Heroes with Wands

Chapter 37

Annabeth

"Is it bad that I still want to shish-ka-bob Draco Malfoy?" I asked. The greasy haired little idiot and his pals were passing us and whispering. I rolled my eyes.

Ginny grimaced. "No way. I'm with you." She shot them dirty looks.

We walked from the Gryffindor common room to the Great Hall for breakfast. The events of the weeks before were all too much to bear.

At least we had Leo back. Piper slung her arms over his shoulders and Jason's, looking quite at ease. Percy pulled me closer to him, and I laid my head on his shoulder.

It had been approximately five weeks. It was the middle of February now. I didn't know when we'd be heading to Epirus, but it would be soon.

During breakfast, when Percy was about half-way through his third helping of pancakes (where that boy put all that food, I would never know) Dumbledore called an announcement.

He cleared his throat, and his eyes seemed to meet mine. Nervousness coursed through me. He said, "It appears...from recent actions that had to be taken...some Hogwarts students are very...uncomfortable with the abilitites of our new guests."

Ron yelled, "That's rubbish!"

Harry, Ginny, Hermione, Seamus, Neville, Luna, and Dean joined in the protest. Dumbledore held up his hands, and they all silenced.

I turned around and locked eyes with Malfoy. He snickered, with his friends, and I glared. "It was Malfoy," I said to my friends.

Piper cracked her knuckles. "I swear to all the gods, I'm going to skewer him and feed him to Festus."

Leo speared a strawberry with a screwdriver and gave Malfoy a dirty look. "I'm going to fire him from the ballista and send him to Tartarus."

"Agreed," Nico muttered, his dark eyes seeming brutal.

"So," Dumbledore said, "if it is not too much to ask, I would like our new friends to please come up here and demonstrate how...unharmful their powers are."

Jason and Thalia exchanged looks. Thalia leaned into us. "Our powers are meant to harm enemies," she growled quietly. "Of course they're dangerous. Gods are dangerous. How else do they expect us to beat evil?"

Percy shrugged and said, "I'm seriously going to trap Malfoy in a water funnel until he suffocates. He's annoying the Hades out of me."

We stepped up to the platform. Dumbledore nodded to us uneasily. I looked at Percy. He was the leader, after all.

"Well." He played with his fingers. "Our powers aren't meant to hurt people," he began. "Powers are like people. They work according to the intentions of the user. You-Know-Who uses his magic for evil, but you all use yours for good, right? It's the same thing for demigods."

He held out his hand and moved it in a circular motion. Water from goblets arose and formed a trident. He took hold of it and threw it at the wall. Once it came in contact with the wall, it erupted into a wave, and crashed back into its respective goblets.

People murmured in amazement. "We use our powers against evil," he continued. "Powers aren't good or evil, just like magic. It just depends who uses them."

I smiled at him. I always used to tease him for being dumb, but I realized he was anything but.

"I can control water," he said. "which means I can also breathe underwater. And since my father created horses, I have the power to talk to them." People exchanged looks. I rolled my eyes.