Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Chapter 26 Summary.
The Second Task
Chapter 26 of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, titled ‘The Second Task’ deals with the preparations behind and the struggles during the Second Task.
Discussions in Charms
Harry tells Ron and Hermione about the previous night’s events during their Charms lesson, where the class is learning the Banishment Charm. The lesson is very chaotic, making it easy for them to talk without anyone overhearing.
They discuss the dynamic between Moody and Snape, and wonder if Moody thinks that Snape put Harry’s name in the Goblet of Fire. Hermione disagrees with the hypothesis, and reasons that Dumbledore trusts Snape, so he is probably not evil.
They also discuss what Crouch could have been doing in Hogwarts searching Snape’s office, and why he is pretending to be ill.
Why show up to the school in the middle of the night, when he is too busy to even attend the Yule Ball?
At night, Harry writes to Sirius explaining everything that happened the previous day. The next thing he needs to focus on, is how to survive underwater for an hour for his next task.
The trio spends countless hours searching for spells that could help Harry, but they make next to no progress.
Unicorns with Hagrid
On Monday, two days before the second task Sirius’s reply comes. It is the shortest letter he has ever sent, and consists of a single sentence, inquiring about the dates for the next Hogsmeade weekend. He writes back immediately (the weekend after next), and the trio heads over to Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid is back to teaching, and is continuing Professor Grubby-Plank’s lesson on Unicorns.
He had managed to capture two young Unicorns for the lesson. They are pure gold, and Hagrid explains that the creatures turn silver when they are two years old. As the class swarms around the foals, Hagrid takes this opportunity to talk to Harry about his second task. Harry lies that he has it figured out, even though he wants nothing more than to confess he has no idea what to do.
By the evening before the second task, he has more or less given up hope. The trio discusses once more about what Harry can do, but they have no feasible solution. The twins enter, and inform that McGonagall has summoned Ron and Hermione in her office for some reason. They bid Harry farewell, and promise to meet back again in the common room.
After the library closes at 8 pm, Harry borrows as many books as he can walk with and settles in the common room. He sits and goes through them all, but can still find nothing. Dejected, he decides to grab his invisibility cloak and head back to the library.
The Second Task
Dobby wakes Harry up the next morning, who is still in the library.
The next task starts in ten minutes, and the merpeople have taken Ron with them for Harry to rescue.
Harry explains that he cannot do the task since he doesn’t know how, but Dobby has the solution.
He pulls out a plant called Gillyweed and instructs Harry to eat it before entering the lake, since it will help him breathe underwater.
Harry thanks Dobby and rushes to the task, gillyweed in hand. Everyone else is already there except for Crouch, who is substituted by Percy once again. Bagman announces the start of the second task, and a whistle goes off.
Without looking to see what the other Champions are doing, Harry stuffs the gillyweed into his mouth and jumps into the lake. Within a few seconds, he feels a piercing pain at the sides of his neck and realizes that he has sprouted gills. He swims down and sees that his hands and legs have sprouted webs.
On the way, he gets attacked by a group of grindlylows, but manages to get free using his wand. He swims aimlessly for a while trying to look for Ron, when Moaning Myrtle appears and guides him along the right path. After another twenty minutes of swimming, he finally hears the merpeople sing. He follows it, and sees a bunch of merpeople who look nothing like what he expected.
Saving the Hostages
Harry turns a corner, and comes across a mer-version of a village square. There he sees Ron, Hermione, Cho and 8 year old Fleur’s sister unconscious and tied to a statue surrounded by the merpeople. Harry swims towards them, and requests for a spear from one of the merpeople to cut the binds. It is no use, since the merpeople simply laugh at him.
As an alternative, Harry grabs a jagged stone from the lake floor. After a few minutes of trying, he successfully manages to free Ron. However, when he goes to help Hermione, a dozen mermen hold him back, saying he can only rescue his own hostage. Harry gets anxious since no other champion is in sight, but soon Cedric shows up and frees Cho.
A few minutes later, Krum swims in, half transfigured into a shark. He frees Hermione and leaves with her. However, there is still no sign of Fleur. Worried that Fleur might be too late and her hostage might get lost forever, Harry decides to rescue her himself.
He pulls out his wand to scare the merpeople away, and frees the little girl. Harry grabs her as well as Ron, and makes his way towards the surface. It is very hard to do so, and Harry barely manages to make it to the surface before the gillyweed runs out.
Ron becomes conscious again, and asks why Harry rescued Fleur’s hostage. The mersong had said that if the hostages were not rescued on time they would be gone forever, but Dumbledore would never let it happen. It was just to make sure the Champions reached in time. This makes Harry feel extremely stupid and regret playing hero.
Distribution of Points
In appreciation for saving her sister, Fleur kisses Harry and Ron. Right then, the chief mermaid shows up near the edge of the lake, and Dumbledore kneels down to talk to her. He then calls for a conference with the judges before the distribution of marks.
Fleur used the bubble-head charm, but was attacked by Grindylows on the way; she is given 25 points on 50. Cedric also used the bubble-head charm, but reached one minute outside the time limit. He is given 47 points. Krum, second to arrive back is given 40 points, and Harry, who showed great moral fiber worrying about the other hostages is given 45 points. This makes Harry tie with Cedric for the first place.
Bagman announces that the final task would take place on the Twenty Fourth of June, and with this, the second task is officially complete.
The chapter ends as the Champions walk back to the castle. Harry feels like he owes Dobby, and decides to buy him a pair of socks for every day of the year.
