WTF Annabeth?!
Chapter 3

Annabeth

Yay me! I didn't throw up this time! I wanted to! I really did, but I didn't throw up! That is real, measurable progress! We popped from the fireplace at Poseidon to the one in the Leaky Caldron in a flash and as promised, Hagrid was waiting for us.

I figured we would be taking a cab but soon realized we wouldn't be able to fit into one with Hagrid, so we walked. It wasn't far and our packs, which held everything we owned in the world, weighed next to nothing. I'm glad I was wearing my CHB clothes though, if I was in the spiked heel boots I had selected to go with my student uniform and robes it would have been murder on my poor little feet.

I would have to get used to calling Rue "Harry." I couldn't break myself of calling him Rue, and he finally agreed that when it was just friends or outside class, Percy and I could continue to call him by the name we had known him by since we met. He seemed to prefer it. In Percy's case that wasn't long, but in mine it was six years now and that is a hard habit to break.

I felt like I was keeping my emotions under control well, but whenever I was around Percy my heart took flight. I wanted to be beside him, hold his hand, have his arms around me, kiss him, the normal stuff girls do with their boyfriends, but I kept that under control. Well, pretty well. That wasn't the hard part though. The hard part was explaining to every one at Camp Half Blood where my height, boobs, hips and butt came from. I was looking forward to Hogwarts just to get a fresh start, but walking through London I felt the gaze of so many creeps I wanted to throw up again. Fortunately one look at Hagrid and none approached.

We arrived at Kings Cross Station a good half hour before departure. Hagrid told us this was where he left us as he had to get back to Hogwarts a different way, and advised us to get our owls out of our bags and packs as no one here would care. The station was full of kids going off to school, but none were wearing wizarding robes so you couldn't tell who was who. Hagrid made sure we had our tickets, advised us to avoid contact with muggles, told us to go to platform 9 and 3/4, and then left to find something he called a "port key."

The problem was, there was no platform 9 and 3/4. We looked everywhere and wasted 20 minutes of our half hour doing so. We even asked a porter and he thought we were either crazy or pranking him. We were on the cusp of giving up, and I was on the cusp of tears, when we over heard a woman with a gaggle of red haired kids use the word "muggles."

"Excuse me, I'm looking for platform 9 and 3/4" Harry asked her.

"Oh! You must be a first year. Ron is too" and her youngest son nodded to us. "Well..." and she explained how to get through to the train, and had her older twin sons demonstrate. Finally she had us go and just as we were all on the other side and going to get on the train we heard one of the twins exclaim to his mother "Do you know who you were just talking to? That was Harry Potter!"

Harry wanted to get on the train and hide so we hurried along and found an empty cabin. The passenger cars were divided into cabins, but they were not like the sleeper cars on Amtrak. Each had a couple of benches, one facing forward, the other facing back and looked to hold about four adults, or six of us. We grabbed one and tried to take up as much room as possible, but it was pointless.

Just as the train started moving, the younger red headed boy opened the door.

"Do you mind if I sit here? Every where else is full."

"Oh sure! Come on in!" Percy replied.

He sat across from Rue and soon exclaimed, "It... I thought George and Fred were kidding, you're really Harry Potter!"

"Uh, yeah, that's me." Harry smiled modestly. Harry had looked out the window and seen the little boy's sister, still with her mother on the platform and waved back at her when she waved at him."

"Oh, that's my sister, Ginny. She's... She is big fan of yours. Do... do you have the scar?"

"Oh, yeah" Harry grinned and lifted his hair.

"Wicked! I'm Ron, Ron Weasley. Its a pleasure to meet you!"

"The pleasure is all ours Ron, thanks for your help getting through the wall" I replied to give Harry a break. He didn't seem to mind the attention, but he really didn't seek it either.

"Uh... you're first year?" Ron asked.

"Yes, I..."

"They grow up fast in America." Percy grinned.

"No! I... I'm under a curse, thats all I can say. I'm only twelve."

"Wow. Thats an excellent curse." Ron smiled.

"Why thank you!" I giggled. 'My boyfriend and former boyfriend don't think so."

"I'm not your boyfriend, we talked about this Annabeth." Percy smiled. I just love his smile.

"Why... Why not?" Ron asked.

"Because I just turned twelve." Percy answered.

"So, uh, you don't want to peak too early?" Ron laughed and his laughter was infectious. I liked Ron Weasley. He was a good egg. Plus he could clearly see that Percy and I were fated to be together.

Ron explained that his whole family were wizards. His brother Percy was something called a "Prefect" this year, which was a lot like a counselor at CHB. He had two brothers older than Percy, and two twins that we had seen earlier, George and Fred. All had gone to Hogwarts, all had been in Gryffindor House, just like his mother and father. And his little sister was expected to start at Hogwarts next year. To try to keep the conversation going he asked us our favorite quidditch team, but other than some reading the guys had done, we didn't know anything about quidditch and I guess we showed our ignorance in all things wizardly. Still he was very friendly and was amazed that we had actually been able to cast real spells as so far he had only done some very minor magic with few results.

A girl named Hermione stuck her nose in our cabin just as Ron was going to try to turn his pet rat yellow, but I think she made him nervous as the spell didn't work. Then she bragged about having done a few simple spells, and while I sat there she brazenly cast a spell on Rue's glasses, repairing the frame where it had been damaged for some time.

The nerve! Sure, we weren't together anymore, but you don't just flirt like that. She had no idea whether we were together!

"If you're going to stay, please sit down and stop trying to impress everyone." I said.

"What the fuck Annabeth? Is that how you make new friends?" Percy asked.

"I already have you, and Rue, and Ron." I replied, making it clear there was no room in my life for a harlot that hits on Rue without knowing if we were together.

"Well! I would leave but there is no room in any of the other cabins." She replied. "Americans certainly are a surly lot!" And she said this staring right at Percy.

"Yes we are, and you would do well to remember it!" I replied as I hooked my arm into Percy's. He didnt' resist as much as he usually did, so this was progress.

"No, no they're not" Harry said, "But today is stressful, what with starting a new school and all. Its a bit overwhelming." It was nice of Harry to try to bring the temperature down, but not necessary. I felt no need to apologize to this harlot!

While she steamed a very nice boy named Neville joined us. He had been all over the train looking for his pet frog and was distraught. I offered to have Hermione help him look, but he was giving up for the time being as he needed to sit down. He suspected he was being tricked up upper classmen and the more he reacted the more they would torture him by keeping his frog.

He was, like Ron, a very gentlemanly young man, even if he did stare at me until it was explained that I was twelve and subject to a curse that made me look older. Hermione of course eavesdropped on all of this. I can't believe she didn't just leave, but at least when Neville was talking her eyes weren't crawling all over my boyfriend and my ex.

We rode like this for quite a while just chatting and getting to know one another. Like Ron, Neville's family were all magical. Hermione interrupted to make sure we knew both of her parents were muggles. "Who cares Hermione?" I thought to myself. Everyone knew about Rue's parents, and when asked, Percy tactfully said that he and I both had one very magical parent, and one muggle.

Ron's brother and a girl came down the aisle and announced we would be getting to Hogwarts in an hour or so, and that we should change into our uniforms and robes. He said the restrooms were usually pretty full and it would be a wait to get in one to change. We started to go when Rue suggested we just set up the tent again like we had the first night on Amtrak in LA. None of the magicians knew what this meant, but it was a great idea, if there was room. I hoped Hermione would beat it before Rue did, but he was quick to pull the string and set it up. It appeared to cover about two feet of floor and went straight to the ceiling in a point, like a long, tall, pyramid, but inside it was just as large as ever. There was enough room left to easily set up another, so we did, and upon entry there were sixteen beds in two rooms of eight, and eight restrooms, as well as a large parlor, dining room and kitchen. We changed without waiting and even had a snack waiting when we were done.

So all the guys stared at me when I came out in my robes, which was weird. Even weirder was Hermione who's eyes were about to bulge out of her face staring at my attire. I had taken the skirt up to mini length, wore black lacy leggings underneath with the knee socks over them, and cute little spiky heeled boots. I had drawn in sides of the button down so it was more like a fitted blouse, and it showed off my girls nicely. Finally my sweater opened around my breasts and over the shirt to further enhance the look. I thought it came out pretty hot, and the boys appreciated it. Really though, I only wanted to look good for Percy and his reaction was the one I waited on. I grabbed the hem, pulled the skirt taunt across my backside and turned so he could see how it looked all over me. Then when my back was to him flipped my hair over my shoulder and asked "You like?"

"Uh... What the fuck Annabeth?" Percy replied. But he stared. A lot.

"Oh, I just took in the hem a bit. Didn't want to go too risque', but the school girl thing just didnt work for me." I smiled.

"You look uh" Rue stammered

"Smashing!" Ron added

"Radiant!" Neville agreed.

"Beautiful" Hermione said, and given her obvious lust for my guys this surprised me. She might work out after all, but probably not. She continued to brazenly flirt after we returned to the cabin.

"Thanks!" I replied.

"So how do these tents work?" Neville asked and Rue answered as best he could. We returned to the cabin for more small talk and took the tents down even though it was roomier in the tents. We feared we might miss our stop if we were secreted away like that.

I think Hermione understood now that Percy was off limits, and Harry was not to be trifled with. Ron and Neville seemed like nice boys and would make good friends for us. Hermione was clearly thinking of stealing Percy away, and was openly flirting with him by asking him personal questions like his name, where he was from, how he got into magic, that sort of thing. And with me seated beside him! What a tramp! Then, to make matters worse, she did the same with poor Rue... Harry, I can't get used to that, as if she flirted with both I wouldn't notice the eyes she was making at Percy. I was born at night, but it wasn't last night sister!

Neville had explained the sorting hat to us, and the house system. I didn't care which house we were in so long as we were together. Some boys from Slytherin, or who wanted to be, had stopped by to give Harry, and to a lesser extent Ron, Neville and Percy, a hard time, but I dispatched them at the point of my blade and they left to go change trousers.

"Don't mess with Team Annabeth" was a good first lesson at Hogwarts for all of them. After that Ron's brother, the Prefect also named Percy, came by and said he as Prefect had to confiscate any weapons, but a cold stare turned him away as Percy asked "What weapons?" Anyway, the Sorting Hat supposedly looked into your mind, heart and soul and placed you in the appropriate house. Like I said, I didn't care which house, so long as we were together.

We got off the train and Hagrid led us to boats where we were finally able to ditch Hermione. We rode with Ron and Neville. Hagrid was friendly and gave us all big hugs, even though we had just seen him that morning, such a dear sweet man. Then he led the first years to the boats I mentioned before, which were magical and propelled themselves. Even though Hagrid was in the first boat, Percy, ever the twelve year old, used his power to speed past so we could "win the race." When the rest arrived, baffled at our boat's performance, we were all still giggling.

We didn't get anything for arriving first except a laugh and a weird look from Hagrid.

Professor McGonagall led us from the boats to the doorway of the main hall where dinner and the sorting ceremony were to be held. She told us that we would be led in to the main hall and the importance of our relationship to our house members. Oh! And she went over briefly the points system for what she called "The House Cup" and all the magicians seemed really excited about that. Well, except for the ones that had battled the god of war on a beach in Santa Monica a week or so before. To us it seemed rather silly truthfully.

While we waited a girl from India I think asked "Aren't you a little old to be first year?"

"I'm only twelve." I answered to everyone's gasps and stares.

"They grow up fast in America." Harry said.

"Stop being silly Rue!" I giggled at him and gave him a gentle push on the shoulder. I heard someone whisper "Did she just push Harry Potter?"

"Rue? Harry Potter?" The professor asked.

"Yes professor, that's me."

"I... I... I'm Professor Minerva McGonagall" She stammered as she looked at him, a tear glistening in her eye.

Rue thought for a moment then rushed forward and hugged her.

"Thanks for the name!" He whispered.

"Well, you're very welcome! Lets talk later though, we mustn't hold up the sorting ceremony!" She replied with a smile that melted the room and startled the other first years.

"Minerva? That is the name of the Roman facet of Athena isn't it?" I asked.

"Why yes, yes it is, Very good Miss... uh"

"Chase. Annabeth Chase."

"Miss Chase aren't you a little old to be a firs" was all she got out before I interrupted.

"I'm only twelve" then I leaned forward to her ear and whispered "I was put under a curse a couple weeks ago and grew this body as a result."

"Oh. Yes, the Headmaster advised me of that. Well welcome. Any friend of Harry Potter's is welcome with me." She whispered back.

I really liked Professor McGonagall, and as it turned out she would be the instructor over our house. Not that this did us any good at all in so far as House Points went, but we would later learn what a great instructor she was to have as a friend.

The sorting went through everyone except myself and Percy. Harry, Neville, Ron and that witch Hermione ended up in Gryffindor. Since we were late additions, Percy and I went last.

"Annabeth Chase" McGonagall said and I walked forward to be sorted. I could feel all the sixth and seventh year boy's eyes crawling all over me. It was totally creepy. What bunch of pervs!

I picked up the hat as I was instructed to, I had seen it call out the houses of those before me so I knew it bore some sentient intelligence. I thought to myself, and it I suppose, "Okay hat, you're supposed to be able to read my mind. Let me show you pictures from my summer vacation, and know that I will be taking you there soon if I don't get placed with Harry Potter and Percy Jackson in Gryffindor. And you won't come back. And if you can read my mind, you know I will do it..." I then focused my mind on what I had seen on the trip to the House of Hades in the underworld.

It only took moments for the hat to nearly leap off my head shouting.

"Gryffindor! Definitely Gryffindor! No doubt about it Miss Chase needs to be in Gryffindor! Absolutely, she could only be Gryffindor! Gryffindor! Gryffindor! Gryffindor!"

I hopped off the stool as my house stood and applauded and ran to a seat beside Rue that he has sweetly saved for me. All the boys seemed to be grinning and excited that I was added, but the girls not so much for some reason.

Percy had no more sat down to have the hat placed on his head when it shouted "Gryffindor! This one too, most definitely! Gryffindor! Gryffindor! That is where this boy needs to be!" and Percy came to join us. The only downside was that since they grouped all the first years at the same spot on the table, we were seated with that tramp Hermione.