The Year I Did Not Sign Up For! (Edited)

Under the lake

Harriet stood on a platform over the lake, shivering from head to toe, wearing nothing but a swimsuit. Who the hell came up with the idea to host the task in February? If she found out, she was suing.

Krum seemed relaxed. But then again, the guy went to school in Norway. He was probably used to the cold.

Fleurs lips were turning a similar blue to her bikini. Harriet felt a short pang of pity. Southern France was a rather warm area. She was completely out of her element.

Cedric seemed to be in the same boat as Harriet. Cold, worried and wishing the entire ordeal would be over soon. She also noticed a few bruises on his arm.

The Hogwarts March announced the beginning of the Task. Ludo Bagman, the commentator from the Quidditch world cup that had been held during the last summer, had been hired to commentate the task.

"Hello, and welcome to the second task of the Tri wizard tournament!" Ludo's magically amplified voice boomed, "I hope you're ready, because today our champions are exploring the deep blue of this Lake!"

Harriet wrinkled her nose. The lake was nowhere near blue. It was black as ink and looked mildly threatening. Ludo's voice rang out again after the other students cheering died down.

"They'll be seeking out something they would sorely miss if it went missing! And not just what, who! They only have one hour to find them or they'll be gone forever!"

Gasps ran through the crowd. Harriet and the other champions exchanged frightened looks. Did that mean that someone was actually going to die if they couldn't rescue them in time? Who the bloody hell had come up with this task?!

Bagman then proceeded to explain the other rules. Then came the horns signifying the start of the task. All the champions dived into the lake.

The cold spread through Harriet's body. The only thing keeping her alive was the bubble head charm she had cast. She hurriedly added a warming charm.

The hours practicing with Pansy and Cassie had payed off.

Alright, one hour. She had to move fast. Kicking her legs, she swam in the direction the other champions were heading. Through the mass of sea weed? Lake weed? Whatever it was. Fact was, it was green and looked annoying. Harriet couldn't get through it fast enough.

Once she came out on the other side, the other three were nowhere in sight. Harriet looked around. Had she gotten lost? She dearly hoped not. Hastily she glanced around. No one. She studied her surroundings again.

There had to be something.

There was always something.

There! Slightly to her left was a rock with one of the merpeople's symbols on it! She swam towards it and looked around again. Another one! There was a trail! Kicking her legs she propelled forwards along the marked path. She had to be heading in the right direction. If not - she refused to think about that.

As it turned out, she was.

After a while, and a short swim through a cave, she ended in a clearing full of merpeople. They were carrying spears and looked deadly. At the other end of the clearing four figures floated, held down only by ropes of the weed stuff Harriet had swam through earlier. She used the rocks around the clearing as cover and got as close to them as possible. Her breath left her. It was as if the bubble head charm had suddenly dissapeared. Her blood turned to ice.

Two of the people she recognised, two she didn't but could guess as to who they were: Cho Chang - Cedrics girlfriend, a blond girl who looked very similar to Fleur - definitely her 13 year old sister, a Durmstrang guy she'd seen walking around with Krum - she didn't quite know the relationship there but he was important, and Draco Malfoy - the first friend she had ever made.

A shark shot past her.

Wait, a shark in a lake? She took a second glance.

Krum?! Seriously, had he decided to charge in to save the day with a half assed animagus transfiguration? Krum chomped at the rope keeping the Durmstrang guy at the bottom of the lake. He managed to separate it and towed the guy in the direction of the lake surface by the piece still attached to him.

Next to arrive was Cedric. He swam over to Harriet. He too, had used a bubblehead charm. He showed her his watch. She glanced at it. Ten minutes. Good to know. She nodded to show she understood. Cedric quickly swam over to Cho, untied the rope keeping her down and pulled her in the surface direction.

Harriet looked around, where was Fleur?

Just as she'd been about to give up and free both Draco and Fleurs sister. Fleur swam into the clearing. She looked like a mess. Like she'd been attacked. Harriet sent her a questioning look. She gave a dismissive nod in return. Together they swam upward, holding their respective rescuee.

The broke through the surface gasping for air. And swam to the nearest platform. Immediately helping hands pulled them out of the water and they were wrapped in fluffy towels. The timer zeroed.

"That concludes the second task folks!" Bagmans voice boomed, "We'll let the judges make their decision and then get back to you!"

Harriet leaned against Seamus who had shoved his way through the crowd to give her a hug. She was exhausted and hungry. She dearly hoped the judges would get on with giving the scores.

Seamus held on to Harriet as tightly as he could. She was shivering violently. Seriously what had they been thinking, holding this task in February? Harriet could have hypothermia! She could get sick! Did these people think?

Harriet snuggled closer to Seamus. He was warm. Warm was good.

Fleur was piling towels onto her sister and waving away a frustrated Madam Pomfrey, who was trying to check on her injuries.  As far as Harriet knew, they were Grindelow bites.

Cedric and Cho were sharing several towels.

Krum and his fellow student each had one towel wrapped around them and we're joking around.

Draco was affronted at being fussed over by Pansy, Hermione and  (suprisingly) Professor Snape, who -  after making sure Draco was not dying - came to check on Harriet aswell, muttering something about the 'tournament being a bloody mess' and 'why the hell would they let someone under 17 compete' and 'curse the old sack and shove poison up his ass'. Harriet came to the conclusion that Snape was livid. Ready to murder, if you will. There was no other reason for him to be cursing like that.

Not to mention it was terrifying that their normally monotone teacher suddenly had expressions of - dare they even think it - emotion.

"You just heard Snape curse, right?" Seamus asked her horrified as they watched him stalk off, his robes billowing behind him, making him look more bat- like than usual.

The points were as followed:
Fleur Delacour: 35, for perseverance although she was severly injured. Fleur chose the announcement as a good time to pass out.
Viktor Krum: 36, for a spectacular display of skill in transfiguration.
Harriet Potter: 38, for making sure all the hostages were safe and recognition of the merpeople's symbols.
Cedric Diggory: 40, for saving another champions life and being smart enough to wear a watch. Apparently he had rescued Fleur from the Grindelow attack.

Harriet noticed she was joint first place with Cedric overall. The next task would be a tie breaker. Not that that mattered. Not at all!