Early on the morning of the second task, Albert woke after a full night's sleep. Sitting half-reclined against the headboard, he gently stroked Tom, who was acting cute and coquettish in hopes of breakfast, while his newly awakened mind slowly turned over the original plan once more, ensuring that no part of it contained a fatal loophole.
Though the odds of that were practically zero... well, Albert admitted that he was a little irritable. Perhaps this was what they meant by losing one's composure out of concern.
As far as he knew, Hermione and Ron had quietly "disappeared" yesterday afternoon, while Fred, George, and Lee Jordan were still snoring away in their warm beds.
That was hardly a good sign.
Since none of his three good roommates had been selected as hostages by the tournament organizers, the hostage could only be Isabelle or Nia. He immediately ruled out Nia, leaving Isabelle as the most likely candidate.
To confirm it, Albert had tried contacting Isabelle last night, but she had not replied.
Truthfully, Albert did not want to drag Isabelle into the Triwizard Tournament, much less let her face any possible danger. The odds were very low, but who knew whether Barty Crouch Jr. might suddenly lose his mind?
Everyone knew that Death Eaters generally were not quite right in the head.
He did want to nip the danger in the bud, but the time was not yet right.
Still, since it had already happened, complaining was useless. The priority was to finish the second task as quickly as possible.
The original plan was to use the Bubble-Head Charm for air, the Warming Charm to maintain his temperature, and a propeller for propulsion, with the Underwater Breathing Potion as a backup in case of emergencies, so he would not drown in