Author's note at bottom

Having understood the egg's clue so early, Harry decided to focus on his schoolwork for a while before looking for something to help him breathe underwater.

He and Luna spent much of their time in the library in the last few weeks. They came across some possibilities, but none of them would be easy to obtain.

"Need help there, you two?"

Harry jumped as Fred's voice came from directly behind him. "You prat!" he yelped. "You startled me."

Fred grinned. "Sorry, love. So, the egg? Trying to look for a way to breathe underwater?"

"Yep. Luna found a Drought Charm, but it wouldn't work on something as big as the lake."

"Something about nose hair, too," Luna added, looking at Weird Wizarding Dilemmas with interest.

Fred sat down next to Harry and grabbed a book. "Well, we still got time," he said cheerfully. "Let's get to it!"

Even with the additional help, though, no one found anything useful. "There must be something," Harry said desperately. The library had never failed him before.

"I'm sure there is," Fred said, looking as exhausted as Harry felt. "But even the Hogwarts library has its limits."

"There you are, Fred." It was George.

"What're you doing here?" Fred asked.

"Looking for you. McGonagall wants you."

"Me? Why? I haven't done anything."

"For once," Harry muttered. He received a small shove in response.

George's lips quirked up slightly. "Dunno," he answered. "She was looking a bit grim, though."

"Maybe the Nargles told her about that faulty canary cream," Luna suggested.

"Faulty canary cream...?" Harry said.

"Not important!" Fred said hastily. "Keep looking. I should be back soon." He kissed the top of Harry's head before following his brother out of the library.

Fred did not return. Harry and Luna continued to look through the books until Madam Pince sent hem to their dorms. Then he thought of something. "Kreacher!"

The house-elf popped into view in front of him. "Yes, Little Master?"

"I've been searching for days," Harry explained, "but I can't find anything that would help me breathe underwater. Do you know of anything?"

"Yes." Kreacher disappeared briefly and when he came back, he held up a ball of what looked like slimy, grayish-green rat tails. "Gillyweed. It will make Little Master breathe underwater."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Kreacher is certain. Master Smells has Gillyweed. Little Master cannot lose his Wheezy."

"Smells? Wheezy?" Then Harry remembered how George had come into the library and led Fred to Professor McGonagall's office. "Fred?"

"Yes, Little Master."

"Thank you, Kreacher! Bye!"

Kreacher nodded and popped away.

Bagman cast Sonorous and announced, "Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One... two... three!"

The whistle echoed shrilly in the cold, still air; the stands erupted with cheers and applause. Harry pulled off his shoes and socks, pulled the handful of gillyweed out of his pocket, stuffed it into his mouth, and waded out into the lake.

He waited for a few minutes, hearing the laughter as he stood there doing seemingly nothing, then felt pain in his neck. Without hesitating, Harry dived into the water. He took a gulp of water- doesn't that sound strange?- and took out his wand.

"Point me!" he said, though no words actually came out. He followed the trail, avoiding the clumps of weed that could hide dangerous creatures, until he came across what poked to be a village.

A statue stood with four people bound to it: Fred, Hermione, Cho, and a girl who must be Fleur's sister. Harry swam up to Fred and began untying the ropes. They were so strong, Harry wondered if he should use his wand. Then he saw the sharp rocks lining he bottom and used one to cut the ropes.

Without another look at the the other hostages, Harry headed for the shore with an unconscious Fred in his arms. As soon as they appeared, Fred's eyes snapped open. "Hiya, Harry. Miss me?"

Harry let out a short laugh and threw his arms around him tightly, kissing him eagerly.

"Gabrielle! Gabrielle! Is she alive? Is she 'urt?" Fleur was whipping her head around desperately. When she saw her sister being carried out by the mermaids, she rushed for her. "It was ze grindylows... zey attacked me... oh Gabrielle, I thought... I thought..."

After a quick discussion, the scores were announced. Fleur received twenty-five points- "I deserved zero"- Cedric with forty-five, Krum earner forty, and Harry received fifty.

"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June," said Bagman. "The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions."

A/N: "Please update" comments

Don't get me wrong, I love that you guys are enthusiastic about updates. Thing is, though (for me, at least), seeing comments that are begging for updates is ironically not very encouraging. In fact, they actually make me not want to update. Again, that's how I feel about those types of comments; I cannot speak for all writers— although I have seen some others say they felt the same way. That being said, please refrain from saying "Update please" or any other variation of it.

Thank you