Kapitel 328: 17
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So.
Yule Ball.
First things first, because we all know this is coming: Hermione is not a valid choice as she is a participant in the event, so she's off the table.
Alright.
…
[Pairings]
…
Cedric picked Cho. The two have pretty good chemistry when, y'know, Cho isn't suffering from fucking PTSD.
There was some talk of us picking Cho amongst the student populace under the justification that we're both Asian.
That was expected on both occasions.
Fleur and her buddy picked out NPCs, one from Beauxbatons and one from Hogwarts.
The Hogwarts NPC is Roger Davies, the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain.
Krum and his buddy are going with some other girls, one from Hufflepuff and one from Beauxbatons.
Harry…by the time the ball came around he went with the Patil twins with Ron, per the story.
Hermy made a pick but she kept it quiet (her date also) so I don't know who she picked…not that I tried very hard to find out.
I…still don't have a date.
Note that this little section is occurring a few days before Christmas. Also, why?
Well my pool of supporting girls is pretty small, first off.
Ginny is going with Neville, who, I feel compelled to point out, is slowly growing into their sexy adult body.
Which one?
Neville. Duh? He's lost some of the pudgy cuteness that came with being a small child. Sure, he's got the weird proportions that come with growing into a teenager, but it's pretty easy to see that when he's done growth-spurting he's going to be a very attractive kid.
He'll be 17 at that point.
And I'll be mentally 40 at that point (more or less). He'll still be a kid to me.
Pretty sure you don't qualify as an adult by any stretch of the imagination.
Anyway, even if Neville didn't follow canon I would still avoid Ginny…if only because we are, at best, polite acquaintances. Also I think the twins would hex me to hell and back and objectively speaking I like Fred and George better than I like Ginny.
So the other option would be Luna, who we actually have a good relationship with.
How?
I practice on a daily basis, and every so often Luna would find the rooms I practice in and we'd hang out for a little bit afterwards.
In any case, the takeaway from this is:
Luna refused.
Not like "oh I'm sorry I've already been invited" refused, mind you. Her reasoning straight up was "I don't feel like it."
Which caught me by surprise, to put it lightly…but at the end of the day it's a free country, so…while I'm not happy with not being able to go with someone I'm familiar with, I will happily respect her decision. You know it just occurred to me that I have spent next to no time building a social network outside of the main characters. Fuck.
So this means you'll have to pick somebody from the student body like a Peasant.
Yeah…hoo boy.
God forbid you learn to make friends.
Anyways, the other events come first.
…
[SPEW]
…
So I apparently forgot that book 4 was when SPEW was established. Like I thought Hermy was pro-House Elves in one book, and then the next book she actually made a group. Nope.
Sometime after the Gryffindor victory party (which I opted not to attend) Hermy found out how to get to the kitchen from Fred.
Hoo. Boy.
She became...convinced…that giving House Elves equal rights was the way to go. If her vigor wasn't so oddly mismatched by the elves themselves it would actually be commendable.
"Hermione, you do realize that humane treatment does not mean 'treat them like a human', right?" I pointed out one day. Hell, in some cases it means treating them better than humans.
"It's deplorable!" She retorts. "They're working them like slaves!"
Ok. "Yes, and they feed us, and can willingly teleport throughout the castle."
"What's your point?" She demands.
"My point is, as slaves they are, quite literally, more powerful than we are." I realize this isn't the best argument but SPEW is admittedly low on my list. "If they really wanted freedom I seriously doubt we'd be able to stop them."
"They're magically bound, Ash." Hermione says in a 'this should be obvious' tone.
"Yeah, so…how do you plan to deal with those bounds? Enchant socks to follow them everywhere?"
After that she stopped speaking with me.
And we made zero progress in convincing her to stop.
Good times.
…
[The Golden Egg]
…
"So, uh…"
Harry comes to visit us as we're packing for Christmas break.
Not really packing, since I travel exceedingly light.
So…
Harry is currently eying my bag and I'm not sure if he had a previous question or if he's curious about why we're breaking convention.
It's convention for the champions to stay near the competition site over winter break.
"Yeah?"
Harry…might have been interested to know where we were going. "Have you…you know, figured out the golden egg yet?" Though he has other things on his mind right now.
Oh you adorable little procrastinator.
"Kind of." I tap my bag. "I need to go prepare for it, hence why I'm packing."
He seems a little defeated by my answer.
Probably because he expected a hint.
I know, I know. I'm getting to it. "Here's a hint. The egg works best underwater."
In retrospect I realize that I pretty much just told him what to do.
We're horrible at dropping hints.
No kidding. Harry doesn't seem to quite understand, though he mentally shelves the issue. "Where are you going?"
"The States." I reply and resume packing…I have an inordinate amount of potions. "Like I said, I need more gear to deal with this next trial, so I'm going home to get them."
"I think you're only allowed to have your wand." Harry, the dude who was the first (canonically) to break the rules says. He realizes a second later and doesn't need me to tell him that.
So all I say is a "Yeah" and pat him on the shoulder. "See you in a few days."
"Right." Harry is totally confused.
…
[In the States, next day]
…
"I'm still having trouble believing you are about to go through with this." Sirius sighs.
I laugh. "I thought you'd be more interested in this."
"I am, but I am also troubled." He says. "Do you believe this will work at all?"
"Nope. That's why we're testing." I grin at his discomfort. "At least weight isn't an issue."
"Magic's good for many things." Sirius agrees. "So I'm a bit miffed you're going to use muggle methods for this next challenge."
There's value in this, largely because I don't think I can handle staying underwater for long periods of time. Or rather, I don't want to stay underwater for long periods of time.
Anyways, we're at our target objective. The two men we were scheduled to greet stand outside of their business, see us coming, and wave.
Handshakes all around.
"Hi!" I say brightly. "I'm here to buy a boat!"
…
[Yule Ball]
…
We returned to England a day before the ball started.
Most damningly, we did not have a date.
You're T-minus twenty hours until the dance and you don't have a date.
I was buying a boat!
NO EXCUSES
The paperwork took forever and we had to subtly hex the people involved to get it to work, but yeah…shit.
We stand up during breakfast and cast the loudening charm on ourself.
I stand up and then stand on my seat. "Ahem. Attention everyone, I have a request I need to make."
The great hall falls silent, though some Gryffindors are making "ah not again" faces.
"I have spent my time preparing for the second task and thus have not secured a date for the Yule Ball. Anyone interested in going?"
There is now stunned silence as everyone is amazed at how blasé we are about breaking tradition.
Most of them never even saw the tradition happen.
Eventually a small Ravenclaw third year raises her hand.
"Thank you, you're awesome. Outside of the great hall an hour before it starts?" I just realized I don't know when the ball starts.
She nods.
Best girl? Best girl.
I can't see her face, but best girl, probably.
You have zero social finesse.
It should be obvious by now that my way is paved with money.
I get glares from the rest of the school until the start of the dance. It's only twelve hours, so whatever.
I spend the time prepping the gear for the Second Task.
Which we will describe in another section because you have to do the dance.
Fiiiine…
…
[The Dance]
…
I arrive about an hour and a half early after double-checking the schedule. I wanted to arrive while mounted atop of Daisy the Trusty T-Rex, but McGonagall wouldn't let me.
I'm wearing my dapper but normal black muggle tux, with the addendum of a golden eagle emblazoned on a small, black, over-one-shoulder cape. Gold trims, too.
Over-one-shoulder…
A small cape, yes. I like 'em. I think they look nice. If memory serves I'm mimicking the Durmstrang style a little.
Whatever happened to that swallowtail you bought?
…I lost it. Yeah, lost it.
In other words…
I completely forgot about it and it sat at the bottom of my suitcase for three months. It's a wrinkled mess. Also by that time I already bought the new suit, so, y'know.
…Also I'm hiding a small vial of alcohol beneath it, since I'm not allowed to bring my pouch of weapons with me to the dance.
What's wrong with just packing your wand?
Wind of Sleep is faster.
…
Ah, there she is.
We waited for maybe five minutes.
Wow she's short.
REALLY?
Hey I didn't say it out loud. Don't hold it against me.
She is quite small though…wow.
"Your outfit looks…" How do I put this? "Odd."
Good job.
"I wanted to sneak into the dance when nobody was paying attention." She says matter-of-factly.
Her dress is like…just long enough to qualify as an upscale ballroom gown, and just short enough to give her the mobility needed to not trip over the hems.
Also she has her hair in a ponytail and is wearing a giant fluffy ribbon.
She's so adorable. Can we keep her?
…are we the good guys?
"You're very pretty." Note how I still don't know her name.
Oy. Meta text is my thing.
"Thank you." She says politely. "Shall we go?"
We go and join the other heroes in their procession into the Great Hall.
Yeah I'm slightly mimicking the Durmstrang style. Oh well. Male formal wear are basically military uniforms anyway.
It's quite amazing how many dirty looks we're getting.
They're just jealous of how cute my date is.
Prrretty sure that's not what's going on here. Anyways, as the first dance gets underway…
…
She's a way better dancer than me.
…
Hmm…
Can't quite put my finger on it. She looks familiar.
You don't say.
…
We stayed for about three dances before we(I) needed to take a breather, so we picked a place to sit and got some drinks.
Incidentally, the spot we picked gave us a line of vision to Harry's table.
As expected, Harry and Ron ditched the Patil twins pretty much instantly. Looks like Ron may be fuming…why though? Hermy didn't go with Krum this time.
She went with Fred, which is not, in the grand scheme of things, better for Ron. Kind of.
I guess.
So who did Krum pick?
One of the Gryffindor Quidditch girls.
…I'm shit at names. I need to make a conscious, active effort to learn names or they'll just slide right out of my brain.
So the pairings are Cedric/Cho, Me/This Girl, Harry/Patil1 or Patil2, I don't really know…Hermione/Fred…
I don't particularly care about the other two schools. It's easy to see that Krum's getting requests from all the women while Fleur's getting requests from all the men, while their two friends act as wingman-slash-substitutes when things get rowdy.
…Looks like Krum's going over to Harry and Ron. Given that Krummy's not out with Hermy this time Ron is way more enthusiastic about making friends with the superstar.
"What do you think about Krum?" Our date asks.
We are currently sitting side by side in order to chat, as the great hall is pretty loud at this point.
"Plays good, looks good, not much beyond that." I say carelessly. "Not my problem."
"Not your problem?" She repeats quizzically. "What do you mean?"
Well I mean "we're competing in the same event, apart from that I don't particularly care what his personal traits are like."
"Huh." She sips her…whatever it is. "Luna was right. You are weird."
"You're friends with her?"
"Um." WOW the mental backpedaling expressed on her face is immense. "Not…she told me about you this morning."
I think I'm continuing to underestimate how badly ostracized Luna is. Yikes.
I frown. "Who's going to eat you if you were her friend?"
"She pesters people who want to be friends, and then we never get any studying done." She says. "It's not like we don't like her…"
…ok, fair point.
We form a sentence and cut it off before we say it.
…wow I almost asked about her grades.
Why would that be bad?
It's out of character for me. "So everybody just stopped being Luna's friend or something?"
"It's easier than telling her to stop." She huffs.
Hm.
Luna never pesters us when we're practicing.
Might be because I'm never reading…eh, there'll be good chances to get to know her properly next year.
We watch Harry and Ron abandon the premises. Also, question: why are we leaving them alone?
Harry asked us to enjoy ourselves. I think he feels guilty about needing us as a bodyguard despite, y'know, us abusing the title whenever convenient.
Either way, if the two of them are going to do their own thing I'm under no obligation to stop them. Worst case scenario they accidentally crush beetle!Rita or something.
We spend the rest of the night at the party with the girl. It was uneventful.
Though I did make the slightly uncomfortable realization that Holy Shit Hogwarts has a lot of poorly policed quiet corners…I didn't actually see anything happen though.
Maybe this is why they have so many paintings.
Silently judge the students as they sneak off for underage sex? Yeah, makes sense. Kinda. Sorta.
…
So anyways.
…
[2nd Event]
…
Wow that skip.
Let's be honest, nothing important happens for us in the interim beyond, y'know, getting our shit together.
Ugh. In the interim Hagrid's past as a half-giant is out, which we responded with supreme indifference.
The trio didn't care, so why should I?
Another Hogsmeade visit happened.
I literally flew to the US just to buy a boat. Hogsmeade doesn't bother me any.
And everybody knows it. Malfoy was a douche.
Out of my line of sight so not my problem.
Bagman tried to help Harry cheat.
I was actually around for this one, and he offered the same deal (though with a much greater amount of reluctance) to me. Harry turned him down instantly.
And we…?
My response was "Dude I bought a boat" to which Bagman had no suitable response.
The trio tries to convince Hagrid that being half-giant was no big deal. They insistently dragged us along for this one.
Note that for most of these events I have been off campus for as many hours as I can manage so as to practice on my boat. That they managed to find me was quite fortuitous of them.
We went down to Hagrid's, and the trio tried to use friendly logic.
I go "I'm not sure why you're sulking, it's kind of obvious in hindsight."
Obviously that, y'know, doesn't help me make friends.
"Besides, why should you care what they think about you?" Is my next point. "Or do you believe that they're actually superior to you?"
Being confrontational doesn't get me anywhere, but at least Hagrid grumbles about how I'm overthinking things, so that's nice.
"What's wrong with being a big and awesome?" I (very obviously) pretend to be confused. "It's not like any of them can do half the things you do."
The trio seizes on that kind of logic, where Hagrid has no reason to be ashamed of his badassery, and eventually they convince Hagrid to return to his duties.
He doesn't trust us still. I feel like it's less about him being a half giant, though…
…
In any case, we are now standing on the pier of the great lake.
Right. So. The event.
First off, the organizers have a spell casted onto the surface of the lake so the people can watch what's going on underneath it (I asked McGonagall about it) and it's so damn cool.
Second, unlike everybody else, Cedric and I are dressed warmly. Everybody else is dressed in swimwear.
"You…do realize we'll have to swim, right?" Harry asks me nervously.
"I got it covered." I grin in reply. Cedric, who I did not brief on the plan beyond 'don't worry about swimwear', glances about in slight confusion.
As do most people. We're by far attracting the most curious glances for our supposed lack of preparation.
So, the second event. Much like the first, it is about fetching something important from underneath the waves. Unlike canon, the time limit is five hours instead of one. This leads me to believe that the targets are hidden either deeper into the lake or are somehow less visible.
Either way, this means that the main guys are going to have some problems. Especially Harry.
Neville only brought enough Gillyweed for an hour's worth.
Harry did as much practice with bubblehead as he could (thanks to my meddling) so he can maintain about twenty minutes with the spell before needing to recast. He will need to resurface in order to recast though. Hermione could keep her air almost indefinitely, but comparatively speaking she's a less capable swimmer.
We bought him a watch for Christmas on the assumption that he will need it. We got one for ourselves, Ced, and Hermione too.
I'm so used to smartphones by now that having a real watch on my wrist ends up feeling quite odd…last time I wore a watch was in…what, middle school?
Not much age difference then.
Yeah. "Alright, good luck to you guys. Don't forget to come up for air." I wave cheerily to Harry and Hermione.
"Do you actually have a plan?" Hermione asks me. "I'm genuinely worried."
The whistle blows.
"Yeah, I do."
I raise my wand and perform the summoning charm while the rest of them head into the water.
"Um." Cedric wonders after a few seconds.
"Just give it a little." I reassure him as a-ha.
A small radio flies into our hands.
Just in the nick of time. I flip it on. "Ground unit to Delivery, are you in place?"
I hear an "OH JEEZ" followed by a thud.
It sounds like the person on the other end fell off of his seat.
Yeah. "You ok over there?"
"Just surprised." Sirius replies with a hint of indignation. Also he's too far from the radio and is compensating by shouting. "Is it time?"
"It's time. Fly it in, buddy."
…
The spectators to the sport then get to see the Flying Van of America deliver a comparatively massive seafaring vessel into the lake.
Some of them go "hey I recognize that Van!"
Said vessel had the words "United States Coast Guard" emblazoned on its side…I forgot to buff that out. Damn.
So…
Over the break I went boat shopping.
…And what did you get?
A United States Coast guard Cape-Class Cutter patrol boat, Type B configuration. It's a pretty old boat, decommissioned after the US switched to newer models, and we paid a premium to get it fixed up for today. It's equipped with state of the art (civilian) sonar and underwater Search and Recover equipment, and the two of us (though it's mostly Sirius) made sure to enchant the boat to hell and back so it can enter the Hogwarts barrier unchanged.
And we know how to operate that equipment.
I put as many hours into it as possible. I probably can't repair any kind of damage or do any kind of serious maintenance on it, but flipping a switch and interpreting the readouts I can do…with reasonable accuracy.
And the government was ok with you buying it.
Well I mean it's old and decommissioned, so as long as we…uh…faked the paperwork, it was fine.
It still has its armaments, though I purposefully ignored purchasing ammo for the time being. Not like I need to work the guns after this event anyway, though.
And as far as the US Government is concerned, the ship we're using is now off their grid and they won't have any idea what happened to it.
Oh dear lord.
It's not like I bought a massive luxury cruiser or something.
…Would you have?
With a price tag of 400 million? I'm uh…considering it. It might be better to get my hands on an actual warship blueprint or something though. Less paperwork.
I don't even know anymore dude
Over the summer I'm going to be upgrading my little boat as a pet project, because, y'know, why the fuck not.
Ugh. Anyways.
Yes.
"Oh, ok." Cedric shakes out of his shock. "So you brought a boat."
"Yep. I'm not in the mood to swim and searching underwater for five hours sounds like a chore." I laugh. "Hop in."
We do end up wading out to the ship in order to board it though. Also, does it have a name?
Dagger.
Boring. For those wondering…
Yeah, yeah…for every space 4x game I play the first ship of the smallest class is always either named or of the type Dagger. Always. Second ship is always Dart.
Like I say, booring.
IN ANY CASE
Cedric follows me onto the boat as the judges rule that technically we're not breaking any rules, and I start driving the thing deeper into the lake.
I enchanted the boat to move without needing to turn on the engine, since I'm not sure if turning on propellers with children in the water is a good idea.
"So you really did come prepared." Cedric marvels. "Wasn't this supposed to be about our own capability?"
"Preparation is a skill, too." I laugh. "There's no such thing as a lone wolf hero."
"Really." Cedric chuckles. "Should a Gryffindor be saying that?"
"We should be the first ones to say that." I grin. "We're about to start operations…put on that diving suit."
"Put…what?"
Cedric is suitably confused.
"That." I gesture to the black diving suit plus breathing apparatus and enchanted headlights (because fuck yeah™). It doesn't glow red, white, and blue though. That would just be annoying. "You're the one going underwater."
"You did warn me about this, I suppose." Cedric sighs and does as he's told.
We also gave Cedric a…line? Connected to the ship. It's enchanted to pass sound clearly through the line, so it's basically a telephone but without the need to worry about losing clarity.
Fred n'George's extendable ears, but a year early and a good mile long in length.
I passed out after making it, so it better be good. I made a total of five of these.
In any case, I'm both driving (kinda) and watching the sonar display.
Five minutes in, we have a ping.
A…
So obviously the equipment is enchanted as well. In this case, the sonar returns a positive ping whenever it finds a biological object that has magic applied to it. Theoretically we should find our targets just fine, but obviously if we're getting a ping this close to the coast it's gonna be way harder than expected.
Either way, it's good experience for Cedric, so he gets in there.
Complete with the whole 'roll backwards out of the boat' thing.
He seems to be having fun.
Or something.
And what are we doing?
Uh…up here, chilling in a boat, letting Ceds do all the hard work.
…I should have installed a cocoa machine or something. There is a stove though…hm. I could put on some tea.
…So to recap…
The first task was about creativity. The second? Money.
…
After a few minutes, Cedric comes back up with predictably nothing.
So we move deeper into the lake, and the pattern repeats itself for the next hour.
…
"I don't think I realized how dark the lake could be." Cedric gripes.
"There's probably a spell involved." I agree…though I don't quite know what the lighting of a freshwater lake is supposed to be. "Or else there are just some seriously deep sections." Like the sections that house a giant fucking squid.
"Yeah." He sips the mug of tea in his hands. "Is this how muggles search for things underwater?" He asks suddenly. "We wizards don't usually do things like these."
Eh…it's close? "I certainly took my inspiration from muggle parties." I nod. "It's easier to do something like this when working as a pack."
Cedric chuckles. "I like it. Better than having nothing to warm myself up." He stretches. "Ok, I'm going back in."
We've found multiple pings below us in several clusters, so Cedric has been checking them one by one.
"Yep, good hunting." I wave as he dives in again.
So what are we doing with our spare time?
Given the sheer amount of free time I have, I've been crafting flashbang ammo. Reason is, I've been racking my brain over what could be in the water to threaten us, and I'm fairly certain there are other threats besides the squid, though their names escape me at the moment.
So obviously our counter against the active threats is to use the mounted .50 caliber machine gun and chase them away. If we were to use live ammo there's a pretty good chance we'd catch Cedric in the crossfire (nevermind the reduced effectiveness on ammo under water) so I'm crafting specialized flashbang rounds for use underwater. I've made like a hundred rounds in the past half-hour, but considering the firing rate for a Browning…yeah, it's not good.
…?
Someone's surfacing.
…
It's Harry! And…he seems to be flailing a bit.
"Need a little help?" I call out to him.
No response, just splashes.
So we get a lifesaver and toss it to him.
He flails, touches the ring, and grabs on for dear life. He gets reeled in.
"Thanks." Harry…oh wow those are some pretty nasty looking bites on your leg.
"Sure." I help him up and inside the cabin, where I get the first aid kit to do some first aid. "Found your thing yet?"
"Nothing. I can't see five feet in front of me." He grumbles. "Bubblehead is wonderful but it doesn't help much in the sight department."
No surprises there.
We go out to wait for Hermione.
True to form she shows up about a minute later with the same bite marks.
"Are there piranhas in there?" I ask out of half curiosity and half fear because fucking hell magic piranhas.
"Grindylows." Hermione seethes. "Nasty little buggers." She rubs her legs and oh lordy they're bleeding.
We hurry to clean and bandage them.
That's pretty much the extent of my first aid knowledge.
"I feel like this might not be allowed in the rules." Hermione mutters as her attention shifts away from her leg and onto the boat around her.
The Judges already ruled it ok, but "if they come down on me after the fact then it's my problem." I shrug. "While we're at it, how about we break the rules further?"
Hermione is obviously critical of my suggestion while Harry could care less. "What do you have in mind?" she asks cautiously.
"We work together." I say simply. "I have a home base, and the rest of you have four more hours in the water."
"Deal." Harry said quickly, earning a dirty look from Hermy. "What?" He defends himself. "It's not like we were making progress."
"What's the spirit of interhouse cooperation if we're not allowed to cooperate, right?" I grin. "Besides, you're already an accomplice." I gesture to her mug of tea.
Hermy glares at us. "I agree with you, but that doesn't mean I'm agreeing with you." She grumbles. "Though I'd much rather finish finding what we're searching for before the sun sets." She adds in a defeated tone.
We get the two of them suited up and we're on our way again.
Hermione looks quite good in a skin-tight diving suit.
Harry, too.
Covering all your bases I see. Also the suits are not skin-tight.
Spoilsport.
…
With three divers, the search goes faster and we cover a much larger set of potential targets, but…
After another hour, still no dice.
Ugh.
We're pretty far into the lake now, though the sheer size of it makes me think an enchantment might be involved somehow.
…Either way, I really should have stocked on more tea or something.
Harry, Hermy, and Ceds are resting on the tail end of the ship when Harry notes a small disturbance on the water surface. Though Cedric doesn't notice, he does see the sudden change in Harry's demeanor and opt to request support.
"Ash! Come quick!" Cedric calls out suddenly.
We're in the bridge, which is facing the front of the boat.
It's not a big boat so I have no problems hearing the call and getting a move on. "What's up?"
"I see something in the water, I think." Harry says with squinted eyes. He's staring out at the water surface but for the life of me I have no idea what he's looking at.
His motion sense is really good.
No kidding.
Well, it could be anything, it could be nothing. "Get down there and check it out." I order. "Take a harpoon gun with you."
A what now
Harpoon gun…but we don't have harpoons, so it's more like a bangstick. It discharges a small orb that explodes with a lot of light.
This is a sporting event not a hunting trip.
The three of them hurriedly take a gun each and dive right in, following in on Harry's lead.
I…make the executive decision to turn the boat around and point one of the .50 cal machine guns in their general direction.
And then I go about practicing actually loading the machine gun with the ammo and then realize I have no fucking clue what I'm doing.
You're quite prepared I see.
I spent my time learning how to work the electronics, so kindly fuck off.
Har. Eventually we get pissed and just enchant the ammo into a belt and feed it into the gun that way.
…
[3rd Person Camera, Underwater]
…
Harry's diving team hit the water and immediately began swimming towards the point where Harry saw the stream of bubbles.
Harry, by virtue of being the first in line, homes in on the trail of bubbles rising to the water surface and dives down after the source. Soon enough, he sees two shapes illuminated by his headlight.
It was Fleur and her partner, and the two were under attack by a veritable swarm of Grindylows.
They must've swum too closely to the weeds. Harry deduces before bringing his gun to bear. Behind him, Hermione and Cedric bring up their weapons as well.
With several discharges of light towards the Grindylows, the three of them chases away the Grindylows and head in to rescue Fleur and her teammate.
They didn't leave. Hermione notes with worry as Cedric and Harry carry one Beauxbaton contestant each and start swimming for the surface.
True to her observation, the Grindylows were simply swimming around the contestants as if looking for a new opportunity to strike.
Cedric was the only one with the care and practice to bring a line with him, and he radioes home like a good little boy. "Ash, we're surrounded by Grindylows. They're not going to let us surface."
"Roger that, paving the way." Ash replies readily and arms his 50 cal. "Watch yourselves, I can't see where I'm aiming." He depresses his trigger.
That sounds unsafe. Cedric can't help but think.
Suddenly, explosive Light Bullets streak into the lake and explode at random in the water. Ash wasn't very good at this whole bullet making business.
Still, it gets the job done. Scared by the lights, the Grindylows make a hasty retreat. While not leaving entirely, they respect a significantly larger portion of the water around the swimmers and do not approach as the diving team returns to the surface.
…
[1st Person Camera]
…
That went well. The three of them haul the two girls on board without further incident…wow.
Fleur and her teammate have serious wounds on their body.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't Grindylows eat people?
Occasionally, yes.
…So why are they in the lake?
Probably because they have enough tamable intelligence for the Merfolk to keep them in check.
Ok, sure. I'll take it.
We rouse the two of them and see to their injuries.
In this case, 'we' actually involves Cedric. He has far more experience with healing injuries magically than the rest of us, and makes the most contribution in putting the girls back together.
With their wounds handled and after a little deliberation, the two girls decide to join our merry band of divers in our search and rescue, because it beats getting eaten by the fucking Grindylows, or, worse, being forced to retire from the event.
How is that worse?
I dunno. But with our team of five, we now go deeper into the lake.
…Wait, no, make that seven. Durmstrang saw our boat like thirty seconds ago and was like 'hey we want on' and we went 'ok'.
Um…
…that's really what happened. The two of them have been underwater for the entire time searching, and finding nothing, and so they got frustrated as their transformations wore off. We had a boat, they wanted a place to sit, good for everybody.
…
After four hours and thirty minutes of near constant searching, we finally find what could be our targets (a large blob of pings) in the…not dead center of the lake.
Props to the folk involved; they really tried to make the group as well hidden as possible. Or something. The location is underneath some kind of guard that made it undetectable from radar. Cedric saw it more or less by chance.
Thus, like the manager I am, I park the boat, get everyone geared up, and task them to go underwater for hostages. And, like the manager I am, I get some hot chocolate ready, 'cuz that's kind of all I have left.
Harry's group descends, with three of them (the three NPCs) on cover duty while the four named characters secure the abductees.
The after action report suggests that the Merfolk put up token resistance, in the vein of 'well you do have to work a little for it' kind of way. Nothing major. When the force came back, the people that needed to be rescued were pretty much the ones that we went dancing with, Ron aside.
…Makes me wonder if every event following the Yule Ball is a 'rescue the hostage' type of mission, because if it were that'd be really stupid. Well, I guess it wouldn't be stupid, it would just be depraved.
Regardless, everyone gets back on board, get blankets, some nice hot choco, and we head back to the docks, no muss, no fuss.
I get booed.
Now why might that be?
…
Final results: everyone gets the same score but me. I'm down 3 points compared to everyone else.
The explanation was that "you showed a great spirit of cooperation and magnanimity by sharing our available resources and demonstrated great leadership in organizing the effort" but, according to Karkaroff, "otherwise sat on your ass and did nothing."\
In more diplomatic terms.
He's entirely correct, though. There was a lot of downtime that I passed by just lounging around and reading in the wonderful English weather.
Harry Potter?
That would've been interesting on many levels, but no.
…
And thus ends event two!
Wait what
.
.
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{ === + === }
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein