The second event was at the bottom of Black Lake and the sight of the Lake brought back the memories of the night he had gained and lost his Godfather which he was certain was why said location was selected in the first place. Dumbledore would do anything and everything he could to hurt him and this whole Tournament was his baby. So chances were good he'd chosen the location of the different events. But he swallowed his feelings just as he had all year long and held his mask of no expression tightly in place, obstinately refusing to let Dumbledore see he had gotten to him at all.
Because Harry had no friends in his heart, and he'd refused to show up at the farce of a Yule Ball with a girl, any girl, on his arm, his owl had been taken and placed in a stasis bubble at the bottom of the Lake for him to rescue before the hour was up. And Harry, not knowing what they had taken from him, was tempted to just let the hour run out or go looking for something in the depths that could possibly let him leave this world behind. But then the Defense teacher told him it was Hedwig down there waiting for rescue and he knew he had to try for her sake if for no other reason. His owl didn't deserve to drown to death at the bottom of a cold lake. And Black Lake was never going to claim another thing Harry could, or did, love so long as he was alive to stop it. Dobby brought him some gillyweed from the apothecary in Hogsmeade and Harry dove into the lake intent on rescuing his only true friend.
So he had swum down to the bottom of the lake and reached his feathered friend. Hermione was asleep in a bubble next to Hedwig. Next to her was a delicate looking little girl who could have been no older than ten and at the end of the row was Cho Chang, a Chinese immigrant student who was dating Cedric Diggory. Harry quickly identified who was meant for the other two girls as he freed his owl from her bonds while making sure the stasis bubble around her would stay intact. He didn't trust Dumbledore not to have it burst as soon as she was freed from the ropes holding her underwater.
He turned to go just as a mortally wounded Victor Krum showed up in a partial transformation. He was leaving a heavy trail of blood in the water that showed he was mortally wounded and in need of immediate medical care. Harry hit him with a stasis spell that would bind his wound until he could reach the surface as Victor bit through the ropes holding Hermione before gathering her to his chest and trying to propel himself to the surface of the lake. But blood loss had him feeling weak and tired and he was having a hard time of it. Feeling his compassion swell, Harry drew his wand again and cast a propulsion spell on the wounded boy to send him to the surface as quick as was safe while he waited for Diggory and Delacour to show up for their victims. The propulsion spell partially tore apart the stasis spell and his wounds were bleeding again though only sluggishly. As he swam towards the surface, Victor gave him a nod to show he understood what Harry had done for him and appreciated the effort. Diggory showed within minutes and seeing Harry already there holding Hedwig in her bubble, motioned for him to head up indicating that Fleur, the French student, wouldn't be coming.
Sometimes Harry honestly hated his nature and this was one of those times. He cut the ropes binding the little girl and sent both her and Hedwig surface bound after making certain the little girl had Hedwig securely in her arms, while he stayed to fight the merpeople for having freed more than his own surety. He was trusting the child to keep his owl safe and knew that was a risk he really had no reason to take. Honestly he didn't want to take either. But he couldn't let a little girl die just because she'd been selected as surety for one of the other contenders. And he had to fight the merpeople over his decision to free her.
Eventually he managed to get free of them and swam to the surface himself only to discover the judges arguing over whether or not to kill Hedwig for his breaking of the rules of the challenge. Hedwig, who was being ignored by the little girl he had trusted to keep her safe. Hedwig, who'd been tossed aside as soon as the girl had breeched the water's surface. Dumbledore was actually leading the charge to kill Hedwig while the two foreign Heads of School were arguing to leave her be.
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