Disclaimer: I don't own HP/PJO/HoO
Yay a new chapter! Sorry I left everyone on a cliffhanger for what, 2 months? 3? Whatever :)
So, answering a question about why I'm rewriting: I don't write on paper. My handwriting's a mess. I wrote this when i first started on and I've improved since then and I left it on a cliffhanger and stuff so I'm coming back to rewrite but I needed to remember what I was writing again so...yeah. XP
Hermione's POV
After the Yule Ball excitement, it was a bit of a relief to have the Christmas holiday. Harry told Ron, Neville, Ginny, Luna, and I about how Percy had told him that some of the New World students would be going home and not coming back for the spring term. They'd come just because they might be picked as champions but now that Percy was the champion, they saw no reason to stay when there were other things they had to do back in America.
"I expect it's too much to ask for so many of them to all stay here, they said their school isn't nearly as big as ours and both the California side and the New York side combined would have around the same number of students as there are in Hogwarts." Ginny said.
I showed them my ever-growing list. "It's rather odd though that they can simply spend a single summer at their school and then go to a Muggle school during the school year."
"Blimey, they don't get breaks?" Ron gasped. "They ruin good food, they don't have holidays...I say, I don't think I'd care to have to be one of them!"
"Yeah but they're really powerful." Neville put in.
"But they don't seem to fancy reading English and they're from America." Harry said. "And if they're so powerful, why do some of them go to Muggle school?"
"It's weird, alright, but we can't just go around keeping an eye on them during holidays." Ron said, stuffing a Chocolate Frog into his mouth. "Let's just enjoy the fact Harry's still alive-Oh nice, it's one of the new cards!"
Harry leaned over to see. "Lucky! I got another Dumbledore, I have a whole bunch of him ."
The conversation rapidly switched to comparing Chcolate Frog cards after that and no more discussion of the matter occurred.
(linebreak)
The holidays flew by. Fred and George (and Peeves) played pranks on nearly everyone, we visited Hagrid a few times, and more or less managed to evade Malfoy and his friends. I even spent some quality time in the library. Occasionally we'd see the New World students walking around. Once Ron, Harry, and I walked in on Percy and Annabeth smogging in a secret corridor.
We quickly left them alone. I can't say as much for some of their frineds, though...
(linebreak)
"The second task is coming up, and you still haven't cracked the clue?" I asked Harry, who just shruged and mumbled something like "I've been trying".
I didn't believe him one bit.
"You've got to solve it fast, you don't have much time." I told him.
"I know, but-"
"Hey Harry!" Cedric yelled from behind us. Harry turned as Cedric jogged up.
He glanced at me before asking, "Uh...mind if we talk privately...?"
I quickly left.
I kept on walking, with no destination in mind, until I got to the lake. And lo and behold, one Annabeth Chase was waiting there, pacing back and forth. When she saw me, she smiled weakly. "Hi Hermione."
"Hullo." I looked around but saw no sign of her friends. "You look...nervous...Are you alright?"
"Well, yes and no..." She sighed. "It's...complicated. Apparently the second task is...well, Percy didn't give details but he said he, Professor Brunner, and the other Heads had to go to a meeting because if Percy competes in the second task things are going to get really unfair between him and the others with his specialty. He told me to wait here but..." Annabeth cast a longing look at the castle.
"You're worried."
"Yeah. He has to compete, it's a binding obligation, but if he does the whole competition isn't even a competition."
Just then, Percy came jogging down the hill. At the same time, Harry appeared through one of the etnrances to the castle.
"Looks like our champions are here. I should probably leave you two." I told Annabeth. "Hopefully it's good news."
"Thanks." Annabeth said, as I went to join Harry, who looked beyond excited and immediately dragged me off to find Ron.
Annabeth's POV
"So what did they say?" I asked Percy, who shrugged.
"Well, we're switching champions."
"What?"
"Apparently rules are slightly...different...for our school."
"What do you mean?" I was highly intrigued, but Percy shook his head.
"Can't say. But you'll find out at dinner."
I could not get a single answer out of that seaweed brain all afternoon.