As expected and hoped, she woke up. For only a moment she was confused before her eyes snapped to look into Harry's own eyes. She grinned back.
With a grin of his own, Harry released his grip on her and handed over her wand. Watching, he could see she was struggling a little to stop from floating up. So, he created a small dumbbell she could hold in her left hand. It only weighed about a pound but, apparently, it was enough.
Harry pointed upwards to her before pointing two fingers to his eyes before making it look like he was peering into the distance. She nodded back, knowing the plan.
Kicking her legs a little she floated upwards before coming to a stop about twenty feet up. While he waiting for her to get into position, Harry took a look around, himself. For the first time, he realised the merfolk warriors had closed in and were making threatening gestures to him.
Again, he drew his knife and gave them a bit of a maniacal grin before threatening them right back. They immediately backed off, though still looked angry.
'Dumbledore did warn them,' he thought. 'Thank God.'
And there competitors.
they
waited
for
the
other
After a while Harry glanced at his watch and realised the first of the other champions should just about be onto them. However, the merfolk seemed to rally their courage and started to move back in again. Again, he had to threaten them to make them back off.
With the merfolk backed away again, Harry glanced up at Hermione. Catching his eye, she gestured off into the distance before holding up two fingers. Two champions were now within visual range. She hoped one of them was Delacour.
A few minutes later, he saw Krum's shark form come swimming in to the village. Delacour was not far behind. Thankfully, the vision of a half man half shark was enough to scare the merfolk right off.
As Krum approached, Harry held up the knife to show him.
As soon as Krum arrived he paused just a moment before he made as if to bite at the kelp. Instead, Harry moved forward and cut the kelp for him, thereby lessening the risk of a bite wound to his hostage. He thought Jonesy would appreciate it.
Krum looked at him for a moment before he made a weird sort of bow. He then grasped a loose end of kelp rope with his teeth before heading for the surface with his hostage.
By the time he'd finished Delacour had arrived. Again, he stepped forward to cut the kelp. However, this time, the merfolk warriors tried to step in. They were looking quite angry.
Harry cut the kelp while also raising his wand to point at the nearest merfolk. Delacour hadn't seen them moving in, so fixedly was she attending to her hostage – her younger sister. As soon as young Gabrielle was free, Fleur looked around for Harry, and saw that he was holding off the merfolk.
He cast a quick glance at her, and pointed to her before he jabbed his finger skywards. As she began to ascend, towing her little sister, Harry brought up the rear, waving both his wand and knife around at the merfolk.
He again cast a quick glance upwards and saw Hermione latch onto the robes at the shoulder of young Gabrielle, before adding her efforts to those of Fleur to ascend. Hermione nearly hit him with the dumbbell weight as she let it fall from her grasp.
With the ascent now assured, two of the merfolk tried to dash forward with their spears raised threateningly. Harry cast a quick two bludgeoning curses to the face of both before all the merfolk backed off again.
At that point he swum up under Gabrielle and, pushing upwards against her bum with his shoulder, rapidly kicked with his massive flipper like feet and powered all three to the surface.
Watching as Hermione created a small boat for the three of them, he then boosted, Hermione first, then Gabrielle, and finally Fleur, into the boat before he moved around to the rear of it.
He held his breath and stuck his head out of the water for a moment to orient himself before dropping back under.
Gripping the stern end of the keel, he turned the boat in the direction of the dock and powered it back. Unsurprisingly, he passed a now untransformed Krum with a struggling Jonesy. It looked like the girl couldn't swim. But he watched as Hermione conjured a small raft for them as they passed, leaving it in the water for them.
As soon as Harry had pushed the boat to the dock, he quickly checked his watch. He figured he had time.
Quickly, he powered back to the village; but, only made it about three quarters of the way back before he saw Diggory and Chang swimming on the surface.
He stopped just ahead of them and conjured another small boat. Then helped them both to climb in before pushing it back to the dock just as his gillyweed ran out.
As he climbed out he was lifted under his arms by Krum and Diggory, who pulled him the rest of the way up onto the dock. As they stepped away from him a blanket was thrown over his form and together with Diggory, Krum, Hermione, Chang and Jones who also all had blankets draped over their forms - he was hustled off to the medical tent. Obviously, the two Delacours couldn't wait. But, Harry was okay with that, considering both were Veela.
As he entered the medical tent, Fleur dashed forward and wrapped her arms around him in a big hug for a moment. She then backed off and gripping the sides of his head, quickly planted a big kiss to each of his cheeks.
"Zank you, Monsieur Potier!" she exclaimed, almost gushing with gratitude. "Zank you!"
"Hey you!" called Hermione. "Get your mitts off my man!" But, a quick look at Hermione's face, and you could tell she wasn't angry; she was grinning.
Fleur immediately released Harry and quickly moved in to hug Hermione. "You too!" she cried. "Zank you! Zank you!"
Harry just rolled his eyes as Madam Pomfrey was trying to get them all to sit on hospital cots.
Quickly, while angrily declaiming the whole event, the medi-healer forced Pepper-up potions into each of their hands. "Who ever had the stupid idea of holding a swimming competition, in the Black Lake, in the middle of winter, needs their collective heads examined!" the medi-witch angrily muttered. "Of all the idiotic, Merlin bedamned..."
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