Demigods at Hogwarts | the rescue mission ✔

31| Blue Pancakes (Not)

Percy's POV

I opened my eyes and blinked groggily. The room swam into focus before my eyes—today was the day of the second task.

Jumping out of my bed, I tripped over my suitcase twice while trying to change into my clothes. In fact, I made such a racket that I woke everyone else in the dormitory.

"What's wrong with you, waking up at ths time?" Nico growled, still half-asleep. "It's six in the morning."

"Second...task today," I mumbled as I forced on a pair of pants which were way too tight for me. All this Hogwarts food was making me fat. "The task is at nine-thirty, down at the lake."

In five minutes, we were all dressed and down at the Hall. Piper was, in a determined manner, trying to shove food in my mouth.

"You have to eat," she urged. "You need your energy for swimming."

I stabbed at the stack of pancakes on my plate miserably. "They're not blue."

Piper groaned. "Stop acting like a pain. Listen to me. You. Have. To. Eat."

"You kind of are acting like Annabeth," Thalia laughed. "Fussing over Percy like that. Anyone would think that you were his girlfri-"

She stopped. We had all fallen silent. Piper's face was deathly pale, and Leo was looking incredibly flustered. I immediately grabbed my fork and started shoving pancake into my mouth at an alarming speed, and the hole in my heart that had been there since Annabeth disappeared was more empty than ever.

"You know what?"I said, standing up and swallowing the last of the food. "I should get going. Bagman---you know, Ludo Bagman, will be waiting for me beside the lake."

Frank frowned. "You sure? Like you said, the task doesn't start until-"

"I'm sure," I said loudly, cutting him off. "I'm sure, and I'm fine. I just need to take a walk. Clear my head, maybe." I glanced at my friends pleadingly. "I need to."

Turning around, I ran out of the Hall before they could stop me.

  I walked out into the crisp morning air. Actually, it was not so 'crisp'. It was hard to believe that it was already February, and we had been at Hogwarts since September.

    Suddenly, a blur of white came speeding down from the sky and landed on my shoulder. Startled, I turned around. Snowflake, the owl Thalia, Hazel and Piper had bought in Hogsmeade was perched on my shoulder. I smiled slightly and stroked it gently.

    A strange sense of calmness came upon me, numbing all of my emotions. Being alone seemed to clear my head tremendously, and the feelings of fear and anxiety which had plagued me were gone. Slowly, I sat down on the soft grass as Snowflake hooted and jumped onto my lap.

     I don't know how long I stayed there, but the next thing I knew, a girl a few years younger than me was running towards me in obvious panic. Her eyes were wide and she was pretty much out of breath.

    "The Triwizard Tournament is starting in minutes!" she gasped. "Everyone's looking for you. Quickly, you have to get down to the lake!"

   I jumped up and started sprinting as fast as I could to the lake. All eyes were on me when I showed up. Harry looked somewhat relieved to see me, but the other champions, except for Cedric, looked thoroughly disappointed.

   "Now that Mr Jackson has joined us," Bagman announced, raising his voice. "Let me explain the details of the competition. Every champion needs to dive into the lake to find something that is theirs. Something precious to them. They have exactly one hour." He beamed as the crowd cheered and screamed out our names. "Let's count them down, shall we?  FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONEEEE!"