CH 149

After Sirius left, Hermione - a little disappointed in Harry actually killing the dragon - asked, "Was there a reason you specifically wanted to kill the dragon, Harry?"

"Yes," he replied. "And, I thought I made that clear the other night." With a sigh, Hermione replied, "You did. But, I didn't want to believe you'd actually go through with it." She hesitated a few moments before she asked, "You do realise it means the merpeople are next, don't you?"

"Of course," replied Harry. "It was the primary reason I killed the dragon, after all. The dragon was the warning. I just hope Dumbledore tells the merpeople I'll kill them if they get in my way. Last time through, I had to kill about three of them, and grievously injure about a further five, just to get little Miss Delacour out of there. I'm hoping, this way, to save lives."

With a sigh of his own he said, "I don't know who Dumbles is going to pick as my hostage. It could be either of you, or it could even be someone else." With a snort, he said, "It could even be Weasley again." With her face morphing into a returned smirk, Hermione asked, "And what are you going to do if it is?"

"Rescue Gabrielle and leave the red-headed wanker down there, of course!" he brightly returned. "Imagine Fumblebutt's face if I do that."

Both girls snickered.

Harry adopted a pretty impressive imitation of Dumbledore's mannerisms and said, "Ah, Harry, my boy; I'm afraid you've rescued the wrong hostage."

Switching back to himself, he continued, trying to look puzzled. "No, I don't think so, Headmaster. I put a lot of thought into this. Out of the hostages down there, I figured Miss Chang is Cedric's hostage, Weasley is Victor's hostage as Victor is so bloody arrogant he couldn't live without his little fanboys, and considering how much I want the little fuck dead or in Azkaban I knew Weasley couldn't be mine. I don't know that other person from a bar of soap; so, that left this gorgeous little munchkin as mine. I figured I cannot do without beauty in the world, and this little moppet represents that."

Switching back, he said, "But, Harry; Ronald is your friend. Surely, you can see your way to... forgive... him."

"Friend?" he switched back. "Forgive? Ha! Friends don't try and potion you with something we consider akin to the Imperius curse in a bottle. Friends don't try to find ways to help their sister rape you, or himself try to rape your other friend using potions. No, Headmaster; you're lucky I couldn't figure out a way to kill the little shit while we were down there. Right now I'm hoping, once the hour's up, the little shit drowns. Please tell me that's what happens. Please?"

If it wasn't the words Harry was using, or the pretty good imitation of the Headmaster, the puppydog expression when he said the last two sentences definitely sent both girls into howling laughter before Hermione sobered and said, "You should rescue her again, anyway. You know what'll happen. And you know what the merpeople will do to her if she's left there."

With a sigh after the cold shower of memory Hermione put on their hilarity, he replied, "Yeah, I won't allow them to harm her, this time."

During the Tournament of the first go around, and though Harry rescued her, young Gabrielle was seriously injured during the second task. She never fully recovered from her injuries. And the bright, bubbly, eleven year old was forever gone; replaced by, according to her sister, a skittish child who grew into a teen who suffered debilitating nightmares and a drug dependency on certain sleep and calming potions.

"At least, this time, you know where you need to go and can get there a lot faster," Daphne soothed him. "This time, at least, you can rescue your hostage and young Miss Delacour and should come out without much of a scratch."

"Can both of you swim?" asked Harry. "Fully clothed?"

Both nodded.

"In that case, if necessary and it's one of you two, I can get you to the surface before returning and rescuing young Miss Delacour," he explained. "That way, I'm only struggling with one dead weight getting back to the surface, rather than two."

"Dead weight?" asked Daphne with a cocked eyebrow.

With a little sigh, Harry tried to explain. "Until such time as the hostage is returned to the surface and the open air, they remain in the enchanted sleep, unable to assist with either the ascent or to fight off the merfolk. The hostages have just a smidgen of positive buoyancy, but that's all."

With a sudden look as if he'd just discovered an answer, he said, "Wait a min." And looked away with a frown, thinking hard.

"Harry's

on

to

something,"

muttered Hermione to Daphne.

"That's it, I think," he muttered.

"What's 'it'?" asked Daphne.

"If necessary, I can attach... or use some other way... air bladders to whichever hostage Dumbledore sticks in the bottom of the lake for me," he slowly explained. "Heavens; even the application of a bubblehead charm on the hostage will lift them to the surface pretty quickly. It may even wake them up so they can help me with little Miss Delacour."

Both girls grinned back until Hermione's face fell again. "The problem is," she explained. "We don't have our wands with us. We get them handed back to us in the medical tent, later." "Yes, but you can still aid yourself by swimming to the surface and getting out of it to safety," he replied. "That will then allow me to... wait. I'll take your wands down with me. We'll conjure up a couple of fake ones for the night before. If you're still with me in the morning, then I simply hand you your wands back."

"Oh, yes," said Hermione. "Last time, Professor McGonagall summoned me to her office, the night before. If neither of us has been summoned by the time we retire for the evening, I'm warding the shit out of our apartment, especially your room, Harry."

It was so rare for Hermione to swear, Harry gaped back to her in shock while Daphne just cocked an eyebrow and smirked at her.

"I don't want anyone to come sneaking in during the middle of the night," she sheepishly explained. "They can find themselves another hostage, if they leave it too late."

Nodding his head in agreement, Harry said, "I completely agree. As for the task, I'm going to practice some incantless charms and curses. I'll start with the bubblehead charm and severing curse. Then I'll work on a few I think will work really well underwater."

"Add the banishing charm to your repertoire, Harry," suggested Hermione.

"Why?" he asked.

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