quot;Champions! I wish you all the best of luck! And may you return quickly with those you hold most dear! Champions…at the ready! Set…Go!"

As one, the four champions turned on their heels and pointed their wands towards the judges. Or more accurately, the wooden boards that made up the stands that the judges were currently sitting on. Harry wasn't quite sure which was funnier, watching Umbridge fall into the water and flop around or Bagman's fairly high pitched scream as the floorboards were quite literally pulled out from under their feet. Both Dumbledore and Maxime managed to avoid going into the water by moving far faster than one would believe possible with their bodies to a safe section of the dock. Karkaroff wasn't so lucky, but he did manage to avoid just getting wet by just barely managing to grab onto a section of the dock that was still intact before he hit the water.

Forcing himself back to the task at hand, Harry worked in tandem with the other three champions in guiding the deck planks into the water before fusing them together with those that were already there. In less than ten seconds the four of them were stepping down onto their nearly created ten foot by ten foot raft. Once they were all on, Harry knelt down in the center of the raft as Fleur charmed the raft to start moving quickly across the surface of the water.

"Damn it…it's not working." Cedric growled angrily, staring down at his wand as if it'd somehow offended him.

"What isn't working?" Fleur demanded, her wand still pointed towards the back of the raft to keep her charm going.

"Our tracking charms." Viktor answered, his face calm but with a slight tremor in his voice. "We can't find them."

Fleur cursed loudly as their raft started to slow down. "So what are we going to do now tha-"

Ignoring the three behind him, Harry kept his focus on the wand in his hand. After uttering a silent point-me spell, his wand pointed off just slightly to his left. 'But…just to make sure.' Harry thought, closing his eyes and reaching out through the bond he shared with his apprentice. 'Yup…she's there…and if she's there. Then the others are as well.' "Head in that direction." Harry said, pointing off in the same direction his wand was pointing. "They're two hundred meters or so in that direction."

Fleur didn't hesitate before adjusting her charm so that their raft was heading in the direction Harry had dictated. "How could you possibly know that?" Cedric asked, more curious than angry. "Our tracking charms have been removed."

"I know." Harry answered. "But my tracking charms haven't been removed."

"How?" Viktor asked.

"Simple." Harry couldn't help the smirk that came across his face. "Whenever you attach a tracking charm to an individual you're attaching it to their clothing right? And if you want to dispel the charm you have to dispel each item of clothing one charm at a time right? I figured that the Headmasters would remove any tracking spells on the girls' clothes. So, I gave each of them a small hair wrap that they hid in their hair and placed a tracking charm on that. Then I covered it up with a disillusionment charm and a notice-me-not charm. I also placed tracking charms on their clothes to throw the Headmasters off as well."

All three stared blankly at him once he'd finished his explanation. "Bloody hell Harry," Cedric half laughed, half sighed. "Are you sure that you're only fourteen?"

"Pretty sure." Harry laughed back before refocusing on his wand, which had taken a nose dive down. "Slow it down Fleur. We're almost right on top of them."

The raft jolted as Fleur reduced the power she was pumping into the charm before coming to a complete stop just as Harry's wand was pointing straight downwards. Once they were stopped, Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out the small pouch that he'd shrunk down earlier. "Don't jump in just yet," he called out just as Fleur was cast a bubblehead charm on herself. "I've got something here that will make our lives a lot easier."

Enlarging the bag, he reached his hand in and pulled out four weighted diving belts. "What are these?" Cedric asked as Harry handed out the belts.

"They're modified muggle diving weight belts." He explained as he fastened his belt onto his waist and pointed towards a small dial on one of the front weights. "Two settings. Point it in this direction and the weights gain weight, helping you to sink to the bottom of the water. Turn the dial the other way and they become quite buoyant." Making sure his belt was secured, Harry moved over to the edge of the raft and cast a quick bubblehead charm on himself as well as a warming charm. "See you all at the bottom!"

The moment Harry's body hit the water, it felt as if a thousand knives were stabbing every inch of bare skin available. 'Force help me.' He nearly cried out as his body started sinking into the black abyss of the lake while he watched the other three drop into the water and begin to sink with him. 'This is bloody well fucking cold! Well on the bright side…I don't have to worry about any unwanted growths imagining how Ahsoka would look in that suit that Fleur is wearing and – oh come on! Really? Sirius told me the best thing for this sort of "problem" was a cold shower. How is jumping into partially ice covered lake not helping matters!?'

The deeper they went, the darker it became. Soon enough Harry felt his ear drums pop as the pressure of the water started getting to him. Holding his wand before him, Harry created a sphere of light before sending it downwards. What he saw made his eyes widen. There were dozens, maybe even a hundred, of buildings built into the floor bed of the lake. And weaving their way through the individual house were hundreds of merpeople. As he drew closer Harry cast another point-me spell. His wand jerked so hard in his hand that he was turned around in water.

'Force…I'm seriously going to kill them all.' Harry cursed as he found his friends. All three of them were seemingly asleep and hanging suspended in the water just above what would've passed for a town square up on land. But what truly got his temper boiling was the little girl that was suspended right next to Ginny. 'Force…she can't be older than Nat for fuck's sake!'

"Harry…calm yourself my son."

"Sorry mother," Harry thought back as his feet touched the lake bed and began walking towards the fountain. "But…Fleur's sister…she can't be older than Nat. And she's…she's just hanging here at the bottom of the lake."

"Focus on the here and now Harry." His mother sent back to him. "Vengeance can wait until they are all safe."

Fleur was the first one of them to reach the four hostages. The half-veela went immediately to her young sister, her hands brushing back her sister's blond hair as she inspected her. Ignoring the two of them for now, Harry made his way up to Ginny. She looked…peaceful. As if she were simply asleep and not floating in the bottom of a lake. 'It's as if she's been put into some sort of stasis…one that eliminates the need for breathing apparently. Hmm…I'm going to need to figure out what spell Dumbledore used. It could be invaluable to injured soldiers.'

Cedric and Viktor arrived shortly after Harry and Fleur did, the two heading towards Susan and Hermione respectively. Risking a quick glance around, Harry saw that all of the merpeople that he saw swimming through the village on their way down had stopped whatever they'd been doing and were now staring at them. While not as powerful at sensing emotion as Daphne, Harry could still feel the general surprise emanating from all of the merpeople. 'They probably weren't expecting us to get here so fast.' Harry thought as he performed a tempus spell and saw that only five minutes or so had expired since the start of the task. 'Or they probably weren't expecting us to quite literally drop on top of their heads like we did.'

Crouching down low, Harry examined the chain wrapped around Ginny's ankle which was holding her in place. 'What I wouldn't give for my lightsaber right now.'

Bringing his wand around, Harry pressed the tip against the metal chain before sending a small blasting curse at the chain at point blank range. The chain snapped like kindling and Harry had to reach out quickly to grab Ginny before she started floating up to the surface without him. Holding Ginny tightly against his body, Harry reached down and turned the dial on his weight belt. Harry felt his feet leave the lake bed and it was all he could do to hold onto Ginny as they raced for the surface of the water. 'Holy bloody hell! Mother could've warned me about not switching it over fully! It's just lucky we weren't deeper or such a quick rise could've killed the both of us!'

As soon as the two of them broke the surface of the water, Ginny let out a loud gasp and started thrashing wildly in his arms. "Bloody fucking hell! It's fucking cold!" Ginny cried out before looking around and, to Harry's utmost surprise, smacking him upside the back of his head.

"Bloody hell Ginny?" Harry cried, "Why did you do that? I just pulled you out of the bottom of the lake!"

"You didn't cast a warming charm on me before I woke up!" Ginny yelled back. "It's the middle of February! There's ice floating on the water! And you didn't cast a warming charm on me! So that's why!"

"Well sorry for being more concerned about your well-being rather than your comfort." Harry grumbled before blanketing Ginny in a warming charm. "There, is that better your highness?"

"Oh yes…" Ginny groaned, leaning her weight back into him and going limp in the water. "Well? What are you waiting for? You're the rescuer here…so finish rescuing me already."

Shaking his head, Harry wrapped his arm around Ginny's midsection and began swimming towards the raft. "You know…you're probably the bossiest hostage ever. I wouldn't be surprised if Dumbledore put you to sleep just to stop the complaints."

As the two reached the raft, Fleur and her sister broke the surface of the water. The little veela girl started flailing about just as Ginny had while babbling almost incoherently in French at her sister. "Here we Ginny," Harry said, turning his attention to Ginny as he put one hand on the raft. "Up you go."

Nodding, Ginny reached out and grabbed hold of the edge of the raft. Just as Harry started to move his hands to boost her up though, she froze and turned her head towards him. "I swear to Merlin Harry…if you touch my arse I'm telling Ahsoka that you're a pervert and letting her deal with you."

"Shut up." Harry growled as he readjusted his grip so he was nowhere near her backside. "And get up on the raft."

After helping her up, Harry hoisted himself up and flopped over onto the raft just as Fleur and her little sister reached them. Recovering quickly, Harry reached his hand out and helped first Fleur's little sister and then Fleur herself up onto their makeshift boat.

"Well," Harry breathed, casting a drying charm over first Ginny and then himself. "That was easier than I thought it'd be. Now we just have to wait for the other's to come back up."

The words had no sooner left his lips than Cedric and Susan broke the surface of the water followed quickly by Viktor and Hermione. As he watched the four swim towards them, Harry felt a pair of eyes on him. "Fleur!" Fleur's younger sister hissed lowly. "Tu ne m'as pas prevenue que nous devions le voir aujour'hui! Regarde moi! Je ressemble a un rat detrempe!"

"Je parle francias aussi, juste pour que tu saches." Harry responded, turning around and grinning at the stunned little girl. "Et vous etes bein trop mignonne pour ressembler a un rat, Mademoiselle…"

"Gabrielle." Fleur answered as her young sister seemed unable to do so. "Her name is Gabrielle."

"Gabrielle." Harry nodded, smiling at the young girl who was now staring at him completely speechless.

Unfortunately, the amusement towards the young girl was interrupted with Susan's exasperated voice from the water. "If you're quite done hitting on underage girls Harry, we'd greatly appreciate help getting up. The water is more than a little cold! I think my tits are about to freeze off! And no Cedric…that isn't an invitation for you to warm them…but ask me later and I might take you up on the offer."

"Don't need to know about your private life Susan." Harry grumbled, turning away from the young veela and moving over towards the edge of the raft where Susan and a remarkably red-faced Cedric were floating in the water with Hermione and Viktor next to them.

After helping the four up onto the raft, and applying several warming charms to both Susan and Hermione, they set off towards the shore with Cedric and Viktor this time providing the power in order to move the raft. "So," Harry said slowly. "You guys think that Dolores, Ludo and Karkaroff are dried off yet after their little dip in the lake? And while we're on the topic, anyone want to place a bet that at least two of our esteemed judges are more than a little pissed off with us at the moment?"

Cedric was the first to start chuckling, followed shortly thereafter by Fleur. Viktor didn't laugh, but the corners of his lips did turn upwards. Which probably could've been considered full out laughter from the serious man. Hermione, Ginny, Susan and Gabrielle however merely looked at the four of them. "Okay," Susan said slowly before raising an eyebrow at Harry. "What exactly did you guys do…and is it possible to make a pensieve memory of it?"

"Completely and utterly disgraceful! They should be disqualified and sentenced to Azkaban for making a mockery of this sacred tournament!"

As Dolores Umbridge's voice started reaching inhuman octaves, Dumbledore was seriously starting to consider conjuring a pair of ear plugs for himself…either that or simply obliviating the woman's memories of what had just transpired. 'And as tempting as such a thought might be…I cannot. All upper Ministry employees are routinely checked if they've been obliviated. And the last thing I need is Cornelius sticking his nose where it does not belong.'

The second task had finished it what was undoubtedly the oddest way imaginable for a tournament. The four champions worked together to build a raft, find the hostages and then brought them back all at the same time. While their actions were impressive, they also left the judges in quite the quandary. Naming, whether or not their actions were in fact liable by the rules of the tournament. And second, how should they be scored. Which was why he, Karkaroff, Maxime, Bagman and Umbridge having this…"pleasant" discussion.

"Azkaban? You crazy toad." Madam Maxime murmured angrily. "Under what charges? We presented them with a task and told them to fulfill it. We never said what they could or could not do."

Umbridge's face was nearly scarlet at this point. Although Dumbledore was sure that it was partly because Madam Maxime, a half-human half-giant, dared to question her as a pureblood. 'I really need to step up my efforts in getting Cornelius to remove this woman from public office. She is causing far more harm than good.'

"They worked together!" Umbridge screeched. "They can't do that!"

"I don't know." Bagman shrugged, his trademark grin still plastered across his face. "I actually thought it was rather sporting and ingenious of them. And as Madam Maxime stated, there is nothing in the official rules that specifically forbids the contestants from working together on any of the set tasks. The only rule is only one can hoist the Cup at the end of the Tournament. And with the way we've designed the Third task, only one will come away the victor no matter the outcome of the first or second task."

Dumbledore felt that Ludo laid out a solid argument with that. And in truth, Dumbledore was actually proud with how the four Champions went about the second task. Despite the fact that they'd tried, and nearly succeed, to drop all of the judges into the lake. The entire purpose of the tournament was to create a sense of unity between the three schools. And that was exactly what'd transpired. The four Champions had set aside their competition with one another to work together in order to save those that they cared deeply about.

Despite Bagman's sound logic though, Umbridge remained unmoved. "That doesn't matter! It's tradition! We have to redo the second task an-"

"Even if we wanted to we cannot." Dumbledore finally chimed in, growing past tired of Dolores's tirade. "I understand and appreciate your concern Madam Umbridge. But the simple fact of the matter is that we do not have the time to create and implement a second task. Professors Hagrid and Sprout have already begun growing the maze for the third task. We can't simply stop that.

"And as Ludo stated, the only task that truly decided the victor is the third task. Besides…is this not what we wanted? We brought this tournament back to create a sense of unity between our schools. And in this task our champions have done exactly that. They came together despite being in competition with one another to save their loved ones. What more could we ask of them?"

"I agree Dumbledore." Madam Maxime nodded. "But question now is how do we score them? Technically they all worked together, but not in equal portions."

"Obviously the Potter brat had little to do with what they did." Karkaroff sneered. "The Cedric and Viktor created most of the raft and Fleur propelled it across the water. Potter did nothing."

"Your eyes are failing you Karkaroff." Maxime scoffed. "Either that or you were too worried about getting wet that you didn't pay attention to what was going on. If it wasn't for young Monsieur Potter, then they wouldn't have found those four nearly as fast."

"What?" Both Umbridge and Karkaroff cried.

"It's simple." Dumbledore sighed. "Somehow young Mr. Potter figured out a way around our disenchanting of the tracking charms that were placed on the girls. Either he had another means of finding them, or he simply applied more than we bothered to look for. But while they were in their raft, Harry used a simple 'point-me' charm, which led them too directly over the merpeople village. And according to the merpeople, it was Harry who supplied those interesting belts to the others."

"So what you're saying Dumbledore is that Harry should receive the highest marks then!" Ludo proclaimed happily.

'And why wouldn't he?' Dumbledore thought as Ludo smiled. 'He has a substantial amount of coin placed on Harry winning this competition. He no doubt wants to give the boy as much of a hand as he is allowed to do so.'

"I believe that in all fairness, all four should be scored evenly." Madam Maxime commented. "They all had a part in this little escapade of theirs. Each one just as important as the other. And unless we can figure out just who was the mastermind behind this little plot of theirs, which they've already told us that they will not admit too, they all had equal parts."

"Headmistress Maxime speaks rightly." Dumbledore nodded. While he'd been impressed with young Harry so far in this tournament, he didn't want to put the boy in undo harm. And giving him the point lead going into the third task would do just that. Let us give them all the same score…say nine out of ten from each of us. And let the final task decide the winner of the tournament."

Ludo did not look particularly pleased, but his expression was far better than Karkaroff's and Umbridge's. "I– I guess that's fair. Well then, are we all in agreement? Each champion will be awarded forty-five points for the second task?"

Dolores pursed her lips but after a moment she nodded, albeit highly reluctantly. Karkaroff frowned and crossed his arms over his chest, but under the weight of the four judges he eventually relented and nodded. "Then it is decided." Dumbledore nodded, rising from his seat. "We will be giving each of the champions forty-five points. And letting the third task decide who our champion will be."

Walking down the length of the north landing pad outside of the Temple, Nox couldn't help but marvel at the sight in front of her. Three years. For three long years she'd waited for this…and even though she could see it right in front of her she was still having difficulty believing it to be true. Reaching out, she laid her palm against the cool metal surface of the hull of the ship. The first hyperdrive capable ship to ever be built on Earth.

The ship was fairly long at just over one hundred and fifty meters, making it just slightly longer than an average Republic cruiser according to her Jedi counterparts. After laying out the designs for the ships that she wanted, this ship was only a frigate. She still had the slightly larger cruisers to make. Then the dreadnoughts. And if she got enough material, the super dreadnought. Although if she actually managed to make one of those ships before the Empire found them it would be a miracle.

The main section of the ship was shaped like a half-circle with two wings jutting off near the rear of ship. Each wing contained two smaller propulsion engines for maneuverability while the primary propulsion engine was attached to the main section of the ship. Inside, the ship was divided up into three levels. The lower level contained the cargo hold and engineering. The midlevel of the ship was divided into the crew's quarters, med-bay, dining hall, on ship laboratory and workshop as well as the controls for the ships main guns. The bridge, armory and the captain's and first mate's quarters.

Stepping up beside her, Tonks marveled at the ship. Copying Nox's motion, Tonks reached out and laid a hand against the smooth hull. "It's beautiful."

"Yes it is." Nox agreed, letting her hand drop back down to her side.

To Nox though, it wasn't just aesthetics of the ship that got to her. It was what this ship represented. The true first step to taking on the Galactic Empire and bringing balance back to the Force.

"I must say Madam Nox…when you say that you have something interesting to show me you certainly mean it."

Turning her head slightly, she smirked as Ragnok wobbled up next to her while staring at the ship in awe. Or at least what probably amounted to the goblin equivalent of awe. "I aim to impress, Master Ragnok."

"And you succeed." Ragnok nodded before turning to look down the length of the ship where several dozen goblins were adding several dozen more werewolves and the few Guardians she had load the ship with supplies. "And in more ways than one…I would've thought that your…other friends ended with the togruta and Master Yoda. But that blue one…I don't recognize her species."

Moving down towards the front of the ship, Nox took her time while she examined every inch of the ship. "She's a twi'lek. And she's also perhaps one of the best blades here. So I'd be careful before you get any stupid ideas."

Nodding, Ragnok walked along with her with Tonks trailing a slight distance behind. "How many can fit in this ship?"

"It will require a crew of at least sixty to operate." Nox answered quickly. "Three rotating work cycles. Forty man the ship while twenty sleep. The crew's quarters have been magically expanded to allow for greater comfort and the cargo hold is capable of variable expansion up to the point of twice its original size. But we were careful to limit the enchantments so that they will not interfere with the other enchantments and runic clusters within the ship."

"Smart." Ragnok nodded as Remus and Aela walked up to join the three of them.

"Everything is just about loaded up Nox." Remus said calmly, holding out a datapad for her to look over. "We have enough supplies to last our crew for a month. And we have enough building materials to get the framework for the facility up. The only question is whether or not we'll even be able to get that far on the construction. None of us have ever worked out in space before. This whole zero-gravity thing could throw a huge wrench into our construction efforts."

Taking the pad, Nox flipped through the list of supplies that'd been loaded up onto the ship. "Our chosen asteroid is large enough and dense enough generate some gravity. Not as much as Earth or even its moon, but there is some. And the main goal of this mission is primarily to find the asteroid, set up a beacon and unload the building materials. Any other work we can get done can be considered a bonus."

"The men and women will be glad to hear that." Aela nodded. "It'll probably take us a few days to even find the asteroid and then at least a week of training until the crew is able to work in limited gravity."

"A week at best." Nox agreed before handing the datapad back off to Remus.

"Well…I guess that takes of everything then. There's just one thing that we need to do." Remus said, turning and staring up at the ship. "Giving the new girl a name."

Looking up at the ship, Nox let a smile cross her face. "I've already picked one out. Wolfsbane."

Both Aela and Remus made a face at that. "You're going to have explain that one to us." Remus said slowly.

"It's simple." Nox replied, resting her hand against the hull once more. "We've already determine that the werewolf curse is more centralized on Earth. Once you leave Earth you can transform at will at maintain your mind while transformed. Which is what the Wolfsbane potion does. This ship, which will be crewed mostly by werewolves, will be responsible for ferrying your people away from Earth. Hence, it's a giant wolfsbane potion."

Remus, Aela and Tonks just stood there staring at her, while off to the side Ragnok nodded. "It's a good name. Fitting as well." The leader of the British goblins nodded. "But we're going to have to talk Nox. Gringotts owns part of the rights to the mass manufacturing of wolfsbane potion. You're essentially ending the business for us. We're going to need proper compensation like say…one of these for the goblins."

Letting her hand drop, Nox stepped away from the ship. "That will be a discussion for another time Ragnok. And besides that threat is weak. Your sales of Wolfsbane has been next to nonexistent for years now. So don't try and pull that shit on me."

"Ah well," Ragnok shrugged seemingly completely indifferent. "It was worth a shot. But for now I must return to Gringotts to begin preparing the miners that will be going on the next voyage. Is there any training you would suggest our men undergo to prepare for this…zero-gravity that the wolf girl spoke of?"

"That's right." Nox nodded. "And have your miners prepare by mining underwater. It will get them used to the feeling of weightlessness and having to rely on a breathing apparatus."

Tilting his head slightly, Ragnok stared at her for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. "As you say Madam Nox. And again, please give my best to Master Yoda. And please remind him that he has an open invitation to visit Gringotts whenever he so chooses to do so."

"I will remind him." Nox nodded. "Have a pleasant day Master Ragnok." Ragnok nodded as he raised his fingers and snapped his fingers before disappearing without sound.

"So, what was that all about with Master Yoda?" Tonks asked. "You told us that he handed a couple dozen goblin warriors their arses on a plate, which I would've loved to have seen by the way. But how did that grant him an open invitation to the goblin nation?"

"Because they're trying to steal him away from me. Remus, Aela. Make sure that everything is loaded and secure by sundown. I want you to be well passed the moon before the end of the week and–" Nox was cut off as the small runic palm mirror she had in one of the many pockets of her robes began to vibrate. Taking the mirror from her pocket, she channeled a small amount of magic into the runes. "Yes?"

The runes on the mirror glowed as a holographic representation of Mallie appeared of the mirror. "I apologize for the interruption ma'am. But we've just received word from Quinlan. They're entering Earth's atmosphere right now and there's another ship with them."

"Another ship?" Nox questioned. "What other ship?"