It was a hand that grabbed him down into the deep. Virgil's initial scream was lost in the water - only filling the claustrophobic space of his bubble head charm. The water was freezing, it only got colder and colder as he was drawn deeper down. The surface gleamed a pale grey blue above him. Below him was a grimy, greenish black. And a hand around his ankle. And behind that hand, a face partly in shadow.

He screamed again, trying pull his leg back, but the grip only tightened to a painful vice. Virgil suddenly remembered he was holding his wand, so tightly that it felt like it might snap.

The cold had seeped right through the heating charms of his suit. Virgil apparated.

The first trainee who had dropped out of thin air was one of the older ones. She'd been at the far end of the submerged meteorite, and  panicked when she heard a siren song. Rosier was tending to her - she was blubbering, trying to explain how she had felt in the water, the inexplicable fear.  Yavin had thought: one can be an accident. One panicked trainee could genuinely have panicked, even to the point of hallucination.

But when Virgil manifested into existence, bringing with him a shower of lake water, Yavin knew this was a Situation. For one thing, the likeness of Mortimer Gamp was grasping at the young wizard's leg.

             "GET HIM OFF!" Virgil shrieked bubble head charm collapsing as he kicked at the creature. "GET HIM OFF ME!" And it really was a creature, here in the stark and growing light of dawn.

It was as if someone had tried to put together an idea of what Mortimer Gamp looked like: a lump of pinkish, pale flesh and a face contorted into sharp angles. The creature was writhing as it clawed away, chocking on the slimy water dribbling from its lips. There was a raw, translucent quality in its skin.

Quickly, Yavin and another Unspeakable aimed their wands, freezing the convulsing animal in position while Virgil scrambled back.

"It's not actually Mortimer Gamp!" he told the frenzied youth but Virgil, golden hair plastered down, simply snapped, "I fucking know it isn't him! What the hell is it?"

Before the notion of reprimand could even form in his head, Yavin found himself being turned around by the shoulder. Rosier was trying to get his attention and his gaze was drawn hurriedly to the lake. Huge tentacles - squid tentacles? - had risen from the water before the meteorite, flailing themselves wildly. What? He stared on helplessly for a single horrified second.

And then, with a start, he clapped Rosier's arm. "Sparks! Call them back in!" he gestured along the line of Unspeakables onshore and each of them followed the order instantly. Bright red sparks light up the air, a signal to all Ministry folk involved that they were aborting the mission.

"Two of you," Yavin pointed at a pair of Unspeakables. "Go in. Slowly. Help anyone who, ah, who needs help." They were ending before they had even begun.