Royalty (demigods at Hogwarts)

The Library Incident

'Invisibility cloak,' she heard.

'Nicholas Flamel,' they'd whispered.

'Three headed-dog,' was one of the words still stuck in her head.

Annabeth grimaced and rubbed her eyes, fighting to stay awake. It was so early in the morning, and she'd been up all night. She was one of the only students staying for Christmas at the school, but it wasn't because she hadn't wanted to go back (well, it was partly the reason if she was being honest) but because she knew there was something up with that Potter kid, his tall, gangly Weasley friend and the smart muggle-born, Hermione.

It was an impulsive decision- something she usually tried hard not to do- as she'd only decided that she'd be staying in school the day before the train left, and she'd had to make all sorts of new arrangements (Professor Flitwick even scolded her for not informing him earlier, but Annabeth was the kind of girl who totally disregarded authority, so she wasn't too bothered by it) and send an owl to her parents, but she pulled it off.

And right now, she was eavesdropping on Harry Potter and Ron Weasley's conversation. Getting into the Gryffindor common rooms had been easy enough- she'd just had to summon Gryffindor robes from the house-elves washing them, and pretend to be a total ditz like that Neville Longbottom and ask Percy Weasley for the password under the pretence that she'd forgotten it.

She'd considered an invisibility spell, but her magic for that was flimsy at best. Annabeth was smart- she knew her limits, and she was only a first-year. Mastering a successful invisibility spell would be way too much to ask of her magical abilities just yet.

Her hair hung over her face inconspicuously in thick, blonde curls so as to shield anyone from recognising her, and she was reading a thick book which gave her an excuse to lower her head. Despite the careful precautions she had taken, she was just being over-cautious- she didn't really think anyone from the pompous, self-absorbed house would even notice her, let alone greet her. Chivalry and courage? Ha. More like arrogance and self-infatuation. Gryffindor, in her opinion, was a joke. Ravenclaw was obviously the superior house.

It seemed like little Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, had received an invisibility cloak from 'anonymous' that once belonged to his father. Annabeth almost laughed. She'd deduced who it was from instantly. Did Dumbledore really think he could hide behind the mask of 'anonymous'? Everyone knew Lily and James Potter had only trusted Dumbledore, Sirius Black (who had betrayed them in the end), Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin with their possessions (or maybe it was just her who'd done extensive research on Harry Potter's family), and only one of those four people was alive, free, and in a position to send things to the Chosen One.

She let her back give out for just a moment, sliding down the wall and sitting on the carpeted floor. Their conversation was boring and mundane. She was almost about to fall asleep when eager footsteps rushed out of the room, belonging to none other than Harry Potter and Ron Weasley.

Quickly, she scrambled for cover behind an armchair. They hadn't spotted her. She grinned, almost about to praise herself for her skills at blending in, but then remembered that her job wasn't over. She still had to follow them to breakfast at the Gryffindor table to see if they could actually talk about something important.

All this sneaking around was making her feel like a spy. She was hotly aware of how silly she looked all at once and immediately straightened herself and flattened her tie before brusquely following the boys to breakfast.

As they approached the Great Hall, Annabeth audibly groaned. They were sitting at the staff table, there being so few students staying over for Christmas holidays, and she knew that Dumbledore's acute eyes would know that she wasn't a Gryffindor even before she sat down. He would definitely see through a glamour spell that she could use to trick any other student into thinking she was from Gryffindor.