McGonagall apparated into the Camp Half-Blood infirmary (an/: the reason she could get in, was because, like Astoria, Draco gave permission for anyone coming to rescue him. And, as we all know, you can only get into the camp if someone from inside wants you to, so...) which caused Percy to jump about four feet into the air. "Yah! What is it with all these wiard-people showing up?" he demanded.
Astoria gasped in disbelief. "Professor McGonagall?" she squeaked.
"Hello, Ms. Greengrass."
Percy remembered the lady from Hogwarts who kidnapped him, Nico, and Grover. He shuddered at the memory. "Hey," he said awkwardly, "what brings you here?" he assumed that she wasn't here to buy an strawberries (which was a shame, because they really were quite good.)
"I am here to retrieve two of my students," she said without even looking at him-and Percy wasn't complaining.
"What stu-oh, them. Yeah, Chiron said that he was going to contact you, but I guess either he forgot, or didn't have time, or didn't know how."
Astoria looked puzzled. "No. I saw a couple owls here."
"Yeah, they usually like to hang out by the Athena cabin, why? What does that have to do with anything?"
"You know, you could always just send an owl."
Now Percy looked confused.
"Enough of this!" Professor McGonagall cried, startling everyone.
"Anyway, it's a good thing you came now, because we were just about to go to Mount Olympus-"
"I want to go!" Astoria declaired.
"What?" McGonagall and Percy said at the same time.
"I want to go with you guys! Please? Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Pretty please? With Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans on top?"
"Absolutely not."
But Percy looked at the girl. She had stood up to him, even though she knew that the odds were against her. And some Half-Bloods who were fighting were at young as eight or nine years old. He cleared his throat. "You do understand that this isn't a game, right?"
McGonagall looked horrified. "Wait-you are actually considering this?"
She nodded, ignoring the professor's comment. "Of course I do! I'm not stupid!" She really did want to help. She wanted to go on an adventure with them. She wanted to show the world what a Slytherin was capable of. "I want to fight," she repeated, fixing on McGonagall with a glare, "and you can't stop me!"
Percy smiled sheepishly, you had to give the girl some credit, she had guts. But he knew that it wasn't fair to walk her unknowingly to her death. "Look, Astoria, we appreciate it, we really do. But this is really dangerous. Like, you could die, kind of dangerous."
"I know," she said.
"You sure that you want to do this?"
"I'm sure."
"Well...I guess you could help. But you'll have sit out during the more dangerous battles-I don't want you getting hurt."
Astoria nodded. She would be allowed into the battles once Percy realized just how skilled she was.
"No!" McGonagall said, "I'm sorry, but I cannot allow this! It's too big of a risk!"
"But you let that Weasley girl come-and she's only a year older than me!" Astoria protested.
"Yes-but that's different."
"No, it's not!" Astoria stomped her foot like-well, like an eleven-year-old. "It's not fair!"
Percy looked at McGonagall. "I think it'd be okay. We'll be super careful."
"What? No!"
"I'm afraid this is no longer in your control," Percy said in his best adult voice. "For you see, I've been chosen to lead the army."
McGongall scowled and hissed at him like an angry cat. She waved her wand and lifted up the sleeping Draco Malfoy in his hospital bed. They both dissapeared with a loud CRACK!
Astoria grinned widely. She ma have not saved Draco, but she was going to be a part of something even better. Now she'd get to be a real hero. She couldn't wait to see the look on stupid Potter's face when he saw his knew college-this was the best day ever!