In Between Two Worlds (HP/PJO Crossover)

Chapter 138: The House-Elf Liberation Front.

Harry, Mione, Bailey, Ron, and I went up to the Owlery that evening to find Pig so that Harry and I could send Sirius a letter telling him that we had managed to get past his dragon unscathed. I also wanted to send a letter to mum, Uncle Rem, and Will and Char. On the way, Harry and I filled Ron in on everything Sirius had told us about Karkaroff. Though shocked at first to hear that Karkaroff had been a Death Eater, by the time we entered the Owlery Ron was saying that we ought to have suspected it all along.

"Fits, doesn't it?" he said. "Remember what Malfoy said on the train, about his dad being friends with Karkaroff? Now we know where they knew each other. They were probably running around in masks together at the World Cup....I'll tell you one thing, though, if it was Karkaroff who put your names in the goblet, he's going to be feeling really stupid now, isn't he? Didn't work, did it? You only got a scratch! And Karlee wasn't injured at all! Come here--I'll do it--"

Pig was so overexcited at the idea of a delivery he was flying around and around Harry's head, hooting incessantly. Ron snatched Pig out of the air and held him still while Harry attached the letter to his leg. I held my arm out and Agnes flew down.

"Take this one to Uncle Rem, this to mum, and this one to Will and Char." She nipped my ear affectionately and flew out the window.

"There's no way any of the other tasks are going to be that dangerous, how could they be?" Ron went on as he carried Pig to the window. "You know what? I reckon you two could win this tournament, I'm serious."

I knew that Ron was only saying this to make up for his behavior over the last few weeks, but I appreciated it all the same. Hermione, however, leaned against the Owlery wall, folded her arms, and frowned at Ron.

"They've got a long way to go before they finish this tournament," she said seriously. "If that was the first task, I hate to think what's coming next."

"Right little ray of sunshine, aren't you?" said Bailey. "You and Professor Trelawney should get together sometime."

Ron threw Pig out of the window. He plummeted twelve feet before managing to pull himself back up again; the letter attached to his leg was much longer and heavier than usual--Harry and I hadn't been able to resist giving Sirius a blow-by-blow account of exactly how we had each defeated our dragons. We watched Pigwidgeon disappear into the darkness, and then Ron said, "Well, we'd better get downstairs for your surprise party--Fred and George should have nicked enough food from the kitchens by now."

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Sure enough, when we entered the Gryffindor common room it exploded with cheers and yells again. There were mountains of cakes and flagons of pumpkin juice and butterbeer on every surface; Lee had let off some Filibuster's Fireworks so that the air was thick with stars and sparks; and Dean had put up some impressive new banners, most of which depicted Harry zooming around the Horntail's head on his Firebolt and me shooting a spell at the Ridgeback, though a couple showed Cedric with his head on fire.

I helped myself to food; I had almost forgotten what it was like to feel properly hungry and sat down with Ron, Bailey, Harry, and Mione. I couldn't believe how happy I felt; we had Ron back on our side, we'd gotten through the first task, and we wouldn't have to face the second one for three months.

"Blimey, these are heavy," said Lee, picking up the golden eggs, which Harry and I had left on a table, and weighing them in his hands. "Open them, go on! Let's just see what's inside it!"

"They're supposed to work out the clue on his own," Hermione said swiftly. "It's in the tournament rules...."

"We were supposed to work out how to get past the dragons on our own too," Harry muttered, so only Hermione, me, and Bailey could hear him.