Harry Potter: Dragon Eyes

'Bloody, fucking, hell!'

Harry cursed rapidly inside his head, watching—almost in slow motion—as the Lethifold devoured the ginormous sea serpent.

'In my next life, I pray to all gods that I won't be a damned Potter. It's ridiculous. Fucking Potter luck,' he thought, noticing the quickly diminishing glow in the old beast's eyes.

"KRUM. SNAP OUT OF IT AND GET THE FUCK OUT!" Harry bellowed and spotted Fleur, immediately starting to swim towards her.

Being considerate, he looked back to see if Krum had heeded his words.

'Thank Merlin, he's not a bloody idiot,' he noted, watching as the Bulgarian—who was back to his dolphin form— swam behind him at full speed.

Harry's arms burned as he propelled himself through the murky water, each stroke a testament to his determination.

His breaths came in ragged bursts through his Bubble-Head Charm as his eyes, dull with exhaustion, narrowed and locked back on Fleur.

As he swam closer to her and Cedric though, he noticed something.

Fleur was clutching her shoulder… which was bleeding!

His heart clenched.

"Fleur!" he shouted, though the sound was muffled by the depths.

The water felt heavier now, as if the entire lake conspired to slow him down.

His mind raced—he knew she was capable, more than capable, but seeing her like this set off every protective instinct he had.

'Come on, Potter. Faster,' he growled inwardly, forcing his body to push harder and feeling its effects right off the bat.

His muscles screamed in protest, but he pushed through the burning sensation.

Yet the human spirit was a famous fuel for in desperate time…

Harry's hands brushed against the boundary of Cedric's shimmering protective barrier, feeling its magic.

'I see. Ingenious, yet it's no good against experienced wizards,' he thought and with a flick of his wand he brought it down.

Cedric, who was still holding the shield steady, opened his mouth, no doubt to express heavy displeasure and maybe even hex Harry…

Throwing the Hufflepuff a meaningful look, he swam straight to Fleur, ignoring everything else.

Harry's eyes scanned her face, searching for signs of how bad the damage was.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice sharp with concern as he gently steadied her by the uninjured shoulder.

"I'm fine," Fleur said through gritted teeth, though her pallor and the blood seeping from her wound said otherwise.

"Like hell you are," Harry muttered, his fingers brushing against the torn fabric of her robes.

Thankfully, the gash wasn't worryingly deep, but it was enough to make his stomach twist with worry.

'It's fine. As long as we get out soon, Madame Pomfrey would fix it in a jiffy,' Harry thought and glanced at Cedric, who was pale and visibly drained.

"Do you know where the hostages are?" he asked with a no-nonsense tone.

Cedric's face scrunched, and Harry realised that he was going over the pros and cons of telling Harry what he knew.

After a short moment of deliberation, Cedric nodded, his jaw tight.

"Yeah, I saw the Mermish village where they are being held before stumbling to the fuck grindylows. If you will follow me," Cedric said, his voice strained but steady, and started swimming almost towards the giant snake…

'Fuck me with a hippogriff and call me satiated…' Harry thought and started firing weak fire spells at the frenzied grindylows.

Without a king, they were surprisingly easy to deal with.

Harry turned his attention back to Fleur.

"Can you swim that far, or do you need me to carry you?"

Fleur gave him a sharp glare despite the pain in her shoulder.

"I'm not some damsel in distress, Harry."

"Fine. Just let me patch this up," Harry insisted, already pulling a small vial of Dittany from a waterproofed and enlarged pocket of his swimsuit.

He popped it open with practised ease and carefully let a few drops fall onto her wound.

The flesh began to knit together instantly, though Fleur winced at the faint sting.

"I said I'm fine," she protested, though her voice lacked its usual bite.

Harry didn't answer, making sure that the wound was sealed instead.

Only when he was satisfied did he look back into her eyes.

"You're bloody stubborn, you know that?"

"And you're bloody overbearing," she shot back, though her lips curved into a faint smirk.

He snorted, the brief exchange cutting through the tension.

But their moment of reprieve was short-lived…

The water around them trembled, the vibrations sending chills through Harry's weary body.

The snake's roar echoed again… or was it the Lethifold's now?

'Let's follow Diggory,' Harry said, re-establishing his mental link with Fleur.

He tightened his grip on her uninjured arm and looked her in the eye.

'Stay close to me. No heroics, got it?'

She arched a brow, clearly unimpressed with his tone, but she gave a sharp nod.

Harry turned to Cedric, who was swimming ahead, the faint glow of his wand lighting their path through the murky depths.

Krum was also following, close behind him.

Harry and Fleur followed suit, staying close to one another.

Albeit, the boy's eyes couldn't help but flick on Fleur's injury every few seconds, though he knew better than to comment on it again…

The champions moved with purpose, their strokes steady despite the exhaustion enveloping each and every one of them.

During the chaos, the serpents' figure somehow blended into the murky depths and disappeared…

'I can't even sense the damned monsters…' Harry thought, feeling his surroundings.

The closer they got to the location Cedric had mentioned, the colder the water enveloping them got.

'Can the others even see in this darkness?' Harry wondered as the light from above barely penetrated the thick, dark gloom.

He was only seeing because of the 'Visus Serpentis' he had cast on himself and Fleur at the start of the task which was more powerful than most of the underwater vision spells.

A few minutes later, they reached their destination…

The Mermish village unfolded before them like an eerie underwater realm from a dark fairytale.

It was a cluster of jagged rock formations covered in shimmering algae that cast a ghostly green-blue glow across the surroundings.

The structures were crude yet intricate, formed from coral, shells, and stone, arranged in patterns that seemed both chaotic and deliberate.

Tower-like edifices rose from the lakebed, their spires capped with glowing orbs of jellyfish tethered to the tops.

Other "homes" appeared to be hollowed-out rock domes with narrow openings, their interiors faintly glowing with an inviting light.

'Not creepy at all...'

Suspended near the central structure were the hostages.

They floated in a net-like enclosure woven from greenish strands that emitted a faint aura.

The bindings appeared alive, writhing slightly as though infused with sinister magic…

Thankfully, the hostages were seemingly unharmed, their forms limp and their expressions serene.

And last but not least, there were the Merfolk, who patrolled the village with sharp, angular tridents in hand.

Their forms were sleek with long, silvery hair floating around their heads like halos.

The water peoples' eyes glinted with a predatory gleam and they moved with an unparalleled grace, fluid as the water around them.

Despite the magical beauty of the place… the champions did not stumble upon a welcoming haven, but a stronghold of a species that regarded humans with suspicion at best and open hostility at worst.

"Let's get our hostages out, shall we?" Harry said with a grim voice.

Cedric and Krum—who had transformed back to his human form—nodded grimly, while Fleur's grip on her wand tightened.

'What's the worst that can happen?' Harry thought and swam closer toward his fellow humans…

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