Oh no oh no oh no-

Ellie puts on a final burst of speed, checks Anthema's breath-

Not breathing, but - it looks more like magical sleep, and not a particularly deep one. Her color's good - she doesn't even look cold - and her eyelids are flickering like she's dreaming.

Ellie does not like this one bit.

She uses a cutting hex to sever the ropes binding Anathema.

Anathema floats free, hair drifting around her face.

Bubble-Head for Anathema, grab her close, swim for the surface.

Anathema wakes up as soon as Ellie breaks through to the surface.

She blinks, reflexively clutching Ellie, then beams and kisses her.

(They're a good ways out from shore, but probably going over the surface means they'll hit fewer hazards anyways.)

"Hey cutie. Let's get you home."

"Yeah." Quick kiss, and then she breaks away to swim back alongside Ellie.

Back to shore. Hopefully uneventfully.

The surface is calmer than the depths, and they're both fast swimmers - they beat Cedric Diggory there, at least, though Krum and a man about his age are already on the shore.

Both girls are greeted with cheers and warming and drying charms, and a report of their time - two minutes to spare before the hour limit. 

Well. That's not bad, if she's second back.

Yeah. And they can snuggle while they wait for the others. 

Elodie shows up about ten minutes after Cedric with her sister attached like a limpet to her back, looking distinctly disgruntled.

Elodie and her sister are given a chance to dry off and warm up, and then the judges thank the hostages for their help with the Second Task and begin dolling out scores. 

Victor Krum comes out the best, with fifty eight points - bringing his total to eighty nine. The judges compliment him on his multiple complex and difficult spells clearly intended to optimize for speed - at the cost of risk to himself, though he mostly escape injury. He returned a good eleven minutes before Ellie.

Ellie's score is the next highest - the judges note her performance was well executed but not particularly creative. Still, she showed cleverness in navigating the landscape and in swimming straight up rather than back out the way she came - ultimately making her return faster, since Anathema could then swim on her own. She receives forty nine points, bringing her total to one hundred and five. 

Cedric's performance was very similar to Ellie's, though the judges note that the way he navigated showed clear existing familiarity with the terrain - some questions reveal he got the egg open within a few days of the First Task and had mostly focused on scouting the Black Lake at night, using his Prefect rights to skip curfew to his advantage. Still, he lagged on speed, and came in two minutes past the time limit. His total is forty five points, bringing him up to eighty seven.

For Elodie - the judges note her potion ran out early in the task, showing 'poor planning,' though she did exhibit flexibility and determination when she fought off the grindylows around her enough to cast new spells before she suffocated. Her time performance was also the worst by a good margin - subtracting an entire twelve points from her total. With that, she comes in at a bare twenty nine points - leaving her with only eighty five, at the back of the group. 

They're told the Third Task will be a maze with unknown dangers. Their current scores will determine their entrance order - and the gaps between them. The Third Task will occur on June the Twenty-Fourth, a Saturday an entire week after the last end of term exams. Students from Hogwarts who wish to watch will be welcome to stay at the school through the extra week.

Lots of time to get ready, then.

Yeah... Though less to focus on. 

She'll have to become a generalist. Or y'know, just put the cloak on and stroll through everything that's not physically blocking the path.

She laughs - and they also were talking about trying to take the OWLs early... That'll at least get them up to a reasonable spread of talent. Shore up any gaps. 

Yeah. They can see what Professor Reynolds thinks of the idea.

They should go find her... There's still a crowd out though. 

They could go wait inside. She might be, um, slightly killing someone about Anathema being kidnapped this morning.

She snorts. 

"They did ask me first - I just wasn't allowed to tell anyone. Guess they wanted it to be a big surprise for showmanship stuff..."

"Minus twenty points for foresight, there."

Snort. "You don't like rescuing me?"

"I much prefer not needing to." Kiss.