GOF (XVIII) & The Second Task…

[POV Reo(Edgar)]

I knocked on the door of the Headmistress's office. After my classes were over I was called over by Minnie Gi by some random 7th year Gryff, I kind of had an idea why I was being called.

The door clicked open and I was invited by Minnie Gi's voice. I entered the room and saw that Professor Flitwick was also there along with Minnie Gi. I think I am never gonna stop calling her Minnie Gi... at least not inside my mind, but there is no way I am gonna say that to her face.

"Please take a seat Mr. Ravenclaw" Minnie told me to take a seat. I quickly took the seat, this was the first time I came here after Ol Twinkles was thrown out of Hogwarts. I kind of missed the offer of Lemon Drops... not that I would accept them but it was still nice to get the offer.

"Can I know why I am being summoned?" I decided to feign ignorance. No need to tell them that I knew why I was being called.

"Tomorrow is the 2nd task of the Triwizard Tournament. Now, for the second task, the Champion needs to rescue a hostage to complete the task. You are being selected as the hostage for Miss Roxanne Ravenclaw" Minnie decided not to beat around the bush and directly asked the question.

"There is no pressure... if you deny then we would need to select someone else. But we would have to ask you not to tell Miss Ravenclaw anything about this" Professor Flitwick decided to speak so that he could ease my worries... not that I was worried.

"Is there any risk of..." I began to speak like any other normal 4th year student would.

"Mr. Ravenclaw, there is no need to worry, all the hostages would be protected by wards. We have contacted Gringotts and they have prepared wards around the place where we would be keeping the hostages so that they can easily be rescued in case the Champions fail or some mishap happens" Minnie cut me off, telling me they are getting some wards. I don't remember anything like this happening in the original story or movies. At least, they didn't say or write anything about it.

It also looked like they were stepping around really cautiously. I also knew the reason for this... the elections were over but because of the 2nd task the results were postponed but everyone knew that Nemuri or Vicky Ravenclaw was going to be the next Minister of Magic.

"I agree then, I have no problem but I want to ask how are the participants going to be kept?" I asked, I wanted to know if they are still going to use the stasis spell like they used in the original story.

"It's going to be an advanced stasis spell. The hostages won't even feel any discomfort" Minnie assured me with a rare smile on her face.

"Ok then, let's get this over with" I said, after all, if I don't agree then Momo or Luna might be taken.

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[POV Rumi(Roxanne)]

It was 24th February... the day of the 2nd task. I already knew as of yesterday that Reo was taken, hostage. They might have done that after the classes were over but they hadn't thought that Momo and Luna slept with Reo.

When they didn't find Reo in the room they immediately called me to ask if he was with me. When they found that he wasn't with me all of us drew the same conclusion... Reo was taken as the hosatge. We didn't think that he went out to kill someone as whenever he left for anything like that he would always inform us beforehand.

To be honest, even though I was confident in my ability to rescue him, I was still slightly nervous... it was kind of nagging on my mind.

Nemuri had also called yesterday night and assured me that nothing would happen, Amelia was there as the interim Minister and she had seen the precautions that has been taken in case anything happens. Nemuri was keeping watch over the Hogwarts' wards to keep an eye on any kind of outside interference. We all knew that Dumbles was still running loose so we can't let our guard down.

I have decided to wear a Japanese school time swimsuit after all I didn't want to wear a two piece and give these old codgers any eye candy. I released a deep breath and walked out of the Champion's tent. I went to the shore and saw all the other Champions were already present there.

Fleur looked really distressed and worried for some reason... from what Amelia had told Nemuri, our dates were taken as hostages for the second task, and during the Ball, Fleur didn't seem to care about Davies so she won't do that now.

"Roxanne! Who have they taken?" It was Harry who brought me out of my thoughts. All of us were dressed in bathrobes because of the cold. I don't understand what kind of morons have planned that it would be nice for the Champions to take a dip in a cold lake during February for an hour. It must have been that moron Ludo and late Crouch Sr.

"Edgar, he has been missing since yesterday. Who is your hostage?" I asked.

"They have taken Susan... they took our dates as hostage except for Fleur. They have taken her sister" Harry said in an angered tone. His anger wasn't towards Fleur but towards the people who arranged this tournament.

I have to say, it's quite unfair. Is this because of her creature background or something? I don't know... being in the water will already be a disadvantage for her being a creature of fire and air. I don't know how old her sister is but she should be younger than Fleur I think.

Before we could speak anymore Bagman decided to start his announcement. Amelia Bones has replaced Barty Crouch Snr. Well, she is the interim Minister after all.

Then the moron Bagman went on blabbering about the task. It was good that there was a time limit for the task... because I would only be able to hold that spell for a couple of hours or something. I won't say that I have become a master in Dual Casting in these two months but I can get them working... but using that in combat is out of the question.

Bagman went on blabbering for another 5 minutes. He finally announced that on the count of three the countdown would start and we should start our preparation. I didn't mind and took off my robe... I had my regular wand strapped on my forearm. I had my secondary wand stuffed between my boobs.

What?! That place is really convenient to hide things. It was a God given gift to us women! I know flat girls won't agree with me but who told them to lack in that department. Momo and Nemuri would happily agree with me.

The others also followed suit and took off their robes. Fleur was wearing a similar swimsuit like mine but her colour was different. Katina was wearing a two piece sports bikini... usually, the kind girls wore in Olympic competitions.

Only Krum was using Human transfiguration... I was quite impressed with how fast he was with the transformation. Most who don't have an Animagus form find it quite hard to do this... obviously with age and practice they could become fast.

Harry and Katina chugged down a vial of gillyweed. So they decided to go that way, well it's not a bad method, I would have also leaned towards gillyweed even if Human transfiguration sounded better. I have read that merman would attack if they think that someone is invading their territory and becoming a shark like Krum in merman territory is asking for trouble.

Fleur, Andre, and Cedric didn't prepare anything like me but the three of them pulled out their wands. Bagman finished the countdown and I dived in the water while casting the oxygen conversion spell. I noticed that Fleur, Andre, and Cedric were using bubblehead charms.

The visibility was quite low so I pulled out my secondary wand from between my cleavage and cast an overpowered revealing spell and easily found the hostages. Homenum Revelio... it was a human revealing spell so it easily showed me where the hostages were.

I pointed my secondary wand towards my back and cast a stream of air. I was immediately thrust forward... the speed kind of bothered me because of the water pressure so I used Armament Haki to harden my skin. In an instant, my discomfort went away.

Reaching the bottom of the lake didn't take me long, I was the first one to reach the hostages. I stopped using the air stream and slowed down and cast a Tempus to check the time. Not even 5 minutes have passed since the task started. Wow... that was really fast. I have never practiced the air stream to propel myself... it felt like I was getting crushed at that time. Now, I understand why that was.

I quickly scanned all the hostages and found Reo but before I went to him my eyes fell on a little girl. She couldn't be older than 9 from her looks... she must be Fleur's sister. I have confirmed magical people are brain dead. How can they use such a young girl as a hostage? I was immediately conflicted and I didn't know what to do. I was a hero... always has been, I knew nothing would happen to her but leaving her here as a hero...??

For a whole minute, I just stood in front of the small girl contemplating what should I do. I finally decided that I was going to free Reo and find Fleur... if she is able to save her sister then I won't need to interfere but if she fails I will come down and save her.

With that decision, I swam towards Reo and cut off the ropes that bound him. I grabbed him and put him like a sack of potato over my shoulder. Hehe... Reo would have never allowed me to do this if he was awake... with that amusing thought, I started to swim upwards. This time I didn't use the airstream because Reo was with me and it would be impossible for me to harden his body to protect him from the pressure.

None of the other participants were even halfway to their hostages... so I didn't need to worry. I kept in my mind that I needed to check on Fleur before going out of the lake.

My worries weren't unfound as I found Fleur being attacked by a group of Merman. She is a veela so they might have thought that she was attacking their territory. I decided not to help Fleur... she has no other choice other than to give up because she was being surrounded by Merman by each passing second and it was quite clear that they were ready to kill her.

I saw Fleur retreating while bleeding from several places, I tightened my grip around Reo and quickly descended down towards the hostages. Krum was also busy with Merman because they attacked him too... only Harry and Katina were ahead of me. I wasn't too worried about them because I had a brilliant idea to ascend after I have rescued Fleur's sister.

When I reached the hostages I found Katina and Harry had already rescued their hostages. I have noticed when they passed by me but because of the low visibility, they didn't see me. I quickly cut off the ropes bounding the little veela. I quickly conjured an airbag and I laid down Fleur's sister and Reo on top of it then I used ropes to bind them gently so they won't fall off during the ascend. I climbed on the bag and bound myself too and using the secondary wand I used the air stream spell to fill up the airbag. The three of us started to ascend quickly. It was uncomfortable due to the pressure but it wasn't so bad.

I finally reached the surface of the lake on the airbag. Reaching the surface both Reo and Fleur's sister gasped for air. They must have set the stasis spell to break when they are out of water. I was quite far from the shore but I used the aim stream to propel us towards the shore. Before breaking to the surface I have already tucked my secondary wand between my boobs and was using my primary wand. I could see Fleur was being hugged by a woman with similar hair... someone from her family.

She saw me and immediately got excited... I was the first one to rescue my hostage. Reaching the shore Fleur lunged towards her sister and brought her into a bone-crushing hug. Reo and I were immediately hounded by our resident matron... I understand what she is doing but she is kind of overbearing. Hah... well whatever! The second task is finally over...