Chapter 426

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As soon as we arrived next to Bagman he greeted us, or better said, he greeted Harry, who looked at the man uncomfortably.

But ignoring the cheerful and clearly suspicious man, I turned and looked at the stands, looking for something. And it didn't take long for me to find what I was looking for.

Looking at a group made up of Nick, Penny, Sirius, Remus and Andromeda I smiled, seeing that sitting next to them were my family, who looked at me and gave me happy smiles.

'They kept their promise to come see me compete in the second task too' I thought happily.

However, I was taken out of my thoughts by Bagman, who was starting the task.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the second task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament is about to begin!" the Bagman said, his voice reaching everyone in the black lake thanks to the {Sonorus} spell.

And as soon as he said that, everyone started applauding and cheering, excited to see a performance as incredible as the first task was.

And while everyone around us shouted energetically, my other three fellow champions and I stood side by side on the dock, preparing for the task.

And while Bagman was explaining to the audience what the second task would be like, the other champions began to take off their coats, showing that everyone was wearing swimwear underneath their normal clothes.

Krum and Harry were wearing simple swim trunks, with Krum's being black to represent his school, while Harry's was red to represent the house of lions.

And looking at the black-haired boy, I realized he wasn't the same skinny boy I knew in first year.

He had now gained more weight and more mass in his body, and I knew this was due to the good diet he had now that he lived with Sirius, and I was happy about that.

But turning my gaze to the other side I saw Fleur, who was wearing a beautiful baby blue one-piece swimsuit, and even though I was resistant to her Allure, I was still a little amazed by her appearance.

And I wasn't the only one, as almost every man and a few women in the stands were also staring at her mesmerized.

"I hope Gabi is okay" Fleur, who was unaware of the looks she was receiving, said.

And that snapped me out of my stupor, and shaking my head I looked up at my Veela friend's face, seeing that she had a nervous, tense expression.

"She's fine" I said, making Fleur look at me, "And as long as I'm here nothing will happen to her, I promise you that" and I had a serious look on my face.

And my promise made Fleur relax a little, and a small smile appeared on her lips.

"I know" she said, with a soft look.

And in the time of our short conversation, Bagman finished explaining the second task, and realizing that it was about to start I started taking off my clothes too.

Unlike my fellow champions who wore a lot of clothes because of the cold weather, I was only wearing a simple t-shirt and pants, so it was much easier and quicker for me to take off my clothes, and when I finished I was wearing just a swim trunk like the other boys.

'Sigh... Feeling the cold wind hitting my skin is always good' I thought with satisfaction.

But I couldn't enjoy the weather for long, as I started to hear some people whistling and making wolf howls.

And looking at the stands I saw that the ones making these sounds were my friends, who were looking at me while pretending to faint or fan themselves.

And seeing them making these scandalous gestures and sounds at me in front of all these influential people who came to watch the Tri-Wizard tournament I did the only thing I could do in this situation.

And looking at my friends I flexed, sporting a proud look as I showed off the results of all my years of training.

And that seemed to make my friends more excited, as they started to shout more excitedly, and those who knew me weren't at all surprised to see me do this, having long ago accepted that I was a bit strange.

Of course, there were those who looked at me strangely, or in the case of Professor McGonagall who had her hand over her face as she shook her head, in exasperation.

'This boy...' she thought, but there was a small, almost imperceptible twitch on her lips.

Professor McGonagall then looked at the group made up of my family, expecting to see a similar reaction to hers on their faces too, but what she saw made her sweatdrop.

"That's my grandson!" Penny exclaimed excitedly, whistling as she acted like a fangirl.

And my mom who was by her side was no different, "Yes bitches, my son is beautiful!" she said with a proud smile.

And standing next to them were Sirius and Nick, who were wearing sunglasses that they got from who knows where, as they threw fake bills in my direction.

"Yes, flex those arms more big boy" Sirius said, nodding appreciatively.

And Remus, upon seeing this, groaned as he palmed his face, "Merlin" he said, and my father, who was smiling wryly, gave him a supportive and understanding pat on the shoulder.

"Ahem, looks like our Hogwarts champion already has some fans" Bagman commented, smiling strangely.

He then shook his head, "But well, now let's get back to what matters, which is the second task of the 94/95 Tri-Wizard Tournament!"

"I have already explained to everyone how the task will be, and the champions will be able to enter the water as soon as I blow this whistle" he said showing a blue whistle.

He then turned to us, "Champions, are you ready?" he asked.

""Yes"" Krum and Harry nodded, with focused expressions.

"Yeah, yeah, let's get started with this" I said with a relaxed look as I stretched a little.

And Fleur, who was gaping as she looked at me blinked, "Huh, what?" She asked, shaking her head to snap out of her stupor.

"I asked if you are ready" the Bagman repeated.

"Oh yeah! I am!" she replied, before quickly turning towards the lake.

"Okay..." Bagman said slowly, finding the French champion's reaction a little strange.

And Fleur, who didn't notice this, continued looking at the black lake trying to concentrate on the task, but her eyes wandered to me, or more specifically, to my bare chest sometimes.

And I felt her gaze on me, but when I looked at her, she turned her face away quickly, but I could see the redness on her cheeks that I was sure wasn't caused by the cold.

"Well, since you're all ready I'll start counting, and on three I'll blow the whistle!" the Bagman warned us, "One… Two… Three!"

And as soon as Bagman finished counting and the whistle sounded I immediately took out my wand and pointed it at my chest, using the transfiguration spell that I created just for this moment.

I then began to feel my respiratory system change, along with some parts of my legs and arms, and by the end of the transformation I had acquired the characteristics and abilities of a fish while still retaining my human body.

And without wasting any more time, I jumped into the black lake, and as soon as I dove in I felt the cold water of the lake completely cover my body, which gave me a refreshing and relaxing sensation.

I then looked around, feeling my vision adjust to the location.

And after getting used to the feeling of being underwater I focused back on my objective, 'Okay, now I just need to feel the magic of the hostages and move towards it' I thought.

And concentrating, I felt several magical signatures in the distance, but only four belonged to humans, and I could recognize three of them as Luna, Hermione and Gabrielle.

'I found you' and now that I knew where to go I didn't stand still, turning around and swimming quickly towards the hostages.

As I swam towards the Merpeoples' village I decided to see where the other champions were, and feeling their magic I saw that they were spread out across the lake looking for the hostages, as they didn't have a magical sensor like me to know exactly where they were.

'Apart from me the closest person to where the hostages are is Harry' I reflected, 'Krum is heading in the right direction, which isn't a surprise as he has explored the lake before, however he seems a bit lost. '

I then looked for my French friend's magical signature.

'Hmm, it seems that Fleur is having the most difficulty completing this task, which is to be expected, as Veelas are creatures that don't do very well in deep water, as they are half-birds.'

And as I thought about this I realized that a group of magical signatures that gave off an aggressive and angry feeling were approaching Fleur.

'Wait... Aren't those the Grindylows?' I noticed, before stopping and quickly turning to look in that direction.

'Why are they so far from their nest? And why does it seem like they are purposely targeting Fleur?' I frowned.

I remembered the Grindylows attacking her in canon, but it didn't make sense that they were going after her now, since she wasn't even close to where they lived.

And remembering how devastated she was in canon for not being able to complete the task or rescue her sister, I felt like I had to do something.

And before I knew it I was swimming towards her.

End.

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