Snape and Lily's daughter

Second task

It was the evening before the second task. Harry had found out what the task was about after Cedric gave the hint of opening the egg under the water in the Prefects' bathroom. Now Harry, Ron, Hermione and Grace were trying to decide what Harry would do for the next task.

The four of them were sitting in the library, searching through various books for some way that Harry could stand being under water for an hour.

"I don't reckon it can be done," Ron said. "There's nothing. Nothing. Closest was that thing to dry up puddles and ponds, that Drought Charm, but that was nowhere near powerful enough to drain the lake."

"There must be something," Grace muttered.

"They'd never have set a task that was undoable." Hermione said.

"I know what I should have done," Harry said. "I should've learned to be an Animagus like Sirius."

"Yeah, you could've turned into a goldfish any time you wanted!" Ron said.

"Or into some animal that is not aquatic. You can't choose which animal you will transform into..." Grace said quietly.

"It takes years to become an Animagus, and then you have to register yourself and everything," Hermione said vaguely.

"Hermione, I was joking," Harry said wearily. "I know I haven't got a chance of turning into a frog by tomorrow morning..."

The four of them continued leafing through books.

"Oh this is no use," Grace said. "Who on earth wants to make their nose hair grow into ringlets?"

"I wouldn't mind," said Fred Weasley's voice. "Be a talking point, wouldn't it?"

The four of them looked up and saw Fred and George.

"What're you two doing here?" Ron asked.

"Looking for you," George said. "McGonagall wants you, Ron. And you, Hermione."

"Why?" Hermione said, looking surprised.

"Dunno... she was looking a bit grim, though," Fred said.

"We're supposed to take you down to her office," George said.

Ron and Hermione got up.

"We'll meet you back in the common room," Hermione told Harry. "Bring as many of these books as you can, okay?"

Harry nodded. The two left with Fred and Jorge, and Grace and Harry continued to look for something that would help them.

After much searching, Grace finally found something interesting. "Harry! Look! I think I found exactly what you need!"

"What have you found?"

"I have been looking through a Herbology book, and ended up finding this plant, Gillyweed. It can be used to breathe under water. Just chew and swallow." Grace said.

"But where would I find Gillyweed at this hour?" Harry said.

Both have lost hope again.

The next day, Grace and everyone else went to the Great Lake, where the second task of the tournament would be held. What Grace found completely strange was that, with ten minutes to go before the start of the task, Harry was not there.

A short time later, Grace spotted Harry running up to the other champions.

"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!" Bagman said.

Everyone started shouting and cheering for their champions. Grace saw Harry putting something in his mouth...could it have been the gillyweed? She thought to herself.

Fleur Delacour had given up the task and returned without her hostage. An hour had passed.

Cedric was the first to return, and he brought Cho Chang with him.

Victor Krum soon returned, Hermione with him.

Harry was the only one who hadn't returned.

The one-hour deadline was passing and by a lot.

But then Harry, Ron, and a little girl whom Grace didn't recognize appear from the lake.

Everyone was cheering when Harry returned.

Madam Pomfrey was looking after Hermione, Krum, Cedrico and Cho, all wrapped up in thick blankets.

Grace soon realized that the little girl was Fleur's sister, when the other champion ran up to Harry when she saw the three of them arriving at the lake.

Ludo Bagman began to speak, "Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Merchieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows...

"Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points."

Applause from the stands.

"Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was first to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour." Enormous cheers from the Hufflepuffs in the crowd. "We therefore award him forty-seven points."

"Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was second to return with his hostage. We award him forty points."

"Harry Potter used gillyweed to great effect," Bagman continued. "He returned last, and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Merchieftainess informs us that Mr. Potter was first to reach the hostages, and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely his own."

Grace was hopeful.

"Most of the judges feel that this shows moral fiber and merits full marks. However... Mr. Potter's score is forty-five points."

Harry was now tying for first place with Cedric!

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

Grace came down from the stands to greet Harry.

"Congratulations! You really deserved the first place!" Grace said, hugging her brother.

"I have to thank you, Grace. Thank you so much! If it wasn't for you finding out about the gillyweed..." he said, hugging her back.

"How did you get it?" Grace asked him curiously.

"This morning I was woken up by Dobby, a house elf I've known for a few years, with ten minutes to go before the task began. He told me that he overheard our conversation in the library yesterday and went looking for the gill and brought it to me this morning."

Grace returned to the Slytherin Common Room later that day. She was extremely happy about what had happened to Blaise the other day, and especially, about Harry's victory today in the second task. Little did she know what she was about to discover.

Arriving at her dorm, Grace sat down on her bed, and her friends did the same. Astoria, who was not on time, arrived soon after, and she had a weird look on her face... "You won't believe what Rita Skeeter published in the Daily Prophet today." she said.

"What?" the three girls asked anxiously.

Astoria opened the page and read aloud.

"Young love circulating around Hogwarts. Besides having spotted Harry Potter and Hermione Granger together just before the first task of the Triwizard Tournament, we recently caught fourth-year Slytherin student Blaise Zabini exchanging saliva with none other than third-year Slytherin student Grace Snape, who is also the daughter of one of Hogwarts' notorious professors, Severus Snape, who teaches Potions."

"WHAT?" Grace yelled.