Chapter 23: The Second Task, part 4: And the Winner is...!
Harry looked out across the lake. In the distance, he could see the crowd in the stands and the backs of the four billboards he knew displayed what he and the others saw. He briefly wondered how long they'd all been sitting there, and if any of them had slept. His gaze then went to the water gently lapping at the frozen ground just ahead of him. He shivered as he looked down at himself, sitting on the back of the unicorn mare, who had generously carried him from the Centaur camp, all the way out here. The trip had taken the better part of the day, and he'd spent it just idly talking to her and her young daughter, who had walked alongside them, telling them about his time at Hogwarts, his life away from the castle, his friends, his companions, and how much he worried.
Thankfully, she hadn't offered to 'feed' him this time, as he wasn't entirely sure he could go through with it. The dryads had been one thing, as they were essentially human where it counted; Celestia, beautiful as she was, for a unicorn, was not. And while the vow he'd made to Hermione hadn't explicitly stated that he would accept a non-verbal offer, the fact that he'd almost done it that one time in class told him that it apparently still counted. He wasn't quite ready to test that theory at the moment, though, certainly not while he was on a time limit and had an audience.
"Then again," he muttered to himself, "After all this? It might just be worth it to try and make them all watch."
He checked his watch: 3:58 pm. Judging by the angle of the sun, he had an hour and a half, maybe two, to find his lovers and get them back to the dock, which he could see in the distance. He'd been riding with Celestia and Twilight for most of the day; all in all, it had been quite an enjoyable ride, and thankfully uneventful, though he honestly didn't remember the castle, or the lake, being this far from where he'd emerged from the forest on Celestia's back as she trotted along. Riding naked on the back of a unicorn had undoubtedly been a novel experience, and he was pretty sure she'd 'checked him out' as it were, the few times he'd dismounted to take care of specific needs.
Just because he no longer seemed to be able to get anything from what he ate or drank without some post-meal cunnilingus, that didn't mean that his digestive system actually stopped working. Thankfully, neither Celestia nor her daughter had flashed him since they'd started the journey. Also, he'd had the flasks containing water and Hagne's honey, the latter of which was about half empty now, taking a sip every couple of hours had staved off his hunger and fatigue, but he had to be conservative with it.
As he dismounted, he looked at both of the unicorns, who eyed him in turn. "So, you really wanna join my 'herd', eh?" he asked. Celestia didn't respond at first, just blinked at him, then leaned in and pressed her nose to his neck, huffing a few times. He chuckled, gently patting her neck and stroking her head, tilting his own to one side as he felt something warm and wet drag up his throat then over his face.
"Haha…well, I'll take that as a—hey, what…" he stammered, as he felt something soft and warm press against his shaft, followed by a few gentle huffs of warm air, then something warm, slightly rough and wet dragged along one side. He looked down, completely forgetting the goggle still over his face, and stared in stunned silence for a moment, as Twilight looked back up at him with wide, innocent eyes, mid-lick, as she went in for a second stroke.
"Hey, what are yooooh…" his question turned into a moan as the silver filly reached his tip, then parted her thick velvety lips, and without any hesitation, took half of his length into her hot, wet mouth, and sucked.
Harry tilted his head back and moaned, his knees almost buckling at the sudden heat enveloping him. He looked to Celestia, eyes wide, a question on his lips which was silenced when hers were pressed to them, and her wide, thick, slick tongue slid into his mouth with no resistance.
"Mmmph! Mmmmm…" his protest was muffled, and so was the second moan that followed it, as he felt the remaining half of his erection being engulfed in Twilight's suckling mouth.
Harry's mind blanked with shock, his knees almost buckled, and in the process of regaining his footing, he unconsciously thrust into the filly's mouth, which she seemed to take as a positive response, and increased her efforts.
Eventually, Harry broke the kiss and coughed, wiping his mouth as he stepped back, almost falling as he shivered. Twilight apparently didn't want to stop, as she increased the force of her sucking and even stepped forward, trying to keep him in her mouth, until he put his hands on her face and gently pushed her back.
"Okay, okay…I'll take that as an emphatic 'Yes' to wanting to be part of my 'herd'…Merlin, what got into you two?" he stepped back, putting a little distance between him and the unicorns, before he turned and looked back at the stands, hoping, praying, that none of the spectators had seen that, before realising, too late, that they likely had, and from his perspective, no less.
"Okay, let me think about it, and I'll get back to you on that. I'd love to stay and chat, but I have to go for a swim." With that, he reached down, picked up a couple of pebbles, transfiguring them into a pair of flippers, which he quickly put on, then hurried into the water, quickly diving under.
The tiny horned beetle that had been nestling in the filly's fur, just next to her left ear, buzzed into the air, then morphed into the form of Rita Skeeter, who instantly started to laugh to herself, before she turned and petted both unicorns.
"Good job, girls, good job. See Twilight? I told you he'd like it, don't worry, sweetie, you'll get your chance with him again this summer." The filly snorted and whinnied, and Rita patted her on the nose, "Don't worry, cutie, he liked it, he'll come round, you'll get plenty of opportunity to practice this summer. He'll make the perfect stallion for you and your dear mum," she then turned to Celestia, who nickered at her. Rita smiled and nodded.
"Yes, I told you, he'll take you in, I promise, for now, go back into the forest to your herd and wait for five nights, starting tonight, then return to Hagrid's cottage on the 1st of March, you know the one."
The two unicorns snorted in agreement, then, smiling, Rita patted both of them, "Good girls, I hope Harry appreciates all the work I'm putting in for him…" and with that, she turned on her heel and vanished with a crack.
-=-=-=-
Harry swam down; the flippers he wore had made wading into the water awkward, but now they propelled him forward through the water at a fast pace.
The Bubble-Head charm was securely in place, he took steady, even breaths, though he had to remember that once he was down there, his ascent would have to be carefully managed.
A flicker of movement to his right drew his attention, and he saw some fish swimming by. He turned away, ignoring it, and continued.
After a short while, he started to see rock formations appearing out of the gloom, and Harry raised his wand, muttering a quick "Lumos Aquas", sending a beam of light from his wand into the darkening water before him.
After a short time exploring and finding nothing but rock crags, various types of fish and crustaceans, he started to wonder if he was even going the right way. He looked down at his watch, thankfully waterproof.
He tried not to think about what had happened on the lake shore, wondering why on earth the two unicorns would have done that, especially Twilight, as she'd shown no indication she was interested in him; it had only been her mother up to that point. He couldn't remember if Twilight had been one of the foals that had fed from Susan or Hermione, but what she had done on the shore had still been a shock…
And also felt fantastic.
And her mother's kiss, coupled with that…
That had been about half an hour ago, by his reckoning, he had about an hour and 11 minutes to get his hostages back to the dock.
As he rounded a corner, he thought he saw something moving in the distance ahead of him, but the visibility was so low, he couldn't really see what it was, even with the Lumos, but it looked bigger than a fish.
He tried swimming towards it, but whatever it was was already gone.
After a few more moments of frustration, Harry blinked and slapped himself in the face.
'Potter, you idiot!' he thought. Raising his wand, he muttered, "Point Me, Merpeople village." Grinning, he let his wand guide his hand in the direction he needed to go. Soon, he was swimming down into darker, colder water.
Chancing a look up, he saw the form of the giant squid silhouetted against the surface swimming above him.
After progressing a bit more, he swam over a patch of weeds when he felt something grab his left leg. He looked back, seeing a Grindylow leer at him out of the weeds, its small, long fingers wrapped around his ankle while its many sharp teeth gleamed in the light coming from his wand.
As the water demon opened its mouth and leaned in to take a bite of his leg, Harry pointed his wand at it.
"Relashio!"
He sighed as the little creature's grip on his leg vanished, and it was sent hurtling back into the vegetation.
It was then that he sensed it, the connections that had been dormant since yesterday evening finally activated, and for the first time in what felt like forever, he heard the voices of Hermione, Susan, Daphne and Luna in his mind once more.
'Harry? What's going on? Oh Merlin, where are we?' That was Daphne.
'I think we're at the bottom of the lake, in the Merpeople Village. It looks like we were right about hostages; I just didn't think it'd be all four of us.' Susan said, then Hermione spoke up.
'Well, it would have had to have been all four of us; otherwise, Harry might have had an unfair advantage.'
'How do you figure?' Daphne replied.
'They're monitoring the progress of the Champions, somehow, and if any of us had been on the surface, we could have given Harry an unfair advantage,' Luna said, the voice of calm logic.
'Do they seriously think we'd help Harry cheat?!' Susan snapped, sounding deeply offended, 'What makes you think that anyway?'
'Do you really expect everyone to sit around next to the lake for however long it's been with nothing to do? No, they're tracking the Champions' progress, somehow. They're watching,' the younger blonde replied.
'I hate to say it, but Luna is right, they have been monitoring our progress, through the whole god damn forest and up to the lake, even now,' Harry spoke up.
'Wait, what? The Forest?! How long has it been? How long have we been down here?!' Hermione asked, her voice panicked.
'Since about sunset last night? At most? Late afternoon at the earliest.' Harry replied, bracing himself for the mental scream he knew was coming.
'WHAT?!'
'That's…that's not possible…they wouldn't…' Hermione's voice trailed off, as he sensed the realisation settling over all four of them at once.
'No wonder I feel hungry enough to drink the load of every male Abraxan Madame Maxime brought with her,' Susan said, then paused, 'Sorry, babe, you know I love that dick of yours, but right now, I doubt you would have enough.'
'How the hell have you stayed strong enough to make it this far? How did you end up in the forest? What did you do for, ya know…' Hermione asked.
Harry spent the next 15 minutes or so filling them in, pausing as they asked questions about various things, Hermione and Luna in particular seemed very interested with the maze and the strange magic he'd encountered, then of course, he got to his meetings with Viktor and the Bounty Hunter, then his run-in with the Dryads, then Cedric, before finally meeting Carla, Kiara, Celestia and Twilight, rounding off with his final day-long ride on the back of a unicorn, along with their parting 'interactions'.
'You had sex with seven dryads?!' Daphne asked, but he couldn't tell whether she was angry or just surprised.
'It's not like I had a choice; they kinda had me tied up, plus there was that vow I gave Hermione. Plus, it was just oral.'
Hermione groaned, 'Shit! I forgot about that!'
'What vow? And oral still counts, Harry,' Susan asked, 'Which means, yes, you just had sex with a unicorn filly,' he felt Hermione sigh through the link.
'Remember when he collapsed in DA that one time, and Daphne and I had to revive him in the Hospital Wing?'
'Oh yeah, that was kinda fun, I think Pomfrey burned that bed once we were done,' Daphne giggled.
'Yes, well, after that, I got a magical vow out of Harry basically saying he wouldn't turn down a willingly offered pussy, no matter who or what it belonged to, and whether the offer was made verbally or not.'
'Wait, is that why the unicorn flashed her fanny at him in class?' Susan asked.
'No, but it IS why he nearly ate out that mare in front of the entire class until Grubbly-Plank stopped him.'
'Wouldn't that have stripped his magic, though?' Susan asked, and Harry was curious himself; he'd been wondering about that.
'No, because, and here's the important bit, he did not refuse her offer, he was stopped by someone else. Had Grubbly-Plank not stopped him, he would have eaten that mare's fanny, right there in front of the whole class, and don't deny it, Potter, we can read your mind too; I know you were thinking about it. And I know, at the time, for a very brief moment, you wanted to do it.'
'I wouldn't mind watching him do that, actually,' Luna said, 'I'm so horny and hungry right now, I'd happily watch Harry eat out an entire herd of female unicorns while I drain his balls.'
'Let's…table that for a latter date, and discuss what we're going to do about here and now,' Hermione said, 'okay, here's the plan, once we're all out of this lake, it's up to the castle, into the Room, and we all Bond with Harry.'
'Tonight? All of us?' Susan asked.
'Tonight. All of us.'
'Uh, won't I get you all pregnant? As much as I'd love to be a dad, I'm not quite ready yet, I don't think,' Harry pointed out.
'We'll have Pomfrey take care of that tomorrow morning, but tonight, Mister Potter: You. Will. Feed. Our. Pussies.'
'I'm in!' Luna chirped happily.
'Me too, I'm honestly tired of waiting,' Susan replied.
'I…I guess, I…I think I'll wait a bit longer, if that's okay with you guys.' Daphne seemed a little more hesitant; they all sensed her guilt and self-recrimination over her own shortcomings, but they immediately focused their thoughts of reassurance on her.
'Don't force yourself, Daphne, if you don't feel ready, then you're not ready, there's honestly no rush, I'm willing to wait as long as you guys are,' Harry said.
'And this is why we love you,' Susan said.
'Who else is with you?' Harry asked as he swam around a rock formation, disturbing another shoal of fish.
'Hmm, looks like we've got…Fleur's little sister, a young boy wearing Durmstrang robes, and…Cho Chang? I thought Cedric dumped her, like, a week ago?' Daphne answered.
'He did, they must have already decided on using her, but couldn't think up a possible replacement after he dumped her,' Luna replied, sounding more than a little smug.
"How are you getting on?"
Harry thought he was having a heart attack. He whipped around and saw Moaning Myrtle floating lazily in front of him, gazing at him through her thick, pearly glasses.
"Hi, Myrtle," Harry said with a smile and a wave. Myrtle smiled at him, running an upraising gaze over his body, lingering a little too long on his crotch. Too late, Harry realised Myrtle was getting a complimentary view of everything.
Rolling his eyes, Harry muttered to himself, "Enjoying the view?"
Myrtle giggled, "Yes, actually, very much so. I must say Harry, Hermione, Susan, Daphne and Luna are fortunate girls to get to play with that gorgeous willy all the time, I'm actually jealous! You really have got a nice one on you, Harry, though I find it a bit odd that you'd be this excited to see little old me, but I am very flattered. I do appreciate the thought."
"Uh…it's not…um…" Harry tried to reply, feeling his face flush with embarrassment.
"In fact, if I'd known you were a necrophiliac, I would have started coming by the Gryffindor dorms. I mean, I can't physically touch you, so a handy, blowy and shag are out, unfortunately. Still, I can at least go through the motions, or show you my boobs, fanny or arse and play with them for you, I know how visual boys can be," Myrtle said with a giggle, her pale, translucent face darkening with a blush.
'Please tell me these goggles don't transmit sound!' Harry cried mentally, praying to Merlin, King Arthur, God, Buddha, and any other deities he could think of that the people watching through his goggles didn't just hear what this ghost just said, or worse, were good lip-readers.
'OH SWEET MERLIN! Did she just…did she REALLY just…HAHAHAHAHA!' Daphne's voice howled inside his mind, making him wince.
'Maybe, maybe we should ask her to start joining in our sessions!' Susan added with a cackle.
"I'm not a necro-whats-it!" Harry yelped.
"Aww, that's a shame, because I really would be happy to rub a few out for you, Harry, and let you see me naked. It'd take some doing on my part, since I died with my clothes on, it actually costs me energy to shed them. You want to try over there!" she said, pointing. "I won't come with you. I don't like them much; they always chase me when I get too close."
Harry gave her the thumbs-up to show his thanks and set off once more, careful to swim a bit higher over the weeds to avoid any more Grindylows that might be lurking there.
"Harry, you might want to hurry, Fleur's little sister is freaking out, the Merpeople know we're awake, they're crowding around her, starting to harass her…ugh! I can't understand what she's saying…" Susan said suddenly.
"I can, she's…she's saying that she shouldn't be here, that she doesn't belong down here, she's asking where her sister is, where her mother is…" Hermione translated.
He swam on for what felt like at least twenty minutes. He was passing over vast expanses of black mud now, which swirled murkily as he disturbed the water. Then, at long last, he heard a song echoing through the water.
"Visit our realm if dare you will…"
Harry swam faster and soon saw a large rock emerge from the muddy water ahead. It had paintings of merpeople on it; they were carrying spears and chasing what looked like the giant squid. Harry swam past the rock, following the mermish song.
"…But time passes, tarry not long…"
He soon came to a ridge or small cliff and paused, looking down into the darkness, and was surprised to see several torches burning underwater, illuminating what looked to be the Merpeople's village: a cluster of crude stone dwellings, stained with algae, loomed suddenly out of the gloom on all sides. Here and there at the dark windows, milling around the buildings, and gathered at the centre of the village, he saw the inhabitants. They bore no resemblance at all to the painting of the mermaids in the prefects' bathroom.
The merpeople had greyish skin that looked dark green in the water, and long, snake-like dark green hair. Their eyes were yellow, as were their sharp teeth, and they wore thick ropes of pebbles around their necks. They leered at Harry as he swam past; one or two emerged from their dwellings to watch him better, their powerful silver fish tails beating the water, spears and menacing-looking tridents clutched in the hands of many of the adult males.
It was easy to pick out the females from the males, as the males had larger torsos, thicker arms, more square faces, and some even bore facial hair. In contrast, the females were more lithe, the faces more rounded, many with fuller, puffy lips, and of course, breasts, none of which were covered, not that he really expected them to be. A curious look down at where a human's hips would be revealed nothing but flat skin and what appeared to be barely perceptible slits on both males and females.
Harry crept forward, eyeing the merpeople around him cautiously, before going further into the village. He did his best to ignore the sniggering from the younger ones, who pointed at his body and laughed, their muffled voices blending in the water as they gawked at his unusual anatomy.
Soon, the dwellings became more numerous; there were gardens of vegetation of some sort around some of them, and he even saw a pet Grindylow tied to a stake outside one door. More merpeople were emerging on all sides now, watching him eagerly, pointing at his flippers and, to his embarrassment, his naked form, talking behind their hands to one another. Harry swam around a corner, and an extraordinary sight met his eyes.
A whole crowd of merpeople was floating in front of the houses that lined what looked like a Mermish version of a village square. A choir of females was singing in the middle, calling the champions toward them, and behind them rose a crude sort of statue; a gigantic merperson carved from a boulder. Seven people were bound tightly to the tail of the stone statue.
A young Durmstrang boy was tied between Hermione and Cho Chang. From the look of him, Harry could see a faint resemblance to Viktor. There was also little Gabrielle on the other side of Cho.
It didn't take Harry long to note that Cho and the young boy were the only ones who were still unconscious, whereas Gabrielle, Susan, Hermione, Daphne and Luna were all wide awake, but all thankfully had a bubble-head charm in place. He also noted, with great curiosity, that the strange glow he'd seen around Fleur was also within Gabby, though it wasn't quite as pronounced, but it was flaring up, slowly getting brighter and stronger as the seconds passed. That same glow also still suffused his four lovers. Now that he was looking for it, he could also see it at the top of each of the torches lighting the village, and within each of the merpeople, though not as prominently as it was within Fleur, Gabrielle, and his lovers, it looked to be about as strong as it had been within the seven dryads.
He focused more on Gabrielle and noticed something that really concerned him.
Gabrielle looked terrified.
She was looking this way and that, blue eyes wide with terror, while some of the mermen guarding them jeered and leered at her, reaching out with their clawed hands and weapons to swipe at her, but never hitting her, but she still pulled back, as much as she could, chained to a stake.
Harry settled down on an outcrop overlooking the square, watching intently, sizing up the mermen and wondering how best to distract them or get them away from Gabrielle.
He once again thought over the brief mention Fleur had made of the history between her people and the merfolk, and he suddenly found himself wishing they'd stuck to that topic longer. Hadn't she said their grievances led to a war? These mermen seemed to be enjoying scaring Gabrielle far too much for Harry's liking; it reminded him of the treatment he received at the hands of his own cousin and his friends, and it frankly pissed him off. Who thought it was a good idea to put an 8-year-old Veela in the middle of what basically amounted to a group of her people's mortal enemies? Where her presence would at least see her life be put in danger, if not be construed as an act of war on behalf of the Veela? Had the organisers really not thought to change who Fleur's hostage would be after her name came out of the Goblet? Or change the second task entirely?
He was going to have a few choice words for the judges once he got her out of this.
'Hermione, can you hear me?' He thought.
'Yes. Where are you?'
'On an outcrop overlooking the statue and courtyard. There's quite a lot of them, I had no idea it was this bad.'
'You'll have to decide something quickly; those merpeople are getting pretty aggressive with Gabrielle.' Susan pointed out, as she then turned to yell at one of the mermen who brought his spear just a few inches from the thrashing child. "Leave her alone, you wanker!"
'Have you run into anyone else down here?' Daphne asked as she turned to glare at a group of approaching merchildren and a mermaid, who were all staring at Gabrielle, well, the children were.
'No, just Myrtle, haven't run into any of the others down here yet.'
Harry scowled and prepared to move in, but paused when the mermaid led the young children closer to the seven hostages and started gesturing to each of them. When she pointed at Gabrielle, her expression turned decidedly hostile and sneering.
"…and this, young ones, is a Veela. An Air-Breather, like the other six, but unlike the other six, she is, or will one day soon be, what we call a Slurper. Her kind were once one with ours, but after Persephone's curse, we separated. But rather than ask the Gods for a boon, as we did, they resorted to baser means to break the Queen of the Dead's curse, but they did so through means that are usually only practised between mated pairs. They used their mouths to harvest and drink life-seed to break the curse. And they did it to every male they met. Even very young humans and animals. It is why we call them Slurpers. They even gained the ability to fly and use fire, whereas we were forever denied the land, condemned to the depths, and stripped of the beauty and charm we inherited from our Divine Mother. Though some managed to retain their beauty, they did so by following the ways of the Slurpers; we no longer have contact with them," the female spat in disgust.
Several children jeered and hissed, and the older men laughed and jeered as well. The mermaid then swam up to Gabrielle, who looked at her with wide eyes and a pale, hysterical face.
"Their kind destroyed Atlantis, our ancient home. Their kind don't need to sing to ensnare a human; they can just do it by being around them, and they whore themselves at men! Even the young ones. This one will be a Slurper within a few years, if she isn't already!" She turned to glare with disgust at Gabrielle, who stared back at her with wide-eyed terror.
"Isn't that right, little Veela? I bet you've already started on the boys at that school up there."
Not giving the terrified girl a chance to answer, the mermaid turned back to her students.
"Their kind can learn magic, while we are restricted from learning magic because we are confined to the waters of this planet!"
"Your ancestors chose to turn to Poseidon!" Hermione snapped, drawing the glares of the mermaid and the surrounding mermen, "They chose to turn to Poseidon for help, and he did, he gave them what they wanted, and as a result, they were freed from their harpy form, and Persephone's curse."
"And once we were born, they abandoned us! They were so disgusted by the children they begot from Poseidon that they turned their backs on us and rejoined the rest, who slowly learned how to revert to their natural forms using that ritual Adonis, Aphrodite and Persephone created. They became the Slurpers we now know them to be! We never forgave the Veela for that transgression, that betrayal of their children! From that moment on, we returned our vengeance every chance we could!"
Gabrielle said something, Harry wasn't sure what, but it made the mermaid whirl round and glare at her.
"What was that? Slurper?"
Gabrielle seemed to have mustered some courage, finally, because she glared up at the mermaid and repeated what she said, more loudly and defiantly.
Her answer was a punch from the mermaid, which snapped her tiny head back and to the side, leaving a bruise to form quickly.
"SILENCE, you little shaft-sucker!"
"Leave her alone, you barnacle-encrusted bass!" Hermione yelled. The mermaid turned on her next, glaring.
"Stay out of this, human. Do not think we do not smell their magic on you. We know what you have done, what you are trying to do to yourselves. I can't fathom why you would even want that to happen to you."
"If you're referring to the curse we're all under, that was not our choice!" Daphne snapped.
"You feel that your ancestral mothers abandoned you, and maybe they did, yes that was pretty shitty of them, but they're a flawed people, all societies are flawed, big shocker, but that doesn't mean you get to threaten an innocent child for the crimes of her long dead relatives, that didn't have the balls or spines to love their children," Susan added.
"Enough of this! What is done, is done," the mermaid snapped, clearly tired of the conversation. "As for harbouring this one, we agreed to that with Dumbledore, but only if it were for an hour, not a full night and day. Our patience has run out. If the other one does not come for her soon, neither will leave," then she smirked, "And considering the Grindylows are patrolling and hungry, I doubt the other will get that close."
'That BITCH!' Daphne snarled. Raising himself, Harry began swimming towards the group. Several merpeople noticed him and started pointing and murmuring among themselves.
"Alright, that's enough. Leave her alone," he growled. The mermaid spun round and stared at him with her yellow eyes, then her lips curled back, revealing her sharp yellow teeth. Her eyes widened in momentary surprise as she took in his appearance, as did his four lovers, and Gabrielle's wide, terrified eyes fixed on him like magnets. He saw a flood of emotion fill them: hope, desperation, excitement, joy, then her eyes tracked down, and the emotions he saw in them were ones he wasn't entirely comfortable with, though the terror she clearly felt was still there, warring with the others.
"Air-Breather! So… you're here for one of these, then? Where are the rest of your group? Aren't there supposed to be four of you?"
"They'll be here. Right now, I want you to move away from them and leave the Veela alone." Harry growled in a tone he hoped was authoritative as he swam forward, reaching for the chains that bound the hostages and approaching Hermione.
"Harry!" a voice called, causing him to turn. He saw Cedric swimming towards him, a Bubble-Head charm over his head. "I got lost. Viktor should be right behind me, I think Fleur too."
The mermaid moved away from the hostages, as did the mermen, though all continued to glare at the two Champions. Cedric paused to take in the scene, giving Harry a perplexed look, before he moved to Cho, pulling out his wand, he started casting Relashio and cutting hexes to break the chains.
Harry moved in and drew his own wand, completely ignoring the stares the merpeople were giving him. Yes, he was naked; yes, they were seeing everything; no, he didn't care anymore. He started trying to cut through or release the chains holding Hermione, but for some reason, the chains binding her weren't budging. He turned to Cedric just as he pulled Cho's limp form to him, bubbles gently flowing from her open mouth.
"Viktor! Over here!" Cedric called, turning away from the statue and spying the partially transfigured form rounding a corner. Harry took a moment to get a good look at his fellow champion. Viktor's torso had been enlarged, his head widened and elongated to resemble that of a shark, his arms had bulked up, and although he still had a neck of sorts, it wasn't easy to make out, though the large set of gills on the sides of his neck helped point it out.
Between his shoulder blades, there was also a large dorsal fin. He didn't say anything, he just looked at the two other boys, then nodded, before moving in to release the Durmstrang boy.
"Brother or cousin?" Cedric asked.
"Brozzer. First year," Viktor warbled, before giving both of them another nod of respect, then turning away, the sleeping boy in his arms.
"You gonna be alright, Harry?" Cedric asked. Harry nodded.
"Yeah, take Cho and go, I'll wait for Fleur. I'm not leaving her sister alone with…them." Harry scowled, gesturing towards the merpeople who sneered back at him.
Not comprehending, Cedric looked between Harry and Gabrielle, shrugged, then nodded.
"Alright, see you topside, Potter. And no, I'm not gonna ask. If I run into Fleur, I'll tell her where to find you."
Once he was gone, the merpeople started to close in, their expressions decidedly unfriendly.
Scowling, Harry raised his wand and aimed it at them. "Back off!" He then turned and suddenly realised, far too late, that he'd been giving the young Veela a free show this entire time. Her wide blue eyes were fixed on him, tracking his movements with eagle-like precision, her gaze shamelessly raking up and down his naked body, her cheeks had started to turn pink, her pupils dilated, and she began to lick her lips every few seconds; he wasn't even sure if she was aware she was doing it. Her face was still a mask of conflicting emotions, most prominent among them now were terror and a look that he could only describe as primal hunger.
Another of the mermaids came up behind Gabrielle and grabbed her, one of the mermaid's grey hands gripping the little girl's throat while the other came up, holding a black obsidian blade.
"Drop it!" Harry snarled, raising his wand and moving forward. The surrounding mermen moved in, brandishing their weapons, as the mermaid holding Gabrielle sneered at him, pressing the blade to the base of her neck.
"Not so fast…she violates the treaty by being here longer than what we agreed to. So an example will be made."
"Gabrielle didn't violate the treaty! She did not choose to be here. If the treaty was violated, then it was the Ministry, which arranged this sham of a tournament, that violated it." Hermione pointed out. The mermaid scoffed.
"At this point, we don't care."
"Spill her blood, and you die," Harry growled, the surge of anger and protectiveness he felt overriding whatever surprise he felt at his own words. He didn't see the looks the other girls gave him, but he felt their worry, their concern, both at the fact that he made the threat and that he meant it.
"Oh, do not worry, Air-breather, this little Slurper is more useful to us alive, for now, in fact, why not give our younger males a chance to see what they may yet get a turn with…"
She moved the obsidian blade down to the neck of Gabrielle's simple white silk gown, which in the water had clung to her form and, much to Harry's discomfort, was very transparent. As soon as the knife started to cut through the fabric, Harry reacted.
"Expelliarmus! Relashio!" Harry cast, the blade flying from the mermaid's hand before she was flung back away from Gabrielle, his eyes then narrowed, "Depulso!"
Magic behaved similarly to light, depending on the medium it moved through and the spell being cast, at least that was the impression Harry got as he watched his spell travel the few feet to its target. The energy bolt from his banishing charm wasn't a narrow pulse; it expanded, forming a slight distortion ahead of it. The water diffused the bolt, causing it to spread out and slow down, ever so slightly.
But it still hit the mermaid with the force of a Bludger, or rather, the shockwave that had formed ahead of the bolt hit her in the face first, snapping her head back just as the bolt hit it, knocking her back, and it seemed, knocking her out.
At once, the other mermaids and mermen moved in, all shouting and brandishing weapons while the younger ones hung back and sneered. Harry ignored them as he sliced through the chains binding Gabrielle, then he quickly moved to the other four.
"Our wands! Where the fuck are our wands?!" Susan asked as she patted herself down.
"We're supposed to be unconscious, remember? We weren't supposed to wake up until we reached the surface; one of the Professors likely has them." Hermione pointed out, as she moved to intercept one mermaid moving to strike at Harry with a punch to the face, but being underwater made fighting hand-to-hand very awkward.
"Then why did we wake up?" Daphne asked, trying to kick a merman that moved into grab her, though her blow didn't have the impact she'd hoped it would.
"They woke us up," Luna said, throwing a punch of her own, before dodging a strike from a dagger thrust at her.
Harry, meanwhile, had managed to pull Gabby free finally, and the little girl had latched onto him the second the chains were off, wrapping her arms and legs around his torso as she buried her face in his bare chest, babbling rapidly in French in high-pitched sobs of fear and elation.
"Hermione, in my satchel, there are some potion vials, a sword, and a skin-flask full of dryad honey. Grab them," Harry ordered as he put his free arm protectively around Gabrielle, as he started to swim backwards, "We need to find Fleur and get to the surface."
He raised his wand and cast a Protego, blocking a strike from a spear-wielding mermaid. Gabrielle yelped and pressed herself harder against his front as he saw Hermione pull the sword, eyeing it with surprise for a moment before she turned to block a strike from another merman brandishing a trident clumsily.
Unfortunately, Hermione's skills with melee combat were sorely lacking, and the density of the water slowed her movements too much. In contrast, the merpeople had perfected the art of fighting hand-to-hand underwater. The blow knocked the sword from Hermione's grip, sending her flailing until the merman grabbed her and pulled her towards him.
Daphne dived for the sword and grabbed it, turned, and swam up, thrusting with the sword as best she could. The blade struck the merman's right side, but not with as much force as Daphne might have hoped. Still, it was enough to distract him and loosen his grip on Hermione, who took the opportunity to jab a finger into one of his eyes, then drive her knee into what she hoped was his genital slit, around where his hips seemed to be.
The merman recoiled, yelping in pain as his free hand went to protect his face as he turned away.
As a group, they started swimming back towards the outcrop.
As Harry turned, one of the younger merpeople swam up and grabbed the back of Gabrielle's nightgown and pulled, holding a small knife. Harry recognised it as the same one the mermaid he'd knocked out had held. He was about to Depulso his attacker when he saw it was one of the young males.
Harry threw his free hand out and punched the youth, who looked to be about his age, in the face, knocking him back just as he brought the knife down, causing it to slice down through Gabrielle's gown as she was pulled away from Harry's chest with a yelp of fear, he then fired off a stunner at the youth, knocking him out.
More shouts reverberated through the water as Harry quickly pulled Gabby back against him, noticing after a few seconds that her gown had now been cut to about halfway down her back.
"Harry! Behind you!" Daphne yelled. He turned, eyes wide as another young merperson, this one a female, charged him, holding a dagger, but her gaze wasn't focused on him after he turned; it was concentrated on Gabrielle, who was looking over her shoulder with wide eyes.
"Slurper! Die!" she snarled, reaching out to grab the back of her gown and pull, her actions so fast and strong that Gabrielle lost her grip on Harry and was pulled away from him with a yelp, and she tried to swim forward, just as her attack brought the dagger down. Fortunately, Gabrielle's quick movements meant the sharp blade missed her neck and back, but caught on her gown, slicing clean down the back of it, down to the hem. Then the mermaid brought it up for a second strike at the little Veela's exposed, naked back.
"Protego! Stupefy!"
The dagger bounced out of the mermaid's hand as it hit the shield that flickered briefly into existence around Harry, then the stunner hit her, and she started to sink slowly, her eyes closing as her body went limp.
Harry then turned his attention to Gabrielle, who at this point had gone utterly frantic with terror and was now thrashing in the water, panic making her movements jerky and erratic as she seemed to fight with herself. It took him a second to realise she was actually fighting the now-ruined remains of her gown, trying to get out of them.
Finally, she wriggled free and tossed what was left of the flimsy water-sodden garment away, then her eyes focused back on him as she free-floated before him.
Just as naked as he was.
As he looked into Gabrielle's wide-eyed, terrified face — and refused to look anywhere else — something seemed to wash over her features briefly; it was so fast he barely noticed. Then, there was a sudden pop in the water, followed by what sounded almost like an electrical sizzle, one he heard and felt as a jolt of energy, almost like an electrical shock, jump from Gabrielle to him. With a blinding flash, the shimmering glow he had seen within her, that seemed to be concentrated in her abdomen, in two distinct spots — which he would later realise were her ovaries — suddenly flared as bright as two suns, then ballooned out, spreading out like an ethereal pair of wings, or grasping fingers connected by a glowing membrane of intangible energy. Before he could even blink, it shot toward him and wrapped around him.
He shivered as he felt…something suddenly envelop him. The contact made the hairs on his body stand on end; it sent chills through his body, into his skin and muscles, into his very bones. He felt cold, even in the water, which his body had adjusted to by now, though why he hadn't succumbed to hypothermia, he had no idea.
The sensation was very unpleasant, and carried an undertone of fear, desperation and longing for something, but he didn't know what. Oddly enough, the fear and terror he could feel wasn't coming from him; it almost felt like…
"Harry! Snap out of it!" Hermione's voice suddenly reverberated through his ears.
Her words slammed into him like a brick of ice-water that snapped him back to his senses, and he realised where that sensation was coming from, and what it really was.
Gabrielle's allure.
He looked at her. The hysterical terror, the fear, was still present, but something else was slowly overtaking those emotions as she stared at him. It was slow, gradual, but it was visible; a mixture of joy, hope, excitement… and pure desire slowly filled her face as she stared openly at him, her pupils dilating to the point that her irises almost vanished. It was then that he realised just where she was staring. It wasn't above his waist.
As her expression slowly shifted, so too did the sensations her allure was producing in his body, the ice-cold dread he'd sensed faded, though not entirely, and something…hotter replaced it, a heat that started on his skin, but quickly sank inward, replacing the coldness within him with a heat that felt…good…soon it felt better than good, soon, he felt it wrap around and sink into his shaft, which throbbed, his balls which seemed to tingle, and his prostate, which almost seemed to pulse, sending a shock of pleasure through him that made him involuntarily buck his hips forward.
A quick look at the others showed the four other girls were also looking at him the same way, even Daphne, who showed no hint of her usual hesitance when it came to looking at his shaft, was now openly leering at it with a look of pure, primal hunger and lust on her beautiful face.
Evidently, Gabrielle's allure had also affected them. Indeed, he could see it; her allure had seemingly reached over and intersected with the glow within each of them, and made it seem almost…stronger? Unfortunately, he didn't have time to worry about that now.
He tried to focus on the task at hand, getting the girls to the surface, but his mind was becoming muddled. He liked to think he'd done a good job of resisting Fleur's allure the few times he'd felt it, but now? All he could think of was how…beautiful all of the girls looked, especially Gabrielle. She was still cute, in that way young girls were, but now, there was something to her appearance that he knew, deep down, should not be there or be affecting him like it was, but he couldn't help it.
She looked…gorgeous…
Either he wasn't as resistant to Veela allure as he thought, or Gabby was hitting him with everything she had.
Something Fleur hadn't done.
He shook his head, finally clearing it enough to think somewhat, but the little goddess in front of him was making it complicated.
Finally, he fought through the confusion, raised his wand and did his best to conjure something to cover her up.
A thick woollen jumper with a hem so long that it looked like a robe on the little Veela materialised around her and instantly sagged as it became waterlogged.
Now that she was safe to look at, Harry reached out and pulled her to him, before turning to the others, "Come on! We need to find Fleur and go!"
They tried to move again, Daphne brandishing the sword. At the same time, Susan uncorked and drank one of the Edurus potions she'd been given by Hermione, her skin becoming encased in stone, but thankfully, it didn't seem to add any weight to her, as the merpeople regrouped. However, all of them hung back now, though they still glared at the group of humans.
Not taking his eyes off the merpeople, Harry set his features into a neutral expression. 'How are you girls feeling?'
'Hungry…tired…very hungry…and horny as fuck. Haven't fed since last night. And my boobs are killing me!' Susan replied, and the other three echoed her sentiments.
Harry internally winced. He remembered the state he'd been in after refusing to feed for a couple of days, and how he felt after just 12 hours.
'When we get topside, and we get alone, I promise, you'll get all you need.'
'I can wait…I think.' Hermione replied, and Harry looked back at her, blushing slightly at the ravenous hunger he saw in the stare she was giving him. He then turned and looked back at the mermen soldiers gathered around, all brandishing various weapons, mostly spears or daggers; some had nets slung over their shoulders, and one had what looked like a muggle shotgun, but the rather nasty-looking giant arrow that was sticking out of the barrel hinted at what it really was.
"Harpoon guns? These guys have bloody harpoon guns?!" Harry muttered. He quickly looked at his watch; he only had about 20 minutes to get Hermione and Gabrielle to the surface and find Fleur along the way.
There was more shouting now, as several other mermen and mermaids moved in, brandishing weapons or claws. One swam in brandishing a trident and swung it, aiming to impale Gabrielle and Harry both.
"Protego! Expelliarmus! Depulso!" Harry yelled. The trident bounced off his hastily cast shield, then flew out of the man's grip as a concussion wave slammed into him and sent him reeling. Then another came in swinging. Thinking fast, Harry reached out and grabbed the trident he'd just liberated and brought it round in a rough parry that deflected the other spear, the force of the impact pushing him back.
He was forced to cast another shield when several of those harpoons were fired his way; fortunately, it stopped them all.
Harry had no idea how to fight hand-to-hand; that was something they didn't teach at Hogwarts. His brief encounter with the animated statues wasn't exactly a good first attempt. 'Probably should fix that…need to get out of this lake first though,' He thought, dodging another spear coming at him, swinging his own weapon around to whack his attacker with the blunt end, though due to the water slowing his swing, he missed.
He tried with a thrust, but he was not used to the weapon, and his inexperience with both the trident and the fighting environment clearly showed as his thrust missed its mark by half a foot. As another weapon came, this time aiming for Gabrielle, Harry swung his trident up to intercept it; the force of the impact almost made him lose his grip.
"Alright, sod this," Harry muttered, dropping the trident. He redrew his wand and raised it. For a brief instant, he thought of casting a Bombarda, but reconsidered, wondering if the water might be more of a problem than a benefit. He fired off a piercing hex.
Dark blood erupted from the chest of the merman he was aiming at, the man recoiling with a yell of pain and anger as blood suffused into the water. In response, the others' screams and shouts grew louder and angrier.
"Hey!" a voice suddenly echoed through the water, and everyone turned to see Moaning Myrtle gliding up to them, looking disturbed, "Harry! That Veela friend of yours is in trouble! Some Grindylows have found her. I can show you where she is!"
"Apparition! Begone! This does not concern you!" one of the mermaids shouted, swimming up to Myrtle, who looked at her nonplussed.
"Are these sardines giving you trouble, Harry? You guys go, she's that way, I'll take care of these guys." Myrtle said, pointing vaguely back at the outcrop he'd passed earlier, into a thick patch of vegetation.
"You will not—" another mermaid started to move in, but Myrtle got in her face and started yelling, making her pause.
"And you can just go fuck off and kiss my ectoplasmic arse, you freakish Sardines!"
The group left Myrtle and the merpeople behind. They paused as Harry once again drew his wand, casting the compass charm. Once it locked on to Fleur, they set off, following Harry's lead. A distant, warbled, high-pitched scream drew their attention, and they started to head in that direction. Soon, a Grindylow emerged from the aquatic plants and lunged for Gabrielle, who was still clinging to Harry's front, its little hands reaching out, its jaws wide, its teeth gleaming as it aimed for the little Veela's terrified face. Harry snapped his wand up and yelled, "Sectumsempra!"
A white arc of light shot through the water and intercepted the Grindylow, whose midsection was suddenly enveloped in green as the creature's blood suddenly erupted from it in all directions in a rapidly expanding cloud. The two halves of the beast separated, both instantly going limp.
Harry blinked.
He'd just cut the Grindylow clean in half.
'That never happened to the dummies.' He thought as he secured the terrified little girl as she clung to him, burying her face in his chest as the others also swam up to him. A cry from the courtyard caught his attention, and he turned to see a young merchild gesturing wildly, apparently very upset. Looking at the houses, he noticed the Grindylow that had been tied to a post was now gone.
The shouts from the crowd had also momentarily ceased, evidently stunned that a Grindylow could be taken out so easily.
"Do not follow, or that will be one of you!" Harry yelled. The merpeople muttered amongst themselves, the warriors looking back and forth, unsure.
Even Myrtle had stopped heckling them to turn and look, pulling a face when she saw the blood.
"Well?" Harry asked the assembled crowd. He noticed several of them smirking, and suddenly, his inner senses registered danger behind him. He whirled round, just in time to see a young nonperson, a male, about his age, or maybe a little older, swim up to him with two others to either side.
Before Harry could react, the two on either side lunged forward. They grabbed his arms and pulled them back as the middle one reached out and grabbed Gabrielle, wrenched her away from him, then pulled away, holding the struggling, squirming girl in his arms, one clawed hand going to her throat as she stiffened, eyes going wide as she whimpered, as the other went south. His face appeared over her shoulder as he grinned at Harry, showing his rows of sharp, yellow teeth.
"I've always wondered just how good a Slurper is, and just how young they start. She started on you yet, Wizard? No? She probably will soon. I bet you don't even know what Veela truly look like, do you? You think this is her natural form? Oh no! Persephone revealed the true form of the Veela."
Harry struggled, maintaining his grip on his wand as he tried to pull his arms free, but he couldn't. He glared at the coward holding Gabrielle, though the youth apparently hadn't moved his hand any lower than her stomach.
"Let her go, Fish, or I will kill you," Harry growled. The youths holding him seemed to hesitate, their bravado faltering.
The world around them seemed to shrink until it was just the 5 of them. His lovers, Myrtle and the merpeople they were dealing with, suddenly no longer mattered to him as much as this. He could feel Gabrielle's allure and the ice-cold waves coming through it. She was channeling her emotions, with more than just her face; her very body screamed out for help. Gone was the warmth of desire and lust; now, he only felt an icy coldness in his bones that he somehow knew didn't come from him, but from her.
The young merman snorted, baring his teeth as his other hand started to rake down Gabrielle's front, tearing the jumper he'd conjured for her. Harry locked eyes with the girl, seeing the naked terror in her sapphire-blue eyes, and set his resolve.
"And how do you plan to do that?" The youth taunted, before looking at his two companions, "Hold him," and with that, he dug his claws into the woollen jumper, and he pulled, tearing the rest of the garment off.
Several things then happened at once. Harry, in a moment of pure fury, manipulated his wand to turn it around in his hand, until it was pointing down at the youth holding that arm, and snarled "Bombarda," which caused a muffled boom to his immediate left, followed by a fountain of dark liquid as the boy released Harry's arm and fell back, screaming as his hands went down to the gaping wound, trying desperately to cover what was clearly a mortal wound.
He then brought his arm around, flipping his wand back around and aimed it at the throat of the other youth, holding his other arm. However, before Harry could get a spell off, the front of the youth's chest erupted in a fountain of dark blood as the tip of the sword Hermione had taken from his satchel, and given to Daphne, suddenly erupted from it.
As the boy arched his back and screamed, Harry's gaze went past him to a furious-looking Daphne, whose eyes suddenly widened with horrified realisation at what she'd just done. She backed off, letting go of the sword as the colour drained from her face and her mouth went slack in a silent scream of denial.
The fighting around them paused momentarily, and Harry took full advantage, murderous fury still burning in his veins as he shifted his aim to the now-terrified male merperson holding Gabrielle. The boy's wide eyes fixed on Harry's wand before he released his grip on Gabby, who Harry immediately pulled back against him, feeling her once again wrap her arms and legs around him, the coldness he felt still within him as he aimed his wand at the boy. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind, and before Harry could really think on it, he cast.
"Excorio."
The following effects were as nauseating for Harry to watch as they were horrifying.
While Gabrielle once again buried her face in his chest, Harry quickly covered her eyes and free ear while her other was pressed against his chest, as he watched the youth's skin seem to inflate from the point of his spell's impact, and quickly spread out, while he arched his back, started to thrash, and screamed.
"Harry! Where the hell did you learn that!?" Susan cried as she watched, transfixed and horrified, as the merperson youth continued to thrash and scream as his skin continued to inflate, seemingly, almost as if balloons were being inflated under the skin. Judging by the horrified looks on Daphne's, Hermione's, Luna's, and even Myrtle's faces, they knew what the curse was, but Harry's expression was more confused. Susan knew it wouldn't be that way much longer.
Soon, the thrashing form seemed to stop moving as his skin appeared to inflate a little more, straining around his nose, ears, mouth, fingers, tail and to Harry's rather uncomfortable note, a now clearly define slit about level with where his hips would have been had he been human, then, suddenly, dark blood erupted as the skin 'balloon' seemed to…pop.
A sudden cloud of dark blood seemed to envelop the youth as his skin just seemed to disintegrate, and he started to thrash again as he began to sink, his flailing limbs and torso trailing thick streams of dark liquid as his screams of agony became stuttering, jarring shrieks. Harry stared, wide-eyed, his free hand still firmly clamped over Gabrielle's eyes and right ear while his other arm had looped round under her hips, supporting her considerably light frame, as his mind caught up with what he'd just done.
'Fuck…I think I just…I think I just skinned him!' Harry thought, as he felt a cold chill that had nothing to do with Gabrielle's allure sweep through him and settle into his very bones.
"You did…" Daphne said, her voice unnaturally quiet.
The other merpeople had gone silent as they watched, horrified, as one of their adolescents slowly sank, blood flowing from him to join the limp bodies of his two friends on the bottom of the lake, one with a gaping hole in his abdomen, and the other with a sword through his chest.
"Holy fuck…" Susan muttered, her own expression white, though it was starting to turn an unpleasant shade of green.
"KILL THEM! KILL THEM ALL!"
The feminine scream came from below, and Harry looked down to see a mermaid wearing a particularly decorative necklace staring with wide-eyed horror and fury at the three bodies on the lake bottom, then back up at them.
"GO!" Harry yelled, pushing swimming upward, pausing a moment to point his wand down and cast a quick Accio, summoning the sword to his off hand, quickly stowing it back in his satchel, as he started to kick his legs furiously, swimming up, making sure to cradle the still-terrified Veela to him as he swam. His lovers soon appeared around him, each of them kicking their legs furiously as they swam, their clothes slowing them down, however, something they all seemed to notice quickly, and soon, much to his surprise, each of his lovers began to almost violently tear at their own uniforms, the water soon filling with discarded robes, skirts, shirts and jumpers and blouses.
'Harry! Quick, transfigure our shoes to flippers so we can keep up with you!' Hermione said over their link, as she tore off her blouse, revealing that she, like the other three, was still going commando, as all four of his lovers were now just as naked as he and Gabrielle were, except for their shoes and socks.
"Point me, Fleur," Harry growled, wrapping his free arm tight around his passenger, who tightened her grip around him almost painfully.
The shouts of anger from below and behind them got louder, and he dodged to the left, barely avoiding a harpoon that had been fired at him. The barbed head looked particularly nasty. In response, he looked down and spied the merman holding the weapon and fired off another cutting curse, the white light of the curse catching its target across the chest, sending him reeling with a warbled scream as blood plumed into the water. His compatriots, who were gathered around him, turned to assist, giving the six escapees the time they needed.
At least until a large, burly merman swam up in front of them, wielding a spear. Harry didn't hesitate.
"Sectumsempra!"
The merman jerked back, his spear falling from his hands as they went to his now open throat, trying in vain to stop the bleeding.
That finally got the message across to their pursuers, and there were no more attempts to follow or stop them as they fled, with Harry and Myrtle floating in the water with them.
-=-=-=-
As he and his female companions swam through the rock formations, a muffled scream drew their attention, and they looked up, eyes going wide as they saw Fleur about fifty feet ahead of them, surrounded by a swarm of Grindylows.
There were maybe thirty of them swarming around her, so many that it was difficult to make her out in the gloom. Several of them were ducking in and clawing at her as she swiped at them with a fist, the other grasping for her wand, which was being tossed between two of the little creatures. Fleur already bore several minor bleeding cuts on her arms and legs, and her two-piece bikini swimsuit had several tares in it.
Scowling, Harry moved down to a patch of weeds and pried Gabrielle off of him, and told her to stay put. The wide-eyed girl shook her head almost violently, trying to latch back onto him, babbling rapidly in French, but her rapid-fire babbling slowed to a stop as her gaze settled between his legs.
Harry, not realising what had distracted her, yet thankful for it, turned to the others and told them to stay with Gabby. He then swam up towards Fleur, raising his wand, and he muttered a Depulso, aiming at one of the Grindylows that was trying to get a grip on Fleur's right arm, sending it tumbling away.
This drew several of the creatures' attention to him.
He stopped and backed up as a group of about ten or twelve started to swarm him, and he quickly lost his focus on Fleur's situation. Lashing out with his fist, he tried to punch one of the little bastards as it came in, mouth snapping. He smiled as his fist connected with the creature's face, knocking it back, but his satisfaction was short-lived as another grabbed his forearm and clamped its jaws down.
"Fuck!" he yelled, thrashing his arm before bringing up one of his knees straight into the creature's stomach, or whatever passed for a stomach, knocking it off his arm. He would have inspected the injury, but he didn't have time, as several more moved to claw at his face and chest, while a few more went for his legs. The pain in his forearm was still noticeable.
'Gotta keep them focused on me, can't let these things see Gabrielle or the others,' he thought, then broadcast to the others, 'Girls, you get Gabby to the surface.'
'I'm not leaving you two down here with these things!' Hermione protested.
'We need to get Gabby to the surface. If these things see her, they'll rip her apart!' Harry pushed back, barely dodging one of the wretched little things as it tried to clamp its jaws around his dick.
A Grindylow eating his cock was not his idea of a good blowjob!
Another scream drew their attention, and Gabby opened her mouth to call out, but Hermione clapped a hand over her mouth and held a finger to her own.
There were already traces of red in the water from several minor claw marks and bites on Fleur's exposed legs and arms; they even tried going for her face, but the Bubble-Head charm she was using seemed to keep them from reaching that. Clearly, they really didn't like being out of water. But while the Bubble-Head charm might be protecting her face and head, her hair was a different story. Several had already latched onto it and were pulling it in various directions, jerking her head to and fro, even getting tangled in it, making her yelp in pain.
She swung back with her arms, trying to dislodge the creatures behind her, only for several to dive in and start to claw and bite at her now unprotected breasts. One enterprising Grindylow actually managed to hook its long fingers under the strap of her bikini top, on the left side, then pulled, leaned forward and bit into the strap, snapping it.
Fleur pushed it back with a solid punch to the face, but the creature had such a tight hold on the fabric that it didn't go far, and quickly came back in, its snapping teeth aimed straight at her now exposed left breast.
Eyes wide with panic, Fleur swung her left arm, her fingers already starting to morph into bird-like talons, as her nails had already begun to form claws. Claws that raked across the face of the Grindylow, and it swam away, shrieking in pain. Two more latched onto her arm as a third clawed and bit at her right shoulder, breaking through the other shoulder strap, their combined thrashing along with hers, caused the bikini top to entirely fall away from her chest and shoulders, leaving her breasts exposed while others continued to bite and claw at her legs, back and stomach, tearing into the fair, supple skin and turning the water around her a disturbing shade of red.
She kicked several times, only to have more of them lunge out of the weeds, latch onto her legs and start to bite and claw at them.
Harry was faring slightly better, but he also had his fair share of minor bleeding wounds to show for his efforts. A muffled cry drew his attention to Hermione, as the Grindylows had now noticed her, the others and Gabrielle, and in the distance, he could hear yelling, which meant that the Merpeople had come looking to finish the job.
If they didn't get to the surface, none of them would likely make it. Fleur certainly wouldn't, not with the way she was panicking. He grabbed another Grindylow that had lunged for his groin, grabbing it by the chest and head. He grit his teeth and twisted with as much strength as he could. There was a dull, satisfying crack, and the creature went limp.
He then turned his attention back to Fleur, his eyes widening. Her two-piece swimsuit had been reduced to just the bottoms protecting her modesty, the top now gone, leaving her almost naked as she failed, trying to grab for her wand and keep the creatures' claws and teeth from her vulnerable breasts, but she only had two arms, so couldn't ward off all of them, and the ones that were latching onto her legs and arms with both claws and teeth…well, it was easy to see she was getting overwhelmed.
Her flat, toned stomach now had several small and larger freely bleeding wounds. He tried to remember the lessons on Grindylows; hadn't there been something about their claws being coated in a venom that was an anti-coagulant? Or was it their saliva? As she turned in the water, still thrashing, he saw one of the little monstrosities swim up behind her and grab her left side, before opening its mouth wide, and sinking its teeth deep.
Fleur shrieked, swinging her arm round to elbow the creature off her. She succeeded, but the beast took a sizeable chunk of her with it; its claws caught the waistband of her bottoms and pulled. The creature used the leverage to pull itself back in for another bite, this time chewing through the fabric as another of them came in on the other side.
All it took was a little more thrashing from the panicked Veela for the last shred of clothing to be fully dislodged, leaving her naked.
The rest swarming her seemed to take this as a sign, as they all closed in, clamping their claws and teeth on her legs, arms, midsection, whichever they could get at, making her thrash more. Several even managed to latch onto her exposed breasts, one clamping its sharp teeth down around her left nipple, and two more sinking their teeth into the side and underside of her right breast. An alarming amount of red started to fill the water.
Harry surged forward, trying to reach for her, punching a few more Grindylows as he did so. Commotion from behind him made him glance back to see the girls now surrounding a huddled Gabby, their own fists swinging as they batted away the creatures, none of which had yet managed to grab any of them.
A glowing form suddenly shot past him, and he turned back around, eyes widening as Myrtle dived through several of the little creatures, causing them to twitch and momentarily freeze up, allowing Fleur's thrashing feet and fists to connect.
As she turned and thrashed, back arched, he saw that one of the little creatures had actually sunk its teeth into the right cheek of her arse, and was apparently starting to pull and chew, trying to take a rather significant bite out of the firm muscle.
He was too far away to help truly; he couldn't risk firing off any stunners for the risk of hitting Fleur. Myrtle was doing what she could, but the paralysing effect of her contact wasn't lasting all that long.
Fleur's injuries were now getting more serious; the water surrounding her was becoming steadily more saturated with her blood, which flowed from large, bleeding wounds in her exposed calves, thighs, forearms and biceps, the gaping wound on her left side, the blood flowing from her mauled breasts, and the creature now actively chewing its way through her right bum cheek.
His eyes widened in horror as a terrifying realisation went through him as one more Grindylow swam up from below, its mouth wide, and clamped its jaws over her defenceless pussy. Thick red liquid quickly began to flow past the creature's lips as Fleur's thrashing increased tenfold, her screams of pain and terror becoming more high-pitched and acute.
'Oh fucking hell…they're actually trying to EAT her!' Harry realised, he raised his wand and aimed at the creature between Fleur's thrashing legs and fired of a quick Relashio followed by a Depulso, then a Diffindo which sliced the arm off of a second that tried to swim up between her legs, but a stabbing pain in his own left calf drew his attention away from her, to the thing that had latched on to him, causing him to miss a third water demon that swam up between Fleur's thrashing legs to successfully clamp its jaws down over her now bleeding, lacerated sex.
"Oh my god!" Hermione cried, her eyes wide with horror as she saw what the little monsters were doing, her own hands clamped firmly over Gabrielle's eyes. As the last Grindylow sank its teeth into softest, and most delicate part of Fleur's body, filling their ears with another muffled scream of pain and terror, Harry saw her skin finally start to pebble as it turned a greyish colour, her finger and toe nails became claws, which caught on the flesh of a few of the little demons swarming her, tearing their flesh open surprisingly easily.
Harry finally decided he needed to get between Fleur and these creatures. Pulling his wand, he fired off several Diffindo spells while swinging his other hand wildly in a clenched fist. As he punched another Grindylow and sliced a second in half, he bit back a scream as he felt teeth dig into his own flesh around his midsection and legs. He turned and headhunted another as it came in to try and bite at his throat. The Bubble-Head charm pushed back the water from the creature's head, allowing him to momentarily smell the thing just as his forehead collided with its wet scales.
The thing smelled as bad as it looked.
Another violent kick sent a couple more scampering away as they tried to latch onto his legs, but several more cutting hexes took care of them.
Harry looked around for Fleur's wand, spotting it in the grasp of one of the little buggers as he decapitated another Grindylow, then sensed movement at his back. Spinning around, he fired off another shot, ending the offending demon, then quickly aiming to end a few more as they lunged at him, aiming for his exposed crotch.
"I think everyone top-side has seen enough from me," he muttered, reaching up, he pulled the goggles off his head and tossed them to one side. He then turned and fired off several more shots, striking down the Grindylows attacking his lovers as they defended the cowering little Veela.
"I need to end this and get Fleur and Gabrielle out of here…" he muttered as the distant sounds of the Merpeople drew closer.
"They're coming!" Myrtle cried, "I can't keep this up, Harry! I'm not affecting these little things as I thought!"
The Grindylows were starting to weigh Fleur down, slowly sinking her while she thrashed, but her movements were slowing. Her skin had turned completely grey now, a coat of scales clearly visible, her face had started to elongate, as had her throat, and a tail had started to sprout from her lower back, which the attacking Grindylows quickly set upon, making the woman thrash even more. Even a pair of wings had begun to grow from her back, which soon fell prey to even more of them.
'That's it. These little shites need to GO,' he thought. With that, he surged forward, passed the Grindylows as he fired a cutting curse through the neck of the one that still had its jaws clamped over Fleur's pussy, a fountain of blood, both green and red, followed it as he forced the now dead creature to release its grip on her with a Relashio, focused his magic and aimed his wand, concentrating.
"Accio Fleur's wand!" he yelled, firing off a quick cutting curse to take out the Grindylow that was still holding the wand as it flew towards him. Grabbing Fleur's wand, he focused and aimed at the group still swarming Fleur. He fired off multiple Relashio spells at the Grindylows, following each with a Sectumsempra as soon as the targets were clear of Fleur. He quickly swam up to her and took her in his arms, noting with increasing worry how weak she seemed to have gotten, blood pouring from far too many open wounds that covered her entire body, her right bum cheek actually had a sizeable chunk of muscle missing, blood flowing far too easily from the open bite for his liking.
"Susan! That flask you took from my Satchel, give it to me!" he called, holding out a hand that still gripped his wand. Rather than pass it to him, Susan swam up to his side, clutching the flask. Harry quickly put his wand away and took hold of Fleur's head, holding it still, "Quick, open the flask and put it in her mouth, the honey should stop the bleeding and close the wounds."
As soon as the neck of the flask was in Fleur's mouth, Harry spoke sharply into her ear, "Fleur, listen to me, it's Harry! Listen, you need to drink this, please, it'll stop the pain!" Fleur's face was still human enough that her lips were able to close around the neck of the flask, as her left eye, which had already turned yellow, the pupil elongated, turned to look at him through a half-closed lid, and for a brief moment, he saw the terror and agony he'd seen in Gabrielle's eyes, but also recognition. After a few seconds, her throat bulged as she gulped.
"Sue, take my wand." Harry said, "I've got her…" Susan nodded, grabbed his wand from its holster, turned and started casting at the Grindylows, which were getting ready to swarm them again. He looked down at the wounds on her breasts, watching with fascination as the various lacerations and bites stopped bleeding, then started to close as Fleur gulped a few more times slowly. Harry wasn't sure if there was enough in the flask to heal her wounds completely, so they needed to get to the surface now.
He then reached up and pulled off her goggles, discarding them; he figured the people on the surface had seen enough. "Okay, girls, follow me!"
As he started to carry Fleur upward, the others formed up around him, with Gabrielle once again latching on to him, forcing him to kick harder. He noticed that her eyes were also now yellow, with stilted pupils that were wide with terror as she stared at Fleur. He also noticed, and tried to ignore, the fact that her relative size to his, along with the way she'd grabbed onto him, meant that her lips were pressed flush against the top side of his erection.
The movement of his legs and hips as he furiously kicked was causing him to move against her in a way that he knew was very inappropriate. Still, there wasn't anything he could do as he looked between her, Fleur, the girls around him, Myrtle, and the pursuing Grindylows. In the distance, he could hear the approaching yells of the merpeople.
Looking past Gabrielle, he glared at the swarming Grindylows, aimed Fleur's wand, and started firing off spells. Using Fleur's wand felt…strange. Granted, he hadn't really used anyone else's wand before, not even Hermione's, but Fleur's felt weird. Even the wands he'd tried in Ollivanders hadn't felt like this; none of them had felt truly right, either, not like his holly wand, but this…
Every time he tried to cast a Depulso or Sectumsempra, he felt the wand fight him, almost as if it was challenging him for dominance, as if it could sense that he wasn't Fleur, or Veela, or perhaps that he was male, and was trying to overpower him, trying to dominate him. He sensed an odd feeling of curiosity from the wand, though he was not sure how such a thing was possible, as if the magic in the Veela hair at its core was inspecting him. Then that sense of resistance turned to something else.
Excitement. Anticipation. Hunger.
He suddenly felt as if he were holding something connected to a force even more deadly than the Grindylows, but also one that could easily overwhelm him if it chose to. There was also an odd sense or impression he couldn't identify. He also started to feel a warm tingling sensation spread over his fingers and hand, but it went no further than his wrist; it felt almost like a Veela's allure, but not as strong. But even that faint touch was enough to make his shaft twitch, and for a brief second, he shivered, and for once, it had nothing to do with the temperature of the water. Unfortunately, that twitching of his shaft had been noticed by the Veela wrapped around him, and by the time he realised exactly where his manhood was positioned relative to her, she'd already started to grind against him; it was too late to try to stop her.
He looked again at Fleur, noticing that the wounds on her breasts had stopped bleeding and mostly closed, and were now just red, swollen bruises. He couldn't see the other wounds, but he assumed they had healed just as well. With a final gulp, Fleur reached up and pulled the now-empty flask away from her face and tossed it to the side, before she turned and fully embraced him and Gabrielle, as she brought her face close, and whispered…purred into his right ear.
"Merci…Marci beaucoup…Étalon…" then she kissed his neck almost sensuously, her voice slurred, her expression nearly dopey…and aroused. It was like she was drunk…drunk and horny.