"You said you'd already worked out that Egg clue!" Hermione said indignantly in the back of Charms class one day in February, all four of them sitting at a table by themselves. Jake had already accomplished the task set before them on the first go after Flitwick asked if he could do it non-verbally, so he was allowed to just sit or stand idly.
"Keep your voice down!" Harry said, glancing around, "I just need to - sort of fine-tune it, all right?"
While in Charms, they were to be practicing the opposite of the Summoning Charm, which was the Banishing Charm, Depulso . Owing to the potential for nasty accidents when objects kept flying across the room, Professor Flitwick had given each student a stack of cushions on which to practice, minus Jake, and the theory was that these wouldn't hurt anyone if they went off target. It was a good theory, but it wasn't working very well. Neville's aim was so poor that he kept accidentally sending much heavier things flying across the room - Professor Flitwick, for instance.
"Just forget the Egg for a minute, all right?" Harry hissed as Flitwick went whizzing past them, landing on top of a large cabinet, "I'm trying to tell you about Snape and Moody..."
This class was the most ideal for a private conversation, as everyone was having far too much fun to pay them any attention, and with Jake not having to practice the Banishing Charm, he was able to keep them safe with having his eye elsewhere. Harry had then recounted his adventures of the previous night in whispered installments for the last half hour.
"Snape said Moody's searched his office as well?" Ron asked in a whisper, his eyes alight with interest as he Banished a cushion with a sweep of his wand, which soared into the air and knocked Parvati's hat off. "What... do you reckon Moody's here to keep an eye on Snape as well as Karkaroff?"
"Well, I dunno if that's what Dumbledore asked him to do, but he's doing it anyway," Harry said as his cushion did an odd sort of belly flop off the desk, "Moody said Dumbledore only lets Snape stay here because he's giving him a second chance or something..."
'That actually makes an odd amount of sense... there is no way someone like Snape would be here under normal circumstances, which must be why Dumbledore didn't argue against me when I threatened to kill Snape... now I wish I really had gone through with it,' he thought darkly.
"Oh Ron," Hermione said, shaking her head skeptically, Jake had clearly missed Ron saying something, "we thought Snape was trying to kill Harry before, and it turned out he was saving Harry's life, remember?"
"I doubt he did that out of the goodness of his heart, though. If anything, he'd have done it just so Dumbledore wouldn't fire him," Jake said.
"It seems silly to disregard Professor Dumbledore, though," Hermione pointed out, "he trusted Hagrid and Lupin and gave them jobs when no one else would, and he was right to, they are both great teachers in their own right, so-" Hermione faltered, she hated and loathed Snape because of his treatment of Jake in Second Year, and she claimed she would never forgive him, and she never did. There was also last year, when Snape brutally hurt Jake before the both of them went back in time, and that made her loathe the Potions Professor. And if she was being honest, she wasn't that upset with Jake over defending her against Snape's cruelty when her teeth had grown at an alarming rate. So was she really about to change her tune just to trust Dumbledore?
No, no she was not, so she didn't finish her thought because she no longer thought it to be true.
"Why do you think Crouch is pretending to be ill?" She changed topics.
"Who knows... but I've been thinking over some things we know about Mr. Crouch... and they just aren't adding up..."
"Oh, Jake," Professor Flitwick came up to them, "could you send some more pillows into the box without saying a word again? I'm so sorry to bother you with this, but it's truly a marvel to see a student below Sixth Year using non-verbal magic."
He sighed, "Sure, Professor," Jake said and didn't get to explain his thoughts to his friends as he went and sent more pillows into the box like the others were supposed to, and Flitwick was overjoyed to see it happen, and he gave Gryffindor Twenty Points. Jake couldn't exactly complain after that.
*******
After Harry sent another letter to Sirius, explaining everything that had happened a couple days ago, he had one major problem ahead of him, "How am I going to survive underwater for an hour?"
"You could always use the Summoning Charm on one of those Aqua-Lung things from a Muggle Store," Ron suggested.
"Ron, that won't work, I mean it would, but Harry would be breaking the Statute of Secrecy by allowing Muggles to see it flying through the countryside," Hermione said, "ideally, the best case scenario would be to Transfigure yourself into a Submarine, but we won't be practicing Human Transfiguration spells until our Sixth Year... and it can go really bad if you don't know what you're doing," she said uneasily.
"Yeah, I don't think I much fancy walking around with a periscope on my head..." Harry sighed.
Jake was distracted with his thoughts and didn't have an answer for them. For some reason, he kept worrying about the dream he had so far prevented himself from having, except for that one evening he was outright exhausted.
'There's something not making sense with it... I can see the problem, and at the same time I can't... there's a crucial detail I feel like I've been missing with it... I need to experience it again... but where can I do that where it won't disrupt anyone else?' He racked his brain, but came to no conclusion.
"Jake!?" Hermione yelled, bringing him from his thoughts.
He looked over at her, "Hmm?"
"I asked if you had any input on how Harry can survive underwater for an hour?" She tutted, a little upset with him, but he didn't take it personally.
"Oh... well there's the Bubble-Head Charm, but a little difficult to pull off for most Fourth-Years, or there's Gillyweed, you'll just have to make sure you don't take too little or too much. If you were proficient in Potions, you could brew up a Water-Breathing Potion, because I'm not making it for you," Jake gave his thoughts on the situation.
"You really wouldn't make me one?" Harry asked, but the tone of his voice suggested he wasn't surprised, nor did he really expect Jake to.
"No, so that leaves the Bubble-Head Charm, or Gillyweed," Jake said, "and with how your performance with Charms has been as of late, I'd suggest the Gillyweed. You can ask Neville precisely how much to take, he excels at Herbology."
"You mean you're not helping him at all?" Hermione asked, her tone sounding slightly hurt.
"I'm sorry, I've got too much on my mind to be of any real use," he said and packed up his stuff, leaving them in the Common Room that evening and went to bed.
*******
There was a week left to go before the Second Task and Jake had been spending a lot of time alone. This didn't go unnoticed by Fleur, as she had come up to Hermione and asked her about him, " 'ermione, I do not mean to eenterupt, but ees Jereemiah okay?"
"Sorry, but I don't know, he's not been spending much time with us as of late," she said, trying to stay dignified in her response.
'Okay... zank you," Fleur said sadly and left back to the Ravenclaw Table.
"Do you think he's alright?" Harry asked Hermione after Fleur had left.
"He must be... he looks fine in class... the only thing I take issue with is he looks exhausted most of the time..." Hermione said a bit spitefully. 'He promised me he'd take care of himself...'
Movement from the Giant Oak Doors leading out to the Entrance Hall caught her attention, and she saw Jake enter long enough to get a plate of some toast, jam, and a Goblet of juice before leaving as quickly as he entered. At least it looked like he was eating some, but Hermione was still upset with him.
She looked over and saw that Fleur also saw him, and had stood up to go talk to him, but he left before she made it very far.
The Owl Post arrived and a copy of the Daily Prophet was dropped in front of Hermione. After what had happened at the Three Broomsticks, she had been getting a copy of the paper every day to see if Jake had been talked about by Rita Skeeter. She didn't even have to open the newspaper to see that it was in fact about him. She paid the Owl, which flew away afterwards, and carefully opened the Prophet to the next page, which she read quietly to Harry and Ron:
MERLIN'S DESCENDANT TERRORIZES HOGSMEADE
A little while back, one of our reporters for the Daily Prophet was assaulted by Jake Kidd, known for being Merlin's Descendant and called the Harbinger of Destruction by former Divination Professor Sybill Trelawney. And he definitely lives up to this moniker as he threatened bodily harm towards the reporter, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent .
Jake is not your usual Fourth Year Wizard; he's gifted in Wandless and Non-Verbal Magic and he's got some serious anger issues. Back before the Yule Ball was held at Hogwarts, he used a Mouth Removal Spell on one of our Correspondents, and has so far not received any repercussions for it. Also, from what this reporter could find, which is a surprisingly little amount, he is an American born Pure-Blood Wizard, is best friends with Harry Potter's love interest, Hermione Granger, and is the cruelest student in the school.
"He's constantly bullying and attacking one of us, even if we are just walking by in the corridor," says Draco Malfoy who, if you remember from a previous article, talked about how scared everyone was of the half-giant Hagrid. "He also assaulted Professor Snape, I'm surprised Dumbledore even lets him continue going to school here."
It would seem that all of that power has gone to Jake's head, and it doesn't seem he will be stopping his Reign of Terror on Hogwarts any time soon, and worst of all, it would seem that Albus Dumbledore has no intentions of putting a stop to him.
Back during the World Cup, he also killed dozens of confirmed former Death Eaters with a dangerous spell known as the Blasting Curse, the names of You-Know-Who's followers, many of whom had families and children in Hogwarts currently. He has yet to show remorse for their deaths, and it's likely that he doesn't show certain emotions at all. He does show some emotions though, shown by how often he has spent being with Beauxbatons Champion, Fleur Delacour. At a glance, one could discern that he has quite the eye (no pun intended) for the older Beauxbatons Girl, and quite possibly in the attempt to make his best friend, Hermione Granger, jealous.
"It feels like anytime we even mention his friend Granger, he goes all psycho on us and physically assaults one of us. He also claimed I look like a pug, which really hurt my feelings, and it caused me to cry in bed for hours," says Pansy Parkinson, a Slytherin Fourth Year.
Yet again, Jake shows his cruelty towards his fellow students, only this time it's against the Witches of Hogwarts. Is it possible that Jake is secretly a Misogynist? This cannot be confirmed true or untrue, unfortunately, or it's entirely possible that he has a deep, burning hatred for his fellow students and sees them as obstacles towards his goals, whatever they may be.
If allowed to continue on his current path, many parents have so far expressed fear that he could be worse than You-Know-Who could have ever been.
"That horrible, evil, loathsome woman!" Hermione yelled, almost tearing the Prophet newspaper apart. "How can this be allowed? This is blatant slander!"
Hermione was seething with rage, but there was simply nothing she could do about this for the time being. She stood up and made a beeline for the Entrance Hall to see if she could catch sight of Jake before he got too far away. She looked right and out of the Giant Oak Doors leading out of the Castle, but she didn't see any sign of him out there, so she hurried up the Marble Staircase.
'If I had to guess... he's probably going to Gryffindor Tower...' Hermione hoped she was right.
She ran all the way there, against her better judgment, and by the time she arrived back at the Fat Lady, her legs were on fire and she held her left side as she breathed heavily. She spoke the password and went inside.
"Jake!" She called out, "Jake! If you're in here, please, come down here... talk to me..." she waited for a few minutes, but when she didn't see him come down the stairs, she walked up them herself and into the Fourth Year Dorm. Upon entering, she didn't see him, and his curtains were not drawn, "Where is he?"
Hermione left the room and walked back out of the Tower, going back down the stairs and to the Great Hall for the last bit of breakfast. There were no classes as it was the weekend, so finding him would be harder than she'd have liked. She was worried about him.
Jake was standing alone in a classroom, having just finished the breakfast and Goblet he'd brought up with him. He took the Goblet and set it on a desk, tapped it with his wand, and walked back a few yards away and turned back to face it, his wand aimed at it, " Avada Kedavra !"
The green light flew through the air, and as he expected, the Goblet was destroyed.
He sighed, irritated.
Of course, he had only been at this for a week. Even if he was Merlin's True Heir, he couldn't expect that making a spell would be simple. He found it oddly satisfying that the spell he was trying to create would really only work for him.
No one would be able to use it against him. He aimed his wand at a mirror on the wall, " Stupefy ," he said casually, throwing out a random, non-destructive spell.
As expected, the spell ricocheted off the mirror and hit the wall behind him. The Killing Curse was the only spell that he knew of that wasn't affected by reflective surfaces, as evidenced by the fact that mirror shards covered the floor near the wall. He tried to Reparo them, but the way the Killing Curse worked, it made repairing something impossible.
He had been avoiding his friends outside of classes, and he wasn't talking to them hardly either. He felt bad, especially for avoiding Hermione, but he had to focus. He wouldn't miss the Second Task for anything right now, and he wouldn't be able to avoid talking to Hermione there.
*******
It was the day before the Second Task and Hermione was frustrated with Jake for avoiding talking to her. She couldn't begin to imagine what he was doing that was so important that he couldn't talk to her or spend any time with her at all. His time clearly wasn't being spent with Fleur, because she was seen sitting at the Ravenclaw table at Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner almost every day, so she couldn't fathom what he was doing.
She was sitting in the Great Hall for Dinner with Harry and Ron, both across from her and talking about the Task tomorrow when Professor McGonagall walked up to her, "Miss Granger, could I ask that you follow me please?"
She looked up at her Head of House, "Of course, Professor," she said and gathered her stuff, following behind McGonagall out of the Hall. Upon reaching the Entrance Hall, she walked up beside her, "Where are we going, Professor?"
"The Headmaster's Office, do not worry, you are not in trouble," McGonagall said quickly so Hermione had no time to worry.
"Oh... is - is this about Jake by chance?" She asked.
"All will be explained in due time, Miss Granger," McGonagall said and Hermione took the hint, not uttering another word.
After a little while of walking, they arrived at the Gargoyle and McGonagall spoke the password, Sherbert Lemon , and it stepped aside, a spiral staircase coming down so that it could be ascended. She walked up behind her Head of House, who knocked on the door and opened it a moment later. Hermione was met with an impressive looking office, it being her first time seeing it, and Dumbledore was sitting at the far end behind his wooden desk, "Miss Granger, thank you for coming."
"Of course... What's this about, Headmaster?" She asked, following McGonagall up to the desk and sitting down when prompted.
"Well, I can assure you that it's not about Jake," he chuckled as Hermione's face burned with slight embarrassment, "it actually concerns the Second Task for tomorrow. Now should you choose to decline, I must swear you to Secrecy that you will not tell anyone that does not already know what I am about to tell you."
"Of course, I shan't say a word," Hermione agreed.
"I would expect you to not. Tomorrow, each Champion will have to rescue a hostage from underneath the Black Lake, their thing they'll sorely miss , so to speak. Do not worry, as you will come to no harm should you accept. The Merpeople will hold four hostages and are really there only to ensure that one hostage per person is taken. Now, as I have come to understand it, you've spent a lot of time recently with Harry?" Dumbledore asked her.
"Well, you - you could say that, yes," she said, stuttering slightly, "are you asking me if I want to be his Hostage?"
"Precisely."
"Wouldn't you think that Ron would've made a better choice, Professor? Harry spends more time with him than he does me. Even though he asked me to the Yule Ball, it seemed like one dance for him and he was good for the whole night... I'm rambling, aren't I?" Hermione asked.
"Nothing I'm not used to, I assure you. I did consider Mister Weasley, but I'd be lying if seeing you and Harry at the Ball didn't influence my decision. So I take it you are declining?" Dumbledore asked her.
"I don't mind being his hostage, honest, but..."
"You are concerned about Jake?" Dumbledore asked correctly.
"He's been avoiding me and I don't know why," Hermione said, trying to keep her voice calm.
"Unfortunately, I cannot make him stop avoiding you. How he spends his time is up to him, whether it be with you, Miss Delacour, or by himself..." he trailed off a moment, "but I can tell that he cares a great deal for you, Miss Granger, his actions to defend you against Mister Malfoy proves that."
Hermione felt her face flush, "I'll be Harry's hostage, Professor Dumbledore."
He smiled, "When you go to sleep, Miss Granger, McGonagall will collect you in the middle of the night without waking you. Have a good night, Miss Granger."
"You too, Professor," Hermione smiled and stood up, walking out of the office and returning to Gryffindor Tower as Dinner was over by then anyway.
*******
Jake woke up at Eight o'clock on the day of the Second Task and made his way down to the Common Room, surprised to not see Hermione. He saw her go up to bed last night, and he expected her to already be down in the Common Room. Of course, he didn't talk to her, but that was more out of being ashamed than anything.
He went straight to breakfast in the Great Hall, and Fleur sat down across from him. He looked at her, and she was not happy looking, "May I ask why you 'ave been avoiding me?"
"Morning, Fleur," he said politely, "I've been too busy for social interaction the past couple of weeks, and I apologize for that. I've come to learn that what I've been doing is not possible to do at Hogwarts, so I'll have to take care of it over the summer."
"What were you doing zat was so eemportant zat you deedn't talk to me? Or 'ermione for zat matter?" Fleur asked him with hurt eyes.
"I'm sorry... I can't talk about it..." he said regretfully, "but... best of luck to you for the Second Task, not that you'll need it," he smiled at her.
She looked his face over once before a smile of her own appeared, "I cannot stay mad at you, Jereemiah. And zank you, I 'ope to do well een ze Task. I 'ope all of us do well, 'onestly."
"Do you know what the Task objective is?" He asked, seeing if she figured out the Egg without asking directly.
"Yes," she said, smirking, "I 'ave an 'our to save somezing precious to me. I am certain eet won't be somezing material, so I am sure eet ees a person, and seence you are 'ere, you were not approached?"
"I was, actually, but I declined," he said and her face looked shocked, "In the event something were to go wrong, I can't be under the water. I was honored to be asked to be your hostage, but I can't take the risk that something bad could happen, and with Harry around, it usually does."
She looked miffed, but she accepted his words, "I understand, and you saved Gabrielle before zat rock could 'it 'er... and zat Draygon, you stopped eet from attacking me..." she smiled at him again, "I am glad you declined now."
Jake smiled and then looked around, "Where's Harry? The Task is set to start soon..." he sighed, "I'm going to go and see if he's overslept."
"Okay, I 'ave to go and get ready, see you een ze stands," Fleur said and stood up with him, walking out of the Great Hall, but heading for the outside, whereas Jake went back up to Gryffindor Tower.
He entered and walked up to his dorm room, "Harry, time to get up!" He yelled, but the curtains were still pulled on Harry's bed, "Potter! Up! Now!" He walked over to the bed, "I'm going to count to three, and if you aren't out of this bed and ready for the Task, then the Magical Contract will be broken and you'll be killed by it," Jake paused a moment before he counted, "Three!" He flung the curtains back and saw that Harry wasn't there, "I swear... I'm going to kill him if that Magical Contract doesn't."
Jake bolted out of the room and down into the Common Room, running out into the Corridor, and down to the Library, he just had an inkling that Harry was in there. He entered casually when he got there and looked around for Harry. He found him sitting at a desk, reading something.
"Potter," he said, stepping closer.
"Jake, what is it?" Harry didn't look at him as he read the book, which Jake saw to be a book on Herbology.
"The Task starts soon, you need to get down to the Black Lake and get ready," Jake informed him, "now."
"What?" Harry checked the time, "It's time!"
"Sssshhhhh!" Came Madam Pince's voice.
Harry ran out of the Library with Jake following close behind. They ran out the Castle Doors and onto the Grounds, running all the way to the Black Lake. Jake stopped running and proceeded to walk up to the stands. He still didn't see Hermione. He saw Ron, though, and went to sit next to him, "Hey, have you seen Hermione?" He asked the Red-head.
"No, I haven't seen her all morning," he said, looking down at the Champions, "I actually haven't seen Cho either, not that I was looking for her, but I didn't see her when I was looking for Hermione."
"Weird..."
" 'ello, Jereemiah," a voice beside them said. They turned and Madeleine was stood there with a girl, the same girl she had been spending a lot of time with, "May we seet 'ere?"
"Of course," he smiled at them and they sat down.
"Zis ees Selena. Selena, zis ees Jereemiah," Madeleine introduced them.
"Nice to meet you, Selena," Jake said, which caused Selena to go into a giggle fit. "What did I say?"
"Nozing, eet's 'ow you said eet," Madeleine smiled, "she ees not used to 'earing an Amereecan speak."
"Oh," Jake didn't really know what to say.
"Eet ees very nice to meet you as well, Jereemiah," Selena said in worse English than Madeleine and Fleur.
Jake smiled and looked around again, "Where the hell is Hermione?"
"Maybe she ees 'arry's 'ostage?" Madeleine suggested.
Jake felt dumb, 'How the fuck did I not consider that?'
But past an hour - the prospect's black,
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.
Those words rang in his ears. His eye widened and he stood up, immediately marching towards Harry, "Kidd!" Came Percy Weasley's voice, "Back to the stands!"
Jake gave Percy the middle finger as he walked to Harry. He stopped right in front of his Gryffindor friend, "You bring Hermione back safe and on time, Potter, you understand me?" His voice was clear, all of the Champions could easily hear him, "You bring Hermione back to me before the Hour is up, or so help me, I will skin you alive."
Harry was visibly shaken, "Of course," he had no choice but to agree.
Jake looked at him a moment longer before turning and going back to the stands. He went back to his seat and felt tense.
"Well, all of our Champions are ready for the Second Task," Dumbledore's voice rang out, "which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three then. One... Two... Three!" Dumbledore said and the whistle echoed in the shrilly cold air. The entire stands around Jake erupted in cheer and applause.
He saw Harry stuff in the Gillyweed in his mouth and he sat anxiously, fearing for Hermione's safety.
'The only thing down there that could keep the hostages would be Merpeople... and that's not counting any Magical Creatures like Kappas or Grindylows... I'm sure Dumbledore thinks he can trust Merpeople, but they are not to be trusted... They are going to follow the Clue to a T and not give back the Hostage after an Hour passes,' Jake's hands felt clammy. He'd never been so nervous before for Hermione's safety.
Fifty minutes had passed before anything happened, and Cedric surfaced with Cho, many people rushing over, congratulating him and helping them out of the water. Jake stood up with the people around him and they all edged their way to the edge of the lake. His heart rate had increased as Krum came up from the water with one of his buddies from Durmstrang after two more minutes passed.
'Where is he?' He was getting worried.
Harry finally surfaced with Hermione at the fifty-seven minute mark and Jake rushed forward to help. They got to the docks and Jake pulled Hermione out by her hand.
He pulled her into a hug, "I'm so glad you're okay!"
"Jake, of course I'm okay," she said, but her words had fallen on deaf ears as Fleur was being dragged out of the water.
"No! Gabrielle ! She is still down zere!" She shrieked as loud as her voice would allow, "I 'ave to save my seester!" Fleur fought against the Ministry Officials that dragged her away from the Lake.
Jake looked over at Fleur as Hermione was wrapped in a towel, "Not to worry!" Bagman said cheerfully, "the MerChieftan will bring her back any moment."
'Naive fool,' Jake rushed towards the dock's edge and dove in, ignoring all of the screams behind him, telling him to not jump in.
Hermione couldn't believe what she'd just seen, "Harry! You have to go in after him!"
"I don't have anymore Gillyweed, Neville gave me enough for just an Hour," Harry said and Hermione ran to the edge, stopping before it ran out, and she stood there, and waited.
Jake floated there for a moment, pulled his wand out and aimed it at his Head, non-verbally casting the Bubble-Head Charm. A bubble formed on his head, expanding from his skin and shoving the water away, allowing himself to breathe, " Visio per Noctem ," he said with his wand aimed at his eye.
His vision became clear, letting him see in the murky depths of the Black Lake, which very much lived up to its name. He swam towards the bottom of the lake, where he was sure the Merpeople lived, and fended off any Kappas or Grindylows that tried to attack him.
He swam until he found the MerVillage; there was no sign at all of Gabrielle. He looked around and saw a group of four or five Merpeople heading towards a cavern. He quickly swam his way over towards them, "Hey!" He yelled, and they turned.
When they saw him, they were poised with their Tridents, ready to defend themselves, and that was when Jake saw familiar blonde hair floating in the water.
"You are supposed to return her back to the surface after an hour!" Jake floated there, roughly sixty feet away.
"Our task is clear, if the human is not retrieved in an Hour, they are ours," one of the Merpeople said.
"I can't let you do that," Jake aimed his wand at them, "let her go, now."
"Return to the surface, or you will not return at all," they still threatened.
Jake had enough trying to reason with them when they clearly didn't care, " Diffindo !" He yelled and one of the Merpeople was suddenly cut in half. He swam forward as the Merpeople dispersed just enough to give him an opening to swim towards Gabrielle. He was about six feet away from her when the Merpeople swarmed him. His eye glowed red as a shockwave went out from his body, sending the Merpeople back away from him, but he didn't foresee Gabrielle also getting pushed back away from him. He aimed his wand at her, " Accio Gabrielle's clothing!" He knew the spell only worked on objects, so in his quick thinking he thought to use it on her clothes, and to his thankfulness, she came with her clothes, otherwise that'd have been an awkward conversation above the surface.
"AAARRGGGHH!" He screamed from inside the Bubble just as his hand had grabbed Gabrielle. He looked to his left and saw a Merperson having stabbed its Trident into his side, deep into his body. He screamed again as he was suddenly stabbed three more times, one in the leg, the second in the shoulder, and once in his right side, and he could feel it pierce into his lung. A metallic taste entered his mouth immediately.
Angered greatly, he aimed his wand at one of the Merpeople closest to him, and he pushed it into their scaly mouth, " Confringo !" The explosion was contained within the Merperon's head and it exploded into a gory, scaly mess. The other's ran, but he was not feeling merciful. He dispatched all of them with a swift wrath that only they deserved. He sent Gabrielle upward as he wouldn't be able to swim with his hold on her. He pushed his arms forward, then back behind him as he slowly ascended the murky depths of the Lake. He was almost to the surface when he felt something grab his ankles. His grip let go of his wand in the sudden jerking motion of him being taken back downward. He turned and saw two Merpeople had followed him all the way near the surface. His eye glowed red again as he thrust his hand downward, but instead of them flying backwards, they began choking, their gills having been cut off from taking in water. His hand slowly closed into a fist, and when the fist formed, both necks of the Merpeople snapped, severing the vertebrae in their necks.
With the last two pursuers dealt with, and the adrenalin starting to wear off in his body, he painfully swam towards the surface, his body losing blood by the second. When his hand pushed through the final barrier between him and the surface world, he was pulled upward, and before he lost consciousness from blood loss, he heard screams and gasps, and the last thing his vision saw was blurry, bushy brown hair kneeling over top of him.