Demigods at Hogwarts | the rescue mission ✔

22| Phobias

Percy's POV

I groaned, leaning back in my seat. Much to my discomfort, Piper was waving a fork in my face, trying to convince me to eat.  It was lunchtime, but the last thing I wanted to do was stuff myself —later this afternoon, I would be facing living, breathing dragons in the Triwizard Tournament, and the looming threat of death had made me lose my appetite completely.

  Sighing, I shook my head stubbornly. "I'm not hungry, so stop trying to force food down my throat, okay?" I watched as Piper bit her lip, looking concerned and annoyed at the same time.

"You have to eat," she argued, glaring at me in intimidation. "You need your energy. Plus, you have nothing to worry about." she added, carefully keeping her tone light and casual. "You've faced plenty of monsters before—there's no reason to stress about a dragon."

  Not stress about a dragon? I could handle giants and basilisks, carnivorous sheep and Cyclopes. But then the image of Silena Beauregard's writhing on the ground, drakon poison slowly seeping through her veins sent shivers down my spine. I quickly swallowed the thought—now wasn't the time to brood over events which happened and should stay in the past.

I grumbled, stabbing the pancake on my plate with a fork. "That's easy for you to say. You're not the one who's about to die." I hissed, tearing apart the pancake the way I wanted to tear up the dragon.

  Tears in her eyes, Piper stood up from the dining table and stormed out of the Hall. Feeling a guilty sense of satisfaction, I chided myself not to go after the daughter of Aphrodite. Instead, I stood up, brushing the pancake crumbs off my trousers. "I need to go prepare in the champion's tent," I announced to the rest of the demigods at the table. In fact, I was already five minutes late.

I rushed to the tent, where all the champions had already gathered. Harry was pacing around the tent, breaking in a nervous sweat. Fleur was sitting on a chair at the far end of the tent, distancing herself from the others. Cedric, looking faint, was clutching what seemed like a silver locket in his hand. Krum was the only one who seemed confident and well-prepared to take on the dragon.

"Alright, everyone! Gather around in a circle!" Ludo Bagman, Dumbledore and all the other senior wizards who would be judging the first task barged into the tent. We slowly (and reluctantly) formed a circle, staring at the small leather sack Bagman had in his hand.

Ludo Bagman held out a sack, his head bobbing in my direction. "Mr Jackson, as our American guest, you shall have the honour of picking first." His voice was deep and hoarse, and I could tell almost immediately that he was a smoker—he sounded exactly like Smelly Gabe and his poker friends. I suddenly developed a strong dislike for Bagman.

  I stared at the sack suspiciously. "What's inside?" I asked, secretly hoping that Dumbledore had bought free M&Ms and gummy bears for us. After all, I was having a serious craving for sugar right now.

   Dumbledore's silver-blue eyes twinked, his voice low and mysterious. "There's only one way to find out, my dear boy." he said, his hand on my shoulder.

  Hesitantly, I reached into the sack and felt something slimy and alive grab onto my pinkie. Letting out a small yelp, I withdrew my hand from the sack and frowned at what was in front of me.

Clinging on to my finger was a tiny, lifelike, moving replica of a dragon. It was green in colour with spikes on its tale and blue scales. It bared its teeth at me, trying to look as frightening as possible. It was actually pretty cute.

"You have drawn the Romanian Longhorn," Bagman announced, gushing like a proud father. "They're extremely rare and have a phobia of water." My eyes widened—I could hardly believe my luck. If this dragon was afraid of water, would I have the ability to control it with my powers?

The other champions quickly finished choosing their own dragons. Harry had gotten the most dangerous one—a Hungarian Horntail, which could shoot fire up to the range of 50 feet.

"These replicas represent five very real dragons," Bagman continued dramatically, his top hat sliding off his head. "Your objective is simple. You have to collect the golden egg, which the dragon will be guarding. The egg contains a very important clue which you will need to move on to the next task." He grinned at Cedric, who's brow was furrowed in concentration. "Mr Diggory, you're first."

Taking a deep breath, the handsome Hufflepuff stepped out of the tent. He was met by the roaring of the crowds as they chanted his name in unison. He brandished his wand, standing firmly on his two feet as his dragon let out a snarl and charged at him.

  The Triwizard Tournamnt had begun.