Hagrid is Good. It's like, his core trait.
A Skirt's Not So Bad [Harry Potter]
- Thread starter Tekomandor
- Start date
Hagrid is Good. It's like, his core trait.
Year Four, Chapter Twenty Eight
- Location
- Australia
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Year Four, Chapter Twenty Eight
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the second task of the Triwizard Tournament! Now, you may be wondering why our champions are getting ready for a swim in February. A hostage, one dear to each champion, has been taken - and they will have one hour to get them back from the bottom of the Black Lake. Failure to do so... will have dire consequences for their chances in the Third Task," Bagman explained through his enchanted microphone.
Holly was glad of the warming charm on her swimming costume (and for the skirt) as she stood on the rocky shore of the Black lake. There was already a cold, howling wind blowing across the lake, and Holly knew the thick grey clouds promised rain sooner or later. People were looking at her a little oddly. Probably, she thought, because of the socks.
"Each champion will be scored on their speed, their use of magic, and their gallantry. Now, as to their boons - my counterpart in International Magical Relations is handing those out now! Congratulations to all of you who won a boon for your champion!"
Mrs Hull was walking up to each champion, and handing out a few small objects. She handed Holly a wand she immediately recognised as Ginny's, a wrist holster for it, and a small stoppered vial full of pitch-black powder.
"What's the powder?" Holly asked.
"Peruvian instant darkness powder. Works just as well underwater as above it," Mrs Hull said, sounding for once interested and animated.
"Cool," Holly said, then she went back to listening to Bagman.
"Now, I'm sure you're all wondering if there's going to be much to watch - after all, we can't exactly see beneath the water! Never fear - Professor Dumbledore has very kindly helped us set up a number of omniocular pipes to allow me to keep track of all the action, and I'll be narrating it for you. Champions, you may begin on my count down. Three... two... one... begin!" Bagman said, and Holly immediately went to work.
She quickly transfigured her socks into flippers, and then cast a verbal bubblehead charm. It seemed like Fleur and Cedric were thinking along the same lines, as both of them had cast the bubblehead charm, but Krum had chosen a different tactic - he'd done a partial self-transfiguration into a shark.
"And Potter's displayed impressive mastery of the Bubblehead charm for her age, but what's with the shoes? Some kind of muggle device?" Bagman said, but that was all Holly heard before she waddled into the water. Walking in the long flippers was awkward, but when she started to swim she knew she'd had the right idea.
Cedric and Fleur had both been faster than her to enter the water, but when Holly dived beneath the waves she sped past both of them. Of course, she was pretty fast in general.
Holly's vision was fairly limited in the dark, murky water but she'd scouted out the general route to the Merpeople's village before the task. She dived down eagre to get away from the other champions (as, after all, there were no rules against stopping another champion from reducing their hostage).
She swam just above the tangled forest of dark weeds, tiny silver fish swimming past her in every direction, and headed for the Merpeople's village. She had her wand in her hand, ready for trouble - because surely the task wouldn't be as simple as swimming to the village and back again.
Something grabbed at her leg, and Holly twisted around in the water. A grindylow - a sort of small, horned, water demon - was grasping at her ankle, and Holly could see several more of them swimming towards her. She slashed her wand at the creature, and it was blasted backwards by a jet of red light. Her stunning spell had taken care of one, but dozens were now swimming towards her.
She waved her wand in a circle around her and conjured a whip of superheated water. Bubbles flew away from it angrily, and she lashed the horde of water demons with it. They cried out in pain, bubbles escaping from their fanged maws, and swam away from her. Holly used their distraction to swim far enough away that they wouldn't be able to follow her.
Holly could see the Merpople's village now, the shapes of their stone buildings emerging from the murk. There were a half dozen elaborate stone buildings, Roman in their design, all constructed in a circle. At the centre was a large tower that seemed to glow softly from windows at its top floor. It was a huge construction, even bigger than the large buildings surrounding it.
There was one last patch of plants before it, and Holly planned to swim a little over it - she had no need to fight off Grindylows once more. She a flash of silver beneath the dark plants, and then another. Her eyes narrowed, and Holly thought about what Ginny had done. She concentrated and transformed only her eyes into that of a messenger raven's.
Fleur was being mobbed by Grindylows, and she'd lost her grip on her wand. Her hands had turned to talons, and she'd cut a few of them severely - but the blood seeping into the water wasn't purely the brackish blood of the water demons - some of it was the red of Fleur's.
Holly knew that the most strategic thing to do was to leave Fleur and continue on, but the Beauxbatons champion looked like she was in real trouble. Holly turned and slashed her wand at the Grindylows. Jets of red light struck them, blasting them backwards and caving in more than a few chests. Against a creature so small, a stunning spell like Holly's could deal serious physical damage.
Fleur looked up, and Holly swam closer. She whipped hot water and the remaining Gryndlows, and they turned to run. She summoned Fleur's wand and then swam towards her. Holly touched the bubble from her bubblehead charm to Fleur's and handed back her wand.
"Are you alright, Fleur?" Holly asked.
"Thanks to you... never have I been so scared - not even the dragon," Fleur said, shaking her head. She sounded panicked, but her wounds were only minor.
"Do you need help with..." Holly began, but Fleur shook her head. She was already healing her wounds and fixing her swimming costume.
"Go on, Holly. I'll give you a little head start," Fluer said, smiling at her. Holly blushed, and she realised that she was very close to a very pretty girl. Deciding that retreat was the wisest option, she nodded and swam off towards the tower. She let her eyes fade back to their natural human green, and shook her head. She needed to keep her mind on the Task, not very pretty half-Vela girls winking at her.
"Halt, champion!" Holly heard a musical voice say, and she looked down to see a merman floating towards her. He looked nothing like the image muggles imagined - he had greyish, scaled skin and wild green hair. His eyes seemed to glow a soft yellow, and his mouth was full of sharp teeth the same colour. "Once you enter the tower, there can be no retreat. If you wish to forefit, do so now," the Merman said.
"I - I understand," Holly said. Her words couldn't travel outside of her bubblehead charm, however, so she nodded as well. The merman swam aside, and Holly saw that there were dozens of them - all watching her approach the large stone tower in the centre of their village.
There was only one door, and it seemed to crumble to dust as Holly approached. She lit her wand and swam cautiously inside. The second she crossed the doorway, it began to reform - only now behind her, there was nothing but smooth dark stone. Her wand provided the only light as she swam down the stone corridor, which twisted and turned half a dozen ways the couldn't have ever fit into the slim tower Holly had seen without magic.
Around the next bend, she came to another door. This one didn't crumble to fust when she approached, and as she tried the handle she realised it was securely locked with no obvious mechanism. Her unlocking charm had no effect, and Holly was no magical lockpick - that had always been Hermione.
So Holly swam back and levelled her wand at the door. An explosive curse wouldn't work underwater, and she didn't want to set off a blast in such a confined space. She recalled Dumbledore's lesson on magic and water and put all the power she could into moving the water. The door was blasted off its hinges by the sheer force of the water crashing against it, and Holly swam deeper into the tower.
Finally, she was in the core of the tower - and she could see light coming from up above. It seemed like there was a chamber that the water didn't reach, and Holly began to swim upwards. Then the merpeople emerged from little tunnels in the side of the core, carrying huge weighted nets. Holly knew she didn't want to fight them and risk hurting them, so she grabbed the vial of darkness powder and smashed it against the wall. It spread with alarming speed, and the merpeople gave off confused cries as Holly swum up through the darkness and left them behind.
She emerged onto a set of stone steps. She pulled herself out of the water, and into what looked like a pocket of air. A little cluster of runs, glowing a soft blue, blew fresh air towards her. The room itself was a wide, circular one. It was made from the same black stone as the tower, but there were a number of couches and armchairs scattered across it.
Sitting in them were three hostages. Ginny, who smiled broadly when she saw Holly, a young girl who looked very much like Fluer, and Hermione.
"Ginny! Hermione!" Holly called out, as she awkwardly walked over to them in her flippers. She dismissed her bubblehead charm and enjoyed the fresher air for a moment.
"Holly!" Ginny said, leaping up from her chair. She ran across the room towards Holly but jerkily stopped short. A manacle was attached to her left ankle, with a chain leading to the centre of the room. Holly walked the rest of the way and kissed her girlfriend.
"I was so worried when you weren't at breakfast," Holly said.
"We've been down here the whole time. The merpeople even served us breakfast," Ginny said.
"How was it?" Holly asked, suddenly curious.
"Wet," Ginny said, and Holly laughed.
"Do you have a key for that, or?" Holly asked.
"Nope. I figure that's part of the challenge," Ginny said.
"Did you see Viktor, Holly?" Hermione asked.
"Don't panic if a half-shark guy comes in here, that's him," Holly said as she examined the lock on the manacle. Thinking that ti was probably charmed to resist an unlocking charm, she got the knife Sirius had given her for Christmas out. She pressed the blade into the lock on the manacle, and it almost seemed to flow into the lock. With only a little effort, the lock clicked open.
"I guess Sirius did know what he was doing when he got you that for Christmas," Ginny said.
"Here's your wand, by the way," Holly said and handed hers to Ginny.
"Cho didn't get her wand," Ginny said, sounding pleased.
"I think that was your boon," Holly said. Ginny had won the third year duelling competition, granting Holly a boon in the second task - and if Ginny getting her wand was the boon, then it wasn't over.
There was another spiral staircase leading up into what looked like a pool of water, only upside down. Holly could see dim shapes moving beyond - more Merpeople with their nets, she thought.
"Ginny, get your shield charm ready and hold on when we go up, okay?" Holly asked. She cast the bubblehead charm again, once on her and once on Ginny.
"Al- alright?" Ginny said, and they ascended the spiral staircase slowly. Holly found climbing it in her flippers difficult.
"Ready?" Holly asked, holding out her hand to Ginny. She took it, and held on tightly. They climbed into the lake, and Ginny cast her shield charm not a moment too soon - the nets were sent bouncing off, giving Holly enough time to complete her spell. She spoke a few words Dumbledore had taught her, and then she thrust her wand upwards. Water rushed around her, and as she held onto Ginny's hand for dear life they rocketed upwards at great speed.
Holly thought she saw a tentacle swipe at them, but they were going far too fast to be hit by it. In less than a minute, they were found out of the water and into the freezing cold air of the lake. They both splashed down back into the water, and Holly cancelled the bubblehead charms as she and Ginny headed towards the shore.
"And with that spectacular ascent, Miss Potter is our second champion to arrive - only a minute behind Mr Diggory! A strong day for Hogwarts, a strong day indeed..." Bagman said, and the crowd roared.
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the second task of the Triwizard Tournament! Now, you may be wondering why our champions are getting ready for a swim in February. A hostage, one dear to each champion, has been taken - and they will have one hour to get them back from the bottom of the Black Lake. Failure to do so... will have dire consequences for their chances in the Third Task," Bagman explained through his enchanted microphone.
Holly was glad of the warming charm on her swimming costume (and for the skirt) as she stood on the rocky shore of the Black lake. There was already a cold, howling wind blowing across the lake, and Holly knew the thick grey clouds promised rain sooner or later. People were looking at her a little oddly. Probably, she thought, because of the socks.
"Each champion will be scored on their speed, their use of magic, and their gallantry. Now, as to their boons - my counterpart in International Magical Relations is handing those out now! Congratulations to all of you who won a boon for your champion!"
Mrs Hull was walking up to each champion, and handing out a few small objects. She handed Holly a wand she immediately recognised as Ginny's, a wrist holster for it, and a small stoppered vial full of pitch-black powder.
"What's the powder?" Holly asked.
"Peruvian instant darkness powder. Works just as well underwater as above it," Mrs Hull said, sounding for once interested and animated.
"Cool," Holly said, then she went back to listening to Bagman.
"Now, I'm sure you're all wondering if there's going to be much to watch - after all, we can't exactly see beneath the water! Never fear - Professor Dumbledore has very kindly helped us set up a number of omniocular pipes to allow me to keep track of all the action, and I'll be narrating it for you. Champions, you may begin on my count down. Three... two... one... begin!" Bagman said, and Holly immediately went to work.
She quickly transfigured her socks into flippers, and then cast a verbal bubblehead charm. It seemed like Fleur and Cedric were thinking along the same lines, as both of them had cast the bubblehead charm, but Krum had chosen a different tactic - he'd done a partial self-transfiguration into a shark.
"And Potter's displayed impressive mastery of the Bubblehead charm for her age, but what's with the shoes? Some kind of muggle device?" Bagman said, but that was all Holly heard before she waddled into the water. Walking in the long flippers was awkward, but when she started to swim she knew she'd had the right idea.
Cedric and Fleur had both been faster than her to enter the water, but when Holly dived beneath the waves she sped past both of them. Of course, she was pretty fast in general.
Holly's vision was fairly limited in the dark, murky water but she'd scouted out the general route to the Merpeople's village before the task. She dived down eagre to get away from the other champions (as, after all, there were no rules against stopping another champion from reducing their hostage).
She swam just above the tangled forest of dark weeds, tiny silver fish swimming past her in every direction, and headed for the Merpeople's village. She had her wand in her hand, ready for trouble - because surely the task wouldn't be as simple as swimming to the village and back again.
Something grabbed at her leg, and Holly twisted around in the water. A grindylow - a sort of small, horned, water demon - was grasping at her ankle, and Holly could see several more of them swimming towards her. She slashed her wand at the creature, and it was blasted backwards by a jet of red light. Her stunning spell had taken care of one, but dozens were now swimming towards her.
She waved her wand in a circle around her and conjured a whip of superheated water. Bubbles flew away from it angrily, and she lashed the horde of water demons with it. They cried out in pain, bubbles escaping from their fanged maws, and swam away from her. Holly used their distraction to swim far enough away that they wouldn't be able to follow her.
Holly could see the Merpople's village now, the shapes of their stone buildings emerging from the murk. There were a half dozen elaborate stone buildings, Roman in their design, all constructed in a circle. At the centre was a large tower that seemed to glow softly from windows at its top floor. It was a huge construction, even bigger than the large buildings surrounding it.
There was one last patch of plants before it, and Holly planned to swim a little over it - she had no need to fight off Grindylows once more. She a flash of silver beneath the dark plants, and then another. Her eyes narrowed, and Holly thought about what Ginny had done. She concentrated and transformed only her eyes into that of a messenger raven's.
Fleur was being mobbed by Grindylows, and she'd lost her grip on her wand. Her hands had turned to talons, and she'd cut a few of them severely - but the blood seeping into the water wasn't purely the brackish blood of the water demons - some of it was the red of Fleur's.
Holly knew that the most strategic thing to do was to leave Fleur and continue on, but the Beauxbatons champion looked like she was in real trouble. Holly turned and slashed her wand at the Grindylows. Jets of red light struck them, blasting them backwards and caving in more than a few chests. Against a creature so small, a stunning spell like Holly's could deal serious physical damage.
Fleur looked up, and Holly swam closer. She whipped hot water and the remaining Gryndlows, and they turned to run. She summoned Fleur's wand and then swam towards her. Holly touched the bubble from her bubblehead charm to Fleur's and handed back her wand.
"Are you alright, Fleur?" Holly asked.
"Thanks to you... never have I been so scared - not even the dragon," Fleur said, shaking her head. She sounded panicked, but her wounds were only minor.
"Do you need help with..." Holly began, but Fleur shook her head. She was already healing her wounds and fixing her swimming costume.
"Go on, Holly. I'll give you a little head start," Fluer said, smiling at her. Holly blushed, and she realised that she was very close to a very pretty girl. Deciding that retreat was the wisest option, she nodded and swam off towards the tower. She let her eyes fade back to their natural human green, and shook her head. She needed to keep her mind on the Task, not very pretty half-Vela girls winking at her.
"Halt, champion!" Holly heard a musical voice say, and she looked down to see a merman floating towards her. He looked nothing like the image muggles imagined - he had greyish, scaled skin and wild green hair. His eyes seemed to glow a soft yellow, and his mouth was full of sharp teeth the same colour. "Once you enter the tower, there can be no retreat. If you wish to forefit, do so now," the Merman said.
"I - I understand," Holly said. Her words couldn't travel outside of her bubblehead charm, however, so she nodded as well. The merman swam aside, and Holly saw that there were dozens of them - all watching her approach the large stone tower in the centre of their village.
There was only one door, and it seemed to crumble to dust as Holly approached. She lit her wand and swam cautiously inside. The second she crossed the doorway, it began to reform - only now behind her, there was nothing but smooth dark stone. Her wand provided the only light as she swam down the stone corridor, which twisted and turned half a dozen ways the couldn't have ever fit into the slim tower Holly had seen without magic.
Around the next bend, she came to another door. This one didn't crumble to fust when she approached, and as she tried the handle she realised it was securely locked with no obvious mechanism. Her unlocking charm had no effect, and Holly was no magical lockpick - that had always been Hermione.
So Holly swam back and levelled her wand at the door. An explosive curse wouldn't work underwater, and she didn't want to set off a blast in such a confined space. She recalled Dumbledore's lesson on magic and water and put all the power she could into moving the water. The door was blasted off its hinges by the sheer force of the water crashing against it, and Holly swam deeper into the tower.
Finally, she was in the core of the tower - and she could see light coming from up above. It seemed like there was a chamber that the water didn't reach, and Holly began to swim upwards. Then the merpeople emerged from little tunnels in the side of the core, carrying huge weighted nets. Holly knew she didn't want to fight them and risk hurting them, so she grabbed the vial of darkness powder and smashed it against the wall. It spread with alarming speed, and the merpeople gave off confused cries as Holly swum up through the darkness and left them behind.
She emerged onto a set of stone steps. She pulled herself out of the water, and into what looked like a pocket of air. A little cluster of runs, glowing a soft blue, blew fresh air towards her. The room itself was a wide, circular one. It was made from the same black stone as the tower, but there were a number of couches and armchairs scattered across it.
Sitting in them were three hostages. Ginny, who smiled broadly when she saw Holly, a young girl who looked very much like Fluer, and Hermione.
"Ginny! Hermione!" Holly called out, as she awkwardly walked over to them in her flippers. She dismissed her bubblehead charm and enjoyed the fresher air for a moment.
"Holly!" Ginny said, leaping up from her chair. She ran across the room towards Holly but jerkily stopped short. A manacle was attached to her left ankle, with a chain leading to the centre of the room. Holly walked the rest of the way and kissed her girlfriend.
"I was so worried when you weren't at breakfast," Holly said.
"We've been down here the whole time. The merpeople even served us breakfast," Ginny said.
"How was it?" Holly asked, suddenly curious.
"Wet," Ginny said, and Holly laughed.
"Do you have a key for that, or?" Holly asked.
"Nope. I figure that's part of the challenge," Ginny said.
"Did you see Viktor, Holly?" Hermione asked.
"Don't panic if a half-shark guy comes in here, that's him," Holly said as she examined the lock on the manacle. Thinking that ti was probably charmed to resist an unlocking charm, she got the knife Sirius had given her for Christmas out. She pressed the blade into the lock on the manacle, and it almost seemed to flow into the lock. With only a little effort, the lock clicked open.
"I guess Sirius did know what he was doing when he got you that for Christmas," Ginny said.
"Here's your wand, by the way," Holly said and handed hers to Ginny.
"Cho didn't get her wand," Ginny said, sounding pleased.
"I think that was your boon," Holly said. Ginny had won the third year duelling competition, granting Holly a boon in the second task - and if Ginny getting her wand was the boon, then it wasn't over.
There was another spiral staircase leading up into what looked like a pool of water, only upside down. Holly could see dim shapes moving beyond - more Merpeople with their nets, she thought.
"Ginny, get your shield charm ready and hold on when we go up, okay?" Holly asked. She cast the bubblehead charm again, once on her and once on Ginny.
"Al- alright?" Ginny said, and they ascended the spiral staircase slowly. Holly found climbing it in her flippers difficult.
"Ready?" Holly asked, holding out her hand to Ginny. She took it, and held on tightly. They climbed into the lake, and Ginny cast her shield charm not a moment too soon - the nets were sent bouncing off, giving Holly enough time to complete her spell. She spoke a few words Dumbledore had taught her, and then she thrust her wand upwards. Water rushed around her, and as she held onto Ginny's hand for dear life they rocketed upwards at great speed.
Holly thought she saw a tentacle swipe at them, but they were going far too fast to be hit by it. In less than a minute, they were found out of the water and into the freezing cold air of the lake. They both splashed down back into the water, and Holly cancelled the bubblehead charms as she and Ginny headed towards the shore.
"And with that spectacular ascent, Miss Potter is our second champion to arrive - only a minute behind Mr Diggory! A strong day for Hogwarts, a strong day indeed..." Bagman said, and the crowd roared.
JennyDracos
Eccentric Hugging Lady
- Location
- Chicago
Sounds like the crowd is starting to not hate Holly. (Thiugh for the Hufflepuffs in particular, the fact that she did better than Viktor and Fleur but not Cedric is probably a solid reason to cheer for her.)
ExNihilo
SPACE!
- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Well, at least they could see under the lake this time. I wonder what the audience caught of Holly reaching Fleur.
Huh. I wonder why. Did the Romans have a big presence this far north in Scotland?
Huh. I wonder why. Did the Romans have a big presence this far north in Scotland?
- Location
- The great frozen north
Having the hostages be conscious is a fair change- makes it feel much more like an actual fraternal competition than a hostage situation.
Having fleur almost get killed by Gryndlows and be saved by Holly is a good way to keep an equivalent to canon's tension and Fleur's gratitude for harry despite the clear lack of danger to the hostages, but on the other hand holy crap one of the champions nearly got killed by the lake's creatures. This will not reflect well on the tournament.
Having fleur almost get killed by Gryndlows and be saved by Holly is a good way to keep an equivalent to canon's tension and Fleur's gratitude for harry despite the clear lack of danger to the hostages, but on the other hand holy crap one of the champions nearly got killed by the lake's creatures. This will not reflect well on the tournament.
NSMS
Probably evil, unfortunately.
- Location
- A rapidly widening tear in the fabric of reality
Pretty much the exact opposite, actually. They built a huge wall (Hadrian's Wall) to seal off Scotland from England.
- Location
- ferreries
*Laughs in Pictish*
Edit: Goddamn ninjas
NSMS
Probably evil, unfortunately.
- Location
- A rapidly widening tear in the fabric of reality
You know, I wonder why it was Fleur specifically that had this problem, when by all rights Holly (and Harry even moreso in canon) should be less skilled than her. Just bad luck, or something about her Veela side causing her problems (since water isn't a natural home for fire or most birds)?
RyubosJ
Person that hates Mega Evolutions.
- Location
- UK
My cynical side says it's because Rowling wrote Fleur as just a pretty girl during GoF, but it's been long enough since I read it that I couldn't say.
- Location
- Australia
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Holly's had specific lessons on how to deal with Grindylows from an expert (as has Cedric), whereas Fluer likely hasn't, and she doesn't have anything magical against water. Both Krum and Fleur were less prepared for the specific threats in the lake, whereas Holly and Cedric enjoyed a home-field advantage.
- Pronouns
- she/her
Bagman could. The audience had to listen to his narration.
- Location
- Somewhere in the area
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
I think Holly's rescue of Fleur will grant her enough points to equal/surpass Cedric's score for the task, despite being a minute slower.
YuffieK
(Verified Ninja Princess)
Not that the scores are going to be fair, since the judges are corrupt/have their own agendas.
- Location
- North
Now I'm really confused as to how Cedric managed to beat Holly to the tower. They both knew where to go, but Holly had her flippers and dealing with grindylows shouldn't have taken that long. I guess she lost some time helping Fleur, but then again her ascent was very fast. Is the author once again sticking to canon just because or is there something else going on?
NSMS
Probably evil, unfortunately.
- Location
- A rapidly widening tear in the fabric of reality
Mmm... maybe Cedric noticed what she was doing and copied her in some way? He did give her socks an odd look as they started, after all, and even if he wasn't also wearing them he's talented enough I could see him conjuring something similar.
- Location
- North
Eh, maybe. Perhaps this will get explained in the next chapter. It just felt like Holly had been given all the advantages and should have dominated this task. Even Harry in the original canon was first to the hostages and would have won hands down if not for his chivalry.
I'm assuming Cedric is getting some help, either from Sprout once she realises Dumbledore is helping Holly; or Voldemort's agent on the grounds of "Fuck Gryffindor"
Not really, the spell list difference between 7th and 4th year is pretty hefty. Heck 6th has some serious utility buffs.
Additionally Cedric is going to be better at applying the general spells to novel situations and get more oomph out of them because he's practiced with them more.
Also He's bigger and may have not been harrassed by the Grindylows much.
- Location
- North
True, true. I'm just comparing this to the original books. In them Harry was first to the hostages. Whereas here she was second, despite having more advantages than Harry.
Now, I'm more than willing to go along with the fact that this Cedric is more capable than the canon one, more able to cast better magicks. I merely wish that we would get to see this. Now we have to assume that he's better than the canon Cedric, instead of knowing.
But like I already said, perhaps this will get explained in the next chapter. I'll hold my judgement.
Epsilon Rose
The King of Unrest
It seems odd that any wizards competent enough to pass the first challenge would approach the second with the intent to just swim normally. I suspect he had some method of going faster that he only activated once he entered the water. Fluer certainly did, since Holly passed her at the start, but she was ahead of Holly when she got attacked by grindylows.
As for points, I'm wondering if Holly'll lose points for the flippers (or if some of the judges will use them as an excuse to deduct points), since they're being graded on use of magic and she opted for a mundane solution.
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- Location
- Colorado
- Pronouns
- She/They
Hadrian's wall wasn't a defensive structure, or even necessarily a border demarcation. It's purpose was to direct trade and travel through a dozen or so gatehouses where Rome could easily levy taxes and tarrifs.
Rome did have a cultural and financial influence over Scotland, but it's also possible the merfolk are indigenous to the Mediterranean or central Europe, and migrated to Scotland during Rome's expansion onto the British Isles, bringing the architecture with them.
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If this is anything close to canon, the plan is specifically for Holly to win.
- Location
- North
Precisely my point. This story has had moments of brilliance where it has gone way beyond canon setting and expanded on the world. Realistically speaking, Harry in the canon should have had no chance to win, yet he was definitely a contender. Holly, on the other hand, has had way more help, which would allow for her to simply crush her competition, if this story still followed canon rules. Now, this would be a pretty boring way of doing that, and I can appreciate that the author is not doing that.
That being said, I wish this story would explain a bit more how it has diverged from the canon. Because, if presented with a vacuum of knowledge, most readers will assume that canon events will take place unless specifically stated. Thus, we will assume that Holly should have been first to the hostages because canon-Harry achieved that feat with less skill and knowledge. Right now it seems like the author is manipulating things behind scenes to fit the narrative, which feels artificial. It's entirely possible that future chapters will change this, but I'd still urge the author to consider how her chapters and events will be taken as they are. It's a common pitfall of authors to give their readers too little information because they already know everything and there's no need to explain the obvious.
Epsilon Rose
The King of Unrest
If I recall correctly, cannon harry also used a different strategy and the challenge itself was different. I don't think it's entirely reasonable to say Holly should necessarily have better results, due to her better resources, compared to canon Harry, simply because to many other factors, that we already know about, are different.
- Location
- North
The canon challenge was to make it to the merpeople village and make it back to surface with your hostage. Along the way there were grindlylows and not much else, at least for Harry. Both of these hold true for this challenge as well. As for different strategy, Harry used gillyweed, Holly used bubblehead charm and flippers. I hold these to be somewhat equal in effectiveness. Perhaps bubblehead gives you a little bit of drag, but that should hold true for Fleur and Cedric as well and I'd like an explanation on how they both got ahead of Holly despite her specifically rocketing ahead of them in the beginning.
The tower and its challenges were new, and I liked them a lot, but Holly made her way through them about as fast as possible and I can't see how Cedric could have done it significantly faster. This simply leaves the fact that Holly stopped to help Fleur. A thing that Harry also did. Yet he was still first to the village, despite there being no significant differences between this story and canon. So how did Cedric beat her?
Like I've said, it's entirely possible there will be an answer to this question. I merely wish we wouldn't have to wait for it. And that perhaps that answer could have been foreshadowed a bit.
EDIT: Went and re-read the chapter in the book. Canon-Harry did not in fact stop and help Fleur. This is my memory mixing fanon with canon. So that might very well be the explanation. It didn't take that long, to be fair, but it was a delay Harry did not have.
Boy, do I feel foolish right about now. 😅
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