Harry spluttered once again as his Bubblehead charm failed against the barrage of water pressure at the fifteen minute mark.

“Not good enough, Snape!” Moody snarled at him, pacing around the teen through the puddles like a demented pirate – peg leg emphasising each word. “FOCUS!” he yelled, causing Harry to jump.

“I am, Sir! I don’t know why I can’t hold it any longer!” Harry sniped back, frustration overtaking good sense.

“Perhaps,” drawled his father from the doorway, “You need a more practical demonstration. Come with me, you two.”

Moody and Harry shared a look before hurrying after Severus as he led them back up through the castle to the third floor. Turning down a little used corridor, Severus aimed for a well-worn door guarded by a severe looking gentleman.

“Lord Lookinglass; are there any prefects currently using the facilities?” he asked.

“No, Professor. I have kept it clear as you’ve asked,” the portrait responded.

“Excellent. Pine Fresh,” Snape intoned and the door unlocked with muffled click. Severus pushed it open and ushered in the other two. Harry took the opportunity to gaze around the fabled Prefect Bathroom. It was more than had been rumoured. The bath was nearly half an Olympic sized pool with a fountain of spigots rising from the centre, looking like a dream machine from some steampunk fiction story. A wave of Severus’ wand and the pool began to quickly fill itself with scented bubbles. Moody took one sniff and growled to himself as he stalked around the room, checking that there was no one else there.

Benches lined one wall with loo stalls – large, lined with marble with individual sinks inside each stall – along another. A third wall held matching shower stalls with attached changing areas and the fourth was a floor to ceiling stained glass window showing a scene of the black lake, including a realistic mermaid basking on a rock. She eyed the men, flipping her tail idly. While none could see into the bath from outside, the colours of the glass shone like jewels as the sunlight flowed through them, bouncing colour off of every surface. Harry had the impression of being inside a magical kaleidoscope.

Snape tossed a pair of swimming briefs to his son, effectively breaking him out of his reverie, indicating with a wave that he should change. Harry hurried to a loo stall and quickly stripped, hauling on the trunks in short order. Setting Silicia to watch his clothes, he shivered as the cold air hit his skin, and he hurried over to the edge of the pool and slid into the warm water gratefully. This one was much deeper than his father’s roman tub – exceeding six feet at one end.

“Alright, Harry, cast the charm and dive under the water – going as deep as you can – and see how long you can stay under,” his father instructed.

Harry pulled his wand, saying “Ebullocapitis”. An inverted fish bowl appeared around his head; impervious to water and noxious fumes, but letting in oxygen. He slowly let himself sink to the bottom of the pool, trying not to let the sensation of the water pressing in around him break his concentration. When he felt comfortable, he gave a thumbs up to his instructors and began to attempt swimming while under the water.

****

Severus watched as his son frog kicked under water, unfortunately not going anywhere fast. He passed a hand wearily over his face, glancing at his companion. “We have a problem.”

Moody looked at him, eyebrow raised. “And what makes you think that, Snape? The fact that you neglected to inform me that your boy can’t swim and we have less than a week before the next task to teach him?” He reached a weathered hand up to scratch his cheek as he contemplated the scene below him.

Severus sighed and looked back down into the water, watching Harry as he pathetically tried to swim. “Well, on a brighter note, he’s lasting longer than fifteen min...” he began just as Harry panicked and the bowl around his head imploded and he shot to the surface, gurgling in frustration.

“What were you saying?” Moody asked under his breath.

“Never mind,” Snape grumbled. “Try it again, Harry; you went for twenty that time. And when you are swimming, time your arm movements with your legs: together, up, out and down. Practice out here first... yes, that’s correct. Straighter... and cup your hands; scoop the water away from you – gives you more momentum. Very good. Now try again...” He watched as his son dived down for a second time. “Merlin, he is doomed. We may have to resort to Gillyweed – I just don’t like the freshwater trials with it; too unpredictable.” He began pacing and Moody kept an eye on Harry, grimacing whenever the teen’s movements became uncoordinated enough to stall his progress through the depths of the pool.

“What he needs is a two pronged solution: something that will ensure his air for at least an hour, and impart a swimming ability,” Mad-eye muttered as Severus passed him. The potions professor stopped and turned slowly to look at the battle-scarred Auror, then turned his gaze towards the window, raising his eyebrow in question.

“Do you really think it would work,” Moody asked in wonder, catching on quickly.

“I believe so, yes. And the fourth years have been working on the beginning stages of it for the last three weeks, so I wouldn’t be giving him the potion – he’s been making it all along. And I have the final ingredient already in my stores.”

“What final ingredient?” came the wet voice from behind them. “Because, there has to be a better solution than this!”

“Mermaid hair – or rather, Merman,” Severus suggested.

****

“Harry, are you certain about this?” Hermione asked as she accompanied him down to the water’s edge. “I’ve read all about Polyjuice – it isn’t recommended with human to animal transformations. You could be stuck for weeks in this form instead of for just an hour!” she fretted.

“That’s the beauty of it, Hermione, Merpeople are mostly human. They are an ancient experiment gone wrong and chose to remain underwater, forming their own society and language as the condition was passed along in their genes. Dad explained it to me the other night. Because of that, the transformation should last just as long as it does with a human, or a little longer. Long enough for me to complete the task; and, as an added bonus, I’ll be able to automatically swim like a Merman.” He grinned widely at that prospect before looking around the gathering crowd. “Hey, have you seen your boyfriend anywhere?” he asked worriedly.

“No. I haven’t seen him since last night. We were studying runes - really, we were,” she verified when he turned to her with a knowing smirk on his face.  “When Luna came by and said that Dumbledore was looking for him.” She began searching the gathering crowd as well for the tell-tale mane of white-blonde hair. Ever since the Yule ball, the two of them were quite the power couple in the school. Hermione had blossomed under Draco’s attention and was the envy of many of her peers. Harry wished them well, but with Voldemort gaining strength he just didn’t want to put anyone in the target range from being romantically associated with him. Pansy seemed to understand and seemed satisfied with being a friend.

“Huh...” Harry said, fingering the prepared vial of Polyjuice in his pocket. “Wonder what that was all about.” They kept silent the rest of the walk to the lakeside where they met up with the twins, still taking bets.

“What’s the spread now?” Harry asked, curious in a morbid sort of way.

“For you, my friend, twenty to one,” George stated. “They all figure you’re going to snuff it.”

“That’s awful!” said an indignant Hermione.

“Care to wager, Granger?” Fred asked, quill poised over his ledger book.

“Absolutely not – that’s atrocious! Good luck, Harry!” She gave Harry a hug before huffing past them and went to stand with Ron and the others of their study group.

Dumbledore and the rest of the school Heads marched along the beach, pulling Harry into the group and depositing him in line with the other three Champions. It was a cool, brisk morning that the warming charms cast on the beach area were not dispelling. Harry stripped down to his swimming trunks and undershirt, checking the placement of his wand holster on his forearm. The cold Scottish air was causing gooseflesh to pop up all over his arms and his teeth began chattering as he waited for the task to start. He juggled the vial of potion in his hands, warming it up – his father saying that it tended to go down better when warm. He had his doubts about that claim, but was willing to believe anything at that point as long as it worked. The Merman hair had imparted a shimmery aqua sheen to the potion, along with a slightly fishy odour.

Cedric stood near him, stoically looking out over the water, calm and collected. Fleur looked nervous and for once did not give him an evil eye when their gazes met. Instead she shyly smiled at him before resuming her own little bit of pacing.

Krum looked bored; arms crossed and a sleepy look on his face, as if he knew he could be in a better place than this, with better use of his time. Harry wondered why the arrogant toe-rag had even entered the competition in the first place, although he guessed the prize money might have a little something to do with it. That, and eternal glory – as Dumbledore had succinctly put it.

Mad-eye paced along the line of Champions, his wooden leg sinking into the sand making him look unbalanced as his mechanical eye looked for anything out of the ordinary.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and used a sonorous charm to gather everyone’s attention.

“The four champions are here this morning to complete the second task of the tournament. Overnight, something that they cherish was taken to the depths of the black lake. The competitors will have one hour to retrieve that item and return it, intact, to the surface. Champions, are you ready? Begin now!” he cried.

Fleur immediately cast the Bubblehead charm around her head and rushed out into the water, giving a little scream as the cold water hit her. But she didn’t let it stop her and she continued to wade out until she could dive down below the surface.

Cedric followed suit, nearly as quickly while Krum used his wand to transfigure his head into a replica of a shark, roaring to the crowd along the beach before beginning his descent.

Harry waded out to where he had to tread water, lifting the vial and popping the cork – hesitating only a moment before drinking down the fishy-tasting brew. He had a hard time keeping it down but managed long enough to feel the transformation take shape.

It started at his torso and worked downwards as his legs snapped together and seemed to fuse to each other, his feet spreading and toes lengthening to form a wedge shape that was soon covered in glittering sea-foam green scales. His legs no longer bent, so much as undulated. The small webs between his fingers increased in length and a curious itching feeling attacked either side of his neck. When he moved a hand up there to scratch, he felt the flutters of gills.

An overwhelming need to get under the water came over him and he gave into the desire, diving like a pro under the small wavelets, letting his strong tail manoeuvre him further and further along. His momentum through the water pushed the water over and under his gills and his lungs took in the filtered oxygen naturally. A tingling along his head prompted him to reach his hands up to feel his scalp. He still had some long hair up there, and in the murky water it was hard to tell its colour, but the rest of it had fused along his spine into a fin that continued down along the back of his tail, disappearing somewhere around where his knees used to be. After a bit of experimentation, he discovered that it helped him steer through the lake waters.

He swam deeper and deeper, the weak light from the surface struggling to make it into the depths far below. He floated through acres of seaweed that hid many different creatures, their eyes gleaming in the dark. They were strange and wonderful, denizens he had never seen before in his books and he wished he had more time to stay and study them. But he had a job to do and the time was ticking away. He checked his waterproofed watch – Hermione had cast the charm as a parting gift. He was startled to realise he had been there for nearly twenty minutes already, and he had no clue as to where he needed to go! He felt though that he had been heading in the right direction and he pumped his tail some more, trying to gain some height over the forest of weed. He was startled several times by Grindylows making grabs for his tail from their hiding places amongst the vegetation, or a peek at something dark and sinister looking that passed overhead, dismissing him as below its notice. Periodically, he passed ruins, ancient and covered in greenish moss that swayed in the current.

He saw Fleur at a distance grappling with the giant squid. He would have gone to her aid, except that he was stopped by an armed Merman who popped up from below, trident in hand, and refused to let him pass.

He reluctantly continued on his downward journey, spying a Merperson ahead of him and turning to follow it discretely. As he suspected, it led him directly to the Mer-village at the bottom of the lake. A check of his watch showed he had used up nearly forty minutes in getting here.

A strong fluke of his tail propelled him over the top of the settlement and he gazed down into the water-dwelling specie’s domain. As he gazed down at them, the residents looked up at him; mothers gathering their babies to them in a protective gesture, older children swimming with him, keeping pace and calling to each other in laughing tones. The village was quite peaceful looking; colourful shells and sands decorating the exteriors of the dwellings, and careful plots of varieties of seaweed and other vegetation grew behind each home, lovingly tended by young women who paused in their chores to watch float overhead. Harry smiled down at them, but didn’t stop in his search for the task area.

Harry soon espied a central area where several armed guards stood – or floated – watch over their prizes: Human prizes.

One for each Champion, as promised; and each a precious possession. Harry spotted Draco’s fair hair immediately – it stood out like a beacon in the inky darkness of the black water. Cedric’s prize was Cho Chang; Fleur’s seemed to be a young relative – her sister or cousin, perhaps. Krum’s was - oddly - Hannah. Harry bet there would be words about that choice when this was over. If all four were still here, that meant that he was the first to arrive. He checked his watch again – only ten minutes until the hour was up, where was everyone?

He decided to get Draco free first, and he made quick work of the tether of seaweed rope that held his brother down. As he untied the last knot, a form swam over him and down to where Cho drifted in the current. Cedric looked over at Harry and seeing that the younger boy was fine, severed the seaweed and yanked on her arm, pointing to his watch as he passed by the two Snapes. Harry nodded that he understood, but decided he still had a little time left. He was rewarded a moment later when Krum swum by, nearly bowling the Gryffindor over as his teeth snagged Hannah around the middle and dragged her towards the surface with nary a glance behind him. With his enhanced sense of smell due to his transformed state, Harry could detect the drift of blood on the water where Hannah had been grazed by her ardent admirer.

That just left the little French girl. Harry looked around but saw no sign of Fleur. The rhyme played over and over in his head and he just could not take the chance that if the girl did not make it to the surface in the next eight minutes, she would drown. A tournament wasn’t worth that heartache.

Making his decision, he dragged Draco over to where she drifted, used his wand to sever the rope and began using his strong tail to propel them to the surface.

It was difficult swimming upwards with two teens dragging on his arms. They were both still in an enchanted sleep, bubbles periodically escaping from their mouths and noses. It was slowing him down and he knew that it would be a miracle if he made it anywhere near to the hour time limit. He was pretty sure he was past that point already. In fact, Draco was starting to show signs of life and they still had twenty metres to go.

Harry was not sure how long the Polyjuice would last, with fish genes potentially adding some small bit of time to the usual hour. He had only brought along one vial and was regretting that decision. At fifteen metres, the little girl began to squirm and a swarm of Grindylows rose from the forest of seaweed below them, reaching with their tiny clawed hands for the tender flesh of the humans.

Seeing that Draco was awake, Harry passed his brother the little girl, quickly and wandlessly encased their heads in Bubblehead charms, pushing them as hard as he could towards the surface. Snatching his wand out of its holder, he tried sending Stupefy at the creatures with little success. To add to his problems, he could feel the beginnings of the Polyjuice wearing off.

Clapping a hand to his neck, the fibrillating gills stilled and melded back into his skin. He had full lungs, but that wasn’t going to last long. Sending stinging hexes and and immobulus’ seemed to work better, and Harry used the relief to pump his retreating tail as hard as he could to rapidly ascend to the surface of the water.

His head broke through and he gasped for air just as his legs pulled apart and he could kick them independently. He started a slow crawl towards the shoreline, arms and body aching with the pull of the tide against him. His brother pulled far ahead of him, supporting the little girl along his body. Fleur rushed down to the waterline to meet them, Bill joining her to lift the child out of the water and wrap her in thick towels. He offered a hand to Draco who let the red-haired Weasley pull him upright. Fleur bestowed a kiss on her distant cousin’s cheek in gratitude for helping her sister.

Draco turned and waited for Harry to make it to the shore, their father joining him with a set of warm robes and towels hanging on his arm. Hermione came over, draping more terrycloth around her boyfriend, rubbing up and down to restore his circulation. Snape suddenly dropped his burden and rushed out into the water, splashing through the freezing waves to where he reached for his son’s flailing hands and drew the pale boy to his side, striking him on the back to force him to cough up the water he had swallowed when he became too tired to continue.

Harry knelt in the shallows, bent over and expelling the lake water from his lungs, his father rubbing calming hands along his back. Draco and Hermione hovered nearby, having picked up the robes and towels. Severus spoke lowly to his son and Harry nodded his head, letting his dad help him upright. When he stood up, the crowd let out a sigh of a relief and spontaneous applause greeted him as he stumbled up the beach to where Madam Pomfrey was holding court near the judges’ stand, spell-warmed robes and towels wrapped around him.

The matron clucked her tongue, spelling him dry and checking him over for any residual traces of potion or scratches from his travels. Fleur hovered in the background then swooped in to thank Harry effusively for rescuing her sister, kissing him on both reddening cheeks before Bill drew her away, thanking Harry himself.

“Looks like her tune has changed,” Draco remarked in a whisper.

“Apparently,” his brother agreed. They focused their attention on the other side of the room where a loud slap could be heard. Hannah, still dripping, had apparently had enough of Krum and was letting him know it. Why she had agreed to be his hostage was anyone’s guess – especially after the disaster at Yule – but his choice as to how to rescue her was the issue now as she loudly berated him for the tooth slices all over her body and clothes, some of which still needed healing. Pomfrey was doing her best while Hannah turned into a human whirlwind sending Viktor scrambling to get as far away her as was possible. 

“I see Mr Krum is still exuding his usual charm,” Severus commented dryly as he brought over several potions bottles to dose Harry with. His son eyed the collection with resignation. “I don’t need you coming down with pneumonia, or some dire disease, from ingesting the lake water, Harry. Open up,” he commanded. Harry complied and received doses ranging from Pepper-up to Lung-dry and some vile tasting potion that was supposed to kill intestinal parasites.

Steam still pouring from his ears, he joined the other Champions as they waited near the judges for the final awarding of points.

“For a full fifty points, showing a masterful use of the Bubblehead Charm, Cedric Diggory!” Dumbledore announced and the Hogwarts faction screamed their approval, banging on noisemakers and clapping their hands.

“For thirty points, with an incomplete transformation charm and causing harm to his hostage: Viktor Krum!” Hannah glared at Viktor while Dumbledore spoke.

“For fifteen points for use of the Bubblehead Charm, but unable to rescue her Hostage: Fleur Delacour.” Polite applause greeted her as she stepped forward to accept his handshake.

“And arriving after the hour, but with his hostage, we award Harry Potter-Snape thirty points. However,” the Headmaster’s voice rose to recapture everyone’s attention, “In discussions with the chief of the Merpeople, it was discovered that Mr Potter-Snape arrived first and waited to make sure all the hostages were rescued; in fact rescuing an additional hostage along with his own. For that, and for excellent use of the Polyjuice potion, we are awarding him an additional fifteen points placing him in second place.”

“Yes!” Draco yelled, pounding his brother on his back in his enthusiasm. Harry dazedly let Dumbledore shake his hand and watched as the judges walked back towards the castle. He accepted congratulations from Cedric and Fleur and turned quickly when a discrete cough sounded behind him announcing Pansy’s arrival.

“Well done, Harry,” she told him.

“Thanks, Pansy – oh! I promised you something, didn’t I,” he remembered. He walked down to the edge of the water and plucked a leaf from some stray seaweed. Touching it with his wand, it transformed into a small golden version, complete with an etching of a Merman on one side and the date. He presented it to her. “For your bracelet,” he reminded her.

“Thank you, Harry.” She accepted the token and immediately attached it to the links gleaming on her wrist, twisting it so she could hear the music the baubles made. “Just one more for a complete set,” she commented.

“Yes, well they are all one of a kind...”

“As are you...” She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the lips before hurrying off, leaving behind a stunned Gryffindor.

“Come along, Mr Unique,” said his father in an amused voice. “Let’s get you back to quarters and into some dry clothes. Then you may go celebrate with your friends.” Harry let him lead the way, the rest of his impromptu family following behind rehashing the morning’s events.