Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HP. And no, I can't do cool disclaimers every time.

Harry PoV

After we got all of our supplies in Diagon Alley, we walked over to Fred and George's shop, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. (A/N see book for description 'cause I don't feel like describing it)

It was incredible, but I was searching for the Weasley twins. I finally found them in the back room, and I asked them if they had seen last night's paper.

They sadly replied that they had, and I took that opportunity to ask them if they could see what the girl had been saying.

"Harry, Harry, you insult us." Fred shook his head.

"Easiest trick in the book. Lip-reading." George added.

They pulled a copy from the news wall and held it up.

"It looks like she is saying 'Delus thirty six'." Fred answered a few seconds later.

"No way, it looks like 'Dadelus', but you got the thirty six part right," George shot back.

After discussing, they finally agreed that she was saying "Deadalus thirty-six."

Whatever that meant.

Just then, an employee named Verity stepped in and said, "Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley, you are needed in the front."

They left, and I found Ron and Hermione and told them what I had learned.

We were about to continue browsing, when I noticed none other than Malfoy outside the shop, turning into Knockturn Alley.

I slipped on my invisibility cloak and followed.

(A/N the rest of his day follows the book)

Ginny PoV

On the train, I played with my new Pygmy puff, Arnold and watched him weave through my fingers. I didn't know what to think.

Last night, I had managed to weasel a little bit of information out of dad about the names of the people who had been attacked, but it had just confirmed my suspicion.

Now, I didn't know what to do. I was not entirely sure if I should get involved with this thing, but if it was me, I would want someone to talk to, preferably someone who I knew didn't want to kill me.

I finally decided to try to talk to her, when in came a bunch of Slytherin boys. They ignored Luna and I, and sat down.

If Luna noticed, she didn't say anything, but she was buried so deeply in her copy of The Quibbler that I doubted that she did.

Twenty minutes later they were joking rudely about muggles and I couldn't stand it anymore.

I started to yell at them and they laughed at me, but I had the last laugh after casting my signature Bat-Bogey Hex.

At the same moment, a new teacher (it seemed) walked past, and he stopped when he saw what had happened.

"Come on guys, let's go." They all stood and left, leaving the teacher standing there.

I was sure that he was going to give me detention, but instead, he invited me to lunch in his compartment in fifteen minutes. I accepted and he left. That was odd.

"The new minister is half-god, did you know that?" Luna piped up suddenly.

"Huh?" What did she say?

"Rufus Scrimgeour is part Greek god." Luna stated matter-of-factly. "Daddy says that he is trying to figure out a way to use cereal and magic to control people's brains."

I burst out laughing and said between giggles, "Luna, you do know that the Greek gods don't exist, don't you?"

She shrugged and went back to her newspaper.

I tried to put my previous thoughts out of my head, and instead I focused on all of the exciting things that I would be doing this year in school.

Annabeth PoV

Since I was stuck here, I decided to try something.

I ran, unseen, through the castle and to the Owlrey. I called down a large tawny owl and asked how far it could travel.

It replied that it could take a letter anywhere on the continent, and a package anywhere in the country.

So much for getting a letter to camp. Oh well.

"Can you retrieve something for me?" I asked him.

After asking what and where it was, I answered, "My New York Yankees hat from the hotel that I was staying in."

"Of course my lady," hooted the owl and flew off.

It was around four o'clock, so the students would most likely get here in about three hours. I was bored out of my mind, and I didn't have anyone to talk to.

Myrtle and most of the other ghosts were busy doing gods-know-what and none of the paintings were very interested in holding a conversation with me.

I looked out the window, and saw rolling fields of green, with a large cottage, a lake, and a dark, looming forest spread on it.

That could prove interesting.

I had tried to leave through the front door of the castle, but it was locked and I didn't know of any other ways to leave.

Looking through the large, open arches of the Owlrey, I had an idea.

I walked over to one, and stuck my head out. The walls of the castle were bumpy, with many hand and foot-holds.

After grabbing the ledge, I swung my legs over and began my descent.

It felt amazing to be outside, and I breathed in the cool air.

A few feet from the ground, I jumped off and landed softly on the grass.

I ran across the grass and sat down at the edge of the lake. Sticking my feet in, I was comforted by being near the water, it reminded me of Percy and helped me think.

I knew that without my help, the wizards would be completely outmatched by this evil wizard and his followers.

If they hadn't beaten him by now, it seemed unlikely that they would unless they had help. And I didn't trust Percy to keep his lips sealed.

Just then, I heard a noise come from the forest. I sprang up, clutched my dagger, and waited.

Suddenly, out came a huge man, followed by a dog almost the size of a baby hellhound, carrying a bunch of logs.

I froze, unsure of what to do, when he looked around and saw me watching him at the edge of the lake. He dropped the logs, and hissed at me, "What do yeh think yer doin'?"

He pointed to the cabin and motioned for me to go inside. Clutching my dagger tightly behind my back, I did.

After picking up his logs again, the giant man and his dog followed.

Closing the door tightly, he said in a gruff voice, "The name's Hagrid, groundskeeper and Care of Magical Creatures professor."

"Annabeth Chase."

He held out his hand and I shook it.

"Dumbledore told the staff about your problem, he also said that you were not to leave yer room."

I was about to protest, when he stopped me.

"If it was me, I'd have died from boredom, so I don't blame yeh."

Hagrid turned out to be really nice, and being delighted to learn about my knowledge of mystical creatures (I, of course, pretended not to think that they were real), he invited me to sit down and have some tea.

We were in the middle of a discussion over hippogriffs versus pegasi when Fang, the baby hellhound, gave a low growl, which Hagrid took to assume someone was coming.

"Hagrid," called out a female's voice that I unfortunately recognized.

He motioned for me to hide and I concealed myself behind a few barrels.

The woman, Minevera, came inside and greeted Hagrid.

"Ms. Chase is gone." She said worriedly. "She can't have gotten out of the school grounds, and she must be found immediately."

Hagrid assured her that if he saw me, he would get me right back. She thanked him and left.

I got up and he insisted that I go back inside, but he invited me to tea again if I ever needed someone to talk to.

I thanked him and left.

Back to boredom.

Hermione PoV

That night at the feast, everyone was happily digging into dinner. I tried to talk to Ginny, who was sitting next to me, but she was very distracted.

"Ginny," I asked, "Are you okay?"

"What?" She said, startled. "Oh yeah, um, I'm fine. Pass the potatoes."

I did and she went back to eating, but I could tell that she was deep in thought.

Next to me, Lavender Brown was talking to one of her friends.

"Did you see The Daily Prophet yesterday?" She asked.

"Oh my god! It was so sad! At least the girl was okay," her friend squealed back.

"That boy actually looked a lot like Harry," piped up another girl.

"He was really hot!" Lavender replied.

Their conversation went on, until they were talking about their crushes and I stopped listening.

After the tables were cleared from dessert, Dumbledore stood and the hall fell silent. He made the usual announcements, introduced the new and changed teachers and positions, then his speech changed.

He warned everyone about the return of He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named and spoke about the importance of sticking together.

While he was talking, the whole school noticed his hand, which was blackened and shriveled. Ron whispered to Harry, "Blimey, what happened to his hand?"

"I don't know, it was like that when he took me to the burrow," was Harry's reply.

Wrapping up his speech, Dumbledore added, "Finally, due to some maintenance issues, the east wing of the second floor is closed."

"Mr. Filch asks me to remind you all for the eight-hundred and thirty fifth time, there is no magic in the corridors. Thank you all, and welcome back."

Ron and I stood up and started to shepherd the first-years out the door, and the rest of the students got up as well.

As the Gryffindors walked to their common room, I saw Ginny lean over a banister and peer down, towards the second floor.

I heard her murmur, "looks fine to me."

I decided not to pay any attention to it, and we got everyone to bed.

Percy PoV

I climbed through the ceiling and stood up. It was a well lit part of the house, with knick-knacks, paintings (that I was shocked to see move) and architecture that would have captivated Annabeth for weeks.

I crept down the hall, listening for voices, all while thinking to myself that something is wrong.

Nothing is ever, EVER, this easy for me.

I heard voices in front of me, so I opened the nearest door, and ran inside the pitch black room.

Big mistake.

Cliff Hanger!

What will come next?

Will Ginny find Annabeth?

How will Annabeth react to long-term "imprisonment"?

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