The Dark Lake Trial Pt2
"Well, well. All the competitors have entered the water. It's interesting to see how each of them used different methods to get through this trial," Ludo said excitedly while everyone watched the magical screens above their heads, where each champion could be seen having entered the water and slowly descending deeper into the lake.
"Luckily for us, we have an expert guest in this sort of thing who might help us understand what's going on. Everyone, please give a warm welcome to Mister Nicolas Flamel," Ludo said as the crowd reacted with surprise at hearing that name and instantly turned to look toward the judges' table.
There, seated beside Ludo, was a man who looked middle-aged. If anything, he somehow looked even younger because of his almost unreal charm. He looked like a prince pulled straight out of a fairytale; blond hair, slightly long, aristocratic clothes without going overboard, a gentle smile, and blue eyes that seemed to shine with an almost unreal calm.
Everyone was surprised to see Nicolas Flamel looking like that, since he was supposed to be over seven hundred years old by now. And yet there he was, looking far better than many of them, who were obviously hundreds of years younger.
"Thank you very much for inviting me. It sounds fun to lend a hand," Nicolas said calmly.
"No, no, no, thank you very much, sir," Ludo said, looking like he was just about ready to kneel in front of the man seated beside him, as if he still couldn't quite believe he was really there.
Of course, who wouldn't be excited to have a god of wealth sitting right next to them? Especially someone like Ludo Bagman.
Nicolas looked at Ludo for a moment with a calm smile, though he seemed to see something through his gaze before easily ignoring it. He had already met many looks just like that one.
…
Harry had reached the deepest part of the lake, where he could see very green algae, some of it over five meters tall, swaying gently like a vast underwater forest in the depths of the lake. He looked at it for a moment with interest, watching shadows move between the algae and eyes that seemed to be staring directly at him, glowing faintly in the darkness between them.
Then suddenly, Harry felt something touch one of his feet, making him lower his gaze. There, he saw a small and rather horrible creature that was all too familiar; a grindylow, which seemed eager to sink its teeth into Harry's leg. But Harry, with one simple kick, sent the creature flying back into the algae.
But that was like kicking a hornet's nest, because dozens of those same creatures suddenly shot out from the algae straight toward him.
And hundreds more of them seemed just about ready to come out as well.
Harry, seeing there were far too many of them, quickly turned around and swam away at full speed.
Not because he was afraid of them, but because they looked like a complete waste of time.
The grindylows didn't stray too far from the algae, though they seemed to shake their fists at Harry, who didn't even bother looking back.
…
Draco reached the deepest part of the lake, his feet touching the lakebed, which kicked up clouds of silt in the water for a moment before settling again.
He looked around. He could see sunken pieces of wood, fish bones, and what looked like old barges. Maybe old boats students had once used to cross the lake in the past.
None of the champions had any idea where exactly they were supposed to search, so they had to make good use of the clues.
Draco looked in every direction. His hair drifted softly with the water while the silver pendant around his neck gave off a faint glow, releasing small bubbles of air every now and then that floated toward the surface.
Draco was thinking about how he should go about finding the clues when he suddenly felt something behind him, causing him to turn around quickly. And for a brief moment, he caught sight of an enormous shadow passing by, already moving away. That made his eyes widen for a moment, and just like Harry, he decided it would be better to move away from that spot.
…
"Wow, it hasn't even been minutes since the trial started and already two of the six participants have run into some of the creatures hidden in the Dark Lake. I really do wonder what that shadow was that passed behind young Draco Malfoy. It must have been several meters long at least," Ludo said while the crowd, having seen the shadow behind Draco before he had, couldn't help but feel a moment of fear.
Just like with the grindylows Harry had run into, a few of them wouldn't have been much of a problem. But a large number of them? That would be a much bigger issue, especially when they couldn't cast spells underwater, since opening their mouths would only let out bubbles and they wouldn't be able to pronounce incantations unless they could cast without speaking.
"Maybe it was Hogwarts' famous giant squid," Ludo said with a smile.
"Mmm… I don't think that was it," Nicolas said calmly as he pointed toward one of the screens.
There, Luciel could be seen with what looked like a dark mark on his body, one that released bubbles of water as if he were breathing normally. And in front of him, enormous tentacles could be seen swaying gently while Luciel had remained completely still in place, staring at the creature. Its body still couldn't be seen, but it was already obvious that it was enormous.
"Wait… then if that wasn't the squid, what was it?" Ludo said, now finally looking genuinely confused. He had thought it was the squid, which was why he had seemed amused. Because really, who didn't know that the lake's squid was harmless, at least toward people?
Sirius, who had been silent this whole time, frowned the moment he heard Ludo and Nicolas's words and saw the screens, then turned to look toward Dumbledore, who also seemed to have a somewhat thoughtful expression, showing that even he likely didn't know what other massive thing could possibly be in the lake.
"Wait! What is that?" Ludo suddenly shouted as another one of the screens came into view. This time, it was Marton's.
The young wizard could be seen using the Bubble-Head Charm, and with his wand, blasting bursts of water to propel himself forward. He was already fleeing at full speed after having seen something, kicking up clouds of silt from the bottom of the lake as he went.
The murky water behind him hid whatever it was he had seen, but for a brief moment, something could be made out; what looked like large, horrid, jagged teeth, like enormous grotesque spikes, before it stopped and turned around sharply.
Now everyone had gone quiet, sitting in uncomfortable silence and staring in surprise, because none of them even knew what they had just seen.
But they could understand one thing.
That should not have been in the lake.
Sirius stood up abruptly.
"We need to get the students out of the lake right now," he said without hesitating for even a single second.
"What? But the competition just…," Ludo started to say.
But Sirius shouted:
"Now!"
…
Meanwhile, deep beneath the lake, Harry ignored everything that was happening above as he continued moving through the slightly murky water with ease.
"Hello," a voice suddenly sounded near him, causing Harry to turn around instantly, giving him a small scare. But the moment he turned and saw who it was, he seemed to relax quite a bit.
It was a young ghost, floating calmly in the water, with round glasses and pigtails. Harry knew her. She was fairly famous among the ghosts of Hogwarts, and Harry had also met her some time ago while he had been investigating something. She was Moaning Myrtle, who had earned that nickname because she was always crying in the girls' bathroom on the second floor.
"I don't think it's a good idea for you to be in the water right now, Harry," Myrtle told him in a low voice while glancing around in every direction for a moment. "There are a lot of dangerous things in the Dark Lake right now. Someone put them here," she said.
But Harry frowned at her words.
"What…?" Harry tried to ask.
But obviously, underwater, no voice would come out. Only bubbles escaped instead.
"You should be careful. Your things are in that direction. You'd better grab them quickly and get out as fast as possible. Those things are really scary. If it were up to me, I wouldn't have come here at all. But I told the Grey Lady, and she told me to come warn you quickly. She's Ravenclaw's ghost, right?" Myrtle said, seeming to tremble slightly, even as a ghost, which made Harry stare at her closely.
"Well, I'm leaving now. I already gave you the message. It would be nice if you didn't die. Though if you do… I suppose it wouldn't be so bad to have some company," Myrtle told him, giving him a little wink before turning around and quickly drifting away from the area.
Harry watched the ghost's back for a moment, his brow deeply furrowed at the relatively dark words she had left him with. And for just a moment, he felt like something was watching him, and that the danger around him was slowly closing in.
Harry looked around, but he couldn't seem to see anything.
Even so, he started moving once more in the direction Myrtle had told him his things were.
Though every now and then, he still glanced around at the surroundings, feeling as if he were being followed.