Percy didn't know if it was because of his Quidditch practice that were now taking three evenings a week, or because of his ginormous pile of homework, that he could hardly believe he'd been at Hogwarts for two months. He had mastered the basics in all of his classes, and the lessons started to get more and more interesting each day, he praised himself quite a bit for being attentive in every subject (except History of Magic, but you honestly couldn't blame him...). The castle started to become more like a home each day, a gigantic and very confusing home, but a home nonetheless.

He missed his parents greatly, but they sent him regular letters that made up for it all. His mother even sent batches of blue cookies every week so he wasn't unhappy to say the least. All the creatures from the reservation were missing too, especially his Pegasus Blackjack. But he'll see them in Christmas break, so it was okay.

On Hallowe'en morning they woke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. Even better, Professor Pallas announced in Transfiguration that she thought they were ready to start practicing the spells, which was fairly exciting for them since they've only been doing theory so far. So when she told them to take out their wands and listen carefully, everybody obeyed without a second thought.

"Today," she began with her stern voice and cold face. "We are going to practice the Avifors Spell, now who could tell what the Avifors Spell is used for ?"

Quicker than lightning, Annabeth's hand was high in the air, and Percy couldn't keep his eyes from rolling. Even after the whole Quidditch thing and how they had teamed up against Octavian, Annabeth hadn't changed her attitude towards Percy at all. The only moment when she was a little warmer to him, was when she announced that she was selected to be a Chaser in the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team. And even then, Annabeth had barely told him the news before she was snatched back by her friends from Slytherin.

Professor Pallas nodded once towards Annabeth, and the girl hurried to say her answer.

"The Avifors Spell gives to the wizard that performs it correctly the ability to transform small objects and creatures into birds."

"Correct, Miss Chase! Five points to Ravenclaw." Annabeth was rather pleased with herself, and Professor Athena continued. "Now repeat after me, AH-vi-fors."

It was very difficult. Percy tried again and again but the small stone they were supposed to transform into a bird didn't move from the desktop. Around the classroom, students weren't doing so well either. Leo Valdez, from Ravenclaw, had managed to make his robes catch on fire. And it really wasn't a surprise, since the day prior he had gotten Calypso Nightshade's hair on fire and her friend Rachel had to put it out with her pumpkin juice. Let's say that Calypso wasn't happy...

After a few tries, and a lot of dead birds, Percy was starting to feel really annoyed, he was doing everything correctly but an alive bird simply wouldn't come out of the stupid rock in front of him. Until-

"Avifors !" he said, flicking his wand. He wasn't expecting anything, so he was really surprised when the small black stone turned into a bright blue bird, that went flying around the classroom.

Percy couldn't hide the gigantic grin that spread across his face.

"Oh look, Percy did it !"

The blue bird was still doing loops before he finally settled next to Percy, who took it as a chance to pet it.

"Well, I guess you did not do terribly, Jackson." Professor Pallas said, albeit reluctantly. "Five points shall be granted to Gryffindor. " she continued before turning around.

All motions stopped, the students had their eyes wide open and their jaws were slack on the floor. Percy Jackson had won house points in Transfiguration! Percy never won any house points in this class. Professor Pallas never allowed him to answer, for an unknown reason. And even on the rare occasions where she gave him a chance to respond, she would always find something to correct in his sentence. Even things that had no relationship with magic. Like that day when she took two points from Gryffindor because of the wrong grammar.

Percy turned his head to the side , only to meet Annabeth's scary glare. She was really struggling, and the fact that Professor Athena was her mother was only adding more weight on her shoulders. And now Percy Jackson was doing better than her. No, she wouldn't live it down.

By the end of the period, Annabeth was one of the only ones to not have succeeded at transforming her stone into a bird. And Professor Pallas didn't hesitate to make the comment.

"I expected better from you Miss Chase." she began, her eyes never leaving Annabeth's. " Avifors is only an elementary spell that does not require any prowess of magic. I want to see better from you in the future. Because you'll understand quickly that you cannot be a failure in Ravenclaw."

By the end of the speech, Annabeth had tears pooling in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She wouldn't show any weakness, not in front of her classmates, even less in front of her mother. So when the bell rang, Annabeth was already out the door when all of the others students only started to pack their supplies.

-{oOo}-

"Did you see the look on Chase's face ? That was a look of pure sadness." said Reyna, when they were walking to their next class.

"Well how would you feel if your mother humiliated you in front of all of the other students ? Even worse, Annabeth didn't do anything wrong. Sure, she didn't succeed at producing the spell. Like Leo and Rachel. But you don't see Professor Athena calling both of them failures." responded Percy.

"My mother wouldn't call me a failure even privately."

"That makes it worse for Annabeth then. Your mother is supposed to be the one to insult the teacher who called you a failure, not the other way around."

"To be fair, Professor Pallas is both Annabeth's mother and teacher at the same time-Wait what? Your mother insulted one of your teachers? In front of you? "

Percy chuckled. "Well no. However, she didn't stop me from calling Mrs. Dodds a huge pile of Minotaur's dump."

When Percy, Reyna, Frank and Grover entered the Great Hall that night, they found the place completly different. It was magnificent to say the least. Thousands of live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The group of friends all sat down at the Gryffindor table, (It wasn't an official feast, even though it seemed like it, so they didn't have to sit at their respective houses. But they didn't fail to notice the dirty look that Professor Pallas sent their way, and they simply couldn't bring themselves to care.)

Percy raises his head to look at the other tables, and he notices that some students are missing. Especially one in particular...

"Guys, did you notice that Annabeth isn't-" But suddenly, the feast appeared on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet. And Annabeth's case was longly forgotten.

Percy was filling his plate eagerly, his hunger had taken over and now there was just him and his growling stomach. The boy was already downing his second slice of ghostly pizza, when a loud noise was heard.

BAAM!

The doors of the Great Hall had been opened, and a boy with blonde hair, came sprinting towards the High table. He was wearing black robes and a deep green tie, so Percy assumed that the student came from Slytherin. The green-eyed boy also remarked that he had a long and thin scar, running down from his cheekbone to his chin. All heads were on the blond, and for a reason! That student just came running through the doors like his life depended on it. He reached the teacher's table and slumped against it, catching his breath.

"Mino- Minotau- the Minotaur - in the dungeons." he said, a gasp marking each word. "I came- as soon - as I - could." He then collapsed on the floor, still breathing heavily.

His words were enough to cause a panic amongst the students. Chairs were pushed back, and the teenagers only wanted to escape the Great Hall.

"ENOUGH !". Movement stopped. Professor Chiron's voice was enough to pull everyone out of their daze. "Mister Castellan," he said addressing the boy, that was still on the floor. "Would you mind telling me where exactly did you see the monster ?"

"Right- next to the- Slytherin's common- room."

"Good. Prefects," he said turning his head towards the students. "You will guide your housemates back to their respective dormitories. Slytherins, will go with the Ravenclaws for now. Teachers will follow me to the dungeons."

Percy was amazed at how Professor Chiron could keep a calm demeanor even in these stressful times.

"Gryffindors! Follow me, and stick close to each other! Nothing will happen to you if you stay behind me !" said Lee.

"How could a beast like that get into the castle?" asked Percy.

"I don't know. The school is supposed to be highly protected. How could something as huge come in, unnoticed ?" answered Reyna.

The Gryffindors were still following Lee Fletcher in a messy line. But when they were halfway towards the Gryffindor tower, Percy remembered a small detail that no one had paid attention to.

"Annabeth!" he whisper-shouted to Reyna, who was walking next to him. She immediately turned his head towards him, with a look of anger and annoyance in her eyes.

"Did you just call me Annabeth ?!"

"No stupid, I am talking about Annabeth! She wasn't at the feast."

"Yes I know that. I mean I heard by Bianca di Angelo, that she was crying in the bathroom all day. She even skipped some of her classes! And Gods know that Chase never skips. But what's your point here, Jackson ?"

"It means that she doesn't know about the Minotaur!"

"So ? What do you suggest we do ? The teachers are already in the dungeons, and it's so far from here. Besides, I wouldn't want to see this Beef face in real life."

"I wasn't talking about getting one of the teachers." Reyna seemed to grasp the meaning of Percy's words in half a second.

"Percy Jackson, don't you dare try to play the hero in this situation! If you don't get killed, you'll get expelled! And I'll make sure to do a speech at your funeral, explaining how your stupid brain or lack-there-of got you impaled by the sharp horns of the Human-bull ."

But Percy was having none of it.

"Don't you dare tell Fletcher where I went." he said, just before he bent down and pretended ro be tying his shoes. When the Gryffondors were at good distance ahead, he turned around and started running. Running. Running. Running. His footsteps echoed on the concrete, but he didn't stop his pace.

He didn't stop running until he heard two voices speaking with each other.

"You need me!" The first one said .

"Oh shut up, Castellan! I don't need anybody, I'm qualified enough to do this. You can't do anything kiddo, go back to your dorm." Percy recognized the second one as Professor Ares' low and grumpy voice. He remembered that 'Castellan' was the blonde haired boy who came running into the Great Hall. He probably wanted to help with the Minotaur, and Professor Ares was telling him that he couldn't do anything. But why wasn't Professor Ares with the other teachers ?

The voices were beginning to fade as the Slytherin and Professor were walking away, Percy then continued his journey towards the girls' bathroom, this time, more carefully.

He didn't stop until he reached the big wooden door of the girls' restroom. He considered knocking, but he told himself that with the circumstances, the sooner he got in, the sooner they would get away from the monster, so he grabbed the door's handle and turned it.

Annabeth was sitting on the floor of the bathroom. Her uniform was a mess, her tie, longly-forgotten, was on the floor next to her and her robes were soaked with what was presumably tears. Her eyes were red from crying and her face was flushed.

When she perceived the boy in front of her, her eyes widened and her ears warmed up.

"What the Hades are you doing here ?! Get out !"

"You'll hit me all you want later, now what we got to do is get out of here. Except if you want to become the Minotaur's snack, then I'll suggest you to keep your butt on the ground."

"What are you talking-"

Annabeth didn't even have the opportunity to finish her sentence, that a loud crash was heard, and then, a regular thumping sound resonated around the bathroom.

"This, is what I was talking about."

Percy then grabbed Annabeth's hand and pulled her towards the door of the bathroom that he opened loudly, not caring if he made noise. The first thing that he saw, were the hooves, he then proceeded to raise his head, and he was met with an even more horrifying sight. The thing was at least twelve foot high!

"It's even more disgusting than I thought." whispered Annabeth. The Minautor seemed to notice them at that moment, as he grunted before looking at the pupils in the eyes.

"I think he heard you. RUN!" screamed Percy.

Still hand in hand, the students ran down the corridor, then turned into another hallway where they still continued to scamper as fast as possible. Blood was thumping in Percy's ears, which was probably the reason why he didn't hear the Minotaur behind him. Or maybe not.

They continued to run until they couldn't anymore, and Percy couldn't process where they were. He struggled to catch his breath, and it was in these moments that he regretted skipping PE at his muggle school. But in his defense, Matt Sloan and his goonies had a very different definition of what a dodgeball game should be like. (Fun times).

"Uhhh, Percy..."

"A second, let me- catch-my breath." he said, a gasp accompanying each word.

"Percy, this is really urgent..."

"Yeah, I just need to-"

"Percy. Behind you."

The boy's eyes widened, and he slowly turned his head around, only to be faced by the terrifying son of Pasiphaë. The monster was smelling the air, a few yards away, his bronze axe shinning in the dim lighting of the corridor. At this instant, Percy remembered what his mother had told him. 'The Minotaur is a very ancient monster, Percy. He relies on his smell and only his smell to know where his victims are. His other senses are really bad.'

"I have a plan." stated Annabeth.

"A good one?"

"A plan." she repeated, before she continued. "I am going to distract it, while you try to find a way to kill it."

"Wait, what?"

But Annabeth was already in her position. "Hey, Beef-face! I am right here."

Percy thought that writing 'kill me please' on her forehead would be less risky than what she just did right now, and it probably would, after all the Minotaur has a terrible sight.

The Minotaure was focused on Annabeth right now, and the boy couldn't tell if it was good or bad for him.

Percy stood up from where he was collapsed on the floor, his breath was magically restored, and anger was bubbling up inside of him. Yes, maybe Annabeth wasn't the sweetest pea in the pot, and they weren't on the best of terms, but she still didn't deserve to be crushed by the ugly giant in front of him. So Percy didn't even think about what he was doing, before he started running towards the beast. The Minotaur was standing in front of Annabeth who was curled up in a ball on the floor. The monster raised his axe and readied itself to strike ,when Percy took off his red and gold tie and started moving it in the air. "Hey beef steak!"

That seemed to catch the Minotaur's attention, which was everything Percy wanted. The beast charged at him, it had forgotten about Annabeth so quickly that Pefcy considered himself lucky. The boy told himself that he'll dodge at the last moment. But that didn't exactly go as planned. The Minotaur was a lot faster than Percy expected, and his arms were wide open to catch him in whichever direction he ran in.

The Survivor couldn't run to the side, and the wall was directly behind him, so, he did the last thing that he could do. He ran forward and jumped.

He didn't plan on catching the weird thing around the Minotaur's neck. But he did anyway. After all, winging the Hades out of these situations were his specialty. And with a newfound strength, he hauled himself up to sit on the beast's shoulders.

The monster tried to shake him off, running and bucking like a rodeo bull. He could've backed up against the wall and transform Percy into a pancake, but the young boy realised that this thing knew only one gear: forward.

Percy grabbed one of the horns with both hands, wishing to steady himself. He then thought about all the wizards this beast had killed, about Annabeth who was staring at him with wide eyes from the floor, her mouth agape. He didn't want anybody else to go through grief because of this monster.

He tightened his hold on the horn, and pulled with all his might. CRACK!

The monster roared from the pain and reared up so hard, that Percy was thrown in the air. He landed on his back, his head hitting the cold amd dirty concrete. His vision was blurry, but the horn was still in his hands, a horn of the size of a knife, with a very sharp end.

Percy stood up, wincing at the sudden shot of pain coming from his head. He didn't hear the sound of footsteps that came from behind him, and even if he did, he wouldn't care.

The monster charged.

Percy didn't have time to think, so he rolled to the side and came up kneeling. The monster barreled past, and Percy raised the horn and stabbed the beast straight into his side, under his furry ribcage.

The bull-man screamed in despair, clawing at his chest, before exploding in golden dust.

And then, he was gone.

Percy had barely any time to register it before he collapsed on the ground, his head hitting the concrete a second time. The last thing he heard was a faint call, like if it arrived from very far away.

'Mister jackson.'

And then, everything went black.

Hey guys, how are you doing ?

As you can see, I'm still alive so that's positive, even though I have a history test tomorrow and I spent too much time writing this chapter instead of revising, so yeah...

Wish me luck.

That's it for this chapter, I wanted to use Grover at the beginning instead of Annabeth, but I couldn't think of a circumstance when he would cry all day in the bathroom instead of just telling his friends about it, so I just ended up using Annabeth.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. And I'll try to update soon, but until then,

Peace out!