Chapter X: Year's just begun, but I already know it's a fail
Annabeth walked over with what seemed like confidence. She stepped forward from the crowd, which had once again gone silent, and sat down on the stool. She had a brief eye contact with Percy before the hat was place on her head, covering her slightly covering her sight. She waited for the hat to shout out a house name, when surprisingly, it spoke.
'Interesting….' Said the hat. Her eyes widened when she realized that it wasn't speaking out loud but was directly speaking into her mind. 'What?' she thought cautiously. The hat answered.
'Your mind…. Very impressive, how much its hardened. From the small glimpses I saw…. Incredible. But for me to properly sort you, you must lower your guard.'
Her guard. She had never really thought that she had put one up, but in all her years as a demigod, she figured one should have been made. She focused on her mind. At the very back, she felt a gentle tinge coming as if someone was trying to open the door in her mind. Annabeth let the door open. Memories flooded in and spread before her eyes.
The spiders when she was just a baby. The runoff at seven. Thalia's last stand. Her first quest. Luke's betrayal. The sea of monsters. Holding the sky. After the explosion at St. Helens, thinking that Percy was gone forever. The war against the titans. Discovering a pantheon that was just as dangerous as theirs.
It did not stop there.
The 8 months when Percy was torn away from her. The mark of Athena. Arachne. Every horror she'd faced inside the pit…. Tartarus. Being the presence of actual fear itself, with no plans and only Piper by her side. The battle against Giants. Going up against Gaea at Camp Half-Blood. Leo's sacrifice.
'Stop….' She wailed in her head. Her head felt like it might burst.
Knowing that Magnus had been missing for years, and that Randolph had kept it hidden. Thinking that Magnus died.
Losing Jason (Her heart really did stop at this point.).
And finally, to this day, where she and the love of her life plunging into another quest, with a high chance of death. Her weakest memories passed before her eyes in a simple blink of an eye. The pain from reliving the old scars did not. Annabeth now felt nothing but a desire to run to Percy and pour everything out.
The hat, which was moving just seconds before, had stopped stock still.
'Oh….' Its voice was so much gentler and softer, just a mere whisper into her mind.
'Now I see. The gods have sent you here. You were a demigod. So that was the reason for so much pain you had at such a young age. The bravery and strength you have shown is beyond anyone I have ever seen. Powers you possess are beyond my understandings. You, Miss Annabeth Chase, are truly a hero.'
She could not cry. Not now. Her heart felt like it was shattering into a million pieces never to be put back again. But she didn't sway or show signs of distress; she could not get Percy worried. She forced her body to remain in the tall, regal posture.
'I am very sorry, Miss Chase.' The hat spoke with hushed respect. 'I did not know your memories would be so extreme. I was simply trying to do my job. I…. I will sort you quickly and let you take some time for yourself. My deepest apologies. Words cannot express my condolences.'
'Please….' It came out before she had the chance to think properly. 'Not Percy. I can keep it in, barely, but this will break Percy. Shatter him to his core. You can't let this happen to him…. Please, you have seen all his exploits here. I beg of you, please don't let him relive his memories like mine…..' Her words ached with desperation. The hat sat in silence for a few moments.
'Of course, Miss Chase. It will be a great honor.' Its brim quivered slightly, before it started speaking again, this time with more confidence and hiding the broken sounds in its voice.
'And now, to the matter of your house…. You are loyal to those you care about, and you are a hardworking, good-hearted person that could easily be sorted into Hufflepuff.' Annabeth could tell the hat was cautiously choosing its words.
'But at times needed, you are incredibly cunning and sly, as well as willing to break rules for those around you, a Slytherin's best trait. Courage and bravery you possess is beyond any Gryffindor I have ever sorted.' It took a short pause.
'However,….' It spoke. 'Beyond anything, your strongest trait is your wisdom. The cleverness and desire to learn…. Rowena Ravenclaw herself was one of the few mortals your mother ever declared as her favorite. She would be honored to have you in her house. And so…. It better be-'
"RAVENCLAW!" The hat shouted at the entirety of the Great Hall. Annabeth took the hat off gently and watched as the color of her tie turn blue, as well as the turned-up part of her robes. Listening to the polite clapping sounds coming from the sea of blue, she took one last glance at Percy before moving over to join those of her house.
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Annabeth pulled herself together. This was the time to make first impressions; crying won't help. Like she did every time on the Argo II, she forced herself to focus on the task ahead. Looking at the past would break her.
She sat down right next to the two first years that had been sorted before her. One was the blonde girl who had been sorted first, and a black-haired boy with glasses. The girl was obviously excited about something and seemed to be quite friendly, for she immediately started up a conversation with her.
"Hi!" said the girl. "I'm Hailey, Hailey Abner, and this is William Backford. Nice to meet you!" The boy nodded next to her. Annabeth smiled in a friendly manner and shook the hand Hailey stuck out.
"Nice to meet you as well. I'm Annabeth Chase."
"Your tongue's a bit different from ours. Are you from another country, perhaps?"
"I'm from Northern America. The States, to be exact."
"Interesting." William suddenly spoke up. "How's the American magic society? Do you call muggles no-majes, being from America and all? Personally, I have an utmost interest in the subject of the Salem Witch trials of 1692-"He continued to rant on about the American wizarding society, lost in his own world. William seemed to even have forgotten that he had asked her a question. Confused, Annabeth looked at Hailey. She grinned and shook her head.
"He's been like that to me too. Apparently, he is quite interested in history. Well…. A bit more than just quite. What about you? Interested in any subject particular?"
"Oh, um, Transfiguration?"
"Transfiguration! Great subject."
"And you?"
"Me? Well, if I had to pick one, I'd say potions. My mom and dad were both potioneers. They first met at a potions club in Ravenclaw, in fact! But I'm not interested in anything particularly. The hat doubted whether I should be in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, but I guess here I am!"
Annabeth was about to respond when a name caught her ears.
"EVANS, LILY!"
"Wait, Hailey, can you pause for a minute? I think my friend's about to be sorted."
"Ooh, that Evans girl? What does she look like? Have you known her for long? Because-"
"Hailey…. Just for a moment. Please?"
"Sorry, sorry."
"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat roared as soon as it touched the tip of her head. She didn't even get a chance to properly look at her before it did. She clapped along with the Gryffindor crowd and smiled at Lily when their eyes met. Lily smiled wide in her direction before she joined her fellows at her new house.
Annabeth listened to Hailey's excited rants and answered to it once in a while as she kept watching the sorting. E wasn't too far from a letter that was most important to her.
"SLYTHERIN!" "HUFFLEPUFF!" "SLYTHERIN!" "GRYFFINDOR!" it went on and on.
"RAVENCLAW!" the hat finally shouted, and Annabeth clapped along as a smug looking boy walked over and sat down next to William. She was about to introduce herself with Hailey to him when a name she recognized extremely well rang out.
"JACKSON, PERSEUS!"
Her heart started beating.
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Percy walked over with some uncertainty. He tried to make himself look as confident as Annabeth did, only to fail miserably and walk in awkward steps. He sat down on the stool as Professor McGonagall placed the hat on his head.
'Ah.' It spoke into his mind. He nearly yelped out loud. Never had he expected it to…. Talk into his mind. 'Umm…. Hi?' He said cautiously.
'So this is the famed hero.' It spoke. Chills crept up and his hands twitched toward the pocket of his school robes. 'How…. In Hades could you possibly know about that?' Every word dripped of warning and alarm.
'Do calm down. I have only spoken to your friend, that's what.' Oh, right. Annabeth had been sorted before him. He exhaled and slunk into the seat.
'Let us see…. Your mind is hardened as well. But…. Nothing of much importance.' Percy frowned under the hat. He'd heard enough voices to know that this hat was lying. It wasn't used to it, seeing how it rapidly tried to change the subject, and hasty voices urging him to move on. He was about to ask it further when the hat quickly cut him up.
'Hey, what-'
'Let us see…. Your loyalty and justice lie well beyond others. You could easily be a Hufflepuff, yet you are nowhere close to patient and hardworking, the mottos of the house. However, cunning and sly…. Wise, and have a passion for knowledge…. That does not exactly fit you, does it? But the bravery you have shown, the power you possess, and the courage that you uphold…. This will be the best house for you. And so, it shall be-'
"GRYFFINDOR!" It roared, and the table at the very left exploded into a roaring applause, a starburst of red and gold. He watched as his uniform took on the red hue of the Gryffindor house. Percy walked over to the table and he glanced at where Annabeth should be. She was smiling and clapping along with the Gryffindor crowd. She made the gesture 'Go on' and nudged him to the table.
As he did, he felt uncomfortable. Why would the hat be hiding something and lying to him? Questions spun in his head. He shook it off, at least for now. He was going to be surrounded by these people for seven whole years (Again, THANKS A LOT), and he wanted to make good impressions. Percy made another note to tell this to Annabeth later.
When he arrived at the table, the lions cheered and shifted around to make some room for him. As he did, he spotted Lily smiling and gesturing for him to sit down next to her. Grinning, he sat down in between her and the other guy, Brandon Something.
"Yes! I was so disappointed when Annabeth and I were separated, but you are here!" said Lily brightly. "Sure am! Pretty bummed out that Annabeth is in Ravenclaw, but hey, you're here." He replied, a bit of false cheeriness in his voice.
He knew they'd be separated, and needed to be, but it hurt still.
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Before going into Hogwarts, and before they ever left Evermore road, they had decided to be separated. It was just the day after they had come back from Diagon Alley when she had dropped the bomb.
"I think…. We should be separated." His heart dropped. "What…. What do you mean? Please, what have I-"
"No, no. Not a breakup," She said hastily, grabbing his hand. "At school, I mean."
That calmed him down, just a little, bit, but his confusion only grew. "But…. Didn't we already decide to keep our relationship a secret? What do you mean by separated?"
"From what I've gathered, there are four houses in the school: Gryffindor, Professor McGonagall's house, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw. They apparently get sorted somehow and are put into separate houses." She picked up a book, flipped to a certain page, and held it up for him to see. On the page, It said things about the four houses of Hogwarts, and about its history.
"It says here," She pointed to a line in the book. "that we get sorted into these four houses, and we don't get to choose our houses. Since there are mottos and traits that a house requires, I think we'll be tested somehow to see which house we belong to."
"And so….?"
"And so, let's use this as an advantage. Let's purposely get into different houses, so we can cover more ground and spread farther. That's what I meant by separating. Breakup? Never."
"…. But I don't want to…. I want to be with you, and that's the only reason I accepted this quest."
"Percy, we'll meet up. Every night, every free time we get, and lessons we have together. If Hecate wanted us to finish this magic school, Circe must have had something to do with the school as well. We need a large network if we want to catch her and finish this."
Percy closed his eyes and bit his lip. Annabeth's word made every sense, but he wanted to reject it so badly. It was one thing to keep their relationship hidden; it was worse to be separated throughout the whole school year.
But of course, in the end, he had to give it in. Because it made sense-too much sense, really-, it was likely to happen (See how different he and Annabeth is. If he weren't the one deciding who goes to which house, it was hopeless), and Annabeth came up with at least twelve ways for them to meet up when they did, he couldn't help but.
He didn't like the plan much then, and he most certainly didn't like it now.
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"Hate him." Lily muttered next to him, bringing him back to reality. She was staring at a boy walking over with confidence to the stool up the front. The hat had barely touched his hair when it roared "GRYFFINDOR!" At the top of its lungs (Well, nonexistent lungs, but still). Lily made a disgusted frown and did not join in the applause as the boy skipped over.
He sat down on the benches and high fived with the boy from earlier- the boy who had caused an uproar between the students. He darted around, spotted Lily, and grinned wide. "Hey, you're that girl from earlier on the train, right?" The other boy, Sirius Black was it? Turned in their direction as well. "Oh yes, the Slytherin snake lover's friend from earlier. Glad at least you had sense to come to Gryffindor."
"Glad you had the sense mate, to come to this noble house instead of being one of those pureblood scums. The only sensible Black everyone!" The boy said, and students clapped along with him as the black-haired boy put up a smug look. Lily scrunched up her nose and turned away in disgust.
Percy, who had no real problem with them, decide to keep neutral. He didn't turn away, but for Lily's sake, he did not talk to them first. It was they who talked to him.
"And your name, good sir?" He asked, smiling. "I'm James, James Potter. This is Sirius B-"
"I'd rather not have that name said, thanks."
"-lack (James….), Who prefers to be called as Sirius only! Now, your name was….?"
"Uh, Percy Jackson."
"Oh ho! Strange accent you have! Where are you from? Not around here, I guess." James Potter was extremely enthusiastic and bright. Percy was pretty sure that this guy had an extreme case of ADHD.
"Well, I'm from New York. Or should I say California? I've really been back and forth between the two. That's why my accent is different….?" At that, the two boys' eyes began to shine with interest. They exchanged glances between each other until at last, James draped an arm over his shoulders.
"Well, if that's the case…. You, mate, have got to stick with us if you want a proper dose of the British magical world. Right, Sirius?" Sirius curtly nodded. He too was smiling, though it was only a slight one. The look of mischief in both their eyes was as intense as the ones in the Stoll brothers' eyes back home.
That sparked a bit of interest in him. He knew kindred spirits when he saw one.
"Percy!" Lily hissed behind him. "Must you talk to those two?"
"Oh, um, Lily…." said Percy, sweating as he realized that these guys were on the bad side with Lily.
"So your name was Lily!" James interjected. Lily scowled viciously, but he didn't seem to care in the slightest bit. "You know, you really shouldn't hang out with Snivellus there (A few people sniggered. Percy's grin wavered). Why not hang out with people, like us or Percy here for example?"
Her eyes were cold as ice. "I'd rather get expelled than do so."
"Suit yourself! But you're going to regret it real soon." He said, shrugging. "A Gryffindor should know better than to hang out with…. Slytherins there."
Sirius, nodding along with James, gestured to Severus, who had been sorted into Slytherin like he'd said and was walking over to his table. Lily shot glances full of extreme hatred before turning around to face in Severus's direction. She clapped for him, and Percy could see Snape smiling slightly. He clapped along with her a bit uncertainly.
He looked at Lily's turned back, then at the new guys. His head ached already from the rickety relationship they held. Percy seriously missed Annabeth now-She was good at dealing with these kinds of things.
He could almost see his school year falling apart already, and it hadn't even passed an hour since he'd been here.
A deep sigh escaped his lips.
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Crash!
All there was left on the floor was pieces of shattered glass. A woman with dark hair and mad green eyes stood over the fragments. The golden tie in her braided hair was nearly undone at this point. Magic, uncontrollable magic swirled around her.
Circe looked at the cracked mirror at her feet. The mirror showed the two demigods she hated the most out of all stepping into the doors of Hogwarts, then the mirror fading showing nothing but her own form.
"HECATE….!" She screamed. She kicked the mirror, shattering it further. This was that miserable goddess's doing. She cannot reach them once they were inside the castle; the place was too infested in the magic goddess's powers. Harming the foolish half-bloods there would be declaring a war straight at her face.
She gritted her teeth hard, so hard that it could break. All of this because that puny Chase girl had disrupted her spell! If all had gone as planned, she would have been as immortal as Hecate and have no trouble doing so. In fact, if it were set right, she wouldn't have to be in this idiotic era at all.
Her hate for the two demigods only grew. So far, revenge plan, her master plan, and her newly reformed plan had all failed. Why, WHY did they have to go to Hogwarts of all places? Hairs were pulled out in sheer frustration.
She screamed to the high skies. Her plans were pushed back even further, and her time to carry it out would be limited. All because of them, foiling her yet again. Circe wanted to curse them so hard, but she knew she couldn't touch them, or else her plan could never be fulfilled. She was stuck, absolutely stuck.
Revenge, she thought as she finally calmed down after several more hours of breaking, tearing, and screaming. Oh, it would be so sweet. Her plan needed a massive retouch, but she could wait as she chewed the idea over and over in her mouth.
Circe changed her thoughts. She had been working alone all the way to this day, but if the demigods were at Hogwarts, she needed another person to work for her.
She would need to get herself a new pawn.
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You all hadn't forgotten about Circe, have you? She's finally out again, only to go back within a few paragraphs. Sorry not sorry, Circe! ;)
What do you think about the new cover? Annabeth came out a bit weird, so it can easily change again if I ever feel the need. But hey, it's the best I have, at least for now.
Wow, amazing, this trash of a author is finally starting the story after 10 chapters. What kind of a author am I? I've been dragging this far too long. From next chapter, I'm gonna try and get the storyline trotting along faster, so one episode doesn't last too long. Year one will properly begin starting next chapter, and the plot will finally start going somewhere. Be on the lookout for the next update!
For a bit more information about this chapter, the hat spoke to them differently as it did for Harry because it knew there was something different about them. To avoid spoilers, I won't go in too deep, but it realized that they weren't ordinary beings. The reason for the hat holding up a more polite gesture towards them is because it had seen Annabeth's memories. As for the memories, it saw more than just traits because Annabeth opened herself up wide, and because demigods had a more powerful effect on the hat.
A bit too much information, maybe, but I felt the need to clarify incase anyone was wondering.
Now to your lovely reviews:
-noobsalive: Aha! So that was the 'first' comment last chapter. Mystery solved! Thank you for reviewing as always. Did you enjoy your holidays? Hope you did. First comment always means a lot to me because it's the first encouragement I read for each chapter. Stick with me to the very end of this story, if you please, and I'll see you again (I hope) in the next chapter!
-Callum Runchman: Spot-on! Of course I thought Ravenclaw was the best for Annabeth. As for Percy, I seriously considered putting him in Hufflepuff. But hard working...? This may be so, but patience...? Nah. Gryffindor house also values loyalty, though not as much as Hufflepuff, it does, and it also values bravery and courage, some of Percy's best traits. A slight bit of the marauders' reactions were shown this chapter. Hope it wasn't too ooc! There were some little clues I dropped last chapter. Be on a lookout for them as you continue to read on! Thanks for reviewing every chapter. You are the best reader an author could hope for!
-Just Me: A little Christmas treat, three uploads in three days! The updating schedule will come back to normal now though, sorry! The cliffhanger last chapter was fully intended. Hope it left all of you anticipating for the next chapter, but it probably didn't. Still, I just wish this was satisfying enough to make up for your wait, and thanks for reviewing, as always.
-AnitaCieWita: AmaZHANG! I really love Frank. I love all the seven, actually, but there are traits of each that I love in particular. Isn't he so cuddly and adorable? I smile reading Frazel chapters in the book. Thank you so much for the kind words. In fact, my need WAS given to me. I made it in to the place I've always wanted to go. Maybe it's thanks to your generous wishing. I hope your wishes all came true as well, and hope you enjoy this chapter too. Thanks for reviewing!
I got successful results from my important interview, and made it in! Due to that, updates might need to be slowed down more for me to prepare for the days to come. But I promise you that if I ever need a rest stop, I'll let you know beforehand. And I'm not abandoning this story, unless something big happens and I can't anymore. I'll alert you when it does.
Thank you everyone for following, reviewing, and marking this as a favorite! Please continue to do so, because it's a huge motivation for the author here.
Next chapter will mark the beginning of the real plot. Stay tuned!
edit: Had this edited after Callum Runchman (Thank you)'s comment! It does seem like the relationship change was sudden, and it looks awkward now that I reread it. Had it edited, and hopefully this version makes more sense. Thanks for reading, everyone, and shoutouts to Callum Runchman for pointing this out for me!
-Claire-