max artemis potter: You'll see
ChickWithThepurpleGuitar: Hmm . . . interesting. Well, Annabeth can be cunning and manipulative when she wants to be. Plus, she has been spending an awful lot of time with the Slytherins. Ypu'll see what I eventually decided.
Glass of Water: I'm not entirely sure, but if he does it will be very brief and toward the end.
ButterflyFlyToMe, darklilyofthevalley, and Cookie05 thank you for reviewing as well. And yes, I did leave a cliffhanger on purpose. I am so evil! Muah-ha-ha!
What's this? A demigod? It has been a while since I had one of you!
"Wha- - who said that?" Annabeth demanded.
It is I. That hat whose song you found to be quite . . . disturbing. You know I worked all year on that song. It would be nice if you showed me at least a little appreciation!
Wait, you can read my mind? Annabeth thought.
Of course I can.
Can the others hear you?
No.
Oh . . . okay.
Hmm . . . you are quite clever I see. Not low in the bravery department. Extremely hard-working. Yet also cunning and manipulative if you want to be. This is difficult indeed. I do not think that Hufflepuff would suit you, but you would be welcomed into the other three with open arms. That is, until they find out you have dyslexia, and they shun you out.
Gee, thanks.
I am just saying it like it is. You could achieve great things in any house, but when it comes to acceptance, due to the fact that you are not pure-blood, I don't think that Slytherin is the house for you. So that leaves . . .
Ravenclaw and Gryffindor.
Indeed. I see that you would not mind being in either of those houses, which only makes my job harder, thank you very much! But when it comes down to it, your intelligence overrules everything. That can only mean one thing . . .
"RAVENCLAW!" the hat cried.
Annabeth grinned, as he robes changed, adding a bit of color to the uniform. She liked it much better this way. She smiled and ran over to the Ravenclaw table, where she saw Padma waving to her.
Padma was sitting next to a boy she did not recognize. Fortunately, he introduced himself right away.
"Hi," the boy said with a good-natured grin. "I'm Anthony Goldstein," he extended his hand which Anthony gratefully took. "I'm a house prefect, so if there's anything you need, please let me know."
Annabeth nodded, and took a seat. She pulled out a small sketchpad from her pocket and continued to work on the design. Annabeth was careful to keep the book in her lap so that no one would see. She wasn't sure how strict Hogwarts was when it came to table manners, but she didn't want to risk having it confiscated.
Slowly, Annabeth began to zone out until she heard the name. "Vaisey, Aleron."
Annabeth turned to see Vaisey hesitantly step up to the stool to be sorted. The hat shouted out, almost instantaneously, "SLYTHERIN!"
The table on the far side of the room clapped. Annabeth joined in on the applause for her friend. She soon realized that nobody else was doing so.
One girl sitting across from her said, "Why are you clapping, stupid? They're Slytherins!"
Annabeth frowned. "I don't care if he's a Slytherin. I am clapping because he is my friend, and wanted to get into that house and I am happy for him," she told the girl.
The girl gave her a look and rolled her eyes.
Anthony nudged Annabeth, "watch this," he said, "it's really cool." Goldstein pointed towards Professor Dumbledore, who clapped and said a couple of words that she could not quite make out. Suddenly, the empty plates on the tables filled with food.
Annabeth grinned broadly, helping herself to two large drumsticks. She had not realized just how hungry she was until she took the first bite. Annabeth stuffed her face with everything in sight, not caring that it made her look like a pig.
She stiffened, looking at the last piece of steak thoughtfully. She turned to Padma, "where's the bathroom?" she asked.
Padma directed her to the closest girl's lavatory. Annabeth thanked her and waited until she had left.
Annabeth quickly took off a torch from one of the walls, she threw her steak into the fire and whispered, "For my mother, Athena."
When Annabeth had returned to her seat, the headmaster was speaking to the room.
" . . . Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four hundredth and sixty-second time, to remind you all magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch's office door.
"We have two changes in staff this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons," Annabeth noted that most students looked relieved at that statement, except for a couple of Gryffindors. She wondered why that was. "We are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Tryouts for the House Quidditch teams will take place on the - - "
"Hem, hem," Professor Umbridge said, getting to her feet, making it clear that he wanted to make a speech.
Annabeth looked around to see the others' reactions. Some looked horrified. Others appeared bemused. All, however, seemed surprised. Dumbledore striked Annabeth as someone who was highly respected. And from the looks of it, she was right: Dumbledore was not the kind of guy who was often interrupted.
If she had any doubts, they were confirmed by a boy sitting next to Anthony, who muttered, "This ought to be interesting!"
Annabeth glanced at Dumbledore to see what he would do. The man looked a bit surprised, but nodded at her and sat down politely.
"Thank you, Headmaster," Umbridge said, "for those kind words of welcome. Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say! And to see such happy little faces looking back at me!" Everyone stared at her blankly. Umbridge did not seem to notice, "I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!"
A bunch of students exchanged looks at that. Anthony snorted. "Obviously, she doesn't know the first thing about Hogwarts."
Umbridge "cleared her throat" again. "Hem, hem. The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you are born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills, unique to the wizarding community must be passed down through the generations . . .
Annabeth, like so many others, felt no need to listen to the rest of her speech. She zoned out and tried her best to focus on her sketch. The lady's voice droned on and on for what seemed like forever. And it was not just her ADHD mind.
" . . . Let us move forward then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness, and accountability, intent of preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning whether we find practices that ought to be prohibited." She sat down, not appearing to notice that about half of the room was asleep.
Dumbledore said, "thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating," he bowed politely towards her. "Now, as I was saying, Quidditch tryouts will be held . . . . "
Annabeth turned to Anthony, who had a horrified expression on his face. "What did it mean?" Annabeth asked.
The older boy shook his head. "It means, that the Ministry is going to interfere with Hogwarts."
Yes, I put her in Ravenclaw. I know a lot of you were expecting Gryffindor (and even one Slytherin) but, let's be honest, guys, how could a child of Athena NOT get into Ravenclaw? I just feel like it fits Annabeth's personality best.
Anthony Goldstein is a real Harry Potter character. He is one of Ravenclaw's prefects in his fifth year, and joins Dumbledore's Army with his best friends, Michael Corner, and Terry Boot.
If any of you guys want to see Annabeth interact with a certain character, you can let me know in your reviews. I would prefer it to be more of a minor character. But please, try to be realistic.
Even if you don't have any ideas or suggestions, it would be great if you reviewed. I really want to know what people think of this story.