The Golden Wand [Harry Potter/Percy Jackson]

Chapter 44: Return to Hogwarts

Annabeth POV:

I arrived at the gates of Hogwarts on the sixth day. 

The looming gates were open, with the highest towers of the castle jutting out behind the pine trees that surrounded the path leading up to the school. I could hear the crowd before I could see it; every student, teacher and sponsor stood waiting at the gates, cheering deafeningly as my thestral landed on the muddy road.

I was greeted instantly by Cedric Diggory and four older wizards, each dressed in the colours of the four schools; a tall man dressed in Durmstrang crimson, a hawk-like witch dressed in Beauxbatons blue, a chubby wizard displayed in the four house-colours of Hogwarts, and a kind-looking woman dressed in Goode's orange and purple. The four of them shook my hand as Cedric introduced them as the judges of the Golden Competition, and then they continued to explain that my performance in the trial had earned me 50 points, securing me in first place for the tournament. I smiled proudly as Cedric hustled me onto a stage and the crowd cheered as he raised my hand into the air, announcing me as the first to complete the sixth trial. 

It got boring after that; I wanted nothing more than to go over to Sally, Paul, Chiron and Piper, who I could see waving at me in the crowd, but I was forced instead to complete interview after interview, pose for picture after picture, sign autograph after autograph, until the morning had turned to night and the initial excitement had died down.

Finally, Chiron pushed his way through the sea of reporters and led me off the stage, saying that it was ridiculous I hadn't been fed yet. 

"Thank you!" I gasped, giving him a hug as we entered the Competitor's tent that had been set up. I noticed instantly that there was a TV set up in the corner of the room, and Fleur was on it; the Beauxbaton's girl was sprinting through a dark cavern, sweat dripping from her forehead. She looked terrified. 

"What's this?" I asked Chiron, who was in the process of making me a hot chocolate. 

"Live coverage of the competition," Chiron explained. He had to duck to avoid hitting his head against the roof of the marquee. "Ever since the fifth trial, your competition has been televised. The whole wizarding world is watching, or so the Daily Prophet claims. I must say, I'm very proud of you, Annabeth. Excellent performance, as always; you were a crowd favourite from the first day of the trial. Connor and Travis have earned a lot of money placing bets on you... but don't tell anyone I know that."

I smiled warmly - praise from Chiron was practically the only reason I tried so hard in anything I did. 

"Thanks," I took the mug of hot chocolate and a slice of toast from him gratefully. "I have to admit, though, that the trial wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Well, obviously the Karpoi came as a bit of a shock... but then I was chased by werewolves... and, well, you know all of us have had a lot of experience with wereworlves - so that bit was kind of easy."

It was true; I had helped Hazel with Frank so many times that taking care of werewolves was practically second nature to me now. I had gotten rid of the werewolves within half a day, and then finding Azkaban had been no problem whatsoever. Of course, there had been that town somewhere on the East Coast of England that had almost been destroyed by a tsunami, but I had been with Percy long enough to know how to get rid of that in a matter of seconds. Then there had been the sphinx in Durham, but it got so frustrated with me it ended up leaving me alone because I answered all the questions too fast. When I got into Azkaban I suppose the Dementors were supposed to be a challenge, but it was nothing that a simple patronus couldn't fix (mine was an owl). And after that it had been a breeze - find cell 4.56.73, find the key (in my case, it was the silver coin my father had found in my cot after my mother had left me as a child), escape Azkaban, find a thestral (easy to find in Scotland, where they most commonly breed, and easy to spot considering all the death I had witnessed in my life), avoid a wild pack of Vampyr Mosps and fly to Hogwarts. Piece of cake.