Percy Jackson || The Hogwarts Champion

6|| Percy (no way!)

"Percy's in the lead," said Jason over bacon the morning before the third task. "Then Harry's second, Krum's third, and Fleur's fourth."

Harry was picking sullenly at his bacon, staring into nothing. A fork prong stabbed into the crispy sliver of meat, making it crack in half. Percy took half and ate it, but Harry didn't notice.

"What's up with you?" Nico asked Harry.

"Hm?" Harry looked up.

"You look depressed," Thalia said shortly.

"I'm not," Harry defended. "I'm just tired."

Percy clicked his tongue. "You'd better wake up before tonight, otherwise you're a goner."

Harry stabbed his bacon venomously. "That makes me feel so much better." The bacon cracked again.

Percy looked at Annabeth, bewildered. "What did I do?"

Annabeth shrugged.

"It's not about the point system, right?" Percy asked anxiously. "Because it's not my fault that I'm a son of Poseidon."

Annabeth shrugged again. "Just drop it," she said in a low voice. "He must be stressed."

Percy nodded. "Understandable."

No one mentioned the task after that.

>>>•O•<<<

"Remember. The trophy is going to be in the center of the maze," Annabeth said as they walked down to the Quidditch field. "So you're going to want to head north east as long as possible."

"Okay."

"And this isn't any normal maze, so keep an eye out for traps of any kind."

"Okay."

"Don't forget that Krum and Fleur aren't afraid to play dirty either. But if you meet them, try to avoid as much physical battle as possible."

Fleur didn't strike Percy as someone who would play dirty, especially since she owed Harry a debt after he saved her sister. But he let it go. "Okay."

"Keep Riptide accessible at all times, just in case there's a monster in there. Actually, I'm almost one hundred percent certain there's a monster in there. You're prepared, right? Remember all the basic spells?"

"Annabeth!" Percy said in a half exasperated tone. "This isn't my first time in a magical maze. And not to mention that they're not trying to kill me here, they only want to slow everyone down."

"I don't trust Karkaroff," Annabeth said in a low voice. "There's something sketchy about him. I feel like he's the reason why Harry's in the tournament."

Percy shrugged. "Well, I just need to get him in and out safely, and there's nothing that can happen."

"Don't jinx it," Annabeth warned him. Then she smiled. "Don't die, Seaweed Brain."

"Don't I get a kiss for luck?" Percy asked. "It's kind of a tradition now, right?"

Annabeth smiled as she too recalled their encounter before the final battle in the Titan war. "Come back alive, Seaweed brain, then we'll see."

Tightening his grip around his very unreliable wand, Percy walked over to where the others were gathered.

"You good, Harry?" Percy asked the green-eyed wizard.

Harry shrugged. "I hope so."

They didn't get anymore chance to talk as Bagman raised his wand to his throat muttered a spell, then began the booming announcement. Percy ignored it, as he knew the basic overview and he also wanted to get a good look at the maze. Or, what he could see of it, as all that was showing was the massive twenty foot tall hedge. But what worried him the most was the lack of any sense he could get on the thing. Normally, he either had a good or bad feeling in his gut before he went into an undetermined area, but here he got nothing. It was like his senses were shut off. His grip tightened harder around the wand.