The Golden Wand [Harry Potter/Percy Jackson]

Chapter 5: Introductions

Annabeth POV:

"Yes, I'm very sorry that he couldn't make it this morning," Chiron sighed. "Well, you see, after last nights welcome I think that Mr Dionysus got a little too excited and drank a little too much. He regrets his decisions terribly, but the headache just won't lift. I'm afraid you're stuck with me!"

"Afraid?" Dumbledore chuckled. "Chiron, old friend, nonsense! I'm delighted to see you again after all these years. I send Dionysus my greatest wishes for a speedy recovery, and might I suggest he ask one of our house elves to make him a Full English Breakfast - we Brits tend to find it helps with the hangovers."

I laughed at that, which caught his attention. Shit. I was blushing. Albus Dumbledore had noticed me. Albus Dumbledore was walking towards me, hand outstretched, shaking my hand, my very sweaty hand, his eyes were twinkling with happiness. 

"Lovely to meet you, finally," he smiled kindly at me. "Welcome to my school. You must be the Head Girl of Goode, Annabeth Chase?"

Albus Dumbledore knew my name! Was I blushing?

"Y-yes sir," I managed. "Thank you so much for letting us stay here."

"My pleasure," He replied. "I take it you'll be competing in the tournament?"

"I hope so, sir. I hope to bring my school great honour."

"Splendid. And you must be Head Boy, Jason Grace. Pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine, sir," Jason smiled whilst he shook the Headmasters hand. How was he always so calm and polite? The guy was a natural.

"Annabeth, Jason, please meet Hogwart's very own Head Girl and Boy - Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley!"

As the two stepped forwards to shake our hands and say hello in their cute British accents, I looked them up and down to find out more about them. This was what I was good at; observing strangers, discovering who they really were without having to hear it from themselves. The boy, Ron, was tall and looked extremely uncomfortable; this suggested he was unused to being in a position of authority. The girl, Hermione, was calm and collected; I could easily label her as the smart one, the leader, the one that had the answers. She was probably assessing me as much as I was her. She was bubbly and kind, the other more held back and reserved - he was in a mood, he was being hostile. Not to us, but to the girl, to Hermione. 

Uh oh, this couldn't be good. 

"I thought your Head Boy was Harry Potter?" Jason asked, failing to mask his disappointment. I cursed him inwardly. The boy was an idiot!

"Sorry to disappoint," Ron grumbled angrily. 

"Oh, gods, sorry," Jason stuttered. "I didn't mean it like that! You're probably great. It's just, um, you know... we've never seen him and we've always wanted to because, you know-"

"He's Harry Potter and I'm just his annoying side-kick, I get it," Ron spat. Hermione shot him a warning look - the ginger at least had a bit of decency to look embarrassed, as did Jason. 

"Right, well," Dumbledore clapped his hands happily, as if he hadn't noticed the awkward tension that had started to build between the four of us. "The Head Boys and Girls from the other two school will be arriving any second now, ah-"

As if on queue, the door opened and in strolled four other students and their two headmasters. Madame Maxime was ridiculously tall, making even Tyson look small in comparison, and Karkarov's face was twisted in such a way that he reminded me of the gargoyle statues that lined the wall of Goode School. 

"Albus, Chiron," Karkarov smiled, Russian accent heavy. "I would like to introduce you all to my Head Boys, Viktor Krum and Adrian Yahontov!"

The two walked forwards smartly and quickly shook all our hands. 

"And I would like to present my beautiful Head Girls," Maxime smiled proudly. "Fleur Delacour and Ines Leroy."

After the somewhat awkward introductions, where it was obvious that we were all sizing each other up instead of trying to make friends (apart from Ron, who was trying his best to show that he didn't want to be there, and Krum who might as well have been an empty bucket with legs), the teachers left us and Hermione offered to take us on a tour. 

"I know a few of you might have already been here before," she was saying as we walked. "Am I right in guessing that you were here three years ago, Fleur?"

"Yes, that is correct," Fleur smiled. She was beautiful and petite, with silvery blond hair that fell in ringlets around her small face. "During the Triwizard Tournament, Madame Maxime allowed me to watch the event so that I could support our champion, Anaise Dupont."

"Yes, I thought I recognized you," Hermione smiled in return. 

Viktor Krum stepped forwards quickly. 

"Will we be going to the Quidditch pitch at all, pretty lady? I want to see what I have to play with." I raised my eyebrows at Krum, who was obviously flirting. Ron scowled loudly. 

"Oh, um, well," the mousy-haired girl looked flustered. "I thought I could show you all the Great Library first - it's my favourite part of the school."

I squealed, widening my eyes suddenly when I realized people had heard me. Ron snickered. I was beginning to really dislike this Ron guy. 

"Sorry, um," I tried to chuckle, it came out forced. "It's just, um, I have been waiting to see the library for so long! It's the largest wizarding library in the world! I'm sure it's got thousands of great books, I honestly think I've been more excited about going there than attending the Tournament. Forgive me if I spend all day there..."

I trailed off when Jason gave me a smirk and a raised eyebrow, reminding me that I had been rambling. How embarrassing. Yet, the Granger girl was beaming at me brightly. 

"No, it's fine, don't apologize!" She squealed, almost matching me in excitement. "We can visit the library last, visit the rest of the school first, and that way we can spend as much time in their as possible. I'm a Head Girl now, so I'm sure I can take you into the Restricted Section - the books in their are marvelous-"

"Hermione, I'm sure no one else wants to go to the library," Ron mumbled quietly. 

"Um, actually, I'd quite like a look," Jason backed me up. 

"Me too, I like the books... and I like the company," Krum said, eyeing up Hermione. The girl blushed. 

"Ronald, our guests want to see the library, we can make it the last stop on the list," Hermione replied levelly - Ron wouldn't meet her eyes. What was his problem? 

"Thank you," I whispered to Jason. "You know how much I've been raving about the library..."

 Jason chuckled. "Not a problem, Annie."

When I turned to face the rest of the group, I was almost certain that I had seen a look of jealousy flash across Hermione's face. As the tour continued, I started to believe that I knew why Hermione had looked like that; looking around, I saw three couples of friends, laughing and enjoying each other's companies... but Ron and Hermione looked miserable together. They didn't speak, they didn't smile, they didn't even look at one another. Hermione was upset, about what I couldn't tell, but for some reason I wanted to help this stranger. No, I didn't like Ron - and Mr D had made it perfectly clear to us that the students from the other schools were to be considered our opponents, not our friends - but I couldn't deny the fact that I had already started to like Hermione Granger.