"Quite good, I think," he replied. "I've almost got it so slight it could somewhat pass as 'point' casting. And I now incantless cast... let's see... Aguamenti of course, the bubblehead charm, the severing charm, the summoning and banishing charms and the Confundus charm for in the water. I've also got down the jelly-fingers curse, the tongue-locking hex, the silencing charm, the impediment curse, the blasting hex, the cutting curse, and the reductor curse.
"I've figured those last few will come in very handy for when I'm in the graveyard. I've also been practicing batting hexes and curses aside rather than just shielding or dodging. And I've been practicing rapid conjuring and hovering charms to place objects between me and the magically unshieldable curses."
"Sticking with the second task, for the moment," she said, "The rescue plan?"
"Again?" he near whined.
"Again," she said.
With almost a sigh he said, "We're fairly certain it will be one of the two of you. If you get summoned late in the afternoon, the day before the task, it'll be you. I'll take your primary wand and you'll carry a conjured copy of it when you leave.
"I'll also tag you with a tracking charm..."
"We'll need to tell Dobby and Winky not to remove that charm," Daphne quickly cut in.
"Good point," he agreed. "I'll tag you with a tracking charm."
"Now the morning of the task?" asked Hermione.
"On the morning of the task I'll dress in that thermal swimwear you had your mum pick up and send. Good idea, that, by the way. I'll have my primary wand in my right holster and yours in my left under a Notice-me-not charm. I'll also have that diving knife and scabbard you organised for me strapped to my left thigh, also under a Notice-me-not charm. I'll warn Delacour to stay out of the kelp beds because of the grindylows, just in case.
"Just as they're about to send us into the water, I quickly swallow the gillyweed I'll have on me. I dive in, draw my wand and... using the power of my new flippers and the modified Aguamenti charm... I power my way to the merpeople village. If necessary, I stop every now and then to check I have the right direction from the tracking charm using the point me charm.
"Once in the village, I quickly go to you and use my knife to cut you free. Once you're free I cast the bubblehead charm on you. If you wake up, I hand you back your wand. If you do not, I'll tuck it in your sock on your right lower leg. That way, as soon as you reach the surface, you'll have access to it. The bubblehead charm, if it doesn't wake you up, will create sufficient positive buoyancy to see you reach the surface pretty quick smart.
"If the bubblehead charm does wake you up, you'll remain with me but about twenty feet above to ensure the other hostages are rescued; especially little Miss Delacour. When we see the last of the Champions approach and are going to be okay, we two head to the surface, together.
"You then conjure a small boat and lie on it; and cast a warming charm on yourself. I then push you back to the jetty. I come out of the water once the gillyweed wears off."
"Then?" asked Daphne, with a small smirk.
"Then, if you weren't asked to participate in the task this time around, I do my nut at Dumbledore using the Sonorus charm."
"Good," said Daphne, giving a little sigh of satisfaction. "You're ready. Now, what about what you're going to do in the third task and graveyard?"
Harry ran through his main and contingency plans. Both still needed a light tweaking. However, he was much further along than he thought.
With the reduction in the amount of wand movement Harry was now using, he was also finding his speed of casting increasing. This now meant he could no longer just think of a Curse or Hex off the top of his head. Now he had to start creating what he read in Combat Magic, a book he found in the Room of Requirement when asking for help in training for combat, as spell chains.
However, he couldn't rely on the example spell chains that were in the book. He needed to create his own. After all, it was highly likely Riddle had also read that book, and knew the chains. Therefore, if he could figure out what spell chain Harry was using, he would know what Harry was going to cast and when.
After having decided he wasn't going to make the mistake of simply stunning his opponents, this time through, Harry was making the chains as lethal as possible.
He knew they also had to be quite creative. So, remembering Luna had devised some very creative uses of Charms within duelling during the days of the DA, Harry called on and asked her for her help. Help she was very willing to provide. Once Harry then mentioned he had no interest in casting to incapacitate; and was, instead, aiming to kill; Luna became positively gleeful - and vicious.
Harry and she had just returned from one of their sessions in the Room of Requirement when a very excited Hermione grabbed Harry and dragged him over to a couch.
Luna simply smiled and went into Hermione's old room, where she now kept at least one full change of clothes and a second set of personal hygiene products. This was not because bullying of her had started back up again. This was because she'd simply taken to spending more time with the three. And she much preferred to shower in the ensuite in Hermione's old room after one of their sessions, than have to trudge back to her dorm before almost always returning again.
"Hermione, I'm all sweaty!" he exclaimed, as he was forced to sit on a couch.
"Shower in a minute," she rapidly said. "Neville was sent through the Floo in McGonagall's office to Saint Mungo's about an hour ago."
Shocked, Harry asked, "Why? What's wrong with him? It's not his grandmother, is it?"
Rapidly shaking her head while wearing a big grin, she said, "No. His parents have woken up."
Stunned, Harry sat there gaping in shock. "How the Hell did that happen?" he asked. "They never woke up in the old timeline. Nothing we did could have triggered a change to them." "Unknown," said Daphne, who was sitting opposite. "All we know, so far, is that his parents have woken up, and he's been sent to Saint Mungo's because they're demanding to see him."
"He was originally supposed to have been taken to the Headmaster's office to be Floo'ed, but the Headmaster had already left. Apparently, he raced there as soon as he could. I met Neville as he was hurrying from the Headmaster's office entrance to Professor McGonagall's office with her. And he told me."
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