max artemis potter: You'll see.

darklilyofthevalley: Thanks, I tried to find a name in Greek that would fit an owl's personality. I don't think it gets much better than "untamed".

ChickWithThePurpleGuitar: Good question. They will be showing up occasionally, but mostly they'll just be spoken about. I haven't decided yet if Annabeth ever speaks to them.

MeggyMooMoo and lovetoread98: Thank you, I'm glad you guys like it!

Vaisey looked at Thaddeaus hesitantly, as if not sure how to respond.

The older boy, however, seemed much more confident. "On which side?" he asked her.

"My mom's. I grew up as a muggle, but eventually ran away from my dad's place when I was seven," she said, keeping as close to the truth as possible. "I met up with a couple of friends, and we sort of . . . made a family of our own." Was it believable? She hoped they would buy it. Something told her that these were not the kind of people you wanted on your bad side.

Vaisey, seeing that this was a sensitive subject, looked at her sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Annabeth. I-I didn't know."

Even Urquhart seemed to soften up a bit. "Yeah, well . . . at least you're not a mudblood. I best be going. I have some Gryffindors to . . . um . . . talk to . . ." Thaddeaus said, as he left the compartment.

"What about you?" Annabeth asked curiously. "Are you a pureblood?"

"Of course!" Aleron said, looking slightly offended. "My family has been all pure-bloods for generations," he said, with a slight bragging tone to his voice. He smirked. "We only accept the best, after all."

"I'm guessing they've all been Slytherins, too."

"That's right. Like I said, only the best, and Slytherin is the best house." Annabeth nodded, pretending to listen as he went on and on about his family history. Then, he asked a question that got her attention. "What about you?" he asked, "What house was your mum in?"

Annabeth hesitated. "My mom didn't go to Hogwarts," she said.

"Ah," Vaisey nodded, "I guess you Yanks don't have houses at your school, do you? That's what makes Hogwarts unique, I suppose. Last year we had students from other schools to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. They were from Beaubaxtons, that's in France. And from Durmstrang, which is in either Germany, Bulgaria, or Norway. Nobody really knows for sure - - except for the students, that is."

"What's a Triwizard Tournament?" Annabeth asked.

Aleron's eyes widened in shock. "You don't know what . . . oh, that's right. You grew up as a muggle, my bad. Well, the tournament is this contest between three wizards, each from a different school. The thing is that the game was really violent. Many people have died over the years. Personally, I think that those who had died just weren't skilled enough, and that it was their own bloody fault! But apparently, the wizard board decided that it was 'too violent'," Vaisey bent his fingers dramatically to make air quotes, "but last year, they tried it again."

"What happened? Did anyone die?" Annabeth had to know.

Vaisey grinned, seeming to like the attention. "Well, they tried to make the games 'more safe'," he said, again with air quotes, "and they failed. I don't know exactly what happened, 'cause I wasn't there. My brother told me the basics. Here's what I know: even there were only supposed to be three contestants, there was a fourth last year. And, of course, that had to be Harry Potter," he sneered as he said the name, making it sound like some kind of disease. "As it turned out, someone had entered his name in tournament to kill him!" Annabeth was shocked. And her face must have shown it, because Aleron grinned. "And then he was forced to participate, even though he was underage."

"Didn't he tell them that he didn't enter?"

"Of course! But he had no choice. Once you are entered, there's some sort of magical spell put on you that doesn't allow you to back out," he shrugged. "I don't really know. I've just heard stuff. But it seems like Potter is either desperate for attention, or is the unluckiest guy on the planet."

Annabeth looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, for starters, he destroyed You-Know-Who when he was a baby, which automatically gave him some major brownie points in the wizard world," Annabeth nodded, she knew that. "But it appears that every year at Hogwarts, he does something extraordinary. In his first year, he stopped the Dark Lord from getting the Philosopher's Stone, which can make anyone immortal."

"I don't get it," Annabeth said. She hated admitting that, but she was lost. "I thought You-Know-Who was dead."

"He isn't - - or at least that's what Potter and that fool Dumbledore claim," he shrugged. "The Daily Prophet denies the whole thing. Anyway, us Slytherins had technically won the House Cup that year, but no, Dumbledore's favorite boy earned his house an extra hundred and seventy points, even after the final tally was counted," he pouted, slightly, then returned back to normal. "In his second year, there were a bunch of attacks on students and Hogwarts almost get closed down. The attacks were rumored to have come from a place called 'The Chamber of Secrets', and of course, Potter and his friends went down and found it. They slaughtered the monster that was down there, and saved the castle. And in his third year, there was an escape from Azkaban."

"Azka-what?"

"Azkaban, it's wizard prison. Anyway, there was a breakout from the place, by a guy named Sirius Black. He was said to have been like this huge follower of You-Know-Who, and was out to kill Harry."

"What happened to him?" Annabeth asked.

"Nothing. He's still out there."

Annabeth could definitely what Vaisey meant. "Wow, trouble does seem to follow this guy!"

"Oh, and it gets better. Last year was perhaps the biggest scandal of all. As you know, he was entered in the Triwizard Tournament, even though he was at least three years younger than all of the other contestants. He managed to make it through every task, and was tied for first place with the other Hogwarts champion, a Hufflepuff boy named Cedric Diggory. What happened next is uncertain, as the two boys reached the end of the last task, which was an obstacle course, something was terribly wrong. We only have Potter's claims, but it seemed good enough for Dumbledore," he rolled his eyes, muttering "big surprise" under his breath, "Harry said that You-Know-Who came back to life that night, and murdered Diggory."

Vaisey was good at story-telling, he would wave his hands with dramatic jesters as he spoke, and always had confidence when telling a tale. He could have a future career in theater, Annabeth thought.

Turning back to the subject, she looked at Vaisey oddly. "And the Ministry doesn't believe him?"

"They claim the Hufflepff boy's death was a 'horrible accident', and most seem to believe that, too. They're all just too scared to face the truth."

"So, do you believe he's back?" asked Annabeth quietly.

Aleron leaned forward and spoke in a hushed whisper, "Yes, I do."

Annabeth's going off topic and saying that Aleron would be good at preforming arts, was part of her ADHD. I have it, too, and will often think the randomest (is that even a word?) things while others are speaking.