Capítulo 97: Girl at the Bottom of the Lake
Neville and his friends skipped breakfast the day of the task. With Hermione at home, Rose missing as usual, and Harry eating with Ellie, only four of them walked to the lake.
"I don't suppose anyone knows where Luna is, do they?" Sally-Anne asked.
"Ask Neville," Ginny grumbled.
"Why would he know?" Ron asked.
"Never mind that," Sally-Anne said. "I'm sure she'll be here, as Hermione would were she able. As for Rose, I'm sure Professor Dumbledore knows exactly where she is." She directed her perpetual smile at Neville. "So there will be plenty of us cheering you on."
"Shouldn't you be cheering on Krum?" Ginny asked.
"I can be friends with more than one champion."
Neville wasn't much in the mood for talking. With gillyweed, he wouldn't have much trouble, but he still worried. He didn't know how he'd carry the sword. If the gillyweed wore off before the task ended, which was a possibility, he'd be in trouble.
"Good morning," Luna said, coming up alongside them. "How are all of you this morning?"
Neville smiled at Luna, the eternal optimist. She frowned for a moment, then smiled at him when she saw him smiling.
"Good luck today, Toad," Luna said.
"Thanks."
She pulled something out of her bag and handed it to him. It was some sort of leather strap. Looking closer, there were runes etched into it.
"What is it?"
"Put that over the hilt of the Sword of Gryffindor. Squeeze it as tightly as you can, and it will activate a propulsion charm that dispels itself when it finds air. I thought it would help if you got stuck underwater today."
Neville drew the sword from his glove. He slid Luna's gift over the hilt as she'd instructed. It didn't interfere with the vine tied to the hilt, but sat just under the blade.
"You should tie your vine around your waist," Luna said. "Just in case."
"Thanks," Neville said, wrapping the vine around his waist. "I hadn't thought of that."
She wrinkled her nose, but her cheer returned moments later.
"Who told you about it?" Ginny snapped.
"Ginny!" Sally-Anne hissed. She turned to Luna and smiled apologetically. "Never mind her, Luna. It was very sweet of you to make something to help Neville."
Luna's own unending smile met Sally-Anne's. No matter how hard he tried, Neville couldn't bring himself to smile. He just didn't feel up to it. There was too much to keep his mind occupied.
"Isn't he not allowed to use anything other than the sword?" Ginny asked.
"He's allowed to use the vine tied to it," Ron said. "Why would a sleeve be different?"
Professor McGonagall met them at the lake and escorted his friends away. Taltria and Alavel met him shortly after and brought him to a large platform over the lake. Not far from him, he saw a long series of stands. It was to there that McGonagall had brought his friends. He looked out at them, hoping to see them and feel a little more hope. Instead, he couldn't spot them.
At least forty people had gathered on the stands, but Neville didn't see his friends among them. He scanned along the stands again, but only spotted Harry and Ron. Sally-Anne, Ginny, and Luna were all missing.
"Something wrong?" Cedric asked, sitting down beside him.
"Can't find my friends."
"I'm sure they'll turn up." Cedric looked over at the stands. "They're probably… right… there." His eyes darted between both ends of the stand. "That's weird. Cho was sitting right there a moment ago. Now I don't see her."
Neville looked up and down the stands, hoping to find anyone else he recognized. With Rose and Hermione missing, he didn't see any other friendly faces.
"Anthony's gone too," Cedric said. "Herbert's right there, so at least…" Cedric blinked, then rubbed his eyes. "What?"
Neville followed Cedric's gaze, but didn't see anyone he recognized.
"Now Herbert's gone."
"Who?"
"Anthony and Herbert. They're the Beaters for Hufflepuff?"
A picture of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team formed in Neville's head.
"Okay."
"We all tried out for the team together. We've been best friends since our first year, but… they just vanished."
Neville didn't know what to think. His best friends were all vanishing, just before he was about to dive underwater and face some sort of giant whirlpool.
Looking back to Cedric, he found the older boy frowning. He tapped three fingers on his leg.
"Neville, if you don't mind me asking, who are your four best friends?"
"Rose, Luna, Ginny, I suppose, although she's been acting weird lately. Probably Sally-Anne."
"Do you see any of them there?"
"I haven't seen Rose since she told us about Hermione." Neville glanced over at the stands. "But I walked here with Luna, Ginny, and Sally-Anne, but now they're all gone." He pointed towards the stands. "I see Ron and Harry there, but the girls are all gone."
"Like I said, Herbert and Anthony have been my best friends since first year, but they're gone. Cho's my girlfriend, and she's gone." His eyes moved between the stands again. "What's going on with Hermione?"
"She's… actually, we're not really supposed to talk about it."
"Is she alright?"
"I don't know. Rose and Professor Dumbledore said they're handling it, but I haven't heard anything in weeks. I guess that means she's alright."
Cedric nodded. "Would you mind letting me know if you hear something?"
"I guess."
"Thanks."
They both turned their attention back to the stands, where more people had amassed. Even then, there was still no sign of his friends.
The platform creaked a little as more people joined them. Professor Dumbledore, accompanied by Professor Karkaroff and Viktor, joined them on the platform. Viktor took a seat beside them.
"Neville," Viktor said, "you are being friends with Princess, yes?"
"Sure."
"Are you knowing where she is?"
"No, I was just saying, I can't find her."
"See if you can find any of your four closest friends," Cedric said. "I've got a theory."
"Of course, my friend. You are being brain of operation. Always having theory."
Viktor turned his attention to the stands. No emotion showed on his face. He could've been horrified, and Neville wouldn't have known.
"Andrei and Vlad, other Seekers at Durmstrang, are missing. They may be up to no good by themselves, but they would not miss this. I am not seeing Nikolai either." He turned his attention back to Cedric. "What is theory?"
"There were four hostages in the orb," Cedric said, "and our four closest friends are missing. I think we're going to have to bring them all back."
"But Viktor and me are both friends with Sally-Anne," Neville said. "Did they just assume we wouldn't have any friends in common?"
Cedric frowned. "I don't know. There must be more to it."
They glanced over at Fleur as she arrived. She sat down a few feet away from them.
"Is she knowing what's coming?" Viktor asked.
"She should," Cedric said, "since I told her a week ago."
Viktor glowered at Cedric.
"Just because she didn't want to work with us doesn't mean we shouldn't be willing to work with her," Cedric said. "I just told her about the riddle, not how to solve it."
Neville glanced over at Fleur and saw her frowning at the stands. Like each of them had, she was looking for her friends that weren't there.
"It's our four closest friends," Cedric called down to her. "They're all missing."
Fleur took another look at the stands, then moved closer to them.
"Vhat do you know?"
"Cho, Herbert, and Anthony are missing," Cedric said. "My fourth friend's probably Hermione, a girl from Neville's year, but he said she's having problems at home."
"Not exactly, but—"
"I'm not sure I vould call Gabrielle my friend, but she ees my leetle seester, and should be right there in zhe stands. Michele and Adele are also meesing, and zhey 'ave been my friends seence our first year. Jean ees not my closest friend, but 'e 'as, 'ow you say, grown on me. He was there not a moment ago."
"Welcome to club," Viktor said. He leaned towards Cedric. "Am I saying that right?"
"Perfect."
Neville looked back at the stands one more time before he saw Professor Dumbledore drawing his wand. He pressed it to his throat and shouted.
"Welcome everyone, to the second task of the Triwizard Tournament!"
The crowd erupted in applause and the four champions stood up.
"As some of you know, Mr. Bagman is still recovering from his unfortunate accident, so you'll all have to enjoy the pleasant sound of my voice explaining the event."
Neville offered a weak smile at Dumbledore's joke, but couldn't bring himself to laugh.
"This morning, the champions have found that they are each short a few special people. One person for each of them lays at the bottom of the lake, guarded by untold horrors. Each champion must journey to the bottom of the lake, collect their hostage, and return to the surface within an hour. The faster they return, the more points they will receive!"
Professor Dumbledore turned to them, and Neville took the gillyweed out of his belt.
"Once again, each champion was given the option of carrying a single tool into the task, and they have each made the same choice." He paused while the crowd applauded. "Champions, are you ready?!"
Each of them crouched down and prepared to dive into the lake.
Neville shoved the gillyweed in his mouth and felt slimy tentacles reach down his throat and begin to take effect.
"BEGIN!"
Neville dived into the lake. The frigid water sent shivers down his body. His hands changed to flippers and gills sprouted on his neck. He took a breath and felt fresh air enter his lungs.
Pushing forward, Neville strained his memory to recall the way to the platform. He caught glances of the other champions, all of whom were racing in the same direction, and fell into line with them.
Fleur, who bore a bubble of air around her mouth and nose, held the lead without trouble. Cedric wasn't far behind her and used the same charm. Viktor had taken an alternative approach, having transfigured his head into that of a shark's. Despite his strength, Viktor ended up off course more than once. Every time he did, Cedric would catch his attention and bring him back.
Not only was Cedric keeping an eye on Viktor, Neville noticed that he was keeping an eye on him too. Every few minutes, Cedric glanced back at Neville. Neville tried to stay focused on finding the platform with the hostages.
Just as the underwater ruins from the orb came into view, so did the mines. They floated in place, suspended by magic. Despite their size, there was enough space between them for each champion to navigate without trouble. Once they came into view, all four of them sped towards the platform, no longer concerned about the others.
The platform itself stood in the middle of the ruins. It remained void of people, adorned by four empty poles and surrounded by a series of symbols. Apart from that, Neville didn't see anyone or anything in the ruins.
Fleur reached the platform first, followed close behind by Viktor and Cedric. As each one arrived, they vanished from sight.
Neville swam closer, trying to take in every detail, keeping an eye out for traps. As none of the other champions had left the platform, he had to assume he was supposed to enter it.
When he entered the platform, four people appeared on the poles, all unconscious.
Princess was tied to the left-most pole, then Ginny hung next to her. After her was Luna, then…
"Rose," he breathed, startled by the fact that he could speak underwater. He swam towards her, but more movement caught his attention.
Golden letters, much like the ones on the orb, appeared in the water above the poles.
Three are fake
One is real
I guess that's what Professor Dumbledore meant by one person.
After another moment, the letters disappeared, replaced by an image of a clock. Neville figured it was the current time, reminding him exactly how long he had to figure out the newest riddle.
How am I supposed to tell who's real?
He looked from one to the other, but he couldn't think of anything. Part of him wanted to wait; maybe another clue would appear with the other one.
After a minute, the only difference Neville noticed was that he was getting tired. He shook his head to stay awake, then swam up to Princess. Even unconscious, she didn't look half bad. Her hair floated freely above her, but that's when Neville saw it.
"Hold on… she hasn't got her ribbon," he said. "She's always got her ribbon."
Neville swam back as her eyes shot open, revealing empty white behind them. She stared at him for a moment before vanishing, leaving the pole empty, and three people left.
"I did it!" Neville took a moment to catch his breath. Why was he so tired? Was it something to do with being underwater? Some side effect of the gillyweed?
Just finish this up, and I can go back to bed, Neville told himself.
He swam over to Rose next. He knew her better than Luna or Ginny, and knew what she had on her. Although, he'd hardly seen her since the ball. She could've changed in the past few months, and he wouldn't know. He checked over everything Rose had: black and red boots, pink and black goggles, black welding gloves, black dress, ruby amulet, her bracelet with four charms on it, her belt, even her circlet. It was all there.
After looking over Rose for a long, grueling minute, Neville moved on to Luna. He stole a glance at the clock on his way over. Thirty-five minutes left. He still had time, but couldn't find anything off about Luna. Moving on to Ginny didn't yield results either, and he was exhausted.
He looked between the three girls. His three closest friends. If they were supposed to be his closest friends, then maybe his best friend would be the real one.
"Rose!" he called. "I choose Rose!"
Rose opened her eyes, revealing empty white, and screamed. Neville covered his ears. Her voice sounded like someone raking their fingernails over a chalkboard.
She stopped and vanished, leaving Neville winded. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath. When that didn't work, Neville forced himself up and swam over to the remaining two hostages.
Luna didn't look that different from the way she usually did. With her naturally pale complexion, she looked like a ghost in the water. He swam back to Ginny, looking at her closely. He watched her face for a moment before seeing it.
"Her freckles," he panted. "They're missing."
Neville held his breath. His eyes darted to Luna, but her eyes didn't open. Instead, Ginny's eyes opened, revealing the telltale white of a fake. He cut Luna down from her pole and started the swim back towards the surface.
As Neville swam away from the platform, the mines came back into view. He saw Cedric ahead of him, and barely made out Fleur ahead of him. Neville swam as fast as he could, but the exhaustion he'd felt on the platform stayed with him. Dragged down by Luna, he didn't make it far from the platform when the water started to move.
The first sign of trouble came when he saw the mines beginning to move. They sailed slowly across his field of view, and he had to swim quickly to avoid one of them. Neville tied the vine on his sword to Luna before he lost her, looking behind him while he did. When he looked up, he saw the beginnings of a whirlpool.
A mine slammed into him, fortunately not detonating on impact. He tore his gaze from the budding maelstrom and swam as fast as he could back towards the surface. Another mine flew at him from his front. He swam above, narrowly avoiding hitting it with either himself or Luna.
As he held tightly to Luna, he remembered her gift. He aimed the sword towards the surface, then realized he didn't know where the starting platform was just yet. Lowering the sword, Neville swam faster, straining himself.
Ahead of him, he saw Cedric struggling to get through the mobile mines. With Luna in one hand, Neville swung the sword through the water with his other. It didn't go far, but it got far enough to detonate a mine on a collision course with Cedric.
Cedric looked back and fired a red beam towards Neville. Neville instinctively brought the sword up to block, but saw the beam wasn't aimed at him. A mine behind him exploded, sending Neville closer to the surface. He used his new momentum to swim up to Cedric and his hostage, Cho. When he got close to him, Neville saw that Cedric was tired too.
After realizing that he couldn't speak, Neville pointed at the sword. He showed Cedric the runes on the hilt, then pointed towards the surface. Neville mouthed the word "platform" and looked questioningly at Cedric.
Cedric nodded, then Neville pointed to the vine. He wrapped it around his wrist, then handed it to Cedric.
Also unable to talk, Cedric simply nodded and pointed ahead of them. Neville looked in the direction and got an idea of where to aim.
With another look at the vine, Cedric proceeded to follow Neville's instructions.
I hope this works, Neville thought, then squeezed the strap as hard as he could.
The sword nearly wrenched free of his grasp. He mentally thanked Luna for making "squeezing it as hard as he could" part of the activation. It pulled he, Luna, Cedric, and Cho closer to the surface, but something pulled back on them. Neville looked back and saw a funnel reaching closer to the ruins. As hard as the sword pulled them towards the surface, the maelstrom pulled almost as hard. They slowly made it away from the storm. Too slowly. Exhausted, Neville couldn't keep his grip on the sword. He looked down at his companions, then had an idea.
In hindsight, probably a bad idea.
He slipped his hand out from the noose that held him and the sword together. The sword shot away from the maelstrom, taking Cedric, Luna, and Cho with it.
Neville grinned, still fighting for every inch against the maelstrom.
A mine slammed into him and exploded, cutting his celebration short. Dazed, he struggled against the force of the maelstrom, uncertain of which way to fight.
Luna snapped awake the moment she broke the surface. Cheers from the crowd filled her ears, although it was soon drowned out by pelting of rain on water. She struggled to remember where she was. The last thing she remembered was Rose pulling her aside, as Professor Flitwick had told her she'd do, and casting hibernate on her. Around her, she saw Cedric and Cho, the latter of whom she also knew to be one of the hostages.
<Swim to the platform, Moon.>
Following Tutela's instructions, Luna swam closer to the platform that held Rose, Tutela, Taltria, and Alavel. She tried use her nose to clear her head, but the only scent she got was that of seawater.
"What was that Neville did?" Cedric asked her as he swam alongside. "With the sword? He squeezed it and—"
"It worked!" Luna exclaimed.
"That was your idea?"
Luna nodded as Alavel hoisted her onto the platform, where she realized Neville's sword was tied to her wrist. Before she had time to dwell on it, her sister hurled a towel at her. Luna untied the sword, then sat down beside Rose. Princess moved aside to give her space.
"That was brilliant," Princess said, shouting to be heard over the rain. "I can't believe you made something like that."
"What happened?"
"Toad used your strap thing to get you out," Rose said. "It wasn't strong enough to bring all four of you against the maelstrom, so he untied himself and let you all get away."
Luna's heart sank. She looked out over the lake and saw images of Toad and Fleur.
"Greater scrying with the lake as my focus," Rose said, answering her unasked question.
Luna looked out at the image of Toad, which remained unaffected by the rain. He fought against the maelstrom that Luna could see clearly towards the center of the lake. As it grew wider, he progressed more slowly. A minute later, Fleur reached the surface, with a girl Luna didn't recognize in tow.
"What's the point of the towels?" Princess asked when Rose hurled two more towels at Fleur and the other girl. "We're still getting pelted by rain."
Rose offered no answer.
Between the noise, her lack of smell, and Toad's possible impending death, Luna felt her hold on reality slipping. She glanced at Rose, but still her mental filing cabinet loomed over her, looking horribly unorganized. Tutela whined and pushed her head between Luna and Princess.
"So much for distracting you two," she said, scratching Tutela's ears. "There's no need to worry. He'll be fine."
Bit by bit, Neville felt the maelstrom's strength lessening. He finally managed to break free of it, and swam as fast as he could straight towards the surface. Only a few minutes remained of the gillyweed. Without knowing how far he was from the starting platform, Neville had to hope that he was close enough to get there before time ran out. His body felt numb from the cold water, but it helped him stay awake.
The sun shone brightly as the maelstrom cleared up. Neville swam towards it, a task made easier by the sun's ever growing brightness. It grew brighter and brighter, and Neville became aware that the gillyweed had worn off. That didn't matter to him; he was almost there.
What did matter was that his lungs were screaming. Neville held his breath as long as he could, but instinct kicked in, and he took a breath. Water filled his lungs, and he coughed underwater. The bright light of the sun faded away.
Stay focused!
Neville forced himself to go towards the surface again. He could barely keep his eyes open. His lungs burned, and he wanted nothing more than to cough the water out of them. The last thing he remembered before losing consciousness was a large, black shape moving towards him.
Luna squeezed Rose's hand as she watched Toad's eyes flutter closed. All at once, sounds and smells flooded her. People shouted from the stands, Princess, Cedric, and Krum all started shouting from the platform, but Rose remained calm.
"It's alright, Moon," she said. "We've got this."
Professor Dumbledore let out the loudest whistle Luna had ever heard. She cringed and clapped her hands to her ears.
When she opened her eyes, she saw something moving just under the surface. A long, slimy tentacle broke through the water and reached towards the platform. The students all backed away from it, no one sure what to make of it. Apart from Rose, who had a huge grin on her face.
"Who needs a kraken?" she asked.
Luna stared wide-eyed at Rose. For that one moment, she wasn't sure if that was her sister sitting next to her.
The tentacle deposited Toad on the platform, then snaked back below the waves. Rose's grin vanished, and she darted over to Toad before anyone else so much as moved.
"Call the task," Rose ordered. "We'll take care of him."
The "we" in question referred to her and Madame Pomfrey, the latter of whom got to Neville's side almost as fast as Rose. She checked him over while Luna and Sally-Anne crowded around him.
"They'll handle it," Dumbledore said to the other champions. "Please, stand back and allow them to work."
To enforce his decision, Taltria and Alavel started shepherding them towards the other end of the platform, closer to the stands.
As the rain died down, Luna's sense of smell returned to her. She took a deep breath in and got smells from everyone on the platform. She picked through the information, looking for something familiar.
The smell of strawberries mixed with lake water entered her nose. It was warm, comforting, just like its source, who took Luna's hand to keep her calm.
"Rose won't let anything happen to him," Princess whispered. "It's going to be alright."
"D'so Thorthen alhel."
Luna caught Rose's voice over the sound of the crowd and Professor Dumbledore informing them that there was no need to worry. A moment later, Toad started coughing and spluttering, and Madame Pomfrey rushed to extract water from him.
Toad climbed shakily to his feet, aided by Madame Pomfrey. As he joined the other champions and scores were announced, Luna and Rose exchanged glances. Luna knew no one else knew what Rose had said, but she did. She'd heard almost the exact phrase in one of her dreams. Except Rose hadn't been standing over Toad, she'd been standing over Princess.
Luna also knew that the maelstrom had been Rose's idea. So for the second time that day, Luna looked at Rose and wondered if she were still looking at her sister.
Because "d'so Thorthen alhel" was Dwarven for "I wish Toad were alive."
Status de energia semanal
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