The war was over, Gaea was back in the dust, and Percy could finally get some well needed rest. He couldn't wait to spend the rest of his life in peace, living in the Roman town with Annabeth, occasionally visiting the rest of his friends. It was go...
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To absolutely no one's surprise, Professor Sprout started our lesson by lecturing us on the importance of the O.W.L.s. As she droned on and on about the use of herbology and its practical applications in everyday life, I could feel my awareness slipping away. I really wished that all these teachers would stop mentioning our upcoming tests, as if we weren't stressed enough. I was starting to get an anxious, twisted feeling in my stomach everytime I remembered how much homework I had to do, a feeling that worsened dramatically when Professor Sprout assigned another essay at the end of class.
As my first detention with Umbridge was nearing and I was still starving, I bolted to the Great Hall, hoping that the sick and twisted feeling in my gut would go away with a grilled cheese sandwich.
I had barely reached the entrance when a loud and angry voice said, "Oy Potter!"
"What now?" I asked, turning around wearily to face Angelina Johnson who was towering above me. She seemed to have grown two inches since I last saw her.
"I'll tell you what now," she said, marching up to me and poking me in the chest with a sharp finger. "How come you've landed yourself in detention for five o'clock on Friday?"
"What," I asked confused. Then the realization hit me like a truck. "Oh! Keeper tryouts!"
"Now he remembers!" snarled Angelina, one wrong word on my part from losing her temper. "Didn't I tell you that I wanted to have the whole team there to make sure everyone fit perfectly? I even took the liberty to book the Quidditch pitch specifically, I had to fight off Slytherin for it! And now you're telling me that you've landed yourself in detention?"
"I didn't decide not to be there!" I shouted defensively, feeling as if Angelina was blaming me for this situation, and what kind of justice was that? "It was that nasty Umbridge woman! She gave me detention just because I told her the truth about You-Know-Who!"
"Well, you better get yourself out of it." said Angelina fiercely, "I don't care if you have to beg Umbridge on your hands and knees! Tell her that you're crazy, that You-Know-Who is all a part of your imagination, I don't care. Just make sure you're there!" She stormed away.
"You know what," I said to Ron and Hermione as I plopped down next to them at the Gryffindor dining table, "We better dig up the Quidditch field and make sure Wood isn't buried under there because I swear, Angelina is basically channeling his spirit.
"Do you think that Umbridge woman is going to let you off?" asked Ron after I told them my encounter with Angelina.
"I doubt it." I said glumly, tipping a grilled cheese onto my plate and beginning to eat.
"There's no harm in trying," insisted Hermione, "maybe offer to do an extra week in exchange for her to free you on Friday?"
I sighed and leaned back in my seat. Three weeks with Umbridge, I didn't know if I could take it.
