I don't know what kind of genius came up with the idea of letting people splash around in the cold water of a Scottish lake in winter, but I have a great desire to shake his neck in all sincerity and give him a good flashlight for both eyes so he won't be afraid to come home from work at night. No, no killing, but he'd get a punch in the face and a nasty curse on top of that. Removable, of course.
So, now I and three other tournament participants are standing on the wooden planks of the newly built structure on the shore of the Black Lake, today is February 24th, the day of the second test. I don't know what and how the idea was accepted and realized, but all responsible people, as well as spectators, accepted the conditions of the test normally, even with enthusiasm.
I wanted to ask the people around me loudly why they did not throw their children into the lake for an hour, but I realized that it would be useless. So I kept quiet. But no one stopped me from preparing, right? And so there were four participants on the boards, and three of them were dressed in the best wetsuits available in sports shops in London.
It wasn't a problem to buy them and it wasn't a problem to show Fleur and Harry the possibilities of the suits. And I myself with pleasure attended three lessons in a special school, where I helped to understand the work of scuba diving — further there is already developed skills to handle the equipment, safety, learning the alphabet of signs and gestures, and so on.
All this is quite available in a special textbook, which I have already completed, not because of any plans, but out of interest. The judges, characteristically, didn't like our appearance right away, and they even resented it, demanding to get rid of this "Muggle travesty and not to humiliate themselves and their, the honorable judges". Especially in this case, Karkarov tried, ridiculously shaking his dry fists and thin beard, trying to look formidable, but he hadn't seen any formidable people yet... or had he seen them and been inspired? Well, whatever.
I was particularly stubborn, and argued with the "wise adults" until we won: the opponents of our attire demanded to check the suits for magic, which of course was not detected — there are various seals, including those that are extremely difficult to detect by the radiation of magic.
Then, when there wasn't much to complain about, they tried to press us with authority, but Fleur and I didn't give a damn, and the only one who could be affected by Dumbledore's reproachful look, young Potter, just kept silent and averted his eyes. The lessons are working! I haven't wasted my money!
In the end, Barty Crouch Sr. reluctantly (in public, but in reality he didn't care what the participants wore as long as the rules were not broken, and they weren't broken in any way, it's all a matter of retrograde views and envy) gave his permission.
So there we were, the four of us, waiting for the signal to start. Our costumes differed only in the color of the lines drawn with special light-reflecting paint: mine was red, Fleur's was silver, and Harry's was light green. And Krum was the only one shivering in the wind and frowning in his trunks, but he was silent. He never said a word the whole time they were on the shore. Worried or something? Well, I don't blame him.
The spectators watched us from the stands, including the Delacour family, including Gabby, who cheered me and Fleur loudly. My family, Lan, and even the Schrödingers, who had come unannounced to witness a rare event. In general, there are a lot of people in the stands today, and in the movie the seats of the audience looked much smaller than what I saw today, and also the number of those who came here was larger.
But the point I wanted to make was not that there were many more spectators than expected, but that by bringing sanity back to Barty Crouch I was able to change the event. The thing is, I do not know exactly how the "hostages" were "kidnapped" in the movie — it was never revealed, but in my reality everything was orderly and legal.
The organizers approached the alleged "hostages" and their parents, had a normal conversation with them, and if they came to an agreement, the person of the "drowned" was approved. No one even thought of letting Gabrielle go, but one of Fleur's bodyguards easily and quickly agreed to be the "hostage".
Ron had been chosen for Harry, since Richard didn't want to send his daughter to the bottom of the lake, even temporarily, to justify his "unpatriotic" belief in the misfortune of drowning his only daughter. My "hostage" was Luna. Though I was against it, Xenophilius gave his permission, but only in exchange for a promise to place a portal key on his daughter, which could be used to return her to land at any moment.
The man was reassured by the fact that this measure was applied to all four "hostages" with the help of the same Crouch. In addition, there is a more complex functionality: thanks to a reasonable approach to this case were involved specialists from the Department of Mysteries, so once the artifacts recorded a threat to the life of the object, immediately triggered a return directly to St.
Mungo's, where a team of specialists with all the necessary spectrum, including the first, experimental (purchase), batch of my seals, ordered by the director of the hospital. After learning all this, I was pleasantly surprised and even glad that at least someone knows how to turn his head at the right moment, and that this "someone" holds such an important position in the local government.
When the first "Ready" signal sounded, the three of us lowered ourselves onto the planks and put on our fins, which made Krum grimace, but again he remained silent. Everyone had knives, by the way, according to the rules of the test, but the three of us had spare knives, purchased at the same place we got our suits with fins and masks.
There were the usual speeches in such cases, a brief familiarization of the audience with the rules, the thunder of the cannon shot, we wave our wands and cast the modification "Bubble-Head", only more resistant and with the ability to bind to the object (head) to instantly restore the spell if necessary.
All you have to do is touch the "control point" with a wand, or with your hand if you can cast spells without a wand. There are different situations, I agree, but it's better than the complete impossibility to restore the bubble underwater if you don't know non-verbal magic. We jump into the dark water, according to the turn determined by the available points.
In the next second, the sounds are muffled and then completely cut off, leaving only the sounds of the underwater world. With every meter of depth, the light also disappeared, quickly turning into scattered rays and then into a fuzzy glow somewhere above.
How long it had been since I had felt this, and how I had missed it! Diving into the water, into the depths, is an immersion into another world, with its own laws and peculiarities. A dangerous world that does not forgive mistakes. A beautiful world that steals the heart of everyone who has ever been there.
The bright, indescribable joy of the colors of the southern seas, or the frowning silence of the dark depths of the northern waters. Every underwater world is beautiful, and everyone can find something in it that will make their heart tremble and beat faster, and every memory will be filled with sincere emotions.
For me, the waters of Black Lake brought a special newness that I had never felt before. The visceral, lurking menace, the peace of blackness, the almost absolute silence of a world of indistinct shadows and ghostly fears.
One will be frightened and truly dread returning to these waters, while the other will return again and again, trying to find something secret and obscure, perhaps a dream come true or a fleeting vision. But both will be united by the fact that no one will remain indifferent.
I went down to the seaweed fields and moved to the place where many living and spiritual beings had gathered. Luna lives up to her name: the light of the girl's soul shines brightly in the darkness of the lake, her magic literally dazzles with a silver beacon, around which many water spirits have gathered, and I myself literally see the girl, hear her voice, to which the spirits sing in chorus.
I even closed my eyes and looked through the spiritual plane, and Luna's soul in this vision literally flooded the whole surrounding space with soft, gentle silver light. How can British Muggles miss this miracle? Luna Lovegood is a true treasure of these lands! Opening my eyes, I swam on, keeping the same speed and rhythm of movement, not worrying about the dangers or the other competitors.