Marcus was to collect Harry turned to the last human tied to the statue seeing Ronald Weasley floating there. He could understand the younger siblings, and even Lee due to Marcus asking the Gryffindor boy to the Yule Ball but could not figure out why the person he had been sent to collect was Ronald. Sure he spent time with the boy, but he spent more time with Draco and Luna. While still a slime Harry also did a quick check on what had been done to the four Magicals. Getting the results Harry got rather annoyed for it seems as though all four had been given a watered-down Draught of Living Death placing them in comas which would only end when their heads were above water.

He could not believe that either Madam Maxine or Headmaster Karkroff would do such a thing to the younger siblings of their students. He hoped all this had been Dumbles' plan otherwise he would lose all respect for both of them. Speaking of respect he was losing it for the Merpeople in this reality for taking part in this. Wanting to get to the bottom of this Harry shifted his form back into his human shape. This caused the whole group of Merpeople to jump back in shock as he looked to have no visible means of breathing. "You know I have met several tribes of your people. And while some of them were in conflicts with Humans they never sunk so low as to take underage kids hostage," Harry said shaking his head in disappointment at them.

"You know nothing human child," a wild-looking male said.

"I know more than you could possibly guess," Harry shot back. "So it this the honor of this lakes Merkind?"

"We stand as guards to make sure these humans don't get attacked by the real dangers that are in this lake," Betrasa said giving him a glaring look.

"Then why not put them in make-shift homes rather than tying them to a bloody statue?" Harry asked.

"That is not what we were asked to do," a merperson warrior said.

"Someone had you tie up kids who are have been doused by a modified Draught of Living Death?" Harry asked them incredulously. "I see your village has such noble warriors."

"Just take your hostage and go," Betrasa growled at him.

"See right there, that is what I am talking about. You call them hostages, well I guess it could be worse after all you could call them trophies or prizes," Harry said as he allowed a small part of his body to shift back into slime and send it out into the lake.

"You should count yourself lucky that you are a Champion for I would not take such backtalk from a guppie," Betrasa said tightening her grip on the spear in her hands.

"A guppie am I," Harry said with a scoff at her.

"Yes a guppie that can not see this is just part of your challenge," she shot back.

"Oh, that is really convenient for you all. "I was just following orders" what you are doing is still wrong can't you see that?" Harry said as he began to walk around them as if he was not miles underwater. "As you are just playing the role of guards for these four did you get confirmation that they wanted to take part in this event?"

"Well no," several Merpeople said.

"What about any sign from these two's parents?" Harry asked indicating Fleur and Viktor's younger siblings. "For neither of them even go to one of the schools in which a Champion represents." He saw that the majority of the Merpeople looked shocked at that bit of news.

Feeling the slime bits he had released earlier had found their targets Harry used some magic to bring his bits back as well as the other Champions he had sent them to find. Marcus, Viktor, and Fleur seemed a little shocked to find themselves now in the Merperson village. Their shock turned to anger at seeing their "hostage" tied to the statue. "Let's chat," Harry said as with a wink of his right eye created a bubble room around the three other Champions so they could breathe without having to waste their magical reserves.

"I wanted to get everyone's opinion on this. The Merpeople stated that they were given the job to watch and protect our "hostages," their words not mine, by tying them to the statue."

"What is up with the time limit?" Viktor asked having returned to his full human form.

"It was just a way to get you back to the judges so people would not get too bored as well as letting them still teach afternoon classes," one of the Merpeople said. "Nothing would have happened to them if you had not shown up in the time limit we were told to bring the hos... human up to the surface to get looked after."

"Why not just have them be in separate stations like this?" Marcus Flint asked gesturing to the Bubble the three School Champions were inside of.

"Well if perchance one of you did not have the necessary skill or items to help them get to the surface," one of the merpeople began.

"Then why not make the bubble sphere detachable so that a Champion could move it while the person they were seeking stayed safely inside?" Harry asked as with little effort cast a levitation spell on the bubble making it raise a few feet off the lake floor.

"Why are we even discussing this? Betrasa asked, "we were told to treat these humans as hostages to play into the narrative of the task and that is what we did."

"By possibly putting them at risk and without proper approval from their proper guardians or family members," Harry shot back at her.

"We had permission, from Lord Dumbledore," Betrasa said.

"And as I said earlier he might have in a very loose sense have permission to do it to the older ones the two younglings not going to school would need their parent's permission to be part of this," Harry said.

"Somezing my Mozer would never allow, as Gabriella suffers from Aquaphobia," Fleur said angrily.

"Nor would my parents approve of this," Viktor said, "they are rather protective of my younger siblings ever since a crazed fan tried to use one of them as a way to blackmail me into meeting them for a date."

On the shore, the watching crowd wished that the screens showing what was going on in the lake were equipped with sound functions so they could hear what the four Champions were discussing with the Merpeople. Voldemort who had once more snuck out of the castle to attend the task saw a way to possibly get rid of Harry as he sent a wave of magic into the lake in search of the Giant Squid to make the beast attack the Merperson village.

"Why was this task made to take place in the winter months?" Marcus asked.

"We had no control over that," a Merperson said.

"So you don't find it strange zat none of the zee humans we came to collect are not wearing proper clozing to protect against the chill of zee water?" Fleur asked getting angrier all the time.

"We know little about your kind," one of the Merpeople said with a shrug.

"Oh zat makes it all better," Fleur said as her body began to shift into a Veela's fighting form.

"It might be better to save that for someone who needs it," Harry said thinking of Dumbles just as a cry went out from a Merperson who was not in the village square about the Squid coming in fast. While the squid coming would make it easier for the other Champions to collect the person they had been sent for and make it back up to the surface, something told him that the appearance of the squid was not a coincidence. Thinking it was just like when the dragon he had been set up against went feral when he was trying to talk to it Harry went to check in on the squid placing a protection charm around the village square so that only he could enter it or leave it for a bit. This caused some of the Merperson Warriors to get thrown back as they tried to reach the part of the village where the call of warning had come from.

As he had guessed it Harry noticed a bit of magic affecting the nature of the large creature as he quickly cleansed it from the beast system. However, this did nothing to stop the attack for the Squid and Merpeople of the lake were long-time enemies. Rubbing his hands together, Harry began to create waves of friction that acted as a riptide sending the Squid away from the village without either side getting hurt. "Alright where were we?" he asked when he returned to the village square taking down his protective spells as he did so.

"You were about to take your friends and leave," Betrasa said having seen how easily Harry had both contained their village's mightiest warriors and got rid of the giant squid and wanted them all out of there.

"As you say," Harry said with a small smirk as he uses his magic to sever the ropes holding the four unconscious humans to the Merperson statue before making them and the bubble sphere containing the other Champions raise to the surface of the lake. Not sure if any of the kids he and the others had gone to collect knew how to swim Harry readied a second bubble sphere to go around them once they breached the surface of the lake. The only reason he was not doing so now was Fleur saying Gabrielle suffered from fear of water and not wanting to force the girl to be conscious in a giant bubble with water all around her.

Reaching the surface of the lake Harry broke it with such force so that by the time Gabriell was fully awake he was levitating the three other Champions and the four former victims a fair distance above the water over to the Judges' bench. As soon as they all landed Fleur moved forward with her wings out and fingers having shifted into claws as she approached the five judges. "How dare you do such a zing to my sister," she screeched at them.

"Vee knew nozing of zis," Madam Maxine said quickly seeing Fleur lose control as a pair of fireballs began to form in the quarter Veela's hands. This did appear to be true as both she and Headmaster Karkroff were both glaring at Dumbles. Fleur seeing her Headmistress's glare aimed at the fool let lose her fireballs in the man's direction.

"That is quite enough Ms. Dealcour," Dumbles said using his wand to cancel the fireballs before they reached him. As the man was distracted Harry tried to pinpoint the origin of the Magical who had enchanted the Giant Squid, and when he could not due to the number of people crowding in to watch Fleur still trying to hit Dimbles with her fireballs Harry took not of both Champions and their younger siblings as a way to lead to their parents as he recalled their magic from his memory. FInding both sets of parents Harry checked to make sure neither were busy doing something important before creating a Magical portal to bring all four to the lake's edge. Harry smirked as Dumbles now had to deal not only with Fleur but the parents of both visiting school Champions lead to the fight going out of the man as Fleur's mother and Viktor's father laid into the man.