The Golden Wand [Harry Potter/Percy Jackson]

Chapter 48: Annabeth Goes Skydiving

Annabeth POV:

Surprisingly, getting rid of the Thunderbird was somewhat fun. When wild, these creatures were incredibly dangerous (having the ability to conjure storms) and usually near-impossible to defeat, but I hadn't spent my entire life in a library to not know what to do now. 

"Percy, get me up there!" I yelled against the rising storm. Percy nodded and whistled, but the sound was whisked away in the wind. We just had to pray that his broom, Blackjack, would find its way to us. 

"I can help!" Jason shouted. It was true, Jason knew elemental magic that could make us almost immune to the storm, and he was probably the best option for getting us up to the Thunderbird safely, but after his actions against the three-headed dog I couldn't stand to look at him. I grabbed the wand out of his hand and threw it into the wind. 

"Hey!" He yelled, but Percy stood in between the two of us and stared at Jason through stormy green eyes. 

"Your wand privileges have been removed," Percy explained, just as a riderless broom came spinning out of control through the storm and whacked Jason in the head. The blonde boy fell to the ground. "Annabeth, get on!"

Percy grabbed the broom before it flew off and the two of us swung on to Blackjack. We rose into the air, swaying against the strong winds, having to avoid the piercing bite of swirling sand and the occasional spell thrown at us from the competitors below. I could distantly hear the scream of the audience, and the louder screams of Hazel as she warned the competitors to not hit her brother, who was still trapped in the Thunderbird's iron grip. 

"What's the plan here?" Percy asked. I had to raise a hand to protect my face from the icy wind. 

"A Thunderbird disappears if one of its feathers is removed!" I yelled. I watched Percy turn his head towards the creature that became even more menacing the closer we got. If I looked directly at it I had to close my eyes against its tremendous light. "How do we even get close to that thing?"

We must have been four-hundred meters up now. The storm was greater than ever - with lightning flashing around us - and the arena below us looked no bigger than a shoe. We flew in the middle of a great, thunder-stricken cloud, and I could tell that Percy was using up most of his strength to steady the broom. I had to hold on to him as tight as I could to not slip off. Against the booming of the thunder, I could hear Nico screaming in the Thunderbird's talons, and the great swooshing noise of the creature's car-sized wings. 

"We need to get above the bird! Then... I'll drop down, I guess, and take one of its feathers!" I cried into my boyfriend's ears. 

"You will not!" Percy bellowed back, but I shook my head quickly. 

"Do you trust me? There's no other way - unless you can think of another plan?"

He was silent. We couldn't fly directly at the bird - the closer we got, the more it beat its wings and the greater the storm got. I knew that if we got any nearer the storm would become too much, and Percy and I (along with Nico) would fall to our deaths. There was no spell, either, that could be used against the creature's curse-repellent skin. My plan was the only way. 

With obvious disapproval, Percy pulled Blackjack higher into the air, keeping as much distance between us and the Thunderbird as possible. Nico, writhing in the creature's fist, caught sight of the two of us and screamed louder. We shook against the wind, rising higher and higher, until the broom broke through the top of the cloud and we soared through calm, open air. The Sun seemed pale in comparison to the Thunderbird, but the blue sky was a welcoming sight. Below us, the storm cloud raged on - streaks of lightning appeared here and there - but we could not see the Thunderbird.