When Swords Meet Wands

The Cat Will Get Revenge. And No One Will Be Ready For It.

Magnus

"Are you sure this is a good idea? I, for sure as hell, don't think so," I whispered frantically to Annabeth.

My footsteps echoed loudly, bouncing through the high-ceilinged corridors. So very loud. I was pretty sure that that professor (McGinter? McDonalds?) would find us and then throw us in a pit of lava. This place seemed like it would have flaming pits of lava everywhere. I didn't know her much, but the way she looked at me in the office made me think I had done something wrong. Which I probably had.

"Relax, Maggie. They will help. I'm confident," Annabeth said. Somehow, her footsteps didn't echo. Unfair.

"Both of you! Be quiet, someone will hear us," Alex shushed us.

I wanted to tell Annabeth not to call me Maggie. I didn't.

Annabeth, Alex, Percy, Nico and I were creeping along an impossibly long corridor, trying to step as silently as possible and get to the Gryffindor common room without raising any suspicion. Thalia stayed behind, to spin some tale to tell the teachers if they found out that we were missing.

Annabeth had had a hunch about who we might be facing this time and where Hecate might be. She had had a dream, and woke all of us up and told us. Even before she said his name, I knew who it was. I had carried my suspicions myself, hoping it not be true. It didn't matter.

Annabeth had also hatched a plan to rescue Hecate. It had seemed concrete last night. When I was too depressed to think straight. Tonight was the night we launched the plan into action. And we needed the help of the wizards.

Just as we turned a corner into a new corridor, Jack – in pendant form – vibrated slightly, pulsing a yellow colour once, like a warning. The warm glow of a lantern appeared at the other end of the corridor. Immediately I stepped back into the corridor we'd just turned from and flattened myself against the wall. I tried to quieten my breathing as much as possible.

A voice floated along the corridor. "Search for them, my darling. Nasty, disgusting students out of bed. Perhaps even those filthy demigods," he spat. It was the caretaker, Argus Filch. Yes, I'd gotten in trouble with him on my first day.

His footsteps grew louder, along with a curious padded sound. I would like to say that I didn't start internally panicking at such a small obstacle, but I'd be lying.

Annabeth suddenly clapped a hand over my mouth and slashed my palm with a celestial bronze dagger she'd pulled out of nowhere. I exclaimed in surprise and pain but the sound came out muffled against Annabeth's hand.

Filch's ugly face suddenly loomed in front of us, shrouded in light from his lantern. The lantern hung at an unflattering angle. It did not help his hideously bulbous nose whatsoever.

"Well, well, well, look what we've got here. A bunch of filthy demigods," he leered into our faces. I could've definitely done without his mildewy breath wafting around.

"We were just trying to get to the hospital wing, my friend here cut his palm on the edge of a desk. The wood was jagged," Annabeth lied.

"Does your friend need three people to escort him to the hospital wing? Tell me that, missy."

Only three? I looked behind me and saw only darkness. Nico must've melted into the shadows. Filch squinted suspiciously at me. I tried my best at a painful expression, which was easy because my hand really did hurt a lot.

Annabeth faltered a little and Percy immediately filled in for her. "We need, um, sleeping draughts! Yes, we got these terrible nightmares and thought Madam Pomfrey would have something for that." It was a feeble lie, but we all nodded enthusiastically.