Underwater casting, they found, was very different from casting on land or in the air. The spells Harry could perform nonverbally came out well, but every spell he had to voice the incantation failed. That could explain why wizards were so reluctant to explore the sea. Even for the spells that he could cast perfectly, only some of them worked. The standard flame hex didn't work at all underwater. He had to rely on the boiling charm to heat the water, which also behaved differently. On land, it could boil a pot of water that he pointed the wand at, but underwater, it would immediately boil the water at the tip of his wand. The wave charm, as they had suspected, only worked on the water's surface, not underneath. Other standard duelling spells, like the severing charm, disarming charm, bludgeoning hex, and stunning hex moved slower through the water than through the air, and the spells themselves looked shorter and brighter, as if they were compressed. Harry spent much of his time re-learning his aim, while Hermione kept working on the modified bubble-head and warming charms so she could teach Harry after she'd perfected the spells. They decided to leave mapping out the Black Lake until next week, after they were both comfortable enough with casting underwater to defend themselves and Hedwig could return with a larger batch of gillyweed.
Their first day of classes began on a brighter note as Hedwig flew in, delivering his first package of gillyweed. She was tired from the long-distance flight, but turned out to be quite proud that Harry would rely on her for the same flight again, but with an even larger package. Harry gave her his entire plate of bacon as a reward. Neville stood by them when some of the others looked at them suspiciously. Luna offered her condolences, suggesting that next time, they should wear the entire potted flumpet instead of just a few flowers so that the nargles didn't steal their night away. Harry chuckled at that. The twins were putting on a good show with Colin, bribing him for pictures of Ron at the ball, who was desperately trying to get them destroyed.
The Daily Prophet arrived in the middle of breakfast with the other post-owls. Harry and Hermione were both anticipating the bad news in the papers, quite possibly all across the front page. It wasn't nearly as bad as they thought. News of Harry's collapse took up only half of the front page, with the other half devoted to Cedric and Fleur, the new darling celebrity couple. All the girls with subscriptions to Witch Weekly were distracted with the arrival of their magazine. Harry read the front page article.
Harry Potter Collapses at the Stroke of Midnight
By Gwendolyn Farewither
The New Year's Ball was a stunning event, as everyone expected. For the youngest champion, however, it seems that it was quite literally stunning. After a tiring night of dancing, the excitement of the final countdown to the new year ended in his fainting on the spot. Initially, the aurors suspected that it could have been an attack on the champion, and took no chances when they immediately moved Mr. Potter to the Hospital wing under guard and took in Mr. Potter's date, one Hermione Granger, for questioning. The other partygoers were quickly questioned in a very efficient manner under the direction of Auror captain Kingsley Shacklebolt.
Thankfully, the excitement was all for naught as Mr. Potter recovered quickly with a few reinvigoration potions. Miss Granger's questioning was cut short when Mr. Potter personally arrived at the Tournament Security office at Hogwarts.
"Miss Granger's story was confirmed by Mr. Potter himself. They spoke to Professor Dumbledore regarding the details of the event, as it was no longer a criminal investigation," explained Captain Shacklebolt. "He told us that he has a muggle condition which makes him prone to fainting."
This condition, called Eplesky (no relation to the basic healing charm), is unheard of in the Wizarding World, but it bears similarity to the Seer's Swoon. To the lament of Professor Trelawney, Mr. Potter has chosen to drop his Divination class this year, as he apparently had little talent for making predictions, although many predictions about him were made by others. It is unknown whether or not the condition is contagious.
The rest of the article simply described, through the account of others, how Harry enjoyed the night, and included a few pictures of him with the other champions when they were waiting outside the Great Hall. "Well, it could have been worse," Harry said. "But this is kind of scary, how fainting is... um... linked to visions." Seeing the confused look on Neville's face, he added, "I don't want Trelawney hounding me all over again."
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