Grant stood on the edge of the lake waiting for Dumbledore to give the signal for him and the two other contestants to jump into the water. He stared at his competition, Gabrielle Delacour, former contestant Fleur Delacour's sister, and Pietro Maximoff from Durmstrang. They looked easy enough to beat across the water but he had no idea what this challenge had to do with mermaids. So he thanked whoever was out there for sending him Leo Fitz, because that kid was the best. Fitz figured out how to help him breathe under water using Gillyweed and he also figured out how to open the egg. That kid was very sneaky underneath his nerdy exterior, he was able to get information out of people in the simplest way because no one ever expected him to do something strange. Well, he had to rephrase that, everyone knew he was strange because he was so smart, but they never imagined him to do something nefarious. Well nefarious wasn't quite the right word either, helping your friend wasn't nefarious at all.

"Contestants!" shouted Dumbledore, breaking Grant's train of thought, "your time will begin in just a few moments. You have one hour to complete your task. Good luck."

When the three contestants heard the whistle, they jumped into the water. Grant quickly ate the Gillyweed and sawn through the lake, easily still being able to breathe. He pushed his way through a forest of seaweed that was constantly getting tangled around his legs and trying to pull him under. He pushed through the forest and when he reached the edge, he saw the next challenge awaiting him. Grindylows. They came at him slowly, smiling devilishly. He shuddered and pointed his wand at them. He saw their small smiles waver but it soon turned back into a full grin. They kept advancing and he rolled his eyes. He pointed his wand at them and jinxed them, causing them to leave him alone long enough for him to swim away. He swam deeper and deeper into the lake until he saw a building. As he drew closer he realized, even though it wasn't as magnificent as stories and legends tell it to be, that it was a mermaid castle. He took in the sight of the oddly shaped rocks forming the archways and rooms and windows. He smiled at how smart these creatures seemed to be. He swam closer and saw all the small intricate carvings along the walls but stopped when he saw three people tied to the ocean floor, just floating. He got closer and saw Kara. He panicked when he saw that she wasn't breathing, well, she wasn't really doing anything.

'Oh thank goodness,' he thought as he realized that they were only asleep, 'now how do I get around those guards?'

There were three mermen guards floating around the three people. The mermen had long blonde hair and olive green skin. Their faces were a pale green and brown and they had two slits in the middle of their face, forming nostrils. They watched as Ward slowly approached them and two of them showed their teeth. Well, fangs. He stayed away from them and made his way to Kara. He tried to use his wand and magic to cut the rope tying her to the bottom of the lake but it was to no avail. He swam a bit farther down to the bottoms of the lake and grabbed a sharp rock. He swam back up and started saying it against the rope, cutting her free. He put one of her arms around his neck and held her legs, carrying her bridal style. He was nearing the surface when he saw that his time was running out, and so was his Gillyweed. He struggled to the surface when he felt something grab his leg.

'These stupid Grindylows won't ever leave me alone, will they?' he thought.

He grabbed his wand and jinxed them away, long enough for him to get to the surface. They let go of his legs and started to sink as he smiled to himself.

He got Kara and himself to the surface just before the clock chimed.

The crowd cheered as the two surfaced and they were both offered towels once Kara had woken up. The crowd cheered again as Gabrielle and Pietro surfaced with their friends or family too. The six people all sat on the dock as Dumbledore announced the points, "45 points to Grant Ward. 40 points for Pietro Maximoff. And 35 points for Gabrielle Delacour."

Grant smiled to himself, this pushed him right into first place.

He congratulated the other contestants and walked towards Fitz to thank him when he was stopped by Raina.

"Hi Grant," she smiled, "was Kara put under the lake because you care about her more than anyone else?"

He rolled his eyes, "Kara was under there because she's my best friend. But that's the only question that I'm answering from you, seeing as you'll just write another love triangle story about it."

He shoved his way past her and met up with Fitz, "thanks for all your help Fitz."

Fitz smiled as he shook Grant's hand, "no problem. What else was I gonna do? Let you fail?"

Grant laughed, "well hopefully not."

Fitz saw that Grant was staring at Skye as she smiled at him and waved.

"Are you going to ask her?"

Grant returned his attention to Fitz, "ask her what?"

"To the Yule Ball! It's in a month, you know."

"Oh my gosh you're right, how did I forget about that? I haven't asked anyone yet, but I don't know. Would she even want to go with me?"

Fitz laughed, "well I know the answer to that, but you'll have to figure that out yourself."

"What about you? You asking Jemma?"

Fitz stopped laughing, "I don't know. Wouldn't that be weird? We've been friends for so long that I feel like it might be awkward if I asked her to be my date to the ball."

Ward patted him on the shoulder, "only one way to find out," he said to his friend, "see ya later, Fitz."