Harry Riddle || Harry potter

Chapter 30: Harry Riddle vs The Sea Monster

Harry stared at the wide expanse of water before him, trying to maintain his outward calm. The chamber that they had walked into had four walls and a ceiling, but the floor was nearly nonexistent. There was a bit of a rocky shore on either side of the room, by the doorway they had just come through and the closed door they would have to exit through, but for the most part it looked like it opened up onto an underground lake.

"This looks easy," said Neville, sounding immensely relieved. The Hufflepuff was standing by a simple, wooden rowboat that was pushed up on the shore. Two paddles were strewn on the ground next to it.

Harry scowled at him. "Don't be stupid!" he hissed. "It's can't be as simple as it seems to be on the surface!"

"But—" began Neville, gesturing wildly at the boat and paddles.

"But nothing. A giant, three-headed dog, Devil's Snare, and airborne killer keys, only to lead to an innocent little lake? It's some sort of trap."

"I agree with Harry!" said Hermione promptly.

"Of course you do," Draco muttered under his breath. Hermione shot a glare in his direction before continuing.

"It's logical, isn't it?" she said. "And it's in keeping with the pattern of the traps. All of them – well, not counting the Cerberus, of course, but anyway – all of them seemed rather innocuous at first glance. A plant, some flying keys . . ."

Draco snorted. "Innocuous, maybe, but keys with wings aren't a normal sight, even in the Wizarding World."

"I didn't say they were 'normal'," Hermione hissed, annoyed at the constant interruptions. Draco rolled his eyes.

"Well . . ." Neville began hesitantly. "We really don't have a choice, do we? Unless we turn back, that is."

All three turned to Harry with questioning eyes.

He was silent for a moment, but finally gritted out: "We've come this far. I don't think this bloody lake can present that much of a problem."

Gathering every ounce of bravery he inherited from his mudblood Gryffindor mother, Harry strode purposely towards the flimsy looking boat and climbed in.

Hermione, Draco, and Neville climbed in after him. The Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff both grabbed paddles and began rowing.

Apprehension fluttered in Harry's chest. He shut his eyes tightly and held them like that for several seconds, fully content to not look at the water that only a thin piece of wood separated him from, but they snapped open when a loud splash echoed through the room.

"What was that?" he asked sharply. Widely dilated eyes glanced around the room.

Hermione gulped and scanned the water with wide eyes. "I don't know," she whispered.

The boat suddenly gave a great jolt, almost as if it was hit by something from below.

Harry's breathing sped up and he went for his wand.

Before he could get it out of its holster, however, the boat collided with something again, and this time, it couldn't stay upright.

Harry's panicked screech caught in his throat as he felt the boat rock violently. A heavy sheet of water splashed onto him just before he felt the boat tilt too much to the left, sending all four children sliding towards the portside. Their weight, combined with whatever was pushing the boat upwards, was too much, and it capsized.

Harry hit the water with a loud splash and immediately began to thrash around. He was unsuccessful in his attempt to keep his head above the water, and began to sink.

Where the hell is that natural buoyancy? thought Harry wildly as his air was cut off. His head slid underwater.

He was out of air, and his vision was blurred. He thought he saw a dark shadow skim past him, but he couldn't be sure.
Suddenly, he felt something grab him and pull him upwards.

A dim light flooded his vision as his head cleared the surface. He gulped in a huge breath and started to doggy paddle to the best of his ability. The pale hand that pulled him to the surface still helped to hold him up. One of the wild thoughts that ran through Harry's mind was that he really should thank Neville, but instead he opted to scream, "What the hell was that? There must be some kind of bloody sea monster in this goddamn water! I knew it wouldn't be easy!" Of all the things that Dumbledore could've chosen as a trap, why did it have to be water? Why?

"We'll just have to—" Hermione was interrupted by a loud yip from Neville.

"Something just brushed past my leg!" he wailed.

"Told you there was a sea monster," Harry hissed in a high, squeaky voice that was so out of character for him that it was almost funny.

They floated there for several more seconds, too afraid to really move, until suddenly Neville's head disappeared beneath the water.

"Neville!" Hermione screeched. She seemed do debate what to do for a split second before diving under the water after him.

Harry glared at Draco. "Get over here and help hold my bloody head above the water," he snapped. Draco raced to comply. "You know I can't swim," he continued to rant.

Hermione's head popped back up. She looked close to tears - or maybe she was in tears. The water made it hard to tell. "I can't find Neville!" she shrieked. "But I saw the monster! It's huge and long with six flippers and it looks sort of like the Loch Ness Monster!"

Harry wasn't very sure what the 'Loch Ness Monster' was, but he had some idea of what sort of creature it was. A Plesiopant was a giant, sea-faring monster that was rather snake-like with six flippers. Harry had read about it in one of the books in Riddle Library. He just couldn't remember how to go about surviving an encounter with one-

All thoughts of defeating the Plesiopant was were thrown out of his mind as Harry felt something wind around his leg and tug. The last thing he heard was Hermione scream his name before his head was pulled underwater.