Annabeth Chase the Triwizard Champion

Chapter Twenty Seven

It wasn't the first time someone wanted Annabeth dead. It wasn't even the hundredth. And it definitely wouldn't be the last.

Still, Annabeth kept her eyes peeled and her guard up as February turned to March, bringing strong winds and slightly warmer weather. She knew a couple of the teachers didn't like her, and even though she knew it was unlikely that they would try anything in the school, she stayed cautious in their classes.

On the Friday after the second task, Annabeth was more than ready for the Hogsmead trip the next day. Apparently there was a venom in kelpie bites that slowed down the healing process, and Annabeth's arm was at that stage where the scabs were still soft and stung violently to the touch. It made focusing in class even harder than it already was, and taking notes was even more of a nightmare.

Friday morning at breakfast, where Annabeth was getting increasingly frustrated at her uncoordinated left hand (how do you hold a fork with your left hand?), Pansy burst out laughing, looking at a magazine that had just arrived by owl.

"Look at this!" she said around laughter, shoving the magazine at Freddie, who read it aloud for Vera and Annabeth to hear.

"Harry Potter's Secret Heartache

A boy like no other, perhaps— yet a boy suffering all the usual pangs of adolescence, writes Rita Skeeter. Deprived of love since the tragic demise of his parents, fourteen-year-old Harry Potter thought he had found solace in his steady girlfriend at Hogwarts, Muggle-Born Hermione Granger. Little did he know that he would shortly be suffering yet another emotional blow in a life already littered with personal loss.

Miss Granger, a plain but ambitious girl, seems to have a taste for famous wizards that Harry alone cannot satisfy. Since the arrival at Hogwarts of Viktor Krum, Bulgarian Seeker and hero of the last World Quidditch Cup, Miss Granger has been toying with both boy's affections. Krum, who is openly smitten with the devious Miss Granger, has already invited her to visit him in Bulgaria over the summer holidays, and insists that he has "never felt this way about any other girl."

However, it might not be Miss Granger's doubtful natural charms that have captured these unfortunate boys' interest.

"She's really ugly," says Pansy Parkingson, a pretty and vivacious fourth-year student, "but she'd be well up to making a Love Potion, she's quite brainy. I think that's how she's doing it."

Love Potions are, of course, banned at Hogwarts, and no doubt Albus Dumbledore will want to investigate these claims. In the meantime, Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heart on a worthier candidate."

"Are you serious?" Annabeth exclaimed angrily, glaring at Pansy. She was already annoyed with her arm, and this set her over the edge.

"What the actual fuck?" Vera added, crossing her arms.

"What?" Pansy said, looking innocently confused. "It's hilarious! Exactly what that Granger girl deserves. Those poor boys deserve to know the truth, don't they?" Her voice was sweet, but there was laughter in her eyes.

"What, that Hermione's a shallow gold digger?!" Annabeth said, her voice almost shaking in anger. "How could you feed into this? How could you find this funny?"

"Just because you're too friendly with the Gryffindors to be a real Slytherin, doesn't mean I can't have my fun with them," Pansy said, all humor gone. It was clear she'd been bottling this up for a while. "That says a lot about you, you know, making friends with the enemy. Everyone talks about it."

"You're right," Annabeth said coldly. "And do you know what this tells me about you? It tells me that you're so bored and lonely with your own life that you have to go ahead and ruin other people's lives to feel any sense of accomplishment."