Annabeth Chase the Triwizard Champion

Chapter Twenty Eight

The dog barked once and lunged. Annabeth cried out in surprise as it pushed her against the slope, growling. Instinctively she threw her forearm out to block the dog from biting her in the face.

"Sirius!" Hermione yelled. "Sirius, stop! It's okay! She knows!"

Immediately the dog stopped growling, and Annabeth slowly lowered her arm.

"Are you done?" she asked.

The dog leveled her with a fierce glare before backing off and going to Harry, who was standing back up and brushing off his pants.

"What do you mean, she knows?" Ron exclaimed.

"She found out months ago!"

"You didn't tell us that!"

"Well I got caught up with Harry being entered in the tournament and everything else that was going on and I just forgot!"

"You forgot," Harry said incredulously, "to tell us that she knew about Sirius?"

"She can also hear you," Annabeth said, crossing her arms. "And Hermione's right, I found out months ago. I know he's innocent. And I know he's a dog."

The dog— Sirius— tilted his head, though he still glared at Annabeth like he was expecting something from her.

Annabeth sighed and gritted out, "I'm sorry for tackling you."

Sirius nodded.

"What were you doing up there?" Hermione asked, eying the various cuts across Annabeth's arms and face.

"Hiking," Annabeth said. She pulled up her sleeve to inspect the bandages on her shoulder, which were now dotted with blood. Damit.

"Right," Ron said. "You just happened to meet a mountain troll on a hike in Hogsmeade."

"You saw the troll?" Annabeth raised her eyebrow. Annabeth had seen trolls before, and that was not one. It had definitely been a Hyperborean. They must have Mist it.

"Yeah, and we saw you fight it. Who just goes up to a troll and fights it?"

"You, if I've heard right."

Sirius barked, drawing all their attention to him. He titled his head towards Annabeth, then up the path.

"You want her to come!?" Ron exclaimed.

Sirius barked again.

"I guess... she knows he's innocent," Harry said slowly. "It wouldn't do any harm."

"Of course it would do harm!" Ron said. "We—"

BARK!

"Come on," Hermione said. "We only have so much time."

Ron was clearly not happy about it, and Annabeth didn't know what to think, but they followed Sirius up the trail. Why would Sirius Black, someone Annabeth had never met and just barely knew of, want her there? Was it a trap? For what?

There wasn't much left in the trail, so they reached wherever they were going within a few minutes, barely giving Annabeth time to think.

Sirius slipped out of sight, and when they rounded the bend they saw a fissure in the rock. Annabeth waited for her three companions to go in first before entering cautiously after them.

The cave was the size of Annabeth's dorm room. It was bare, but tethered by the back was a creature Annabeth had never seen before. It had the body of a pegasus, but the front half was feathered smokey gray, with clawed feet like an eagle's that matched its sharp-beaked head. The back half was all horse, a gray coat and a long, swishing tail. Its wings were folded against its sides and it stared at Annabeth cautiously.