Annabeth Chase the Triwizard Champion

Chapter Twenty Three

Annabeth had figured out the egg, but according to Hermione, Harry hadn't. It was supposed to be Annabeth's job to make sure Harry got through this alive, and she wasn't going to leave this up to chance. From the small amount of time she had spent with Harry, Annabeth knew he wasn't the smartest. So, between classes, she wrote a quick note and slipped it into Harry's bag as she passed him in the hall.

Thanks for the tip about the dragons. Now it's my turn. Take the egg into the water with you.

                                        -Annabeth

The rest of the break passed quickly, most of it spent outside. The last day came way too soon, and Percy and Annabeth decided to go out with an adventure. The Forbidden Forest was forbidden for a reason, but the woods at Camp were just like them if what Vera always said was true. So how could they not go exploring?

A few injuries and a fight with the local centaur herd (they had a lot of things to say about Chiron) later, Percy and Annabeth headed back to the Slytherin common room, where they cleaned up Percy's arm and Annabeth's cheek.

The next thing Annabeth knew, the break was over and Percy had gone back to Camp Half-Blood. She was just counting down the days until the second task when she could see him again.

School started up again with a bang, like the teachers were trying to make up for the week and a half of missed opportunities to take up everyone's time. Snow continued to fall heavily, blocking up the windows and weighing down the trees.

Literally no one was excited for Care of Magical Creatures on Wednesday, but according to Vera (who was the only person that actually liked the Skrewts), the explosions would warm them up. Annabeth noticed Malfoy and his friends looking especially smug that morning, and she wouldn't find out why until breakfast and then class, where a woman Annabeth didn't know was standing outside of Hagrid's cabin.

Annabeth had sat far down the table from where Malfoy was, but she wasn't far enough to not hear the newspaper article he was yelling for everyone to hear.

Dumbledore's giant mistake

Albus Dumbledore, eccentric headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has never been afraid to make controversial staff appointments, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. In September of this year, he hired Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody, the notoriously jink-happy ex-auror, to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts, a decision that caused many raised eyebrows at the Ministry of Magic, given Moody's well-know habit of attacking anybody who makes a sudden movement in his presence. Mad-Eye Moody, however, looks responsible and kindly when set beside the part-human Dumbledore employs to teach Care of Magical Creatures.

Rubeus Hagrid, who admits to being expelled from Hogwarts in his third year, has enjoyed the position of gamekeeper at the school ever since, a job secured for him by Dumbledore. Last year, however, Hagrid used his mysterious influence over the headmaster to secure the additional post of Care of Magical Creatures teacher, over the heads of many better qualified candidates.

An alarmingly large and ferocious looking man, Hagrid has been using his newfound authority to terrify the students in his care with a succession of horrific creatures. While Dumbledore turns a blind eye, Hagrid has maimed several pupils during a series of lessons that many admit to being 'very frightening.'

"I was attacked by a Hippogriff, and my friend Vincent Crabbe got a bad bite from a flobberworm," says Draco Malfoy, a fourth year student. "We all hate Hagrid, but we're just too scared to say anything."

Hagrid has no intention of ceasing his campaign of intimidation, however. In conversations with a Daily Prophet reporter last month, he admitted importing new creatures that have been dubbed 'Blast Ended Skrewts,' highly dangerous crosses between manticores and fire crabs. The importation of magical creatures is, of course, an activity usually closely observed by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Hagrid, however, considers himself to be above such petty restrictions.