The True Half-Blood Prince

Chapter 17: Annabeth Slythers-in

Splashing water on her face in the girls' bathroom, Annabeth thought back to the time in which Harry asked her a question about the Half-Blood Prince. She still couldn't find out why it was bothering her so much. She had a feeling that it was somehow connected to Harry.

"Half-Blood..." Annabeth said under her breath, "Prince."

The Daughter of Athena thought that she was the only one in the bathroom, but she was wrong.

"You're new here, right?" a high-pitched voice asked.

Annabeth jumped and whipped her wand out from her bag in which she kept her journal. Something, or rather someone, appeared to have materialised in one of the toilets of the open stalls. Mind you, she wasn't an actual physical body.

Ghost, Annabeth realised immediately.

She hadn't been too phased about the fact of there being an apparition of a dead person in the girls' bathroom. After what she'd been through in Camp and during quests, Annabeth actually found it to be quite normal.

Luna had spoken about there being a 'lurking soul' in the toilets. Annabeth thought she was joking, considering the fact that Luna usually told her about weird, unrealistic facts for the sake of 'Whackspurts'. Yep, Annabeth was probably making friends with the wrong people (but sometimes the wrong ones are the best kind).

"You must be Moaning Myrtle," Annabeth said, "The girl who died in the bathroom..." There was a moment of awkward silence at how strange it sounded, "Uhm, it's nice to meet you. I'm—"

"Annabeth Chase," Myrtle giggled, "I know. So many rumours... Rumours, rumours, rumours. I've heard them all."

The ghost exited the toilet and floated above the stall she'd been sitting in. Annabeth observed Myrtle's transparent body that wore a long, medieval dress, glasses and short, straight hair. She had an intriguing smirk and knowledgeable, dark eyes. Annabeth wouldn't doubt for a second that she didn't already hear all the juicy alibis that were spreading rapidly through the Hogwarts corridors.

"What kind of rumours do you hear?" Annabeth asked curiously.

"Dangerous ones," Myrtle answered, "In fact. I heard from a group of girls, yesterday, that two boys were fighting in the prefects' bathroom earlier this week! It had something to do with the 'rivalry' going on between 'em. One of them be the famous Harry Potter."

Annabeth tried her best not to cringe in disgust. She heard this story from Percy already, but was surprised to realise how fast it was spreading. She cleared her throat.

"Did they...uhm," Annabeth hesitated, "...say anything else. As in, what happened after that?"

The ghost girl shook her transparent head and sighed, "They said that the professors came in afterwards and, somehow, the mysteriously hot Perseus Jackson was involved in the situation too."

Mysteriously hot, Annabeth thought, Seriously? Ugh, don't digress!

"The other boy was Draco Malfoy," Annabeth stated flatly, not as a question. She wanted to lay that piece of information straight on the table so that they do not forget what they're actually dealing with here.

"That's right," Myrtle agreed, "But I have a feeling that the anger between them is starting to build and they're not that convinced that the other is on the right side."