Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Percy Jackson

A/N: Hello! I'm back, with another chapter to boot. By the way, I had uploaded the wrong chapter last time, but that should be fixed now. Anyway, we're slowly approaching the tournament! Yay!

Enjoy!

Chapter 8 - American Idiot

Percy POV

As we were leaving the dungeons, I felt a hand grip down on my shoulder. I spun around to find the snooty looking boy with blonde hair who I had flipped out at.

'So, what does the new Dark Lord have to gain from angering everyone they meet?' he drawled.

I smirked. 'Sorry, who are you?'

He looked offended. 'Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. Surely you have heard of me.'

'Nope,' I said, popping the 'p'. 'And I am no Dark Lord, nor a terrorist. Besides, what does it say about you that you want to associate with an evil sorcerer?'

Draco grew pink. 'You'll regret this Jackson!' He then turned to Potter. 'And don't forget my situation with you, Potter.' Like me, he popped the 'p'.

As he stormed off, I pulled out my Latin timetable. 'Care of Magical Creatures and Divination? Are they any good?'

Harry smirked. 'Care has a great teacher, and is interesting, but it's with Malfoy, but Divination is taught by a fraud. At least the homework is easy.'

I frowned at that. Was Malfoy really that bad? And what was Dumbledore doing employing a fraud?'

We made our way to the edge of the forest known as the Forbidden Forest, where we were met by a very large man, who Harry introduced as 'Hagrid'. By the looks of him, he was either half troll or giant. Probably giant.

'Ah, so you lo' are my new studen's, then,' he said, with a cheerful grin. 'You mus' be Mr Jack'on, Ms Chase an' Mr di Angelo. Any friend o' Harry is a friend o' me.'

Once he realised he was ignoring the rest of the class, he hastily turned back round. ''Ello, class. Now, I go' a special lesson for to'ay, an' they're qui'e prideful beas's, so I don' wan' a repeat o' las' year. Go' i'?' There was a mumble of acceptance. 'Now, I'll jus' go an' ge' 'em. Wai' 'ere.'

As he walked off, Malfoy strolled up to us, followed by a couple of lackeys. 'Well, well, well. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought the oaf would want a repeat of the Buckbeak incident.' Harry lunged at Percy, but I gripped his shoulder.

I pulled Riptide - in pen form - out of my pocket, and began twirling it through my fingers. 'Malfoy, Malfoy, Malfoy, I would shut up tight about now.'

He glared at me. 'Shut up, Jackson. This does not concern you.'

In the blink of an eye, I uncapped Riptide, and the blade was now pointed at Draco's throat. 'Oh, but Malfoy, I think it does. Now, how about you apologise to Mr Potter here, and back off?'

Malfoy gulped. 'Sorry, Potter,' he snarled. Walking off, I heard him mutter the words. 'American idiot.'

I smirked. 'Don't wanna be an American Idiot, one nation controlled by the media.'

Ron's eyes widened. 'That was that song again, right?'

I grinned. 'Yup,' I said, once more popping the 'p'.

Soon, Hagrid had returned, followed by several creatures, obscured by the trees.

Grinning, he addressed the class. ''Ere we 'ave Godric and 'is friends. They're Gryffi's.' Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no. 'Say 'ello, Godric.'

There was a shriek, and the first gryffin crept forward. It's main body was that of a lion, with the front claws and head being that of a rust-coloured eagle. It's eyes seemed to narrow upon me, sword still uncapped, before it gave a shriek of outrage.

You see, griffins really don't like me. Not only are they monsters, but the brain is mostly that of an eagle - Zeus' sacred bird. As such, they all want to see me as one thing - lunch. As such, I was not surprised when it charged.

The entire pack surged as one, zeroing in on my location. I rolled out of the way, slamming my stopwatch to unfold my shield. They recoiled from the sight of it, before starting a predatory circling of me.

'Don' hur' 'em!' Hagrid cried out. 'I'll come ge' 'em ou'.' Huh. He may be a nice friend, but he was no great teacher if he put the lives of his pets above his students. I, however, decided to humour him.

As the first bird charged, I tensed up, before kicking off of the ground. I planted a shoe in between the bird's eyes, launching myself into the air. Backflipping, I watched as it careened into a tree, knocked out cold. One down, four to go.

I flipped Riptide round in my hand, purely a showy move to antagonise a beast. It worked.

The second to face me was warier than the first, slowly inching towards me. We circled around each other in predatory stances. I saw the bird tense, before it pounced on me. I swatted it away with the flat of my blade, leaving it sprawled out on the grass. Three left.

The next two came together, one from either end. They charged as one, and I rolled out of the way, allowing them to charge right into one another, knocking each other out cold.

The final one, Godric, was the wariest. For a good minute, we stood circling. It then tensed, and I swiped up my sword to bat it away. This time, however, the gryffin dodged backwards, effectively feinting. It then lunged at me, sword still mid swing, before sinking it's beak into my right arm.

My arm exploded into pain. Riptide slid from my grip as I tumbled backwards. The beast's two front talons dug into my chest, leaving deep, bleeding wounds as it raked across my chest.

Using my final ounce of energy, I gave a scream of determination and fury, slamming my shield into the side of the beast. It went limp, toppling to the side.

I started to push myself up, ignoring the pool of crimson blood that had formed beneath me. 'I'm alright,' I drawled. And then I blacked out.

Nico POV

I sat with Annabeth in the infirmary, looking at the unconscious Percy. His robes were stained crimson and he sported several deep wounds, but we had thus far been unable to supply him with ambrosia or nectar, for the nurse, Madam Pomfrey, was very insistent about the healing being done 'by the book'. What a fool.

Due to the incident, we had been excused from divination, and spent the time making idle talk and watching over Percy. Mainly, though, we were waiting for either Percy or the Golden Trio.

It was Harry's group that arrived first, joining us in watching Percy.

'How is he doing?' Hermione asked. 'His injuries looked pretty severe.'

'Yes,' Annabeth grumbled. 'That idiot has no sense of self preservation.'

At her horrified look, I added 'but he'll be fine after these potions, and possibly some, uh, demigod healing stuff.'

She relaxed after that. 'Is he like this a lot? Because you don't seem too worried.'

Annabeth grimaced. 'Unfortunately. It's an occupational hazard for demigods. Problem is, Seaweed Brain here gets into a lot of danger.'

Ron snorted. 'It seems we have found someone who can beat your track record, Harry.

I frowned. 'Hang on, this shouldn't be possible.'

Hermione frowned as well. 'Shouldn't be possible? You said he's like this a lot.'

I nodded. 'He is. But last summer, when we were preparing for an invasion, he went through the extremely dangerous process of bathing in the River Styx in order to get the Achilles' Curse.'

Annabeth's eyes widened. 'You're right!' She turned to our wizarding companions. 'You guys know the story of Achilles, right?'

Hermione nodded. 'The Greek soldier who is invincible apart from his heel?'

Annabeth nodded. 'Yeah. Well, Achilles was bathed in the Styx for that. Percy did the same thing, and from then on, he had invincible skin, apart from on a small, secret spot.' She frowned. 'And his arm is not that spot, and neither is his chest. So how is he…'

She did not finish that sentence, however, for she was interrupted by groaning.

'My eyes feel like they're gonna bleed,' Percy quoted, giving a tired smile. 'Dried up and bulging out of my skull, my mouth is dry, my face is numb.'

He was tackled to the bed by Annabeth, hugging him.

'Ow ow ow,' he groaned. 'My wounds must be bad.'

Annabeth punched him over the shoulder. 'Idiot! You could easily have dispatched them!'

He grinned sheepishly. ' I didn't want to hurt his feelings.' He paused, before continuing. 'A seven nation army couldn't hold me back.'

It was my turn to punch him. 'That's the second time you've made light of your injuries!'

He smirked. 'Help me up, I need to fetch some Ambrosia.'

Madam Pomfrey, however, heard him, and came over, glaring. 'Oh no you don't, you need rest and a series of potions!'

Percy snorted. 'Miss, with all due respect, I can take care of myself. Under these options, how long will I have to wait before I am fine to go around with bandages and a sling?'

Madam Pomfrey thought for a moment. 'A week.'

Percy looked her straight in the eyes. 'With ambrosia and jumping in the Black Lake, I could be doing that in an hour. Without the sling. I'd still need the bandages, though.'

Madam Pomfrey sighed. 'Fine. But I want you to return in an hour to prove it.

Percy POV

We stumbled over to the lake, where I submerged myself for a little while. I relaxed, feeling the pain numb and my blood replenished. I waited as my wounds began to re-knit.

I crawled out of the water, and lay panting, analysing the wounds I had left. My ribs were broken, and I had a slight fracture on my shoulder. My chest wounds were still open, and my arm was barely closed.

'OK, Nico, can you take us to the tower?' I asked.

He nodded, and shadows collapsed on our group of six.

I felt the bone chilling rush of shadow travel, the familiar feeling like my skin was peeling off my face, and tried to shut out the sounds of tortured souls.

I stumbled to my bed, grasping at a small box, full of ambrosia squares. I heard the wizards and Annabeth retching behind me, and I saw Nico collapse onto his bed, panting. I swallowed down a square of the godly food. I sighed as I felt my wounds begin to heal, the wounds on my chest beginning to close up. I wrapped my chest up in medical bandages, before turning round to face my peers. And that's when I realised we weren't alone.

Standing in the centre of the room was a tanned man in his early twenties, with brilliant blonde hair and golden sunglasses. He wore an obnoxious two piece suit made of gold sequins, and shining black shoes.

'Cousin!' he cried out.

Harry frowned. 'Is this guy your mortal or godly cousin? Cause he seems kinda familiar...'

Ignoring him, I answered the man in question. 'Hello, Apollo. I assume you are here for more than a simple chat.'

Flashing a glowing mile, he outstretched his arms. 'Can I not simply want to visit my baby cousin?'

I raised an eyebrow.

He raised his hands in surrender. 'All right, all right. But I'm not here on questy business. No, I heard your plea from earlier!'

I frowned. 'My… plea?'

He grinned again. 'I have taken a certain interest in you, young man.' Uh oh. 'Ever since that Green Day incident, I've been keeping a very close eye on you!'

Nico raised an eyebrow. 'Green Day incident?'

Apollo grinned. 'Yeah, last winter! Didn't he mention it?'

I glared at him. 'No. And you won't either.'

Apollo gave a sheepish grin. 'Well, throughout winter last year, he and Thalia had been trailing a rogue monster, a basilisk in fact. They ended up in Oklahoma, where Green Day were having a concert. Well, after weeks in the wilderness, Percy's hair had grown quite long, and he was tall enough to pass as an adult, so Tré Cool ended up mistaking him for Billie Joe. One thing leads to another, and Percy was on stage with two of Green Day, all dressed up as Billie, while the real Billie was arguing with a bodyguard. And all this was going on while Thalia was struggling with the basilisk!'

Annabeth snorted. 'Did Thalia get to meet them? You know she's a fan.'

I smirked. 'No, she didn't, and she forbade me from ever mentioning it again because that annoyed her. What's worse is I actually got their number, because they were so impressed, and am actually in regular contact with them.'

Nico snorted. 'Gods, Percy, she must have hated that. When did they find out?'

I grinned sheepishly. 'During 'Basket Case'. They dragged me out by the feet - while I was still holding onto the microphone - during the lines 'Grasping to control / so I better hold on'.'

Apollo grinned once more. 'That entertained Olympus for about a month.'

I glared at him. 'Can we get back on track?'

He looked apologetic. 'Sorry cousin, lost in nostalgia. Anyway, all that is irrelevant, except it is how I heard your plea! WIthout you bemoaning the loss of your guitar, I wouldn't have heard! Ha-ha!'

Harry snapped his fingers. 'Lockhart!'

Apollo frowned. 'Excuse me?'

'You're Lockhart,' he insisted. 'But you got hit by a memory charm!'

He frowned. 'Lockhart, Lockhart, ah! Lockhart! The charming celebrity of the Wizarding World. Except I couldn't be bothered to do any real achievements, so I stole from other people!'

'But you were hit by a memory charm!'

'Pff,' Apollo waved. 'Pathetic little things compared to us gods!'

'Whoa, time out,' Nico burst in. 'How do you guys know each other? In fact, how does Harry know a god at all?'

'I was incognito,' Apollo said.

'He was my fraudulent teacher,' Harry muttered.

'Hey,' he shrugged. 'It's not fraud if it's incognito.'

'Yes it is!' Hermione yelled.

'Is it?' Apollo frowned. 'Okay then, it's not fraud if you're a god.'

'Yes it is!' Annabeth yelled.

'That's creepy,' Harry muttered. 'Two Hermione's.

'Anyway,' Apollo said, ignoring the others. 'Your plea!'

'As I said,' I gritted my teeth. 'I did not make a plea.'

'Yes you did, and I quote: 'I could do with a little extra to fend off the boredom.''

'Oh no,' Nico muttered. 'Well done, Perce, you've doomed us to an eternity of Haikus.'

'What's wrong with Haikus?' Apollo asked, genuinely confused. 'But no, I had help to give you the perfect combat distraction.' He paused. 'Though if you do want a haiku…'

'THANK YOU,' Nico interrupted. 'Can you just tell us what this 'distraction' is?'

'Yup,' Apollo smiled. 'It was designed by me, my little sister, Ares and Athena! You'll love it!'

'Well,' Annabeth muttered. 'At least two people with brains designed this.'

'Anyway,' Apollo continued, either ignoring or misinterpreting Annabeth's insult. Probably the latter, come to think of it. 'Throughout the year, the school will have four combat challenges, for anyone who wishes to enter. The first will be in five weeks, after the second challenge. It shall be a grand game of Capture the Flag, spanning the entire school. I will be present to judge, and will then announce the second challenge. Train well. I'm just gonna go and announce it to the rest of the school.' There was an audible crack, and he vanished.

'Wha…' Harry began.

'YO, WASSUP?' Apollo's voice yelled, echoing through the school. 'IT'S YOUR GODLY BOY, APOLLO! ARE YOU INTERESTED IN FAME? GLORY? GOLD? WELL YOU'RE IN LUCK! I AM HOLDING THE GRAND APOLLO GAMES, A SET OF FOUR CHALLENGES THROUGHOUT THE YEAR TO TEST YOUR COMBAT AND TACTICS! THE FIRST SHALL BE IN FIVE WEEKS, AND WILL BE A GAME OF CAPTURE THE FLAG! SIGN UP TO EITHER TEAM HADES, LEAD BY NICO DI ANGELO AND HERMIONE GRANGER, OR TEAM POSEIDON, LEAD BY PERSEUS JACKSON AND ANNABETH CHASE! TRAIN WELL! THE WINNING TEAM SHALL RECEIVE 100 DRACH… SORRY, GALLEONS EACH, AND THAT IS JUST THE FIRST BATTLE! I WILL ANNOUNCE THE SECOND ONCE THE FIRST IS COMPLETE! AND NOW, I SHALL LEAVE YOU WITH A GODLY GIFT! AHEM:

MY FAVOURITE COUSIN,

I GIVE YOU THIS AWESOME GIFT,

I AM SO AWESOME!'

There was a second crack, and silence returned.

'What,' Hermione said at last. 'Was that?'

'Apollo,' I shrugged.

'First,' Hermione said. 'His poetry is awful.'

'Agreed,' muttered Nico.

'And two…' she gasped for breath. 'WHY AM I LEADING AN ARMY?'

A/N: Good? I hope so. To be honest, after a bit of trying, Harry Potter fics don't seem to be my forte. Don't worry! I will finish this one, Harry Potter-Malfoy and Boy in the Back Garden, I'm just going to, well, speed up a bit. I've also added a new challenge from Apollo, because that's what I like to write. After these ones are done, I will be moving over solely to the PJO fandom, and I have a lot of ideas, and will be releasing them soon.

Please review or PM! They are the fuel my engine of imagination runs on! Also, please check out my other fics.

See you next month on the 8th of November. By-ye!