Once he felt warmed up enough, Harry stepped off and walked off to the side where a tray bearing a chilled carafe of water and glasses appeared. He'd noticed it flash in with elf magic a little while earlier
Taking his own half-full glass he moved away to give everyone else access and stripped off his tracksuit, dumping it on a bench.
As they turned to look, the three pureblood girls and Hannah, a halfblood, all blushed. Harry didn't react one bit, as he knew that if he did it might create an awkward situation. He already knew that not making an issue of it would be the best way to get the purebloods used to this style of dress.
As he expected, Hermione was the next to strip off her tracksuit. It left her in a tank-top with a sports-bra underneath and shorts.
While Harry made his way to the rowing machines, Hermione made for the elliptical trainers.
He was then surprised that Daphne was the next to strip down, then Hannah, then Tracey, then Neville and finally Susan. Each moved to one of the other cardio machines with both muggle raised showing them how to use them.
After the rowing machines and elliptical trainers Harry and Hermione showed them the normal and recumbent bikes.
Before they knew it, the hour was almost up and Harry recommended they cool down by setting the treadmills to just a walking pace.
"Three miles an hour should do it," he told them. "We do this for about five minutes then call it done for the day."
"What about the rest of this equipment?" asked Daphne, slightly puffing in exertion and indicating the rest of the equipment.
"Once we can get you much fitter than you are now," he explained, "We'll move onto that. For now, you need to get your cardio fitness up before we can start on the weight training."
There was no argument.
As they stepped off after the five minutes, Hermione said, "You've been sweating a great deal and burning calories. Make sure you drink plenty of water until dinner. Then, load up a bit on carbs... carbohydrates... bread, pasta and such.
"Trust me, you're going to sleep well tonight. But, not if you don't drink plenty of water. If you don't you place yourself at risk of muscle cramps. That would be bad."
Once the seven got their heavy breathing back under control, Tracey said, "I feel... I don't know."
"That's the endorphins," explained Hermione. "We all feel that. It's your body's reward to you for giving it a workout. Enjoy it."
"Is that going to happen all the time?" asked Susan.
"Yes," she replied. "However, as you get fitter the more effort you'll need to put into your workout to feel like that again. That way, you get fitter and fitter."
After everyone redressed into their tracksuits, they headed back to the Lords' Quarters, where Tracey showered in Daphne's room.
Once ready, they all - still feeling the effects of the workout - headed down to the Great Hall for dinner.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
After dinner everyone went to their own accommodations. On the way back up to their apartment, Hermione said, "We need to make a start on homework. We can't let our physical training interfere with our school work."
"We won't," he promised her.
In their apartment, after they pulled out their assignments from the day, Harry said, "I meant to ask earlier. How's Sirius?"
"Calm," replied Hermione. "With a hint of excitement about moving into his renewed home."
Harry nodded and returned his attention to his work. Tapping one slip of parchment he said, "That's what I've got done for Herbology. And..." then moving his hand to tap another, he went on, "... this is what I've done for CoMC. You might want to take a look at that first, Daphne."
As both girls moved to look for themselves, Harry returned to working on his Ancient Runes homework.
"When did you get all this done?" asked Hermione. "Daphne and I weren't gone into my room for that long."
"During other classes," replied Harry. "I know I shouldn't have been, but I can multi-task. Besides, it's not that much, really. The bibliography is because we have immediate access to the books that are here from the Potter library. Not having to trudge down to the library and back saves a great deal of time."
Hermione nodded and said, "Sorry, Harry. I keep forgetting you're a lot more intelligent than I remember the old Harry to be. I don't know why I keep doing that."
Harry just smiled at her. "It's alright. It's a learned response of over three years of 'barely adequate' Harry."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
The next day and after classes for the day were complete, both Hermione and Daphne sat Harry down and asked him about what he'd planned to do about the next task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament.
Hermione said, "Today marks only four weeks until the Second Task, Harry. At this stage I don't think they're going to cancel the rest of the Tournament."
Daphne added, "She's right. Do you have a plan on how you're going to tackle it yet?"
Harry thought about it and said, "Well, it's in the lake; we know that much. And we know they're going to take something that's important to me."
"Your Firebolt, yes," said Daphne. "But, how do you foresee recovering it?"
Harry smirked and replied, "Daphne, what is the charm Flitwick has been teaching of us late?"
As both girls sat there, somewhat surprised, Harry grinned.
"Surely, they'd block that," said Hermione. "No. Wait. They won't expect it."
Daphne asked, "Will you be close enough to do it?"
"Yup," he replied. "I've practiced over long distances and... yes... it won't be distance that will be the factor."
"Even so," said Hermione. "You need back up plans."
"Which I demonstrated I had during the First Task," he replied.
"So, what are your back up plans?" she asked.
"I need to practice the Bubblehead charm and get hold of some Gillyweed," he replied.
"Gillyweed?" she asked.
Before Harry could reply, Daphne cut in first. "That should be your first backup. And, it's brilliant."
Turning to Hermione, Daphne said, "Gillyweed is a Mediterranean plant that grows on the edge of the sea. If you swallow some of it, it causes a temporary metamorphic transfiguration of your body, something along the lines of an animagus transformation. It causes you to grow gills for breathing underwater, transfigures your feet into long flippers and grows the webbing in your fingers right to your fingertips.
"It's very useful for exactly what Harry wants to use it for; swimming underwater for long periods of time. But, it's going to last for one hour exactly. There is no immediate antidote if you want to cancel the transfiguration early; and you'd have to take more, if you need to be down for longer, which would add another hour.
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