The Dark Lake Trial Pt4
Fleur moved through the water as if she were gliding, surrounded by a large bubble of air that rested around her like a veil; almost like a beautiful silver dress. With this spell in use, one could say that having to wear a swimsuit was pointless, or maybe simply unnecessary, since the water did not seem to touch her at all.
But it seemed her thoughts were going in a very different direction.
"Stupid villain. He didn't even stop to look at me twice," she muttered while glancing around with a small pout of annoyance, letting her gaze sweep across the area with a bit of nervousness and a little fear. Just a little. Although it was still easy to notice the way she jolted whenever she caught sight of a shadow in the distance, only to realize it was just a submerged log. "Katerina was right. All men care about are their stupid competitions," she grumbled, still annoyed, though she would never admit out loud what the real reason actually was.
She moved her wand, directing the wind around her so it would push her a little faster through the water. Even so, she kept glancing around warily, afraid that something might leap out of nowhere at any second, because in the Dark Lake, just as its name suggested, the water barely allowed anyone to see very far, and the light from the surface never fully reached below.
She put on a determined expression, fully intending to quickly find the place where they were hiding her most precious thing, and with that, she would prove something to that stupid villain. That was what was running through her mind as she advanced through the water.
But then, all of a sudden, she thought she heard something, which made her slow to a stop and look around.
"Hello!" she called.
But she quickly realized her voice would not travel very far underwater, so she shut her mouth again and tried to listen.
And there it was again.
It sounded like some kind of murmur.
And there was only one species that could speak underwater; mermaids.
Her eyes widened slightly with excitement, and she immediately started looking for where the sound was coming from. Then she quickly moved her wand and pointed in that direction, making her body glide toward it as her own wind bubble pushed her forward.
The water shifted around her as she moved, and for some reason, it seemed she had entered an area where the earth and silt heavily blocked her vision, mixing into the water itself.
"Lumus," Fleur traced, and a flash of light came from her wand, illuminating the area around her and clearing her vision a little.
Even so, she still could not see very far, since the particles and darkness stirred up by the earth clouded most of it. But what she could make out were several shadows moving quickly away from her light.
She recognized the silhouettes of those shadows as Merfolk, which Hermione had made her study to exhaustion when they found out the trial would take place in the Dark Lake, correctly guessing that the Merfolk would have something to do with this challenge.
"Hello," Fleur said to one of the shadows that remained still for a moment, watching her, knowing those aquatic creatures might be able to hear her.
But almost instantly, the shadow that seemed to be staring at her darted away at great speed through the water, leaving a ripple behind.
"Wait," Fleur said, feeling that this might be her only chance to find the place where her most precious thing was being hidden.
She quickly moved through the water after the shadow, which seemed to slip through the lake with unsettling speed. And as she advanced, it felt as if the earth from the bottom was being stirred up, clouding her vision so much that she could barely make out the silhouette moving away from her.
"Hey. I'm one of the tournament participants," Fleur shouted again, not knowing whether the Merfolk would even understand her words.
As she followed it, she suddenly came out of the murky patch that had been blocking her vision, but she stopped abruptly because the moment she emerged from that area, right in front of her was what looked like a vast forest of green algae, each strand over five meters tall, filling the area like an underwater forest as they swayed gently before her.
Of course, Fleur came to a stop and stared into the algae, hesitating.
"Helloo?" she called again, trying to get the attention of someone inside, remaining silent for a moment, her nerves growing slightly.
Then she heard that murmur again, this time from within the algae forest, and a shadow suddenly moved between the swaying strands.
Now she could make it out a little more clearly.
It was not very large. It was almost as small as a child, nearly the same height as her little sister. And she could see that with its small arm, it seemed to be beckoning her forward with little gestures. Though she could not see its face, or even the color of its skin. It was only a small shadow hidden between the algae.
That little shadow moved slightly closer and reached a hand out toward Fleur, while the murmur slipping from its mouth seemed to pull at her.
Fleur hesitated for a moment before slowly lifting her own hand, bringing it closer to the little shadow's.
But just as she was about to touch it, the lake water suddenly shifted for a brief moment, stirring the algae and letting light slip through the gaps between them, giving her a full view of the little shadow.
But what was there was not a Merfolk.
Nor was it a person.
Nor any kind of creature.
It looked like some sort of skin puppet, featureless, faceless, with nothing to distinguish it, and Fleur stared at it in shock. More than that, she saw what seemed to be growing from the back of its head; something like a strange tail, one that seemed to control its movements, stretching upward and behind it.
Fleur followed that strange thing upward until her gaze found what it was connected to.
And then she noticed it.
Behind it, hidden among the algae, a massive shadow opened two enormous red eyes.
And in the very next instant, a gigantic mouth filled with rows of sharp teeth opened wide right in front of her, making Fleur let out a muffled cry of pure terror as the creature lunged directly at her.
Fleur raised her wand on pure instinct, but in that same instant, she realized she did not have enough time to cast a single spell. The creature's mouth was already closing around her, swallowing her whole like a living shadow.
She knew, with absolute certainty, that this was the end.
In a single instant, her life flashed before her eyes, and among those final thoughts, the smiling face of someone appeared for just a moment, leaving behind a sharp, unbearable regret that twisted in her chest.
Not because she was going to die.
But because she had not even been able to see him one more time.
And yet, at the same time, a powerful surge filled her chest with the will to live.
She was not going to end there.
Not inside the mouth of some damn ugly fish.
"FIEND—"
The mouth closed over her, swallowing her whole in a single bite.
But almost immediately, it opened again as a burst of fire erupted from between its teeth. The flames were crushed by the sheer weight of the water and died out almost instantly, but that was enough for Fleur to be spat back out.
With a few burns across her body, she immediately turned around and, using every bit of speed she had, shot forward through the water, propelled by her air bubble, which now seemed to be losing its structure, barely holding together around her head.
Her breathing turned erratic even inside the bubble, and for a brief moment, she could feel the warmth of her blood mixing with the freezing water around her.
The creature quickly recovered from the damage and immediately surged forward in pursuit, emerging from the algae.
It was a massive fish, easily over four meters long, though its mouth looked like the largest part of its entire body. Horrid green and brown scales, sharp jagged teeth, and a thin strand extending from its forehead, connected to what Fleur had previously mistaken for a Merfolk, most likely used to lure its prey.
It was like some twisted mutation of an anglerfish.
Not that those were not horrifying enough already.
The enormous fish chased after her, closing the distance with terrifying ease, while Fleur pushed herself forward with everything she had, her face filled with panic but refusing to stop.
She quickly turned and raised her wand.
"Repulso, Impedimenta!"
She cast both spells in quick succession, trying to slow the creature down.
The water trembled for a moment, but Fleur knew instantly it had not been enough.
It barely slowed the creature for a second.
Just enough for her to gain a little more distance.
Fleur turned back and tried to keep escaping, but as she continued forward, her speed began to drop as her magic was drained from using it all just to move through the water.
Every second felt heavier than the last, as if the lake itself wanted to drag her down along with that thing.
From the movement of the water behind her, she could feel the creature was right there, just barely behind her. It could probably catch her at any moment.
But it was not even trying to catch her yet. It was playing with her.
Fleur's expression hardened as she kept pushing her magic to its limit, her gaze fixed forward.
And just like before, that face appeared again right in front of her, as if it were her final moment once more, which annoyed her slightly this time.
Why was she seeing that face now?
And at the same time, she already knew the answer without even thinking about it.
Of course she knew why.
Then something clicked in her mind as she kept moving.
That face…
It looked far more real than before.
Too real to be just a desperate thought.
Because it was actually there.
Right in front of her.
Waiting.
With a genuinely furious expression, red eyes glowing with raw magic, surrounded by an equally intense blue hue, even underwater. His hair had faint reddish strands, and the red mist around him made him look as dangerous as he did perfectly villainous.
Fleur did not have time to stop, but he slightly opened his arms and caught her completely, as she felt his hands grab her back and her waist.
As if he had arrived just in time.
She was about to warn him about the monster, but of course, he had already seen it.
She felt one of his arms lift slightly, releasing her just for a moment.
And even underwater, she heard him perfectly.
"Stop existing," he said calmly, pointing his hand toward the monstrous fish.
As if erasing monsters from the world was something he did every day.
The creature that had been chasing her stopped right in front of them, just centimeters away.
And in the very next instant, it exploded into red sparks and energy, shaking the water around them.
Fleur slightly lifted her face from his embrace and met his eyes.
Those eyes that looked at her for a moment, carrying that same villainous air.
That villainous air she had loved from the very beginning.
Harry looked her over to check for injuries, noticing only the light burns on her arms; nothing serious, something easy to heal. He let out a small breath before giving her a faint smile when he saw she was fine.
"I came back because I think I never told you that swimsuit looks quite charming on you," Harry said softly.
Fleur's lips parted, but no words came out as she stared at him.
And that smile…
That damn smile.
She looked at him intently and suddenly raised her hands to grab his face.
Because if she did not do it now, she felt like she would regret it later.
But before she could touch him, she suddenly felt something pulling her.
Or rather, pulling both of them.
Which made them immediately look around as they suddenly found themselves landing on solid ground.
"Wow," Selene said, watching them both with interest, one hand covering her mouth, though a clearly amused smile was visible on her face.
Right after that, the other champions were also around them, all of them having been pulled out of the water, and Wanda slightly tilted her head as she looked at her son holding Fleur, a faint smile forming on her lips.
Both of them froze.
As if they had just been caught red-handed for some reason.
Even though Harry was pretty sure he had not done anything.
Still, Harry had the very strong feeling that he had just been about to be illegally attacked.