Still Breathing

Oleandra and Daphne gladly accepted a warm blanket, even though they weren't wet. Now that Oleandra was out of the water, she could feel the freezing February wind on her skin again; as opposed to Daphne, who was fully dressed in winter robes, she had nothing but a bathing suit to protect her from the elements! Wrapping herself in the warm blanket, Oleandra began examining the judges, who were exhibiting mixed reactions.

Professor Dumbledore was looking at her curiously, while Percy was loudly clapping. Professor Karkaroff was glaring at her, while Madame Maxime looked as though she would reserve her judgment until she got a chance to talk to Delacour.

Meanwhile, Professor Snape was coming down from the stands, sweeping past Madam Pomfrey, before stopping before Oleandra and Daphne. Luckily, he didn't seem as angry as he'd been last night.

"Well done," he said reluctantly. As Head of their House, he at least had to congratulate Oleandra for a job well done!

"As you can see, we didn't steal your Gillyweed," Daphne pointed out. "Nor did we take anything from your cupboard."

"I noticed," Professor Snape said coldly, casting a hateful gaze towards the lake. "Potter… I should have guessed it would be him…"

Oleandra looked back at the Black Lake; there literally was nothing to see here. Were the students really supposed to sit still in the stands for an hour and stare at the lake in the winter? They hadn't set up any magical projectors so that their progress could be followed? No wonder they had cheered so much for her; the poor fellows were bored out of their skulls.

A quick trip to the Boathouse/changing room, and Oleandra was back in her school robes. She decided to register them with her Quick-Change Charm, so that she could also use the spell to retrieve her ordinary clothes in the future, and not just her combat gear.

And now, there was nothing left to do but to wait for the last two contestants to emerge from the lake. Half an hour after the second task had begun, the only sign of activity from the lake was the occasional Mermaid popping out of the water to screech in Mermish at regular intervals. No sign of Harry or Krum, though. What was taking them so long?

"Professor," Oleandra said. "How is the investigation going? I mean, about the poisoning case."

"You would have to ask Mad-Eye Moody," Professor Snape said distastefully. "Professor Dumbledore put him in charge of the investigation, and he's seen fit not to breathe a word of his progress to anybody."

"What about you, sir?" Oleandra said, pressing him for more information. "Have you identified the toxins that were used?"

"Not yet," Professor Snape admitted. "But I have identified the mechanisms under which the poison operates on the body; I'll be able to come up with an antidote shortly."

Another half hour would pass before something finally happened; shortly after the time limit of an hour had expired, a shark fin emerged from the waves, followed shortly by the rest of the strange creature: it was Krum, who had somehow only Transfigured his head into that of a shark's.

Hermione wriggled out of his princess carry and looked around in a panic.

"Where's Harry?" she cried. "Did he figure out a way to breathe underwater?"

The last Oleandra had seen of him, he'd been scratching at neck furiously, and upon her return to the surface, he'd disappeared, so she'd figured that he must have found a way; either that, or he'd given up and gone back to the castle. And now, she knew who had really taken the Gillyweed…

Hermione weakly protested when Madam Pomfrey came up to her, but she didn't have the strength to avoid getting wrapped in a warm blanket. As for Krum, he looked quite discomfited that Hermione kept asking about Harry.

Hearing shouting, Oleandra glanced to the side; Madame Maxime had to physically restrain Fleur Delacour from jumping back into the lake. In her mind, the time limit meant that her little sister was forfeit; which was something that Oleandra could empathize with.

Suddenly, there was another splash, and a dozen heads popped out of the water at the same time. Most of them belonged to the green-haired Merpeople, but three of them were human; one had black hair, one had red hair, and the last had silver hair: Harry, Ron and Delacour's little sister!

Oleandra watched as Ron and Harry bickered like old ladies as they swam back to the shore, carrying the young girl between the two of them. Upon seeing her sister's lifeless body, Fleur Delacour redoubled her efforts to escape from Madame Maxime's grasp.

"Gabrielle! Gabrielle! Is she alive? Is she 'urt?" she screamed, finally freeing herself with a well-aimed elbow to her headmistress's liver.

Suddenly, the lakeside was a flurry of activity; Fleur was hugging her sister, Madam Pomfrey was fussing over Harry, Percy was attempting to help his brother Ron onto the shore, and the Merpeople were singing again, though their songs didn't sound even half as nice above the surface as they did underwater.

"Well done, Harry!" Hermione cried, swatting a water beetle out of her hair. "You figured it out, all by yourself! I'm so proud of you!"

"Huh," said Daphne, who was still standing next to Oleandra. "That's surprising, Hermione wasn't behind the theft of the Gillyweed? She's the one who stole the Polyjuice Potion ingredients last time…"

Professor Dumbledore was now crouching on the lake's edge, speaking to the tall Mermaid Oleandra had met the other day. To other people, it sounded like they were making the sounds a frog would make while being garrotted, but to Oleandra and her translating earrings, it sounded like Dumbledore was asking the Mermaid how each of them had performed.

"This might be bad," Oleandra murmured to Viviane under her breath. "I didn't really use any magic down there, which means they'll probably have no idea how to grade me. Any ideas?"

"You could always explain your feats by demonstrating the lake rune," Viviane offered. "You wouldn't be lying if you said you had made use of it. And just to be safe, I'll teach you a few words in Mermish, so that you can say you learned the language without lying. Just make sure to remove your earrings before you open your mouth in front of the judges, or you'll instantly be exposed and lose your brownie points."

Using magic to translate obscure languages automatically was cheating! Other sentient non-human beings were often looked down upon by most Wizards, so a big softy like Dumbledore was sure to be impressed if she said she had learned their language; especially if said language was completely useless in everyday life!